Federation Reborn 2: Pirate Rage (81 page)

Chapter
45

“Where the hell are they?” Captain Adam Song of
Shepard
demanded when they exited the jump point. “Com, raise
Almirante Grau
. Did we beat them here?”

“It looks that way,” his XO said. “Will wonders never cease. They had a head start too.”

“Yeah, but they were damaged,” Captain Song said absently. Thoughts of a potential ambush began to play in his mind. If they did it right, they wouldn't be able to destroy one of the big boys, but the little fellas … they might be able to get one or more of them.

“IFF challenge. IFF and word of the day transmitted,”
Shepard's
ship A.I. intoned. The captain glanced at the A.I.'s avatar and then to the CIC rating. She was busy with her station so he pursed his lips and turned to the other stations. Finally, his eyes fell on the comm rating who happened to be looking in his direction.

The comm rating held a hand to her ear then nodded slowly. “Sir, this just in from
Almirante Grau
. They said no one has come back from Protodon. They've been rather, and I quote, 'lonely.'”

“My heart bleeds. A
lmirante Grau
lost the coin flip fair and square. Not my fault they got tired of playing with themselves so quickly,” the captain said dryly. There was a muted sputter of laughter from the bridge crew. He grinned.

The grin became craftier as a thought struck him. “Come to think of it, we can use this if we want,” he said.

“Me thinks me doth dislike thou look,” the XO said warily.

“You know me too well, Pericles, you know me too well,” the captain said, rubbing his hands together. “Guns, get with
Almirante Grau
. Give them a complete SITREP including the ships that escaped. I want them to know what they are up against. I think we can do some additional damage to help them run along if we play our cards right.”

“We are clear of the jump point area,” the helm rating intoned.

“Not a moment too soon,” the CIC rating said, voice rising into a yelp. “We have ships jumping behind us!”

“Frack!” the captain snarled, plan going up like tissue paper as he scanned the report. “Helm, get us the hell out of their firing basket fast. Heading four four one by mark one by four.”

“That will take us away from the
Grau
, Captain. We'll be out of support range,” the XO warned.

“No choice,” the captain said, eying the ship.
Grau
was sitting behind the jump point facing the enemy. She theoretically had a nice up-the-kilt shot. “Comm, warm up the tachyon transceiver. Tell
Grau
to give the enemy a send-off. Missile spread, then get clear.”

“Aye, sir,” the comm rating replied.

“Guns, give them some of our own.”

“We'll be out of range in less than a minute,” the TACO warned.

“Then you'd best be snappy about it, then hadn't you?” the captain asked mildly.

“Aye aye, sir.”

---<>))))

One of the worst things Admiral Von Berk and the staffs of the various ships had to contend with on their journey back to B95a3 was the lack of an ability to communicate from ship to ship. They'd had all they could do to keep in company with one another. He was certain that the various ship companies would labor as best they could with what they had available to make good on any repairs that were possible. Unfortunately, he knew that hull repairs would have to wait until they exited hyper.

But what really bothered him about the quiet ride had been the inability to coordinate the force. To get an update from the other ships would have lessened his need to worry, but the ability to talk to them would have allowed him to ease another worry, the worry that they'd come out into the arms of another damn Federation force unprepared.

Not that they had much to prepare with anyway.

When they hadn't been busy helping Apache's crew with the repairs, he'd driven his crew to find a way to get some organization going the moment they exited hyper. They'd hit upon the idea of writing orders in advance, a whole series of them depending on various scenarios. Then he could select from the menu to put the pieces together on the fly before transmitting them to the ships.

His intent had always been to consolidate in B-95a3 space upon their exit from hyperspace. The Federation picket there had other ideas however. They got out of their way, but not without a kick in their direction. He noted that one was ahead but diving low; the other was behind and had fired on them from long-range, most likely their extreme missile range.

As he opened his mouth to call out orders, Captain Bordou beat him to it, issuing orders to stand by the defenses. Fortunately, the BCs handled the single missile spread before they could get into final acquisition mode. The LC ahead and below them fired a single spread of missiles, but
Nevada
rolled and easily took them out before they could get into attack range.

“They are moving out of range, sir,” Captain Bordou reported. “I can't blame them I suppose, though I wish they'd been a bit slower off the mark,” she growled.

“Beggars can't be choosers I suppose. Get those orders transmitted, Captain. I want a SITREP from all ships and a ship conference ASAP,” the admiral growled.

“Aye, sir.”

They had recognized the two BCs as
Nevada
and
Massachusetts
when they had skipped closer. That was the good news, and it had been limited to just about that though he had to consider the ships being able to meet up in hyperspace as some sort of minor miracle. Both ships had taken a beating however; that much was obvious though he wasn't sure about the circumstances. His critical eye noted hastily-made repairs under new damage. That didn't seem right. It was too soon for him to tell if they would be in for another fight. He harbored his doubts, but for the moment kept them to himself.

For his part, Fourth Fleet had been reduced to his three surviving cruisers and
Lingchi
.
Calico Jack
transmitted that she was nearly out of fuel when she transmitted her SITREP. He'd expected the same out of the CEV but apparently she had vampired her on-board store of fighter fuel to keep going.

Once they were clear of the jump point, he held a captain's conference.

He nodded to each officer in turn as they took up a segment of the main viewer. Captain Bordou stood behind him. “I wish we could be meeting under different circumstances,” he said simply.

“So it's going to be like that,” Captain Mueller said quietly.

“Like what, Captain?” Captain Bordou asked, eyes flashing.

“Nothing. Never mind. I misspoke,” the other captain replied.

