The Rise of Earth (27 page)

“Why'd Captain Andrade bring two pirates?” Carlo asked disgustedly.

“She needed crews that could fly immediately,” Diocletia said. “This is who was available.”

“The
Izabella
's hailing all Jovian craft,” Tycho said, his ears catching the familiar hammer blows of Huff descending from the top deck. He put Captain Andrade on the main screen. The veteran privateer looked weary and grave.

“Captains, form up your craft and display colors,” she said. “Our orders are to reconnoiter the shipyard and keep whatever's inside bottled up until the JDF issues further instructions. We're here to buy time and hopefully get control of the situation—not start a war.”

“Arr, that last one's easier said than done sometimes,” Huff growled.

“Detach tanks and take us in, Carlo,” Diocletia said. “Yana, eyes peeled for ion emissions. Tycho, ears open—the shipyard will undoubtedly call for help when they see us coming.”

All three Hashoone siblings acknowledged their mother's order. Diocletia leaned forward, eyes fixed on the darkness of space ahead.

A clank sounded above them, followed by a bump and a shudder.

“And we're detached,” Carlo said, his voice cool and even despite the sudden acceleration shoving all of them back in their chairs.

“Mr. Grigsby, we are inbound and hot,” Diocletia said. “Stand by.”

“The lads are ready, Captain.”

Four bells rang out.

“Initial scans of Zephaniah show a typical rock,” Yana said. “Iron-nickel, too low-grade to mine. Trace ion signatures, but at this level it could just indicate local ship traffic—there's a secondary spacelane a few hundred thousand klicks to starboard.”

Tycho's palms were sweating. He wiped them on his pants, scanning communications frequencies for any hint of a distress call emanating from the asteroid ahead of them.

Huff saw his grandson's nervousness and chuckled.

“Arrr, yeh never feel more alive than during moments like this. Rest of life, lad, is waitin' for the next such moment to come around.”

“Silence on deck,” Diocletia barked. “Vesuvia, tactical readout on the main screen.”

“Acknowledged.”

The Jovian craft advanced in a wedge, with the
Izabella
in the lead, flanked by the
Comet
to port and the
Berserker
to starboard, with the
Banshee
and the
Jin Chan
completing the formation.

“I've got a transmission,” Tycho said. “Origin point is Zephaniah. Looks like an encrypted tight-beam transmission back in the direction of Cybele.”

“Our Earth friends are calling for help,” Mavry said.

“And I'm reading an energy source on the asteroid,” Yana said. “Make that multiple sources. Pretty high power levels.”

“If there are defenders down there, this is when
they'll show themselves,” Mavry warned.

“
Comet
, I need eyes down there,” Captain Andrade said. “I want you and the
Jin Chan
to make a pass around the asteroid.”

Diocletia acknowledged the order and nodded to Carlo. The
Comet
dipped her nose and passed beneath the
Izabella
's belly, taking up a position perhaps a kilometer from the portside cannons on the boxy
Jin Chan
.

“You lead,
Comet
,” said Zhi Ning over their shared channel. “I will cover you.”

Carlo goosed the frigate's engines, taking the ship down to within a few hundred meters of Zephaniah's mottled gray surface.

“Sensor contacts!” Yana yelped. “Multiple ships, inbound from Cybele!”

Tycho's eyes shot to the main screen, where several arrowhead symbols had appeared on the edge of the readout.

“Morgan, Dmitra, on me—defensive formation,” Captain Andrade said calmly. “Diocletia and Ning, continue your run.”

“Anything on transponders?” Diocletia asked. “Whose ships are those?”

“They're flying black,” Tycho said.

“Sensors paint five ships—they're a mix of frigates and corvettes,” Yana said. “Querying registration database for matches with known craft.”

“Sing out when you have something,” Diocletia said. “And keep your heads, everybody. We don't know what
we're dealing with here. Let's figure it out before we do something rash.”

The
Comet
was approaching one knobby end of bulbous Zephaniah, the surface of the asteroid bright against the spangled stars.

“Energy spike!” Yana yelled. “From the asteroid! It's big!”

