Birthright: Battle for the Confederation- Pursuit Read online

  Merritt swept through the Primans, aggressive almost to the point of recklessness. Something told him Cory probably needed help. She hadn't returned from her run on the Priman cruiser, and whether the run was successful or not she should have come back by now.

  That moment of distraction almost cost him as a Priman fighter made a high deflection shot from low on Merritt's port quarter, and he began maneuvering madly to shake the enemy off. Several hits smacked his shields, but they held. A second later another one of his Talon fighters rolled in behind the Priman, who was now fixated on Merritt, and chopped the enemy to pieces with a withering stream of laser fire from his guns.

  "Thanks, Dash Three," Merritt said humbly. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

  "No problem, Commander," was the reply. "You're all clear." Merritt joined on the other fighter as his wingman to continue the fight.

  "Basic active sensors are operational, Captain," said Lieutenant Caho proudly. She turned back to her screens and began to work her magic, attempting to divine the secrets of Avenger's information-gathering abilities before the computers were able to present their own conclusions.

  "Where are our fighters?" asked Elco quickly as he leaned over her chair back.

  Caho pointed to two different spots on the 2D overlay on the screen to her left. "This big rumble here is where Commander Elder is engaging the Priman fighters who followed him in." She shifted to another location, though there was no data displayed for that spot. "This is where Captain Sosus attacked the Priman cruisers, according to Commander Elder at least. We haven't received any transmissions or data from that direction. Still no sign of the enemy cruisers, either."

  "Well, they still have to be out there," mused Elco. He turned to his conn officer, seated next to the woman at the helm console. "Where are we on the major systems?"

  "Sublight is at one quarter. Engines don't seem to be damaged, but the computer is having trouble getting power from the reactors to the engines. Hyperdrive is offline, no recent updates from Engineering. Sensors and detection are at about half status, shields are at basic navigational hazard deflector level only, and torpedo tubes are still offline. Starboard laser batteries are all in the green, port side seems to be suffering from a massive failure of the main power relays. Life support is ok and damage control teams have the fires in the engine spaces from that torpedo hit under control."

  "So we're still in no condition to fight," Elco said darkly. "Comms, get me the Intruders."

  A second later, Elco was back at his chair looking at the face of Cory's section commander in his Intruder. "Commander Nu," the captain began, "form up and range ahead a few points on the vector Lieutenant Caho is sending to your computers as some nav waypoints." Elco was tapping spots and tracing an arc ahead of Avenger on his own desktop tactical display, which he sent to Caho's station for her to quickly review. He turned and looked at her, receiving a nod in response to indicate she'd sent the data.

  "This is roughly the direction where we lost contact with the Priman cruisers. We're still fairly defenseless, so if they break through you're ordered to attack them and try to make them break off. If we can get Avenger in fighting shape soon we'll work on an actual attack plan, but for now just be ready."

  "Yes, Captain," the man said, and clicked off.

  "Now," Elco said as he turned to Caho once again, "where are Captain Sosus and her wingmen?"

  CHAPTER NINE

  "So, what's the picture?" Halley asked Web as he worked intently on the status board where he sat. The Trin pirate was once again unconscious in the airlock, a result of Halley lowering the air pressure just enough to make him pass out. She promised Web to return pressure to normal before any permanent damage would happen to his physiology.

  "I'll try to keep this brief," he said distractedly. Captain Two-Swords and First Officer Daemon hovered just behind him as well. "The pirates seem to only be going after a portion of the pods that were bound for Callidor- not all of them. Of twenty-three pods headed to Callidor, the pirates removed ten so far and replaced three of them with pods stuffed to the gills with explosives. The combination of scattering our sensors plus replacing most of the pods they stole means they're trying to cover their efforts." He looked over his shoulder at Halley. "You believe him that they don't know which of the ones they left untouched were for the resistance?"

