"Get yourselves kitted out, lads! Come on, keep it moving there!"
Petty Officer Bryce had opened two weapons crates on the deck and was urging the spacers in the boarding party to file past them neatly and arm themselves. Amelia was standing behind him, watching the spacers line up for inspection. They presented a curious contrast to Arrow's marine platoon, which was still ranked up patiently next to them. The redcoated soldiers seemed to differ only in height – each one wore the standard red coat, round black hat, white trousers and black buckled shoes. Laslock rifles were held neatly by their sides and each wore a spotless white bandolier. The marines chosen for Harburn's vanguard had silver grenades in their webbing, and the brass fixings on their weapons and uniforms were bright and polished. As for the spacers...the most the Amelia could say was that they had, on average, one rifle, one pistol and one cutlass each. The actual equipment each individual spacer had chosen for themselves depended on personal tastes and while each one wore their blue uniform coat, their overall appearance and state of repair was as varied as their choice of armament. Bryce did his best to line them up, sighed, and nodded to Amelia, who turned and saluted Harburn.
"Boarding party ready for inspection, sir," she said.
She stood aside and joined Jane as Harburn began running a critical eye over the assembled group.
"And you, Miss Porter?" said Amelia. "You're prepared?"
Jane straightened her helmet. "As well as I think I'll ever be. I have the gun you gave me in here." She patted the satchel. Amelia smiled.
"Just so long as it's somewhere close to hand," she said. "You may need it at short notice."
"Of course." Jane adjusted the satchel. "I'll remember that. So...how do we actually get on to the other ship?"
Amelia looked out at the fleet sailing around them. "Well, I think the theory is that the squadron will fight its way in, and then we'll pull alongside and board them directly."
"Oh." Jane looked down. "That sounds rather straightforward."
"I did say that's the theory," Amelia smiled.
"The Captain will think of something," said Arrow confidently. "Whatever it is, we will be ready to do our part."
"Yes. Of course, Mr Arrow." Jane looked back up again.
There was a sharp metallic sound behind them as the marines tested their bayonets, the spring-loaded blades sliding in unison from the guard sheaths under their rifles. Harburn nodded his approval, acknowledged Ko's salute and turned back to Amelia and Arrow.
"We're all set," he said. "Now we just have to wait to find out what side we should be going over."
"Just so long as we aren't called upon to board them from aloft again," Arrow smiled.
"Oh, I don't know, Mr Arrow," said Amelia. "You did a bang-up job of that with the whalers."
"And I hope never to have to do so again," Arrow replied. "I have no fear of what may happen on deck but I have always thought that, should I meet the end at the hands of the enemy, I would no doubt also be luckless enough for it to happen a hundred feet above the timbers."
"May you never have to find out, then," said Amelia.
"I shouldn't think that there's a chance of that," said Harburn. "That was a special set of circumstances, after all."
"There's a new flag on the Admiral's ship," commented Jane, who had been gazing around. "What does that mean?"
The officers turned and looked where she pointed.
"Enemy sighted," Harburn muttered, a verdict immediately confirmed in a shout from Commander Chad on the bridge. "Have you a glass, Ms Amelia? Get up to the forecastle and report back to me when you see them."
"Aye, sir." Amelia beckoned to Jane and led her forward up onto the forecastle. She took out her telescope and put it to her eye.
"Do you see something, ma'am?" There was a squad of marines on the forecastle, waiting with their rifles.
Amelia frowned. "Not yet, corporal...but hang about...there we are..."
There were dark shapes visible in the glowing haze ahead. Amelia tried to focus the telescope in to count them.
"Can you see them?" Jane squinted under her hand.
Amelia nodded and passed her the telescope. "See for yourself, Miss Porter."
"No whales, ma'am?" said the corporal hopefully.
"There seem to be rather a lot of ships," said Jane nervously.
"Only four capital ships," said Amelia. "That's the big ones, like ours."
"Oh. That's not so bad, then." Jane handed the telescope back to Amelia, who performed a quick recount and turned to head back to the main deck. Midshipman Whiting, emerging from the bowchaser battery room, touched his hat.
"Everything all right up here, corporal?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Good man. Acting Lieutenant? I wasn't expecting the pleasure of your company." Whiting grinned.
"You won't have to put up with me for long, Mr Whiting," said Amelia. "I'm reporting back to Mr Harburn directly."
"Ah? Well, I won't stop you, then." Whiting stepped out of her way. "Good luck to you, though, ma'am."
"And to you, Midshipman," Amelia smiled and dropped gracefully back onto the main deck, hurrying back to where Harburn and Arrow were waiting together. Jane lingered a moment longer, looking ahead to where the enemy fleet was now visible to the naked eye. Whiting joined her.
"Won't be long now," he said. "It'll start soon, and then it'll be all right. The waiting is the hardest part."
"I hope you're right, Mr Whiting." Jane shivered. "Because the waiting is awfully hard. I wouldn't like to think that it'll get worse from here."
"Not to worry." Whiting smiled reassuringly, his missing ear giving his face a rakishly lopsided look. "I'm sure you'll be fine. There's few on this ship whom I'd rather have behind me than Ms Amelia and Captain Arrow. And the First Lieutenant, of course. They're three of the best."
"I know." Jane smiled. "I trust them."
"They'll see you right." Whiting looked up into the rigging, smiled and doffed his hat. "Anyway, I'd better get back to the guns."
"Of course, Mr Whiting. All the best." Jane watched him go and looked up herself to see Midshipman Dunn standing on the foremast's main yardarm, gazing down at the forecastle deck. She waved and followed Amelia back to the main deck.
"Signal from the flagship, sir," Lieutenant Costell said.
"Well? What does it say?" Forsythe demanded.
"Sorry, sir, it's a long one...some non-standard elements..." Costell frowned in concentration. "Message reads, 'The Empire expects everyone to do their duty', sir."
Chad looked affronted. "And so I should jolly well hope."
"The Admiral must be bored," Forsythe grumbled. "To be sending messages like that at a time like this. What else do you see, Mr Chad?"
"Four ships-of-the-line, sir," Chad had his telescope to his eye. "Perhaps two dozen smaller vessels at most."
Forsythe grunted. "So it seems that our intelligence was right for once. Very good."
