by Rachel Ford
“It means he’s bluffing. He’s got the Whale on his side, but the Dreadnaught and Seven haven’t committed one way or another yet.”
“How can you tell, sir?” Vaki wondered.
“He knew I wasn’t going to surrender. The call was a distraction, to keep us occupied while he sent orders.”
“And he only sent them to the Whale,” the lieutenant finished. “Not any of the other ships. Ergo they’re not part of his plan.”
“Precisely. Captains Mercer and Rel are waiting to see how this plays out.”
“Cowards,” Vaki said.
“Perhaps, but…” His grin broadened. “Let’s give them a show, shall we?”
“Sir!” Kerel’s voice broke in. “The Epsilon is powering up her engines.”
“Confirmed,” the tactical officer nodded. “She’s breaking off from the main fleet.”
“Direction?”
Vaki frowned. “She seems to be heading away from the planet.”
“Hail her captain.”
“Roger that,” Vor answered. In a moment, he added, “No response, sir.”
“She’s going to full power, Captain. And, she’s gone.” Vaki shook his head. “Looks like she’s leaving the system.”
“Dammit,” Elgin swore. This was no time to be defecting. “Well, that’s one less ship to keep an eye on, I guess.”
“One less to back us up, too, sir.”
“Good thing we weren’t counting on her, then.”
“Yessir.”
Chapter Twelve
“Alright, we’re down to one minute, but do not take Le at his word. I want you on full alert. The instant he fires, I want us returning fire. Full fire.” Elgin was pacing the deck. “I won’t draw first blood, but I will draw last.”
“Aye-aye.”
“Yes sir.”
“Okay. Let’s do this.” Elgin took his seat, and waited as the seconds ticked by.
“Thirty seconds,” Vor noted as the time wound down.
At the same time, Vaki called, “Sir, detecting weapons fire from the Whale and Dragon.”
He’d anticipated nothing less. Le was hoping to get the drop on them, even if it was only a few seconds’ worth. In a fight like this, a few seconds could make the difference between victory and defeat. “Return fire.”
The whine of launching torpedoes sounded before he’d finished speaking. He’d meant what he said earlier: the crew had gotten so adept at anticipating his orders that, sometimes, it felt like this ship could run without him.
“Brace for impact,” Vaki called. “In five seconds. Four. Three. Two.”
The Supernova rocked with the impact of several direct hits. “Defense grid status?”
“Holding, sir. Nothing got through.”
His ship was equipped with top-of-the-line energy shields. They could absorb quite a bit of damage before buckling. So, though, were the Whale and Dragon. “How are we doing on their shields?”
“About to find out.”
“Onscreen, Lieutenant.”
The display flickered to life, showing the two battle cruisers a second before the Supernova’s torpedoes reached them. A sequence of flashes of light appeared, but the ships seemed undamaged.
“Minimal impact, sir. We hit one of the bow deflectors on the Dragon, and took out two of her cannons. Otherwise, no damage.”
“Keep firing.”
“Copy that.”
“Captain,” Vor put in, “the bridge is being hailed from hangar deck eight. It’s Lieutenant Dagir. He’s asking to speak to you.”
“Put him through.” He was trusting that the other man’s timing indicated he had something to bring to the table.
“He’s on, sir.”
“Captain,” the fighter pilot’s voice came over the comms, “Lieutenant Dagir here.”
“Elgin here.”
“Requesting permission to scramble the squad, sir. We’re ready – all we need is your sign off.”
“You don’t mean to go toe-to-toe with the Dragon?”
“Yessir, I do. We can get close, and hit those shields a lot quicker than the torpedoes and cannons will do.”
“Fighters aren’t meant to take on cruisers, Lieutenant.”
“No sir. That doesn’t mean they can’t.”
Elgin considered. It was a hell of a risk, but Dagir knew that. “Alright. Anyone who wants to go with you can, but it’s not an order.”
“Copy that. Thank you, sir.”
