Interstellar War (The Pike Chronicles Book 5) (16 page)

“You can’t seem to get enough of this place, Sir,” said Security Chief Elvera Sanchez with a smile.

“Even the Captain has to stay in shape,” said Kevin, approaching Sanchez and the sparring mats. Just behind her two men were engaged in an intense match. “They’re impressive,” said Kevin, gesturing toward them.

“They’re badass,” said Sanchez, turning to watch.

“You have to be a badass to be a Seal,” said Kevin, suddenly feeling an urge to jump in.

“Weren’t you spec ops yourself?” said Sanchez.

“I was. Did a lot of orbital drops in the previous wars.”

“Orbital drops, eh? That’s badass too, Sir.”

“Yeah, nothing like watching yourself glow white hot as you enter an atmosphere without a ship.”

“Well I’m glad you never got yourself cooked,” said Sanchez, with an alluring smile.

Kevin had been growing increasingly attracted to Sanchez, and now wondered if she felt the same.
Don’t be a damn fool
, he thought. Even if she was attracted to him, there was no way anything could come of it. Not while he was her CO. He needed to be more disciplined. But as he looked at her, he knew that it would not be easy. There was an obvious chemistry between them, and the fact that she seemed to notice it made matters worse.

“Were the scans successful?” she asked, making Kevin thankful she had changed the subject.

“Yes. There’s a lot of Kemmar ships in the system, but mostly around the main planet. The jump gate is further out, and undefended, as the Kemmar don’t know it exists. There are a few ships on patrol, but nothing we can’t handle.”

“Sounds like a cakewalk.”

“We’ll see. It all depends on the Diakans.”

“I can’t say that I like the sound of that.”

“Me neither. Not much we can do about it, though.”

The match ended between the two Seals, giving Kevin an opportunity to rid himself of some tension. “How about letting your CO have a round?” said Kevin.

One Seal smiled. Kevin recognized him as Sergeant Jones. “Absolutely, Sir. As long as you don’t hold it against me.”

“There are no ranks on the mats. You know that, Sergeant.”

“I do. And I’m glad you feel that way, Sir.”

“I do,” said Kevin, stepping onto the mats approaching Jones. He had changed into a sparring suit before entering the training room. “Don’t take it easy on me, Sergeant.”

“Oh, I won’t, Sir. You’ve got my word on that.”

“Good man,” said Kevin, smirking. He looked back at Sanchez, “Call it Chief.”

“You got it, Sir. Take your corners.”

The two men backed up to opposite corners of the mat.

“Ready?”

Kevin and Jones nodded.

“Begin!”

Jones bolted from his corner, choosing to take the fight to Kevin, rather than play defense. Kevin sidestepped, but Jones stayed with him. Once in striking range, Jones launched a brutal front kick for Kevin’s abdomen. Slapping the leg away, Kevin stepped in, countering with a flurry of punches. Not one connected. Jones slipped, bobbed, and weaved, leaving only air for Kevin’s fists.

The two men circled each other, timing their next attack. Jones moved first again. He faked high, and shot for Kevin’s legs, trying to take the big man down. Kevin kicked his legs back in defense, and seized Jones’s head, trying to secure a choke. The Sergeant pulled free, and was back on his feet circling Kevin again. Kevin moved sideways, cutting off the ring and keeping Jones from getting behind him. The Sergeant’s skill was impressive. So much so that Kevin thought he might even give Henderson a run for his money.

Jones struck again with his feet. Kevin noted that the Sergeant liked to hit first. A good quality. Being aggressive often paid off. But you didn’t want to be predictable. Then again, if you had the Sergeant’s level of skill, and speed, you could probably get away with it. Jones kept coming, firing multiple kicks at Kevin, who took several steps back so he could deflect the attacks. Each kick had bone shattering power, leaving Kevin grateful for the protection the sparring suit provided.

