Under Siege, page 30
They’d see what happened out here soon enough, but they would be badly positioned to respond. There was no way they could intercept the kingdom fleet before it was beyond the jump limit. That meant the enemy ships could flee to hyperspace, though it wouldn’t be a problem for Hunter to track them down when Admiral Romanoff chose to do so.
That would be the smart thing to do, but it wouldn’t be what she did. These people had tried to kill her friend, and she needed answers. Right now, all they had were guesses about why this had taken place, and she knew where she could get those answers.
She programmed a course into the ship and sent it chasing after the Novarites. Catching them wasn’t her end goal, but she knew the kingdom spy ship would also be following along in their wake. As they wouldn’t be able to keep up with their unhidden counterparts or the Novarites, the smart money said they would pull aside and allow Novarites to pass when the time came.
If she was wrong, then nothing would be lost except time, but if she was right, she could get her hands on both the answers she needed and one of the ships that she’d promised to provide to Confederation Intelligence.
After all, if she didn’t have to build it herself, that was better, right? Oh, there would need to be some modifications, but it was simpler and quicker than building a ship from scratch.
She looked up the information that David had put in about the probe he’d planted on the spy ship’s hull. It included the frequency she’d need to signal and where she should look for a response. Luckily, it was an encrypted signal, so unless the spies were looking for her, they wouldn’t notice it.
The comm unit built into her console chimed, and she answered. “Bridge.”
“This is David. This is a heads-up that I’ll be working on Amanda for a bit longer, but she’ll pull through. I’m not a doctor, but I know enough to stop the bleeding. Her shoulder is a mess, and I suspect she’ll be in rehab for a while. Where is Field Marshal Strange?”
“Back in the galley with the professor. I’ve got the hatch to the bridge locked so that she can’t get in. If you have a moment, you might want to make sure she isn’t armed. Don’t forget to look on Amanda and in her greatcoat, too.”
“I’ll do that. I assume we’re safe from the Novarites?”
“We are. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to focus.”
She disconnected without waiting for a response and sent the signal. It took a little more than twenty seconds for the response to come back. The other spy ship wasn’t exceptionally close, but it wasn’t that far off either.
She opened a channel to the galley. “Professor, I’ll need you back on the bridge in about twenty minutes. If you could escort Field Marshal Strange to where David is working on Amanda, I’ll need your undivided attention.”
“Of course.”
With that accomplished, she focused on bringing her ship as close to the kingdom spy ship as possible. Every once in a while, she sent another signal to narrow down its location because it was far too possible that she might run right on top of the damned thing or miss it in the dark.
When twenty minutes had passed, the professor knocked on the hatch, and she allowed him in after visually confirming that he was alone. At this point, they were flying parallel to the kingdom spy ship, and she was well-positioned to execute her plan.
“What can I do for you, my dear?” he asked once she’d locked the hatch behind him.
“I need you to keep us getting closer to the other spy ship. I’m going over to board it. Once I’m there, I’ll make them regret their life choices.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure that’s the best idea? That sounds very dangerous.”
“It is the best idea I can come up with because I have no intention of allowing treacherous bastards like that to wander around thinking they got away with this. Without a spy ship, the kingdom fleet is limited to gathering intelligence where we can see them. That’s just the way I like it. Take over the controls and keep us as close as possible while staying behind the other vessel. Before I depart, I’ll need you to vector me to their location, and once I’m done, I’ll let you know.”
She could see that he thought this was a bad idea, but he had the presence of mind not to argue. He took the controls, and she grabbed her helmet, walked over to the hatch, and turned to look back at him. “Lock the hatch behind me. Under no circumstances allow Field Marshal Strange in here.”
Lisa made her way to her cutter and boarded it. Once she was strapped into the pilot’s couch, she put her helmet on and linked the comm unit with the cutter’s. “I’m ready.”
“You are clear to detach. The other spy ship’s position, course, and heading are marked on your console.”
She verified that she had the data. “I see it. Thanks, Professor.”
“Be very careful, my dear. These are dangerous people.”
“They only think they’re dangerous because they haven’t met me yet.”
She killed the channel and detached the cutter from her ship. Once it was free, she boosted the antigravity drive to full power and headed after the kingdom spy ship. She had to move almost as quickly as she could to keep up and still close the distance, but thankfully, the other ship wasn’t pushing things to the limit, or she wouldn’t have been able to.
When she thought she was getting close, she signaled the probe one more time and got a ping back. That vectored her right where she needed to go, and she spotted the dark hull against the stars beyond it. “Gotcha.”
She altered her course slightly and brought the cutter down to land in roughly the same location she had last time. Once she’d done so, she locked it to the other ship’s hull, unbuckled herself, and made her way to the locker near the exit. From inside it, she retrieved a pistol holstered on a belt that went around her waist and a knife that sat in a sheath on the other side. There were plenty of spare magazines, but she didn’t anticipate using them.
