The Bright Black Sea (98 page)

'Oh yes. That will pose no problem. Just fire as you
normally would – I can work around your actions.'

'Good. Here's how I see things. There's no doubt what
these ships want and what we can expect from them. I've no
intention of negotiating with anything other than missiles. Their
hands are tied since they need the cargo undamaged. Tern tells me
that we can expect additional missile batteries hidden in their
cargo holds of those three large tramps. Those should be unmanned,
so I'd appreciate it if you can see your way clear to destroying
them as well as their regular missile launch tubes. I can take what
action is necessary after we've defanged them.'

'I can deal with both missile batteries. As you say,
any missile battery in the hold will be automatic and I will
destroy them with live missiles. I'll use inert ones to batter the
standard missile launch tubes and engine rooms, where any
causalities could be considered accidental. I've some dealing with
pirates back in my day, and there's little is to be gained by
negotiations with anything other than missiles. My programing
prioritizes defending my owners, and while I can't blow the pirates
to atoms, I can neutralize their threat even if doing so
theoretically puts humans at risk.'

'Excellent. Do you think we need to deploy the skip
fighter?'

'It'll only get in my way.'

'Right. That's what I was thinking. We'll save it if
things don't go as planned.'

'Everything is in order. I don't anticipate things
not going as planned...'

'Better safe than sorry, though,' I said, but thought
best not mention the Despar Reef...

It ignored me. '...I'll use the drones' sensors to
fine tune my responses and their missiles to attack from multiple
angles, so I anticipate any action to be short and as decisive as
you care to make it. And if I might be so bold, Captain, it would
be best if you fired first to make it decisive. I can't, my
programing limits that, but my programing doesn't limit me to
seeing the need for it to be done, sir.'

I nodded, grimly. 'I appreciate that Botts. I'm Unity
Standard enough not to want to do it, but I've seen too much of the
drifts not to know what's best to do. Your orders are to eliminate
their missile batteries as quickly as possible, I'll take it from
there. I'll initiate the broadside as soon as they commit
themselves to action, and you can reply to their response. Good
shooting, Botts.'

They took their time – the three most dangerous ships
anyway. They remained silent and carefully positioned themselves to
bracket us from three sides. The rest of the drift hawks hung back,
content to watch the show. We were deep in the drifts, near nowhere
at all, so they had plenty of time to make their move and had
apparently decided to use some of it to unnerve and wear us down
and put the rest of the hawks a'stern. Botts didn't wear down, and
while I worried, I also knew that the gold would have to be paid
for sooner or later, so I didn't let the delay bother me – too
much. We kept accelerating at mark 7.5 and by day five, we'd only
the three Falcon Rock ships to contend with. It seemed that the
Falcon Rock hawks weren't going to share the gold, so they held off
any action until they had the field to themselves.

It was late in that fifth day when they decided to
make their play. Our advanced sensors on the drones alerted us to
subtle changes in our shadows as they began to close in. I was
napping in my quarters when word reached me. Rafe relayed the
detailed sensor data from the drones showing that the ships had
slightly altered their appearance – they were now showing a bump in
their forward cargo holds, no doubt a weapons turret, and they were
now out-accelerating us to close.

'I have the targets locked in, Captain,' said Botts
via the com link speaker in my ear as I stared at the screen on the
bulkhead. 'With our first volley I'll target the weapon turrets
with our main batteries and use the drones to try and disable their
standard missile batteries. I'll follow up as needed to eliminate
any remaining launch tubes. After that you can deal with them as
you want.'

'If we can disable their armaments, I'll give them
time to take to their boats, but I intend to destroy the ships no
matter what.'

'I will alert you if things don't go as planned on my
part,' said Botts.

'And how likely is that?' I asked suddenly
wearily.

'A mere reflection that we live in a quantum
universe, Captain, where the unexpected can happen. I anticipate no
such quantum event.'

'Right. Launch as soon as I fire my initial volley,
and don't cease until you've eliminated their offensive
capabilities. I'll stay out of your way until you do.'

