by Ryk Brown
“It might,” Mister Navashee agreed, “if we hit the right spots. Even one or two emitters would do the trick.”
“Suggest we come in standing on our port side, sir,” Mister Chiles said. “Once we pierce their shields, I can push our nose down.”
“That will put our topside facing them,” Mister Randeen pointed out. “Missiles and quads: that should do some damage.”
“Can you get our nose down quickly enough with the bow maneuvering thruster gone?” Nathan wondered.
“If we’re going slowly enough, yes,” Mister Chiles answered.
“I can calculate the right speed based on the time it takes to pitch down using only the outboard thrusters,” Mister Riley added.
“Very well,” Nathan answered. “Plot it out, gentlemen, and let’s pray that it works. This could very well be our only shot at bringing her down.”
“Captain, Telles,” the lieutenant called over the comm-set.
“Telles, go for Captain.”
“Sir, we may have a way to extract Lieutenant Commander Nash from the surface.”
“What do you need from me?” Nathan asked.
“Four fighters and a combat shuttle. I’ll send one of my squads with them for ground action. I’ll also need the Aurora to be in Earth orbit when we launch, preferably on the same side as the extraction point.”
“You’ve got it. We’ll be jumping back in a few minutes. Coordinate with flight ops,” Nathan told him.
“Yes, sir.”
“Lieutenant, be sure to warn your team that we may not last long enough for them to return to.”
“Understood, sir. Telles out.”
“Calculations complete, sir,” Mister Riley announced.
“Reduce speed and come about, Mister Chiles.”
“Reducing speed and coming about, aye.”
* * *
“I’m telling you,” Josh said as he raised his shoulders to ease the pain, “I’m gonna dislocate something if we do many more of these jumps into the atmosphere.”
“Contacts. One hundred kilometers and closing.”
“Ha-ha!” Josh exclaimed as the Falcon bounced along in turbulent, night air over the Tasman Sea. “Now maybe you’ll spread out and give us a little elbow room, won’t you?!” Josh eased back on his turbines and dipped the nose down. “Descending to five hundred.”
“Bring us four degrees to the left this time,” Loki instructed. “I’m going to jump us short and wide left this time. All six of them are low, so be ready to climb as soon as we come out of the next jump.”
“Got it!”
“Our welcoming party will have weapons range in twenty seconds.”
“I wonder how many missiles they actually carry,” Josh speculated. “That’s five hundred meters,” he added as he leveled off and added power again.
“I don’t know, but Prechitt said the Jung fighters have energy weapons for close-in engagements.”
“I say we don’t get close enough for that.”
“Seconded.” Loki watched his threat display as the Falcon continued toward the extraction area on the Australian continent one thousand kilometers ahead of them. “They’ve got range,” Loki announced. “They’re not firing.”
“Maybe they’re already out,” Josh commented.
“Or maybe they figure we’ll just jump away again and they don’t want to waste them.”
“Man, that has got to be so frustrating,” Josh exclaimed. “I mean, we can just jump in and out as we please, and there isn’t shit they can do about it!”
“One good hit and that could change drastically,” Loki reminded him.
“Never going to happen.”
“If they’re not firing, we might as well jump before they get into energy weapons range,” Loki suggested.
“What is energy weapons range, anyway?” Josh asked.
“I have no idea,” Loki admitted. “Jumping.”
The blue-white jump flash washed over the Falcon. As their visors cleared, the ship bounced upward because of the land warming the offshore breezes and causing an updraft.
“Feet dry,” Loki announced.
“Climbing,” Josh said as he added power and pulled their nose up sharply. “Starting a slow, climbing right turn.”
“Nash, Falcon! Status!” Loki checked his threat board as he waited for a response. “Two of them are turning to intercept.”
“Only two?” Josh wondered.
“They probably don’t like their odds, and they’re trying to keep us from hitting their ground forces again.”
“Well now, that’s not very nice.”
“Nash, Falcon! Status!”
“Under fire! On the run!” Jessica yelled over the comms. Loki could hear Jessica’s weapon as it fired, as well as the sound of Jung weapons. There were also explosions in the background that sounded like they were uncomfortably close. “I managed to get around their lines, but I can barely keep ahead of them. It’s shoot and run… shoot and run!”
“Hang in there, sir!” Loki told her. “Ghatazhak are coming to get you!”
“Great!” Another explosion was heard over the comms. “Can you make another run on these bastards?! They’re closing in on me!”
“Keep your head down, sir!” Loki warned. “We’ll see what we can do!”
“Any ideas?” Josh asked.
“I’m thinking we target every one of those fighters with a missile,” Loki said, “make them fly evasive for a minute while we dive on the ground forces again.”
“Sounds good.” Josh started pushing the Falcon’s nose back over as he eased off the power. “Turning toward the targets and diving.”
“Locking missiles on all six,” Loki announced as he tapped each of the icons with his finger to select them. “Opening weapons bays.”
