Wandering Engineer 6: Pirates Bane (7 page)

“Right. Based on standard defensive doctrine, Commander Logan
will most likely divide his lighter forces. Placing at least one ship on duty
at each jump point. The Agnosta and Beta 101a1 jump points will have the
heaviest coverage.”

“Agreed.”

“Before we exited the system, you authorized millions of mines to
be created. My data states that half of that had been constructed, and a
quarter deployed by the time of our leaving. If Logan played it safe he either
kept some in reserve, or he dumped the remainder on the threatened jump
points.”

“Split the difference,” Irons replied. “Half in reserve, half on
the points.”

“Setting variables...” Sprite replied, moving her hands. The Admiral
could see circular controls floating in front of the AI's hands. He knew it was
more for his benefit than hers.

“Nodule defense. He'll keep Firefly in close to the yard. Fuentes
and Damocles.” The Admiral shrugged.

“Let's assume he put each tin can up on one of the two threatened
jump points.”

“Agreed,” the Admiral said reluctantly.

“You are starting to cause lag in my system. Better wrap this
up,” Phoenix interjected.

“Oh, sorry,” Sprite said. She dropped the physical
representations to data streams. “Better?”

“Less of an impact on my graphic processors if that is what you
mean. The hit to my CPU's is still there Commander,” the AI reminded her.

“Understood. We're nearly there.” She saved and phased out the
larger picture and refocused on Pyrax.

“Projected attack vector is from Beta 101a1 not Agnosta. Agnosta
adds months to the transit time and that jump point is where known defenses
are. A human Commander would avoid that.”

“Or not, but let's not double or triple think ourselves here,”
the Admiral murmured, resting his chin on his fist. He didn't like the
implications here. He studied the design. “Give Logan some classic defensive
weapons. Something he would cobble together to get around the lock outs.”

“Ideas?”

“Rail guns for one. No energy beams. No force beams. Missiles
with low yield warheads, even defensive missiles. Throw in some missile packs
and then let's run this.”

“I'm reducing the level again. Icons only.”

“Agreed.”

“And here we go,” Sprite said as the time stream slowed to
normal. After a moment the attack began. Just as she projected, from the Beta
101a1 jump point. The Admiral sucked in his breath as he recognized the icon
data codes.

“A BC?”

“You said up the ante Admiral.”

“Crap,” he said. He watched the virtual battle unfold. The Nelson
class LD Fuentes and the defenses took a pounding the other ships in the system
rallied and marched to the sounds of the guns.

Fuentes blinked in seconds, flashing yellow of battle damage,
then red and finally black of oblivion.

She didn't die alone though; the tin can and the mines took a
heavy toll on the two-dozen escort ships. Many blinked and joined Fuentes in
death.

“They hold the point. But they've got damage. And I'm still
wondering about that representation, after all, a BC? And remember their tech?”

“Sometimes we have to take some jumps in estimates Admiral. And
wasn't it you that not a moment ago pointed out the difference between a gimme
sim and a worst case scenario?” Sprite said.

“True. Continue,” he said.

The time chop picked up once more. Damocles met up with Firefly.
The two vessels went into stealth. Other ships in the system lacked stealth,
but they didn't lack in bravery. They marched on towards the enemy fleet.

“Mayweather is no fool. She'd hit from unexpected directions.
She's a hunter. Subtle.”

“True, I took that into account Admiral,” Sprite replied.

As they watched, the half a dozen frigates, gunboats, and
corvettes of the Pyraxians, really a pathetic showing against a BC and the two
tin cans she had with her formed into a tight knit spearhead aimed straight at
the Horathian's heart. At the last minute the spear changed course, arching
away in a brief exchange of fire.

The Admiral smiled. With their focus intent on the target they
could see, they left their flank exposed to Firefly and Damocles. They erupted
in the enemy ship's wakes, ripping into them before ducking away and back into
stealth. The damage codes flickered on the enemy ships.

“You are projecting that the Horathians main target... is the
defenders themselves? Is that why you are keeping them on the jump point?”

“Yes. And it's also why I don't have a fleet train listed for
them. Knowing combat was going to happen, the enemy fleet Commander would no
doubt keep them tucked away in hyper or even leave them behind in 101.”

“I see. True,” the Admiral said, nodding thoughtfully. His eyes
watched the ships darting in and out, in a dance of death. But the Horathian's
weren't to be fooled again, this time the large Pyraxians took hits as well.

“They can chose the direction and timing of the attack, but the
enemy can react,” Irons murmured softly. “Killing the tin can is one thing. You
don't think they'd go for a capture?” he asked.

“No. Given their experience with you it would be tempting, but
given the tonnage differential?” Sprite asked, shaking her head. “No. I think
the Commanders would conclude it was too risky.”

“Concur,” Irons replied. “And I know Damocles isn't as well off
as that. I didn't send enough to get her to one hundred percent. Not by a long
shot.”

“No. Which means they have to fight her carefully, and any damage
she takes has a modifier.”

“Understood,” the Admiral replied, frowning as Damocles broke off
the last pass. “I see.”

“Logan will be conservative with his assets. After all, he can't
build more. But... he can be wily,” Sprite hinted. After a moment more ships
came onto the plot. A familiar name came up the Bismarck.

“She's... no way!”

“Never underestimate the power of running a bluff Admiral,”
Sprite said. Suddenly the enemy ships changed course. They couldn't just
reverse course, but they were now running for it. Firefly darted in, hammering
one of the tin cans but getting hit by the BC in return. She broke off, limping
away. After a moment the enemy reached the jump point and vanished.