'Will do, sir,' it replied.

I walked on to the bridge. 'Action stations, space
suits everyone. Evacuate and seal the engine room when everyone is
clear. Get the hounds and cats into their boxes. We'll be in action
within 30 minutes.'

'Should Pax take out the skip fighter?' Linnor
asked.

'Let's hold off on that for now,' I replied. A
substitute engine had been installed – it was only half as
powerful, making the fighter less than half as effective. 'I
believe we can deal with the situation.'

She gave me a questioning look, but said nothing
more. It was my ship.

'Steady as she goes, Dici,' I said as I looked over
the plot. 'We'll rely on our missiles rather than maneuvers for
defense.'

'Steady as she goes,' he repeated, with a tense grin
– he'd heard our tales of the Boscone Reef, but not seen Botts in
action.

Rafe was calmly manning the lookout station and Lilm
at the bridge's engineer's station. Neither of them looked the
least alarmed.

'Rafe ,will you take the weapons station? M'Ley will
fill in for you at lookout,' I said. Old Rafe was going to play the
part of my ace weapons officer. I'm pretty sure he could actually
play the part, though this time he'd be playacting.

A very serious Captain Linnor was dividing her
attention between the viewscreens and the crew who were slowly
assembling on the bridge. I don't think she could quite understand
the casualness of the crew. She gave me a look.

'We've been here before, Captain,' I said. 'Rafe's a
missile-wizard.'

She nodded, and looked back at the viewpanel.

I took my place at the auxiliary com station next to
Rafe who was playing with the missile launch controls while we
waited for the drift hawks to get in range.

And we waited. They were still playing the pressure
game.

'They're in range now, Captain,' said Botts in my com
link ear speaker.

'Take action on my order to launch,' I said quietly
to Rafe, and Botts softly via my com link.

'Understood, Captain,' it replied.

'Aye, Willy,' Rafe said, with a wink.

My com screen came to life with an incoming signal. I
activated it and watched a face appear on the screen before me. A
lean man smiled from the captain's chair on the bridge of one of
the three ships.

'Greetings Captain Wilcrofter,' he began. 'I trust
that by now you realize your position is hopeless. We have
overwhelming force. Now, we can do this the easy way or we can do
this the hard...'

'Launch,' I said, Rafe struck his launch keys sending
out only three missiles to draw their first response. As soon as
their response launched, Botts launched missiles from the two armed
drones to drawing their second wave of anti-missile missiles away
from his main attack. The ship shuttered as Botts launched three
full salvoes from both sides of the ship as fast as the missiles
loaded, and three more as the targeting sensors latched back on to
their targets through the turmoil of exploding missiles in the
space around us. We'd caught them off guard – in both timing and
the massiveness of our attack – so their only response was an
automatic defensive, which our rapid and full salvos quickly
overpowered, giving them no opportunity to launch an offensive
strike of their own, while they still had the ability.

As I watched the com screen, the hard smiling face on
my screen gasped in surprise and disappeared in static as the
missiles – ours and theirs automatically fired anti-missile
missiles met in a series of brilliant explosions that disrupted
radio contact. Their anti-missiles, however, failed to completely
counter our massive launch from three sources and within seconds,
all three of the drift hawks' forward weapons turrets were blown
apart in shearing flashes of flame and debris. Botts fired two more
salvoes of inert missiles aimed at smashing the drift hawks' main
missile tubes and engine rooms. These launches were met with only
sporadic and ineffective anti-missile fire, so most of our missiles
reached their target. As our visual sensors stabilized with the
fading explosions, I could see all the banks of the drift hawks'
missile launch tubes where battered and their engine room hulls
smashed in and holed.

'Well done,' I said quietly.

'Thank you, sir,' it replied.

Rafe grinned and exclaimed. 'Why it was nothing at
all, Skipper. I could've done it my sleep.'

I took a deep breath and felt my gut untwisting – a
little. There was, however, still work to be done.

