"Tabbs, we need to take the gunner's nest and fire up the turret," I said.
As a single unit, we raced toward the makeshift tower that held Gaylon Brighton's turret. A brave group of Piscivoru fought valiantly around the base, peeling away bug after bug who tried to destroy the structure. As we broke onto the scene, the next wave of bugs was just arriving to reinforce the original Kroerak troops dropped near the site. Like a finger of death, my blaster fire meted out the justice due the invading bugs. As if made of sugar and we were a firehose of water, we slaughtered every bug touched by our weapons.
"More drop ships," Tabby announced. I turned, using her targeting to hone in on the approaching enemies. Together we unleashed a stream of automatic fire which ripped through the closest two ships, dropping them from the air in seconds. Three ships peeled off, as whatever guided them obviously recognized their futility in coming any closer.
Our shift in attention, however, allowed a new wave of ground troops to surge to our position. I was swept from my feet as a lucky strike caught my ankle. Tabby's response was as immediate as it was deadly. She unleashed a new firehose of death into the crowd, quickly dealing with the threat.
"Liam, I'm below you," Sendrei said.
Tabby and I made it to the top of the makeshift tower that held Gaylon Brighton's turret. My HUD showed an armored hole by our feet. Below, stood Sendrei, holding a steel sword dripping with the viscera of a warrior under his feet.
"We got you," I said. Tabby and I centered back-to-back around the hatch, defending Sendrei so he was no longer reachable. "Open that blaster. We'll load that crystal and change the tempo of this dance."
Sendrei climbed into the tower and worked while Tabby and I cleared the nearby bugs. With our full attention, we drove the bugs back – or rather, we cut them down in an expanding radius.
"I need the crystal," Sendrei called.
"Cover me," I called, turning from the battle and opening my suit enough to reach into the pouch where I held the blaster crystals. After handing the crystal to Sendrei, I turned back and resumed fire. It must have only taken a moment for him to replace the crystal as soon the heavy blaster joined the fight. As predicted, the weapon did indeed change the tempo of the fight.
Chapter 14
Playing with the Big Girls
"Runs Before Wind, Hunting Fog, this is Hornblower, over," Marny said. The trio of ships had reached the Tamu-Preish wormhole in forty hours – at a fuel cost Marny couldn't fathom.
"What is 'over’?" Moyo inquired over comms.
"Old Earth communication protocol," Marny said. "Some things never go out of style. Used to be that if two people communicated at the same time over ancient radios, neither could hear anything."
"Captain, we have hostilities at ten thousand kilometers," Walser reported from his station. "Two ships are really going at it."
While burning for the wormhole, Marny's small fleet had overtaken hundreds of ships headed to the same destination. The changing political climate on Abasi Prime and the rumors of a new war with the Kroerak caused those who could leave the system to do exactly that.
"Wait one, Hunting Fog," Marny said, pulling at the holographic image to her left that showed near space. Her AI highlighted two eighty-tonne freighters that had squared off and were exchanging blaster fire from small turrets.
The conflict was obvious. Almost a thousand ships jockeyed for position at the wormhole entrance and the traffic jam was fraying nerves.
"Bold Second, I request permission to intercede in conflict," Jamani asked.
"Shut it down quickly," Marny said. "We can't afford to be hung up here."
"It will be as you say," Jamani answered.
The Abasi frigate Runs Before Wind, while smaller than the cruisers that accompanied it, was still one of the most heavily-armed ships in the area. Jamani would have little trouble, given the authority allotted to an Abasi patrol ship in Abasi space.
"Ada, Moyo, we'll make way directly for the wormhole. Walser, inform any ships in our path to clear out or risk being run over," Marny ordered.
"Aye, aye, Captain," Ada replied.
"Captain, there's a freighter, Jub Drags, that is not answering comms," Walser reported.
Marny watched as a corridor was grudgingly cleared through the thick cloud of fleeing ships. " Sergeant, stay on the ready," she warned. Every ship they passed had some capacity for war and it was the nature of most species to resist being pushed around.
