Fracture Lines (The Glass Complex Book 2) (26 page)

“That sounds like de Coeur’s voice,” Montrose said.

“Yes, sir, I agree. He sounds fluent. The Xesset replying seemed surprised, almost alarmed.”

“I doubt he’s sending them a good morning greeting.” Montrose sipped from his coffee mug. It was early morning for
Defender’s
crew, and he had just taken up his position on the bridge
.

“The aliens sound excited.”

“Probably didn’t expect to hear someone speaking to them in their own language. We need to find out more about de Coeur. He’s got more surprises than most mercenary captains.”

“Sir,
Djamu
has just fired a rail gun.”

“I’ll be damned.” There was a stunned silence on the destroyer’s bridge.

Steg had silently rehearsed his message, determining in advance the appropriate High Xesset language structure for conversing with an inferior.

“Djamu
to Xesset ship.
”

A surprised voice replied after a delay of almost a minute, “
This is
Grace of Success
. Who are you?
”

“
Don’t question your superior. Get me your commander, now.
”

“
Who are you to order me?
”

“
Listen, irredeemable drach, I said get your commander. Do it or I will demand your head. Now!
”

There was silence for another minute. Steg assumed there was an intense discussion taking place on the alien starship’s bridge.

“
This is Force Leader Konya. Who are you and why are you threatening my soldiers?
”

“
Listen to me, Force Leader. My men defeated the paltry team you left aboard
Djamu.
We will defeat you just as easily. Surrender now, to save your men. Otherwise you will die and I will eat your heart. This I promise in the name of the god, K’Harnat.
”

The alien was silent. Steg’s words were intended to create consternation on the part of the Xesset listeners. Steg had just sworn an oath that required him—if he were Xesset and failed—to surrender to the priests of K’Harnat who would ceremonially execute him on one of their altars. Steg was glad he was not Xesset.

“
You blaspheme, alien. You are a drach, a cur, running loose in the streets of Xesset civilization.
” The Force Leader continued to express his opinion of Steg in colorful terms. Steg interrupted the word flow.

“
Silence, you inferior demon spawn. Surrender now or lose your ship. You have fifteen seconds.
”

Steg looked over to Riddell who was standing open-mouthed. While he did not know what Steg was saying to the aliens, he could feel the force of the exchange and was totally surprised the captain of Ebony Company was communicating, apparently fluently, in the Xesset language. Steg released the comunit and said, “Fire on my mark.” He then resumed his communication with the Xesset Force Leader and counted down, in High Xesset, “…4..3…2..1.”

He signaled, and Riddell fired the weapon.

The old freighter almost shook itself to pieces. It lurched and writhed as the metal projectile accelerated along the ceramic tube, which had been added to the length of the body of the starship. Lights dimmed and flickered. Metal groaned and shrieked. Steg did not know the projectile’s weight or eventual speed—he just hoped
Djamu
would survive the kinetic and magnetic forces required to send the lump of metal towards the alien starship. He watched the sensor display on the Helm workstation as it mapped the expected path of the projectile towards the alien ship. The two seemed to coincide.

“The specs state a weight of five ton, sir,” commented Riddell. “The projectile should split into five one ton units shortly after launch. I think it’s like a large shotgun.”

“Any idea of the exit speed?” Steg asked. “Energy? Range? Anything?”

“No, sir.”

“The Xesset starship’s about five hundred thousand klicks away. If the railgun gets its delivery up to a fraction of light, we should see a result.” Steg checked the elapsed time. “About now.”

He had the sensors at full magnification, and the Xesset ship almost filled the workstation’s screen. The display showed an impact on the vessel’s protective shields. The components of the railgun projectile were apparently following in a line, hammering the shields, one after the other. He counted the hits. There was a flash—the shields had failed after three strikes. Two more projectile fragments impacted the now unshielded alien starship. Steg could visualize atmosphere, accompanied by debris, streaming out of the rupture. The freighter’s sensors were too weak to provide the details he needed to assess the damage.

“Check our status,” he directed Riddell. “Let Kirby know the Xesset ship’s been hit. Tell him their shields failed. I don’t know the extent of the damage. I’ll see if
Wasp
is able to provide more information.”

