Yes, the Arans would pass amessage to Drago. Betelians were long time friends and the chance to fightback at the Andromedans who were encroaching on Aran territory would be rewardenough.
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Chapterseventeen
As Bismarck neared Polgar, Johnbecame more on edge. Drago had initially been three days from Velos. Would hebe able to make it in two and wipe out the station? That was anyone’s guess. Would the reinforcements be in and out before he got there? Probably not. They were in no great hurry; their suspicions had not been aroused. Dragowould not take on a fully armed convoy. Or would he? That was beginning tolook like a distinct possibility.
No news was not good news. Johnhad to slow down before they came within range of Shimodo and Antigua. Hecouldn’t afford to arouse the Andromedan’s suspicions. He had his number onecrew on the bridge. It was time to let them know exactly what was going on andraise the ship’s status to yellow alert.
“We’ve been playing the shadows,”John spoke into the quiet. “That changes now. We’ve got two ships about to becrucified and I’m not going to let that happen. If anyone has a problem withthat, please say so now.”
McReidy didn’t answer as shebrought the weapons systems online. She knew the situation.
She avoided Giacomo’s look asmuch as John welcomed it. But the pilot’s attention remained in front of him;on his console and the main screen.
“Too dark in the shadows, sir.”
Gillespie nodded.
Tan closed his eyes momentarilyand took a steadying breath. John couldn’t tell if he was about to object orclearing his focus.
“Mister Tan?”
Tan opened his eyes, slipped anearphone in and turned to John with a small smile that confirmed his intent.
They were all with him. They hadno idea of the full extent that they were walking into, but they were withhim. His chest warmed and his mind calmed.
He hit the yellow alert button. The ship and crew came alive and he could almost hear engineering groaning.
A scan of the area revealed onlyShimodo and Antigua. The Andromedan ships were well hidden. There were anumber of places where they could be that Bismarck’s scanners couldn’t see. Ablack dwarf was still spewing material; a nebula clouding nearby. Closerstill, a comet had been burning its tail for weeks as it approached its star.
“How long until we’re in visualrange?” John asked.
“About half an hour,” Tanconfirmed.
“If we increase speed –” Giacomobegan.
“No,” John cut in. “TheAndromedans will have picked us up by now. We need to be what we look like. Aharmless transport.” His eyes were riveted to the main screen. “Where arethey?” he wondered impatiently. His anxiety level was rising. “Gillespie? McReidy?”
“Nothing, sir,” McReidy answered.
“Nothing… wait… I’ve gotsomething,” Gillespie answered. “Traces of ionic residue, filtering from thenebula to the black dwarf.”
“Could be the collapse remnants,”Giacomo suggested.
“Could be,” John agreed, thoughhis tone indicated otherwise.
“It forms a parallel path toShimodo and Antigua…” Gillespie continued. “Only enough for one ship though.”
“A scout,” John concluded. “They’reusing the nebula for cover.”
Tan’s focus was on keeping thelines of communication open, both visual and audio, and looking for what wasbeyond. Any call out, any reinforcements, any interested onlookers orcommercial transport that might get in the way. Battles were never static. They could drift thousands of kilometres in a matter of seconds and end uplight years from their origin.
He ran the frequencies;identifying, calculating, disregarding and filtering the mass of disjointeddata to isolate the tiniest scrap that was vital and bring it to John’sattention.
“Commander.” Tan switched thecurrent frequency to main audio.
It was from Velos. The outpostwas under attack. The order came through to destroy the fleet.
“Jam it!” John ordered.
“Too late. They’ve alreadyreceived it,” Gillespie advised. “Radiation levels in that area just wentthrough the roof.”
“We’re out of time. Giacomo, gofor it. Shields up, weapons on full.” John flicked the intercom. “CommanderMadison to all crew. We are at battle stations.” The intercom flicked off. “We’ve got to get to Shimodo and Antigua before they do.”
Drago had calculated his attackwell. It could be no accident that had allowed Bismarck time to reach theEarth ships. Another half an hour would have put them into visual contact. John had already worked out what he would say. A simple reason as to why thetwo ships needed to change their course. It wouldn’t have mattered if theAndromedans were listening. Now, all that was irrelevant.
“Open a channel to our ships,”John ordered.
“Scout plus four others,” McReidyinformed. “Battleships and cruisers.”
John nodded and his jaw tensed. They were too big for Bismarck to take on. “This is Bismarck calling Shimodoand Antigua. You’re about to be attacked. Get out of there!”
“Captain Melchior of Shimodohere,” came the reply. “Who are you and what the devil are you talking about?”
“I haven’t got time to explain –”
“Shimodo just took a direct hiton engineering,” McReidy cut John off.
Antigua hadn’t bothered to waitfor explanations. She moved immediately as shots skimmed her forward shields. Shimodo’s shields went up, but the damage to her engines was extensive. Shewas paralysed.
John had memories of Canberra. “Shimodo, get your fighters out. We’ll take the heat.”
“Fighters scrambling,” Melchioranswered.
John was partially satisfied. “Engineering, I want auxiliary power to boost the shields as much as possible.”
“You’ll overload the system.”
“Mister Kowalski, you’ve done itbefore.”
“Not without Delaney.”
“Do it. We’ll cover Shimodountil she gets some fighters out. Hold on, because we’re going to take somepretty hard hits.”
“Antigua’s fighters are out.”
John breathed a sigh of relief atGillespie’s news.
Bismarck took a battering as sheprotected Shimodo’s launch bay. She shuddered and shook as she was knockedabout. Giacomo struggled to hold her together and McReidy sprayed the vicinitywith phaser fire, managing to intercept a few torpedoes and deflect some phasertracers. Weapons room took out the angles she couldn’t see. Shields began tobuckle and the hull groaned.
A handful of Antigua’s fighterscame in to help, though Giacomo nearly took one out with his flying.
Two waves of fighters got outcleanly. Bismarck’s shields began to overload. She had to get out of thefiring line and drop the auxiliaries.
“Shimodo, we have to back off. What are
