by G J Ogden
“Just stay tight in my shadow, Captain,” Reese said, “and then when you see a patch of starry sky, run like hell!”
The communications link went dead, and Taylor quickly adjusted the image on the main viewport to display Reese’s ship in a small window to the side. “Casey, you heard the man...”
“Aye, aye, Captain Taylor Ray,” replied Casey. Then she swung the ship around and tucked it in behind Nimrod Delta One, so perfectly that it would have been almost impossible for the Hedalt to distinguish the two ships from their elevated vantage point outside the cave.
“Get ready to shunt as much power as you can scrounge into the ion drives,” ordered Taylor, gripping the arms of his chair so tightly they creaked under the pressure, “Then as soon as we’re clear, punch it!”
The two ships accelerated towards the opening and Taylor flitted between checking the status of the fleet and peering out at the massive ships blocking their path. “Forty six out, including Nimrod Command!” cried Taylor. Sarah and James were safe... that was something, at least... he thought. Then he saw the casualties and winced, “But we’ve already lost sixteen Nimrods, and more are taking heavy damage!”
Ninety-nine Nimrods attacking the Hedalt armada was a tall order, but they were already down to eighty-three and they hadn’t even reached Earth yet. The more he thought about it, the more it was clear that the Nimrod Fleet’s mission was a suicide run. They had to escape and reach the Nexus. If they failed, humanity would become extinct.
“Breaching in ten!” shouted Casey, as she pulled out from beneath Reese’s ship and accelerated hard to make her run.
The tactical console sounded an angry alert, “That capital ship has spotted us an’ locked on, Cap!” cried Blake, “It’s gonna fire!”
“Casey, give us more speed!”
“I’m trying, Cap!” Casey called back. “Breaching in five!”
“Too late, they’re firin’!”
A shard of plasma the length of their entire ship erupted from the primary cannons on the War Carrier and seared through the lava tube towards them.
“Brace for impact!” Taylor called out, but then out of nowhere Nimrod Delta One blasted in front of them, taking the hit full on. The entire viewport was engulfed in a searing red and orange blaze, forcing even Taylor to shield his simulant eyes. When the image cleared he looked on in horror at what remained of Reese’s ship spiraling out of control, crippled and on fire, before it collided with the Hedalt capital ship and exploded in a violent fit of sparks and flames.
“No!” cried Taylor, but it was too late. Nimrod Delta One was gone. Reese was gone. He hammered the arm of the chair, snapping it clean off, and then sprang to his feet, glaring out at the capital ship as it retreated from the opening, burning and damaged, but still functional.
“We’re clear!” shouted Casey, as the Contingency One broke out above the moon’s surface, covered in burning debris, “Engines to one hundred and ten percent!”
The glow from their ion engines was so bright they could have been mistaken for a comet surging through the cosmos. The retreat of the Hedalt capital ship had allowed the remaining Nimrods to also break through, but in the process five more had fallen to the barrage of plasma fire from the escorting War Frigates. Seventy-eight ships left... Taylor said to himself. Three times that number would barely be enough...
As the Hedalt capital withdrew further the War Frigates moved into position above the lava tube. In deep space above them the last of the Nimrods blind-jumped away, narrowly avoiding the armada of Hedalt reinforcements closing in behind. Taylor watched on the viewport as the War Frigates hammered volleys of plasma fire into the lava tube, decimating what remained of the Contingency Base. One thing was certain – no matter what happened at Earth, there was no going back now. Not for any of them.
Taylor saw Casey angrily shove the pilot’s viewport away, before practically punching the initiator for the jump countdown. For the first time in his memory of Casey Valera, simulant or otherwise, she was not spinning around in her chair. And she was not smiling. Even Casey had her limits, Taylor realized. But he knew it would likely get worse for the Nimrod Fleet, before it got better. A lot worse.
“Jumping in five...