With the end of the action, the disrupted radio
connection came back on line and I could hear the smiling pirate
brawling angry orders amongst shouts, screaming alarms and the
groaning of his battered ship. He wasn't seen, no doubt knocked
about when our missiles tore into his ship. I watched shadows and
crew moving about, silencing the alarms as pieces of the ship
floated about. After several minutes, the captain, showing some
wear and tear, climbed back into his chair and looked around
angrily.

'You've twenty minutes to abandon your ship before I
send in the big ones. That goes for all the other ships as well,' I
said – startling him – he'd forgotten the link was still live. 'I'm
Unity Standard enough to give you time to take to your boats, but
I've been in the drifts long enough to know how affairs like this
are settled. I'm going to destroy your ships, abandoned or not, in
twenty minutes.'

The Falcon Rock captain cursed, raged, and threatened
fluently for half a minute before cutting the connection. I'd sent
regular and laser broadcasts of my warning to all of the ships, and
updated the broadcast every minute, counting down the minutes. I'd
destroy the ships – the drifts would be a better place without
them, and well, dead men can extract no revenge. And likely the
drifts would be a better place without them, too.

At the thirteen minutes count, two boats left one of
the ships and a minute later, the second ship followed suit. The
screen came alive again and I was facing the pirate chief once
more, standing on his bridge.

'I've no intention of abandoning my ship. And I have
a hostage, Lady Villa, taken off the Chartered Trading Company ship
Zephyr not two months ago. She'll die if I must,' he growled and
pulled a pretty woman roughly into view.

'Please Captain, spare me!' she pleaded, wildly.

'Better death than dishonor, m'lady,' I said gravely,
adding. 'You've got seven minutes to get Lady Villa, your crew and
yourself to your boats before I launch my final volley. You haven't
time to waste on theatrics.' I cut the connection.

'Captain?' said Linnor, giving me a somewhat startled
look.

'It's just an act. No doubt one of the crew. No CTC
ship would be captured by a drift hawk like him.'

'You can't be sure,' she replied.

'Sure enough for the drifts,' I replied and turned to
my screen. I was sure, sure enough not to give it a second thought.
I was not anxious to kill even the pirates, but I would, and Lady
Villa with them, if necessary.

As soon as the boats of the first abandoned ship were
far enough off to be safe, I had Rafe target it, and I launched a
big anti-meteor missile at it. It disappeared in a blinding flash.
I waited another minute, for effect, and repeated the performance
against the other ship. At the twenty minute mark the third ship
still had not taken to their boats. I sighed, told Rafe to cue up
two inert missiles and launched them at the pirate chief's ship.
The ship managed to launch several anti-missiles from its far-side
missile battery, destroying one of mine, but the other hit home,
punching another hole in the engine room.

I opened the com channel again. 'Final warning. The
next one will be big and alive. I'll give you three more minutes to
abandon ship before I fire, but that's my limit. I don't have a
choice now. I've destroyed the other ships and it wouldn't be fair
to spare yours. Plus, I can't afford to look like I was just
bluffing. I don't want anyone getting the idea that they can get
out with their lives and their ship.'

He didn't reply, but his boats left a minute later,
and I blew the ship to atoms as soon as they were far enough away.
There'd be little more than debris clouds for the trailing drift
hawks and tugs to salvage, unless they wanted to salvage the half a
dozen ships' boats we left behind. I'd imagine there was some
credits in that.

It had been all very businesslike. I've become a
drifteer, or as close to one as someone raised in the Unity could
become.

I haven't been told our planet of call and our course
is shrouded in secrecy, but that's the way we operate now. This is
my last voyage as captain, and it's only a courtesy – I just follow
the orders I'm given. The engines are silent, the ship is silent.
Everyone but me is in their sleeper-pods. Except Botts. It doesn't
sleep. I'm not ready for sleep just yet. It'll all be different
when I wake up again. Assuming I do. So I think I'll use this time
to bring my memoir up to date.