by CN Stoesen
Duncan couldn't help but feel it was too easy. Everything fell into place as if the enemy was cooperating. It left her uneasy. Was she looking a gift horse in the mouth or was the other shoe about to drop?
Chapter 9: Interrogations
The Lieutenant in command of the patrol craft turned out to be the apple eating officer they captured. Duncan watched the interrogation that Jones was conducting. She sat in the next room and saw what was happening on monitors. So far, the young man was responding with a brave face even though he was sweating and shaking.
"My name is Lieutenant Antonio Cernescu, Serial number 28945-00364, formerly of the Patrol Craft X-091."
Jones sighed again, "I know that, you haven't even let me ask you a question yet. Just relax, we have no intention of eating you."
He was trying to make a joke with the young officer but instead the captive thought that being eaten was an actual possible outcome. The captive's fear was palpable, but he didn't bend.
"My name is Lieutenant Antonio Cernescu, Serial number 28945-00364, formerly of the Patrol Craft X-091."
"OK, great to meet you. My name is Lieutenant Commander Jones. Would you like a glass of water?"
"My name is... what?"
"Water, would you like some? I can get you a glass if you want. Or food. I've fed your crew already. The galley is serving something resembling a stew, but it isn't great. It is filling. Do you like hot sauce? That will kill the taste enough to eat it. Breakfast should be better tomorrow morning. Even our cook hasn't been able to ruin eggs and bacon yet. He's just not that clever."
"I...", then the captives shoulders slumped, and he looked down at the table in front of him. He took in a deep breath. "Yes, I would like water, please."
Jones beamed, "Great, I'll get you some."
Pressing a button on the table, he spoke out, "Please send in a steward with some water and a meal for the prisoner. Thank you."
Antonio looked up. He was confused.
Jones shrugged, "What?"
"You gave an order to the man but said please and thank you for it. You are one of the senior officers here. Why would you do that?"
"Because it is polite. Just because I outrank the orderly, doesn't mean I can't be polite."
The prisoner became even more confused, "But isn't that bad for discipline? Don't you need your men to know you are in command?"
Now it was Jones' turn to look confused. "They already know I'm an officer. I don't need to beat them over the head with that fact. They do their jobs as they were trained to and there isn't a need to jump on them. Why? What's it like aboard your ship? I've heard rumors of captains that were harsh task masters in almost every navy since the old earth Roman Empire. But from my experience that's the exception rather than the norm."
Antonio had to think for a while. He had no desire to end up one day in front of a firing squad because he gave up secrets. But then he shrugged when he thought he had nothing important he could divulge.
"In my ship, the only one I've been aboard, the captain is an absolute authority. His officers are his fists to keep discipline. Men are to work quietly and efficiently or face punishment. That can range from reduced rations to a flogging. Repeat offenders are given increasingly severe punishments. I saw a man sent out of the airlock."
The cruelty of his captain hadn't rubbed off on this young man yet. He was still terrified more of his captain than his captors. That was interesting to Jones. There was no indication from any of the other crews that this was common among the FUP fleet. It seems this lieutenant just had a bad captain. He thought about how to use this to his advantage.
"That's most unusual. I've never heard of such a thing in our fleet. Then again, I haven't known about such in the FUP either. I'm sorry that you had such an experience. Being how junior you were, how were you assigned to the patrol craft? Were you one of your captain's favorites?"
The young man recoiled from Jones, "No. He told me he was glad to be rid of me. He said he could dump all of his misfits from his crew and hoped that space would take care of us."
Jones raised an eyebrow, "What did you do to be part of his misfits?"
The words became easier for the lieutenant to say. Name, rank and serial number only was forgotten.
"I brought the captain his coffee, and it was too cold or too hot. He said if I couldn't get that order right, what chance did I've of getting more complex orders correct? He had the bosun spank me. Have you heard of the term 'kiss the gunner's daughter'?"
"I don't believe I have," said Jones.
"It is from old earth, back when the navies used ships with sails and wind power. Midshipmen or officer apprentices would be bent over a cannon and whipped on their backsides by the bosun as punishment for an infraction. It was because they were too young for a man's punishment. He assembled the crew to watch me be spanked. I never disobeyed an order he gave. But my career was already ruined as he showed me the fitness report he wrote for me. My cruise isn't even half way over and he already wrote the one he will send at the end of the it. My only chance was to prove myself with the patrol craft. I had intercepted three vessels before yours. One of which I found contraband. Then, you captured me."
