“Hey, don't worry about it,” Griz said to him.
“Huh?”
“You have that look on your face. The one that says you think we're going to get picked off without even firing a shot.”
Kei frowned. “You can tell that from my expression?”
Griz grinned. “What if I say yes?
“Don't believe him. He only knows that because it's what we're all thinking,” Salim said.
“We're not going down without a fight. We've been in tight spots before. Even if we have to try something crazy to get ourselves out of it.”
“SO LET me get this straight. You want us to orbit around the asteroid, take another hit on our shields while we're near full power, then make a micro-jump through wormhole space so that we're right on top of them while they're recharging their main cannon?” Mirko asked. “You do realize that they have other weapons.”
“Which is what the rest of the shield is for.”
“If we get on top of them then we still need to have some way to kill them. Or drive them off, at least.”
“That's what we have torpedoes for. We can launch a full spread onto their hull. They move too slowly to activate the shields, and they're strong enough to inflict serious damage. Their point defense systems won't be active if we do it immediately.”
Mirko shook his head. “Pick the most insane plan. We could stand off and hit them with the missile launchers.”
“That's not going to work against a ship this size with that many shields. We'd never get past it before it recharges. And we can't afford to give up position to them. This will work. It's worked before for others.”
“It has,” Cheryl shrugged.
“You know why it's only been used a few times, right? Because it's extremely difficult to accomplish. What if we're off when we come out of the jump?”
“Then we gun the engines and we leave,” Nina said. “We'll leave ourselves an escape route.”
Mirko didn't protest any further. They'd need to push the reactors to their maximum capacity in order to pull this off. If the enemy ship missed its first shot they'd be in good shape, but if not then the Starlight would have power issues. They'd need to make a jump with the wormhole borer, keep their shields up while being hit at point-blank range, and still conserve enough energy to gun the engines if they needed to flee.
They could probably manage it with the ship's bank of fusion reactors, but it would be very, very close. Their margin of error was razor-thin.
“What's our decision?” Cheryl asked.
“We're making the jump,” Nina said firmly. “That's our only chance to fend them off. If we don't then Eon Path will have control of this area of space, and whatever's inside of the asteroid is theirs as well.”
Mirko wanted to argue the point further, but Nina wouldn't hear it. He leaned back in his chair and exhaled.
“Like this is any more dangerous than the missions you've gone on,” she said. A grin flashed briefly across her face.
“No, but I thought those days were over,” he said.
“We will have the element of surprise,” Bradley pointed out.
“Let's hope that their ship crews are second-rate as well,” Cheryl said. “The jump might surprise them enough to let us get a few good hits in.”
“We'll manage,” Nina said. She contacted Griz and let him know the plan.
“Well, that's not quite what I was expecting, but we'll go with that,” he replied. “We'll be ready to launch on your signal.”
“I've prepared all torpedo tubes for firing on your signal,” IVIN said.
“If we pull this off, we might be able to kill it outright,” Bradley said.
“Thirty seconds from jump point,” Cheryl said. “Shields at maximum.”
Mirko took a deep breath.
“WELL GRIZ, is this crazy enough for you?” Salim asked.
“I've seen worse.”
“Yeah, but this is getting pretty close to worse.”
“It's a recognized maneuver,” Griz said.
That was true, but Kei had never seen it pulled off before. It was certainly possible, but it required precise timing and a ton of luck. Jump computers weren't built for that kind of close-range maneuver, so it had to be performed manually. The ship could reduce its speed to the absolute minimum as they jumped to make it easier, but that still made the maneuver far easier said than done. It existed mostly as a theoretical exercise and a challenge for pilots in the simulators.
If they pulled it off they'd be in perfect position to blast the enemy. If not then they'd likely jump too far and risk being cut off from their goal. If they were extremely unlucky they might end up colliding with the enemy ship…
“Ten seconds until jump,” IVIN intoned over the intercom.
“If this goes badly, then it's been a pleasure serving with you all,” Rappa grinned.
“Yeah, thanks you jinx.”
Kei took a deep breath.
LAUREN HEARD the announcement and felt the ship begin to vibrate. Jumping into wormhole space. Were they giving up on holding out against the enemy? She couldn't blame them if they had, but it meant giving up the asteroid to Eon Path.
Another blast rocked the ship. She held on tightly to her restraints and closed her eyes, wondering if they'd survive the nest few minutes. At this point jumping away was probably the best course of action, but...
All this time and effort, and someone else would take it for themselves. The frustration welled up inside of her. She wanted to lash out at the enemy, to blast them into dust for interfering and causing so much destruction. How many more people needed to die over this?
But that was completely out of her hands. If only-
She felt the ship vibrate again, almost like it was preparing to decelerate and come out of wormhole space. Why? They had barely made the jump. At the most they'd only be a few hundred miles away by now. Was there something else at work?
THE SHUTTERS PULLED BACK, and Mirko noted their position. Whether by luck or by skill Cheryl had managed to do it. They had made a precise jump and come out of wormhole space at their destination.
