This Corner of the Universe (13 page)

In
theory, a mass driver could generate a push pulse multiple times in a second. 
Coupled with a sophisticated enough reloading mechanism, a mass driver could
fire as fast as the next round could be loaded into the center barrel.  In
reality, firing a mass driver more than once every five seconds would almost guarantee
a misfire immediately.  As a result, the design and installation of a loading
mechanism that took five seconds to safely load the next round became industry
standard.

Anelace’s
center barrel temperature rose
from a frigid -455 degrees Fahrenheit to a scorching 2,438 degrees Fahrenheit
with its first shot.  Lieutenant Vernay had pre-loaded the first round so her
second shot at
Raptor
came five seconds later, just outside the driver’s
maximum effective range.  As the second mass driver round cleared the now brightly
glowing orange barrel, the temperature inside it spiked to 3,444 degrees Fahrenheit.

The
first iridium-treated projectile took fifteen seconds to reach
Raptor
.  On
the bridge of the ketch, the pirate captain was staring at his view screen in
mute rage over his ship’s inability to defend herself. 
Raptor
was a
good ship.  She had been heavily modified for the piracy she excelled at but
she was not an enforcer ship and she could not stand toe to toe against a
military vessel.  His ship’s optics had detected two breakaway objects from the
corvette, undoubtedly shots from the damn thing’s mass driver.  The second shot
had surprised him as his ship’s technical data on the Dagger class corvette had
told him they could not have fired accurately that fast.  Maybe the corvette’s
gunner had rushed both shots.  If his ship survived the incoming salvo, he
promised himself he would surrender before the corvette’s second pass.

Iridium
was one of the hardest, naturally occurring metals in the known systems.  A
very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum family,
finely divided iridium dust was also flammable.  While too brittle to penetrate
a military ship’s thickly armored hull, iridium was the perfect choice against
a pirate ship.  The first shot struck
Raptor
amidship, one meter aft of
the ship’s middle structural support frame.  Behind that frame was originally a
luxurious yachtsman’s compartment, now converted into the weapons station
controlling the ship’s two B-pack lasers.  The mass driver round broke apart as
it penetrated the ship’s hull, creating a buckshot pattern of fragments inside
the ship that disintegrated anything in their paths.  Three crewmen never knew
their ship had been hit.  As the fragments passed through machinery and
material inside the weapons room, they reduced further into dust.  Sparks from
shorted out equipment supplied the ignition source for the dust and
Raptor’s
middle compartment became a short-lived inferno as it vented its fiery
atmosphere into space.

Vernay’s
second shot hit further forward.  The round impacted five meters behind the
bridge, annihilating the galley and living quarters.  Had this been a normal
shot, the bridge would have been spared; however, when the iridium projectile
broke apart, dozens of fragments shredded the bridge’s rear wall.  The bridge’s
atmosphere was promptly blown through the crew’s quarters and out the gaping
holes in
Raptor’s
hull.  With no pressure suit, the captain’s last
thought before suffocation was about broken promises.

Heskan
watched the events play out in front of him on the tactical screen and through
Anelace’s
optics.  His first feeling was the immediate relief that his attack run had
allowed his ship a couple of shots while preventing any return fire.  Once the
range was opening again, he concentrated on the right side of the view screen. 
The main screen was still split, the left showing the tactical plot, the right once
again showing an enhanced optical view of
Raptor
. 

The
ketch was still turning in a vain effort to face them and close the distance. 
That opportunity lost, Heskan thought it was likely it would continue its run
away from
Anelace
but he was unsure if the ketch would continue sailing
toward the tunnel point.
 I’ve never heard of a ketch having a tunnel drive but
if I have Ana do another flyby attack, I’ll probably only get one more pass before
it reaches the tunnel point.  However, I have something much better in mind now
that we’re ahead of her
, he thought.  Glancing at tactical, he saw the two
solid dots representing the mass driver rounds nearing the ketch.  He felt his
body tense up even though he knew that whatever had happened to
Raptor
had
happened eight seconds ago, the amount of time it took for the light from
Raptor
to reach his ship.  The first shot looked like it would be a sure hit; the
second, maybe not.  He had given Vernay only the extreme range of the Kruger’s firing
envelope to work with and would be grateful for a single hit.  Out of the
corner of his eye, he saw Vernay’s left thumb still twitching her thumbstick as
if still trying to guide that second shot into the ketch.

A
flash of light on the ketch amidship heralded the first shot’s impact.  Heskan
heard collective gasps around the bridge as the explosion inside the
Raptor’s
weapons compartment occurred and then the oddly beautiful venting of the flames
into space could be easily seen on the screen.  Five seconds later,
Raptor
took her second hit and Heskan watched more atmosphere and debris blow from her
ruptured hull.  Seconds after that,
Raptor’s
ELTI launched and began
transmitting its distress signal.

