Law enforcement resources are always limited. They simply couldn’t be everywhere with everything all the time. However, when they have a small number of targets, a great deal of resources could be brought to bear in a very short time. Three was a small number and was especially easy to track when their locations are already known. Security assets were quickly monitoring all comm and activities of three individuals. The police found out about the coded message each of the three received as quickly as the three recipients. They couldn’t decode the message nor the three replies but they really didn’t need to. They knew the messages were from a shell company used by the Sunrise Grange on Lorelei. Two of the coded replies were identical while the third, from Jackson Kemper, was different. The activities of Kemper did not change after receiving the message while the other two people immediately began to contact associates. In Putinsky’s mind, this put to rest any doubt as to the subject of the Grange message. Baby Doll had told Putinsky that Flot 1 had warned Kemper, and now it was apparent he had listened. The other two had taken the contract and were now in a race to get to the target first. Putinsky knew the race had been set up by the Grange to ensure the target got hit quickly, but it also meant planning and rehearsal would be kept to a minimum. This would make the hit teams sloppy. So much the better.
Chapter 36
Sidewinder, Python, and Krait drifted together just inside the orbit of the outermost of Mistral’s three moons. The ships were waiting for orders. The refugees had been loaded onto two freighters and taken to Kiraloch in the Burgh territory one week prior. Since then there has been nothing. Rumors were everywhere, and all contradicted each other. Basically, you could pick the one you liked and go with it. The three young ship captains talked over a low power comm channel from their staterooms. Their conversation was encrypted and would only travel a short distance so nobody was worried about giving their position away. Besides, they have been doing this for the last several weeks and had the procedures down pat. None of the three had been the original captain when the ships were fighting in the war. The ships had been ordered to port at war’s end and tied up for three years. As the living situation deteriorated in Marbella, several ships were stolen and used to run away. At first, nobody on Rialta much cared as the ships were in poor condition and not considered combat worthy. Soon, stealing old Marbellan ships turned into a regular occurrence, and the remaining ships in ports were put in lockdown with key engineering components removed.
The thieves were mostly young crewmembers and junior officers. As a consequence, the ships were commanded by young men who did not have the experience of an average commander. So it was here.
Krait was commanded by Roland Slate. An ensign commissioned in the last days of the war; he saw no combat. At loose ends after the defeat, when the opportunity came to steal a ship, he signed up. Atticus Zoller of Python had been an army sergeant. He was off world doing mercenary work when Python was hired to support an ill-conceived military adventure. After this escapade failed, the survivors escaped in Python. Zoller never quite got around to leaving the ship. Blaise Tyr commanded Sidewinder. Another young navy officer, he had fought in the war in a light cruiser. When that ship was lost, he escaped with minor wounds. He had been in a hospital at war’s end. He had left Rialta and wandered the system until he happened to be on a planet visited by Sidewinder in search of supplies.
In addition to inexperience, the three men had something else in common. They each possessed the ability to appear in command when they had no idea what they were actually doing. They knew how to take control of meetings. They sounded profound when suggesting courses of action. They learned the buzzwords and the tasks while carefully avoiding any situation that would expose their lack of knowledge. As the more senior people left each ship or were arrested by planet authorities while the ship was in port or, in rare cases, died, the three men moved up the ladder of command on their respective ships.
Despite their original missions, these vessels stopped being warships years prior. Marbellans heard of the escaped Marbellan warships and hundreds left the home planet to rendezvous with the ships as they wandered around various neighboring systems. With the steady influx of refugees and the corresponding need for supplies, water, and other necessities, many parts and weapons were sold off the ships. Only Krait had a working shuttle. The ships had a dozen missiles each and two working launching tubes. Only fifty rounds of ammunition were available for the guns. Drills and training had not been done in years so the ability to even aim and fire the weapons was not a given. With the multitude of civilians, lax discipline, and passage of time, the ships took on the atmosphere of particularly seedy passenger liners. They had no ports of call and no timetable to get there. When the call came to proceed to the Badlands, the ships responded for a lack of something better to do.
Roland Slate had his feet on his desk and hands behind his head. Until off loaded to the two freighters recently, several families had lived in the day cabin outside his hatch and now he had no desire to be the cleaning crew after their departure so had stayed in his cabin while steadfastly ignoring the rest of the ship. The fact his girlfriend had used the opportunity of refugee transfer to break up with him as she was leaving had added to this dreary time.
“I miss Elena,” he announced to the other two.
“I miss Elena, too,” Zoller promptly threw out.
“Funny.”
Zoller was not put off. “If you really do miss her, why not sail over and have a talk with her? We know where they are, and it is not like we are engaged in military ops here. I’d like to see my wife. She seemed damn glad to get off the ship despite leaving without me.” Zoller smiled at Slate. His comments were really not a suggestion, more of a dare. He didn’t expect Slate to take him up on the idea.
Tyr joined the conversation. “I’d like to see my wife too. She also had no problem leaving the ship for greener pastures. I’m starting to have my doubts about us.”
