Star Bridge (Space Rogue Book 4)

by Jay Toney

  The Vengeance and the Persephone had enough firepower to scare off most raiders, but not these. Our scans showed three cruisers, four freighters or transport ships, and several smaller ships, possibly gunships, approaching us. Jewel gave up fleet her attempts to establish communications with the unknown fleet.

  We had a little over an hour before they would be in weapons range. I altered our course slightly, heading towards the nearest jump point, the Carpacia and the Sequoia could use to make an escape.

  "Jewel, sound condition yellow, all hands to battle stations."

  Hatches and pressure doors sealed throughout the ship, creating several airtight compartments, in event of a hull breach. Jane powered up our shields and weapons systems, reading us for combat.

  Sultan appeared on our viewscreen. "Captain, you're not planning on engaging the other fleet in combat, are you? The Carpacia shields are strong and she has a good point defense system. She can hold her own against most raiders, but she wasn't designed for combat. Her weapons and shields were designed for defense against pirate raids."

  "l hope not, we will just have to wait and see what happens. The closing fleet has changed course to intercept us. They aren't answering our attempts to contact them, and their transponders remain silent. That usually means raiders, slavers, or worse."

  "What can be worse than slavers?"

  "Hunters. There are hunters who prey on weakly defended starships. They make their living seizing the crew then selling their captives as food, and using the women for breeding stock."

  Amber switched the viewscreen back to the tactical display. Both she and Jewel were shaken by the mention of hunters, and what they did with their captives. The approaching fleet adjusted their course to intercept us. It couldn't be a coincidence, they meant business.

  "Captain, my scans show high concentrations of life forms on two of the four freighters. The life form readings are too high for crew or passenger accommodations. It appears that their cargo holds are crammed full of people," Amber told me, displaying her scan data on the viewscreen.

  "Jewel, get me Red."

  Reds image filled our viewscreen. "What do you think Nathaniel, slavers, raiders, or hunters?"

  "It looks like they may be slavers, or possibly hunters, seeking human cargo. Our scans show several life signs on two of the freighters. They are definitely transporting more than just passengers. Their cargo holds are full of people. It looks like they have targeted us, for prey, to fill the empty cargo holds of their freighters."

  "That's what I figured, we will be ready for them before they come into weapons range."

  Shar'tu and the rest of the bridge second watch arrived in time for the communications signal we finally received from the approaching fleet. Jewel opened the signal and put it on the main viewscreen. The image of a stocky alien filled the screen. He was humanoid in form, with pale green skin. Tusks protruded from his lower jaw giving him a hog like appearance. It would have been comical if it wasn't for the body armor he wore. "It's a Gorian slaver," Shar'tu hissed.

  "We demand a tithe of healthy people from your fleet. If you do not surrender them, you will face us in battle. We will seize from you, what we want."

  "Who's to say you won't try to take what you want from us anyhow?" Loud grunting assailed our ears. It was their equivalent of laughter.

  "Human, I give you my word, that I won't." Again, his laughter assaulted us. "We want a mix of young men and women. The women must be healthy and of childbearing age. The men must be capable of hard labor."

  "You are not seriously considering his demands, are you?" Shar'tu asked. "They cannot be trusted. We have dealt with them in the past. They still test our defenses along our borders."

  "I am not above condemning a prisoner to servitude to pay for his crimes. But, to enslave innocent people to a life of slavery, or worse, is unacceptable."

  "Gorian, what crime have your prisoners committed, and by what crime do you demand we surrender our people to you."

  "The humans we conscripted are weak, as are you. It is fitting that humans will be governed by new, strong masters."

  "We shall see who is weak. I refuse your offer. Jewel, cut communications. Sound battle stations. Shar'tu, you have the controls."

  Except for Jane, who remained at her station, we all left, heading to the shuttle bay and our waiting marauder assault shuttles. The shuttles were fully armed with missiles and external gun pods, in addition to the shuttle's twin particle beam turret and 40mm cannon.

  I boarded my marauder and sealed its hatch. The ship powered up with the familiar feeling of barely restrained power. I taxied the ship to the ready line, Jewel and Amber formed up on my wings. Their shuttles were also ready to launch.

  After Natty's failure to support our last raid, she was no longer a member of my crew, leaving me without a wingman. Jewel and Amber formed up with me in our prior formation. They wouldn't leave me without a wingman, having learned its importance in combat. We got the green light to launch and I advanced my throttles to full power. Twelve of my Marauders and twenty Vipers formed up in a group, heading towards the Gorian fleet. We were joined by thirty Marauders from the Vengeance.

  We closed the gap between our two fleets and selected our targets. Jewel, Amber and I targeted a Gorian gunship. Amber and Jewel fought off its wingman, I locked onto the ship. It struggled to break off my engagement, using various evasive maneuvers. The ship was agiler than any gunship I ever engaged with. It was at least as maneuverable, and slightly faster than my Marauder. I struggled to keep locked onto my target waiting for a missile lock tone. The gunship was gaining speed and distance. Finally, my missile locked on and I fired. The missile struck and detonated. I expected the gunship to be destroyed, but its shielding and armor held, absorbing much of the blast, allowing it to survive.

