The Landfall Campaign (The Nameless War) (54 page)

“
No communications from either of the transports, Skipper,
”
added the coms officer.
“
I guess we don
’
t rate an acknowledgement,
”
he added.

Vincent smiled slightly. Told to expect an escort, neither of the civilian skippers had been particularly impressed by
Deceiver
. Still, a lack of courtesy meant less chance of anything being let slip across the radio waves.

“
Anything from Hawkings or Commander Willis, beacons or whatever?
”

“
No sir
…
hmm
…”

“
What
’
s warranting the hmm?
”
Vincent asked.

The coms officer paused listening to his earpiece.

“
Sir, we have an automated message on a repeating loop. It
’
s ordering all civilian transports in the system to make for Hawkings or the nearest dockyard on the authority of Dryad Station commanding officer, Commander Faith Willis. No other information
’
s included but there
’
s a lot of chatter on the commercial bands.
”

Vincent made no immediate reply as he processed the information. There weren
’
t that many scenarios that would warrant a system wide freeze but it sounded like that was exactly what Faith had done. So what should he do? He could turn, head directly for Hawkings and rendezvous with the Geriatrics. He opened his mouth to give the order then closed it again. If there was someone out there quietly watching, that might attract attention and if some kind of action was in the offing,
Deceiver
was unfortunately the wrong kind of ship for a stand-up fight. If he made for the orbital facilities over Dryad Five, he could get in touch with Faith. If a hostile force turned up,
Deceiver
could look meek and mild until they came into range.

“
Definitely nothing on radar?
”

“
No sir.
”

“
Okay,
”
Vincent said half to himself.
“
Keep us on our course. Open up gun crews and stand down from combat stations. Navigation, how long to reach Valance Platform?
”

“
Err
…
figure fourteen hours at current acceleration levels.
”

“
And line of sight to Hawking Base?
”

“
Ninety minutes.
”

“
Sir. Do you want me to send a request for instructions as soon as we have a line of sight?
”
asked the coms officer.

“
No,
”
Vincent replied with a shake of his head as he stood up.
“
It can wait until we reach Valance and can put in a tight beam. I don
’
t want anyone wondering why a bulk transport is chattering with Hawkings. Officer of the Watch, you have the bridge. I
’
ll be back up for docking.
”

10.23 Hrs Dryad time

Three hours was enough time to break the back of the paperwork. The two transfer requests were about the last of it. One man was seeking a move to allow for a chance of further promotion, the other wasn
’
t finding life on
Deceiver
to his taste. The first man had spent enough time in-grade and had the capability to be a petty officer. It would be a pity to lose him but Vincent wouldn
’
t begrudge a man ambition. The second was going to be disappointed. That he found the posting boring was never going to cut it. Hitting the send icon he opened the next set of files, just as the main alarm went off.

Vincent was up, out of his chair, through the hatch and halfway to the bridge without conscious thought kicking in.

“
Report!
”
he shouted as he rushed onto the bridge.

“
Two Rizr protected cruisers have just jumped in!
”
shouted back the officer of the watch.
“
Bearing one, nine, one dash one, seven, eight, range three quarters of a light second, that
’
s thirty thousand kilometres beyond the Red Line.
”

Vincent stared at the main holo as he struggled into his survival suit.
Deceiver
along with
Weser
and
Altair
had crossed the Red Line about ninety minutes earlier, putting them well inside Dryad Five
’
s Mass Shadow. The two transports were on a slowly diverging course, putting them, respectively seven and nine thousand kilometres away. When
Deceiver
was converted into a Q-ship they
’
d given her a military grade bridge display, so Vincent didn
’
t need a report to see
Altair
make a sudden course change as she angled back towards
Deceiver
.
Weser
didn
’
t seem to have yet noticed the new arrivals though.

“
Bridge, Coms. Transmission from
Altair
.
”

“
Jesus! Tell me that
’
s not a radio transmission!
”
Vincent shouted. This was already a bad match-up and if the bloody civvies had blown their cover then they might as well blow their own reactor!

“
Negative Skipper. It
’
s a laser hook up.
”

“
Thank God. Alright, Coms, put him up.
”
On Vincent
’
s screen the
Altair
’
s
skipper appeared.

“
Two warships have just arrived!
”
the man blurted out as soon as he appeared.

“
We
’
ve seen them Captain.
”

“
Well, what are you going to do about it!
”
Vincent almost laughed in his face. What did the man expect him to do? Magic them away?

