Major (The United Federation Marine Corps Book 5) (4 page)

CS CT-83

Chapter  6

Ryck looked around the cramped bridge of the
CT-83
, technically a naval capital ship, but in reality, an old cargo hauler.  He was trying to control his disappointment that he was not on the
Path of Glory
with CAPT Franks and most of the other observers in the heart of the action.  When CAPT Franks had told him he’d be in the
CT-83
, he’d initially bristled, and he almost broke his vow of never saying “Do you know who I am?” before he could gain control of himself.  

The captain didn’t quite apologize
—
his comment about Ryck being too much of a political hot potato to risk his participation in combat was probably as close as he would get to that.  But as he joined Bill Csonka and an enlisted naval tech from the Brotherhood whose name he hadn’t caught as the three were shuttled over to the
CT-83
, he had to admit he understood the decision.  Unless the whole O’Brian Park incident was an elaborate play by the Confeds, some in the government wanted him gone enough to attempt to have him killed, and merely having him present in combat aboard a Confed vessel could complicate matters.  At least the captain had not sent him back to New Mumbai with Hans and the Liberty Alliance personnel.  The
CT-83
wasn’t much, but he could monitor the situation from her.

The ship’s CO, LCDR Chris Nuzzi, sat in her captain’s chair, monitoring the command circuit which she had coming over the externals.  She seemed anxious, possibly even agitated, and Ryck got the feeling that she was a kindred spirit and rather pissed about being shunted aside as a blocking force while the other two ships moved into the fight.

Ryck took a moment to look at Commander Nuzzi.  She and Ryck were the same rank, but she was the sole authority over the ship and the 92 sailors in her crew.  Ryck had commanded more Marines in combat, but he’d never matched the absolute authority of a ship’s commanding officer.  During his training in Brussels, Ryck had been surprised to learn that not only did women serve in the Confed Army, Navy, and System Guard, but they could also command.  But this was the first time he’d actually met a female commander. 

There was something about her, though, a sense of purpose, that Ryck felt he picked up from her that was the same he’d felt from other commanders in the Federation.  That should not have surprised Ryck, he knew.  To get command of any ship, even an old cargo hauler, while just a lieutenant commander, was a pretty strong indication that she was right at the top of her year group.

“Rather a let-down, huh?” Bill asked quietly as the two observers stood in the back of the bridge.

“You’ve got that right.  A ‘blocking force?’  With one ship?” Ryck whispered back.

The two offensive ships, the
Path of Glory
and the
Hanson Lake
, were the point of main effort.  With a cohort-plus of assault soldiers, both ships were going to stand off the
Sisyphus
and provide cover as the assault force penetrated the research station and took out the SOG.  The general feeling was that there were fewer than 20 pirates onboard, and the pirates wouldn’t be thinking that the Confeds would risk military action that could damage the station or threaten the crew.

What they undoubtedly didn’t realize was that the Confeds still had some degree of control over the station, and could shut down the power as well as open the ports, all from the
Path of Glory’s
CIC.   By moving in quickly while cloaked and sending a lightning strike of a deca
[3]
of Exploratores, the Confed’s version of the Federation Navy’s SEALS, immediately followed by the cohort, the Confeds hoped to quickly root out the SOG pirates.

The
CT-83,
with only limited weaponry, was sent to a position some 750,000 klicks inward on along the X-Y-Z axis, the direction the Confed AIs determined would be the most likely avenue of retreat should the SOG make a break for it. 

Space was big, though, and Ryck thought that even if the SOG managed to escape the two Confed ships, the chance that they would just happen to retreat into their direction was pretty remote.  Ryck was sure that the orders to the
CT-83
were issued merely to keep the poorly-armed supply ship out of harm’s way.

Instead of the 3D holo display favored by Federation ships, the Confeds used flat screens to monitor the fight.  The display could be rotated in any direction, and while the flat screen took up far less space in the bridge, Ryck thought it was not as good as the holos in detailing the battle space.

Still, with only the three Confed ships and the research station, it was easy to follow along as the three ships slipped into position.  They were heavily cloaked, but no one exactly knew what abilities the SOG had in piercing through their cloaking measures.  Ryck was alert for any indication that the SOG on the
Sisyphus
had acquired the two Confed ships.  He knew CAPT Franks and just about everyone else would be doing the same thing, but at least it gave him a sense of purpose.

Time dragged on as Ryck watched.  When he was going into combat, there was the sense of excitement and nerves that swept through him, and his mind would race with everything he had to do in response to what might happen.  This time, though, he was merely an observer, and it seemed as if time was barely creeping along.

At last, the ships were in position, and the Exploratores launched, followed by the Army cohort.  Ryck was hoping that there would be a feed from one of the Exploratores, but if there was, it was not being released to the
CT-83
.  The reports started coming in, however, as the Exploratores entered the auxiliary port.  They were met almost immediately by opposition, but without the rendering of the battle space that Federation AIs created, it was difficult to know just what was happening.

The bridge of the
CT-83
got quiet as everyone stopped to listen.  Ryck stole a glance at the CO, who sat in her command chair, chewing on one of her fingernails.  She looked like a tiger, though, coiled and ready to jump.

The cohort followed the Exploratores, entering through the main docking bay as well as the auxiliary port.  More resistance was reported as the
Hanson Lake
moved in closer—too close, Bill muttered from beside him.  If the
Sisyphus
blew, it could take out the destroyer as well.  The Confeds didn’t think that was a possibility, given their control over the power system and the dampening field they had over the station.  But the dampening field was not having much of an effect on the SOG resistance, which was probably strictly using mechanically fired kinetic weapons.

