by G J Ogden
Sterling shook his head, feeling his muscles tense up and adrenalin surge through his veins. “The Sa’Nerra aren’t interested in peace or talking,” he spat, scarcely able to believe what was happening. “If we go on the back foot now, the Sa’Nerra will surge out of the Void and crush us like bugs.”
“That’s why I need you to find out what they’re building, Captain,” said Griffin, seeming to draw from Sterling’s energy and thirst for combat. “Get the evidence I need to show the council the Sa’Nerra are gearing up for an invasion.”
Commander Banks tapped her neural interface to close the link to the ship’s crew then hurried back to Sterling’s side. Sterling could even observe the precise moment his first-officer had entered the neural jamming field from the sudden, pained look in her eyes. Sterling then turned to see the Invictus powering up through the window of the observation deck.
“And what about the Imperium, sir?” Banks asked the Admiral. Sterling could see that she was as eager to get back into space as he was. Her energy was infectious. “Should we attempt to find them?”
“If you can recover the Imperium without risk to the Invictus then do so,” replied the Admiral. Then her eyes sharpened and her lined faced became harder than diamond. “Otherwise, destroy it with all hands on-board. That is an Omega Directive.” Griffin then fixed her steely eyes onto Sterling. “Are we clear, Captain Sterling? I will tolerate no noble rescues this time.”
Sterling nodded. “Perfectly clear, Admiral,” he replied, smartly. He didn’t like it, but he also couldn’t deny it was the right thing to do. The Imperium was small, but it was also a powerhouse. Should it fall into Sa’Nerran hands, it could surge through the apertures, potentially avoiding the watchful cannons of the gatekeepers, and wreak havoc before it was finally taken down.
“Then you have your orders, Captain,” said Admiral Griffin. She tapped the device attached to her wrist, causing the same brief sensation of vertigo to return, before turning on her heels and marching out of the observation lounge.
Chapter 17
A surge into the unknown
Captain Lucas Sterling tapped his finger on the side of his console and anxiously peered out through the viewscreen at the flashing beacons surrounding the aperture. He knew that this aperture was, structurally speaking, no different to any of the dozens of other apertures he regularly surged through. However, there was something unique about it. It was the last aperture that humanity had ever constructed. It was the aperture that had surged the human race into Sa’Nerran space. And it was the aperture that, indirectly, caused the fifty-year war that Fleet was now losing. Every other aperture beyond the interplanetary gateway that hung in space in front of the Invictus was engineered by the warmongering alien race. It was like a border crossing of sorts, except there were no guards or papers, and also no guarantees of what might lie on the other side.
“Approaching the aperture threshold now, Captain,” Ensign Keller announced. “Co-ordinates for star system Void quebec two, zulu two, dash two-eight-six, Lima, locked in and holding,” the helmsman continued. Keller had read off the string of numbers and letters like he was reading from a phone book.
“Snappy name,” said Commander Banks, smiling.
“Let’s hope the system is a boring as it sounds,” replied Sterling, though he suspected this was wishful thinking.
“We’re in position to surge, Captain,” said Ensign Keller, glancing over his shoulder to look at Sterling.
“We have one contact on the scanner,” said Banks from her station beside the captain’s console. “It’s a light freighter of some kind. Probably a Void Pirate.”
“Are they heading our way?” asked Sterling, still tapping his finger on the side of his console. Hundreds of thousands of people still lived inside the Void, on the planets and frontier outposts left behind after the start of the war. Cut off from Earth and the Fleet, they’d formed their own community of sorts. However, it was a mostly lawless society, where it was literally every man and woman for themselves. If you were lucky enough to own a ship – or be able to salvage one of the many wrecks from the war - piracy was a good way to make a living. It was also a good way to get yourself killed, especially if you were bold enough to take on a Fleet warship.
Banks was quiet for a moment while she studied the readings, then shook her head. “No, they’re heading away, on course to the entry aperture,” she said, lifting her eyes from the console to look at Sterling. “Looks like they’re not desperate or stupid enough to pick a fight with us today.”
