The Ghost Fleet Read online

  Now it was Tira’s turn to laugh.

  “Oh, it’s worse. A lot worse.”

  Not unlike in the days of the Old West, Tira stared down the pilots, who were shooting her daggers right back.

  Tira looked around. Nobody seemed to be watching them aside from Ashley. This was a relief, as she didn’t feel like she had anything to prove. Once she had shut up these two flyboys, it could all be over…at least until the next foolish challenger stood up.

  “I’m ready when you are,” Tira said, cracking her neck as she spoke.

  She watched the two pilots look at each other before giving a knowing nod.

  Powers turned back toward Tira and declared, “We’re ready. Just know we aren’t going to take it easy on you just because there are two of us.”

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Tira replied.

  With that, the fight began. Powers was the more aggressive of the two men, as he ran right toward Tira, looking to strike. He came to her with a flying fist, which Tira dodged with ease. As Powers’s punch was zooming past her ear, Tira grabbed him by the skull. With her opponent unable to move, she struck him with a swift knee to the gut.

  “Ooooof,” was the sound Powers made as all the air escaped his lungs.

  With this, Guillermo joined the fray. He was built like a linebacker, and Tira assumed he wasn’t used to losing fights. He better get used to it pretty quickly, she joked to herself.

  Guillermo’s arms were like tree trunks, and he approached Tira with his arms fully extended, ready to grab her and commence the pummeling.

  While the bigger pilot may have been a near match with Tira for strength, he lacked the agility that his female counterpart had. She was able to bob and weave, which was clearly driving Guillermo insane.

  “Hold still!” he shouted.

  “I don’t think you know how a fight works,” Tira replied.

  Suddenly, she felt a swift blow to the back of her thigh. Powers had kicked her in the leg from his prone position on the floor. This caused Tira to lose her balance, and she hit the ground with a thud. It took her a second to collect herself, but when she did she could see Guillermo preparing to deliver a massive stomp to her chest.

  With tremendous reflexes, she threw her arms up and grabbed his boot. This kept it from making contact with her. Guillermo was continuing to try and deliver his blow with all his power, but Tira was just too strong for him. With a flick of her wrist she twisted Guillermo ankle, the momentum of the motion causing him to lose his balance and twist in the air as he tumbled.

  Okay, time to put an end to this, she thought as she leapt back to her feet. Tira jumped on top of Guillermo and began throwing punches. The big man got his arms up to protect his face, but that meant his forearms were taking a beating. They were going to be sore and bruised by the time he headed to bed that night.

  As she was throttling Guillermo with punches, Powers leapt on her back and began trying to choke her. This registered more as an annoyance than as a threat for Tira. She stood back up and reached behind her to grab Powers by the head. Getting a hold of her assailant, she was able to flip him over her shoulder, sending him crashing back to the floor.

  “I think I’m tired of fighting two guys at once,” Tira said.

  Powers clambered back up from the ground, but the second he stood back up Tira delivered a spinning heel kick to his face. The pilot let out a yelp of tremendous pain before collapsing backwards. He was clearly down for the count.

  Tira allowed herself a smile, adding, “There, that’s better.”

  Guillermo was back up from the ground now, shaking his arms in an attempt to get them to stop stinging. He put up his dukes, so Tira followed suit. One punch slipped by her defenses, smacking her in the face. It stung, to be sure, but she was only dazed temporarily.

  “Not bad.”

  “Thanks,” Guillermo replied.

  It was the last word he got in during the fight. Tira responded with a lightning-fast punch of her own, and Guillermo didn’t see it coming. It connected dead square on his jaw, sending him backwards like he was hit with a two-by-four. She followed that up with a lunging kick to the gut and a leg sweep. Like his buddy Powers, Guillermo was now on the floor, and he wasn’t going to be getting back up.

  “I think you boys have had enough,” Tira remarked.

  With their silence, the pilots begrudgingly agreed. There was no joy, no sense of triumph for Tira. If there was anything she felt, it was relief. She looked down at her fallen foes.

