until their weapons system power came online. Finally, their consoles came to life and a few of the braver gunners began overriding their battle comps and trying to manually aim their weapons. The destroyers’ battle comps didn’t have a hope of locking onto these bouncing, jinking, torturers.
Then Predator and Harpy closed in and the slugfest began. Even with the boats, it was a bloody mess. The gunners aboard Jonas’ destroyers had to shift their attentions from the swarming boats to the more heavily armed destroyers. The boats had to be treated as secondary targets.
Secondary, perhaps, but not ineffective. One of the boats slammed a laser beam into a weakened area of Eagle ’s shields, and suddenly Eagle became an expanding ball of incandescent gases, the first verified kill by an attack boat.
Unfortunately, Eagle was closely engaged with Harpy at the time. The explosion overwhelmed Harpy ’s shields and caused serious hull damage, disabling six laser and particle beam weapon stations.
Gyrfalcon drove frantically for the jump point, with Predator and a flock of boats in hot pursuit. One of Predator ’s particle beams was seen penetrating Gyrfalcon ’s shield and hull split seconds before she jumped.
Suddenly it was over, and all that remained was to lick our wounds and evaluate the results of the battle.
Shar had been right about the boats. Of the eighteen used in this first-ever battle, only seven remained operational, though one pilot was rescued from his disabled boat. Following normal Fleet procedure, Predator and Harpy recovered what they could of the ten dead pilots’ bodies and body parts before jumping out.
Harpy was in rough shape. Almost half her crew was in suits. She was running on 38 % power, though her jump engines seemed all right. With nearly half her weaponry disabled, she wouldn’t be battle-ready for some time.
Predator was somewhat better off. She’d been holed in two compartments, but both had been resealed, and integrity restored. She’d lost almost a fourth of her weapons stations and over a dozen crew.
Quick damage inspections revealed that both were still jump-capable, though Harpy ’s nav comp had slight damage.
They limped back to Bolt Hole to a hero’s welcome. They were the first of Cord’s forces to meet the enemy in battle, and the attack boat pilots were the first, period. Cord was grinning from ear to ear, but I was less enthusiastic.
True, we’d destroyed one of Jonas’ destroyers, and an incoming rim tramp informed us that after reporting to Jonas, the badly damaged Gyrfalcon had been sent to Thaeron for repairs that would obviously take months.
Nevertheless, I rated it a net loss for Cord; all three of his true warships were damaged.
Fearless, our battle cruiser, had jumped out of the Outback system with the help of an attached rim tramp’s comp. She was battle-ready, except that she had no jump comp; and without that, getting her into battle was going to be the problem.
Harpy was probably out of action for the duration. She needed an orbital repair dock. Jamro was cursing volubly as he enumerated her battle damage and casualty lists; but cursing wasn't going to help Harpy — or us.
Predator was the bright spot. She could be repaired even with the limited facilities available to us, and her crew casualties could be made up from Harpy. Repair time was estimated at two to three weeks. “Make it two, maximum!” I ordered.
With one destroyer converted to emm cee squared and another damaged, Jonas was down to Nemesis, two cruisers, Relentless and Dauntless, and one destroyer, Raptor.
“Well, Admiral,” Cord beamed. “Your crazy boats seem to work.”
“Yes, sir,” I replied. “But I certainly hope that sixty percent casualty rates aren’t typical.” I sighed. “And we’ve lost the element of surprise. They know about the boats now. They'll be trying to figure out defenses as we speak.”
He grinned. “I know. However, it was worth it, Admiral. We’ll call Wil Tor on Haven, and have the rim tramps spread rumors of the battle to the other planets. Sheol! Jonas couldn’t have hidden the condition of that damaged destroyer; I’d bet rumors are already circulating.” He shook his head. “I know you don’t understand, Admiral, but that victory is worth a dozen destroyers!”
He sobered. “Now. Do we know who the boat pilot was that blew up the destroyer?”
Jamro answered. “Yes, sir. A miner from Keth’s World. But he was caught in the blast, and is one of our ten boat casualties.”
Cord nodded. “Very well. Captain, I want you to recommend him for the silver comet. As I understand it, you were closest to the action.”
“Yes, sir. I’d already suggested something like that to the Admiral.”
“Good!” Cord smiled. “Now, I want you, Captain, to take a rim tramp to Keth’s and track down some of the man’s family. Bring them here for a public ceremony.”
“Uh, sir,” Jamro began uncomfortably, “I’ve got repairs to my ship to oversee, and…”
“No, you don’t.” Cord interrupted, “Come, Captain, do you think I can’t recognize serious damage when I see it? Your ship is out for the duration, and you know it.” His manner softened. “I’m sorry, Captain,” he continued quietly, “But it’s true. Harpy needs a shipyard, and we don't have one.”
“What you don’t understand,” he continued, “Is that this mission can help our cause as much as Harpy and her entire crew. We desperately need a hero. The rim needs one, and those boat pilots especially need one. This young man genuinely was a hero, and I intend to see to it that his heroism is recognized. By sending a ship’s captain to bring back his family, we’re showing the rim how important this young man’s heroism was.”
“When you get his family back here,” Cord continued, “we’ll tape the award and the memorial ceremonies for the other twenty-two casualties we suffered and have the rim tramps smuggle copies of the tapes onto every planet in the sector. Don't be surprised if that boy ends up the rim’s first sector-wide hero.”
When the other officers had left, Cord turned to me. “All right, Admiral. You’re scowling. Why?”
I shrugged. “I just don’t like seeing you use those young peoples’ bravery and heroism for political gain, I guess.”
Cord paused, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Admiral,” he said quietly, “I’m getting a bit tired of your attitude. I’ve never dealt less than honorably with you, yet you continue to ascribe less-than-honorable motives to my every move. Was it dishonorable of me to use those young men to fight for our cause?”
“No, sir, of course not.”
He nodded. “Nor is it dishonorable for me to honor their heroism and sacrifice by sharing their ceremonies and awards with the people they fought and died for. Alive, they served by fighting a battle. Dead, they will serve by giving hope to all the people of the rim. You know better than I the real value of military ceremony. It seemed that there was always some cretin in the Imperial Assembly complaining about the waste of money for military ceremony and customs such as the ‘round trip ticket’.
“And every time it happened,” he continued, “every Admiral and General in the Fleet let out a howl that could be heard to the Pleiades! I know as well as you that morale and esprit de corps are two of the most important reasons that men fight.” His fist slammed his desk. “Damn it, Admiral, I’m honoring their service, not abusing their memories. And I resent your constant implications of dishonesty!”
“I’m truly sorry, sir,” I replied. My apology was genuine. Cord had always been honorable in his dealings with me. “I’m afraid I’m guilty of typing you as a politician; and the few politicians I’ve dealt with were the ultimate pragmatists. Right was whatever was good for their career, and wrong was anything that risked compromising or diminishing their power.” I shrugged. “You are quite correct, sir. I’ve never seen you display that kind of behavior, and I have no right to ascribe dishonorable motives to you.”
Cord grinned and nodded. “I understand, Admiral. Many if not most politicians are of the type you describe. But some of us are capable of seeing beyond our own noses.” He waved dismissively. “Now, tell me about our next operation.”
Cord was turning into a real fire-eater. A narrow victory over two destroyers had whetted his appetite. I hoped I could keep him from wasting good people.
When Kaleen called via subspace, we were still arguing. Cord wanted to mount another attack immediately, this one on Relentless, the Battle Cruiser Jonas had sent to Gamma.
I had just made the point that Jonas was certain to recall the Cruiser, in light of the destroyer battle. Cord was saying that was why we should strike now, when the comm tech called us.