  The gunship was out of the battle though. The missile took out one of its engines and damaged its controls. It broke off from combat, retreating to its cruisers. It was going to be a tough battle. Jewel managed to take out its wingman, firing two missiles at it, but not before the Gorian got off a missile shot at Amber. Amber's Marauder was damaged by the Gorian's wingman. One of her engines failed, and she headed back to the Persephone for repairs. That was two down, and a whole lot to go.

  For the time being the cruisers stayed out of weapons range, leaving the fighting to their gunships. I saw a few explosions while lining up on my next target. I hoped that they were from Gorian shuttles being hit.

  "Human, how did you manage to get Keshian dogs to do your bidding. No matter, we will be victorious anyhow."

  I replied, "Gorian pig, I am not only allied with Kesh, but with the Vorg, and Iniguar as well. You have made a costly mistake by engaging us."

  Jewel had to break off from formation. A Gorian gunship targeted her marauder. I broke off from the Gorian I was chasing to cover her. She evaded, turning and rolling her ship, trying to break off from her pursuer. The Gorian ignored me, trying to get a missile lock on Jewels marauder.

  I switched from missiles to my 40mm cannon. I didn't have time to get a missile lock. When the ship swung into my gun sight, I fired. The ship was hammered by the high explosive rounds, destroying it.

  The original gunship that I was targeting fired on Jewels ship, disabling her marauder. I engaged the gunship, fighting for a chance to return fire. I fired, missing the ship. It continued evading my attempts to get a clean shot. I rolled my ship, following the Gorian gunship.

  I fired two more times before scoring a hit on the gunship. At first, I thought the ship had only minor damage as I continued following it, trying to get a missile lock for another shot. It burst into flames and exploded in front of me. I had to pull back on the controls hard to avoid the de
bris from the gunship. I circled back to Jewel. Two Gorian salvage ships were preparing to tow her marauder back to their fleet. One of the ships fired a tow cable at her ship. The cable pierced her port wing, its grapple hooks opened, locking the cable onto her ship. I fired two missiles at the salvage ship destroying it. I swung around and lined up on the second ship, firing my 40mm cannon at it. It wasn't as heavily armored and shielded as their gunships. My rounds pierced its hull, exploding internally, destroying it.

  I called for a rescue ship. Jewel was alright. I could see her clearly through her Marauders viewport. Fortunately for me, her comms were not working. I could imagine her rage, which was bad enough.

  When she got mad, which was rare, she had a way with words that would even scare a Keshian raider away. I was unfortunate enough to be the target of her rage once, and will never forget it. She was normally as kind and gentle as she appeared. When she got angry though, she could flay your skin off with words alone. You wouldn't expect her to even know the words she used, in her fits of rage.

  I waited near her, keeping her safe from anyone else trying to claim her, and her ship as salvage. My presence nearby seemed to make her even angrier. She hated the feeling of being helpless, and dependent on others. I could see her lips moving and her fist shaking as she waited.

  The rescue ship arrived and locked onto her ship, with magnetic clamps. I felt sorry for the rescue team. Her rescuers would be the target of her rage, instead of her gratitude. Word had gotten around about her temper, so they knew not to take it seriously and get away from her as fast as they could.

  I turned to rejoin the battle. The Gorians had enough combat and were retreating. There would be no profit gained from continuing their fight.

  "All ships, attack their freighters, disable them." I sent the target information for the two freighters that were loaded with slaves.

  The Persephone moved in firing her guns at the escaping ships. The empty freighters were ignored and allowed to escape into hyperspace. The other two freighters were disabled by Persephone's guns. Red's Marauders returned to the Vengeance and my pilots to the Persephone.

  Two shuttles were sent to the freighters from Red's ship, full of Keshian raiders. They had experience in dealing with the Gorians, in the past. They harbored a special hatred for them. I sent two shuttles from my ship, full of Vorg to help. They hated the slavery practices of the Gorians as much as the Keshian's did.

  Their job was to secure the Gorian prisoners and see to the safety of their victims. All of the Gorians were to be stripped of their armor, which was insulting to them. They would then be forced to into a single section of a cargo hold, where they would be confined like their captives.

  There wasn't much resistance. After the Keshian's made a couple of examples from resisters, the rest gave up knowing that further resistance would not be tolerated. The Keshian rescuers gave them a choice, either surrender or go out an airlock without a suit.

  It only took the two examples, their ships captains, to make the point clear. Doc and Miranda took a shuttle over to the Carpacia. They would be examining and treating the rescued prisoners, from the Gorian ships, there. We didn't have the room, aboard the rest of our ships to house and care for them. The Carpacia was designed to carry up to 2400 passengers plus crew. The few hundred we liberated from the slavers wouldn't even begin to fill her cabins. Altogether the ship could carry 2800 people in comfort. Nugget was the first person to contact me.

  "What are your plans for the freighters?"

  "I was considering setting explosive charges and scuttling one of the freighters, and repairing the one with we are using as a prison until we can sell our prisoners and their ship."

