Redemption: Book 2 of Warner's World

by Dave O'Connor

  From what he remembered it was a going to be a good 50m along the corridor with no passageways. He grabbed Al, pointed to his grenade launcher and aimed down the corridor.

  Al got the message. He poked his head out a little but was immediately targeted. He pulled straight back just in time. He was a bit shaken by the near miss. His breathing was going like a train at full speed. Jack had picked up the quanto in exchange for his rifle. He looked fiercely at Al. Al felt intimidated. Jack’s big frame and mean expression could do that. Al put up his hand slightly as if to say ‘all right, all right.’ He took a deep breath in and keeping his body to the wall used his arms to poke the grenade launched down the corridor but again he pulled back as pulse fire hit the wall near him. A burst of pulse fire went past and hit the outer wall, forcing everyone to duck.

  Jack just shook his head at Al. Buster grabbed the launcher off Al. He looked at Jack, pointed with the launcher, mouthed ‘bang’, then held up five fingers and then motioned to dive. Jack nodded.

  So Buster held the launcher in his left hand and crept with his back against the inner wall of the corridor about as far forward as he dare. He slowly brought the barrel up and with his right hand took hold of the stock. He would need both hands to have any decent chance of shooting level. He took a breath in and swivelled clockwise and around, fired off one grenade and swivelled back. Shots impacted next to him. The grenade exploded. Five seconds later both he and Jack dove around the bend on to the floor. Buster loosed off two more grenades while Jack opened up with a good burst from the quanto.

  The two grenades exploded near a temporary barricade that had been erected in the corridor about 40m ahead. The first one didn’t seem to have much impact but the second one demolished part of the barricade. The firing from behind it stopped.

  Ivan and Al took off as fast as they could. When he got to five Ivan dived. Al was still going. “Fool’ thought Ivan. But Al was lucky. He went down a further five metres ahead and was able to take out the first enemy figure to peer over the barricade. But that was where Al’s luck ran out. A grenade was lobbed over the barricade. Ivan was up in a flash and dived as far he could. Al was still aiming shots. The explosion killed Al in an instant. The wall above Ivan was pock marked extensively. But somehow Ivan was unhurt. He could not believe it. His visor display said he was OK. He felt OK but knew he shouldn’t be.

  Buster was mad. He fired another grenade that landed on the far side of the barricade. This time it took out the two figures who were trying to reinforce it from within the operations centre. ‘Probably coming from the other side’ thought Buster. ‘Just how many more of these buggers are there?’

  Buster saw Ivan dazed from the grenade, but he looked OK. ‘Now is not the time to stop’ Buster reminded himself. With Jack still laying down fire, he got to his feet and ran to the barricade. He could see several bodies. A crouching figure looked dazed and out of it. The rogan saw Buster at the same time and went to bring up his rifle for a shot but Buster fired at 2m range and blew him away. He hurdled the barricade and landed amongst the bodies. He used them for cover for the counter attack he thought would come. He fired a burst to let Jack know to come forward.

  Jack grabbed Ivan by his webbing and lifted him to his feet. Ivan motioned that he was right and the two of them joined Buster. Jack pushed a little ahead on the right, Ivan on the left.

  At that moment a rifle was thrown out onto the floor from the entrance to the operations centre, then another and another one. They waited on both sides of the entrance for a good minute. Then finally a figure appeared with their hands up. Then another and finally a third.

  Ivan stood up.

  “We surrender” hailed the central figure.

  ‘At last they’ve stopped the jamming’ thought Buster.

  “I am Lt Kiralenko of the Federation Fleet Ship Hermes and you are?”

  “Captain Worgit of the Rogan Imperial Fleet Ship Drakush.”

  “Right…Buster, restrain them.”

  “Chase”

  “Ivan”

  “The ship is ours.”

  Chapter 47. Soln 1700, 5 February

  The wreck of the Hermes made a sorry sight on the runway. The frigate’s back had broken not long after it had dropped onto the runway. The front section angled down to the front and the back section angled down to the back. In the middle, two makeshift ramps provided access to each section. Several of the crew emerged with some piece of kit over their shoulder, in their arms or being carried in some fashion.

