A Matter of Honor (Privateer Tales Book 9) Read online

  It was hard to see her trainees dead on the path. She knew their families and felt the familiar pain of loss. Part of her, understood, however. This was the way things were going to be. For the first time ever, in marshal combat with the Ophie, the humans had given better than they'd taken. It would bring hope to the people of Yishuv.

  Her thoughts clouded as she considered the actual attack. The Ophie had sprung a trap, showing a level of planning they'd not seen before. The thought chilled her.

  GIFT OF SACRIFICE

  Deep Space

  Show Fist of Justice in relationship to Mastodon on tactical.

  "Anino, Tullas is already here, how much of a pounding can this beast take?"

  "I told you before," he grumbled. "It's not a warship, although there is a combat bridge on deck three. We won't last more than ten minutes under direct fire. The combat bridge, however, is designed to take anything up to a direct missile strike."

  "Then we should jump to fold-space," I said.

  "Tullas will intercept us first. We'd never make it."

  "Incoming hail, Fist of Justice," the ship's AI announced.

  Wait one, I said to the comm. "Frak, Anino, it's like you want to die," I said. "How could you miss this?"

  "Everything's gone to crap, Hoffen. I'm sorry," he said.

  "Attention, all hands," I said. "Tabby and I will man the combat bridge, the rest of the crew move to Hotspur."

  "Cap. What's the play?" Marny asked.

  "We've a full load of missiles on Hotspur and Ada is as fine a pilot as we have. Between the two ships we could have a chance," I said.

  "Respecting your position, Cap, but Ada's a heavy ship gal and these turrets are heavier by twice than what we have on Hotspur, you need me on them," Marny said.

  "No good, Marny, this bird is doomed," I said.

  "Do the right thing, Liam" Nick said.

  "Frak. Ada?"

  "I'll make this fat girl dance, mark my words, Cap," she said.

  Accept hail, I said.

  "Captain Hoffen, I hoped you would take my warning seriously. We find ourselves in a predicament," she said.

  I looked at Tabby and twirled my finger in the air. It was a signal we shared for moving out. As we stood, Ada and Tabby embraced.

  "Are you gloating?" I asked Tullas.

  "No," she said. "I'm truly distraught. I couldn't have been clearer, could I? And yet, you kept going. Surely, Anino told you we could track your jumps."

  "That doesn't explain what you're doing here," I said. "We should have had at least sixteen hours before you showed up."

  "Perhaps I should have pretended to be more surprised at your arrival. You must think me a complete idiot. Anino pays off my agent for the comm crystal to Cape of Good Hope a month ago and he finishes his jump ship shortly thereafter. Where else would you go? Frankly, I was surprised it took you so long to get here," she said. "Let me guess, you took a quick stop along the way to lose me?"

  Nick, Marny and Ada followed us onto the lift, the sound of soft music playing as we dropped to the third deck. To say the music gave the experience a surreal feeling was an understatement.

  My goal was to keep Tullas talking as long as possible so we could get in position. "You know darn well where we stopped," I said. "What I don't understand is why you don't want to rescue your colleagues on Cape of Good Hope. Do you really have no conscience?"

  "You don't have any idea what this is about. Anino must have quite the silver tongue to have duped you so easily. And I resent your assertion. The fact is, I do have a conscience. I just so happen to serve humanity's greater good."

  Tabby and I hugged Marny, Nick and Ada as they exited the lift on their way to the combat bridge.

  "By killing Captain LeGrande and her crew?" I asked. "Could you be more delusional?"

  The doors closed and the soft music started again. I just knew it was going to become the sound track of all future nightmares.

  "Hoffen, you and your friends are on the wrong side of this one," Tullas said patiently. "I've read your files and I know you do what you think is right. Your capture of that Red Houzi dreadnaught was brilliant. I'm prepared to make you an offer."

  The lift opened to Hotspur's platform. The loading ramp was already down and Jonathan and Anino stood by as stevedore bots finished loading a handful of large crates.

  "What's your deal?"

  "You turn over Anino to me and I'll let you and your crew live," she said.

  "What about LeGrande?"

