Captain (The United Federation Marine Corps Book 4) (5 page)

“Roger that,” Sams said.

“And Hecs, I think de Madre is the real deal, but you’re my eyes and ears.  If you see anything about to blow up, I want you to take action.”

“He’ll be fine, sir, but I’ll keep my eyes open,” the first sergeant responded.

Ryck had really wanted to position himself with the assault element.  Two things stopped him, though.  One was that he remembered how he’d have felt if he had his first company commander looking over his shoulder when he was a new lieutenant.  He’d have felt betrayed at the lack of trust.  The second reason was that by doing that, he would be broadcasting to the rest of the battalion that he’d been unable to adequately train his lieutenants to do their job.

Still, Ryck had turned into somewhat of a control freak, he had to admit to himself, and he had to make sure that no mistakes were made.  So he used the first sergeant as his stand in. 

Ryck trusted First Sergeant Hector
Phantawisangtong
more than maybe anyone other than Major Nidischii’.  Hecs’ calm demeanor and rational view of life made him an anchor for Ryck, a sounding board.  So he trusted Hecs to make sure Jeff didn’t screw up, and as the lieutenant was senior to the first sergeant, it wasn’t a blatant case of micro-managing.

“Move it out, Captain,” the CO’s voice came over the P2P.

“Aye-aye, sir,” Ryck said, toggling his display to take in the entire battalion.

Preston already had his company on the move towards the System Guard ship, some 20 klicks sunward from the
Julianna’s Dream
.  The CO, with Donte and Bravo, was ten klicks back and acting as the reserve.  Ryck could see the specks that made them up.  If anyone in the System Guard ship was on optics, or the two newly arrived ships were on optics, for that matter, they would all be easily spotted.  The System Guard ship probably didn’t have anything onboard sophisticated enough that could see the Marines or rekis, but a Confederation destroyer most likely had the instruments to pierce their countermeasures, at least those of the Marines in vacsuits.  A simple kiss of the destroyer’s plasma gun would wipe out every Marine, and that destroyer was well within range of them. 

Ryck hoped that the
Inchon
was monitoring the two Confederation ships, and if their plasma guns started to power up, the captain would give the order to intercede.

Lieutenant Davidson quickly closed the distance to the
Julianna’s Dream
.  If the ship took off, there was nothing much the Marines could do about that.  It was difficult to lasso a spaceship, after all.  But the ship remained quiet with only life support power registering. 

A flash lit up the edges of Ryck’s face shield. 

“Ion tubes are disabled,” Preston’s voice passed over the battalion command circuit. 

That was one headache gone for Ryck.  Preston’s EOD team had been able to attach a flash limpet to the System Guard ship’s tubes, and with them breached, that ship was going nowhere.

“Roger that,” the CO passed.  “Move your company back to your rally point.”

An entire Marine company had just made a crossover in hostile space only to have an EOD team complete the mission.  The EOD team, or possibly just a recon team, could have done that without a company-sized escort. 

Charlie Company, though, had to actually breach the
Julianna’s Dream
and find the Federation citizens. That could not be done by a small team.

“Security element is at the objective.  We are commencing our sweep.”

The assault element had halted about 500 meters from the ship.  If the
Julianna’s Dream
blew, her parts would act as shrapnel, travelling hundreds of kilometers outwards.  Five hundred meters of vacuum would not diminish the force of any shrapnel, but it would lessen the chance than anyone would be hit.  Every 100 meters away decreased the chance of shrapnel hitting someone by better than 99%.  The security element would be wiped out, but most of the assault element and support elements would have a good chance to survive.

“What’s holding you up, Captain?” the CO asked on the P2P.

Ryck looked at his display.  Only six minutes had passed, and he wondered what the CO’s problem was.

“We’re sweeping the ship now, sir.  We should be ready to breach momentarily.”

“Time’s of the essence. The Confederation ships know we are here now.  Let’s get this done.”

