The voice didn't fool Mike for minute, it was clearly Cappilo trying out his best Karduan impression. It did cause the two Karduan guards to pause and that gave him the second he needed to act.
Taking his Krager in a classic double handed combat grip Mike ignored the electronic imaging sights and focused on the fixed sights. Flipping the pistol's selector switch to auto burst he squeezed the trigger and fired.
Five rounds hit the first Karduan in less than a second. He then quickly switched targets and fired a second burst of five at the other Karduan.
Both women fell dead to the deck with multiple shots to their heads and upper torsos. The bodies landed right on top of the merchant sailor, trapping him under their weight.
Cappilo rushed out from the darkness.
"Holy Shit!" he exclaimed.
Mike also closed the distance to the mass of bodies, where he then stood open mouthed over the women he had just killed.
The merchant in the meantime screamed for them to get the bodies off of him. Rufo grabbed an arm and pulled one of the dead women off as Mike continued to stand there in shock. Hoisting the second woman off the sailor he then helped the older man to his feet.
"My thanks," the merchant spaceman said, kicking the nearest Karduan as hard as he could. "These bitches wanted me to blow up the ship!"
"We heard, where is your crew and are there anymore Blues onboard?" Cappilo asked, looking around for more armed women.
The merchant shook his head, "They only left these two fanatics behind. Can you believe these two volunteered to die?" he said and then looked to Collins. "What's wrong with you?"
Rufo shrugged and then said in a low voice, "First time he killed someone up close."
Mike stood there looking down at the blue bloody mess that had once been two women. He was sure he had killed people before, but that was as part of the Wolf's crew or as a fighter pilot.
Up until now he had the luck of never seeing the up close effects of his work. Now he fought the rising bile in this throat as his stomach's contents rebelled against him. Turning away from his friend he rushed to a nearby rubbish bin and vomited. After a minute or so of sickness he felt much better.
Stepping away from the bin he looked back to the waiting men. Thankfully neither of them said anything and had looked away as he tossed his cookies.
"Where is your crew?" Mike asked.
"They're locked in their quarters on A and B decks," he said moving to a panel and hitting few keys. In a second the lights came up and the power was restored. "We weren’t as badly damaged as we let the Karduans think."
"Great! We need to get your crew freed and this ship away from the Jillian in case she blows up."
The man nodded and went back to work.
"I'll get the power to the engines online while you two free the crew. Oh and I'm Mr. Clay, Chief Engineer of this old bucket."
"Glad to meet you, I'm Lt. Collins and this is Lt. Cappilo," Mike informed as he headed to the door.
"The lift is at the end of the hall, turn left and it will be on your right," the engineer said as they hurried away.
Gunny Masters and his team had some trouble on the Jillian, but a few stun grenades made the Karduans a little more cooperative. Six of Jillian's crew had been killed in the firefight, four more were wounded - two of which were bad. The crew had managed to smuggle a few small arms from their cargo hold and had been waiting for a moment just like this. By the time the Carronade had docked they had already retaken the bridge and the engineering deck.
Between the Jillian's crew and the men from the Wolf, they had pushed the handful of surviving Karduans to C deck where they boxed them in and eventually tossed in police stun grenades and rushed them. Two of the Wolf's men were wounded, but all of the Blues had been taken down hard.
The ISS Star Wolf streaked across the open space trying to close the gap. They estimated that they'd catch up to the vanguard sloop with five minutes to spare. During the battle between the fighters and the vanguard, Mister Dover's Wasp had taken damage to his engines and he had been left behind to wait for the Wolf to pass by and pick up his limping fighter.
The remaining three fighters had scored significant hits on the sloop's hull, defensive turrets and engines. After running out of missiles the fighters were reduced to using their pulse cannons at close range. They concentrated their fire on the areas of the vanguard where they had already taken out their defenses. Still, the sloop continued on even with their speed being significantly reduced.