  They don’t even know I was taking it easy on them.

  Once Guillermo and Powers had regained their senses and gotten to their feet, the time came for them to pay off the bet. It would certainly be the last time they underestimated Tira. She took their credits and thanked them for it, but the pilots didn’t respond. They didn’t want their loss being rubbed in their faces. The two of them had fought a solitary woman, and she wiped the floor with them.

  I bet I’m not the only one who was glad nobody was watching this, Tira thought to herself.

  Just as the credits were collected, she noticed Jeryl strolling into the flight deck.

  “Captain,” she said, straightening her back and saluting him, the two pilots doing the same.

  “Officer. How are you this afternoon?”

  “I’m alright. Just got a workout in.”

  She saw Jeryl look over at the two pilots, both of them looking worse for the wear.

  “I can see that,” he replied, putting two and two together.

  “Need anything, Captain?” Tira asked as Ashley walked up to them.

  “I’m here to let you know that The Seeker is ready,” Jeryl said, now turning to his wife and first officer. “All the repairs have been finished.”

  “That’s excellent news.”

  “There’s more than that, though. We have a new assignment,” Jeryl remarked. “Let’s go—I’ll fill everyone in at the CNC.”

  Following Jeryl and Ashley out of the flight deck, Tira couldn’t resist but look back over her shoulder at the two pilots.

  “Thanks for the cash, boys. And take good care of my ship.”

  Chapter 5

  Jeryl

  Jeryl’s eyes popped open and he frantically checked the time. It was still third watch. Somehow, their new assignment had him on edge. Even though none of the CNC officers had seemed particularly worried during Jeryl’s briefing of the mission’s details, he had a bad feeling about the whole thing.

  Pushing his anxiety to the back of his mind, he glanced over his wife with a smile. She had kicked off her half of the blanket and lay spread-eagle with one leg hanging off the edge of the bed. That was a new habit she had developed since finding out she was pregnant. Apparently, it made one uncharacteristically hot. She had a sheen of perspiration coating her entire body. It dawned on him that was the ‘glow’ everyone talked about. The undershirt she slept in pushed halfway up her torso and her shorts twisting in a way that looked painful.

  He couldn’t resist it. He rolled over and started tracing circles over her stomach. The tiny bump in her womb was barely noticeable, even exposed over the twisted waistband. He got so wrapped up in watching his fingers make wider and wider circles around her navel that he didn’t notice the change in her breathing nor when her eyes opened.

  “What are you doing?” she whispered.

  He looked up at her beautiful sleepy smile. “Just thinking.”

  “Hmm.” Ashley rolled over to face him. “I hope you’re thinking about letting me fly a couple more months.” She stretched her arm around his waist.

  “I don’t think so, babe.”

  “Don’t be an asshole. I’m not fragile yet.”

  “Don’t argue with me. My mind is made up.”

  Ashley let out a frustrated sigh and sat up.

  “Don’t you trust me?” she asked. He knew she understood the decision, but the Hunters were her babies, too. She loved to fly, and she loved leading others into the fray. He wasn
’t sure that she was entirely happy to carry his child, but then she snuggled into his arms. She was happy about the pregnancy, just not the changes that it forced upon her.

  “Of course I do. It’s others I don’t trust. Would you send a ground marine to the front line, knowing she was pregnant?”

  “No,” Ashley pouted, “Alright. You win.”

  Jeryl smiled, but it was more like a grimace. Winning usually came with revenge of some kind.

  “I’ll make it up to you.” He held out his hand.

  Ashley relented. She took his hand and scooted down into his arms. “Are we ready for this?”

  “Hell, no,” Jeryl laughed. “But we’ve been through war. How hard can a baby be?” He knew his words were bullshit, but he felt the urge to reassure her. She covered well, but she was more frightened than he was and he wanted nothing more than to protect her.

  “If you say so.” She buried herself in his chest and began snoring softly.

  Jeryl stayed awake a good hour, playing with her hair and listening to her snore, before drifting off himself, his mind making images dance before his eyes shut.