Jones leaned forward over the interrogation room table. He stared into the lieutenant's eyes and drummed his fingers. He came to a conclusion.
"Thank you for your candor and your time. I will have the guard take you to the mess hall before being returned to your cell."
With that, Jones stood and left. He was replaced by a marine guard who helped Antonio to his feet and walked him out of the room.
Jones joined Duncan, "Well, what do you think of our Antonio Cernescu?"
Duncan thought for a minute, "He's either a really good actor or we did him a favor capturing him."
Jones laughed, "My thoughts too. The bad news is, I've confirmation from the other crewmen we captured. Three volunteered to join the New Glasgow Naval Militia because they despised their captain so much. Each one has the same story. They all claim to be competent at their jobs and ran afoul of a rather brutal captain. Several have marks on them as if they had been flogged. That ship is the FUP Battle Cruiser Adamant under the command of Captain Yudin Luchok Andreevich. They arrived on station two months ago. They rotated out a Heavy Cruiser we knew about. The lower ranks have been much more willing to talk. They're happy to be alive and not under Luchok's command."
"So, what the lieutenant was saying was true? Wow. I was half convinced he was making it up. How can we use this to our advantage? That's if the patrol craft trap doesn't work. I only give that about a thirty percent chance of success."
"Yeah, me too. It's a long shot and worth taking. But I don't think they will fall for it. In the end, there isn't much we can do with this. We could make some political capital with the prisoners. Exchange them through the good offices of the New Caledonians. Show they're treated well and not abused. It won't be a game changer as far as I can see."
Chapter 10: Planning
There was no sign of pursuit on the long-range scans. They lost contact with the patrol craft they had sent on its suicide mission after four days. They reached the asteroid field a short while later. Another week after that, they had worked their way around to AEON Base. Its name was appropriate. It truly was the Ass End of Nowhere.
Once docked at the secret facility, the marines were given liberty. Not that there was much for them to do besides visit one of three bars were on the station. Duncan had meetings to attend. The first of which was a status update.
Once again, Rothfuss was in attendance and running the meeting. Over a large holotable he marked out the changes that have been discovered on the FUP deployments.
"The most interesting item is that the ground troops on New Glasgow have noticed that sectors occupied by FUP marines have now been replaced with security battalions. We believe the marines have been recalled to the fleet. In those areas, the militia has made some significant advances since the replacement battalions of the FUP aren't front
line quality troops. They are most suited to policing than soldiering. Shuttles have been lifting off the planet and returning to various ships of the FUP fleet. That means we can't continue our ruse of counter boarding anymore with impunity."
When Rothfuss finished that part of the briefing, there were murmurs around the room. The ships officers and marines were interested in this development. But Rothfuss wasn't done.
"So far, we have captured no less than five enemy warships. The cost hasn't been as severe as our predictions were. Three sailors and eight marines died and several more of each wounded. We've recommissioned the captured vessels and crews are being assembled. Captain McDermont attempted to attack one of the FUP capitol ships with a suicide shuttle. While this was an inventive strategy, it didn't succeed. The patrol craft they rigged to self-destruct on docking was intercepted by another one. When our sabotaged craft wouldn't stop, they fired on it. The resulting explosion damaged the other patrol craft."
He let that sink in with the group for a minute before continuing. "The Adamant has left her assigned area with three other vessels, an escort destroyer and two long range patrol craft. They are moving toward the point that the Saint Mary of Valencia entered the belt. I suspect they are looking for us. We have to be cautious about entering and exiting the asteroid belt. We have hurt the FUP and they want payback."
Before anyone interrupted, Admiral Antonio Sanchez de la Vaca stepped up. Rothfuss nodded to him and gave him the floor.
"New Caledonia has sent several supply ships with medical aid and foodstuffs. They will arrive in a week. These vessels have been changed to appear identical to the Saint Mary of Valencia. This should offer some confusion. They've volunteer crews that know they may head into great trouble. We expect there to be an incident. Given the nature of the Adamant's captain, I think there will be. Aboard each ship are news crews documenting the relief mission. I'd think that the Adamant would fire upon these ships. I recommend that the Saint Mary not cruise for a while so we can see what happens."
Rothfuss nodded, "I agree. Captain Duncan, please distribute your men among the new ships. They will continue to patrol. If possible, take additional vessels. If not, destroy or damage as many as possible."
The briefing continued on for another half hour. Admiral de la Vaca promised additional military aid and the humanitarian aid was already on its way. They discussed Ship dispositions and patrol areas. Duncan's attention faded as she grew increasingly bored.
