The Ghost Fleet Page 5

  I’m losing control of this situation, and fast, he admitted to himself.

  While his outwardly visage was still projecting confidence, inside, he realized that defeat was on the horizon. The arrival of the The Ghost had flipped the script on the battle, as it did so many times when Kaine helmed it during the Earth-Sonali War. Jeryl cursed the lucky pirate who had found the ship and salvaged it. He knew that The Ghost deserved a better fate than being a pirate ship.

  “The Hunters can’t fight them off much longer!” Ashley exclaimed.

  “I know, I know!” Jeryl replied, his frustration bubbling to the surface.

  Jeryl was contemplating what to do next. Was there any way to save the convoy? Or was it a lost cause? He hated the idea of losing the transport ships. The whole point of the mission was for The Seeker to protect them as they carried their cargo. Clearly, they had failed. Disappointment filled Jeryl. However, he wasn’t able to stew in that disappointment very long.

  Alarms began signaling the crew on the CNC, and in a moment it dawned on Jeryl what had happened.

  “The Seeker is being boarded!” he yelled.

  As the captain’s words rang out, it was all hands on deck to deal with the situation. Jeryl had to admit it was only a matter of time before this happened. The Seeker was outmanned and outgunned. The pirates were going to break through their defenses eventually. Getting on board the transport ships was one thing, but getting on The Seeker was a real coup for the pirates.

  There were murmurs among crew members that clearly indicated a wave of fear and worry running through them, but Jeryl couldn’t allow himself to worry. He needed to take charge now more than ever. This was a bad situation, and he couldn’t let it get any worse.

  If he dithered too long, The Seeker would find itself overtaken by pirates. He couldn’t allow his ship to be captured.

  Whatever happens, The Seeker won’t be left in the hands of pirates.

  Though he couldn’t stop the transport ships from being overtaken, there was still time to save his ship.

  Jeryl knew his crew was looking to him for guidance. In his mind, there was only one avenue left to take.

  “Prepare the ship for an FTL jump!”

  “Are you sure?” Ashley asked.

  Though Ashley was busy coordinating the Hunters, she had taken a second to act as a sounding board for Jeryl. He respected her, and she knew that, and she was just making sure the captain was thinking straight in all the chaos.

  “Yes, I’m sure,” he said with total clarity.

  Jeryl wasn’t happy about it, though. In truth, jumping to FTL was a move of desperation. If he thought they had any other option, he would have gone with it. An FTL jump would mean effectively abandoning the transport ships. No, he sure as hell wasn’t happy about that. Alas, the die had been cast. There was no saving the convoy. The pirates had secured all those ships. It didn’t do anybody any good for Jeryl to let The Seeker have the same fate.

  As Ashley instructed the Hunter pilots to return to the ship immediately to prepare for the FTL jump, Jeryl made preparations of his own. There wasn’t a second to spare. The moment Jeryl was informed that the Hunters were back on the ship, he ordered the jump. A few seconds later and The Seeker popped out of existence, folding time and space as it made way to its new coordinates. Jeryl breathed a sigh of relief, and he wasn’t the only one. The Ghost was no longer looming over them. Of course, this also meant the transport ships were now left to defend for themselves.

  “Is everybody okay?” Jeryl asked.

  Before he could get any answers, though, he realized something was still amiss. It quickly became clear that the attempt to board The Seeker by the pirates had been at least partially successful.

  “We’ve got enemies on the ship!”

  Jeryl, having identified where the pirates were though the holographic ship’s map, sprang into action. The fight wasn’t over yet.

  “Let the pilots and crew know that we have pirates on board that must be disposed of. Tell them to be on high alert. Ashley, you stay here.”

  He knew she wouldn’t like being kept in the CNC, but he wasn’t about to let her get in harm’s way. Jeryl, weapon drawn, ran out the CNC doors and headed into the ship to find the pirates. Along the way, he was joined by the pilots, plus a handful of other crew members deft with weaponry. Things were calm, but tense. Then, the first shot rang out, a particle beam hitting the wall right behind Jeryl and leaving a mark.

