Fatal Blade (Decker's War#3) (19 page)

***

“One down, one to go.”  Decker sat back, beaming.  “And Miko managed to reload the missile launchers.

“We surprised him.  The other will be expecting your tricks.  At this point, a head-to-head fight is going to cost,” Talyn replied, “and he’s turning away from the freighters to meet us.  In fact, it looks like they’re already entering the atmosphere.”

“Mission accomplished.”  Decker gave her a thumbs up.  “I propose to fire the entire missile load and then shoot like I’m the greatest practitioner of the old spray and pray method.  There’s no point in landing with a full ammo locker.”

“You really do think we’re not taking off again, don’t you?”

“Call me prescient.  We want to figure things out, we need to be down there.”

“Figure what out?”  Steiger asked from the doorway.  She was slightly out of breath and covered in a sheen of sweat from the effort.

“Why we’re in this line of business instead of making money at the poker tables.”  Zack shrugged.  “Considering the success of my latest bluff…”

Steiger was smart enough to realize that was the only answer she’d get but still examined Decker with questioning eyes for a few heartbeats before sitting down again.

“He’s locked on to us, and I imagine he won’t stint on the missiles, this time, cost be damned,” Decker said.  “And since there’s no point in hoarding ours…”

He touched the control screen and expelled his entire reserve into space.

“No need to head down to the hold again, Miko. We only had one reload.”

“I noticed.”

The missiles’ drives were bright sparks on the main screen for a few seconds before they accelerated out of visual range, their warheads locked onto the second Avalon sloop.  Moments later, the mercenaries launched a salvo in return.

“This ride is about to get bumpy,” Decker warned, turning full control of the calliopes over to the AI so he could concentrate on the main guns.

“One pass, Zack,” Talyn replied.  “We’re not turning back to duke it out.”

“I got that.  We’ll not be landing with a dry ammo locker after all.”

***

“Is he insane?”

Merlin
’s captain shook his head in wonder at the unidentified ship’s wild rush.

Then, the intruder opened up with a stunning amount of firepower for its small size.

“With that much ordnance, I’d say his madness might be justified,” the first officer replied, “but thanks to Gurik’s stupidity, he’s achieved his goal.  The freighters slipped through the blockade without inspection.”

“This one won’t and his little joke of a battle ensign won’t make me lose my temper either.”

There was little love lost between
Merlin
’s commander and his colleague aboard
Morgana
, the former having privately voiced, on more than one occasion, his opinion that the latter was a blowhard.

“We’re engaging his missiles now.”  A pause.  “He’s engaging ours.”

“We’ll shortly know which one of us gets to stitch the other’s hull,” the captain said, eyes locked on the tactical display.

It ended almost before it had begun. 
Merlin
shuddered like a spastic eel when one of Decker’s missiles got through the defensive fire, but the shields held.  Barely.

The Q-ship’s wasn’t as lucky.  Two mercenary missiles evaded the calliopes and collapsed the bow shield.  In the seconds it took to turn the ship and put the keel shield between it and the oncoming salvos, a dozen direct hits ate away at the outer hull, damaging the forward thrusters and taking one of the calliopes out of action.

The two ships passed each other almost within visual range, connected by streams of plasma until the intruder entered the upper atmosphere and quickly vanished around the planet’s curvature.

“Get us back into orbit,” the captain ordered.  “I want to see him land.  With any luck it’ll be somewhere we can strike without causing our paying customers any heartache.”

“We’ll likely be too late,” the first officer warned.

“Then we’ll be too late.”  He shrugged.  “We’re not responsible for what happens on the ground anyway.  I just thought it might be a nice bonus.  Their damned militia can find them for all I care.”

***

“Told you we’d take a beating,” Decker said, “the guys on that ship aren’t as dumb as the others.”

“You’re a regular psychic.  Well done.  But it’ll make landing just a bit hairy,” Talyn replied, her attention focused on the AI’s damage control report.  Then something caused her to look up.

“You’re still firing?”

“Satellites.  Why leave the opposition with eyes and ears?”

