Wings of Steele - Flight of Freedom (Book2) (22 page)

“
In a perfect universe, how would you get someone inside?”

Jack looked around at the others in his ready room then back to the screen, “We have to provide them something they want. The easiest thing that comes to mind is a service - smuggling should do it. So we'd need a ship and a hand-picked crew.” Steele could see the questions on the Admiral's face. “It would need to be a smaller ship, fast, armed, decent shields, good amount of cargo space... something a crew of about eight to ten could handle...”

The Admiral turned to his left to consult with one of his officers, “Sounds like a Maultier, doesn't it?” The officer confirmed his assumption and he turned back to the screen. I suppose we could ask UFW Directorate if they have...”

“
No, no don't do that, sir,” interrupted Jack, “the less people that know about this, the better. I would prefer to liberate one from its previous owner.”

“
You want to
steal
one?”

“
It will give the crew street cred...” Steele saw the blank look on the Admiral's face, “credibility in the criminal community...” he explained. “It's important that your criminal reputation can be confirmed.”

Kelarez nodded his understanding, “But please tell me you're not thinking of doing this yourself...”

Jack smirked, “No of course not. I'd have a handpicked crew with me...”

The Admiral shook his head, “Oh, I don't even want to think about how many ways this can go totally wrong...” he rubbed his forehead. “In light of our redirection to Veloria, I'll have some time to think about this idea. I'll admit it's intriguing, but I'm not fond of my task force's carrier Captain being absent when I might need him.”

“
Fair enough.”

The Admiral drained his coffee, “OK folks, let's call it. I don't know about you, but I need some rack time.” He checked his chronometer, “Good, time enough for some solid sleep before we hit Irujen. Archer, out.” The screen winked and the Admiral's side of the screen went dark, leaving Gantarro still in conference.

“I know you want to say something Gant,” commented Jack, “you've been silent through this whole meeting.”

Gantarro smiled, “He's being cautious. He knows there's risks to everything, but I don't think he's convinced that this would work. He's got to weigh the risk versus gain of this venture. He's concerned about losing an important member of this task force - as he should be. I don't think you realize how much of a key figure you've become, to this task force and to the UFW. They are learning from you folks, watching your tactics and your successes. I think if they lost you, it would be a hyper-critical blow. And as resourceful as I know you are, Jack, I have to think there's got to be a way involving less risk.”

Jack looked at the others standing around the room, listening silently. He looked back at the screen, “I get that. But can you imagine what kind of victory we'd score if we found just one of their bases or stations? It would be epic. Hell, I think we should go back to the salvage yard in the Tulochah system at Geo Zee. I'm betting we could score a few kills there... maybe even get a surrender -
that
would be big, to take one of their ships. Then before we leave, wipe out the yard.”

“
Take away their resource...” volunteered Gant.

“
Exactly. I'm sure it's not the only one, but still, it'd be a nice takeaway. We need to be more aggressive. I know we're
hunting
and that idea is new to the UFW who's used to playing defense, but playing nice isn't working out so well for them.”

“
Gant nodded, “Preaching to the choir, my friend...”

■ ■ ■

“Five minutes to Irujen, Captain.”

Jack was standing over the holo-chart in his ready room, alone, except for Fritz who was curled up on the sofa. “Copy that Stacell. Who's in the lead?”

“The Bowman, sir. We're abreast of the Archer about a minute back.”

“
All stations manned and ready?”

“
Yes, sir.”

“
Thank you.” He examined the route to Veloria for the umpteenth time, as if he would suddenly see something there that he had missed all the times he'd looked at it before. He keyed his mic,”Bridge to tower,”

“
Tower, go...”

“
Ready to launch?”

“
Yes, sir standing by...”

“
Good... As soon as you have clear sky...”

“
Understood.”

Steele stared at the holo-chart for the umpteenth and one time. It wasn't like Veloria was off the beaten path or anything. It was a space faring world with stellar trade, military and off world travelers. Steele was worried about what they might find there... or might
not
find. What kind of planet wide cataclysm could have occurred...? Surely a civilization as advanced as one that had grown to achieve deep space travel would be equipped to divert any kind of heavenly body falling from the sky and creating an extinction level event... But what about something on the planet? Could something like a super volcano or massive planetary quakes have been the cause? Veloria was a
Class 014
type planet, like Earth but much smaller. At a circumference of 17,025 miles, it was a little larger than Mars in the Terran system, with a reported population of about two billion people.

The lights in his office flickered red an instant before the battle stations klaxon sounded.
“Red Alert! All hands to battle stations! All hands to battle stations! This is not a drill!”

Jack turned from the table and was out on the bridge in a second, the doors barely opening fast enough to allow his passage, the Shepherd on his heels. He slid and dropped into his command chair, the mini screens winking on as his fingers danced across the controls. “Report...” the nose of the Freedom was just entering the swirling halo of color of the gate into Irujen.

“The Bowman is under attack, sir...” reported Stacell.

“
Open a line...” ordered Steele.

■ ■ ■

The Bowman shuddered, “Shields fifty-two percent, Captain...”

“
Incoming signal from the Freedom, sir...”

“
On screen,” urged Gantarro. The floor vibrated as the main guns on all four turrets fired, the
zwump - zwump
, reverberating through the hull, over and over. The constant chatter of the Bowman's smaller defensive guns clacked and whined incessantly, a hail of destruction spreading outward through space.