“Roger, sir.  I’m on it,” Ryck said.

If the Confederation ships hadn’t picked up the blast that took out the System Guard ship, the crew inside would have reported it.  But the AIs had determined that the probability was high, over 85%, that any Confederation ship would hesitate before taking action.  Ryck agreed with that assessment.  The destroyer would not open up with an allied ship in the area, and it would have to consider that there was an opposing capital ship in the system.  It would be more concerned with finding that threat than anything else.

“Don’t miss anything, Ephraim, but pick it up.  Battalion’s on my ass,” he passed on the P2P.

“Roger that, sir.”

Ryck started to edge his small headquarters element forward, falling just behind the assault element.  It really made no difference if he was floating 450 meters out rather than 550, but he was getting antsy.  He watched the progress of his Marines on the ship through his face shield rather than on his display.  He kept expecting to see the
Julianna’s Dream
power up and pull away, but the ship remained quiet.

“Captain, do I have to repeat myself?” the CO passed.

“No, sir.  We’ve almost completed the sweep,” Ryck said.

You can get off my ass and let me do my job
, he thought.

“We’ve got two capital ships approaching, and we need to get the hostages now,” the CO insisted.

“I’m on it, sir,” Ryck said.

“Ephraim, where’re we at?” he said, switching channels.

Ryck could see the progress on his display as each section of the ship was cleared, but he wanted his lieutenant’s input.

“We’ve cleared 32%.  I’d say we are about 12 minutes out.”

Twelve minutes?  There’s no way the CO’s going to accept that,
he thought, wondering what to do. 

He had to breach the ship, but he was not going to get one of his men killed from something as stupid as a simple booby trap.

“Ephraim, move the breaching tube up.  I want it secured and ready to go.  Try and scan what’s inside the best you can,” he ordered.

He watched as the four Marines on the breaching team began to move forward, like pallbearers carrying a coffin.  The breaching tube was a very primitive, but effective method of getting into a ship.  It was essentially an airlock with a plasma gate on one end, a cutting blade on the other.  The tube was placed against the skin of a ship and locked into place.  An ion vibration blade would then begin to cut into the skin.  Only the most hardened ships could withstand the blade for more than a few moments.  For most ships, and the
Julianna’s Dream
would fit in this class, the breach could be cut in less than ten seconds.  For sturdier warships, the blade could be exchanged for a molecular dissolution projector or even shape charges.

The other end was initially closed off, but once the air pressure between the tube and the breached ship stabilized, the cover would be removed so the plasma gate would allow passage while keeping atmospheric integrity.

“Lieutenant, the ship’s hatch is not secure,” someone passed to Lieutenant Davidson on the element circuit. 

Ryck had to toggle his display.  It was Sergeant Bondi, one of the heavy gun section leaders.

Leaving the ship’s hatch unsecured could be a big break.  But it could also be a trap.  Like burglars finding the bank vault open, it sent every nerve in his body tingling.  They could use the hatch to enter, probably six Marines at a time.  But that could put those six Marines in grave danger.

“What are you scanning inside the hatch?” he asked Davidson.

“Uh, wait one, sir.”

Ryck waited impatiently until finally, “It looks clean, best we can tell,” came over the net.

Looking clean and being clean were not always the same thing, Ryck knew.  He hesitated.

“Captain Ward, I want you to move your company to the
Julianna’s Dream
and take over the rescue,” the CO ordered over the command circuit.

“No, sir!” Ryck blurted out.  “We’re moving in now!”

He figured the CO had his AIs scanning all the transmissions just as Ryck could within the company, so he would know that Ryck hadn’t given any such order.

Ship’s hatch or breaching tube?  Make a decision, Ryck!

“Steer clear of the hatch.  Commence breach now!” he ordered.

“Jeff, move your men up.  You’ve got 15 seconds to have your first team inside the ship.”

