“Okay, we’ll work it out. Let’s get this thing mopped up.”
“Agreed.”
“Any thoughts on how to lash a frigate and cutter to a string of ore barges? I was thinking that if we got the Navy to give us this frigate as a prize, we might be able to raise enough capital to get another ship.”
“Sure, we could totally do that,” Nick said. I loved this little man. It was like he’d never been introduced to the word ‘no’.
“How long before the Navy gets here?”
“Four hours,” he said.
“Ada and I are going to hunt down Sterra's Gift. It can’t have gotten far.”
An hour later, Ada and I pulled up even with the tumbling Sterra's Gift. She looked so forlorn out here all by herself, tumbling with no power. My eyes burned as I thought about how far we’d come with this valiant little ship. It’d been worthwhile though and the circle was complete. Flark had no doubt been the mastermind of the attack on Colony 40. It was that attack that had given us Sterra's Gift and in return for that, we’d been able to use her to bring him down.
I didn’t consider myself a sentimental person, but if I’d been asked to speak at that moment, I wouldn’t have been able to. Ada seemed to sense that I was having a difficult time seeing the ship in this condition. It probably caused her pain, also, so soon after having seen her own freighter torn apart.
She reached over the console and just held my hand as we sat in the quiet.
After several minutes I broke our silence, “Think you can capture her and break her spin?”
“Do ducks fly?” Ada asked. She had me there. I remembered that ducks were like chickens, only wilder. And … chickens didn’t fly, or did they? I looked back at her blankly.
“Oh good Lord, Liam. You spacers are all the same. Let’s just see what I can do.”
The last time I’d had to stop a spinning object, I’d done it by allowing it to make contact with the flat side of my ship. Of course, that time was when I’d captured Ada’s lifepod. Ada took a completely different approach. First she matched Sterra's Gift’s tumble - I couldn’t even begin to imagine what possessed her to do that. I felt like I might get sick and had to look down. Once my head cleared, I noticed she wasn’t looking out of the armored glass but looking at a screen in the console.
Ada nudged the Adela Chen in close to Sterra's Gift and caught the longer ship on its frame. She slowly twisted and turned the joy sticks until both ships were no longer tumbling.
“That is the wackiest thing I’ve ever experienced,” I said.
“You have a better idea?”
“Not at all, it was incredible. I’ve never heard of someone doing that.”
“It’s how the Navy ships recover debris.”
“Those aren’t manned ships though.”
“Doesn’t mean it doesn’t work.” Her logic was flawless, but I still thought she was crazy. I wondered how many pilots in the solar system could execute that maneuver.
“Where to, Captain?”
“Let’s drop it inside one of our barges. For later.”
“Can do.” Ada slowly accelerated, gingerly keeping Sterra's Gift’s hull in contact. She neatly decelerated on the other side of the first barge in the string, backing the carcass over the top. The string was currently generating a small amount of gravity to keep the ore from wandering, which it wouldn’t do without an external stimulus. Sterra's Gift settled down on top of the ore.
“Think that’ll be too much mass?”
“Nope. Each barge is holding about two-point-five kilo tonnes right now. What’s her mass, another hundred fifty tonnes?”
“About a hundred.”
“Won’t even know she’s there. Are you planning to do the same with that frigate?”
“If the Navy gives her to us.”
“Won’t matter. We can carry them both easily. This old girl has lots to give if you treat her right.”
We flew back to the frigate just ahead of the Kuznetsov.
“Glad you’re back, Cap. Navy’s asking to board the frigate. Any issues?” Nick asked.
“None at all. Especially if they grab the prisoners. They know about Qiu?”
“Yes. They’re in now. I gotta go.” Marny cut the comm.
The Kuznetsov was a gorgeous ship by Navy standards. It was long and thin, shaped like an arrow. The body bristled with weapons. It was amazing to think that every bit of it could be retracted to reduce the sensor signature of the corvette to virtually nothing. It was made to sneak up on its enemies or simply outrun them. By the time you knew one was nearby, they were already well past you. If they decided to attack, then it would be a guerrilla, hit and run style fight.
Nick hailed me this time, “We’ve been invited to a meeting on the Kuznetsov with Commander Sterra.”
“No rest for the weary,” I said.
“They’ve dropped a gangway on the port side. Just come in the starboard airlock and I’ll go over with you.”
I was already familiar with the Kuznetsov, so I wasn’t surprised when the corporal who was accompanying us led the way into a meeting room we’d seen before. It was a nice touch that a plate of sandwiches and pouches of juice had been left on the table. We’d made friends with the ship’s steward, Polly Gellar, on previous visits and it seemed to be benefitting us now. The corporal bade us to dig in while we waited.
I found it impossible to stay seated when Commander Lavonne Sterra entered the room. She had what is referred to as 'command presence.' She held her hand out and shook both Nick's and my own. I felt grubby next to her. I couldn’t estimate the number of hours we’d been in these suits and I believed the side of my face was still bloodied. I was embarrassed by my lack of decorum.
“It looks like you boys have been deep in it.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Yes ma’am.” It was all I could come up with, but it caused her to smile.