Two weapons bays on the underside of the Falcon’s body slid open. Three short, stubby missiles dropped out of each bay, their engines igniting as they fell. The missiles streaked away at ten times the Falcon’s airspeed, traversing the distance to their targets in seconds. The Jung fighters broke formation, flying wild, evasive patterns as countermeasures spat out of their tails. Two of the fighters failed to evade the missiles and exploded in midair. The others managed to climb and jink wildly, barely escaping destruction.
“Two down!” Loki exclaimed. “The other four are dancing around the sky and recovering.”
“Let’s destroy a few more trees, shall we?” Josh said as he continued to dive toward the ground.
“Selecting target area,” Loki said as he drew a circle around the thermal images of the Jung ground forces on his screen. “Nash, Falcon! You’re awfully close! Time to run!”
“Do it!” she yelled over the comms, the sound of enemy gunfire in the background.
“Firing!” Loki pressed the fire button, and the nose turret began firing bolts of plasma energy at the ground in rapid succession. Loki’s screen turned red and yellow as the plasma bolts slammed into the ground, lighting vegetation on fire, melting the ground, and scorching the Jung soldiers still pursuing his friend. In the lower left corner of his screen, he could make out the thermal image of one person running away from the rest. Loki breathed a sigh of relief, realizing she had escaped the bombardment. He disengaged the nose turret. “That should do it,” he announced. “Pitch back up so we can jump out of here before those fighters come around and launch on us.”
“Pitching up,” Josh announced.
“Locking in escape jump,” Loki said. “Jumping.”
The jump flash washed over them again. A moment later, they were back in orbit above the Earth where their flight was much smoother.
“Only one more jump back to Earth,” Loki said.
“Thank God,” Josh said.
“I thought you wanted excitement,” Loki teased.
“Excitement, yes. Pain, no.”
* * *
“Turn complete,” Mister Chiles reported from the Aurora’s helm.
“Course and speed are matched,” Mister Riley added. “Ready for first jump.”
“Execute,” Nathan ordered from the command chair at the center of the bridge.
“Jumping in three……two……one……jump.”
The blue-white jump flash washed over the bridge.
“Jump complete,” Mister Riley reported.
“Range to target: fifty kilometers and closing,” Mister Navashee reported.
“All weapons show ready, sir,” Mister Randeen announced.
“Contacts! Missile launch!” Mister Navashee said. “Sixteen missiles spreading out both vertically and horizontally, sir!”
“They’re trying to block our jump path,” Nathan realized. “Helm, emergency descent! Get us a clear jump path into our attack position!”
“Pitching down and adding full downward translation, aye!” Mister Chiles acknowledged.
“I don’t know that there’s enough room beneath us,” Mister Riley warned. “If those missiles continue to spread out vertically, we’re going to end up skimming the atmosphere.”
The combat shuttle’s crew chief watched from his aft-facing jump seat at the forward end of the shuttle’s main compartment as ten Ghatazhak soldiers quickly ascended the shuttle’s aft boarding ramp. The Ghatazhak squad leader marched up and sat down in the aft-facing jump seat on the other side of the compartment to the left of the crew chief. The crew chief looked at the Ghatazhak squad leader, noticing that he was wearing a full combat pressure suit, his helmet sealed against the neck collar of the Ghatazhak sergeant’s life support torso unit. “Why are you guys wearing pressure suits?” he asked. “I thought this was a ground extraction.”
The Ghatazhak sergeant glanced at the shuttle crew chief. “Why are you?”
The crew chief pressed the door control button, causing the aft door to begin swinging upward toward its closed position. “I’m in a spaceship,” he answered.
“So are we,” the Ghatazhak sergeant responded.
The shuttle bounced slightly as it began to roll across the main hangar deck toward the number two airlock. As the sergeant fastened his restraints, his comm-set crackled.
“Dog Leader, Telles,” Lieutenant Telles’s voice called over the sergeant’s comm-set.
“Go for Dog Leader,” the sergeant answered.
“Rapid extraction, Sergeant,” the lieutenant began. “Minimal engagement, only what is necessary to achieve the objective. If the Aurora is not available after extraction, seek alternate escape to either the surface or, if the situation permits, to the Celestia. Do not, under any circumstances, put the Celestia at risk.”
“Understood, sir,” the sergeant answered without emotion.
The bridge began to vibrate as the Aurora made contact with the Earth’s upper atmosphere.
“Outer hull temperature is starting to rise,” Mister Navashee reported.
“That’s okay,” Nathan said. “Our underside was designed for aerobraking. She can take the heat.”
“The friction is reducing our speed slightly,” Mister Riley reported.
“That will help us shave off altitude more quickly,” Nathan commented.
“Ten seconds to clear jump line!” Mister Chiles reported.
“Flight reports combat shuttle and escort Talons are ready to launch,” Naralena reported.
“Very well,” Nathan answered.
“Clear jump line!” Mister Riley reported.
“Jump,” Nathan ordered.
“Jumping.”
The bridge glowed blue-white for a split second as the jump flash washed over them. The vibrations caused by the Earth’s upper atmosphere suddenly stopped, and the view screen was filled with the image of the starboard side of the Jung battleship, her midship section growing larger as they coasted toward her.
