Coalition Defense Force Boxed Set: First to Fight

by Gibbs, Daniel

  "The ships themselves, maybe," Henry said. "I don't think any light haulers or short-range ships have gone missing." As he spoke, his mind reeled at the implications. The League doing something like that directly was explosive, and it meant that he and his crew were in severe danger.

  "Now you see why we must rendezvous with the Astra Mater," Miri said. "If you bring me to them, I can persuade them you are good Samaritans trying to protect me from an attempt to silence me. My wounds prove that. But if they get to Harron and I'm not there, they may assume I have gone into hiding over guilt. That I betrayed my crew. My testimony will be tarnished then."

  Henry frowned in frustration. He could see the point. He would have loved to get rid of her and avoid the problem, but that ran contrary to his instructions from Vitorino and Caetano. Somehow, he bet neither would find giving her to the company to be an acceptable outcome, while Jules and possibly everyone else would suffer for it.

  "Al-Lahim will understand," Miri assured him. "He will not hold this against you."

  "I'd be all right with that, if he were the only one I was answering to," Henry answered. "The fact is, people on Lusitania want to see you, including both Trade Minister Vitorino and Defense Minister Caetano, who’ve each asked me to bring you to Gamavilla if you are genuine, and you are."

  Miri considered the revelation. "I would prefer working with P&Y, Captain, if it's all the same to you. Surely, they will understand. The New Cornish authorities are sharing information."

  "Cristina Caetano is not the understanding type, and she's a bit of a control freak," Tia remarked.

  Felix went for the blunt reveal. "The fascist"—he bit his tongue to avoid the swear—"is holding my brother hostage until we get you back."

  Miri eyed Felix and sighed. "I see."

  "Not just his brother. She'll have Felix declared an enemy of the state, as well, and she threatened to hurt the rest of my crew," Henry said.

  "This does not reassure me," Miri said quietly. "Why would she go to such lengths to hear from me?"

  "Lusitania's one of a lot of worlds being impacted by the disappearances," Henry answered. I wouldn't want to be hearing this either if I were her. "And like Tia said, Caetano's the controlling type. She'd prefer being the one to learn information and hand it out to everyone else, not have it handed to her instead." Seeing Miri's worry, Henry shook his head. "I don't think she's working with the League, though. She's a straight-up Lusitanian nationalist."

  "I suppose I have little choice in the matter." Miri’s eyes locked on Henry's. "As trained as I am, I can't overwhelm your crew. I’m at your mercy."

  Henry didn't bother answering, since no answer would have worked. "The important thing is your story getting out and whatever the League is up to getting stopped."

  Miri nodded stiffly. "To that, I agree." But it was clear she was unhappy with the decision. "I’ll have to construct a new legend, then. Karla Lupa's was already losing viability."

  "Sounds fun," Tia said. "Let me help."

  When Miri gave her a curious look, Henry chuckled. "She has friends in various places, and this wouldn't be her first forged ID."

  Miri considered that. "She is Hestian… a revolutionary, then? Hestian Workers’ Party?"

  "ID number zero zero ten six fifteen," Tia said proudly. Noticing the looks on the faces of the others, she added, "I memorize things that are important to me." Her tone made clear she would expect them to remember that about her.

  "Explains so much about you that a damned number is part of your identity," Felix muttered. "Statism at its finest."

  Oskar chuckled at that, but Tia, much to Henry's gratification, did not take the bait. "All right, everyone, I want to get some more rack time. We're still a few jumps away from Lusitania. Stick to watches and make sure everyone gets their rest."

  "If you need me to, I can help," Miri offered.

  Henry fought to keep any sign of suspicion from his face. He wasn't about to have an ex-CIS operative who didn't want to go where he needed her to go helping run his ship. But he didn’t want her to feel like a prisoner. "There's not a lot to do since we don't have cargo, but if Tia can find you something, I've got no complaint."

  "And you'll be paid proper spacer scale on this ship," Tia added happily.

  "My pay isn't the important part. I want to pass the time." Despite Henry's efforts, she’d noticed his concerns. She stared at him.