“Let’s get business out of the way first and please don’t stop eating on my account. You have no doubt earned a rest, not an appointment with a paper pusher. There is a matter of your firing missiles at a civilian structure. Do you have anything to say on this matter?” she asked.
“Should we retain counsel?” Nick asked.
“Let’s start with a statement. If I think you’re stepping into something, I’ll stop the interview and we'll call Mr. Telish in.”
I trusted the Commander and I knew Nick did as well.
“It wasn’t something we had a lot of choice about. We’d have happily sat in the docking bay and let things play out, but the frigate was broadsiding the entire concourse. We couldn’t survive. When we tried to run, the station’s defensive guns started ripping us up.”
“That’s what we were able to gather from the recorded evidence, as well. I’m finding that your actions were justified.”
“That’s it?” Nick asked.
“All of the video evidence has already been filed. Mr. Telish had three officers analyze your actions and go on record as to their opinions of the necessity of firing your missiles at the station. All of the officers found that you acted well within your rights to defend your ship.”
“We’d like to claim the frigate as a prize,” Nick said.
“So awarded,” Sterra responded. “Will you be filing a suit against the station for firing on your ship?”
“No. It was not station personnel that were operating the weapons,” Nick said.
“Recorded. I’m very sorry to be so brief, gentlemen. It is a pleasure to see you again, but the news Qiu Loo brought back is not good.”
“Anything you can share?” I asked.
“She brought back intelligence on a forward operations base for the Red Houzi in the Neutral Territory. Neither the PDC nor the Navy are willing to take a swipe at them. I’m hoping Qiu’s testimony will change that.”
“Qiu said that Flark had been expecting her. Have you made any progress on finding the leak?”
“No. And I'd ask you to keep that to y
ourself. There’s a rat on our side, and if I’m going to find ‘em I need to keep that information quiet.”
“It will remain between us, Commander.”
I’m sure you understand that if not for you boys, we’d have lost Qiu and we wouldn’t know about this new threat. But listen to me - you need to lay low for a time. You’ve become a real threat to a powerful organization.”
“Understood. One last thing? How’d those miners fare against the hauler that was stealing the co-op asteroid?” I asked.
Commander Sterra chuckled. “Their attack style was reminiscent of someone else’s I've seen recently,” she said, raising her eyebrows at us. “By the time we got there they’d tossed more than a dozen fully loaded containers of ore into the barge. The pirates were begging us to take them into custody. Did you have anything to do with that?”
“No, we were pretty busy with our own problems,” Nick answered.
“Liam, Nick, thank you. The Navy owes you a debt they will most likely never repay nor acknowledge. Know this, however. You’ve made a difference today.”
Sterra left the room as quickly as she’d entered it. The corporal allowed us to take the sandwiches and put them in a bag that was sitting, thoughtfully, next to the plate. She escorted us from the Kuznetsov and back onto the frigate.
By the time we returned, it was empty of prisoners and everyone else was sitting on the bridge eating ration bars and drinking pouches of water.
“We brought sandwiches,” I said. I didn’t have to say it twice. Marny unloaded the sandwiches and handed them out. I gave her back the one she handed me, I’d already had two while on the Kuznetsov.
“Any word on Qiu?” Marny asked.
“None yet,” Nick said. “They have a full combat med-tank though.”
“So what now?” Ada asked.
“Think you can push this tub over to the ore sleds?” I asked.
“Of course,” she said.
“We should lash the frigate to the sled just like we did Sterra's Gift. Nick, do you think the gravity generator on the frigate will fight the ore-sled if we lay her down on her side?”
“Should be fine,” Nick said.
“Marny, can we use the frigate's guns for defense if we do that?”
“Aye Cap, you’ll only be able to use one side, but there isn’t much out there that’d want to get in a scrape with even half a frigate.”
“Sounds like a solid plan to me. Nick, any thoughts on how we’re going to come out on this deal?”
“Not sure what you mean,” he said.
“Well, we trashed Sterra's Gift but we have a scratch ‘n’ dent frigate and a load of ore.”
“Ah. I haven’t had a lot of time to do the math, but it’s not as bad as it looks. Even a roached out frigate is worth more than Sterra's Gift to the right buyer and the auctioneers have moved most of our loot, I think you’ll be surprised at how well that turned out.”
I stood and mussed Nick’s hair even though I knew he hated it when I did that. “Well little buddy, I think we’re going to have to go ship shopping when we get back to Mars.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jamie McFarlane has been writing short stories and telling tall tales for several decades. With a focus that only a bill collector could inspire, Jamie has finally relented to recording some of his most of requested stories.
During the day Jamie can be found at his home, writing in front of a neglected fire, with his two cats both conveniently named Dragon. When not writing, Jamie can be found at the local pub sharing his stories with any who will listen.
Thank you for reading, I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Please consider using one or more of the following links to learn about additional books in the Privateer Tales series or just to stay in contact with Jamie.
Blog and Website: fickledragon.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: facebook.com/jamiemcfarlaneauthor
Twitter: twitter.com/mcfarlaneauthor
Privateer Tales 3: Parley Page 26