"We won't have the starboard engine once we reach them," Nick warned.
"Are we close enough for aft blaster?" I asked.
"Do it," Nick said.
I flipped us over and Nick fired the heavy blaster that sat just above the loading ramp. The gun had very limited adjustments available and it took precision on both our parts to achieve a good alignment. It was also something we'd become reasonably good at.
I watched with grim satisfaction as the cutter quietly exploded and Ortel whooped in celebration. I knew, at some point, he'd realize we'd killed today. That knowledge would eat at him, as it did me. There was nothing to be done about it. It was a game of survival and we had no other choice.
"We need to find Xie," I said.
"On it," Tabby said.
"Why don't you take the helm," I said. "If I can get us sealed up, we can go quiet."
She nodded in agreement. I hustled down the stairs to the main portion of the bridge and laid my hand on Ortel's shoulder. "Nice job today," I said.
He looked at me with a wide grin, the thrill of battle still coursing through his veins. I'd seen it before; he'd have trouble sleeping when the time came.
Locate Xie Mie-su. Estimate medical status.
"Bilge, Section-A. Subject is unconscious. Multiple broken bones and perforated lung suspected," the AI replied.
I grabbed the heavy med kit and jumped into the bilge access in what used to be Nick and Marny's bunk room. Xie's small body lay across the keel of the ship, blood bubbling from her mouth as her unconscious body fought for survival.
Next to her was a hull patch that she'd just missed deploying. I prioritized and ignited the patch, allowing it to bond with the hull. "Nick, are we sealed?"
"Checking," he replied.
Pulling the med scanner from the kit, I placed it on the back of Xie's neck. My HUD lit up with medical diagnostics, most of which looked bad.
"We're sealed," Nick said. "Going silent."
"Understood," I replied as I peeled Xie’s suit back and applied med patches as directed. I'd broken three of her ribs. Two of them had pushed through her right lung and one had broken the skin.
I'd rolled Xie onto a back board and was doing the grisly work of closing her skin back up when Tabby ducked into the bilge.
"Seriously? You finally get a moment by yourself and you take her shirt off?" she asked.
Xie, still unconscious, moaned in pain. "Almost done, Xie. You're with friends." I tried to soothe her.
"Look at all of these scars," I said. Xie's torso was covered, far worse than anything I'd ever seen.
"She really took one for the team today," Tabby said. "Pisses me off, too. I had a solid grudge going."
I laughed, despite the situation.
"Cutters still looking for us?" I asked.
"Yeah, there are five of them out there," she said. "No wonder Hollise wanted out. Her boy, Bernd, is up there crapping steel pipes. I don't think he'd be much in a fight."
"Help me get Xie to the bunk room." The back board had a grav-lifter beneath it, but Xie wasn't much more than forty kilograms and in 0.6g we could easily lift her. I set the med scanner to warn if her condition worsened and warmed the bunk room. I wanted to take time to clean all the blood off, but we were still in enemy territory and my first responsibility was to the crew.
"How's she doing?" Beth Anne asked.
"Not great," I answered. "Although, I've seen her in worse shape."
Nick stepped out of the pilot's chair once I took the helm.
"Any word on Intrepid?" I asked.
"I think we're in for a show any moment now," he replied.
"Intrepid?" Beth Anne asked.
"You might want to come up here," I said. "Once they arrive, it's going to go pretty quickly."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"See for yourself," I said as the much larger Intrepid sailed into the combat zone. Like Hotspur, Intrepid’s engines were equipped such that she could accelerate and decelerate equally without flipping, like Sterra’s Gift and the cutters were required to do. If it hadn't been so tragic, it would have been comical as the five ships all flipped and fired up, pointing away from the gleaming warship that had come to our aid.
"Incoming hail, Intrepid."
Accept hail. "This is, Liam. Go ahead," I answered.
"What's the play, Commodore?" Ada asked. The title was a new one. I knew the crew had been talking about using it when we were in fleet formation, even though I'd been opposed to it. Apparently as 'Commodore' I didn't have a lot of say in such things.
"Let 'em go, Ada. Hopefully we've thinned the herd enough to help Jeratorn," I said.