  The entire crew were reduced to an infantile state. Diapered babies sat at the consoles and waddled around like they belonged there. This was perfectly normal to Jeryl as he walked onto the CNC, ready for battle.

  “Lieutenant Tira. Report.” Jeryl looked at the baby at the security station. She didn’t have a tiny uniform, but he knew it was Tira.

  Baby Tira cried. Jeryl automatically understood it as, “Weapons ready. We’ve got the green light to engage.”

  “Fire at will.”

  There was nothing on the viewscreen. None of the consoles were lit. Jeryl knew they fought the most dangerous enemy they had ever faced. Time.

  Klaxons sounded. The ship rocked. The crew changed from infant to adults and back again. The sound of a thousand screaming infants mixed with the klaxons and everything spun.

  The klaxons blared and the couple bolted up in unison. They looked at each other with the same startled expression. The alarm sounded twice more before Jeryl decided it wasn’t a dream.

  He jumped out of bed and threw on his uniform. Ashley was faster as she pulled on the last boot and waited for him at the door. Jeryl grabbed their tablets and comms from the dresser and they ran into the corridor.

  As foolish as that dream was, it bothered him for some reason. He would keep it to himself. Ashley would only laugh at him then use it for blackmail at the worst time.

  Their assignment was to escort a convoy of fifteen armory ships to Edoris Station, the exact kind of ships that have been disappearing en route, filled to the max with state of the art weaponry. This time, Flynn sent Jeryl to ensure the weapons were delivered safely. A boring assignment, but it would be good to see Flynn again in a private manner. The old man always had good booze.

  They had been stuck in deep space for days with no suspicious activity, which only meant Jeryl had plenty of time to worry about the pregnancy. Yes, he was happy about it, but the possibility of a complication weighed him down at the same time. Each time he tried to put it out of his mind, a new scenario popped into his brain. The latest was a sneak attack on her Hunter. He couldn’t let that happen.

  “Report!” He barked before he stepped fully through the CNC’s doorway.

  Ashley was already at her station. He followed and handed over her tablet and comm.

  “Sir. Scanners show thirty shuttles surrounding us,” Tira answered, her fingers gliding over the console and a puzzled frown on her face.

  “Shuttles?”

  “Yes, sir. They jumped in without warning fifty-seven seconds ago.”

  “Well, that’s different.” He touched the comm, “This is Captain Montgomery of TUS The Seeker. Respond.”

  No response. One of the shuttles moved in around the first convoy ship. The rest followed until each ship had two shuttles staring at it. They didn’t look threatening by themselves. Normally, a shuttle would only transport a small crew from ship to planet, or ship to ship. Thirty of them grouped together was an ominous sight, however. It left a knot of dread in the pit of Jeryl’s stomach.

  “Do they mean to board?” He could see that they did, but still didn’t quite understand. He half-thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.

  “I think so, Captain,” Tira answered. She sounded just as puzzled.

  “We can’t fire on them without hitting the convoy. Deploy the Hunters.”

  That was how the previous armory ships disappeared. Send transport shuttles to board, take over navigations, and poof. It was cost effective and ingeniously simple.

  “Yes, sir,” Ashley said to his back. Jeryl could hear the grin in her voice. At least she could live vicariously through her pilots.

  There were twelve Hunters, but the invaders were only shuttles with almost no weapons to defend against ships made for combat. Ashley gave her orders and headed for the door.

  “Commander Gavin,” Jeryl warned. Did she think she could just walk out because people were watching?

  “Sir, I still command the Hunters. I need to help them lock and load.” Her eyes said he better give her this one.

  “Carry on.” She was right. He couldn’t strip her of rank just because she was two months pregnant. He needed to pull his own head out of his ass before he got them all killed.

  Ashley nodded and ran out of the CNC.

  Jeryl turned back to the viewscreen, determined to hide his nervousness. He didn’t want to let Ashley out of his sight. Rational thought was supposed to disappear in the mother, not the father. Yet, here he was, wanting to shelter her from everything. She was going to kick his ass if he didn’t let up.