"Roger that, Captain," Martinez answered.
Pulling at the fat freighter on the holo projection, Marny opened its data sheet. Flagged Strix, Jub Drags weighed in at twenty thousand tonnes, making it more massive than either Hornblower or Hunting Fog. It was also equipped with twin missile tubes and a smattering of mid-sized blaster turrets.
"I have a nav-plan that will take us around Jub Drags, Captain," Ada interjected. Marny's holo display showed a less-direct route that would eliminate a conflict.
Marny pursed her lips. With a single command, she could disable the freighter. The freighter was in Abasi space and no matter what the status of their treaties with the Confederation, as the captain of an Abasi ship, she had ultimate authority. Getting mixed up in a fight so close to home wasn't something she was interested in, but Marny also knew that to show weakness was a sure way to invite future problems.
"Gunnery Sergeant, let's give Jub Drags something to consider. A few shots across the bow, please," Marny said. "All hands, stand by for possible combat maneuvers."
Martinez must have anticipated the request because a line of orange blaster bolts neatly crossed the space almost immediately, roughly a hundred meters in front of Jub Drags.
"We're showing weapons lock from five ships, including Jub Drags," Walser reported.
In addition to the heavy freighter, two more Strix-flagged warships illuminated on Marny's combat theatre as they steamed to join up with Jub Drags.
"Moyo, is it legal to target an Abasi ship?" Marny asked.
"It is not. I request the honor of dispatching the impudent gunjway," Moyo answered, her bust floating to Marny's right side.
Marny looked to where Runs Before Wind had positioned itself next to the smaller scrapping freighters. She didn't like that her small fleet had spread out. The Strix warships hidden amongst the freighter traffic posed little threat to the two cruisers but would give the smaller frigate trouble if everything went poorly.
"Wait one. Jamani, return to formation," Marny ordered. "Hail, Jub Drags."
"Comms are open, Captain," Walser answered.
"Jub Drags, you will disengage turrets or be fired upon. Compliance in ten short-spans is required," Marny said.
It wasn't exactly surprise that Marny felt when none other than the Strix Judicator, Quering, appeared on her holo. Beneath the feathery, owl-beaked alien, the ship name Jub Drags appeared. The Strix had used their position as regional representatives of the Confederation of Planets to take advantage of humanity in the past and it was none other than Quering who had stripped Intrepid from them when Loose Nuts arrived in the Dwingeloo galaxy.
"The screech of the final wind from your mouth will be most pleasant to my ears," Quering squawked, his beak snapping oddly in time with the AI's translation. "You have attacked a diplomatic representative of the Confederation of Planets and even the blue cows of Cetacar will not release your wretched, fleshy necks from the tearing of my talons."
"Good to see you too, Quering," Marny said. "You are ordered to give way and lock your turrets down. You are in Abasi space and are guests of the Abasi Empire. Your ship has no registration that provides diplomatic courtesy."
"Empire is it now?" Quering asked.
Marny felt a pang of doubt, she hadn't been sure what to call the Abasi, but needed to impress upon Quering that things weren't going to go well if he pushed.
"You stand in violation of Confederation statute and are sailing a ship that should have been impounded by the cowardly, shite-matted, fur-backed Felio.
We will not vary from our intended path."
"Bold Second, you must allow me to defend the honor of my people," Moyo said.
Marny checked Jamani's position. Runs Before Wind had broken off from the encounter with the smaller freighters and was sailing back to their position. Two of the previously disguised warships were moving to intercept.
"Quering is trying to provoke us, Moyo," Marny said. "Nick, what's the status of Abasi treaty with Confederation? Ada, move the fleet to intercept Runs Before Wind."
"Abasi stand in breach of primary treaties with the Confederation," Nick said. "Both parties have agreed to a cooling off period. It's not clear if Strix actually have diplomatic protections or not."
"Captain, two small, frigate class vessels are blocking our intercept," Ada said.