“Nasty, but effective,” Steiger approved.  “Verrill will like that.”

“When you’re done killing innocent electronics, get in touch with the folks on the ground and tell them we’ll need a long runway to land.  The damage we took will prevent us from making a vertical approach.”

“How long?”

“Ten kilometers should do.  If it can be free of stuff like sharp rocks or tall trees, so much the better.  I’m not expecting a spaceport tarmac but trying to land on top of a jungle isn’t going to work out well for anyone.”

“I didn’t think we were going to get back into space anytime soon either.  Good thing there’s work to do where we’re going.”

He activated the comlink, a pleased smile on his lips.

“A regular psychic,” Talyn muttered, her attention back on the balky helm controls, “and a real pain in the ass too.”

TWENTY

“You have got to be kidding me.”  Decker snorted loudly.  “How good are you at water landings?”

“Why?”  Talyn’s tone held more than a mild edge of irritation, proof that she was feeling increasingly out of her depth flying the damaged starship.

“You’ve got your almost ten kilometers without big rocks or trees, though where I come from, we call it a river.”

He touched his controls.

“The aerial view is on the port screen for your delectation.  Note the sudden stop at the end of the rather narrow valley that holds our proposed landing strip.  I would suggest we bleed off a lot of forward velocity well before kissing the water.”

“Noted,” she replied with dripping sarcasm.

“It’s not as bad as you may think,” Steiger interjected.  “That sudden stop at the end is actually a broad and deep overhang carved out of the cliffside by the river eons ago.  It’s the closest thing we have to a secret lair big enough for small ships like
Phoenix
and the freighters.”

“You mean there’s room for all four ships under that rock?”  Decker was incredulous.  “How is it that the government forces haven’t found something that large yet?”

“Not all four, Zack.”  Steiger shook her head, smiling.  “Sorry about that.  I meant it’s big enough for a ship of this size.  If you’re not going to lift off for a while, it’ll do just fine to hide
Phoenix
.  The freighters will be leaving the moment they’ve offloaded.”

“Good to hear.  I’d hate to trigger the self-destruct on the old girl.  I’ve rather gotten fond of her.”

He patted the bulkhead by his console.

“Not to mention that you’d be turning something worth God knows how many millions into scrap.  I haven’t heard of any Sera Moneybags with that kind of funding,” a knowing, almost ironic smile briefly crossed her lips, “and I doubt your underwriter would pay out if you did it yourself.”

“Underwriter?”  Decker put on a puzzled expression.  “Damn.  I knew I’d forgotten to do something before we left home.  Honey, make sure you don’t dent this thing any more than you already have.  I forgot to buy insurance.”

Talyn made a rude gesture over her shoulder.

“Now hear this,” she said, “you two will shut up unless you have information vital to this ship’s continuing survival to impart.  A distracted helmswoman is a dangerous helmswoman.”

“Aye, aye,
mon capitaine
.”  Decker tossed off a salute, then winked at Steiger.

***

“Did they say what kind of damage?”  Verrill asked his deputy.

The two of them and Tran Kinnear stood at the foot of
Marilan
’s ramp, a safe distance from the river bank and five hundred meters short of the massive overhang hiding the channel.

“No.  Only that they couldn’t do a vertical landing and needed a lot of room,” she replied with a shrug.  “The river is it.”

“I’m not sure I like this.”  He looked back to where the broad, lazy waterway vanished beneath millions of tons of rock, to re-appear kilometers away in another valley.  “If they overshoot, we’ll have a massive catastrophe on our hands.  I’d have been happier if they were coming in from the other direction, but there’s no helping that now.”

“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” Kinnear said.  “Zack’s no fool, and he wouldn’t be working with Captain Pasek if she didn’t know how to fly a starship.”

“From your lips to God’s ear, Tran.”  Verrill clapped him on the shoulder.  “I’ll try to look at the upside for now – it being that your Mister Decker will be stuck here until they make repairs, and we’ll use the time to good advantage.”

“Verrill,” the woman, binoculars glued to her eyes, nudged him, “I’ve got them.  They’re perfectly lined up, but they look like they’re still going pretty fast.”