  "I have a better plan. We can imprison the pigs here on the Vengeance. The Gorians will be back to salvage what they can of their ships. With the ships empty, with no dead bodies and empty body armor, it will be an insult they can't live with. The freighters will never be used to carry slaves again. The Gorians will destroy their own freighters instead of carrying the reminder of their humiliation with them."

  "How will you imprison them? The Vengeance's brig is nowhere near large enough for them."

  "Another humiliation, come aboard and see."

  I took a shuttle over to the Vengeance. Red's ship had a brig, but it was far too small to house the 47 prisoners we captured.

  Nugget had just dismissed the maintenance detail he had working on the hanger floor. They had just finished painting a box on the floor with red paint. It was roughly 80 feet square, with a three-foot opening. At the opening, there were two metal sanction poles with a chain between them. On one side of the painted square sat two troughs. One was full of water, the other empty. On the opposite side, there were six buckets.

  Nugget noticed me examining the work, and said, "We must feed and water our prisoners and see to proper sanitation. "Natty came carrying a chair. She set the chair down near the sanction poles and took a seat. "Our prison guard," Nugget said, moving Natty's hair to expose her collar.

  Red wasn't nearby, so her control collar must be deactivated. It's being off was a sign that he was starting to trust her again. The collar's use was still a reminder to her that she needed to obey him.

  "Natty, either you are going to have to wear your hair up, or I will have to cut it off," Nugget told her. "Our prisoners need to see your collar."

  She immediately began pinning her hair up, with some hairpins she removed from a pocket. Natty didn't look towards me or say a single word.

  The first Gorian prisoners were led to their makeshift prison cell. Natty got up and opened the chain, to admit them.

  "What no walls or doors. This is an insult. It would have been better if you had killed us. At least then we would be able to take some honor with us." He noticed Natty's slave collar for the first time.

  "It is bad enough to be guarded by a woman, but a slave too?"

  "You will obey her in everything she tells you. Anyone who disobeys her will be wearing a collar, like hers, and she will have the controls."

  The Gorian looked down at his bare feet and walked into the painted prison cell, three others followed him. Soon the prison cell housed all 47 prisoners and the chain was fastened, closing the entrance. They all sat crowded together in their prison.

  "Nathaniel, you needn't worry about the prisoners trying to escape. The little honor they still feel is enough to keep them within the lines, even without Natty watching them. Her wearing a slave collar is a reminder to them as to what they can expect. People will pay top dollar for a Gorian slave. Vengeance always carries a high price."

  Nugget and I were on better terms, but he still refused to call me Captain. That was fine by me. His showing me the humiliation of the Gorians was a sign that I was earning his respect, or so I hoped.

  I took my shuttle back to the Persephone. Nord and Beck were there with a young pretty lady, one of the former prisoners. "Lauren begged us to bring her to you. She said she has something of importance to speak to you about," Nord said. "I told her if it wasn't we'd be feeding her to the niffids."

  "If all she wanted to do was talk to me, I don't think that would be necessary."

  "Lots of the former prisoners are demanding your attention. We had to make sure her message was important."

  Lauren started to speak softly, "I am Princess Lauren of the noble house of Callisto. Our system borders the Empire of Kesh. I would like to thank you for our rescue. You shall be rewarded greatly upon our return. I beg of you to do one more deed. A Gorian warship was left behind to ensure our people would not retaliate. We are a peaceful people and have no means to defend ourselves. Our colony is small, but we have many riches. We need your help."

  "Are you really a princess?"

&nbs
p; "Yes, my father will pay handsomely for my safe return. I beg you to hurry before more of my people are enslaved."

  I couldn't resist her pleas or the beautiful blue eyes that still showed brightly, though her hair was tangled and her gown tattered. "Nord, take her to my cabin. Jewel will be there to help her get cleaned up and dressed in clean clothing." I used my comm unit to contact Jewel, and sent her to our cabin, to help Lauren.

  Once I was back on the bridge, I began searching our database for the Callisto System. The system was close enough to reach in a single hyperspace jump. The data we received from the Vorg and from Nugget confirmed what Lauren told us.

  Callisto II was a newly established colony. The colony's farming and agriculture were enough to support the colony, with limited export. The colony depended mainly on mining and tourism to support its economy. The planet was rich with a wide variety of metals and gems. There was enough money made from its exports, that there was no taxation of its citizens. The populace also lived in relative luxury. They had no poverty on their planet. It seemed to be a utopia by all accounts.

  I set course for the Callisto System. Persephone sent our navigation information to the ships of our fleet and synchronized our computers for the jump. We changed our course heading on a better jump vector and entered hyperspace.

  Amber and I headed back to our cabin. Jewel and Rosie had done a miracle with Lauren. Her hair was no longer tangled and matted. It was clean, shiny, and healthy looking. She looked like a princess now, wearing one of Amber's white dresses and a platinum tiara. A healthy meal also seemed to do wonders for her.

  "Princess Lauren, we are on course for the Callisto System and will arrive in about 18 hours. We Until then you will be our guest."

  "Thank you, Captain. You and your fleet will be rewarded handsomely for aid us, in our time of need."

  My communicator buzzed for my attention. It was Nord. "Captain, might I have a word with you in private?"