Marny grinned as she noticed the intercept would take their fleet out of the conflicted path with Jub Drags. Not unexpectedly, most of the other ships in the vicinity had cleared the wormhole queue as Marny’s fleet squared off with Strix.
"No overt actions, Moyo. Stay in formation," Marny ordered. "Ahead, one-third, Ada." It was an older naval designation for bringing engines to a third of their potential power output.
"Aye, Captain. One-third," Ada relayed.
"Are you listening, you repulsive bag of putrid bone and water?" Quering squawked. Marny had muted him some time ago.
A warning klaxon sounded as Hornblower closed in on the smaller warships standing their ground.
Without muting, she once again ordered, "Bring us to two-thirds, Ada."
"You'll ruin those ships! Turn away!" Quering screeched. "You hateful, pasty, flaking-skin, semi-sentient pretender. I'll see your eyeballs plucked from your face and make you watch as I defecate your entrails into open space."
Suddenly, the ships turned, moving from where they blocked Hornblower.
"Captain, we're going to hit," Ada warned. "I'm adjusting to align the keel."
"Copy that, Ada. Ahead full," Marny ordered. "Judicator Quering, I propose that you review your speech and consider how I’d be watching anything once my eyeballs have been plucked out. Walser, close comms with Strix vessels."
A vibration transmitted through the ship as Hornblower's thick keel dragged along the spine of the smaller warship attempting to scoot from their path. The vibrations ended as quickly as they had begun when the ship squirted out from beneath Hornblower.
"We have a clear path to the wormhole," Walser announced as Runs Before Wind sailed back into position on the starboard side of Hornblower.
"Transition when ready," Marny said. "My compliments to House Perasti on a well-disciplined approach while under threat of hostility."
"Bold Second, the Strix still target our ships," Jamani answered. "I would yet bring them to a full accounting for provocative actions."
"We focus on the mission," Marny said. "Our delay brings advantage to our enemy."
"Yes, First of Fleet," Moyo answered.
"All hands prepare for transition through the wormhole to the Preish system. Hunting Fog, Runs Before Wind, on my mark," Ada announced. "Transition in three … two … mark."
"Eight ships in local space," Walser announced a moment later. "All ships accounted for. There are no hostiles. I repeat, no hostiles."
"Ada, set navigation to Preish-Joqi wormhole," Marny ordered. "Engineering, I'm going to need a full report on the damage sustained when we keeled that frigate."
"Roger that," Ada answered.
"Marny, we're getting a call from Sendrei on the crystal," Nick said.
"I'll take it in quarters." Marny stood up, suddenly feeling old, as her adrenaline-soaked muscles complained at her lack of activity. She'd also been away from Peter for almost two hours and could only imagine how much trouble he must be giving Flaer.
Peter's cries resounded even before she opened the sound-insulated doors to the captain's quarters. Gratefully, Flaer handed the angry little bundle over to her as Marny settled into a chair and provided the comfort required. A flash of guilt passed through her as she considered just how insane her life had become. She was not only responsible for the small life she cradled in her arms, but now she commanded a fleet that included four-hundred fifty souls and three warships.
Before she could fully engage in a session of self-loathing, Nick entered the room carrying the communication handset that would connect them to Picis. "This is Hornblower. Go ahead, Sendrei," Nick answered as the vibration between the crystals caused an illumination, indicating an attempted connection. "You have Nick and Marny."
"Good to hear your voice, little buddy," Liam said over the crystals.
"Liam, you're back! Thank the stars." Marny's contribution caused Peter to be annoyed at her lack of attention. Sucking in a full breath, he let loose with an annoyed cry that cut through the room.
"Ooh. Is that Little Pete?" Tabby asked. "He sounds just like his daddy."
"Hey, that's not fair," Nick said. "I don't sound like that."
"You did when I stuffed you in that crate in primary school," Tabby said.
"I was seven stans," Nick complained.
Marny leaned back in the chair, pulling Peter into a more comfortable position. The sounds of her people chatting mundanely grounded her in a way she'd missed.
