Bandits Engaged (Battlegroup Z Book 4) by Daniel Gibbs (novels in english txt) 📕

toward the arrestor field at seventy percent of top speed. Five seconds before coming into contact with the arrestor field, he reversed thrust, slowing his Sabre dramatically. The invisible energy beams caught his craft and swung it around before depositing it safely on the deck. “Alpha One to the boss. I’m down.”

“Acknowledged, Alpha One. Nice flying out there.”

Justin popped his cockpit canopy open and swung his legs over the side as a portable ladder appeared, provided by a helpful crew chief. A moment later, his feet hit the deck plates, and he had to grab the nose landing gear strut to avoid falling over as the Greengold shook. He stared out of the giant transparent forcefield-protected area into the void.

The battle continued as a wave of pirate fighters sent bolt after bolt of purple xaser fire into the carrier's shields. Streams of blue energy erupted from the CIWS emplacements, shooting down several incoming missiles that exploded in quick flashes of light.

Then they were suddenly in a wormhole.

Justin turned away to avoid being sick from staring at the sides of the artificial construct. He let out a breath and took his flight helmet off. My God, that was too close.

“Are you okay, sir?” Feldstein asked as she appeared at his side.

“Yeah. Did we lose anyone else besides Hawkins?”

“Two KIA, including him. Several injuries, one serious.” Feldstein narrowed her eyes. “It could’ve been a lot worse, though. Green and her friends owe us big time.”

Justin shook his head. “They’d do the same for us. Okay, maybe we can get them to stop the ridiculous sound effects for a few days.”

“We live in hope,” she replied as she rolled her eyes.

“Get everyone together for debriefing. I’d like to understand what we can do better next time.” He glanced at a mass of civilians huddled together. Bile rose again.

“Yes, sir.”

Justin Spencer rarely felt outmatched by an opponent, but he couldn’t help feeling they’d escaped by the skin of their teeth. Not all of us. Remembering Hawkins, he realized he hadn’t made friends with or engaged much with the young pilot outside of training, briefings, and combat. I stick with Alpha because Alpha’s been lucky enough to come home. A thought that perhaps avoiding interpersonal relationships because of fear of hurt was a cop-out came to Justin, but he pushed it down. He would have time for introspection later.

First, he had a job: defeat the pirates and ensure the lives lost weren’t in vain.

6

A few hours later, the thunder of combat had barely faded from Tehrani’s mind. She sat at the front of the table in the deck one conference room, directly aft of the bridge. Wright and Whatley sat on one side, while Justin sat on the other. A million thoughts ran through her mind, all focused on the obvious—How did a Coalition Defense Force carrier battlegroup almost have its rear end handed to it by pirates?

“Before our guest arrives, XO, give me a damage report update,” Tehrani said. Her head throbbed. I should visit the medical bay and get something for it.

“Neutron beams back online, Skipper. The rest is going to be a few hours. Probably need a visit to space dock to repair our forward and port armor fully.” Wright smirked. “You know, Canaan’s shipyard complex is eventually going to get tired of patching up our ship, especially if we keep getting the same areas shot up.”

Tehrani wasn’t in the mood for jokes and didn’t crack a smile. “Instruct Hodges to use whatever manpower he needs to get us back to fully battle-ready condition.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am.”

“Major,” Tehrani continued, casting her gaze toward Whatley. “Status of our fighters?”

“Two pilots lost,” Whatley replied. “A few Sabres damaged and out of circulation.” He narrowed his eyes. “I had replacements pulled out of storage. We’re ninety-five percent combat effective, once refueling and rearming operations are complete.”

“Captain Spencer, what’s your assessment of the enemy?”

Justin’s face clouded over. “In what way, ma’am?”

“Combat tactics, training, technical capabilities,” Tehrani replied. “The basics. What are we facing here?”

“I didn’t recognize the model of fighters they were flying, ma’am, but the pilots we face were well trained, used advanced maneuvering tactics, and seemed to have capabilities near ours. I believe point-defense support from the Greengold and the Marcus Luttrell kept Alpha and Beta from being annihilated.”

“Those are strong words—”

“Ma’am, our adversaries have craft with better performance than League of Sol military equipment.”

Tehrani stared at him for a moment before flicking her eyes to Whatley. “Do you concur, Major?”

“I see no reason to doubt Spencer’s assertion, ma’am.”

“Options, then, gentlemen?” Tehrani bit her lip.

“Consolidate our forces and get these pirates or whoever they are to do battle on our terms.” Wright quirked his nose. “Even better, get them in range of the Astute and her Starbolt missile tubes.”

The hatch swung open unexpectedly, and a private—a master-at-arms—strode in and came to attention. “Ma’am, I have the civilian you requested.”

“Thank you, Private.” Tehrani looked past the young man into the passageway beyond. A middle-aged woman stood, and though she’d clearly tried to clean herself up since coming aboard, her hair was still streaked with blood, and black marks stained her face. Someone had issued her a pair of CDF battle dress uniform fatigues. “Come on in, Miss…”

“Lorea Salazar.” She spoke in a monotone, almost like a robot, as she walked into the conference room.

“Please, join us. I’m the commanding officer of the Zvika Greengold, Colonel Tehrani. These are my senior officers, and we’d like to ask you a few questions about what happened.” I know shock syndrome when I see it. She gestured to an empty chair. “Have you been to the medical bay?”

Salazar nodded. “They patched my wounds.” She nearly collapsed into a seat and briefly put her hands on the table until they shook so hard as to make noise. “I’m sorry. We are not used to fighting—not like this.” Salazar placed her hands in her lap.

Tehrani turned back to the master-at-arms. “Stand watch outside, Private. I’ll let you know when you can