by David Adams
Liao was always nervous before such serious operations. Although she and the crew had been through quite the adventure in the last half a year, this was different. Liao felt her stomach doing backflips again, another wave of nausea bubbling in her belly, threatening to cause her to run for the head and empty its contents into the steel bowl.
The disciplined Chinese woman would not allow herself to throw up in the command centre of her own ship, so the feeling was brutally suppressed and the sickness ignored. However, despite her best efforts, the upset in her belly remained doggedly nagging at her; she knew that, if artificial gravity were cut, she would almost certainly lose her breakfast.
Excusing herself from the Operations room the woman visited the head. Instead of throwing up, however, she reached for her radio.
“Captain Liao to Doctor Saeed.”
It took a few moments for the call to be answered, moments that seemed to crawl by to the anxious woman. When Saeed’s voice finally filtered through the radio’s tiny speaker she felt relief flood her.
“This is Saeed. What can I do for you, Captain?”
Liao knew better than to lie to her physician, but in some circumstances a slight untruth would be preferable than spelling out the whole issue. She did not want to be taken for a coward. “Doctor, I’m experiencing a little stomach upset;it’s possible that my breakfast was undercooked this morning. It’s not too bad, but if you had something to settle it I’d be quite appreciative…”
The man’s voice seemed to sound entirely understanding, and for that Liao was infinitely thankful.
“That shouldn’t be a problem,” he chirped through the radio. “We’ve been getting a few reports of similar cases today. Honestly, I think it’s some kind of bug going around. Probably to do with the food… I’ll have one of the nurses bring up something to help.”
Relieved, Liao stepped out of the cramped bathroom and waited outside Operations for the nurse. When he arrived, the Captain snatched up the two white and red pills and immediately swallowed them. The nurse, standing sheepishly nearby with a full glass of water, merely shrugged and went back the way he came.
She gave the pills a few minutes to work. Rowe or someone else in Operations would call her radio if her voice was required, but blissfully, nothing like that came through at all. She had a brief encounter with what she and other Captains referred to as ‘pure gold’ - that was, a moment or two of complete and utter, uninterrupted silence.
She rapidly began to feel better and made a mental note to thank Doctor Saeed for his skill. Stepping back through the hatchway to Operations, Liao was greeted, not with a barrage of reports and requests, but with a single voice – Lieutenant Jiang – who called to her from the tactical console.
“Captain Liao, all sections report condition green and the Forerunner is ready for launch. Martian surface batteries report they are standing by for fire missions.”
Jiang glanced around just to make sure nobody else had any other comments, then nodded to Liao. “We are clear to initiate the operation.”
Moving to stand by the command console, Liao nodded her head. “Very good, Mister Jiang.” There was a deliberate pause as she considered, ordering her thoughts and clearing her mind.
“Launch the Forerunner.”
Lieutenant Jiang flicked a single switch, read from her sensors, then twisted in her chair. “The Forerunner is away, Captain.”
Liao nodded to her, her hands on her hips. “Very well. When it reaches six hundred metres, return power to the probe.”
The minutes ticked by as the probe gently drifted away from the ship. When the time came there was another flip of a single switch, then a call from Dao, the radar operator. “Power restored, Captain. The Forerunner has jumped away.”
Liao settled down in the seat beside the command console, deliberately taking a moment to smooth out her uniform and get settled in. She would likely be sitting down for some time and she wanted to be comfortable.
With her hands folded into her lap, Liao looked around the Operations room, as if to check that everything was where she expected. She could be patient, yes, but this wait tested even her nerves.
There had been problems, yes, but at least the Forerunner had gotten away. The most critical part of their plan, then, the setting of the trap, was complete. They had done everything they could possibly have done; the crew had outdone themselves by every measure.
“And now… we wait.”
Chapter XIV
“Fire in the Sky”
*****
Operations
TFR Beijing
One hour later
Liao felt herself becoming drowsy, her eyelids becoming heavy. Perhaps it was just her, but when the Forerunner had jumped away Liao had secretly expected the Toralii Alliance fleet to react almost instantly; Saara had told them that the Alliance kept a small fleet on standby for just such an occasion. But while her ‘gut instinct’ told her that the Toralii would come for them immediately, her military mind spoke common sense to her and reminded her that no military reacted instantly and that, no matter how fast the gears of the Toralii war machine turned, their enemies would need some time to gather themselves before any jump could be made.
“I’m bored,” came the predictable whine of Summer’s voice. The freckled, red-headed woman gently thumped her forehead against the metal of her console in frustration, creating a rhythmic thump, thump, thump that echoed faintly throughout the otherwise quite Operations room.
“Perhaps, then, you could entertain yourself by checking those reactors again. We’ll need that power to charge the hull plating when the Toralii Alliance arrive, and our railguns are going to chew through a lot of juice. They can’t have any more problems. Also, verify that our fire control systems are giving accurate data to the Martian batteries. They’re shooting a very long way and I don’t want any mistakes.”
“Right,” murmured Summer, who began absently tapping on some of the keys in front of her - not enough to press them, but still enough to cause Liao a mild degree of frustration. “I’ll be sure to check and recheck the exact same shit I checked only a few minutes ago. I’m sure that’ll help.”
