by Greg Chase
That could only mean Sara had secured the Tobes’ help. She wouldn’t have mentioned having been head of the corporation along with relocation otherwise. Even if Rendition did own a moon, without the Tobes’ help, the corporations would never accept it in their midst. “We’ve taken enough people off Earth to let it settle back into an environmental equilibrium, given time. I’m pushing Mars into giving us some array satellites. With any luck, we should have some of those old terraformed minor planets back online soon. It’ll be work, but we’re not reinventing the wheel.”
Hopefully, the deception would convince anyone listening in that Emily had no designs on Jupiter and that there was no threat to Earth from its moon.
“Just watch out for the pirates out there. They can be a rough crowd.”
Damn it. Emily had hoped to find refuge with the smugglers until Sara had a chance to locate safe areas among the moons for the people of Earth to settle. Apparently, the pirates would see her convoy as a transport full of treasures ripe for the picking. They wouldn’t be wrong. “I’ll keep that in mind. Any idea when I’ll see you two again?”
Sara reached out toward the monitor in the familiar gesture. “Soon, I promise. We’ll all be back on Chariklo before you know it.”
“That day can’t come soon enough.” Emily switched off the screen before the tears in her eyes had a chance to form. She still held the last communication from Dr. Shot in her lap. If Sara and Jess didn’t get a move on, there’d be no more need for secrecy.
“We have to start the attack,” Sara said. “There’s no more time for preparation. Don’t wait for Joshua and his crew. I’ll take care of that end.”
“What did you hear that I missed?” Jess asked.
Telling her it was more an impression than what Emily actually said would only go so far, even with the woman who knew the twins’ connection so well. “She’s running scared. That can only mean the moon is about to blow. Once that happens, all our pretty little plans aren’t going to mean shit. The Moons will be on full lockdown to prevent exactly what Emily’s trying to do—repopulate the moons with Earth’s people.”
“That was always the real countdown clock. I’ll head back out to Hidalgo to make sure Ed’s first wave is able to safely board the transports while the pirates harass the fleet. Europa is the biggest corporation among the Moons. My advice would be to focus your energies there in the hope that other Tobes will rise up in rebellion once they see what’s possible. What was Emily talking about with the new array satellites?”
“It was a side project,” Sara said. “If all went wrong here, she hoped to resurrect some of the dead terraformed planets. Mars has a vested interest not only in getting those outposts back online but also in seeing we succeed here with the Moons Corporations. If these boards of directors insist on solar system isolationism, nothing Mars does will matter for long. Without Earth, the Martian Consortium and the Moons of Jupiter are the last real powers in the solar system. Her real message, though, was that she was pushing them. My guess is those rich bastards aren’t very happy about taking on Earth’s refugees. In the long run, it’s not just the Moons of Jupiter who we’ll have to contend with.”
“So are there any satellites, or was that just her secret message?”
Sara didn’t honestly know. “Mars wouldn’t have had much time to build them. As we know, that board’s more interested in sitting on their revenues than doing any actual work. I think her message was mostly a ruse, but Emily can be more persuasive than either of us. If anyone could prod the Martian Consortium into action, it would be her.”
“I guess it doesn’t do any good to daydream.” Jess hugged Sara so tight the film began glowing at the perceived threat. “Do what you have to do to stay safe.”
16
Larry eased Rampike out from behind Ganymede into the Callisto-Europa shipping lane. “You do realize how outgunned we are? I count three convoys, each with potentially two gunships, all within striking distance. Should they all decide to break ranks, that’s the possibility of six fully armed attack vessels.”
“Thank you, Larry. I can count too.” As if Jess didn’t have enough stress already. “We’re not trying to take a transport this time, just buzz the nearest set of ships to loosen their formation. So long as those guardians think their cargo ships are in jeopardy, they’ll hang close to the convoys. If no pirate gets greedy and goes off script, the gunships should be too busy protecting their convoys to consider forming up for a counter attack.”
