The Hope Island Chronicles Boxed Set

by PJ Strebor

  Nathan unbuckled and sauntered to the helm station.

  “That was a fine piece of flying, Leah.”

  “Thank you, Captain.”

  “But here’s the thing. A couple of minutes ago I gave you an order and you questioned it. Did you think I was unaware of the power situation?”

  “I wasn’t sure, sir.”

  “Well, young lady, here’s something you can be sure of. If you ever disobey another of my orders, I will personally see to it that you never sit in the pilot’s chair again.”

  “Captain, permission to speak freely.”

  “Permission denied.” Her eyes remained cast to her dead console. “I don’t care what your thinking process was, you were wrong. Those few wasted seconds could have killed everyone aboard this boat. Am I being absolutely clear about what I expect from you?”

  “As clear as a combat sphere, Captain.”

  “Good. Now take twenty minutes to get the adrenaline out of your system. I recommend coffee, if cookie has got any going.”

  She sprung from her chair. “Aye, aye, Captain.”

  Nathan resumed his chair and as the bridge hatch snapped shut he thought of Moe. He fought back the urge to openly weep.

  ***

  Ensign Leah Perrie found no coffee in the mess, so headed for the supply department. She stepped into the stores office, looked around and listened. “Should have known Fish would still be in damage control,” she said to herself.

  To spare her back from the low overhead, she sat in Fish’s chair. Damn, the old man’s tough. I guess he was right, but when I saw the power levels drop I thought, hmm. You thought what ensign? He’s Nathan bloody Telford for crissaske. The hero of the Genevieve Incident. The savior of Cimmeria. I’m sure he meant what he said. Gulp.

  The hatch opened and Lieutenant Wanganeen stepped through. He examined a scanner and only looked up when he peripherally noticed Perrie.

  “Aren’t you on duty?” he said.

  “Captain gave me down time.”

  He nodded and continued to read his scanner as he turned toward cargo hold two. The hatch opened and Fish stepped inside. He too held a scanner. What the hell’s going on?

  The environmental control officer and the damage control officer stared at one another.

  “I hope I’m wrong, Fish,” Wanganeen said.

  “I hope we’re both wrong, Leroy,” Fish replied.

  Perrie followed as they weaved through the hold until they both stopped at the superstructure.

  They stared at a point toward the top of the bulkhead. Perrie couldn’t see what the fuss was about. Then she heard the faint hiss of escaping air.

  “Shit,” Fish said.

  The ECO pulled a small breach patch from his bag and plugged the leak.

  Perrie’s blood ran cold.

  CHAPTER 23

  Date: 25th July, 326 ASC

  Position: Saint Joan.

  Status: N minus twenty minutes.

  Nathan answered his comm. “Captain.”

  “Captain, I need to have a word. In private, sir.”

  He recognized the ECO’s voice. “Very well, Leroy. Briefing room.

  As he stood, the hatch opened and Ensign Perrie walked to the helm. Her dreamlike manner and ashen complexion painted a picture of someone walking to her own funeral.

  Grace noticed it too, her expression troubled.

  “With me,” Nathan said. They stepped into the briefing room. Leroy and Fish awaited them.

  Nathan remained standing. “Let’s have it.”

  “Hull breach, Captain,” Fish said.

  “It was only a minor breach,” Leroy said, “but enough to get into the air ducts and spread it throughout the boat.” Leroy shrugged, seemingly resigned to his forthcoming death.

  Nathan felt a stabbing pain to his heart. Moe died for nothing. Nothing.

  “Is it the only breach?” He addressed both of them.

  “Yes, sir,” Fish said. “We both checked the boat thoroughly.”

  “Well that’s something, I suppose,” Nathan said.

  All for nothing.

  Ten minutes later the boat’s senior officers assembled around the briefing room table. Some took the news of infection better than others. After receiving the death notice no one spoke for what seemed like a long time. The shock had set in and every face had assumed a drawn, maudlin expression.

  Nathan found it difficult to concentrate. Moe’s face, in all her moods, kept appearing. But Moe was gone. He forced her image from his mind’s eye.

