by AJ Vega
Chapter 14: Bad Luck
Julius did not understand why he felt the way he did. He should have felt anxious, focused, excited before the battle ahead.
Instead, he felt lethargic, distracted, and uninterested—his mind still back in Laina’s quarters debating whether their partnership was really ending.
They had come a long way in their time together, carving a nice chunk of luxury out of the underworld for themselves. They built up the ship, the crew, and their coffers to the point where the fight was no longer about building up the wealth; it was simply for the sake of the fight.
That should have been enough, and it was for a while, but not anymore. The fight no longer had the sweet taste it once did; it was now as bland as the military rations he had to eat back in the war.
He and Reece had finished the planning session for the mission. He let Reece take the lead, without offering much input himself. Reece then gave the briefing to the pilots and the bridge crew. He did a good job of it, better than expected.
Still, Julius should have analyzed the whole thing; he should have pointed out the minor flaws and suggested some modifications. Instead, he laid back and offered little.
Standing in his quarters, Julius realized that he was utterly bored by the very thing that had always excited and driven him. What was he going to do without that feeling? He was a criminal—albeit, a rich one. Despite all the wealth he had accumulated, it could not buy the one thing he truly sought: a purpose.
He glanced for a moment at his collection of ancient weapons hanging on the wall. The samurai sword caught his eye. He began to think back to the ancient samurais and their practice of ritual suicide: seppuku. It was performed to keep one’s honor intact, and avoid capture by the enemy. Swallowing hard, Julius considered the ritual for himself for a moment, maybe as a way of avoiding his own enemy. It did seem like an honorable way to die.
Blinking, he shook it off. What the hell was he thinking? He’d find a way to fulfill his life, even if it meant blowing the galaxy apart in the process.
Julius left his quarters and made his way up to the bridge. He ignored the fact that he, once again, had to key in the bridge destination in the elevator instead of speaking to it.
Yes, defects in a very old ship, but it gave the Sea Wolf character. Scarred, hard around the edges, few amenities—the personification of himself.
The doors opened and he trekked across the bridge to his command module. He glanced around at the faces of the crew. They looked almost as bored as he felt.
He resisted the urge of ordering the Sea Wolf to smash into the nearest asteroid to liven things up.
“Status?” he queried, then sighed.
“Gravity amps are fully charged and ready to engage,” Jessen reported.
Just then, he heard the bridge doors open and close, and he recognized Laina’s footsteps. He hoped she had slept off her latest alcohol binge—he did not want to embarrass her in front of the crew.
He waited for Laina to sit in her sub-command module before giving the order to jump. The gravity amplifiers affected one’s equilibrium and it would not have been good to have Laina fall on her ass on the bridge floor.
“Ready to jump to Martian system at your command, sir,” Jessen said.
Laina took to the sub-command module, an unusual expression evident on her face. She did not seem inebriated, but was definitely eager to say something. It would have to wait, whatever it was.
“Execute,” Julius said.
Everyone on the bridge braced themselves. Then came a sudden sinking feeling, like Julius plummeted in freefall. It pushed down on him, from the inside, as if an invisible force had, its hands wrapped around his innards and was dragging them down to his feet.
His vision became blurred for a moment, and the lights dimmed all over the bridge. A sudden electrical snap resounded throughout the bridge as the gravity amplifiers completed their job and expended their energy.
The bridge lights turned from green to a dark blue, signaling the stellar jump was complete and they were in the stealth shroud.
“Journey complete. We are in the stealth shroud in the Martian system. Gravity amps are now recharging,” Jessen said.
“Tactical analysis,” Julius said.
“No nearby threats,” Ramey said. “If our information is correct, the convoy should be arriving any moment.”
Julius pressed a button on his command module. “Reece, get your squadron into position. Hold for my order before engaging.”
“Affirmative, sir,” Reece’s voice came back.
“We need to talk,” Laina said.
Julius glanced over at her. For the first time, he noticed that her face looked pale and she was still wearing her sleeping garments. He slit his eyes at her. Laina never came to the bridge looking like that.
“We have a few minutes,” Julius said.
Laina looked around, and then shook her head. “Not here,” she whispered.
Julius shook his head. “No. I am not leaving the bridge right now. Whatever it is will just have to wait, then.”