“Look at that,” Mavry said wonderingly.

The end of the asteroid had split open along a hidden seam, tons of rock sliding away from each other along cleverly concealed tracks. Carlo cut the
Comet
's speed and hit her retro rockets, slowing the frigate and retreating stern-first as the opening at the tip of Zephaniah widened.

A matte black shape like a giant hammer emerged from the confines of the asteroid. Tycho watched in disbelief as meters of metal were revealed, his eyes jumping from the spines of sensor masts to the bumps of gunnery stations set along the hull. The ship moved slowly and steadily out of the secret hangar that had concealed it. The rear segment of her hull finally emerged, a cluster of cylindrical engines crisscrossed with power conduits. Then finally she was free of the asteroid, hanging in space in front of the
Comet
and moving slowly away from her.

“That is one mean-lookin' ship,” Huff said with grudging admiration.

“Captain Andrade?” Diocletia said. “I'd estimate that's a heavy cruiser at least, maybe a battleship. Massive
armament. Yana, scan everything. Carlo, hold here.”

The warship in front of them seemed to shiver, and then her quintet of massive engines ignited. Tycho could hear the Comets belowdecks exclaiming and shouting, followed by Grigsby's bellows for silence and accompanying threats of medieval punishments.

Carlo turned the
Comet
to port and accelerated to keep pace with the huge black ship. Yana was glowering at her instruments.

“This doesn't make any sense,” she said. “The weapons systems and propulsion are powered, but I only get trace readings from the other systems.”

“Life support?” Mavry asked.

“She's cold as space.”

“Maybe construction isn't complete,” Diocletia said. “The crew could be in spacesuits. Tycho, any communications from her?”

“None. And transponders are black.”

“If that thing isn't finished, I don't want to see the final product,” Mavry said.

“I'm going in for a closer look,” Carlo said, angling the
Comet
toward the massive ship's stern.

“Missile lock,” Vesuvia warned.

Carlo hastily cut to port. Tycho braced himself for the sight of missiles streaking in their direction, but the massive ship held her fire.

“She's hailing,” Tycho said. “All channels.”

An eerie whine filled the quarterdeck as he patched
the transmission through.

“Keep your distance or die,” said a male voice that made the hairs stand up on Tycho's neck. It was electronically modulated, but beneath that it sounded low and ragged, like speaking hurt the speaker's throat. And Tycho could hear something else that he couldn't quite place—a faint rumble or gurgle.

“What was
that
?” Yana asked.

“Mr. Grigsby, hold your fire,” Diocletia said. “Carlo, keep your distance.”

“Transponders activating,” Vesuvia said. “Saturnian colors.”

The massive black ship continued to accelerate away from them. While they watched her shrink into the distance, a frigate and two corvettes shot past the
Comet
, the last one waggling its wings. All were flying Saturnian colors as well.

“It wasn't Earth's shipyard at all,” Tycho said. “It was the Ice Wolves'.”

“But where did they get the livres?” Carlo asked.

“Titan, I'll bet you,” Mavry said. “All that missing money wound up here.”

They stared at the warship's blazing engines for a moment.

“What are we doing?” Yana demanded. “We can still intercept her!”

“That monster would blast us to scrap 'fore we could so much as dent her hull,” Huff said.

“Dad's right,” Diocletia said. “Our duty is to get back to the JDF with whatever information we can give them.”

The bells clanged out five times.

“She's reached her long-range tanks,” Yana said. “Heading for the outer solar system.”

“Something tells me we'll see her again,” Carlo said.

Mavry nodded. “No doubt. Funny—we fought with Earth, and the Ice Wolves won.”

“Which means we both lost,” Carlo said.

“How did Earth lose?” Yana asked. “They still have the
Leviathan
.”

“Perhaps we can change that,” Mavry said. “I seem to recall that someone on this quarterdeck has the
Gracieux
's logs.”

Tycho hung his head. For a moment he'd imagined that with the hunt for the shipyard over, no one aboard the
Comet
would see the need to dig into Allamand's flight logs. And he'd been fine with letting Earth keep the
Leviathan
if that would prevent his snooping from being discovered.