"Flagship is signalling again, sir," said Costell. "Fifth and 19th Battle Squadrons to turn forty degrees to starboard and hold a new course."
"Wait for the Courageous to acknowledge, then execute the order." Forsythe nodded. "Once we've completed the turn, hands aloft will furl skysails."
"Aye, aye, sir." Chad went to the console and began making preparations. A single signal flag flew from the squadron flagship and the helmsman began carrying out the manoeuvre. The sails creaked into new positions and spacers began climbing to the tops of the masts to reef in the uppermost sails. Jane shielded her eyes and looked up.
"Are we not heading towards them?" she said.
"If I may be permitted to assume the Admiral's mind, ma'am," said Arrow. "The enemy are sailing relatively close to that star. By heading out into space, we may be able to trap them with their sterns to the star. The solar winds will limit their freedom of movement. And, of course, they would have nowhere to run."
Amelia smiled. "Your knowledge of space tactics never ceases to amaze, Mr Arrow."
Arrow touched his hat modestly. "I have learned a great deal from serving alongside your predecessors, ma'am."
"Let's just hope we can cover the distance in time," said Jane, peering at the Confederate fleet as the big ship began turning.
"Even if they close in faster than we think, it won't help them much," said Amelia. "That'll just let us introduce them to our combined broadsides, right, sir?"
"Quite so." Harburn smiled and rocked on his heels. "Heads we win, tails they lose."
Jane walked to the rail and looked down the side of the ship, the tumblehome shape of the hull letting her see the entire flank. Every gunport was open, the polished muzzles of the guns cleared and shining in the bright starlight. The other ships were similarly prepared, and she took comfort in the display of power that the Imperial ships gave as they turned, the capital ships ponderous in their might, the frigates now racing past them like knives as they hurried to take up position in the new fleet formation. The enemy were turning to follow them now, but they had reacted too late to save themselves from Benson's trap. As they came about, Jane became aware of a low note, almost too low to hear. It was so faint that she had to hold her breath for a moment to ensure that she really had heard it, but then it sounded again, and again, new tones starting to enter into it. There was a ship in the middle of the Confederate fleet that seemed to be turning slower than the others, as if labouring under a heavier burden. Jane's eyes were drawn to it as the sound came again.
"What in the skies could that be?" Harburn frowned. "It sounds like a foghorn at this distance..."
"A foghorn?" Jane stepped forwards and her eyes widened in shock. "Oh, no...it can't be..."
"The secret weapon," Amelia said grimly. "Well. Now we know."
"Whales! Whales in sight!"
Dunn's shout cut across the deck. As one, every man and woman on the deck stopped and looked up. A curse hissed between Amelia's teeth as she saw the whales, a mutter of despair coming from the crew. Jane stared wide-eyed as the giants emerged from the stellar haze.
"How many of them are there?" muttered Harburn.
Amelia opened her telescope and shook her head. "More than I count, sir. Six, seven, eight groups...at least half a dozen in each..."
"They're coming up fast, sir," said Arrow.
Amelia turned to watch the flagship. Fortitude was still closer to the enemy than any other ship, even as her squadron turned to follow the other two out away from the star. A bouquet of flags blossomed from her masts and her thrusters began firing furiously.
"Ms Amelia?" Harburn said.
Amelia paused for a moment as she translated the message in her head. "All ships are to turn towards the enemy, sir. And accelerate to attack speed."
"What's happening?" Jane gripped the handle of her satchel nervously.
"The whales are closing on us too fast," said Amelia. "We don't have time to complete the turn out to space. They'd be on top of us before we could get into position. We're just going to have to meet the enemy head-on."
The sails creaked again and the shadows moved across the deck as the Resolute answered her helm and turned to port.
"Another signal from the Admiral, sir," said Amelia, seeing a new outbreak of colour at the Fortitude's mainmast. "Capital ships are to operate as squadrons, but captains have individual initiative to engage."
"Glad to hear it. Not long now, chaps!" Harburn left the rail, calling out to the boarding party. Another mournful note drifted across the etherium from the largest of the pirate ships and Jane fancied that the whales began swimming faster. The first of the gunshots rang out as the Imperial capital ships began bringing their long-range bowchasers to bear. Resolute's boomed out, sending bright comets of light arcing towards the enemy. The frigates on the edge of the fleet unleashed their first torpedo salvoes, which raced towards their targets on tails of flame. The pirates were starting to shoot back, but their weapons were still out of range. Jane felt her heart rate, already high, increase as it became apparent that a full-scale battle was imminent.
"It's just ranging fire now," said Amelia. "Our gunners are working out how far away they are. Once they have that, and the correct bearings, we'll be able to engage them properly."
"It seems quite sufficient already," said Jane. She jumped as the bowchasers fired again and Amelia touched her elbow comfortingly.
"We'll be all right, though. It doesn't look like any of them are trying to range back at us yet."
Jane tried to smile. "Well. If they're not shooting at us, that's good news, I suppose."
It was the enemy who scored the first hits, a long-range shot striking the bluff bow of the Sovereign and leaving a scorch mark against the cracked wood. The first telling hits, however, were scored against the small pirate vessel which had been responsible. It was bracketed by bowchaser fire from the 17th Battle Squadron, annoyed at the insult to one of its members, and Jane saw part of the tall, skeletal foremast blown clean off, tearing down the sail attached to it. The big Confederate galleon sounded its horn again, a discordant blast that seemed to vibrate the deck beneath Jane's feet. The closest whale pods altered course and began making a direct line towards the Imperial right flank. Torpedoes lanced out of the pirate fleet, spiralling erratically, their engine flares dull and red and leaving trails of oily smoke behind. One of the deadly missiles raced overhead, missing Resolute's sails by metres. Jane flinched and suppressed an instinct to duck at the sound of the torpedo's engine, which made a metallic buzzing sound as it passed.
"Well," said Amelia, trying to sound casual. "Now they're shooting at us."
