by Peter Kenson
“Okay, we’ve got company overhead. Looks like small one man fighters circling the area but not in any sort of organised pattern. However, they will spot us as soon as we clear the interference field, so I’m going to look for a break in the cover and then take us up fast. There will be some high speed manoeuvring so tie down anything that’s loose and hold on tight yourselves. Mackay, how’s your shoulder?”
“Bloody sore, but it still works.”
“Right, you come with me. You’re the official co-pilot on this run. We’ve got no offensive weaponry but we do have some defensive counter-measures that I’ll show you.”
Jeren looked as though he was about to protest but David raised a finger to stop him.
“I’m sorry, Jeren, but Mackay has a lot more experience and that’s what I need right now. Besides, you have to look after Rachel and make sure she doesn’t go bouncing around the cargo bay.
“Rachel, contact your people on Ystradis; make a planet-wide broadcast. They must get themselves into a sealed environment. And if they go underground, they must tell the Resistance to take down their shielding so that you can still contact them. Belsi sniffers are not the main threat anymore.”
David showed Mackay the controls and then tried to contact Suzanne while waiting for a break in the overhead cover.
“Suzanne, tell Mikael it’s not the Destructor. The missiles are on the Belsian cruiser.”
“He already knows, David,” she assured him. “We’re moving to intercept now. What’s your situation?”
“We’re about to make a high speed exit from the palace. I’ll contact you again when we reach the Salamander.”
“Sorry we can’t help cover your exit.”
“Don’t worry about it. That cruiser is your priority. Tell Mikael from me, that I have every confidence in both him and his ship.”
“Thank you for that, David. Be safe.”
Mackay had taken Baltur’s helmet and was studying the tactical display. “Looks like we might have a 20 second break in cover coming up. That going to be long enough?”
“It’s going to have to be,” David replied. “Get ready,” he yelled through the hatch into the cargo bay.
“Go in 3… 2… 1…” Mackay counted down. “Go.”
David opened the controls and fed power through to the thrusters, rapidly increasing it to the maximum in a way that would have had the ship’s designers twitching nervously. The internal gravity stabilisers were struggling to cope with the acceleration and they were pushed back into their seats as the ship burst through the interference field. As he had predicted, they were spotted as soon as they hit open air. The nearest interceptors were all heading away from them but came screaming around in a tight circle to give chase.
“We’ve got two fighters on our tail and two more coming behind them,” Mackay reported. “All four are gaining on us.”
“They won’t be able to match our top speed. Flat out, we can outrun them,” David replied. “But I need another 30 seconds at full burn to get there. You’ve got to buy me some time.”
“I’ve got a missile lock… attempting to jam. Second missile lock… broken. Still got one lock. Dammit, birds in the air. We’ve got two incoming… heat seekers. Dropping flares… flares away.”
David threw the little ship sideways and increased the rate of climb as Mackay released the flares.
“Both missiles have acquired the flares; we’ve lost those two,” Mackay said, but the relief in his voice only lasted a second. “Dammit, that second fighter has got a missile lock again and I can’t break it this time. He’s launched… two more incoming. Dropping flares… now.”
David threw the ship sideways again and dived this time as Mackay studied the display.
“Missiles have not acquired the flares. They’re still coming. These two aren’t heat seekers. Impact in 10 seconds.”
David pushed the nose of the ship down even further to increase their speed. On the tactical displays inside their helmets, the ground was rushing up to meet them at a terrifying rate.
“The fighters are dropping back but those missiles are still coming. Rate of closure is falling but they’re still gaining on us; impact in five seconds.”
“Brace for impact,” David yelled as he levelled up only metres above the ground. He altered course slightly towards a cluster of buildings in the distance, the only visible structures on an otherwise flat and featureless plain.
“Rate of closure still falling,” Mackay reported. “Impact in two seconds.”
The buildings were not tall; none of them were more than two stories but David was well below the level of the rooftops as they approached. At the last moment he pulled back on the controls and dragged the little ship into an almost vertical climb. The missiles couldn’t match the turn in time and crashed into the building, sending a shockwave racing after them that never quite caught up.
The smuggler’s craft was shuddering badly and the hull was starting to make some serious complaining noises before David eased the rate of climb. The fighters had closed the gap again while they had been dodging the missiles and he angled the ship away from them as the speed built back up.
“Everybody all right back there?” he called through the hatch.
“We’re fine,” Jeren called back. “A bit shaken around but we’re fine. Are we clear now?”
“Should be. They can’t match us for pace and we’ll be out of their atmosphere in just over two minutes. Then it’s a straight run to the Salamander.”
***
With a high-powered energy flash, the Swordfish burst back into normal space on a parallel course to the cruiser and her escorts, but fifty klicks to the side.
“Drop the stealth shields and let them see us,” Mikael ordered.
The nearest escort had begun to turn towards them as soon as the jump flash had been detected and Mikael transferred the image from the side cameras onto the main screen. The seconds dragged by as they watched the frigate continue its turn and waited for any sign of recognition.
“Sensors, any change in attitude?” Mikael asked.