“
Djamu
to
Wasp
. This is de Coeur. Is the commander available?”

Gillespie’s voice carried mixed tones of worry and amazement. “What the hell did you use on the Xesset?”

“
Djamu
has a railgun. Primitive, although it packs quite a punch. We were fortunate. However, we need some data from
Wasp
. Our sensors are weak; they’re barely worth the power drain. Can you let me know what’s happening? Damage?”

“You’re full of surprises. Their shields blew after the third projectile hit them. The last two pierced the hull, forward of the bridge—at least, where we think their bridge is located. She’s accelerating now, at an impressive rate, trailing debris and atmosphere. We assume they’re about to go s-t. Congratulations to you for your team’s survival.”

“It was risky. I didn’t know if the railgun would even work. There was a possibility it would tear
Djamu
apart. I’m surprised the freighter survived the stresses—I suspect she’s been reinforced. It’s definitely a one shot weapon—it’ll take at least fifteen minutes to reload.”

“What’s your next step?”

“We need to transfer
Djamu
survivors to
Wasp
—probably ten or so crew. We’ll hold them in the brig until we reach Eos. They should be relatively harmless. I’ll return most of our men and keep only a small crew on board the freighter. I’ll be in the first shuttle. We need to plan the next steps, which I don’t want to do over an open comlink.
Djamu
can’t go too fast or it will fall apart. We should send details of our capture of
Djamu
to the Eos authorities; we need their sign-off, confirming
Djamu
’s ours.”

“Good. I’ll send the message advising success. Use the draft we prepared?”

“Yes.”

“Very well. Oh, the Fain want to know if you or your team needs their help?”

“We’ve one or two minor injuries. Nothing serious, so we’re okay.
Djamu’s
bridge ratings—those who survived—are being treated by Kirby’s men. Tell Stacia I said thanks, though. I’ll get shuttles underway as quickly as possible.
Djamu
out.”

“This is far too entertaining. I want to see what happens when they arrive at Eos. The probability the Xesset will also arrive there with reinforcements is—oh—conservatively—I’d say 99 percent.”

“Sir?”

“Well, don’t you agree? The Xesset high-tailed out—they didn’t know whether another projectile was likely to follow. They’ll want revenge. Plus they’re not going to give away a freighter load of munitions—they’ll want to know where it is. We’ll get there first and wait and watch. This is just too good to miss. Oh, and send de Coeur a message. Tell him well done, thanks for the entertainment, and we’ll see him at Eos.”

“Sir, you’re sure?”

“Come on Tac, you must agree we’ve had our money’s worth. He’ll need help to survive.”

“Yes, sir. I do agree—we’re all interested to see what happens next. I’ll send the message now.”

“Good. Astro, prepare your course for Eos.”

“I have it ready, sir.”

Montrose raised his eyebrows. “You have? You won the bet?”

Astro smiled and nodded her head.

“Well done. Let’s go.”

Steg, Captain Dean, and Commander Gillespie were in the small conference room next to the bridge. Steg had transferred back to
Wasp
by shuttle, and when he disembarked, crew rushed to congratulate him. It took almost thirty minutes before he managed to get to the meeting he’d requested.

“Commander, I didn’t want to use a comlink for this discussion. I don’t want
Djamu
to continue to Eos. The contract gives us ownership of the starship and its freight once we capture her, using their Customs laws. We’ve followed the processes as required without any missteps. We’ve an excellent witness—the Alliance destroyer.”

He didn’t mention
Defender’s
congratulatory message. He was certain
Wasp’s
commander had read it; the destroyer’s captain had sent it as an open message, after all.

Steg continued, “I think we would be taking an unnecessary risk if we take the freighter to Eos. Instead, I’ll put a skeleton crew on board and send her to Sicca—the market there is open and well managed. We should try to complete our contract so that
Wasp
reaches Sicca before
Djamu
gets there. If not, the freighter can dock and wait for us. We can provide for contingencies.”

“What about you—are you coming with us to Eos or going with your freighter?” asked Gillespie.

Dean sat straighter, his hands on the table. He said, “I’d like to know, too.”

