Sky had to admire the sheer nerve of the move. If the Orion ships had started shooting canister, they may have found their prey, but they had seen the vanishing act and made assumptions based on that. The safe move for the pirates would have been to disappear behind the moon and take their chances against the enemy’s white phones. The four chasing ships could not cover everywhere. With luck and patience, the pirates might have evaded discovery. Hawkins took a different path. He was not going against the enemy’s technology limitations. He was going against the enemy commander. This tactic depended entirely on the enemy commander doing the logical response to what he or she had seen the pirates do.
Sky watched the bridge crew. They went quietly about their duties with an air of competent nonchalance. Sky had seen Predator in action in the Badlands. She had met the crew for the first time when she had boarded the ship for this mission and had sensed their confidence and veteran savvy. But it was one thing to be confident in quiet space with an absence of a threat. It is another matter to be cool and calm when the ship is on the edge of quick destruction. Even while balancing on that edge, this crew still had faith.
The plan did not fail. Maddie on the white phones listened intently. “They are coming below us,” she reported. Ten seconds later, she continued, “They are below us.” Another ten seconds. “They are past us.” She looked around the bridge. “They missed us.” The message was delivered in a matter of fact manner. Maddie had expected nothing less and seemed to be listening just for confirmation purposes only. The three-ship formation crossed above the maneuvering OrCons and moved away as their erstwhile pursuers moved around the moon from every angle. The crew smiled at each other and returned to their duties.
Sky couldn’t help but reflect on the irony here. This was exactly why Lord Cunningham had sent her to observe and learn. Hawkins thought differently than other commanders, and Cunningham had known that but he did not grasp why it was different. Most commanders fought the enemy’s technology by employing their own ships, weapons, and systems to best advantage. Hawkins certainly did this, but he also took the enemy commander into account. He knew human beings controlled the technology, and if the human connection was the weak link, this was the point of Hawkins’ attack. If the human being was a ship captain who had just been thrust into command of his force by circumstances, and was now trying to chase down attackers using an ad hoc plan, this was the weak link. Hawkins zeroed in on this fact. The established chain of command had been disrupted by the surprise attack. The flotilla was probably commanded by an admiral who may not even have been aboard a ship at the time of the attack. If he was on a ship, it was most likely the battleship. The battleship’s commander was probably the senior captain in the squadron. When the battleship fell out of the pursuit, the two senior officers fell out with it so command had probably fallen to a cruiser captain who had never controlled a force of several ships, and very likely had been stationed here for the last several months so had not been in combat against the Zekes. Hawkins saw the pursuers were chasing the pirates like rabid dogs intent on a kill. This was not a force under disciplined control. The ad hoc commander was the weak link, and Hawkins exploited it.
After passing over the pursuing force, Blondie rose from her station. “I’ll be in engineering.” She exited the bridge.
Sky left her station and sat next to Hawkins’ chair on the three steps leading from the command section at the rear of the bridge down to the bridge itself.
She looked up to her left at Hawkins in his command seat. “So we are going back toward Murmansk as that is the area they are least likely to search, and then we will break off in a different direction and run?”
Raferty looked down at her. He smiled a cold smile, his predator smile. “No. We will continue in subspace back to the base and hit it again.” His smile widened. “They really won’t be expecting that.”
Mallory stared at him. He can’t be serious. They barely got away after the first attack and they had the element of surprise then. They had lost a ship. All the survivors were damaged. Now he wanted to go back. Sky realized that the fact all the ships were now in subspace and could not communicate meant the reattack had been the true plan all along since there was no opportunity to put this together on the run.
“So the brief you gave at Wanderlust left out a few facts,” she said softly. Sky kept any note of accusation out of her voice. Hawkins had just lost a ship and many comrades. Now was not the time for a back and forth conversation on strategy. Such a discussion wouldn’t make any difference anyway. He would do what he would do. Sky suddenly understood why Killian O’Hare had lost all interest in the brief onboard Sirocco. She had known much of it was just filler so she had no interest in maintaining the ruse.
“Yes, our brief did leave out our planned second attack, but all the facts on the OrCons and their base were true. The destruction we will visit on the enemy will be true also.”
“That is why you hit certain targets in the first attack. It was to pave the way for the second strike.”
Hawkins nodded. “Primary objectives were to hit defense targets so we won’t have to go through a firestorm second time in. Second objective was to deprive the base of power sources, and then ensure we hit the ships in harbor to cut down on pursuit.”
Sky nodded. “I get it. How you getting in? Moons will be in a different position. They will shift their leftover floaters around to cover the gaps you created in the perimeter defenses.”
Rafe nodded in agreement and gave her a hard look. “I agree. They will try to move floating batteries around to cover the gaps we blew in the defense, but there won’t be enough to cover it all. I suspect their primary focus will be on damage repair to their power sources and getting everything back in synchronized orbit. They will have split their efforts. Some defense effort will have to stay with the surface base to protect it, and protect what is left in synchronized orbit above it. Some resources will have to deal with the damaged equipment and ships left floating in space by the first attack. Their resources will be in two places and make it easier for us to hit. Our path back in will be between the two spots. I figure there will be traffic going back and forth and we can hide in the noise and confusion. We’ll get closer to the surface on one side of the surface base. We will hit the surface base infrastructure, pull off, and pass through the wreckage area left from the first attack, and hit that again as targets present themselves.”
