Fatal Blade (Decker's War#3) (17 page)

Verrill’s face turned ashen when the implications of Talyn’s statement sank in, but before he could speak, the AI chimed insistently for attention.

“Nope,” Decker said after checking the sensor readout.  “No one’s shifting ship this time around.  Our howling buddies just dropped out of FTL, or to be more precise, they dropped out of FTL almost a minute ago.”

“How much time do we have?”  Talyn asked, eyes darting to the hyperdrive status readout.

“Twenty minutes, tops.  They’re accelerating like stink.”

“Let the others know.  I’m pushing new navigation data through now.”

“I wish we had some mines aboard,” Decker remarked in a conversational tone.  “Mind you, it would probably take me no more than fifteen minutes to rig a pair of missiles so they do pretty much the same thing.  If the buggers don’t scan carefully, we might just give them a headache or two.”

“No.”  Talyn shook her head vehemently.  “So far, no one has shot on anyone else.  We’ll keep it that way.  I don’t know what the Jackals want, but I do know that poking at them won’t help the situation one single bit.”

“Roger that,” Zack replied.  “I’ll just ping them with the targeting sensor.  No harm in that and it might get them to fire their braking thrusters.”

“If it amuses you, be my guest.  After all, the universe exists for your enjoyment.”

Decker smiled at the three rebels.

“That’s why I love the lady, folks.  She’s always thinking of my pleasure first.”

His infectious grin suddenly vanished.

“
Clio
is warning of problems with the hyperdrives.  It might take them a bit longer to spool up.”

“What?”  Talyn turned to look at him, incredulity writ large on her fine features.  “Tell those idiots to sort it.  We jump at the moment I tell them to jump.  If they’re not ready, they can invite the Jackals aboard for tea and crumpets.”

“I’ll do you one better,” Zack replied.  He touched his screen and re-opened the link.  “
Clio
this is
Phoenix
, the convoy is jumping on schedule.  If you’re unable to follow, I will destroy you so that the material you’re carrying doesn’t fall into unfriendly hands. 
Phoenix
, out.”

He ended the transmission with a sharp gesture.

“There, that should motivate them to get going.”  He touched a control.  “If someone’s paying attention aboard
Clio
, they’ll realize that I’ve just locked weapons on them.”

Verrill was half out of his seat, face contorted with a mixture of fear and anger.

“Good God, man, you can’t just destroy her and kill everyone aboard.”

“Of course not.”  Decker held up a placating hand.  “But it’s a better motivator than being told they’d be left behind.  How they respond is going to tell us a lot about what’s going on.”

Verrill dropped back into the chair, perplexed.  Steiger was the first to catch on and laughed, at first softly and then with more gusto.

“You’re a right bastard, Decker,” she said after regaining control of her merriment.

“My parents were married, thank you very much,” he replied in an aggrieved tone.

“Sure.”  Her face twisted into a smirk.  “But not to each other, I’ll bet.”

Decker made an obscene gesture in her direction, but he was smiling broadly.

“What friend Miko seems to have figured out is that my motivator might result in a miraculously quick repair because there was nothing wrong with the engines, just our timing to get out of here.”

“Still suspicious of Roste.”  Verrill shook his head.  “I just can’t see it, but maybe I’m too naïve.”

“Alternately, if they really have problems but aren’t screaming blue bloody murder, it might be because they know the Jackals won’t do anything nasty to them.  But don’t mind me.”  The Marine shrugged and turned back to his console.  “I have a very suspicious nature.  It comes from associating too much with very shady characters, present company included.”

“We’ve cycled through,” Talyn announced, “but the others haven’t yet.  Did the gentle beings of the Confederacy bother to transmit anything yet?”

“Nope.  They must figure that since we gave them the finger last time, it wasn’t worth their while.  They’ve begun decelerating, but I’m still not picking up anything to indicate they’re targeting someone or preparing to unleash the awesome power of whatever crappy weaponry they crammed into those narrow hulls.”

“If it’s that crappy, why not just wipe them off the face of the galaxy?”  Kinnear asked.

“Because the boss said I couldn’t.  Plus I don’t want to waste ammo on guys who aren’t even threatening me, let alone shooting.”

“And if we fire first,” Talyn chimed in, “they’ll be claiming they were navigating peacefully when some maniac in a ship with a dodgy registration number tried to blow them away.  It might attract the kind of attention none of us wants.”

With that, silence descended on the bridge while a countdown timer ticked away in the lower right corner of the main screen, the minutes passing sixty seconds at a time, as they usually do.

