by Isaac Stone
Alpha Lance
Starwing Elite Book 1
by Isaac Stone & Timothy Mayer
Copyright 2018 by Isaac Stone
1
We’d just dropped out of hyper and the transition wasn’t the best. The conning tower's gyro seat is the only place I can stand to be when these ships make the final drop from insubstantial. It's enough to drive you insane if you’re not ready for it. I was ready this time and the display screen popped up in the air right in front of me, just as planned. I could feel the cold sensation of the gloves around my hands the minute we dropped.
“Are we all good?” I called down to the others. They were in the Fast Attack Ship below me. Once upon a time, these things had names, but now we give them numbers. The Hard Rain carried four. We were one out of two in the Evangeline.
“We’re good, boss,” I heard Ollie yell up from the deck below. He was the loader and stood ready. One hand on the grip; the other ready to slide whatever shell or cartridge we needed to use against the raiders.
“Orlando,” I called down below, “You see anything through the screens?” He was a good man and I was glad to have him with me.
“Just some dust,” he informed me. “A lot of space debris out there from last week’s engagement that officially never happened. I don’t see any of the Sids anywhere in our vicinity.”
“They’re out there,” I called back. “Keep you mind on the job, we both know Sid is around and looking for a fight. It’s why we’re here.”
“He’s a little bushed because Imani was on his schedule last night,” Tran joked from his vantage point next to him. “I think Captain moved him up in the rank because he was going out today.” I could feel the grins from everyone, including Orlando.
“She knows a lot,” was all Orlando said in response.
Captain tries to keep everyone in rotation, but sometimes people ask to move up on the sleeping cycle. It all depends on who's available, if we need more children, and whether or not they’ve had the right attitude. I hadn’t slept with Imani in two standard months and looked forward to her in another three weeks, unless there were problems. Like the ones we were about to encounter.
This zone was supposed to be neutral territory and demilitarized by way of treaty between the UDF and Sidaria. As usual, both sides interpreted last decade’s treaty any way they wanted to. The UDF’s outposts were technically not inside the zone and the Sidarian Kingdom’s raiders were, technically, enforcing a resolution from two centuries ago. Technically. Which is why, technically, we weren’t even supposed to be there.
Hard Rain, our mothership, sat back in the vast emptiness of interstellar space and was, for all practical purposes, invisible. You had to know where to find her. We did and doubted anyone else could. There were always means and ways to tell when a ship made the jump into real space from its Insubstantia drive, but Captain didn’t think we had anything to worry about.
“Tank’s ship is right behind us,” Orlando called back. “He and his guys don’t see a thing either. Maybe we ended up in the wrong spot.”
“I don’t think so,” I told him and rotated the gyro down from the tower to face the crew. Someday it would be cheap enough to install artificial gravity in a Fast Attack Ship, but I doubted it would take place in the next millennia. We were lucky the mothership could afford it, but its Insubstantia generator could spare enough gravitons for the task. A ship this small didn’t need one.
“He’s on the line,” Orlando continued. “You want to talk to him, Corwin?” For a man who’d spent the previous night wrapped around a tall, dark woman who could work a man’s body better than the propulsion systems she supervised, he was in very good form. I guess they did get some rest during the twelve hours the two were assigned to each other.
“Bring him up,” I instructed him. “I need to touch base and find out if all’s well on his end.” Orlando nodded and made an adjustment.
Tank’s blond head materialized in front of me and smiled. “Anything I need to know about?” He asked me.
“Orlando’s a full brother now,” I joked. “He was introduced last night.”
“Awesome,” Tank laughed in return. “So who was the lucky woman? I should keep up on these things, but I don’t.”
“Imani.”
“Good to hear. Always best that your first is someone with a lot of experience. How’s he doing?” The hologram couldn’t see anything outside its immediate range.
I looked over at Orlando. “Suitably impressed,” I informed him. “Any news on your end?”
“Just that Chanita had her baby,” he told me. “Healthy boy, seven pounds standard. I assumed you already knew.”
The truth was, I did. Although it happened after we’d checked in with the mothership, I just knew these things. I even knew the name she’d picked out for the latest member of our pack. But I didn’t want to tell him. Not until the Goat Squad had a chance to do those tests on me they’d promised. Might spook people otherwise.
“She wants to call him Samuel,” Tank let me know. I did. “Captain approved, and we have a new member of the pack.”
I briefly closed my eyes and tried to visualize what the delivery room had to resemble this very minute. I could see the proud mother and the lucky man who fathered this little pup. If I was right, it was Marcus. It was his third and her second. Captain was adamant about ensuring the bloodlines were strong and the family tree had plenty of branches.
It was that minute I had a feeling of unease. This was not the place for it, as we were in an empty zone and I should feel happy over having a new member of the extended family. However, I sensed something a bit off.
I’ve always had a good sense of knowing when something was about to happen. Every now and then, the Grand Marshall of the Orders will contact our pack about anyone on the ship with special abilities that fall outside the usual testing procedures. There are offices inside the United Democracies Federation that look for people who seem to have special abilities and try to get them tested. As part of the terms of the arrangements between the UDF and the Orders, they can’t force anyone to be sent to the capitol for testing, but they can offer incentives that make it attractive. Several times Captain asked if I wanted to take the trip to Kelton, the UDF capitol, but I always turn them down. It would involve too much separation from the pack. I’ve never been away for any length of time.
