by Dave Bara
“I hate to admit this, but you’re probably right,” she said. “According to Makera they have about forty of the scoop ships. If they’re forced to use the majority of them to cut a hole through the Void, then they’ll be the first ones through.”
“And vulnerable,” he said. She nodded, then called Aybar over and explained their plan. The former captain of the Phaeton had her own thoughts. She pointed to the tactical monitor.
“If we moved the scoop flotilla up and sent them in first, they could make their run while the mine wave held back. That way we’d catch the majority of their cruisers with the mines. Then once the rest of the enemy fleet came through we could unleash the last wave at their auxiliaries,” Aybar said. Yan nodded.
“I agree,” she said.
“And then the main fleet would be in a position to come about and defend Tarchus prime,” Aybar added.
“They will have completed their job at that point, bought us time,” said Renwick.
“And where will the Kali be in all of this?” Yan asked.
“Doing our job,” said Renwick. “Wrapping that Hi’shoth military base in Void energy. That should draw the rebel Gataan cruisers. With their base shut off to them and no ability to refuel or resupply they won’t last long against the En’obli ships.”
“You’ve obviously learned a lot about the internal politics of the Gataan,” said Yan, keeping her eyes locked firmly on her board.
“If you only knew,” cracked Aybar. Renwick gave her a withering stare and she shut up.
“We learned enough,” he admitted.
“After the Kali’s task is done, then what do we do?” Yan asked, changing the subject again. Renwick tapped through a series of displays and brought up the one showing the emitter station.
“Then we make our run, and pray we can destroy the station and those other Void Ships before the Soloth get them,” said Renwick. “Our only advantage is the speed of the Kali inside the Void. But the Soloth can counter that by trailing us through normal space in our wake, or using their scoop ships to cut a path of their own. But I’m betting they can’t catch us.”
“It’s my ship you’re betting with, Senator,” said Yan, finally looking up at him. “How much of an advantage do you think we will gain by cutting through the Void?”
“About six light hours,” said Renwick. Yan put her hands to her hips.
“That’s about the same advantage we had coming out of Vadela,” she said.
“I know, but in the mean time we will have gained the allegiance of the En’obli clan of Gataan, destroyed or disabled part of an invading fleet, and managed to get fair warning to our governments. That’s a fair trade, I’d say.”
“You’re risking my ship, Renwick,” said Yan. He locked eyes with her.
“I’m risking much more than that,” he said. Then he called out orders to Cain, Aybar, and Kish.
“Action stations,” he said. “Let’s go plug that hole.”
THE Kali was positioned approximately point-zero-zero-zero-five AU from the Void event horizon. The section of normal space that they had cleared on their return from Vadela lay open like a gaping wound in the resilient black skin of the Void. Renwick watched on his infrared scan monitor as it pulsated with the solar wind generated by Tarchus’ weak red dwarf star. It looked very much alive. He wanted to kill it.
“How long will it take to close the hole at this distance?” he asked Yan.
“Forty-six minutes,” she replied, all business. The situation they were in had no doubt strained their personal relationship, circumstances being what they were. Renwick understood that. But part of his ego was still bruised by her formality and personal distance with him. He wanted a chance to explain the circumstances. He glanced over at Aybar, wondering if she had shared any details of his ‘wedding’ on Tarchus with Yan, but decided that wasn’t likely, they’d all been far too busy at their stations.
“Stand by to activate the emitters,” said Yan to Kish.
“Ready when you are captain,” said Kish. Renwick noted how all the survivors of the Phaeton had slipped comfortably under Yan’s command, even Aybar after an initial adjustment period. They all had their roles now, and that was good as far as he was concerned.
“Fire away on my mark, Captain Aybar,” said Yan. “Three... two... one... mark!” she called.
“Emitters active,” said Aybar. Renwick watched on the main display as dark energy, pulsating with cracks of deep purple lightning burst forth from the Kali’s belly, crossing the vast distances in seconds, beginning the process of mending the vast hole in space her passing had created. Yan came and stood next to him, watching the monitor as normal space diminished by the second on the display.
