“We’re still trying to get into cargo hold four. We’re not real proficient with these space suits yet, and it’s a fairly complex procedure to gain entry. There were three men guarding the outer door, but we haven’t heard from them. They were positioned behind partitions and suited up for just this eventuality, but that was a pretty hard hit. I don’t know if they made it or not. Don’t worry about it, you’ve got bigger fish to fry.”
Mike was gratified as warning sensors for his shields turned from amber back to green one by one. They were almost back to full weapons and shields by the time the scree came again. His men would continue their repair work while Stardust fought on.
Mike’s men got off the first shots. His weapons had greater range than those aboard the small fighters, and it made a difference. Mike reminded Major Washburn of Reba’s tactic of focusing all their firepower on one ship. He instantly took the hint, focusing three guns on the drive of the closest ship. The other two fighters came straight in together, trying to take advantage of Stardust’s concentration on the first ship, but they hadn’t planned on her remaining firepower. The first ship disappeared in a flash of light, then all weapons focused on the two remaining fighters. They tried to flee but were unsuccessful, going out in a flare of light almost simultaneously.
Mike didn’t wait. He went after the three remaining fighters. They scattered, each splitting off in different directions, knowing Stardust could not follow all of them at once and knowing they would win in a stern chase, but they did not take his micro jumping capability into consideration. Mike chose the ship farthest away and ordered Kirsten to set up a micro jump, or a series of micro jumps, to intercept it. He wasn’t familiar enough with her capabilities to make the calculations himself, but he wasn’t needed for that. She complied, and an hour later that ship ceased to exist.
It took eight more hours to track down and destroy the two remaining fighters, but in the end, they, too, succumbed. Kirsten then micro jumped back to the cruiser. Mike held station there, hesitant to finish it off, but knowing he must.
Josh approached him, still within the net, knowing how Mike felt. It was impossible to hide feelings within the net. “Permission to speak, Sire,” he said. Mike sensed an illusory hand going around his shoulder.
“I’m whipped. How about you?” he asked Josh.
“Yup, but we don’t pay attention to that, do we,” he stated. “I have a suggestion. How about we board her, take her over?”
Startled, Mike mentally sat up and paid attention. “She’s done in, Josh. She’s a wreck. Look at her! Let’s finish her off.”
“We can, but if they haven’t deleted their files yet, she might have some treasures for our intelligence people.”
“She’s just an Empire cruiser, Josh. We know everything we need to know about them.”
“You know all you need to know about Empire cruisers, but you might not know everything about this particular one. She has people aboard with knowledge we might be able to use, and she has Chessori aboard. Wouldn’t they be interesting to interrogate?”
Mike paused. “Josh, what if she has one of the interstellar communications devices aboard?” His pulse quickened. “I’d give everything to get my hands on one of those. How would we go about doing it?”
“Haven’t a clue,” Josh said with a chuckle. “First we have to get into the ship somehow, then I guess we have to secure one deck at a time, probably the hard way.” He paused for a time, considering. “Assuming we can get aboard, we can do it given sufficient time. What concerns me most is that they might blow up the ship with us in it. We’ll have a hard time protecting the Queen if we’re all dead. I’d still like to give it a try, though.”
Mike left the net after issuing orders to the gunners to open fire on the cruiser again, concentrating only on taking out the remaining guns. Josh joined him outside the net, followed shortly by Captain Voorhees.
“Captain, I think you can have the ship back again. We’ll stay right here in case the Chessori decide to try their scree on us again, but she’s yours until they do. I need your council.”
“Very well, Sire.” He issued orders to his bridge staff, who staggered back into the net to relieve Josh’s men.
Mike briefed Voorhees as soon as he finished issuing his orders. “Josh here has a wild idea to board her. I like the idea. She might have information we could use. What do you think? Is such a thing possible?”
Voorhees was shocked. “I don’t know!” he exclaimed. “Take over a capital ship? I don’t think it’s ever been done before. Let me give it some thought.” He turned away, then turned back to Mike. “What if they just blow themselves up when they figure out what you’re up to?”
“Can they?”
“I haven’t a clue. We’d better get the Chief up here.”
“And we need someone else. Can you set up a tight beam to Brodor for me?”
“At once, Sire. By the way, well done!”
“We might not be done yet. The hardest part might be coming up,” Mike replied with a shiver.
Otis greeted him with his toothy grin again. “Not bad for a cub, Sire. You’re learning.”
Mike explained their plan and their predicament. Otis’ gaze narrowed to that of a predator as he considered. When he spoke, he focused on Josh. “I look forward to meeting you, Colonel. Your plan is admirable. As to the risk, it is impossible to evaluate. The ship may be capable of blowing itself up, it may just blow up anyway, but you have a couple of things in your favor. One, the survivors are not only in disarray, they are focused intently on damage control. The ship is very severely damaged. I cannot say if they even know you’re out there.
“Three areas of the ship are critical to secure. First, the bridge. Any self destruct orders would have to come from there. Second, the engineering section. That would be the most likely area to initiate a self-destruct. Third, the communications area. If this interstellar communicator is aboard, that would be the most likely place to find it.”
“Otis, how the heck do we go about getting inside?”
“You don’t, but my men can. We’ve trained for this but have never actually done it. I’ll have a dozen shuttles there inside an hour, two at most. They will have the equipment and the manpower to subdue the ship. If we need more, I’ll send more.”
Josh spoke up. “My men would like to assist,” he said.
Otis used the very human gesture of rubbing his chin with his hand. “This is not a training class, Colonel, but your request is appropriate. There are probably Chessori still alive, and if their goal was to invade the planet, there might be a lot of them.” He thought for a time. “Sire, what is your decision. Do we proceed?”
Mike considered his commitment to Ellie and her need for protection, yet he could not pass up the opportunity to get his hands on an interstellar communicator.
“We proceed,” he replied.
“Very well, Sire. Colonel Dace, prepare your men for a briefing as soon as I arrive. I will explain the breaching process at that time. We will invite four of your men to accompany each first-in team, just in case the Chessori are waiting. The rest of your men will follow as soon as we can get them there. I’ll join you as soon as I can.” He signed off.
Mike looked at Josh. “You got your wish. Are you going, too?”
“I hope so. I like to lead from the front, but we have three fronts. I need to be wherever I can be of the most use, probably somewhere where I can communicate with all the teams, or maybe with a reserve force. I’ll discuss it with Otis.”
“You’ve got an hour or two. Better get your guys saddled up.” As Josh turned to leave, he asked one more question. “How are the guys that were in cargo hold four?”
“Alive, but pretty banged up. Internal injuries. Sergeant Jacobs doesn’t know if they’ll make it or not. The ship is well equipped, but it can only do so much. He’s earning his pay today.”