The fleets were closing fast, the disciplined Imperial formation contrasting with the ragged crowd of pirate vessels. With the exception of the four big galleons, the smaller pirate ships seemed to be in a hurry to close the distance and engage, their scavenger instincts apparently more alert to the possibilities of looting than to the danger posed by their allies, which were swarming towards the fleets. The big galleon apparently controlling the incoming whales wallowed in the midst of the Confederate force like the beasts it had summoned. The line of the hull, as far as Amelia could make out through her telescope, was distinctively Imperial, although the pirates had made additions all over I and repainted the hull a dark, angry blood red and black. The ship had no bowsprit or foremast, and the forward part of the deck was under a dark, crouching mass of machinery. A great metal horn of tarnished bronze was set high where the forecastle would be.
"Fascinating," Amelia murmured. "It looks like your theory was correct, Miss Porter. That must be how they're doing it."
"Then that's our target," said Arrow. "It looks like we could board them from the bows and take advantage of that...device to cover our attack."
"A sound plan," said Harburn. "I'll take the vanguard in that way. Ms Amelia, if the opportunity presents itself, you should land your party aft. If we can catch them between our forces, they won't have a chance."
"Yes, sir." Amelia looked over to Jane, who was staring at the whales. "Miss Porter? Are you all right?"
"The...the whales..." Jane lifted a shaking finger. "They're...they're here..."
Amelia turned and saw what Jane had seen. The first pod of whales had reached the flank of the fleet. The frigate stationed there, the Longbow, was trying to turn frantically. Laser fire sparkled as it tried to ward the whales off at point-blank range, but it was too late. The splintering of wood was audible even from a distance and Amelia flinched at the force of the impact. The Longbow was smashed into a flat spin, her masts falling away like broken matchsticks. Engines spluttering and fading, she began drifting out of the line. The whales kept coming towards the ships of the 19th Battle Squadron, but Regal and Audacity had seen what had happened to their frigates and put up a wall of screening fire from their broadside batteries that forced the whales to break off and withdraw. But by then more of them had arrived, scattering the frigates before them as they tried to batter their way into the heart of the Navy fleet.
"Here they come!" Dunn shouted, swinging down from the top of the mainmast to the fighting top.
Amelia lowered her gaze and saw the first of the swifter pirate ships reach their line. They were trying to cut in between the big capital ships, hoping that their broadsides would be muzzled for fear of hitting their companions, but Benson had ensured that the fleet was deployed in levels to avoid just this trap. A black-hulled corvette, flying the red battle flag of the pirate alliance, banked past them to starboard, guns spitting fire. Shells flashed past the Resolute, making a sound that Jane knew she would never forget. Up on the bridge, Captain Forsythe nodded with satisfaction.
"Fire as you bear, Mr Chad," he said simply.
Jane yelped as the broadside battery began firing, each gun holding back until the target crossed its sights. The fury of the discharges had been powerful enough during the practice drill, but it seemed to Jane that the guns spoke louder now that they were doing what they designed to do – wreck, destroy and kill the Empire's enemies. The corvette was banking in the turn, exposing her decks to the Resolute's guns. Amelia followed the ship into the storm of shells, mentally counting off the cannon shots. Jane watched her lips move, as if whispering the orders to fire. The Resolute's salvo tore into the corvette, the heavy shells punching through her lightly-protected decks and tearing deep into her vitals. Courageous added her fire, blasting off the enemy's rudder. Flames erupted from its engines as they were blown apart and the burning wreck soon disappeared astern. Amelia grinned fiercely in satisfaction and turned to Jane, who was still somewhat shocked at the speed of the clash. She opened her mouth to say something reassuring, but was interrupted by a shout from the forecastle.
"Incoming!"
The deck seemed to shake as a brace of enemy shells hit Resolute head-on. One struck the bows without exploding and ricocheted upwards, slicing a series of holes in the white sails before striking the end of an upper mizzen yard and blowing it off. A block and tackle, separated from its mounting, plummeted to the deck, landing on the bridge stairs with enough force to break one of the steps. Jane jumped back at the sound, running into Amelia who instinctively put a calming hand on her shoulder.
"We're all right!" she shouted. "We're safe!"
Jane shook herself and tried to believe it. A man was being helped down from the forecastle, part of the forward railing embedded in his shoulder and blood dripping onto the sand-covered deck below him.
"It looks like the Admiral could do with some help," Forsythe remarked pacing over to the port side of the bridge. Benson's squadron was engaging a group of pirate vessels, including one of the four galleons. The big, ugly ship was already trading broadside fire with the Fortitude.
"Aye, sir," Chad nodded.
"Execute long-range suppression barrage," Forsythe said. "Port batteries. All guns, salvo fire."
The port gun decks unleashed their fury, sending their deadly cargo flickering across the gulf. Accuracy at this range and speed was difficult even for the best gunnery crews, but a few shells struck home in fiery blasts that seemed to momentarily distract the pirate capital ship long enough for the Fortitude to bring all three of her gun decks to bear. The space between the two leviathans became a blistering mass of fire as cannon answered cannon.
"Well, the Admiral seems to be in the thick of it," remarked Harburn.
"We won't have to wait much longer, I fancy, sir," said Arrow.
The frigate Sunjammer pulled alongside, levelling out for just long enough to fire a pair of torpedoes towards a pirate cutter which had turned beam-on in front of them and was bringing her own broadside to bear. The missiles hit her amidships, sending her into a spin that took her down Resolute's starboard side, gunfire from the RLS Valiant tracking her all the way. The big galleon loomed ahead of them and Amelia saw the distance closing fast. A discordant blast echoed from the galleon's horn, setting Amelia's teeth on edge. Its guns were firing now and the Resolute's starboard forward carronade took a direct hit. The heavy gun was blasted off its mounting in a hail of sparks and a scream of metal which soon gave way to the yells of a luckless crewman who had been pinned beneath it. The other gunners strained to haul him out. Arrow went to their aid, heaving the fallen weapon clear for long enough for the injured man to be pulled free.
"Take him to the surgeon!" Arrow shouted. "Take him below and then report to the gun decks!"
"I can help him!" said Jane.
"We need you here, Miss Porter!" Amelia took her shoulder and pointed to the closing galleon.
"Come on," she whispered. "Come closer..."
"Boarding party, stand ready!" roared Forsythe.
"Amelia?" Jane tugged on her sleeve. "Amelia? You should see this!"
