The reef was probably the most beautiful fish habitat he had ever seen. Fish of bright blue and yellow color, huge coral formations and blue clear water made it for the best day of diving in his life. Unfortunately, the dive master had miscounted and had left two divers behind when they went in that afternoon. Luckily, the divers were later recovered but there were other stories of people being lost at sea and drowning because someone had made such a simple mistake.
Mike was determined never to mess up like that and listened carefully when the shuttles reported back. The Sky Train had twenty-five men onboard including the pilot. The Carronade picked up a squad of twelve men and the Tom Thumb had an additional four men from the bridge crew. That added up to forty-one men, forty-two if they counted Mike. He was no math major but that number was one man short.
He immediately ordered a recount and waited, as a list was sent to him with the names of the men on each shuttle. Within minutes he had a name for his missing man. Shutting down his fighter’s engines he headed back towards the Cassidy's bridge with his Krager gauss pistol in hand.
The stowaway thought that his plan had worked. The shuttles were all more than halfway back to the Star Wolf and with a little luck the attack cruiser would be leaving immediately for the gravity well. It would have taken him close to a month by himself to get the Cassidy operational. Along with the help of the repair robots and the work already accomplished he was confident that he'd be on his way back to Austro Prime within a few weeks.
"Don't move!" a command came from somewhere behind him.
Slowly he turned his head to look at the young lieutenant who had impressed him so much.
"It's all right, Mister Collins. I'm not armed and I won't give you a fight," Admiral Kirkland declared as he raised his hands above his head.
"I can't believe you missed your shuttle by accident. So what is this all about?"
The old officer looked pale but stood a little straighter and cleared his throat before he answered. "I'd prefer to save any explanations for Captain Hope, if you don't mind."
Mike just shrugged as he called for the Carronade to return to pick up his prisoner. "I don't mind at all. I just hope I get to hear it too."
Standing before the Hawk in his day cabin, the old officer hesitated and looked to his guards.
"Are they really needed, Randolph?"
The Captain nodded for the two-armed guards to leave. Mike also started to turn to go but Hope’s eye caught his and signaled with a subtle shake for him to stay. Collins was also armed but he was sure that wasn't the reason Hope wanted him to stay. He probably wanted a witness to the conversation.
"All right John, would you like to explain why you, a man whom I have known for the last twenty-five years, would break his word of honor and attempt to escape?"
Kirkland looked pained, but quickly answered. "I wasn't trying to escape, per say. I was hoping to be left behind. I didn't resist Mister Collins when he came to collect me nor did I try to run or hide."
Hope frowned deeply, the lines in his face growing in intensity. "That is a hell of a barrack’s room lawyer of an answer!"
"Nonetheless, it is the truth. If you left me behind I wouldn’t have “escaped” as much as being marooned and would then be free to return to Austro Prime."
The Hawk looked as if he was going to explode. "And what would you do once you were there, sell us out to the enemy?"
Admiral Kirkland’s head snapped up as if he'd been slapped. For a man like him, such a question with all of its connotations would have been enough of a reason to call Hope out upon the field of honor.
"No, I was going back to save my wife," he said, his shoulders slumping down in defeat. "I don't trust the Austro government. Even though she is in hiding at a friend’s country house, it is only a matter of time before they find her."
"I understand your reasons, but one man isn't going to be able to help her or even get through the Austro detection field," Hope countered, his voice lowering in intensity as he realized his friend had not betrayed him as much as he had first thought.
The old officer leaned forward and placed his hands on the captain's desk.
"I tell you Randolph, I can do it! I have the codes to slip in, I have friends on the ground to help me and I can whisk her away before the government will even know I was there."
Hope was silent for moment as he looked up at his friend's impassioned face. Mike had witnessed the exchange and even he was sold on the idea that the admiral wasn't trying to escape as much as trying to rescue his wife.
"How do I know you are serious? After this last incident, I can't really be sure of you, despite our former friendship and joint military service."
At the mention of their former friendship, the old officer's faced looked pained. He knew he had to do something to regain not only his friend’s trust, but also his respect. Reaching up to his collar he removed his Austro admiral stars and laid them before Hope.
"With my wife safe I can renounce my pledge to the Austro government and serve where my conscious and my heart desires."
The Hawk’s beady eyes narrowed looking for a trick, but then he nodded in agreement. "Very well, raise your right hand," he instructed, and then from memory repeated the officer's oath of commissioning. Once Kirkland had finished and said, “So help me God!” the captain turned to Collins.
"Lieutenant, get a full detail back to Cassidy and get her as ready as you can in the next three days. Captain Kirkland will be taking her back to Austro Prime. Also note in your duty log that his commission takes effect at the moment he gets his wife back or is captured by the enemy."
"Aye sir, and what about a crew for the Cassidy?"
The Hawk frowned for a moment, only just realizing that he would have to give up some of his valuable manpower to help his friend. "Volunteers only and limited to six men, no officers," he said, keeping Collins from volunteering.
Captain Kirkland held out his hand to his old friend.
"Thank you, sir."
