Wolf Star (Tour of the Merrimack #2) by R.M. Meluch

Author:R.M. Meluch [Meluch, R.M.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9781101087213
Publisher: PENGUIN group

20

LOSING SPEED, WOLFHOUND TRAILED steam and smoke. The tags, which she had been eluding, gained on her stern.

Her lifeboats were not properly boats. They were very basic, very temporary, survival pods; flimsy tissue-foil sacks equipped with minimal air, a rebreather, and an uncomfortable heater.

Calli kept the life pods close to the ship, inside Wolfhound ’s shield, instead of launching them clear of her ship, until Wolfhound bubbled all over with foil blisters, wearing the lot of them outboard like a mama spider carrying its young.

A Citadel gunner sent an inquiry to General Pompeii: “Cease fire?”

“No,” Numa returned, emphatic. “If Mister Carmel thinks Rome won’t take out her life pods, she is sadly mistaken. Until she surrenders, or her ship is destroyed, those pods are targets. If she’s going to hide behind her lifeboats, then tag them. Tag them all and shoot them.”

On board Merrimack, Marcander Vincent reported from his tactical station: “Sir. Roman gunners are launching tags at Captain Carmel’s lifeboats. She’s losing speed. They’ll make contact in another minute.”

Farragut nodded. “I think she’s counting on it.”

The command crew looked to Captain Farragut in surprise.

“Sir?” Lieutenant Glenn Hamilton asked.

“I just hope Numa doesn’t see what I’m seeing,” said Farragut.

Numa Pompeii refused to know Calli. Still, he must see what she was up to, if he was looking.

“Launch a planet killer at Numa.”

Lieutenant Hamilton ordered up the planet killer, then said, “It won’t do anything, sir.”

The planet killer would create a huge, expensive light show, and momentarily blank out everyone’s clear-screens. It would have no effect on the grid.

“It’ll make him look,” said Farragut. “At me.”

Instead of?

Hamster took another look at Calli’s fleeing Wolfhound wearing its coat of lifeboats.

The life pods were tissue thin, opaque, but so filmy they concealed little. Normally you could make out the shapes of people inside, like larvae in a cocoon. Hamster did not see anything at all pushing at the foil sides.

Where were the elbows? The knees? The hands? The butts?

Calli’s life pods were neat sausage balloons.

Someone was going to notice that oddity in a moment and warn Numa.

“Planet killer armed and ready, Captain!” Hamster reported.

“Fire.”

“Fire planet killer!”

The planet killer smashed into the grid, lit it up like a white dwarf star. Filled the com channels with curses and Roman scoffing.

Another spume of smoke belched from Wolfhound’s stern.

Wolfhound’s shields flickered out. The ship lost more speed, and a whole flock of tags caught up and latched on to every available surface.

Because the wolf hunter was entirely encased in life sacks, the tags latched onto the life sacks.

The Roman sentinels launched homing missiles after them.

“They’re shooting the lifeboats!” Marcander Vincent reported.

“So they are.” Farragut’s fingers crossed themselves.

As the homing missiles launched to mate with their tags, Wolfhound spun, shedding her coat of foil sacks like a snake its skin.

Because all the tags were stuck to life sacks, Wolfhound discarded all the tags along with the sacks.

Sending the homing missiles chasing them.

Toward Gladiator’s sternside engine ports.

A Roman missile will not detonate against a Roman ship, but it will detonate against a tag stuck to a U.

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