The fighters had succeeded in their mission as the Wolf was quickly closing the distance and they had been ordered to pull back. The cruiser would reach the vanguard before they could reach the gravity well and escape.
"Sir, the Jillian and Brittany have signaled and both ships have been secured," CPO Parker announced as the crew gave a cheer.
"Casualties?" Richards asked as they collectively held their breaths.
Parker signaled the question and waited for a response, "Only two of our men have been wounded, no dead."
The bridge crew cheered again before Parker could continue, "The freighter’s crew on the Jillian have taken six dead and four wounded. They request a doctor as soon as possible."
"Relay the details to sick bay and have Doc Beilor and her corpsmen report to the Sky Train," the Commander ordered, without looking to the command chair.
Hope sat in his center chair and frowned as he looked at the holographic view screen and its tactical overlay. Staring at it quietly as they rapidly closed on their target the old warrior realized what had been troubling him.
"Helm, alter course, hard to starboard immediately!" he yelled, standing up from his seat.
The helm reacted quickly and turned the speeding cruiser just in time. The shortest pursuit course was a straight line to the enemy but that line took them close to the wreckage of various ships that they had destroyed earlier in the battle.
The one closest to their path was the abandoned second vanguard sloop. What had been troubling the old hawk was that after they had abandoned it they hadn't used the ship’s self-destruct. This was just after the deaths of the battle destroyer and the super destroyer when it was clear they wouldn't be able to repair or salvage it.
It had troubled Hope's subconscious mind until it finally all fell together. It was trap and a good trap at that. The vanguard was set to self-destruct and the Karduan's were just waiting for the Wolf to get close enough to hurt her. The attack cruiser altered course just in time as the sloop-sized starship blew up. Other than rocking from the shock way, the cruiser had no real damage occur.
It had also made them change course and this gave the crew of the fleeing vanguard ship the time they needed to slip through the gravity well and bend to safety.
"Damn! They got away!" Richards cursed.
Hope sat down and let out a loud sigh of relief.
"It could have been worse, but now we must hurry to either get the freighters repaired or get their crews out of here before more Karduans show up."
Everyone on the bridge knew what he meant. The vanguard sloop would run to the closest Karduan base and would come back with another squadron of ships. If they were still here when the enemy returned with help and there would be no tricks or tactics that could save the Wolf. They would be trapped and destroyed.
The fighters had reached their position a few minutes later and were quickly recovered.
"Helm, bring us about and set a course to the freighters, full speed ahead," Richards ordered.
Chapter Twelve
"It is imperative that we get underway and get clear of this system as soon as possible," Captain Hope said, from behind his desk.
The captain's day room was once more crowded with not only the Wolf's officers, but also the senior officers from the two repatriated freighters.
As he spoke his steward Mr. Lucas busily passed out sandwiches and coffee. It always amazed the crew how the man could anticipate the captain's and the crew's needs. Besides ca
ring for the elderly officer he had volunteered for medical duty and had been training with the crew in ship’s security and damage control.
Mike’s stomach had finally settled down and he now found that he was ravenous from his ordeal. Taking a big bite of his roast beef sandwich just as the captain turned towards him.
"I think everyone did an excellent job today, but Mister Collins and Mister Cappilo truly saved the day by stopping the Karduan guards from blowing up the Brittany."
His words were followed by a “Here, Here” from the rest of the assembled officers and NCOs.
Mike had to mumble out an embarrassed, “thank you” as he tried not to choke on his food.
"We estimate that we have at least six hours before a Karduan task force can be sent," Richards said, continuing the briefing as the captain sat down. "Of course, it could be less if they should happen to be closer than a few bends away."
This news caused some rumbling amongst the crew, but no one looked all that surprised.
"What is the status of the Jillian and the Brittany?" the first officer asked, looking to the two officers from the freighters.
The first to answer was a man in his early fifties. He was slightly overweight and seemed to sweat a lot, but had a friendly smile and a strong if sweaty handshake. His name was Freddie Anderson and he was the captain of the Brittany.