...F o u r
...T h r e e
. . . T w o
. . . O n e”
SIXTEEN
Vika had been correct about the repairs to the Destroyer taking longer than Adra had anticipated. After two hours they had only just succeeded in restoring the critical systems needed to resume space travel. This included their external sensor array and uplink to the CoreNet, which was being worked on by one of the two reserve simulants that had replaced the units destroyed in the battle.
Adra stepped down off the command platform and pushed the simulant aside so that she could inspect the sensor feed, which was still being populated with data. Vika appeared at her side, uninvited, but Adra did not acknowledge her presence. They may have only spoken to one other when absolutely necessary, but Adra had still observed her closely, noting that the adjutant’s skill set also extended to engineering. Without her efforts the repairs would have certainly taken far longer to complete.
“I am reading no vessels still in the vicinity of this moon or the second planet,” said Vika, commenting on the updated sensor feed. “But there is significant residual radiation around the cave entrance. I would suggest that there has been a major engagement.”
The CoreNet feed synchronized and a Priority One alert took over the console screen. Adra dismissed the alert and continued to review the sensor data. Vika’s eyes flicked across to the Vice Provost, who was still ignoring her presence, and then she moved to an adjacent console to review the Priority One. Whether they would respond to it or not – and Vika was under no illusions that Adra would suddenly be gripped by an urgent sense of duty – she wanted to know the contents of the message.
“Priority One message from Warfare Command,” Vika said out loud, summarizing the content. “An Earth Fleet armada comprised of seventy-eight Nimrod-class cruisers has been detected. War vessels are being directed to the Sol system to destroy it. We are amongst the vessels requisitioned for the defense.”
Adra grabbed the simulant she had brushed aside and pushed it towards the front of the bridge. “Take us back to the cave entrance,” she growled at it, before turning her attention to Vika. “We will not be responding to the Priority One,” she said, calmly but firmly.
“Of course not,” replied Vika, making no effort to disguise the fact she considered Adra’s statement obvious and unnecessary. “However, the message is clear. The human fleet is heading to Earth, where Kagan will crush them and claim victory.” Adra stepped away from the console and faced Vika, understanding the hidden meaning behind her statement. “You have failed, Vice Provost Adra. What remains of the human resistance will soon be defeated. It is time you honored your promise to me.”
The ship suddenly edged out from underneath the overhang, under the control of the simulant that Adra had shoved towards the pilot’s console, and began making its way towards the human base. Adra stepped back onto the command platform, ensuring she did not take her eyes off Vika even for a second, in case she chose to make a move.
“You will get your chance soon enough,” said Adra, peering down at Vika from her elevated position, “but not until the humans are dead. Until that time, you are to obey my commands. That was our bargain.”
Vika was perplexed by the response. “Their defeat is inevitable. You cannot believe that their archaic fleet still has a chance?”
“No,” said Adra, who now had half an eye on the viewport as they approached the area of the moon where they had found the cave mouth, but now it was clear that a battle had taken place. Carcasses of ships littered the moon’s surface, and where there had once been a small cave opening, there was now a huge gaping hole hundreds of meters wide. “Seventy-eight of their ships stand no chance of defeating our armada. But the humans have not h
idden in the shadows for three centuries only to commit suicide now. We are missing something.”
Vika frowned but then turned to look at the viewport as Adra commanded the pilot simulant to enter the lava tube. The light from the star shone inside like a giant torch beam, illuminating the base that had been built inside and that had remained concealed for centuries. It was an impressive feat of engineering, Vika considered, noting the hulks of other destroyed Nimrods lying on the cave floor. Adra had a point; for a plan so long in the making, it seemed unlikely the humans would throw it all away by attempting a desperate and hopeless assault against a far superior force.
Vika returned to her station and began to review the report of the assault on the human base that was already available via the CoreNet, looking for anything that seemed unusual or out of place. Meanwhile, the Destroyer steadily circled inside the lava tube, as if it were an archaeology ship surveying an ancient tomb. It did not take long for Vika to find something that stood out as unusual.