  “I don’t expect any of you to be happy about this situation but we still have a job to do,” Nathan said.

  “Job?” Amos asked.

  “Denying this vessel to the enemy.”

  “Just blow it up,” Amos said.

  “Hang on a minute,” Grace said. “We may have only forty-two days of life left but I want those days.”

  “Me too,” said Fish.

  “What’s the point of doing anything,” Leroy moaned.

  Nathan examined his senior officers. Opinions were split between a quick death now and a cruel lingering death later. He would never allow them to die of the Derwent Plague.

  A cruel smile cut Noffke’s face. “We could surrender.”

  “What?” Amos blurted.

  “The base is gone,” the marine said. “Perhaps they’ll take us to the Pruessen home world. With what we’ve got in our bloodstreams we could wipe out the entire central nervous system of the empire. That’s the way I’d want to go out.”

  “Wouldn’t work,” the T-O said. “They’d scan us beforehand.”

  Heated discussions broke out, but went nowhere. Nathan had let this situation fester for long enough. He slammed his open palm onto the desk three times until silence returned.

  “Doctor Jahn,” Nathan said, “exposure to hard vacuum will kill the plague. Right?”

  Jahn considered his words thoughtfully. “I see where you’re going, Captain, but there are risks.”

  “You’re asking a Pruessen?” Amos growled. “Meaning no disrespect, Captain.”

  Nathan set a hard eye on his senior engineer. “I’ve seen it work, Commander.”

  “I’m not sure I’m following you, Captain,” Grace said.

  “You’ve all done EVA training or you wouldn’t be on this boat.”

  “You want to expose the entire crew to hard vacuum?” Amos asked.

  “Considering the alternative,” Nathan spread his hands wide. “I’ll go first.”

  His comm beeped. He had left strict orders not to be disturbed. “Captain,” he said tersely.

  “Have I caught you at a bad time, Nate?”

  Nathan’s jaw swung open.

  ***

  Moe maneuvered her air buggy to Adroit’s isolation tank. As soon as the hatch opened, she carefully edged the narrow buggy inside, shut down the systems, and dismounted. The outer hatch snapped shut.

  On the other side of the clear composite window, three people stared at her. Nathan said nothing but smiled as he pressed his palm to the window. Moe pressed her palm against his. There were tears welling in his eyes. Behind him Grace held her hand to her mouth, tears glistening on her cheeks.

  “Prepare for radiation decontamination,” Doctor Jahn said, over the speaker. “Disrobe.”

  She dropped her hand from the window and nodded once to the square head. As she began removing her uniform Nathan turned his back. Grace continued to stare at her until Nathan turned her around to face the infirmary. The doctor remained in place. Moe wasn’t prudish about her body, but the thought of a Pruessen ogling her didn’t sit well.

  “What about you, doc?” Moe said.

  “What about me?” he said.

  Moe pointed at Nate and Grace and raised her eyebrows.

  “Oh, for goodness sake,” Jahn said. “Young lady I’m a doctor. You got nothing I haven’t seen a thousand times before. Now stop being sill
y.”

  As she began to disrobe the doctor’s attention remained fixed more on his readings than her. Fully naked she prepared for decon.

  No sound or bright lights appeared during decon, but Moe’s skin tingled as an epidermal layer was shed. Some of her hair fell to the deck.

  “Arms above your head,” the doc said. She complied.

  After a minute the decon ended. The sound of extractors came to her ears, as the hard radiation was flushed into the planet’s atmosphere. The doctor scanned her vitals.

  “Yes, you’ll live,” Jahn said, around a smile. “You will need a series of treatments, but you should be fine,” the doctor said. “Place your hand in the sleeve and I’ll give you your first shot.”

  Moe slid her hand into the increasingly tight sleeve, that ran from the tank to the infirmary. It locked tightly around her arm. She barely felt the hypo as it hissed into her hand.

  “You may get dressed,” the doc said.