But there was no point delaying the inevitable. He switched back to the map of the
Gracieux
's comings and goings and tapped his finger on the asteroid designated 124996.

“Vesuvia, put this on the main screen,” he said. “This has to be Captain Allamand's hiding place. The
Gracieux
went there right after the taking of the
Leviathan
, and she's been back twice since then.”

Diocletia studied the loops and lines for a moment,
fingers drumming on her console.

“Plot a course, Tycho. And share it with Captain Andrade. We missed our chance to stop the Ice Wolves, but maybe it's not too late to retake the
Leviathan
.”

W
ith a new objective identified, Diocletia was quick to hand out duties. While Tycho plotted a course to 124996, Yana researched the
Leviathan
's likely deck plan and Grigsby began assembling boarding parties belowdecks. Meanwhile, Captain Andrade sent out a call for any other available Jovian privateers to head for the asteroid.

“Every ship in port will know something's up,” Mavry said.

“It can't be helped—we'll just have to hurry,” Diocletia said, activating her headset. “Mr. Grigsby? Please report to the quarterdeck. And bring Mr. Dobbs with you.”

Tycho needed the fingers of only one hand to count the number of times someone from belowdecks had walked the
Comet
's quarterdeck, but Grigsby expressed no surprise at the order. Moments later, he ascended the ladderwell with Dobbs right behind him. Unlike the tough old warrant officer, the pale master-at-arms was visibly uncomfortable at finding himself in forbidden territory.

“Good evening, gentlemen,” Diocletia said. “We're twenty minutes away from Tycho's asteroid, so let's go over the plan. Vesuvia, put the schematic of the
Leviathan
on the main screen.”

“Acknowledged,” Vesuvia said, and all on the quarterdeck peered at the deck plan.

“I want two boarding parties—one to take the bridge, the other to secure the engine room. I'll lead the bridge party—Carlo, Tycho, and Yana, you'll be with me. I'd like you along as well, Mr. Dobbs, with five crewers of your choosing.”

Tycho and Yana glanced at each other in surprise—during a boarding action their mother normally remained on the quarterdeck, and often kept Yana back as well to watch the sensors.

Diocletia saw the look and knew what it meant.

“The other privateers will be our eyes and ears,”
she explained. “The key is to get the
Leviathan
flying as quickly as we can, so Captain Allamand thinks twice about risking another fight over her. Dad and Mr. Grigsby will take the engine room with eight crewers as backup. We take control of the bridge, get the engines online, and fly her at maximum speed to Cybele. Earth won't fight to take her back so close to there, not with everyone watching.”

“Will two teams of ten be enough, Captain?” Grigsby asked. “That's a big ship.”

“I suspect Allamand will have only a skeleton crew aboard. Recall that he gave all the Leviathans parole, and he doesn't have enough crewers to have replaced them. And if we're wrong, we fall back to the
Comet
, disengage, and decide things in space.”

“What about other Earth ships defending the site?” Yana asked.

“Doubt we'll find any. With all the sweeps we've done in that area, one of our privateers would have turned up ion trails.”

“Tycho's asteroid is too small to hold both the
Leviathan
and her long-range tanks,” Carlo said.

Diocletia nodded. “They probably ditched them for retrieval later. Still, the
Leviathan
should have enough fuel in her maneuvering tanks for a straight shot to Cybele. After that, refueling her will be her owners' problem. For now, Carlo, make sure you simulate piloting a dromond—the
Leviathan
won't maneuver like a frigate, to say the least.”

Tycho looked around the quarterdeck. Mavry was smiling as if they were on a pleasure excursion, but Tycho knew he was examining various scenarios in his head, sorting through what was of concern and what wasn't. Carlo was already browsing through Vesuvia's library of flight sims, Yana was leaning forward in her harness, and Huff was grinning at some private thought, his forearm cannon jerking eagerly.

“I want all boarders in spacesuits in case Allamand's people have purged the dromond's atmosphere—or decide to do so as a defense,” Diocletia said. “The key is to hit them hard and fast. Got it? Good. We've all got jobs to do, so let's get to them.”

