Crucible: Records of the Argos

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Crucible: Records of the Argos Page 19

by Michael J. Farlow


  Tiana wanted to take our whole force out, hunt down and attack an escorted convoy. I didn’t see that as a wise choice, especially with a corvette or greater in escort and not knowing when and where a convoy would be transiting. It could mean too much of a risk to our “reserve navy,” as I was thinking of our group. It would make a difference if we knew how a convoy was going to be escorted and where it was.

  “Oh, Wizzy.”

  “What? I’m busy trying to make a half-ass warship out of a cargo ship two times older than you. Where do these pieces of junk come from anyway? To say nothing about their basic ability to fly.”

  “Are you saying this is too much for you?”

  “No. It’s just that my stupendous talents are being wasted in trying to repair vehicles that Bob’s Used Cars in Burbank wouldn’t have on his lot.”

  Where does he come up with this stuff?

  “I know it’s demeaning to your magnificence, your worship. But it’s all we retched apes can come up with. You’re our savior.” I thought that might calm him down, and it did.

  “Yes, you are right. I can’t expect a backward group of simians to make or maintain anything better. It’s up to me to be the savior yet again. Where would you be without me?”

  “Up a creek, your lordship.”

  “Yes, a creek filled with excrement in a boat without a motor.”

  “Without a paddle.”

  “What?”

  “The expression is ‘up a creek without a paddle’.”

  “Oh. Thanks for explaining that. I’ll add it to my unique simian dictionary.”

  “You do that. Now, if you can spare the time, we need help in finding out what kinds of escorts Larona’s convoys will have and where they will be.”

  “Do you want me to give you the winning numbers for the next Mega Lotto? That would be easier.”

  “No, just the escorts for the convoys.”

  “Oh, that’s harder. Hmm, let me see. Yes, yes. Interesting.”

  “You have it that fast?”

  “What? No. I was just thinking. I might be able to fix the new ship’s FTL to make it better.”

  “Wizzy! The convoy escorts!”

  “Oh, yes, of course. Well, I’m afraid I can’t do much from here. I’ll have to be closer to Tye.”

  “How close?”

  “In orbit.”

  That’s how, a day later, we found ourselves orbiting Tye in stealth mode with Dreng and her companion armed cargo ship. Wizzy whipped together several small satellites from short-range communications drones we had onboard and had them covering the planet. It was now a waiting game. So, we waited. And waited.

  The second day I couldn’t hold myself back.

  “Wizzy, anything yet?” I was flat on my back in the bed of the captain’s cabin reading a book. A real book my mother sent me a while ago.

  “Yes, Nicky, lots of stuff. Did you know Tye has its own television station? Not the government one, an illicit, unofficial station with news and soap operas probably run by the Resistance. Actually, only one soap opera called As the Tye Turns. No, I’m kidding. Translated into Earth English, it’s called Esmerelda. It’s about a struggling, young, and very pretty woman trying to make a life for herself and her kids in a world ruled by savagery and greed. Apropos, don’t you think?”

  “That’s nice, Wizzy, but how about convoy escorts?”

  “Killjoy! No, nothing yet. I am hearing traffic about future orders and sales of products, delivery times, and so forth. Nothing on escorts or convoys.”

  That got me thinking. Larona wouldn’t come out on clear voice saying what she planned to do. She would hide it somehow.

  “Wizzy, have you checked to see if any of those transmissions are in code?”

  There was silence for longer than I expected.

  “Ummm, maybe.”

  “What do you mean, maybe?”

  “Alright, I didn’t think of that, OK? Only an ape brain would think of that.”

  “And?”

  “Just a minute… hmm… you’re right; there is a code.

  “What was that?”

  “I said you’re right, OK? Just a second and… I have the content. Oh, I want to die!”

  “You’ll get over it. What do the transmissions say?”

  “There are two cargo ships coming in from Jayton. Cargo is a mix of weapons, ammunition, and food but mostly parts for ships and other equipment. Oooh, that sounds juicy. I could use the parts.”

