Alone in the Night Page 3

The power curve spiked, and Novak gently tapped the control, thrusters firing in a carefully calculated pattern to send them flying to starboard, then into a twisted corkscrew as the engines fired again, forward jets burning to turn them onto course. Ajax fired, a quarter-second late, and the strongest pulse of particle fire Corrigan had ever seen swept past them, missing by bare miles, close enough that every proximity alarm was triggered by the heat source.

  Close, but a hundred meters, fifty, would have been too much. This race had no silver medal. Instantly, Crawford was at work, firing the first salvo in response. Ajax had been forced to weaken her flank shields to take its shot, her commander evidently assuming that the battle had swung around in her favor sufficiently that she wouldn’t need to worry about protecting her rear. Crawford disabused her of that notion with four carefully placed shots, the first two neatly ripping open gaps in their weakened defensive screen, the others punching neat holes in the toughened hull, fountains of atmosphere leaking briefly into space before the auto-repair systems started up.

  Now the battle was on again, in earnest this time. There was nothing Corrigan could do other than watch. His people knew their jobs, knew what they had to do, and needed no special guidance and instruction on his part. All were seasoned veterans now, and Novak worked smoothly with Crawford, swinging the ship around time and again to allow him to take his shots, a cosmic ballet that Ajax would be fortunate to even survive.

  “Damage to their starboard side,” Crawford said. “I’ve knocked a few holes in their power distribution network, and it looks like they’ve had some overloads as well, just to add to the fun.”

  “They’re coming around, charging for another strike,” Singh warned.

  “Helm, watch your heading,” Corrigan warned, but before she could take heed of his advice, another fountain of atmosphere erupted from the enemy ship, sending it spinning around, Ajax’ pilot expertly playing thrusters against what had obviously been a planned leak of oxygen to line Avenger in the sights of his gunner.

  “Hang on, everyone!” Dixon yelled, as the enemy fired, the blast hammering into the forward deflector shields, a sea of amber and red lights flashing as the dissipators struggled to deal with the blast. “Burn through in three places. We have hull breaches forward. Nothing serious, but we’ve lost our defensive screens fore and port forward.”

  “Helm, keep our wounded side clear of the enemy. All power to the defensive systems.” Looking at the trajectory plot, he added, “Crawford…”

  “Working on another shot,” he said. “That drained our reserves pretty badly, skipper.” He paused, then said, “Helm, execute turn, now!”

  For a second, Novak dared expose their wounded flank to the enemy as Crawford unleashed another shot, this one catching the cruiser precisely on target, the aft engine manifold, killing her acceleration and sending her slowly, leisurely tumbling out of control.

  “That’s more like it,” Dixon said.

  “Should I finish her off?” Crawford asked.

  Looking at the sensor display, Corrigan shook his head, and said, “Escape trajectory, helm. Follow Icarus deeper into the rocks. We’ve pushed our luck as far as we can dare for one day.” He glanced across at the engineering display, and added, “Besides, I’m not convinced our power network could take the strain of many more salvos. We withdraw, we repair, and if they decide to have another try, we finish them then.” Tapping a control, he continued, “Bridge to Engineering….”

  “I’m a little busy down here,” the voice of Ensign Collins barked. “Prognosis bad but not terminal if we get out of the firing line in a hurry. And you send someone down to give me a hand.”

  “Crawford…,” Corrigan began.

  “On my way,” the gunner replied, moving to the elevator as Dixon nimbly took his place at the weapons station.

  “We’re on the move,” Novak added, guiding the cruiser into the rocks, leaving the slowly tumbling Belter warship behind. Already Ajax was recovering, firing thrusters in an attempt to stabilize the ship. If her commander was bold enough, there would be work crews on the outer hull within five minutes, laboring to prepare their ship to either return to the fight or escape the system.

  “We’re out of the danger zone,” Dixon reported.

  “Power down our weapons,” Corrigan ordered. “Let’s see if we can reduce the strain on the grid for a while. Trim down to alert status only, but make sure short-range sensors stay at full strength. We’re going to need them. Ensign Singh, hail Icarus. Shuttle One should be docked by now.”

