Return of the Star Raiders (The Long Road Back Book 1)

by Dietmar Wehr

  “I believe so, Commander,” said Jaeger.

  “Then have the assault pilot perform the same attack on the other turret too. When that ship has been disarmed, you and your contact team will fly down in the second assault shuttle and try to make contact. The first shuttle will provide air cover, and Savannah will drop down to our usual hover altitude as well. Hopefully the leaders down there will recognize our restraint.”

  “They may still react negatively to the deaths of the gun crews in those turrets, Commander. There are bound to be some,” said Jaeger quietly.

  “I know,” said Corso in an equally somber tone. “If they only had the ability to receive voice radio signals, we could tell them we’re friendly, but they don’t, and my orders are to make contact one way or another. All I can do is try to minimize casualties.” He turned to Strider. “Unlike Tarawa, this planet does pose a real threat to the contact team, and therefore I’m going to insist that you stay aboard Savannah this time, Captain.”

  “I understand, Commander. I’d like to go down to the shuttle bay with Commander Jaeger and see him off.”

  “I have no objection to that. All right, let’s get this done.”

  The Chief and the same four guards were waiting by one of the assault shuttles. Technicians were busy loading missiles to the underside of the other shuttle’s wings. Strider noticed that the four guards were armed with both pistols and automatic rifles. Jaeger noticed that too.

  “God, I hope we don’t have to use those. Excuse me, Richard. I have to go find the pilots and give them their instructions.”

  While Jaeger was doing that, Strider walked over to where the Chief was patiently waiting.

  “Not coming with us this time, Captain?” asked the Chief.

  “No. Commander Corso’s orders. You don’t need me along anyway. I’m not trained for ground fighting. I’d just get in the way.”

  “Not many officers of your rank would recognize that, Captain,” said the Chief.

  Strider smiled. The Chief had managed to compliment him and make a subtle jab at senior officers in general, both at the same time.

  “Yes, well, I hope nothing happens to Commander Jaeger. He’s starting to grow on me.”

  “Commander Jaeger is very street smart. This isn’t his first risky contact mission. Mine neither,” said the Chief.

  Jaeger was on his way back, with the pilots in tow. “Okay, Chief. Everyone’s been briefed. It looks like Sierra Two is just about finished being armed. Let’s get aboard. Good luck to you, Lieutenant,” said Jaeger to one of the pilots.

  “And good luck to you too, Karl,” said Strider.

  Jaeger laughed. “I’ll take all the luck I can get. Let’s play a game of chess when I’m back and off duty, okay?”

  “Okay.” Strider stepped over to the side of the bay to watch the launch. The ship had dropped low enough that the bay would not decompress dangerously when the large doors slide open, but the air coming in was still quite cold. As both shuttles taxied to launch, Strider made his way to the Bridge. He got back just in time to hear the voices over the loudspeakers.

  “Okay, Sierra Two, begin your first attack.” Strider recognized Jaeger’s voice.

  “Sierra Two, roger. I’m beginning my attack run now.”

  Strider went over to stand next to Corso’s chair. Corso looked up at him and nodded. The main display was still showing the harbor, but the ship was still too high to make out the warship clearly.

  “Zoom the image to max,” ordered Corso in a quiet, calm voice. One of the technicians acknowledged the order, and the image jumped closer. Strider could see the warship now. Both of its turrets were turning.

  “I have the target in my sights,” said the pilot. His voice was starting to get excited. “Laser targeting is on. Target pinpointed! Firing now!”

  Strider saw a streak of white smoke reach down, and when it touched the front turret, the top of the turret exploded.

  “I thought he was supposed to fire a kinetic energy missile,” said Strider.

  “He did,” said Corso. “A high explosive warhead would have exploded on top of the turret and tried to blast downward. What we saw was an explosion from inside blowing the armor on the top up and outwards. My guess is that on contact, the KE round absorbed enough kinetic energy to become a super-sonic stream of white-hot plasma. That would be able to cut through anything in its way, and it must have caused one of their shells to explode.”

  “Sierra Two. I’m coming around and back up for the second attack.”

  “Sierra One to Sierra Two. Looks like you nailed the target good. After your next attack, rendezvous with me.”

  “Understood, Sierra One.”

  The second attack was almost a perfect repeat of the first one except that the turret didn’t explode, but when the missile exhaust cleared away, there was a very noticeable hole in the top of the turret, and it was no longer moving.

  “Helm, take us down to hover altitude,” ordered Corso.

  “Where will…Sierra One land?” asked Strider.

  Corso kept his eyes on the display as he answered. “There are what appear to be legislative buildings with wide open areas around them. That’s where Karl and his team will land and try to make contact.”

  Strider heard Jaeger congratulate Sierra Two’s pilot. Moments later, both shuttles were flying in formation as they circled the legislative buildings and dropped lower. When they got to about 100 feet above ground, Sierra Two began to hover, while Jaeger’s shuttle continued its descent until it gently touched down on the open and by now deserted ground. Strider could make out some details from inside the shuttle as the door swung up. He gasped as bullets started hitting the shuttle.

