Chapter Thirty-Two

Clan Wolverine Flagship SLS Michigan 

Uninhabited System Gamma 12901 FQ

Along the Exodus Road

20 June 2824

Khan Hallis told Star Captain Trish Ebon to enter his quarters. She had transferred from the cruiser Buccaneer two jumps earlier, but he had remained so occupied with communications and logistics that he had not had the time to spend with her. Managing a refugee fleet was something of a logistical nightmare, much worse than he ever expected. Shuffling repair personnel, supplies, etc. alone required a small staff to manage. Franklin did not complain—there was no one to complain to.

“Khan Hallis,” she said as she closed the doorway behind her and hovered in the air near the hatch.

“You can cut the formality, Trish,” he replied. “It never did suit you.”

“I came as soon as you asked. I assume you have a mission for me.”

“Affirmative. I have two missions for you,” he said, pulling out a transmission form and giving it a quick once-over. “I have a role I want you to undertake.”

“Just give the word my—Khan,” she said.

This time he smiled. “Good. I am glad to see that you think the title has some humor associated with it. I am appointing you as my saKhan. After our next jump, this message will go out to the rest of the fleet informing them of your new status.”

She was stunned to the point of being red-faced. “What about the Trial of Position?”

“Khan McEvedy waived it for me when I became saKhan. I am treating it as tradition at this point, and simply naming you as my second-in-command. Besides, we are not Clan any longer. I do not feel as bound to the Clan laws as I have in the past. We are the Star League in Exile.”

“I am merely a Star Captain.”

“I am promoting you to Star Colonel.”

She was silent for a moment, her mouth agape. When she did finally speak the words came fast and furious. “What about the other Star Colonels? Are they going to go along with this?”

He shrugged. “There were some that were not happy. I explained to them that we cannot afford to stop on a world and arrange several days worth of combat trials, not now anyway.” It had not been easy. Star Colonel Jax Benedict of the 444th had said that it was not fair and had called for a Trial of Grievance. Franklin had informed him that such trials were suspended while they were in flight from the Clans. There was no time for petty bickering over positions of power. As he had told Benedict, “When we eventually reach the Inner Sphere, you will have a universe of options open to you.” That seemed to tide him over for the time being. Other Star Colonels had suppressed their anger. He understood. The long crisis of their flight had given him some leeway…at least for the time being.

“This is unexpected.”

“It is earned.”

She cocked her eyebrow at him. “I am not sure I want it. You have just made me second-in-command of our rebellion, after all.”

Franklin smiled. “For what it is worth, I know exactly how you feel. That does not change the fact that I need your help, Trish. Besides, no matter what your rank or position, if we are captured by the Clans you will hang equally with the rest of the warrior caste. Being in charge does not make your fate any worse.”

She paused and gathered her composure. “I accept this in the name of Khan McEvedy.” Reaching out, she shook his hand.

Damn—I wish she were here and this was not necessary in the first place. Franklin nodded once and attached the message transmission order to his noteputer feed. It would be sent to the rest of the fleet after their next jump. “The next order of business is your first assignment.”

“I should have known this would not be fun or easy.”

“We are in need of resupply,” he said. “We need fresh, potable water, fruits and vegetables.”

“There is not a collective farm anywhere near here. And the Clan Fleet is running several jumps ahead of us. We have been picking up signs of their waste dumps. I do not suppose that you can convince them to leave behind some foodstuffs, query negative?”

“Negative,” he replied. The Clans were a few steps in front of them, just as Khan McEvedy had planned. They had found evidence of their fleet of ships, though they had little intelligence information from it. Their garbage dumps had been discreet, but he knew what to look for based on the Star League’s original Exodus from the Inner Sphere. He assumed that Nicholas would try to hide his trail in the same manner…and the ilKhan had been true to form. By poking through the garbage, they knew that at least four Clans were involved in the fleet in front of them. They also knew that the fleet consisted of at least twelve different ships. Franklin assumed that matters were far worse than what he knew as the facts. He assumed that at least twelve Clans had to be involved in their pursuit, and that his own fleet was outnumbered at least three or four to one.

When they come for us, they will show no mercy, take no chances. That was why he needed Trish to help him.

“Trish, I am going to split up the main fleet into four groups. The largest group, the main body, will remain under my command. We will proceed to system Gamma 1551 AV, codenamed ‘Barbados.’”