Hope grasped his friend's hand and shook it, grateful to have him join their cause but skeptical as to whether he would live to be any real help.
"Thank me after you get Martha back here in one piece."
Three days later, the IPS Cassidy was still a few days away from being ready to leave. Hope didn't have the power to commission the sloop as a standard Confederation warship but under the Emperor's War Powers Act he could enlist the ship as an Imperial Privateer Ship crewed by Confederation service men. The ship was technically listed as a prize ship and would be jointly owned by the Wolf's crew, which might mean additional prize money down the road.
Captain Kirkland would be joined by both of his former security men, Eric Wayne and Peter Bachman. Both officers wanted to get back home to find out about loved ones whom they had left behind. Two older veterans and two middies that who had similar reasons for returning also joined their crew.
The sloop normally took a crew of twenty to twenty-five men to man and would be hard pressed for just seven men to operate. Despite the hazards of the mission, Kirkland and his small crew seemed overjoyed to be working together. The old Confederation officer seemed years younger as he shaped up his command. He seemed to be everywhere at once, inspecting every new repair with a critical and experienced eye.
When the Star Wolf finally headed out to the gravity well, it was hard for them to say goodbye to the little sloop. The Wolf's crew was unusually silent as they were not only leaving friends and comrades behind but they were setting out into new dangers.
Mike figured that Kirkland and his crew would need about four or five more days to get underway but all of their remaining repairs were things that they could handle by themselves. The Cassidy's engines, hull and weapons had been restored at a breakneck pace by around the clock shifts of crewmen and all forty of the repair robots.
The sloop would have a single particle turret mounted cannon, two missile batteries, two gauss cannons and two dual fusion cannon turrets. The sl
oop also had two nose mounted torpedo launchers but no torpedoes. Hope reluctantly gave up one of the four torpedoes they had for the Wolf's launchers. If the Cassidy got in trouble, that sole torpedo could give them the edge they needed.
Mike had also made sure they had adequate personal weapons, food and medical supplies. He even transferred Commander Hutton’ grav-car over to the sloop to act as its shuttle. He would break the news to the commander after they had left and with at least a bulkhead between them.
His last gift was arranged with the help of Mr. Lucas. The captain's steward had managed to tailor one of Hope’s old uniforms to fit the former admiral, complete with his rank, service ribbons and awards. Kirkland's eyes seemed to tear up when he saw this final token and he shook Collins’ hand like a man who had just been told he was a father of a bouncing baby boy.
One of the last things the Wolf did was use the forty-eight standard mines they had found at the pirate base to lay a minefield at the mouth of the asteroid field's opening. The Wolf and the Cassidy would have the codes to slip by but any other ship would find a very warm welcome indeed.
Reaching the gravity well, the ISS Star Wolf polarized its hull plating and activated its Bender drives and was once more sucked through to the other side of the galaxy.
Chapter Eleven
Life was just too dull; at least that was the sentiment of the commander of the Karduan Companion Destroyer KCD 385. She was of the House of Han and had been promised action. During the initial attack on the human's sector twelve, her ship had been part of the fourth squadron. Ship Mistress Han-Vo had hoped for glory and promotion, but her ship had missed out on the destruction of the human defense fleet. Even now she was just allotted a minor role in the mop up operations and again failed to see any real fighting.
The KCD 385 was now assigned to freighter escort duty along with the smaller destroyer escort KDE 1092. Her ship was twice the size of a Confederation frigate and yet was smaller and sleeker than a human heavy cruiser. It was designed to protect larger slower ships and when needed to travel at high speeds to pursue and destroy attacking or fleeing vessels. The destroyer escort was approximately the same size of a Confederation frigate, though she thought of a superior design.
Her current assignment was escorting two captured cargo freighters. They had been caught trying to escape the sector and had been pressed into Karduan service. Their human crews were still alive and onboard along with a contingent of heavily armed Karduan security officers. Trained spacemen were hard to find and allowances regrettably had to be made. These two freighters were to be taken back to Karduan home space along with their cargo holds full of food and needed resources.
This was hardly the duty that provided glory or greater honor. Ship Mistress Han-Vo would have rather been out hunting down the broken remnants of the Confederation’s fleets or attacking the trapped worlds that refused to surrender. Even establishing a defensive zone against a Confederation based counterattack would be better than following freighters. Unfortunately, most of the cut off ships and worlds had either been destroyed or placed under siege. The chance for any real action had become a faint dream that Han-Vo would use to help occupy her long boring days.
"Honored Lady, our sensors are picking up several small ships bearing down on our position," a crew woman operating the laser detection system reported.
Han-Vo's heart leaped for a moment, but then settled down. If it was only small ships they couldn't possibly pose a real threat to her or her convoy. "Number, type and class?"
"Two Confederation SF-86 Star Fighters and four smaller unidentified fighters that are not listed in our data base."
The ship mistress' mind raced at this news. Perhaps a new fighter is being tested against us she thought.
"Position?"
"Honored Lady, they are even now hitting our sister ship with missiles," the sensor operator reported, surprised at how quickly the fighters had closed in on the destroyer escort.