Amelia turned and saw the mask of terror that was Jane's face. Her eyes were so wide that Amelia could see reflected in them the sight she had been warned of, but she raised her head anyway. A whale, gigantic and full-grown, was barrelling straight towards them, adding its own bellow to the boom of the horn. Forsythe saw it too and barked orders for evasive action. The deck lurched as the helmsman span the wheel, so rapidly that even the marines, still in their ranks, had to check their footings. The whale dived past them, its bulk missing by metres but a flipper bashing into the side of the ship so hard that Jane could hear wood cracking beneath her. The whale's tail passed by, leaving such a turbulent wake that she was blown sideways into the mast with a cry. Amelia looked around and leapt to her aid. A whole pod of whales seemed to be diving on the squadron. One of the creatures hit the Imperious aft, shattering the stern galleries and leaving a furrow of wreckage behind. The Valiant turned hard to avoid a similar fate and was forced into another rapid manoeuvre to avoid a collision with Courageous as she dodged trouble of her own. A series of signals flew from the flagship as Commodore Lee tried to reform the squadron.
"We have to get closer," Harburn glared at the defiant galleon, which blared another long, jarring chord.
Amelia helped Jane to her feet, bracing her as the ship lurched again as a stray shell impacted on the hull from below. The whales which had dived on them halted, reversed their direction and began swimming up towards the squadron again. The frigate Captain Strickland tried to ward them off with a barrage of starshells but the enraged creatures ignored the sparkling flares and raced through them.
"Evasive action!" Forsythe shouted. "Stern down twenty, all ahead emergency speed!"
The engines thundered to push the Resolute out of the way of an oncoming whale. The pod bulldozed through the squadron again, snapping the mizzenmast from the Valiant and striking a glancing blow to the damaged, lumbering Imperious that sent her rolling dangerously. The Resolute came alongside the Courageous for a moment and Forsythe hailed across to the flagship with a loudhailer.
"Commodore Lee! We seem to be having some difficulties!"
"I'm forced to agree!" Lee shouted back. "Captain Forsythe, prepare longboats to carry the boarding party! It may be the only way to get close enough!"
"Aye, aye, sir!" Forsythe lowered the loudhailer and nodded to Chad. "You heard the Commodore, Mr Chad!"
"Aye, Captain!" Chad stepped forward. "Arm the longboats! Prepare to launch!"
The spacers in the boarding party sprang into motion as the deck rolled beneath them, hooking the longboats to the cranes to hoist them outboard. Amelia grabbed a rope and hauled on it, shouting to exhort the crew. Jane swallowed hard, straightened her helmet, and followed.
The battle was in full swing. On every ship there were acts worthy of recording that were nevertheless lost against the sweeping drama as the fleets collided.
Captain Sydecker, commanding the remaining frigates, wiped oil from his smashed cybernetic eye from his face and joked confidently with his first officer as he brought his damaged ship around for a torpedo run.
The Defender, leading the 19th Battle Squadron, was taking fire from two pirate galleons and several smaller ships. Her stern galleries were ablaze, flames threatening to creep forward onto the gun decks which still spat defiance at the enemy.
Admiral Benson, sword in hand, walked the deck of his flagship as it drew alongside the galleon that had engaged it, guns still hammering, passing words of encouragement to his crew as they mustered to repel the boarders already lurking at the galleon's rail.
A brace of shells hit the Resolute as she turned back on course, sending shrapnel and debris through her gun decks. Midshipman Buckley was hit and went down so quickly that his trademark joking smile was still on his face when he hit the deck.
The carronades on the Clan MacAllister blasted at a passing corvette, clearing its decks in a hail of white-hot shot.
Cannon fire streaked back and forth. The fleets had closed in so close that it was almost impossible not to hit something. The sound and fury of the battle rose as ships pressed in still closer. The whales seemed to be everywhere, swooping, diving, turning, breaking up Imperial formations everywhere they struck. A giant bull whale struck the RLS Audacity in the middle and broke her back with a sickening crunch of timbers.
Through it all, the longboats sped. Moving with speed and agility through the chaos, the boats of the Fifth Battle Squadron closed on the great galleon. Amelia gripped the tiller of her boat and steered it into position to lead the vessels carrying the rearguard. Harburn's half of the boarding party was ahead of them. Amelia glanced to her left and saw Arrow's bulk sitting upright in the seat. Jane was to her right, some ungovernable locks of brown hair blowing in the slipstream from under her helmet.
"Almost there!" Amelia shouted. "Rearguard boats, form up on me!"
"I think they've noticed us!" Arrow pointed.
Laser fire was streaking up between the racing longboats. They were going too fast for any cannon to be brought to bear, but that didn't stop the galleon from trying. Ragged salvoes flickered through the formation. One of Harburn's boats, loaded with spacers and marines, took a direct hit and was blown to pieces. Jane suppressed a cry of shock.
"That was just luck!" Amelia assured her. "They can't possibly be targeting us at the speed we're going!"
"I'll try to remember that!" Jane flinched as a shell buzzed past and burst behind them.
"Just hang on tight!" Amelia shouted. "We'll be there in a jiffy!"
"That'll be the easy part after this!" Arrow grinned, holding onto his tricorn. Jane tried to grin back and looked over the side. Amelia heard her gasp.
"It's the whales! The whales are coming again!"
"Where are they heading, Miss Porter?" Amelia shouted.
"Straight for us!"
The lead whale rose before them like a rocket, forcing Harburn's boat and two others to veer aside. More whales soared through the flotilla, splitting up the vanguard, forcing it to scatter. The rearguard, further behind, managed to avoid the worst of it, although one boat was pushed into a spin by a whale's wake which left the crew momentarily dizzy.
"I think," Arrow said calmly, "that we are the vanguard now."
Amelia saw Harburn wrench his boat back under control and stand up in it, shouting to restore order. He saw her looking and waved her on. Amelia saluted back and raised her voice.
"Rearguard! New plan! We are going in first! I repeat, we are going in first! All boats, close formation! We board them from the bows!"
She turned to Jane and was about to speak when the boat was buffeted by the flick of a whale's tail. The tiller was jerked out of her hand by the sudden movement of the rudder and the engine coughed. There was a stomach-turning moment of weightlessness as the boat kicked up and fell again so hard that Amelia felt herself leave the bench seat and slam back down onto it. A scream caught her attention and she looked up in horror as Jane disappeared over the side, a hand scrabbling desperately at the edge.
