Admiral's Revenge (A Spineward Sectors Novel:) Read online

  “Which only happened after our own men from the MSP under the Chief Engineer came and personally busted me out of my cell,” I countered, matching him glare for glare.

  “I don’t see your point, Sir,” Laurent ground out.

  “If you’ve looked up the operational profile and reports from the Easy Haven Task Force—like I have,” I bit out through lightly gritted teeth,” then you are aware that irrespective of the Dungeon ship’s particular and understandably constrained circumstances, that Commodore LeGodat and his warships had been in the Praxis System for literally weeks prior to the arrival of Commander Spalding and his small fleet of light vessels,” I replied.

  Laurent blinked, and I finally felt like I had turned the tide on the man’s professional indignation. “I wasn’t aware of that particular datum,” he said hesitantly and then his face hardened, “still, Operational Security would dictate—”

  I cut him off. “Yet over the course of all that time, LeGodat and his professional command team remained in silent running at the edge of the Praxis System with no plan in place for a run in-system to secure our release,” I said evenly.

  “We can’t know that for sure, even if it’s not in the records available to us—” I made a chopping gesture with my hand, cutting him off midsentence.

  “Not only should any Confederation Fleet records pertaining to this matter be available for my perusal, members of LeGodat’s own command team were observed arguing about the risk of moving deeper in-system to save us,” I said sharply.

  “A spirited debate among the command team…” Laurent began weakly, but visibly ran out of steam as I stared at him incredulously.

  “Commander Spalding had no trouble coming up with a plan the same day as his point transfer in-system. After making only critically necessary repairs, he set course for a charge all the way across Praxis System,” I paused for emphasis, “in the teeth of the Praxis SDF and Central’s very own 25th Sector Guard!”

  Laurent colored and then muttered something under his breath about the Chief Engineer.

  “In fact,” I continued, ignoring the naysaying and probable aspersions on Lieutenant Spalding in favor of driving my point home with force, “had the Chief Engineer arrived any later, I am forced to wonder if the Easy Haven contingent out of Wolf-9 would have moved to free us at all!”

  “There’s no reason to assume they weren’t just waiting for the right opportunity,” Laurent said, avoiding my gaze.

  “If they’d waited any longer I would have been executed,” I said, feeling my nails bite into my palms.

  The Warrant Officer looked up at me sharply. “Is that what this is all about: the fact that you could have died, Sir?!” he said with clear censure, his face hardening as he spoke.

  Taken aback I hesitated and quickly rechecked my thought processes. Was I simply feeling betrayed that to all appearances the Easy Haven forces were prepared to sit around dithering until after I was dead? I had to pull myself up hard and push down my temper until I was sure I was looking at things objectively.

  After a moment I nodded slowly. While I was grateful they’d acted to save us once we were near the edge of the system, there was a thread of me that felt personally betrayed by their hesitation.

  “No,” I said with a suddenly renewed certainty, and I was more than a little gratified to see Officer Laurent blink in surprise, “while I don’t deny that some part of me feels…shall we say, ‘offended,’ my personal feelings are, and should always be, the last consideration in such matters as this.”

  “Forgive me if I find that difficult to understand,” the Officer said after a moment, “Admiral,” he added belatedly.

  “It’s really quite simple,” I replied with a shrug, “if McCruise, LeGodat and the rest of the ships from Wolf-9 weren’t ready to come up against Central and risk those ships of theirs in order to rescue me—a Confederation Admiral and their nominal and only superior in this Sector—then why in all the wide galaxy would they risk that same destruction at a later date to save the rest of you, my loyal crew?”

  Laurent’s eyes widened and then narrowed as he processed this.

  “Helping others so long as you yourself do not risk destruction against superior forces might be—oh fine, by Murphy’s beard, it is the act of an ally,” I said, throwing my hands in the air as my determination to try and be impartial turned around and bit me in the proverbial rear. “It is that very hesitation to risk defeat in order to come save you and the rest of our imprisoned crew, not the failure to try and rescue me,” I scoffed at the notion, “why we have to have meetings like this one here.”