"You certainly did not lead with your best cards," Beth Anne said. "Remind me to avoid playing poker with you. You're all over the board. First, you start with missiles on the smallest craft, then you leave a frigate at home."
"If I'd known about the bandits, I might not have come at all, Beth Anne," I said.
"A reasonable point," she said.
***
"Hey there," I said as Xie's eyes opened.
"Hey yourself," she replied noncommittally, looking around the medical bay of Intrepid.
"How are you feeling?" Her charts showed she was healing nicely. Xie had been in the medical tank for nine days, the entire time we'd been underway to Freedom Station. She was at the point where she could heal with patches, albeit more slowly.
"Were we captured?" she asked, looking around.
"No. Why?" I said, not sure why she was asking until it dawned on me. "Oh, the tank? We've been doing some upgrades. Remember how I said we're having a tiff with Belirand?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, we decided that since we weren't friends anymore, it'd be okay if we borrowed one of their frigates. Plus, they did destroy a bunch of our stuff," I said.
"And they're okay with this?"
"I don't think they're any more pissed than they were before," I shrugged weakly.
"You seem to have a polarizing effect on people," she said.
"Like you don't?" I asked. "Although that little stunt you pulled on Hotspur got Tabby's respect."
"That's why I did it," she said.
"You want to come up to the bridge? There's a suit liner on the table and a vac-suit next to it. Sorry about yours, I had to cut it off."
"Get a good look?" Xie asked.
"I did. I especially liked the ribs sticking through your skin," I said.
She scrunched up her face, losing the sultry look she was going for and we both laughed.
"I'll be outside the door."
A few minutes later, Xie joined me in the passageway outside of the medical bay, looking much better than when I'd pulled her from the bilge of Hotspur.
"This way," I said as we walked to the forward observation room. "I understand that Freedom Station is quite something to look at."
"That's what I hear too," she said.
"You'll have a nice view here," I said as I led her into the room where Beth Anne and Bernd were already seated in comfortable observation chairs. "If we run into any sort of trouble, make sure to fall back to a designated safe room. This is armored glass, but still."
"Where are you going?" Xie asked.
"Got a ship to sail," I said. "It's good to have you back, Xie." I made my way back to the bridge.
"Captain on the bridge," Marny announced.
"Hotspur crew loaded?" I asked.
"Roger that," Ada replied.
"We're sure that starboard engine is solid?"
"It is, Captain," Jonathan answered.
I wasn't thrilled. I'd been convinced to stay on Intrepid, while Tabby and Nick were aboard Hotspur. Tabby and I were equally skilled as pilots, but I always took the helm if I was aboard. Tabby wanted her own commission and I could hardly blame her. When it came to Intrepid, I would trust her to Ada - that was, until I didn't. I guess we'd see how that worked out.
"Dropping from hard burn in three… two…"
"Captain, I have multiple bogeys," Ada said. My tactical projector showed Freedom Station twenty thousand kilometers away, just as we'd planned. A blockade of fifteen ships, most of them small, lined up fifteen thousand kilometers from our position. The blockade wasn't our problem. Four Belirand ships - two cutters, a fast frigate named Ferez and Intrepid's sister, Justice Bringer, sat in the space between us.
"Battle stations," Marny said.
"Launch Hotspur," I said. "Tabby, I want you to go stealth until you can take out that fast frigate. You copy?"
"Copy that," she answered.
Unlike Hotspur, Intrepid could take quite a lot of plinking from two cutters. What I wasn't sure of was just how much of a stomach Belirand captains had for losing ships. Today, I figured we'd find out.
FREEDOM STATION
"Captain, we have an incoming hail from Justice Bringer," Ada said.
"Captain, before you receive that, you should know they're attempting to take over our systems," Jonathan said.
"Understood. Accept hail. This is Hoffen, go ahead," I said. Jonathan would either stop them or they wouldn't. Worrying about it would do me no good.
"Captain Hoffen, the ship you are currently in possession of and call Intrepid has been illegally seized. Surrender now." The face that appeared was none other than Admiral Lorraine Tullas.
