work.”
“All right,” he said with a sigh. “I hate to lose the shuttles, but anything we can do to save the ship…” He nodded. “All right, pull the team off of fighter construction duty and get to work on this. If Quesh asks, tell him I told you to do it. And Xar?”
“Yes, Captain?” the engineer asked, turning his head to face his commander.
“Get everything loaded, but don’t start arming bombs in my boat bay until the last minute, please. My ship is starting to run smoothly again. I’d like to keep it that way.”
Ka’Xarian nodded. “Of course, Captain. As one of the ones who is doing the work, I completely agree to that.”
“All right, Captain,” Fayyad al Fakhir said over the comms, thirty-five minutes later. “The braces are in place and locked down. For a temporary fix, the ship is ready for high speed maneuvering. I recommend you don’t push higher than eighty-five percent power, but otherwise this girl is ready to dance.”
Tamara smiled. “Very well done, Chief. Thank you. Keep me informed if anything changes.” The comm clicked off. “All right, helm, you heard the man. Increase speed. We’ve got to catch up to the Leytonstone before she gets too close to the Kutok mine.”
“Can’t let the starfighters have all the fun, ma’am,” Garidhak pointed out, which caused some chuckles around the bridge.
Tamara was among them. “True enough, Guns. Just make sure you’re ready to engage as soon as we’re close enough.” She watched the display as the acceleration increased and saw the Time to Intercept indicator get cut from twenty-five minutes to twelve. Twelve minutes to fight against a battlecruiser, one that we haven’t appreciably damaged yet. In a ship that has already taken some serious battering. Stars, please give us the fortitude to see this through.
The Cavalier raced ahead, the sparrow chasing down the tiger.
Chapter 2
“One minute to weapons range, Captain,” Garidhak said. “I’ve got their engines in my sights.”
“Once we’re in range, unload with all available weapons, Guns,” Tamara ordered. “We won’t get many chances with this.”
“Understood.” The Severite focused intently on her controls and her displays.
Tamara nodded slowly, her own eyes on displays. The timer was running down for the time until the Cavalier would intercept. Thankfully, the race to catch the larger ship put the Cavalier right in the Leytonstone’s stern, which gave her a beautiful shot right at their engines. And she was going to make sure that Garidhak blasted them to hell and gone. A disabled battlecruiser would be much easier to deal with than one that could still maneuver. Of course, the problem with a disabled battlecruiser was that while her engines would be down, it didn’t arrest her momentum. She’d continue barreling forward, barely able to alter vector using only maneuvering thrusters. And on her current vector, she was headed straight for the Kutok mine. Of course, following that thought to its logical conclusion, the ship would head straight into the mine and then straight into the atmosphere of the gas giant beyond. It would be in the crew’s best interest to surrender so that FP tugs could latch on and pull her clear. Maneuvering thrusters alone wouldn’t provide enough thrust to change the battlecruiser’s vector to avoid the planet unless they started firing now. And they wouldn’t.
“In range!” Garidhak crowed from tactical.
“Fire!” Tamara
“All right,” he said with a sigh. “I hate to lose the shuttles, but anything we can do to save the ship…” He nodded. “All right, pull the team off of fighter construction duty and get to work on this. If Quesh asks, tell him I told you to do it. And Xar?”
“Yes, Captain?” the engineer asked, turning his head to face his commander.
“Get everything loaded, but don’t start arming bombs in my boat bay until the last minute, please. My ship is starting to run smoothly again. I’d like to keep it that way.”
Ka’Xarian nodded. “Of course, Captain. As one of the ones who is doing the work, I completely agree to that.”
“All right, Captain,” Fayyad al Fakhir said over the comms, thirty-five minutes later. “The braces are in place and locked down. For a temporary fix, the ship is ready for high speed maneuvering. I recommend you don’t push higher than eighty-five percent power, but otherwise this girl is ready to dance.”
Tamara smiled. “Very well done, Chief. Thank you. Keep me informed if anything changes.” The comm clicked off. “All right, helm, you heard the man. Increase speed. We’ve got to catch up to the Leytonstone before she gets too close to the Kutok mine.”
“Can’t let the starfighters have all the fun, ma’am,” Garidhak pointed out, which caused some chuckles around the bridge.
Tamara was among them. “True enough, Guns. Just make sure you’re ready to engage as soon as we’re close enough.” She watched the display as the acceleration increased and saw the Time to Intercept indicator get cut from twenty-five minutes to twelve. Twelve minutes to fight against a battlecruiser, one that we haven’t appreciably damaged yet. In a ship that has already taken some serious battering. Stars, please give us the fortitude to see this through.
The Cavalier raced ahead, the sparrow chasing down the tiger.
Chapter 2
“One minute to weapons range, Captain,” Garidhak said. “I’ve got their engines in my sights.”
“Once we’re in range, unload with all available weapons, Guns,” Tamara ordered. “We won’t get many chances with this.”
“Understood.” The Severite focused intently on her controls and her displays.
Tamara nodded slowly, her own eyes on displays. The timer was running down for the time until the Cavalier would intercept. Thankfully, the race to catch the larger ship put the Cavalier right in the Leytonstone’s stern, which gave her a beautiful shot right at their engines. And she was going to make sure that Garidhak blasted them to hell and gone. A disabled battlecruiser would be much easier to deal with than one that could still maneuver. Of course, the problem with a disabled battlecruiser was that while her engines would be down, it didn’t arrest her momentum. She’d continue barreling forward, barely able to alter vector using only maneuvering thrusters. And on her current vector, she was headed straight for the Kutok mine. Of course, following that thought to its logical conclusion, the ship would head straight into the mine and then straight into the atmosphere of the gas giant beyond. It would be in the crew’s best interest to surrender so that FP tugs could latch on and pull her clear. Maneuvering thrusters alone wouldn’t provide enough thrust to change the battlecruiser’s vector to avoid the planet unless they started firing now. And they wouldn’t.
“In range!” Garidhak crowed from tactical.
“Fire!” Tamara
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