  "I'm inclined to, yes," she replied. "His bunch was being well compensated for their part, and all they had to do was take their pick of the pods offered up as valuable. If we believe what he said about certain pods that were required to go back in specific docking points, that means we can check the manifests and see what the targets were."

  Web manipulated the console before speaking again. "Those three pods were headed to a refinery, fuel depot, and cargo trans-shipping yard."

  "Going after the infrastructure," Halley murmured. "Makes sense."

  "Now what?" asked Daemon after a pause. She seemed more timid that she'd ever been, something Web attributed to what Halley had mentioned about the woman realizing there were real people down on Callidor that would have died by her actions.

  "You want to take this one, Mr. Barbarian?" prodded Halley with a smirk.

  He almost smiled himself, putting on the show as they were for the ship's command crew. Oh well; he'd have fun and play along. "Well, looking at the raw data feeds and seeing that there are two pods left in the queue for removal from this ship, it looks like they have two to steal yet. I'd give a rough guess that it would take another twenty minutes to release and transfer those last two. So, once they unlock, the clock starts. My plan, if I were in charge, you understand," he bowed theatrically at Halley, "would be to wait until they've released our last two cargo pods and then launch two of the explosives-filled ones they gave us back at their two corvette escorts. We blow them up or disable them, and then it's just our freighter and theirs. We'd need to put our defensive weaponry back online. I know the guns were dismantled and stored, but if we could get even one back on-line that would be more than the pirate freighter over there. If I were feeling really vindictive, I'd say we should launch the last exploding cargo pod at their own freighter, but that's not necessary for survival so it's something that would be nice to do but not required as long as we can get one of our guns working."

  "I'm sorry," started Daemon, "but this is Captain Two-Swords' ship. Who put you in charge?"

  Apparently, Web thought, her confidence and abrasive attitude were making a comeback.

  "Nobody," Web replied easily. "The cute engineer asked my opinion and I replied. But I do believe we need to do something about this situation."

  Web knew there were all kinds of conflicting motives. The captain wanted to pass on his info and materiel to the Primans, but Web had already deleted the data package and Two-Swords must know the cargo was forfeit as well. The first officer wanted to supply the resistance on the surface with the cargoes in some of the pods and have the ones the pirates swapped out used as demolition charges. Both people were at complete odds with each other but didn't know it. Web was hoping that their sense of self-preservation and responsibility to their ship and crew would start kicking in soon.

  "Just realize this," Halley cautioned them. "If these pirates succeed, we all die. Either they kill us before they leave, or they let us go, we deliver the exploding cargo pods to Callidor, and the Primans hunt us down and kill us in retribution. No matter what, if the pirates leave in one piece, we're all humped."

  Neither of the Solar Venturer's senior crew said anything for a minute, and Halley was considering just rendering both of them unconscious and taking over the ship. She hadn't done that in her time as a SAR operative yet, so it might be a fun experience.

  "We'd need the whole crew to help," started the captain slowly.

  "What would we tell them?" asked Daemon in the same hushed tone.

  "The truth," Halley and Web said at the same time. Halley carried on after an inadvertent grin at Web. "Pretty much, at least." She
ticked off her fingers as she listed the facts. "These pirates are stealing some of our cargo. They're replacing some with the explosive pods which we weren't meant to discover. We leave out the part about the resistance, though. The crew can keep guessing about where the pirates got their intel in trade; we need everybody focused on getting this ship back, not on whether anyone on the crew is in the resistance and was almost part of getting us all killed."

  "Can we do this?" asked Daemon.

  "He used to work for a Fixer," said the captain, gesturing at Web. "He has some skills to offer."

  "And what's your story?" asked Daemon of Halley.

  "I'm an independent contractor who likes adventure and loud noises," said Halley. "Is that all?"

  "How many pirates do you think are left aboard?" asked Web to Halley. "They really did a number on a lot of the ship's systems; I can't use the internal sensors to sort out crew versus pirates."

  "I took out the nasty human with the EVA suit in the mess hall," began Halley.

