Star Force 11: Exile Page 13

  “How—by skimming the planet?” If they had enough thrust, they could theoretically alter their fall to miss the sphere of the planet, putting them into a highly elliptical orbit and buying them time. “They don’t have the power.”

  “No,” Fleeg said again. He pointed and spoke to one of his officers. “Focus the optics on the ring.”

  I got it then. True, Stalker was falling toward the planet’s crust—but directly beneath the hovering fortresses lay the ring. Flat to the surface, its vast black maw was like a net ready to catch the enemy battleship, giving it a way out.

  Moments later, the vessel vanished.

  -12-

  “What will your rebel do now?” Fleeg asked me as I paced about the damaged Raptor bridge.

  “Not a clue,” I replied.

  “Will he come kill us?”

  That stopped me short. “I sure hope not. Sokolov doesn’t have anything against you.”

  “Unless he’s just decided all Raptors are his enemies,” Kwon rumbled.

  “Thanks, Kwon. You’re a big help.”

  “I know.” Kwon flexed his biceps. “Is the ship fixed yet? I wanna go kill Sokolov.”

  I ignored that. “Where’s the Slab?”

  “There’s no way to tell in real time,” Fleeg replied. “It jumped so far so fast that we’re still seeing its reflected light from hours ago. It could have jumped again and be anywhere by now.”

  “A ghost ship, excellent,” I said. “In any case, we need to get under way before Sokolov gets back here.”

  In our holotank projections, Valiant was still curving around toward the Raptor fortresses. Hopefully that was a realistic portrayal of its position.

  “But to where?” Fleeg asked. “We’re caught between demons and the dark. To our government we’re traitors, and to the rebels we’re defectors. All my people hate us now that we have joined aliens—Star Force.” He stared at me with no malice, simply stating facts.

  “Our only chance is to retake Valiant,” I said. “Then you’ll have my protection. I just have to figure out how to do it. Marvin!”

  “No need to yell, Commander Riggs,” Marvin’s synthesized voice responded.

  I didn’t correct the reference to my rank, but it did annoy me. He’d probably argue that as I wasn’t currently in command of Valiant, I was no longer a captain. What really irritated me was that he was technically correct.

  “Ensign Marvin,” I said, deciding to play his game, “how are we coming along on repairs? What is this ship’s state of readiness?”

  “I have completed basic repairs. I’m now working on improving the more inefficient systems.”

  I glanced around in surprise. Fleeg examined his telltales and nodded. “It appears we have basic functionality in all systems, including all three engines.”

  “Marvin, you’re a wonder.”

  “Does this realization on your part warrant a promotion?”

  I resisted the urge to tell him “yes.” I needed to keep some rewards handy for later. “You’re on your way, but no one gets their next rank in less than a day,” I said. “Marvin, somehow Kwon and I have to get back aboard Valiant. I can only think of one way and that’s for you to take us there secretly. Are you up to some cloak and dagger?”

  “All the Daggers were destroyed, and I have no cloak though I do have some theories on initial prototyping.”

  “It’s a figure of speech, Marvin. Are you ready to be deceptive?”

  “Is that a trick question?”

  “Never mind. Just remember, we’re trying to sneak aboard. That means it must be done without anyone figuring out what’s happening.”

  “Are there any special incentives you’d like to specify at this time?” Marvin asked.

  I rolled my eyes. The robot was still bucking for rank—or something else.

  “Yes,” I said. “You need me to be restored as the captain of Valiant. Sokolov doesn’t care about you.”

  “He might if he got to know me.”

  Kwon choked.

  “Probably not,” I said, agreeing with Kwon’s unspoken sentiment.

  I turned to Fleeg, who suddenly stood. Following his gaze, I saw Kreel limp onto the bridge with one arm bound to his side.

  “Good to see you up and around,” I said to the Raptor leader. “We were just discussing how to recapture my ship. Kwon and I are taking Greyhound. We’ll try to slip aboard Valiant. I’m not sure what you can do to help us at this time.”