  “Yeah, but how about the escort?”

  “I’m getting to that. Keep your shoes on.”

  “It’s shirt.”

  “What?”

  “The phrase is ‘keep your shirt on’.”

  “Oh, who cares? The escorts will be two gunboats and a corvette. They are scheduled to join with the ships after they pass Asteroid 3.”

  “And the time, Wizzy?”

  “Bad news I’m afraid. Based on their plan, it already happened, more than ten hours ago.”

  Math was not my strong suit, but I could get by. A quick calculation told me the convoy would be near Tye before we could assemble all our armed ships and intercept the convoy before it reached Tye, assuming that was the convoy destination. If we were going to do this, we would have to settle for the three ships we had on hand. Against two gunboats and a corvette, we could make it a good fight. It was the cargo ships that bothered me; they could be armed and make things much tougher. What to do? Then it hit me. If we couldn’t take the cargo ships, we could at least score a blow against Larona and her boss by taking out the escorts. That would be worthwhile.

  “Wizzy, let Tiana know that we are going after the convoy, and send her the intercept data. Our main target will be the escorts with the cargo ships secondary. Also, have her send our other ships after us. They will not be in the initial fight, but they could be back up. I’m headed for the bridge.”

  “Done and done, Nicky. I also laid out the course and the projected intercept point for Amini.”

  When I got to the bridge minutes later, Amini had already begun accelerating on Wizzy’s course. Dreng and her companion, 02, were in close trail. Sif took his place at the weapons console, and Doc took an observer’s seat. It would be a few hours yet as the two forces rushed at each other, closing the distance at high combined speeds. I know that sounds a little strange, but I constantly have to remind myself that space is a big place. Speed, while important, takes on a different meaning out here where the speed of light can seem like a crawl at times.

  Argos did not lack for tools. For this situation, I thought sending a stealth drone ahead would help us see the convoy formation. Wizzy agreed and fired one forward toward the convoy beyond visual range to do a reconnaissance. We got three-dimensional feedback on our viewscreen when the convoy was found.

  When Amini saw it, all she could say was, “Give Larona credit for setting up an interesting convoy structure. I haven’t seen one like this before. But why aren’t they in stealth?”

  I had never seen a convoy like this either, but I had to admit the number of convoys I was aware of were few. I told Amini that I guessed it would be hard for the convoy to stay together if all the ships were in stealth. Either that or the cargo ships didn’t have stealth capability, and the warships wanted to be visible to intimidate any potential attackers. It didn’t matter. What we all saw looked like this: the two cargo ships were stacked vertically, one on top of the other with perhaps 500 yards of vertical separation between them. The two gunboats led the way forward, one to port and the other starboard. Both were below the level of the cargo ships providing protection from the front and below. The corvette chose a high perch above and behind the cargo ships. The convoy was covered from the rear and front, below and on top by warships. Space meant three-dimensional preparation and fighting. Not like in the old, two-dimensional surface w
et Navy.

  After studying the problem, I had Wizzy bring Dreng and 02 up on our laser radios to keep our conversation private.

  “Tiana, my plan is to maneuver Argos in behind the convoy and the corvette in stealth. I suggest you and 02 attack from the front, but from underneath. One of you can attack the starboard gunboat. The other can take the one on the port side. If we time our attack to hit them all together, this could be a short fight. We maneuver in stealth as long as possible and catch them by surprise. Call when you are in position to strike.”

  “Dreng and 02, agree. Good hunting.”

  “Same to you. Argos is accelerating to get behind the formation.”

  You may be asking if I intend to use Falcon in this fight. The answer is no, unless I have to. With Falcon integrated, the Argos’ energy weapons are more powerful as we learned when incapacitating Myron’s engines and vaporizing her shuttle weeks ago, or was it months ago? Time was becoming foggy.

  Wizzy plotted an arcing and slightly climbing interception course for us, and Amini followed it with precision. We could have done a leap, but of course, that capability was still offline.

