Sword of Axia (The Arcadian Jihad) (3 page)

“Guide Tell, are you a prisoner too?”

For one sickening moment he considered the possibility that Guide Xerxes Tell had joined the Axians, what else would explain him being on the bridge of this Axian prison ship, unshackled and unguarded? But no, that was impossible, no one had given more to lead the fight against the Axian hordes. Tell smiled at their obvious confusion.

“No, I am not a prisoner, Captain Blas, nor have I joined the enemy, you can all relax. Welcome aboard the Revolution, formerly the Prophet Ramak, the first ship in what we intend will be the new Rescom Fleet. Like the Phoenix, Rescom is rising from the ashes, this ship is our starting point.”

They were still locked inside Lyra Intersystem Spaceport of Axis Nova, surrounded by Axian warships, the armored might of the Axian navy, what was the man talking about, the ‘Rescom Fleet’? Blas looked around the control room of the Hunter Class Light Cruiser, a lightly armed ship that served in a multitude of roles from fleet duty to convoy escort or armed merchantman, or even as now, a prisoner transport. It was clearly not a new ship, everything had the appearance of being well worn, slightly shabby and neglected as would be expected for such an unimportant and routine task as moving convicts around the Systems. There was no glory in being a mere shuttle service for the flotsam and jetsam of the Axian legal system. But the start of a new fleet, this worn out heap? No, it was impossible, crazy. Guide Tell continued, speaking gently as ever.

“It’s not an impressive looking ship, Captain Blas, but it was all that was available to us. I can assure you that the combat systems are functioning perfectly, I am sure they will be needed.”

Quentin Rusal interrupted him angrily. “Damnit, Guide Tell, I don’t believe any of this. What’s going on, is this some kind of an Axian game? Did they get to you?”

“It’s no game, Admiral. We had already infiltrated the crew of the Prophet Ramak before your trial started, it was our first step in the fightback that began the moment the guns fell silent. We’ve been planning this for months, we knew that we couldn’t beat them in open battle, not yet, anyway, their fanatics outnumbered us by far too many. But we’re confident that once the people of the Nine Systems have tasted Axian rule they’ll want to come back to us in their millions. First, we need a navy and you, Admiral Rusal, are the most experienced officer of the Rescom Fleet to have survived the conflict. We put into motion a plan to have you brought back to Axis Nova for trial so that we could get you on this particular ship for the return voyage to Nabucco I. While you were in the courtroom the crew quietly staged a mutiny and put the Axian fanatics in the holding cells. We’re all Rescom people here, the entire crew.”

They shook hands with and hugged their rescuers, still totally stunned by the abrupt change of fortune. “I can understand you needing Admiral Rusal, but why Berg and me?” Blas asked him. “There must be thousands of Rescom prisoners of higher rank, why did you spring us from prison?”

Guide Tell smiled sadly. “You are correct, there are tens of thousands of prisoners and they are suffering terribly, we’d like to get them all out. Most are out of our reach, but getting you three out was possible once we’d put our plans into motion. We also have certain assets on Axis Nova that were invaluable to us. We need you, Captain Blas, you personally. We need a fighting captain for this ship and your reputation precedes you, many men say you are the most skilful captain in the Rescom Fleet.”

“And me?” Smetana snorted. “Why me, I’m just a merchant?”

Tell smiled gently. “Not just a merchant, Commander Berg Smetana. We have a long list of key Axian targets that need to be dealt with and your leadership skills are well known. We’ll need you when our ground forces are rebuilt. We are fully aware of what you did for Rescom, your intelligence networks were legendary. As were your teams of assassins.”

Smetana nodded grimly. “Whatever you want of me, I’m your man. Preferably if you want me to kill plenty of these Axian bastards!”

Tell inclined his head. “Yes, we will certainly need your killing skills in the battles to come. We have a great many enemies to fight.”

A crewman handed him a message.