  “There’s over there!” Jeryl exclaimed as he ducked for cover.

  He wasn’t sure how many pirates had made it on board. That wasn’t an important detail in the moment. All that mattered was that the crew kept shooting until the return fire stopped.

  A shootout between The Seeker’s crew and the pirates, a ragged team of rough men wearing mismatched clothing, ensued. Gun blasts flew as the two sides exchanged volleys. Fortunately, Jeryl and his crew were well-versed in the art of combat, all thanks to the mandated hours in the ship's simulator. Their marksmanship greatly surpassed their pirate trespassers.

  “I got one!” Powers exclaimed upon successfully hitting a pirate, his body now sprawled on the corridor ahead.

  In time, a few more pirates fell, their cries and grunts of agony making Jeryl wince. He peered around the corner. He could see one pirate left standing. He steadied his trigger finger and got ready to make his move. With one smooth swoop, he swung his body out into the hall and shot. It was a dead-on hit. The pirate crumpled to the floor, dead.

  “Is that the last of them?” Guillermo asked.

  “I believe so. How is everybody? Was anybody shot?” Jeryl replied.

  Fortunately, and perhaps miraculously, none of the crew had been hit. The pirates may have been good at taking a convoy by surprise, but their shooting left a little to be desired. Jeryl exhaled deeply. Things were calm once again.

  He returned to the CNC where all eyes turned to him.

  “The pirates are all dead. We’re safe,” he assured them.

  There was some rejoicing on the crew, but Jeryl didn’t join them. He was glad The Seeker had avoided being captured, but he still couldn’t view the day as anything but a failure.

  Their mission had been a failure.

  Chapter 9

  Admiral Flynn

  “Admiral. I wish we were meeting under better circumstances.”

  “How is your crew holding up?” Flynn asked.

  “It was a rough experience, but we’re managing,” Jeryl replied, pursing his lips tightly. “What’s really important is where things go from here.”

  Flynn didn’t say a word, but he certainly agreed. Something had gone amiss out there in the vast reaches of space. The Seeker had been put in charge of protecting a convoy of transport ships by the Armada. These ships had been finding themselves attacked by pirates, looted, and sometimes lost. This mission was supposed to bring an end to it.

  That had not been the case. The Seeker and the convoy had found themselves under attack by total surprise. The transport ships had been lost, and Jeryl was only able to save The Seeker from a similar fate, thanks to an FTL jump. This was a black mark, and Flynn wanted to know what had happened. He needed to get to the bottom of this.

  “I need to see the images of the battle,” Flynn remarked.

  “Absolutely,” Jeryl replied.

  The admiral looked up at the big screen in front of him as Jeryl patched in the recording. The Seeker and the convoy were making their way to Edoris station when suddenly they were inundated with boarding shuttles. It was a true swarm.

  “Do you have any idea where those ships came from?” Flynn asked Jeryl.

  “I’m afraid not. I was in my quarters when it happened, but by all accounts they were able to sneak up on us. Whoever they are, they’re good.”

  Flynn was disheartened to hear it. Not because he blamed the captain for what happened on his ship, but because the idea that so many boarding shuttles could get the drop on a convoy led by somebody with t
he acumen of Jeryl was worrying. Sitting in silence, he continued to watch the battle unfold before him.

  As he watched the Hunters battling with the boarding shuttles, another ship came into view on the screen. Flynn’s eyes were drawn toward the ship as it emerged. For a moment, his eyes were disbelieving. Then, he knew he couldn’t deny what he was seeing.

  “Is that…The Ghost?”

  “It is indeed,” Jeryl replied.

  As The Ghost began looming over everything else on the screen, the admiral’s blood ran cold. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He never expected to see it again. Now, not only was he seeing it, he was watching it partake in a battle with The Seeker and an Armada convoy.

  The Ghost's reputation proceeded it. It began its life as an Intelligence ship helmed by Captain Kaine Reed. Many, in fact most, didn’t even know it existed. The Ghost existed to perform covert operations for the Armada. Kaine took his ship behind enemy lines on numerous occasions during the Earth-Sonali War—the perfect operative commandeering the perfect ship.