“
Clio
is signaling that they’ve solved their problems and should be spooled up in about ten minutes,” Decker reported shortly after that.

He’d kept one eye on the approaching vessels and the other on their charges, ready to chivvy any slackers along.  After a few pointed transmissions, even the captain of the slowest ship seemed at pains to cooperate.

“Cutting it very fine,” Talyn replied, “but at least they’re not forcing our hand.”

“Note that it doesn’t change my suspicions,” Decker said to Verrill over his shoulder.  “Dragging out our jump time gives the Jackals a chance to fully re-spool their drives as well, which means we won’t be able to shake them on the next tack either.  Maybe I should fire a few warning shots.”

“I doubt it’ll impress them.  They’re still well out of gun range.”

“But not out of missile range.  I think they’ve just decided that we were the biggest threat because both ships have locked on to us and are showing an energy spike that can only mean one thing.”

“Four missiles,” Decker announced, moments later, “and all headed for us.”

“Time to strike?”  Talyn asked, checking the readiness reports from the freighters.

“Five or six minutes.  They’re not expecting us to have close-in defense calliopes; otherwise, they wouldn’t have given us so much time to watch the birds come in.”

“Or they’re trying to stampede us and don’t expect to score any hits.”

Decker groaned.

“Again?  What is it with those clowns, thinking the tactic ever works out well for anyone?”

“Be thankful for the lack of imagination.  It keeps our job simple.”  She briefly glanced at the helm readout.  “
Marilan
and
Umberto
report ready.  Tell
Clio
we’re leaving in four minutes.  If they want to come with us, they’ll be ready.  If not, they can go rot for all I care.”

“Captain, please!”  Verrill was half out of his seat again.

“The Jackals aren’t the only ones who can use the stampede technique.  Have no fear.  We’re all going to jump together.  I get the feeling
Clio
will be…” her console chimed.  “And she’s ready, right on cue.  Hang on to your stomachs folks; we’re gone in thirty seconds.”

EIGHTEEN

“Persistent buggers.”  Decker scowled at his sensor readout.

They were half-way through their third tack in so many days, and the Confederacy ships had once again shown up a few million kilometers behind them moments after the convoy began cycling hyperdrives.

He looked up at Talyn.

“The way I see it, either our navigational razzle-dazzle isn’t razzly enough, or they have excellent detection gear or someone’s broadcasting a subspace beacon that lets ‘em know where we are every time.  I know which one I’m voting for.”

“I’m beginning to share your suspicions,” she replied.  “It wouldn’t be the first time this happened to us.  They also seem to time things well enough that we can’t afford to investigate before we have to be off again.”

“Yup.  You were talking about them trying to stampede us the other day.  I think you’re probably right.”  He glanced at the status board.  “At least
Clio
isn’t buggering about anymore.”

“There’s no need to do so if she’s carrying a subspace beacon.  All they had to do the first time was make sure the Jackals latched on.  Since then...”  She shrugged.

“Time for an ambush, I think.”  He sat back and stared at the star field on the main screen.  “Next tack, we drop out a bit earlier than the freighters, something that’ll put us a few million kilometers behind them, and then we wait for the Wolves to join the party.  When they do, I fire a few warning shots to stampede them into an emergency jump.”

“Verrill might not agree,” she warned.

“Bugger Verrill.”  He made a dismissive gesture with his hand.  “I’d like to find out what their end-game is, though.  They must have figured that we’re headed for Garonne.  I mean, if they know what we’re carrying, then they have to know the destination, right?”

“A reasonable person would think so, yes.”  Talyn nodded.  “Of course, no one has ever accused the Jackals of being reasonable.”

“Not when there’s profit at stake,” he replied.  “So what’s the profit motive here?”

“Search me.”  She sighed.  “Okay.  We’re just about ready to jump out again.  Let’s hope this one will shake them.  Sound the warning so our passengers don’t trip over their guts.”

In the end, they didn’t tell Verrill about the plan to ambush the Confederacy ships under the principle that it was easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.  Not that they’d have bowed to the rebel leader’s disapproval in any case.

They dropped out of FTL a fair distance behind the freighters after the next jump, prompting three anxious calls that Decker ignored in favor of finding the Jackals’ hyperspace bubbles.

“There!”  He crowed when he picked up the emergence signature.  “Targeting on.  They’re out of effective engagement range, but having us on their butts should give them a fright.”

