by Ken Lozito
Sergeant Boers tore off her headset and adjusted some of the settings. The sound stopped.
“I’m sorry, General. The signal is too strong to listen to. It’s overwhelming some of our sensors,” Sergeant Boers said.
“Can you put the Vemus signal on the main holoscreen?” Connor asked.
The signal power was off the charts, above and beyond anything the CDF was using. The power requirements for maintaining that kind of a signal must have been immense.
“We don’t have the capacity to jam that kind of signal,” Major Hayes said.
“We don’t have to jam it,” Sean said.
Connor shared a knowing glance with the young officer and gave him a nod. This was something they’d both picked up from Lenora.
“We just need to disrupt it,” Sean said.
Major Hayes frowned and he looked at Connor. “I’m not following.”
“We disrupt the signal by broadcasting one of our own,” Connor said.
“We do that and whatever ships are within the vicinity of our signal will be cut off from wherever the broadcast is coming from,” Sean said.
“Can we trace the signal?” Major Hayes asked.
Sergeant Boers shook her head. “No, sir, it’s too strong. We’d have to move far away from the Vemus fleet.”
“What good will disrupting the signal to a few of their ships do?” Major Hayes asked.
Connor watched the signal output on the main holoscreen and then turned back toward the major. “It will get them to follow us,” Connor said.
Major Hayes nodded in understanding.
Connor went to the command chair and sat down. Major Hayes sat next to him in the XO’s chair.
“Action stations. Set Condition One throughout the ship,” Connor said.
His orders were repeated by Sergeant Browning, who sent a broadcast throughout the ship. All crews would be reporting to their combat posts, and bulkhead doors were closing and sealing in case of decompression.
“Helm, plot a course right through the middle of the Vemus fleet. Close quarters. When they start shooting at us, I want their ships as likely to be hit as we are. Then stand by,” Connor said.
“Yes, sir, plotting course and standing by,” Sergeant Edwards said.
The course appeared on the plot that showed on the main holoscreen. Connor engaged the straps on his chair and they came over his shoulders, securing him in place. He heard the same as the rest of the bridge crew strapped themselves in.
“General, Vemus ship on approach vector,” Lieutenant LaCroix said.
“Looks like they finally noticed us,” Connor said. “Comms, start broadcasting the Vemus signal, max capacity.”
“Yes, sir, broadcasting now,” Sergeant Boers said.
“Helm, you’re a go,” Connor said.
He felt a slight shudder through the bridge as their two remaining engines engaged and the Vigilant lurched forward.
“Tactical, stand by countermeasures and short-range weapons,” Connor said.
“Yes, sir, standing by countermeasures and short-range weapons,” Lieutenant LaCroix said.
Connor watched the plot. The tonnage of the Vemus ship heading toward them was similar to theirs, which led Connor to believe it was a heavy-cruiser class vessel.
“Helm, push our nose to starboard by three degrees and punch it,” Connor said. “All ahead full.”
“Ahead full, yes, sir,” the helmsman reported.
The ship began to shake as the engines came to full power and the Vigilant surged forward.
“Enemy ship hasn’t altered course,” Lieutenant LaCroix said.
Connor watched the plot. They were closing in on the ship. “Tactical, tag that target as alpha until we pass it. I need a firing solution for our remaining rail-cannons on that ship.”
“Yes, sir. Firing solution ready,” Lieutenant LaCroix said.
“Ops, any change with the enemy ship?” Connor asked.
“No, sir. Same heading and speed, sir,” Sergeant Browning said.
Connor was playing a hunch. He glanced at the countdown timer to intercept with the enemy ship. They were closing in.
“Fire, Lieutenant,” Connor said.
The rail-cannons on top of the ship began firing at the Vemus ship in rapid succession. The rail-cannon was a crude weapon that had been kept in service to appease a certain nostalgia of a bygone age where two ships would slug it out.