  “Zoom back out so we can see where that firing is coming from!” yelled Corso. “Sierra One! Sierra One! Is anyone hurt?” The shuttle door was now swinging back down again.

  “Sierra One to Savannah! Commander Jaeger’s been hit! Don’t know how badly! Request instructions!”

  “God damn those stupid bastards,” hissed Corso. “We just want to talk! Sierra One, this is Corso. Stay put for now. Sierra Two. Can you see where they’re firing from?”

  “Affirmative! Multiple guns firing from behind the columns of that big building! Permission to use auto-cannon!”

  “Aim in front of them, not at them! Warning shots only, Sierra Two!”

  “Warning shots only! Understood! Firing now!” By this time, the display was showing both shuttles and the front of the legislative building. Strider could see fragments of stone or concrete being kicked up in a line along the front of the building by the auto-cannon fire. Savannah was high enough that he could see down one of the streets as well. Reflected sunlight caught his eye.

  “Commander!” yelled Strider as he pointed to the tank that was making its way up the street toward the open area in front of the building.

  “Sierra Two!” shouted Corso, “there’s a tank coming up the street from your right flank. Don’t let it get a clear shot at either of you! Hit that son-of-a-bitch NOW!”

  “SIERRA TWO, ROGER!”

  The hovering shuttle surged forward and pivoted to the right until it got a clear view of the street and the tank. Strider saw it’s auto-cannon go to continuous fire. Massive showers of sparks flew off the tank. It stopped moving. After about ten seconds, the auto-cannon stopped firing, it’s multiple barrels smoking from overheating. The tank looked like a pile of metal scrap.

  “Sierra One.” Corso’s voice was now almost normal again. “How badly is Commander Jaeger hurt?”

  “Just a flesh wound in the thigh, sir.” The stressed voice belonged to Jaeger this time instead of the shuttle pilot. “I’ve stopped the bleeding, and I can continue the mission.”

  “Glad to hear that, Karl. If we’re going to proceed, let’s minimize the risk. Tell your pilot to swing the shuttle around ninety degrees so that your doorway is facing away from the building. If those idiots fire again, you can use the shuttle as a shield. If y
ou think the situation has become untenable, then abort. Understood?”

  “Understood, sir. I’ll keep my mic open.”

  Strider heard Jaeger give the pilot the order. He saw the shuttle lift just enough to pivot to the left, so that it was no longer pointing at the legislative building, and then settle down again. For the next couple of minutes, nothing seemed to be happening. The voices from Jaeger’s mic were too muffled to be understood. Just when Strider began wondering if Jaeger’s condition had gotten worse, he saw Jaeger step down from the shuttle carrying a metal rod with a square piece of white material tied to it. The Chief and the guards followed. Jaeger peeked around the nose of the shuttle at the building and held the white flag in front of him.

  “I’m going to step out where they can see me,” he said. He waved it back and forth a few times before stepping out from behind the shuttle. Strider held his breath.

  “WE WANT TO TALK TO SOMEONE IN CHARGE!” he yelled. The Chief and his men took up positions behind him. They didn’t have long to wait. The ship’s camera had zoomed out enough that Strider could now see three armed men come out from behind the columns and walk down towards the shuttle.

  “Chief, you stay here with Rodrigues and Tully. I’ll take Hanson and Dietrich. Okay, let’s go meet them,” said Jaeger.

  He and the two guards slowly walked forward. Strider could see that Jaeger was walking with a limp. The two groups stopped when they were roughly ten feet apart.

  “Are you surrendering?” Strider could tell from the low volume and tone that it was one of the three armed men speaking.

  “No, we’re not surrendering. We came here to make friendly contact. We’re not raiders. We’re from the planet Haven.”

  “If you’re not raiders, then why did you fire on our ship?”

  “Because your ship was firing on us. We had to prevent if from hitting our shuttle.” Jaeger used his thumb to point behind him. We could have sunk your ship, but we didn’t.”

  The man who had spoken, and who was clearly the leader of the group, looked over at the smoldering wrecked tank. “That tank never even had a chance to fire on your craft.”

  “Our shuttle has enough armor to protect it from rifle bullets, but not from tank shells. We couldn’t risk waiting to see if it would fire or not. We fired warning shots at you and your men. You do realize that we missed on purpose, right?”

  “Well, I guess so. Okay, you wanted to talk, so talk.”

  “Are you the head of the government here?” asked Jaeger.

  The man snorted. “Me? No, I’m just an officer of the Legislative Guard.”

  Jaeger nodded. “That’s what I thought. No offense intended, but we didn’t come all this way just to talk to a guard officer. Can you ask someone who has the authority to speak for this planet to come out and talk to us?”

  “Sierra Two! There’s another tank coming up the street. Do I fire?”

  Jaeger must have heard the hovering shuttle’s pilot’s report. Before the guard officer had a chance to respond, Jaeger interjected. “There’s another tank coming. Unless you send one of your men to tell them to halt where they are, I’ll have to order my other shuttle to stop them.”