“
I
’
m going to do what I can. Put your ship on hard burn. If I need anything from you I
’
ll be in contact.
”
Vincent cut the connection without waiting for the man to reply.
“
Coms, contact
Weser
. Tell them to go full burn and keep quiet. Tactical, what do you have for me?
”

“
Engine profiles make them a pair of protected cruisers, classification Baker Class. Intelligence has them down as forty years old, oldest class they have in service, with only three still on strength,
”
called back his tactical officer.
“
Putting it on your screen now sir.
”

Vincent immediately looked to the file. Bakers
–
their human designation
–
certainly weren
’
t the most impressive examples of Rizr engineering. Four twelve-centimetre lasers in turrets and two seventeen-centimetre lasers in fixed mounts on each broadside, giving them just enough gun armament to really annoy a modern human cruiser. The Rizr had tried to beef them up with missiles mounted on external racks, to give them a single heavy throw. Those missiles were solid fuelled, slow, short ranged and fairly stupid. Still quantity was a quality all of its own. Their acceleration was equally uninspiring, better than a loaded transport but with her upgraded machinery
Deceiver
had only marginally lower acceleration. Vincent chewed on his lower lip as he looked from the ship profile on his screen to the main holo. Around him reports flowed to the bridge as each section reported itself ready.

“
Skipper, all sections report themselves ready for action.
”

Vincent nodded then shook his head slightly. One Baker they could take. It would hurt badly if they had to close through weapons fire, but those little lasers wouldn
’
t be able to inflict real structural damage. Two was a totally different ballgame however.

“
Coms, transmit a general distress signal under the name
Saturn Conveyor
.
”
This was the name he
’
d agreed weeks ago with Faith that would be the signal that Deceived badly needed help. The order left him feeling a slight sense of déjà vu as it looked like he was going to need Faith to ride to the rescue again. Hopefully he
’
d have more of a ship left this time.

“
This is
Saturn Conveyor
on Dryad Five. Beta Approach track, Raider, Raider, Raider, I say again Raider, Raider, Raider, we have two Riz
…
argh! Jesus!
”

Vincent spun round at the exclamation. His coms officer was rubbing his ear. He looked up toward Vincent.

“
Skipper, they just jammed the channels. All of them. Got the basics away but that
’
s all.
”

“
That
’
s probably enough,
”
Vincent replied before turning back toward the holo. The situation might actually work to their favour. The Bakers had already blown their interception. They were a long way behind and a stern chase was always a long chase. They
’
d have to come inside Dryad Five
’
s Mass Shadow.
Deceiver
’
s
distress signal would take in the region of eighty minutes to reach Hawkings. If the two Bakers chased the three of them beyond the Red Line, then if Faithie jumped in behind them, their escape route might take them past
Deceiver
. If that happened it could turn out to be a very good day.

“
Helm, match
Altair
’
s
acceleration,
”
said Vincent as sat himself down.
“
Let
’
s see how this plays out.
”

___________________

11.51 Hrs Dryad time

“
Well?
”
Willis asked without preamble as she came onto
Hood’s
day bridge. 

“
Deceiver
has called in a raider as
Saturn Conveyor
,
”
Hood’s
coms officer reported quickly,
“
She
’
s on the Beta approach track for Dryad Five and that
’
s as much as we know directly.
“
We
’
ve received a laser transmission from the Valance Platform, which reports that a number of Rizr ships have jumped in and are jamming all radio transmissions.
”

“
A number? Exactly how many?
”

“
That
’
s all we have Ma
’
am. No tactical information provided.
”

Damn them
, Willis thought savagely. An eighty-minute transmission time each way, asking for clarification would take more than two and a half hours! An opportunity to give them useful intelligence and some idiot had pissed it away.

“
Skipper,
”
called out one of the communication ratings.
“
Audio signal from Hawkings. It
’
s the Admiral.
”

“
Put it through to me,
”
Willis ordered.
“
Admiral, have you received the signal from
Deceiver
?
”

“
Yes Commander, I have,
”
Kinnear
’
s voice came across the radio. There was a lot of static on the connection but Willis wondered whether she could hear some nervousness in his voice.
“
Commander, our passive sensors can see
Deceiver
and the transports she arrived with, but the angle means we can
’
t see the enemy. But analysis say that the jamming signal is coming from at least two separate transmitters.
”