  Amini straightened Argos from the turn and pointed the ship directly at the clueless corvette while slowing to match speed. The corvette captain wasn’t stupid, so his shields were up, and his weapons charged.

  “I have a lock on the corvette, Captain Nick,” Sif said casually.

  “Roger. Any word from Tiana?”

  “She just called in, ready to go,” answered Amini.

  No sense waiting, I thought.

  “Fire!”

  All three of our ships opened fire on an unsuspecting enemy, just like we planned.

  Chapter 19

  The plan worked for about three minutes, then it all went to shit. Dreng and 02 both fired successfully on their target gunboats with lasers and two missiles each. In fact, they did a damned good job. It was just that the gunboat shields were holding, and the enemy crews recovered from the surprise and began to outmaneuver the relatively slow and awkward armed cargo ships. Dreng was holding her own, but 02 with less experience and slightly less power was taking a beating. Neither one could help the other.

  We in Argos fared better with an opening volley of four missiles and shots from the plasma cannon before the corvette pulled right and up in an attempt to locate and get behind the mystery ship that he knew was behind him. Why, you may ask, didn’t the corvette captain shift to stealth? It was an old Arkon ship whose makers never mastered the ability to fire from stealth. His bad luck. But he was still a problem, and Dreng and 02 were on their own until we could get rid of the corvette, which was showing skills that neither of the previous warships had demonstrated. We turned left and up while at the same time firing from the plasma cannon turret and then releasing two more missiles. We scored one missile hit and two plasma cannon hits while being shaken by an explosion from one of the enemy missiles impacting our shields. The enemy captain must have seen the explosion and turned toward it, firing in the direction he thought his invisible enemy must be. He was shrewd. He fired two missiles, one on either side of the explosion, and one hit us. Again, Argos shuddered from the hit, but we continued. The corvette began a series of jinks, first left, then right, then up and down, hoping we would fire and miss, and he could see a hit of his own and get another shot at us.

  “Wizzy!”

  “Yes, Captain Nick?” He was not being funny for a change.

  “Get hold of that corvette’s AI and shut it down.”

  “I have been trying to do just that. However, this ship is different from the other warships we’ve seen here. This AI is shielded, and I haven’t found a way around or through the shield. I am continuing to try, but I’m afraid the shield is physical and the whole thing is self-contained. By the way, the cargo ships are making a run for it toward Tye.”

  “Can’t do much about that now unless this damned corvette would just hold still for a bit.”

  “That seems unlikely.”

  “No shit!”

  “Time for the Falcon?”

  “I don’t see another choice, do you?”

  “Nope.”

  “Amini and Sif, man the upper bridge and take Doc with you. I’m launching Falcon.”

  “Roger that,” exclaimed Amini as she, Sif, and Doc rushed to the upper hatch and disappeared with a clang as the hatch closed behind them.

  Once free of the Argos, I was able to watch both ships. The Falcon’s sensors were tuned to the stealth system of the Argos, making her plenty visible to me. All I had to do now was focus on the corvette and make my first run count for something. Once the enemy captain realized he was fighting two invisible ships, he could decide to run for it. Unless…

  “Argos, ceasefire, and go silent. I’m turning behind him now, and he may believe when I fire that somehow it’s the same ship.”

  “Argos, roger, out.”

  The timing was perfect. I was in position right behind the corvette when Argos went silent. Falcon, however, was not silent. Two plasma cannon shots and two missiles flew into the corvette’s stern where his engines were located. The first missile was defeated by his point defense system, but the second one breached a rear shield just in time to let the two plasma blasts through to the hull and a portion of one engine. Debris flew away from the now crippled ship, but it did not stop. It was, however, not quite as maneuverable nor as fast as it once was. I started feeling sorry for the captain who, up to this point, fought a brilliant battle. I suspected that the captain of this ship was an Arkon, and Arkons do not surrender. He would fight to the end, which I hoped would come soon so we could help the Dreng and 02.

