Alabaster Noon Page 9

  * * * * *

  Chapter Five

  EMS Shadowfax, New Warsaw Emergence Point

  “Stand by for hyperspace emergence in one minute,” the navigator said.

  Captain Stacy nodded from her command chair. “Battle stations,” she ordered. Her situation controller, or SitCon, glanced at her then used his pinplants to follow her order. Throughout Shadowfax, the call to stations sounded, and the ancient warship prepared to fight.

  Elizabeth didn’t think they were going to face battle at New Warsaw. Not yet, anyway. But after what happened at Earth, she simply wasn’t taking any chances.

  “All stations report manned and ready,” the SitCon replied thirty seconds later.

  Faster than normal, she thought. Her crew’s feelings echoed her own. She waited as the clock counted down to zero. A brief sensation of falling, and the big Tri-V showed the familiar and comforting image of New Warsaw’s giant red star. Home, she thought.

  “Sensors, report,” she ordered.

  “Multiple emergences from the fleet,” the sensor chief reported. “Nine system defense corvettes at emergence point, all with good Hussars’ IFF transponders. Also, I show fourteen various shuttles and supply ships en route to the emergence point.”

  “Very good,” she said. “Comms, monitor for traffic with system command.”

  “Captain Lech Kowalczy on Alicorn just reported in to system command,” comms reported.

  “Let’s hear it.”

  “Welcome back, Alicorn,” a female voice was saying as the comm switched. Elizabeth was pretty sure the voice belonged to Lieutenant Commander Aleksandra Kowalczy.

  “Commander,” Lech transmitted, “we have dire news.”

  “We’re aware,” Aleksandra said. “You are now in command of the company, sir.”

  “How did you know?” he asked.

  “I’ll explain later,” she replied. “Repair crews are standing by to assist.”

  “You knew exactly when we’d arrive as well. It would seem we have a lot to talk about.”

  “And little time,” she added. “Peepo’s fleet is right behind you. They know where New Warsaw is.”

  Silence ruled the net for a long time. “We should talk in person,” Lech finally said.

  “I agree,” Aleksandra replied.

  “Please arrange a command staff meeting,” Lech ordered, “five hours from now on Prime Base. We are maneuvering immediately.”

  “Understood,” Aleksandra replied.

  A moment later, the order was relayed to the fleet, and they got underway.

  “Comms, transmit damage assessment reports to the fleet and system command,” Elizabeth ordered. “Helm, fall into formation and begin accelerating for Prime Base.”

  “A lot of ships are moving from Home toward the outer asteroid field,” the sensor tech reported.

  “Part of the evacuation planning, I suspect,” Elizabeth said. All Hussars at the rank of commander or above knew the basics of the plan, if not all the details. What surprised her was that Aleksandra had known to begin the evacuation. They’d left Earth a week ago. Even if a courier had come through immediately after Alexis had been killed, it would have only arrived hours ago. There was no way things could have gotten as far as they had in such a short period of time.

  “We have a damage control team matching course and requesting permission to come aboard,” comms reported.

  “Permission granted,” Elizabeth said. “Open the docking bay and prepare to receive the shuttle under thrust.”

  Landing on a ship like the Egleesius while underway wasn’t the easiest of operations on the best of days. Elizabeth watched the shuttle approach on the Tri-V with some trepidation. The last thing she needed was a wrecked docking bay with so many other repairs already necessary. The evacuation of Home suggested every certified pilot in the system was flying something at the moment; who was left to handle the shuttle?

  “Damage control teams on standby on the landing deck,” she ordered.

  Her damage control coordinator, or DCC, looked back at her in uncertainty.

  “Do it,” she said, explaining her concern.

  “Good point, sir,” the DCC agreed, and transmitted the order.

  “We don’t need another hole in the ship,” her XO, Evie Miller, agreed.

  The shuttle matched course and slightly below Shadowfax’s speed. Slowly it slid even with the warship’s nose and then down her length until it came abreast of the docking bay, just behind her midpoint. Whoever the pilot was, they possessed a steady hand. The facing docking bay door slid back, exposing the deck to vacuum.

