The way station gambit t.., p.1
The Way Station Gambit (The Contingency War Book 2), page 1
THE
WAY STATION GAMBIT
PART TWO OF THE CONTINGENCY WAR SERIES
G J OGDEN
Copyright © 2019 G J Ogden
All rights reserved.
Published by Ogden Media Ltd
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
ISBN-13: 978-1-9160426-4-3
Cover design by germancreative
Editing by S L Ogden
www.ogdenmedia.net
The Contingency War Series
No-one comes in peace. Every being in the galaxy wants something, and is willing to take it by force…
Read the other books in the series:
- The Contingency
- The Way Station Gambit
- Rise of Nimrod Fleet
- Earth's Last War
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Sarah for her work assessing and editing this novel, and to those who subscribed to my newsletters and provided such valuable feedback.
And thanks, as always, to anyone who is reading this. It means a lot. If you enjoyed it, please help by leaving a review on Amazon and Goodreads to let other potential readers know what you think!
If you’d like updates on future novels by G J Ogden, please consider subscribing to the mailing list. Your details will be used to notify subscribers about upcoming books from this author, in addition to a hand-selected mix of book offers and giveaways from similar SFF authors.
http://subscribe.ogdenmedia.net
ONE
A deep, resonant tone pulsed through the bridge of the Hedalt War Frigate and the light level dropped to a dark crimson hue, changing the steel-gray complexion of Provost Adra to a blood red. She lifted her head, her tight, black ponytail brushing down the back of her armored uniform, and studied the halo of screens encircling the command platform. She was adept at selecting only the most pertinent items of data, and soon her eyes fell on the cause of the automatic switch to battle conditions; three contacts had jumped into the system, still distant, but closing on her position fast.
Adjutant Lux raced back to his station between the twin pilot simulants at the front of the bridge, beneath the giant viewport that spread out above him in a wide arc. He read the information on his console and then turned to address Provost Adra. “Three contacts. None are transmitting valid transceiver signals. All three are on an intercept course.”
“Racketeers,” said Adra, spitting out the word as if it were a rotten fruit. She quickly assessed the scan information on the approaching ships, all of which appeared to be equipped with black-market transceivers to hide their identities and allow them to travel through the Fabric without being monitored. The lead ship was an old Corvette-class cruiser, which had likely been stolen from a breaking yard. Nearly all of this class of ship, with the exception of a handful of remaining Hunter Corvettes, had been mothballed decades or longer ago. The other two racketeer vessels were light freighters that had been heavily modified with weapons and armor. Even together, the trio of pirates posed little threat to Adra’s powerful War Frigate, but Adra’s vessel was not the target. Their plan was to raid the freighters that she was escorting; a tedious duty, but one she accepted as a necessary part of her role. The cargo that these particular freighters contained – jump fuel, medicines, food and more – were extremely valuable, both to the Hedalt Empire and to the colonies that inhabited the titanic Way Stations. The city-sized space stations had been left by the mysterious race that had once enslaved the Hedalt, and who they had eventually rebelled against and overthrown. Purged of their former owners, the Way Stations were now Hedalt cities scattered among the stars, many of which were located in the fringe regions, beyond the watch or care of the empire.
The racketeers’ main tactic was to draw away any defensive escort and then disable a single freighter, knowing that the standard order for Warfare Command vessels such as Adra’s frigate was to remain with and defend the surviving ships. The disabled freighter would then fall behind and become easy pickings for the racketeers. But Adra knew these tactics well; in fact she was counting on the predictability and linear thinking of the pirates, whose lesser minds and petty thievery Adra despised.
“Signal our escorts that we are moving to engage the racketeers, and order them to continue on course. They are not to deviate, under any circumstances.”
“Yes, Provost,” Lux replied, but then hesitantly added, “but should we not instruct the escorts to change course away from the racketeer vessels?”
“I gave you a command, Adjutant,” snapped Adra, “Now carry it out.”
Lux nodded humbly and turned, knocking the primary pilot simulant on the shoulder with the back of his hand; it responded by changing course and accelerating hard towards the oncoming ships. Lux then relayed Adra’s command to the lead ship of their four freighter escorts, and enabled the tactical layout on the main viewport. The image switched to show a zoomed-in view of the three attacking vessels.
Adra pointed to one of the screens above her and then drew her hand towards her chest, causing the screen to swing down on a silver arm that seemed too thin to support its weight, yet did so without sign of strain. She grabbed the frame of the display and re-positioned it to her left side. On the screen was her customized tactical console, from which she would direct the attack personally. Adra preferred not to let the simulants have too much control over battle operations. Despite the tactical simulants being allowed a level of strategic intelligence, she believed their lobotomized lab-grown human brains lacked a natural feel for combat and the insight as to when and where to strike hardest.