Heskan
leaned back into his chair. 
It was too easy
;
she never had a chance
,
he thought ruefully as he watched the ketch’s death throes.  A wave of regret
washed over him. 
Oh God, Heskan, don’t get all guilty, you didn’t kill
those people… Stacy did!
  The random and ludicrous thought made Heskan bark
a short laugh before he could stifle it
.  The truth is those people put
themselves in that ship and decided to become pirates on their own accord.  How
many miners and traders have they killed in this system alone?  Get over it, Heskan. 
That’s the enemy and they’d have killed you if they’d had the chance.  Sleep
well tonight on a job well done… Speaking of well done…

“Excellent
shooting, WEPS.  Great work, everyone.”  He double-checked the tactical plot
and saw
Anelace
was 18
ls
from the remains of
Raptor
and
moving farther away.  “Diane, match Raptor’s velocity but keep us at least twenty
light-seconds apart.  Jack, send Raptor a surrender demand again and I want you
to give me a damage estimate, specifically on those B-packs.”  Heskan swiveled
his command chair to face Chief Brown.  “Chief, assuming it’s safe, we’re going
to have to board her and look for survivors.  Please prep a team.”

A
chorus of acknowledgements filled the bridge and Heskan’s crew went to work.

It
didn’t take long for Ensign Truesworth and his section to estimate the
destruction of the pirate ship’s two lasers.  A replay of the optical record clearly
showed the starboard side laser was nearly blown off the hull in the subsequent
depressurization.  The laser on the opposite side of
Raptor’s
hull had
probably taken several fragments as the remains of the iridium projectile
passed through the port hull and into space.  Lieutenant Riedel confirmed the
sensor officer’s findings and classified the ship as combat ineffective. 
Raptor’s
lasers were not the only non-functioning systems on the ketch.  A few minutes
after the attack run, her power plant’s fuel cell breakers popped and power
dropped to the minimum for life support. 
Raptor’s
main drive grew dim
like a fading heartbeat as the wreck drifted through space in the general
direction of the Narvi tunnel point at .13
c
.  As she drifted, the
ketch’s exterior lights were extinguished, a universal symbol for surrender. 
No reply had come from the ketch but with most of the ship destroyed from the
center forward, that did not surprise Heskan.  Still, it was likely there were
trapped crew in the engine compartment and they, not the computer failsafe, had
flushed her power core.

Twenty-five
minutes later,
Anelace
was pacing the wreck, 20
ls
away.  Chief
Brown’s boarding party was loading into the borrowed shuttle as Spaceman Gables
worked her way through the shuttle’s pre-flight checklist.  Heskan was waiting
on Brown’s message that they were ready when Truesworth broke the silence on
the bridge.

“Incoming
emergency call from RALF-Three!”  The main screen flickered from the split
tactical/optical combination to Demyen Timofei’s grim face.  His heavily
accented English conveyed great anguish.

“Captain
Heskan, five minutes ago we pick up three unknown vessels leaving Alpha Field. 
Projected course takes them on intercept course for Anelace.  We send this
message to warn you.  We cannot refine sensor data due to Alpha Field
disturbance but as better data comes, we send to you.  I have great concern for
station and the six extractors currently harvesting Beta Field.  I instruct
them to hide in field until safe to return to station.  We request assistance
and instruction.  Timofei out.”

“Three
more ketches?” Riedel exclaimed.

“I
guess we really kicked the hornet’s nest,” Heskan said.  “Jack—”

“On
it, Captain,” Truesworth interjected as he typed furiously on his console. 
After a moment, the tactical plot expanded and displayed the estimated
positions of the three mystery ships.  Heskan was considering the data when
Brown’s voice came over his command chair comm unit.

“Capt’n,
we’re ready to launch.  The team’s loaded fer bear but I don’t reckon Raptor’s
survivors will be in a fightin’ mood when we reach ‘em.”

“The
mission is scrubbed, Chief.  We have three unidentified ships from the Alpha
Field on an intercept course for us.  Stand your crew down and come up to the
bridge, please.”

“Aye,
aye, sir.”

Heskan
thought he heard the chief joking with his boarding team about being left at
the altar before the communications link was cut but he paid it little
attention. 
Anelace
had labeled the mystery flotilla as Unknown
Fleet-Alpha.  His stomach tightened as he realized that this was going to be as
unfair a fight as the last one was, except for different sides. 
Okay,
Heskan, give your crew something to do other than sit there and stare at the
plot. 
Mustering a calm voice, he said, “Navigation, lay in an intercept
course for the unknowns, point three light, if you please.  Reduce our speed to
point one light as we enter the Beta Field.”  He had intentionally avoided
calling it a fleet.  There wasn’t any reason to pound in the fact that they
were outnumbered.  He quickly calculated the time necessary for each ship to
traverse its part of space.  “Estimated time to contact with the unknowns is
two hours.”  Lastly, Heskan took
Anelace
off battle stations.  There
would be plenty of time to bring the ship to full alert and keeping the crew at
the highest state of readiness unnecessarily for two hours could hamper their
performance when it would be needed most.