"Take us in closer and tell the freighters to make for the gravity well," she ordered, "Bring us close enough to provide covering fire for KDE 1092. Communications, I want a damage report from the escort!"
The ship mistress watched the view screen as they closed the distance and the battle's picture became larger. Sensor station broke in with an update.
"Mistress, the fighters have broken off their attack and are retreating to the far side of the nearby planet."
"KDE 1092 reports minimal starboard hull damage and severe damage to her systems engines. She also reports that the two larger fighters had electronic counter measures that reduce our ability to get a positive computer lock. The smaller fighter also seemed to be difficult to lock weapons onto but had no apparent counter measures that were detected.”
A new weapon indeed Han-Vo thought, "Sensors keep an eye out for the fighters’ mother-ship."
Even as she spoke her final order, a wave of charged particle energy hit the companion destroyer and washed over to engulf the smaller destroyer escort.
While the Karduans focused on the attacking fighters the Star Wolf had slipped out from behind a small asteroid belt. The field was caught between the gravitational pull of the planet's two moons. Keeping her bow towards the Karduans she raced at full impulse to close the distance while preparing her spinal cannon to fire.
When they had repaired the Star Wolf they had taken extra care to replace the damaged bow plating with sections from the aft components of the ship and then replace those sections with hull plating salvaged from other ships. The idea was that the Wolf's hull had been designed and constructed to reduce possible enemy detection. Extra construction materials were evident in the exposed damage hull plating. They had taken a chance that if they repaired the bow and kept their nose towards an approaching ship they could reduce the chance of being detected. It apparently worked, as the Karduans hadn't even a clue that they were there.
The fighters’ attack was to further draw their attention in the opposite direction as well as to damage the DE's engines to hinder her escape. They hit fast and then broke contact before the surprised enemy ships could react. Cappilo's fighter had taken some minor wing damage but nothing that couldn't be repaired. Once clear of the area their flight leader, Commander Hutton, had signaled the Star Wolf to fire.
The companion destroyer had moved extremely close to the destroyer escort and that's exactly what Captain Hope had planned. The two ships were so close that he could use the spinal particle cannon to hit both vessels with one shot.
"Nothing like killing two birds with one stone," he commented as the larger of the two Karduan ships exploded. The Wolf moved closer as her forward two particle turrets opened up finishing off the broken hulk and severely damaging the smaller ship.
Commander Richards ordered the gun crew to cease firing once the DE had exploded and then plotted a pursuit course after the freighters.
"That was worth sitting here for two weeks," he remarked, as he looked to the center chair. "Should I have the fighters go after them too?"
Hope looked at the screen and then shook his head, "No, have them return to the Wolf. There is no sense in getting them shot up for nothing."
"Sir, the freighters are going to reach the bender point before we can get there," Mister Lewis reported, from behind his maser’s detection panel.
"Yes, I know, but we still had a good day of hunting. Helm, after we retrieve the fighters, take us to the bend point, we'll move to our next ambush site if you please."
"Aye, sir," the helm officer replied with a smile.
The next point took them deeper into Karduan space, but again the Hawk tried to pick a system that was lightly defended. At least that’s what he thought when they made the bend.
"Sir, I'm picking up six, no make that twelve enemy ships," Lewis announced in a very excited voice as the cruiser exited the gravity well and entered the system.
Commander Richards rushed to the maser station and looked over the middy's shoulder.
"Clo
sest ship is a full destroyer."
Hope didn't panic or even react; he just looked at the holo-screen as the enemy images appeared.
"Time to firing range?"
"We'll be in particle cannon range in forty-five seconds," Chief Burke called out from the fire control station.
The ship was already at battle stations and Hope was certain that their appearance was more of a surprise to Karduans than the enemy ships were to them.
"Forward gun crews commence firing when in range," the old captain said casually, "Mister Daley, please prepare for an emergency bend."
As the ship gently rocked from the firing of the forward batteries Martin rushed to complete his calculations.
"Already there, sir. We can bend as soon as engineering gives us the go."
The Wolf was designed to be able to perform multiple bends in rapid secession. The trick was to hold off the enemy ships long enough to get back into the well.
The destroyer was almost a match for the Wolf in size and weapons, but it had taken the first salvos of fire directly broadside. It also wasn't at battle stations, which was not too unreasonable considering that this was Karduan space and well behind the newly established front lines.
Within a minute of their first firing the Karduan ship was listing and started to go into a stationary roll. Her portside armor had been torn away and she had numerous hull breeches. Closing the distance, the Wolf's powerful short-range fusion guns opened up, which spelled the doom for the surprised destroyer.
Hope patiently watched the viewer as Mister Lewis called out distances and times. The next closest Karduan ship was a destroyer escort hardly a match for the Confederation attack cruiser. It was still eight minutes away, but five minutes behind it was another full destroyer.
In the distance were two large cargo freighters, three more destroyer escorts, and two smaller vanguard ships, which were about the size of a Confederation fast attack sloop. Beyond them were the rest of their fleet, which included a battle destroyer and a super destroyer.
The Log of the Gray Wolf (Star Wolf Squadron Book 1) Page 24