“Blasphemer!” He thundered. “Unbeliever! Thou’lt pay for thy heresy and impiety!” He controlled himself with an effort. “Thou hast condemned thyself and thy crew to eternal damnation!” His image abruptly disappeared.
The “ambassador” had obviously heard his exchange with the Wielder-of-Swords. When the Wielder’s image faded, he was revealed, staring in openmouthed shock. The shocked expression faded to one of raw, naked hatred. “Then die, heathens!” He spat before cutting the connection.
Kas turned to Wansung, who was staffing the main sensor station. “Sensors to the main screen,” he ordered shortly, and the star field disappeared, replaced by a blackness relieved by five fluorescent blips.
The smallest blip, apparently the “ambassador’s” yacht, was scurrying to get behind the flagship. The three destroyers broke formation in an attempt to encircle Rekesh and Starhopper. The fifth ship, the Frigate, was too small to do serious damage to the battle cruiser, but she was driving at max boost directly toward them. “Com, get me Starhopper,” Kas ordered. As his chair’s screen lit to show Ler-Traken, Kas snapped. “Var, stay close but make sure your lasers are deployed and bear. That damned frigate is either heading for you, or is planning a suicide dive into us.”
Ler-Traken’s image nodded. “I see him. Don’t worry, Commodore. I would bet he thinks we’re unarmed. We’ll take care of him. You concentrate on those destroyers.”
A battle cruiser is an awesome vessel. A 500-meter globe, she carries fifty Strengl in-system fighters, fifty Wasp long-range fighters, and bristles with over a hundred weapons emplacements, including lasers, particle beams, missiles, and even mass drivers. Her shields are powered by their own fusactor, and are much stronger than those of a destroyer. Fully crewed, Rekesh could simply brush aside one destroyer, and would have no trouble handling two.
However, Rekesh was not fully crewed. She was running with less than a tenth of a full crew. Her hangar deck was stocked with Strengls, and Wasps, but there was no one to fly them. Even drafting the civilians and any crew members not required for other duties, there would not be enough crew to keep the missile stations and mass drivers supplied. In addition, there were not one or two, but three destroyers.
Kas turned to To-Ling. “All right, San. We can’t let them encircle us. We could handle them one at a time, but even a battle cruiser is no match for a coordinated attack by three destroyers. Recommendations?”
The tiny woman looked grim. “You’re right, sir. We cannot just sit here. I’d say pick one and charge them.”
Kas grinned savagely. “Right. I… What the Sheol is Var doing?”
Starhopper was driving away from Rekesh ’s side, heading away from the oncoming frigate at an angle. “I’d say he’s trying to draw that frigate away from us,” To-Ling replied.
“Damn it! I told him to stay close! Get me Starhopper… No, belay that. It’s too late now. He’s on his own.
“Helm!” He continued. “Aim for the flagship and boost max. Weapons! Monitor the other two, and keep them busy, but I want all available weapons focused on the flagship. Engineering! I want every meter per second of delta-vee you can give me. Push redlines and strain safety margins. I want this big bitch to drive like a destroyer!”
“Aye, Aye, sir!” and “Yes sir” were followed a split second later by a crisp “Engineering Aye, sir!” in Tremling’s voice. Kas and To-Ling had time to exchange a surprised glance.
Kas turned back to To-Ling. “All right. We’re going to charge the flagship, but I assume he will retreat and stay ahead of us. What I’m really hoping for is that one of the others will get careless and give us a chance to jump him.”
To-Ling looked dubious, and Kas continued, “We’ve got to keep them from forming a circle that’ll let them just sit there and pour on the fire until our shields fail. Our advantage is that they want to capture Rekesh, not destroy her.” His eyes narrowed. “I have no such limitations.”
The two destroyers that had been boosting to encircle Rekesh tried to respond to Kas’ tactic of attacking the flagship, but they were accelerating in precisely the wrong directions, and could only launch a few missiles and fire a few despairing laser blasts before Rekesh was past them and firing at the flagship.
However, the Wielder-of-Swords was no novice. A destroyer is much more maneuverable than a battle cruiser, and he was able to retreat with only moderate damage from Rekesh ’s awesome weaponry. Of course, “moderate” damage from a battle cruiser’s weapons was still serious. Kas had ordered his gunners to concentrate on the destroyer’s drive tubes and maneuvering jets. All he’d need do would be to slow her down a bit…
Experienced crews evidently manned the other destroyers as well. Instead of trying to decelerate to a halt and reverse course, which would take them light-hours away and give Kas time to destroy the flagship, the ships swung toward each other, describing a large circle and allowing them to again threaten Kas with encirclement.
