Red Angel: Book II: Raiders (Red Angel Series 2) (28 page)

"Yes, sir," we both said and followed him to his office.

MacLin nodded when Pannell paused at the door before entering. "Anna, your logic is valid, and it did appear too convenient even to me. You suspect a leak at a high level, don't you?"

"Yes, sir. I've a feeling that the Gypsy gets its information from someone who has access to information about our activities. The Gypsy clearly has direct access to the raiders and may be their leader, but ..."

"But you don't think so." MacLin said, smiling. "Sinclair?"

"I would always back Anna's ... insights. Not just because we're teammates but because she has good instincts."

I noticed Pannell nod.

"Even your security agrees," MacLin said, then gave a snort. "And the raiders."

The waiting was nerve racking, wondering whether I had made the right call. It was possible that was because the meeting was a trap. But that would mean I had significantly misjudged their numbers—they would need five or six cruisers to take on four UAS cruisers. If I made a mistake, I hoped three cruisers were enough to handle one of theirs and a well-armed merchant. I laughed mentally. At least it would save Kris from being involved in another space battle. I had already indirectly dragged her into too many.

"You were right, Anna," Kris said as she rose from the Comm panel.

I looked to see a new message from the Gypsy:

To: Cloud Chaser

The client made mistake. He has 41 items weighing 311211 each.

From: Gypsy

I checked my table and found the only number with 41 and then separated them. "Captain, the new coordinate is: 41.115 degrees, 2 hours, 8 minutes, and 11 seconds, and 5.0 astronomical units."

"Paulus, transfer that coordinate to Nav. Nav, compute us a vector to that position," MacLin said. I could feel his satisfaction, and Kris's rising apprehension.

"Captain, estimated time at five hundred fifty gravs to new coordinates is eight hours ten minutes."

"And the time for the Lapis, Ares, and Demeter to reach the new target?" Maclin sat lightly tapping his fingers on the arm of his seat.

"Captain, approximately twenty-five hours."

"Sounds about right. Clever bastards. They have us separated far enough apart that it's going to be impossible to join up in time. Comm, send the coordinates to the Lapis with the message, '
Hurry, or you'll be late for the party.'"
He sat back, eyes closed for several minutes. "Helm, execute the vector on your monitor at max acceleration. Nav, given we begin decelerating at two light seconds from the target, how long to reach the rendezvous?"

"Approximately seventeen hours and fifteen minutes. Begin deceleration in four hours five minutes."

"Perfect. Given the Cloud Chaser arrives on schedule, they should pass us and arrive at the target an hour before us, which will cover our approach. All systems passive. Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise." He sat back with a sigh of contentment.

Kris on the other hand was pale.

I stood and touched her arm. "Let's go get something to eat. Maybe get some popcorn for the show."

"You're incorrigible. Aren't you afraid?" she asked as we marched down the hallway toward the navy mess facility.

"I've learned to get as much out of today as I can. I can't change tomorrow, so it's best not to ruin today worrying about it."

"I understand why, but I can't imagine the kind of life that made that necessary." Kris put her arm around my shoulders. "Although it's probably a good attitude to have—like me worrying about finding a husband. That does kind of put a damper on enjoying today. But what about today? How do you enjoy this?"

"I'm with a sister I love and we're ridding the world of evil men. That's a good day."

Kris laughed. "This today thing is going to take some working on."

Kris did seem better during our meal and talked about some of her experiences in college. I kept her talking and she had relaxed by the time we finished. I made a detour to the medical unit, were Renata gave Kris something to help her sleep.

"What about you, Anna?" Renata asked.

Kris laughed. "She’ll probably sleep like a baby. Anna considers today a good day because she's with her adopted sister and chasing evil men."

"Yes, Anna has learned how to get the most out of each day. We could all learn something from that. We tend to worry about what will happen tomorrow and lose the good things happening today."

"Captain, the Cloud Chaser is passing us at a hundred thousand kilometers to our port," said Childs, the radar operator. "Speed, four hundred gravs."

"Nav?" MacLin queried.

"They should arrive an hour and twenty minutes before us."

"Thayer is going to be upset at missing the party," MacLin said almost to himself but loud enough to be heard the short distance away where we sat.

Kris leaned closer to me. "The good news is we have front row seats; the bad is that the seats are on a cruiser going to war."

"You forgot the really good news—MacLin is the captain," I said loud enough to be heard, which produced smiles and good-natured snorts and even Kris smiled. "And they aren't expecting us."

"It's obvious how you survived your early years," Kris said. "Alright, you win. We're together, chasing bad guys, and have front row seats." She laughed. "You're contagious."

"Captain, a cruiser just went active. It looks like a PRS warship, but I can't be sure at this distance. We're still about a light second away, but it looks like they have shuttles going between the two," Childs said while studying his radar panel.

MacLin swiveled his chair around to look at Sinclair and me. "What do you think?"

"They could be transferring loot from one of the robberies to the merchant to take back to the PRS for sale or rotating people," I said.

Kris nodded.

"Comm, declare battle stations but keep all systems passive. Radar, keep me updated."

The minutes ticked by as we continued to close the distance from ten billion kilometers, to eight, to six.

"Tac, prepare to fire four missiles at the cruiser and two at the merchant," MacLin said. He was watching the hologram, although it lacked detail it would have had in active mode.

"One half light-second," Childs reported.

"All systems active. Tac, fire when ready."

"Six away. Time to impact, twenty seconds," said O'Toole, the tactical officer.

"The unknown cruiser's weapons just came online," Childs said. "Four hits on the cruiser and two on the merchant."