  “I’m not sure I’ve known many men who wouldn’t be intimidated by a short division of the wall backed up with heavy cruisers and a flotilla of lesser ships,” the Warrant Officer finally said, and I could see that he was striving to be fair. That’s the moment I knew I had him; the hook was in his mouth and now all I had to do was gently reel him in.

  “Intimidated, yes, I can see that,” I said with a nod in the other man’s direction as I agreed with his point, “but hesitation to the point of preparing to watch an execution instead?”

  “Even still, the risks were extreme to the point of the unmanageable,” Laurent said, still in denial.

  I shook my head firmly in violent negation. “I refuse to believe it,” I declared slamming an open hand against a nearby duralloy wall, “tell Commander Spalding the risks were unmanageable—or tell the Herring Captains in their hastily repaired pirate ships. You talk to Spalding and the temporary commanders of our own ships and if he, they, all, or even most of them agree with you, then come back to me and I’ll moderate my own position.”

  “Sir!” he protested as if I were still being unreasonable.

  “Months to get word and prepare, weeks in system gathering data and watching—a veritable Trojan horse with all our people gathered together inside that Dungeon ship—and the best the Easy Haven crew could do was sit back and watch as Spalding made a death ride across the system?” I scornfully blew a raspberry.

  The Warrant Officer looked torn. “I understand your point, but I think you’re being too hard on them, Admiral,” he sighed.

  “Easy Haven had more than twice the tonnage Spalding brought to Praxis and unlike his, theirs were recently refurbished ships!” I said hotly, more than a little furious that he was still arguing with me. I suddenly wondered if he would have gone this far disagreeing with me if I hadn’t lost the Lucky Clover?

  “I think I see where you’re coming from now, Sir,” Laurent said finally nodding his head with me, “in fairness though, I feel I still have to point out that in the end it took all of our forces—MSP. Easy Haven and,” he quirked his lips, “even the Border World ‘Volunteers’ to extract us. I don’t think the issue is as clear cut as you’re making it out, certainly not to the point of distrusting or suspecting Easy Haven, our allies!”

  I ran a hand over my face and then shrugged. “Okay,” I said neutrally.

  Laurent opened his mouth to continue arguing and then paused. “What?” he asked with disbelief.

  “I said ‘okay,’” I clarified, splaying my hands to signal my acceptance.

  “I expected…” he trailed off and then stared at me in continued surprise.

  “More disagreement? That fearsome Montagne paranoia you were so afraid had run rampant?” I grinned at him, “Perhaps even the refusal to admit that I might not be right about this?”

  The Warrant Officer winced. “It sounds worse when you say it out loud like that,” he muttered and then gave me a penetrating look, “you’re not trying to shine me on now are you, Sir?”

  I actually felt offended. “Prison has made you suspicious, Warrant Officer,” I growled and then took a breath, “look, I called you out here because you have my confidence. I trust you and needed your advice, not only as a trained naval officer,” I said then allowed my voice to harden as I clarified, “but as my long-standing Tactical Officer and a member of my trusted inner circl
e—” Realizing I might have flubbed the point by using a civilian term like ‘inner circle,’ I added, “Or rather, my military command team, such as it is. If you think I’m being too hard on the Easy Haven boys, then I would be a fool to ignore your advice—even if I happen to disagree with it. I am no fool.” At least I hope I’m not, I silently added.

  I watched as the Officer silently chewed on this information. “I’m sorry for doubting you, Admiral,” the Warrant Officer said with serious expression on his face, “perhaps you’re right and imprisonment has made me untrusting.”

  “It would take a better man than I am to avoid entertaining doubts about the man who lost his ship and got a lot of good men—including his friends and co-workers—killed, Officer Laurent,” I said bleakly.

  There was a moment of embarrassed silence and then the Tactical Officer cleared his throat. “Was there anything else you wanted to go over, other than general suspicions about the Commodore and his Officers?” Laurent asked, attempting to change the subject to which I was more than amenable. “Not that I don’t understand how you feel, but in this case I’m not sure…”

  “Let’s move on as you suggest,” I said agreeably.

