by C. S. Harte
“Restarting ion engines.” Alyana frantically typed into her console. “It’ll take a minute or five… We need to switch to a modulating shield frequency.”
Jonas nodded and entered the commands with his finger movements. “Modulating shield frequency.”
“Ion disruptors aren’t used much anymore because it’s easy to counter.” She lowered her head. “Sorry, Jonas, I should've realized…”
“This is not the time to be down on yourself. Focus on getting engines back online.”
The two cruisers entered drone range. Zephyr drones automatically engaged with the Alliance drones.
“The escort ships are focusing their lasers on our drones. We’re losing them!”
One of the escort ships positioned itself over the Zephyr. A loud thump echoed throughout the bridge.
Jonas looked at the ceiling. “What was that?”
“Are they docking with us?” Alyana asked in a hushed voice.
“They’re trying to board the ship. Engines back online yet?”
“NO! I’m working on it!” She rubbed the back of her neck.
“Once we have engines, go to full power.”
“While we’re docked with another ship?” Alyana’s head flinched back. “That will tear the roof off the Zephyr!”
“I know, but it’ll hurt them as much as it’ll hurt us. Make sure containment fields are in place for breaches. I want them up all over the ship. It’ll slow their progress.” Jonas got up from his console.
“Wait, where are you going?”
He picked up a rifle from the weapons' locker in the rear of the bridge. “To take care of the intruders.”
“But you’ll be locked in the exposed parts of the ship with the enemies!” Alyana yelled.
“I know. Don’t lose sight of Raven’s transport. We’re not losing Nume," he said in a stern voice. "Do you understand me?”
She bobbed her head confidently. “Yes, Jonas. I won’t lose them.”
“Seal the bridge. Don’t open for anyone, including me. I’ll be on ear comm.”
“Be careful! And don’t die, OK?”
Jonas nodded and entered the decktram.
“You’re all I have left…” Alyana muttered to herself.
30
Jonas lifted the helmet of his Obscura suit from the armory rack and lowered it onto his head. The display elements of his HUD flashed into place. He stared at the empty lockers belonging to Nume and Kovat and felt an ache in his heart similar to when he lost Saera. I’ll get you back, Nume. I’m not losing you. This is NOT happening again…
Alyana’s voice came through his helmet speakers, “Jonas, internal sensors are showing 12 soldiers. Four humans, eight droids. Activating intruder protocols. Force fields are up and holding them on the observation deck.”
“Acknowledged.” Jonas navigated to the Zephyr’s sensor interface on his HUD menu and connected his suit’s computer to the ship’s. A mini-map appeared on his visor screen presenting a layout of the ship along with 16 dots. Four red ones for the human intruders and 12 black dots for the droid combatants. With his eyes, he moved the map to the top right corner of his display. “How much longer until we have ion engines?”
“Estimating five minutes. And before you ask, no, I can’t make it go faster. I’m already skipping the safety checks.”
“Is the bridge secured?” Jonas stood in front of the weapons rack as he asked.
“Yes, I’ve locked myself in. Force fields are up.”
He picked up a rifle and a flak gun and slung both over his shoulder. Before moving on, Jonas lifted an accessories belt pre-filled with explosives, sonic grenades, and pulse bomb — crowd control devices — and placed it around his waist. “Good. Five minutes should be plenty of time to take care of them.”
“Jonas… I…”
The worry in her voice formed a lump in his stomach. “I’ll be fine. We’ll be fine. I promise.” He initialized three Centuria combat droids and linked their command interface to his visor's HUD. A new panel with the status and ammunition count for each droid appeared on his screen.
“They outnumber us four to one. You sure you don’t want my help?”
Outnumbered four to one. Jonas scoffed. “I need you to keep track of Raven’s ship. Don’t let them reach the star's gravity well and warp away. No matter what.”