"The merchant is armed, weapons active."

"Six incoming from the cruiser, time to impact, twenty seconds," Higgs said as his fingers danced on the ECM panel.

Chaff caused two to go off course, the automatic lasers killed two, and two slammed into the Vulcan. The damage being reported was minor, which didn't mean people weren't injured or killed.

"Two incoming from the merchant," Higgs said as he worked to stop them. "Got 'em. They're an older version and not that smart."

"Tac, six against the cruiser, when ready."

"Six away. Time to impact, eighteen seconds," O’Toole said, and I could feel the excitement on the Bridge except from MacLin, who felt at ease.

"The cruiser is beginning to accelerate away at sixty degrees to our starboard and the merchant is following."

"Tac, continuous fire, max load at the cruiser. Nav, an intercept vector on the cruiser." MacLin sat relaxed, stroking his beard.

"Four hits on the cruiser," Childs reported.

"Six, no, eight incoming," Higgs said, determination written on his face as he contended with the incoming missiles. He diverted five, but the Vulcan shuddered as three slammed into her. Battle armor held one, but the other ripped through the marine shuttle bay, destroying two shuttles and killing six, and the third caused minor damage to the environmental section, killing four.

"Captain, vector on the Helm's monitor," said Dowell, the navigator.

"Helm, execute vector but maintain this distance."

"Cruiser accelerating at three hundred twenty-five gravs," Childs reported. "The merchant is staying with it."

"Four hits on the cruiser."

"Tac, continuous fire when ready."

"Six fired," O'Toole said as he prepared the next load.

"Eight incoming," Higgs said, and I could hear the strain in his voice. Maintaining the current distance between ships meant he had less than twenty seconds to deflect or destroy the incoming missiles, and a couple were getting through. Of course, the unknown cruiser had the same problem and for the moment, Higgs had the better record. Two more rocked the Vulcan, opening bays and sections to space and killing an additional fifteen.

"Three hits on the cruiser," Childs said, and after a moment, "It's still functional."

"The cruiser's approaching at five hundred gravs and the merchant is beginning to slowly fall behind."

"Tac, split your fire three and three." MacLin said almost conversationally.

"Six missiles away, three at the cruiser and three at the merchant."

"Eight incoming," Childs said, and I could feel his mounting concern as two opened another area to space and killed ten. So far, the hits hadn't disabled anything that would decrease our operational capability.

"One hit on the cruiser and two on the merchant. Both look functional," Childs reported, and the damage monitor continued to show the mounting destruction and casualties.

"The merchant is breaking away at a seventy degree angle."

"Tac, maintain three and three."

"Six missiles away, three at the cruiser and three at the merchant."

"Eight incoming." Childs said, and several moments later the Vulcan rocked with multiple explosions as two missiles scored direct hits and tore through weakened metal. That ripped open more compartments to space, killing twenty more and wounding another twelve.

"The merchant lost power," Childs said with relief evident. "Two hits on the cruiser. It's trailing debris but appears functional."

"Six incoming ..." Childs said as the battle raged on, each captain hoping to score a hit that would prove the winning blow. The unknown cruiser was now at five hundred fifty grav but couldn't shake the Vulcan, which was keeping the separation constant.

"Helm, on my command, a two second jump on this vector. Tac, hold your fire. I want full load as soon after we skip as you acquire the unknown cruiser's position," MacLin said, and I felt his predatory surge, like an eagle as it plunged toward earth and its prey, talons extended for the kill. In the silence that followed, I thought I could hear hearts beating.

"Six incoming—"

"Execute skip," MacLin’s voice cracked like a whip, and the Bridge faded then cleared seconds later.

"Six away," Otoole said with relief. "Five seconds to—"

"Five hits. Multiple explosions, but still functional."

"Three incoming …"

"Helm, execute one second skip." The Bridge faded in and out.

"Tac, continuous six when ready."

"Six away."

"Three incoming."

"Four hits," Childs said. "It's lost power."

"Damn," Higgs cursed as one of the three hit the Vulcan, destroying two of the missile tubes and opening the parts section to space and killing fifteen.

"Comm, connect me with Commander Warner and Colonel Cross."

"Connected," said Comm Officer Jiminez a minute later.

"Colonel Cross, send two shuttles of marines to the unknown cruiser and make sure it's not functional and collect what you can. Commander Warner, support the marines' boarding action." After hearing acknowledgements, he cut the connection. "Nav. Give me a vector to the unknown merchant."

I leaned toward Kris and gave her a hug. "Another battle ribbon, another step closer to admiral."

"Well that cleared the image of that madman on the conference room table shooting at us out of my mind. Now, it's missiles slowly dismantling the ship I’m in."

Twelve hours had passed and the wounded had been treated and essential repairs completed when MacLin invited Kris and me to dine with him and his XO.

"Thank you for filling in on the Bridge. As you know, the Lapis, Demeter, and Ares will be in the area within four hours. When they arrive, I plan to let them finish cleaning up and examining the two ships while we return to Oxax for repairs," MacLin said. "What's next for you?"

I closed my eyes as Red made his entrance, weaving into my hair and laying his head on my forehead. Probably my overactive imagination, but I would have sworn he wanted attention—not to-be-noticed attention but for me to pay attention.

"I'm not sure," Kris said. "I would like to roll up the merchants and Controllers and be done, but Anna wants to see what the Gypsy does when it discovers the robbery didn’t take place."

"Not Oxax," I said, shaking my head, not realizing I had said it out loud until I saw everyone staring at me. "I want to go to Eastar. Maybe Adrian and Rich could meet us there."