“Our take-off slot is imminent, I will answer all of your questions later. I think we’ll all feel more comfortable when we get off this planet. Captain Blas, you are now the Captain of the Revolution, it is your command. Would you care to take us out?”

Blas felt the old surge of excitement, that tremendous feeling of power at being able to con a cruiser out into space. Being skipper of your own ship had to be the best job in the universe. It seemed unreal that in the past few minutes he’d gone from being a shackled prisoner to commanding a naval warship, a light cruiser.

“Very well, thank you, Guide Tell.”

He walked forward to the captain’s command chair but remained standing, he wanted to savor every moment of this turnaround in his fortunes. An older man walked forward and shook his hand.

“I’m Commander Dirk Gehlen, your first officer, Sir.”

He was wearing the yellow sash of an Axian officer. Blas tactfully made no comment.

“Very well, we’ll talk later, Commander. Engine and navigation status?”

“All online and ready to answer the bridge.”

“Combat center?”

“Every gun is manned and ready, central fire control systems are standing by to take overall control if required.”

“Main atomic drives and fission thrusters?”

“One hundred percent, Sir, ready to go. Fusion drive accelerators are charged and waiting for star coordinates.”

“Thank you, Commander.”

He looked down at his uniform, soiled and torn. Gehlen noticed his gaze.

“There are clean uniforms in the captain’s cabin, Sir. Your cabin.”

“Axian uniforms?”

Gehlen’s face fell slightly. “I’m afraid so, yes, we haven’t had time...”

“I’ll wait until I can change into my own colors, Dirk. That’s what I’ve been fighting for.”

Gehlen reddened. “I understand, of course.”

“Good. Call for final clearance from the dock controller.”

The comms officer keyed the microphone. “Intersystem Spaceport Dock Controller, this is the light cruiser Prophet Ramak, ready to proceed as scheduled for voyage to Nabucco I with cargo of prisoners.”

They waited for a reply, Blas found himself holding his breath. Surely they wouldn’t get away with it. After a tense, long minute a voice came over the bridge speaker.

“What is your authority for the flight?”

“Executive order of the Judge of the Supreme Court, Grand Pasha Merca Gluck.”

There was no delay this time.

“Clearance granted, you can go straight out, we’re holding everything else back. Have a good flight, Prophet Ramak and the blessings of Axia upon you.”

“And upon you, Intersystem Control,” the comms officer replied calmly.

Blas nodded at the helmsman. “Get her under way, as soon as we reach the outer atmosphere cut in the fission thrusters, we’ll use them at maximum boost to take us out fast, we need plenty of distance between us and this planet before we engage the fusion drive accelerators.”

“Aye aye, Sir.”

They felt the slight tremble as the electrom locks that held them to the spacedock were released, their main engines roared and the ship slowly left the ground, gathering speed as it reached up into the outer atmosphere of Axis Nova. The view of space on the main navigation screen made him feel emotional, but he shook it off. By a miracle he’d been given a chance of a new beginning, a new ship. He needed to keep doubly alert and re-sharpen the edge dulled by four months of toxic slavery on Nabucco I. He felt the kick as the crew engaged the fission boosters, accelerating them into deep space. He looked across at Quentin Rusal, the Admiral was in deep conversation with Guide Tell. Smetana was standing near them, looking around the control room. Was he working out how to turn his next profitable deal, or how he would target his next kill? He could do either, equally well. Smetana was deep and dark, his thoughts were for himself alone. The next target would know nothing until after the assassin had struck and then only for a brief microsecond before he fell dead. Blas felt the slight movement as the outer hull began to tremble with the force of the gravity compensator coming online. The feeling of weightlessness eased as the device created an artificial gravity for the inner hull when the planet’s gravitational pull was left behind. Blas hardly dared to believe that they could slip away so easily. Perhaps it wasn’t going to be so easy, though, a line of dots suddenly appeared on the bottom edge of the scanner and he peered at the screen more closely.

“What are they, Commander?”

“Checking now, Sir.”