Zoller spoke again. “The two of them just wanted to get off the damn ships and see dirt and sky again.” His tone implied he hoped that was the real reason the two wives left. The truth was that many women had married men for survival purposes and no other reason. He then added, “I’d love to see my wife while on a real planet, but Terrant said to stay here to keep traffic at Kiraloch at a minimum.”
“Screw Terrant,” Slate spat the name. “Who put her in charge? Nobody I know. We spend a lot of time obeying her, and I don’t know why. The way she acts, you would think we’re in the military or something.” All three smiled at the old joke that they had shared for many months. They stopped being in the military at war’s end, even if others did not. He continued as this was a favorite topic during these get togethers. “She hasn’t improved things. She doles out a few supplies while running around fancy-free. Gets protected by the pirate ships. Did you know her crew gets paid by the pirates and got liberty after their fight? Liberty with money in your pocket. How long has it been for all of us? You think she is in any hurry to solve our problems? She’s probably drinking in some port right now.”
The other two had heard all this before so did not comment. Comments of concurrence only encouraged Slate to continue his rant. Slate thought for a moment. “You know that idea of sailing right over there is not half bad.”
Zoller held his hands out in front of him with the palms out in a whoa gesture. “I was just kidding around. That is almost two days away at max speed, and we were told to stay here.”
Slate had the scent now and was not to be put off it. “Hey, you do what you want, but I’m going. With the refugees gone, there is no reason to hang onto the ships. We can swing by Kiraloch and get our women. Then we are off to the nearest shipyard or ship dealer. This ship is junk but should get a good bit of swag if split only a few ways. We are barely manned so not too many people will be in on the caper. Could be a good chunk of change.” He didn’t say it but Elena might come back if she was let in on the plan and its potential rewards.
“How?” Slate quickly replied. “We brought our refugees to this Badlands region. We did what we said we would do. Mission accomplished as far as I’m concerned. We’re not here to be her private navy. These are our ships. We can do with them as we please.”
Tyr was impressed by the reasoning. “All true. We brought our people here. Nobody signed up for a hitch in Terrant’s fantasy navy. We deserve some sort of reward for the journey and the trouble. I like the plan, and I think my crew will too.”
Slate shook his head. “Let’s keep that selling part to ourselves for the time being. Last thing we need is word getting out and then hundreds of people on Kiraloch suddenly want back on the ships so they can be in on the action. The fewer people, the bigger each share. In fact, if we can offload some of the crew in a liberty port before we head to the nearest shipyard, so much the better.”
Zoller was warming to the idea. “Sure. Put the people you don’t like on the first liberty party and once they are off the ship, depart the planet for greener pastures.”
Slate thought he had gone as far as he needed to go to sell the idea. “You with me, Attie?” Zoller nodded. “Blaise?” He hesitated a heartbeat and then nodded. “Excellent!” exclaimed Slate. “The three musketeers, together again! Let’s go collect our women and get on down the road.”
The three ships made preparations to get underway and moved out thirty minutes later. Slate called Mia Wo in Habu and told her they were taking a tour around the area and would be back in twelve hours. He knew she wouldn’t believe him but would wait the twelve hours to be sure it was a lie before sending any messages. Wo watched the trio of ships depart with a jaundiced eye. She knew they had something going on but had no idea what. Not in her wildest scenario, did she see what they intended to do. She would wait the twelve hours before informing anybody.
Chapter 37
The three destroyers sped across the wide expanse of space in a tight V formation. They may not be able to put up a fight, but they would look formidable. That may give potential troublemakers pause. They headed for Kiraloch on a direct course. As the ships moved, they occasionally appeared on the sensors of passing freighters, ore carriers, and other commercial ships plying the Badlands. Three warships in a tight formation at a considerable speed immediately suggested ships with a place to be in a hurry. All such information was fodder for dissemination over the safety of flight and navigation frequencies. On two occasions, the warships passed close enough to be seen by freighter crews. The fact the ships were not easily identifiable was also broadcast. After all, outside of Cottonmouth, Marbellan warships had not been seen in this quadrant. The three destroyers heard the occasional report of their locations and thought it was very nice they were making an impression as warships looking for trouble. People would get out of their way and not pick a fight.
The Commonwealth battlecruiser Vega was hunting alone. She had had no contact with any suspicious ships for her entire patrol. Time was running out. Vega’s captain knew they would be ordered home in a week at most. She didn’t care. This had been a fool’s errand from the start and Thaddeus Yossian was the perfect fool to send on it. Of course, she and her ship had been sent too. She was not quite sure what to make of that. She wondered if she had enemies in high command she knew nothing about.
Vega had heard two reports on the traveling trio of destroyers. The fact that nobody could identify their navy made the reports interesting. One would think the traders and commercial people in this area would know all quadrant warships on sight. It was noteworthy they did not in this case. A third sighting came in and Vega’s navigator plotted out the three sightings and drew a straight line. The battlecruiser was close enough to set up an intercept, assuming the three bogeys did not change course. She altered heading and sent a message to the flagship.