  Once fully dressed Nathan and Grace turned around. Nathan said something to the doc who smiled and nodded. He disappeared from the infirmary and a moment later the inner hatch opened. Nathan stood in place, the intensity of his expression threatening to initiate Moe’s first blush.

  “Captain,” she said, “permission to come aboard.”

  His grin looked ready to split his face. “Granted.”

  He held his ground until she stepped from the tank, then scooped her up into his arms and kissed her hard on the lips. He held her tight. Too tight.

  “You’re crushing my ribs,” Moe said, through set teeth.

  Nathan put her down and cradled her face within his hands.

  “Don’t you ever do something like that again,” Nathan said, with conviction.

  “Seemed like the thing to do at the time,” Moe said around a smile. “How’s the boat?”

  Stepping back, his manner hardened. “We’re as infected as you. Hull breach.”

  “Shit.”

  “Excuse me, Captain,” Grace said. She hugged Moe tightly then kissed her. The kiss lingered a little too long for Moe to be comfortable.

  “I am so happy to have you back, Moe,” Grace said.

  “Yeah, me too,” Moe said.

  ***

  Twenty minutes later the three young officers sat around the briefing table. Understandably, Moe’s return had lightened Nathan’s heart.

  “So you just jumped onto an external inspection buggy and flew out of there.” Grace said, around another laugh.

  “Yeah,” Moe said, “I figured forty-two days of life beat the hell out of getting nuked. I didn’t stop to think about it. I saw the buggy and left ground-zero. That little bike can put on a good turn of speed. I saw that Adroit was in trouble and followed. As soon as I heard the air burst I ducked into a shallow ravine and took cover. I thought I could spend the rest of my short life in the isolation tank.”

  “Now you’re in the same boat as us,” Grace said. She blushed with remarkable speed. “I mean, ah, you know –”

  Nathan controlled himself, until he saw Moe’s half-formed smirk. They burst into laughter.

  “Yeah,” Nathan said, around a chuckle, “the same boat all right.”

  The three of them laughed at the nothingness until tears streamed down their faces.

  Nathan squeezed Moe firmly by the shoulder. It had taken an incident of crisis proportions to remind him of how much she meant to him. Moe returned his smile and nodded. She understood him better than anyone, except Livy.

  “So,” Moe said, “vacuum exposure?”

  “Yep.” He sobered. “First we have to get out of here. I’m still waiting on Amos to repair the damage and get our power levels up. When we go we’ll need as much speed as is possible.”

  “How long?” Moe asked.

  “Another hour, according to Amos. My fault really. I told him we needed to rush the start- up, so he bypassed some of the safeties. That’s why the power conduit burst.”

  “Hey, off subject but how did you get roped into this little sojourn into the north?”

  “Someone made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I had to come.”

  “Why?”

  He held her eyes. “You’d do the same for me.”

  “Yeah, I love you too,” Moe said. “I don’t have enough real friends as it is.” Her second comment was a quick afterthought. He’d bet money on it.

  “You, Moe Okuma are my friend. My very best friend.”

  “Yeah, right back at you.

  “So, where do we go?” Grace asked. “Make a dash due south?”

  “Nah, that’s what they’ll expect,” Moe said. “I think Nate’s got something else in mind. Don’t you, Captain?”

  His smile returned. “Maybe.”

  ***

  Max heard the hatch snap open. Spotiswood stepped onto Deception’s bridge.

  “Any sign of him?” the Commander asked.

  “Negative commander,” Max said.

  “That’s it then. I’ve given him two hours. We can’t hang around here any longer. Prepare to get underway.”

  Max couldn’t see any alternative. If Nathan hadn’t contacted them by now, he probably wasn’t going to. “Aye, aye, commander.”

  A beep from his proximity sensor made him turn to the sensor suite. “Commander, I have a ship coming in. Looks like a freighter.”

  “They couldn’t have spotted us yet,” Spotiswood said. “Continue with preparations.”

  “Aye, sir.” Preparations for what? Max had little chance of piloting Deception past the orbital defenses. The program Nathan had used to disable helm functions had disappeared as soon as full systems had been restored.

