by Ryk Brown
“Target is dead,” Mister Navashee reported. “Her weapons are silent. She has no main propulsion, and her reactors are offline.”
“Any chance she’ll get them back up?”
“No, sir. I’m surprised their antimatter reactors still have containment, to be honest. They are, however, losing orbital altitude rather quickly. Estimate crush altitude in twenty-three minutes.”
Nathan looked at the image of the dead Jung gunship on the main view screen. He thought about the battle they had fought with two identical gunships only moments after their first jump test five months ago. He thought about Captain Roberts, Commander Montero, and all the other members of the Aurora’s original crew who had died that day. He thought about all the people on Earth who had probably died during the Jung invasion. Lastly, he thought about his family. “Is the Falcon clear?” His voice was cold and dispassionate.
“Yes, sir,” Mister Randeen answered.
“Helm, zero thrust. Spin us around and bring our tubes to bear on the target.”
“Aye, sir,” Mister Chiles answered.
“Mister Randeen, stand by to fire plasma torpedoes. Full spread. I want that target destroyed.”
“Captain, they are helpless,” Mister Randeen reminded.
Nathan turned around and glared at his tactical officer.
“Aye, sir,” Mister Randeen answered. “Plasma torpedoes standing by.”
The captain continued staring at his tactical officer, a fiercely determined look in his eyes. “The Jung do not surrender…”
“Our nose is on the target,” Mister Chiles reported from the helm.
“…and we shall not ask,” Nathan finished.
“I have a firing solution, sir,” Mister Randeen announced.
“Fire.” Nathan did not turn around to look at the main view screen.
“Torpedoes away,” Mister Randeen reported. “Target destroyed.”
“Maintain general quarters,” Nathan stated calmly. “Deploy a pair of Talons to replace the Falcon on lookout. As soon as the Falcon is on board, send her flight crew to my ready room.” Nathan began walking slowly toward his ready room at the back of the bridge. “Then get us back to the Celestia.”
Commander Taylor entered the bridge, her eyes catching Nathan’s as he passed and entered his ready room. She looked at Naralena and Mister Randeen. She knew something had happened. Something was wrong.
* * *
“Captain?” Commander Taylor called from the ready room door.
“Yes, Commander,” Nathan answered without looking up from the view screen on his desk.
Cameron entered the room, closing the door behind her. “Everything all right, sir?”
“Fine. What’s up?” he asked, his attention still on his view screen.
Cameron shrugged off the captain’s indifferent response. “Talons are on lookout, and the Falcon just touched down. I was wondering if you wanted us to return to Metis or just send a shuttle back to pick up Senior Chief Taggart and Ensign Tillardi.”
“Take us back to the Celestia,” Nathan ordered. “I want to get back to work as soon as possible.”
A puzzled look fell across Cameron’s face. “The Jung know we’re here.”
“Correction, the Jung suspect we’re here. In a few hours, when Metis comes back around to the Earth side of Jupiter and neither of their gunships reports in, then the Jung will know that someone is out here.”
“Nathan, we can’t keep beating them back. Sooner or later, they’ll send more ships—bigger ships.”
Nathan leaned back in his chair, giving his executive officer his full attention. “Put yourself in their place, Commander. They have limited ships with which to hold the Earth until reinforcements arrive from Alpha Centauri. Intelligence puts those reinforcements at least four months out, possibly five.”
“Possibly three,” Cameron reminded him.
“They may send another strike force our way, but they’re not going to send everything.”
“They don’t have to send everything,” Cameron said. “They just have to send the right ships and use the right tactics. The Jung aren’t the Takarans, Nathan. They’re not going to let you jump around them and pick them off one by one. They’re already trying to counter our jump drive technology. You saw how they trapped the Falcon. They’re paying attention. They’re thinking of ways to deal with us. That gunship wasn’t expecting to lay thousands of tiny mines for the Falcon. They didn’t even know that the Falcon existed until now. They were going to use them on us. They want to capture the Aurora.”
“They’re going to have to try harder,” Nathan said, his tone full of confidence. “A lot harder.” Nathan reached for his intercom. “Helm, Captain. Move us back into position over the Celestia. I want to continue with the propellant transfer as soon as possible.”
“Aye, sir,” Mister Chiles answered over the intercom.
“Then you still intend to try to save the Celestia,” Cameron said.
“Our plans are unchanged, Commander. We will do everything possible to save the Celestia up until the moment that it is no longer feasible, at which point, we will scuttle her.”
“I want to save the Celestia just as much as anyone,” Cameron insisted, “perhaps even more so, but the Jung aren’t going to leave us alone just because you destroyed two of their gunships.”
“I plan on keeping them occupied from time to time,” Nathan said, the slightest hint of a grin on his face.
Cameron saw the mischievous smile and rolled her eyes. “God, I hate it when you get that look on your face.”
* * *
“Bozhe moi!” Vladimir cried out as he watched the Falcon roll off the starboard forward elevator pad. His eyes scanned the battered interceptor, taking note of the many chunks of hull missing from the ship as it rolled to a stop in front of him. “What did you do to her?” he called out to Josh and Loki as their canopies opened. “I just fixed her!”