Tal’s teeth were chattering. They’d finally found the garage. “Alright,” he said, his voice loud to carry over the howling wind. “When I give the signal, press his palm against the reader.”
He’d dropped Protector Baltir by the door, and he and Tig had swapped places – him in the lead, gun at the ready, and Tig to the side, where he could duck out of the way at a moment’s notice.
“Okay.”
“You ready?”
“Ready.”
“Go!”
Tig pulled back the ice shield and slapped Dre’s palm against the reader. The door buzzed open, and Tal stepped in, sweeping side to side looking for other people.
There was a protector at the far end of the garage, patrolling at a slow step. Tal drew in a breath, steadying his shivering form. He loosed a shot just as the other man looked up. A moment later, it found its mark, and the protector collapsed, unconscious.
He moved in further, ducking behind vehicles as he went. So far, he heard nothing – no shouts, no alarm, nothing to indicate that they’d been spotted. He had no idea, though, how many protectors were stationed here. Was it just the one he’d taken out already? Were there half a dozen scattered throughout?
He didn’t know, and so he moved quickly. His training came in handy as he cleared the building, one section at a time. He’d done this many a time on Central in pursuit of a dangerous criminal, or in training exercises. Now, it was protectors, not lawbreakers, he was hunting. But the tactics were the same.
He found another patrolling officer in a hall off the main bay, and dispatched him with a single shot. A few offices down the way, a protector lay asleep at his desk, his face resting on a pile of forms.
Tal put a bolt of energy into him just for safe measure. He didn’t want him waking up at an inopportune moment.
The building now was cleared, and he returned to the bay. Tig was there, having dragged Dre’s unconscious body out of the blizzard and taken up hiding behind one of the rovers. “Tal,” he called.
“Tig, we’re clear. Let’s get supplies, and find the keys to one of these machines.”
The other man laughed out loud. “Son of a gun. You did it.”
“Yeah. But we’re not clear until we’re clear.”
Tig’s expression sobered and he nodded. “Right. Supplies and keys.”
They turned back to the halls and offices he’d just cleared, stripping each of the protectors of their weapons and ammo. “Get the boots, too,” Tal said. “Even if they don’t fit well, they’ve got to be better than what we’re wearing.”
In the locker room, they acquired a few more coats and two sets of heavy gloves. “These’ll come in handy,” Tig decided. “I don’t know about you, but I’d like to keep my fingers.”
“We should check all of them for supplies we can take with us, but the keys are probably in the head office.”
“You search there. I’ll scout this one,” Tig nodded, ducking into one of the offices.
“Sounds good.” Tal was operating on a level of adrenaline and anticipation he hadn’t felt in months. He didn’t dare entertain expectations about how this would all turn out. And yet, here they were, gearing up and about to steal a rover.
He slipped into the larger office, which sat unoccupied now. A great desk with a large leather office chair sat in the center. A few armchairs occupied space at the corners of the room and in front of a fireplace. Despite the room being empty, a fire still burned, casting tendrils of light and flickers of shadow throughout. It was more e
vocative of a den or library in a fine house than an office off a garage, from the rich, heavy rug to the comfortable seating.
Tal rifled through the desk drawers. In the first few, there were parts requisition forms and use slips and personnel reports, but nothing of use to him. The middle drawer held what he needed: a dozen key fobs, all labeled with a numeral to represent the vehicles they were fitted for.
Tal grabbed number five at random, then hesitated. A new thought had crossed his mind. Why take only one key? Why not take them all? It’d mean they could have their pick of vehicles. But more importantly, it would slow the protectors down. They’d have to call in to another camp, and by time a vehicle from one of the other sites arrived, their tracks would be long buried.
He grinned at the idea of leaving the protectors stranded, temporarily though it was, and scooped all the keys into his new coat.
Chapter Thirteen
Captain Elgin watched the screen intently. His squadron of fighters had reached the Dragon and the Whale, and were dodging a barrage of fire. Dagir had been right, though. They were able to get close, and that meant their shots were harder to stop. There was less time to anticipate them, and less time to protect against them.