  He pursed his lips together but said nothing more. He needed sleep immediately.

  * * *

  Commander Aristide stepped into Admiral Hartford's office and stood quietly while the admiral continued to read a report on a digital reader. She could see from the red on his face that the ordinarily unflappable man was furious. It was surprising.

  Finally, he reacted to her presence by looking up. "Miriam Gaon." Aristide said her name in a neutral tone and saw the angry flash in Hartford's eye. "The Traitor of Lowery."

  "The campaign against New Arabia would have dealt a critical blow to our enemies," Hartford said, his quiet voice rumbling with seething anger. "The fall of one of the founding worlds of the reactionaries. It would’ve brought us a step closer to ultimate triumph."

  Aristide saw no point in mentioning the outcome of the bold attack and the disaster it was for the League's fleet and armies. It would merely reinforce Hartford's clear sense of failure.

  "Li's agent already failed on Harron," Hartford continued. "Now, he plans an ambush in space. If only I knew where, I could send ships to ensure our success."

  "It would potentially jeopardize our plans," Aristide pointed out. "Some of the refit work is just now finishing."

  "Yes, but I would rest easier knowing that traitor was on her way here, where I could be done with her and no longer worry about how she might ruin my plans." Hartford set his index fingers against his chin again, showing he was in thought. "I will give Li another chance. But I will not let her get away."

  "She is irrelevant at this point, sir," Aristide pointed out. "We are too close to our operational date for an investigation to thwart it at this time."

  "That’s not enough," Hartford said. "Not nearly enough."

  Aristide chose to say nothing more. Not to the admiral, anyway.

  * * *

  With a surge of energy, the Shadow Wolf generated another wormhole and accelerated into it. A relatively empty solar system with an M5-class star was waiting. On the bridge, Vidia was at the helm, since Cera was off-watch and Piper was resting, while Felix manned the conn with Yanik. Felix looked over the blank holotank then the liquid crystal display showing the distant red star. Yanik noticed the expression on his face and commented, "You seem concerned, Rothbard."

  "I am, S'srish," Felix said. As always, the two referred to each other with formality more than camaraderie, not that they weren't there to support each other if it was necessary, of course. "Empty systems make good ambush points. Less risk of good Samaritans coming along or someone getting a call out to patrols. Even worse out here where there aren't a lot of navies that go beyond their solar systems."

  "True." Yanik blinked. "Do you believe this Miri Gaon is withholding information from us?"

  "She could be," said Felix. "But she looks on the up and up."

  "So you believe she spaced herself to escape?"

  "Given what the League would do to her? Damn right I do. I'd do the same in her position."

  "Truly?" Yanik seemed interested in that admission. "The prospect of dying alone in the long night does not strike fear into your soul?"

  "Well, I don't want to die, but going to sleep surrounded by void… not the worst end I can imagine." Even as he said it, Felix wondered if he was speaking honestly. He'd heard stories about castaways being plucked out of space after days alone and how it could drive people mad. He wondered if he would go crazy.

  "To be alone in the void with nothing but divinity to consider." Yanik's tongue flickered. "There are holy men on my world who would consider it the best end. No distractions
in your final moments. Nothing but the Divine."

  "There are other, better ways to speak to God."

  "If so, I would think you and the captain would do so more often."

  After several moments, Felix found he had no reply to that. He thought about the state of his soul, or rather how he felt. Jules was the faithful one. The war and all of the terrible things he'd seen and done had drained away Felix's faith. The world, so to speak, seemed to be made to crush religious belief.

  Any further consideration came to an end when the holotank lit up. Felix watched as one, then two, then two more signatures appeared. "Wormholes opening up around us," he said. "It looks like an ambush!" He hit the switch on the command chair that powered the ship's alert klaxons.

  "I've got the drives ready," Vidia said. "Evasive power at command."

  "Solid contacts," Yanik added. With a tap of a taloned finger, he put an image up on the display surface. A long ship with eight pylons extending from its central body, each terminating in one of the four pods nearly as long as the entire ship, appeared. "All ships match this silhouette."