The asteroid designated 124996 looked like any other chunk of rock until the
Comet
closed to within two kilometers and Yana detected energy readings. Closer inspection revealed that the asteroid was little more than a shell—thin layers of rock separated by a grid of metal, with a large opening at one end.

“Definitely reading a second mass within the asteroid—and chemical signature indicates it's artificial,” Yana said. Like Carlo, Tycho, and Diocletia, she was wearing a bulky spacesuit that her harness could barely contain, with her visor raised and gloves off. Huff was in the gig with Grigsby and the rest of the first boarding party, waiting for the order to detach.

“Garibalda, we're going in,” Diocletia said over her headset.

“We'll let you know if anyone's coming,” Andrade replied. “Good luck,
Comet
.”

The
Comet
left the other privateers behind and swept down toward the asteroid. Carlo cut the frigate's forward momentum, tapped her retro rockets, and eased the
Comet
into the shadowy confines of the asteroid.

“Vesuvia, bring up the bow lights,” he said.

Ahead, they could see a trio of engines in the gloom, looming like massive mouths.

Yana whistled. “Definitely the
Leviathan
. Nothing else out here would have that engine configuration.”

“This rock has only one entrance, right?” Tycho asked.

“Afraid so,” Carlo said, scowling. “We'll have to back her out.”

“Can you do it?” Diocletia asked. The question wasn't a challenge or a taunt, but a captain's need to know.

“I'm not looking forward to it, but I think so. I don't suppose Captain Andrade could blast off the other end?”

“As long as you don't mind the roof falling on us,” Mavry said. He was the only one on the quarterdeck still wearing his usual shipboard jumpsuit—he'd be responsible for flying the
Comet
out of the asteroid ahead of the
Leviathan
.

“I'm against that,” Carlo said.

The massive dromond was shrouded in darkness—even her running lights had been extinguished. The
Comet
crept along her port beam, passing her aft airlock and the first freight docking ring.

“She looks intact,” Yana said. “I can't see any damage from the intercept.”

“That's good,” Diocletia said. “Tycho, is anybody hailing us? Any transmissions from the asteroid?”

“Negative on both counts.”

“Garibalda, anything on your scopes?”

“Negative—nobody out here for now except us.”

Diocletia switched channels on her headset.

“Dad, cast off,” she said. “We're heading for the forward airlock. Wait for my signal to board.”

“Headin' out, Dio,” Huff said, and a moment later the
Comet
shivered slightly as the clamps holding the gig against her belly released.

The bells signaled 2330 as the blank slab of the
Leviathan
's hull slid by to starboard. To port, Tycho knew, the web of girders was no more than thirty meters away. He realized he'd been holding his breath and forced himself to exhale.

“This must have been a shipyard once,” he said. “A big one, too. What are the odds that the Cybeleans didn't know it was being used?”

“Zero,” Diocletia said. “Our hosts seem to have struck secret deals with everyone except the Jovian Union. Mr. Dobbs? Stand by.”

Carlo's eyes jumped between the viewports and images from the
Comet
's starboard cameras as he lined up the frigate's starboard airlock with the dromond's forward portside lock. Tycho could only shake his head in admiration as his brother cut right, tapped the retro
rockets, and eased the ship up against the far larger vessel.

“Vesuvia, deploy magnetic grapples. Good. We're locked.”

“Let's go,” Diocletia said, unbuckling herself from her chair and cinching her gloves tight.

Mavry checked Diocletia's suit seals, then leaned his forehead against hers briefly.

“Shoot straight and keep our kids out of trouble,” he said quietly.

“See you soon,” Diocletia said with a smile, one glove lingering on his cheek.

Tycho followed his mother down the ladderwell, with Yana and Carlo behind him.

“Captain Hashoone on deck!” bellowed Dobbs.