The battlecruiser loomed to port, less than six hundred yards from them. Its guns remained silent, likely due to the element of surprise, but they wouldn't stay that way.
“As much power as possible to shields,” Nina ordered. “Griz? Kill it.”
TORPEDOES SLIPPED across the void of space and slammed into the side of the enemy ship. Kei watched with satisfaction as explosions bloomed across the hull of the battlecruiser. He saw the shields begin to flicker.
“Do we hit them with more?” Griz asked.
“Negative on that. We need to restore the shields,” Nina said.
“We have a perfect chance to kill it,” Salim said quietly.
Kei agreed, but he saw her point. Even badly wounded, the enemy ship could still lash out and cause severe damage. After the last mass driver shot the Starlight needed to recover, and energy was at a premium right now. If they-
“Don't worry about that, Arash” Elsner said, pointed at part of the video feed in front of him. “One of the torpedoes got a good hit. If it's where I think-”
The enemy battlecruiser suddenly flared its engines and sped away, apparently trying to escape the scene. That reaction seemed to stun everyone present. Kei watched it flee. It took a few seconds for it to get up to speed, but the Starlight probably couldn't turn fast enough to catch it. And…
Explosions began blossoming along the length of the ship.
“Idiots,” Elsner said, shaking his head. “The captain and the damage-control officer just got everyone aboard killed.”
Kei watched with morbid fascination as the ship began to break apart, rocked with more explosions. The void of space swallowed all sound, at least until the shockwaves passed over the Starlight. They were strong enough to rock the yacht, even though the shields managed to hold against them.
“What happened?” he asked Elsner.
“Simple. Our torpedoes
damaged the keel. If you look closely you can see the ship start to deform and bend a bit when the torpedoes hit. When they accelerated it put too much stress on the keel, and that made the entire ship collapse.”
“Wouldn't that have just broken it in half without all the fireworks?” Salim asked.
“No, not if the breaking is tearing apart systems and other things. Those are what's catching on fire and exploding.”
Kei looked back at the image of the battlecruiser breaking apart. So much destruction, so many victims trapped out in the void of space. And they didn't have the time or capability to rescue any of them.
That thought tempered his feelings of triumph somewhat.
“GOOD WORK EVERYONE,” Nina said. “That was pretty unexpected, but we managed to pull through. And Cheryl, I think you've earned yourself a pretty hefty bonus when we get back to Goethe Prime.”
“Glad to hear it,” the pilot answered, a relieved smile on her face.
Nina shared that feeling. This was one of the few times she felt something could have gone drastically wrong. Eon Path could have won here and how, but with a combination of skill, luck, and daring they managed to make it through relatively unscathed.
“Um,” Bradley suddenly spoke up.
Nina turned toward her. “What is it?”
She turned around, a grim look on her face.
“We may have a problem.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“What do you mean we might have a problem?” Nina demanded.
Mirko looked out of the bridge windows at the rapidly-disintegrating enemy ship.
“Are you talking about them?”
“No, not them. I didn't notice it because we were in the middle of a battle, but when we came around the asteroid several signatures appeared on our scanners,” Bradley said.
“Several?”
“Four of them. And judging from the size of them they look like landing shuttles.”
Mirko looked over at Nina. “We may have been duped.”
“If we were then that's a very expensive distraction,” Nina said, pointing at the battlecruiser. “That couldn't have been cheap, even if they stole the thing. They still needed to crew and supply the thing.”
“Maybe they weren't planning on losing it,” Mirko said. “That might be why they tried to turn tail and run as soon as they took serious damage.”
“Hm. Maybe.”
Mirko looked over at Bradley's station. “Where were they headed?”
“Toward the part of the asteroid that we were excavating.”
“And the shuttles didn't show up on our scanners when we were dealing with the battlecruiser?”
“They did, but I didn't see them. They came from another direction.”
“Did you notice them IVIN?” Nina asked.
“Of course. But I didn't think it was wise to distract you given the circumstances. They weren't an immediate threat to us.”
She sighed. “I guess I can't argue with that.”
“So they must have come from somewhere else,” Mirko mused aloud. “Probably a stealth ship. That's more along the lines of what I'd have thought they'd use. So they sent the battlecruiser to draw our attention, and once we were engaged they deployed their force from the shuttles.”
“Completely outplayed,” Nina said, the frustration evident in her voice.
“Not necessarily,” Mirko said. “We still have to dig the rest of the way. Or at least they do. That will buy us some time. And we still have our drones and the shipborne weapons.”
“Of course, now we have to deal with a stealth ship out there somewhere,” Bradley said. “Who knows what they're carrying.”
“If they could kill us then they would have tried to jump us while we were distracted by the battlecruiser. Why waste time fooling around when you can go for the kill?” Mirko asked.
He heard Nina sigh. “IVIN, turn the artificial gravity on and keep our shields at half power. Start tracking the enemy so we know what they're doing.”
“Understood.”
“What do I do?” Mirko asked as the gravity came back on and he unstrapped himself from his chair.