“'And now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds',” said Renwick quietly.
“Is that a quote?” asked Yan. He nodded.
“From an ancient Hindu text, from Earth,” he said. She sighed quietly next to him. It was a very human thing to do for an android.
“This is what we’ve been drawn into, Renwick. By chance, by happenstance, by fate,” she said. “None of us chose this.”
“Perhaps,” he said, watching as normal space was slowly, inevitably, devoured by the dark energy emanating from the Kali’s emitters. He turned to Yan with a question. “Did you pick the name of this vessel?” he asked.
“The Kali? No. She was already named when I took command,” she said.
“Did you know its meaning? The name, I mean.”
“No,” Yan said, shaking her head, also in a very human way. Renwick crossed his arms.
“Well whoever did knew his scriptures. Kali is literally the ‘Dark Goddess’, the bringer of death, the one who ends time in the Hindu pantheon,” he said. Yan shuddered next to him.
“Then they picked the right name,” she said, and walked away.
THEY LOCKED DOWN THE Hi’shoth base on the moon of Tarchus an hour later, and now they stood on the bridge again at their stations, waiting for the Soloth fleet to come. Yan had positioned the Kali at the rear of the Gataan formation, with the flotilla of ships that would make the final run at the Soloth auxiliaries. She had her primary coil cannon batteries charged and ready. It wasn’t the kind of heavy weapon that could stop a capital ship or even a fleet of cruisers, but anything smaller than that wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of one of her blasts. Yan intended to stay and support the En’obli Gataan fleet as long as she could before bugging out.
“Picking up something on infrared,” called Aybar from the weapons console. “Multiple contacts, cutting through the Void at point zero-seven-five AU distant. Looks like they’re using the scoop ships.”
“Confirmed,” said Mischa Cain from navigation.
“Finally,” said Yan, hovering over her console. Amanda stood impassive as usual to one side, while Renwick took up his station on the opposite side of the large table.
“Keep my engines warm, Mr. Kish,” said Yan. “I want to get out of here lickety-split when the time comes.”
“Aye sir,” said Kish.
“And keep our nose facing the center of their formation at all times, Lieutenant Cain,” said Yan.
“Aye sir,” Mischa responded. Renwick wondered what counted as the Kali’s nose, given her ugly swan design.
“The Gataan fleet have been notified and they’re ready to go on our order,” reported Renwick as the confirmations came through. They all watched the main display as light beams began to emerge from holes in the Void, near their original event horizon. Seconds later Soloth ships came pouring through.
“Identify weapons officer! Class and configuration!” called Yan.
“By design; frigates, destroyers, and hunter-killers. Nothing of cruiser size or configuration. Yet,” said Aybar. Renwick watched as the scoop ships, really Void cutters, sought to merge the holes that they had cut in the black blanket of Tarchus space, obviously to enable ships of larger displacement access to the system.
“I think we should laun
ch now,” he said to Yan. She held up one hand.
“Not yet.”
Amanda watched everything with her placid detachment. “Gataan fleet is calling in, asking for instructions,” she said to Yan.
“Tell them to hold,” said Yan. Renwick watched her as she observed the activity of the Soloth, trying to determine their tactics, waiting for some trigger before diving into action.
“Now!” she said. “Release the fleet, Renwick. Captain Aybar, target enemy ships with the coil cannon at will.”
“Aye captain,” said Aybar. Renwick noted it was the first time he had heard her use Yan’s title.
“The first wave of En’obli Gataan frigates is attacking,” reported Renwick. “Multiple hits on enemy vessels.”
They watched in silence then as the two fleets, one small and getting larger by the second, and the other smaller in size but more mobile, mashed together like warring wasps. It was chaos and carnage.