“No sir. She’s still turning,” Erik van Gelst replied. “No wait… she’s stopped.”
“Frigate is hailing us, sir,” Ewan Targa reported from the comms station.
Mikael called over to his ex-Vostovian officer. “Guns, those Vostovian codes you gave us, are they still good?”
“No sir. They’re changed every four to six weeks, but the Belsi might not know that. It’s still a recognisable Vostovian code; they may not know it’s out-of-date.”
“Comms, send an acknowledgment code anyway.”
There was an expectant hush on the bridge as everybody watched the main screen.
“She’s turning back, sir,” van Gelst reported. “Escort returning to original course. They’ve accepted the code.”
“Right let’s get the stealth shields back up. Helm begin your turn to put us off the rear starboard quarter of that cruiser. Guns, bring all weapons systems online and report status.”
“Aye aye, sir. Two minutes to start of attack run.”
“All six forward tubes are loaded with nukes, sir. The phasor banks are online and at maximum power. The point defence railguns and short range lasers are ready to fire as they bear and there are two EMP mines in the rear tubes to leave behind as we go past.”
“Good work, Guns. Number One, you may commence your attack run as soon as we’re in position."
“Sir, there’s a marked increase in signals traffic,” Ewan announced.
“From the ships here?”
“No sir, it’s originating from Belsia. I’m running it through decrypt at the moment, to see if we can make any sense of it, but somebody’s going absolutely frantic back there. And the probe’s reporting increasing power levels on both Vostovian ships.”
“Sensors, keep that probe active. I want to know where those ships go, particularly the Destructor.”
&n
bsp; “Start the attack run,” Frank ordered. “Launch torpedoes in sequence.”
“Launching torpedoes in sequence, aye. All six away and running, sir.”
“All three ships changing course, sir.” van Gelst reported. “Cruiser’s point defence systems active. First fish lost… second one’s got through, sir; a direct hit. Rear screens down to 25%. Another direct hit… her rear screens are gone, sir, and the starboard mid-ship screens are down to 40%. Number four fish lost. Number five hit… number six hit. She’s taken massive damage, sir. Her main engines are shut down and a large part of her rear quarter’s open to space.”
“Helm, roll as we pass underneath her; bring all phasor banks to bear in turn.”
The Swordfish shuddered as the cruiser’s point defences switched their attention from the last torpedoes and railgun projectiles began thudding into the hull. The cruiser’s phasors opened up as well and warning lights started flashing as shields began to weaken. The space between the two ships was alive with criss-crossing pulses of energy, but the unique modifications on the Swordfish’s phasors cut through the already weakened shields on the cruiser and took them out completely.
“Target’s rolling, sir. She’s trying to protect her unshielded side.”
“Roll with her, Helm. Keep us locked on.”
“She’s launching fighters, sir. Port and starboard sides.”
“Switch point defences to the fighters,” Mikael ordered. “Keep the phasors targeting her main weapon systems.”
Swordfish’s phasors were now starting to do visible damage to the unprotected hull of the cruiser and a cheer went up as one of her main phasor banks exploded in a cloud of debris. The detonation had obviously breached the hull as the next phasor pulse passed straight through to cause a secondary explosion, deep inside the stricken cruiser.
“Both escorts inbound at high speed, sir,” van Gelst reported. “Closest frigate will be in weapons range in two minutes. We’ve taken down one of the fighters but there are still seven out there, hammering away at us. She’s only launching from the port side now; starboard launch systems appear to be damaged.”
“How are our shields holding up?” Mikael asked.
“Port shields down to 10% but holding now that big phasor’s gone. It’s the railguns on the fighters that are doing the damage, sir.”
“Can we roll round to attack her port side launchers?”
“Not before that frigate gets here,” Frank replied. “And the cruiser’s still got active phasors on her port side. We’d be caught in a crossfire.”
“Right, Helm get us out of here. Guns, drop those EMP mines and reload the rear tubes with nukes. Let’s leave them with a Parthian shot. Sensors, what’s the word on the Destructor?”
“Both Vostovian ships have broken orbit, sir. The courier ship is heading out of system. The Destructor’s gone stealthy but I’ve extrapolated her initial course and she’s not heading in our direction. She appears to be following Lord Held’s shuttle.”
“Feed that course into the probe and send it after them. Comms, get a warning off to Lord Held.”
“Sorry sir, I can’t contact the shuttle directly. Comms are down at their end. I can try to relay a message via the Salamander but that’s the best I can do.”
Mikael swung round looking for Suzanne. He found her standing at the back of the bridge with a worried expression on her face.
“Suzanne, can you try to contact him?”
She nodded wordlessly and closed her eyes in concentration.
“EMP mines away, sir,” Dag reported. “Detonation in ten seconds.”
“Warn the Chief and have electronics standing by to reroute circuitry as required.”
The lights blipped as the twin pulses raced past them and some of the screens blanked out for a second.
“Damage report,” Mikael ordered.
“The Chief’s swearing in what sounds like Gaelic,” Frank chuckled. “I don’t think he’s happy but we don’t appear to have lost anything apart from the rear cameras and a few external sensors.”