Everything up to this point had been against the odds for him. A few weeks ago, he was in solitary confinement, waiting, even hoping to die. The images of his crewmates on the Endurance flashed through his head again. His body tensed as heat flushed through his body. He checked his bio information panel. Five minutes of his strength neuromod and three combat stims. I’m not losing Nume. Nothing is going to happen to Alyana.
“They’ve broken through the force fields on the observation deck! Jonas, you can’t let them reach engineering!” Alyana said in a rushed voice.
“They won’t.” Jonas left the weapons' locker with three Centurias droids following him. He checked his mini-map. The intruders split into four teams. One headed for engineering, another toward the bridge, a third advanced toward the med bay, and the last group stayed put, covering the entry point on the observation deck. Are they going for the Guardian Essence? With the bridge secured, Jonas’ top priority was the Guardian Essence and engineering. He ordered Centuria-3 and Centuria-4 to the ship’s engine room, instructing them to guard the engines at all costs. “Alyana, scan the enemy droids. Tell me about their strengths and weaknesses.”
“Acknowledged. Working on it.”
Jonas and Centuria-1 took the decktram to the med bay. As soon as the doors opened, he saw one of Raven’s soldiers and two droids approaching the medical room from the other side. He opened fire.
The enemies retreated, taking cover in a nearby room.
“As far as I can tell, these are Strider droids used by the Alliance of Faith. They were decommissioned over 50 years ago. Standard ballistic weapons. No shielding capabilities. Aim for the head where the CPU is or their battery packs in the lower back.”
“What type of armor do they have?” Jonas asked while crouched behind Centuria-1.
“Kutranium carbon composite. Our rifles should easily cut through their plating.”
“Acknowledged. Download everything you’ve just told me into the Centurias' AI's.” He activated the front shielding of Centuria-1 and ordered it to advance ten meters past the med bay entrance.
Weapons' fire from Raven’s troops grew more intense as Jonas neared the med bay.
He unclipped a sonic and a pulse bomb from his belt, tossing them both at the invaders.
A deafening roar filled the hallways.
The enemy soldier laid flat on his back. The Strider droids stood frozen.
Jonas dashed into the med bay and ordered Centuria-1 to finish the stunned enemies.
Sounds of weapons' fire and death screams filled the hallway.
“I heard an explosion, Jonas! Are you OK?” Alyana yelled into his suit comm.
Centuria-1 reported three kills via Jonas’ HUD. Two droids and one human.
Jonas cleared the notice with his eyes. “I’m fine. One enemy team down, three more to go.” He surveyed the med bay. Where did I keep it…
“Three minutes 'til we have ion engines.”
“Acknowledged. Keep at it.” His eyes lit up when he remembered which panel he stored the Guardian Essence. Jonas activated his strength neuromod and gently pried open the wall. He smiled as he saw the shimmering violet liquid safe and intact. His eyes darted to the adjacent counter as he remembered a thought. My Pirate Ace is gone. Was someone here?
A loud drilling noise came over his suit comm.
Jonas furrowed his brow. “Alyana? Everything OK up there?”
“They’re outside the bridge!”
“Listen. Make sure you have a rifle next to you. Fight back. Don't let them take you! I’m on my way.” He touched his abs where the masunog worm dug into his torso.
“Hurry, Jon
as!”
Centuria-2 sent a distress message to Jonas’ HUD. They were taking heavy fire in the engineering room.
If engineering goes down, we lose Nume… But Alyana… Jonas chose engineering. He hoped the meter-thick armored bridge doors and secondary force fields were enough to hold until he could deal with the invaders in the engine room.
The decktram lost power as an explosion rattled the Zephyr.
“Alyana, status report!”
“Ship’s computer is reporting an explosion in engineering.”
“I’m stuck on the decktram. Can you reroute power from somewhere?”
“From what systems? We’re using a lot of energy keeping up the ship-wide force fields.”
Jonas closed his eyes for a moment to gather his thoughts. “Life support. Disable life support throughout the ship except for the bridge.”
“Acknowledged.”
