A Matter of Honor (Privateer Tales Book 9) (14 page)

Eliora knew they couldn't ignore the easy targets, but two standing alone didn't make sense. Ophie traveled in pods, rarely splitting up. She directed the archers with hand signals to take aim on their enemy, understanding dawning on her in a single terrifying moment of clarity. The brush behind them exploded as three Ophie charged into the open space. The patrol had walked into a trap.

Coral breathed out to release the tension just as the world exploded behind her.

"Trap!" Dael exclaimed. Coral's patrol partner dropped his bow and pulled his heavy long sword.

The Ophie that Coral had targeted turned his head swiftly, looking down the hill in her direction. It had heard Dael and was alerted.

It took all of her courage not to turn around to the sounds of battle behind her. If there were two ahead, it meant there would be three behind. The rest of the patrol should be able to handle them. If not, they'd have an even more difficult time when the bait pair also arrived.

She pulled the bow back and felt the comforting clunk as the off-centered gear of the compound bow dropped the pull tension to a comfortable fifteen kilograms. She sighted along the arrow with both eyes, calculating the drop that she knew would occur with the distance. It was a shot she'd made hundreds of times before.
Center mass, don't get cute, let the arrow do its job
, she thought, repeating the steps to a successful shot.

The roar of man and beast behind her was all but overwhelming. Coral concentrated, working to force the maelstrom from her mind, focusing on the bait Ophies jogging toward them. It was surprising how such a large being could move so gracefully over the rocks of the hillside. Their slow gait chewed up ground at a ridiculous pace. There were two of them and she knew she would have but one good shot. She would have to trust her patrol members to deal with the rest.

An eerie calm fell over Coral as she watched the beast charge. It was almost beautiful how it so easily bounded from one boulder to the next. She felt its rhythm and knew what she must do. She would wait for it to leave the ground and time her strike to catch the beast on its way down.

It was almost an afterthought when she released the arrow. Its short flight halted as it buried itself into the great beast. The repercussions were immediate as its next step faltered and the legs buckled, sending it crashing to the ground.

Only then did her vision clear enough to see its companion, short meters behind, raise its great club as it bounded over its fallen pod-mate. Coral's mind, reeling from the exhilaration of a clean kill, searched for a solution, a way to nock a second arrow. There was no hope, she couldn't possibly reload fast enough. Her only hope was the katana hanging at her side. She reached for it, dropping the bow, but instinctively knew there wasn't enough time. The great club was already crashing down toward her. She'd stood her ground too long, zeroing in on her kill.
That's for my husband
, she thought, dropping to the ground, a final hope that the Ophie had overcommitted its swing.

A bright flash of polished metal sparked as it deflected the great club. Dael's heavily muscled thigh pushed her out of the way as he stepped into the Ophie's swing. A great sound of metal on fire hardened wood punctuated the moment.

Coral gathered her wits. The Ophie had missed, but Dael had chosen to save her life instead of using his long sword to pierce the beast. He would very likely pay for his choice with his own.
My life for his
, she prayed. He would not leave his young wife if she had anything to say about it. She'd already talked with Dael about her children. If anything happened to her, he would see after them. If their fates were reversed, what could she give his wife? Nothing, except him.

She rolled back to her feet and drew her katana and in a single motion ran it across the back of the beast's heavy thigh. A greenish blood deposited on the blade and the beast howled, but it didn't even stumble. She knew better that to strike at a non-vulnerable region, but she'd had the effect she was looking for as the Ophie turned its attention away from Dael.

"That's right, you ugly pond sucker," she taunted. "I already killed your buddy. How 'bout you see if you can get a piece of me?"

She knew it didn't understand her words, but it certainly understood the taunt. In return, it opened its mouth and clicked its jaw in what Coral could only assume was defiance. Coral held her blade back in position for a strike. She reasoned the beast would expect her to attempt to parry as Dael had. She would not. Her plan was simple, she would drive the point of the katana deep into its chest as it drove its club downward. She reasoned there was at least a small chance that she'd kill it, without also being smashed.