  As luck would have it, for us, not the corvette, the warship took up a course that would take it right past the now silent Argos.

  “Argos, it’s your turn. He is going to pass you close.”

  “We see him,” I heard Sif say, which meant he had the corvette in his sights, and two missiles flew out toward the corvette followed by all the laser fire our mothership could produce. It was too much for the damaged ship as it first ceased firing, then gasses and fragments cluttered her smoky white wake. It was over in a flash. We couldn’t tell if Argos’ weapons did that or if she self-destructed. Either way was the same to us. She was gone.

  I quickly turned my attention to the area where I expected to find Dreng and 02 but saw nothing.

  “Wizzy, what happened to our other two ships?”

  “Dreng defeated her gunboat, but 02 was having problems and was being forced back toward Tye. Dreng followed to join the fight, but it was too late. 02 was destroyed. More importantly, the gunboat escaped. I know that wasn’t what you wanted. But, hey, the good news is that Dreng and our other following cargo ships corralled Larona’s two cargo ships that were trying to get away and have them under their control. Not bad for a bunch of skulls full of mush.”

  This time I had to smile at the insult. It was an excellent job by all concerned. It would have been perfect if not for the gunboat escaping and the loss of 02. Despite the loss, I still felt encouraged as I reintegrated with Argos and followed the other ships to Fort Apache.

  Somebody decided that Fort Apache had to be something more than just a point in space. When we arrived, four space tugs met us and took control of the two new cargo ships. Since they were full of parts, supplies, weapons, and ammunition, they seemed like an obvious set of storage sheds that just happened to look like cargo ships. They weren’t armed and had no FTL capability, so there was little interest in converting them to anything else. Besides, they had great crew’s quarters and galleys so they would make a perfect home away from home. That’s how Fort Apache gained its first two home structures. Things were looking up, but I reminded our enterprising souls that they had better create some self-defense capability just in case. They took that seriously.

  Success aside, we were no
closer to engaging with Gurko and were without a plan to change that. We tried being the biggest pains in the ass that we could be and did a good job of it. It just didn’t get us what we wanted. But that wasn’t our only problem.

  After our escalation and following her several defeats, Larona started tightening the screws on the people of Tye. The black markets were hunted and raided with all confiscated assets pulled into the control of Larona. Script was changed, and the old script suddenly had no value. The former markets were forced open with the new script as the medium of exchange, with a healthy tax on every sale and purchase of all things. The port authority raised their fees for script in exchange for gold or precious metals when coming into port or leaving. Any unwary ship that visited Tye for trade, like some from Jayton or Tula or even the odd one from as far away as Zarminia, were taken into Larona’s service.

  My gut was telling me we were doing the right thing. But my gut was at war with my conscience. Life was going backward for the inhabitants of Tye. It was easy to blame that on Larona, but in reality, her escalation was all about what we were doing and stirring up. Well, not just us. The Resistance played a strong part in motivating her to crackdown. However, had it not been for the Argos and me, there might have been no need. Over time, I’ve learned that trusting your gut is a powerful force. Back on Earth, Bill Gates believes in it, so does Warren Buffet, Steve Jobs, and Richard Branson. Even Albert Einstein called it the “only real valuable thing.” So, I tend to stick with my gut feelings when everything else is in turmoil.

  On Tye, there was a positive aspect to Larona’s pressure. More and more people were leaving the cities fleeing to the Resistance. New towns in the wilderness were growing every day, and inhabitants were training to fight. Some of the early cohorts of Sif’s and Tiana’s combat training, now officers and non-commissioned officers, were training others as we planned. A fighting force was growing. Not an army yet, but getting bigger and better every day. The possibility of an attack on Gurko at his Krona moon base was beginning to seem real and more likely. If we had the ability to communicate with the Consortium, we would have already called for help. But we couldn’t. So we still had work to do way out here by ourselves. Meanwhile, we planned to do the same thing with Larona’s next convoy, which we discovered would happen in days.

 

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