“IVIN, how many troops would a shuttle that size carry?”
“Estimated? Probably between eighty and one hundred.”
“And there's four of them. I'd say the best thing you can do is to figure out how we're going to get past an entire battalion on the surface with the resources we have on-hand.”
Mirko nodded. “Well then. I guess I'd better get started.
“I'M GOING to give it to you all straight,” Nina said. “We're in a tight spot right now, even after killing the battlecruiser. Good job with that kill, by the way. We wouldn't even be in this good of a spot without that.”
“So, tight spot,” Griz said.
Kei leaned back in his chair, listening intently. Another day, another adventure filled with danger. The only question was what this particular instance entailed.
He hadn't known what he was getting into when he first joined the bodyguard cadre. Kei thought he'd be escorting a dignitary, fending off crowds and maybe a knife-wielding crazy at worst. That was the reputation that came with Skare Interstellar's bodyguard jobs, and it was true enough for the ones that stuck to the core worlds.
But out on the frontier danger lurked around every corner. Kei was no stranger to deadly scenarios, but the number of times he had been in serious danger over the last few months surprised him. At least the pay was good.
“Tight spot,” Nina said. “Right. Well, it's like this. Apparently that battlecruiser was a distraction. Once we were finished fighting Bradley spotted something that was flagged on the sensors. Four signatures appeared on the other side of the asteroid and headed toward the excavation site.”
“Just appeared?”
Elsner rubbed his chin. “If they're the size of a shuttle…”
“They were.”
“Then they didn't appear out of nowhere. There has to be another ship.”
“Naturally. But we're probably not going to be able to find it. I'm almost completely certain that it's a stealth ship.”
Kei frowned. That meant it had to be of decent size to carry all the systems needed to cloak its presence, and that meant it could transport a fair amount of personnel.
“How big was the landing force?” Gilroy asked.
“According to IVIN the transports are built to carry between eighty and one hundred troops. So right now we think we're dealing with something around battalion strength, and we're still trying to figure out what they brought with them,” Nina said. “So this is a real problem.”
“We can always bombard them from orbit,” Griz said.
Salim spoke up. “Can we? Can we do that without blasting the entrance to pieces?”
“I'd say that's a fair bet,” Elsner said. “I was talking to Kei about it when we were down on the surface. Whatever's inside has been there for hundreds of thousands of years, and I don't think it was originally an asteroid. I've looked over scans, and I don't think that it's made of anything we can identify. Who knows how strong it might be?”
“Can we afford to gamble on that?”
“The bigger problem is that they probably brought portable shield generators with them,” Nina said. “They'd be fools not to.”
Kei said, “Wouldn't they have thought that the battlecruiser was enough to drive us off?”
“Maybe, and I think that was their plan. But they'd have to be especially stupid to not have a backup plan. So we can test it out when we come around, but they have shields. I'd bank on that.”
“The second question is where the other ship is hanging out,” Gilroy said. “They're going to need it if they want to leave this spot, because there's no way that a shuttle can carry a wormhole borer.”
Elsner nodded. “And if it's a stealth ship then it needs to dissipate its thermal storage at some point.”
Kei remembered the explanation he'd been given while aboard a stealth ship on it
s way to execute a mission. The vacuum of space acted as an insulator, and ships needed to dissipate the heat into the void. That made tracking by thermal signature relatively simple.
Stealth ships overcame that problem by storing their heat emissions in thermal banks, along with optical camouflage. It allowed them to operate virtually unseen, but there were limits to the technology. Like personal active camouflage, the shipborne models also restricted vision. More importantly, the thermal banks had their limits, and if they weren't dissipated at some point they would overload and cook everyone and everything inside the ship.
The enemy stealth ship faced that dilemma. If they remained in the area they likely had to stay hidden, because the Starlight had more than enough firepower to kill them. But as soon as they needed to empty their thermal banks they either needed to leave or risk being blasted when their signature lit up their sensors.
“Who knows how long that will take?” Nina said. “Who knows what model they're using? And anyhow, can we be sure that they're even still here? They might have left the area and are planning on coming back later. The longer we give them the more time the ground team has to excavate. We were almost all the way through before the enemy showed up.”
Griz leaned forward and placed one of his elbows on the table. “So you want to get down there and kill the ground unit. Us against an entire battalion, even with drone support? That's not going to be easy.”
“Of course not. And that's insane. There's no cover down there. That makes it suicide, even with air support,” Nina said. “That's not what we're doing.”
“So there's another option?”
“I think so. Getting past the defenses and into the complex. We don't have to kill them all. We just need to get past them. We can blast them all later.”
“You know how many problems we're going to need to deal with on the way.”
Kei started listing them off in his head. First they needed to get down to the surface intact. Once they reached it they needed to fight their way to the entrance, and it had to be open. That meant waiting for the enemy to finish their excavation, and that gave Eon Path enough time to send their own teams inside. They'd have to fight them off, along with any other teams that the terrorists sent in after them.
Eon Gate (The Eon Pentalogy Book 1) Page 15