The Magistrate didn’t need him to ask. It was their only plan. She took her two bars and returned to the bridge. “Chaz, please connect me to Nathan Lowell.”
“Normal communication is not possible because of interference from the ships in orbit.”
“Surely that doesn’t affect the Interstellar communication system?”
“It does not, but our ICS is not currently functional.”
“Why is that? We didn’t take any damage from the enemy fleet.”
“Ankh used some of the components to bring the Mandolin systems online. Do you want evidence, or do you want communication? Ankh can probably put the ICS back together, but it will take some time since Peacekeeper lacks a proper workshop. We got the evidence, Magistrate. It is all that you hoped for.”
“I guess there’s that. We have enough to convict the guy that’s already dead without dissuading those who are fighting on his behalf. I think I now have a better grasp of what a Pyrrhic victory means. Did my report get through, at least?”
“It did not,” Erasmus answered.
“It was incomplete anyway. Please add the new evidence into the file. I’ll resend when I’ve touched it up.”
“When will you do that?” Erasmus asked.
“When we’re not about to die.”
“When will that be?”
“Judging from my experience as a Magistrate, that will be the Fourth of Never in the month of Not Now. Fine. I’ll work on it while you and Ankh are trying to figure out what’s wrong with that other ship.”
“We could use a hand,” Ankh requested from the corridor outside the bridge. Rivka looked past him.
“Anyone know anything about starships?”
No one said yes.
“I’m willing to learn, if that matters,” Lauton offered.
“You go with Ankh when we touch down. And Ankh?” The Crenellian’s big head turned but stopped before they made eye contact. “Thank you for reprogramming the food dispenser. You’ve made this trip much more enjoyable, along with saving our lives on a couple of occasions. I won’t forget that.”
Ankh didn’t reply. He headed to the exit and waited for the ship to land.
Chapter Twenty
“Are we at an impasse?” Rivka asked.
“I don’t understand,” Chaz replied.
“They stay up there, we stay down here. It’s an impasse, but one I’ll take since the alternative is, we fight ten ships that are all bigger and better armed than we are.”
“I expect they are discussing the situation. The nine frigates are all capable of flying within the atmosphere.”
“Then why don’t they come after us?”
“It would leave a gap in their jamming, and we’d be able to broadcast a message.”
“Why would they worry about that? They come down here, kill us, and move on before any help can arrive.”
“Maybe they feel information has been compromised regarding their fleet, possibly their home base, suppliers, communication protocols, methodologies for selecting targets, and so on. There is a great deal of information that could be harmful to their continued existence.”
“That sounds as plausible as anything. Do you know what Ankh’s status is?”
“Erasmus reports that they’ve found the problem. There are two major failures in the ship, both engine-related. The first can be fixed, but the second would require one of the miniaturized Etheric power supplies.”
“I don’t think we can give either one of them up, which means the dead ship stays dead. Tell Ankh to come on back.”
“Would you like us to recover the components from the ICS?”
Rivka checked the tactical display to confirm they weren’t under threat. “Yes, and take Red with you.”
Lindy got up from her seat, but Rivka shook her head. “We’ll keep half here and half outside the ship. Then if anything horrible happens, we don’t have all our eggs in one basket, as it may be. You can be my bodyguard in Red’s absence if he’ll trust you with the job.”
Red rushed to the storage locker. He pulled an extra railgun out and told it to receive programming. He handed it to Lindy, who wrapped her palm and fingers around the grip.
A blip of a green light showed that the weapon had integrated Lindy as a user. “Take care of the Magistrate for me while I’m gone.” Red checked his gear one more time and ran off the ship. Lindy followed him to the hatch, then took a seat in the entry, her feet on the top step as she noted her surroundings, creating a baseline image in her mind, any deviation from which would be cause for alarm.
Rivka returned to the bridge and brought up her report.
Red, Ankh, and Lauton had been inside for a total of ten seconds when Chaz shouted, “Incoming!”