Ignoring her sarcasm, Liao turned her head to her Communications officer. “Mister Hsin, if you could, please collect a status update from the Sydney and the Tehran.”
There was a moment of quiet, punctuated only by the youthful looking man’s voice as he made the request. While they waited, Liao rubbed her eyes with her thumbs, desperately trying to keep herself awake. Now was not the time to start yawning, not in front of the Operations crew, and not right as they were about to engage in the first mission featuring all three Pillars of the Earth.
“Captain Liao, the Sydney and the Tehran both report, again, that they are still ready for engagement and operating at-“
“RADAR CONTACT!”
The voice made everyone on the room jump with its volume and energy. It was Ling, the radar operator, and all eyes fell upon him.
“Report!”
“Captain, it’s a jump in… cap-ship sized. Two hundred-thousand tonnes! … exactly the same configuration as the last Toralii ship we saw!”
Summer’s laughter could be heard over the din. “I just love it when a plan comes together!”
Liao stood from her chair, striding over to the command stations. “Launch the strike craft! Missile batteries one, two, three: fire! Railgun operators, find and engage targets of opportunity!” She turned to Mister Hsin. “Inform the fleet we have engaged the Toralii!”
“Missiles away, Captain!”
“Major Aharoni reports that the strike craft are away!”
“Captain, the Tehran and the Sydney report that they have engaged the contact with strike craft and nukes... Effect on target unknown at this time!”
“Captain Liao! The surface batteries on Mars are reporting that they have engaged the Toralii with their high-speed railguns, and missiles are en route!”
Liao nodded, her ey
es flying over her various screens as she took in a torrent of information. “Good,” was her only immediate reply, watching as the ship’s missiles – followed by a cloud of strike fighters – screamed towards their targets.
Ling, the radar operator, spoke up again. “The Toralii vessel is launching strike craft, Captain,” he called, but his voice was partially drowned out by another call from Hsin.
“Captain! I’m receiving a... transmission from the Toralii!”
Liao grabbed the long-range communications headset, slipping it over her head. The deep, guttural voice of the Toralii she spoke to previously once again echoed in her ears.
[“This is Warbringer Avaran of the Toralii Alliance Vessel Seth’arak.”] Liao swore she could hear a definitive snarl at the end of the sentence and the Toralii’s voice was clipped and abrupt as though he were holding back indescribable rage. From the corner of her eye she also saw Saara visibly relax as the Toralii ship identified itself as being of the Alliance. Liao, too, breathed slightly easier; that was one major drama they had averted.
[“You humans… you have the gall to think that you could possibly get away with attacking an outpost of the Toralii Alliance?”]
Liao clicked the talk key, raising an eyebrow, her glance falling upon the radar display she had pulled up on one of her many screens. “The way I see it, Warbringer Avaran, what I believe is basically irrelevant. We did attack your outpost, and we did get away – and now we’re about to keep up our winning streak. Your sensors will tell you that your vessel is completely surrounded and, in moments, will be destroyed.”
A low, echoing chuckle filtered down the line, a sound that seemed to be very alien yet also very human in its composition. [“…Your threats are spoken with such fire, Captain Liao, but... I’m afraid that your situation is far more perilous than you could possibly imagine.”]
“Captain!” Jiang’s voice called to her. Liao turned to face her tactical officer. “Captain, the Toralii ship is projecting some kind of energy weapon… they’re targeting the Sydney’s strike craft!”
Commander Iraj nodded to Jiang. “That’s to be expected. The strike craft should easily be able to evade that fire at this distance-“
Jiang shook her head, her cropped black bob flying around with the effort. “No, Commander, it’s not their standard weapons array. This is something different! It’s one large blast!”
Liao’s eyes widened. A glance towards Commander Iraj confirmed he was thinking the same thing; it was the weapon that had struck the Tehran when it was in the Hades system. She knew that it had to be avoided; the woman turned to Hsin. “Lieutenant! Hail those strike craft, tell them to-“
From her peripheral vision she saw the radar screen on her monitor crackle with a wave of static, immediately drawing her eye to its bright light. For a split second the image was overwhelmed, then a wave of bright green dots surged out and over the swarm of tiny radar blips that indicated the TFR Sydney’s strike craft, washing over them and narrowly missing their mother ship.
“...What the fuck was that? Was it the same thing that we saw in the Hades system?”
Nobody in the Operations room seemed to have any answer. There was a split second of silence, then a cacophony of voices began to shout their reports all at once.
“Radar function severely reduced, Captain, recommend switching to long-range thermal targeting instead!
“Captain, Major Aharoni reports seeing a bright white flash, visible to the naked eye, in the direction of the TFR Sydney!”
“Our electronics are fucked, Captain!”
Liao tried to sort through the jumbled mass of voices. “Lieutenant Jiang, give me an analysis; is it the same energy wave that hit the Tehran in the Hades system?” She jabbed a finger towards Ling. “Ling, do it. Switch to thermals!”
“It matches the description, Captain!” Jiang’s voice sounded horrified. “The Sydney’s strike craft are… gone, Captain! The energy wave got them all!”