  Shadowfax didn’t yet possess gravity decks, like her sistership Pegasus. There’d been no time to add them. In an operation like this, it was an advantage. The four gravity decks would be nestled against the ships deck just ahead of the docking bay, and thus be a hindrance to close approach.

  “Here we go,” Evie said as the shuttle began to move toward the bay.

  The trick was the moment when the shuttle entered the bay. It would use its ion engines to match Shadowfax’s forward thrust as it side-slipped toward the docking bay. However, the moment it entered the bay those engines would have a deck to push against, and the shuttle could crash into the upper deck. The pilot would need to flip the shuttle over and use the belly thrusters to hold approach and, at the last second, cut power on each engine as they passed inside.

  If it was performed correctly, the shuttle would settle to the deck, the final velocity scrubbed off as the landing legs absorbed the residual momentum. Every shuttle-qualified pilot needed to complete the docking maneuver under power successfully three times. As a command track officer, Elizabeth did it ten times with only one failure. The shuttle pilot performed the maneuver flawlessly.

  “DC stand down,” Evie ordered.

  “Nice moves,” the helm said under his breath.

  Elizabeth nodded. She suspected she knew the pilot, and a little grin crossed her face. “Have my assistant bring my kit down to the hangar deck,” she ordered, glancing at the Tri-V plot with estimates for their arrival at Prime Base. “I’ll shave some time off the trip by taking their shuttle ahead. Evie, you have the conn.”

  “Yes ma’am, I have the conn.”

  Elizabeth left the CIC and rode the lift down to Deck 21 where the hangar deck was located. It comprised three decks in total, with 21 being the hangar proper and 22 and 23 holding shuttle stowage and maintenance. Crewmembers nodded to her as they went about their duties. The Hussars didn’t go in for lots of saluting, unlike some units. It suited them and created more of a sense of family.

  The bay was being pressurized as she reached the hangar. Various engineering and technical crew were entering the bay to properly secure the shuttle, attach power cables, and refuel the craft. Meanwhile the shuttle was unbuttoned, and the passengers were beginning to deboard.

  The first one down the ramp was a man roughly her age in Hussars black coveralls with green piping. Like many Hussars techs, there were only a couple of ribbons on his uniform, however, he had the Geek Squad patch as well. His name tape said his name was P. Leonard. He was a pretty good-looking guy and was followed by a much-younger female Geek Squad tech, then three more general technicians, two Human men and an elSha. The older man was obviously in charge, and he came to a stop when he saw Elizabeth.

  “Captain,” he said.

  “Welcome aboard, Mr. Leonard,” she said, then they both grinned at each other. Elizabeth could see he was relaxing now, having been worried about her until then. “I need your shuttle.”

  “It’s yours,” he said and gestured her through.

  “Thank you. My XO, Evie Miller, is in the CIC and can help you coordinate with my DCC.” Patrick nodded as his assistant and the other techs floated past. Elizabeth moved her hand over, and he took it. The gesture only lasted a second, and they were sure nobody saw it. “I figured it was you when I saw the way you handled the docking.”

  “I’m so relieved you mad
e it back,” Patrick said.

  “Me, too,” she said, and they smiled at each other. “I’ll be back after the fleet meeting. See if you can put my ship back together; we’re going to need her.”

  “Will do.”

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  “Love you, too,” he whispered back.

  Elizabeth turned and saw her assistant holding out her kit. “Oh, thanks,” she said and took the kit before turning back to Patrick. “I need to get going,” she explained and climbed into the shuttle.

  “You want me to get your flight crew to get you a pilot?”

  “Not necessary,” Elizabeth said. “I’m a fair stick myself, as you know.”

  “I believe that,” he said, nodding, as she turned to close the door.

  Five minutes later she was pushing the shuttle back out into space. Shadowfax was in the process of a mid-course flip-over to begin slowing her approach to Prime Base, so her job was considerably easier than Patrick’s was. Setting course for Prime Base, she noticed many other ships of the fleet also had shuttles departing.