  “Right, very good, Sir,” He said hazarding a quick hint of a smile, to gauge my mood. I suppressed a sigh and allowed him to see a wry expression on my face to show I wasn’t holding any hard feelings. Whether or not I actually possessed such feelings was a consideration for another time. I hoped I didn’t, but everything had become so messed up and thrown topsy-turvy that, at times, I hesitated to trust even myself!

  Firmly taking myself to task, since at that moment I desperately needed to pick my Tactical Officers brain, I smoothed out my expression and stiffened my spine. Posture and facial control was everything when it came to controlling one’s self and projecting that control onto the environment.

  “In point of fact there is, Tactical Officer Laurent,” I agreed and then pondered the best way to ask the question. With a sigh I once again realized that I was going to have to expose my lack of military background. It was nothing I hadn’t expected coming in, but admitting to a lack of knowledge smacked too much of weakness—something I could ill afford right now. If my men lost faith in me, then we had nothing and my Uncle’s attack on our ship would go unavenged and all the damage he was doing would go unstopped.

  “Sir?” Laurent prompted dragging me out from my contemplative state with a jerk.

  “Sorry, I was woolgathering,” I admitted with a sheepish look. “Okay, here are my thoughts: the last communiqué we received on the Com-Stat network seemed to indicate that the self-styled Pirate King who took our ship is—or was—headed to Tracto.”

  Laurent sucked in a breath. “You want to go after it…of course,” he said and while the Tactical Officer didn’t sound exactly encouraging, he also didn’t appear opposed—quite the opposite actually, if I read him correctly.

  “Exactly,” I said with a shark-like smile, “and to do that we’re going to need more ships. I was thinking this might double as a combined strategy brainstorming meeting.”

  “We’ll need a lot more tonnage than is available here if we’re to take on your Uncle and two Dreadnaught class Battleships,” Laurent said direly.

  “I was thinking we could start with figuring out how get our hands on a certain Heavy Cruiser, the one they call the Little Gift,” I said, clenching my fist with satisfaction. He’d said ‘We’ll need,’ meaning he was consciously or unconsciously already assuming he would be part of the team that went after my blood-soaked relative.

  “We’ll need a lot more than a single Heavy Cruiser and a Destroyer or two,” Laurent said looking and sounding unhappy, “and that’s assuming you can get your hands on it. The Commodore’s not going to be too likely to just hand over the most powerful ships in his task force, after all.”

  “I might need some help at the appropriate time and place,” I allowed, and at Laurent’s suddenly skeptical look I suppressed a surge of rage. Why did everyone assume I was out to start some kind of revolutionary coup?! “I mean in a key meeting or strategy session,” I growled at him.

  “Sorry, Sir,” he at least had the grace to look shame-faced in response to my rebuke.

  “Besides, correct me if I’m wrong because while I know that the Clover and the Vineyard are bigger and tougher than the Gift,” I said raising a finger pointedly, “the Dreadnaught class is only a hundred meters bigger than the Commodore’s pirate conversion, and it’s been refitted and upgraded. I understand if we can’t take them in a stand up fight but with the right strategy and some luck…” I trailed off at the Tactical Officer’s now glum look.

  “You have to remember that the Clover and Vineyard have been upgraded as well; while we were rotting away in durance vile they were getting new fusion generators and a face-lift,” Laurent said sourly.

  “Even still,” I protested.

  “Sorry, Admiral,” Laurent said adamantly, looking genuinely upset. That look did more to crush my hopes of a speedy ‘straight down their throats’ death ride to set everything right again. I silently placed my hands behind my back, digging the fingernails of my right hand deep enough into my left to draw blood. “I’m afraid that the ‘length’ alone isn’t enough of a measurement. T cruiser’s beam is smaller as well and when you factor in that despite its refit, the Cruiser is a hundred year old ship built on to an even older design plan and the Clover was built only about sixty years ago…”

  “Alright, Officer, you’ve made your point and made it well,” I grumbled with a frown at the floor, “just give it to me straight: what are our chances?”