“Where?” Rivka asked in surprise. The tactical display showed ships in orbit.
Lindy prepared to run after Red and the others, but they had already reappeared and were sprinting toward the corvette. Red carried Ankh and Lauton tried to keep up. A fireball raced through the sky, headed directly for them.
Red sped up. Lauton put on a burst of speed, and they arrived at the ship within a half-second of each other. Once inside, Lindy slapped the red button. Peacekeeper was already on the move while the stairs retracted and the hatch closed. The ship bolted away from the compound as the violence of an orbital delivery rocked the ground, destroying Nefas’ ship.
The blast and shockwave would have destroyed Peacekeeper had she still been there.
“A frigate has entered the atmosphere and is in pursuit,” Chaz reported. “Erasmus is taking over the engagement.”
Chaz went silent, as he did when the ship was in a fight. Erasmus was the combat expert, due to the experience that the AIs in his lineage had shared with him. The ship turned sharply, fired, and dashed away.
The crew fought to gain their seats and strap themselves in.
“A second frigate is entering the upper atmosphere.”
“I guess they aren’t afraid of compromising videos,” Rivka suggested from her seat on the bridge.
“Or they figured out we are running silent.”
“I really hate these guys,” Rivka muttered before yelling at the enemy ship’s image on the main screen. “Let it go!”
The enemy wasn’t listening. The corvette screeched in agony from a direct hit. Erasmus conducted a series of erratic maneuvers attempting to shape the engagement in a way most favorable to the corvette’s weapon systems. Peacekeeper adjusted one last time. Rivka gripped the armrests and pressed back into the seat.
“I got a bad feeling...” she started to say.
“Gate forming,” Erasmus reported calmly.
“Inside the atmosphere?” Red roared.
The Gate sparked and danced, solid but not. The corvette stopped before entering and started accelerating backward. The event horizon collapsed, dragging atmosphere in and kicking it back out. The explosion tore one frigate in half.
BOOM! Smoke filled the inside of Peacekeeper after the explosion. Fire control systems activated in the engine compartment and the ship started to drop. Thrusters kicked in to stabilize it as the gravitic engines, after an emergency shutdown, came back to life. The ship started to accelerate. The air handling system kicked into overdrive to clear the air.
“Talk to me,” Rivka ordered her ship.
“The Gate engine and one Etheric power supply have been destroyed,” Erasmus reported. The ship nosed up and rolled over. The weapons fired as the corvette darted toward the enemy. Peacekeeper heeled over, buffeted by the explosion from the second frigate.
“Tactical shows clear,” Rivka reported. “What’s the chance of us surviving another attack?”
“You don’t want to know the odds. Suffice it to say they aren’t good.”
“And without our Gate drive, the gap in the orbits doesn’t matter. We can’t talk to anyone. We can’t fly out of here. We’re out of missiles. Give me some options, people.”
“Blaze of glory.” Red clearl
y enunciated each word. Lindy nodded. Tears ran down Jay’s face.
“What does that mean? I’m a hostage on this ship! Let me off before you do anything stupid,” Lauton demanded.
“Jay, I’ll need you to get off the ship, too. Someone has to look after Lauton.” Rivka thought for a moment. “And take Hamlet with you. He doesn’t need to suffer for our failures. Ankh?”
“As long as there is a greater than zero chance of survival, we have a chance. As long as Erasmus and I are with you, that chance improves exponentially.”
“That sounds like good news, Ankh. Does that mean you know how we can replace our missiles?”
Ankh didn’t dignify that with an answer. He sat silently, looking at nothing but seeing everything.
“Take us to the compound,” Rivka ordered whichever entity happened to be flying the ship at the moment. The corvette assumed a leisurely pace and angle of descent. When it landed, Jay already had her things. Lauton took Jay’s bundle so she could pick up Hamlet and carry him off the ship. He started to fight when he saw the door, but Jay clamped down hard. He hissed, but let her leave the ship with him.