“Range to target: two kilometers and closing!” Mister Navashee announced.
“Green deck!” Nathan announced.
“Green deck, aye!” Naralena answered.
“We’re right on target!” Mister Randeen reported.
“Snapshot two and four!” Nathan ordered.
“Firing two and four!” Mister Randeen answered as he pressed the firing buttons for both tubes. “Two and four away!”
The bridge began to shake as enemy rail gun rounds pounded the Aurora’s forward sections.
“Flight ops reports the combat shuttle and all four Talons are away!” Naralena reported.
“Fire missiles!” Nathan ordered. “Helm, begin deceleration!”
“Missiles away!”
“Deceleration thrusters at full power!” the helmsman answered.
“Ten seconds to shield impact!” Mister Navashee reported.
“Fire plasma torpedoes!” Nathan ordered.
“Firing one and three!”
Bright, red light washed over them as the plasma torpedoes passed over their heads on the spherical view screen that wrapped around the front half of the Aurora’s bridge.
“Five seconds!” Mister Navashee updated.
Two red flashes appeared at the center of the main view screen. The battleship’s shields glowed reddish-orange for a second until they were suddenly obscured by the two white flashes of the conventional torpedoes’ nuclear warheads as they impacted the battleship’s already weakened shield. The nuclear detonations instantly dumped enormous amounts of energy into the already stressed shields, weakening them further. Then all four of the Aurora’s missiles struck the shield as well, resulting in bright, yellowish-red explosions.
“Their shields are down to ten percent!” Mister Navashee announced.
“Hang on!” Nathan warned his crew as he grabbed the arms of his command chair. Nathan suddenly found himself falling forward, nearly crashing face first into the center flight console directly in front of him between Mister Riley and Mister Chiles. The ship shook violently as Nathan stumbled to his feet and plopped back down in his command chair. He looked up at the main view screen at the front of the bridge and saw a red-orange line of energy crawling up the hull of the Aurora toward him. The enemy’s shield fluctuated in front of them, changing from yellow to red to orange, and all combinations in between in the blink of an eye. Warning alarms sounded from all over the bridge as systems failed in numerous compartments all about the ship.
“Pitching down!” Mister Chiles yelled over the chaos.
“Fire quads!” Nathan ordered as he held tightly to avoid being shaken out of his seat again.
“Targeting sensors are offline!” Mister Randeen reported. “I can’t lock the quads on a target!”
“Manual control, Mister Randeen!” Nathan ordered. “Point and shoot, damn it!”
“Aye, sir!”
“I’ve lost outboard maneuvering thrusters port side!” Mister Chiles reported.
“Rail guns are firing!” Mister Randeen reported as he manually tracked the Aurora’s four massive rail guns back and forth, hoping to hit something important as they flew alongside the enemy ship at extremely close range.
“We’re rolling to starboard!” Mister Riley warned. “If we roll too far, our entire starboard side will be passing through full-power shields!”
“Fire all docking thrusters!” Nathan demanded. “Port side, down translation only!”
“Aye, sir!” Mister Chiles acknowledged.
“Give me some gun cameras!” Nathan demanded. A moment later, four small windows appeared along either side of the main view screen, each one showing the view of one of the quad rail gun cameras. Nathan stared in fascin
ation as the massive rail gun rounds slammed into the side of the enemy ship, tearing apart everything along the hull and digging into it. Debris flew in all directions with occasional secondary explosions going off as the Aurora’s quad-barreled rail guns struck sensitive areas beneath the surface of the battleship.
“Contacts!” Mister Navashee cried out. “She’s launching fighters!”
Nathan looked at the main view screen as the Aurora’s nose pitched downward in a desperate attempt to turn away from the battleship and put her topside toward the enemy.
“We’re halfway through!” Mister Navashee reported.
Nathan felt the Aurora suddenly shift as if her tail had dropped fifty meters in a single instant.
“Her shields are starting to fail!” Mister Navashee announced with excitement. “We must have hit some of her emitters!”
“Keep firing, Mister Randeen!” Nathan urged.
“Enemy fighters are engaging our Talons!” Mister Navashee reported. “Talon Two is gone! Talon Three is damaged!”
“We’re not going to make the turn,” Mister Riley warned, looking up at the view screen.
Nathan looked at the view screen. They still could not see the forward end of the massive Jung battleship. His navigator was right.
* * *
“Talon Three just exploded!” the copilot exclaimed over the sergeant’s helmet comms.
“Did he get out?” the pilot asked.
“Yeah! He ejected! I’ve got his beacon on my scope, three o’clock, twenty up relative, about eight hundred yards out!”
“Goddamn it!” the pilot’s voice swore.
“Aurora! Aurora!” the copilot called over the comms. “Talon Three ejected! Repeat, Talon Three ejected! He’s drifting about eight hundred meters ahead of us, three o’clock high, twenty up!”
“Talon One just got another!” the pilot reported. “Whoa! Jesus! One just got smoked! Oh my God! Did you see that?”
“Oh, shit!” the copilot said. “The last one is turning toward us! Break left and dive!”