“Right.  Tran, light the beacons.  Let’s give them every bit of help we can.”

He turned back to the woman and held out his right hand.

“Pass me those, Corde.  If they’re going to give me a heart attack, I’d rather see it coming from a distance.”

***

“They’ve lit markers,” Zack announced.  “You should be able to see them.”

“Yup,” Talyn replied through clenched teeth.  Beads of sweat had formed along her hairline and upper lip, and her usually pale skin was whiter than ever.

Bright red lights on both banks marched into the rapidly deepening valley where late afternoon mist rose from the leaden surface of the broad, slow river.

Zack felt his stomach clench when they dropped below the mountain tops, headed for the water at a shallow angle.  Ochre and gray rocks formations, covered with sparse vegetation, whizzed by on either side of the ship at an alarming tempo.

“Come on,” Talyn muttered to herself.  “Let’s get that airspeed down.”

The far end of the valley was rapidly approaching, and suddenly those ten kilometers seemed much too short.

“Fuck it,” Talyn shook her head, having concluded they weren’t going to come to a halt in time.  “Hang on folks.  I’ll have to do this the hard way.”

The few remaining meters separating
Phoenix
’s keel from the river’s surface vanished and her hull kissed the water.  She immediately sprouted a massive rooster tail, sending droplets almost to the top of the surrounding mountains, but the additional friction was enough to drain her excess forward momentum.

Decker realized that he’d been holding his breath when the pressure in his chest became unbearable, and he forced himself to relax, knowing that whatever happened next, there was nothing he could do.  At least, he consoled himself, the rebels had been smart enough to land the freighters far enough from the grassy embankments to give them extra room.

Their remaining thrusters whined loudly, fighting with the antigrav modules to keep the ship upright and stable.  Talyn didn’t dare deploy the landing gear until they’d come to a complete stop, lest the massive legs catch on a submerged rock and send them careening into a cliff wall, or worse, into one of the other starships.

“Zack, find out what the river’s depth is, stat,” she shouted over her shoulder once the realization that she’d forgotten to check hit her.  “If it’s too deep, we have other problems to deal with.”

“No fear,” he replied after glancing at his sensor readout, “three or four meters max, and I’d say solid bottom too, but that might be immaterial.  I think we’ve got a couple of ground controllers waving us into the ‘hangar’; they’ll not want us to set down just yet.”

Phoenix
had slowed to a walking pace by the time the former yacht hovered past the rebels watching her arrival with bated breath.

Decker saw Verrill, accompanied by Tran and an unknown, middle-aged woman standing by
Marilan
.  The rebel leader’s applause seemed enthusiastic from a distance, though whether it celebrated Talyn’s piloting skills or a landing that didn’t break anything remained open to debate.

“We have a good twenty meters overhead clearance,” he reported, anticipating Talyn’s next concern, “more if you’d like to drown the lower hull a bit.”

“Thanks.”  Although Zack and Steiger had begun to relax, Talyn wasn’t quite done yet.

She steered the ship slowly beneath the overhang, mindful of the three rebels with light wands waving her forward.

Decker switched on the landing lights, revealing a broad, deep space left behind from a time when the river had been a raging demon rather than the placid waterway it was today.

Steiger hadn’t been kidding.  If necessary, they could fit one of the freighters in with them.

Four thuds resonated through the hull, announcing the release of the landing gear so that the moment the ground guides motioned them to stop, Talyn could set
Phoenix
down.

Finally, a few tense minutes later, the light wands stopped their slow come hither movements and turned into red crosses above the men’s heads.

Talyn gently decreased the power feed to the antigrav modules, and the yacht settled on dry ground with a tiny shudder.  She slumped back in her seat and groaned.

“I do not want to do something like that ever again.  As in never, ever, even if I live long enough to witness the end of the universe.  I’m not even sure I want to try flying her out of here again anytime soon.”

“I’d offer you a session at Zack’s spa and massage parlor, but I think our clients will want our full attention until further notice.”

