First Strike (32 page)

“Minimal,” Lucas admitted. “We’re hurting their shields, but beam diffusion is too great to damage their hulls. We need to engage at closer range.”

Tobias nodded. “Take us in,” he ordered. “Open fire with antimatter torpedoes as soon as we enter range.”

Space became a boiling mass of energy as antimatter torpedoes slammed into their targets. Five more Hegemony battlecruisers vanished in the blaze, along with a pair of destroyers, but they didn't die alone.
 
Perry
 
died before any of her crew could escape, while
 
Jellicoe
 
staggered away, too badly damaged to even open a quantum gate and escape the battle. If the Hegemony had targeted her, they would have blown her apart before it was too late; instead, the battlecruisers started to angle away from the planet. Tobias watched in disbelief as the Funks turned and retreated, leaving their puzzled opponents in command of the battlefield. Moments later, they opened a quantum gate and vanished. The battle seemed to be over.

“Maybe it’s a trap,” Lucas said, as puzzled as his superior. “Maybe they expect us to chase them into quantum space and run right into another formation of ships.”

Tobias shook his head. The Galactics were reluctant to fight battles in quantum space, for fear that the disruptive storms would give the weaker side an advantage. It was a known fact that quantum space responded to weapons fire, although no-one had managed to come up with an explanation as to why. The Funks would hardly have risked a battle in quantum space if there was any alternative.

“Curious,” he said. “I wonder...”

“Sir, I’m picking up transmissions from Convoy-46,” Lucas said, suddenly. “They just entered the system. Her CO didn't even realise that there was a battle underway until they picked it up on their sensors.”

Tobias started to laugh, despite himself. The Funks had detected the convoy too and had assumed that the freighters were more arsenal ships. It wasn't as if the missile cloud would be so useful against targets in clear space, where they could jump into quantum space and escape, but they couldn't have risked the total obliteration of their force without inflicting equal or greater losses on their foe.

“Welcome her CO to the system and thank him for his timely arrival,” he said. “And then get the repair crews to work. I want all of the damaged ships repaired before we return to Hammerfall.”

He settled down in his command chair. “And pass a message to all ships,” he added. “Well done.”

* * *

An hour later, he found himself studying a report that didn't please him in the slightest. Two of the damaged ships could be returned to service within five days, but the remainder would require several weeks at the very least. Whatever they’d had in mind – retaking Garston or reconnaissance in force – they’d accomplished at least one of their goals. The Federation Navy would be unable to take the offensive and return to Hammerfall, unless he called up reinforcements from Earth. And doing that risked leaving humanity’s homeworld uncovered.

The Hegemony could lose a dozen worlds like Hammerfall and keep going. Humanity couldn’t afford to lose Earth and the industry that had been painstakingly built up in the solar system over the last fifteen years. Presumably, the Funks knew that as well as he did. He was mildly surprised that they hadn't already tried to raid the system, even if they
 
were
 
spooked by the thought of what kind of defences humanity might have emplaced around Earth. Tobias was one of the very few who knew that humanity’s fixed defences were minimal, almost non-existent. There had been no time to construct fortresses when the Federation Navy needed starships.

He shook his head. But there was no real choice. They had to call up the reserves and continue the advance, hammering away at the Hegemony. It couldn't be long before someone overthrew the Empress. Even if the war ended tomorrow, the clans would need years to rebuild all they’d lost. If the Hegemony recovered first, humanity was screwed, without lube.

They’d just have to see what they could do to keep the Hegemony off-balance until they were ready to win the war.
 

“What do we have today?”

“One bulk freighter, two general freighters and a pair of destroyers,” Karla said. “Traffic has been really slowing down lately.”

Joshua nodded. The Traders Alliance wasn't the only organisation that claimed to supervise interstellar trade, but it represented hundreds of thousands of independent shippers and small trading companies. Joshua was a member himself. Even their rivals, as much as they would appreciate the chance to sneak business from under the Alliance’s nose, wouldn't be inclined to break the embargo on the Hegemony. The Funks were making it harder for independent freighter commanders to make an honest living.

Ironically, it was also making it harder for the pirates. With fewer ships travelling through the threatened sectors, the Funks had a chance to escort more of them with escorts heavy enough to daunt even the Clunker fleet. The rebels were still committed but some of the pirates were edging away, perhaps to the point of considering selling Joshua out to the Funks. They’d find it harder to make a living if the Funks kept escorting their ships – and they were less inclined to pick fights with any warship. Getting rid of Joshua had to seem like a bargain to them. He’d responded by moving most of his activities away from the known asteroid colonies and keeping as much as he could firmly out of sight. Even if they did manage to sell him out to the Funks, the rebellion would go on.

“It can't be a very important cargo,” Joshua said, thoughtfully. The last convoy they’d seen had been escorted by four heavy cruisers, far too much to tangle with for his little fleet. What intelligence they’d picked up had suggested that the Funks had been moving heavy industrial equipment. Unlike most Galactics, the Funks weren't too keen on the idea of developing colonies building their own industries, even though it would save them a great deal of money in shipping costs. “But if we could take out those destroyers...”