Kas cursed. Unless the enemy began making mistakes, they would eventually succeed in their encirclement maneuver; and when they did, the battle would be all but over. If only Rekesh were fully manned, and carried pilots to fly her fighters…
No sense wishing for the impossible. Perhaps defeat was inevitable, but he would make it an expensive victory for the Glories.
He turned to To-Ling. “We’ve got to keep chasing that flagship. If we can force her to keep maneuvering we can keep them from completing the encirclement — and if we can interfere with her maneuverability, we’ve got her! They can’t encircle us with two ships. All we need is a few lucky hits.”
She looked at him, expressionless. “I don’t believe in luck, sir.” She leaned toward him and lowered her voice. “You know they’ll get us, eventually.”
He nodded. “I know. I’ve been thinking about getting Tremling to rig a self-destruct to at least keep them from getting a usable ship. But with civilians aboard, I’m not sure I have the right to make that decision for them.”
She shrugged. “You know what capture by the Glories means. Torture to force confessions of espionage and blasphemy, followed by ‘The Lord’s Mercy’; either death or imprisonment. Even those that survive are crippled for life. They’d be better off dead.”
Kas sighed and nodded again. “You’re probably right, San. But, damn it… All right. You get down to Engineering and have Tremling get busy on something that can trigger enough fusactors simultaneously to totally destroy the Rekesh. And hopefully to take one or two of those bastards with us…” There was a slight quiver as a nuclear missile impacted Rekesh ’s shields, and the viewscreen image faded for a moment. The Glories were using nukes to overload the shields. It was an effective tactic, and cut their available time. Kas and To-Ling exchanged a serious look, and To-Ling headed for Engineering. His order to build a self-destruct was not one he could trust to the intercom.
Kas returned his attention to the enemy. The one off to starboard had been tending to slowly close with Rekesh. If Kas could lure him just a bit closer…
“Engineering,” he called. “If we can bring that one bastard just a little closer, I think we’ll have him. Stand by. At any moment, Helm will signal ‘full starboard’. What I’ll want is maximum effort. Essentially, I want to fire every maneuvering jet and anything else that will move us in his direction quickly. I know maneuvering isn’t a battle cruiser’s specialty, but even if we can just jerk or lurch toward him, it’ll help.”
Again Tremling’s tone was crisp and military. “Aye, sir. We’ll give you everything she’s got.” Kas clicked off.
“Weapons,” he said, turning toward Lieutenant Commander Bru Raskin, “lighten up on the starboard destroyer slightly. We want to coax him in. But on my order, fire every projectile weapon on the port side, and then hit him with everything we’ve got on the starboard side. Maybe the recoil from the port weapons will help us move toward him. This’ll be our best chance to even the odds.”
“Aye, Skipper,” the outerworlder replied
with a predatory grin. “We’ll get ‘im!”
Kas frowned at the man’s words, but said nothing. This was no time for commenting on a subordinate’s manner and speech.
“Helm,” he said, “On my command, full starboard. Ready… Ready
… Not quite… NOW!” he shouted. “Now! Now!” The helmsman muttered into his communicator.
There was momentary hesitation, then a sudden lurch. Retribution ’s captain suddenly found himself dangerously close to the big battle cruiser. He frantically ordered his helm to pull back but before the order could be obeyed, Rekesh ’s starboard side erupted in a storm of weaponry.
The destroyer’s shields blackened, flickered, then disappeared, overwhelmed by the might unleashed against them. In less than a second, the destroyer became a rapidly expanding ball of incandescent gases.
Kas did not stop to admire his work. “Helm! Full ahead. Weapons! Hit that flagship hard!”
However, the Glory Wielder-of-Swords was no amateur. Sword of Fire was already retreating quickly, swinging to circle to Kas’ starboard. Obviously, the Wielder was trying to catch Vir Rekesh between his two remaining vessels. Kas noted that the ship to port also retreated to a respectful distance, but they kept firing, probing for a weak spot in the battle cruiser’s shields. Sooner or later, they would find one. And from where he stood, Kas could glance at the weapons console and see the red lights announcing missile emplacements and mass drivers needing replenishment, and the blackened ones telling of weapons stations no longer operable.
