Corsair Menace (Privateer Tales Book 12) Read online

  Corsair Menace

  Jamie McFarlane

  Fickle Dragon Publishing

  Copyright © 2017 by Jamie McFarlane

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Preface

  Prologue

  Marque Restored

  1. Nothing Ventured

  2. Trap Sprung

  3. Delicacy

  4. Ghost Ship

  5. Gila Monster

  6. Desperate Times

  7. Marque Restored

  Corsair Menace

  1. It's Called Coercion

  2. Patriot's Call

  3. Zero Liquidity

  4. Twisted

  5. Push Comes to Shove

  6. Evening Prayers

  7. Bugs

  8. Call to Battle

  9. Better Left Buried

  10. Not a Bad Day's Work

  11. Petersburg Station

  12. Crappy Moments

  13. Standoff

  14. Survival of the Fittest

  15. Back in Black

  16. Best Lessons are Hardest

  17. Worthy Opponent

  18. Prize

  19. Overconfident

  20. Slippery When Wet

  21. Tribes

  22. Choose your Fights

  23. Pooni

  24. Fourth Daughter

  25. Efreet

  26. Sprung

  27. Enemy of my Enemy

  28. Out of the Frying Pan

  29. We Will Rock You

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Jamie McFarlane

  Preface

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  Prologue

  While Privateer Tales is a series, each story is crafted to stand alone. That said, many of the crew, locations and even governments show up in multiple stories and readers have requested a reminder they can reference in case memory has lapsed.

  I enjoy interacting with readers and sharing inside information about myself and the characters I create. When a new story is available, or I'm otherwise inspired, I send out an email newsletter. If you are interested in joining my newsletter distribution, please visit http://fickledragon.com/keep-in-touch/ to sign up.

  On with the list of characters.

  Liam Hoffen – our hero. With straight black hair and blue eyes, Liam is a lanky one hundred seventy-five centimeters tall, which is a typical tall, thin spacer build. His parents are Silver and Pete Hoffen, who get their own short story in Big Pete. Raised as an asteroid miner, Liam's destiny was most definitely in the stars, if not on the other end of a mining pick. Our stories are most often told from Liam’s perspective and he, therefore, needs the least introduction.

  Nick James – the quick-talking, always-thinking best friend who is usually five moves ahead of everyone and the long-term planner of the team. At 157 cm, Nick is the shortest human member of the crew. He, Tabby, and Liam have been friends since they met in daycare on Colony-40 in Sol's main asteroid belt. The only time Nick has trouble forming complete sentences is around Marny Bertrand, who by his definition is the perfect woman. Nick’s only remaining family is a brother, Jack, who now lives on Lèger Nuage. The boys lost their mother during a Red Houzi pirate attack that destroyed their home in the now infamous Battle for Colony-40.

  Tabitha Masters – fierce warrior and loyal fiancé of our hero, Liam. Tabby lost most of her limbs when the battle cruiser on which she was training was attacked by the dreadnaught Bakunawa. Her body subsequently repaired, she lives for the high adrenaline moments of life and engages life’s battles at one hundred percent. Tabby is a lithe, 168 cm tall bundle of impatience.

  Marny Bertrand – former Marine from Earth who served in the Great Amazonian War and now serves as guardian of the crew. Liam and Nick recruited Marny from her civilian post on the Ceres orbital station in Rookie Privateer. Marny is 180 cm tall, heavily muscled and the self-appointed fitness coordinator — slash torturer — on the ship. Her strategic vigilance has safeguarded the crew through some rather unconventional escapades. She's also extraordinarily fond of Nick.

  Ada Chen – ever-optimistic adventurer and expert pilot. Ada was first introduced in Parley when Liam and crew rescued her from a lifeboat. Ada’s mother, Adela, had ejected the pod from their tug, Baux-201, before it was destroyed in a pirate attack. Ada is a 163 cm tall, ebony-skinned beauty and a certified bachelorette. Ada’s first love is her crew and her second is sailing into the deep dark.

  Jonathan – a collective of 1,438 sentient beings residing in a humanoid body. Communicating as Jonathan, they were initially introduced in A Matter of Honor when the crew bumped into Thomas Phillipe Anino. Jonathan is intensely curious about the human condition, specifically how humanity has the capacity to combine skill, chance, and morality to achieve a greater result.

  Sendrei Buhari – a full two meters tall, dark skinned and heavily muscled. Sendrei started his military career as a naval officer only to be captured by the Kroerak while on a remote mission. Instead of killing him outright, the Kroerak used him as breeding stock, a decision he's dedicated his life to making them regret.

  Felio Species – an alien race of humanoids best identified by its clear mix of human and feline characteristics. Females are dominant in this society. Their central political structure is called the Abasi, a governing group consisting of the most powerful factions, called houses. An imposing, middle-aged female, Adahy Neema, leads House Mshindi. Her title and name, as is the tradition within houses, is Mshindi First for as long as she holds the position.