Jonas watched as the lights flickered back on. He checked his mini-map, one red dot and three black dots on the engineering deck. As soon as the decktram doors opened, he fired on the enemy from behind with his flak cannon which shot superheated shrapnel into the backs of the Striders.
Both droids went down instantly as the shrapnel tore into the battery packs.
The lone human soldier hid behind a console, firing continuously at the Zephyr’s engines.
Jonas ordered Centuria-2 and Centuria-3 to charge the remaining enemy. After a few exchanges of laser fire, all the combatants in the engine room had been incapacitated or killed. “Alyana, any damage to the engines?”
“Checking." She paused. "Engine cell #1 is showing black.”
“Can you repair it?” Jonas initiated a systems check on Centuria-2 and Centuria-3 with his eye movements.
“Not from the bridge. I would have to see the level of damage.”
Centuria-3 took critical damage to its motor systems as it held off Raven’s troops. It could still fight, but it wasn’t able to move. Centuria-2 was low on ammo, but otherwise in good condition.
“Jonas, they’re breaching the force fields!”
“I’m on my way. How much longer until we have ion engines back?”
“Less than a minute. I think…”
The sounds of laser fire blared over the suit comm.
Jonas’ eyes opened wide. “Alyana! Talk to me. What’s going on?” He checked his mini-map. One red dot inside the bridge. Two black ones outside near the entrance. Noooo! He ran to the closest engineering console and placed his hand on the panel. “Computer, transfer all bridge commands to this station. Authorization: Jonas Barick. Charlie. Seven. Five. Yankee. Two.”
“Authorization accepted. Bridge commands transferred to engineering,” replied a computer voice.
Jonas rushed to the decktram. “I’m coming, Alyana.” He ordered Centuria-1 to follow him and Centuria-2 and Centuria-3 to stay behind and protect the command console.
“We have your pilot,” said a male voice over the ship’s intercom. “Give command control back to the bridge, and we’ll let her live. You have 10 seconds before we cut her up into pieces. 10.”
Jonas stopped the doors of the decktram from opening. Two droids stood waiting for him on the other side.
“9.”
I need to buy time…
“8.”
“Who are you and why did you take Nume?”
“Who we are doesn’t matter. You only need to give us command of this ship. 7.”
Jonas strapped an explosive device to the back of Centuria-1 while the kidnapper talked. He ordered Centuria-1 to charge into the middle of the enemy droids on his command. “Is Alyana still alive? Put her on comm.”
“I’m fine, Jonas. Don’t give them…”
Jonas heard her voice in the background.
“As you can probably tell, she’s fine. 6.”
As quietly as he could, Jonas climbed through the roof the decktram and entered the maintenance ducts while the kidnapper talked.
“5.”
“Fine! Stop! Don’t hurt her. You won. OK? I’m transferring control now.”
“Four seconds left before I shoot the nose off this pretty face.”
“Can you not do the countdown? The transfer commands are voice activated.” Jonas reached the maintenance hatch on the bridge deck. I hope Alyana knows to get on the ground when the explosions happen…
31
Under Jonas' orders, Centuria-1 charged into the pair of Strider droids as the decktram doors opened and tackled both to the ground. The explosive device attached to Centuria-1 detonated a few seconds later, destroying the enemy droids and blowing a hole into the walls of the ship, breaking the environmental containment on the bridge.
The enemy soldier quickly tapped his leggings. His boots magnetized and pull him back to the ground. He held steady even as air rushed out of the bridge.
Alyana tried to push away her captor.
He slammed his rifle butt into her skull.
She lost consciousness for a moment. Enough time for the soldier to grab her by the neck and place her in a chokehold. He held Alyana in front of him as a shield.
Jonas streaked through the smoke and quickly re-established the force fields around the bridge. With the Obscura suit hiding the sounds of his footsteps, he could get off two shots before the soldier realized Jonas was in the room. Both shots landed without hitting Alyana.
The soldier had a much thicker armor than the previously dispatched intruders. He shrugged off both hits without losing hold of his hostage. “Drop your rifle. Do it! Do it now, or she dies!” He pointed his gun at her temple.