"Jane!" Amelia scrambled to help her. "Mr Arrow, take the tiller!"
Arrow lunged over to take the controls as Amelia landed heavily at the side of the boat, picked herself up and threw herself half over the edge, reaching frantically for a hand. She caught Jane by the fingers and strained hard to draw her in for a tighter grip.
"I've...got you..." she hissed. "Don't...let go..."
"Amelia!" Jane stared up at her. "Amelia! Help!"
"Just hang on!" Amelia gritted her teeth and stared into Jane's eyes, which were two wide blue pools of terror. The slipstream grabbed at her as she dangled from the boat. The pirates sounded their horn again, now so close that she could feel the harmonics in her very bones. Small arms fire from the galleon was hissing around them as the Confederates tried to ward off the approaching longboats.
"Reach for me, Jane! Reach! I won't lose you like this! I won't!"
Jane looked up at Amelia's steady green eyes and tried to reach up with her other hand. A stinging pulse of laslock fire flashed too close and Jane cried out, more in shock than it pain, as the white heat of its passage burned the skin of her wrist. She tried to control her reflexive reaction, but it was too late.
"Jane! No!"
Amelia stared as she felt Jane's hand release its grip for one fatal moment. She tried to lean further overboard, but she knew she couldn't move fast enough. Spacer Jackson appeared at her shoulder, reaching down and using a laslock rifle as a pole, but even that was not enough. Jane cried her name one last time, and then she was gone, falling away, tumbling through the battle like a scrap of flotsam. Amelia, stunned, watched her disappear, her mind racing.
She was standing in Forsythe's stateroom, volunteering to lead the boarding party out of no desire other than that to keep Jane safe.
"I'm sorry, ma'am," panted Jackson. "I'm sorry."
She and Jane were warm in each other's arms. Gazing into those trusting blue eyes, she whispered her promise of safety again.
"We tried our best," Amelia murmured. "We tried..."
She was standing on the bridge of the ship, making a solemn pledge to a worried father.
"Ma'am?" Arrow's voice snapped her out of her reverie. "We're almost there."
Amelia picked herself up and looked forward. The longboat had a multi-barreled repeater rifle on a pintle mount at the bow, and a spacer was blazing away at the decks of the galleon, trying to sweep away the pirates who were mustering to meet them. Marines were kneeling beside him to add their fire, picking their targets carefully.
She was staring into Jane's eyes as she fell away into the abyss.
"Ma'am?" Arrow repeated.
Amelia shook her head. She felt as if she had woken from a nightmare only to find that the real world was far worse. But the sight of the enemy, and the boom of the terrible horn, reminded her of what they were attempting.
Do not forget yourself, Amelia. Not now, not even now. Remember your duty. There are good men and women still alive who are depending on you. Do not fail them.
Arrow glanced over at her with concern, and saw the horror and sadness vanish behind a mask of steely determination.
"Take us in, Mr Arrow!" she snapped. "All hands! Prepare to board them! Marines, fix bayonets!"
Arrow watched her face as her orders were followed. Tears glistened in her eyes for a moment before being blown away by the wind.
"Give them no quarter!" she shouted, her voice wavering only slightly. "The fleet is counting on us!"
She reached down below a seat and withdraw Jane's pith helmet before she stood up. Holding it under her arm, Amelia unsheathed her sword and strode to the front of the longboat, her blue coat flying in the slipstream. Arrow brought them in at high speed, the front of the boat raised to shield the passengers from the worst of the Defenders' fire, until the last moment when he slammed on the airbrakes and brought the boat to a sharp stop at the enemy's bow. The galleon looked no better up close, although a much-tarnished brass plaque affixed to the rail announced the ship's former name – Academic Venture.
"Rearguard, with me!" Amelia stood up in the bows, heedless of the laser fire hissing around her. "For the Queen!"
"Marines, covering fire, one volley!" Arrow roared. The marines in the boat stood in unison and laid down a sudden fusillade to cover the first of the spacers, who leapt yelling over the edge.
Amelia stepped onto the rail and vaulted into the air, somersaulting to land behind a pirate who was swinging a boathook at her. She ducked the clumsy follow-through and struck out, her sword slicing through cloth and flesh. The pirate screamed and went down in a heap, but Amelia was already turning to meet her next opponent. A rusty bayonet was thrust in her direction by a burly Tuskrus, but she parried it with her sword, span and smashed the alien across the face with Jane's helmet, the shock of the impact jerking it from her hand. The pirate reeled backwards with a grunt of pain and Amelia drew her pistol and despatched it with three quick shots. A spacer to her right was hit by a bolt of laslock fire and collapsed, but their place was taken by one of the others that Arrow was now leading onto the enemy ship.
"Come on!" Amelia called. "Keep moving!"
The bulk of the machinery still lay before them, a mass of pipes, pulsating bellows and metal chambers hissing vapours. It blared another call even as the crew who seemed to be operating it began jumping down and running away up the deck. Other pirates, heavily armed, swarmed forward to throw the boarding party out of its foothold on the bows.
"Mr Arrow!" she shouted. "Stop those bastards, if you please!"
"Aye, ma'am!" Arrow answered her. The big Cragorian had taken the pintle-mounted repeater gun from the longboat, a weapon that normally took two men to move, and was holding it like a rifle. He sent a stream of fire towards the operators, sending them tumbling for cover. Arrow then raised the weapon, his finger still on the trigger, sweeping the shots back and forth across the deck. Those pirates quick enough to get out of its way fell back, opening up a space on the deck below the forecastle Amelia's force had occupied. A Navy longboat wearing the Valiant's bright livery careened into the space, sail shredded, and crashed through the galleon's rail, sliding to a halt on its side and burying its nose in the machinery of the horn with a crunch of metal.
Amelia saw the chance, stood up and pointed her sword.
"Boarding party will advance! Take cover behind the boat!"
Most of the crashed boat's crew were already on their feet, grabbing up their weapons and trying to fend off the pirates who were rushing forwards. Amelia led her party to their assistance, snapping off shots from her pistol as she moved, darting from side to side to avoid being hit. Two marines of her party weren't fast enough and fell. She reached the melee that had broken out behind the longboat and swept into it, cutting left and right until the enemy had been repelled, but heavy fire was coming from the galleon's bridge where at least two dozen pirates had gathered with their weapons and they forced the victorious Imperials into cover before they could follow up their advantage. Amelia snarled a curse and ducked out of sight to reload her pistol.