  Strix Species – A vile alien species that worked their way into power within the Confederation of Planets. Spindly legs, sharp beaks, feathery skin and foul mouthed, most representatives of this species have few friends and seem to be determined to keep it that way.

  Aeratroas Region – located in the Dwingeloo galaxy and home to 412 inhabited systems occupying a roughly tubular shape only three hundred parsecs long with a diameter of a hundred parsecs. The region is loosely governed by agreements that make up The Confederation of Planets.

  Planet Zuri – located in the Santaloo star system and under loose Abasi control. One hundred fifty standard years ago, Zuri was invaded by Kroerak bugs. It was the start of a bloody, twenty-year war that left the planet in ruins and its population scattered. Most Felio who survived the war abandoned the planet, as it had been seeded with Kroerak spore that continue to periodically hatch and cause havoc.

  York Settlement – located on planet Zuri. York is the only known human settlement within the Aeratroas region. The settlement was planted shortly before the start of the Kroerak invasion and survived, only through considerable help from House Mshindi.

  Marque Restored

  Chapter 1

  Nothing Ventured

  I lifted the battered, boxy, gray ship Fleet Afoot from the loading platform of Loose Nuts corporation’s hastily assembled shipping yard. It was only a day since my crew and I returned to our new home in the York settlement, having barely survived an alien attack on planet Earth.

  “Never gets old, does it?” Tabby asked, seated in the starboard pilot’s chair next to me. Her face, the only
skin showing outside of her vac-suit, bore the scars of battle - as did mine - but she was as beautiful as always. Her copper-colored hair was braided into a thick pony tail that curled around her neck and rested over her shoulder.

  “All hands; check in for hard burn.” The AI would transmit my message to the other two crew we’d brought along: Roby, a young, ebony-skinned man who’d grown up in York, and Semper, an equally young Felio female and native to the planet Zuri.

  “Engineering is green,” Roby answered almost immediately. It was quite a change for the young man who’d been forced to grow up quickly during our last adventure. I wished it wasn’t true, but there was nothing like combat to teach the uninitiated the value of professionalism. Roby’s training had been cemented when he survived a direct strike to the engine room and come through the ordeal a better man for it.

  “Cargo has a green color,” Semper responded. The young Felio had made impressive strides in her understanding of humanity’s common language and preferred not to use the AI’s translator circuits. The Felio species, like so many in the Dwingeloo galaxy, closely resembled humans (a fact I still struggle to comprehend). For sake of brevity, a Felio can best be described as a favorable mixture of feline and human traits. They have four fingers and toes, fur over their entire bodies, cat eyes, quick reflexes and uncanny balance.

  “Hard Burn in ten seconds.”

  We’d successfully installed wormhole drive engines into Fleet Afoot in response to Earth’s planned shutdown of the TransLoc system used to jump between systems and galaxies. It had been a hard decision to leave our families behind, but it would have been even harder to leave unexplored an entire galaxy teeming with alien worlds. We held out hope that someday we'd find a wormhole that led home, but there was no guarantee of this.

  “I’m showing seventy-two hour burn to Tamu gate,” Tabby said.

  “Copy,” I acknowledged and engaged Fleet Afoot’s powerful engines. The ship’s gravity and inertial systems struggled while laboring to bleed off and redirect the crushing g-forces of acceleration.

  We sailed in silence as Zuri slowly shrank behind us. Both Tabby and I enjoyed the quiet of space travel. I reached over and grabbed her hand as we shared the moment.

  “What do you think of Nick’s new venture?” Tabby asked.

  Nick was our best friend from childhood and the brains behind our business. His latest project was the load of grav-sled components he’d manufactured with the help of the York settlement. The components were destined for a company on Kapik that would manufacture and distribute a batch of stevedore bots based on adaptations Nick made to technology we’d brought from earth.

  “A lot of people are relying on this deal,” I said. “I hope we don’t have any trouble delivering.”

  Chapter 2

  Trap Sprung

  “I’m picking up two ships,” Tabby said.

  We were eight hundred fifty kilometers from the cosmic anomaly most people called a wormhole. Nick and Roby liked to argue that wormhole wasn’t technically an accurate description as it didn’t involve a black hole. Some referred to the anomaly as a gate. Also, not correct. There was no required structure at the wormhole site. Turns out, only three things are required to move a ship through the wormhole: physical proximity, delta-v not in excess of a hundred meters-per-second, and engines tuned to the correct frequency.

  “What are they doing?” I asked.

  “Looks like they’re on approach to the gate,” she said.

  Perhaps the most uncomfortable thing about the gates – at least the ones we’d been through – was that they were only a few dozen kilometers across, which would put us closer to the other ships than I liked.