Sterling nodded. “Note their last position and trajectory and log the vessel in case we run into it on the way back,” he said. “It may just be waiting until we head home again. A battle-damaged ship makes for easier pickings.”
“Aye, Captain,” said Banks, returning to work at her console.
Sterling then blew out his cheeks and turned to Lieutenant Shade. “Take us to battle stations, Lieutenant,” he said, meeting the weapons officers’ eyes, which were as cool and emotionless as always. Shade acknowledged the order then the bridge darkened and red strip lights at floor level cast a crimson hue over her face. Sterling then faced the viewscreen and stood tall. He didn’t enjoy making speeches, and didn’t believe himself to be very good at them. However, considering where they were about to go, he wanted the crew to be clear on their orders, and on the dangers that lay ahead.
“We’re about to surge deep into the Sa’Nerran half of the Void, further than we’ve ever gone before,” said Sterling, causing all eyes to fall on him. “The aliens are building a new ship of war. A new weapon designed to crush the Fleet and humanity. We won’t allow that to happen.” Suddenly, Sterling’s thoughts were filled with Captain McQueen and her crew, and what the Omega Directive would require him to do should it turn out the Imperium had been turned. “The Imperium is also out there somewhere,” Sterling continued, rallying his thoughts. “If we can, we’ll bring them home with us. If not, we’ll take them down.” Sterling then sucked in a lungful of the ship’s cool, recycled air and let it out slowly, meeting the eyes of each of his bridge crew in turn. All of them peered back at him, displaying the courage and steadfastness he’d come to expect. “The Omega Directive is in effect,” Sterling announced. The words were chilling even coming out of his own mouth. “Let’s hope it’s not needed.” He then turned to Ensign Keller, whose gaze was fixed on his captain, awaiting the final order. “Take us in, Ensign,” Sterling said.
Keller called out a crisp acknowledgment then eased the Invictus forward. Sterling braced himself, knowing that it would be a long surge. He had ordered Keller to plot a surge vector that would take them far beyond Captain McQueen’s surge exit point. His reasoning had been that if the Imperium had been captured, the Sa’Nerra would be expecting a rescue party to enter the system, and be lying in wait. Pushing their surge boundary was not without risk, however. The further beyond the safe surge limit of the vessel, the more unpredictable the end coordinates became. It was like trying to throw a baseball too hard and too fast and losing control. The distance achieved might still be greater than a more measured throw, but where the ball ended up was anyone’s guess.
The Invictus slipped beyond the flashing beacons that marked the perimeter of the gateway. Then Sterling felt the universe collapse into the peaceful nothingness that existed in the space between apertures. His thoughts drifted and he found himself on the bridge of the Fleet Dreadnaught Hammer, aiming his plasma pistol at Ariel Gunn.
“Ariel, get out of the way…” Sterling heard himself saying, though this time he sounded angry, not desperate. Then his weapon fizzed and the head of his former colleague and friend was blasted clean off. It was like his nightmare all over again, except somehow it felt more real, like he was inside his own memory.
No, I won’t let you torment me! Sterling thought, pushing the headless image of Ariel Gunn to the far depths of his mind. It was your choice. Your mistake. I did what I had to do. And if I had a do-over, I’d make
the same damn choice again!
The bridge of the Invictus then rushed back in around him and Sterling fell forward, just managing to catch the corners of his console. The soft red glow from the battle stations lights flooded into his eyes and he felt suddenly queasy. Then an alert blared out, assaulting his ears like a foghorn. He peered up at the viewscreen and saw that they’d emerged from the aperture inside the ring system of a planet.
“Divert power to regenerative armor!” Sterling called out as rocks and clumps of ice hammered into their hull. Sterling’s eyes then widened as a lump of frozen rock and ice the size of a light freighter approached them. He turned to Lieutenant Shade, though he could already tell she was alert to the danger. “Lieutenant, point defense guns to maximum,” he ordered. Shade acknowledged the command then moments later a swarm of weapons fire erupted from the Invictus, creating a volatile shield around the ship. “Shoot anything big enough to cause us a problem. Your discretion,” he added, staring anxiously out at the giant boulder ahead of them.
