“You collapsed, just like that. Wham. I thought you’d been pole-axed.”
“Perhaps I had,” murmured Steg. He raised himself groggily and the medic helped him stand. “Thanks. I think I’m OK, now.”
The medic departed and Steg turned to Denke.
“Do you have that Xesset page?”
Denke handed it over without comment. He watched with interest, aware something had almost overwhelmed the young de Coeur.
Steg straightened out the crumpled page. He studied the text intently for a short moment. He then proceeded to read aloud the entire document; the first time in Xesset and the second time was a careful translation, spoken without hesitation. He handed the page back.
“You can do it,” exulted the Major. “This means we have a chance to carry out my plan.” Steg attempted to back away, as though distancing himself from the Major’s enthusiasm. “No, you’re not leaving. You’re not going anywhere without me. We’ll be inseparable until this adventure is concluded.”
Steg didn’t argue. He was exhausted. He felt as though a speeding tractor unit had hit him at full speed; he could feel bruises all over his body and his head ached. He checked the simulation details. The star ship still had no reliable identification of the pirate ships. He realized with a start of surprise that he had not used the workstation or viewed a physical display. He was in direct contact with the Ziangka’s system. So not only was he able to access the Xesset language archive, he was also able to access functions across the entire star ship’s system.
The major was watching him with familiar alertness. “I’ve been trying to get your attention. Do you think you can do it?”
“Your idea may be workable. I’ll assist you to the best of my ability. In exchange, of course.”
“Of course. We have an agreement.”
“Are we staying here for the duration? I’m feeling cramped.”
“We are still hours away, so yes, let’s go find Cat and the Greens, and work out some tactics. Fortunately they’ve worked with me before. Come on.”
Steg was not surprised to note the major kept very close to him as they made their way back to the briefing room.
The first wave of cutters was launched under full cloaking; the pirates, now confirmed as Xesset, would not detect either ss Ziangka or its fleet of attacking cutters until the first missiles were fired. Tasks of the attacking force were to minimize damage to the freighter, ensuring no loss of life among the crew and any passengers on board, and at the same time, to capture Xesset craft, if possible. A simple challenge, thought Steg. And all before lunch.
He clutched at his flight seat as the maneuvers of the cutter at speed gave him the impression he was being thrown around the cockpit. The gravitational pull was apparent, not real, and he grimaced as the viewscreen displayed a rapidly shifting scene of stars and star ships. Denke turned to check on him. He was, thought Steg, making far too much of his stated intention to keep close. He attempted to relax as the cutter rushed onward, as though drawn inexorably towards the forthcoming battle.
The target for cutter Delta Three was one of the smaller Xesset craft that had been confirmed as a category thirty-five; a relatively small warship, modest although not harmless by any means. A complete wing of four cutters was heading towards the unsuspecting alien craft; Delta Three was to penetrate the Xesset ship while the other cutters were to engage its defenses. Steg was partially relieved they had not been allocated to the largest of the three ships; it had been assessed as a category thirty and two wings were diving towards it. On the same scale of measurement, the Ziangka was a category ten and an Imperial dreadnought weighed in as a category five. Steg had never heard of a category one and doubted it had ever been possible to build a star ship of such dimensions.
Ziangka was following closely behind the cutters and was prepared to attack with all the force available to it. Their primary objective was capture of at least one enemy craft and while the star ship had weapons enough to destroy the Xesset pirates, such a victory would defeat the Imperial objective.
As the cutter moved closer, Steg attempted to reach out, to make contact with the alien systems. He detected no response and concluded they were still too distant. He sat back, relaxed, and watched the viewscreen, studying the small group of ships as they came closer and closer.
“Control to all cutters. Xesset are disengaging. The freighter has reported their attack has broken off.”
Apparently the Xesset at last had detected the advance wave of missiles launched earlier by Ziangka. The anti-missile weapons would absorb initial missile responses from the pirates, protecting the cutters and the larger warship. When these conflicting waves of missiles engaged, the cutters would be close enough to attack.
Steg suddenly realized he had made contact with the larger Xesset ship; the contact was very faint, an initial flicker of awareness. He was intrigued and pushed out, strengthening his probe. A sense of evil persisted and even grew. He ignored it and increased his efforts. He isolated the Xesset ships in his awareness and they separated and became more distinct. He concentrated on forming a stronger contact. The small Xesset fleet formed a recognizable group, separate from the total medley of ships, cutters and missiles, all now impinging on his awareness. At last he was able to penetrate the alien systems and explore their structures.
Steg felt as though he had stepped across space and merged with all the Xesset star ship systems. Pulsing Xesset weapons computers caught his attention and he set up a program bias to alter their targeting routines; ensuring none of the missiles launched by the alien ships would hit the approaching Imperial vessels. He also altered the proximity fuse settings; now missile warheads would explode harmlessly, well before they were in reach of their targets. He hoped Xesset crews would not realize their missile and weapons systems had been compromised. All the time he was aware of that evil atmosphere within the alien systems, and Steg had to push it aside as he sought the smaller star ship system that was the target for cutter Delta Three. He focused and reached out for the Xesset ship’s control system. In moments he had inserted an impromptu program patch. Now commands to the ship to navigate from its current position would create symptoms of drive failure, holding the ship immobile. Next he sought the control functions of the ship’s self-destruct mechanism. This program was far more complex than he had expected, demanding his complete attention. He fought grimly with traps and security devices embedded in the system until he was satisfied it would be impossible for Xesset officers or crew to program a scuttling explosion. They could still scuttle their ship although the explosive device would need to be manually triggered. In all this time he was unaware of the maneuvers of the small cutter as it avoided the flood of Xesset missile fire.