  “Aye, sir,” Singh replied. He worked his controls, frowned, then said, “She’s not accepting a handshake, sir. Not answering her hails.”

  “No sign of any damage to our communications systems, sir,” Dixon added, preempting the question. “Sensor readings indicate that theirs are working fine as well. If they aren’t answering, it’s because they don’t want to.”

  “Has the shuttle docked?” Corrigan asked.

  “About a minute and a half ago,” Singh replied. “Tracking has them going all the way to contact, and Icarus altered course to meet them. She’s heading deeper into the rocks again, back on her original trajectory.”

  “More and more interesting. Helm, can you follow them?”

  “Sure, but there’s no way to hide it. That means that they’ll know we’re after them, and it could lead Ajax right to them.”

  “With us to protect them,” Corrigan mused, “and in those rocks, they’ll struggle to maneuver. Especially in their damaged condition. We’re going to take the chance. Take us in, nice and slow.”

  Dixon turned to him, and said, “We’re not picking up anything out there, Commander. No sign of anything at all, not even a navigational beacon. Now, if this is some sort of covert depot, I suppose that shouldn’t be a surprise, but Intelligence doesn’t have any records of such a facility out here.”

  “Given how leaky our security is, that’s probably just as well,” Novak quipped. “There could be a thousand caches hidden out there.”

  “It could also be a trap. A ship hidden out in the rocks, or something on board that freighter, a bomb, a suicide crew on board…”

  “With Commodore McBride in command.”

  “We need to be careful, boss. That’s all I’m saying.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” he replied. “We’re going to be pretty damned careful.” He cracked a smile, and added, “Once we’re well into our pursuit course, I want Shuttle Two ready for immediate launch. Just in case we need to send some reinforcements out there. Whether this is all a misunderstanding or not, they’ve got two of our people over there, and I want them back in one piece, or I will take it out of their hides!”

  Chapter 4

  “Just what is all of this about?” Carter asked, looking back at the man with the pistol as he urged her and Rojek along the corridor. “We’re here to help, damn it, and the most powerful warship in the system is on our side. You can bet that Commander Corrigan is going to be pretty damned upset to find out what you are doing to his people.”

  “Less talking,” the guard said. “Save it for the boss.”

  “And just who is that?” she asked. “Commodore McBride? I can very much assure you that this isn’t going to go down well with him, either.”

  “Captain Harrison calls the shots around here,” the guard replied. “Now, let me…”

  Before the guard could finish his sentence, Rojek dropped to the ground, rolled back and kicked up at their captor, catching him square in the chest. The pistol discharged, leaving an angry scar on the wall, and Carter took advantage of the brief seconds of confusion to punch the prone guard in the face, knocking him cold, as Rojek eased the pistol from the man’s hand.

  “Nice work,” Rojek said. “Back to the shuttle, on the double.”

  “I’m with you,” she replied, and the two of them raced back the way they came, Carter in the lead, pistol in hand. Rojek reached into his pocket, ripped through into a hidden compartment with
his hand and extracted the smallest communicator she had ever seen, sliding the earpiece into place as they turned a corner.

  “Rojek to Avenger, Rojek to Avenger, come in, come in.” Shaking his head, he said, “No good. There must be some sort of jamming field. We’ll have more luck when we get nearer the outer hull.” He glanced back at the corridor, and added, “No alarms, no klaxons? It’s too easy.”

  “I’m afraid it’s about to get tougher,” an unfamiliar voice said, as a tall, muscular woman with close-cut blonde hair stepped out of a door to block their path, flanked by a pair of rifle-armed sidekicks. “You’ve gone as far as you are going to get, and I’ll happily relieve you of that communicator.”

  “Sure,” Rojek said, pulling it out of his ear and tossing it to the woman, who caught it with her right hand and immediately screamed in pain. Carter raised her pistol to cover the surprised group as the agent added, “Perhaps I should have warned you that there’s a safety mechanism in the event someone who shouldn’t have access to it picks it up. There won’t be any scarring, though. Probably.”