Just before her katana point made contact with its chest, however, the strangest thing occurred. A green point erupted from its chest. She was already committed and drove her sword in with all her might. The club fell from the Ophie's large paw and it toppled over onto her. The green point, piercing her chest as it did.

"Coral… Coral…" Dael called. "Answer me. Are you okay?"

She tried to answer, but the weight of the corpse and the agony of what she realized was Dael's long sword wouldn't allow it.

She screamed as he rolled the body away from her, the tip of his sword plowing a furrow through her flesh. The pain was too much and she blacked out.

Eliora surveyed the scene of the battle. Popette and Melifan had been killed almost instantly when the Ophie had sprung their trap. They hadn't stood a chance. Coral, who was being tended to, was critically injured and there were other serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.

It was hard to see her trainees dead on the path. She knew their families and felt the familiar pain of loss. Part of her, understood, however. This was the way things were going to be. For the first time ever, in marshal combat with the Ophie, the humans had given better than they'd taken. It would bring hope to the people of Yishuv.

Her thoughts clouded as she considered the actual attack. The Ophie had sprung a trap, showing a level of planning they'd not seen before. The thought chilled her.

Deep
Space

Show Fist of Justice in relationship to Mastodon on tactical
.

"Anino, Tullas is already here, how much of a pounding can this beast take?"

"I told you before," he grumbled. "It's not a warship, although there is a combat bridge on deck three. We won't last more than ten minutes under direct fire. The combat bridge, however, is designed to take anything up to a direct missile strike."

"Then we should jump to fold-space," I said.

"Tullas will intercept us first. We'd never make it."

"Incoming hail,
Fist of Justice
," the ship's AI announced.

Wait one
, I said to the comm. "
Frak
, Anino, it's like you want to die," I said. "How could you miss this?"

"Everything's gone to crap, Hoffen. I'm sorry," he said.

"Attention, all hands," I said. "Tabby and I will man the combat bridge, the rest of the crew move to
Hotspur
."

"Cap. What's the play?" Marny asked.

"We've a full load of missiles on
Hotspur
and Ada is as fine a pilot as we have. Between the two ships we could have a chance," I said.

"Respecting your position, Cap, but Ada's a heavy ship gal and these turrets are heavier by twice than what we have on
Hotspur
, you need me on them," Marny said.

"No good, Marny, this bird is doomed," I said.

"Do the right thing, Liam" Nick said.

"Frak. Ada?"

"I'll make this fat girl dance, mark my words, Cap," she said.

Accept hail
, I said.

"Captain Hoffen, I hoped you would take my warning seriously. We find ourselves in a predicament," she said.

I looked at Tabby and twirled my finger in the air. It was a signal we shared for moving out. As we stood, Ada and Tabby embraced.

"Are you gloating?" I asked Tullas.

"No," she said. "I'm truly distraught. I couldn't have been clearer, could I? And yet, you kept going. Surely, Anino told you we could track your jumps."

"That doesn't explain what you're doing here," I said. "We should have had at least sixteen hours before you showed up."

"Perhaps I should have pretended to be more surprised at your arrival. You must think me a complete idiot. Anino pays off my agent for the comm crystal to
Cape of Good Hope
a month ago and he finishes his jump ship shortly thereafter. Where else would you go? Frankly, I was surprised it took you so long to get here," she said. "Let me guess, you took a quick stop along the way to lose me?"

Nick, Marny and Ada followed us onto the lift, the sound of soft music playing as we dropped to the third deck. To say the music gave the experience a surreal feeling was an understatement.

My goal was to keep Tullas talking as long as possible so we could get in position. "You know darn well where we stopped," I said. "What I don't understand is why you don't want to rescue your colleagues on
Cape of Good Hope
. Do you really have no conscience?"