"We took some damage from those fighter attacks, but we still have one half impulse and our bender drives are fully operational," he said, wiping a handkerchief across his brow.
"The Jillian's maneuver drives are down and we won't be able to fix them for two days," First Officer Cowley informed them sounding as if he knew his ship was in big trouble. "We are also short on crew and only have eleven men left."
"What about the Brittany's crew?" Richards asked, glancing once to Captain Hope before looking to the sweating freighter captain.
"We have a skeleton crew of twenty men," he said trying to sound as if he could ill afford to lose any of them to another ship.
Richards looked back to Hope and waited for a moment before making any suggestions as the hawk quietly contemplated what to do.
"Sir, we could transfer some men and repair robots over to the freighters to expedite repairs. If we had to we could booby-trap the Jillian and leave her behind. By transferring her crew to the Brittany she'd be better able to make it to port."
At the suggestion of leaving the Jillian behind, First Officer Cowley interrupted the commander.
"Sir, Captain Anderson and I are grateful for your rescue. As we are both Lt. Commanders in the Confederation Naval Reserves we will obey your orders, but we can't leave either ship behind."
Hope's forehead wrinkled as his face frowned, "Why pray tell must we do that?"
"No disrespect meant sir, but Mr. Cowley is right, our cargoes are too valuable to leave behind or to let them fall into the hands of the enemy again," Captain Anderson added.
This information peaked everyone’s curiosity.
"What are your ships carrying?" Richards asked.
"The Jillian has twenty-four Mark II grav tanks with plasma cannons stored on E deck. We have twelve SF-86 Saber fighters still in their shipping crates on D deck. On C Deck we have stored 10 tons of missiles and other ordnance. The smaller cargo hold on B deck has two thousand suits of powered battle armor, crates of Colt gauss assault rifles and Smith and Wesson needle pistols," Cowley announced just as someone let out a long whistle.
"That explains how your men were able to shoot it out with Karduan guards," Gunny Masters remarked, shaking his head as it now all made sense to him.
Hope's left eyebrow rose in surprise, "Do you have any ship torpedoes?"
"Yes sir, two hundred and fifty Blitz Kreig ship torpedoes," he said, looking down at his ship's manifest.
Richards smiled at them and turned his attention to the second freighter officer. "And what do you have?"
Anderson wiped his handkerchief across his chin before he answered, "Nothing as grand as the Jillian, but we have fifty grav sedans including Porsches, Rolls Royce's and BMWs. It seems the Ladies of Kardua want to be driven around in style."
The room chuckled at this comment, but Commander Richards looked disappointed and pressed on.
"Anything we can use?"
Anderson looked to Cowley who shrugged in return to his senior freighter officer. Sensing something was up Hope decided to clear the air.
"Gentlemen, you are both reserve naval officers therefore I'm using my wartime powers as captain of the Star Wolf to activate your commissions and those of your ships."
Both freighter captains knew what that meant. Hope had called them to active duty and had appropriated their ships for wartime use. It also meant they had to answer his questions fully and truthfully.
"Yes sir!" Both men said in response.
"Now, Lt. Commander Anderson please tell us what’s on your ship that so important?" the Wolf's first officer asked with a slight smile.
Anderson nodded, "Sir, we are, excuse me we were part of the resupply ships coming from Earth. We are owned by the Ameri-Corporation and are carrying high tech medical supplies. Decks D and C are filled with medical items like an automated surgical center, two hundred hardwire units and two thousand cases of advanced Heal-X drugs. Heck, there is even a regeneration tank in there for lost arms and legs. Deck B is full of battle rations, enough to feed a battalion for a year."
The room was silent as they struggled to comprehend the magnitude of their find. The King of America's family owned Ameri-Corp. His company produced the best high tech weapons, had the patent on bender drives and was the leader for cutting edge of medical regenerative drugs which included the Heal-X family of battlefield medicines. One shot and a life-threatening wound could be healed in a matter of minutes.