His ambitions growing, Steg reached out for the large Xesset star ship, which was raining a firestorm of missiles into the approaching cutters. While he had altered the firing programs that triggered the missiles, they would continue to be a real danger to Imperial forces until the Xesset firestorm abated. Steg could sense the smaller, tiny systems controlling the missiles as they came into life and streaked across space, culminating in yellow sprays of exploding, positron-driven antimatter lances. He merged into the larger ship’s systems and realized with dismay that was almost alive with an evil pulsating force, an integral component of Xesset system structures which was indicative perhaps of Xesset’s complete incompatibility with mankind and its allies. He hurriedly patched a logic trap into the ship’s command structure, locking the ship permanently in local space, freezing its ability to penetrate space-time.
Now Steg was able to discern the entire fabric of the ongoing space battle. As he watched, his sense of signals and data flows from Imperial systems was deepened and strengthened by his capture of data flows from Xesset systems. He could taste the cold of space and feel the streaks of sharp bitterness generated by speeding and exploding missiles. He sought out cutter Delta Three and watched its slow progress across the black canvas of space. He
saw it move closer and closer to its Xesset objective, saw it lock onto the hull of the Xesset ship, saw the painstakingly slow rush of the marines as they penetrated the Xesset hull and knew with certainty they would penetrate the targeted cargo lock and gain access for the small Imperial craft. Soon Cat would maneuver the cutter inside the dark confines of the Xesset cargo hold. Then Steg became involved in the wider ambit of the battle, moving missiles aside, protecting Imperial small craft, monitoring reactions, enhancing data flows to the star ship’s systems and blanketing sensors of Xesset systems. He saw Ziangka move closer and closer to the larger Xesset vessel as the Imperial battle control officer recognized his opportunity to overwhelm the enemy.
Suddenly huge sheets of fire seared across the fabric in which he had immersed himself, and gamma ray streaks in vivid purples and yellows flashed in a continuous stream of penetrating light and deafening sound. Then came blackness, silent and complete.
“Wake up, de Coeur. This is starting to be a habit.”
Steg opened his eyes. The major was standing over him, shaking his shoulder.
“Come on, you’re supposed to be the focal point of this exercise and all you do is sleep.”
“Easy on the shaking Denke,” Steg protested as he pushed the major’s hand away. “My skull feels as though it has been carefully thumped from every direction possible by a very large sledgehammer. What did Cat do, crash?”
“No, he made a perfect entry, even without your assistance,” Denke was restrainedly critical. While he was confident that the cutter’s successful penetration of the Xesset defense system was attributable somehow to Steg, he could not determine the reason for Steg’s collapse.
“What’s happening now?”
“You don’t know?”
“No. My ears are ringing and everything’s spinning.”
Steg tried to settle the dizziness and reached out to the star ship’s system. To his dismay he sensed nothing, nothing at all. He tried to contact a Xesset system. Nothing. He shut his eyes as blackness again loomed. He fought it off and opened his eyes.
Denke spoke. “Ziangka reported the larger Xesset vessel self-destructed. The other two immediately hightailed it. One with us on board. Ziangka’s in pursuit, trying to keep up. These Xesset craft are fast.”
“The larger Xesset ship blew up?”
“Yes. It apparently was one helluva bang.”
Steg cursed his oversight. He had blocked the larger Xesset ship’s s-t drive ability, but had been too absorbed in merging with both Ziangka and Xesset systems, and as a result he’d overlooked its self-destruct routine. He’d been immersed in all systems when the alien ship exploded, tearing itself and its computer systems into tiny shrapnel and spreading the results across a suddenly torrid section of space. He understood now why he was feeling so bruised; the experience had jarred him to the bone.
“You said Ziangka’s trying to keep up with us?”
“Trying is the key. These Xesset ships can move when they press the go button. We’re still receiving signals from Ziangka but unfortunately, as we are locked inside this hold, we cannot signal out. Prisoners of our own making. Currently neither Xesset or Ziangka can penetrate s-t fabric, because too many gravitational bodies are around here.”
“What’s your current plan?”
“For the moment we are sitting tight. The Xesset don’t know we’re here. Just as well; with only twenty marines we may not survive against a ship full of Xesset. We could try to infiltrate the ship. Or we can try to blast out of this hold and head back to Ziangka. Or perhaps we can wait for your head to stop spinning and see if you can control the ship’s system?”
“How much longer will Ziangka follow?”
“I can’t say. She’s falling further and further behind and at some stage the distance will be too great for them to track course changes.”
“Difficult.”