“Confirm multiple hits, sir,” Sergeant Browning reported.
The rail-cannons peppered the hull of the Vemus ship and then became silent as the two ships passed each other.
“Ops, monitor that ship and let me know when it alters course,” Connor said.
“That would be our effective range for broadcasting the Vemus signal,” Major Hayes said.
“Yes. Now the cat and mouse game begins,” Connor replied.
The Vemus fleet continued on toward New Earth, and the Vigilant was firing on another ship in the fleet before the alpha finally changed course.
“Can we boost the broadcast signal?” Connor asked.
“We’d need to divert more power to the array, sir,” Major Hayes said.
“Get someone from Engineering on it,” Connor said.
Major Hayes went to his own comlink and started speaking to someone from Engineering.
“General, multiple Vemus ships are altering their courses. It’s like they can’t get a lock on where they want to go,” Lieutenant LaCroix said.
Connor surveyed the plot with grim satisfaction. The Vemus ships on PRADIS appeared to be tracking toward multiple trajectories, none of which were where the Vigilant actually was.
“Sir, Engineering says they can route more power to the array but would need us to stop broadcasting in order to do it,” Major Hayes said.
“For how long?” Connor asked.
“More power to the comms array requires higher-capacity cabling to the power assembly for the array. They can lay out everything they need beforehand and perform the switch in fifteen minutes,” Major Hayes said.
Connor sighed. “Tell them to get started. Once everything’s in place, I’ll order the broadcast stopped.”
They needed to find a way to survive for fifteen minutes while utterly exposed to the Vemus fleet. Connor glanced over at the plot. Their current heading had them crossing the Vemus fleet formation in tighter quarters, making steady progress toward the front. There was no easy way out of this. If they retreated to a safe distance, the Vemus fleet would regroup and quickly recover, but if they stayed and stopped disrupting the Vemus control signal, they ran the risk of being destroyed while they were trying to increase the broadcast range. The Vemus knew they were here even if they couldn’t locate the Vigilant at this time.
There was no other way. Increasing the broadcast range of the Vemus signal was essential if they were going to protect New Earth.
“Sir, Engineering is ready for the cut over,” Major Hayes said.
Connor looked at the plot and their current position. “Helm, try to keep us near the center of the enemy fleet formation.”
He glanced around the bridge. They all knew that the odds of surviving what they were about to do were stacked against them. Even if they miraculously stayed alive for the fifteen minutes required to reroute more power to their comms array, they were well within range of the defense platforms. Either the Vemus ships or missiles from the CDF defense platforms would destroy them. They couldn’t even abandon ship. Their escape pods weren’t equipped to repel the harsh radiation from nuclear warheads and couldn’t get far enough away to escape. Only by remaining on board the Vigilant did they stand the slightest chance of survival, but more importantly, they’d stand a much better chance of delivering a crippling blow to the enemy.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The cargo carrier had slowed its velocity to a crawl to allow the Vemus fleet to catch up to it. Noah watched the plot, which the frustratingly slow ship’s computers had to update based on the data fee
ds sent back from the missile-defense platforms. There was probably at least a twenty-minute delay because the processing power of the Chmiel’s computing systems was nowhere near that of an actual warship. On a ship like the Vigilant, the data feeding the plot would be processed in almost real time.
“I still can’t figure out how he’s doing it,” Noah said, probably for the third time.
Kara stood next to him. “It’s like they can’t see him for some reason. General Gates likely found a way to throw off their sensors, but the range is limited.”
The Vemus forces held their formation along the edges of their approach, but the ships toward the interior were breaking formation as they pursued the Vigilant—at least they had been as of twenty minutes ago.
Noah glanced at the timer for the next data refresh and sighed heavily.
Captain Benson came over and stood beside them. “General Mallory just informed me that the three orbital defense platforms have been moved into position.”
“That took a while,” Noah said.