  A shuttle moved in to board the first armory ship. The rest followed. Jeryl realized that was the commanding shuttle.

  “Hunters, what’s your status?”

  “Two minutes, sir,” Ashley answered.

  “Make it one. Armory ship six-one-five has just been boarded.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  Jeryl watched the Hunters shoot toward the convoy thirty seconds later. Who else but his wife could shave a minute and a half off prep time?

  Six more shuttles had begun boarding. Jeryl held his breath. He wasn’t used to being helpless on his own ship.

  The Hunters dove in, guns blazing. Caught by surprise, eight shuttles erupted, but the others were quicker than they should have been. They darted back and forth to avoid most of the fire.

  Jeryl understood. They had been enhanced specifically to board enemy ships. It was quite brilliant. They were the perfect size to hide in the shadows of the larger ships, ensuring the success of capturing the weapons cargo.

  This was a well thought out operation. Jeryl wondered how long this had been planned, and who had the patience for it. A tactic he had never seen before, Jeryl couldn’t begin to guess.

  “If possible, I want the six-one-five boarders alive and brought for questioning. There’s a commander in that group.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Two Hunters rerouted to armory ship six-one-five and disappeared into the landing bay.

  “Long range scans. Those shuttles are taking orders from someone. Find them!”

  “Sir, we’ve been scanning. If there’s a ship, it’s beyond range.”

  Shit. Who are these fuckers?

  Chapter 6

  Jeryl

  “Ashley, nail those shuttles! Coordinate with the Hunters, be an extra set of eyes to keep their asses safe,” Jeryl said as Ashley rushed back to her station. Bringing his holographic panel up at his chair, he started going over The Seeker’s vitals. “Tira, send me all the info we can get on those shuttles.”

  “Yes, Captain.” Tira’s fingers flashed on her holo-board, running every scan she could on the shuttles.

  Jeryl looked up from his holo and could see the convoy being overrun. “Shit. Ferriero, can we get a clear shot on those shuttles?”

  Pedro Ferriero, the head of navigations, swiveled his c
hair around and shrugged. “Some of them, sir, but it’s still really close. There’s still a slight chance we could hit the convoy instead.”

  “Dammit. Make sure your aim is on point, and only fire when you have a clear shot. Ashley?”

  Ashley turned to him. “These shuttles are fast. They were designed specifically for this. But the Hunters are trying.”

  In the three to four seconds it took her to say those words, Jeryl marveled at her beauty and tenacity. He recovered quickly and answered her with a nod. She turned her back to him, flipped her personal comm back to her Hunter team, and started barking out orders. She had one of the petty officers stationed next to her bring up a screen that displayed each Hunter’s POV.

  Jeryl moved his attention back to the main screen and his own holo. The convoy, fifteen transports strong, was being hounded by at least double that number in shuttles, several of which already connected or connecting to the armory ships. Like Ashley said, the shuttles had obviously been modified and changed to fit what these pirates needed them for.

  Without looking in her direction, he called out to Lieutenant Mary Taylor, the communications officer. “Mary, keep in contact with the transports. I want to try to focus on the ones that are in the worst shape and coordinate their movements as we try to get the hell out of here.”

  Mary nodded as Jeryl watched the Hunters. They put themselves into a V formation, with Powers at the head and Guillermo and Francesca Vizzenzi flanking.

  With Ashley coordinating with her Hunters, Mary talking with the convoy, and Ferriero doing what he could to get the shuttles off the transports, Jeryl decided to look at the specs that Tira was feeding his holo. The shuttles looked vaguely familiar…then, he saw it.

  Almost half of them were old Terran Union shuttles, while the others were an odd mixture of Tyreesian and Sonali ships. Each had been modified—hulls strengthened, thrusters replaced, some even had claw arms attached that would grab on to the transports. One of the shuttles also looked like it was a hodge-podge of parts and pieces put together.