Once the meeting ended, Duncan returned to the Q-Ship Saint Mary of Valencia. She assigned several teams to depart to the new elements of the fleet.
Chapter 11: Interview
It was one of the nicer bars outside of the base. Major Renee Dietler sat at a table in the corner with his back to the wall. His new unit was still forming. He felt he was being kept out of the way or even forgotten. He worked on his third beer of the evening.
A man walked up to his table with a large grin on his face. It was Antonio Sanchez the reporter. He sat down next to Dietler and waved a bartender over.
"Another round for my friend and one for me," Sanchez said with a thousand-watt smile.
Dietler just groaned.
"How is live in exile, major?"
Dietler looked at Antonio, "What do you know about it? Spying on me?"
"Never my friend. I'm just interested in following up on the story I ran on you."
Dietler rested his head on his hand. "Look, when that story ran, they reassigned me to this shit hole. I lost what could have been an excellent assignment and was placed here. These kids can barely drive a mech. They are all raw recruits. I don't know how I'll keep them alive if we're dropped into combat. My command pilot is so raw he crapped his pants on the first practice drop I had with the unit. Don't get me wrong, falling to the ground in a drop ship isn't exactly a pleasant experience. But this kid had done four other drops."
Antonio's eyes went wide. He'd done a few drops with the FUP in past assignments. It wasn't a pleasant experience but not too bad.
Dietler raised his hand to stop Antonio before he could ask a question. "Look, it's not just the kids in the mechs. It's the mechanics as well. One of them got a thumb cut off because he used a spanner incorrectly. I'm not mechanically inclined, but I know to keep my digits when using tools. I've no idea where they found these recruits. The staff and the senior enlisted seem like they are fine."
Dietler left the rest of his thought hang out there for Antonio to assume.
Antonio leaned in conspiratorially, "Are you being punished?"
"Probably. Most likely I am. The operations in New Glasgow are a disaster. We aren't winning. Not losing either. We're punishing a planet for wanting to be a full partner in the FUP. But the charter of the FUP is to encourage planetary growth to achieve full membership. But when was the last time a system became a full member? It's been over two hundred years. Yet there are several planets out there that qualify. Our military is stretched thin attempting to suppress rebellions that aren't and protect a frontier with a potentially hostile neighbor. My friend, if this is what we're reduced to taking into the mechanized corps, the FUP is in serious trouble."
"Have there been any rumors if your unit will be deployed?"
Dietler nodded his head, "We're to be dropped on the planet Gascony to be a garrison force. Their rebellion died twenty years ago. They haven't recovered. There's nothing there worth protecting."
Antonio scratched at the stubble on his chin. "But Gascony is out towards the frontier, right?"
With a sad sigh, "Yes, it's on the frontier. It's probably the closest planet to it. If there's trouble out there, it would be one of the first systems hit."
Chapter 12: Aftermath
The New Glasgow Naval Militia Ship Shrike was on station. They were monitoring incoming shipping from one of the major traffic lanes into the system. They were only using passive sensors to keep a low profile.
Traffic into the system arrived outside of the asteroid belt for safety. No ship's company wanted to exit hyperspace into the face of a large rock. That kind of thing could ruin your day. It's not that it wasn't possible, it just wasn't done.
So, the Shrike just floated and watched. Then a tear appeared in space some hundred kilometers in front of them and a ship emerged. At that close distance, even the passive arrays could identify it. It was the Adamant.
Immediately a warning klaxon sounded throughout the ship. The bridge crew rushed to bring systems on-line that had been off while they observed. The weapons officer blanched at his readout.
"Sir, the Adamant has opened fire."
At this range it was only four seconds before the missiles impacted on the Shrike. When they hit, her hull was torn open and vented oxygen into space. The engines went off-line but not before the emergency hatches slammed shut saving the crew's lives.
Captain Belgrade looked at the situation report on his monitor that was still lit by battery backups. He lost over half of his crew. The marines' quarters were vented into space. Both teams were gone. The engine room wasn't responding. His ship was for all practical purposes, dead.
The weapons officer was bleeding from a cut on his forehead. He turned to his captain, "Sir, they've launched shuttles."
Captain Belgrade instructed his communications officer to send a surrender message to the Adamant. Their war was now over. He hoped the message made it through.
Free Fall
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The New Glasgow War Series
There are plans for five books in this series.
Prequel: Free Fall - Available Now
Book 1: Out of the Ashes - Available Now on Amazon
Book 2: Counter Strike - Available Now
Book 3: Price of War - December 2017 Release.
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