“What if we land some assault ships?” suggested Wade. “There are several entrances to the hives large enough to park one or two assault ships in.”
“It would be risky,” said Admiral Kelly as he considered the suggestion. “We don’t know how far back those entrances go or how heavily they’re defended.”
“It would at least give our Marines a chance to escape after they complete their mission,” said Wade. “Not only that the weapon batteries on the assault ships might be useful on the surface. They could prevent Zaltule reinforcements from entering the hives.”
“We’re going to have to commit a large number of Marines to this operation and I’m afraid many of them won’t be coming back,” said General Alise. “General Nelson, I understand your nephew is currently undergoing Type Nine battlesuit training. How are you going to feel if he is picked to go on this mission?”
Wade had already thought about this. “We’re at war. I can only trust Thomas will find a way to survive and come back to us. We can ask no less of him than we would of anyone else.”
“I’ll meet with some of my officers and see what forces we will need to commit to succeed with this mission,” said General Timmons. “I want those Marines to come back.”
“We all do,” replied Admiral Kelly. “We’ve already lost too many good people in this war.”
“Has there been any word of the Sundance?” asked Mayor Strong.
Kelly shook his head. “No, and she’s way overdue. I’m afraid we have to consider the ship lost.”
Wade hated hearing this but he had suspected that was the case. “After the Sundance’s mission the Zaltule will be on a higher stage of alert. They may expect some type of response from us.”
“I’m afraid you’re right,” replied Kelly. “That’s why we need to take our time planning this mission and get it right. We’re not going to get a second chance at their hives if we fail the first time.”
The meeting lasted another few minutes and then broke up. There was a lot of planning which needed to be done. Also before any attack on the hives could be launched the Zaltule fleet currently heading for Pradel needed to be dealt with.
-
The Sundance managed to make it to a star system with a habitable planet. They had explored this system several months before. The fourth planet while colder than Earth had a reasonable green belt with several large bodies of water around its equator. A few minutes after the ship dropped out of Fold Space Newman looked over at the commander.
“That’s it. The Fold Space drive is finished. The chief engineer reports we have no way to repair it. Not only that but Life Support is failing. We just have too many critical systems damaged. The main reactor is down and we’re on secondary power. We need to find a place to land in the next eight hours or the ship will become unlivable.”
Commander Smith let out a deep breath. She was doing everything she could to keep her crew alive. “Can we make it to the fourth planet?”
Newman nodded. “The sublight drive is functional but for how long I can’t say. If we’re going to try to set the Sundance down on that planet the sooner the better.”
Bree looked over at the navigation officer. “Set a course and put us in a low orbit. We need to pick a site where we think we can set the ship down.”
“Commander, this ship was not designed to land on a planet,” pointed out the navigation officer, his face turning white.
“I know, we’ll just have to improvise.”
-
It took nearly two hours for the Sundance to reach the planet and go into orbit. The hull, once shiny and new, was now pitted and burned. Several massive and jagged holes were in the hull extending down several decks. Parts of the ship were without power and Life Support was barely functioning.
-
“The damage is much more severe than I thought,” said Newman regretfully. “Maybe I just didn’t want to admit how damaged the Sundance is.
Bree nodded in understanding. “Are the two probes ready to launch?”
“Yes,” Newman replied. “But it will take them over four months to reach the Solar System, if they last that long. The Fold Space drives on the probes were never designed for such extended operation. We’ve added secondary power systems to the probes which should be sufficient but I can’t guarantee this is going to work.”
“Put a copy of the ship’s logs in each probe’s data bank as well as the coordinates of this planet,” ordered Bree. “At least by launching the probes we give ourselves the hope of being rescued even if it is a small one.”
-
Several minutes later Newman returned to stand next to Commander Smith. “Drones have been programmed and the ship’s logs have been uploaded. Both drones contain the coordinates of this system and descriptions of the planet.”
Bree nodded. “Launch them. We need to land this ship as soon as possible.”
“Drones launched,” reported navigation. “They should enter Fold Space in two minutes.”
“Is med bay ready?”
“As ready as can be,” Newman replied.
“We better get everyone out of the lower levels of the ship.”
The Sundance continued to orbit the planet. Scans of the planet had found several possible landing sites.
Bree looked around as the lights in the Command Center flickered. She knew her ship was slowly dying. “Standby for deceleration.”
The navigation officer adjusted his controls, causing the battered battlecruiser to begin entering the atmosphere.
“Energy shield is at 12 percent,” reported Lieutenant Berry as she fought her controls trying to keep the shield up. “I’ve diverted most of our remaining power to the shields. I don’t know how long the shield will continue to function.”
Bree felt the ship start to shake uncontrollably from its passage through the atmosphere. She knew it was only going to get worse. She glanced over toward the damage control console already covered in red and amber lights seeing more of the amber lights change to red.
“Eighty kilometers from the surface,” reported Lieutenant Stover. “We’re dropping about twenty kilometers a minute.”
