Laughter filled the commlink. “More guts than brains, son,” Whatley said. “They’re not out of the fight yet. Gamma, time for another pass.”
The few remaining Maulers swung around, putting four more anti-ship Javelin missiles into the void. Unlike the last time, the enemy vessel’s defensive systems were clearly affected. They fired bursts that weren’t on target, and all four warheads slammed into the deflectorless ship. Bright explosions spread across its surface, and patches where they hit turned molten.
Justin finally allowed himself to relax.
A brief jet of flame shot out of a bank of electronics on the Argos’s bridge. The ship was taking a beating at the hands of the CDF forces. Multiple decks had depressurized, and dozens of crew were lost to the void. Amidst the maelstrom of chaos, Sokratis Papoutsis sat mute, almost in a daze. I was so close. I could taste victory. Another explosion rumbled across the control center as part of the overhead collapsed onto the third mate of the vessel. The man was crushed instantly.
“All deflectors offline!” someone shrieked. “Forward weapons offline!”
Papoutsis stared straight ahead. “Keep firing. Use the broadside and aft turrets,” he mumbled.
“No power, sir,” the tactical officer replied. He was one of the few uninjured crewmen left. “We should think about abandoning ship.”
The words went through those who could hear them like a bolt of electricity.
Papoutsis shook his head. “No, the CDF will capture us. We can still win.” He tried to force steel into his voice.
“I signed up to get rich, not die.” The tactical officer stood. “Whoever’s with me, we can still get to the escape pods.” He turned to go, and a couple of others joined him. They ran as weapons fire continued to pummel the bulk freighter.
Something prevented Papoutsis from leaving. Fear invaded his heart as everything crashed down around him. He climbed into the helm station’s chair, pushing debris out of the way, and tried to pull up the tactical control system.
After another brutal series of impacts, decompression alarms sounded. Papoutsis checked the hull integrity to find that deck one—the bridge—had multiple holes leaking atmosphere into the void. The realization that the fight was lost set in.
Papoutsis stood. “Abandon ship!” he shouted then ran for the passageway behind the control center.
The nearest pods were located in an escape trunk ten meters aft. Each section of the hauler had its own rescue compartment with EVA hard suits, an airlock, and two escape pods. Papoutsis slid into the chamber and noted only one pod was left. He made a split-second decision to climb in and seal the hatch behind him.
As it slid shut, the sounds of pounding against the alloy filled the tiny interior of the lifeboat. Papoutsis secured himself in the pilot’s harness and pushed the cries out of his mind. He was something of an automaton, operating solely on instinct.
The pod zoomed away from the stricken vessel as Papoutsis engaged the emergency release and activated the thrusters. Taking a deep breath, with his fight-or-flight instinct faded, he regained control of himself. Papoutsis felt regret for leaving his crew behind, but his survival instinct had taken over and pushed it away. No matter. They’ll get another pod, or they won’t. The cold, hard truth of the universe was that everyone was expendable and replaceable. He had enough money in his Galt-based accounts to buy another ship and recruit more wannabe pirates who thought they were striking a blow for the common man.
While incoming energy-weapons fire peppered the Argos, the CDF warships seemed to take care to avoid shooting the escape pods launching from her. Papoutsis chalked it up to the overhyped Terrans’ sense of morality. They always blather on about God this, God that. Behind every CDF officer, a hypocrite wanted to get out.
At four hundred meters from the bulk hauler, the sensors in the escape pod detected an energy buildup in the main reactor. Papoutsis immediately recognized it as a runaway fusion reaction. Moments later, the Argos exploded violently.
The shockwave was stronger than several two-hundred-megaton fusion warheads. Papoutsis fought with the controls to keep his pod trimmed out and flying away from the threat. The tiny craft shook and rattled like it was coming apart, but it held together.
Just when he started to breathe a sigh of relief and plan a course farther in-system to avoid the CDF vessels, the proximity alarm blared. In what seemed like slow motion, a several-meter-wide chunk of debris from the Argos slammed into the side of the pod. Though Papoutsis tried to avoid it, he didn’t have enough time.
Shrapnel ripped through the pilot's compartment, and in an instant, all breathable atmosphere escaped as the lifeboat disintegrated around him. No! So close. No! Papoutsis groped for anything to keep him alive as panic set in. Unimaginable pain came over him as his body flash froze in the void, and the last thing his mind processed was a vague sense of being dragged away by distorted figures. Before he had time to ponder the sheer insanity of what he thought he saw through frozen eyes, his brain finally died.
23
“Conn, TAO. Master One destroyed, ma’am.”
At Bryan’s report, the Zvika Greengold’s bridge erupted into cheers and clapping. Even Tehrani and Wright joined in, with the XO pumping his fist and shouting.
“As you were,” Tehrani said after counting off five seconds. “We’ve still got hostiles out there, ladies and gentlemen.” Her gaze went back to the tactical plot. Not only was the elimination of the pirates’ carrier a significant tactical victory, but she was sure it would tilt the battle in their favor from an emotional sense as well. All these fighters out there have no place to go. Time to exploit that. “Communications, put me on wideband vidlink.”
“Aye, aye, ma’am,” Singh replied. “You’re on.”
Tehrani pulled herself up as straight as she could in the chair and stared into the camera with eyes
