The Ascendant Stars - Michael Cobley [46]
The admiral tapped a control and the picture swung up and zoomed in on a mysterious ship keeping pace over 300 kiloms astern. Magnification brought it closer, revealing shining surfaces and a strangeness of design that provoked a certain unease in Kao Chih. The ship was large, easily twice the size of the Viteazul, and had a diamond-shaped profile, its prow one of the acute vertices. The flanks of the deep hull angled inwards and had lines of bulbous grey protrusions spaced all along them – when one of them irised open and an interceptor flew out their function was immediately apparent.
This was a carrier, Kao Chih realised, a capital ship that had seen combat, going by the scorching and impact gouges that marred the glittering ornamentation in many places. The upper hull had tower structures at all four corners and one amidships: the starboard one was a torn and blasted ruin while the one at the prow had a Y-shaped mast jutting up from it.
‘The source of our captors’ woes?’ Kao Chih said, just as the Suneye ship lurched.
‘Soon to be joined by sabotage closer to home,’ the admiral said, patting his bandolier of charges draped across his chest. ‘Now – Sergeant, you and young Marko will hold this junction while Kao Chih and I venture off in search of drives and generators.’
‘Yes, sir,’ said Miczek.
‘Excellent,’ Zhylinsky said, glancing at Kao Chih, who nodded and followed him down a narrow passage lit by brightly glowing red, yellow and blue lines. The passage was low, forcing them to move at a crouch with the admiral pausing frequently to consult his datapad’s sensor readings. As they progressed, Kao Chih tried to imagine how he might describe these events in a letter to his parents back on the Retributor – Dear Mother and Father: In the course of the evacuation and escape from Pyre, we engaged our pursuers in battle and I found myself taking part in an assault on one of the enemy ships. I and three others against hundreds of armed machines …
After several minutes the passage curved up and opened out into a small, polyhedral compartment. Every corner was occupied by a strange plinth whose apex was a bulbous, translucent screen that pulsed with symbols and flickered with triangular ripples of data.
‘Control nodes, Pilot Kao,’ said the admiral. ‘Eight of them. Destroy these and the whole ship would be crippled … ’
‘Your damage assessment is correct, Admiral,’ said a clear voice from all around them. ‘But since our ships can retask functions easily to other locations, this vessel would be crippled for less than a minute.’
The hairs stood up on Kao Chih’s neck. The admiral bared his teeth in an angry grimace.
‘And you are?’ he said.
‘The Clarified Sevayr, commander of this vessel.’
‘So naturally you are an accurate and trustworthy source of information,’ the admiral said. ‘Forgive me if I am unconvinced by your proclamation.’
‘Forgiveness is not in my nature,’ said the voice of the Clarified Sevayr. ‘However, punishment is.’
A twin-muzzled turret popped out of an opening in the wall and fired four energy bolts in quick succession. The admiral cried out and fell to the floor. Kao Chih snapped off one shot in return but missed as the turret disappeared. Then he knelt to examine the admiral’s wounds, which turned out to be chillingly accurate and cruel – the bolts had struck both hands and both feet, rendering him helpless. As Kao Chih pulled a medkit from one of his waist pouches, the admiral insisted on giving him orders, voice a strangled whisper.
‘Use the charges … set timer with the left tab, arm with … the right … ah, that’s better … not so sore … ’
Kao Chih had found some painkiller dermals and pressed them onto the admiral’s throat. Then it was a case of dragging him back down the passageway to the junction, all the time waiting for the searing