“According to the battle records, after High Provost Kagan’s War Carrier was damaged, a fleet of seventy-eight Nimrods jumped away, along with three support vessels,” said Vika. “But there was also a single Corvette-class cruiser among the ships listed. However, it is unclear whether it jumped with the rest of the human fleet.”
“The rogue Hunter Corvette,” agreed Adra, confirming Vika’s statement on her own console. “Kagan was trying to destroy it, but he allowed it to escape.” Adra could almost taste the bitterness and resentment in her voice, and focused hard to keep her emotions in check.
“It must also have jumped to Earth,” suggested Vika. “Kagan already sent squadrons to destroy the human bases in the asteroid belt and on the planet where the reclamation facility is based. And I do not believe the simulant would risk another incursion into the Fabric.” Then her mind suddenly returned to the moment on the Nexus when she had been looking at the prototype Satomi Rose simulant and had felt a strange sensation, like an electrical charge. “Unless...” she said, thinking out loud.
The word intrigued Adra and she moved alongside Vika as the adjutant brought up the records of the signal anomaly that Adra had traced back to their current location from the Nexus. In her haste and eagerness to reach the human base, Adra had not completed the full signal trace. Vika worked the console, noticing that Adra was watching intently at her side. Vika discovered that Adra had only focused on decoding the origin of the signal anomaly, and had not calculated its full route through the Fabric, including its precise destination. Vika completed the calculations and arrived at the result. Adra saw it on Vika’s console at the same time and their eyes met.
“The Nexus?” said Adra. She could only think of one reason why the rogue simulant would travel to the Nexus, but it sounded absurd. She said it anyway, and the notion sounded even more preposterous spoken out loud, “They mean to destroy the Nexus?”
“It is a fortress,” commented Vika, though her tone was not derisory, since she had arrived at the same conclusion. “They would be destroyed before they even came close to it.”
“Yet it is the only way Earth Fleet would ever stand a chance against our forces,” said Adra. “That they are even aware of its existence suggests it plays a role in their plan.”
Vika frowned, still struggling to believe such a feat could be possible. But, at the same time, she understood the disastrous impact the destruction of the Nexus would have on the entire empire. It would cripple their armada and render most of their outposts and colony planets inoperable. Their empire would collapse, and Earth would fall to the humans.
“They could not possibly hope to destroy it with one ancient ship,” said Vika, looking for a way to make sense of their discovery. “There is something else we are not seeing.”
Adra looked out at the crippled Earth base on the viewport, raising a clenched fist to her chin, like a frustrated scholar. “But what?” she snarled under her breath, growing more irritated by the second. “What are we missing?”
“Satomi Rose,” said Vika. Suddenly it made sense, and the instant she had spoken the name, she had Adra’s complete attention. “There is a prototype Satomi Rose simulant inside your lab on the Nexus, along with prototypes of the other three. I discovered it while you were working on the signal trace.”
“What of it?” asked Adra, realizing that the rogue Taylor Ray simulant still needed this unit to complete his sentimental reformation of his crew.
“I checked the status display on the units,” said Vika. “The Satomi Rose model was viable and was showing neural activity. It is possible it was still connected to the CoreNet.”
Adra was indignant, “Why did you not reveal this to me?”
Vika’s eyes narrowed, “You were not in a talkative mood, Vice Provost,” she snarled back.
Adra backed off. She did not want another confrontation with Vika now, but her information had provided the answer. Not only was the Taylor Ray simulant still obsessed with recovering this last unit, but the Satomi unit may have provided them with a back door into the Nexus. She knew that the Taylor Ray simulant possessed the ability to traverse the Fabric and control elements of the CoreNet, as it had done when taking control of a simulant on her frigate. It was possible it had made contact with this prototype unit, whose neural interfaces remained fully intact, and together they had formulated a plan. But he would not destroy the Nexus with Satomi still inside. It would be his last and only chance to recover her, since every other Satomi Rose unit in the galaxy had already been decommissioned. But, whatever the rogue simulant’s plan was, Adra’s next destination was clear.