The admiral studied her image and then the others. “I am still getting up to speed on each of your ships and the damage they have sustained. Captain Post, Mueller, I thank you for your support.”

“We thought you'd be coming soon, sir,” Captain Post said.

“You are lucky we didn't jump out sooner though,” Captain Mueller said. “We almost did. A couple more hours …”

“Well, Lady Luck does certainly have a way with things I suppose,” Admiral Von Berk said. “What is done is done. The important thing is where we go from here.”

“Nuevo Madrid is the obvious course given our damage, sir,” Captain Post said calmly. “From there …,” he shrugged.

“I agree …”

“We should hunt the two cruisers here down and deal with them once and for all,” Captain Jonas Quinn of
Calico Jack
growled. He had a bandage covering half his head along with his right eye. “Hunt them down like the scum they are and destroy their pretty ships.”

There was a growl of agreement from the others, but the admiral didn't say anything. He raised a hand, and they quieted. Sullen eyes turned to him. “You all know what I am going to say. I am going to be the voice of reason, reining us in. I admire your desire to fight. Truly, I do. But we have to temper that urge with the
mission
,” he said, voice becoming heavy with the weight of command as he continued. “We have a mission, not just the one assigned, but to support and defend the Empire. We cannot do that if we are destroyed.”

“Two …”

“I didn't say they'd do it, Captain Quinn, though in our wounded state they could do considerable damage. Perhaps even get in a lucky shot to take one or more of us out. I can't afford that loss. We know what is in Protodon now. Captain Post, your division's restraint was admirable.”

“Yes, sir. We were supposed to picket the outer system for your reappearance.”

“And you succeeded there. My thanks again. Your restraint was admirable.”

“What restraint. We are almost out of missiles and both of our ships are near wrecks,” Captain Mueller growled. Captain Post eyed her. “Sir, it took a lot to get us this far. I agree with you though; we can't hunt the Feds here down. They are fully fueled and in good condition. They'd run rings around us, and we'd just waste fuel and time.”

“Agreed,” Captain Post stated with a reluctant nod. “Time is of the essence.”

“But we escaped!” Captain Lo Chan Hi of
Jean Laffitte
protested.

“Did we?” Captain Post asked, eying the Asian captain. “We are ahead of them. But at any moment they could follow. They could follow us to Nuevo Madrid. In fact, I expect them to do so at any time,” he said.

Admiral Von Berk studied the others, noting the sullen looks and brief sparks of fear or outrage. Finally, he cleared his throat. “He is correct. And Nuevo Madrid is a cul-de-sac system.”

“We would be trapped. But where else can we go?” Asuma Senpi, captain of
Lingchi
said bitterly. We can't get to Dead Drop. Not with all of us. I know
Lingchi
has one good jump left in her. I'm willing to try to get to Nuevo Madrid, sir. Anything else is pure suicide.” He eyed the admiral.

“We can't go much further as it is,” Captain Quinn stated. “
Jack
is about out of fuel as it is. Speaking of which …”

“I had considered abandoning your ship. Pulling her crew and consumables off for the rest and then scuttling her to keep her out of enemy hands,” the admiral said bluntly. There was a sharp intake of breath from Captain Bordou beside him. He chose to ignore it. He studied the other captain, watching for the various emotions to play out over his face. Despair was there briefly, then resignation. “But I think the Empire has lost enough ships recently. We are going to need them all if we are going to hold off the Federation in Nuevo Madrid. Consequently,” he turned to Captain Mueller. “Captain Mueller, I want you to dock with
Calico Jack
and transfer fuel to them. Sufficient fuel to get them to Nuevo Madrid. I chose you since you have the most fuel.”

Captain Mueller knew better than to argue. She nodded once.

“Very well then. The plan is simple. Make good on what repairs we can while we can. Refuel. Do what you can for your wounded. If you have problems, we will transfer personnel between ships. I didn't see an in-depth review of some of your ship's status. I want that. Also personnel, who we have left and where they are. If your engineers are stumped with a problem, I want them to talk to each other over our encrypted communications. If necessary we will transfer parts and consumables as well. But make certain each of your ships can survive the jump.”

“Aye aye, sir,” Captain Post said with a nod. The other captain nodded or murmured their own agreement.

“I also need a report from you, Captain Post, Mueller, on your orders and any news you have and of course the state of affairs in Nuevo Madrid and the surrounding area.”

“Yes, sir. I'm transmitting my report now,” Captain Post stated, nodding to someone off camera.

“It is nice to be anticipated in small things I suppose,” the admiral replied with a nod. “Good initiative, Captain.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Now then. Now that we have a basic strategy, let's get down to the basics and any details that need to be addressed.” He frowned at Captain Lo Chin Hi. “You have a concern, Captain?”

“What about the Feds, sir?”

“The cruisers you mean?” Captain Bordou asked. The other captain nodded. “I say we leave them. Ignore them. Let them dog our heels as we cross the star system. They know they can't hurt us.”

“With any luck they might get cute, get too close, and we can take a bite out of their ass,” Captain Quinn growled.

“One can only hope,” Captain Mueller muttered. “But I don't think we're going to get lucky. Something tells me we've used up a year's worth just getting this far.”

“I'm not going to turn down the opportunity if it presents itself,” Captain Quinn said.

“Nor am I,” Captain Mueller said, voice rising in indignation.

“It didn't sound that way, Captain,” Quinn growled.

“Enough,” the admiral growled. The two combatants quieted. “Enough,” he said in a more neutral tone. “We will, as my flag captain said, ignore them for the time being. We'll focus on getting patched up and jumping.”