Steele's face and the bridge of the Freedom appeared in an inset on the forward vid-screen, “Talk to me Gant...”

“Hurry up Jack, or you're going to miss the party..!”

“
Shields forty percent, Captain...” The bridge shook and for a moment the communications blurred.

“
Hold on, we're right behind you! Thirty seconds...”

“
They're all over us Jack, there's got to be a hundred of them...” the screen distorted as the ship shook, the bridge crew holding onto their stations to stay in their seats.

“
What are we up against?”

“
Damn things are like a swarm of bugs, Jack. We're damaged, they hit us before we were clear of the gate, we've got a little more than half power. Some kind of fighter drones... They can't take a hit though, no shields... but there's so damn many of them...”

“
Shields at thirty percent, sir.”

■ ■ ■

Jack watched the video distort and shake as the Bowman took hits all across her hull, the vid-link suddenly disconnecting.
“Helm, get us out there!”

“
Clearing the gate now, sir...” The cloud of color and electric tendrils slid back off the hull and the view screen was instantly sharp and clear, the beleaguered Bowman ahead of them, a gray giant surrounded by a cloud of swirling silver lightning bugs. She was damaged, trailing atmosphere, debris following in her wake. It was impossible to tell how much of the destruction behind her was hers, or destroyed drones, it all drifted together like dust and glitter. Streaks of red laser fire reached out in all directions, crisscrossing the sky, searching for the drones that swirled about her, stabbing at her with their own boron lasers with bright green slashes. An occasional flash marked the demise of one of the fragile drones, their debris mixing into the the trail of destruction left in the Bowman's wake.

The shields came up and the Freedom's guns cut loose, the floor vibrating from the main turrets, the staccato of her defensive Gatling lasers singing through her hull, a shower of fire reaching out, the flashes almost blinding in their combined intensity. The floor shuddered as two Lancias launched, their trails arcing low and away. It was at that moment when the drones left the Bowman en-mass... and headed straight for the Freedom, head-on, their guns blazing.

“Forty-seven targets, sir...”

“
Bridge to tower, hold launches, repeat
hold launches
...” It would be like a plane taking off through a flock of birds...
large metal birds.

“
Copy that, Captain, holding all launches... two Lancias ready, standing by.”

“
Red Leader to Freedom, let's see if we can mop some of those up for you...”

“
Negative, Red Leader, stay clear... we're OK.” Steele could see the problem the Bowman was having right away; the drones were small, about a third the size of a manned fighter, and extremely fast. On occasion too fast, as they would crash into the Freedom's shields, their little bodies blowing apart like a fragile glass hitting a concrete floor.

“
Red Leader to Freedom... uh, I have a cloud of bad news coming...”

“
A
cloud
, Red Leader?”

“
The group is so dense I can't pull up an individual ID... I'm guessing about a hundred more of those little fighters...”

“
Crap,” groaned Steele running his fingers through his hair.

“
Vampire drones, Captain...” commented Ragnaar, “there's got to be a drone carrier somewhere controlling them...”

“
What's their range, Mr. Ragnaar?”

“
Could be anywhere in the system if they're using signal relay buoys...”

Steele pinched the bridge of his nose, “Great...”

“They usually carry about three-hundred drones,” continued Ragnaar. “ With a good crew they can launch a hundred units an hour...”

“
Do you have any
good
news Mr. Ragnaar?”

“
Yes sir. It's a symbiotic relationship. The drones cannot function without the carrier and the carrier cannot survive without the drones. If you destroy a relay buoy you cut them off from each other, the carrier can't call them back for defense, or control them for an attack. The carrier isn't totally defenseless, but our fighters would make short work of it. If the Freedom or one of our cruisers catches it, it wouldn't stand a chance without drones...”

“
Thank you Mr. Ragnaar, that was quite helpful.” Steele keyed his mic, “Freedom to Red Leader, avoid contact with those drones. See if you can get a vector on their approach origin... there's a drone carrier out there somewhere and we need to find it,
fast.
They may be using signal relay buoys, if you find one, take it out...”

“
Copy Freedom.”

The surviving drones of the initial flight, continued to swirl around the Freedom, their numbers dwindling. Their effect on the Freedom was minimal at best in their current level of force, more a nuisance than a threat. The Archer had taken the lead, firing a system probe halfway through Irujen, hoping to catch a glimpse of the hiding drone carrier. The Freedom advanced to parallel the Bowman as the task force left the gate behind.

“Captain,” began Raulya, “approximately one-hundred targets inbound... they're so close together, it is hard to tell exactly... two minutes.”

“
Helm, bring us forward of the Bowman to give her cover...”

“
They're not headed for the Bowman sir,” corrected Raulya, “they're vectored on us...”

“
Bridge to tower...”

“
Tower go,”

Jack's mind was racing ahead, “Can you launch two over the fantail in the next two minutes?”

“Yes sir, I have two Cyclones ready to go, sixty seconds...”

“
Good, do it and button us back up... we have company coming.”

■ ■ ■

The tower controller punched the buttons for the stasis field and the main doors at the fan tail, the warning klaxon sounding on the flight deck, the lights around the doors flashing yellow as the doors began opening. He looked down over the flight deck and keyed the address system that would reach everyone's earpiece on the flight line. “Prepare to launch over the fantail... repeat,
fantail launch
.” Faces turned and looked up at the tower waiting for details. “Cyclone - revetment three, Cyclone - revetment four, launch in thirty seconds!”