Liao swore darkly, furrowing her brow. “Rowe! Rowe!” She tried to get the red-headed woman’s attention. “What’s the status on our electronics?”
“They’re fucked, like I said! That energy blast – it’s like the one used in the attack on Earth, except this one’s more powerful! It seems to have some kind of EMP or something!”
“Status on missiles?”
“Impact in twenty seconds, Captain!”
Liao nodded. That was good. They needed to hit them fast. She turned to Commander Iraj as the man called to Lieutenant Jiang.
“What about the strike craft from all allied ships?”
Hsin turned in his seat and faced the XO. “The Sydney reports that they are recalling what’s left of their strike craft – apparently one or two survived – and are preparing to close the distance to engage. The Tehran’s craft are still closing, Captain.”
Frowning again, Liao glanced across to Jiang. “Got any good news for me, Lieutenant? What about the surface batteries?”
“The surface missile batteries have commenced firing, Captain; impact in six minutes! Also, for what it’s worth, Major Aharoni reports that he and the rest of the strike craft are engaging the Toralii fighters!”
At the mention of Alex Liao caught sight of Rowe’s expression, a mix of excitement and worry, but there was no time to deal with that now.
Ling spoke up. “Captain! The Tehran’s missiles have impacted on the hostile ship… Can’t tell the effect from here, there’s too much interference on our radar! Thermals show detonations, however... dammit-!”
There was a pause of about two seconds, then, “Minimal effect!”
Liao swore again, smacking her flat palm on the metal of her console. “Engage the gravity mines and lock down the jump point; even this one ship is proving to be a handful and we don’t want another.”
“Gravity mines enabled, Captain. The point’s locked down.”
…Which also cut off their escape route, should they need it. Liao mused over this; judging by the way things were going, they almost certainly would regret that decision.
Lieutenant Dao, who had remained mostly silent for the battle with little to do, finally spoke up. “Captain Liao… the hostile ship is moving!”
Liao furrowed her brow, looking his way. “Moving? To where?”
“Directly towards the Tehran,” he called. “Distance: ten thousand kilometres”
Liao picked up her long-range radio, clicking the talk key. “Sydney, Tehran – this is Beijing actual. Report status, over.”
Liao heard the accented voice of the Communications officer from the TFR Sydney. “Beijing, Sydney; we are throwing everything we have at maximum sustainable rate of fire. Our railguns are out of action due to a malfunction so it’s missiles only for us.”
Another malfunction from the Sydney. Liao didn’t have time to think about the implications of one of their ships missing a major weapons system.
James’ voice filtered over the communications line. “Beijing actual, this is Tehran actual. Our missiles and railguns are hot on the target, preparing a third barrage now.”
Melissa couldn’t help but let a tiny smile creep over her features. Despite what was happening, despite the dire situation they’d found themselves in with only one ship on their hands, it was good to hear James’ voice.
“Very good. Give them hell, Tehran; Beijing out.”
Placing down the headset Liao looked at the long range radar screen, observing the battle with her arms folded. The ship shuddered almost imperceptibly as nukes flew from his firing tubes and railguns threw their ordnance towards the target.
Jiang shouted over the noise of the Operations room. “Captain! Captain, I’m detecting another energy surge... the Toralii are going to fire their energy weapon again!”
Liao cursed darkly. “Their target? Is it our strike fighters?”
Jiang shook her head. “Negative, Captain... it looks like they’re going to hit the Tehran itself!”
James! Liao snatched up th
e long-range communications headset again, frantically hitting the talk key. “Tehran, this is Beijing actual; evasive manoeuvres! The hostile ship has you targeted!”
Once again James’ voice called back to her. “We’re well aware of that, Beijing, we are moving to-”
There was an intense burst of loud static which caused her to rip off the headset in pain. She looked at the long range radar again, seeing another intense wave of energy fly from the Toralii ship, so bright and so powerful that their sensors could barely cope.
The strange Toralii weapon hit the Tehran square on her broadside, causing another burst of static, almost blinding the Beijing’s sensors. Through the interference, Liao could see the wave didn’t even slow down as it passed right through the warship, the energy pulse flying off the edge of her radar screen in seconds.
There was a moment of stunned silence across the whole Operations room. Liao stared at the computer screen, trying to determine the damage that they had taken. There was debris. There was a lot of heat...
She felt the same clench in her heart she had felt when the Tehran didn’t jump back from the Hades system. Was James okay?
Hsin spoke up and ended the brief, shocked silence. “Captain, I’m reading a distress signal from the Tehran... They’re hit pretty bad! They report that there are fires on all decks, massive breaches, almost all of their systems are offline except navigation...”
Liao came back to reality. She was still in a situation and she still had a battle to fight.
“Close with that Toralii ship! Get us within one thousand kilometres! We can’t let them hit us with that energy blast!”
She turned to Saara. “That weapon’s much bigger and more dangerous than you told us it would be!”
Saara shouted across the noise. [“That’s because it’s more powerful than I anticipated, and much more accurate! Normally the device can only be used to hit large, stationary targets, but... I suppose the Toralii Alliance must have a more powerful variant than my people do!”]