The
Comet
's master-at-arms was waiting at the starboard airlock with a knot of crewers behind him. The Comets came to attention with a clatter of bootheels, eyes wide at the rare sight of their captain geared up for war. Their spacesuits were a riot of paint, decals, drawings, and scrawled graffiti—predators of species real and imagined competed for space with dire threats in multiple languages and prayers for deliverance addressed to several higher powers. The Comets clutched carbines and daggers in their fists and adjusted bandoliers holding ammunition and flash grenades.

The
Comet
's airlock was open, and two crewers, Celly and Porco, were wiring up the
Leviathan
's hatch, seeking to override its controls. They got to their feet as the
Hashoones approached, but Diocletia immediately indicated they should continue with their work.

“Boarding party of ten,” Dobbs said, handing two chrome musketoons to Diocletia. “Ranking officer's weapons.”

“Thank you, Mr. Dobbs,” Diocletia said, looking at each crewer in turn. “Fast and hard to the bridge, ladies and gentlemen. That starship was stolen from our countrymen, and we intend to restore it to them.”

“Three cheers for Captain Hashoone!” the crewers yelled.

Diocletia nodded. “Mr. Dobbs, you'll take point.”

Dobbs made a quick sign of the cross above his pockmarked chest armor.

“Mistress Yana, on my left,” he said. “Higgs and Corso behind Captain Hashoone, Master Tycho, and Master Carlo. Rest of you at the rear. Use your flash grenades and don't cross each other's paths.”

Yana edged past Tycho to stand next to Dobbs. Tycho flipped off the safety on his carbine and touched the flash grenades on his bandolier, memorizing where they were.

“Ready to open her up, Captain,” Dobbs said.

“Dad, what's your status?” Diocletia asked. “Good—we're going in. Do it, Mr. Dobbs.”

“You know the entry procedure,” Dobbs said to Yana, then nodded at Celly and Porco. The
Leviathan
's outer airlock door rose slowly, compelled by the privateers' electronic tools. Dobbs flung a flash grenade through the opening, and Tycho heard the explosive
device bouncing across the deck.

Wind rippled the stickers on the Comets' spacesuits as the two ships' atmospheres mixed. The Jovians ducked their heads as the grenade detonated inside the
Leviathan
, filling the captured ship with blinding light. Tycho's faceplate automatically darkened against the glare.

Yana and Dobbs stepped across the threshold into the airlock. It was two meters deep; two meters beyond it was a T intersection.

Yana and Dobbs rushed forward into the intersection, with Yana dropping to her knees as Dobbs stayed on his feet. They flung flash grenades to either side; a moment later Tycho's visor darkened and sharp concussions made static cough in his ears. Diocletia strode forward, with Carlo and Tycho flanking her.

Two men in Earth uniforms were lying on their faces on either side of the intersection, hands over their eyes, blood dribbling from their noses. Their carbines were lying useless on the deck. None of the four was wearing a breath mask or spacesuit.

“Secure these men,” Dobbs barked to the Comets bringing up the rear, and two hurried up, binding the fallen Earth crewers' wrists with zip ties.

“If that's the best they could do, no one aboard has combat training,” Yana said, looking down at the men on the deck.

“You don't know that,” Diocletia said. “There could be Earth marines deeper in the ship, trying to draw us
in. Stay sharp and don't assume.”

“The captain's right,” Dobbs said. “Come on—forward.”

The Comets were in a long, dimly lit passageway running the length of the
Leviathan
's port beam. Tycho tried to remember the dromond's layout. There should be a junction twenty meters ahead, with the ladderwell to the bridge perhaps the same distance beyond that.

Dobbs and Yana jogged down the passageway, their breathing labored in the heavy suits. Diocletia hurried after them, with Carlo and Tycho at her heels.

“We're outside the engine room,” Huff growled over their shared channel.

“Resistance?” Diocletia asked.

“Arr, they're tryin'. But they ain't got the numbers to make it a fair fight.”

Yana and Dobbs stopped short of the junction, flinging grenades left and right. They went through the intersection low and fast, chased by laser fire.

Diocletia rushed forward, dropping to one knee as two Earth crewers emerged from cover and fired their carbines at Yana and Dobbs. A burst from her carbine left one Earth crewer lying on the deck; the other scrambled across the passageway for cover.