Laina tilted her head and raised an eyebrow—her usual expression of annoyance. “Fine, I’ll wait.”
Julius kept his eyes on the main viewscreen. After a few minutes, he could see the target designators appear signaling the arrival of the convoy.
“They’re here,” Ramey said. “Applying tactical plan to screen.”
The screen now showed the course plot of the convoy in relation to their position, Wolf Squadron’s position, and the expected formation of the battle line after engagement.
The plan was a basic pincer maneuver, designed to overwhelm the enemy at all fronts with a clear line of escape that would be availed once they extracted the extracted. It was a low-risk engagement; only three scouts were assigned as escorts.
The convoy would signal that everything was clear, request permission to land from Martian Traffic Control and begin its move in toward the Martian atmosphere. This is when Wolf Squadron would make its initial attack.
“Wolf Squadron is in position, sir,” Garval reported. “Their stealth is uncompromised.”
“As is ours,” Jessen added.
“Sir, I am picking up the confirmation exchange between the convoy and Mars,” Jared said. “They have been cleared.”
Julius could see the convoy begin to creep into Martian orbit. The warfare status display for the ship showed a state of readiness for all shields and armaments. Everything looked good, and the timer showed another ten minutes before the convoy was in strike position. He stood up and motioned for Laina to follow him.
“We have a few minutes, Laina,” he said. “But I’m not going all the way to your quarters.”
He stepped into the bridge elevators, with Laina following behind him. Julius pressed a button on the panel and the doors shut.
“This is as private as it’s going to be,” Julius said.
“This is fine. I just don’t want the crew to hear this. They think I’m crazy enough.”
“Clearly.” He glanced down at her sleeping garments. “But if your words start slurring or you start getting inappropriate, I’m going to send you to your quarters.”
She gave him a disgusted look. “Fuck you!” She slapped his chest hard. “I’m not drunk, Julius! And I’d have to be pretty damn drunk for that! But you probably are going to think I’m crazy after I tell you this.”
Julius raised an eyebrow. “Spit it out already. We don’t have much time.”
“Okay. A little while ago, I had a conversation with someone… a contact. She told me that there would be a problem with this convoy, and we have to be careful how we handle it.”
“A contact? Who is she?”
“I can’t get into that now,” Laina said. “All I can tell you is there is another pirate organization that is going to attack the same convoy at the same time as us. And we have to let them complete the attack before we reveal ourselves.”
Julius crossed his arms. “And how legitimate is this contact? One of Von Haufsberg’s cronies?”
Laina shook her head. “No, no. It’s not him. It’s… it’s complicated. I can’t get into it now; we don’t have the time. You simply have to trust me! If you don’t do this, the Sea Wolf will be destroyed!”
Julius stared at her and tried to decipher what Laina was hiding. It was clearly not the alcohol talking. She was serious about this and believed in what she was saying. Laina never got involved in the military aspects of their operation; for her to do so now was not only out of character, but downright alarming.
“Okay, Laina. I will take it under advisement.”
“Advisement? What hell does that mean?”
Julius put out his hand to quiet her. “Relax! I will wait long enough to ascertain the threat. I will not jeopardize the operation. Understood?”
She squinted her eyes at him. “Fine. Let’s get back to the bridge.”
Julius pushed the button on the panel to open the bridge doors, but nothing happened. He pressed it again and still nothing.
“What is it this time?” Laina said.
“It’s not working!” Julius said, suddenly feeling very claustrophobic.
He kept pressing buttons on the panel, but nothing happened. He yelled out in hopes they would hear him on the other side. After a brief moment, he heard Jared’s voice.
“Sir? Are you stuck?” he said.
“Yes! Open these doors now!” Julius said.
There was a pause then his voice came back again.
“It’s stuck from this side too, sir. I’ll try and fix the panel from here, but it will take some time.”
Julius felt his face grow hot. “Do whatever you have to, damn it!”
They waited for what seemed like minutes before Jared’s voice came back again: “Sir, I don’t know if I can do this in time. We may have to call off the attack; they are going to be in position in seconds!”
“No!” Laina said. “You can’t call it off! This is important, we need that cargo!”
Julius raised his hand to calm Laina down.
“We may have to; I can’t command from inside here,” Julius said.
