Jeffrey Carver - Eternity's End

Sending our hail now, Ho’Sung said.

A moment later, a recorded voice echoed into the Flux. THIS IS NARSEIL STARLINER H’ZZARRELIK. PLEASE IDENTIFY YOURSELVES. REPEAT, PLEASE IDENTIFY YOURSELVES . The message repeated, in five different languages.

Legroeder waited, holding his breath.

B-D-DOOM-M-M! B-D-DOOM-M-M!

The sounds were growing louder and more frightening. Legroeder shut his eyes, trying to suppress the memories of countless raids that were welling up in his mind. He felt himself begin to shake. He thought of all those weapons hidden within H’zzarrelik ’s structure and imagined them coming to life. He thought of the weapons carried by the pirate ship, and began to shake harder. He had never gotten used to combat, and his stomach was knotted. (Calm… calm…) he whispered to himself.

// Use an image to quiet yourself, // one of the implants suggested, vibrating to life. It offered an image of waves lapping on a shore.

He seized on it gratefully; even as more thunder shook the net, he felt his trembling abate slightly. He scanned the shifting mists of cloud. There it is! he shouted, spotting a flicker of light ahead of them and off to the left.

Moving this way, said Palagren.

The object turned toward them with a flare, and accelerated toward the Narseil ship with remarkable speed—either riding a powerful sideways draft of turbulence, or using internal fusors to drive it across the streams of the Flux. As it flew toward them, a great curtain of red fire lit up the clouds behind it. The fire grew into an enormous canopy of flame spreading outward and forward like great outstretched wings. In the space of half a minute, it curled around H’zzarrelik as though to engulf them. It seemed to shout a warning: Fire… death… destruction …

Steady, Legroeder murmured. It’s just an effect. Slow and steady as we wait . His heart was pounding, and he had to remind himself that the effects were not nearly as powerful as they seemed. Their greatest power was to frighten.

The thunder was now an incessant din… DOOM-M-M… DOOM-M-M!… making it hard to think or communicate. The Narseil crew and Legroeder kept H’zzarrelik on a steady course, turning neither to flee nor to attack. Steady, steady, like an unarmed ship…

With a blast of static, the net suddenly came alive with a yammering of voices, crying in a cacophony: SURRENDER! SURRENDER! THERE IS NO ESCAPE! THERE IS ONLY DOOM-M-M… DOOM-M-M… DOOM-M-M! From the clouds there came an enormous, rumbling thunder like the sound of a tornado passing; and the nose of the oncoming ship spat half a dozen bursts of neutraser fire, which lit up the clouds on all sides of H’zzarrelik with dazzling green light.

Multiple thunderclaps followed each of the firebursts. The net of the Narseil ship shook and sizzled with energy. Legroeder gritted his teeth. If one of those bursts had truly connected with H’zzarrelik , they might all be gone now in a blaze of energy. But the pirates didn’t come out to destroy; they were here to capture, to pillage.

Legroeder, what’s your assessment? Ho’Sung asked quietly through the net.

Legroeder drew a harsh breath. Captain, I don’t think they’re out here to talk . They’re trying to frighten us into submission. This is a standard attack pattern. And damned effective, even against those who knew the strategy for what it was.

You don’t believe this is a pretense? Ho’Sung asked.

Hell no, I—

Protect yourselves! cried Palagren.

Their words were cut off by the flare and crackle of a fresh neutraser burst, directly in front of H’zzarrelik ’s bow. Fire blazed through the net. Legroeder cried out in pain. It felt as if they had passed through a wall of fire. The Narseil net was sputtering and crackling with energy. It took several seconds for the energy to dissipate, leaving the net tight and sluggish. That was more than a warning shot; it was intended to disable.

The pirate ship was coming into full view now. It was a menacing-looking frigate—not the largest Legroeder had ever seen, but powerful enough to challenge even a naval cruiser. Ripples of fire danced through her net, outlining the ship, and flashing at node points that probably represented the positions of her riggers. Legroeder imagined the crew of H’zzarrelik targeting those rigger-stations with their concealed weapons, and for an instant, he felt a pang. Those riggers who were attacking him—how many of them were captives as he had been? He drew a sharp breath and forced the thought away.

A powerful drum beat was growing in the Flux now, booming through the net like the rumble of kettle drums. Then a braying voice:

HEAVE TO! HEAVE TO OR BE DESTROYED! NO DELAY! THERE WILL BE NO SECOND WARNING!

To punctuate the words, two more bursts of neutraser fire flared off the bow of the Narseil ship.

Ho’Sung’s voice reverberated in reply: THIS IS THE NARSEIL H’ZZARRELIK. WE ARE SETTING OUR STABILIZERS AND PULLING IN OUR NET! WE REQUEST A PARLAY. REPEAT, WE REQUEST A PARLAY. Then he ordered in a more muted voice, Riggers, shut down and withdraw!

The net rocked with laughter, broadcast from the other ship. The three Narseil and Legroeder pulled the net close around the ship, set the autostabilizers, and withdrew. The last words Legroeder heard in the net were: THIS IS FLECHETTE. STAND BY FOR BOARDING …

Legroeder emerged from his clamshell to a scene of deadly calm on the bridge of the Narseil ship. The captain and commander were each at com posts, murmuring instructions. The weapons control panels were alight. The Narseil weapons crew, led by Agamem, were stone faced, motionless, awaiting orders.

Ho’Sung conferred in a low, hissing voice with mission commander Fre’geel, then turned back. His manner was intense, but he seemed very calm. “Riggers, stand by to return to your stations on my order!” He spoke into the ship-to-ship com. “ Flechette , our net is down. We have unarmed civilians aboard—”

One, anyway, Legroeder thought.

“—please do not shoot again! What are your orders?”

The answer was a staticky shout: YOU WILL OPEN YOURSELVES TO BOARDING, OR WE WILL BLOW YOU OUT OF THE FLUX!

Ho’Sung stood silent for a moment, then looked at Legroeder. “You’re the expert in human behavior. They’re not responding to the prearranged signal. Do you see any reason not to regard this as a hostile contact?”

Legroeder shook his head, swallowing. “I think we have a fight on our hands.”

Ho’Sung gestured a go-ahead to Fre’geel.

There was no further communication from the pirate ship, now framed in the long, narrow band of the monitor across the front of the bridge. The raider was nearly bow-on to H’zzarrelik ’s flank, presenting the smallest possible target while keeping its bow weapons trained on the Narseil ship. Three lines fired out from the frigate, snaking through the glowing mists of the Flux to attach with a thump to the hull of H’zzarrelik .

A company of small, suited figures emerged from the side of the raider ship. The pirates moved with alarming speed along the lines between the vessels. They would be at the airlocks in less than a minute, and they would be none too concerned about whatever damage they might cause boarding the ship. “Open the airlock hatches,” ordered Ho’Sung.

Legroeder stared at the screen, fighting back memories of a pirate boarding, long ago…

“Pinpoint all targets,” said Fre’geel, to Agamem and the weapons crew.

Legroeder held his breath.