David Drake: When the Tide Rises

Seams started, but the plasma had vented its energy in the rigging. Daniel knew from experience that by dressing theSissie in a full suit of sails, he could prevent the first bolt, even from a battleship's 8-inch weapon, from reaching the hull.

That was the first bolt only.

ThePrincess Cecile wasn't a proper target for the battleships' guns, but she was the nearest target. Daniel supposed that as a Cinnabar patriot he should be pleased that the enemy was wasting shots which should've been fired at theAlcubiere. However-he grinned-he wasn'tthat good a patriot.

"Six, we've got to launch!" Borries said, but Daniel'd locked theSissie 's missile tubes to the command console. He'd launch when he was certain of his target. TheWaechter 's Chief Missileer hadn't taken time to properly plan his solution, which was going to be a costly mistake.

Admiral James had ordered the Foxhunt element to launch at thePleasaunce before fleeing back into the Matrix, but Daniel had also set up attacks on the four heavy cruisers in the right wing and on theFormentera, the left-wing battleship. He dumped thePleasaunce attack and brought up the solution for the cruiser directly ahead of her in line, theDirektor Heinrich. He modified the preset slightly, then reached for Execute again.

TheExpress launched two missiles. Daniel wasn't sure how her crew managed to do it, because the destroyer had been hammered by plasma bolts from the moment thePrincess Cecile extracted. Even if her hull hadn't been penetrated, it'd be remarkable if any sensors had survived to provide targeting information.

"Launching two!" Daniel said.

"Six, dear Gods no, you'll miss ahead!" Borries said.

The corvette clanged as steam blasted a missile clear of its tube, clanged again as the second missile banged out ten seconds after the first, and then rang with three blows in quick succession. The heavy cruisersHertha andDirektor Heinrich had caught her with 15-cm plasma bolts which stripped away most of the rigging on the port side. Under normal circumstances being hit by a 15-cm plasma bolt would've seemed like walking into the mouth of Hell, but to those aboard a ship that'd just taken a 20-cm round, the cruiser weapons seemed anemic.

"Prepare for insertion!" Daniel said, his hair standing on end. The lights had flickered off and on again, but during the interim the interior metal surfaces had trembled with pale green corposants. He didn't know how long it'd be before he could cancel the hull charges; perhaps there wasn't enough time in the world…

The jolt of induced current had shifted Daniel's display from the attack board back to the PPI which'd been up previously. On it one of theWaechter 's missiles intersected the bead slugged esc forEscapade. The cruiser's missiles'd been aimed as much by luck as skill, but any spacer could tell you there was nothing better than luck-or worse.

Under ideal conditions theSissie would by now have gotten the greasy feel that indicated her substance was severing its material connection with the sidereal universe. She wasn't there yet: too much energy from the ion bolts popped and sizzled in hotspots throughout her hull and rigging.

There was nothing to do but wait. Though-reloads were rumbling toward the missile tubes. Even though launching a second salvo might draw further Alliance attention, thePrincess Cecile had come here to fight.

The steep acceleration curve indicated the Alliance weapons were dual-converter units, as was to be expected from Fleet warships. The range from theWaechter to theEscapade was just long enough that the missile would've expended the water it carried for fuel, but the projectile would barely have begun to separate into three pieces. Such a hit would've wrecked a battleship. It turned theEscapade into two relatively large assemblies, the far bow and the right outrigger, and sent them spinning away in a fan of scrap and gas. Eighty percent of the destroyer's mass was in that expanding spray.

TheAlcubiere had launched ten of the twelve missiles that'd have been a complete salvo. ThePleasaunce had hit her repeatedly with 20-cm bolts as she extracted in company with thePrincess Cecile, and not even a heavy cruiser could accept that punishment without noticing it. It was scarcely a surprise that two of theAlcubiere 's tubes would've been damaged, either by having their caps welded shut or simply warping when the hull twisted.

ThePleasaunce was now using her cannon to fend away the missiles sent toward her by most ships of the Foxhunt element. Not all were well-aimed-theAntigone 's eight weren't even in the right plane; heavy gunfire had smashed the light cruiser as she extracted. Her Chief Missileer must've launched blindly as overloaded consoles sizzled on the verge of meltdown.

But some some RCN missiles were on track, serious threats even to a battleship. Jolts of plasma turned a missile's own mass into vapor which streamed away at high velocity and thrust the remainder of the projectile into a vector which would miss the intended target. None of Foxhunt's missiles would touch thePleasaunce.

And as Borries had said, by braking hard theDirektor Heinrich ensured that theSissie 's two rounds would miss ahead of her. Both 15-cm turrets in the cruiser's bow were blasting great balls of gas from the projectiles, but that was in what a layman would've called an excess of caution. Spacers didn't believe you could be too cautious, though they'd admit that often enough you couldn't be cautious at all.

The outer hull of thePrincess Cecile shivered into balance. TheFormentera continued to pound theAlcubiere, and the Alliance light cruisers were working over the four destroyers which'd extracted late. Nobody seemed concerned about theAntigone, a drifting hulk, nor the corvette draped in the pitiable remains of her rig.

We're going to get out of this after all!

"Ship, we're inserting!" Daniel said as reality flickered.

As the PPI faded to lustrous emptiness, Daniel saw the two things he'd been hoping for. First, theZeno andLao-tze had extracted simultaneously, three light-seconds out-system of thePleasaunce -which was driving directly toward them at one and a half gravities' acceleration.

And second, theDirektor Heinrich was rupturing like a melon hit by a heavy bullet. In dodging theSissie 's pair of missiles, her captain had braked her into the path of theRip Waechter 's initial salvo. Over a tonne of steel had just struck the heavy cruiser amidships, exiting in a fireball of the hull's contents; including her crew.

Adele kept a miniature of Daniel's face at the top of her scren. As a result of the first walloping discharge, it began propagating through her display's holographic volume, displacing-she hoped it wasn't corrupting-the data that was supposed to be there.

She wasn't sure if she was dizzy because of the ion-spawned surge that'd overloaded the lighting circuits or if the thought of her equipment being destroyed was making her sick. Grimacing, she shut off the console, then brought it up again with five quick strokes of her wands.

She'd hope for the best. If the unit was hopelessly compromised, she'd-well, she'd make do. Adele Mundy had experience in making do following a disaster.

"Riggers to the hull!" Daniel ordered. "We'll be extracting again as soon as we can, people. This insertion's just to get us out of the immediate killing zone, though it may not be as quick as I'd like because of the state of the rig. Woetjans, don't hesitate to dump anything if that'll save time. Time's more important than spars that might be repairable. Six out."

Adele's display glowed like an oyster shell gaping in the sunlight; then all the directories she'd had open shimmered into place. Even the image of Daniel's face, now frowning with concentration, was in its accustomed location until she closed it with an angry twist of her wands.