Talus
Page 16
“Is anything operable?” Zoza cried out, his anger and fear evident to the crew.
With the fingers of one hand, the first officer searched for the access panel that contained the manual operation system. Locating it, he pulled the lever down and out. Then he cranked furiously with two hands. When a pair of his arms tired, he switched to the second pair and continued to spin the lever.
Throughout the lead battleship, flames licked around panels, cabinets, and machinery. Except for the fires, which dimly outlined the spaces, crews were forced to do battle in darkness.
Engineering had the worst of it. Generators sparked and then exploded. Engine containment systems were lost, and senior engineers knew of the impending danger.
Without a means of evacuating the crews in time, the engineers manually triggered explosive separation devices. Massive detonations shook the battleship, as the aft section, containing engines, generators and engineering crews, was launched from the rest of the ship.
The forward four-fifths of Zoza’s ship sailed onward, while the engine compartment lagged behind. The forward segment managed to put enough distance from the deteriorating engines before the aft section detonated in a tremendous explosion. The blast wave shook the ship, and shrapnel from the exploding section impacted the ship’s rear, although little damage was caused.
In the bays, crews fought to extinguish the fires within their shuttles but to no avail. The bay doors’ emergency controls failed to operate. Had they been able to override the safety measures, they could have vented the air, which fed the fires, to the vacuum of space.
Instead, crews abandoned nearly fifty bays, manually cranking the airlock hatches closed.
The other captains of the wedge stared in horror at their lead battleship’s destruction. A single small missile fired from a lone tri-hull had decimated one of the Sysleria’s most powerful warships.
The Syslerian senior captain, Tazar, signaled on an open channel a request to speak to Commodore Jacinda.
“Please, no more,” the captain said, when Jacinda answered his call.
“We can’t communicate with the lead battleship,” Tazar said urgently, “and telemetry indicates that there are no shuttle launches.”
18: Rescue
Ellie and the others received imagery from Jacinda.
Hector and Ellie arranged the assignments of the commands’ travelers. The pilots hurried to the city-ship to gather SADEs and equipment for entry. From landing aboard the city-ship to launch, the ships were inside the vessel in less than four minutes. Then they sped toward the damaged battleship.
When Neffess and Nata landed aboard the city-ship, they were instructed to remain inside. SADEs took only a few moments to pile equipment into the travelers. Then the lieutenants were signaled to lift.
Having the rendezvous coordinates, which were continually updated, the lieutenants joined squadrons of travelers headed toward the remnant of the fast-approaching battleship.
Chronometers were set within every individual’s implant or kernel. It was a countdown. When it hit zero, the travelers had to be clear of the battleship.
Hector informed Ellie that if Omnians rescued the entire crew, then it was likely the battleship would pass through the envoy’s ring by that time.
Ellie was joined by the rear admirals on the city-ship’s bridge to plan the alternatives.
“Admiral, if we don’t do the absolute most to rescue the battleship crew, then we’ll damage the arbitration,” Alphons argued.
“We can’t allow what’s left of that battleship to strike the planet,” Ellie stated. “That’s not an option.”
“Then we evacuate the crew and bur
n the ship,” Adrianna declared.
“Too much mass,” Alphons replied.
“We use a gauntlet,” Adrianna said confidently. She sent an image of Tridents in parallel lines. The city-ship anchored the end of the line.
“Interesting idea,” Alphons said, after examining Adrianna’s concept. “The battleship is on a fixed trajectory. We don’t have to be concerned about it maneuvering.”
Ellie shared the concept with Hector and asked for his opinion.
* * * * *
In the company of traveler squadrons, Nata and Neffess approached the wounded battleship.
A SADE by the name of Hermes, who had managed a Confederation’s orbital station, directed their movements via their controllers.
The travelers came to a halt, reversed orientation, and formed a ring. Moments later, the battleship passed through the ring of shuttles, and the squadrons accelerated.
Hermes tasked various traveler pilots as the initiators of contact with the battleship. The other traveler pilots were directed to stand by to assist with the transfer of the Syslerian crew.
Nata received an image from Hermes. She was assigned a hatch. It was on the port side, three decks down from the top, and the second hatch inward.
A SADE, Figaro, aboard Nata’s ship sent,
Nata received an image. It showed her traveler stationed parallel to the battleship’s cross section. Her hatch was aligned with the assigned Syslerian hatch, and a distance of five meters was requested.
In Nata’s helmet, she marked the target hatch for the controller and set the distance to be maintained, once it was acquired. Then she eased her traveler into position. For a brief moment, she was pleased to note that she’d been one of the first pilots to achieve the movement. Then she quickly sobered.
You’re an idiot, she thought to herself. Focus on the job.
When Figaro received the signals that the cockpit hatch sealed and Nata’s helmet closed, he depressurized the main cabin and opened the side hatch.
Carrying a line with him, the SADE launched through the hatch and glided across the five-meter space. He clung like a spider to the exposed decking material, while he tied the line beside the hatch. Then, with a tool, he banged on the metal hatch, alternating his rhythm to ensure the Syslerians understood it was deliberate.
Figaro’s message was received. Through the SADE’s hand on the hatch, he picked up the beating of a heavy instrument against the dense metal from inside the battleship.
Two more SADEs slid along the line to join Figaro. They carried a portable airlock. The SADEs used nanites paste to seal the rim of the portable airlock around the hatch. When it was ready, a fourth SADE rode the line to deliver air recycling tanks and a pump.
The Omnian tanks would provide the initial air supply. Thereafter, the battleship’s air would fill the airlock and then be used to replenish the tanks.