  Laurent paused and then looked me in the eye, “Not good, Admiral. To have any chance of defeating a single Battleship like the Clover I’d say we’d need a minimum of two Cruisers like The Gift and then I’d say the odds were only moderately stacked against us. To be assured of winning it would take three or more,” he said with damning certainty.

  “And of course we’re not dealing with only one Battleship, right, Mr. Laurent?” I said with a sinking sensation in my middle. “Are you sure our light units can’t somehow make up the shortfall? As I recall, the first time we faced Yagar and his Guard you seemed to think his two squadrons had a chance.”

  “Two squadrons of light warships, fast and maneuverable, equipped with longer ranged weaponry than we were carrying had a substantial chance of knocking out our engines and winning a fairly painless victory against our lone Battleship,” Laurent agreed.

  “But they have two such ships to cover each other and possibly longer ranged, upgraded weaponry as well,” I groaned as I realized where he was going next.

  “Not to mention your Uncle was,” he saw the hard look I instantly shot him, “or rather, is still a pirate at heart. Even if he no longer has access to his old pirate fleet—a force according to our former prisoner Glue that had numerous light warships—it’s highly likely that the Pirate Prince will have captured or otherwise gotten his hands on one or more such lighter vessels to help address this very problem.”

  “He is a pirate,” I mused, “and has delusions of grandeur; it would almost be noteworthy if he didn’t try to add ships to his fleet. Blast! I’d hoped for better news or at least projections than this, Tactical Officer,” I glared at the bearer of this bad news. “I hate to say it, Laurent, but you’re not really helping here.”

  Laurent raised his brows and just looked at me skeptically.

  I colored in response; my reply had clearly contained a bit too much of a ‘shoot the messenger’ tone.

  “Well, we can’t do anything without more firepower than we currently possess,” I said splaying my hands and then making a fist where Laurent could see it, “so I’m still going to expect your help with getting us those vessels. We need warships with tonnage now that those yard dogs have down-checked our Hydra, and Easy Haven just so happens to have some vessels available to us.”

  “It won’t be enough,” the other man shook his head as hi
s eyes snapped back and forth contemplatively. “Even if you stripped the Star Base of everything here and abandoned Easy Haven…or rather, I suppose it just might if you could also manage to take each of Jean Luc’s ships one at a time and defeat them in detail,” Laurent warned.

  “I get it,” I said irritably, “a straight-up fight won’t work without more ships. You just help me get my hands on what’s here that can be pried loose, and let me worry about the rest.”

  Laurent frowned severely. “Even if we miraculously got our hands on more and bigger ships, we just don’t have the crew,” the Warrant Officer explained direly.

  “Commander Spalding and I have a few irons in that fire,” I said coolly, not liking the way my Tactical Officer was instructing me on the realities of warfare—or the fact that I actually needed that instruction.

  “Which part,” Laurent asked more skeptically than I was prepared to put up with, “the men or the warships?”

  “Yes,” I snapped.

  The Tactical Officer’s eyebrows climbed. “Interesting,” he said and I could see the gleam that was starting to enter his eyes.

  “Help me keep the crew—our crew—onboard,” I said with a significant look. I was talking about our months ago-transferred to Easy Haven, or formerly imprisoned Lucky Clover men and women, “and I can take care of the rest. LeGodat will come around…he won’t have a choice.”

  “Backing a man like the Commodore into a corner by ‘stealing’ his ships could have some unexpected results,” Laurent warned.

  I cocked a single eyebrow at the other man, “How so?” I wasn’t fully aware he was warning me about another possible mutiny. Him, the very man who had just taken me to task for a lack of trust to our Easy Haven rescuers! The irony was nearly overwhelming but all I did was tighten my mouth. “Always keeping in mind that I am a Confederation Admiral and he is merely a Commodore—a rank he only holds because I field promoted him to it.”