Stormbreak (Seafire #3) - Natalie C. Parker Page 0,6
without broadcasting their plans to their targets. “Gold” was code for driving in together and hitting the target like a spear.
“Amina’s silencers are ready for a test run, Captain,” Pisces reported from the hatchway. “As long as Nettle can get us close enough to launch them.”
“I’ll get you close enough to spit on that barge if you want,” Nettle said, never shifting her eyes from the searoad ahead. She’d grown an entire foot and every part of her body had stretched thin but for her cheeks, which were as round as the scrolling scars upon them.
“Shouting distance will do,” Pisces responded with a smile.
“Ready for gold, Captain,” Harwell announced.
“Good. Engines to full!”
Caledonia’s eyes landed on the furious orange of the baleflowers ahead. Above, two purple flares unfurled spidery petals, signaling to whoever was near that the barge was under attack. They would have a few precious moments to prepare before Caledonia and her flagships were within range. All she had to do was be faster than the rest of Decker’s fleet.
Pisces leaned in close and whispered, “Lir won’t like us taking down his brothers.”
Anger pooled in Caledonia’s gut, leaving her mind with a cool kind of clarity as the seas rushed by. “If Lir didn’t want us coming after his brothers,” she said, savoring the dark edge of her rage, “he should have left ours alone.”
CHAPTER TWO
The sea curled away from the steel hull of the Luminous as the three flagships roared ahead. Beyond the barge, Caledonia spotted Decker’s fleet now maneuvering to intercept her, their decks ringed in spikes, each studded with decaying bodies that shuddered in the stiff wind. Once, the sight of five Bullet ships would have sent a shock of panic down her spine. Now it felt like an invitation.
From the main deck, Amina barked orders. “Gunner teams Quick and Gale, I want you starboard; Knots, I want you port! Target inbound ships and fire at will!”
Soon, they were in range and gunfire cracked through the air. In another minute, they would be near enough to launch Amina’s new weapon—bombs filled with modified skintech. Each sphere contained hundreds of little balls like stones that would soften when the bomb exploded, scattering like shrapnel and adhering to whatever surface they struck to deliver a nasty shock on impact.
After seeing the cruel reality of the star blossom bomb at the Battle of Cloudbreak, Caledonia had asked Amina for an alternative. A way to take out Bullets without mass casualties and without destroying ships. The silencer was her solution.
Pisces’s team took position at each of the five catapults bolted against the forward deck. “Activate!” she called, and in response they flipped each switch. “Fire!” The arms snapped forward and five blinking bombs flew from Luminous Wake.
Matching volleys launched from the bows of the Blade and the Piston. Fifteen spheres arced high, moving so much slower than a bullet or missile. For a moment it seemed even the Bullets stopped to watch, curiosity temporarily winning out over caution.
As Caledonia tracked their progress across the sky, she recalled the weight of a star blossom bomb in her hands. The look of dreadful understanding she’d shared with Oran before heaving it onto the deck of the Titan. The cries of agony as those star-shaped blades slashed a hundred Bullets to their deaths in an instant. It had been the single most devastating weapon she’d ever used, and for just a second, she feared these would be no different.
The silencer bombs found their targets, landing on the decks of the two closest Bullet ships. A cry of warning cut off sharply as skintech shrapnel struck chests and arms and heads. There was no spark of electricity, just a sudden hushing of battle as dozens of Bullets jerked on their feet and fell unconscious. Exactly as planned.
Immediately Caledonia’s crew began to reload their catapults to prepare for a second wave. The two ships they’d struck in the first round drifted idly by, while the remaining three rushed ahead. Behind those, the barge spread massive wings in either direction; on its surface figures hurried to carry whatever they could belowdecks.
“Harwell, tell the Blade to stay on that barge and set those baleflowers on fire. I want Piston on the incoming ships.”
“Yes, Captain,” Harwell confirmed before relaying her orders.
A second round of bombs vaulted from the catapults. This time, the Bullets were ready for them. They opened fire at the slow-moving targets, hitting two. But instead of harmlessly bursting in the air, skintech rained down on