  Felix recognized them. "Tash'vakal nomads," he said, almost snarling. "Probably pirates."

  The door behind them opened, and Henry stepped in. "What do we have?" he asked as his eyes went to the display. "Never mind. Nomad pirates."

  "Tash'vakal. Vrekta." Yanik's use of one of the nastier Saurian curses showed his feelings. "I will prepare weapons."

  Felix yielded his seat to Henry. "I'll go man a turret."

  "Good. Get Ms. Gaon on one too. Pieter will probably prefer Brigitte's help."

  Tia came in with Cera behind her. Vidia abandoned the helm for her, bound for another of the turrets.

  "Ah, six-limbed lizard-pirates," Cera said, recognizing the ship. "I wonder which clan?"

  "They're all pretty ugly," Tia remarked.

  Piper entered at that moment, replacing Yanik with a nod. "Bringing plasma cannons and auto-turrets online."

  Tia's board lit up. "Signal coming in."

  The image shifted to show an alien of mostly dark-red scales. A mouth with wicked-sharp teeth was visible, along with eyes as black as coal. "I am Chief Lamat, Ship-Lord of the Vanarak and Chief of the Mek'taman. Human ship, we have you surrounded."

  "So I noticed," Henry remarked. "What do you want?"

  Lamat motioned a clawed hand off-screen. An image of Miri appeared beside her. "You carry this human aboard. Deliver her to us, and we will be on our way. Fail, and we will take her and whatever else we please from your broken ship. We give you one of your minutes to signal compliance. Attempt trickery, and I will have you served to my clan's Ship-Lords as a victory meal." With that, the reptilian alien disappeared from the screen.

  "Well." Cera sighed. "Aren't they th' cheery lot?"

  23

  From four different vectors, the Tash'vakal nomads closed the distance on the Shadow Wolf. Their formation was well considered, given the range involved, as the Shadow Wolf had no line of retreat that couldn’t be intercepted by at least one enemy vessel.

  The most obvious tactic was to jump. Henry considered it but held back before proposing it. "This is too coordinated. They knew where we were and how to arrange their formation optimally."

  "That makes me worried," Piper said as she finished preparations to fire on the approaching vessels. "This isn't exactly a major waypoint system. There're a dozen others I could’ve calculated courses to. They couldn't have guessed this one."

  "If they didn't, we’ve got a tracker onboard."

  Everyone's mind went to the same source, but Tia spoke first. "No. It's not Gaon. Oskar would’ve found something."

  "We didn't take cargo abo—" Henry stopped mid word. Their minute was just about up, and while he never considered handing Miri Gaon over, he had to be focused for the fight ahead. "See that ship at bearing two-hundred mark positive eighty? Take us straight at them."

  "We going to use th' toy in th' holds, sir?" Cera adjusted the Shadow Wolf's heading and put the plasma drives to full burn. The ship's inertial compensators kept them from feeling the pull of the turn onto the new course or the acceleration.

  Despite Cera's definite, enthusiastic hope for a yes, Henry shook his head. "Not yet. Let's see how they react first."

  "Right."

  "If Gaon didn't bring it aboard, and we didn't take on cargo, then somehow, we've got a tracker attached to a ship," Tia remarked. "Jumping away won't help. They’ll get a signal within minutes and follow."

  "That's why we give them something to think about before we try." Henry thumbed the intercom for engineering. "Pieter, what can we do for a double jump?"

  "Give me some time, I might manage it, if the exotic particles don't kill us all by popping up in the wrong spot. But the drive'll need a complete overhaul when we finish, so make sure we're in an inhabited system!"

  "How much time do you need?"

  "At least half an hour."

  Henry nodded. "Acknowledged."

  "We're still three jumps from Lusitania," Piper said.

  "I'm well aware of that, Miss Lopez," Henry said stiffly. "But we need to lose our tail first, or we won't live long enough to get there."

  "All right. Checking star charts."

  Henry let her do so, although he already had an idea of one answer, and it was the one he was already interested in visiting.

  "The Tash'vakal ships are launching fighters," Piper said. "All vectors."

