The skeletal face of the armored Ch’Tauk appeared in the dust. Flashes of light from outside gave the shiny black armor a demonic glow as the creature stepped over the body of its partner and into the clearing center of the room. Emma turned her head, tears flowing from her eyes. The baby wailed at the noise as the Ch’Tauk raised its weapon. It gave a click in its own arcane language and Emma looked away.
A blast sounded, but instead of death, Emma heard the thump of a body fall. The Ch’Tauk had landed on its armored knees with a hole in its chest. For a moment, it seemed confused. It dropped the weapon and pitched forward into the dust. Emma stared at the body even as she heard the crunch of booted feet from the hall. She tried to rise up but the pain was overwhelming. As she slipped into what she believed would be her last sleep, she heard the voice of her Henry in her ear.
“Don’t worry,” it said as she lost consciousness. “I’m here.”
Alliance Courier Ship Kissinger
As the energy bled off into space, Farthing had his first look at the chaos surrounding planet Earth. Debris from damaged or destroyed ships circled the planet in clumps, aggregating as gravity and tidal forces forced them together into artificial satellites. His sensors registered Ch’Tauk vessels fighting Ch’Tauk vessels in orbital clashes which seemed to make no sense. Near the planet’s original satellite, a squad of Gizzeen vessels were engaged in the bombardment of a small group of ships attempting to evade. As he watched, one of the Gizzeen vessels ruptured and spun away as if hit by an invisible spear. Some of the enemy vessels were registering as friendly, and some were definitely not. In any case, he had no idea what to do next.
“Kissinger…” The voice of the marshal crackled as the Vadne fleet came out of their own vortex and shed their energy coronas. “What are the humans doing to the Ch’Tauk? They’re tearing each other apart.”
“I don’t think so,” the Vadne captain replied. “I’m sending you targeting information. I believe some of the Ch’Tauk are not what they seem. Scan for shield signatures and you will see.”
He waved to Ralep and the golden-skinned woman sent the information. In a few seconds, additional vortices opened all round them. The Alliance fleet which had come to their aid was not large, but it contained ships from nearly thirty races. Apparently commanded by the remains of Chang’s Third Fleet, the group of ships had acquired more fighters as they’d closed a bridge near Proxima Centauri. A message left on their computer system had directed them to Vadne and the defense of Farthing’s world. After that, it had been a simple matter to convince the home fleet to join and travel to Terra. A favor returned is an honorable act was one of the most highly sacred Vadne directives, and the marshal had been the first to volunteer.
“I’m taking the Vadne fleet towards the surface. We’ll take care of the Ch’Tauk,” the marshal said after a long moment. “You take the Alliance and find out what the Gizzeen are doing.”
“Affirmative,” Farthing replied, wincing as the pain from his injuries shocked his nerves. “Good hunting.”
Signing off, Farthing watched as the needle-like ships accelerated towards the largest clump of debris. Sparking electrical storms told the story of a recent explosion in space. If it was a vessel, it had been massive. If his mental calculations were correct, it could only have been the remains of the Trinity. The loss of the ship was a blow, but here he was, surrounded by hundreds of ships from dozens of worlds. Trinity had once represented a new beginning for the Alliance and the strength of numbers. Farthing realized the true strength lay not in her size or power, but in the view he had from his screen. The Alliance of old was gone, but a new entity was just beginning. The Gizzeen had done what no other enemy, including the Ch’Tauk, had been able to do. They had united a diverse galaxy against a common foe.
“Signal the Heru,” Farthing ordered. “Break into attack pattern Alpha One and attack the Gizzeen. I need wings four through seven on my tail. Whatever they are firing at, we need to defend.”
“Heru confirms,” Ralep replied. “All ships stand ready.”
“Ahead full, Mister Caesar,” Farthing commanded. “Once more into the breach…”
“Wrong play, but I get you,” the pilot replied. “Ahead full. Attack wings in formation. I’ve set course for the moon.”