  Kreel sat down heavily. “If the commander of our fortresses decides to destroy us with long-range missile fire, we will not survive. There’s an asteroid cluster several hours away that will provide some cover. We will go there and await your inevitable success. If by some disastrous circumstance you fail, we’ll seek an honorable way to die.”

  Fleeg nodded solemnly in agreement.

  “Sounds like a plan,” I said. My mind was churning on the primary goal: Valiant. “Marvin, reconfigure Greyhound to give us some useful living space.”

  “I—”

  “Look!” Fleeg said, pointing at the main screen.

  What I saw made me forget immediate plans. Valiant had swung around in an arc and had now aimed her blunt prow directly at the Raptor fortresses, accelerating.

  “Oh, shit,” I said. “He’s going to get my ship and crew killed!”

  Valiant launched several waves of missiles, which spread out under positive control to take positions in front of the ship.

  “That’s a defensive formation,” I said. “They’re set to intercept enemy missiles rather than target the fortresses. He must be intending to use them to get into effective beam range. Valiant has more direct fire weapons power than all four of them combined.”

  “So everything’s okay?” Kwon asked.

  “No,” I replied, feeling sick at what was to come. “I’d say it’s a coin toss who wins. No way Valiant comes out without heavy casualties. I just don’t understand why he’s choosing this battle. It makes no sense to fight fortresses when he can just back off. At least he could take the time to replenish the Dagger squadron.”

  That feeling of nausea grew as I watched my ship heading toward a pointless battle. “Can’t Hansen and the rest see Sokolov is crazy? They have to remove him from command!” But I knew that wasn’t going to happen. I’d ordered some dangerous maneuvers as captain and the crew hadn’t mutinied. I knew the general was a good bullshitter. He must have given them some kind of justification for what he was doing.

  Salvos of rockets belched from the fortresses to accelerate toward Valiant. Soon nuclear explosions flared as missiles dueled for supremacy in the space between the combatants. Dozens of blasts caused Ox’s sensors to overload for long minutes. When they died down, I saw my ship diving between the enemy installations at full acceleration, not firing at all.

  Colors flared as Raptor beams touched Valiant, coruscating off its magnetic shields. Once I saw this, I realized what Sokolov was doing, though not why.

  “He’s not attacking the fortresses at all,” I breathed. “He’s going through the ring.”

  A moment later, Valiant intersected the planet’s ground level and vanished proving me right.

  “Well, that changes things,” I said with false lightness.

  “What will we do now, Commodore?” Kreel asked me.

  “Give me some time. I need to think, and I need to get out of this smelly air.” I climbed back into my suit. “We can get a recharge from Greyhound if we need to,” I told Kwon.

  He brightened and scrambled to get into his own battle armor as he was always happiest there. “Good thinking, boss.”

  “Thanks. Now shut up for a while, please.”

  I blanked my faceplate and breathed deeply of clean canned air, running through scenarios in my head. So many things had changed in the past day or two that I felt like I’d been caught in an ocean wave barely avoiding drowning. I needed to take charge of the situation and start acting instead of being acted upon.

  I st
ill needed to get back aboard Valiant and set things right, but now that meant I needed to get through the ring. That in turn meant we had to get past those fortresses.

  I reviewed my resources. I had myself, Kwon, and two battlesuits. I also had a whole boatload of Raptor warriors on one battered transport. I had Marvin and Greyhound.

  Greyhound might be able to slip through the fortresses and the ring. She was much faster than Valiant or Ox. Maybe Marvin could throw out some decoys and hit the gas pedal at the last minute like we had in the Panda system…but one lucky hit with an enemy nuke and we’d be dead. I wasn’t sure Marvin would be willing to take such a personal risk anyway.

  I put that plan aside as a last resort.

  That left neutralizing the fortresses somehow, either by diplomacy or by force. I opened my faceplate and addressed Kreel. “Commander, is there any chance the fortresses will let us by if we ask politely? Maybe they’d be happy to just get rid of us by sending us all into exile.”