Hours later, Yossian read the message from Vega. He thought they were onto something. The time was running short, and it demanded some chances be taken regardless of the odds. Yossian sent a message to all his ships and had them set up intercept courses to the three destroyer contacts from their patrol areas. They would be closing in from many different directions so if their quarry changed course there would still be a chance of an intercept by some of his ships. Maybe these ships had Terrant or Delacruz aboard. If not, he could claim the destruction of three renegade Marbellan warships. Not what he had originally hoped for when taking this mission, but it would be something. From the sighting information, Yossian also projected the likely course of the trio. Right into the Edinburgh Systems. He knew from Goth intel reports that the pirates loved the Edinburgh Systems. Maybe, just maybe, this was something meaningful.
~ ~ ~
Llewellyn Terrant was shaking with anger. She sat in her day cabin and waited for the fury to subside. It didn’t pass, so she sat some more. Mia Wo of Habu had sent a message to Terrant when the three destroyers had failed to return to Mistral after twelve hours and the message took four hours to get to Cottonmouth. Terrant had a fair idea where the destroyers were as comm traffic was tracking them across the Badlands. She also knew where they were going. She had an idea as to why also. Those three captains weren’t the brightest stars in the constellation, but she never would have thought they would pull a stunt like this. There would be payback on somebody. She brought up her comm screen. “All Flot 1 ships. The three Marbellan destroyers creating all the comm traffic are Sidewinder, Python, and Krait. They left Mistral sixteen hours ago and are headed for Kiraloch.”
She simply ended the message as she ran out of things to say. Tacking on a “sorry about that” didn’t seem appropriate although she wanted to. She shook her head. Shane Delacruz was in the Cinnamon System on an Agra planet patrol as he searched for likely homes for the refugees so Terrant would work directly with Hawkins if necessary. Cottonmouth now headed toward Kiraloch.
Chapter 38
“They’re reversing course.” There was puzzlement in Hyatt’s voice from Predator’s comm station. The small freighter Prairie Dog, Kit Kinkaid master, had been bird dogging for Predator and Renegade. She had been cruising around the informal patrol area of a heavy cruiser and two destroyers of the Commonwealth squadron. She had finally made contact with them and reported that two pirate ships had past her three hours prior. Kit added they had talked briefly, and she was sure one of the ships was Predator, a well-known pirate ship. She pointed them in the actual direction the pirate ships were. It was in a direction away from Kiraloch and Mistral. The three Commonwealth ships had accepted the information and started toward the pirate ships that were really six hours away. Hawkins hoped to lure them to his current position and keep them entertained by staying on the edge of sensor range and letting them think there was a possibility for an engagement.
The two pirate ships could have just flown around the Badlands while being sure to avoid any Commonwealth ships, but Hawkins thought it was better to know where the Commonwealth ships were than to assume the big-space-little-ship rule for avoiding other ships, people, or incoming ordnance. Sometimes that rule worked but when it didn’t, bad things happened. In concert with Renegade, the two pirates would take turns quietly taunting the Commonwealth vessels while avoiding combat. The Commonwealth crews would be left grasping at straws and ghosts.
But now the game appeared over before it started. Hyatt looked at Raferty as he relayed Prairie Dog’s report. “The three Commonwealth ships just left Prairie Dog after talking to her and were headed toward us. But Prairie Dog reports they now have reversed course and are moving away from us like they have a new purpose in life. They have kicked it into top gear.”
Hawkins didn’t like it. “Sounds like they are answering a call to a rendezvous or to a fight.”
“Calling Prairie Dog to get their sensor feed,” reported Tactical. The freighter still had the three Commonwealth vessels on her sensors. Hawkins and Tactical kne
w Kit would turn in the same direction as the running ships to keep the sensor lock as long as possible.
“Project out their course when we get Dog’s sensor logs.”
“Roger,” said Tactical with just the faintest wisp of “thanks-for-telling-me-the-obvious” in her voice.
Rafe smiled without turning around. He spoke to Renegade over his command net. “Ringo, we’ll be sending you Prairie Dog’s sensor feed shortly. The Commonwealth ships are running like they just remembered they had a date for tonight. We will follow them and watch through Prairie Dog’s feed. I got a feeling this is not a good thing.”
After two seconds, Ringo acknowledged the orders and then reported she had Prairie Dog’s sensor feed.
Hawkins looked at Maddie Hopkins. “Maddie, move to the white phones, please, after we pass Prairie Dog. I don’t think the Commonwealth is trying juke us into following them into a subspace trap, but you never know.”
Maddie nodded. At the appropriate time, she would rotate her chair to the nearby white phones, and Tactical would pick up the sensors watch at her ops station behind Rafe’s command chair.
Prairie Dog increased speed slightly to keep the Commonwealth ships on sensors as long as possible. The trader couldn’t be seen chasing the departing warships as that would look suspicious. Kit set up her ship on a slightly different course so their two tracks would slowly diverge. She would hold them for three hours. The two pirate warships were following at max sustained speed. They were slightly faster than the Commonwealth ships so were just barely closing the gap. If necessary, the two pirates could still shove the engines to their absolute limits for more speed in exchange for shortened engine life. Rafe wouldn’t put it in the red zone until it was necessary.
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