“Outer hull temperature is increasing,” reported Lieutenant Berry. “Energy shield is down to 7 percent.”
“I’m attempting to slow our descent with our station keeping thrusters,” reported the navigation officer. “Some of them are nonfunctional.”
The ship continued to drop down through the atmosphere. Bree felt the shaking intensify as they entered the thicker air. If the ship had been undamaged with a fully functional energy shield, it could probably be set down safely. As it was the landing was going to be rough. She knew the Sundance would never leave this planet.
“We’re on course for our primary landing zone,” reported Newman. “All bulkheads are closed and the crew has been evacuated from the lower decks. We’ve made the med bay as secure as possible.”
“Make sure the crew has also evacuated all the damaged areas,” ordered Bree. Some were vital to the functioning of the ship but they weren’t worth more lives.
“All damaged sections have been evacuated and secured,” reported Newman.
“Forty kilometers from the surface,” reported Lieutenant Stover.
“I’m saving some of the thrusters until the end,” reported the navigation officer. “I’m hoping to be able to slow the ship down to make the landing survivable.”
Bree took in a deep breath. The ship continued to shake and she could hear a distant whistling noise. She knew this was atmosphere being deflected by the failing energy shield. She suspected the ship looked like a giant meteor falling through the sky.
“Outer hull temperature is still increasing,” reported Lieutenant Berry.
Bree was gripping the armrests on her command chair. Her breathing had quickened and her heart was racing. On the viewscreen, the planet’s surface was growing nearer and more detail could be seen.
“Twenty kilometers from the surface,” report
ed Lieutenant Stover in a strained voice.
“I’m trying to level out the ship using the nose thrusters,” reported the navigation officer. “The ship’s fighting me!”
“Energy shield is at 3 percent and about to fail,” warned Lieutenant Berry.
“Everyone brace for landing,” Bree said over the shipwide comm. “This is going to be rough.”
On the viewscreen, the surface seemed to be rushing up. Bree could see forests and even a few streams. The ship was attempting to head toward a flat area covered in tall grasses.
“Eight kilometers,” reported Lieutenant Stover.
“All thrusters are on full,” reported the navigation officer.
The ship seemed to shake even more violently.
“Energy shield is down,” warned Lieutenant Berry. “Hull temperature’s increasing rapidly. It’s nearly in the critical zone.”
An explosion echoed through the ship, nearly causing it to turn sideways. More red lights flared to life on the damage control console.
“Two kilometers,” reported Lieutenant Stover. “We’re coming in too fast!”
“I’m going to try to make us slide,” reported the navigation officer. “The thrusters aren’t slowing us down enough!”
As Bree watched the viewscreens, her heart sank. She knew this type of landing was going to cost more lives.
“One thousand meters,” reported Lieutenant Stover.
“Hull temperature is reaching critical levels,” warned Lieutenant Berry.
“Five hundred meters.”
“Three hundred meters.”
“One hundred meters.”
“Impact!!!”
-
The Sundance landed violently and began sliding through the tall grass, setting off numerous fires and churning up the ground. Parts of the ship broke off and several small explosions rattled through the hull. The ship slid for several thousand meters before finally coming to a rest. On board the ship numerous fires had broken out and the fire suppression system was trying to deal with them. Unfortunately in some areas of the ship the fire suppression system was not working.
“We’re down,” called out Lieutenant Stover as the power to his sensor console died.
Bree blinked as the power in the Command Center died. Almost immediately the emergency lighting came on. The Command Center was full of smoke and broken equipment lay everywhere. Several crew personnel were down and unmoving.
“Get some medics up here,” Bree ordered as she unbuckled her safety harness. She saw Newman was one of the officers lying on the deck unmoving. His arm was bent at an unnatural angle and he was bleeding profusely from a large cut on his forehead. One of the other officers was working on him trying to make Newman more comfortable.
“We can’t get the hatch open,” reported one of the Marines. The two Marines were both trying to open the hatch and having no success.
“We’re running on battery power,” reported Lieutenant Berry. She had a dark bruise on her forehead where her head had struck her console during the landing. “I’ll switch some of the power over to the hatch controls. I would recommend once we open it we leave it open.” Berry touched some icons on a still working console and the hatch slid open.
Bree looked toward the now open hatch seeing the corridor outside was full of smoke. It was obvious there were some fires burning in the ship. She knew they needed to wait until the outer hull finished cooling down before they attempted to exit the vessel. “Lieutenant Berry, head down to med bay and see what’s going on. It seems the ship’s comms are down. Try to get me a report on the condition of the ship. We also need to get all these fires under control. Lieutenant Stover, go with her. Once you reach med bay send some medical personnel up here if they have any they can spare.”