  Henry acknowledged that report with a nod. Given their ships were habitats as well as active spacecraft, using fighters to cripple their targets and avoid getting into direct battles made sense. "Stand by on turrets and for tight maneuvers."

  Next came the worst part, the one he'd known since his CDF days: hurry up and wait.

  * * *

  Jastavi took his usual curved seat in the middle of the Pahknabi with satisfaction. The command platform was the highest point in the chamber, allowing him to look down at the ship-minders' displays and work with little effort. A holotank screen showed the formation of fighters they'd just launched, on course for the human ship, which seemed to be challenging him directly by flying right at the Pahknabi.

  Is this human captain a fool or a worthy foe? Jastavi hadn't expected such a maneuver. He'd expected an attempt to jump out and had his ship's drives readied for the contingency, given the relatively low likelihood of just one extra jump causing an exotic particle-induced catastrophe. The foe charging for him before the others was not in his calculations. It gave him pause, but only somewhat. "Remember, the ship is to be taken," Jastavi insisted over the channel to his fighter wing pilots. "Do not engage to destroy without further authorization."

  The response from Pilot-Lord Neshas was immediate. "Understood, my Lord. Victory for the clan!" she pledged.

  "Victory for the clan." With that habitual exhortation done, Jastavi was free to again consider his opponents' action. Flying straight for the Pahknabi implied the captain did not fear the Pahknabi, an insulting thought to be sure, or at least he did not fear it as much as he feared the others, which was also offensive.

  Jastavi saw an idea. The Shadow Wolf's captain was attempting to prolong the time in which he was only under threat from one foe. His course ensured that the others would not intercept until the Pahknabi had been engaged for some time. Clearly, he felt he had an advantage in such a circumstance.

  But what Jastavi couldn't figure out was what the human thought he could do. The Pahknabi could easily overwhelm his deflectors before being left behind, allowing for crippling shots. Just what is this human thinking?

  * * *

  "So. The plan, Jim?"

  Tia's question won Henry's attention. He glanced over from the holotank. "Hrm?"

  "You have a plan," she said. "I know you have a plan, because you get this gleam in your eye that makes you look a little smug."

  Henry smiled thinly. "I have a plan. It involves giving them a bloody nose."

  "How big a bloody nose?" C
era asked.

  "Enough to scare them. But I don't want to hurt them too badly. That'll make them mad and determined to kill us."

  "Well, they've already threatened to eat us," Piper reminded them all in a droll voice.

  "What do I have for options, Lopez?"

  Piper sighed and returned her attention to her station and the starmap. "A lot of empty systems—"

  "Most of space is empty anyway."

  The sarcastic remark brought Piper to roll her eyes at her boss. "—and only a few workable destinations, if we double-jump right away. Why are we doing that, anyway? Exotic particles are usually bad for things like human bodies or reactive fuel. They make things go boom."

  "Because they've already jumped once. If we do a single jump, they could potentially double-jump. If we double-jump, I'm betting they can't triple, not with the particle load threat or the state of their jump systems. And if we double-jump to the right system, somewhere they can't come safely—"

  "—they won't even try," Tia finished for him.

  "Especially if we've given them a bloody nose."

  "Well, we'll be stinging them first," Piper said. "Enemy fighters entering weapons range."

  "All gunners, weapons free," Henry said into the intercom.

  * * *

  Among the many things Miri expected to have happened in her new life as a spacer, manning a pulse gun turret had never factored in.

  At Felix Rothbard's instruction, she was in the upper port turret. Getting into it had required a short ladder climb, leading into the half-sphere chamber for the gun. She secured herself into the turret seat and lowered the breathing mask over her head, ensuring she would get oxygen from the ship's air storage and protect her eyes from vacuum, should the turret be exposed to space by enemy fire. A harness helped ensure a decompression couldn't suck her out. Once secured, she pushed the lever to move the seat forward half a meter, moving it up to the gun controls. They required both hands to use, with index finger triggers for the gun mount in question. There was a physical crosshair of metal built into the controls. It was a very basic, no-frills setup, nowhere near as sophisticated as the automated or semi-automated anti-fighter mount found on true military ships.