Fighters from the other two ships had flown out to meet the Supernova’s, but they seemed to be holding back. There were a few dogfights ongoing, but the majority were staying out of the fray.
“Captain,” Vor said, “I’m reading chatter on the Dragon’s intersystem comms. Le’s laying into the head of his fighters, Lieutenant Wilk.” Vor frowned in silence for a moment. “Sir, he’s accusing Wilk of being a coward. Not pressing the attack hard enough. Saying he’s got ‘terrorist sympathies.’”
“Well let’s hope he’s right. Vor, see if you can open a channel to the lieutenant.”
“Copy.” Vor worked for a moment in silence. “He’s not picking up.”
“Well, try him –”
“Oh, he just did. He’s on, sir.”
“Lieutenant Wilk? This is Captain Elgin of the TS-Supernova.”
“Sir,” the lieutenant’s voice came over the line.
“I’m asking you to stand down, Lieutenant.”
“I’m sorry, sir. I’ve got my orders.”
“I know that. But I’m asking you to reconsider.”
“I won’t fire on my ship, Captain.”
“I’m not asking you to do that, Wilk. I wouldn’t ask anyone to do that. I’m just asking that you don’t fire on my men.”
“Your men are going to kill my crew.”
“No, they’re not Wilk. Le opened fire first. All I’m trying to do is stop him.”
For a long moment, he heard nothing but silence. Elgin feared the connection might have been lost, or terminated. Then, Wilk spoke, “Do I have your word on that, sir?”
“As I live and breathe, lieutenant.”
“Alright.”
“Sir, we – we lost him,” Vor put in.
“What?”
“The connection dropped. It looks like it terminated, on his end.”
Elgin frowned. What the hell?
“Sir, the fighters are falling back,” Vaki said. “I think they’re pulling out of the fight.”
“Confirming,” Vor added, “Wilk issued a stand down order to his squadron. He’s not taking Le’s hails, either.”
Son-of-a-bitch. That had gone better than he’d anticipated. “Issue a command to our fighters, halt all action toward the other birds. Engage only if engaged. Concentrate fire on the Dragon and the Whale. Remember, engines, weapons and shields only. No structural damage. We do not want to kill our own men.”
“Copy.”
“How are we coming on those shields, Vaki?”
“Working on it, sir. The Red Whale is down to thirteen percent on the forward shields. I think another good hit or two, and she’s done. Going to take a bit longer with the Dragon.”
“Keep at it. Sooner they’re gone, the sooner we can disable those bastards.”
“Yessir.”
Elgin tried to sit still in his seat. A captain fidgeting on the bridge during the heat of battle was hardly the most inspiring sight. But the fact was, these were the moments he hated most in a fight. He’d been a tactical officer once. For a stint, he’d been at the helm too. You didn’t call the shots then. But at least you got to take them.
When you were in command, you called the shots; but in moments like these, you sat on your ass while other people took the shots.
It was an exercise in trust – in trusting that those under your command could execute their duties, in trusting that you’d picked the right people for that precise moment long before you knew that moment would arise. It was an exercise in patience, waiting to find out how those orders would play out and if your trust was well-founded.
It was torture. Elgin was by nature neither trusting nor patient. These were the most difficult aspects of command for him. The pressure of making the right call, of staying calm under fire; the risk of consequences from decisions he’d made: he could take all of that well in stride.
But waiting patiently while his ship and his crew faced danger was hell. He tried to focus on the scene outside, and not the thoughts churning around in his mind.
The two cruisers were laying heavy fire into the Supernova, but the fighters had drawn some of their attention. More than that, the fighters were chewing their way through the shield generators, a piece at a time.
It was risky work – up close and personal work, that put them directly in the line of fire for some powerful munitions. The Whale’s cannons had already incinerated one of the fighters, a beam of light energy cutting the ship clean in two.
“Status of the defense grids?” he called again.