“Seven En’obli Gataan frigates destroyed,” said Amanda after only two minutes of action. She was staring off into space, receiving all the battle data in a steady stream of updates from the ship itself. “Hi’shoth Gataan cruisers now emerging from the Void,” she said. Renwick watched as one of the Hi’shoth cruisers exploded almost immediately upon entering its home space again. “That was a Hi’shoth cruiser. It destroyed two other enemy ships when it exploded, including one scoop ship.”
“Enemy casualties?” asked Yan. Amanda seemed to be doing the calculating in her head, without blinking. Her head bobbed just slightly from side to side as she reported.
“Seven enemy destroyers, thirteen frigates and twenty-nine hunter-killers destroyed or disabled,” she said.
“That’s not enough,” said Yan.
“Time to bring in the mines,” said Renwick.
“Do it,” she said. Renwick sent out the command to the thirty En’obli frigates carrying the mobile mines to start their run. He watched as the mine waves were released into the fray. They came pouring in from their positions at an insane point zero-two light speed, dragging waves of mines attached by magnetic fields behind them. One errant shot would send them up in a fireball, but a hit by one of those mines would shatter any ship up to cruiser displacement.
The En’obli frigates fired coil cannon bursts as they passed through the inclining edge of the Soloth fleet and released their mines. The mines all ignited their short range engines, hence the term ‘mobile mines’, picked out a target, and accelerated towards the enemy. With thirty ships carrying nine mines per wave, it was an impressive display of pyrotechnics.
“They seem to be targeting the Hi’shoth cruisers in inordinate numbers,” observed Amanda.
“Can’t say I blame them,” said Yan.
“The En’obli Gataan have now lost twenty-one frigates. The third wave is now joining the attack,” continued Amanda. Renwick watched as the tiny flotilla of ten ships sped up on their attack run into the fray. It was still a mass of fire and destruction, and it was unclear who had the upper hand, but the reality was that the Soloth ships kept coming through the openings the scoop ships had cut in the Void wall. But this last group wasn’t deterred in any way. Renwick could see they were in the most perilous position, coming straight at the forward edge of the Soloth fleet, picking out weaker auxiliary ships with their forward coil cannons and torpedoes. It was a thankless job, but one that had to be done.
Renwick watched in horror as one of the frigates exhausted its torpedo allotment but kept charging forward, eventually ramming itself into a fleet communications ship. Both vessels exploded in a sea of flames. He looked away.
“Main En’obli frigate formation has completed its second run,” said Amanda. “Mobile mines have been exhausted.”
Renwick watched as the third En’obli formation all but disappeared into the center of the Soloth formation.
“Report, Captain Aybar,” demanded Yan.
“Three Soloth ships, hunter-killers, have broken through the main Gataan lines and are on an intercept course with the Kali,” she said. “I’m holding them off with the coil cannon, but they have advanced shields and screens.”
“Time to intercept?” said Yan.
“Twenty-one minutes,” said Aybar.
“Keep me advised.”
“I’ve done an analysis of those HuK’s,” said Renwick from his station. “We can gain some ground on them in normal space, but once we enter the Void and have to start scooping, they will eventually catch us, before we reach the emitter station.”
Yan looked troubled at this news. “What can we do?” she said.
“I suggest we bring three of the Gataan frigates aboard and stow them on the landing deck. Keep them there until we have to stand and fight,” said Renwick.
“Will your wife help us?” Yan asked. Renwick tried to shake off the mention of Reya.
“I’ll go and ask her,” Renwick left his station and went to the back to get Reya.
Yan turned to Amanda. “Full report,” she said.
“Two hundred sixty-four Soloth ships have come through the Void so far. Fifty-six have been destroyed or functionally disabled,” said Amanda. Yan started to pace.
“Give me a breakdown of the fifty-six,” Yan said.
“Twelve scoop ships destroyed or disabled. sixteen auxiliary ships destroyed. Nine Soloth cruisers destroyed or disabled. Thirteen hunter-killers and six destroyers destroyed or disabled. Forty-three Soloth ships are operable but are tactically useless without repairs,” said Amanda.