He couldn't help but close his eyes in pain. Not at the shredded
loss of ships and memories of explosions to fill in the void the icons left
wanting, but in knowledge that so many splendid people, filled with potential
had lost their lives. He let out a slow breath. But it wasn't real, he reminded
himself. A sim.

“So, they won,” Irons said, feeling torn. He should feel
vindicated he thought, but wasn't. Pyrax had won the day, but not without
taking heavy damage.

“One battle. Care to see the follow up?” Sprite asked.

“Pass. I'm now seeing this was more of a rub my nose in things
than a distraction Commander.”

“Correct,” Sprite replied, not in any way upset by his
realization. She seemed defiant, but determined.

“And I have a lot to think about.”

“Possibly. But not a lot we can do right now.”

“No, but it is something to consider. Night Sprite,” the Admiral
said, cutting the sim.

“Good night Admiral. I'd wish you sweet dreams...”

“More like nightmares. Thanks for that,” he exhaled noisily. He
realized it was important; he had been avoiding it for too long. The
implications to his plan were chilling. For too long he'd not only ignored the
threat, he'd hoped for the best. Now that had to change. It was unpalatable in
some ways, but he'd have to figure something out, and soon. Beta 101a1 was
going to be a game changer; he knew that now.

“If I didn't bring it up I wouldn't be doing my job,” she said
with a shrug. He gave her avatar a curt nod before he exited the compartment.

<----*----*----*---->

“So? What now? Another sim lecture reminding me of what I can't
change?”

“No, and I have an objection to the statement that the future
can't be changed. Or can't be changed by you Admiral,” Sprite replied.

Irons nodded grudgingly. “Self pity adjusted. What now?”

“Well, if you are willing to play a bit of a game...”

“Game?”

“Something of a maze, some part educational,” Sprite replied,
sounding mischievous. “It should give you a bit of a break while entertaining
you a little.”

The Admiral cocked his head. He could tell the AI was up to
something, but not what. He could order her to just spit it out, but that would
ruin her fun. Besides, he could be a good sport, he thought. He'd give it a
try. Slowly he nodded.

“Have a seat,” Sprite said, indicating his bed. He sat, then laid
back and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Um, you better jack in for this.”

“Oh all right,” he replied, reaching over and pulling a cable out
of a small alcove. He'd built the addition to allow the AI to jack in while he
was resting. That way his implants could recharge from the ships power net and
they could enter the ship's net and not use his wifi, which had limited
bandwidth.

He plugged the cable into his right arm and then settled back
down. As his breathing slowed he closed his eyes. When only his HUD appeared he
started twiddling his thumbs.

“Patience,” Sprite said reprovingly. After a moment his HUD
disappeared and a loading screen appeared. He watched the bar run its course to
one hundred percent. It blinked then the image of white faded to a woodland
scene.

“Here is the game. You are a hunter. A weasel. Here is the
rabbit,” Sprite said. A cute fuzzy rabbit peaked out of a rabbit hole. “He's
dinner. Catch,” she said.

“Oh come on,” the Admiral said as the rabbit twitched its nose at
him, then cocked his head. Sprite had used a texture map instead of a hair map
for the fur, but it still looked cute. There was even a twinkle in his eye.

“You can't be serious.”

“Can't handle it?”

“I'm...” the little rodent turned and scampered when he lunged for
it. His brain signals were controlling an avatar, no longer working his real
body. The little rodent kicked virtual dirt in his face and then scrambled for
a hole in the ground. It did a spin around the hole, turned and held its nose
and dropped in cartoon style.

“Why you little...” Irons growled, giving chase.

He dived into the tunnel, really just a brown low polygon
environment and looked around. Sprite floated in behind him. “You can use your
senses to pick up on his trail.”

“Anything else I need to know?”

“Try not to hit too many dead ends. Cave ins are a pain. Not to
mention doubling back.”

“Great,” Irons said. The occasional root or rock poked out,
breaking up the brown sameness. She hadn't gone all out on the textures, most
likely to reduce the computer load. He nodded and oriented on the sound of
scrambling.

“Go get em Elmer!” Sprite chuckled and disappeared.

He looked over his shoulder to catch her wink out and then
frowned. Now why was that name familiar?

 He dived after the little rodent, but watched as it kicked up its
heels and wiggled its tail at him as it danced out of range. For hours he went
after the virtual animal with single-minded determination. The chase had him,
but there was something there, a competition with a bit of malicious humor in
it.

Several times he thought he had cornered the little monster before
something cut him off or whacked him in the head. Then he'd watch helplessly as
the rabbit dove down a tunnel too small for him to follow.

The human started to enjoy the experience until he realized the
chase through the tunnels was a bit like hyperspace piloting.

The realization made him stop what he was doing.

“What are you doing? He's getting away!” Sprite said, coming up
behind him. Sprite tried to edge him along but he called a halt. “I need a
break here. Besides, something's bugging me. You didn't exactly make this fair
Sprite,” Irons said.

As he talked the little monster popped up to taunt him, then away.
It did the same taunt several times before it edged closer to him.

He pretended to ignore it, instead focusing on his implant feed.
His HUD returned and he called up a system's check. All was fine there. Then he
called up a log. They had jumped into Beta; something the AI weren't capable of
handling. He frowned. On a hunch he ran a back track of their course. “You,
what's going on here?” he asked.

He was annoyed and amused when he found out the two AI had conspired
to feed him the navigational feed. “You two set me up?” he demanded, sounding
annoyed. Phoenix appeared next to Sprite.

“It was her idea,” Phoenix said.

Sprite however laughed. “It worked didn't it?”

The Admiral snorted. He lunged and grabbed the rabbit by the ears.
“Right,” he said, as the rabbit's form changed to a stick of dynamite hanging
by fake ears. “Oh very funny. But he's no Bugs.”