“Aye, Captain,” replied Shade, still as cool as ice tea.
The forward plasma railguns erupted into action, pulverizing the frozen boulder with a single volley. However, Sterling could see on the viewscreen and on his console that thousands more rocks just like it or bigger were swirling all around them.
“Ensign Keller, I need you to find us a big-ass rock and land us on it,” Sterling called out to his helmsman. “Any port in a storm, you understand?”
“Aye, sir,” replied Keller, his fingers working the helm controls like a virtuoso pianist.
The Invictus turned hard, and Sterling again found himself grasping the console to steady himself. A clump of rock the size of a shopping mall came into view dead ahead. It looked like a misshapen avocado that had been cut in half and the stone removed. Sterling then realized where his helmsman was taking them.
“Are you heading where I think you’re heading, Ensign?” asked Sterling, shooting an anxious glance across to Commander Banks. However, she appeared to be as much intrigued by Keller’s apparent destination as she was perturbed by it.
“Any port in a storm, Captain,” Keller replied, adjusting the pitch and roll of the ship to align with the neat-looking hole in the center of the massive rock.
Sterling tapped his neural interface and opened his mind to everyone on the ship. “All hands, brace for impact,” Sterling announced, his mental voice conveying urgency, but also calm.
Meanwhile, Keller had successfully managed to align the rotation of the Invictus with that of the ring fragment. That maneuver alone would have been worthy of celebration, but the ensign had more to do yet. Keller fired the thrusters to arrest their still rapid approach. Sterling felt his heart leap into his mouth as a hard thump resounded through the deck, throwing him off balance again. Another alert blared out and Sterling saw the hull stress indicator flash up on his panel. Then the alarm wail ceased and the dozen red lights on his board all slowly blinked away.
“We’re down, Captain,” shouted Keller, more than a little breathlessly. “Sorry for the rough landing, sir.”
Sterling almost laughed. “I’ll take a rough landing over been smashed like an egg, Ensign. Well done,” replied Sterling. Then he looked out through the viewscreen at the dense mass of rock and ice that comprised the ring system and blew out a sigh. “Now, any idea where the hell we are?”
Commander Banks had already been working on that problem and answered immediately.
“We’re inside the ring system of the fifth planet,” Banks said, throwing up a rudimentary star chart onto the viewscreen. “Based on the very limited scan data we have so far, the Sa’Nerran shipyard is on the far side of this planet.” Banks was then silent for a moment while she worked her console before she shook her head and cursed under her breath. “From what I can tell, the shipyard has been constructed inside the gap between the planet’s a-ring and the outermost ring. There appears to be a high concentration of shepherd moons in that region, but until we get closer, that’s all we know.”
Sterling nodded. “Launch a probe to survey the ring system, so we know where the hell we’re going and what we’re dealing with,” he said. “I want an analysis in one hour. For now, we sit tight and wait for any damage to our armor to regenerate.”
The crew all acknowledged the order and set to work. Sterling rested forward on his console, again tapping the side of the smooth metal panel with his finger. Then he glanced at Banks and activated his neural interface.
“Well, that was almost the shortest mission in Fleet history,” Sterling called out to his first-officer in his mind.
Sterling’s tone had been playful and Banks responded with a smile. Others might have considered Sterling’s comment to be an unusually dark and inappropriate response to their near-death experience. However, both he and Banks had learned to find perverse amusement in any wild twist of fate whenever it benefited them. And this had been a happy accident.
“We couldn’t have picked a better surge exit point if we’d tried,” Banks replied, also appearing to recognize their stroke of fortune. “This ring system provides perfect camouflage, which is probably why they built the shipyard here in the first place. If we hadn’t surged inside it, we might never have found the installation at all. Even better, all this swirling rock and ice will have blinded the Sa’Nerra to our arrival.”