  Autopilot set, she relaxed and waited as the shuttle’s engine burned to speed her toward Prime Base. A small shuttle meant a much quicker trip. She’d be at the base while Shadowfax was still slowing on approach. Her mind was busy thinking of the upcoming meeting, yet she was also thinking of Patrick and hoping he was still aboard when she got back.

  * * *

  Winged Hussars Prime Base, New Warsaw System

  Nigel Shirazi strode through the corridors of Prime Base as if for the first time. It had a different feel; there were fewer people and those who were still there raced from one place to another as if their lives depended on it. He nodded once—at this stage, perhaps their lives did depend on it. He recognized an overwhelming sense of fear and desperation among the personnel he saw and vowed not to give in to it.

  His grandfather had taught him that the men under his command would take their cues from him. If he looked desperate, they would be desperate, too, so even though he wanted to race to the conference room for the COs’ meeting, he forced himself to maintain nothing more than a purposeful stride. He also tried to engage the few people he passed; if he could spread some hope, it would filter out to others.

  That was what they needed. Hope. He didn’t need hope; he had something stronger. Revenge. Everything he saw on Prime Base reminded him of Alexis, strengthening his purpose. They would hold New Warsaw and Prime Base. He would make it happen, somehow, for Alexis. It would be his wedding gift for her, even if they were now never destined to marry. Sansar had said Alexis was still alive, and he held onto that hope. He would hold the system, even if it cost him his life.

  As he rounded a corner he saw something unusual—someone not racing from place to place. A solitary figure stood unmoving outside an open hatch, and he realized it was Sansar, standing outside the chamber where the Four Horsemen normally met, with her hand over her mouth.

  “What are you doing?” he asked as he approached.

  Sansar turned to him, tears streaming down her face. “I just…I…” she ran out of words, and he enfolded her in his arms while she sobbed.

  After a minute, she tensed and pushed him away. “I’m sorry,” she said, wiping away the tears. Some of the steel had returned to her voice, and she had control of herself again.

  “You don’t need to be sorry,” Nigel replied. “Trust me, I understand.”

  “No, we need to be strong; we need to set the example.” She sniffed. “And I was doing that, but I guess I wasn’t thinking clearly—I automatically came here for the meeting, like we always have in the past. When I opened the door and saw the table, it suddenly hit me that Alexis and Jim would probably never sit at it again, and it may be the last time we ever do, too. It’s just…I was overwhelmed for a moment.”

  “They will sit at this table again.”

  “How are you able to sound so sure?”

  Nigel smiled. “You told me it would happen.”

  “But that was a dream. They don’t always come true.”

  “This one will, because we will make it.”

  Her eyes stared up into his, looking for answers. “But how do you know?”

  “That’s easy,” Nigel said, his smile fading slightly. “I will accept nothing less. Not from me, not from my men, and not from my allies.” He brushed away the last tear on her face, and his smile returned. “Now, if you are ready, let us go put some backbone into the defense of this system.”

  Sansar nodded and stood straighter, squaring her shoulders. “I’m ready.”

  “Good,” Nigel replied. “Let’s go.”

  * * *

  Winged Hussars Prime Base, New Warsaw System

  Lieutenant Commander Aleksandra Kowalczy watched the ship captains and commanders filter into the conference room. They’d left the same room a little over two weeks ago, many smiling, all confident of an end to the war and the liberation of Earth from the Mercenary Guild’s control. The faces which entered now were, for the lack of a better term, somber.

  The gallery of captains was set up to provide each ship’s captain a seat with their XO next to them. Three Hussars ships were unrepresented. Two were lost in action. The third missing was the Crown-class cruiser Count Fleet. The other captains reported she’d jumped to hyperspace with everyone else, but had been severely damaged in the retreat. When she didn’t arrive at New Warsaw, she’d been entered into the rolls as missing and presumed lost due to drive failure.