"You don't have any idea what this is about. Anino must have quite the silver tongue to have duped you so easily. And I resent your assertion. The fact is, I do have a conscience. I just so happen to serve humanity's greater good."

Tabby and I hugged Marny, Nick and Ada as they exited the lift on their way to the combat bridge.

"By killing Captain LeGrande and her crew?" I asked. "Could you be more delusional?"

The doors closed and the soft music started again. I just knew it was going to become the sound track of all future nightmares.

"Hoffen, you and your friends are on the wrong side of this one," Tullas said patiently. "I've read your files and I know you do what you think is right. Your capture of that Red Houzi dreadnaught was brilliant. I'm prepared to make you an offer."

The lift opened to
Hotspur's
platform. The loading ramp was already down and Jonathan and Anino stood by as stevedore bots finished loading a handful of large crates.

"What's your deal?"

"You turn over Anino to me and I'll let you and your crew live," she said.

"What about LeGrande?"

"She's been preparing to die for months. Anino gave her hope, but she knows - as do all Belirand Captains - that help's not coming," she said.

"You'll let us live or you'll let us go?"

Tabby and I ran across the deck and I muted my microphone.

"Anino, Jonathan, we're launching ASAP. Get on board," I said.

"I'm not coming, I have to go back," Anino said. "Jonathan, you know what to do."

"Frak, Anino, this isn't the time to argue. Get on the frakking ship," I said.

"No. He must do this," Jonathan said as Anino sprinted off. "I will follow him."

Tullas continued, "You'll live in custody. We've a settlement for people like you. We'll put you there and you'll live productive lives. You can't be allowed to share what you've seen."

I unmuted. "I have your word on this?"

"You do."

"I need to run this past the crew. Give me twenty minutes," I said. I waggled my eyebrows at Tabby, proud of my negotiations.

"You have sixty seconds, Hoffen. Do you think this is the first time I've negotiated with someone in your position? Trust me, whatever feeble preparations you're making will be of no use. My crew is one hundred percent effective."

We'd reached the hold's forward pressure barrier. I looked aft and caught Jonathan's retreating form. For some reason they'd used their precious remaining minutes to load whatever was in these crates.

"I hope it was worth it," I said to no one, looking at the crates. I slapped the panel that would raise
Hotspur's
aft loading ramp.

"Of course it's been worth it. Eighty billion of your fellow humans sleep safely because of the sacrifices of me and my crew. You have forty-five seconds," Tullas said.

Tabby and I passed through the second pressure barrier onto the lower berth deck's lift. As beautiful as Anino's ship was, it was comforting to be home.

"Ada, are you in position?" I asked as Tabby and I sprinted across the bridge deck, up the short flight of stairs, landing in our cockpit seats.

"Roger that, Liam. Godspeed."

Mute Tullas
.

"Frak. I did that in the wrong order," I said.

"Stupid conversation, anyway," Tabby said. "I've got turrets, you've got missiles."

"Like I said, Mr. Hoffen. Your trickery is expected. Open fire, all batteries," Tullas said, and closed comm.

"Bitch," Tabby said, pulling on her combat harness.

The ship shuddered beneath us. I could only imagine the fire coming from the heavy cruiser.

Link combat data stream from Mastodon. Project combat theatre on forward holo. Engage stealth mode
.

I'd hoped to get
Hotspur
outside and into play before
Fist of Justice
began their attack. The two ships,
Fist
and
Mastodon
popped up on the forward holographic display.
Mastodon
was slowly arcing around on the
Fist
, which was tearing into her starboard side, a steady stream of blaster fire bridging the gap between them. For now, at least,
Mastodon
was holding.

I watched as priority targets popped up across the skin of
Fist of Justice
. Marny either knew or had anticipated we'd tap into the combat data streams and she was telling us to concentrate fire in those locations.

Identify path out of Mastodon. Prioritize stealth in relationship to Fist of Justice
.

A door at the back of the deck started opening. It was barely big enough for us to fit through, but the AI wouldn't have offered it if it wasn't.

