Back in jump, time began to drag again. Then another emergence, and another tense few days. They jumped again. And again.
During their fifth recal, Ler-Traken resumed command of Starhopper, much to Kas’ relief. The young Lieutenant Commander had done a good job, but Kas had been more concerned than he’d have liked to admit about Wansung’s lack of combat ship experience.
His crew was shaking down well. Even Tremling had come around. He had appeared at Kas’ door in a clean, pressed shipsuit and begged Kas to let him resume his duties. Kas agreed, while cautioning To-Ling to let him know if the engineer fell back into old patterns.
Their comfortable routine was shattered during their eighth recal. They had emerged into the system of a red dwarf star, a remnant of a long-ago supernova. The system was empty, since the planets had been vaporized or blown out of the system by the stellar cataclysm.
Be’Rak had completed her recal. They had been driving for the jump point for about 30 hours, with about four hours to go when Vertring shouted “Ships, sir! Five blips. Three read Empire-pattern destroyers, one possible corvette, and one smaller vessel.”
Kas spun to him. “Where’d they come from? Any Ident?”
“They were masked by the sun, sir. They just emerged from the umbra. Receiving ident data now…
“Ident signals are Glory, sir.” Vertring continued. “Confirm Empire-pattern destroyers. One carries flagship ident. Flagship is Sword of Fire. Others are Retribution and Hellfire. Other vessels are frigate Sinkiller and diplomatic vessel Faith.”
“We’re being hailed by the diplomatic vessel, sir,” the com tech reported.
Kas took a deep breath. “Very well. Put it on the main screen.”
The man who appeared on the screen seemed unusually normal, for a Glory. He was well, if conservatively dressed. He looked more like an imperial courtier than a representative of a repressive theocracy.
“You have entered without permission a system claimed by the Mission for the Greater Glory of God,” the man announced without preamble. “I am Ambassador Faithful Godservant. You are ordered to cease all motion relative to this system’s primary and stand by to be boarded.”
Kas suppressed a derisive snort. “This is Commodore Kas Preslin of the Empire Fleet. The nearest Glory system is hundreds of light years from here. We are military representatives of the Empire, and we do not recognize your right to stop or question us.”
The man’s urbane facade began to slip, and a glint of fanaticism appeared in his eyes. “This system has been legally claimed by the Mission, and you are trespassing. You will surrender to the Lord’s justice or be destroyed.”
Kas’ smile turned sardonic. “Now, why do I suspect that the Glory only decided to claim this system after they learned we would be transiting it?”
Godservant flushed. “No matter when my government claimed it, we have done so. In accordance with interstellar law, I hereby accuse the Empire of the military invasion of a system claimed by the Mission for the Greater Glory of God. Be advised that if you do not surrender, you will in effect be declaring war on the Mission on behalf of the Empire. This is your final warning. We will defend our sovereignty!” Obviously, this exchange was being recorded, and the “ambassador” was establishing cause for action in case the Empire learned of this attack and objected.
This time Kas didn’t even try to conceal his derisive snort. “You don’t really expect this to work, do you? I…”
A more powerful signal, obviously from the flagship, suddenly blanketed both ships’ com signals.
The man who appeared wore the white uniform of a Wielder-of-Swords, roughly the equivalent of an Empire vice admiral. He was large and powerful looking, with close-cropped graying hair. The starkness of his simple white uniform was relieved by a chest full of medals. Kas recognized some of them; this was no armchair admiral. “Thou’lt obey the Lord’s will,” he growled, “or thou’lt be destroyed.”
Kas could not resist. They were going to fight no matter what he said. “I didn’t hear the Lord’s will here. Just the ranting of fanatical hypocrites.”
The Wielder-of-Swords recoiled as if struck. For a moment, his mouth worked in shock, but no words came. Then he found his voice.