To-Ling returned to the bridge and wordlessly handed him a switch that was obviously handmade. They exchanged significant glances.
“Ships, sir!” The cry made Kas whirl toward the sensor station. “Four… no, six vessels, sir! And Commodore!” The voice cracked with excitement. “Two of them are battle cruisers, sir!”
Hope surged. Only the Empire and the Alliance had that many battle cruisers. “Ident!”
“They’re Empire, sir! Battle cruisers are Dauntless and Tur-Kan. Flag is Tur-Kan. The others are destroyers Hawk, Eagle, Goshawk and K’Taun.”
Kas’ released pent-up breath in relief as he returned his attention to the screen and the remaining two Glories. “Keep firing. Those ships are still a couple of hours away, even at max boost!”
“ Tur-Kan calling, sir.” The com tech said. The sensor display on the main screen faded, and then lit to reveal a large, jowly man wearing the uniform of an Empire Vice Admiral. “Need some help, Commodore?” The man asked cheerfully.
Kas smiled. “Actually yes, sir. I’m a bit short-handed, and could use a hand shooing some Glory flies.”
The man’s answering grin was merry. “Glories, eh? My pleasure.” The grin faded. “You’d be Preslin. You’re one of Pankin’s bad boys. I’m Rol Tu-Ker.”
Kas nodded. “I know your reputation, sir.”
The merry grin resurfaced. “They could never prove any of it! But I’ve heard of you, too, of course.” The grin faded.
Tu-Ker straightened. “All right, Commodore. As soon as we get the Glories off your back, I know you will be busy dealing with damage and casualties. When you’ve finished, please report to me on a secure com laser link. We have classified matters to discuss. Say, three hours after the Glories break off battle?”
Kas straightened to attention. “Yes, sir. Uh, there are the two Glory destroyers. Sword of God is their flagship. There’s also a frigate chasing an Empire DIN-class, Starhopper, and there’s a courier claiming to be a diplomatic vessel and carrying someone claiming to be an ambassador.”
Tu-Ker’s grin resurfaced. “We’ll give the ambassador an escort to the jump point. First, though, we’ll give those destroyers a bit of exercise. Can’t have the Glories thinking they can attack Empire warships. Tu-Ker out.” The main screen image faded to the sensor display.
The Glories were drawing off, running for the jump point by which Kas’ ships had arrived. However, chances were slim they would get that far. Tu-Ker’s destroyers were approaching at high speed and the two battle cruisers lumbered in pursuit.
Kas scanned the screen for Starhopper and the Glory frigate. After a moment, he spotted the blip representing the freighter. There was no sign of the frigate. “Comm,” he ordered, “Get me Starhopper. Put it on my console.” What he had to say to Ler-Traken might need to be private.
The console’s screen brightened to show Ler Traken. “Report!” Kas snapped.
“No damage, sir, and no casualties. Enemy destroyed,” Ler-Traken replied crisply. “I was right; they thought we were unarmed. I figured we could draw him away from you, and let you concentrate on the big boys. Sure enough, he followed right along. He fired a few projectiles across our bows, and ordered us to heave to. I slowed down, and he just closed. He moved right into the lasers at close range. We took out his bridge, but we really didn’t do that much damage. I think they suicided.”
Despite his relief, Kas’ expression remained grim. “I ordered you to stay close so our weapons could cover you, Captain. If that Glory had decided to destroy you instead of capture you…”
Ler Traken flushed. “Yes, sir. But with all due respect, sir, you were quite occupied protecting yourself. You couldn’t afford to divide your attention in an attempt to protect us. I felt that my course of action had the best chance of survival for my ship and crew.”
“You may be right, Captain.” Kas said stonily. “But there is no doubt you disobeyed my clear and direct orders. When Starhopper rejoins Rekesh, you will report to me in person. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
The news from Rekesh was nearly as good. The battle cruiser had been hulled twice, but both hull breaches were in unoccupied areas. They had less than a dozen casualties and no deaths. One woman was in a coma with a serious head wound, but she should survive. Most of the rest consisted of cuts, scrapes and a few broken bones. The results of the damage survey were also encouraging. Tremling reported twenty-two weapons emplacements damaged or destroyed, and the shields had been weakened in several more areas, but none of the damage seriously hampered Rekesh ’s spaceworthiness. Rekesh was in excellent shape to continue the voyage — as long as he could keep her out of further combat.