"How's it going out there?" she asked, knowing the call was likely anything but social.
"News isn't great," Liam said. "We just hit a lull in the action, so I figured we'd better reach out and let you know we have Kroerak in-system."
"How many?" Nick asked.
"Jonathan was doing their best, but our scans are weak," Liam answered. "We've repelled at least fourteen hundred warriors at the south base. Fortunately, none of them went north into the city. We were caught with our pants down and almost didn't get the Iskstar crystals deployed in time."
"Fourteen hundred?" Marny asked. "That's a huge number. Are you going to tell us how that weapon works yet?"
"Might as well," Tabby said, her voice quiet, like she was addressing folks in the room instead of the microphone.
"Sure, Tabby's right," Liam said. "No need for secrecy at this point. The Iskstar crystals can be used in place of blaster tuning crystals. Effects on Kroerak armor are devastating."
"Define devastating," Marny replied.
"Think mining laser through bearing grease," Liam answered. "We switched Popeyes over and as long as you don't hit them in the legs, every bolt is a kill shot. Oftentimes one shot has multiple kills because they pass through so easily."
"You're kidding," Marny said. "How does it work against ships?"
"Gaylon Brighton had a single shot on a frigate," Liam answered. "We cut it in half."
"Hey guys, you need to wrap it up," Sendrei's voice sounded distant. "Jonathan says there's another wave coming in from the east."
"Hey, Marny, sorry but we gotta go," Liam said. "I just wanted to check in."
"It's all right, we heard him," Marny answered "We're coming, Liam. Stay strong. I'll transmit current coordinates and navigation plan before we close comm."
"Copy that. Stay safe. Picis out," Liam said.
Marny and Nick sat silently in the tense silence that followed the conversation. Finally, she broke in. "They're barely hanging on. History shows that superior technology only lasts for so long. Fourteen hundred warriors is a drop in the bucket."
"A wise woman once told me that Liam is good until he isn't," Nick said. "Right now, they're good. We're going to do everything within our power to get there."
Marny turned the corner and sprinted down the passageway. Her lungs burned for oxygen and her legs ached, and she pushed even harder. At the end of the passage, she turned again and was forced to slow as her vision greyed in response to her body's need for air.
The rhythmic sound of a runner's stride down the hall surprised Marny. She thought she was alone on the often abandoned, unimproved deck. Her muscles complained as she pushed against them, unwilling to be overtaken, but the fact was, her body was not yet
in any condition to respond. Not entirely of her own volition, she slowed to a pace that would allow her to recover.
"You run as if chased." Semper, the only Felio crew they had aboard, pulled up next to her.
Marny managed a weak smile as her lungs bellowed, cycling much needed air. The lithe, young female ran with a grace common to her species and Marny grimaced as she unkindly compared herself to Semper.
"Not … much time for … exercise, lately," Marny puffed.
"You are remarkable," Semper said. "Felio take many ten-days to recover after birth. You are as strong as ever."
Marny inspected Semper's face to see if she was jesting, but found nothing but sincerity in the face looking back at her.
"Do all Felio run for exercise?" Marny asked. "I've never seen you down here."
"Oh, yes, Captain," Semper answered. "I try to find a time where no others are out, but when I saw you working so hard, I felt it would show disrespect to slink away."
"Why would you hide?" Marny asked.
"We prefer to run with all of our legs," Semper answered. "But that only emphasizes how different human and Felio really are. Roby said it will cause others to make comments that are bad."
"Is this why you were able to catch me so easily?"
"You were running very fast, Captain. I meant no disrespect."
Marny chuckled and slowed to a stop. Their conversation was making it impossible for her to recover. "There is no disrespect in excellence," Marny said. "You know, it's been a long time since you and I trained together for combat. I need to find someone who would be willing to work with me. Are you game for that?"
Semper paused before replying and Marny could see that she was inspecting something on her HUD. "Human idioms are most difficult. I would very much be honored to train with Captain James-Bertrand." Semper held her paw to her solar plexus and bowed slightly, as was Felio custom.
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