  "She's been preparing to die for months. Anino gave her hope, but she knows - as do all Belirand Captains - that help's not coming," she said.

  "You'll let us live or you'll let us go?"

  Tabby and I ran across the deck and I muted my microphone.

  "Anino, Jonathan, we're launching ASAP. Get on board," I said.

  "I'm not coming, I have to go back," Anino said. "Jonathan, you know what to do."

  "Frak, Anino, this isn't the time to argue. Get on the frakking ship," I said.

  "No. He must do this," Jonathan said as Anino sprinted off. "I will follow him."

  Tullas continued, "You'll live in custody. We've a settlement for people like you. We'll put you there and you'll live productive lives. You can't be allowed to share what you've seen."

  I unmuted. "I have your word on this?"

  "You do."

  "I need to run this past the crew. Give me twenty minutes," I said. I waggled my eyebrows at Tabby, proud of my negotiations.

  "You have sixty seconds, Hoffen. Do you think this is the first time I've negotiated with someone in your position? Trust me, whatever feeble preparations you're making will be of no use. My crew is one hundred percent effective."

  We'd reached the hold's forward pressure barrier. I looked aft and caught Jonathan's retreating form. For some reason they'd used their precious remaining minutes to load whatever was in these crates.

  "I hope it was worth it," I said to no one, looking at the crates. I slapped the panel that would raise Hotspur's aft loading ramp.

  "Of course it's been worth it. Eighty billion of your fellow humans sleep safely because of the sacrifices of me and my crew. You have forty-five seconds," Tullas said.

  Tabby and I passed through the second pressure barrier onto the lower berth deck's lift. As beautiful as Anino's ship was, it was comforting to be home.

  "Ada, are you in position?" I asked as Tabby and I sprinted across the bridge deck, up the short flight of stairs, landing in our cockpit seats.

  "Roger that, Liam. Godspeed."

  Mute Tullas.

  "Frak. I did that in the wrong order," I said.

  "Stupid conversation, anyway," Tabby said. "I've got turrets, you've got missiles."

  "Like I said, Mr. Hoffen. Your trickery is expected. Open fire, all batteries," Tullas said, and closed comm.

  "Bitch," Tabby said, pulling on her combat harness.

  The ship shuddered beneath us. I could only imagine the fire coming from the heavy cruiser.

  Link combat data stream from Mastodon. Project combat theatre on forward holo. Engage stealth mode.

  I'd hoped to get Hotspur outside and into play before Fist of Justice began their attack. The two ships, Fist and Mastodon popped up on the forward holographic display. Mastodon was slowly arcing around on the Fist, which was tearing into her starboard side, a steady stream of blaster fire bridging the gap between them. For now, at least, Mastodon was holding.

  I watched as priority targets popped up across the skin of Fist of Justice. Marny either knew or had anticipated we'd tap into the combat data streams and she was telling us to concentrate fire in those locations.

  Identify path out of Mastodon. Prioritize stealth in relationship to Fist of Justice.

  A door at the back of the deck started opening. It was barely big enough for us to fit through, but the AI wouldn't have offered it if it wasn't.

  Exit Mastodon with all possible speed and stealth. I didn't trust myself not to biff it in
such tight quarters.

  Hotspur lifted from the deck and glided backwards to the aft of Mastodon's hold. The ship shuddered slightly as we scraped the sides of the too small door.

  "And I was about to call you a wuss," Tabby said.

  I looked at her and smiled. "Pretty aggressive move for the AI," I said.

  "I'd have gone faster," she said.

  I grabbed the flight stick and pulled us around. We were on the protected side of Mastodon and I dipped the nose down and accelerated hard.

  As soon as we cleared the keel of Mastodon, the brilliance of the blaster fire was momentarily blinding. I'd never seen such a display of fire in my life. It was hard to believe Mastodon would last for any period of time, given the terrifying display.

  "They're never going to survive this," Tabby stated the obvious.

  She was right. In just the short amount of time we'd taken sailing beneath the Mastodon's keel, the battle had changed dramatically. The Fist of Justice was tearing into Mastodon's side and had already holed her at the bilge level. The gunners of the Fist were working their way up to the lower starboard turret.