That was a reality few appreciated. A guy like Jones didn’t care if you blocked his kicks, because whatever his leg hit usually broke. The sparring suit hid that reality, protecting the wearer from injury. But in real combat, if a guy like Jones landed a kick, you were done. Even Kevin’s powerful, conditioned arms might not be able to withstand the force. Kevin didn’t want to find out. He also didn’t like bad habits, so he chose to deflect a strike, rather than block it. For Kevin, in hand to hand combat blocking was a last resort.

The sparring suits could be configured to mimic injury under certain pre-configured levels of force. The sparring suit in such a case might immobilize your arm, if there was enough force in the kick you blocked. These settings hadn’t been set for Kevin and Jones, allowing for more freedom in the match. Both men knew that if either of them connected in real combat, that the fight would be over. This was just training, after all.

Jones tried for another takedown, grappling with Kevin and trying to kick out his legs. Kevin felt the Sergeant’s energy, and countered fluidly, his body sensing what his opponent was going to do. They stayed in close, pushing and pulling, fighting for just a slight advantage. Kevin was in the zone. He kept time with the rhythm of the match, countered each move, kept his balance while Jones tried to take it. They seemed evenly matched, until Jones went all in.

Going for yet another takedown, Jones committed too much energy to his attack, and Kevin didn’t miss the opportunity. With a twist of his body, and a tug of Jones’s arm, Kevin threw the Sergeant onto the mat. Jones tried to roll out of the fall, but Kevin still had his arm, preventing the Sergeant’s escape. Kevin dropped into an arm bar, going for the tap out. Jones tried to get out of the hold, but Kevin’s grip was a vice. Jones tried to stand, using sheer strength against perfect technique. Kevin applied more pressure, pushing about as hard as he could against the elbow joint, expecting to hear the sound of breaking bone and cartilage any second.

The suit helped prevent the tap out, however, and against the odds, Jones made it to his feet. Now Kevin faced the unpleasant reality of Jones’s free fist crashing down from above. As Jones leaned forward to connect, Kevin kicked his legs up with as much force as he could, sending Jones reeling head first toward the floor.

Kevin rolled backward, staying with the Sergeant, and landed on top of the man’s chest. Now it was Kevin’s turn, and his heavy fists crashed down relentlessly. To his credit, Jones stopped many of the strikes, but his position was too vulnerable and Kevin’s fists inevitably landed. After repeated strikes, and several unsuccessful attempts by the Sergeant to escape, the match was over.

The two men stood up and shook hands. “Good match, Sergeant. You’re a damn good fighter,” said Kevin.

“Thanks, Captain, but I do want a rematch,” said Jones.

Kevin smiled. “Absolutely.”

“What can I do for you, Captain St. Clair,” said the grizzled General Calledonius, through Kevin’s comm display.

“I wanted to speak to you about the jump system retrofits, General. I was hoping we would have more ships online by now,” said Kevin, seated at his desk in his ready room.

“We are running into compatibility issues with some of our ships,” said Calledonius with a frown.

“Really? We didn’t have these problems when we retrofitted the Freedom and the Reiver.”

“Those ships were a different design, Captain. They were more modern than the rest of our fleet. As were the first batch we just finished retrofitting. The rest of our fleet is older, less flexible.”

“Are you saying you can’t get the jump systems installed?”

“No, we can. But they require extensive modifications which in return requires much more time.”

“General, we are in the middle of an interstellar war. We need to get that gate open as soon as possible.”

“And I’ve got a Kemmar invasion force breathing down my neck. If I could make it happen faster, I would.”

“I guess we’ll just have to make do with what we have. How soon can your jump ships be ready to get underway?”

“Yes, about that, Captain. I can’t let you take all our jump ships.”

“What are you talking about, General?” Kevin didn’t like where this conversation was going. What kind of game was Calledonius playing?

“What if the Kemmar launch an invasion while you are in the Amboss system?” said Calledonius. “How will we defend New Byzantium?”