Exit Mastodon with all possible speed and stealth
. I didn't trust myself not to biff it in such tight quarters.

Hotspur
lifted from the deck and glided backwards to the aft of
Mastodon's
hold. The ship shuddered slightly as we scraped the sides of the too small door.

"And I was about to call you a wuss," Tabby said.

I looked at her and smiled. "Pretty aggressive move for the AI," I said.

"I'd have gone faster," she said.

I grabbed the flight stick and pulled us around. We were on the protected side of
Mastodon
and I dipped the nose down and accelerated hard.

As soon as we cleared the keel of
Mastodon
, the brilliance of the blaster fire was momentarily blinding. I'd never seen such a display of fire in my life. It was hard to believe Mastodon would last for any period of time, given the terrifying display.

"They're never going to survive this," Tabby stated the obvious.

She was right. In just the short amount of time we'd taken sailing beneath the
Mastodon's
keel, the battle had changed dramatically. The
Fist of Justice
was tearing into
Mastodon's
side and had already holed her at the bilge level. The gunners of the Fist were working their way up to the lower starboard turret.

"I'm going combat burn," I said to Tabby. I'd originally thought to stealth our way to the
Fist's
aft and loose a couple of missiles into their engine compartment. The time was now or never.

"Do it now!" Tabby said.

Combat burn
, I instructed and pushed throttle stick forward. The engines of
Hotspur
switched from their low emission burn rate to a hundred fifteen percent of sustainable throughput. We were both pushed back in our seats. Anticipating the disruption, Tabby had already locked our turrets onto the same spot Marny was pouring fire into.

An idiom that's always haunted me was appropriate here. - be careful what you wish for, as you might just get it. I'd been hoping to take some of the pressure off
Mastodon
and I'd been successful. I don't know if it was our sudden appearance with engines and guns blazing or if
Fist
gunners just wanted a second target, but all of a sudden a stream of turret fire turned on us.

I peeled downward and at an oblique angle, moving directly at
Fist
. We would pass directly beneath them in less than a second. I'd have just one shot and I chose one of the missile locks
Hotspur
had dialed in. I loosed two of our four missiles and twisted away in the opposite direction.

Fist of Justice
launched missile counter measures, which amounted to a bunch of small objects exploding in an attempt to confuse an incoming missile. Our speed, trajectory and proximity were such that the counter measures had limited success. One of our missiles made it through.

Stealth mode
, I commanded excitedly at the moment of missile impact.

I tipped the stick over and rolled away. The maneuver was none too soon, as blaster fire attempted to find us on our last known vector, stitching a predictable search pattern.

"Line up for another pass?" Tabby asked.

As we turned, we got a fresh look at the two ships.

"I don't see what choice we have. They're shredding
Mastodon
. It's like the ship is made of paper," I said.

"I hope Anino and Jonathan got to the bridge," she said, shaking her head. "The lower decks are all open to space."

"That missile caused damage. We need to hit it again," I said.

"Careful, Liam, they'll be expecting it."

"If we don't open her up, we're done for," I said.

"Do it," she said. "I'm with you to the end."

I sighed. Not what I wanted to hear from my fiancé.

Combat burn
. The burn had been turned off when I'd switched us back to stealth mode.

The gunners of
Fist of Justice
all but ignored me, only one turret turning our way. The armor would hold against it. Something felt off, I shouldn't have such an easy approach. I released the missiles and at the last moment, I saw it. A brilliant cannoneer had predicted our maneuver and countered my attack. I swerved away, the concussion of my own missile's explosions violently rocking us. One of our interior bulkheads gave way to the pressure, collapsing and venting the bridge's atmo into space.

"Rear cannon!" I shouted and swiveled the aft of the ship to line up on the weakened structure.

Tabby immediately understood and fired the very powerful aft blaster cannon. "Frakking aye!" She crowed. A large chunk of armor tore away from
Fist of Justice
.