  Four merc cruisers were likewise unrepresented, including Bucephalus. Many looked at the empty space for Cartwright’s Cavaliers as they entered. The storied ship had stayed behind, hoping to collect her surviving mercs. After losing an entire company of troopers to an ambush, including their XO, Hargrave, Captain Su refused to abandon the remaining Cavaliers, and her ship was taken.

  They were organized by ship class from small warships in the back to the big hitters up front. Most had arrived late, as they’d facilitated the evac of many mercs.

  Fookoolu and Chigaoolu, the Bakulu commanders of their two battleships, sat up front. They might not be Hussars, but after the battle of Sol, they shared the merc’s fate.

  Aleksandra watched the five commanders of their Egleesius-class battlecruisers take their seats. Normally it would be Alexis at the podium, and Paka representing her ship. Instead it was her former 3rd in command, now captain, Lieutenant Commander Akoo. Alexis always called the Buma Hoot.

  Next to Akoo sat Captains Stacy, Teenge, and Drizz. Captain Jormungd didn’t sit, her long Kaa snake-like frame was curled on the floor so she could observe the proceedings. Aleksandra was suddenly keenly aware Stacy was the only Human among them. It also reminded her how much Alexis depended on and trusted the Hussars’ alien members.

  Lech Kowalczy entered via a side door and walked to her side. She looked up at him and tried to hold her emotions in check. He put a hand out and rested it on her shoulder. “You’ve done well,” he said.

  “I did the best I could,” she said. “So much has happened. The Fae showed up and told me of the defeat. They can communicate faster than light, somehow—telepathy I think.”

  “We can try and understand that later,” he said. “Now we have to survive.”

  She nodded. “I stand relieved of command.”

  “Not so fast,” he said.

  Her mouth fell open for a moment. “What? Lech, you’re second in command; there can be no question.”

  “There is no question of my position, but there is one of how much I can do. I’m a ship commander and strategist. You are an excellent organizer, and our people have been following your directions during the mobilization. If what I’ve read in the last few hours is any indication, you’ve done a fantastic job.”

  “I did the best I could,” she repeated, unsure how to take the praise.

  “No, you did the best anyone could do. I’m giving you a brevet promotion to commander and putting you in charge of Prime Base and all of t
he logistics support functions of the Winged Hussars, effective the beginning of this emergency.”

  “Sir, I…” she started to stammer.

  “This is the part where you say, ‘Yes sir,’ and be quiet.”

  “Yes, sir,” she said, feeling the huge weight settle again on her shoulders. “I’ll do the best I can,” she said, realizing how lame it sounded after saying effectively the same thing three times.

  Lech took it well and gave her a tiny smile. “I know,” he said. “Just keep doing what you’ve been doing. We’ll talk more after this.”

  The room fell quiet as Sansar Enkh and Nigel Shirazi entered with their XOs. Aleksandra felt the absence of Alexis Cromwell like she’d never felt any loss before. The two Horsemen took their seats at the front of the audience with an empty seat to the right of each. The last few captains came in, and the doors were closed.

  Lech cleared his throat, and all eyes turned to him.

  “It comes down to this,” he said, looking around the room, then stopped. “There are many empty seats here, and thousands more where brave mercs once lived and fought.” He held up a hand. “We mourn for our losses.”

  “Our fates are shared,” echoed through the room.

  Aleksandra felt hot tears rolling down her cheeks and tried to swallow her shame. Then she saw dozens of others crying as well. A few lonely sobs echoed in the space. Lech looked down at the deck, and every other head, Human and alien, did as well. In that moment of anguish and loss, they were one.

  After a moment, Lech looked back up. “First, I’d like to acknowledge Commander Aleksandra Kowalczy for doing an exceptional job preparing New Warsaw for what is coming.” There was a moment while everyone nodded to Aleksandra, who stood quietly, wiping her eyes. “Now we have to discuss what happened and what we are going to do about it. First off, as commander of the Winged Hussars, I have already issued an order that all Veetanho in New Warsaw be immediately detained.”