"Lorraine. I see you've upgraded from Fist of Justice," I said. "Or is she still in the shop?"
"Cut the small talk, Hoffen, we're tracking your sloop right now and if she gets any closer we'll open fire," she said. I suspected she was bluffing, but it might be possible her sensors were reading Hotspur.
"I didn't see you as a fair-fight type of gal," I said. "Are you sure you want to get into this today?"
"If you didn't notice, you're outnumbered."
The velocity of her fleet was increasing as they sped toward our position with Justice Bringer at the point of a V-shaped formation.
Mute. "Hard burn, Ada. Tullas won’t budge and she's going to attempt to rake us as we pass. I want to pass between her and Ferez and rake Ferez as she does." Unmute.
"I'm not sure why we're having this chat. You and I both know you're not looking for us to surrender. Your goal is to disable our ship with those codes you're sending and then space the lot of us." I said.
"I'd have hoped we could end this peacefully," Tullas responded.
"I've seen what you believe is peaceful, Lorraine. Dying peacefully in the deep dark is still dying. I'll give you this chance now to leave. You have no business here," I said and cut comm.
I drummed my fingers nervously on the arm of my chair. Once again, I was in the open field of battle, tilting at my enemy, ready to drop my lance and unseat my opponent. Mankind had progressed so little in the few millennia since horses were the preferred conveyance of knights into battle.
"Missiles are aloft," Jonathan reported.
"Gunners, pick 'em up," Marny ordered calmly. Both Ferez and Justice Bringer had launched missiles bringing the total to nine in flight. At least they'd launched them early. I supposed they'd done so with the hope of being ready for a second salvo before we passed. I smiled as I heard a whoop from the gunner's nest as one after another, missiles were picked off.
"Counter-measures," I ordered. The gunners had done a great job of picking off five missiles. Even with their success, four would make it through.
"Roger that, Captain," Jonathan replied.
Predict location of missile strikes. The AI showed a spread along the front side of Intrepid, reminding me that I'd just dropped Beth Anne and Xie in that very location not fifteen minutes previous. I hoped they'd taken my warning to clear out if we ran into trouble, as it was too late now. There always seemed to be some contingency I should have considered more seriously, but didn't. When people's lives hung in the balance, it was maddening.
The ship shook as counter-measures launched and missiles exploded near the hull as well as on the hull, but there wasn't time to become distracted.
"Executing close pass now," Ada warned as she rolled Intrepid onto its side, passing Justice Bringer on her starboard. The pounding we were taking from Justice Bringer's guns was fantastic, but we were handing out the same punishment to the much smaller ship, Ferez.
Up to this point, I hadn't seen Hotspur and was surprised when she momentarily appeared just above our bridge, following Ferez no more than a kilometer behind. Both her missiles launched from nearly point blank range and the top two turrets erupted in a constant stream. Coupled with our barrage, it was more than Ferez could withstand and the light frigate exploded.
"Flip. Combat burn!" I commanded.
Ada was already on it.
"Marny, everything you have on Justice Bringer." Tabby's maneuver had been brilliant in terms of obliterating Ferez, but Hotspur’s close proximity to Justice Bringer would make her easy to find. When Hotspur went dark, all Justice Bringer’s guns had to do was pick at empty space. Intrepid was well past the cluster of ships and we couldn’t hope to provide Hotspur any cover for at least twenty seconds.
As expected, Justice Bringer replied in kind, stitching space, searching for a fleeing Hotspur, while Marny poured missiles and blaster fire into their, likely uninhabited, crew section. The difference between Tullas’ first attack and ours was that her gunners weren’t knocking down our missiles but allowing them to tear through their ship. Tullas wanted so badly to take out Hotspur, she would sacrifice her crew and ship to do it. I watched as the damage mounted while Justice Bringer searched wildly for Hotspur.
"Frak, Tabby and Nick got another one!" Ada squealed. I looked up to see that one of the two cutters following Justice Bringer had been obliterated. Initially, I wondered if it had been friendly fire, then I saw the familiar transponder. I should have known Tabby would go for a point instead of running for cover. It wouldn't work a second time - although it wouldn't have to. We'd closed the gap and would provide the cover she needed very shortly.