  “Let’s calm things down a little,” Carter said. “Just what the hell is this about, anyway? I want some answers, and I want them now.”

  “Two to one,” the woman warned. “Not good odds.”

  “I’m sure your friends will be happy to know that you’re willing to give them a fifty/fifty chance of living through this.” She grinned, then said, “Just what is all of this about.”

  “I was wondering the same thing,” McBride said, walking down the corridor. “Drop your weapons. All of you. Right now.”

  “Not until they do,” Carter said.

  “Captain Harrison?” McBride replied, glaring at her. “We agreed that I was in charge of the space-based aspects of this operation. This was most certainly not a part of the plan.”

  “I don’t trust them,” Harrison barked. “I’ve got no reason to.”

  “Do you trust me?” McBride asked.

  “Only up to a point,” she said. “You’re in this for yourself, just like the rest of us. For the moment, our interests coincide. I’d like a little guarantee that you’ll stay loyal until this is over.”

  “You have my word,” McBride said. “If that isn’t good enough for you, then I guess we can have a little gunplay in the corridor and the survivors can climb onto the shuttle and head back to Avenger. And Atlantis continues to rot, her people enslaved by the Belt. Maybe we’ll win the war. Maybe we won’t. Holding hostages won’t exactly endear you to the Republic Senate.”

  “Let it go, Captain,” one of the guards said, glaring at Rojek. “There will be another time, another place. This doesn’t end today.”

  “No,” Harrison said. “It doesn’t. I suggest that you remember that, Commodore. This is an alliance of convenience for both of us, and if that comes to an end, and we find ourselves on opposite sides, I promise you a fight that you won’t soon forget.” She gestured to her guards, who holstered their weapons, then added, “I’ll leave it to you to brief them, Commodore. Just remember our agreement. This changes nothing.” Harrison turned on her heel, stalking away down the corridor, still flanked by her guards, McBride shaking his head at her departure.

  “Don’t think of her too harshly,” he said. “I can see her point, though she’s not exactly going about it the right way. She’s fighting for the freedom of her people, just like we are.” With a sigh, he added, “I’m not going to order this, but I’m asking you not to tell Commander Corrigan about what happened here. It’s going to make things far more difficult than they have to be.”

  “Difficult?” Carter replied. “We almost got shot.”

  “Precisely,” McBride replied. “And I don’t want that sad episode to be repeated on a larger scale, and if the two of you have even a modicum of common sense, neither do you.” He grimaced, then added, “This isn’t an order. Just a request. Take it as such.” He looked at Rojek, and said, “I’m sorry, I’ve been rather tardy in introducing myself. Commodore Ben McBride.”

  “Major Clyde Rojek, Fleet Intelligence. It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir, and I can assure you that both Lieutenant Carter and myself will be more than happy to comply with your request, providing there is no recurrence.”

  “Fair enough,” McBride said, leading them down a corridor. “We’ve rigged a small flag bridge down here. Nothing fancy. Just a couple of crewmen who can at least pretend to know what they are doing and some feeds from the sensor and communications pickups.” He ducked through a door into a cramped compartment, and said, “Claude, I’ve got a guest for you.”

  Mathis looked up, froze for a moment, then raced to Carter and enveloped her in a hug, saying, “I thought I’d never see you again. I was sure I’d never see you again. After the attack…”

  “Me too,” she replied, returning the hug. “Me too.”

  McBride coughed, then said, “While I would never attempt to get in the way of the course of true love, there is the little matter of a battle…”

  “Yes, yes,” a red-faced Mathis said, breaking away from his fiancé. “I’m sorry, sir, but after…”

  “It’s quite all right, son, I understand,” McBride replied. “Report.”

  “The fight’s pretty much over. It was one hell of a battle. Commander Corrigan’s got a pretty devious mind, but so did his opponent. I’d have to give the victory to Avenger, but it isn’t a complete one. Ajax managed to get in some pretty good shots, and she’s licking her wounds on the fringes of the rocks right now, waiting for our next move. Avenger is coming in on an intercept course, and she’s still at alert status.”