He smiled, coldly. The Hegemony had been losing a great many escorts lately, thanks to Joshua and his men. Even a force the size of the Hegemony Navy had to be feeling the pain; light units were needed to escort their superdreadnoughts as well as everything else and they couldn't replenish their losses quickly enough. It was hard to tell if his tactics were having a major effect on the Hegemony, but with the trade embargo and the pirate raids, the Hegemony had to be in trouble. Their currency had been falling compared to the Galactic Credit for the last two weeks. It wouldn't be long before they had to dip into their own stockpile of credits to purchase almost anything they wanted from outside the Hegemony. The knock-on effects would certainly destroy the economy...

…On the other hand, plenty of human governments had gritted their teeth and kept fighting even in the face of economic disaster. Why couldn't the Funks show the same resilience?

“Take us in on attack vector,” he ordered. There were enough ships in the raiding force to hunt down all of the freighters if they tried to scatter. “Prepare to engage the enemy.”

The standard Hegemony tactic for dealing with pirates was to mount a resolute defence and hope that that deterred the pirates from pressing the offensive. Joshua had planned for that, but instead the Hegemony seemed to be playing it very cagily. The destroyers were hanging back, guarding the freighters, a tactic that suggested that they weren’t eager to fight. And that made little sense.

“Maybe one of their Great Ladies is onboard the freighter,” Karla suggested. “Someone worth a few million credits to them.”

Joshua shrugged. It was possible, but Great Ladies normally didn't travel on anything smaller than a battlecruiser. On the other hand, it was also possible that the Hegemony had recalled most of its good crews and starships to the war front and left behind the dregs of the service, Funks who were less inclined to die for the Hegemony. But if they wanted to live, they should have scattered and hoped to lose themselves within quantum space. What was going on…?

“The bulk freighter is coming apart,” Karla said, puzzled. “The hull appears to be crumbling into its component pieces.”

“Odd,” Joshua said. The Cats had developed hulls that were held together by a combination of prehensile materials and the ship’s structural integrity field. They could be damaged, but it was rare for one to simply wear out, certainly on a starship belonging to a reasonably capable galactic power. It made no sense at all, unless...

“Break off,” he snapped. “It’s a trap!”

The power signature of a Hegemony battlecruiser appeared, rising up out of the remains of the bulk freighter. Someone on the other side had heard of Q-ships and decided to go one better, hiding a battlecruiser within a bulk freighter until the enemy ships entered attack range. The battlecruiser couldn't have used its own targeting sensors without giving the game away too soon, but there was no reason why it couldn't draw targeting solutions from the destroyers falling in behind it. Joshua and his ships were already within range.

“Order all ships to scatter,” he said, grimly. The pirates were going to hate him for leading them into a trap. Some of the rebels might even have second thoughts about facing the Hegemony. They might be able to defeat the battlecruiser, but the cost would be far too high. “We’ll regroup at Point Delta.”

“They’ve locked onto our hull,” Karla snapped. “The battlecruiser is opening fire.”

“Evasive action,” Joshua ordered. “Configure the torpedoes for proximity detonation and return fire.”

Blackbeard
 
lurched as she launched a spread of antimatter torpedoes, just before the first enemy torpedo slammed into her shields. If the battlecruiser had concentrated her fire, they would have been vaporised. As it was,
 
Blackbeard
 
spun like a top, hopefully convincing the Hegemony ship that she’d been badly damaged. Eddies of quantum space energy shimmered around her as the fleet scattered, leaving the battlecruiser and her two escorts to pick targets and go after them. Joshua wondered, grimly, if someone had managed to sell them out already, before deciding that it was unlikely. The Hegemony had simply gotten lucky – and he’d got sloppy. He should have sensed the trap before they committed themselves.

“They’re coming after us,” Karla reported. “Damn – those sensors are powerful.”

“Crash transition,” Joshua snapped. They might be able to hide in quantum space’s energy storms, but not if the battlecruiser had a clear lock on their hull. “Get us into normal space.”

Blackbeard
 
shuddered, as if the hull was about to break apart, before finally crashing back down into normal space. “Go dark,” Joshua ordered. They’d already taken down most of the systems that would have released betraying emissions, but even a pirate ship had active sensors and targeting systems. There was no point in trying to run if the battlecruiser came after them. “Shut down everything we can without compromising ourselves.”

Karla snorted. “Worse than we are already?”

An alarm from the tactical console cut off the retort that rose to Joshua’s lips. “The bastard just made transit,” he said. “Maybe they
 
did
 
know who we are after all.”

The enemy battlecruiser wasn't trying to hide. Her active sensors swept space, projecting an image of iron determination to track down her prey. Joshua watched her through passive sensors, wondering just what kind of reward would be offered to the enemy commander if she managed to take the infamous pirate king alive. After all the chaos he’d caused, the Funks had probably put millions of credits on his head. But then, how would they know they’d caught the
 
real
 
pirate king?