  “I do not believe so, Commodore Riggs. They have the military advantage and they know our legitimate government will eventually hunt us down. Forgive me, but from their perspective you two aliens do not matter. Both sides regard my followers and me as traitors. They want to publicly try and execute us.”

  “Hmm.” An idea started to form in my mind. “So…they won’t just blow us out of space if we approach and surrender?”

  Kreel and Fleeg stared at me in evident shock.

  “No,” Kreel said. “They will not. They will want to capture us to show their fellows what happens to traitors.”

  “Then that’s what we’re going to do.”

  The two Raptors exchanged glances and seemed to droop. “As you command, Commodore Riggs. Our lives are yours to trade. I assume you will sell us for the right to depart in your ship?”

  “Something like that. Get moving toward the fortresses and let me know when it’s time to talk to them. Marvin, help the Raptors repair all of their shuttles or pinnaces or whatever they use for short-range transport.”

  “Commander Riggs,” Marvin replied, “we need to detach from Ox before we enter their engagement envelope.”

  “Yeah, yeah, you big chicken. You’ll be out of harm’s way in plenty of time. Now get those repairs done.”

  “Command accepted.” He closed the channel, probably to sulk. His childishness had become tiresome. On the other hand, it gave me a simple way of gauging his emotional state and manipulating him. A few minutes later I called him privately and gave him some additional instructions.

  For more than an hour, Ox limped toward Orn Six where the ring and the fortresses waited. When we reached standard missile engagement range, I ordered Kreel to hail his people in the fortresses. He seemed to have resigned himself to impending death in a way few humans would. I really felt bad for him as he called and explained that he and his followers had decided to surrender for trial and punishment.

  Junior Director Leng, the commander of the forts, immediately accepted the offer, allowing us to cruise inward unharmed. I told Marvin to take Greyhound and stand off awaiting instructions, and he undocked his ship without delay.

  “Perhaps some of the lowest-ranking among us will be forced to live in shame, serving the others like slave-beasts,” Kreel said miserably. “I suspect they will be cruel and vengeful after seeing Stalker defeated.”

  “I’ll try to make sure your deaths are swift and clean,” I assured him.

  “You are kind and honorable, Commodore Riggs, even if you are ugly to gaze upon and smell liked a cracked egg.”

  “Thanks a bunch. By the way, how many are in those fortress crews?”

  Kreel stared at his feet. “As few as possible. Perhaps thirty on each. It is not a choice assignment. Why do you ask?”

  I glanced toward the overhead and resisted the urge to whistle a tune. “Oh, no reason. Just making conversation.”

  “I noticed you did not attempt to claim concessions from Leng,” Kreel said.

  “I prefer to negotiate with him in person.”

  “Ah. Perhaps that is wise.”

  I didn’t reply, and Kreel lapsed back into apathy.

  I heard Kwon clear his throat on our private channel. “Hey boss, you aren’t really going to order these guys to turn themselves over to be killed, are you?”

  I closed my faceplate and made sure my external mike was shut off. “What makes you say that?”

  “Umm…”

  “Trust me, Kwon. I have a plan.”

  Kwon sighed with relief. “Whew. I thought so. What are we gonna do? Are we gonna go in with nukes strapped to our chests and threaten to blow them up?”

  “Not exactly.” I filled him in on my idea, and soon I had to tell him to shut down his armor servos to avoid damage to the bridge from all his happy twitching.

  Leng called once more as we approached, this time on video. We two humans moved out of view and watched as the enemy commander grilled Kleed about everything from honor to surrender procedures. It appeared Leng wanted to satisfy himself that this wasn’t some trick. Kreel’s evident fatalism and honesty seemed to convince him.

  That was why I hadn’t informed Kreel about my plan.

  At about five minutes from docking I told the Raptor bridge crew, “Make sure we’re secure and can’t be overheard by the rebels.”

  The birds complied without enthusiasm.

  “Kreel,” I said urgently, “I misled you. We’re going to take these fortresses from the rebels or die trying.”

  Kreel’s crest flared up behind his head in anger. “You lied!”