Talyn fired the sublight drives, and
Phoenix
accelerated towards the new arrivals, now caught between the freighters and the Q-ship.

“Watch this.”  Decker flicked on the transmitter.  “Unidentified ships, this is the Free Republic of Garonne frigate
Phoenix
.  You are interfering with a duly constituted naval convoy; I therefore order you to decelerate and prepare to be boarded for inspection.”

“Free Republic of Garonne frigate?”  Talyn tried to restrain a sudden outburst of laughter.  “Are you having delusions of adequacy?”

He grinned and shrugged.

“Why not?  It’ll give the bastards something to wonder about.”  He glanced at his screen.  “Not that they’ll reply after I called them by the name they hate.  Maybe we should light up their tails.”

He unmasked and deployed the ship’s main guns, and fired a dozen times, sending streaks of plasma towards the Confederacy ships.

“It won’t touch them, but they’ll see it alright.  I’m tempted to pump out a few missiles, but we might need them against ships that actually want to fight.”

He switched the transmitter back on.

“Unidentified ships, this is the Free Republic of Garonne frigate
Phoenix
.  Those were warning shots.  Clear out and don’t let yourselves be seen again.  Piss me off and you’ll be hitching a ride to the nearest star system.”

“Still expecting an answer?”

“No, but it makes me feel like a big boy.”

“Verrill should be here.  He’d be thrilled to know his rebel movement has an imaginary frigate in its imaginary navy.”

“Cynic.”  He paused, eyes widening.  “They left.  The bastards just jumped out without warning.”

“I guess you scared them, big boy,” Talyn smirked at her partner.  “Good show.  Let’s catch up to our lost sheep and herd them to the promised land.”

***

“Wasn’t that risky?”  Verrill asked, later that evening, after the convoy was FTL again.

Decker snorted.

“The Confederacy of the Howling Stars isn’t in it to die but to make money.  I showed them a big gun and scared them away.”

“My wonderfully immodest ex-Marine.”  Talyn patted him on the arm, smiling.  “Can’t resist whipping out his weapon.”

“Free Republic of Garonne, eh?”  Steiger twirled her half-empty bottle on the tabletop.  “That has a certain goofy ring to it.  And calling this tub a frigate?  Pure chutzpah.  I like it.”

“Mock all you want, folks,” Decker smiled at his companions, “but it worked.  I’m taking bets that we won’t see their hairy asses when we drop out to tack next time.”

“It does seem a bit too easy,” Kinnear remarked.  “You really think they’d give up after all these light-years?”

“Who knows what the buggers were after?”  Zack shrugged.  “One thing’s for sure: they didn’t expect to find out
Phoenix
had some mean teeth to go with my bark.”

“In any case, we do one more tack, and then I’ll point us straight at the Garonne system.”  Talyn drained her glass and set it down.  “Bedtime, Mister Big Guns.”

Decker wiggled his eyebrows at the others, grinning.

“Have a great night, folks.  I know I will.”

Once they were in the privacy of their cabin, Talyn began to strip.

“You checked all the security measures?”  She asked, tossing her trousers on the chair by the double-wide bunk.

He touched the terminal by the door.

“Our dear AI confirms everything’s locked down.  They can empty out the bar, play cards or sleep on the deck for all I care.  They won’t be going anywhere.”

“I’m not sure I like the way those howlers simply left.”  Talyn stepped out of her underwear and looked at him with raised eyebrows.  “I thought you wanted a good night?  It’s not going to happen if you’re still wearing your gun belt.”

“Agreed – about the Jackals abandoning the chase, I mean.”  He quickly stripped down and then wrapped his arms around Talyn.  “Enough shop talk.  Live for the moment, I always say.”

“You say a lot of things,” she replied, moments before his mouth covered hers, ending any further conversation.

Later, much later, lying side by side, staring at the deck head, their bodies covered by a thin film of sweat, Decker turned to look at her.

“Off the wall analysis here, Commander Talyn,” he said, any trace of banter absent from his tone.  “What if the howlers were making sure the ordnance got to Garonne without any of the real filth trying to steal it?  Shepherding, so to speak, not stampeding?”

“And once they saw that we were more than able to fight off trouble, they figured the job was done?”  She nodded.  “Plausible.  We’ll make a paranoid spook out of you yet, Chief Warrant Officer Decker.”

“So riddle me this,” he said after a few moments of silence.  “If our analysts are right, and the
Sécurité Spéciale
uses the Confederacy as proxies for wet work, why would they want to make certain illicit weapons, a lot of it Shrehari at that, get safely to Garonne?”