“Which will be hard to do with their auxiliaries burning,” noted Renwick as he returned with Reya.
Amanda continued her report, speaking over Renwick while Yan ignored Reya’s presence. “All but two of the Hi’shoth Gataan cruisers have been destroyed. The remaining cruisers have sustained sixty-three and forty-six percent damage respectively and are making for their base on the Tarchus moon.”
“Which they will find encased in Void matter,” said Renwick again.
“Fleet communications indicate that Hi’shoth requests for assistance have been ignored by the Soloth,” said Amanda.
Renwick grunted. “Our friend Zueros must be in charge,” he said. Amanda looked at him, then returned to her report.
“Soloth ships continue to enter the system through the scoop openings,” she said. “Current count of operational Soloth vessels is two-hundred eighty-six.”
“What about our allies?” asked Yan.
“En’obli Gataan ships are breaking formation and heading to their home world in a defensive formation,” said Amanda.
“I didn’t order that,” said Yan.
“I did,” said Renwick. “They’ve done all that we could ask of them.” He walked up to Yan. “It’s time for us to go.”
She looked at him, then up to the master display, then to Reya, acknowledging her presence for the first time. “We’ll need three of your ships to take with us, to defend against three Soloth HuK’s pursuing us. Will you contact your fleet and ask for volunteers?” she said. Reya looked to Renwick.
“Is this what my husband requests?” she said.
“It is,” he responded.
Reya stepped up to the command console and Yan handed her a com earpiece. She spoke her strange language into it for a few seconds, then they all watched as a trio of Gataan frigates broke off form the main defense fleet and made for the Kali. A few minutes later and they were safely docked on the landing bay.
“As you requested, my husband,” said Reya.
“You can go now,” said Yan, in tone devoid of respect. Reya looked to Renwick again.
“Is this also what you wish?” she asked. Renwick nodded.
“It would still be safer in the back,” he said.
“As you wish,” she said. She eyed Yan, who was ignoring her, once more, and then quietly withdrew from the bridge area.
On the main view display the Soloth fleet was reforming into a multi-tiered delta-vee formation. The Kali rocked with the report of the
forward coil cannon batteries.
“That’s a pursuit formation,” said Renwick.
“I am trained in military tactics, Senator,” Yan snapped back at him. She turned to Aybar. “What’s the status of those three HuK’s?” she said.
“Still coming,” said Aybar. Yan nodded, then walked around the command console one full set of stations.
“Are the Soloth pursuing the Gataan fleet?” she asked Amanda.
“Negative,” said Amanda.
“They won’t,” said Renwick. “They’ll leave the Gataan and Tarchus alone. They want the Kali. Zueros wants the Kali.” Yan took one last look at the master display.
“Lieutenant Cain,” she said. “Take us out of here. Galactic coordinates one-eleven, mark fourteen is our destination. Best possible speed.”
“Aye sir.”
Yan looked at Renwick. “I hope those six hours we just bought ourselves with Gataan blood is enough,” she said.
“It will have to be,” he replied, hanging his head, aching at the loss of life.
Then the Kali pivoted in space, cutting a dark swath out of the Tarchus system, towards the emitter station, and the unknown.
17. To the unknown
Renwick was sleeping alone in one of the rest cabins several hours later when he got a knock at his door. He hoped it wasn’t his ‘wife’ again. He had already turned her advances down once and convinced her that sex on board the Kali was a bad idea. She knew where his heart lay, and she understood, or so he hoped.
“Come in,” he said, sitting up on his elbows. To his surprise it was Yan who came through the door.
They had hardly spoken since the battle, and the tension between them was strong. But he didn’t blame her, and he hoped she didn’t blame him. Her arrival in his cabin was the first sign that this was so. She sat down on the opposite bunk from him. He watched her in silence while she gathered her thoughts.
“I’m hurt,” she said simply, after a moment.