She brought a drone with her so that she could use it to break into the other ship without announcing herself to anyone on the bridge. Getting in this time was just as easy as getting in the last time. It was a good reminder that she needed to make sure this particular trick wouldn’t work on her ship. She’d already made a mental note but hadn’t actually done the work yet.
Once she was able to get into the airlock, she sent the drone ahead of her and followed along slowly behind. She took off her helmet and left it in the airlock because she needed a clear field of vision and the ability to hear what was going on around her.
When she got to the analysis center, she used the drone to bypass the lock and stood ready with her pistol in her hand. She hoped she didn’t have to use it, but if she did, she would.
The drone bypassed the lock, and the hatch slid open. She slipped inside and brought her pistol around to bear on where someone would probably be sitting at the computer. Only there was no one there.
She made her way around the room quickly, making certain that no one was hiding, but the room was unoccupied. That was odd because it seemed like the time when someone would want one of their number going over the sensor feed.
Lisa shrugged to herself. These people might be humans, but in a lot of ways, they were just as incomprehensible as an alien would be. They would do whatever they were going to do, and she’d just have to accept that.
Compartment by compartment, she made her way forward because she wasn’t going to allow someone to sneak up behind her. She found the first of the kingdom crew in the quarters, lying on her bunk. That was even stranger than not being at a duty station.
The woman had been at the computer when last Lisa had been aboard the ship, so that was obviously the place she preferred to be. Why was she lying here taking a nap now of all times?
The answer was that she wasn’t taking a nap at all. She was dead. There was no sign of a wound on her body, but the way she stared up at the ceiling told the tale. It looked like she’d coughed something up because the lower half of her face was sticky, and there was a cup lying on the floor.
She’d been poisoned, and considering there were only two people aboard this ship, that meant the man who had been on the bridge before had been the one to do it. Why? Had she not been part of the plan? How was he going to explain that when he got home?
Well, that didn’t really matter because he wasn’t going to get home.
She holstered her pistol and drew her knife, then made her way toward the bridge. That was the only place he could be. The key to making this work would be surprise. She considered trying to take him prisoner, but the odds of him being able to do something to the ship that either disabled it or made it blatantly apparent to the Novarites that they were there was too high. He’d proven himself an enemy, and she’d killed people for less. He died today.
The hatch to the bridge was open, so Lisa edged out just far enough to peek in and see that he was watching the main screen while leaning back in his chair, whistling. What was with this guy? Even so, his noise would help cover her approach.
Step by step, Lisa made her way up behind him. If she got this off right, it would be a clean kill. If she didn’t, there would be lots of screaming, bleeding, and thrashing around. She didn’t want to get blood all over herself and the bridge because that would be a huge pain in the ass to clean up.
When she was standing directly behind him, she tapped into the assassin skills Patrick had given her, positioned the point of the knife just behind the base of the man’s skull, and jammed it forward with all her strength. There was a sickening crunch, and the blade went into the back of his skull, where she wiggled it back and forth to turn his brain into an omelet. He died instantly, never having guessed she was there.
His wound was bleeding, but not very much. That would have to do.
She dragged him off to the side of the bridge and dumped him in a heap. Then she found something to wipe the blood and brain matter off the chair and tossed it on top of his body. Then she sat and took stock of her situation.
The ship was still pursuing the Novarites but off to the side. There was no indication of Specter anywhere on the passive sensors or any hint that he’d picked up any of the signals they’d sent. Good.
She aimed a tight beam signal back toward where Specter would be and hit the transmit key. “This is Lisa. I’ve captured the ship and am safe. I’ll be slowing down to zero acceleration and will coast from this point forward. You need to do the same. I’ll be off the air while I search the rest of the ship and make sure there’s nobody else here, just to be safe.”
There was no response, but she didn’t expect one. There was too great a chance the Novarites would pick up a signal heading in their direction.
She dropped the ship’s acceleration to zero, changed the security code on the console, and locked it. If there was anybody else aboard the ship, she didn’t want to give them a chance to get up to any naughtiness.
Then she went from compartment to compartment looking for other people. She didn’t find anyone, which was relieving but expected. She even checked the ship’s cutter and found it empty as well. Whatever drama had played out aboard this ship had only involved the two people who had been here.
In the time it took her to search the vessel, the Novarites had pulled far ahead, and it was safe to open communications with Specter. The two ships would make their way to the jump limit together and then wait to see what Hunter did. The admiral might be pissed, but she’d done what she thought necessary. Honestly, she didn’t think he would be too angry, but one never knew.
For that matter, Strange might be incandescent, but that was even less of a concern to her. Strange was basically a refugee at this point. She wasn’t going to rub Strange’s face in that fact, but it was true.
What happened next was up to Admiral Romanoff. He might decide to let the kingdom ships escape, or he might take decisive action. The other vessels couldn’t be filled with idiots, so they had to know that something was going to happen. Surely, they realized they couldn’t get away.
Well, the next few hours weren’t going to be boring, and that had to count for something.