The screen changed as the ship leapt forward towards the sole satellite. Even from here, Farthing could make out an exchange of fire between vessels on the surface of the powdery white planetoid and the enemy ships. Some of the long-legged vessels were close to the surface, bombarding the ships below with energy bolts. Other stayed farther afield. Long-range sensors were beginning to register a vast armada of Gizzeen ships waiting beyond the orbital plane. It would be these ships Farthing knew they would have to keep an eye out for. Gizzeen liked to watch before pouncing on prey. It was one of the few tactics they used he understood fully.
“Shields at maximum,” Farthing called. I’ll take fire controls this time.”
“Affirmative,” Caesar called back, tapping keys on his console. “Fire control transferred. I have full helm.”
Farthing’s console lit up as targeting reticules appeared. His engine readout and navigational display faded and were replaced by power levels and weapons system controls. He needed the better pilot on the helm this time, and he was feeling the urge to take on the enemy himself. He could still taste the blood of the Ch’Tauk Emperor on the air and it made his blood boil.
The seconds ticked away as the ships closed the distance. As his console turned green, Farthing opened fire with the Kissinger’s meager complement of weapons.
Plasma fire crackled over the hulls of the Gizzeen. Two of the ships began to ascend towards the incoming attack wing, but the rest stayed over the surface. The remainder of his attacking wing unleashed their weapons. Red-orange blasts of plasma were met with blue lightning arcs from the enemy. More of the plasma was getting through the kill zone than the electric arcs from the Gizzeen, but it was no even match. One of the Gizzeen began to list in space and the nearest attack squadron leapt on it. Ruptured armor plates peeled away as the creature beneath boiled under the onslaught of plasma energy. Two ships of the Alliance wing were caught in a cascade arc and blew apart, their oxygen flaring in space for nearly a second before the vacuum took even that light away.
Farthing zeroed in on the Tonal ships under attack. They were blocky and heavily armored and could take multiple hits from the Gizzeen weapons. Each was covered in the faint light of shields and was putting out an amazing amount of radio signals. A quick scan revealed they were sending signals to the faux Ch’Tauk ships fighting the real enemy.
“Telepresence?” Farthing called. “Nice trick if you can keep it up. These humans are remarkable.”
“Thank you,” Caesar said. “No disrespect intended, sir, but maybe you could shoot a few more bad guys?”
A shudder in the deck drew Farthing’s attention back his targeting screen. He fired off the cannons into the nearest Gizzeen ship. Again, the weapon was too low powered to penetrate the thick armor, but it softened the plating up enough for the next attack wing to swoop in. The remaining Gizzeen ships broke off their bombardment and began to rise into the battle. The remote ships immediately shot forward and away from the enemy vessels. Farthing wrinkled his nose at the sight, feeling relief for whoever was captaining those ships. In response, one of the enemy vessels tried to follow, but the little courier ship maneuvered into its path. The Gizzeen ship veered away from the moon and directly into the path of a strange black ship.
It was flat and barely registered on their sensors. Long projections broke away from the black ship and spiraled away, missiles launching directly into the belly of the Gizzeen beast. The black ship then opened up with cannons again and the living vessel was living no more. Farthing lent his own meager weapons to the fray and the Gizzeen ship tumbled away into a crater. As the black ship moved off, Farthing motioned for Caesar to follow.
“Open a channel to that ship,” he c
ommanded. “I want to know who is in charge.”
“They’ve already called us,” Ralep replied. “Uhm … they’re asking for someone named Fuzzy?”
“Connor Jakes…” Farthing said to himself. “I really hate that man.”
Sweet Liberty 2
“Thanks for the assist, Fuzzy,” Jakes said to the screen. “I could use a little more if ya still got it.”
“I prefer being addressed as Farthing, Captain Jakes,” the Vadne said in return. “And I will accept any help you can give.”