“They reside at the Lagrange points so the distance they had to cover was pretty great,” Captain Benson said with a shrug.
Noah shook his head. “Did you know they’re only partially outfitted?”
Kara glanced at him sharply. “What do you mean?”
Noah bobbed his head up and down. “There’s supposed to be a full complement of HADES IV missiles on those platforms. They have the anti-ship missile tubes but not the missiles. Resources were diverted elsewhere since we’d already completed the missile-defense platforms.”
“Governor Parish?” Captain Benson asked.
“The one and only. So the orbital defense platforms have a couple of rail-cannons each and one plasma-cannon each,” Noah said.
“What about the moon base where the shipyard is?” Captain Benson asked.
“There’s a CDF battleship carrier being constructed using the remaining resources from the Ark, but it’s nowhere near ready. Any defenses on New Earth’s moon will be on the wrong side of the planet by the time we get near it,” Noah said.
The timer on the main holoscreen dwindled down and the main plot started to update with new information. As the information refreshed, Noah’s eyes widened at the snapshot from twenty minutes ago that finally appeared on their screens. He stepped closer. The Vemus ships seemed to be converging on a single point of contact with rigid clarity.
“Whatever they were doing isn’t working anymore. You have to authorize the launch,” Kara said.
The remains of the Vemus fleet were well within range of the missile-defense platforms. If he authorized them to fire now they could destroy the Vigilant. Connor’s ship was in trouble.
“Even if we did fire on them now, it wouldn’t mean they’d be in time to make a difference,” Noah said.
Though Kara outranked him, he had operational authority over the defense platforms, so it was on him to execute the launch commands.
“You don’t know that. All the calculations in the world can’t tell you that. If you launch them now, at least they might have a fighting chance,” Kara said.
Noah walked back over to his terminal. He felt like he was on autopilot, as if someone else were moving his body and he was just along for the ride. He brought up the command module for the missile-defense platforms and hesitated. His mouth went dry and he glanced up at the plot.
Captain Benson walked over to him. “Your friends are on that ship?” he asked gently.
Noah’s throat became thick. “Yes,” he answered, his voice sounding husky. “They’re my family,” he said, thinking of Connor and Sean. He had other friends in the colony, but from their earliest days together a powerful connection had been forged among all of them, even Dr. Bishop, who had looked after him like an older sister. How could he face Lenora if he did this?
“What would they do in your place?” Captain Benson asked. His deep voice was soothing, but there was an edge to it.
Noah pressed his lips together tightly. He knew exactly what they would do. They’d push the damn button. They’d hate themselves, but they would do it. Noah glared at his terminal and authorized the missile-defense platforms to finally engage the enemy. He closed his eyes for a moment and whispered a prayer, pleading that his friends . . . his family . . . would somehow survive what he’d done. A rush of adrenaline surged through his veins and a deep-seated anger stretched throughout his chest. He wanted to scream and shake his fists above him, but he knew neither of those things would help.
“It’s done,” Noah said.
Now, they’d wait.
“Multiple bogies inbound, sir,” Lieutenant LaCroix said.
Connor cursed. “Helm, keep us in tight near that ship.”
When they’d stopped broadcasting the Vemus signal, their ships had quickly regrouped and targeted the Vigilant.
The Vemus ships used a powerful particle-beam cannon that melted deeply through their hull. The Vigilant was belching atmosphere from hundreds of hull breaches. Their only saving grace was being able to stay nearby a Vemus ship that had suffered tremendous damage from friendly fire. They peppered the hull with shots from their remaining rail-cannons and narrowly avoided the harrowing particle beams from their main batteries. They couldn’t stay anywhere long, and if an opportunity came for them to move to another Vemus ship, they took it.
Connor looked at the status of the comms array. It was still red. The area near the comms array had taken damage and there were engineering teams trying to fix it. They were well beyond the envelope for piloting a heavy cruiser. Sergeant Edwards’ skills as a helmsman were one of the reasons they were still alive.