“We’re not on Garonne yet,” she pointed out.

“True, but the question is valid.  Why would they have an interest in helping the rebels?  I’m sure the senior folks in the Celeste government are dues paying members of the Coalition and would rather not lose their grip on one of the last two colonies they still own.”

“That’s the conundrum, isn’t it?”  She turned onto her side to face Zack.  “Of course, it could still be entirely possible that you startled them out of a planned piracy operation with your preposterous announcement and gunfire.  There could very well be no
Sécurité Spéciale
strings pulling.  Maybe Roste or someone else aboard
Clio
really is dirty.”

“Sure.  In that case, they’ll regroup and try us out again, using a different approach.  It’s still just two against one, and they haven’t seen my lovely missiles yet, let alone my calliopes.”

“Why is it that speaking of weaponry lights up your eyes more than any invitation to play I’ve ever thrown your way?”

“A man’s got to have his priorities, sweetheart, and I feel another priority coming on.”

She reached down and grabbed him, a low, husky laugh rising from her throat.

“Funny that, I can feel it too.”

***

“Why wait?”  Verrill sounded impatient.  He frowned at the tactical display on the main screen and said, “One more jump and we’re home free.”

The little convoy had emerged just beyond the Garonne system’s outermost planet after two tacks without seeing any further evidence of pursuit, though Zack thought he’d picked up a sensor ghost both times.

“Before we run headlong into something we might not be able to control, wouldn’t it be best to see what may be out there?”

Talyn sounded so calm and reasonable that the rebel leader felt foolish for a moment.

“You’re the one who said Avalon had been contracted to blockade Garonne,” she pointed out.

“Plus, you and your pals need time to shift over to one of your own ships,” Zack added, “just in case we need to fight our way through.  Remember, you also hired us as your escort, and that means our job is to cover you until you land.”

Verrill exchanged glances with his two companions and then nodded.

“Tran and I will shift to
Marilan
.  Miko will stay here with the cargo she bought.”

Decker shrugged.  “Suit yourself, though...”

The AI pinged, and he left the rest of his reply hanging.

“Our sensor ghost again, at the limit of our range, well out towards interstellar space.”

“The Jackals?”  Steiger asked.

“Possibly.  It looks like the same contact we had during the last two tacks.  It’s almost like they’re checking up on us.”

“Why?  To make sure we get where we’re supposed to go?”

“That would be the most likely supposition,” Talyn said.  “The reason for such solicitude isn’t apparent, however.”

“Are you still thinking Roste or someone on
Clio
is in cahoots with them?”  Verrill asked.

“One doesn’t preclude the other.  Provided we get you and your weaponry down in one piece, I suppose it doesn’t matter.”

“The ghost is gone again, like the last two times.”  Decker turned back towards the rebel commander.

“Not that I want to seem pushy, but you should head over to your ship now.  We don’t want to hang around here longer than necessary, especially if we’re still being tracked for some reason.”

“In that case, I’ll thank you for your hospitality.”  Verrill stood and stuck out his hand.  “You’re sure you don’t want to hang around after delivering the merchandise?  We could really use a veteran of the Corps like you.”

Talyn gave him a warning glance, and he briefly shook his head.

“The boss says no.  We’ll deliver and then it’s off to whatever contract finds us next.”

“Pity.”

Tran Kinnear shook Decker’s hand next, disappointment writ large on his face.

“The Garonne colonists are good people, Zack, but the only way they’ll get the freedom they’ve earned is through the barrel of a gun.  There’s a few more of us former silahdar in the movement, and they’d take a lot of heart from knowing you were helping out.”

“Sorry, Tran.”  Zack pulled him in for a bear hug.  “You take care now.  There’s nothing more I can teach you anyway, so I know you and the others will be all right.”

Then, the two men were gone, leaving Miko Steiger as their sole passenger.  The personnel transfer pod released its death grip on
Phoenix
’s airlock a few minutes later and sped off towards the lead freighter.

“If you’d like,” Steiger suggested after they witnessed the pod’s safe arrival, “I could help out with the system scan.”

Decker stared at her for a few seconds, trying to decide whether or not she would be of any use.  Steiger mistook his hesitation for a matter of trust, and a sardonic smile appeared.

“Guys, I already figure this ship is more than you make it out to be, for whatever reasons I’m not about to question.  There’s a lot of data to sift through that the AI won’t be able to classify, and I’ve done this kind of work before, believe it or not.”