Josh glanced over his shoulder at Loki as they climbed out of their flight seats, a guilty look on his face.
“What happened?” Vladimir asked.
“Uh, we ran into a little trouble,” Josh said as he descended the boarding ladder.
“It’s all external damage, sir,” Loki said from the boarding platform beside the Falcon’s cockpit. “All our primary systems are still working. We never even had to go to backups.”
Vladimir ignored Loki and started barking orders at deck hands.
Commander Taylor entered the main hangar deck through the forward hatch and walked up behind Vladimir. “Problem?”
“Look what they did,” Vladimir exclaimed. “I just fixed her, and look what they did to her!”
Cameron looked over the Falcon. “Can she still fly?” she asked Josh as he walked toward her.
“Yes, sir,” Josh answered as he handed his helmet to the Falcon’s crew chief. “She’s banged up, but she’s still good to go.”
Cameron looked at Loki for confirmation.
“He’s right,” Loki agreed. “It’s all hull damage as far as I can tell.”
“I’ll decide that for myself,” Vladimir said.
“No, the Falcon’s crew chief will decide that for himself,” Cameron reminded him. “You’re still attached to the Celestia, remember?”
“We’ll take care of her,” the Falcon’s crew chief promised.
Vladimir looked at Cameron, confused. “What? He doesn’t still want to try to save…”
“Of course he does,” Cameron interrupted. “Round your guys up and get them on a shuttle. We leave in five minutes.”
“No rescue tunnel?” Vladimir wondered.
“Senior Chief Taggart reports that it’s damaged,” Cameron told him. “It’s shuttles only for now, so get that port
fighter alley ready as soon as possible. We need to have some semblance of flight ops on that ship.”
“Finally, some good news,” Vladimir said. He leaned in closer to Cameron. “I never did like that rescue tunnel.” Vladimir reached for his comm-set and began calling for his Celestia repair teams as he turned and walked away.
Cameron turned back to Josh and Loki. “Get out of your flight gear and report to the captain’s ready room. He wants a word with the two of you.”
Josh and Loki exchanged worried looks as Commander Taylor turned and headed aft toward the waiting shuttles.
* * *
“If I were you, I’d just shut up and take my lumps,” Loki told Josh as they stepped through the outer hatch to the Aurora’s bridge.
“Do you really think I’m planning on going in there and arguing with him?” Josh wondered.
“I never know what you’re thinking.”
Josh stepped through the inner hatch. His eyes caught those of Lieutenant Yosef as he turned to his right to enter the captain’s ready room. Loki followed him, his head down.
Josh stepped through the hatch into the ready room. “You wanted to see us, sir?” he asked sheepishly.
“Close the hatch,” the captain stated calmly. He waited until Loki had closed the hatch and both young men were facing him. “Before I ask why you disobeyed orders, I want to make it perfectly clear that nothing you say will excuse the stupid stunt you just pulled.” Nathan looked at them each, one at a time. “Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir,” they answered in unison.
“I have taken into account the fact that neither of you has any military training, and that discipline, at least the way we see it, is somewhat foreign to you both. However, I believe you’ve both been on this ship long enough to understand what is expected of you. Am I correct in that assumption?”
“Yes, sir,” they answered again.
“Good. Then please tell me why the hell you thought it was a good idea to leave your assigned position and attack a ship that was ten times your size and was far more heavily armed… all by yourself?”
“It was my idea,” Loki said. “I thought…”
“No, it wasn’t,” Josh interrupted. “I know what you’re trying to do, Loki, and thanks, but stop it.” Josh turned his head back toward the captain. “It was my idea, sir. Loki tried to talk me out of it, but I didn’t listen.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Nathan said.
“That it was my idea, or that Loki tried to talk me out of it?” Josh wondered.
“That you didn’t listen,” Nathan answered.
“Oh.”
“So why did you think it was okay to take on a gunship all by yourself?”
“They were making a run for the pole, sir,” Josh explained. “I figured they were trying to get a message back to Jung command on Earth.”
“They probably were, but that still isn’t a good enough reason to risk the only viable recon asset we have, Mister Hayes. I suspect Mister Sheehan here knew that.”
“Actually, I didn’t think of that,” Loki admitted.
“What did you think?”
“I just thought that it wasn’t our place to make that decision,” Loki told the captain.
