Chapter 28: End Game
Captain Baojia was not a pirate nor was he a young over confidant fleet officer. The Jiao-long Kong was not a sloop, brig or frigate. Captain Baojia knew how to use a ship of the line. He knew that his gunners were accustomed to fighting other large vessels and more often than not at very close range where the massed volleys of L92's would shatter the enemy hulls and tear their masts away. What that meant was that they were unlikely to score any hits until they were in close. Therefor he ordered them to hold their fire. Even when Smollette and Morsa began ranging shots he held fire. He wanted to see the faces of those he was about to kill.
"Our shots are just bouncing off." Annamaria said amazed.
"It's a ship of the line." Amelia explained. "She's coming in too high for us to strike her works."
"So what can we do?"
"I'm working on it." Amelia had regained her usual calm. Panic was the real enemy in battle. If she lost control of herself how could she control her ship? She leaned over the speaking tube. "Delbert how's it going down there?"
"We're working as fast as we can but we're short on crystals." Delbert's voice was near panic. He was obviously stressed. Crystals?
"Delbert," Amelia suddenly had hope in her voice. "Go to my cabin. In the safe are two bags of cannon crystals. A variety. Get them and use all you need."
"Your safe? What's the combination?"
"It's your birthday. Now hurry!" Amelia caught Annamaria's eye and smiled. "Jack will be disappointed I think."
"Why is she not maneuvering?" Captain Baojia wondered.
"Could be that the explosion damaged her drive, captain." His bosun said.
"Could be." Baojia didn't trust that though. She was crafty this Amelia. She'd gotten ahead of the fleet and had used a simple ship's boat to destroy it. Now she was playing dead. He was sure of that. "Signal the frigates to break to our larboard and scoop up the Morsa. I want Silver dead. We'll deal with Smollette."
"Dad!" Fidda yelled to her father who was bent over the breach of one of his cannon adjusting the feed mechanism. These old guns were nearly worn out when they'd bought them and they'd put them to some hard use of late. "Dad! The frigates!"
Silver gave the screw one last turn and stood. He looked across the bow and saw the frigates swinging wide from the flagship. They were cutting a wide arc around Smollette clearly intending to come for the Morsa. Silver grinned. Well two ships never fight as well as one.
"Let's 'ave full sail there, lads! Fidda, cut us a course that'll lay us atween them bastards! I want practice for all me guns!" Silver stumped quickly to the helm and watched the frigates turn bow on. Perfect. Just what he was hoping for.
"What the devil?" Amelia watched as Morsa under full sail launched herself between the huge frigates. "He'll have thirty guns on him."
"Pirate." Jack smiled in spite of their own plight. "They wont be able to hit him without hitting each other. Mostly I never risk it but in a situation like this..."
"I see." Amelia said grimly.
The first shots from the flagship thundered close just then and she had her own worries to think about. Smollette's cannon returned fire and finally scored a solid hit on one of the bow guns of the Mhinm. That left only five more to destroy before she got in close enough to turn her broadsides on Smollette. More cannon fire raked Smollette's deck and more of her crew were killed and wounded. Jack had leaped down into the chaos and Amelia saw him go down. An instant later though he was back up and running like a lizard for the bow chasers. Rigging was shot away and this time there were no men to repair it. The men in the tops were busy firing their muskets and all the hands below were working to keep the cannon in action. That was when the main mast took the fatal hit.
"Dad, we shouldn't be here!" Fidda was no longer scared. She had gone from scared to frightend then bypassed terrified to angry. Now her blood was up and all she wanted to do was get clear of this mess so she could kill something.
"Hold on this course for just another few seconds!" Silver had to yell over the cannonade. Both frigates were trying to lay their shot into the Morsa but she was less than half their size so as often as not their laser cannon struck each other. The Mhinm were doing most of the work themselves. Morsa was in bad shape though. Spacers lay all about the deck dead or wounded. Cannon had been unseated. Her foremast was stripped of its sails and the rigging all about the ship was in tatters.
"Is that long enough?" Fidda shouted to her father.