No one said goodbye. The hatch closed. Lindy and Red embraced, holding each other as if there would be no tomorrow. Ankh was lost in thought with Erasmus. Rivka gently pushed the couple, encouraging them toward their seats. The thoughts she intruded on were of pure love. Tears filled her eyes. She tried to blink them away, but they kept coming.
“Take your seats, guys,” she told them before going to the bridge, indifferent to whether they sat or not.
“Chaz, record a message to be jettisoned upon our destruction. Include all the evidence, my report, Ankh’s reports, and the following for Nathan Lowell. ‘Nathan, please do everything you can to fill the vacuum that Mandolin’s demise created. We want the least amount of negative impact on the good people of those planets who never knew what was going on. They are the ones we’re fighting and dying for.’
“For Grainger. ‘I appreciate everything you taught me and tried to teach me. Sometimes, even when you have the right answer, things don’t go your way. Peace, my brother. I hope to see you again when the Etheric pukes up the dead. You’ll owe me about a bazillion beers by then. Pay up, bitch, or I’ll haunt you. Tell the others I’m going to miss them. And most of all, thanks for hiring Vered. He’s a loyal and good friend.’
“Take us out. Let’s see how many of those bastards we can take with us. What do you say we hedge our bet by skimming the upper atmosphere and seeing what kind of response we can evoke?”
“Yes, Magistrate,” Erasmus replied. Peacekeeper lifted away from Nefas’ building and slowly climbed into the air.
“It’s Judgment Day,” she whispered.
At slow cruise, the ship was quiet. Nothing distracted anyone from their thoughts. “I never got to fire my railgun,” Lindy lamented.
Red didn’t answer.
Peacekeeper touched the upper atmosphere, where the sky turned from light to dark blue and then to black.
The enemy frigates created a basket around the corvette. Erasmus dove back into the atmosphere and accelerated. The ships in orbit easily kept pace. The corvette made a tight turn and redlined the acceleration. The ship raced out from under the basket and screamed upward and into space.
Defensive weapons engaged and the ship rotated through a three-sixty, grazing the enemy formation with railgun and plasma fire. One of the frigates’ shields failed. The impacts penetrated the ship, and it vented air. It dropped out of the race. The other ships sped up, surrounding Peacekeeper. All weapons fired.
“Like Chosin Reservoir, we have the enemy right where we want him. No matter which way we fire, we’ll hit the bastards,” Erasmus intoned.
Beyond the largest of the enemy ships, the bright light of a Gate formed.
Erasmus spoke evenly, as he always did. “The War Axe.”
“Fire the mains,” Captain Micky San Marino barked. The special railguns arranged from stem to stern were able to accelerate projectiles to near lightspeed. On rapid fire at close range, it was like getting hit by so many nuclear weapons. The enemy carrier shattered as if made of glass. Minor explosions disappeared quickly as the air became one with the vastness of space. Three frigates were vaporized before they realized a new enemy had appeared. Two more died when they turned to fight. Another died when it tried to run. The last one skipped off the upper atmosphere, using maximum acceleration to slingshot around the planet and head into deep space.
Without an integral Gate, it was years from reappearing, if it reappeared at all. The Gate in the system would have to be monitored to prevent the pirate frigate from using it. Or Ankh and Ted could turn it off, only to be reactivated by use of a Federation code.
It would be years before any last holdouts from Mandolin reared their ugly heads.
“Nice shooting,” Micky told his ship. “Get me that corvette, Smedley.”
“My compliments to your timing, Captain,” Rivka replied to the call.
Terry Henry pumped his fist. “Two wins in one day. You’re going to spoil me, Skipper.”
“Let’s not do too much more of that.” Micky’s words were harsh, but he nodded and smiled.
“We’ve lost our Gate drive and one of our power supplies, and we left two people on the planet we need to pick up.”
“Your final message has been transmitted,” Erasmus’ voice could be heard over Rivka’s open microphone.
“What? That was only if we died. We didn’t die. You have to get it back!”