Karla looked over at him. “If she paints us, we’re dead,” she said. Her voice was very quiet. “Now what?”

“We wait,” Joshua said. He keyed the intercom. “All hands, an enemy battlecruiser is hunting us. Do
 
not
 
activate anything that might betray our location.”

“Everyone is going to be whispering,” Karla said, softly. They shared a grin. “We don’t dare even risk a VR simulation.”

“I always thought those were bad for kids,” Joshua said. “I guess we’ll have to have our pleasures the old-fashioned way.”

He shook his head slowly. Hollywood had been slow to understand the potential in Galactic-designed VR simulation packages, which had left the big-name film producers struggling to catch up when the bell finally rang. Who wanted to watch the latest actor playing Spiderman when a VR simulation could put a watcher directly
 
into
 
Spiderman’s outfit? Joshua had made millions of dollars selling systems imported from nearby Galactic worlds by the time Earth had finally produced its own version. Unsurprisingly, the pornography industry had been among the first to capitalize on the market. VR sex was clean, private and almost any kind of fantasy could be played out inside a person’s head.

A long hour passed as the enemy ship hunted them, her sensors probing every last piece of space dust. Luckily, her transition had come several minutes after
 
Blackbeard’s
, leaving her some distance from the point where Joshua had returned to normal space. A few kilometres in quantum space could mean light-minutes in the mundane universe. It was also quite possible that
 
Blackbeard
 
had broken apart through the stress of the transition and had been vaporised. But the Funks wouldn't want to assume that if they knew who they were chasing.

“They might go dark themselves,” Karla said, slowly. “It might trick us into believing that they’ve departed.”

“We’ll just have to be careful,” Joshua said. He’d evaded pirates in quantum space, but normal space was a whole different problem. Even the slightest transmission might betray their location, let alone powering up the drives and trying to flee. He worked it out, piece by piece, in his mind. By the time they managed to power up enough to jump back into quantum space, the enemy battlecruiser would be right on top of them. “Unless...”

He looked over at her. “Do we have any of the static bombs left onboard?”

“Only a couple,” Karla said. She stared at him. “We’ll never be able to use them to destroy that ship.”

“I don’t intend to destroy that ship,” Joshua assured her. “I have something sneakier in mind.”

* * *

Almost every Galactic-designed starship carried a Worker Bee, a tiny self-contained spacecraft intended to allow the crew to do outside the ship and carry out routine maintenance work on the hull. Only one human could fit inside the Bee at any one time, which limited its use as far as starship maintenance was concerned, but Joshua had other plans. It took nearly twenty minutes to pack both of the static bombs inside the Worker Bee, during which time Karla reported that the enemy battlecruiser was slowly, but surely drawing nearer. Their search pattern would have been admirable if they hadn't been chasing
 
Blackbeard
, Joshua had to admit; they’d be able to give any suspicious sensor reading a thorough examination before deciding that it was nothing more than a stray atom.

“We’re ready, sir,” the Chief Engineer said. “Seems a bit of a waste, man, but better it than us.”

“Yep,” Joshua agreed. Losing the entire Bee would be a fine trade if it saved their lives. “You may fire the gas cylinders when ready.”

The Funks would have detected a drive field the moment it powered up, but they wouldn't be able to detect a stream of gas shielded by
 
Blackbeard’s
 
hull. It would take several minutes for the Bee to reach the best position for stage two of Joshua’s plan, giving him time to prepare his crew for action when the time came. They’d have to move swiftly. Even if the plan succeeded perfectly, the Funks wouldn't be surprised for long. Guided by a pinpoint communications laser, the Worker Bee moved steadily away from the hull. Unless they got very lucky, the Funks would be unable to detect her.

“She’s nearing Point Fred,” Karla said. She’d mocked his choice of name mercilessly, but now she was all professional. “Do you want me to take her active?”

Joshua sat down in his command chair, and then nodded. “You may fire when ready, Gridley.”

The Worker Bee’s active sensors came online. With a little careful tweaking, they looked like a damaged starship’s sensors trying to work out just what had happened to their opponent, risking detection in the process. The Funks certainly picked her up at once; their battlecruiser wheeled around and raced towards the Worker Bee, her sensors locking onto the new threat. It wouldn't be more than a few seconds before they realised that they’d been tricked, but there would be just enough time for them to get too close to the Worker Bee. The static bombs detonated together, destroying the Bee and flooding space with brilliant radiation. Static bombs were useless in fleet actions – they blinded both sides indiscriminately and their effects didn't take long to shake off - but they worked very well as part of a sabotage mission. For as long as it took the Funks to reboot their computers and replace blinded sensor blisters, the battlecruiser was blind.

“Bring up the drive,” Joshua ordered.
 
Blackbeard
 
hummed to life, alarmingly close to the battlecruiser’s last reported position. Her passive sensors had been damaged too, even though she’d been further away from the Bee than the battlecruiser. “Take us out of here, now!”