“Captain, we’ve got a command directive coming in,” the yeoman on the comms station said over the incoming on the externals.

The CO sent a glance back at Hans and Ryck, then said, “Put it up.”

“
CT-83
, there is an anomaly moving away from
Sisyphus
, currently at 1.24598, 92.33998, and 12.83546.  We are synching our surveillance to your system.  Position yourself to intercept and investigate.  There is a 72% probability that this is an escape attempt, and a 53% probability that there are Free State hostages on board.”

A glowing red spot appeared on the screen, heading somewhat in the same general direction to where the
CT-83
lay in wait.

“Lieutenant Djubati, plot a course, now!” Lieutenant Commander Nuzzi ordered.

“Cloaked?” the navigator asked.

“Yes, keep us sealed up,” she said without hesitation.

Ryck knew that Confed ships were not as maneuverable while cloaked, and their sensors were not nearly as effective.  But the target seemed cloaked itself beyond the capabilities of the
CT-83’s
sensors even at their best, and with the
Path of Glory’s
much more advanced capabilities and its results being streamed to the
CT-83
, there was no reason to give up their presence, especially not knowing just what was heading their way.

Ryck had to approve of her decision.  If that was a major capital ship sneaking off, then the
CT-83
wouldn’t stand a chance against her if it came to a fight.  Better to remain invisible until more was known.

“This is a little better,” Bill whispered to Ryck.  “What you think?  An escape pod?”

“I don’t know.  If this is a real SOG op and not some copycat wannabe outfit, they don’t have a habit of running,” Ryck said.  “Unless there is something valuable in whatever vessel that is.”

“Like research results?”

“Yeah, that or hostages,” Ryck said.

Ryck was actually quite shocked that not only was there someone evidently trying to sneak away, but that the Confed AI’s had almost been right in their calculations.  Was that really how good they were, or was this pure dumb luck?  The Federation analysts were going to have to spend many long nights working on that question. 

The CO was issuing a steady stream of orders, calmly but with a firmness of conviction.  When she ordered the on-board deca to get suited up, Ryck felt his pulse rising.  There was no way to know if the soldiers would even be needed, but this was more visceral to him, and he felt the pull of potential combat.  He knew this feeling was screwed up.  It was not logical to want to rush to the sound of gunfire, but there it was.  Even with a Confed deca, he wanted to suit up with them.  Call it a character flaw, but he’d accepted it—not that he would admit this desire to go into harm’s way to Hannah, or anyone else, for that matter.

The feeds from the
Path of Glory
kept streaming in, and there was definitely something coming.  Just what it was was still quite difficult to determine.  But as it was fleeing the fight, chances were that it was SOG, and that made it a viable target.

“Guns, I want a fire solution for just prior to perigee,” Captain Nuzzi ordered her weapons officer.  “Give me the D88, but prepare the belly boy, too.”

Ryck’s mind raced as he identified the two weapons.  Not having his PA on the bridge made simple things like this far more difficult.  The D88 was an energy weapon using a meson beam, but with far more spurling that diminished its effectiveness at range.  The “belly boy” was a kinetic sub-light torpedo, something for which the Federation had no exact counterpart.

“Lieutenant Kinkelly, I want that deca ready to launch on a moment’s notice.”

“They are already locked into their carruca,” the lieutenant replied.

“Carruca?” Bill whispered to Ryck.

“A sled.  Like our reki and your Ferogis, but bigger.  Named for a Roman carriage of some kind,” Ryck whispered back.

“Shit.  I should have guessed that,” Bill said.

“I wonder if they know the word is a Roman loanword, from Gaulish,” Ryck said.

“No shit?” Bill said with a chuckle, then as several of the Confed sailors glared at him, he quieted down and asked,  “How do you know all this stuff?”

“History, my dear sir, history.  He who does not know history will be doomed to repeat it.”

The two officers turned their attention back to the developing situation.  It would be interesting to see how Captain Nuzzi reacted.  Ryck wondered if having them onboard and the political advantages of that outweighed the Intel Ryck, and the rest of the delegation, would be collecting on Confed procedures.  He may not be able to record anything without a PA, but his still had a mind that could remember what he’d seen.

“Ma’am, the target has made a slight course change, taking it farther away from us.  Perigee at, uh, at 18,050 km from our position,” one of the techs told the skipper.

“Nav, increase speed to .12c and change bearing to minimize perigee,” she ordered.

The navigator, Lieutenant Sampal, let the AI interpret the order and come up with a course correction.

Ryck guessed that 12% the speed of light was probably the max the ship could do while cloaked.  The less-trusting part of him wondered if the tub could do better, but that even in a combat situation, Captain Nuzzi did not want to reveal to her three observers just what the ship could do.

“Perigee now estimated at 4,740 km,” the navigator said as he read his readouts.

Captain Nuzzi was really working on her nails, Ryck noted.  She had to have gnawed them down to the quick by now.  He could imagine what was running through her mind.  The target, whatever it was, had not been identified positively as an SOG vessel of some kind.  If she engaged before it was identified, her ass was on the line.  If there were hostages on board, that would not go over well, despite the fact that along with most governments, the Confederation considered hostages already dead as a matter of policy.  Then the poorly armed
CT-83
had only two weapons that could be effective, but to use the more powerful D-88, she had to drop her cloaking.  If the target was a capital ship, that could open her up to a lopsided fight she couldn’t win.

As Ryck was onboard the ship with her, he hoped she guessed right.  He’d fought too many battles for the Federation to buy it while a tourist on a Confed support scow.  He watched the display numbers count down as the ship and their target got closer.  Tension was rising on the bridge while no one said a word.