  "I'm going combat burn," I said to Tabby. I'd originally thought to stealth our way to the Fist's aft and loose a couple of missiles into their engine compartment. The time was now or never.

  "Do it now!" Tabby said.

  Combat burn, I instructed and pushed throttle stick forward. The engines of Hotspur switched from their low emission burn rate to a hundred fifteen percent of sustainable throughput. We were both pushed back in our seats. Anticipating the disruption, Tabby had already locked our turrets onto the same spot Marny was pouring fire into.

  An idiom that's always haunted me was appropriate here. - be careful what you wish for, as you might just get it. I'd been hoping to take some of the pressure off Mastodon and I'd been successful. I don't know if it was our sudden appearance with engines and guns blazing or if Fist gunners just wanted a second target, but all of a sudden a stream of turret fire turned on us.

  I peeled downward and at an oblique angle, moving directly at Fist. We would pass directly beneath them in less than a second. I'd have just one shot and I chose one of the missile locks Hotspur had dialed in. I loosed two of our four missiles and twisted away in the opposite direction.

  Fist of Justice launched missile counter measures, which amounted to a bunch of small objects exploding in an attempt to confuse an incoming missile. Our speed, trajectory and proximity were such that the counter measures had limited success. One of our missiles made it through.

  Stealth mode, I commanded excitedly at the moment of missile impact.

  I tipped the stick over and rolled away. The maneuver was none too soon, as blaster fire attempted to find us on our last known vector, stitching a predictable search pattern.

  "Line up for another pass?" Tabby asked.

  As we turned, we got a fresh look at the two ships.

  "I don't see what choice we have. They're shredding Mastodon. It's like the ship is made of paper," I said.

  "I hope Anino and Jonathan got to the bridge," she said, shaking her head. "The lower decks are all open to space."

  "That missile caused damage. We need to hit it again," I said.

  "Careful, Liam, they'll be expecting it."

  "If we don't open her up, we're done for," I said.

  "Do it," she said. "I'm with you to the end."

  I sighed. Not what I wanted to hear from my fiancé.

  Combat burn. The burn had been turned off when I'd switched us back to stealth mode.

  The gunners of Fist of Justice all but ignored me, only one turret turning our way. The armor would hold against it. Something felt off, I shouldn't have such an easy approach. I released the missiles and at the last moment, I saw it. A brilliant cannoneer had predicted our maneuver and countered my attack. I swerved away, the concussion of my own missile's explosions violently rocking us. One of our interior bulkheads gave way to the pressure, collapsing and venting the bridge's atmo into space.

  "Rear cannon!" I shouted and swiveled the aft of the ship to line up on the weakened structure.

  Tabby immediately understood and fired the very powerful aft blaster cannon. "Frakking aye!" She crowed. A large chunk of armor tore away from Fist of Justice.

  "Don't mess with my girl," I said.

  That stealth move wouldn't work a second time. With all the atmo we were venting, Tullas would have no trouble tracking us.

  We cleared and I flipped around to allow Tabby to line up on the ship. Our battery was down to twenty percent and dropping a percent every second, given her constant fire on the weakened spot. Still, Fist continued its relentless fire on Mastodon. What I wouldn't have given for a third set of missiles.

  The battery continued to slip downward. At five percent, I flipped the starboard engine to power the battery. We'd lose more than fifty percent of our thrust, but the battery built back up and the damage to the exterior of Fist increased.

  "We're doing it!" I said.

  "Get us out of here," Tabby cried.

  I didn't hesitate and flipped power back on to the starboard engine and we lurched forward as fast as Hotspur could accelerate. The battery dropped to zero and our turret spun down.

  A brilliant light caught my attention and we both paused for a moment as Mastodon exploded. A shock wave of material rolling out from the massive ship pelted against Hotspur.

  Locate combat bridge. Track objects that could contain crew.

  "We have a new problem," Tabby said.

  She didn't need to say it, the thumping of blaster fire lighting up the starboard side of Hotspur was all the information I needed.