“What about the fighters?”
“Absolutely dead, sir,” van Gelst replied. “They’ve lost the lot: engines, weapons, comms. They’re just drifting… wait, sir. I’m detecting a missile launch.”
“At us?”
“No sir. The cruiser’s launched a full spread of six missiles from her port tubes but they’re all aimed at the planet, sir.”
“Dammit to hell. I thought she was too far out.”
“It’s maximum range, sir, but they will reach the outer limits of the atmosphere in just under twenty minutes.”
“Guns, are the rear tubes reloaded yet?”
“Twenty seconds, sir.”
“Launch when ready. Helm standby to bring us about. Plot an intercept course for those missiles.”
“What about the frigates?” Frank asked.
“We’ll just have to run the gauntlet. We have to stop those missiles from reaching the atmosphere.”
***
“Take over the controls,” David ordered Mackay. “Maintain course and speed. I’ve just been told that Vostovian frigate may be tracking us.”
“There’s nothing showing on the tactical display.”
“No, the bloody thing’s got stealth capability. We won’t know she’s here until she uncloaks to fire at us.”
“That’s nice!”
David grinned at him. “There’s nothing like a good challenge. Keep your eyes open while I go to check on the others.”
In the back, they had lashed Baltur’s body to two of the cargo supports and Carl sat next to it on guard. On the other side of the bay, Jeren had slipped one arm through a cargo strap and the other round Rachel’s waist, holding her close against him. They both had a trail of tears down their faces.
“I’ve just heard from Suzanne,” he told them. “That Vostovian frigate may be heading in our direction; we’re not sure. So I’m going to make a fast approach to the Salamander, leaving the deceleration to the last minute. The internal gravity stabilisers will be right on the limit of how much they can compensate, and you will be thrown forward. So hang on tight. How are you coping with it so far, Rachel?”
“I’m fine, David, but I haven’t thanked you yet for rescuing me.”
“Save it until we get away from here, but you’re welcome.”
“Did Suzanne say anything about Ystradis?”
“Not specifically, but Swordfish is engaging the cruiser as we speak. Once we get back to the Salamander, I’ll have full communications again.”
In the absence of the shuttle’s external sensors, David had to rely on the tactical display inside the helmet to make his approach. The docking bay doors were still open from when they made their hurried exit above the palace and he lined the little ship up with the empty bay as he reversed thrust to match velocities with the Salamander. They were still decelerating as they screamed into the docking bay and the internal stasis field dragged them to a relative halt.
They waited impatiently as the outer doors closed and the docking bay re-pressurised before they could leave the shuttle. David made a dash for the bridge and kicked the Salamander into action, turning and accelerating away as a pulse of energy flashed through the space they had just been occupying. The others crowded onto the bridge behind him and watched in horror as the Destructor, now clearly visible on the screens, bore down on them.
The Salamander was much smaller and more agile than the Vostovian ship and David quickly reversed his original turn to swing in towards the onrushing frigate. Surprised by this tactic, two more phasor blasts overshot their mark before the batteries adjusted their aim. However, the combined speed of the two ships coming together only allowed the Destructor to land one solid hit before they were underneath the frigate and heading out behind. Unfortunately, the frigate had the same phasor modifications as the Swordfish and that one hit went straight through their shields to land on the arm
oured hull. Alarms started flashing on several control panels as the energy dissipated across the hull, taking out the sensors on that side of the ship.
“We can only take a couple more of those hits before the hull starts to give way,” David said. “I’m going to try to jump us out of here, but we’re going to be jumping blind. There’s no time to perform all the usual checks.”
Mackay sat himself down in the co-pilot’s seat. “Let me deal with the dodging around. You concentrate on the jump.”
On the rear screen they could see the Destructor swinging in a tight arc to come after them, as David’s hands flew over the controls, setting up the parameters for the jump.
“We’ll be back within phasor range in twenty seconds,” Mackay announced.
“Don’t need that long,” David replied. “Standby everybody. Jumping in five… four…”
He broke off as the raucous noise of the proximity alarm filled the bridge and the forward screens filled with the enormous bulk of an imperial battle cruiser. Cursing fluently, Mackay threw the Salamander sideways and climbed to avoid a huge stabilising fin that was rushing towards them. Behind them, the Destructor broke off the pursuit to take avoiding action of its own as sensors showed the new arrival bringing weapons systems to bear. It held position alongside the battle cruiser for a few seconds more, before deciding that discretion was the better part of valour and turning away at high speed.
“What is that ship?” Jeren exclaimed, looking at the image that was still filling the viewscreens. “Is it part of the Third Fleet?”
“No it’s not the imperial navy,” David replied, looking up from the sensor panel to smile at Rachel. “Your Majesty, you are looking at the flagship of the new Ystradian navy. That is the Phoenix and she’s hailing us.”
He opened a comms channel and the image on the screen changed to show the worried face of Lord Dhamina.
“Lord Held. What’s the situation? And where is Queen Rachel?”
“I’m right here, my lord,” Rachel replied, moving to the centre of the bridge. “Or should I say, Admiral,” she added, noting the uniform on the screen.