an early warning ship, four search and rescue ships, and two electronic warfare ships.
Arrayed in an arrowhead formation behind him were his three Landing Assault Carriers, each with a dozen AS-500 landing craft capable of carrying 100 marines each with their heavy weapons and providing suppressive fire from six hypervelocity plasma cannons. Each carrier could land a brigade of Marines in one lift.
Off to port and starboard were his two plasma frigates. These were bombardment ships capable of destroying planetary defenses and facilities from the edges of space with pinpoint accuracy. They could take out a single enemy shooting from inside a house without even rattling a teacup in the next-door neighbor’s kitchen. They also carried defensive missile pods to provide anti-fighter and anti-missile defense of the fleet. Following directly astern were his two replenishment ships carrying all weapon reloads, food, repair parts, and assorted supplies for the group.
Admiral Minacci was proud of his command. He was grateful that this combat opportunity came so soon after he assumed command. He had served on the Fleet Staff during the New Alexandria Campaign, and was afraid he may have missed any chance for combat experience. These pirates were going to be his ticket to higher rank and awards.
Thorson thought about Julia during the ride back to his home. Now that he was a captain, he qualified for a large house, almost a villa, on the southern ridgeline. Of course, he would have to pay off the house and his ship with plunder and prize vessels.
He was pretty sure he loved Julia. She was all he thought about lately. He hated the time he spent away from her. If it wasn’t love, it was probably something that would disqualify him as captain.
He arrived at his house and poured himself a stiff drink. He thought how his fortunes had shifted in the last two weeks. He had found a prize target, his share of which was enough to cover advanced weaponry and engines for his new ship. His captaincy came through and it was in the newest Undefeated class cutter coming off the ways.
He remembered how angry Captain Mabry was that she was losing her pilot/navigator. It took a sizable increase in her cut of the Debran shuttle prize before she would stop howling. Oh, but he was thankful he was no longer part of that crew.
Steven Maynard had personally escorted him up to the moon base to tour his new command. Maynard took him onto the bridge of his ship and had him swear the oath of the Brotherhood. The words were old, but still had meaning. He pledged his loyalty to the brotherhood; to come to the aid of any member in distress; to inflict no unnecessary injury on captives or their ships; and to fairly share the proceeds of his captures with the brotherhood.
After the pledge, Steven offered to give him a tour of his new ship that would be ready to launch in a week. The engines and weapons modules had been removed to make room for their advanced replacements. It was missing an engine synchronizer that would be installed starting tomorrow. Steven told him to take two weeks to shake out the bugs and he would be cleared to go hunting.
Even though this ship was almost identical to the Undefeated, he allowed Steven to give him the tour. It was obvious how proud Steven was of his shipyard’s capability, and it would have been unfair and impolite to deny him the pleasure of showing off. He followed Steven through the ship as he pointed out the almost microscopic differences between the Eclipse and the Undefeated.
Alistair Bennett asked for a meeting with the captain in his cabin. Kelly led him into his ready room and the two sat down to talk.
His first question was, “Captain, when do you expect the 3rd ALG to arrive?”
Kelly looked at his chronometer and replied, “The 3rd ALG’s ETA is in six hours.”
“Captain, I would suggest that I can come up with a better use of those six hours than floating free in space here at the rendezvous spot.”
Kelly looked at Alistair with a suspicious look and asked, “What do you have in mind?”
Alistair brought up the holographic display in Kelly’s conference table and focused on the pirate planet. He zoomed the display to the main pirate city and highlighted several locations.
“Captain, I believe these are the most likely locations where the Debran women are being held, or at least where I can gain info on their location. This, I believe, is the main security force HQ for the planet. This is the Defense HQ, and this is what I believe to be the main pirate administrative HQ. If I poke around and ask the right questions in the right way, I believe I can make the rescue easier to effect.”
Kelly could see the sense in what Alistair was proposing, but had misgivings.
“Alistair, you’d be on foot. How do you propose traveling around onto all these far-flung locations on a hostile planet?”
“Captain, this wouldn’t be my first ground recon on a hostile planet. If I can walk about on a K’Rang world, this will be a piece of cake.”
Kelly was surprised by this revelation, but it gave him the confidence to believe Alistair could do it. He called the bridge and ordered a course change, back into the star cluster. He figured he had a six-hour window to put Alistair on the ground and return here to meet with Admiral Minacci. It was time to put their increased speed to use.
Friedrich Debran was not a patient man. He hadn’t received a report from Captain Alden in over two days and he was starting to smolder. Because he was out of contact with Captain Alden, his chief of staff had become the recipient of his ire.
A very relieved Roger Delphant entered Mr. Debran’s office with a communication from Captain Alden. He keyed it up on the tabletop holographic projector and stood back. Captain Alden’s image appeared on the screen.
“Mr. Debran, I thought you might like a status update. My fleet has rendezvoused here at Rigel prime and all ships are in combat status. I have them dispersed at the moment but we will join up in four hours at the pathway into the star cluster. This is to allow the pirate planet settlement to be on the night side of the planet. We will move into the star cluster in force, move along a path the pirates were so kind as to point out to us yesterday, put our special operatives onto the pirate planet’s surface, and stage a rescue as soon as they locate your family. Once your family is secure, we will remove them from the area and conduct an attack on the pirate base to destroy any combat capability they have. Then we will systematically reduce their facilities to rubble, at which point I believe we will have executed all the requirements of our contract with you. Do you have any questions, sir?”
Friedrich Debran rubbed his hands together, “Captain, that sounds like an excellent plan. I would request one more thing from you. I would like to see copies of your gun camera and sensor files from the attack. They might prove useful at some future data when in negotiations with a tough customer.”
Captain Alden laughed and said, “Yes, I can see how that could be an effective negotiating technique. Sure, Mr. Debran we can do that and at no extra charge.”
Kelly’s high-speed run pushed them through the Rigel-Aldebaran sector and into close proximity to the pirate world in less than two hours. He held the Vigilant at max sensor range from the planet until the sensor section had time to resolve what reactions to their previous visit had occurred.
Sensors picked up a patrolling torpedo ship squadron and new mines emplaced along the original path, but nothing further. The mines were concentrated back toward the Rigel-Aldebaran direction, as were the torpedo ships. Space around the planet was devoid of activity.
Kelly and Alistair chose a location on the southern ridgeline for him to be put down, a large clearing in a forested area, just the right dimensions for the Vigilant to slip into. It was a good distance from the three locations Alistair was to recon, but was the best they could do. It was also in the radar shadow of the planet’s spaceport. Alistair said it would only be a good stretch of his limbs.
Kelly ordered the Vigilant to make standard approach to the planet’s surface 100 kilometers west of the drop-off point. This minimized detection from burn in and sonic booms. Then he ordered a subsonic run to the wooded clearing. The navigator put them right over the clearing and the helmsman put them down softly. Alistair came out of the Exec’s cabin in what had to be typical garb for the planet. He handed Chief Blankenship a note and came over to Kelly.