“Red Whale is at five percent – and, she’s done,” Vaki declared triumphantly. “Shields are down.”
“Put her out of commission, Lieutenant. Now.”
“Copy that, sir.”
The tactical officer unleashed a fresh barrage of artillery at the unguarded ship. Streams of light cut across the empty blackness, tracing a fiery path for their target.
Elgin watched with bated breath as they neared their destination. The Red Whale rocked and shuddered, and a rush of fire ripped through one of the lower bays, extinguished as quickly as the flaming gases vented outward into the vacuum of space.
“Direct hit on engines and weapons, sir. The Whale is dead in the water.”
Elgin noted the nautical pun with appreciation, but the situation demanded a sober attitude. “Good work. Now focus on the Dragon.”
“She’s powering up interspace engines, Captain,” Kerel called. “I think Le’s getting ready to run.”
“Shut her down, Vaki. We do not want that son-of-a-bitch getting away now to surprise us later on.”
“Copy that.”
“Vor, have our fighters concentrate on their shields. The sooner we get through them, the sooner we can stop their retreat.”
“Aye-aye.”
He was, he realized, leaning forward in his seat, ready for action. Except, of course, there was nothing he could do – nothing but give commands. He clenched down on the urge to curse.
The Night Dragon was turning, positioning herself toward empty space. Kerel’s hunch was right. Le was tucking his tail and running.
“Dammit Vaki, where are we with stopping that son-of-a-bitch?”
“Working on it, sir.”
He refrained from further pressing. The lieutenant was as capable an officer as they got. Heckling him was not going to get the job done any quicker.
“Her shields are at eight percent, sir, and falling.”
Shit. It wasn’t enough. They had less than ten seconds left before the Night Dragon took flight. In peak condition, a starship could go from in-star system speeds to faster-than-light speeds in about six seconds. The Dragon had taken some damage, but nothing to stop her escape.
“Kerel, prepare to pursue. Vor, signal our fighters. They’re to defen
d the home planet against any and all interference.”
“Copy.”
“Yessir.”
“Wherever this coward’s heading, let’s keep him company.”
Chapter Fourteen
Nikia straightened up, resting her hands on her hips. She hadn’t slept in what seemed like days, and she’d been on her feet since Grel’s funeral. Combined with the pregnancy, it was starting to catch up to her.
“Alright,” Giya was saying beside her. “We’re here. Now what?”
They were gathered in the courtyard outside the primary palace. A wall of Tribari, hundreds thick, surrounded the entire thing. “Now?” she asked. “Now, we try to draw Velk out.”
“He’ll never surrender.”
“Maybe not. But he’s got military and protectors there. If we have to storm that place, we’re going to lose a lot of people, Giya.”
“They know what they’re getting into, Nik. We all do. It’s why we’re here.”
She nodded slowly. “I know. But if there’s another way…”
“The longer we wait,” he reminded her, “the more chance of the military showing up.”
“I know. I know, Giya. I just…I want to avoid as much bloodshed as possible.”
Giya sighed. “I get that. I really do. I don’t want our people dying any more than you do. Hell, I don’t want to die either. But you know as well as I do, this isn’t going to get easier. And if we sit around waiting, we risk all these deaths so far being for nothing. Everyone we lost in the House of Parliament. Everyone we lost at Ridi’s funeral. Hell, Grel himself.”
She blinked at the bluntness of his words, at the pain they caused to well inside her.
He seemed to understand that he’d overstepped, because he apologized. “Sorry, Nik. I shouldn’t have said that. I just meant, we’re so close; but if we lose our nerve now, it’s all been for nothing.” He reached out a hand to her arm. “Too many good people have died for this. We can’t let them down.”
She nodded slowly. “I know, Giya. Let me try talking to him. If he doesn’t respond, well, we’ll take the place by force if we have to. But if we can get him to resign, if we can get him to step down under overwhelming discontent, that not only saves lives now, but it legitimizes what happens next.”