“Set a course for the Nexus, and jump at once,” she said, stepping back towards her command platform. Then she paused and turned to face Vika again. “Unless, you would rather us try to kill each other again right now?”
Vika realized her future in Warfare Command was gone, but she shared Adra’s hatred for humankind. She did not want the Empire to crumble and for Earth to be lost to the humans. She looked up at the broken Earth Fleet base, and then back at Adra, before she turned and placed a hand on the shoulder of the pilot simulant and said, “No, Vice Provost. Not yet.”
SEVENTEEN
The Contingency One jumped and once again Taylor and his crew fell into the mysterious sub-layer of space called the Fabric. Except that this time, thanks to Taylor having memorized the coordinates that Satomi showed him, they were travelling along one of the unique threads that lead directly to the Nexus.
The jump distance was vast, even by the normal definition of super-luminal travel. The switch in reality from the physical world to that of disembodied, dream-like thought persisted for considerably longer than in normal jumps. But this wasn’t the only difference Taylor felt. Instead of only sensing the presence and energy of those directly around him, Taylor could perceive their destination as clearly as if he was connected to the CoreNet through his specially-adapted bed. He saw the chamber where Satomi had appeared to him, but she wasn’t there. This time he saw four stasis pods at the end of a large open hall, each of them containing a simulant. Then he was standing in front of the pods, exactly as if he was inside the Fabric in the deep space corridor. He moved forward and peered through the glass canopy of the first stasis pod. It contained Blake Meade, eyes closed, face and body frozen, like a mannequin. He thought of the original Blake simulant, who had died on the Contingency base, crushed by rock and girders, and the trauma of the memory made Taylor recoil. Yet, curiosity compelled him to look inside the other pods too.
He moved along the row, finding Casey Valera in the second pod and then himself in the third, both appearing exactly the same as Blake. The sight of Casey was even more difficult to handle than his own lifeless reflection staring back at him. Then he glanced across to the fourth pod. He knew who would be inside, but Satomi had been taken from him twice already. He wasn’t sure if he could handle losing her for a third time. But he had to know.
Nervously, he looked through the glass of th
e fourth pod and saw the face of Satomi Rose; motionless, lifeless. He felt the sickening stab of grief, but then suddenly Satomi’s silver eyes opened, causing Taylor’s mind to jolt, like the sudden shock of tasting an ice-cold drink. He staggered backwards as the door to the pod swung open and Satomi stepped out.
“You’re jumping to the Nexus?” asked Satomi.
“Yes,” said Taylor, too stunned to answer with anything more elaborate.
“She is too. She knows what you intend to do.”
“Who? Adra?”
“Yes, and she wants revenge.”
“We’ll be ready,” said Taylor, determinedly. In many ways he relished the opportunity to face Adra again. She had been like a shadow, constantly following them, creating darkness wherever they managed to light a beacon of hope. Her dark aura had been a constant menace, threatening to consume them whole should they ever remain still for too long. But this time Taylor and his crew would shine so brightly that her shadow would be extinguished, forever.
“You need to land at docking level alpha,” said Satomi. Her image was starting to fade, as was the room around them. “I will show you the way.”
“But how do we get inside?” asked Taylor with urgency, knowing that the moment they emerged from the jump, he would lose her again.
“The Nexus is expecting you,” said Satomi, calmly, “and so am I...”
Suddenly, Taylor was ripped back into reality, back into the command chair on the bridge of the Contingency One. For a moment, the lights of the bridge were blinding compared to the darkness of the space he had just been in. But once his senses readjusted he was presented with a sight almost as unbelievable as his visions inside the Fabric. In front of them on the viewport was a space station that was so massive it could have almost been mistaken for a moon. Only the metallic glint of its surface and its regular, engineered shape gave it away as artificial.