“That must be the understatement of the year,” interjected Cat. He and Captain Silver had been listening to the conversation with undisguised curiosity. “Stuck inside the hold of a Xesset ship that’s moving away from our base ship at a phenomenal speed is a tricky situation. We could break out. But we couldn’t do it, undetected. Xesset would really pounce on the mice, then.”
“So we have to take the ship over,” suggested Steg. The four men looked at him in wonderment.
A junior lieutenant interrupted them, squeezing into the small space remaining on the flight deck.
“Sir,” he addressed his captain. “The communication link with Ziangka has dropped out. The last I heard Control said she’d continue on this heading for another twelve hours. After that, we’re on our own.”
Denke looked at the Green’s captain. “How are you men coping with this?”
“They’re OK. Looking for a fight, if you can find them one.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“What are the odds of breaking into the Xesset ship?”
Denke considered the problem. “Well, we know the general layout. Over the last two—three years we’ve managed to put together approximate layouts from captured wreckage. They tend to have very cramped crew quarters and lots of empty space. Corridors are very narrow.” He sketched in the air. “Look, we’re here, in one of their boat holds. Amidships, if you like. Aft, the engine room and drive system. Forward, first we have crew quarters, then fighters or warrior-officers. Further forward, the bridge, weapons systems, and so on. The design’s not intended to support defense against an on board foe. Still very tricky.”
“If the engine room is aft—” began Steg.
“Aah, now you may have an idea,” interrupted Denke. “If we can get there, take over their engine room and stop the ship—that, Long John, should give your men the fight they’re looking for?” The Marine captain nodded. “The risk is, of course, if we succeed in taking over their engine room, the Xesset may trigger their self-destruct.”
“No, I have blocked their ability to trigger it,” commented Steg, realizing he was providing more details of his abilities than he had intended. “Or at least they can only manually trigger it from their engine room.”
“Hmm. So you weren’t just sleeping,” Denke observed. He did not expand on Steg’s comment. “The Xesset certainly will react. If their ship stops in mid-flight and Ziangka is bearing down on them and they can’t self-destruct, they’ll go berserk.”
“The other craft?” queried Steg.
“Difficult to say,” replied Denke. “If this ship stops with drive failure, the other one may stop to provide protection and support. The closing presence of Ziangka is likely to negate that reaction, however. I think—and I’ll run a probability check—the other ship will continue on and leave this one. They won’t place both ships at risk.”
“What about my cutter?” The pilot already knew his cause was hopeless.
“Cat, my friend, you’ll have to give up this little bird of yours. We need everyone on this; we’ll probably need to hold off a raving horde once they realize their engine room has been captured. Captain, brief your men. Full armor. The hold is airless and once we’re inside the ship, Xesset will blow the atmosphere, rest assured. And if they don’t, we will.”
They joined the armored marines who already were assembled in the cold and airless hold, eager to move into action. The marines speedily dealt with the lock to the interior of the ship; however, before they entered the interconnecting passageways, the marines set and armed a booby trap that would block access to the hold.
They cautiously moved along the passageways, following Steg’s directions. He had absorbed more details about the ship than he first realized, and now he was utilizing those memories to direct the team. Seemingly impregnable doors were quickly and silently opened, and then softly closed after the last marine had passed through. Although the marines were well trained and accustomed to shipboard actions, they were burdened with heavy weapons and all the explosives Denke had been able to remove from the cutter. Their armor exoskeletons compl
ained against their burdens as they struggled to match Denke’s pace. Steg felt like an unskilled intruder as he tried and failed to match Denke’s mix of stealth and speed, traversing passageway after passageway on their long trip aft to the engine room.
“They have a small maintenance crew on continuous duty,” he whispered to Denke. “They have quarters alongside the drive monitors.” More and more information was filtering through to his awareness.
“How many?”
“Eight, ten at the most. Plus two or three armed guards.”
“Can you identify communication lines between the engine room and the command deck?”
Steg provided details and Denke organized a squad to insert explosives that would sever Xesset communication links in multiple places. Explosive traps were set along the corridors, hidden in air vents and shadowed areas where they would be difficult to detect. These were all placed to do maximum damage, and would be triggered remotely; the blasts would block corridors and hinder the alien forces. Denke also instructed the team to mine selected access locks.
“When we stop the drive,” he explained, “we can explode our mines; the loss of pressure’ll add to the confusion. With luck the Xesset may think a star ship has attacked them, or a missile penetrated earlier that did not immediately explode, and they may not realize we’re on board. We need to keep them under pressure and confused for as long as possible.”
Denke mapped out step by step tactics for their attack on the engine room using the now voluminous flow of details provided by Steg. Their final assault would be sudden and sharp, a shock attack with no quarter given. Denke also had stationed small teams of two marines each, along the corridors and passageways leading towards the engine room; their task was to hold off the expected counter attacks when Xesset forces attempted to win back control of their drive system. Each small team would fall back towards the engine room as they battled against Xesset forces.
Steg provided the Greens with details of access doors, of equipment locations and other data required for their push to capture the engine room and its vital drive. When the team was in control of the engine room, his task was to cut the Xesset drive.
Broken Glass (Glass Complex Book 1) Page 13