"Do we have a plan, ma'am?" Arrow was crouching next to Amelia. She rammed home the fresh power cell and quickly surveyed the situation. The position behind the longboat was a strong one in defensive terms, bordered as it was on one side by open space and on the other side by the mass of pipes and machinery. But defensive positions could be easily overwhelmed if they couldn't fall back, and they couldn't achieve their mission from there. They had to move.
"We need to get aft and take the bridge," she hissed. "But there are too many of them between here and there. Too much open space."
Laser fire began pockmarking the deck around them as pirates in the rigging began shooting down at them. They were densely packed in behind the crashed longboat and presented an ideal target.
"Marines! Aim high! Bring them down!" Amelia scrambled back, directing fire up at them. A pirate who had been hanging by its tentacles from the yardarm, while firing twin pistols down at the beleaguered party, was shot off and fell to the deck with a thump. A marine gave a truncated shout as a shot hit his shoulder and fell to his knees. Arrow took his place, standing tall for a moment and raking the pirates aloft with fire from his repeater rifle. Amelia watched the results approvingly and took advantage of the respite it brought them.
"Very good, Mr Arrow! Mr Jackson, take a hand and see to the wounded!"
Arrow chuckled. "I don't know why I didn't get myself one of these earlier." He patted the bulky weapon fondly and fired another volley up towards the galleon's bridge.
Amelia raised her pistol and opened fire on a pirate in the crow's nest. "But it isn't going to be enough. Damn it all, where's Mr Harburn?"
"I'm sure he'll be along presently, ma'am!" Arrow grumbled a curse as the repeater rifle's barrels seized and stopped rotating.
"There's ammunition back in the longboat," Amelia said. "But I don't like your odds of getting there."
Arrow put the repeater aside and picked up the wounded marine's discarded rifle.
"Neither do I, ma'am. I believe we are in something of a bind."
"Well, there's no use complaining about it." Amelia snarled. "There's no getting out of here unless we beat them!"
"Aye, ma'am!"
A sudden burst of laser fire cut down a pair of spacers. There was a hatchway open on the deck, and a dozen pirates burst out of it, charging wildly. The suddenness of the attack, and the short distance, gave no time for fire to be directed against them. A tall, lanky pirate jumped onto the keel of the longboat, raising an enormous sword. Amelia shot him in the stomach and removed his head with her sword when he doubled over in pain.
"Stand to repel!" she shouted. "Stand to repel!"
Another pirate, yelling incoherently, managed to jump over the boat and was met by a number of marine bayonets. The red-coated soldiers crowded forward, throwing him back over an bringing their rifles to bear on the others. The rest fell back, covering their retreat with laser fire. Amelia wiped the blood from her sword and took stock again. No more than two-thirds of the spacers and soldiers she had led on board were still in the fight. There was an expanse of open deck between them and the bridge. Every instinct in her body raged at the enemy, every desire called for vengeance even as she knew that she could never hurt them as much as they had hurt her, but her trained and rational mind was still working methodically to find an answer. The trouble was, she couldn't see one. Grenades would clear the enemy decks fast enough to give them the time they needed to move forwards, but her rearguard had not been issued with any.
"I'm so sorry, Jane," she whispered to herself. "I'm so sorry."
There was a series of explosions on the bridge of the galleon. The enemy fire slackened for a moment and the pirate stared around wildly in confusion. Amelia looked up from reloading her pistol again to see Harburn's longboats, delayed by the whale attack, pulling up at the ship's stern, their crews charging over the rails, shouting, firing, swords and bayonets flashing. One moment the bridge had presented an unbroken line of enemy gunmen, but now it was a brawl. The shock of Harburn's attack was forcing the surviving pirates down from the bridge and onto the main deck.
"Steady now!" she shouted, seeing a chance. "Rearguard, prepare to advance!"
Harburn was duelling with the pirate captain. Ko was leading her troops forward to block off the access to the bridge, trapping most of the pirate crew on the main deck between Amelia's party and their rifles. Disciplined volley fire swept the deck, followed by a shower of grenades. With Imperial lasers on both sides, there was nowhere to hide. The pirates tried to fall back, but there was nowhere to go. Panic spread rapidly through their thinning numbers. Amelia saw the moment and took it.
"Rearguard with me!" she shouted, baring her teeth. "Charge!"
"Come on, lads!" Arrow bellowed. "Move out!"
Cheering, they swept out from behind the boat, driving demoralised pirates before them. Ko's forces surged down from the bridge to meet them. A panicking pirate collided with Amelia and she felt a sharp pain in her side as it lashed frantically with a dagger. She grabbed her assailant by the collar and punched it in the face with the hilt of her sword, dropping it like a sack of bricks before she administered a brutally efficient coup de grace. She yanked her blade free of the corpse and pushed it aside with a hiss as the fight swept past her. Flicking back her hair and looking up, she saw that the deck was now in friendly hands. Sergeant Ko, who had acquired an axe from somewhere, appeared in front of her and saluted.
"Sorry we're late, ma'am," she grinned fiercely. Her face was spattered with blood again, but this time none of it was hers. Amelia eyed the axe warily and decided not to ask where it had come from and what had happened to its previous owner.
"Ms Amelia!" Harburn arrived from the bridge. His hat was missing and he had a bloody cut across his forehead, but otherwise seemed unharmed. "Glad to see you safe. Report status."
Amelia touched her forelock, wincing slightly. "Heavy casualties, I'm afraid, sir. Rearguard probably forty percent ineffective."
"Yes, I'm sorry you had to go in first." Harburn looked genuinely apologetic. "You are injured also?"
Amelia looked down at her side, where a darker patch marred the deep blue of her coat. "Flesh wound, sir."
"Mr Harburn, sir?" A Midshipman from one of the other ships waved with one of his four arms. "The bridge is ours, sir!"
"Very good, Mr Stuart!" Harburn nodded to Ko. "Muster the party, Sergeant. We're heading below to clear out the lower decks. Ms Amelia? The deck is yours. See if you can get this old tub back into the fight."