  Crystal was knackered. She had taken charge of the crew after the Hermes was declared safe to reboard by Gunter and his engineers. She had martialled the crew into teams. One clambered onto the front section of the wreck with the aim of salvaging what they could. Another went into the aft section and did likewise. Another team setup shop under the canopy to sort the stuff being brought out and another team humped it all into one of the buildings. The building had been damaged in the battle and now a line of what looked like overburdened ants shuffled into what looked like a big snake with its mouth open waiting to devour them.

  It was exceedingly hot work under the late afternoon sun. Aubrey finally tapped Crystal on the shoulder. Crystal took a seemingly long time to turn around. The light dazzled off the sweat covering her face.

  “That’ll do us today” said Aubrey.

  Crystal managed a nod and then hailed everyone “Knock off time folks.”

  Slowly they all made their way further under the canopy where it was a couple of degrees cooler. Aubrey plonked her bum down on the trunk of one of the trees that had been upended during the fighting. There was no shortage of temporary seating. Two sleth came over carrying a big drum. They positioned it on the ground, ensured it was stable and after some brief instructions on how to operate it the tired crew came over to get a drink.

  Silence reigned. It was the first real opportunity the crew had had to ponder what had happened. Aubrey glanced over to the wreckage. An intense feeling of guilt rose up within her. She swallowed. ‘I shouldn’t have gone in for the cannon run’ she argued to herself. But another voice countered ‘and then we would have lost the day and who knows how many people here.’ ‘Enough!’ she said to herself.

  She looked across to where James was sitting. He had his head in his hands. She knew he was going through the same agony. So she forced herself to come over and sat down beside him.

  He turned his head slightly and peered out from behind his hand. But the normally loquacious pilot had nothing to say.

  “Don’t give yourself a hard time James. It wasn’t your fault.”

  He lowered his hands and looked up at her. “I should have…”

  But she shook her head and interrupted him. “It was my call that got us in the shit…not yours. You are not going to get any grief from me.”

  James appreciated her words but he knew that the board of inquiry would scrutinise his actions regardless. “Even so, I should have got us back down safely” he said. Then raising his hands and manoeuvring them as he would the controls of the craft he added “I shouldn’t have hit the thrusters…”

  “Stop it James” said Aubrey and she placed her hand on his raised hand and applied a little pressure till he lowered it again. His eyes began to water. He looked at her and asked “Will I lose my licence?”

  “Not if I have anything to say about it. Besides I am to blame for this.”

  James eye twitched involuntarily and he gave her a thankful nod.

  Chapter 48. Drakush over Fulmar 1900, 5 February

  “Unknown Ship over Fulmar this is FFS Rio, identify yourself” demanded the officer of the watch on board the Rio.

  “Rio this is Lt Kiralenko of the Hermes in control of the rogan ship Drakush. Welcome to Fulmar. We could do with a hand.”

  Part 6

  Deliverance

  Daring do alone does not deliver

  Will and whit can lend a hand

  But what works really grand

  is the
absence of a shiver

  In the end it’ is self-effort and grace

  that carry you across the ocean

  Like two wings of the bird in motion

  they deliver you from disgrace

  Chapter 1. Soln 1300, 6 February

  Evie brought the transport to a stop on the runway about 100m from where the Hermes lay. Dave had seen it on their initial approach and he had asked Evie to fly past it and return so he could get a good view of it.

  He knew it would never fly again. He felt so sad, as though he had lost a good friend. It had been his first independent command. “Huh, I’ve lost two ships in less than 24 hours” he said. It wasn’t intended for anyone but Evie overheard him.

  “Victory has come at a steep price Commander” she said.

  Her words brought Dave out of his focus. He nodded and said “Yes, yes it has.” He exited the transport, turned and joined the line of other Chicago crew picked up by this recovery run. He was the last to exit. There were over 100 beings waiting for him. Out in front were Fowlsit and Wenra and a sleth honour guard.