“Blasphemer!” He thundered. “Unbeliever! Thou’lt pay for thy heresy and impiety!” He controlled himself with an effort. “Thou hast condemned thyself and thy crew to eternal damnation!” His image abruptly disappeared.
The “ambassador” had obviously heard his exchange with the Wielder-of-Swords. When the Wielder’s image faded, he was revealed, staring in openmouthed shock. The shocked expression faded to one of raw, naked hatred. “Then die, heathens!” He spat before cutting the connection.
Kas turned to Wansung, who was staffing the main sensor station. “Sensors to the main screen,” he ordered shortly, and the star field disappeared, replaced by a blackness relieved by five fluorescent blips.
The smallest blip, apparently the “ambassador’s” yacht, was scurrying to get behind the flagship. The three destroyers broke formation in an attempt to encircle Rekesh and Starhopper. The fifth ship, the Frigate, was too small to do serious damage to the battle cruiser, but she was driving at max boost directly toward them. “Com, get me Starhopper,” Kas ordered. As his chair’s screen lit to show Ler-Traken, Kas snapped. “Var, stay close but make sure your lasers are deployed and bear. That damned frigate is either heading for you, or is planning a suicide dive into us.”
Ler-Traken’s image nodded. “I see him. Don’t worry, Commodore. I would bet he thinks we’re unarmed. We’ll take care of him. You concentrate on those destroyers.”
A battle cruiser is an awesome vessel. A 500-meter globe, she carries fifty Strengl in-system fighters, fifty Wasp long-range fighters, and bristles with over a hundred weapons emplacements, including lasers, particle beams, missiles, and even mass drivers. Her shields are powered by their own fusactor, and are much stronger than those of a destroyer. Fully crewed, Rekesh could simply brush aside one destroyer, and would have no trouble handling two.
However, Rekesh was not fully crewed. She was running with less than a tenth of a full crew. Her hangar deck was stocked with Strengls, and Wasps, but there was no one to fly them. Even drafting the civilians and any crew members not required for other duties, there would not be enough crew to keep the missile stations and mass drivers supplied. In addition, there were not one or two, but three destroyers.
Kas turned to To-Ling. “All right, San. We can’t let them encircle us. We could handle them one at a time, but even a battle cruiser is no match for a coordinated attack by three destroyers. Recommendations?”
The tiny woman looked grim. “You’re right, sir. We cannot just sit here. I’d say pick one and charge them.”
Kas grinned savagely. “Right. I… What the Sheol is Var doing?”
Starhopper was driving away from Rekesh ’s side, heading away from the oncoming frigate at an angle. “I’d say he’s trying to draw that frigate away from us,” To-Ling replied.
“Damn it! I told him to stay close! Get me Starhopper… No, belay that. It’s too late now. He’s on his own.
“Helm!” He continued. “Aim for the flagship and boost max. Weapons! Monitor the other two, and keep them busy, but I want all available weapons focused on the flagship. Engineering! I want every meter per second of delta-vee you can give me. Push redlines and strain safety margins. I want this big bitch to drive like a destroyer!”
“Aye, Aye, sir!” and “Yes sir” were followed a split second later by a crisp “Engineering Aye, sir!” in Tremling’s voice. Kas and To-Ling had time to exchange a surprised glance.
Kas turned back to To-Ling. “All right. We’re going to charge the flagship, but I assume he will retreat and stay ahead of us. What I’m really hoping for is that one of the others will get careless and give us a chance to jump him.”
To-Ling looked dubious, and Kas continued, “We’ve got to keep them from forming a circle that’ll let them just sit there and pour on the fire until our shields fail. Our advantage is that they want to capture Rekesh, not destroy her.” His eyes narrowed. “I have no such limitations.”
The two destroyers that had been boosting to encircle Rekesh tried to respond to Kas’ tactic of attacking the flagship, but they were accelerating in precisely the wrong directions, and could only launch a few missiles and fire a few despairing laser blasts before Rekesh was past them and firing at the flagship.