  The buffers were firming up and soon he would have to try to emulate Nathan’s impossible maneuvers through the mine field. No wonder the commander had given Nathan two hours to make it back aboard.

  The freighter continued to close with them. Apparently heading for the base. A resupply ship?

  ***

  With her power conduit repaired and energy reserves topped up, Adroit streaked toward orbit. Although Perrie had done a credible job of piloting the boat, Nathan felt reassured by Moe’s presence at the helm.

  “One minute to orbital penetration,” Moe reported.

  The nagging throb between Nathan’s shoulder blades intensified. Something’s not right. Is it the boat or something external? He closed his eyes and focused on the source of the danger.

  “Grace, alert condition two, if you would.”

  “Aye, Captain.” Although her tone indicated baffled curiosity she complied without question. As she should. The dull alarm sounded throughout the boat. All departments would be on high alert as they awaited the possibility of an AC one announcement. A call to arms.

  Nathan removed his uniform, grunting as he slipped into his V suit.

  “Orbit achieved, Captain,” Moe said.

  “Helm come about on a heading of 247 by 112 by 332. Bring the boat to a dead stop.”

  “Aye, Captain.” Moe’s reply was weary acceptance rather than curiosity. She, at least, understood him.

  “Tactical, passive scan the region of space dead ahead of us.”

  “Aye, Captain,” Willet said.

  He just caught the wry smile on Moe’s face at the young ensign’s mild bewilderment. “Holy shit,” the T-O said. “Sorry sir. I have two vessels ahead. Ah, one doesn’t register

  on my scans and I only spotted her on long range visual.” Rudi took a moment to compose himself. As he did Moe finished fitting her v suit and leaned over his shoulder.

  “Show me,” Moe said. After a moment she turned to the Captain. “It’s the same ship that took Adroit and she’s got the other, ah, whatever it is. By now that weird looking boat will be totally disabled.”

  Nathan winked at Moe and motioned her back to her station. She mouthed the word fuck before taking her station.

  “D-O, alert condition one throughout the b
oat.”

  “Aye, aye Captain,” Grace said.

  Perrie and other crew slipped into the briefing room to change into their V suits. Nathan had his bag set behind his station and fitted armor over his suit. Grace left her station in the hands of CPO Jenner. This procedure would occur throughout the entire boat.

  Nathan slipped his helmet on and strode to the centrally-located combat sphere. He found it damnably difficult to strap in with one hand but finally managed it and dropped into the combat sphere.

  “SMC, tie in for all functions.”

  “Tied in.”

  “SMC, real time image on all panels.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  Like a deck of cards being flicked through the fingers, the images leapt onto the panels surrounding the sphere. The two vessels were too distant to make out but even at extreme distance the enemy’s silver green beam shone.

  “SMC, magnify forward panels by one hundred percent.”

  The image zoomed forward. Both vessels filled the bow panels. The green beam must be the energy dampener and the silver a tractor.

  “SMC, reduce zoom by twenty percent and adjust for range correction.”

  While the computer acknowledged he examined the scene. Deception showed all of the activity of a dead fish floating on the surface of a pond. Has the enemy put marines aboard yet?

  “WEO – Captain.”

  “Applebee.”

  “Report.”

  “All tubes ready and awaiting the Captain’s command, sir,” she said. “Pulsar is online and fully charged.”

  Not bad for a youngster. “Very well. Load type thirteens to tubes one through four. Load type forty, pulsar heads to tubes five and six.”

  “Type thirteens, Captain?”

  “This will become an extremely long conversation if I have to repeat everything, Lieutenant.”

  “Aye, sir.” She repeated his instruction.

  “Captain,” Grace said, “all departments report green across the board. The boat is at alert condition one.”

  He retrieved from the sphere and offered the chair to Moe. He took the helm station.

  A minute later his comm beeped. “Helm, it’s my boat,” Moe said.

  “It’s your boat,” Nathan confirmed, taking his hands from his panel. “Suggest stealth approach. Ahead both, one quarter.”