"Aye, sir!" Ko shouldered the axe and moved off, shouting.
"What do we do with the machine, sir?" asked Arrow, pointing to the horn.
"Well, that's up to you, isn't it?" said Harburn. "Where's Miss Porter? She should take a look at it."
Amelia suddenly felt a pit open up in her stomach. She bit her lip and looked down for a moment. Arrow finally spoke up.
"I am afraid, sir," he said solemnly, "that Miss Porter was lost."
"Ah." Harburn took off his hat. "I'm sorry. Well...in that case...we have no choice but to destroy it."
"Yes, sir." Amelia looked up, regaining her composure. "Permission to strike her colours, as well?"
"Granted." Harburn turned to his party. "All set? Then follow me!"
He led them below decks. Amelia looked around the suddenly-empty decks and nodded decisively.
"Right, then. Mr Stuart? Take some hands and see to the wounded. Mr Bryce? Get our flag aloft, if you please. Mr Arrow? Acquire some grenades and put that monstrous mechanism out of commission for good."
"Aye, ma'am!" Midshipman Stuart saluted smartly and disappeared. Bryce headed aft, calling for volunteers. Arrow stayed for a moment, and Amelia looked up at him.
"Well, Mr Arrow? Were my orders not clear?"
"Perfectly, ma'am." Arrow touched his hat. "I just wondered...whether there was anything else?"
"I don't believe there was, Mr Arrow." Amelia folded her arms behind her back and tried to look like she meant it. "Not at this time."
"Are you sure, ma'am? You're hurt, after all. Do you need any assistance?"
Amelia wondered exactly what Arrow was referring to, but she straightened her back authoritatively.
"I'll be fine, thank you, Captain. There are far worse cases than mine. They have priority. You know the triage."
"If you are certain, ma'am," said Arrow. "That you will be all right, I mean."
Amelia looked up again, eyes blazing defensively. "Are you questioning me, Mr Arrow? You will carry out my orders as they were given!"
Arrow looked for a moment like he was thinking of arguing, but then thought better of it. He saluted.
"As you wish, ma'am."
Amelia watched him turn, then turned herself and began stalking up to the bridge.
"She would have been proud," said Arrow.
Amelia stopped for a moment, and nodded.
"Th...thank you, Mr Arrow. Carry on."
Arrow left. From the bridge, Amelia took a moment to survey the battle that was still raging around them. The galleon had drifted away from the area while its crew had been distracted, affording her an excellent view. Every ship was heavily engaged and it was impossible to tell which side held the upper hand. An Imperial ship-of-the-line, blazing from stem to stern, was drifting out of control. The Admiral's flagship was still grappling with the galleon that had boarded it, although the Monarch had joined the fight as well. The Fifth Battle Squadron was still trying to reach them, but its formation had been broken by whale attacks and pirate corvettes and frigates were trying to sneak in behind the big battleships to launch torpedoes at point blank range, forcing the Resolute and her sisters to keep turning back to drive them off. Sighing, she looked up as the blood-red banner of the Confederacy fluttered to the deck, and looked up further to see where the white, red and gold Royal Navy ensign now flew from the mainmast. She touched a hand to her side, took it away and grimaced at the sight of her blood. Taking off her cravat, she wrapped it up and pressed it against the wound to stem the bleeding as she leaned on the railing.
"I hope she would be, too," she whispered to herself.
Jane fell. The winds of the etherium toyed with her hair, pulling it out of its orderly tie, but she barely noticed. She kept seeing Amelia's face, as close to fear as she had ever seen it, receding as the boat seemed to soar away above her. She had tried to keep watch on it, but to no avail.
"All right, all right, all right," she said to the universe in general and herself in particular. "All right. Let's see...we're falling...through a battle...in space...there must be an upside to this..."
She fell a bit further.
"All right...maybe not..."
Attempting to swim back up yielded no results, but by holding out her arms, she worked out how to at least stop herself from spinning and she hugged her satchel close to her chest to stop it flailing around and unbalancing her. That made it easier to think about what was happening, but on the downside it made it easier to think about what was happening.
Presumably one had to stop falling eventually, but the more Jane thought about that, the more likely it was the you stopped falling by hitting something. The prospect did not appeal. And the only alternatives she could see were dying of starvation or dehydration. Or, around here, falling into a star. The latter had a certain romantic appeal, but Jane imagined that the reality would be a lot less appealing.
The battle was already some way above her. She had fallen so far that she could see every ship involved, and even the big capital ships now seemed surprisingly small. The odds of anyone noticing her all the way down here and rescuing her did not seem good. Even if she had been spotted, it looked like everyone up there was rather busy.
She wondered how Amelia was getting on. The memory of her face when she had fallen from her grasp was like a knife in Jane's chest and she wished that she had some way of telling Amelia that it hadn't been her fault. She knew that she'd blame herself. Jane smiled bitterly. Amelia was so protective of her. It had never occurred to her that it could come back to hurt her as badly as it surely was now. But she was equally sure that Amelia wouldn't have been distracted from her mission, and Jane frowned in concentration as she listened to the sounds of the battle to learn whether the mission had succeeded. To her delight, she couldn't hear the boom of the pirates' secret weapon any more, and that was surely a good sign. Not that it seemed to be stopping the whales from attacking. Pods of them still swirled around the battle, swooping in whenever a ship exposed itself.
She thought about her father. She knew he had been worried about her going on this mission, but of course he hadn't said anything. It was such a pity to leave him. She was all he had, she knew. His wife, her mother, was long gone. The colony they had attempted to found was a smoking ruin on a distant planet, an unexpected casualty of the war that had brought together the ships that now fought above her. She hoped that someone would look after him.
She closed her eyes as she felt tears rising in them. Then, remembering that nobody was there to see her, Jane allowed herself to weep.
"Fire in the hole!"
Amelia watched Arrow and his hand-picked demolition team running back along the deck and taking cover behind the mainmast. Their grenades detonated in the heart of the great horn, sending twisted metal and shredded leather flying around the bows. Arrow looked up at her and touched his hat.
"Demolition complete, ma'am!"
"Very good!" Amelia nodded. "Now position your troops to repel any unwanted guests. It cost us a lot to take this ship and I do not intend to lose her."