I’ve heard in the UDF worlds you have to find a woman who will sleep with you on your own. Thanks, but I’ll stick with Captain’s schedule, it works fine for me. If nothing else, my special abilities give me the chance to command an FAS. I know we have to rotate the position, but the rest of the pack manages to give me the position when the need arises. Same for Tank, he’s good at anticipating threats too. We’re the kind of men Captain wants out on patrol when the FAS’s are deployed. The special hunch you get about entrapment can make a difference between a successful mission and death. There’s not much else in the vastness of space.
“You feel something, boss?” Tran asked me as I stared off into the space over his head. He was perceptive in his own way, too. I turned back to the other FAS commander's image.
“Tank,” I told the floating head, “I don’t feel right and need to check something out.”
“Roger that,” he told me as the floating head vanished.
“I want a scan run over the perimeter around us,” I informed Tran, who handled the navigation of the FAS. “I don’t like the way this whole sector feels. If the Sids can track us dropping out of hyperspace, they can sit and wait until we appear. Don’t trust those bastards.”
I turned in Ollie’s direction. “Get Captain on the line,” I informed him. “I want to talk to her right away.”
“I’m
on it, Corwin,” he replied and touched some panels as they materialized over him. I didn’t expect there would be any problems getting her on the phone.
I was right. A few minutes later, the iron visage of Captain Sophia appeared before me. I wasn’t sure, but her head seemed several sizes larger than needed for quick chats.
“Are you in trouble, Corwin?” she wanted to know. Always direct and to the point, our captain. “I’ve sent number three out to back you up.”
“Just a bad feeling,” I told her. Her grey eyes focused on me and sent a chill down through my soul.
“We’ve picked up something from our end,” she informed me. “Some activity on the other side of an asteroid opposite the star. Could be nothing, but, to be safe, I sent out Reagan and his crew. You run into anything, I’m to be informed right away.”
“Of course, Captain,” I informed her as the steel eyes and grey hair faded from my vision.
I used to wonder what it was like to be Captain. She’d held the slot longer than anyone since the pack was founded two hundred years ago. When you hit retirement age, it's time to go planet side to one of the maintenance packs and stay out of harm’s way. However, there are those who are exceptional and the Order allows them to stay with the mothership. Captain Sophia was one of those. I wondered how she found the strength and why she didn’t retire. She was too old to take part in the breeding program but rotated one of us men into her sleeping schedule every month or so. I hadn’t been up to her quarters in years. At first, I was a bit nervous as she’s in phenomenal shape and can be intimidating. The last time, I spent the night holding her. It seemed to be all she wanted. The other men on the Hard Rain had similar stories.
2
The sensation hit me in the skull and I turned to Orlando. “Five degrees below the eclipse!” I yelled. “Now!”
“Got it, he acknowledged and I felt the engines pulse through the ship.
Five. Oh shit, I thought. Five Sid starfighters moving into our ecliptic. I could see the signs of them on the globe as it materialized in front of me. How did they sneak up on us like that?
“Engage!” I yelled through the ship. “Ollie, tell Captain we’ve got five Sids coming in fast. Oh, man, Reagan’s ship is in the middle of it all!”
To my horror, I could see the mothership's third FAS move right into the path of the Sids. Right now, I didn’t care how they’d sneaked up on us; Reagan was in the deepest shit imaginable. Tank’s ship was close enough to me. I didn’t worry about his situation.
“I’ve seen them too,” I heard Tank’s voice play over the audio system. Now we didn’t have the time to confer with disembodied heads.
“Reagan!” I cried out the minute we were on the line with him. “We’re coming. Can you pick it up? Those starfighters are close!” I didn’t want to mention they were gaining and he probably knew anyway.
“We’re about to try something,” I could hear his deep voice respond. “Shiva has them in range.”
I grabbed the handle as the FAS banked and turned around to come to Reagan’s aid. I could see the plasma flame of Tank’s ship in the distance.
“Got one!” I heard Reagan yell out in triumph as one of the icons that indicated a Sid blinked out. “We’ll get the next one….”
At which point the icon that represented Reagan’s FAS went out too.
At that moment, we realized the entire mission was in some deep shit.
“Boss,” I heard Ollie, the loader, transmit on an encoded signal. “FAS #3 is out. We lost Reagan and his crew!”
I could hear Tran charge up the quantum lasers in the front. You know it's about to commence when the power load from the cells drops into the red. I could see the read outs from the power system in front of me as they turned color. The cybernetics on board didn’t want this to happen, but I trusted Tran’s judgement. We were outnumbered and I didn’t see what choice we had.
There was one more thing to do.
I rotated on the gyro and watched as Tran’s hand flew over the range finder beneath him. I could tell by the look on his face the Sids were about to come into firing range.
“Authorize the nukes,” I shouted loud and clear so everyone could hear it over the audio. Especially Captain. I wanted her to know.
