She had been on the bridge for over half an hour and still wasn’t completely sure exactly what was going on. It didn’t help of course that she didn’t have a console or even a tablet to consult, but she felt that she should have had a better understanding of what was going on than she actually did.

  They were preparing to intercept the Da’al ship, Loki. That much she was sure of but all the rest was a bit of a blur.

  Even though the crew maintained a state of heightened awareness hovering just this side of Battle Stations readiness, the Renheim appeared to be in no immediate danger. The faces around her looked calm enough though she wondered whether this was because they all had a sense of purpose. They all had jobs to do while she was afflicted with a sense of detachment which all non-combatants must experience at some stage. Certainly none looked as frightened as she felt, but then she’d never been in a situation like this before: poised on the brink of battle.

  Considering the circumstances, she thought that she was holding up rather well. She hadn’t been reduced to a state of gibbering panic.

  She didn’t have to be there, of course. There was always the option of retreating back to her room if things became too intense though she wondered if that might actually be worse. Just sitting there waiting for something to happen.

  At least this way, she had some sense of how things were progressing and she could hope to lose herself in the atmosphere of carefully controlled activity.

  The one thing she did understand was what was happening on the main screen, two million miles away. In the top right-hand corner was the scrunched-up face of Milton Darnell, the captain of the cruise liner Botany Bay. His ship, which took up most of the main screen, was currently docked with the Laxx’s orbital facility.

  Laxx Station was less than a tenth the size of Blackthorn and the pragmatic nature of its design was evident in every beam of its construction. Three concentric circular constructs, one on top of the other, all revolving around a central axle. The central ring was the largest, accommodating the main docking area as well as boarding and departure gates. The medium ring at the bottom dealt with freight while the smallest, near the top, housed the administrative centre. Ardent had tried to be forgiving about its old-fashioned design, tried to make allowances for the fact that this was a much smaller construct than the one she’d been in charge of, but found it almost impossible not to keep making unfavourable comparisons.

  The place looked to be years out of date. ‘Grubby’ was another word which came to mind.

  However, it was still functioning and that was all they could ask for at present.

  She edged forward from her normal spot. Tried to catch Farnese’s eye only to find that he studiously ignored her.

  She was eventually forced to break the silence.

  “How long is this likely to take, commander?”

  For a second, she thought that he intended to snub her completely but then he turned slightly, acknowledging Captain Meyer before speaking.

  “We’re not sure how well everything’s working on their side. We’re having problems getting a direct link with the station. Two, two and a half hours to get everyone on-board. That’s if they can avoid any slip-ups.”

  “There will be slip-ups,” Meyer said coolly. “You can be assured of that. Civilian cargo. There’s always going to be slip-ups. Just so long as their security’s up to it – that’s the main thing.”

  “Security?” she said.

  Meyer didn’t answer straight away. Instead, he braced his fingers on the edge of his lectern and took a breath before continuing.

  “Intelligent security is key in situations like this. You need proper crowd control. You can’t afford to let them have their head in this kind of situation. Pulse them through – otherwise you’ll have mayhem with people trying to rush the gate.”

  “Surely, in a place like that, you can only get so many through at any one time?”

  “You’re right of course, governor. But it’s all about protecting the hatchways. If you’re going to seal the doors properly you have to be able to stop the flow of bodies. Commander Farnese knows more about this than I do.”

  Farnese grinned sardonically. “Situation like this, people are liable to panic. People get left behind, families get split up. Twenty-five thousand people. That’s a lot of people for any carrier to handle. And in this case, the situation’s made worse by having two ships. The instinct of the crowd is to all try and force their way onto the Botany Bay even though they know a second ship’s coming. It’s all about managing people’s expectations.”

  Which was easy for him to say from two million kilometres away. She couldn’t believe that she’d been attracted to someone who was so critical of others, although he did have other attributes to recommend him.

  “Do you think they’ve been told about the Loki?”

  Laxx’s orbital station was equidistant between them and the Da’al ship which had been following the developments on Laxx for days. Ardent had been surprised when Meyer had given the order for the three ships in their little flotilla, the Renheim, The Sundowner and Defiant, to take up position this far out. The Sundowner, a massive freighter and Defiant, a mining transport had both been repurposed as military vessels. The Defiant had been chosen because of her rugged construction and had been heavily modified. Her other defences had been cobbled together from the Renheim’s arsenal, her existing lasers being augmented with external missiles. The Sundowner offered size as well as two powerful main reactors which might give her the edge speed wise. She had been fitted with an impressive main gun which had been repurposed from one of Blackthorn’s dry docks.

  All three of them now maintained their positions at some considerable distance from Laxx station while the two cruise liners, Botany Bay and The Galaxian, were left to move within striking distance.

  Of course, if you listened to Meyer, this all made perfect sense. He’d argued that if the mini flotilla moved any closer, the Loki would have been obliged to do the same and he was working on the idea of keeping the Loki as far back from the orbital as possible.

