Darklight Pirates

“I thought you were pirates. My orders were to stop a pirate ship. I didn’t know.” Captain O’Malley stood stiffly in front of Cletus Tomlins. If his knees had been locked any tighter, he would have toppled over.

“You realize that Citizen Chang disabled a cargo hold filled with explosives, and that you would have self-detonated?” Cletus saw how pale the officer became. “I know you were given a suicide mission--wait!” He held up his hand to forestall the officer’s protest. “I know you hadn’t any idea you would kill yourself.”

“I would never risk my ship and crew that way, sir. I wouldn’t. We were told the sealed hold contained new tracking instrumentation and secret experimental sensors. It’s God’s honest truth, sir, I did not know we were packed with explosives. The Belfast’s destruction would leave a huge gap in the fleet. We’re the best in the High Guard.”

“I know, Captain. You have been cruelly used.” Cletus watched the tiny wrinkles form at the corners of the officer’s mouth as resolution set in. Cletus had a staunch recruit, as much from prior loyalty as determination to pay back Aaron Riddle for misusing him and his cruiser in such an outrageous fashion. This was not how war was fought. Not by Burran.

“You were reported as dead, sir. You and the Programmer General died, and the Shillelagh was destroyed coming out of a badly timed Drop.”

“The coup left us no choice but to fight back however we could.”

“As pirates?”

Cletus nodded.

“Consider it guerrilla action, if spacing in a dreadnought as powerful as the Shillelagh can be considered that. Tell me, Captain. What of my mother and sisters?”

“I haven’t heard anything, sir. Since Weir became Programmer General, news has been limited. Some say controlled, others say it is censored. What we hear from the cargo ships supplying us at the station, marital law has been declared in many cities down below because of combined attacks by both Eire and Uller.”

“What do you think, Captain O’Malley?” Cletus knew his father would debrief the cruiser’s skipper later. Such information mattered little to him, now that the captain had declared a lack of knowledge of his mother, Ebony and Bella. Past the captain’s shoulder he saw Leanne slip onto the bridge. A single nod assured him all was secure aboard the cruiser now.

“Our orbiting fleet could reduce any invasion force in a few days, sir. My ship alone could sweep the entire border every ninety minutes from low orbit where the worst fighting is reported, but we have been ordered to patrol exclusively to interdict pirates. Unless there are others, that means you, sir.”

“There are no others. We have not destroyed any of the incoming cargo vessels. Our plan is to choke off trade and force Weir to surrender.”

“The reports tell of several blown up ships, sir.”

“We boarded and then redirected them to other potential trade worlds. When Programmer General Tomlins is once more at the Blarney Stone’s console, he intends to reopen those trade routes. To do so means cordial relations have to exist. They do.”

Leanne came and stood beside him. Only a quick glance at the captain told him she agreed with his appraisal. They had a solid ally in O’Malley. She bent and whispered, “We have intercepted a microburst to the station calling down all ships into low attack orbits. The revolt against Weir has begun in earnest.”

“My father intends to take the Shillelagh down to support the rebellion?” Cletus caught his breath. They had worked on the warbots to bring them to full effectiveness. If he and Leanne dropped into the capital driving those they would turn the tide quickly against anything Riddle could bring to bear. The city streets were not designed for tanks and any armored infantry would fall quickly to the warbots. They had been fearsome before. Outfitted with the darklight energy batteries, they carried the STF armor and heavier armament than before. Even a main battle tank pitted against them would be outclassed.

“He has downloaded the security sequences from this cruiser. If the Shillelagh goes down, it will be last and able to fire on any of the High Guard ships.”

Cletus chewed at his lower lip. He didn’t like the idea of one Burran ship destroying another, though he realized how quickly Riddle would turn the entire fleet against the Shillelagh, should he detect it.

“Can he hide the difference between a dreadnought and a cruiser?”

“He can, sir,” O’Malley said, “if he keeps the station on the far side of the planet where its sensors can’t sight him directly. I know the proper geosynchronous spy satellites to take out to blind them--and the ground.”

“Would Riddle use the fleet against civilians?” The idea turned him cold inside. It had been bad enough thinking of the fleet used against Eire or Uller, since those nations lacked a High Guard. They were still of Ballymore and old earth, cleaving more to Pope Seamus than modern arms and methods.

“I have heard rumors that Commander in Chief Riddle and Programmer General Weir are not on the best of terms. Riddle might see this as his opportunity to assume complete control.” O’Malley made a face. “His insistence on martial law in many cities has not been well received, either by the citizens or Weir’s advisers.”

“And the military, Captain?” Leanne studied him closely. “Where does the military allegiance lie?”

O’Malley stiffened even more and said, “We follow orders, ma’am.”

Leanne nodded and said nothing more. Cletus took this as his cue to assert himself as Commander in Chief Armed Forces.

“I’ll take command of the Belfast to support my father.” Cletus saw Leanne’s fleeting expression. “You’ll stay with me?”

“Your father needs me. Also, there is the matter of the damage this ship has sustained, making it a hindrance in combat. It is better that you get the ship ... repaired.”

Cletus knew that she meant “converted” to the darklight batteries. The cruiser would then be more than a match for the only other dreadnought in the High Guard then. Such extensive work would take a month or longer, even with the full robotic crew on Scrutiny dedicated to that one task only.