Barbados was a world the Exodus Fleet had used for resupply. It had native fruits, some edible vegetables, and more importantly, fresh water. There was not enough for a full resupply of the Exodus fleet, but we are much smaller. It should suffice.

“I will take the main fleet there. The other three, smaller groups will act as scout forces. You will jump ahead to several different systems that the Clans might be patrolling along the Exodus Road. Your ships with lithium batteries will be used to jump back and warn us immediately if the Clan forces double back on us and are heading to Barbados.”

“Three small task forces of ships are not going to be much of a match for the ilKhan’s force if they show up.”

“You are not there to fight them, but to warn us. I want you to take command of the Bismark and use that as your flagship. You are our sentries out there...our early warning screen. Your mission is to warn us if trouble is coming. Do not leave a ship behind, though. Remember, these ships are filled with all that is left of our Clan. If you abandon one of them, you are leaving behind a part of us.”

“Understood.”

“I want the smaller task forces to fan out, jump ahead, probe to make sure that we are not forced into an engagement with the Clan forces.”

“We will be the armor and eyes of our people.”

“Good. In the meantime, I am going to debark our personnel on Barbados for some time to assist in gathering supplies and spend some time off their JumpShips and DropShips. After months of flight, we need time under a sun, stretching, working, bonding as a family.”

Trish cocked her eyebrow again. “It is a risky proposal. If the Clans hit us while all those people are on the ground, we could be unable to move out fast enough.”

Franklin understood the risks. There were other risks though, just as deadly. His Star Colonels were enjoying some of the relaxed attitudes from the strict Clan formality. The chance to advance in rank without a potentially deadly combat trial had some appeal. The lower castes also liked the chance to pursue their own destinies. At the same time everyone chafed at life aboard ship: the cramped smelly quarters, rationed food, little more than tedium. Some of the people openly spoke of how better things were with the Clans—that without Khan McEvedy, their mission may be misguided. Stopping on Barbados, letting his people enjoy sunlight under a sky, feel grass and dirt again, would give them a respite they needed. It would diffuse potential problems down the road.

“The people have to remember what we are doing and why. It is worth the risk. Besides,” he said with a coy grin that he could only share with his old comrade, “the Clans seem more intent on looking for us in front of them rather than behind them.”

Grand Fleet Flagship Rough Rider

Uninhabited System Gamma 1301 LW

Along the Exodus Road

In Front of the Wolverine Exodus Fleet

20 June 2824

The bridge of the Rough Rider stung with a hint of tension in the air as the ilKhan asked the question again. “You have found no sign of the Wolverines, query negative?” Nicholas Kerensky knew the answer already. Months of searching the Exodus Road and the charted systems near it had revealed no sign of the renegade Clan.

“Negative, ilKhan. We have found some debris, garbage really. From what we discovered, it was apparently discarded by the Exodus Fleet.” Star Admiral Amanda Lankenau of the Snow Ravens replied with a hint of disappointment in her voice.

Nicholas said nothing for a moment. His forehead furrowed in thought. He had pushed his task forces far forward in an attempt to catch up with the Wolverines. They had a head start, but by now they should have been apprehended. With the number of WarShips and transports that he had fanned out looking for them, it there was no way that they could have remained hidden.

Nicholas knew the Wolverines were heading for the Inner Sphere…his source had revealed it under duress and drugs. No matter what McEvedy thought of Franklin Hallis, there was no way this upstart was ingenious enough to hide an entire Clan in flight from a pursuit force the size that Nicholas commanded. Even if they pressed themselves to stay ahead of his task force, there would be stragglers, equipment failures, enough for him to get on their trail.

So where are they?

He said nothing for a full two minutes. No one interrupted his concentration. His pursuit of the Wolverines had been flawless. He remembered back to when his father had pursued the Prinz Eugen renegades from the Exodus. Aleksandr Kerensky and his admirals had patented such fleet-level pursuits.

That was it…the Prinz Eugen.

“Order the fleet to prepare for jump,” he commanded.

“As you wish, ilKhan. I will have the navigator plot the next navigation point toward the Inner Sphere.”

“Negative,” Nicholas said. “The ships from Clans Coyote, Burrock, Goliath Scorpion, and Smoke Jaguar will go to those coordinates. They will proceed as far as the Wayside system and if they have not engaged the enemy by then, turn about and return toward our fleet.”