Connor smiled his broadest smile at the screen. The Vadne had his full crest up and appeared to still have green-black blood in his fur. The broadcast showing the captain holding the Ch’Tauk Emperor’s skull high above his head had come only moments ago. Seeing the tiny courier ship appear from a vortex with a Vadne/Alliance fleet in tow had been a welcome sight, but he hadn’t wanted to send a signal too early. The ship’s cloak was complete as long as he didn’t send a signal. Now he was exposed and in need of more help.
“I think we got their attention. Those big boys are startin’ to move in. I don’t suppose you got any more ships?”
“This is all that remained after defending my home world, but it should be sufficient for now,” Farthing replied, looking at his console as the ship came under fire again. “I believe they are attempting to gain our attention again. I must sign off. Good hunting, Captain Jakes.”
The screen blinked back to space again as the courier ship moved off. Mendel let out a huff of air as they watched the ship move.
“How do you like that?” the big man said. “We save his furry white butt and he can’t even stick around to watch our back.”
“Trust me,” Jakes said, turning to look at the gunner. “You don’t want that one standing at your back. Target anythin’ that looks like dinner and start shootin’.”
The big man smiled as he looked back at the screen. The ship jerked hard as a cascade blast struck amidships. The armor and ablative energy shields absorbed most of the damage again, but Jakes didn’t want to guess for how long they could hold out. He had designed this ship just for this kind of occasion, but it could only handle so much of the strange energy.
Jakes turned back to the screen and tried to gauge the enemy force. They were badly overmatched. Farthing’s ragtag fleet and Connor’s remote controlled Trojan horses were capable of holding the enemy off for a while, but it would not end well.
“Why are the stars moving?” Parker said from his console. “Doesn’t anyone else see this?”
Connor looked away from the battle at the stars. The small, explosives expert was right. The stars, normally distant and immutable, were beginning to wobble in the distance. Connor heard Melaina gasp and turned. She was looking intently at her own monitor with one hand over her mouth.
“Melaina?” Connor said. “What the hell’s goin’ on?”
“Connor, it’s happening again,” the woman replied. “They’re opening up another bridge. Look.”
Jakes turned to see the screen changing. Instead of the battle, Melaina had turned the image to face the sun. Instead of the steady yellow light of the star, a dark hole had begun to open. Blue-brown spots were swirling within, arcs of golden electric energy shooting out in all directions.
“I have incoming M-space vortices,” Tuxor called from his station. Multiple translations.”
“That’s got to be a rough ride,” Jakes said, still staring at the swirling mass of energy at the center of the sun. “Who is it this time? Santa Claus?”
“Alliance signals,” the Karisien replied. “It’s Zeus and the Alliance. By the markers there are hundreds of them coming through. All shapes and sizes.”
“Hot damn, the cavalry has arrived,” Jakes said. “Send them everything we got on this shindig and let’s start shootin’ whatever’s out there.”
“I’ve got another signal,” Tuxor said. “Broad spectrum to all ships.”
“Dalton does like to make an entrance,” Jakes said. “What does he want this time?”
“It’s not coming from the fleet, sir, but it’s Alliance.”
“Well, where’s it comin’ from, then?”
“The vortex, sir,” Tuxor said, looking up at Jakes in bewilderment. “It’s Resolute.”
35
Battleship Resolute
“Did it go through?”
“I don’t know,” Kama said. “The aperture is less than a micron wide. I’ve never tried sending across dimensions before.”
“Send it again,” Chang ordered as they crowded around the communications panel. “The aperture is widening. We should be getting some kind of response.”
“Aperture width won’t really have anything to do with it,” said Alice, standing behind both men with her arms crossed. “That’s just letting the signal through. It might only be one way. They probably can’t send from that end.”
Lee pushed away from Kama’s seat and stood unsteadily against his own. Chang turned away and walked across the upper bridge area, a scowl crossing his face. The ship had been getting dragged along the wake of the gravity collapse and now was drifting inside the orbit of this universe’s Earth. There was no trace of the rock that should have been here, and no sign of any of the inner planets. All that remained were the enemy ships and a lone battleship trying to call home.