Doc Beilor finally broke the silence, "There is no way we can leave those things behind, with an auto surgical center and hardwire units the enemy could enhance hundreds of its soldiers or fighter pilots. Even worse they could learn how to make them for themselves."
A hardwire unit was just that a neural augmentation to a person’s skeletal and neural structure, sometimes they were combined with gene therapy or even bionic implants. A skull-jack data port would also be implanted at the base of the person's neck. This allowed interfacing with computers and with things like powered battle armor or even advanced fighters.
No one onboard had such augmentations, but the word was that fighter command and marine commandos were already fitting their people and other units were to follow. Even Commander Hutton their resident snake eater didn't have a hardwire or a skull jack interface.
Hope's frown didn't change as he quickly decided what to do next.
"Send over repair teams to the Jillian and the Brittany along with our repair robots. Rig the Brittany for towing and let’s get the Jillian undertow immediately. We'll head for the gravity well as we make repairs. Concentrate on restoring her bender field so she can polarize her hull. We can always tow her into the well and if need be we’ll extend our bender fields to cover her."
"Sir, it's four bends to get back to the Hole in the Wall and we could run into trouble," Hutton commented.
"No way to avoid it," Richards started, but then saw the look on the commando officer's face and smiled, "I get what you mean we should unload some of the goodies now."
Commander Hutton grinned back at him in agreement. "Especially, the fighters and the torpedoes."
The two freighter officers, now activated Lt. Commanders sat quietly for moment as the Wolf's officers worked at the details of the weapons transfer.
"Captain Hope, where is this Hole in the Wall?" Anderson asked a little concerned about where they were going.
"It is our hidden base," Hope answered, unwilling to give the exact location to a ship captain who might be easily captured.
Anderson nodded and then frowned.
"Commander Richards said that it's just four bends away, but there maybe help only one be
nd from here."
"What do you mean?"
"The Confederation 12th Defense Fleet was beaten back three months ago during the invasion, but many ships escaped and fell back to their rally point at Jericho Six. Supposedly a relief fleet was coming to link up with them and then counterattack. We were heading there ourselves when we were captured and interned. The Kardies then forced us to take our ships into Karduan space, but my point is that we are now only one bend from Jericho Six," Cowley explained in a long hurried breath.
Most members of the command staff had remained quiet, but now Mister Dover spoke up.
"How long ago was the recall signal?"
Anderson shrugged, "Five maybe six weeks ago."
"It could be all over," Richards commented, looking to the captain with a doubtful expression.
"Still, it is worth a look," Sir Randolph said, standing up from his desk. "Make ready for all ships to move to the gravity well and then we will bend to Jericho Six."
The room scrambled with activity as they rushed to get underway.
Six hours later the Wolf and the two freighters were at a station's keeping just outside of the gravity well. The Brittany's in-system drives had been repaired to eighty percent normal and all of her hull breeches had been sealed. She still needed further repairs, but was deemed operational.
The Jillian also had numerous repairs completed but was still without her maneuver drives. The freighter could create a bender field but had to rely on a tow from her sister ship. Her hull damage had been hastily repaired and she was now able to polarize her hull.
The Wolf's crew had recovered the abandoned ship's boats and shuttles taken from the freighters by the escaping Karduans and returned them to their ships.
As the trio of ships moved to the gravity well not only were repairs being made but also numerous trips were made by the recovered heavy cargo shuttles. They were hurriedly ferrying missiles and torpedoes from the Jillian to the Wolf. This ordnance would resupply the cruiser's dwindling supplies and give her a little more bite.
The twelve brand new SF-86 fighters would have to wait until they reached a safe haven before they could dig them out and put them into use. They were dissembled and would require more manpower and time than they currently had available to them to make them operational.
The Log of the Gray Wolf (Star Wolf Squadron Book 1) Page 28