Two SADEs returned to the ship. A third stationed herself halfway along the line. Her position was meant to give the crew members confidence to venture from the airlock.
Figaro remained inside the airlock. He pressurized it and then banged repeatedly and harshly on the hatch. The hatch opened slowly, which the SADE expected. Without power, every system had to be operated manually.
Through the opening, light smoke spilled into the airlock, and a suited figure peered at Figaro through a faceplate. The crew member had four eyes. One pair was large, and one pair was small, and they were set into a flattened face.
When the hatch was halfway open, its movement stopped. The suited figure slipped through the opening into the airlock.
Immediately, Figaro recognized a problem, and he sent imagery and warned the Omnians in the travelers.
The suited figure, with its robust chest, four arms, and short legs occupied the space of two to three humans, depending on comparisons to Méridiens or to New Terrans.
Instead of rescuing three or four crew members at a time, the Omnians would be taking two at a time through the airlock.
A second Syslerian crew member entered the airlock, and Figaro made a winding movement with his hand to the next face that regarded him through the opening. The figure nodded, and the hatch slowly cranked closed.
Figaro signaled the air recycling pump.
Meanwhile, through the view panel, the Syslerians examined the line, the figure on it, and the waiting ship.
When the airlock’s vacuum was achieved, Figaro triggered the space-side hatch, which swung outward.
Despite the SADEs’ entreaties, the Syslerians were hesitant to leave the airlock.
With time ticking away, Figaro ran through solutions in his kernel. Interestingly, one of them was to apply a boot to a Syslerian backside and launch the crew member into space. Instead, the SADE gently placed a hand on the Syslerian nearest the space-side hatch and pushed him forward.
The crew member desperately grabbed at the line with four hands, and the SADE hanging halfway across the line encouraged him forward.
Slowly, tentatively, the Syslerian pulled himself across. When he was a third of the way, Figaro launched the next Syslerian out the hatch.
Nata’s piloting skills, Figaro’s early establishment of contact, and a fortuitous selection combined to build up a huge number of Syslerian crew members at their hatch.
Syslerians waiting on the shipside of Figaro’s hatch ran to other departments and encouraged them to come to their aft section where they could be rescued.
Most traveler crews received responses at the hatches they tried. Only a few didn’t, and one of those ships was piloted by Neffess.
The SADE from Neffess’s traveler sent the bad news and returned to the ship. Then Neffess piloted her ship to join the number of travelers waiting their turns to offload Syslerians.
* * * * *
On the planet, Sargut was holding an emergency meeting with the envoys, who’d already been informed by their captains of the twin detonations.
Standing in front of the envoys, Sargut explained, “The Syslerian wedge sailed inward and failed to heed Admiral Thompson’s warning to retreat. The admiral ordered the firing of a single weapon that destroyed the battleship’s operational capability.”
Rather than produce the usual noisy response, Sargut’s announcement stunned the hall. The envoys considered their ships nearly invincible unless engaged in a pitched battle with another wedge. But, in this case, a single small Omnian weapon had incapacitated one of their massive battleships.
“If your telemetry hasn’t resolved events,” Sargut continued, “I can tell you that the Syslerian vessel ejected its engines. That was the second explosion.”
“Why?” the Kirmler representative inquired loudly.
“The Omnian weapon shut down the electrical systems,” Miriamette said. “The engines lost containment. If they hadn’t been ejected, they would have gone critical and taken the ship with them.”
Miriamelle activated a large holo-vid for the audience.
“This is imagery from an Omnian traveler at the rear of the damaged battleship,” Sargut said, when Miriamelle transferred the telemetry from Ne
ffess’s ship. “You can see the number of craft that the Omnians have provided to rescue the crew members.”
Miriamelle adjusted the view to provide a close-up of one of the travelers at a portable airlock. Two Syslerians were clearly visible making their way across the line.
“While you can see the rescue is in progress, we have one major problem,” Sargut announced. “The remnant of the Syslerian battleship is headed for the planet.”
Suddenly, the envoys were all voice. If the huge ship impacted the planet, their demands would become moot for the near future and maybe forever.
Sargut unsuccessfully raised his arms for quiet, but Miriamette managed to succeed with a horn blast.
“The admiral has a plan to take care of the Syslerian ship,” Sargut said. “However, it will require the use of every Trident within the Talusian and Omnian fleets. I urge you to inform your captains to wait out the ship movements necessary to eliminate the battleship. Then our ships will occupy their previous stations, and we’ll resume our business.”
“What are the Omnians planning to do?” the Kirmler asked.
“I’m not party to the details,” Sargut replied. “When I asked a busy Fleet Admiral Thompson the same question, she replied, ‘We’re going to burn it to ash.’”
That produced the second moment of silence. First, a lead battleship had been made entirely inactive by a single weapon, and now, its enormous mass was about to become space dust.
A single thought united the envoys. They’d observed the ten-day deadline creep inexorably toward them with trepidation. They had failed to achieve success in defining their requests or in selecting their eight negotiators.
A vocal minority of envoys insisted the failure to fulfill the admiral’s requests by the scheduled cycle would only force her to extend the deadline.
As the Kirmler put it, “What else can she do? Her fleet is powerless against our combined might.”
Now, the forceful remarks of the Kirmler and his cluster appeared to be nothing more than braggadocio to the other envoys. Providing the Omnian admiral successfully prevented the battleship from impacting the planet, most envoys were vowing to meet the admiral’s deadline, with or without the cooperation of the Kirmler and his ilk.