  "Frak," I said as fire ripped into the bridge, tearing across, starboard to port, destroying the station where Nick would ordinarily have been seated.

  I instinctively turned Hotspur away from the fire, which later I decided had been the wrong thing to do. I was successful in averting the fire from the bridge, but the starboard engine spun down, damaged beyond its capacity for continued operation.

  I reached my hand over to Tabby, who grabbed it. It very well could be our last moment together. I felt regret for not recognizing the danger I'd led us into.

  "Incoming hail, Fist of Justice."

  Accept hail.

  "Hoffen," I snapped. I was pissed and beaten.

  "You should have taken the deal, Hoffen. I've destroyed your jump ship. Ordinarily I'd count that good enough and just leave you here to die. It's a horrible death. But… I'm not going to subject you to this. Consider it a favor - warrior to warrior."

  "Gloating. Very dignified, Tullas," I said.

  "Don't be petulant. You made your decision, live with it. Well… perhaps that wasn't a good choice of words."

  Terminate comm.

  I pushed the thruster down. With just the port engine, we could accelerate at about thirty percent of normal, the ship expending much of its energy trying to keep us from spinning out of control.

  Our battery recharged to twelve percent and Tabby laid on the blasters, picking at the wound we'd opened on Fist. Pride surged as we defiantly delivered what was likely our last salvo.

  Fist of Justice opened up. It would be only a few moments before it was all over.

  My eye caught movement on the holo as a fourth ship slowly crept into the battle space. A cruiser of similar make to Fist of Justice slid between us. I was shocked as it opened up a broadside fusillade on Fist of Justice.

  "Where the frak did that come from?" I asked.

  "No idea. Our sensors are barely picking it up even now," Tabby said.

  Indeed its signature was very dark. Only the reflection from the armored skin was visible to our sensors.

  Understanding dawned on me.

  "That's LeGrande and Cape of Good Hope," I said. "She must have worked her way over."

  Send location of hull damage we caused to Cape of Good Hope, I instructed my AI.

  I watched in fascination as Cape's turrets turned
on the newly discovered weakness and ripped into her bigger sister.

  A moment later, Fist of Justice, trailing a line of debris, burned away from our location. We watched in fascination as it jumped to fold-space in retreat.

  Hail Cape of Good Hope.

  "What is your condition, Captain Hoffen?" Captain LeGrande's emaciated form showed up on my forward holo.

  "We're intact, mostly. The rest of our crew and Anino were aboard Mastodon. Without your intervention we'd have been goners too," I said.

  "We've tracked the debris of Mastodon. There is a large section that appears to be intact. You'll want to inspect it. Sending location and vector now," she said.

  "Copy that," I said.

  An irregular shape appeared on my forward holo. Steel struts, wires and even a large piece of decking hung from it at odd angles. At its center appeared to be an armored capsule large enough to be a combat bridge.

  "Go!" Tabby's voice was hoarse with emotion.

  I pushed the throttle down and tipped the flight stick over. Hotspur shuddered forward. We'd clearly damaged the inertial damping system. Debris clanked off our armored skin as we sliced through the remains of Mastodon. Our target was tumbling away, moving at only twenty meters per second and we caught up to it easily.

  It was always a conundrum, mating up with a tumbling object. To make matters worse, I had limited maneuverability due to only one remaining engine. I asked the AI to help me match the tumble and maintain speed as we slowly closed on the target.

  "Frak. Feel free to stop this anytime," Tabby said.

  We finally made contact and pushed against the rotation. It took several minutes, but with the AI's help we leveled out our mated flight.

  "We'll grab tools on the way out," I said as Tabby and I made our way over to the lift.

  My heart fell as I assessed the damage to the bridge. It was as if a hand had punched through the starboard side of the ship, not quite exiting on the port side. The effect to the interior was devastation on a scale I wasn't sure could be repaired. A trough had been furrowed through the floor into the tween deck between the bridge and berth decks. The destruction had shredded the unimaginably expensive equipment that stood in its way. Both Marny and Nick's workstations had been completely obliterated. If they'd been seated there, they would have also been destroyed.