  “I lied to you so that you could honestly lie to the rebel traitors. There’s no dishonor in that. It’s a ruse of war. If I’d told you, you might have given us away. Now get over it and tell your warriors to don their armor, grab their weapons and cram your three shuttles full of troops.”

  “My honor is troubled by these orders, sir,” Kreel said, looking at me worriedly.

  This had to be handled delicately. I’d already planned my responses. “I understand, Kreel. That’s only natural. Would it help if I accepted all responsibility personally? If all dishonor for this action was transferred directly to me, personally, as I’m in overall command?”

  “It might.”

  “Then I do so accept responsibility. Now, get moving.”

  Kreel turned to bark orders in his screeching tongue. He talked so fast the translator had trouble keeping up. Lieutenant Fleeg bolted from the bridge, squawking.

  “I had Marvin hide a small shielded nuke on each shuttle,” I explained, “with simple triggers labeled in your language. I suggest that as soon as we make our move on Leng’s fortress, your people blast for the other three and board them. If they can seize them that would be great, but if not…if they’re going to fire on us…”

  “I understand,” Kreel said fiercely. “My people will not hesitate to activate the bombs. You are clever, Commodore.”

  “Congratulate me when we’ve won,” I replied. “Kreel, as you’re wounded, you stay here on the bridge to coordinate. That’s an order. I’ll lead the main assault. Kwon, come with me.”

  Moving carefully through the transport’s corridors we made our way to the main airlock. Fortunately, as Raptors were larger than we were, we had plenty of room even in our armor. Our battlesuits were tougher than the Raptors’, and our weapons hit harder, so we took point. Kwon wouldn’t let me get in front of him, and I wouldn’t let him shield me, so we went in side by side.

  I felt us dock with the fortress. When the hatches opened, I saw a bunch of Raptors with hand weapons and no armor who were obviously expecting to take a bunch of defeated traitors into custody. We cut them down with their crests still rising in surprise. The ugly birds came apart under our laser rifles. This was better than I had hoped for—we’d suckered them completely.

  There was a moment as I charged into the fort that I felt a pang of guilt. After all, no one wants to accept that they are in the middle of leading barbarians int
o a modern civilization. Everyone wants to be the good guy. I was having a small contest in my mind over which role I was playing today.

  I had to remind myself that they’d copied our ships and our tech. They’d refused to help on any terms from the beginning. In my opinion, it was high time that we seized the initiative with these aliens.

  “Spread out and secure this base!” I yelled, charging across the large room toward an oversized door. It slammed in our faces, but a few seconds of cutting opened it enough for Kwon to rip it off its hinges.

  “Yeah!” he roared, flinging the two-ton door aside. “Come get some!”

  I gave up and let him lead, blasting away at everything that moved. Allied Raptors boiled from the transport behind us and fanned out but couldn’t get past us in our bulky armor. Kwon and I headed for the center of the spherical fortress where Kreel told us the control center would be.

  With half the defenders already dead, I wasn’t worried about losing the fight. At least a hundred Raptors had boarded behind us. What I wondered was how fanatical Leng was. You’d think a rebel traitor wouldn’t have any honor, but you never knew.

  “Kreel,” I called on the Raptor command channel, “Tell Leng that we’ll spare his life if he surrenders without more bloodshed. We won’t execute anyone.”

  “I will tell him, Commodore.”

  Then I had no more time for words as we ran into concentrated fire from ahead. The defenders must have activated an automated defense system because lasers crisscrossed the corridor and forced us to take cover around a corner.

  “We can’t use that passageway!” I yelled.

  “No problem,” Kwon said and blasted a hole in the wall next to him forcing his way into the room behind. Then he crossed the floor to the next wall and did it again. “Passageways? Those are for fleet-types!”

  By this method we progressed the last fifty yards toward the center of the fortress. When we burned through the final wall, we beamed the auto-lasers from behind. However, the door we now faced and the bulkhead around it was thick and armored. Kwon started cutting, but it became clear it would take many minutes.