by G J Ogden
“Aye, Captain, I understand that you will activate the kill switch that Commander Graves installed while I was unconscious,” Razor replied. The engineer glanced back at Lieutenant Shade. “Or the Lieutenant here will blow my head off. One or the other.”
Sterling’s eyebrows raised up a little at this last statement, though Shade’s expression remained as still as a painting.
“Naturally, I’d rather not have that happen, Captain,” Razor then continued, meeting her captain’s eyes again. “But it is what it is.” The engineer shrugged. “I guess all those commendations were for nothing, after all.”
“They were always for nothing, Lieutenant,” Sterling replied, flatly. “Commendations, medals, promotions and even your release from the service… all of it is meaningless if we lose this war. What you did was help us to get one step closer to victory. That’s what matters.”
Razor appeared to consider this for a moment then straightened her back. “Permission to speak freely, Captain?” she asked.
Sterling glanced up at Lieutenant Shade. “You can resume your post, Lieutenant,” he said. Shade’s already stiff posture stiffened further. “It’s okay, Lieutenant, you no longer need to stand guard. We have an understanding.”
Shade nodded. “Aye, Captain,” she replied then promptly, albeit reticently, exited the ready room.
“Permission granted,” Sterling then said to his engineer.
“This war already forced me to give almost everything to the Fleet, Captain,” Razor began, sounding more relaxed now that the overbearing presence of the ship’s weapons officer had gone. “I hated the Fleet for what it forced me to do. Losing my brother was hard enough, but then Fleet rewarded me for that act with this promotion and this post. The only reason I didn’t tell Admiral Griffin where to stick her offer was the prospect of mustering out once this assignment was complete.” Razor sighed and shook her head. “But now I know that there is no escape for me. No future. I don’t like it, Captain, but I accept it.”
Sterling listened, never taking his eyes off his engineer as she spoke. He had known that the young engineer wanted out of Fleet, because of what it had cost her. He hadn’t considered that she resented her Omega Taskforce posting because of it. Maybe that was down to his own lack of empathy, Sterling realized, or perhaps he was just too cold-hearted to care. Either way, it changed nothing.
“Very well, Lieutenant, resume your station,” Sterling said, standing to signify that their meeting was over.
“Aye, Captain,” Razor replied. The engineer stood to attention, spun on her heels and marched toward the door.
“Lieutenant Razor,” Sterling called out, causing his engineer to stop and glance back over her shoulder.
“I know I’m not the most personable commanding officer in the fleet,” Sterling began, causing Razor to raise one of her white eyebrows a touch. “And I know this job is hard, thankless and cruel. It asks everything and gives nothing. But we’re not here for commendations, Lieutenant. We’re here to ensure that humanity survives, by whatever means necessary. If the cost is our lives, or the lives of the ones we care about or respect, then that is a cost we have to bear.”
“I understand that better than most, Captain,” Razor replied.
Sterling knew he was pushing her and as a result Razor’s bitterness had become impossible to contain. However, he had to know that his engineer could still be trusted.
“But you should understand something too, sir,” Razor added, unexpectedly. “This ship and this fight are now all I have left. You want to know if you can still trust me, and I get that. All I can tell you is that I’m all in.” Sterling studied his engineer for a moment and for the first time since she’d joined his crew, he felt like he knew her. “Will that be all, sir?” she continued, looking eager to leave.
Sterling straightened his back and pressed his hands behind his back. “No, Lieutenant, not quite,” he said, suddenly feeling anger swelling in his veins and causing a pit to form in his stomach. However, it wasn’t anger directed at his engineer, but at the bind her situation had placed him under. “This ship and this crew are my responsibility,” Sterling continued. “You should be under no illusion that I will sacrifice any one of you should the mission require it. But only if the mission requires it. Until that time comes, I will fight for you till my dying breath, and I expect you to do the same. This isn’t over for you yet, Lieutenant Razor. I order you to fight this thing until we find a way to cut this cancer from your body. Is that clear?”
Razor turned and straightened to attention. “Yes, Captain, perfectly clear.”
“You are dismissed, Lieutenant,” Sterling said.
Razor turned and exited the ready room, leaving Sterling alone with a fire in his belly that he had no way to quash. Only the heat of combat could give him the satisfaction he craved. A neural link then formed in his mind and the voice of Commander Banks entered his thoughts.
“We’re approaching the aperture now, Captain,” Banks said.
Sterling clenched his fists, realizing that in a few moments he was likely to get the tonic his soul required.
“Battle stations,” Sterling replied.
Chapter 24
Relics of the war
Sterling stepped out onto the bridge and was bathed in the low-level red lighting that signified the ship was at battle stations. Ahead of them through the viewscreen were the remains of a timeworn Sa’Nerran Heavy Cruiser. Once it had been a gatekeeper, perhaps, Sterling thought as he studied the carcass of the once mighty vessel. Now it was a fossil in space, merely providing evidence of what had at one time been a Sa’Nerran fortification.
“The cocky bastards,” said Banks, leaning forward on her console. “It looks like that old cruiser was carved up for parts pretty recently,” she added, glancing across to Sterling. “They obviously think their space is no longer in danger.”