Laina grabbed Julius by the arm sleeves and pulled him closer. “No! You have to trust me! We can’t do this! We have to take that cargo or we are all dead! You must believe me!”
Julius looked at the fire in her eyes—he had not seen her this adamant about anything before. Julius pushed her away gently.
“What the hell is this about, Laina?”
Laina shook her head. “Just do it!”
Julius called out to Jared and told him to continue the operation as planned.
“Improvise!” Julius said. “You’ve done this many times—just get it done.”
“What are you going to do in there, sir?” Jared said.
“I’m getting the hell out of here,” Julius said. “I will not be stuck in here. But I won’t be out in time before the attack begins.”
Julius glanced up at the ceiling of the elevator and could make out the outline of the exit panel.
He turned to Laina. “Cup your hands; I’m going through the ceiling.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Is that a joke?”
Julius sighed. “I can’t get up there without your help. How about you position yourself so I can launch myself up from your shoulder.”
She continued to look at him in shock. “But that would probably hurt…”
“If you can’t help me, then I have to call this operation off. They need me on the bridge—”
“No!” she said. “Fine, I’ll help.”
Laina knelt down and waited for him. Julius started to put his boot on her shoulder, and then stopped when he saw the look of agonized anticipation on her face. He moved his hand to the boot and pushed it off so he only had his sock on. He positioned his foot on her shoulder.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“Just do it already,” she said.
Doing his best to put most of the pressure from the launch on his other foot, he catapulted himself up to through the ceiling panel He grabbed the edges and pulled himself through the opening onto the top of the elevator. Once through, he peeked his head back in to look down.
Laina was now standing up, brushing her shoulder.
“Are you—”
“I’m fine!” she said before he could finish.
Julius stood and looked up at the shaft. It was a long climb to the next level, which would lead to the active sensor compartments. He’d have no hand railings to hold, and it would probably take a good half hour to get to the next level. By that time, the battle would probably be over.
He looked over the side of the elevator, but there was not enough space in between it and the shaft for him to make his way to the lower levels.
“Shit!” Julius muttered.
Resigning himself to the confines of the tight quarters of the elevator, he dropped himself through the opening and rejoined Laina inside.
“We’ll just have to get this door open,” Julius said. “Jared! We need to force these doors open! Help me crack them open!”
Julius positioned his hands near the crack of the double doors, trying to pull them apart. On the other side, he could hear the sound of loud banging and creaking. The doors came apart slightly, enough for him to get better leverage and pull harder. He struggled with all his might, forcing them to come apart about two inches, enough for him to see through to the bridge on the other side.
He stopped, catching his breath. Jared’s face peeked through.
“I don’t know if we can get it open any farther, sir,” Jared said. “There’s a metal crossbar that acts as a lock, keeping the doors from moving farther.”
“Fine,” Julius said in between breaths. “I’ll have to give orders through here. Resume your station, Jared.”
Julius looked through to the bridge and could make out the targeting reticules on the viewscreen overlaying the convoy ships.
Wolf Squadron was ready to pounce on them, and the convoy was only seconds away from being in the kill zone.
“Bring our weapons to bear,” Julius said loudly.
“Yes, sir, weapons at the ready,” Ramey yelled back.
“Permission to have Wolf Squadron engage, sir?” Garval said.
Laina stepped in front of the crack blocking Julius’ view. “You have to wait, Julius.”
Julius brushed her aside. “Are there any other contacts on the scope?” he said.
“No hostiles aside from the scout escort, sir,” Ramey said.
Julius paused for a moment, and then looked at Laina.
“This contact of yours better be good,” he said to her. “Planning these attacks takes time, and losing a cache full of refined silver can be costly.”
“There’s more than silver on that convoy,” Laina said. “You have to trust me for a change.”
Julius did not like it, but he knew she would never go this far out of her way unless there was some legitimate danger here.
“Stand down,” Julius said. “Maintain battle readiness, but do not engage.”
“Yes, sir,” Ramey said, disappointment evident in his tone.
The bridge remained silent, except for the ambient sound of the air-handling vents. No one spoke for a few minutes.
“Now what?” Laina said finally, breaking the silence.
“Now, we wait,” Julius said, cupping his hands behind his back and standing at the ready.