“Finally, someone who realizes their place in the command structure of this ship.” Nathan stood, walking around his desk. “The reason decisions are made by people in command is not just because we have the rank. It’s also because we’re aware of the entire picture. As a pilot in the cockpit of a single spacecraft, you, Mister Hayes, most decidedly do not have the entire picture.” Nathan paused, allowing a moment to let his rising frustration dissipate slightly. He sat against the top of his desk directly in front of the two young pilots. “The Falcon is an extremely valuable asset, not only as a recon platform but as a weapons delivery system. However, it is a very specialized tool that must be used in a special manner. That doesn’t include getting into a boxing match with a gunship!” Nathan felt his frustration begin to rise again. “Why the hell did you jump in between the target and the Aurora? Not only were you in our line of fire, preventing us from firing on her from a distance, but you were also in that gunship’s line of fire. They had every one of their rail guns tracking us. If you would’ve jumped in on her opposite side, you could’ve taken out her main drive and her comm-array and gotten away without a scratch!” Nathan rose and moved around behind his desk, taking his seat once more. “The only reason I’m not putting you both on the super-jump shuttle and sending you back to Takara is because I need every pilot I can get my hands on right now. I need my fighter pilots in their fighters, not jumping around in the Falcon. Despite your shortcomings, the two of you know how to fly the Falcon.” Nathan looked up at them, then fixed his eyes on Josh in particular. “However, the next time you pull a boneheaded stunt like that, I will drop you both on the next inhabited world. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir,” they answered together.
“Mister Hayes, report to medical. I want your nanites checked and updated after every flight.”
“Captain, I…”
“I wasn’t asking, Mister Hayes.”
“Yes, sir,” Josh answered. He exchanged glances with Loki, then turned and exited the ready room, closing the hatch behind him.
Nathan relaxed slightly in his chair, looking at Loki and thinking. “You know, you and Josh remind me of Commander Taylor and me. We were a good flight team. I was reckless, flying on instinct instead of logic and process. She was the opposite, always calculating and analyzing everything before making a decision. You know what made us a good team?”
Loki shook his head. “No, sir.”
“We were a good team because she would always tell me when she disagreed with me. Hell, she still tells me when she disagrees with me.”
“I did try, sir.”
“I know you did, Loki. But you have to do more than try. If I were about to fly the Aurora into a wall, she’d likely knock me out and take the controls from me. You have a set of flight controls in the back of that ship. When he refused to listen to you, you should have taken control of the ship and locked him out. That’s what we call ‘forceful backup’, a concept that I suggest you familiarize yourself with. Hell, you should have reached up and smacked him upside his helmet, for that matter. He’s your pilot, Loki, not your superior officer.”
“You’re right, sir,” Loki admitted. “It’s just that Josh has always been pilot in command, and I’ve always been second seat.”
“Damn it, Loki, you’re not in a harvester anymore! There’s more at stake here than scooping up rocks, and you know it!”
“Yes, sir.”
Nathan paused to take a breath. “Josh is a great pilot—we all know that—but he lacks discipline, and he needs to learn how to follow orders. Not just because it’s his duty, but because others are depending on him to do so. In some cases, their very lives will depend on it. Therefore, their lives also depend on you making sure that Josh follows his orders.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I know it’s not fair, but that’s the way it is.”
“Don’t worry, Captain,” Loki said. “I’ll make sure he follows orders from now on.”
“Very well. Now, report to the hangar deck and help your crew chief repair your ship. I need you guys back out there as soon as possible.”
* * *
Yanni’s stomach felt like it was tied in knots. He stood looking at the super-jump shuttle, the ship that was about to carry him a thousand light years away. It seemed so small a ship to him, much too small to be making such a journey. The Aurora was built to travel faster than light, and her propulsion system composed more than half her mass. Yet the ship that was to carry him so far away from home in only a few days fit easily inside the Aurora.
“Are you all right, Mister Hiller?” Nathan asked from behind.
Yanni snapped out of his thoughts, startled by the captain’s question. He turned and looked at him. “Not really, no.”
Nathan looked around the main hangar bay. It was a massive space, full of activity. “It is a bit overwhelming, isn’t it?”
“It’s not that,” Yanni told him. “I just can’t help thinking that I may never be coming back.”
Nathan sighed. “I’m not going to lie to you, Yanni; that is a possibility.” Nathan noticed the change in the young man’s demeanor. “Do you have any family on Earth?”
“A sister,” he said. “Our father died when we were young. Our mother passed nearly ten years ago. I haven’t seen my sister in several years, though. Only occasional conversations over the net. I don’t even know if she survived the invasion.”
“What’s her name?”
“Addy. Addy Greber. She lives in Basel.”
“If we’re successful in liberating Earth, I’ll make sure she knows what became of you.”
Yanni looked at the captain and smiled ever so slightly. “Thank you. She probably won’t believe you, but thank you anyway.” Yanni looked at the shuttle again. “They tell me that Takara is a nice place. Have you been there?”
“Yes, I have, several times, in fact. Their ruler is a personal friend. That’s why I’m here, actually, to give you this.” Nathan handed Yanni a data pad. “This contains all the intelligence information about our current situation and what our immediate plans and needs are. I’ve instructed your flight crew to make sure you and the data cores are delivered directly to Prince Casimir of Takara. I ask that you give this data pad to him personally.”
“Of course.”
“It also contains personal messages from those of our crew who are from the worlds of the Pentaurus cluster. They are for their families, to let them know that they are alive and well. More importantly, it is to let them know that it may be some time before they return to their homes.” Nathan looked at Yanni. “This is very important to me and my crew.”