"Aye, lass! Up!" Like a monkey Silver leaped to the railing. With one hand on the rigging he stood there grinning. As the Morsa cleared the deck of the port side frigate Silver shouted over his shoulder. "Now, Fidda! Hard a larboard! Get atween 'er masts!"
Amelia grunted as Annamaria helped her to her feet. She was sure her left arm was broken. Part of the cross tree had slammed down onto the helm and she had been just a little too slow to get out of the way. Brraadtt lay still next to the wheel. She wasn't sure if he were alive. All she could think was; What now?
The Mhinm flagship turned almost lazily to present its broadside. They had stopped firing when Smollette's cannon had gone out. With the loss of the main sail and the drive there was no power for them. Smollette was lucky to still have gravity at this point. Amelia accompanied by Annamaria made her way down to the main deck to stand with her crew. She wanted to be among them if this were her last moment. She wished Delbert were there but it just might be possible for him and the wrights to finally get the drive fixed. What good that would do she wasn't sure. Still a chance was a chance.
"Galactics, you fought well." A Mhinm voice called from the bridge of the flagship. "Do not throw away your lives. Galactics, throw down your weapons!"
"Come and get them!" Amelia's voice rang like the bell of a trumpet. It cut through the haze of battle and stung Captain Baojia.
"Why should I come and get them?" Baojia sneered. "I can collect them as they float in the ether after I've blown your Smollette to bits."
The enemy guns leveled on the Smollette. The crewmen that could stood staring bravely into those massive barrels waiting for their end.
The Morsa slammed down hard between the foremast and the mizzenmast of the Mhinm frigate. Over her sides the pirates of John Silver poured liked fiends from the pit. Cutlasses flashed and muskets coughed. They brought chaos to the once orderly deck of the frigate and left death in their wake. The other frigate circled unable to fire and unwilling to close on her sister ship. Silver cut a swath through the diminutive Mhinm in his path as he made for the bridge. Fidda with a glowing boarding pike in hand followed and behind her came the crew. Mhinm were shoved over the side and pirates went down under swords. Pandemonium reigned. With a last great heave of his cybernetic arm Silver slung three Mhinm from the stair head and strode onto the bridge. The captain turned on him and with lightning speed attacked. The Mhinm were small but brave and Silver and his crew were hard pressed to save themselves. Finally in desperation Silver locked his metal hand onto the captain's flashing sword and drove his fist into the captain's face. The pirates somehow got the upper hand and in a moment they were clearing the deck. Mhinm were being pushed below and out of the way. The pirates had control of the frigate. But the other frigate now had a clear target.
Amelia waited. Her arm ached. What was taking the Mhinm so long? She heard the clank of the guns as their mechanisms cycled fresh rounds into their chambers. She could see the grinning faces of the crews that served those guns. She waited. And then came the blinding explosion that surely was the end for Smollette, her crew and Delbert. All this for the Empire. She felt herself get knocked down by the force of the blast and the deck lurched under her. Stunned she reached for a hand hold but her arm shot waves of pain through her whole body. She blinked smoke out of her eyes and struggled to her feet amazed to be alive. Surely it was only temporary. Then she heard cheering. The bastards! Kill her crew? Destroy her ship? If they thought she would fold even now they were wrong. Amelia turned to cast a look of defiance on the Mhinm flagship but it wasn't there.
"It's the Aergad, captain!" One of her crew practically shouted in her ear. "The Aergad!"
Amelia spun to look where the man was pointing and there it was. The IGS Aergad! Jim Hawkins' ship. How? That really wasn't important but still; how? She watched as the forty gun Aergad lunged like a great sorlaque on its prey. The flagship was already alight and turning to evade but Aergad was faster. She circled and doubled back cutting off the Mhinm's retreat until finally the flag was hauled down and they surrendered. Then without pause Aergad turned on the last frigate. As she closed the Mhinm set full sail and fired her thrusters. She was running and Aergad let her go.
Amelia staggered to the stump of the mainmast and leaned on it. She looked around her ship and found Jack. Somehow he grinned. With all this grim mess he was still able to grin. Amelia laughed. It was finally over.
