The Alpha Protocol: Alpha Protocol Book 1 by Duncan M. Hamilton

Author:Duncan M. Hamilton [Hamilton, Duncan M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-02-22T16:00:00+00:00

Samson felt the forces on his body as the Bounty broke out of orbit and blasted away from Dobson as fast as her thrusters could drive her. Putting an old ship like that under the stress of going from stationary to maximum thrust was not a good idea, but hanging around to get blasted to bits was an even worse one. Their upgraded thrusters had a greater output than she would have originally been designed for—much more than the overhauled dampeners could accommodate—so it was no great surprise to Samson when the alarm klaxon went off.

‘Hull stress at one hundred twelve percent of maximum operating level,’ Harper said.

The thrusters roared, filling the bridge with noise, forcing Samson to shout to be heard.

Let’s just hope the repair drones were able to strengthen the hull enough; otherwise getting away from that ship won’t do us much good, Samson thought.

‘I think they’re giving chase, sir.’

Samson’s heart sank. ‘Target her. We’ll try and slow her down if we have to.’

‘She’s closing. Fast.’

‘Hail her.’

‘No response.’

Samson swore under her breath.

‘Try again.’

He listened to Harper hail them, and chewed on his lip as he waited for a reply. There was still nothing.

‘Fire a warning salvo.’

He felt the ship judder as Price fired the Gauss guns.

‘They’re still coming, sir. I can detect a power surge. I think she’s powering weapons.’

Samson swore again. Suddenly, the appeal of an independent command did not seem so very great. He thought furiously, but could see no options. They were already going as fast as they could. He looked to the viewscreen, but the image it presented from the Bounty’s antiquated cameras—something he hadn’t had time to upgrade—was small, and it pixelated badly when he tried to magnify it. The effect gave it a more sinister appearance than perhaps it deserved, but even in the poor image, the design looked unusual. From the angle they were at, it looked like the round, leading edge of an enormous horseshoe. Samson couldn’t think of any human vessels that used a design like this.

‘Sergeant Price, lock onto her hull and fire at will.’

The Bounty juddered at regular intervals as the Gauss guns fired their ordnance at the pursuing vessel.

‘Harper. Anything?’

‘Looks like the rounds are just bouncing off its hull.’

Samson swore for the third time in as many minutes. Their Gauss guns were the smallest calibre of ship-mounted weapons, and were only effective when fired against targets with lighter armour, but he had hoped they’d be enough to dissuade any pursuit.

‘Cease fire,’ Samson said. ‘All power to sensors and power the Nexus Relay.’

‘Sir, that will cut thruster output.’

‘I know. We can’t outrun them, and we can’t outfight them. All we can do is try to give the Peterson some idea of what she’ll be up against.’

There was a delay in Harper’s reaction. ‘Aye, sir.’

His heart sank further as he realised there was no way out of it. They were at the mercy of whoever was chasing them, and he knew already that mercy did not seem to be their default approach.

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