Free Rebellion of Stars (Starship Blackbeard Book 4) by Michael Wallace

hiding?”
    “Vargus, get down there and cover her.”
    “Look at your screen, you dolt! That’s what I’m doing. Now I need you to cover me .”
    Ah, now he understood. He’d been so worried about Lindsell, who was now splitting off two destroyers to gnaw at Blackbeard ’s flank—driving off the missile frigate that was protecting that side of Drake’s formation—that he hadn’t taken close enough note of Vargus’s own skirmishes. She was chasing three torpedo boats that were skimming a few hundred miles above the atmosphere.
    Vargus and her fleet had both speed and power enough to deal with three torpedo boats. But the action was taking place to the northwest of one of Hot Barsa’s orbital forts, and a second fort came swinging around the planet over the north polar region. Vargus would shortly be caught in a devastating crossfire.
    Drake cut his connection with Vargus and turned to his tech officer. “Smythe, get me Rutherford.”
    Lindsell was coming at him again, having weakened Drake’s center by forcing him to address the attack on his missile frigate.
    “Rutherford is still five minutes out,” Smythe said. “ Vigilant ’s batteries are at the ready. Rutherford is hot for battle and awaiting orders.”
    That explained Lindsell’s fresh attack. He was trying to get his licks in before Vigilant and her support craft arrived. Yet there was no attempt to force the rebels closer to the orbital fortresses. That’s what Drake would have done; smash his enemy against the planetary defenses. Unfortunately, Drake couldn’t take advantage of this lapse. He had to relieve Vargus.
    “Capp, take us down.”
    “Aye, sir.”
    “Commander—” Drake turned to the commander’s chair, but of course, Captain Tolvern wasn’t there. Instead, it was Lieutenant Oglethorpe.
    Oglethorpe had been filling the role of first mate since Tolvern’s promotion. An able man, but without her ability to juggle multiple tasks. Oglethorpe was coordinating with the gunnery at the moment and couldn’t be torn away. So Drake sent orders to his beleaguered frigate and the single destroyer he’d sent to relieve her.
    Pull back toward Vigilant , he told them. Captain Rutherford was to take command of the frigate and her support craft, then hit the enemy hard enough to get Lindsell’s attention.
    By the time Drake turned back to his console, Capp had taken Blackbeard away from her protective screen and was charging after Vargus near the planet’s surface. Moments later, they were in range. Drake hit the closer, more powerful fort first, pounding the surface with missiles, while holding his cannon in reserve, ready to blast any exposed armaments.
    At last, the fort responded. It launched two torpedoes and let loose with its cannon. Blackbeard rolled to present a broadside. The hull vibrated with outgoing fire.
    “Class three detonation expected in eight seconds,” Jane warned coolly.
    One of the enemy missiles had locked on and snaked its way past countermeasures. Drake braced himself. It crunched into the fore shield, just above the bridge. The explosion knocked Capp from her seat. Alarm bells clanged.
    “Bloody hell!” Capp said, picking herself up.
    “Fore shield at eighty-two percent,” Jane said.
    More sound and fury than actual damage. Drake relaxed his grip as the ship stabilized. A brief, pungent smell of burning plastic entered the bridge, but the filtration system whisked it away. The alarms shut down, and lights went from flashing red, to orange, to green.
    Eighty-two percent. That wasn’t bad. Not good, either, and he didn’t want to take any more blows if he could help it.
    “Get us beneath it,” he told Capp. Then, to Oglethorpe, “Tell the gunnery to ready the lower battery.”
    Capp rolled the ship as they approached the fort from beneath. Now belly up, they let loose with the smaller lower battery. Lights flashed along the length of the orbital fortress. Dust and debris spouted into space like ash from