  The Ghost made dozens of excursions in secret, and during the process the Armada made a tremendous dent against the Sonali. It had been one of the greatest death dealers of the entire war. Few, if any, ships of the Armada were deadlier than The Ghost, and Kaine had been deeply revered for his acumen as a captain. That, of course, until someone got wind of a few covert operations and leaked it to the media. After that, the Armada simply allowed Kaine’s name to be dragged through the mud. Flynn didn’t care—he still admired the dead captain.

  If only…Flynn thought to himself. If only Kaine hadn’t died during the war.

  He still remembered the tales. The Ghost and The Seeker were both involved in a battle against the Sonali where The Ghost was destroyed and its captain was killed. Jeryl was able to escape physically, but in truth he had never escaped mentally.

  The admiral looked over at Jeryl who was standing next to him, reliving the battle as the images unfolded before them.

  Poor guy, Flynn thought, he still blames himself for Kaine’s death.

  The admiral knew that Kaine and Jeryl had been like brothers. They were inseparable. Jeryl would likely never forgive himself. Flynn believed he was being too hard on himself, but there was no point on arguing the matter. Jeryl would never be convinced otherwise, – the man was that stubborn.

  The two men finished watching the battle. The Ghost had completely changed the landscape of the scene. Once it arrived, The Seeker was at a clear disadvantage. The ship went into an FTL jump and the replay of the battle stopped. Both men stood silent. They needed time to process what they had seen. Not so much on the clash; after all, they both had seen plenty of battles. It was The Ghost that had shaken them up.

  Flynn turned to Jeryl and asked, “So you were able to escape safely?”

  “Yes. A few pirates were able to board us, but they were shot dead.”

  “So you suffered no casualties? That’s fortunate.”

  “That’s true, Admiral…but we did have to abandon the convoy.”

  Flynn turned and paced across the floor, taking a moment to collect his thoughts.

  “Indeed, and it’s far from the first one that we’ve lost. However, at least you were able to find out what has been happening. We know that The Ghost is involved. It must’ve been salvaged by these pirates.”

  “That is what I assumed,” Jeryl replied.

  Flynn still couldn’t believe that The Ghost was, perhaps fittingly, back from the dead. To see the once-venerated Intelligence ship of the Armada being used to perform acts of piracy was sickening. However, that just made him even more determined to vanquish these pirates. The good name of the Ghost would not be sullied.

  He turned and faced Jeryl with steely determination.

  “One thing is for certain, Jeryl. The Armada is going to have to get to the bottom of this. We must absolutely figure this out and solve the problem.”

  “I agree wholeheartedly, Admiral.”

  Flynn turned toward the screen and put an image of the The Ghost back on it. It was chilling.

  “It’s not merely a matter of protecting these transport ships. The fact that The Ghost is being used in these pirate operations is what makes this matter so pressing. We cannot have a TUS going around leading pirate raids, particularly when they’re directed toward the Armada.”

  Jeryl strolled over next to Flynn and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him, both of their eyes transfixed by the old Armada ship they were both deeply familiar with.

  “It’s not just leading these operations…it’s succeeding,” Jeryl noted.

  “Absolutely, Captain. The fact one of our own ships has been taken over by pirates and used to undermine us will frankly be taken as a sign of weakness by all other races. The Union can’t absolutely have that. It will be a black mark on all of us, not to mention a threat to our security.”

  With that, Flynn looked over at Jeryl.

  “Are you up for this?” he asked.

  The subtext of this statement was clear if unspoken. The admiral wasn’t questioning Jeryl’s abilities as a captain. He knew that, under most circumstances, there was nobody who he trusted more. However, the fact that The Ghost was involved was a reason for concern. Would Jeryl’s remorse over Kaine’s death cloud his mind? He had enough trouble dealing with the events of the Earth-Sonali War that led to his friend’s demise as is, but having to face down Kaine’s old ship could be a step too far.