  "I got the other human in the captain's cabin and the Trin who was in charge is still drooling in the airlock over there," continued Web.

  "Which leaves at least the Qualin in the mess hall and whoever else came over," finished Halley. "That shuttle they came in didn't have room for more than, say, eight or ten. They'll need one or two on the bridge and a couple back in the cargo control center to watch the cargo pod docks since they're doing manual releases. So, start with ten, three are down, we know one is in the mess and let's say one on the bridge. At least one or more likely two in the cargo decks and that leaves three floaters, maybe two. I like those odds."

  "You seem to be enjoying this," said Captain Two-Swords to Halley.

  "Maybe I am," she replied. "Let's go to the bridge. We'll leave the cargo spaces for last since we'll need the rest of the crew working with us before we mess with their cargo operation." She hefted her rifle, Web drew his blaster and Two-Swords held his in a white-knuckled grip. Web immediately walked over to the man and gently pried it from the captain's hands.

  "I appreciate you wanting to help," Web started, "but I think it's more likely you'll accidentally shoot one of us at this point. I'll hang onto this for now but if things go right down the toilet you'll be welcome to have at it, alright?" Two-Swords simply nodded.

  Web looked at Daemon, who tensed under his gaze. He quickly finished his turn and stood by Halley, indicating she could make the call.

  "Okay," she said. "I'll go first. Everyone stay a frame or two behind me. I'll try to take out anyone I see by hand first to keep things quiet if possible. Web, you bring up the rear. Captain, FO, you're in the middle. Let's go hunting."

  They crept forward, Halley in the lead and confident, the senior officers of the Solar Venturer must less sure of themselves. Web got caught up in watching Halley operate, appreciating her practiced ease at clearing corners as well as admittedly admiring everything else about her along the way. She caught him eyeing her up once and shook her finger at him, then softened it with a quick grin before pointing behind them in the corridor to remind him to keep their six clear.

  It only took a minute to reach the bridge. The cargo ship had a very simple layout, unencumbered by the redundant hatches and emergency bulkhead points that Web was used to from all his time aboard warships.

  They stacked at the hatch, Halley signaling Web to take the left while she took the right.

  "This is the only way in," she reminded Web. "Nobody gets out."

  Web only nodded seriously. "We each taking half the room?"

  "Yep. I'll go right, you take left."

  "Just remember my crew is in there with these people," warned Captain Two-Swords. "Don't hurt anyone. And be careful when you shoot!" he added as an afterthought. "You can't put any holes in the hull!"

  "I think you and I both know I value these people just as much as you do," Web grumbled softly to him. "Maybe more. Just let us do our jobs, alright?"

  Two-Swords and Daemon exchanged glances, but in the end backed up a half step and said nothing more.

  Halley set her rifle against the bulkhead and gestured to the captain's pistol in Web's belt, which he handed over. A quick check of the weapon and they were both ready. Without any more wasted time, Halley elbowed the hatch release as they both rolled around the frame and into the room.

  Web saw the jumble of people and knew the pirates would have had an immense advantage if they had in fact been truly good at their craft. Having entered on the left side, Web quickly swept the hard corner to his left and was returning to the center. He saw a pirate standing behind the main helm console, a long stand-up station with several displays and some holographic glass standing vertical at the front edge. The crew was all hitting the deck; Web saw there was nobody behind the man and so he put two shots center-mass right through the glass and into the Drisk pirate. The man crumpled to the deck amidst the tinkling sound of shattered glass hitting the metal plating. He completed his sweep to the center of the room only to see Halley about to strike.

  The pirate closest to her had been within arm's reach, which was truly an unfortunate thing for him. He had almost raised a short-barreled large bore blaster of some sort when Halley reached him. She knocked the weapon wide with her left arm and struck him in the nose with the butt of her blaster, breaking his nose and sending a spray of blood washing down his face. Without wasting any movement, she stepped inside his reach, then reached back and hit him in the face again, this time with her right elbow. Everyone heard a crunch as his nose was smashed flat. She barely had time to wrench the rifle out of his hands as he collapsed to the deck, body shutting down in a reflexive response to the overloaded pain messages his brain was receiving.