“I need to be with my fleet, even if it is only the Shillelagh and the Belfast."

“It has been discussed. Take command of this cruiser and repair it.”

“Sir?” O’Malley moved a little closer and lowered his voice. “The ship is not battleworthy, but we can be useful as a decoy. As much as I’d like to see the Belfast doing its part to regain control for the Programmer General, we cannot enter the atmosphere without coming apart.”

“Can you Lift?”

“The StringSpaceLift engines are intact.” O’Malley smiled crookedly and shook his head in disbelief. “We can Lift but not fight or even port on-planet. Half the crew is in suits because we’re leaking air from most compartments.”

“No, Cletus,” Leanne said before he could protest what the captain had said. “You must be the one to pilot to Scrutiny.”

O’Malley started to speak, hesitated for a moment to get his thoughts in order, then said, “I’m loyal to your father, sir. And I am under your orders. Without question. I can navigate the Belfast anywhere and keep the destination secret. Scrutiny is the base where you added those incredible weapons on your father’s flagship?”

Cletus sucked in his breath and held it. His father had given him the coordinates, should anything happen in combat. They had kept them from everyone else, though he suspected Leanne had somehow figured out the location. She had spent a great deal of time while the Shillelagh was being refitted studying the starfield visible from Scrutiny. The precise location wouldn’t be discernible, but if she knew the region in space, the neighborhood in the Lesser Magellanic Cloud where the TZO lay, the Far Kingdom astronomers could narrow the search down by the red giant’s spectral type.

A sinking sensation caused him to sigh. He wanted to trust her. His feelings for her were greater than he wanted to admit to anyone, and if she betrayed him, his father and Burran, it would be devastating, yet could he expect her to be less loyal to Far Kingdom than he was to Ballymore? Whatever he felt for her was less than the loyalty he felt for his world. It was foolish to think she loved him more than the world where she had been born and the people who had promoted her to such a responsible position.

“Your loyalty is not in question, Captain. The base must remain a secret in case Weir is successful in retaining power.”

“Or Riddle succeeds in deposing him,” Leanne said. “If the Shillelagh is destroyed, someone must continue the fight. We will go in unsure of the fighters and their allegiances.”

“You can’t go down alone in the warbot. Both of us need to go.” Cletus heard how hollow that sounded in his own ears.

“We will have a few hours, and I can control both units. Don’t forget that I did this when you were learning the rudiments of the robot. Another officer can be trained enough to power up the systems and then the unit can be set on automatic. It is capable of fighting without a driver.”

O’Malley stepped away, not sure of what they discussed. He gestured to his XO and spoke quietly with her.

Cletus listened to just enough to know O’Malley issued orders to prepare the cruiser for a Lift. He was a good officer. Trusting him would not be a mistake, but Cletus remembered how his father had not told even his son, his family, anyone, about Scrutiny. The research done there not only gave a chance for regaining power in Burran but also for Ballymore to become a more important planet. Once Weir and Riddle were deposed, the Shillelagh no longer needed to be a pirate ship. It could be the flagship of a powerful fleet.

A fleet he would command as Commander in Chief Armed Forces.

“If we get rid of Weir and Riddle,” he said aloud.

“You have reached the same conclusion your father has.” Leanne stared at him. A touch of pity tainted what he thought was love in her eyes.

“The assault can be postponed until the Belfast is spaceworthy again. Two ships with the darklight batteries can--”

“No, Cletus. We do not decide the timing. Donal must press his advantage now. And you must repair this cruiser as backup if anything goes wrong.”

“I resent being a pirate, of chasing away civilian ships.”

“It is necessary as long as Goram Weir controls the Blarney Stone and Riddle commands the military. The space station possesses potent energy weapons as well as being base for the Burran High Guard. Such a powerful base has to be captured, not destroyed, or Burran will suffer after the war is over.”

“The sooner I get to Scrutiny, the sooner I can return.”

“It will be to a Burran with a Tomlins as Programmer General. Your part is more difficult because you cannot fight alongside your father.” She touched his arm and said in a whisper, “Or with me.”

He kissed her. She recoiled for a moment, then returned the kiss with fervor. Leanne stepped away and touched her lips with her index finger.

“I will see you on-planet. Soon.” She quickly left.

Cletus felt as if part of him went with her. He settled in the captain’s chair and saw O’Malley, his XO and the few remaining bridge crew trying not to look at him.

“How long before the Belfast can Lift, Commodore?”

“We are powering up the fusion engines now, Captain Tomlins. By the time the co-ordinates are set, we can Lift.”

Cletus took his time, watching the external cam directed toward the Shillelagh until Leanne disappeared into the dreadnought’s airlock. He settled the control helmet, made certain of data security and finally inputted Scrutiny’s coordinates, double checked them and then made certain with a third run that he had not made a mistake.

“Commodore O’Malley, we Lift in three, two, one ...”

The Belfast creaked and moaned like a thing alive as the StringSpaceLift engine squeezed them down into other dimensions that erased time and space.

Four seconds later, the ship Dropped into normal space--or as normal as space could be near a TZO. They had transited perfectly. Now the work could begin refitting the cruiser.