  If it was, Jeryl wasn’t tipping his hand.

  “I’m more than ready for this, sir.”

  “Good. We need to get this situation under control as soon as possible. We need to find out what has happened to the The Ghost and who’s controlling it now. For the sake of the Union, we must settle this matter swiftly,” Flynn said with a nod.

  “I’ll get to the bottom of this,” Jeryl replied. “No matter what, I’ll do it.”

  One way or another, you’re going to have to, Flynn thought to himself. However, he didn’t relay these words to the captain.

  “What’s the next move?” Jeryl asked.

  Flynn thought for a moment, but realized this was not a time for rash decisions, noting, “I’m not sure yet. I need time to think it over. Once I have a plan, I’ll be sure to let you know. For now, you’re dismissed.”

  Jeryl saluted the admiral, who returned the salute.

  As the captain left, Flynn turned once more toward the images of the battle, and those of The Ghost.

  I’m not going to let this be the end of your legacy, he vowed. Not on my watch.

  Chapter 10

  Ashley

  Two days after landing at Edoris Station, Ashley finally convinced Jeryl to spend some time away from work. She managed to talk him into meeting her at Mikey’s, a local bar that served some fantastic Oriental food with a Hawaiian flare. The bar was quiet at the moment; only a few other patrons were there, enjoying each other’s company.

  “Who are you waiting for, sweetheart?”

  Ashley, who had been leaning against the bar and enjoying the quiet and the cool air conditioning, turned around and looked at the bartender. A tall, well-built young man with slicked-back hair and a well-kept goatee flashed her a smile as he refilled her peanut bowl.

  Smiling back, she snagged a couple of peanuts and popped one in her mouth. “My husband is meeting me here in just a few.”

  He hid his disappointment well as she ordered a whiskey and a beer for Jeryl and a refill of her soda. “Well, if you need anything, my name’s Leo and our cook tonight is Donnie. Anything you’re hungry for, he can make it.”

  “Thanks.” She turned back around and waited for Jeryl. A few minutes passed, and Leo must have turned up the radio. An old, twentieth century guitar riff came on, and she recognized it as Clapton’s Crossfire. It brought back memories of her childhood, sitting with her father as he played old jazz, rock, or soul music as he taught her how to field dress a rifle: taking it apart, cleaning it, and putting it back together. I
nvoluntarily, her hands started moving, just slightly, as if she were repeating her father’s actions.

  “Field dressing a rifle, Commander?”

  Breaking out of her reverie, Ashley looked up to see Tira standing next to her, smiling. Ashley tilted her head, indicating the music in the background. “The song brought back some memories of when I was younger. So, what brought you here tonight?” Looking past Tira, Ashley saw a few of the younger officers getting a table and motioning for her to join them.

  Tira turned to them, smiled, and then looked back at Ashley. “We’re just having some fun out tonight. A couple of them want to drink me under the table, or at least see if they can. Honestly though, I was hoping the other bartender was working tonight,” she said as Leo came up to them. “Hey, Leo. Can I get three pitchers of beer and a dozen shots of the oldest scotch you got under the counter?”

  “Sure thing. Start a tab?”

  “Yeah, I’ll end up paying it with their money tonight, anyway.”

  He walked away laughing, tossing a few glasses into the air, catching them, and putting them on a platter as he did.

  “You were saying something about another bartender?”

  Tira smiled an innocent and almost embarrassed smile. “Yeah, he’s a slightly older guy named Ralph. Don’t know why, but that man’s bald head draws me in like a moth to a flame.”

  “Oh. My. God. You’re such a girl.”

  Tira shot Ashley a look and they both burst out laughing. It felt good to laugh again, especially after losing the convoy to a ship that shouldn’t exist anymore. “Go, enjoy taking their money.”

  “I will, ma’am. You enjoy your evening too. Captain should be here in a few minutes.” Tira saw Ashley’s confused look and added, “Saw him coming this way, then he got stopped by a couple of the station engineers. We passed him on the way over.”