Free Carinae Sector: 01 - Traders' Scourge - Part 1 - Alien Flight by David Buck Page A

to thirty five knots. With the main gun now blocked from firing by the rest of the frigate, the .50 gauge heavy machine guns and the two Gatling point defense guns continued to fire on the attackers. The militant boats then launched a barrage of RPG weapons fire at maximum elevation on the frigate. The bridge crew was alarmed as one of the two Gatling guns went silent with a mechanical failure.
    The RPG fire from the boats fell too short, and apart from two grenades striking and exploding along the frigates modest armor belt near the water line, the attack was futile. The militant boats again attacked, as the Seahawk returned and claimed the earlier boat it had damaged previously. The last two boats angled away from one another but did not attempt to flee. The remaining Gatling gun and the heavy machine guns tore into their hulls; the militant crews launched a different type of weapon at the frigate.
    The Gunnery officer paused in disbelief and shouted out, ‘Sir they are TOW weapons….’ as the more powerful handheld weapons launched by the attacking boats raced along at the ends their wires to the frigate. Two large explosions rattled the frigate as the two heavier TOW rounds struck the rear of the ship. Steve flinched and turned to the officers on the bridge from the bridge window, as the last of the militant boats erupted into a fireball.
    ‘XO, the attackers are destroyed. Please get aft to the hangar deck and get a detailed report on the damage.’
    ‘Navigation, reduce speed and head due south, we will pickup the medical team on sunrise.’
    ‘Communications get the Seahawk to tail us south until we have a report on the hangar deck.’
    As the first lieutenant raced for the rear of the ship, Steve quickly studied the first reports from elsewhere in the ship. Five ratings were injured by shrapnel from the RPG rounds on the two waterline hits, but engineering reported no major damage.  Steve was more concerned with what the last minute of battle had done to his ship, and awaited with unease the report from his executive officer.
     
                                                                ***
     
    During the tense wait for the frigate to return, Lieutenant Samantha Edwards had collated new reports of militant assassin teams rampaging through the city towards the business district and the dock areas. Sporadic gun battles occurred as the under-gunned local police force attempted to neutralize them. She knew that the whole region would be dangerous for westerners to operate in for several months until the local authorities could restore order.
    The medical team monitored the satellite phones and kept careful watch, as they could hear several distant explosions at sea far to the north. It looked like HMAS Perth had found the militant boats reported earlier by the local authorities. Several of her team had out binoculars on the fly bridges of the pleasure cruisers, and excited bursts of conversation occurred for twenty minutes. Eventually both the horizon and the upper decks of the pleasure cruisers fell silent. Samantha said a silent prayer as one of the satellite phones rang. After a brief conversation with the lieutenant commander, she called in her senior team and the three masters of the pleasure cruisers.
    At first light, and after a few hours of fitful sleep by the medical team, the three pleasure cruisers had left the dock are for the short journey out to the frigate. The lieutenant commander would not consider docking in the small harbor in light of the recent combat. Several team members expressed muffled sighs as they saw the damage inflicted on the frigate. The portside Gatling gun was missing from its mount and a gaping hole was apparent in the hangar bay door. Further damage was also present on the portside waterline from two smaller strikes and the cover of the starboard Gatling gun was off as well. The Seahawk helicopter was securely strapped