  Dave was taken aback. He knew he looked worse for wear but he straightened his back and stepped forward. Fowlsit bought the guard to attention as Dave marched. As he closed, Fowlsit ordered present arms and saluted. Dave returned the salute and stopped in front of Fowlsit.

  “Thank you” he said.

  “It is we who must thank you and your comrades. We sleth are in your debt again Warner.”

  “It’s boiling hot out here Fowlsit. Let’s get these folks under the canopy.”

  Fowlsit smiled for the first time that Warner could recall.

  A long line of suited figures walked off the 500m to S4, the only buildings still intact with a working air conditioning system. Once inside Dave was so glad to take off his suit, the first time in 24 hour. Aubrey sought him out and Dave could see how upset she was. They hugged.

  “I’m so sorry Dave. I lost your Hermes.”

  “Our Hermes, Aubrey. Our Hermes.”

  They parted and he added with a smile “They’ll have to give us a new ship now.” Aubrey looked a little relieved. “What’s the butcher’s bill Aubrey?”

  “For us on the Hermes, amazingly light considering. We lost 6 marines and three ships crew killed. But we have 12 wounded, including Art, Val and Chase. They’re all on board the Rio. Val’s in a bad way.”

  “What about the Chicago’s crew and marines. Did you recover all those pods?”

  “Evie’s going out for her fourth run to pick up the last two pods. That should make 24. One didn’t make it. But the Chicago’s marines paid a frightful price Sir.” She paused.

  “How many?”

  “Eighty five dead and five wounded.”

  Dave sank his head into his hands. Then he lifted his head and asked “What about down here?”

  “According to Sue, they lost 26 and the sleth 19.”

  “And this is victory?”

  Chapter 2. Chester 1130, 12 March

  It was the second day of the board of inquiry. The facts were not in dispute but Dave and his officers along with those surviving from the Chicago were gathered in the big conference room at Raleigh HQ. Dave knew that these boards of inquiry were mandatory with the loss of a fleet ship. He was feeling pretty confident that he would be exonerated about abandoning the Chicago and the loss of the Hermes was Aubrey’s responsibility. He didn’t think she had anything to answer either. Her conduct was everything that should be expected from an independent commander.

  Matt Turiq had the chair. “So Commander Warner you knew Commander Strong. You served with him previously. Why do you think he chose to lead the initial boarding party?”

  “That is not really for me to comment on Sir. I wasn’t there at the time. I hadn’t just lost my commanding officer along with a good portion of the crew nor had I just scored a massive strike against an enemy capital ship. Those events are likely to unleash strong emotions Sir.”

  "So you think he may have acted rashly then?”

  “Sir you are asking me to blame him for the loss of the Chicago. That’s not my call Sir. It’s yours. Would I have led the boarding party? Maybe. Would I have aborted when advised to do so by the watch officer? Most likely. We all make decisions in the heat of the moment Sir and we all have to live with the consequences. Lester’s paid the price for his decision. Can’t we leave it at that?”

  “All right Commander, thank you for your comments. That brings this stage of the inquiry to a close. All officers here may be called individually. Until the inquiry is concluded you are not to discuss these matters with anyone. Dismissed.”

  Chapter 3. Chester 1230, 12 March

  “Don’t worry Dave” said Rihan “I talked to Matt. He’s going to give you and Aubrey a clean bill of health.”

  “What about Mick Riley?”

  “Captain Schiller thinks he should have been more forceful with Strong but Matt knows that’s bullshit. It won’t go anywhere.”

  “Good. He doesn’t deserve to be paid out for this. Though he must be the unluckiest Lt Commander I know.”

  What?” said Rihan “Don’t you know that to lose one commander is unlucky but to lose two in the same day is careless.” Rihan was grinning.

  Dave laughed. How he loved that face. He leant over the small table at the café and kissed her cheek. “You are incorrigible!”

  “No I’m desperate. I might just jump you here Commander. What do you say to that?” She had that wicked look in her eye that delighted him.