Sterling nodded and again peered out at the mass of rock and ice that was spinning around them. “The only problem is that we also don’t know how many of those alien bastards are camped out in this system too,” he replied.
Banks' console chimed an alert and she checked the new information that was flooding in from the probe they’d launched. Sterling was still connected to Banks through their neural link, and he could feel the anxiety grip her, like a vice gently squeezing her brain.
“Whatever they’re building out here is the least of our concerns right now,” said Banks over their link.
Sterling checked the new data on his own console and the meaning of Banks’ statement became crystal clear. Hanging in space in front of the aperture that led back into the Fleet-half of the Void was not just a squadron of Sa’Nerran warships, but an entire strike group. It was comprised of a squadron of six Skirmishers and four of the latest phase-three Destroyers, led by a single Heavy Destroyer. It was not an uncommon formation of Sa’Nerran ships, but there was one aspect about the strike force that made it uniquely dangerous. The lead vessel was one that Sterling had come across before, as had dozens of other Fleet ships. It was a bruised and battle-scarred beast that was credited with the destruction of forty-six Fleet warships; more than any other ship on either side of the war. Officially, its designation was Sa’Nerran Heavy Destroyer M4-U1. To every front-line crew member in the fleet, it was simply known as MAUL.
Chapter 18
A dark new discovery
Ensign Kieran Keller eased the Invictus toward the Sa’Nerran shipyard, navigating through the maze of rock and ice inside the ring system of the fifth planet. Fortunately, the Sa’Nerran strike group had remained ignorant of the Invictus and its stealthy progress toward the secret installation. The group of warships had remained at the mouth of the aperture, waiting for an unsuspecting Fleet vessel or taskforce to surge through it. However, the strike group, and its formidable lead warship, was a problem for another time, Sterling had told himself. Their priority was to learn more about the new Sa’Nerran vessel that was under construction inside the ring system of the Saturn-sized planet.
“Steady as she goes, Ensign,” said Sterling, as another chunk of rock bounced off their hull. The alien shipyard should have already been visible on the viewscreen, but the sheer mass of material in front of them was blinding their view of it.
“Aye, Captain,” replied Keller, whose hands and fingers had been a near-constant flurry of action for the last thirty minutes. “I’m almost through to the gap, sir,” Keller continued. “The stellar material is particularly dense around the edge of t
he ring.”
Sterling tapped his finger impatiently on the side of his console, occasionally glancing across to Commander Banks. Creeping around in the shadows was not his style, and he could see from the tension in his first officer’s shoulders and the uneasy look in her eyes that she felt the same way.
“Coming into position now, sir,” said Ensign Keller.
Sterling looked out through the viewscreen and saw the mass of rock finally begin to clear. “Hold position just on the fringe of the ring, Ensign,” said Sterling. He then turned to Lieutenant Shade. “Hold fire on the point defense guns, unless absolutely necessary, Lieutenant. I don’t want to tip off the Sa’Nerra to our presence. If we can take the hit then take the hit.”
“Aye Captain,” Shade replied, in chorus with a series of thumps to the hull from flying rocks and ice.
Ensign Keller finished maneuvering the Invictus into position at the edge of the ring and Sterling finally got his first clear look at the shipyard. It was so close that he didn’t even need to magnify the image on the viewscreen.
“Now that is a big ship,” said Commander Banks, flicking her eyes from the readings flooding her console to the viewscreen and back again. “That monster is more than eleven thousand meters long. What the hell do they need a ship that big for? It would be as maneuverable as an asteroid.”
Sterling studied the vessel on the viewscreen, occasionally glancing down to the more intricate readouts on his console. More than half of the ship appeared to be given over to a large tubular section running through the center line. He tapped his neural interface and opened a link to Lieutenant Commander Crow, allowing the rest of the bridge crew to monitor the conversation.
“Lieutenant Commander Crow, what do you make of that ship, and the center section in particular?” Sterling asked.
Crow’s voice then filled his mind. “I’m unable to get a detailed scan from this range, sir, but from what I can tell, it looks like an aperture tunneling array.”