A low tone sounded again, and Adra saw that the lead racketeer ship had launched four missiles at them. Pitiful... thought Adra, countering with a spread of decoy drones, which shot out ahead of the frigate to intercept the missiles. Seconds later, four bright flashes lit up the viewport as the missiles detonated harmlessly in space.
“The two smaller racketeer ships are breaking off to pursue the freighters,” Lux called out, though this was exactly as Adra had already predicted. “The lead Corvette is reducing velocity, but it remains on an intercept course with us.”
“Its plan is to lure us away,” Adra replied, coolly. “Adjust course to pursue the two breakaway ships, and reduce our velocity just enough to allow the lead Corvette to close.”
Unseen by Adra, Lux raised his eyebrows, surprised that the Provost would allow the enemy ship within weapons range, while also allowing the other two ships to get further ahead. The Corvette may have been old, but it still possessed sufficient firepower to cripple or even destroy a War Frigate if allowed to advance unchallenged. But, still smarting from being reproached earlier, he chose not to query the command and simply relayed the orders to the appropriate members of their mostly simulant crew. Nevertheless, the tiny hesitation that occurred between Adra’s order and its execution had not gone unnoticed by the Provost.
The bridge shook as cannon fire from the pursuing Corvette hammered into the rear ablative hull plating, which bore the impact without any resulting damage to the frigate’s systems. Adra watched the pursuing ship closely on her screen, while frequently flicking her intense blue eyes to the main viewport in order to keep tabs on the other two racketeers. The Corvette continued to close, seemingly gaining in confidence, and the War Frigate was pounded again, but this time warnings flashed up on Adra’s screen, indicating that the barrage had broken through their thick armor, causing minor damage. She glanced around the side of her screen to check on Lux, watching with interest to see whether her inexperienced new adjutant was managing to keep his composure. Lux had grasped hold of the metal frames of the two pilot’s chairs to either side, holding them as one would if going over the dip of a rollercoaster. At least he had the sense to keep his mouth shut this time, Adra mused.
The pursuing Corvette continued to close and Adra smiled as the distance indicator finally dropped to the number she was waiting for. Greed and stupidity are common partners, she thought, and then she pressed a single button on her console screen to execute her pre-planned maneuver. The thrusters fired, spinning the mighty frigate a full one hundred and eighty degrees and then shunting it laterally, while keeping the main forward plasma cannons carefully trained on the Corvette. She watched patiently as the ship desperately tried to turn away, but the crew knew, as did Adra, that their exuberance had cost them dearly. She tried to imagine the scenes of panic on the bridge; the cries of terror, the shouts of blame, as each turned on the other. There was no honor on a racketeer ship. She was doing them a favor by reducing their archaic little vessel to atoms.
Adra waited until the last moment, allowing them a few more moments of agony, and perhaps even a glimmer of hope – a belief that they might yet get away, that they might still live – and then she fired. Three twin pulses of searing purple energy erupted towards the racketeer ship, each striking the hull cleanly and scorching deep furrows into its heart. Moments later th e Corvette was consumed by light and blown apart into thousands of pieces. Adra spun the ship back around and pushed the main engines twenty percent beyond maximum, entering her command override to dismiss the warning that flashed up, cautioning her of possible engine damage.
“Bring us within weapons range of the two remaining ships,” Adra called out to Lux, who had now released his vice-like grip on the pilot’s chair. To Adra’s satisfaction, he responded without hesitation, and relayed the commands. The beat of the War Frigate’s engines through the deck plating caused the entire bridge to vibrate as if subjected to powerful seismic waves, as the mighty vessel cut through space like a shark tearing through the ocean in pursuit of prey.
“One of the two remaining racketeer ships has abandoned the pursuit,” Lux called back, raising his voice to a near shout to be heard over the drone of the engines. “It is heading away on a perpendicular course.”
Adra watched the ship peel away and start to run. She could practically smell the fear of the crew on-board, and it only spurred her on harder. She knew they would have witnessed the destruction of their leader and realized that they were next, and like their comrades, they would now foolishly cling to the hope they might survive. But by changing course they had in fact allowed Adra to gain on them more rapidly. She selected the ship on her panel and launched three torpedoes, watching on the main viewport as the weapons streaked towards their target. She relished the thought of the doomed racketeers helplessly watching the torpedoes approach, and suffering the gut-wrenching realization that there was nothing they could do to prevent their deaths. A flash of orange and red lit up the viewport and the ship blinked and disappeared from Adra’s screen.
Suddenly, the angry pulse of the engines decreased and Adra glanced at her console, noting that the ship was decelerating rapidly. Furious, she shoved away her screen, ready to challenge Lux and to demand an explanation, when the reason became obvious; the final racketeer had halted its pursuit of the freighters and was signaling its surrender.
“We are receiving a communication request from the remaining racketeer,” said Lux. “They wish to surrender and submit to judgment by Warfare Command, without preconditions.”
Adra laughed, but it was a mocking laugh; one that conveyed no joy, only derision. “Without preconditions,” she said, repeating Lux’s words. “They offer this as if they have a choice”.
