necessary.”
He smiled inwardly. His actual estimate was that it would take only eight to nine months to complete the transformation from an abandoned thorsite mine to BAE’s stronghold. The corporate offices on Pensor were merely for show. This would be the pirate organization’s new headquarters and the primary processing center for slaves and swag. When he completed the refit in less than nine months, he’d look like a hero. And some day, when Penrod had an unfortunate “accident,” Ishtawahl would be his logical successor.
“Excellent. If the Unity thinks they have it bad now, just wait ‘til this base is fully operational. They won’t know what hit ‘em.” Penrod smiled.
“ Now, show me where my command center will be.”
CHAPTER SIX
“Hang on! We’ve got two more quems on our tail! Ejecting decoys.”
Hal fired the APCs and launched a mass driver slug at one pirate ship even as he evaded the quark-enhanced missile that didn’t take the bait. The other Unity vessels were similarly engaged with a swarm of pirate ships, bobbing and weaving, biting and stinging. Each side took hits; each side suffered losses.
Two pirates hit Adventurer’s shields simultaneously—one with antiproton cannons and the other with a FoMA: focused microwave array. A quem from another pirate weakened the shield on the opposite side. Adventurer shook with the impact.
“Shields down to thirty-two percent!”
Hal fired a torrent of slugs at the largest of the pirates, one, two, three, four, five of the superdense slugs. The other ship slipped the first three. The fourth vaporized the prow and a split-second later the fifth blasted through the heart of the ship, nearly ripping it in two. The shockwave from the strike did what the impact itself failed to do. The fore and aft sections of the ship tore apart and gradually drifted in different directions. Atmosphere, fluids, and bodies spilled from the two halves of the wreck.
“ Got ‘im! He’s dead in the water. Yes! The remaining bogeys are breaking off,” Hal reported. “Chalk one up for the good guys.” He took a relieved breath.
The six functioning raiders jumped to hyperspace one by one. The carcasses of three pirate ships and one Unity vessel tumbled adrift. The acrid stench of burnt insulation wafted through the bridge.
Kalen wrinkled his nose at the smell and toggled the shipwide intercom. “Good work, everyone. Security, send out a search party. Look for survivors. Everyone else, stand down from alert. Make repairs. Keep watch in case the bogeys decide to double back for a surprise visit. Meanwhile, if anyone needs me, I’ll be in my ready room.”
He rose from his command chair , walked calmly toward the rear of the bridge and stepped through the doorway as it appeared in the wall and then disappeared behind him. He went to his desk and sat.
Kalen closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the seatback. He massaged his eyelids with his fingertips. How much longer can we keep this up? They can afford more losses than we can. Our ships may be better, but they have so many of them. We’re always outnumbered. Hal’s done phenomenally so far, but it only takes one mistake, one moment of inattention, one minor miscalculation, one lucky shot, and we’re as dead as those poor bastards drifting out there.
He sighed. Or maybe I’ve just been doing this too long. It was great in the beginning. It was easy to feel like I was making a difference, making the pirates pay for Julie’s death. We managed to keep them away from most of the planets for awhile, and even reduced their numbers quite a bit. But now…. Now we’re losing ground, planet by planet, system by system. It’s only a matter of time until the Unity…. He snorted bitterly. Until the Unity loses its unity.
Face it—we’ve lost. We just can’t bring ourselves to admit it. Sure, we win a skirmish here and there, but it’s just a holding action. For every step forward we take, they knock
He smiled inwardly. His actual estimate was that it would take only eight to nine months to complete the transformation from an abandoned thorsite mine to BAE’s stronghold. The corporate offices on Pensor were merely for show. This would be the pirate organization’s new headquarters and the primary processing center for slaves and swag. When he completed the refit in less than nine months, he’d look like a hero. And some day, when Penrod had an unfortunate “accident,” Ishtawahl would be his logical successor.
“Excellent. If the Unity thinks they have it bad now, just wait ‘til this base is fully operational. They won’t know what hit ‘em.” Penrod smiled.
“ Now, show me where my command center will be.”
CHAPTER SIX
“Hang on! We’ve got two more quems on our tail! Ejecting decoys.”
Hal fired the APCs and launched a mass driver slug at one pirate ship even as he evaded the quark-enhanced missile that didn’t take the bait. The other Unity vessels were similarly engaged with a swarm of pirate ships, bobbing and weaving, biting and stinging. Each side took hits; each side suffered losses.
Two pirates hit Adventurer’s shields simultaneously—one with antiproton cannons and the other with a FoMA: focused microwave array. A quem from another pirate weakened the shield on the opposite side. Adventurer shook with the impact.
“Shields down to thirty-two percent!”
Hal fired a torrent of slugs at the largest of the pirates, one, two, three, four, five of the superdense slugs. The other ship slipped the first three. The fourth vaporized the prow and a split-second later the fifth blasted through the heart of the ship, nearly ripping it in two. The shockwave from the strike did what the impact itself failed to do. The fore and aft sections of the ship tore apart and gradually drifted in different directions. Atmosphere, fluids, and bodies spilled from the two halves of the wreck.
“ Got ‘im! He’s dead in the water. Yes! The remaining bogeys are breaking off,” Hal reported. “Chalk one up for the good guys.” He took a relieved breath.
The six functioning raiders jumped to hyperspace one by one. The carcasses of three pirate ships and one Unity vessel tumbled adrift. The acrid stench of burnt insulation wafted through the bridge.
Kalen wrinkled his nose at the smell and toggled the shipwide intercom. “Good work, everyone. Security, send out a search party. Look for survivors. Everyone else, stand down from alert. Make repairs. Keep watch in case the bogeys decide to double back for a surprise visit. Meanwhile, if anyone needs me, I’ll be in my ready room.”
He rose from his command chair , walked calmly toward the rear of the bridge and stepped through the doorway as it appeared in the wall and then disappeared behind him. He went to his desk and sat.
Kalen closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the seatback. He massaged his eyelids with his fingertips. How much longer can we keep this up? They can afford more losses than we can. Our ships may be better, but they have so many of them. We’re always outnumbered. Hal’s done phenomenally so far, but it only takes one mistake, one moment of inattention, one minor miscalculation, one lucky shot, and we’re as dead as those poor bastards drifting out there.
He sighed. Or maybe I’ve just been doing this too long. It was great in the beginning. It was easy to feel like I was making a difference, making the pirates pay for Julie’s death. We managed to keep them away from most of the planets for awhile, and even reduced their numbers quite a bit. But now…. Now we’re losing ground, planet by planet, system by system. It’s only a matter of time until the Unity…. He snorted bitterly. Until the Unity loses its unity.
Face it—we’ve lost. We just can’t bring ourselves to admit it. Sure, we win a skirmish here and there, but it’s just a holding action. For every step forward we take, they knock
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