“Nuclear torpedoes armed and ready,” the AI confirmed. I’ve never been too comfortable with AI’s having a personality, so I never gave the one on our FAS a name.
“You sure you want to do that?” It was Orlando.
“It might come down to them or us,” I informed him. “It’s not going to be us, if I have any say in the matter. And I do.”
Orlando nodded and turned back to the sticks he held.
“Captain says you better be ready to face the consequences,” I heard Orlando shout to me as I rotated back to face the stars.
“Tell her I’ll keep it in mind,” I responded.
A nuclear blast in the no-fire zone would force a confrontation no one wanted. Hard for either side to pretend it wasn’t their fault when nuclear weapons are involved.
“Tank and his guys will engage them first,” I heard Orlando shout. The screen was already in front of me, but the conformation was something I did need.
Tancred, or “Tank” as everyone called him, was a good man whom everyone liked. Captain brought him into the pack when he was five years old, the only survivor of a raiding party that killed his entire combine on an asteroid. He didn’t resemble anyone in our pack. Although new blood is brought in every few years to keep the gene pool from shrinking, I’m told it’s possible to identify a member of Hard Rain just by looking at them.
When he turned eighteen, Tank was offered the same opportunity to leave that all the other kids are given. He turned it down and went through a formal dedication the next day.
“Sids in range,” Tran announced. “Tank’s ship is already hammering them.” I expected no less from him.
“What’s the status on his nukes?” I yelled down the shaft.
“He’s not armed them yet,” Tran replied. “At least from what I can tell.”
“Everyone strapped in?” I shouted one more time.
There was a unanimous sound of agreements from the others.
I looked at the screen and watched Tank’s ship open up with a laser barrage on the Sid ship to my right. It was a classic maneuver. He wanted to pull them away and open up a hole I could use to my advantage. With our forces down to two ships, we needed to work in pairs. I’d been taught years ago that any two FAS crews could take out any one ship of a similar size if you work together.
“Highlight Sidarian ship to the right,” I told the AI as my finger touched the position on the screen. I watched it change into an orange color.
“Take us up from the bottom on the Sid I indicated,” I shouted down the shaft. “Work with Tank and his crew. Watch the counter fire from the Sid next to it and keep moving!”
I felt the FAS lunge as it changed course. The screen continued to float over me and I watched our position as we dipped down beneath our objective.
Another screen materialized over me and I watched the Sid starfighter from the vantage point just outside my command tower. I could see the saucer-shaped configuration those ships favored as we lunged out of the way. A few points on the surface of our FAS changed color as the AI showed where our opponent raked us over with laser fire. It wasn’t enough to do serious damage. The nearest of the other starfighters hadn’t realized we were in position and firing at the outer one.
I watched as Orlando maneuvered our FAS under the Sid ship and peppered it with coordinated fire from the lasers. The AI showed me how effective our attack was and the damage brought to the Sid raider. Red spots blossomed over the enhanced view of saucer as it fought to regain the initiative from the double attack we’d launched against it.
“Hull damage,” I heard the AI mention to me in a calm voice. It appeared the nearest Sid starfighter was back and helping its companion. Time to take the initiative.
“Put your tops on!” I yelled as the helmet was sealed into place over my own suit. They were all armored, but I couldn’t risk any of my guys not having one on if we depressurized.
I watched the screen as the vitals showed everyone had followed my instructions. The hull wasn’t comprised. Yet.
“Direct hit!” I heard Orlando announce over the helmet radio. “Tank hit them where it counts!”
I watched the Sid between us go red on the screen. The starfighter might not be dead, but it was out of the fight.
“Hull compromised,” the AI announced its soothing voice. Everyone could hear it on the audio.
I looked at the screen and saw the pressure dropping rapidly in the cabin areas. There's not a lot of room in your average FAS. They’re built by the UDF Navy to their specifications. We get the mothership and the FAS ships as part of our lease option to patrol the free-fire zones. In seconds, the air was drained out of the cabins and the AI shut down the oxygen generator pending repairs. I could see it attempt to locate the breech. It doesn't take a big one to decompress the cabin areas.
At least all the vitals on my crew were in the green. Sensors showed high levels of anxiety and adrenaline, but I expected that.
I watched the screen closely and saw Tank’s ship veer in the direction of the nearest Sid starfighter. I didn’t have to confirm what I knew: he wanted to take them apart one at a time.
I touched the next one’s icon on the screen and watched it turn orange. “All lasers on the Sid to our right!” I called out to the crew. “Tank’s going high on this one; we can hit it from the bottom!”
Once more, I felt the mass force as Orlando pulled us into position. The current position screen showed the next Sid ship in range as we soared up at it. I watched the ratings on it drop as Tank hit it from the top. Tank hit it at the ship’s weakest point. It didn’t take long for it to go red on the icon.
The Sid’s were out of their league this time and they knew it. I watched as they scrambled to reform, but it was too late. Tank and I took out numbers three and four in a matter of minutes. By the time we were ready to deal with the last one, the other two were sawed half by the combined laser fire from each FAS.