Hail Justice Bringer, I ordered.
"We're a little busy here," Tullas replied tersely.
"Stand down, Tullas. Call it a draw," I said.
"You just destroyed two of my ships - murdered two entire crews."
"Want to make it an even four? You attacked my fleet, unprovoked, in open space. You are the aggressor, as you always have been," I said. I knew my face was hot from anger, but this woman’s insistence on our destruction was over the top.
"Are you mad?"
"You want to finish this?" I asked. "You are bested, Lorraine. You know it and I know it. Look around. Your ship has major damage and your numbers have been cut in half, while we've given better than we received. If you’d like to continue to stand toe-to-toe, we can take passes at each other until one of us is no longer able to move, or worse."
"Cease fire," she commanded.
"Cease fire," I ordered.
"We have more ships, Hoffen," she said. "I'll hunt you to the corners of the universe."
Mute comm. Ada cut in. "Captain, there are ships approaching," Ada warned.
"Belirand?" I asked.
"Freedom Station," Ada answered.
Unmute. "I suggest you take a different approach with Freedom Station, Lorraine. Hoffen out." I closed the comm.
Locate Beth Anne Hollise. I prayed she hadn't actually stayed on the observation deck.
"Beth Anne Hollise is in the civilian bunker," my AI replied.
"We're being hailed by Admiral Jorge Penna, Freedom Station," Ada announced.
"On forward screen. Greetings, Admiral Penna," I answered.
"Please state your business, Intrepid," Admiral Penna requested. He was a middle-aged, good looking, brown-skinned man with an accent I couldn't quite place.
"My apologies for the drama, Admiral Penna," I said. "I would like to request permission to enter Freedom Station's controlled space. We're here on a delivery mission and are unsure as to how Belirand might have located us this far out."
"Are you in need of immediat
e assistance?"
"No, we are functionally intact," I answered.
"I'm sending stand-off coordinates and require that you accompany my escort," he replied.
"Would you allow me to retrieve my sloop?"
"Certainly. Penna out," Admiral Penna cut the comm.
"Captain, incoming hail from the Marcos Pontes." Ada informed me.
"On main bridge comm," I said. A woman with similar brown skin as Admiral Penna appeared on the forward wall vid screen.
"Greetings, Captain Hoffen. Welcome to Freedom Station. I'm Lieutenant Wilmarie Fuentes. If you'd accompany me to a standoff zone, Admiral Penna would like a moment to de-escalate things with Justice Bringer," she said.
"Roger that. Intrepid out," I terminated comm. While Freedom Station had launched twenty-two ships in total, most of them were too small to be considered in a real fight. Penna was in one of two light frigates and Fuentes was sailing one of three schooners. Beyond those five ships, I didn't believe any of the rest of them would be able to damage Intrepid.
"Mister Rastof, would you start a physical assessment of damage to the ship? Feed your information to Jonathan, please."
"Aye, aye, Cap," Moonie answered and hopped up, exiting the bridge.
"Captain, Hotspur is secured and crew aboard," Jonathon announced.
"Ada, please communicate with Lieutenant Fuentes that we're ready to get underway."
"Aye," Ada answered. Send acknowledgement to Marcos Pontes. We are ready to comply.
Intrepid slowly turned, following a navigational path uploaded to us by Lieutenant Fuentes. On my tactical screen, Marny highlighted several large cannon emplacements nestled in a sparse asteroid field we'd be resting near. I expected some level of defense by Freedom Station. Admiral Penna was ensuring the fight between us and Belirand was over by bringing his cannons into the mix.
"That's quite an array, Marny," I said.
"Aye, Cap. Confirms a suspicion I had ever since I heard the name Bard Sanderson," she said.
"What's that?"
"Sanderson family was a big-time defense contractor back on Earth. The kid, Bard, took over and when he discovered extensive corruption, shut it down. Rumor was he took off for the stars and formed a commune with more credits than you could shake a stick at," she said.
Give No Quarter (Privateer Tales Book 10) Page 10