The Starwolves Read Online Free PDF Page A

over the supervision of the packs, since Valthyrra was preoccupied with
preparing herself for battle.
    "Ships," he answered simply.
    She looked up as Valthyrra's camera pod moved toward her. "I can
just make them out, sixty-five units from our present location and approaching
rapidly. I count two carriers and three battleships, with about twenty escorts
ranging from stingships to destroyers."
    "And that freighter?" Mayelna asked.
    "It never exploded," the ship explained. "No trap. My guess
is that the attack run proceeded too far into system and was observed. The
local comthander is either trying to scare us away, or else he believes in his
good luck."
    "We do not scare," Mayelna said coldly.
    "No, not from this," the ship agreed. "I already have a pack
in each bay. They will go as soon as they have pilots."
    Mayelna bent over the com controls in the arm of her chair. "Help is
coming. Can you and Baressa distract them for about five minutes?"
    "They are already on their way," Valthyrra reported, amused.
    "We are closing to attack," Velmeran answered. "Tell
Valthyrra to keep herself clear."
    Indeed he had long since led both packs into low starflight speeds,
rushing into the depths of the system ahead to intercept the approaching ships
as far from the Methryn as they could. The small fleet was coming toward them
at about the same speed; for Union pilots, taking a ship into starflight within
the confines of a planetary system was an act of either desperation or daring.
Baressa had never said a word, so Velmeran assumed that she was following his
lead. He was surprised by that; Baressa was not easily impressed.
    Velmeran had somewhat impressed himself with his decisiveness, daring to
lead a pack of students against a fleet. But there was really no choice as he
saw it. He had two clear duties when the Methryn came under attack: to protect
his carrier against her enemies, in spite of the fact that Valthyrra could take
care of herself, and to protect the reputation of the Starwolves. Fear was the
most effective weapon his kind possessed; the Union lived in fear of the black
carriers and would more often run than fight. But that reputation had to be
carefully maintained. The Star-wolves had to answer every challenge and win
every battle, pay back every hurt twice over, and they could never afford the
luxury of a judicious retreat.
    The two groups closed quickly, for starflight reduced planetary distances to
small jumps. The packs split to circle around to either side and strike from
opposite directions. The Unioners had to drop sublight to fight. They could not
defend themselves effectively in starflight, and they certainly could not
attack. They would drop to low sublight speeds, increasing their enemy's
advantage but at least allowing their own fighters to attack and give their
cannons a chance to track the quick wolf ships.
    Without warning the fleet went sublight, braking hard, and the packs cut in
sharply to strike from either side. The two carriers had already opened their
immense bays and were expelling fighters at a furious pace. The three
battleships and eight destroyers moved to the outside, prepared to distract
their attackers with their own cannons. Stingships made ready their own
attacks, while tenders and escorts could do little else but try to look small.
    Their skill and innate sense of timing was such that the two packs struck
the fleet from opposite sides at exactly the same moment. Now their advantage
became most apparent. They could easily withstand the stresses of quick turns and
accelerations hundreds of times as great as ordinary humans could endure, so
that they could dodge in and out among the larger ships faster than the
defenders, or even their automatic systems, could track.
    Velmeran went first for the stingships, the greatest threat, in his opinion,
to his students. These powerful little ships were all engine, faster even than
fighters and possessing a pair of cannons with the range and power of the