“You didn’t have enough firepower to get everything you wanted in the first attack so it was always two strikes.”
“Yup. The only way we wouldn’t have done a second strike was if we had lost two ships in the first pass.” He leaned down toward her. “We publicized our attack on Rosstrappe for many reasons. One was to ensure the Orion ambassador to the Goths would see it. His military attaché would get the images back to the home world in a hurry. Now the images of our first strike here at Murmansk will get reviewed by the same OrCon intel people. Those people will match the images from Murmansk to the images from Rosstrappe. The intel guys will inform their chain of command the same force that hit Rosstrappe also attacked Murmansk. They will also say we ran like hell at Rosstrappe, and so they will assume we will run like hell here. As we work our way back in for the second attack, they will have several hours to match up those images and make that call. Their forces will look for us everywhere but near the base. At least I hope they do that.”
Sky gave him a small smile. “You’re an evil genius. Of course, the brief was largely B.S. so Aurora Empire will never trust you after this.”
Rafe noticed she didn’t say “we.” He was happy about that. He replied to her statement with a nod. “Hell, the Empire doesn’t trust me now. Besides, I will say we departed from the brief because the opportunity for re-attack presented itself, and it was too dangerous to withdraw on the briefed route. Also, the results will speak for themselves. The Admiral will love it, and Cunningham will still try to kill us anyway. If not on this mission, then sometime la
ter, but he will try. He would prefer to do it before we get back to our home turf far away from his influence.”
Sky nodded as she recalled the Admiral saying essentially the same thing.
Mallory gave him a small smile. “I promise to keep the deception a secret. You’re right. It is the results that count.”
Hawkins gave her a smile in return. “Thanks for being just as devious as me.”
“I assume we are going home a different route than was briefed?”
“Yup. We’ll go by the Delphi base and head out through the Cassandra system. The Delphi force will have moved out quickly to cut off our assumed escape path so will be headed in the wrong direction. So the base should be less of a threat than normal as we pass. The local attack your forces will conduct at Batsur will still support us, but instead of us coming out on the near side of Batsur closest to your lines, we will pass by the far side of Batsur, and have to transit through a long stretch of enemy space and then through neutral territory to your lines.
Hawkins now rotated his seat around and looked at Tactical. “I assume we got the damage reports, munition expenditures, and systems updates from all ships while still in normal space.”
“Affirm.” Tactical glanced up from her work. “All ships doing repairs on the run. A couple of repairs will require outside work so won’t be done. There will be no effect on upcoming attack.”
Sky knew Hawkins had work to do so she rose and remarked as a courtesy. “I’m going to engineering if there is no objection.”
“Tell them good job,” Rafe remarked in passing as he engaged with Baby Doll and Tactical.
Mallory set off toward engineering. In all passageways, she passed gangs of crewmen hauling missiles out of storage places throughout the ship. The magazines had to be near empty and needed to be restocked. The engineering compartment was quietly efficient despite the recent brush with destruction and a possible cold death in space. “A near miss with death was probably business as usual,” reflected Sky as she approached Blondie and the chief engineer Ace or, maybe, it was Joker. The two completed their conversation as she stepped up to them. Ace/Joker nodded at her as he moved toward the instrument bank several meters away.
“Captain said to tell you good job. He’s up to his armpits or would have been down here himself.” Sky relayed to the chief engineer, and got a smile and nod from the departing man.
Blondie turned to her. “Captain?” she asked as a way to open the conversation.
“I’ve just got the real brief. We’re hitting them again.”
Blondie nodded. “I know we are. That’s why I ran down here. We’ve been running the engines in the red zone during our breakout, and now we have to recalibrate all our settings to ensure we get the harmonics right for our reentry to Murmansk with no moons to hide behind. Takes longer in subspace to calibrate because of the engine power requirements to stay in subspace.”
Sky didn’t want to put her on the spot but she couldn’t help herself. “How long have you known about the real plan of attack?”
“I helped put the brief together to ensure it was viable from a harmonic standpoint, so I’ve known the whole time.” If Blondie was embarrassed by her part in the deception, it didn’t show. She continued. “Captain Hawkins plans to say this new course of action was a modification to the original brief due to changing circumstances.”
“He told me the same thing,” Sky admitted.
The two women looked at each other for a few seconds. Blondie spoke first. “You know Lord Cunningham can’t be trusted.” She stated it as a given, not as a subject up for debate. “If he tries to kill the pirates at the end of this mission, he will be trying to kill me and you. Captain Hawkins’ deception regarding the brief may have been underhanded but underhanded is what is going to keep us alive if there is a Cunningham plan in the works to kill us. It will keep you alive too. If the Defense Lord doesn’t try this time, he will sometime in the future. He will use these people as much as he can and when they are no longer useful, he will move against them.”