Heskan
went to work on formulating a battle strategy when Lieutenant Riedel walked up
to him and in a low voice asked, “Captain, you mean to leave the pirates
stranded on Raptor and Paragon?”

Heskan
nodded and shrugged, “For now.  Even if we had the time for a rescue, I don’t
have the manpower to spare posting guards for them.”  He lowered his voice
significantly, “Besides, the way the odds look, they’re probably safer on their
wrecks anyway.”

Riedel
tried to sound hopeful.  “If we can stay out of laser range…”

“That’s
assuming they’re armed the way Raptor was.  I doubt pirate ships have standard
armament.  Plus, we’re assuming all three of those ships are ketches.  With any
luck, they’ll be smaller, like sloops, but I have a bad feeling at least one is
heavier.”

“Why
would they need something heavier out here?”

“To
scare off the competition.  We’re looking at four pirate ships in this
backwater system.  That’s a lot of dedicated resources.”

“But
dedicated to what?” Riedel asked.

“I
think Boats was right.  I bet there is a major drug production facility or
something similar inside the Alpha Field and these ships were placed here to
deter outsiders.”

“Like
Renard.”

Heskan
agreed, “Yes, but also other pirate outfits.  They all don’t fly under the same
flag, you know, and my guess is that the primary function of these ships is to
keep another pirate organization from coming in here and taking that facility
for themselves.  The ketches are probably escorts for a bigger ship.”

“Makes
sense… unfortunately,” Riedel said.

Both
men paused as they considered the implications when Vernay spoke up sheepishly,
“Captain, I wasn’t intending to eavesdrop but it’s five ships, not four.”

“What?”

“Five
ships, sir.  The three in front of us, the Raptor and the stealth ship,” she
pointed out.

Crap! 
I’d forgotten about that one
. 
“Good point, Lieutenant.” 
Damn, I shouldn’t have called her by her rank.  I
don’t want her to think I’m irritated with her but it’ll seem weird if I go
back and correct myself
.

“Stacy,
if you were the pirate commander, where would you place that stealth ship?”
Riedel asked as he came up to her station.

Vernay
looked down at her console.  Heskan could see she was looking at the tactical
plot but hers was zoomed out farther than the current tactical plot on the main
screen.  “I guess it depends on where it was during our ambush.  The two most
likely places are, one, safely docked at their facility, or two, shadowing the
Raptor in the Beta Field.”

Vernay
transferred her expanded view of the tactical plot onto the main screen.  She
picked up a lite-stylus and began making notes on her console screen, which
were duplicated onto the main screen where everyone could see.  “If it was
docked, I bet it’s with Unknown Fleet Alpha and the RALF just can’t detect it. 
However, if we fight the stealth ship in open space, it won’t be much use
because I think we’ll be able to see it when it has to move at battle speeds.”

Vernay
touched a button to clear her notes and then resumed.  “But I think it was in
the Beta Field.  I bet it’s used as a scout and to keep track of us when it
isn’t destroying navigation buoys.  It would be practically invisible in the
field and since we aren’t supposed to know about it, the chances of us detecting
it are basically zero.”  Vernay drew a circle around the navigation buoy they
had used to detect the
Raptor
inside the Beta Field.  The circle
approximated the buoy’s detection area. 

“If
you look, Captain, Raptor and Paragon rendezvoused here.”  Vernay put a dot
inside the detection circle but roughly three quarters of the way from the
buoy.  “My guess is that the stealth ship was probably shadowing Raptor and
pure coincidence put it on the opposite side from us, just far enough away from
the buoy to avoid detection.”

Vernay
then drew lines representing the courses
Raptor
and
Paragon
had
taken, fleeing toward the Narvi tunnel point.  “Once the stealth ship was sure
it wasn’t detected, it probably just remained stationary until we were clear of
the Beta Field.  I bet it then moved to the inside edge of the field and sent a
comm message back to its base.”

“That
would explain why the pirates have reacted so quickly,” Riedel added.

“After
warning the pirate base, if I was the captain of that ship, I’d then move to
the outside edge of the field to observe what happened to Raptor and Paragon. 
So my guess is that she is somewhere here, sir.”  Vernay drew a small rectangle
along the outer edge of the Beta Field. 

Heskan
noticed that
Anelace
would pass through part of the rectangle as she
entered the asteroid field.  “That’s good analysis, Stacy.”

“Thank
you, Captain,” Vernay beamed and then returned the main screen back to the
tactical view it had formerly shown.

There’s
so much to think about.  What are they planning and how do I turn it to my
advantage?
 
Heskan stood from his command chair and said, “Mike, you have the bridge.  I
need to look something up and work on a plan.”  Heskan glanced at the tactical
plot and saw
Anelace
would hit the Beta Field in forty-three minutes. 
“I’ll be back in thirty.”

“Aye,
Captain.  I have the bridge.”