-
Several hours later Bree had the grim report on her ship and crew. There were two hundred and eighty-seven survivors with ninety-two of those injured. Of the injured nearly twenty-eight were not expected to survive. The ship was pretty much a wreck. There were several new holes in the hull and the ship was nearly broken in two. Med bay had survived intact as it was in the most secure part of the ship. Currently the remaining battery power was being shunted to med bay to keep the medical equipment working. The surviving engineers were trying to jury rig a power generator to recharge the ship’s batteries. Both reactors were too damaged to risk ever being restarted. The lower four levels of the ship had been crushed in the landing and there was actually a four hundred meter tear in the bottom of the ship.
“All fires are out,” reported Lieutenant Berry. “I have crewmembers searching the damaged sections for other survivors.”
Bree nodded. The emergency power was still on in the Command Center though it didn’t seem the Command Center really served much purpose any longer. Most of the consoles were dead.
“Has anyone gone outside?”
“I sent a squad of Marines out earlier,” Berry replied. “They have orders to reconnoiter the immediate area around the ship. They should be back shortly.”
The lights suddenly brightened and several consoles returned to life. Lieutenant Berry smiled. “The engineers must have the emergency power generator running.”
Bree stood up and looked around at the wreckage of the Command Center. It looked as if a bomb had gone off inside. “Let’s get out of here. Shut down everything we don’t need. We need to do everything we can to conserve power.” Bree wasn’t certain how long the emergency generator would continue to function.
-
As Bree made her way through the ship toward the med bay, Bree was astonished at the damage the ship had suffered. It was a miracle any of them were still alive. Beams and metal wall panels were lying everywhere. Overhead wiring and pipes were visible or hanging loose in the corridors. Hatches were torn off and even the deck plating was buckled.
At last she and the officers with her made it to the med bay. This section of the ship seemed to be relatively intact and the power was on. “Do we have any of the mess halls functioning?” She knew the crew had to be hungry.
“Yes,” replied Lieutenant Stover. “The mess hall in this section is still operational. I ordered all the ships consumables from the other mess halls to be brought here and stored in the dry storage units and the freezers.”
“We have emergency rations as well,” added Lieutenant Berry. “They’re not very tasty but they should get us by for a few months. I’m also fairly certain we can rig up something to give us clean water.”
Entering the med bay Bree came to a stop, her breath catching in her throat. Every bed was full and some of the injured were sitting in chairs. A few others were lying on blankets on the floor. The med staff was busy going from one patient to the next administering what aid they could. Bree was glad the ship had several qualified doctors on board as well as nurses.
Doctor Bowman saw the commander and quickly hurried over. “Commander, are you injured?”
“No, I’m fine. How are your patients?” Bree was deeply concerned for her crew. She had already lost too many.
A grim look passed over the doctor’s face. “Most will make it but there are a few who probably won’t. We’ve had to do a few amputations and just about used up all of our medical nanites on the more severe cases. Some of the injuries are so severe even the nanites can’t help.”
Bree blinked. “Try to keep them as comfortable as possible. There’s not a lot more I can offer you.”
“At least some of us are still alive,” replied Doctor Bowman. “The critically injured we’ll give pain killers to so they won’t suffer. At least we’re well stocked on most medical supplies.”
Bree looked around the crowded med center. “Do what you can. If there’s anything else I can do let me know.”
Doctor Bowman nodded and then returned to his patients.
“Let’s continue our tour of the ship. I want to see what’s still functional and if it’s even safe to stay inside.”
-
For the next several hours Bree and her officers walked through the areas of the ship they could reach. Some areas were so badly damaged it was unsafe to enter.
“How many of our Marines survived?” Bree hoped the Zaltule hadn’t managed to follow them. If they did even the Marines wouldn’t be able to keep them safe.
“Twenty-two are uninjured,” replied Berry. “The ones not outside on reconnaissance are helping move food supplies to the med section.”
They finally reached Engineering to find several engineers standing next to a small motor which was humming away. Several large wires led from the motor to a bank of batteries on the wall.
“Captain,” said Lieutenant Simmons. Simmons was the ship’s second engineer.
Bree already knew the chief engineer had died when crushed by equipment the crash had shaken loose. “How are we doing, Lieutenant?”
Simmons gestured toward the running generator. “We have power, at least as long as the fuel lasts.”
Bree pursed her lips. “How long will that be?”
“A month or two. We don’t have a lot of fuel for the emergency generator so we’ll use it to charge the ship’s batteries and then turn it off. If we really stretch it and limited power to the mess hall and the med bay we might be able to stretch it out to around six months.”
“Looks as if we’re living outside,” said Stover. “We have some emergency gear but not a lot.”
“We’ll scavenge the ship for what we need,” said Bree. “As soon as we can we’ll get several teams together and see if we can find a spot close to the ship with water where we can establish a camp.”
“There are several streams nearby,” said Berry. “I ordered our Marines to check them and bring back some water samples.”
“Let’s go outside. I want to see what our new home looks like.”
-
A few minutes later Bree was standing outside looking around. The fires had burned off much of the tall grass and in the distance she could see one of the streams Lieutenant Berry had mentioned. She drew in a deep breath. The air was much fresher than what was in the ship.
Final Conflict Page 18