  “We could hold up,” I said.

  “We’ll lose over an hour; they’re moving ridiculously slow. There’s plenty of room for us all if we just take the outside edge.” She flicked a display onto my screen showing the predicted paths of the two ships and how we could slide past them, still leaving ten kilometers between us and the nearest ship.

  “Roby, prepare for transition through the gate,” I said.

  “Aye, Captain,” he replied. “Engines are attuned. Just need your word once we’re in range.”

  I read the names of the two ships we were quickly overtaking. Maguyuk and Tuuq.

  “Transmit our navigation plan to Maguyuk and Tuuq.” My ever-listening AI initiated the communication. I waited a few minutes to receive a response, but soon grew impatient. An acknowledgment at least, was standard protocol.

  “I’ll take that as agreement,” Tabby said.

  I felt uneasy, but it was hard to argue. If they didn’t want to respond, we certainly weren’t going to wait. I pushed forward, engaging the nav-plan that would put us at the gate well before either ship arrived.

  “Cap, I’m picking up acceleration vectors from both ships,” Roby informed me over the comm.

  When we were physically close to other ships, it was our practice to keep an open channel while executing maneuvers. Roby had heard our conversation and watched the situation with us.

  “Any idea what they’re doing?” I asked. I had an idea, but wanted a second opinion.

  “If they keep at it, they’ll arrive at the gate slightly after we do,” he said.

  “How much after?” I asked.

  “Thirty seconds, max.”

  “Copy that, Roby. Semper, would you come forward?”

  “Aye, aye, Liam Captain,” she replied. Like all Felio she tended to place the name first and rank second as was common for their species.

  The two ships were both about the size of Fleet Afoot and sensors showed they were reasonably well armed with what looked like particle blasters. We had better than average armor and much better than average acceleration.

  It crossed my mind that the ships might have been waiting for us, but that felt paranoid and I didn’t see how they could have known our schedule. I considered turning around, but neither ship had done anything overly provocative so I pushed forward.

  This is where I feel I should mention that the nature of traps hasn’t changed since the beginning of time. There’s always that point you can look back to where you had an inkling of what was about to happen and pushed forward anyway.

  “Roby, go ahead and engage wormhole engines.”

  “Aye, aye,” he replied.

  Unlike travel with TransLoc engines, the trip from one end of the wormhole to the other was instantaneous.

  “Three more ships,” Tabby exclaimed. “They’re firing.”

  Chapter 3

  Delicacy

  Trying to get somewhere quickly from a dead stop is misery, especially when being fired upon. It was one of the things I most disliked about the gates. It took a patient pirate to hang out and wait for the occasional independent like us, as there was very little non-military traffic between Santaloo and Tamu systems.

  “Strap in for combat burn.” I gave the crew as much warning as possible and hoped they were already seated, then pushed hard on the stick just as heavy rounds impacted the stern of the ship.

  I took it as a good sign that I was jammed into the back of my pilot’s chair by our acceleration. Whoever was firing was targeting our engines and I was grateful they hadn’t successfully taken them out.

  “Starboard – energy net!” Tabby exclaimed.

  Anyone else would probably have sailed to port in response to her information. We’d worked together enough that I knew better. She’d told me the information in the order I needed it. I pushed the stick hard right and we banked starboard. She’d done the necessary calculation and was giving an order, not just information. It was simple and efficient – that is, as long as you trusted your partner.

  We’d never run into an energy net before, although I’d heard of them. The nets were designed to disrupt the electronics of any ship that ran into them. Good luck with that against a warship, but against Fleet Afoot, it would be plenty effective.

  Our sensors picked up the two ships th
at’d been trailing us as they entered the system through the gate. We were severely outnumbered and substantially outgunned.

  “What’s the play here, Liam?” Tabby asked.

  My mind spun with ideas. We could attempt to jump back into Santaloo and hope they couldn’t or wouldn’t follow us. Fact is, at least two of the ships could and I’d bet the rest of them could as well.

  “Incoming hail, Sangilak,” the ship’s AI announced.

  I dodged as one of the unidentified ships cut off our escape route.

  “Semper, you’re with me,” Tabby said as she fought against the several-g gravity my combat burn was generating. She disappeared through a hatch in the deck, making her way to one of two crow’s nests on the bottom of the ship where she could control our weapons.

  “Accept hail. What the frak are you pulling, Sangilak?” I asked. “You’re firing, unprovoked on a civilian freighter.”

  “My apologies, Liam Hoffen.” The rich voice sounded just before a pasty, white-skinned Pogona female appeared on the screen. “I should have more formally announced our intentions.” Her mocking tone accompanied the AI translation of her words. “I am Belvakuski, leader of Genteresk. I am here to relieve you of your burdens.”