He nonetheless walked over to stand behind the helm chair, placed his hands on her shoulders and began kneading knotted muscles.

***

“That was some impressive flying, Captain Pasek.”  Verrill shook Talyn’s hand enthusiastically.  “Though I’ll confess that when you touched the water’s surface, I was afraid we were witnessing the start of a catastrophe.”

“And I’m feeling amazingly drained,” she replied with a wan smile.

“Understandably so.  If you’d like to take a few hours to rest while we unload, please feel free to do so.  We’re in no hurry to move out, and I’m sure you’ll want to secure your ship before we go.”

“Security would be his thing.”  She pointed at Zack with her thumb.  “And please call me Hera.  Pru Pasek flies starships.  Hera is my ground action
nom de guerre
.  I’ll be fine after a quick meal and some coffee.  How far are we going?”

“Our group is heading down the river tunnel to the next valley where our main camp is hidden.  It’s just under fifteen kilometers.”

“I can’t help thinking,” she said, “that maybe our shuttle could be of use.”

“Perhaps,” Verrill smiled.  “But not for this.  We’ve got everything planned and set up to move what you and the other ships have brought us.  I’d rather keep your shuttle in reserve for something that might give the government severe heartburn.”

He stopped speaking and looked at Decker and Talyn in turn searching for something in their eyes.

“Might I conclude,” he finally said, “that you’ve decided to accept my offer to work for us as military experts for a while, until you decide what needs to be done for your ship?”

“You may.”  The Marine rubbed his hands together.  “There’s nothing I enjoy more than knocking dumb-ass colonial militia heads together.”

Tran Kinnear beamed at his former commanding officer.

“I’m really glad you’re sticking around.”

Decker put his arm around the man’s shoulder and squeezed.

“We can relive some of our old glory days when we were the howling madmen of Decker’s Demons and show these fine folks how it’s done.”

Talyn chuckled at her partner’s tone.

“I wasn’t intending to stay beyond unloading your cargo,” she told Verrill, “but I can’t risk flying through the Avalon blockade with the damage we’ve taken.  Their captains will be looking for blood the moment they see us and Zack is fresh out of missiles, low on gun ammo and definitely out of ways to surprise them.  Two sloops against a yacht doesn’t end well once they’re on to us.”

“In that case, your misfortune is our luck.  I’ll see what I can do to help you with repairs, but I’m afraid that might take time.”

“It might take you seizing a spaceport with maintenance facilities and spare parts, as a matter of fact,” she replied with a tired shrug.  “Either way, we have nothing better to do, so count us in.”

“I will, thank you.”

As Verrill turned to leave, Decker asked, “Did you speak with your friend Roste about the Jackals?”

“I did.  He assured me that he and the crew of
Clio
took all necessary precautions.”

“Mind if I speak to him?  I’ve got some experience with the Confederacy?”

“I wouldn’t mind, but he’s already gone to rejoin his unit along with their share of the supplies.”

“That was mighty fast.”

“Their base is the most distant and so they need to cover as much ground as possible before nightfall.”

“How convenient,” Decker muttered when the rebel leader was out of earshot.

“Try not to take it personally.”  She motioned towards the ship.  “Let’s go sort ourselves out.”

***

Talyn tore the lid off her food tray and sighed.

“I’m not sure that I’ll miss this fine dining, but then, we have no idea what the rebels’ catering is like.”

“Provided it’s not rat-bars three times a day, we’ll live.”  Decker sat down across from her with his food and grinned.  “Admit it; what you’ll really miss is living in luxury on a ship you command.”

“That too,” she admitted, “but try not to gloat at getting your wish to help Tran and his mates.”

“I never gloat.”  Decker put on a mock-wounded look.  “I’m only pleased that we’ll get a chance to weasel our way into the rebels’ good graces and find out who’s backing them, how they’re doing it and more importantly why.”

“And you get to fight the good fight while carrying out your intelligence gathering duties.  I understand.  You can’t help it - you’re a Marine.”

“I’ll tell you what else we’ll be able to do,” he replied before popping a piece of meat into his mouth and chewing slowly.