  “Has she tried to contact us?” McBride asked.

  Shaking his head, Mathis said, “I’m afraid I don’t know, sir. We lost some of the command interface controls, and…”

  Nodding, Rojek said, “My guess is that Captain Harrison decided to keep us incommunicado until she had the situation under control. I have a feeling that we’ll be able to get through now.”

  “Try it, Malone,” McBride said, looking at one of the technicians, the only other person in the room wearing a Fleet uniform.

  “Aye, aye, sir,” he replied, working his controls. A smile crossed his face, and he said, “You’re on, sir.”

  “That was pretty damned fast,” Rojek said.

  “They were calling us, sir. We just weren’t seeing it,” the technician replied. “Should I throw in some encryption?”

  Shaking his head, McBride said, “We’re not going to be passing on any dark and deadly secrets today. As long as we’re on tightbeam, that’ll do.”

  “Put it on the monitor,” McBride ordered. The image of Corrigan flickered into life, his face a mask of concern, and he said, “Commander, I apologize for the delay, but we’ve been having a few difficulties over here. Your people have arrived in one piece, and they’re here with me now.”

  “I’d like to hear that from them, Commodore,” Corrigan replied.

  “It’s fine, Bill,” Rojek said. “We’re fine. No problems.”

  “My complements on a well-executed battle,” McBride added. “You should be coming alongside in about twenty-five minutes, if I’m reading the situation correctly. I’d like you to come on board for a briefing as soon as you get close enough. Bring anyone you want with you.”

  Shaking his head, Corrigan replied, “I think the facilities on Avenger are considerably better suited to such a meeting. Besides, you haven’t exactly gone out of your way to earn my trust thus far.”

  “Commander…,” McBride said.

  “We’re both operating well outside the chain of command, sir, so please don’t insult both of us by attempting to make this an order. You, Major Rojek and anyone else you want can come across to Avenger, right now. Lieutenant Carter can remain on board to act as liaison.”

  “And hostage,” Rojek added.

  “Liaison is generally a rather more polite way of putting it,” McBride said with a smile. “I see that diplomacy is still not your strong
suit, Bill.”

  “No, but I’m a damn good shot, and if things go wrong, you’ll get to find out just how good I really am. Take Shuttle One. I’ll see you on board in a little under twenty minutes. Avenger out.”

  Mathis scowled, and said, “Are you going to let him issue orders to you, sir? If you wanted him to come on board, he ought to…”

  “There are certain practical considerations involved, Lieutenant, and I have to confess that if our roles were reversed, I’d feel exactly the same way. Bill’s a good, tough, unorthodox commander, but he’s totally loyal. I trust him. Captain Harrison may be another matter, but the presence of Lieutenant Carter ought to reassure her at least a little.” Turning to her, he said, “I hate to ask this of you, Lieutenant. It’s not exactly normal.”

  “Nothing about this mission is, sir,” Rojek added.

  “That’s true enough,” McBride said with a smile. “Very well. I’d better be going. I think it should be straightforward enough to convince Captain Harrison that she ought to come along for the ride. Lieutenant Mathis, you will remain here with Lieutenant Carter. I suspect you won’t find that a particularly onerous chore. Stay with her at all times, show her the ship, introduce her to some of the crew. Her safety is your responsibility.”

  “Of course, sir,” he replied with a smile. “I’ll work out a fast flight plan for you, make sure you get through the rocks in one piece.”

  McBride nodded, turned to Carter, and said, “Until later, Lieutenant. Major, will you…”

  “In just a moment, sir. I’ll catch you up.” McBride nodded, and Rojek turned to Carter, quietly saying, “I still don’t trust this. I know you feel the same way. The same rules still apply. Watch and listen. Nothing more. Look out for inconsistencies, anything that doesn’t seem to add up. They’re hiding something.” He paused, smiled, then added, “Though to be fair, everyone is. The question is whether it is important enough to put the mission at risk. Whatever that mission happens to be.”

  “Relax, Major,” she replied. “I’m in safe hands here, and I can handle myself in a fight.”