“No can do, Magistrate,” the AI replied.
“Ankh!” she yelled.
“Do you need an escort to the planet’s surface, Magistrate?”
“Oh, shit. You heard that? Never mind. Yes, we would like a ride if you can swing it. Open those big-ass doors of yours. Our ship needs a little work, and probably a new coat of paint, too.”
Terry spoke loudly to make sure that Rivka could hear. “How is this lawyer thing working out for you, Barrister?” Char punched him in the arm.
“Ignore him,” she told the Magistrate. “We appreciate the job you do. Micky’s giving me the thumbs-up. Doors are opening. Relinquish thruster control to Smedley, please.”
“What happened with the phantom destroyer and Keeg Station?” Rivka asked while docking procedures were underway.
“That’s a story for a different day,” Colonel Terry Henry Walton replied.
Chapter Twenty-One
The War Axe set down on the apron before the lone building. The airlock next to the hangar doors opened, and Rivka and her crew walked out into the daylight.
“How long have we been here?” Red asked. No one knew. “I’ll be damned. I guess time does fly when you’re having fun!”
“Don’t talk to me.” Rivka shook a warning finger at him.
“Lighten up, Magistrate. If we aren’t near death every ten minutes, we’d all get bored. It wouldn’t be us without explosions.”
“That’s what scares me, Red. We expend a lot of ordnance on these missions. Damn! I called it a mission and not a case. Next time, Grainger, I want a case!”
Jay and Lauton waved from the entryway before jogging toward the team.
Red turned to Lindy and rolled his eyes. She started to laugh.
“We leave you for five minutes, and Red eats so much you have to get a bigger ship,” Jay quipped.
“Hey! How did I get drug into this?”
“Because you’re the only male here,” Lindy replied. Red pointed a big finger at the cat. “Does he even have his balls?”
“Whoa!” Red held up a hand. “That gives me the willies. Is this case wrapped up, Magistrate?”
“I think so. Why do you ask?”
“When Grainger first hired me, he said that if I could keep you alive through three missions, he’d give me a bonus. I thought it would be the easiest money I ever made.”
Rivka sneered. “Was it?”
“No. It sucked, but you’re still alive, so mayb
e if you take some time off, Lindy and I can take a vacation to the pleasure moon of Titan with my extensive wealth.”
“How much did he promise you?”
“He made me swear not to tell you.”
“Grainger is a dead man. He didn’t think I would survive three cases?”
“To your earlier point, he called them missions.”
“How is Floyd?” Jay asked.
“Haven’t seen him yet,” Lindy replied.
“What are we waiting for?” Jay prodded.
Rivka shrugged and waved them ahead. Once on board, the destroyer took off and headed for space.
“Do you have everything?” Jay asked for the third time.
“Yes,” Lauton replied impatiently. Peacekeeper landed in the area outside her home. They expected to see the building burned to the ground, but it was intact. Red and Lindy accompanied Jay and Lauton, while Rivka watched from the bridge. Ankh and Erasmus were pleased to find that they still had access to the systems on Zaxxon Major, so they were on a digital exploration.
The home had been ransacked, but nothing she needed or wanted had been taken. “I’ll get this cleaned up in no time. What do I do tomorrow?” she wondered.
“Go to work, take your old job, and start working toward an ethical solution to your planet’s problems. The prosperity you enjoyed was artificial, but if it could be exploited while also being beneficial, the potential is extraordinary.” Rivka had been talking with Ankh and used his words.
“I think it has the potential, too. It’s my home.” Everyone stood around uncomfortably until Red stepped up.
“Time to go.”
Jay hugged Lauton intensely, and then they kissed.
“I’ll be in my bunk,” Red said, eliciting an elbow nudge from Lindy. With Rivka in the lead, they headed back to the ship. “Would you look at that?”
“What?” Lindy asked, head swiveling as she tried to find what had caught Red’s attention. Rivka looked over her shoulder, curious as well.
Judge, Jury, & Executioner Boxed Set Page 38