Sterling stepped up to his console and slid his hands into the familiar grooves on the sides. “Why cannibalize an old cruiser like that, though?” he asked, tapping his finger on the console. “Could they really be that short of resources?”
Banks shrugged. “Building a war armada is expensive, especially when it includes a ten-kilometer-long monster like the Titan,” she suggested. “And prior to the neural control weapon, when we had the upper hand, Fleet was destroying Sa’Nerran ships at a ratio of two or three to one. That had to have hurt them.”
Sterling considered this while observing the remains of the cruiser. It was a tantalizing proposition. Perhaps the Sa’Nerra had been much closer to defeat than Fleet had realized. The neural control weapon may have saved their leathery skins literally in the nick of time, causing Fleet to hesitate and falter. Had they pressed the attack over a year ago and invaded Sa’Nerran space, perhaps the war would have already been won.
“It’s all academic now,” Sterling replied to Banks. “We missed our shot to finish them off and now they have us by the throat, unless we can do something about it.”
“I have a data feed from the relay probe we sent through the aperture, Captain,” said Lieutenant Razor.
The ship’s engineer was at her post at the rear of the bridge, as if nothing had happened. Lieutenant Shade cast her watchful eyes in the direction of Razor, then returned to her work. However, it was clear to Sterling that his weapons officer was still wary of their engineer. In truth, he would have it no other way.
“There is another gatekeeper cruiser guarding the other side of the aperture, but it has also been stripped,” Razor went on, undeterred by Shade’s suspicious glances. “From the limited scans the probe made before it automatically shut down, it appears to be a six-planet system. The third and fourth planets are inside the goldilocks zone for Sa’Nerran life. There are signs of a settlement on the third planet, but the fourth appears uninhabited. However, there is a large space station in orbit around the planet.”
Sterling scanned the readings as Razor detailed the findings in brief. “What about Colicos�
� shuttle? Can we say with certainty where it went?” he asked.
“It’s impossible to be certain based on the data we have, Captain,” Razor replied.
“Then give me your best guess, Lieutenant,” Sterling replied, turning back to the viewscreen. “We’ll just have to hope luck is on our side.”
Razor turned back to her array of computers; fingers flashing across the consoles. A short while later she turned to face the command deck. “Head for the space station around the fourth planet, Captain,” Razor said, announcing her findings. “It’s our best shot.”
Sterling was silent for a moment while considering his options. Simply passing through the aperture and emerging directly on the other side would allow them to make a more detailed scan and fix their destination with accuracy. However, any ships in the system would detect the surge and have ample time to intercept. Vectoring their surge so as to arrive as close to their target as possible would give them the element of surprise, but it also carried considerably more risk. However, risk was part of the game and they’d come too far to play it safe now.
“Ensign Keller, plot a surge vector that takes us as close to the orbital platform around the fourth planet as you can get us,” Sterling said. He then pushed away from the console and pressed his hands behind his back.
“Exactly how close do you want me to get, sir?” Keller replied, peering over his shoulder at his captain.
“So long as you don’t crash into it, Ensign, I don’t care if we stop an inch away from its hull,” Sterling replied, dryly. “Just get us close.”
“Aye, Captain,” Keller replied, setting to work.
A deathly calm then fell over the bridge, punctuated only by the soft bleeps and chirps of the different stations. Sterling glanced across to Shade and saw that she was poised over her console, like a tiger lying prone in the long grasses ready to pounce. To his left, Banks was focused ahead, arms folded across her chest. The definition of the muscles in her arms and shoulders showing through her tunic told Sterling she was also coiled and ready. To the rear, Lieutenant Razor appeared as calm as the space outside their viewscreen. She met Sterling’s eyes briefly, then looked ahead. Sterling wondered how he would respond in her shoes, with a ticking time-bomb in her head. Would he have been so philosophical and accepting of his fate as Razor had been of hers?
Everyone dies, Sterling reminded himself, turning back to the viewscreen. It’s only a matter of when and how. To Sterling, it was only the how that he really cared about.
“Ready to surge, Captain,” announced Ensign Keller.
“Then take us in, Ensign,” Sterling replied, without hesitation.
Keller acknowledged the order then eased the ship toward the threshold of the aperture. Sterling felt the pulse of the ship’s engines and reactor build, along with the thrum of the surge field generator. Long surges were always risky and unpredictable, but the Invictus had made an art of bending probability to its will.
Seconds later the Invictus fell through the aperture in spacetime, temporarily removing Sterling from the confines of his own body and placing him into a thought-based limbo. Images of Ariel Gunn and Mercedes Banks invaded his mind, one rushing in front of another like the pictures of a flipbook. Not now, not now! Sterling told himself, fighting against the dark thoughts that plagued him like a dormant virus that couldn’t be fully eradicated. Then the ship punctured the rift between dimensions and burst back into normal space. Alarms rang out, jolting Sterling into action more severely than the panicked awakenings from his nightmares. The Sa’Nerran orbital platform was dead ahead and danger was close.
“Reverse engines full!” Sterling called out as the nose of the Invictus raced toward the station.