All along the major Moons’ corridors, pirate ships would be taking similar risks. So long as no one got ballsy and started a full-on firefight, Jess thought their plan just might work.
“I could use some help on the waist guns.” Spike had been swinging his forward-mounted guns from side to side, aiming at every ship in the convoy.
Jess settled into the body-conforming gunner’s chair on the left side of the bridge while Dagwood took the right. “Watch your power ratings, and don’t linger on one target for too long. We want to distract them, not kill them.”
The instructions didn’t give her much comfort. “I only wish you’d give those gunships the same advice.”
“This first one’s a small convoy,” Dagwood said over his shoulder. “I doubt they have more than one gunship, but be on the lookout in case there’s an undercover craft sporting hidden cannons.”
Ed, the lone member of the crew with nothing to do, seemed to be enjoying himself entirely too much. “Now, this is adventure.”
Spike grumbled from his post at the helm. “Tell me about it later, Ed. Like when you’re on that transport headed out to the pirate base with no guns to protect you.”
With Jess’s hands on the firing controls, her kozane formed its bond with the weapons. Detailed information appeared on the inside of her face shield regarding what she was aiming at, how much damage would be inflicted, and the other ships that might encroach on her field of vision. She practiced maneuvering the blast cannons in a full rotation about the side of Rampike—her zone of fire. “How many passes do you think we’ll need?”
Larry causally brought the ship into a parallel course with the nearest convoy. “Three at least—sound about right, Ed?”
“Everyone should be in place.” As she looked over at her longtime protector from Earth, she thought he’d never looked so ready for battle.
Back on her screen, the image of black space dotted with faraway stars became momentarily blocked out by the large moon, Ganymede, as Larry swung the ship around for its first attack run. She had to fight the effects of the adrenaline to prevent her hands from crushing the controls with her kozane-enhanced strength.
Dagwood shouted over his shoulder, “Slow and easy. We just want to wound them. But if one of those gunship bastards presents itself, have full power at the ready.”
She checked the lever under her thumb. I have to remember that’s there and not engage it by accident. They’d been over the attack a hundred times, but nothing compared to being in the gunner’s seat for a real battle. “Got it.”
Her seat began to shake as Spike let loose the first barrage of cannon fire from the big blasters up front. Moments later, she felt more than heard Dagwood light up his waist guns. “They’ll be coming in overhead. Aim your guns high.”
She barely had time to look up, thus maneuvering the weapons, before a massive gunship pointed its cannon directly at her sights. Without thinking, she yanked on the fire control, harmlessly peppering the attack vessel with low-powered shots. Damn it. Quickly, she thumbed the full-power level to try again, but the opening had been left for the gunship to take its shot.
The sound of metal ripping from the bulkheads halfway down the length of Rampike was accompanied by hatches quickly closing to seal off the damage—protecting the crew nestled safely in the center of the ship.
Anger mixed with adrenaline focused her vision onto the belly of the attacking vessel. With one precise shot, she opened a hole the size of a corpse that extended de
ep into its interior. If only I’d done that the first time. But there wasn’t time for recrimination as the gunship moved forward, revealing the row of unarmed vessels. Deliberately, she lifted the lever from full to quarter power and proceeded to harass the closest transport.
The ship jerked hard twice under her seat as Spike let the gunship have it with all Rampike had available. Her power readout momentarily dipped to a dangerously low level as Larry and Ed shouted out their approval at the Tobe’s marksmanship.
A large blast cannon, dislodged from the gunship, floated past her view screen, followed by random chunks of charred metal. She snuck a quick peek at the bridge view screen to see their adversary missing a major section of the aft quarter gunner’s mount.
Larry swung the ship hard down and out of the convoy to prepare for a second pass. “He’s hurt but not out of action. I want to get another run in before he has a chance to call in reinforcements. Everyone ready?”
Jess swung her guns around to check on their maneuverability. Whatever damage had been done to the ship, it hadn’t affected her weapons. “Good to go.”