Fifteen seconds was probably not feasible.  The breach would just be reaching completion, but Jeff’s men were still floating 400-500 meters off.  A vacsuit could manage that distance in 15 seconds, but not when the Marine had to come to a stop and steer into the gate of the breaching tube.

“Target breached,” Sergeant Jordan passed.

Ryck was leading his headquarters forward, trying not to get in the way of anyone in the assault element.  Jeff had his element well-drilled, and it was only after 32 seconds that the first Marine flew headfirst into the tube.

“Breach clear!” was reported as the first four Marines entered the ship and formed a mini-security. 

Jeff was working like clockwork, getting his men into the ship.  It took less than a minute before the entire element of 35 men was inside and moving throughout the ship.

Ryck followed the last man in.  He burst through the tube into a well-lit interior.  What looked to be real wood panels covered the walls of a master bedroom.  It was one of the larger rooms on the ship, which was the reason the breach location had been chosen.

Behind Ryck, the first of the support element was following him, so Ryck moved into the ship’s main corridor.  The ship was not that large, and this was a lot of Marines to be on board, but the Ops O had directed a maximum and quick buildup to overwhelm whoever was on the ship.

“Hold your fire!  Hold your fire!” filled the net. 

“Give me a feed of that Marine,” Ryck subvocalized, telling his AI to give him a view of what was going on.

Immediately, in the lower right side of his face shield, Lance Corporal Thomas’ feed appeared.  Four men in what had to be Confederation System Guard uniforms were standing in front of Thomas, hands in the air.  They didn’t seem concerned or worried, and that raised yet one more warning flag with Ryck.  Another Marine moved forward and started to check the four men for weapons.

Beyond the four guardsmen, Ryck could see three adult males, an adult female, and two children.  The children were obviously frightened, but the adults seem to be taking things in stride.

“Jeff, do not stop clearing this ship.  Something’s not right, and we don’t need any surprises.”

At least the CO was quiet.  He would be monitoring everything, so there was no reason for Ryck to take time to report up.

Marines were lining the corridor as Ryck passed between them and got up to the bridge.  The four guardsmen had been isolated on one side, their hands press-tied together, and with two Marines watching them.  The four were in grey vac suits, their helmets off.

Doc Adams was kneeling in front of the two children, giving the little girl a quick exam.  As with the rest, he was still in his vacsuit, but the caduceus on the sleeve identified him.   Jeff, on the other hand, had cracked open his helmet and was talking to one of the civilians.  Ryck would have to talk to him later about that.

Ryck moved up as Hecs joined him.  The man saw Ryck approach turned to face him hand out. 

“Colby Stein,” the man said as Ryck took the proffered hand.  With vacsuit gauntlets on, macho tests of hand strength were moot, but Ryck thought he felt a little hand judo going on as he shook. 

“Captain Ryck Lysander, Federation Marine Corps,” he said in return.  “Is this your entire party?”

“Why didn’t you just come in the shop’s hatch?” the man asked, ignoring Ryck’s question.  “We made sure it was unsecured.  Do you know how much damage you’ve done?”

Ryck was taken aback.  He hadn’t expected to be questioned like that, and certainly not about damage to the ship.  The man had been arrested, for Pete’s sake, along with his family and personal staff.

“We didn’t know if the quarterdeck had been boobytrapped,” Ryck said, despite the fact that he knew he owed the man no explanation.

“Well, it wasn’t, was it?” the man said, obviously peeved.  “It’s done, but I’m not responsible for that.”

What the grubbing hell?  Why is he worried about being responsible?  Isn’t it his grubbing ship?
Ryck wondered.

“If you are done with your chitchat, Captain, may I remind you that we’ve got incoming ships, and we need to get out of here?” the CO’s voice came over his P2P.  “I want the hostages suited up and taken to the rekis.  For the System Guardsmen, release them and give them a reki.  I’ve got a Navy team inbound now, and they are going to rig the ship to blow.  You’ve got 15 minutes to be out of range.”