The frigate came to a stop one hundred meters in front of the dilapidated and battle-scarred light freighter, which was less than a quarter of its size. Adra scanned the vessel, noting that its jump drive was not charged and that its meagre weapon systems had been deactivated. She targeted the bridge of the ship with the dorsal nose turret and then accepted the communication request. A second later the terrified face of the racketeer captain appeared on the viewport. He was small for a Hedalt, thin and with messy, knotted hair pressed underneath a black headscarf. Guilt was inscribed across his face like scars.
Adra despised this element of her race; the criminal underworld that had grown up as the Hedalt had expanded through space, feeding off the weak and vulnerable inhabitants of the Way Stations like vermin. They were little better than humans to Adra. This captain, at least, had more gumption than his companions, because he knew the law that guaranteed a hearing to any Hedalt subject who submits freely. But Adra did not care for this particular law, and as a military provost, she had the authority to serve as judge, jury and, if she desired, executioner.
“Provost, we surrender freely,” said the racketeer captain, his voice crackly and unsure. “We have powered down our weapons and jump engines and await boarding.”
Adra shook her head. There was no humility in the request, just an implied understanding that Adra would abide by the law. They knew that by surrendering and submitting to tribunal they would at least be spared death, and so they did so only to save their skins. Cowards... Adra thought.
“Apologize,” said Adra, fixing the racketeer with a unwavering stare.
The racketeer captain looked confused, and glanced off to the side, presumably to look at one or more of his other crewmates. “I don’t understand, Provost.”
“Apologize,” Adra repeated. “Apologize for your pathetic attempt to raid this convoy. Apologize for the disgrace that you are to the Hedaltus race. Apologize for wasting my time.”
This appeared to anger the racketeer leader, and even embolden him. “I and my crew have a right to trial. I do not need to apologize to you, Provost. You are obliged to do your duty!”
“This is your trial,” spat Adra, “and this is your sentence.” She practically punched the screen to her side, causing the forward turret to unleash a hail-storm of needle-like plasma shards into the bridge of the racketeer ship. Adra watched the viewport with satisfaction as the strips of energy tore through the Captain’s torso, arms and neck, and ripped apart the consoles in the background of the image, until the image itself fizzled and went blank, to be replaced a moment later by a view of the light freighter, venting atmosphere through the gaping holes in the hull that used to surround its command center.
Lux turned to face Adra, concentrating hard in order to conceal his shock at what he’d just witnessed. This was not the first time he had seen Adra act unilaterally with deadly force, but the manner of this execution was even more sadistic than the last time she had ruthlessly eliminated a racketeer crew. He watched and waited as his commander casually waved her screen away, sending it back up to join the halo of other screens above her head.
“Do you have something to say, Adjutant Lux?” Adra asked, watching Lux closely; studying his body language and the subtle twitches of his facial muscles. The young adjutant was clearly deeply conflicted about what she had just done, but Adra was keen to learn if he was foolish enough to question her decision.
“Only that I have initiated repairs and that Warfare Command has relayed instructions for our next escort duty,” Lux answered. “Shall I set a course?”
“No, I have already relayed to you our next set of co-ordinates,” said Adra, pleased that Lux had sense enough not to voice any objection. “Once the freighters have passed inside the safe perimeter of the Way Station, jump at once.”
Lux turned to check the co-ordinates Adra had sent over, and frowned. They indicated a position far out towards the galactic center, thousands of light years from where Warfare Command had ordered them to proceed. He turned back to Adra and tried to phrase his question without sounding rebellious. Directly challenging the order of a superior could often be a fatal mistake.
“Provost, this location is a significant distance from the co-ordinates that Warfare Command transmitted. I merely ask for clarification, in order to confirm these co-ordinates are correct.”
“They are correct,” Adra replied instantly, but she could see from Lux’s pained expression that this answer had not allayed his confusion. For the sake of expedience, she decided to explain further, in the hope it would discourage further questions. “We are to investigate the origin of the signal anomaly that we detected in the CoreNet.”
This didn’t tally with the orders Lux had seen, and curiosity got the better of him, “Of course, Provost. Has Warfare Command requested we investigate the anomaly further?”
“As far as you are concerned, I am Warfare Command,” Adra replied, glowering at him. “I grow tired of your questions, Adjutant Lux – do not ask another.”
A threat was implied, and Lux heard it loud and clear. He bowed, lowering his eyes to the deck. “Apologies, Provost Adra, ” he answered, realizing that he had again overstepped. It was a dangerous habit and one he knew he had to temper quickly. “I will begin preparations to jump at once.” He then turned to relay the order to the simulants, but as he worked he was unable to keep his eyes off the image of the little racketeer ship on the viewport, which was still bleeding atmosphere out into space. He felt a chill of fear run down his spine, not because of where they were going, but because of who was leading him there.