  The bridge was suddenly filled with the sound of Meyer’s voice as he addressed the Botany Bay.

  “Captain Darnell, I trust everything is going according to plan?”

  “As well as can be expected. We’ve had a few scuffles but nothing we can’t handle. Main thing is that we’ve been able to get on with it. I take it Loki is behaving herself?”

  The joke was that the Loki was part of a rival travel company who was trying to undercut their trade. It might even have been funny if Ardent hadn’t seen one of the Da’al battle cruisers in action. Seen what they were capable of.

  “Nothing yet,” Meyer said. “Don’t worry, captain, if he moves so much as a whisker we’ll be sure to let you know.”

  If that was meant to be reassuring it wasn’t. Ardent had been in the room when they’d put together Plan B. In the event that the Loki should open fire or move majorly out of position, the plan was that Botany Bay would immediately seal its hatches and proceed back towards the waiting convoy.

  Botany Bay would have the usual array of protective counter measures but they would only offer a limited level of effectiveness if she came under a sustained attack. At these distances, even if the Renheim was able to return fire chances were that they would be too late to save the Botany Bay, something which Captain Darnell appeared oddly unaware of.

  While this appeared self-evident to her, she couldn’t help thinking that, in his eagerness to help out, Darnell wasn’t approaching this in an active state of self-denial.

  “You think we’d be in this situation if Laxx hadn’t drawn attention to themselves in the first place?” she asked.

  “Laxx was always going to be of interest to the Da’al,” Meyer confided. “The orbital alone would have guaranteed that. If the Da’al are looking to expand into this system –as they clearly intend to do – then they’re going to have to look at exploiting its natural resources. And Laxx has more than its fair share of those.”

  “You’re talking about her mines. You think the Da’al will want to keep those operational?”

  “Standard operating procedure,” Meyer said. “Once you move into an area, you need to find a way of holding onto it. Secure all the infrastructure available to you - make it work to your advantage.”

  “That orbital platform offers them direct access to the planet’s resources,” Farnese said. “Which is the real reason we’re here.”

  “Really?”

  Meyer scrutinised her from the corner of his eye. “It’s really quite simple: our job is to deny the occupying forces access to any and all resources.”

  If they were expecting her to make some kind of connection then, whatever it was meant to be, it simply eluded her.

  “They don’t see this platform as a threat – they see it as an asset,” Meyer continued. “Something for them to exploit. Once we’re finished here, once both ships are safely on their way, it falls to us to destroy it. That might seem counter-intuitive but that’s what needs to be done.

  Ardent was so taken aback that she didn’t know what to say. He was right about one thing: it certainly did seem counter intuitive.

  Finally, she said, “But, if they’re looking at this as an asset, then why start off by targeting Blackthorn?”

  The two men exchanged glances.

  “That’s an easy one,” Farnese said. “They viewed Blackthorn as a military target. It was our base of operations and as such posed a direct threat to their plans for expansion,” he laughed and turned to Meyer. “We seem to be giving the governor a crash course in officer training.”

  She gave him a thinly drawn smile. Though they were clearly having fun at her expense, Ardent didn’t take it personally. She knew that all knowledge came at a price. And a little derision once in a while was a small price to pay.

  But she still wasn’t completely convinced.

  “If that’s true, what makes you think they won’t attack the Botany Bay? Why let her go?”

  Meyer’s lips were pulled back in a taut smile. “They’re biding their time because, unless their tactics are substantially different from our own, whoever’s in charge of the Loki has one thing at the forefront of his mind: destroy enemy shipping. They’ll wait until both ships are fully loaded before they make their move. Cruise ships aren’t renowned for their speed. He’s hoping that if he bides his time, he’ll get his opportunity.”

  “Which is why we’re currently not at Battle Stations,” Farnese sounded bored.

  Ardent fixed him with a stare. “Yes, I was wondering about that.”

  “The Loki, though an enemy vessel, doesn’t currently pose a direct threat to us.”

  “It may seem like a small difference,” Meyer explained. “But it’s an important one.”

  “Then what happens if they decide to make their move on Botany Bay or The Galaxian? What do we do then?”

  “He’ll press his luck perhaps, but only up to a point. We’ll soon make our superior numbers count.”

  Ardent couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was this the same captain who’d run for cover the first time the Da’al had appeared? Then again, perhaps she was the one being naïve. On that occasion Meyer had been outnumbered three to one. Perhaps he’d done the sensible thing, withdrawing when he had. Perhaps she’d got it all wrong. Perhaps these kinds of military engagements were all just a numbers game, based on tactical superiority.

  Perhaps it really was that simple.

  Perhaps.

  CHAPTER TWO

  “We can’t stay here,” Clayton Barnes was saying over the tactical link. “We’re losing the light.”

  LaCruz rolled her eyes at him. They were coming to the end of their fifth day on Tigris and things weren’t getting any easier.

  Five days inside her tactical armoured suit. Five days of sucking food through a gummy tube. Five days of receiving her liquids intravenously. Five days of peeing into a catheter.