As they approached the fleet head-on, she saw the damaged ship well toward the back. Vessels scattered in haphazard directions from Spike’s menacing guns. Jess could only shoot at fleeing transports desperate to stay clear of the action. When they reached the end of the broken line of spaceships, she finally got a clean shot at the gunship, but it didn’t seem inclined to engage this time. Once again, Larry had aptly guessed at their opponent’s lack of desire for confrontation.
Leaving the convoy, Larry took Rampike well out of the line of fire and toward Ganymede. “This should be it. Last check, Ed. How are you set?”
“You should get word as you make your approach.”
So much relied on timing, and without daring to make contact with the other ships, everyone was left at the mercy of every little piece of the plan falling in place exactly as hoped.
The convoy looked like small, scattered toys that some child had forgotten to put away as Larry swung around behind them. “All or nothing. This should scatter them pretty well.”
As the engines powered up, Jess heard the familiar and longed-for voice over the bridge com. “On your six, Spike.”
She couldn’t help but swing her view screen toward the back of the ship to see Persephone hurtle out from behind Ganymede. The huge, beautiful ship would still find passage between the scattered fleet a challenge, but Spike would lead the way, protecting Sophie with every last piece of scrap metal he had left.
Like a battering ram, he flew at the trailing end of the convoy with guns blazing. Jess’s heart filled with joy at having her longtime friend barreling up behind them. This was it. The Moons of Jupiter were about to feel her wrath.
Ed’s hand rested gently on Jess’s shoulder. “I’ll make the first jump. Once we know the plan works, the rest of the first wave will take over every available ship in this convoy and run them out to the pirate outposts. But whatever happens, don’t stop.”
The list of unknowns still bothered her. Could an Earth Tobe who’d been reconditioned by the nuclear time accelerator even board a Moons’ transport much less operate the ship? She looked up into the fondly remembered eyes of her guardian from Earth. “This better work, or I’ll bring you back as a pocket calculator. One of those antiques that never worked right.” It was an empty threat, of course, but anything that made the big Tobe laugh warmed her heart.
The gunship looked none too happy by the return of the rogue pirate. Its forward cannons rocked Rampike with its near misses. Larry—never one to back down from a fight—bobbed the ship in unpredictable curves, attempting to throw off the gunship’s aim, while Spike took every opportunity to fire at any ship that entered his forward gunsights.
As Jess readied her guns, Ed squeezed her shoulder. “No more than half power.”
She reduced the lever, unsure of what he had in mind, not that it mattered. Their wounded—though still dangerous—adversary passed her view screen in the blink of an eye. Terrified, she swung the screen back to watch it take aim at Persephone.
The encounter lasted only a moment. One deadly blast barely missed the gleaming ship. Sophie returned the attack by releasing a stream of glitter that continued to spew along the scattered transports.
“That’s my cue.” Ed dissolved instantly.
The gunship swung around for what looked to be a counter attack on Persephone, but it just hung momentarily in space as if someone had shown it the light of day.
A blast of crackling static hurt Jess’s ears. “This is gunship Avenger under the new command of Earth Tobe Ed, at your service.”
A cheer went up around the bridge, which was quickly silenced by Spike. “We’ve got a long way to go. Better punch it, Larry, before all the other gunships figure out what we’re doing. Persephone’s going to have to spread her unicorn glitter all around Jupiter’s orbit if we hope to move your Earth Tobes onto these ships. One success doesn’t mean we’ve won the war.”
At least it worked, Jess thought. The technological chaff that acted like stepping stones in a river might allow the reconditioned Tobes to access the human-controlled craft, but Spike was right. There were still a lot of vessels that were under strict control of the Moons’ Tobes. And the longer they took to escort Sophie through every convoy the pirates had pummeled, the more chances the Moons would have to form some countermeasure.