Tremling asked permission to dispatch repair parties; and he did so with proper military courtesy. Marveling, Kas told him to wait until he checked with Vice Admiral Tu-Ker. The man accepted Kas’ decision with none of his usual anti-military grumbling. Perhaps Tremling had learned something.
At the appointed time, Kas reported to Tu-Ker by laser com. The Admiral was in an expansive mood. His ships had caught and destroyed the Glory destroyers, and two of his own destroyers were escorting the Glory “ambassador” to the jump point. Kas’ damage report only increased the admiral’s good humor.
As he had mentioned, Kas knew Tu-Ker by reputation. The Vice Admiral was an innerworlder originally from Prime itself. Nevertheless, he reputedly had little patience for innerworld bigots. Or outerworld ones, for that matter. He was also an excellent battle commander, with a string of victories in border clashes and minor uprisings extending over the past thirty years. Kas had no doubt that the bluff, cheery officer was prominent on Fleet Admiral Pankin’s “short list” though, of course, neither man mentioned the existence of any such list. After a few minutes’ chat, Tu-Ker sighed and straightened. “All right,” he said, “I guess we’d better get to it. Fleet Admiral Pankin sent me out here as soon as we learned your route had leaked. He figured you would need some help.
“Unfortunately,” the admiral continued, “the only way he could get it past that bastard Ta-Lank was to convince him you might run off. So, I’m afraid I’m as much prison guard as bodyguard. I’m supposed to keep you from running amok and either using the Rekesh to turn pirate and attack a string of civilized planets, or going from system to system spreading plague.” He snorted. “Nobody seems quite certain whether you’re a pirate or a plague carrier, but either way, I’m here to thwart your dastardly plans.” He flash
ed Kas a wide grin and a wink.
Kas grinned back. “I’m afraid we’re fresh out of plague to spread, Admiral. Dr. Ro-Lecton did an excellent job of curing it. We haven’t had so much as a sniffle since everyone was inoculated.”
The admiral snorted again. “Of course you’ve cured it! D’you think I don’t know you would all be dead or dying by now if you hadn’t? The whole idea’s absurd.”
Kas nodded. “Thank you, sir. I’m afraid we’re out of eye patches and cutlasses, too. I guess I could assemble the crew for a hearty “Yo-ho-ho,” but I doubt many of them would understand the allusion.”
“Pah!” Tu-Ker’s expression was disgusted. “I don’t tolerate fools well. I suspect Pankin was as anxious to get me away from those fatuous civilians as he was to get help to you.” He waved a dismissing hand. “Anyway, I see no reason to alarm your crew-either of them. There will be no further nonsense about arrest and guards. As far as your people are concerned, we are here to make sure you get to your destination safely. Of course, you know that no one will be permitted to leave your ships, and no one will go aboard?”
Kas nodded. “I assumed that, sir. There will be no problem.”
Tu-Ker grinned again. “I was sure there wouldn’t be. Now, I understand your ships might need reprovisioning. We’ve brought supplies for you.”
The conversation moved to the practicalities of ship operations.
Chapter 17
With Tu-Ker’s battle group protecting them, morale aboard Rekesh and Starhopper soared. The fresh supplies they brought helped even more.
Nevertheless, as jump after jump came and went and time dragged, it became increasingly difficult to maintain that initial high morale. Minor irritations became major confrontations. Fights became more and more frequent. As quickly as it had risen, morale plummeted.
Once more Kas was grateful for the presence of Lady Jane. As a civilian, she was outside the military chain of command, and her friendly good humor made her as welcome in the crew’s mess as the wardroom. Kas learned of several instances in which she had stopped trouble before it started. After several weeks of increasing violence, she appointed herself unofficial morale officer, and enlisted the help of Lordsgrace Worshipful, the Commissary Officer. Together, they devised a series of games and contests featuring minor prizes looted from Rekesh ’s cavernous supply stores. Kas first learned of it because he had to authorize issuing some of the Fleet supplies for the prizes, but he became an enthusiastic promoter, and soon ship-wide team competitions were underway.
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