Blondie glanced over at Ace, or Joker, at the bank of dials. He was patiently watching her as he waited. She started to move toward him but added a parting comment. “If Lord Cunningham strikes at Captain Hawkins, he better succeed. One thing I learned about our Captain is, he will give you first shot, but there will never be a second opportunity. If Cunningham fails in the first attempt, he is a dead man. Even if he succeeds, he will still be a dead man. Captain O’Hare will see to that. If not her, it will be Tactical, Baby Doll, Dylan Whitlock, or Captain Delacruz. Someone will come. Payback is a given.”
Blondie nodded to Sky and stepped away to her work as Sky headed back to the bridge. Sky wondered if Blondie should have included herself in that lineup, but then she decided she was strangely at peace with the whole setup. “Been hanging around the pirates too long,” she mused.
Chapter 34
Sky returned to the bridge and saw the crew going about their duties in a calm deliberate fashion. However, there was one noticeable absence. Tactical was in the command chair with several displays dancing in the air around her.
“Where’s Captain Hawkins?” Mallory asked, plainly surprised the captain was not on the bridge at this moment.
“Day cabin,” replied Baby Doll from her intel station. She did not look up from her work.
Sky waited and watched the crew go about their business with a casualness that implied being hunted while deep in enemy space was a routine event for them. Sky came to the conclusion that might actually be the case. The Captain did not make an appearance. “Is he coming back?” Her patience was coming to an end.
“Eventually.” This time it was Tactical from the command seat who responded. She now turned from her floating computer screens and stared directly into Sky’s eyes. “His hatch is right there.” She pointed over her right shoulder at the hatch to the day cabin while never taking her eyes off of Mallory. “Don’t go unless you mean it.”
Sky stared back at her in puzzlement. Tactical saw the look, shook her head in disgust, and turned back to her computer displays. Sky turned to the day cabin entrance and moved the few steps across the back of the bridge to the hatch. Baby Doll and Tactical looked at each other and exchanged smiles. Sky pounded on the hatch.
“Come.”
Sky entered the day cabin. It was dark with a small light burning on the desk. Raferty Hawkins sat behind the desk with his feet up on the desk and leaning back in his chair. He had a beer bottle in his left hand, and an empty bottle sat on the desk in front of him. He motioned Sky to a chair in front of his desk. She silently moved the few steps and sat in the offered chair. Hawkins drained his second beer, stood up, and took a step to the cold unit and took out two beers. He offered one to Sky. She took it and opened it. Hawkins resumed his seat and smiled at her from the semi darkness.
Sky drank deeply. “Good beer.” She wasn’t lying. Hawkins always had good beer. It was smooth and cold, and seemed oddly appropriate after the recent events. Not something done in her Navy but, once again, she wasn’t in her Navy right now.
She looked across the desk. “Tell me.”
Rafe smiled benignly back at her. “Tell you what?”
“Well, we are moving to strike a sophisticated enemy target… again. We have eluded a larger enemy force, but they are still a threat. There are undoubtedly other enemy forces moving against us. There is a very good chance we won’t get home. Yet the squadron leader is sitting in his cabin in the dark drinking beers. Seems a bit unusual to me.” There was no accusatory tone in her voice.
“Well, we will continue to outrun the immediate pursuit since they are looking in the wrong place. I agree there are other forces searching for us, but we will slip away before the converging forces can trap us. Our re-attack will be successful and once it is done we will elude all enemy units and get home.”
“Yes, the plan is still valid, but you’re evading the question. Tell me.”
Again, Hawkins smiled
slightly in an overly innocent way but remained silent.
Sky took another drink and frowned at him. “I’m not chasing you around on this. You’ve lost ships and shipmates before. I’m sure you didn’t retreat to your cabin and drink beer. There is something different here. Your bridge crew clearly knows what it is, as they seem to have taken your absence in stride. What is it?”
She waited in silence. He would tell her or he would not. Since he had offered her a seat and a beer, he clearly did not mind her company, so she thought he would tell her eventually, but he was a man who could not be forced to it. She knew it was important or he wouldn’t be in the dark working through it. He would get there at his own speed and along his own path. Maybe he would tell her the story and share the path with her for a time, but he would choose without input from her.
Hawkins stared off into the middle distance for a long moment and then refocused on his visitor. “I told you once I commanded another ship before Predator.” Sky nodded and he continued. “That ship was Bandit. Emily Legrand was my XO.” A pause. “We were lovers. Lasted many months. When I took the Edinburgh ships, I offered her XO on Predator. She wanted to captain Bandit. She had been a good XO, but I had reservations. I came to the conclusion my reservations were based on my personal feelings for her rather than her ability to be a captain. Simply put, I wanted her to be with me. She had earned the chance to be a captain so she took Bandit. Several of the crew stayed with her and many came with me. We each filled out our crews with new people and moved on. That’s why there is no XO on this ship. I couldn’t quite bring myself to select somebody. Tactical, Baby Doll, and I divided up the duties and left it at that.
Payback Is a Given: Pirates of the Badlands Series Book 2 Page 27