The once-organized convoy scattered in all directions. Ships controlled by the Moons’ Tobes headed for the nearest available corporation while those under new management pointed their noses toward the blackness of space and the hidden pirate outposts. Only the gunship struggled next to Rampike.
Ed’s voice had the command of victory laced with the struggle to remain in control. “I’ll do what I can for you, but I’m encountering some resistance from the human crew, who seem to think this is still their ship. I’m afraid I won’t be much good in a firefight, but I suspect the upcoming convoy might be a little surprised to see one of their own leading the attack.”
Jess switched on her communication link. “Don’t go doing something stupid. If you don’t have control of those guns, keep clear of the action. I wouldn’t want to shoot you by mistake.”
Ed’s voice softened to that of the well-remembered man of quiet command. “Understood.”
She switched her view screen from weapons mode to the view of what lay up ahead. Instantly, she wished she hadn’t. The next convoy in the procession hadn’t been prepummeled into submission—there weren’t enough well-armed pirate ships to do that with every fleet. Two gunships had their main cannons aimed directly at the front of Rampike. Though Persephone was an impressively large ship, Sophie didn’t carry any weapons. And though Ed would throw himself headlong into the fray even without full control of his guns, it’d be a pointless waste of ship and Tobe. “Any thoughts, Larry?”
“Other than obscene expletives? Yeah, I’ve got an attack plan, but you’re not going to like it.”
Dagwood spoke up from his gunner’s chair. “I’m not sure I want to hear it. Captaining a pirate ship isn’t a democracy. Do what you’re going to do, my friend. I’ve got my guns at the ready.”
An air of confidence swept the bridge as Larry leaned forward in the captain’s chair. “Sophie, Ed, break ranks and circle around the convoy. If we can’t take them from the back, we’ll ram them head-on.”
Jess gripped the fire-control levers but left the view screen focused on the forward position. She wouldn’t be needed until things really got interesting. The maneuver had worked well enough when they’d done it alone, but would it be successful in conjunction with two other ships that had no pirate experience? Long ago, she’d lost the concern for her personal safety. The more aggressive the maneuver, the more she wanted to witness it firsthand.
The two gunships from the convoy paralleled Ed and Larry along the row of spacecraft. Only Sophie was left unattended, but she was unarmed. That was a shame. So many
things Jess wished she’d have planned better. Too late now.
Unlike most of their attack plans, this one didn’t rely on subtlety. The logic was simple: it was hard to attack when being attacked. As they reached the leading edge of the convoy, Larry didn’t bother attempting to be sly.
Rampike swung so hard around Jess gripped the firing control levers for support. She leaned into the side of the full-body-support chair as the engines quickly reached full force. The maneuver was basically a game of chicken but with a single ship against a fleet instead of a one-on-one attack. With any luck, the accumulated fear of all the captains would create chaos, thus scattering the ships to enable Sophie to spread her glitter.
The question, of course, was the two well-trained gunships. Flying full speed into waiting cannon fire wasn’t for the faint of heart. Once begun, any attempt at escape would open their hull to a direct, point-blank hit. Not that a well-placed shot to the front of their craft wouldn’t have the same effect.
Larry aimed the nose of Rampike between the two menacing ships. Spike opened up with all he had just as return fire grazed the sides of the ship. Though the gunships could angle their forward guns, it didn’t take much random darting for Rampike to keep them guessing. At full speed, the entire encounter didn’t last long.
With all the ships fleeing, Rampike had her ass perfectly positioned as the gunships made a quick turn. Knowing that their dart-and-fire maneuver typically ran into problems only after passing the guardian ships, Jess opened fire with her waist guns. She vaguely noticed that the return fire they’d usually experienced was missing. Without an adversary to contend with, she made a quick inspection of what they’d left behind. The reason for the lack of pursuit became clear. Ed wasn’t about to stay out of the fray. Though he only got off the random shot that missed wildly, his presence was enough to confuse the gunships. They pursued him away from the convoy as Persephone made her run up the middle of the once-organized procession of transports.