Of Fire and Night - Kevin J. Anderson [70]
"Targets detected ahead, sir," Carrera said. "Intercept in five minutes."
A glimmer of tiny dots looked as if someone had thrown quartz sand into a bright light. The stolen Juggernaut, Mantas, and Thunderheads were on their way out of the solar system toward whatever rendezvous the insidious compies had planned. As Lanyan's rescue squad closed the gap, the twinkling spots resolved into angular silhouettes.
"How come I can see thrusters? God damn, are they turning about?"
"They're slowing and pivoting, General. I think they see us coming." Carrera ran another sensor scan. "Their weapons are preparing to fire! Railgun launchers and jazers pointed right at us."
"Don't give them an easy target." Precision-controlled Soldier compies would be expert marksmen, regardless of how the response group distributed itself. Sensing the tension surge in the troop transport, Lanyan said, "Remember your training! This is exactly what you've been prepared to do."
"Sir, we've only got small ships. None of us can withstand a direct hit."
"Have a little faith, Mr. Carrera. Just get us closer. I need another second."
The clusters of ships careened toward each other. Lanyan's recruits were ready for a free-for-all. "Shall we open fire, sir? We're in range."
"Not yet. This is my opening salvo." He manually switched to an elite communications band that was wired into the bridges of all EDF battleships and pushed the transmit button. "Confirm voiceprint: General Kurt Lanyan. Identification 88RI Alpha."
His pursuit ships continued to close the gap. The hijacked vessels loomed closer and closer, weapons ports open and primed. The robot-controlled Goliath looked huge. Lanyan sat back and smiled.
Lifting his finger from the transmit button, he waited a moment until he received automatic confirmation. Then he said, "Engage guillotine protocol."
The pilot barely squeaked out his words. "That's . . . it?"
Suddenly the running lights on the compy-controlled ships dimmed and went out. The Grid 0 vessels froze in space. Their engines shut down, cutting all thrust. They drifted with only the momentum they retained.
"We've just pulled the plug on their little escape operation." The General was amused at his stunned-silent crew. "They're dead in space."
Sensor technicians aboard the cavalry ships scrambled to take readings. A milky-skinned young woman looked at Lanyan from her cockpit station. "Confirmed. Their energy readings are fading to ambient, sir. Weapons systems are inactive."
Lanyan threaded his thick fingers together and locked them behind his head. "Even if those Soldier compies killed our crews and took over our ships, the control computers belong to me." The guillotine protocol had been specifically designed to stall a mutiny, to prevent anyone from stealing a ship.
The cavalry fleet glided closer to the Juggernaut, the most important target. "Now it's time to take everything back. I want my ships!" He cracked his knuckles. "But be prepared--it might get a little messy. Every soldier will carry a sidearm. Distribute the heavy weaponry as far as it'll go. Don't expect these clankers to give up without a fight."
Lanyan issued orders for his recruits to suit up in special body armor. Similar teams were getting ready aboard all the hastily called vessels. A few pilots and trainees would remain aboard the gunships as a backup measure, but most of the recruits were in for a long and sweaty day of hard combat.
In the troop transport's cold rear compartment, the General suited up, attaching powerpacks to his alloy-reinforced garb. Finished, he stood before the breathless kleebs, and his speech was piped to all the waiting armored trainees. "Those compies took over our ships and slaughtered unarmed crews." He smiled inside his helmet, clicked his faceplate into place, and activated the suit microphone. "Now let's go start stomping some robot asses!"
It would have been a lot