  The Venturer crew on the bridge was ten strong, and though startled, a few gathered themselves well enough to stand up as though they were trying to decide what to make of the situation.

  That's when Captain Two-Swords and First Officer Daemon walked into the compartment and were unable to conceal their surprise at the scene that greeted them. Halley and Web were examining the two fallen pirates as the captain held up his hands to get the crew's attention.

  "Everyone," he said in a confident voice that Web hadn't heard since before the pirate attack. "We don't have a lot of time to explain, but our lives are in danger from these pirates in ways we never could have guessed." There was a low murmur as people started to talk amongst themselves, but the captain spoke a little louder to regain the group's attention. "These pirates are stealing cargo pods, yes, but they're also replacing some of them. And those new pods are filled with explosives."

  This time the crew couldn't contain themselves, and several different voices were all heard at the same time as multiple people tried to ask the captain questions. They were all silenced when Halley closed the bridge hatch and turned to stare at them all.

  "We don't have a lot of time to gossip here, folks," she began. "With apologies to the captain, I'm going to give you the scoop and make it quick. The pirates think we're going to send those booby trapped pods to the surface of Callidor because we don't know they've been substituted. If we don't get scanned and blown up in orbit by the Primans, then when these things hit dirt planetside and go boom they'll track us down and blow us up later. Either way, these pirates are going to get us killed. I'm not sure why they're doing it, but they're obviously getting paid and usually that's enough. So, the question is, are you going to help us do something about it?"

  "And you don't think your little performance here is going to get us killed first?" Web heard a gruff voice bark out. He knew who it was; the Drisk engineer he'd learned to despise for a laundry list of reasons.

  "No, Lodoc," began Captain Two-Swords, "I don't. I think these two happen to have saved this ship once already and are giving us a chance to make our own fate."

  "So you're just going to go up to these pirates and clock them in the heads, then, no problem?" Web wasn't sure if the man was talking to him or Halley. The guy was persiste
nt, he had to admit, but this had to end.

  "No," Web countered, "I'm more of a shoot-you-from-across-the-room type. If I can hit you, that means you can hit me back, and there's no reason to allow that. Now, Halley over there; I've seen her work. She could use anything in this room to maim or kill you, including parts of your own body. So why not let us get along with it, ok?" Web said it less as a question and more as a statement, and while the man stared daggers, he didn't offer any more comments, either.

  "So what's our move?" asked FO Daemon.

  "We take the cargo center right now," said Halley quickly. "We only have a few minutes before their tugs arrive for the last of the pods they plan to steal. We need to jettison and steer two of the explosive-filled pods they stuck on us right back at their escort corvettes. There are three pods onboard with explosives, so we can just blow the other one right off into space for all it matters to us. Short version: send their own bombs back at them and run like hell when things start exploding. Most of us will need to get to the cargo decks to identify and maybe manually release the pods. We need some people here to set a course and engage the engines." She turned to the angry Drisk engineer. "They didn't put any sort of interlocks on the engine controls, right?"

  "None," he replied quickly but still with a hint of attitude.

  Halley looked at Daemon. "Any chance you can have one of your cannons back together in less than ten minutes?"

  Daemon shook her head slowly. "No; we even had to disperse and crate up the parts in designated areas that the Primans inspect on arrival." She paused, then looked back up at Halley. "We could probably get the targeting system up in just a couple minutes, though."

  "What would that do for us?" asked the captain.

  "Create confusion," Halley replied. "Whether we can fire on them or not, it will mess with them. Imagine you're a smelly, thieving wad of scum sitting there watching your sensors and, all of a sudden, there are exploding cargo pods filling space and you're being targeted by weapons turrets. Oh yes," Halley said with a grin, "it will help. Now, Captain, who goes to the cargo decks and who stays here?"