  “I feel the need to go home, lest some sex starved vixen has her way with me in public.”

  “This sex starved vixen will have her way with you wherever and whenever she so pleases.” She paused for a second and then added. “Home sounds great. Let’s go.”

  Chapter 4. Chester 1000, 13 March

  Rihan was on duty. Dave had arranged to meet Art at the hospital. They would do the rounds on the crew still recovering, which included Val. She had gone back into hospital two days ago for a second operation on her shoulder. When Dave had rung to see if it was OK to visit, she sounded quite cheerful.

  They made their way up to the 19th floor, Ward 7, Room 3. As they approached they could hear laughter emanating from the room. Dave looked to Art who was carrying a big bunch of flowers. He just shrugged his shoulder.

  When they got there Dave found Val propped up in her bed grinning at this very attractive young woman.

  “Oh high Sir” said Val.

  “And here I was worried that my number one quartermaster would be in pain” said Dave and gave her a warm smile.

  “It’s nothing” and she gave Tracy a wink. Tracy motioned with her head and Val added “Oh, this is my new chum Tracy Gordon. Tracy, this is my skipper Commander Dave Warner. There, I can still be a good host even with a bunged up shoulder.”

  “Hi” said Tracy to Dave then she moved to Art and gave him a hug. As she parted she said “Thank you Art. I owe you and this tiger here my life.”

  “Better be careful” said Art “that tiger has a mean bite.”

  “Nah…she’s incapacitated.” To whit Val threw one of her small cushions at her.

  “These are for you” said Art. He leaned over and gave Val a kiss on the cheek. “That’s for pulling me out of that wreck.”

  Val beamed up at him. “I promise I won’t tell Sue.”

  “It’s good to see you in fine form Val” said Dave. “I wanted to thank you too. You and Art both took big chances out there. I owe you.”

  “I actually enjoyed it Sir. Got to meet interesting people…and in some cases kill them” she added with a wink. Dave just shook his head and smiled. He wasn’t going to give her a hard time for her lack of political correctness. Val continued “except that last bit with the rocket. I could have done without that. But there won’t be any more swanning about the galaxy in the old Hermes. Any news on a new ship?”

  “No, nothing. We’ll have to wait for this inquiry to wrap up first I reckon.�
�

  “Are you and Aubrey going to be OK?”

  “Yeah I’m pretty sure we’ll be fine.”

  “Good, wouldn’t want to break up the team.”

  “No. Anyway I’d better get going. We’ve got a few more to see in this place.”

  For the first time since he entered, Val had a serious expression on her face. “Thank you for coming Sir.”

  “My pleasure Val.”

  Chapter 5. Chester 1730, 15 March

  The celebration was in full swing at the officers’ mess. The board of inquiry’s findings were promulgated earlier in the day. The results were as Rihan had predicted.

  Mick Riley sought out Dave. “I just want to thank you Sir for what you said at the inquiry. And not just for me but for Lester too. That was a very decent thing you did.”

  Dave shook his hand. “To Lester” and he raised his glass of beer.

  “To Lester” said Mick.

  “Have you bought a lottery ticket yet Mick?”

  Mick rolled his eyes and chuckled. “I should shouldn’t I. You know Sir I owe you my life. If I had still been in charge we would have all died on the Chicago.”

  “Don’t give yourself a hard time over it Mick. Few people can think straight after the series of calamities you endured that day.”

  “That’s kind of you but I think it best to quit while my luck, such as it is, holds. I handed in my resignation this afternoon, straight after the findings.”

  “You shouldn’t have done that Mick.”

  “Yes I should Sir. A man should head the signs. You only have so much luck. Anyway my wife will be very happy. I’ve missed her badly. I fly out tomorrow. All the best Sir.”

  “All the best Mick.” Mick left him there and Dave was deep in thought when Rihan came over to him. “When are we getting married?” he asked her.

  “May and you’re not delaying it.” She gave him that ‘I’m talking to you, you naughty boy’ look.