33
Jack was fully focused on their approach to planet number two when two Marines stepped over beside him and grabbed Senior Lieutenant Durbin, stretching his arms out to the sides even as the man struggled and demanded to know what they were doing. Personally, Jack wanted to know as well because this was completely and utterly unexpected.
“What’s going on here?” he demanded. “Let go of him immediately.”
The Marines did not comply. He was about to start chewing up the furniture when the communications officer cleared his throat. “Apologies, sir, but something’s happened, and I thought it best to see that our guest was secure. It’s my responsibility, and I accept the full repercussions for my actions.”
Jack frowned at his officer, truly confused. “I think you’d best tell me what’s going on and make it snappy.”
“Sensors just picked up combat inside the kingdom formation. We’re too far away to know anything other than the fact that kingdom ships have fired on kingdom ships. With that uncertainty, I wanted to make sure that you were safe, sir.”
He wasn’t sure he agreed with the man’s thinking, but what was done was done. He turned his attention to Durbin. “My Marines will search you, and then they’ll release you. I apologize for the indignity, but until we know what’s going on for sure, I’ll respect my officer’s decision.”
The kingdom officer was frowning. He’d stopped resisting, too. “I can’t imagine any circumstances where our ships would be fighting, but if that’s true, I think this is probably a necessary precaution. Might I ask how many ships are fighting? Is it all of them?”
Even as the man was speaking, the Marines had levered him to his feet and began searching him thoroughly. Within a few seconds, one of them turned to look at Jack and shook his head. It seemed the senior lieutenant hadn’t been armed after all.
“It looks like the fighting is already over,” the tactical officer said. “As was previously said, we’re nowhere close enough to get any resolution on what’s left, but based on the number of antiproton beams being fired, I’d imagine that a significant portion of the fleet was involved. There is no indication that they were being approached by the Novarites at a range where they could hit them. In fact, the Novarite ships that are still chasing them are roughly half an hour behind them.”
“Let Mister Durbin resume his seat,” Jack ordered. “Since I’m sure you’re not going to go anywhere anyway, you may as well stand behind him in case he suddenly decides to try and strangle me. Unless that happens, I expect you to keep your hands to yourselves going forward. Clear?”
The two Marines nodded sharply and maintained their positions. Durbin shot the two an irritated look, but most of his attention was focused on the strategic map of the system displayed on the main screen.
“The only thing that makes sense is if Duke Ahren’s ships attacked Duke Jost’s. Or, I suppose, the other way around. Field Marshal Strange is in command of both groups, so there shouldn’t have been anything like this. Even if she hadn’t been, what purpose could this possibly serve?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t think we’ll know anytime soon. Are all the ships staying in one location?”
“Negative,” the tactical officer said. “Roughly half the number of original ships are proceeding toward the jump limit. Due to the fact that we’re seeing this long after it occurred, the Novarites have already dealt with any ships that were left behind. I’m sorry, Senior Lieutenant, but whoever was ambushed is dead now.”
Jack grimaced. He’d momentarily forgotten that this wasn’t a real-time display. The events in question had fully played out before they’d even seen the first shot. Now they’d have to wait until they could rendezvous with Specter to get any details.
If it was an attack against Field Marshal Strange, it was entirely possible that Amanda Harris was dead. She wouldn’t have had time to do anything, and she was aboard a ship that wasn’t her own. Even if she’d survived that initial assault, the Novarites didn’t take prisoners. This was grim tidings indeed.
Since no mention had been made of the three cruisers sitting outside the system, none of Admiral Toth’s people had decided it was worthwhile to use their hyperspace drives to make a run-in to look for survivors. As far away as they’d been, it might’ve been too late for them as well.
He rose and rested a hand on Derek’s shoulder where he sat at the helm console. “Don’t give up hope. She’s tough and resourceful. If anyone can come out of this alive, it’s Amanda.”
His executive officer’s face was grim, but he nodded. “I won’t, sir, but if they’ve killed her, I’ll hunt them down like mad dogs.”
He didn’t tell the young officer that he’d have to make a decision on that when the time came and that he might not get the revenge she wanted, but Derek was a smart man. He might not agree with what Jack had to do, but he’d understand why he had to do it. Eventually.
What to do now? Even if he changed course and made his way out to where the battle had taken place, the surviving vessels would have had an opportunity to enter hyperspace, and he wouldn’t be able to catch up with them without waiting for them to drop out in a week to dump the energy from the drives.
No. The best course of action was to continue with the plan as it had been envisioned. They would clean out everything in orbit around planet number two, and then they’d make their getaway and deal with the consequences of what the kingdom had done.
“How far away from the second planet are we? Time to intercept?”
“The skip drive is behaving erratically, and our fine control is long gone, sir,” Derek said woodenly. “We’ll have to revert to the fusion drives shortly. I’d estimate we’ve got another few minutes with the skip drive and then half an hour with the fusion drives. They’ll have an opportunity to come out and meet us.”