“Sir, I’m seeing missile launches on PRADIS,” Lieutenant LaCroix said.
That was it; they were out of time. The missile-defense platforms had been engaged. They either stayed where they were and got destroyed or made a run for it and likely got torn apart by Vemus particle beams. Those weapons had been new when Connor was part of the NA Alliance military. There must have been developments in the years since the Ark left the Sol System.
He kept thinking about the beings they’d encountered on board the Indianapolis. Some were human-like but so much more. It was known that they were some type of virus or parasitic organism that came from Earth’s oceans and was able to target multiple species of mammals. The scientists had tried to stop the virus from spreading and made it worse. They had records they’d downloaded from the Indianapolis, but they hadn’t had time to analyze them. Connor had ordered the data stored on multiple comms drones that hadn’t been launched yet.
“How long until the missiles reach us?” Connor asked.
Lieutenant LaCroix updated the information on the main holoscreen. Not much time. The defense platforms were in close proximity. Given the capabilities of the NA Alliance military, Connor thought the Vemus would have made use of other weapons of war. This fleet relied on sheer numbers and large weapons like the particle-cannon. They didn’t use combat drones or short-range fighters, and Connor didn’t understand why that was the case.
“Sir, the comms array is coming back online,” Sergeant Boers said, her voice high with hope.
Connor swung his gaze to Major Hayes, who was already on a comlink with the engineering teams in the area.
“The system’s charging. Full power will be available in sixty seconds,” Major Hayes said.
Connor nodded. “Ops, confirm the range of the broadcast with the higher-yield energy available once we start boosting the signal.”
Connor waited for the capacitors to finish charging. “Comms, begin broadcast.”
The battered communications array on the Vigilant started pumping out the complex signal.
“Broadcast has started at known levels, increasing incrementally,” Sergeant Boers said.
“Helm, take us away from their shadow and stand by for evasive maneuvers,” Connor said.
“Taking us out, sir,” Sergeant Edwards said.
The Vigilant moved away from the
Vemus ship. Scans had indicated that it was a cruiser class, but there was evidence of smaller vessels that had been absorbed into the main hull.
“Vemus ships in the area are firing their weapons!” Lieutenant LaCroix said.
Connor felt a gasp catch in his throat.
“Sir, they’re firing blindly,” Sean said, frowning at the tactical screen.
“Put it on screen,” Connor said.
Bright flashes of charged particles being fired in rapid succession appeared on screen as if there were a lightning storm in space. Sean was right; the Vemus were firing blindly, banking on the off chance they might hit them, which meant they’d updated their tactics.
“Comms, boost the signal to maximum,” Connor said.
“Boosting signal to maximum, sir,” Sergeant Boers said.
“Tactical, focus our high-res optics on the ships farthest away. I want to know if they start firing their weapons,” Connor said.
Their current trajectory didn’t put them in the path of the Vemus weapons, but that could change at any moment. Connor watched the range of their broadcast leap across the plot as the more powerful signal doubled its range.
“Confirm additional ships firing their weapons. They’re hitting each other, sir,” Lieutenant LaCroix said.
“Helm, plot a course back to New Earth, best speed, but wait to execute,” Connor said.
“Yes, sir. Plotting course back to New Earth,” Sergeant Edwards said.
Connor waited.
Major Hayes glanced over at him. “Firing blindly isn’t going to cut it.”
“No, it won’t—” Connor began.
“Sir, Vemus ships within range of the broadcast are altering course,” Lieutenant LaCroix said.
Connor frowned at the PRADIS output. The CDF missiles were closing in on them. If they were going to live, they had to move.
“They’ve realized they’re getting cut off from each other and are trying to find us,” Connor said.
There was a bright flash as one Vemus ship’s particle beam cut into another. More of the same continued to appear on the screen. It was chaos.
“Helm, execute course, emergency!” Connor said.