"Aye, ma'am!" Arrow saluted again and began dispersing his marines. Amelia turned back to the centre of the bridge, where Bryce and Stuart were waiting patiently.
"Your orders, ma'am?" said Stuart politely, both sets of hands behind his back.
Amelia looked down at the console. It had seen better days, and that had been before someone had put a laslock round through one of the screens and bled all over it, but it was definitely Imperial in origin despite the addition of multiple new controls by the pirates. That, and the ship's name, certainly suggested that the ship had once been an Imperial civilian ship that had been captured at some point and proven too useful for the pirates to simply scrap or sell her.
"Do we have propulsion control?" she asked, noting the information and filing it away for future reference.
Bryce nodded. "Yes, ma'am. Primary and secondary, although we may not have full speed since the mainsails are both damaged. Main fire control looks operational as well, although we'll need to take control of the gun decks before that's of real use to us."
"I believe the First Lieutenant is seeing to that as we speak." Amelia drummed her fingers on the console and tried to ignore the dull pain in her side. "In the meantime, take the helm, Mr Bryce. All ahead two-thirds and bring her around to one-eight-two. Let's go back and help our colleagues."
"Yes, ma'am!" Bryce headed to the wheel. Amelia studied the console again. Work, she knew, was the best remedy for grief and she needed to stay busy to distract her from the bottomless pit that she still felt inside her. The silence began bothering her, so she cleared her throat and spoke.
"As for you, Mr Stuart...you're from Imperious are you not?"
"Yes, ma'am." The young man nodded. "Captain Fosker's command, ma'am. Until now, anyway."
"What?"
Stuart swallowed. "Captain Fosker is dead, ma'am...when were were hit...cut him in half, it did."
Amelia grimaced. "We've lost some of our best this day," she said quietly.
"Yes, ma'am."
Amelia blinked back some tears and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "See if you can run a full systems check, Mr Stuart. See what else we have that still works."
Folding her arms behind her back, she strode to the stern of the ship. From there she could look down and see the condition of the rudder assembly. And from there, nobody could see the expressions that she was fighting to keep from her face.
Jane had heard the joke that the fall wasn't as much of a problem as the sudden stop at the bottom. She'd laughed at the time, but whoever had come up with that obviously hadn't been faced with the prospect of falling for all eternity. Admittedly that removed the problem of the sudden stop, but it introduced a new series of problems to replace it.
She had stopped crying, the initial shock having worn off and the sensible core of her personality having reminded her that it wasn't going to do any good. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath.
"All right, Jane. Just stay calm and think. What would Amelia do in this situation?"
The thought of Amelia stopped her heart for a moment, and it was all too easy to imagine her falling through space herself, or lying dead or wounded on the bloodstained deck of some ship up there. Jane wondered if her last thoughts in that situation would be of her, or whether that was selfish and they should be of her family. Her own thoughts were alternating between Amelia and her father, her thoughts of her distant home, the memories of waking up on the family farm estate as a girl and rushing out to greet the sunrise or to follow the morning work party to the fields to tend to the animals. It had been so long since she had experienced something as simple as grass beneath her feet – the jungle planet that they had attempted to colonise had been so densely tree-covered that grass could barely grow at all and there had been no comfort aboard the hard-timbered warship that had rescued them.
It really was such a simple thing when you thought about it. Jane wondered how many other simple pleasures had been lost to her. It was a pity that she wouldn't get to know them again. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine the feeling of standing in bare feet on a broad, grassy field under a warm sun. There was so much she still wanted to do, to experience and to know...
A sound made her open her eyes again and look around, so suddenly that the motion set her spinning again. It had sounded like a whale, and very close. Encountering a crazed void whale hadn't been one of the possibilities for her fate that she had considered and the thought did not appeal at all. She felt around for her satchel and fumbled inside it for the laslock. It didn't seem like a good weapon to use against a giant whale, and in any case Jane didn't like the thought of having to shoot at one. Aside from anything else, she doubted whether it would do anything. Even so, she drew the pistol and armed it the way Amelia had shown her. It answered her with a whine of power and she wrapped her nervous hands around the grip.
"Both hands, remember," she muttered to herself. "Finger off the trigger until you're ready. Arms straight..."
She heard the whale call again, much closer, so close that she gave an involuntary yelp and redoubled her shaky hold on the laslock.
"Steady, steady..." She tried to look around again. A movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention and she turned to face it. Before she could see it, it was on her. She landed on it with a thump, a solid impact which sent the pistol clattering from her hand. She tried to reach for it as it disappeared over the whale's flank, and went sliding after it, feeling tough, leathery skin brushing past her.
"No! Wait!"
She managed to catch it by the barrel and felt a momentary thrill of success before realising that she was still falling along the whale's giant body. Gasping, she scrabbled for a handhold, finally managing to take hold of one of the creature's dorsal antennae. Panting for breath, she pulled herself up on top of it and paused for a moment.
"Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear...where am I now?" She stuffed the pistol in her belt and lay flat on the whale's back, still holding on to the antenna. Opening her eyes and seeing it blowing in the slipstream above her, Jane saw that it was a bright yellow colour all the way to the place where it joined the grey-blue body. A memory awoke in her mind, pushing aside her other concerns.
"Now where do I know that colour..."
The whale did not seem to be attempting to buck her off, and she took a hand off the bright yellow antenna to reach down the whale's side. She explored its hide tentatively until she found a collection of shapes that could not have developed naturally. Peering down, she saw a row of neat stitches holding together a scar.
"Stitches? But how could you..."
It finally dawned on her and she looked up at the distinctive antennae. "S...Sunny...?"
She felt around for a foothold and began climbing down along the whale towards the head. It half-rolled and stopped swimming, cruising along on its inertia as if to help her along. Moving carefully, she slid down to look into its eye. At first she saw only her reflection staring back at her, but then the eye blinked and focused on her. She saw the pupil concentrate, saw the intelligence behind it, and the memory returned to her in full strength.
"Sunny! It is you!"
The whale made a friendly cooing sound. Jane felt it reverberate through her body and she patted the young whale fondly.
"Well, I'm glad to see you. I just knew you hadn't left us." She looked up thoughtfully. "And now I'm wondering just how well you really do understand me...because I think I need your help..."