“IlKhan?” Admiral Lankenau asked.

“The remainder of the Grand Fleet and our scouting forces will turn around and execute several jumps back toward Clan Space.”

“Sir, the Coyotes and the others will feel they are being denied an opportunity to take part in the bidding for the destruction of the Wolverines.”

“I believe that the reason we have not found evidence of the Wolverines presence is because they have not been here—yet.”

Star Admiral Lankenau nodded. “Affirmative. You believe that they held back, tailing us.”

“Aff,” he replied. “I do. It is an admirable strategy. Rather than engage us, they allow us to blaze the trail for them to follow. If I am wrong, however, the Coyotes and the others will have the honor of destroying the Wolverines to themselves. Either way, the result will be the same.”

“It is entirely possible that they never set out on the Exodus Road,” the Admiral pointed out.

“You are mistaken. I know this was their intention all along. If I am wrong, the force heading for the Wayside system will be more than able to intercept and destroy them. If I am correct, Star Admiral, we will find them somewhere in our wake.”

“Excellent, ilKhan.”

“And when we do, we shall teach these Wolverines the price of their perfidy.”

SLS Bismark

Uninhabited System Gamma 25098 3W

Along the Exodus Road

27 June 2824

SaKhan Trish Ebon launched herself across the bridge of the Bismark and grabbed the railing near the sensor station. There had not been time to repaint and spruce up the old WarShip. The chipped paint on the guardrail cracked under her palm as she came to a stop.

“Repeat!”

“Affirmative, saKhan Ebon,” the sensor operator replied. “Drive plume signals at nadir jump point, multiple ships. Confirmed WarShips and transports. By their decay rate, they were jumping just as we emerged at our jump point.”

Damn, damn, damn, damn! She caught herself and drew a long breath to give her time to think. These ships had to belong to the Clans. Which means that her task force had arrived just as they were jumping ahead to the next system—or that the Clans were doubling back—straight at Khan Hallis and the bulk of her Clan on Barbados. If that was the case, they had figured out the strategy that the Wolverines—the Star League in Exile, had been using. Damnation! That also meant that they were only one jump from Barbados. One jump from hitting Franklin. One jump from slamming right into the majority of her people.

“Can you identify the ships? Did they spot us?”

“Negative,” the operator called. “Nor can we identify where they jumped to.”

The tension on the bridge seemed to rise appreciably. “Contact the Saratoga. They have lithium batteries. Have them plot a jump back to Barbados immediately. Order all other ships to emergency stations. Set Condition One throughout the task force. Captain Hennesy, sound General Quarters. Have all ships prepare for immediate hot-charging of their jump drives and plot a course back as well.”

The communications officer barked out the orders and began furiously coding a message to the other ships of the task force. A klaxon sounded three times, signaling General Quarters. A red light flared above Star Captain Hennesy’s seat. If we time this wrong, either the Saratoga or her task force might arrive right on top of the Clan task force. It was a risk she had to take. If they were lucky, very lucky, the system that they had just come from was empty. Hopefully they had simply crept dangerously close to the Clan rearguard.

Something in the pit of her stomach told her differently. She felt ill, a twinge of nausea. No. They had been lucky up to this point. Our fortune is about to change, I can feel it.

Captain Hennesy spoke up first. “All decks report in, saKhan. General Quarters and Condition One are set.”

The communications officer broke in with a hint of distress. “SaKhan, Star Captain Buckler of the Saratoga reports that their jump drive is offline. They are unable to jump.”

Trish pounded the railing so hard it pushed her body back and away. She caught it at the last moment. The Saratoga had experienced problems before, part of the luck of running the ship with a minimum crew. The jump-capable WarShips and transports had spread their crews thin to allow them to take advantage of the ships they had stolen from the Exodus Fleet. Using a ship that had been mothballed for years did not help. Even with maintenance, the Saratoga needed time in a shipyard, and that simply was not possible. Up to this point, the quirks of her drive had not been an issue.

Franklin had given her orders that conflicted suddenly. She was not to leave a ship behind. They were full of citizens that would be defenseless against the Clans. At the same time she had to warn the fleet. That was not going to be possible any time soon either. A few minutes ago, everything had been relatively easy. Now, now things were different.

Our fortune is definitely changing…for the worse.