“With your fleet. How else?”

“Captain, the Kemmar can easily field a larger force than we can. If they invade, we’re finished. But if we keep a few jump ships on hand, we may be able to fight them off.”

“General, your best hope for survival is an allied fleet pouring through the jump gate, not a few jump ships.”

“And if you fail in your mission? Then what? There’ll be no jump gate, and no fleet to save us. We’ll be left defenseless. I can’t allow that.”

“Do you have any idea what is at stake here, General? If you think the Kemmar are a threat, wait until you see the Juttari.”

“I don’t see any Juttari around. Do you?”

“Oh they’re coming, General. Make no mistake. A handful of jump ships are not going to help you when they show up.”

“Damn it, Captain. I can’t just sit here cowering in fear of some alien bogeyman. There is only one real threat in this region of space, and that is the Kemmar. I can only act based on that information.”

“So how many ships are you giving us?”

“We’ve retrofitted eight ships. I’ll let you take half of them.”

“Half? Four ships? You can’t be serious.”

“I’m sorry, Captain, but the defense of New Byzantium has to be my number one priority.”

Kevin could see he was getting nowhere with the General. “We’ll have to continue this discussion later, General. I have other duties to attend to.”

“As you wish. Calledonius out,” said the General, and vanished from Kevin’s screen.

Kevin opened a comm with Prime Minister Sallas. The original agreement was with Sallas, after all, not Calledonius. He didn’t like going over the old General’s head, but the man’s stubbornness left him with few options. Seconds later Sallas appeared on Kevin’s screen.

“Hello, Captain St. Clair,” said Sallas.

“Greetings, Prime Minister.”

“How are preparations coming along?”

“Not good, Sir. I just had a conversation with General Calledonius, and he informed me that there are problems with the retrofits. It seems most of the ships in the fleet are an older design and require extensive modifications for the retrofit to work.”

“Yes, General Calledonius did mention that. It is quite unfortunate.”

“Did he also mention that he is only contributing four ships to our mission?”

“Yes, it is too bad we couldn’t contribute more.”

“Prime Minister, I thought we had an agreement.”

“We do, Captain. We agreed that I would ally New Byzantium with Admiral Pike’s fleet, and accept his leadership in the greater cause of uniting humanity. That we would help you on your mission was implied, but we never specified how many ships we would contribute. General Calledonius is giving you half our jump ships. I would say that is rather generous.”

“It’s just four ships.”

“True, and we are left with just four jump ships as well. But, if the Kemmar invade while you are gone, those four ships could make all the difference. Did you forget how your handful of jump ships helped us defeat the corporate fleet? Or how just one jump ship helped us defeat the junta? You know better than anyone how powerful this technology is.”

Kevin cursed under his breath. He wasn’t going to get anywhere with the Prime Minister either.

“The addition of those four ships will give you ten jump ships, Captain. I have no doubt you’ll be successful.”

“What if I’m not? What if this whole mission fails because you didn’t commit to it?”

“Captain, you always struck me as a very positive person. Your mission will not fail. I am sure of it.”

Kevin held his breath, keeping his temper in check before he said something he would regret. Sallas was sure the mission wouldn’t fail? What did he base that opinion on? Sallas was quickly starting to look like another politician spewing bullshit about things he didn’t understand. “Let’s hope for both our sakes that you are right, Prime Minister.”

Frustrated with the brick wall he had encountered, Kevin was about to terminate the communication link when an idea hit him. “Prime Minister, you said you can only give us four jump ships, but what about regular, non-jump ships?”

“What are you thinking, Captain?”

Kevin smiled. “We can use the jump systems to piggy back non-jump ships into the Amboss system with us. They might not have the versatility of a jump ship, but the added firepower will be helpful.”

Sallas smiled. “A compromise. How political of you, Captain. I might be able to help you with this. Leave the General to me.”