“I refuse to believe we can do nothing to stop this,” Admiral Chang said. “Booth, what have we got left?”
The engineer sat at the rear console chomping on a cigar and tapping at keys that were unwilling to respond. He turned and looked at the two ship commanders with disgust.
“You know, when it was just one of ya, things were pretty bad,” the Scotsman said in a thick brogue. “Now that both of ya are here, it’s a bloody disaster. We’ve got less than ten percent shield power left on a good day, and nothing much in the way of engines. I can manage one good full power burst, but that won’t get us far. We’ve got no weapons and no M-space generator. Our main computer is about as effective as the corner library, and the atmosphere processors smell like wet Vadne.”
Lee turned away from Kama then and walked around the rail back to the command well. He still hadn’t brought himself to sit in the chair, but being closer to the navigation panel made him feel better. Alice made a move to join him but stopped. He had bent over the pilot station in a clear expression of concentration. She could feel his mind working, but also knew he doubted himself.
Chang returned to the communications station and looked back at the panel. They had sent a burst message through the bridge but had not heard any response as of yet. It was frustrating to be this close and not be able to do anything.
“What about that burst?” Lee asked, pulling up what little data the ship could retrieve. “If we shut everything off—life support, projection screens and anything left in the work pods—we may be able to send it through the M-space generator and punch a hole through that bridge.”
“You don’t get it, ya daft bastard,” Booth said, rising to stare down the captain. “When I said we were running at minimal power, I meant it. There’s nothing left to run through anything, much less that cracked egg down in the engineering hold.”
“The M-space generator is dry,” Alice added, not wanting to talk down to Lee but needing to explain. “If we try running anything through that system it’ll go up like a—”
“Bomb,” Chang finished. “It might work, Lee.”
“What might work?” Josh said, looking up at his captain. “Please don’t tell me we’re going to fly through those ships out there in a ship that can barely power the lights. They’ll tear us apart before we get anywhere near that bridge.”
“Alice,” Lee said, “what happened when the first bridge closed? Ronald said I was blown back by the wash. What did that mean?”
“In the collapse of the matrix, the energy had nowhere to go but back to where it came from. The ships on this side were probably destroyed in the reversed flow.”
�
�So closing the bridge will take out these colony ships?”
“It also killed you,” Alice said, anger flaring in her voice. “If you hadn’t been going near light speed you’d really be dead and I wouldn’t be here to argue with you. We can’t go nearly that fast in this ship.”
“We won’t need to be going fast,” Chang said, stopping the woman’s rage with a calm voice. “Like you said, it’ll be a one way trip.”
Chang’s statement stopped the argument cold. The realization they were not returning home had never occurred to Alice. In her mind, they had been going on one of Lee’s quests where the two of them would ride Resolute back in a blaze of glory. Stating out loud they wouldn’t make it back seemed unthinkable, but it was the only plan which made sense.
“We don’t have one of those fancy bombs,” Josh said quietly. “How are we going to collapse the bridge?”
“The bomb is just a fancy case,” Lee said, looking around the small bridge at his crew. “What’s important is the warhead and we have one of those.”
“Lee, we can’t do this,” Alice said, her mind struggling to find an equation she believed would save them. “There has to be another way. Kama, send another signal. Tell them what’s coming again. I can help find a way to—”
“Don’t bother,” Lee said. “At the rate that thing is opening, they won’t have time. Kama, you can send another message through if you can. In fact, send it continuously. Give them everything we have on what we’re seeing. If we can’t close the hole, then maybe we can make them ready.”
“It’s still going to be a problem getting there,” Goldstein repeated. “The Gizzeen may be too busy to come after us now, but when we start moving they’ll come at us fast.”
Resolute Glory (The War for Terra Book 8) Page 28