“Easy. Easy.” Jonas lifted his hands up. “Easy. I’m going to lower my weapon to the ground.”
“Make any sudden moves, and she dies.”
“I hear you.” Jonas crouched down slowly and laid his rifle on the floor. “Easy. There. Done.”
“Remove your belt, too. Slowly.”
“OK,” Jonas said with his arms still raised. He unclipped his belt and allowed it to fall from his waist. “Hey, let’s talk. What’s your name?”
“You don’t need to know my name.”
“OK, that’s fine. Then just answer one question, who do you work for?”
The soldier snickered. “Raven.”
Jonas sighed. “I know that. But who does Raven work for?”
He ignored Jonas and tapped his ear comm. “I have the bridge. Send more droids to take control of engineering.”
Alyana started to regain her focus.
Jonas made eye contact with her. He shook his head imperceptibly.
“Don’t worry about me.” Tears flowed down Alyana’s cheeks. “We have to save Nume!”
“Shut up! Nume will be long gone when this is over.” The soldier tightened his hold over her.
Alyana winced in pain.
A dark red ooze dripped from the ceiling of the bridge behind the soldier.
Jonas followed it as it pooled around the soldier’s feet. He pointed at the growing puddle. “You have something… I don’t know what that is…”
“You think I’m an idiot?”
The red, viscous fluid flowed upward toward the soldier’s face. Before he realized what was happening, the ooze seeped into his armor.
“What’s… What’s going on? Something is inside my suit…” He dropped his weapon and released Alyana simultaneously.
She picked up his gun and ran toward Jonas.
The soldier took off his helmet and began screaming in pain. His eyes were a fiery shade of red as more of the crimson fluid flowed into his mouth, nose, and ears. He clawed at his skin as if trying to rip off his flesh.
The ooze appeared alive as it morphed and shape-shifted around the soldier’s head.
“Jonas! What’s happening to him?” Alyana buried her face into his shoulder, unable to watch the gruesome scene in front of her.
“I honestly have no idea. But I don’t think we should stay here to find out. I transferred bridge commands to engineering. We still ne
ed to break away from the escort ships and go after Nume before we lose her.”
Alyana got into her Obscura suit and followed Jonas to engineering.
Jonas picked up his guns and utility belt.
An urgent notice from Centuria-2 flashed, saying it was under attack by enemy droids.
They ran past the debris of metal parts from Centuria-1 and onto the decktram.
“Stay behind me.” Jonas unclipped the last pulse grenade from his belt. He glanced at his mini-map and saw four black dots just beyond the decktram doors. “When I clear the room, you need to engage ion engines. And try to fix engine cell one. We need all the speed we can get.”
Alyana nodded. “I’m ready.”
As soon as the decktram doors opened, Jonas rolled the pulse grenade into the mass of enemy droids. With their backs exposed to him, Jonas easily ripped through all their battery packs with his flak cannon.
The droids slumped and fell over.
Alyana ran to the command console. “Using quick start method to burst ion engines to 75%.”
The hull of the Zephyr vibrated.
“Setting up containment for the eventual breaches. Those escort cruisers will not give up. What are we going to do about them?”
Jonas walked to another engineering console. “I'm planning to leave a present.” He ejected two Artemis missiles from torpedo bays and programmed them with a delayed timer. “When we leave, these missiles will target their propulsion. They’ll be too busy fixing their engines to chase us.”
“Sounds like a plan. Ready when you are.” She nodded at him.
“Ready.” He nodded back.
Alyana swiped her hand on the console. The ion engines behind her whirred and hummed as the Zephyr tried to release itself from the docked cruiser.
The dorsal plating of the Zephyr ripped off as it pulled away from the escort ship.
“We’re free!” Alyana jumped.
“Missiles on their way.” Jonas kept his eyes on the external sensor screen. “Two for two! I’m reading internal explosions on both cruisers.”