  The officer looked down the street and then said something to one of his men who turned and ran towards the tank.

  “Hold your fire, Sierra Two,” ordered Jaeger.

  “How can your hovering shuttle hear you?” asked the guard officer.

  “We’ll explain that later. Now, how about getting someone in authority out here.”

  The officer hesitated and looked around at the building. Strider heard one of Jaeger’s men say, “Ah, Commander, your wound is starting to bleed again.” Jaeger looked down and nodded.

  “Listen,” said Jaeger to the officer. “I bleeding too damn much to be able to stand out here any longer. We’re going back to our ship. We’ll send someone again. It may be me or someone else. Now that you know we’re friendly, my Commander is going to be seriously angry if we get fired on again. And if that happens, he might not exercise the same restraint. Hanson, you keep your eye on these guys as we walk back. Let’s go.” Halfway back to the shuttle, Jaeger seemed to stumble and had to be helped the rest of the way.

  “Sierra Two. Hold your position until Sierra One is out of danger, then return to the ship,” ordered Corso. “Com, get a med team down to the shuttle bay.”

  Strider headed for the shuttle bay himself. He got there just as Jaeger’s shuttle touched down. The med team climbed aboard as soon as the door swung open. Strider heard someone yell, “Everybody out! Give us room!” The Chief and his men came out, and the men walked away. The Chief stood by the open doorway, glancing at Strider as he came up to stand beside him.

  “How is he, Chief?” asked Strider.

  “I think he’ll be okay once the medics get some blood into him, Captain. Commander Jaeger’s pretty tough.”

  The med team brought Jaeger out on a stretcher that they must have unfolded inside the shuttle, and carried him away. Jaeger was conscious and gave Strider and the Chief a thumbs-up sign as he went by.

  The Chief’s assessment turned out to be correct, according to the medical report given to Corso 15 minutes later. By that time, Strider was back on the Bridge. There was now activity in the open space in front of the legislative building. Workers appeared to be erecting a large tent-like structure.

  “I think they’re getting ready for their leader to meet with us,” said Corso. “Karl won’t be in any condition to go down there again. I’ll send Commander Morgon, but he’ll have to be properly briefed. He’s never done this kind of thing before, but there’s a first time for everyone.”

  “Maybe I should go along?” asked Strider.

  Corso smiled but shook his head. “Still too risky, and besides, if I sent you down as well, Commander Morgon would be justified in wondering if I had doubts about his negotiating skills. He’s entitled to a chance to prove himself.”

  An hour later, with a table and some chairs brought in, the negotiating tent seemed ready. A group of civilians stood in front of the tent entrance looking up at Savannah. Morgon had been briefed by then, and Corso gave him the green light to head down. This time there was only the one shuttle, and the two men who accompanied Morgon and the Chief were armed solely with pistols.

  The shuttle landed about 50 feet from the tent. Morgon and his party got out, walked up to the other group and began talking. His mic was on, and the conversation was heard over the Bridge loudspeakers. The leader of the group turned out to be the President of one of the nations on New Avalon. When introductions had been made, everyone went inside the tent, and Morgon and the President sat down.

  The discussion quickly got to the topic of the raiders. A raider ship had attacked the planet 27 years earlier. The President confirmed that the ground troops did have wolf heads on their shoulder patches. Prior to that raid, the planet had been more or less united under one nominal leader, but the raid had been so devastating in terms of lost wealth that trade had suffered, and the unified structure had collapsed into half a dozen independent nations. The President asked for technical aid to help him ‘unify’ the planet again. Morgon was carefully non-comital though he did promise to leave three radio transmitters. One could be taken apart and examined. The others were to gain experience with using different frequencies, etc. and also to make sure that any Haven ship visiting the planet in the future could make voice contact. After a few more questions about that last raid and what was taken, Morgon told the President that Savannah would be leaving for home. The brevity of the visit surprised and clearly disturbed the President. He’d obviously been hoping to gain much more either in promises of future assistance or at least information. The meeting broke up with polite but not particularly friendly parting words.

  Two hours later, Savannah was back in hyper-space on her way to Haven. Strider had recorded what he considered to be the important points of the visit, not the least of which was confirmation that the ship
that had raided New Avalon was almost certainly the same ship that had raided New Caledon. The timing would have been just about right if they had gone to New Caledon first and then New Avalon second or maybe even third. He was also convinced now more than ever that the raiders of Tarawa were from a different ship.

  The trip to Haven took 10 days. Jaeger was grateful for visits by Strider and the other officers and even more grateful when, after two days, the medics allowed him to leave Sickbay. By the time Savannah reached Haven, Strider’s chess-playing skills had become good enough that he was winning more than half the games. Ogilvy and Heppner were still having difficulty in getting to know their hosts better. When they weren’t holed up in their cabins, they were always sitting together in the Wardroom or Dining Room. Strider almost felt sorry for them.