  Not an experience she wanted to repeat any time soon.

  And it wasn’t over yet.

  Just when they thought they were making some headway, something else would happen.

  And now, as Barnes was fond of pointing out, they had to move.

  He had a real knack for stating the obvious, did Barnes. Annoying, but it did help to focus the mind.

  He was right of course: they couldn’t stay where they were. For one thing, Barnes had been shot so might well be bleeding to death. Chances were that, despite the painkillers his suit was currently administering, Barnes was going into shock. So it was down to her to make the call.

  Not that she’d exactly covered herself in glory of late. She’d made a clear tactical error when she’d directed them down through the box canyon. And it had seemed like such a good idea at the time. Despite the undergrowth, they could clearly make out the path of the dried upriver bed which must have flowed through here a very long time ago. Maybe thirty minutes to cut through the canyon and out through the narrow V the river had cut through the rock up ahead. Thirty minutes as opposed to possibly several hours traversing the high walls on either side.

  It was a no-brainer.

  And that was the problem – she hadn’t given it a second thought.

  What had been so tempting was that they could actually see through to the gap which would bring them out on the other side some three kilometres away.

  Three kilometres! No distance at all.

  But it might as well have been three thousand kilometres to them, pinned down as they were by sniper fire.

  And that was what was most galling about the whole sorry incident. Wasn’t she the one who was supposed to be the ace sniper and master tracker? Wasn’t it her job normally to get ahead of the main unit, track down the enemy and then hunker down and wait for them to appear? Wasn’t she the one who was supposed to excel at picking them off one by one?

  It was a role she’d been perfecting over the past twelve years.

  And now the roles had been reversed and here she was playing the role of the clueless noob. The hapless sap who’s only mistake had been to give in to that most compelling of all human impulses: lazy thinking. The fact that she and Barnes had been able to see their exit route out of the canyon was probably what had sealed their fates.

  The sniper had just done their job.

  They’d put themselves in the shoes of their target. Had seen the canyon through her eyes, and then chosen their vantage point accordingly.

  Then, all they had to do was sit back and wait for her and Barnes to step into their sights. Trouble is, it shouldn’t have been Barnes lying out there bleeding out, it should have been her.

  A clean shot, straight at the central torso. Hadn’t gone for the trickier head shot because in all likelihood they would have missed. They’d called it exactly right. This way, the sniper had them both pinned. All they had to do was wait them out. They had to move while the sniper didn’t. All they needed was the patience to finish the job, an attribute all the best snipers possessed.

  From the sniper’s perspective, the worst-case scenario was that they waited until the rest of their troop turned up. There was approximately fifteen of them, some of them with heavy weapons and it wouldn’t do to let one of them make the kill. Either way though, it was a good result for them.

  As it was, he was badly injured although she wouldn’t know how badly until she got a chance to examine him.

  The only good news, as far as LaCruz could make out, was that she knew how snipers thought, and in that sense they had a slight advantage because if you know how your opponent thinks, you can anticipate their next move. Not much of an advantage, to be sure, but it might be enough to make a difference.

  From what she’d been able to pick up from Barnes, the gunman appeared to be using high calibre, armour piercing rounds. She’d used something similar herself back in the day. Capable of putting a hole in anything. An armoured suit, a gun, a boat, or a tank. Anything.

  He’d fired twice and that, bizarrely, gave LaCruz some comfort at least. He’d missed with the second shot, unable to hit Barnes as he’d fallen. And, in LaCruz’ book, that was sloppy.

  She prided herself on the assassin’s maxim: one shot, one kill. And that second shot spoke of a lack of experience.

  “How d’ya think we should play this, LaCruz? We can’t stay here all day.”

  She was pressed against the side of a thick tree trunk, perfect cover for this kind of scenario but the safety it provided her with was illusory at best. Despite the time they’d spent in their suits already, they still hadn’t adjusted to the scale of these things. It was impossible to make yourself into a small target when you were two and a half metres tall and weighed half a ton.

  And the thought that you might get your head shot off if you so much as moved, encouraged you to want to play safe by staying put. But LaCruz knew that the longer she delayed the more they risked being out maneuvered.

  They needed to get moving but for that, they needed a plan.

  “I need you to trust me on something,” she said.

  “That don’t sound good.”

  “I need you to help me spot him.”

  “And how are we going to do that, he’s dug in tighter than a tic in my old girl’s ass.”

  LaCruz turned slightly so that she could get a better look at Barnes. He was a good ten metres further up-stream tucked up against a bank of shale and, as such, in a much more exposed position than her.

  “Same as you would with a tic. You’ve got to tease him out.”

  “I’m not liking the sound of this.”

  “No, that’s alright. See, you’ve got the easy part. All you need to do is to get him interested.”

  “Surely, that should be your job - good looking woman like yourself.”

  “I’ll take a rain check, thanks. Now, you up for this, or what?”

  “I suppose.”

  LaCruz braced herself. If it worked, they’d only get one chance at this.