Gehlen put the scanner into fine detail. When he looked up, his face was worried. “It’s a squadron of Axian Interceptors, six of them. They’re on a course to meet us, interception point will be just before we jump into hyperspace, I’m not sure if they’re on to us or not.”

He looked expectantly at Blas, waiting for orders.

“How long before we’re out of range of their planetary defenses.”

Gehlen checked his screen. “One minute and fifteen seconds, Sir.”

“Very well. Assume they’re hostile ships, Commander, leave them to follow us for now. You will instruct our gunners to hit them precisely ten seconds before we make the jump into hyperspace.”

The Admiral walked across to stand next to Blas, his face was worried. “Isn’t it a little early to assume they’re hostile, Captain?” he said quietly.

Blas shrugged. “It’s a gamble, that’s true, Admiral. If they are hostile, we need to hit them hard and make a run for it immediately before we engage the fusion drive accelerators so that they won’t be able to follow us. If we don’t hit them first, they could blast us out of space while we’re sitting defenseless.”

Every man on the bridge knew that the fusion drive accelerators took massive amounts of power, enough to drain their entire defense and attack capability for almost half a minute while they spooled up. It was a well-known feature of hyperspatial travel and one that was invariably exploited by an enemy who would wait to open fire until a ship began to engage their fusion drives as they spooled up for faster than light speed.

“They may be on a wholly innocent mission,” Rusal protested.

“In which case we’ll be taking six Axian warships out of the equation. That’s six ships that won’t be able to fight us when we begin the Rescom counterattack. Admiral, the Axians will know soon enough that we’ve taken their ship, why take the chance?”

Rusal nodded. “I see your point, yes. Very well, take them out.”

They watched intently as the six tiny dots grow nearer.

“How long until they’re in range?” Blas snapped.

“Three minutes and ten point three seconds,” Gehlen replied.

“Very well.” He turned to speak to Xerxes Tell, who stood calmly behind the ship’s officers, watching the events unfold.

“When are you going to tell us, Guide Tell?”

“Tell you what, Captain Blas?”

“How you took this ship. You couldn’t just steal an Axian light cruiser, even a battered old tub like this one. We all know that their security systems are too tight. You had help, you had to have been handed it on a plate. Who on Axis Nova helped you?”

Tell’s calm expression didn’t change.

“I told you, Captain, we infiltrated the crew.”

“Guide Tell, there are too many biometric and psychostatic checks to prevent anyone from stealing a military vessel. Someone on Axis Nova had to help you, at the very least the security scanners on the planet had to be tampered with and the spaceport logs would need to be altered. Crew records, flight logs, the systems are all interlinked. Who was it, it had to be somebody at the very highest level?”

For a few moments Tell didn’t reply, he just stared at the screens. Then he nodded at Blas.

“You’re very perceptive, Captain. We did have help, yes, but I can’t tell you who it is just yet. Perhaps later I will let you in on our secrets, but we’re not even clear of Axis Nova yet. For the time being be content that we are not alone in our struggle, there are people in the Axian movement who are unhappy with the way things are.”

“One minute, Captain.”

“Very well. Are the fusion drive accelerators online and ready to spool up?”

“At your order, Sir. Thirty seconds to target.”

They watched the dots grow nearer as the planet beneath receded further away, becoming a small round shape at the bottom of the screen. Gehlen watched the Captain. Blas nodded.

“Fire main batteries.”

The lights on the bridge seemed to dim as the white particle beams streaked out towards the oncoming ships. They flew through space, nearer, the onrushing ships started to veer away from the salvo that threatened to destroy them. It was no use, the gun batteries were programmed to account for every human and computer-assisted evasion tactic. As soon as the enemy ships started to maneuver more salvos flicked out, a storm of heavy beams that enmeshed the six ships in a web of destruction, they scattered in different directions but the programmed burst had cast a perfect net. One by one the particle beams impacted on the ships and blasted them to destruction. Guide Tell closed his eyes and breathed a quiet litany as the last interceptor disappeared from their scanners. Blas was already giving further orders.