“Go with
Wasp
, of course. We’ve a commitment to proceed against the rebels, and I want to complete the tasks in our contract. Besides, I expect the Xesset will be there, too. They will want the freighter’s cargo and undoubtedly still have plans for Eos. I think I can out-maneuver them, with your help.”

Dean relaxed. Commander Gillespie patted the back of Steg’s hand. She said, “Good. I thought that would be your decision. Now, who do you want to crew
Djamu
?”

“I’ll allocate at least twenty men from Ebony Company. Kirby can take charge; we can promote him to captain. We can use members of
Djamu’s
crew—the engineers, for example, weren’t directly involved in smuggling. Same for the general crew. I’d like to have some of your people for bridge duties.”

Dean asked, “How much trust do you have in Kirby and your men?”

“Well, I can’t say complete trust, of course. They’re a good team, and he’s an effective leader. I’ll set up system blocks to ensure they don’t deviate from their course to Sicca. If they try to change course I’ll get a message. I’ll be able to track them. In case of an emergency, they’ll have to signal me so I can authorize a course change.” Steg looked at Commander Gillespie. “If we had the bridge headed by someone like Rose, I’d be more relaxed.” Rose Curtis was co-owner of
Wasp
.

“You don’t think we’ll need her in Eos? What if the Xesset arrive and attack
Wasp
while we’re there?”

“She has a well-trained Weapons team who’ll step up, I’m sure. I’ll miss Kirby. However, I’m confident we can win through. Dean?”

“As long as the Xesset don’t come with a fleet, I’m okay. I’m confident we can disarm planet-side rebels, unless there are thousands of them.”

“Seeing we have their freighter full of weapons, we can assume the rebels won’t be well equipped, and I’m confident we’ll have the advantage, and far better armor. Is there anything we need that we could transfer from
Djamu
before we let her go?”

Dean shook his head. “No, we stocked up when we were recruiting you and the rest of your company.”

“Commander?”

“No,
Wasp
is fully armed and stocked. To the teeth, I suppose. Rose has been anxious to use some of it.”

“Good. Can you talk to her? At least initiate the process for me?”

“I’ll start the discussion. You and she will have to negotiate rates, though.”

“Thank you. It might help if you can spare other bridge people, too? You’ll have a better idea who we’d need on
Djamu
?”

“Of course. I’ll add that to the discussion with Rose. We’ll work out a crew for the freighter.”

“Good. I’m doing the same with Kirby and Ebony Company. Let me know when you’ve spoken with Rose.”

Two days later Steg monitored the viewscreens on
Wasp’s
bridge as
Djamu
made its s-t jump.
Wasp
volunteers had lined up at the chance to take the freighter to Sicca, attracted by both the change in routine and the promised bonus.
Wasp’s
engineering team had even modified and re-loaded the rail gun and claimed their improvements would permit a five-minute reload, although Steg wondered whether
Djamu
would survive another firing of the weapon. Kirby had accepted his assignment, and he had quickly moved Ebony Company to the freighter. Both Steg and Kirby were hopeful the trip would be uneventful.

Steg turned to Commander Gillespie when the freighter symbol disappeared from the display.

“I hope
Djamu
didn’t shake up her crew too much.”

“Worried?”

“No, Commander. Well, not much.”

“Good. We can make our jump now, if that’s all right with you?”

“With me? Certainly. Let’s go.”

Wasp
kicked out of s-t on time and at the planned distance from the Eos way station. Steg watched while the bridge team checked the status and location of their starship.

“Excellent,” said Commander Gillespie after all sections reported in. “It’ll take another three hours before we can dock. I’ll arrange some time off for my crew, only an hour or two at a time—the way station is relatively modest in size; they are still building up traffic. You should consider some time out for your men, too.”

Steg said, “I asked Dean to set up shore leave for the Stingers. We’re also trying to keep it to a couple of hours at a time. And the Fain said they want to explore.”

As Steg and Commander Gillespie were speaking, another starship broke out of s-t into real space. The Weapons team, eager to maintain their reputation, quickly identified
Defender
; they all assumed the Alliance skipper wanted to see how they would fare with the rest of their assignment.