“They’ve seen us,” Shade called out, though that particular nugget of information was one Sterling could have guessed for himself. “They’re launching Wasps. Weapons systems on the platform are charging and locking on.”
“Turrets to automatic,” Sterling replied. “Let them handle the Wasps while we focus on the station’s weapons platforms.” He then watched as the Sa’Nerran fighter craft shot out from the space station like darts.
Ensign Keller’s quick reactions had pulled them clear of the station, affording Sterling his first good look at it. He’d seen and attacked dozens of Sa’Nerran outposts in the Void before, but this installation looked somehow even more alien.
“Evasive maneuvers, Ensign,” Sterling said as the ship was thudded by blasts from the encircling Wasps. “Pilot’s discretion.”
“Aye, sir,” Keller called out, though he was already operating at a frenzied pace, pushing the nimble Marauder to its limits.
Sterling could feel forces tugging on his body as the inertial negation system struggled to keep pace with the talented helmsman. The Invictus’ plasma rail guns then flashed and explosions rippled out across the station. Moments later they were hit and more alerts rang out.
“Minor hull breach, deck four,” Banks called out. “Re-routing power to regenerative armor.”
“Give us everything you can, Lieutenant,” Sterling called back to his engineer, though like Ensign Keller, Razor was already flat out.
Two Wasps were caught by blasts from their plasma turrets and collided with the Sa’Nerran station. A second volley from the main rail guns then destroyed more of the installation’s static gun emplacements. However, Sterling could see that the station’s remaining weapons were again ready to fire.
“Keep the Invictus on the side of the station with the fewest guns, Ensign,” Sterling ordered, adjusting the readout on his own console to a tactical view of the installation. One half of the station had only a couple of guns remaining, while the other side still packed enough firepower to obliterate them.
“Lieutenant Shade, launch torpedoes at these co-ordinates,” Banks called out, adding to the cacophony of noise on the bridge. “We need to take out their hangar bays so they can’t launch any more fighters.”
Shade acknowledged the order then Sterling saw two torpedoes snake out from the rear launchers of the Invictus. Moments later they were hit by another blast of plasma from the station and Sterling was thrown hard to deck. Consoles blew out on the bridge and more alarms sounded.
“Report!” Sterling called out, pulling himself back to his station.
“Moderate damage, midships to port,” Banks reported. “Armor depleted. Evacuation of sections ten through twelve on decks three and four underway.”
The torpedoes that Shade launched then slammed into the station, sealing the hangar bays and also causing the installation's power levels to fluctuate wildly. Shade continued to fire, using every weapons system the Marauder-class ship had in its arsenal, while Keller tried desperately to keep them from being hit again.
“All the weapons platforms in this section of the station are disabled, Captain,” Shade called out. “And the four remaining Wasps are running in the direction of the third planet.”
Sterling checked his console then saw why the fighters had chosen that particular course. A squadron of six light cruisers had set out from the planet and were heading in their direction.
“Hull breaches secured, Captain,” Lieutenant Razor called out. “I’ll need to launch repair drones to patch up the damaged armor plating.”
“How long until those cruisers get here?” Sterling asked, turning to Commander Banks.
“Three hours, maybe less,” his first officer replied. “They’re burning hard. Scanners show another three more warships launching from a station around the third planet, but they’re only Skirmishers, and they’re all phase ones.”
“Phase one? Even the cruisers?” queried Sterling, frowning down at his own console to confirm the readings. “Those are decades old.”
“It’s like you said, Captain,” replied Banks. “Maybe they’ve committed their newer ships to the invasion. All that’s left out here are relics.”
“That number of phase ones can still take us down,” Sterling said, while scanning the
orbital platform ahead of them. Their attacks had crippled its offensive capabilities and left twenty percent of the station damaged. Like the ships that were on their way to intercept them, the station was old and vulnerable. “We need to get onto the station, find Colicos, and get out again before those ships get within range.” Sterling turned to Ensign Keller. “Latch onto the station at these co-ordinates,” he began, sending the location to Keller’s console from his own station. “Then scan for apertures, including any that might be unstable and hidden. We’re may not have a choice over how we get out of here or where we end up.”
Keller responded briskly then turned back to his console and set to work. Commander Banks arrived at Sterling’s side, muscles taut and eyes shining with purpose.
“Lieutenant Shade, assemble your commando team,” Sterling said to his weapons officer. Shade was already staring back at him, her eyes betraying the same single-mindedness that he’d already observed in Banks. If he’d looked in a mirror at that moment, he’d have seen it in himself too. They were ready. “We assault the station at once.”
Chapter 25
Those we leave behind
Ensign Keller swooped the Invictus down toward the space station, like a kestrel diving at its prey. There was a thud through the deck plating as the ship set down then latched on with the ventral umbilical at the co-ordinates Sterling had specified.
“Cutting through now, Captain,” Shade called out. “Sixty seconds.” Shade and her commandoes were already geared up for the assault. As with the attack on the Sa’Nerran cruiser, the soldiers were equipped with Homewrecker heavy plasma rifles and plasma hand cannons. This time, Sterling had also assigned grenades. In general, blowing holes in starships and space stations you have boarded is never a good idea, but this time he needed every available weapon and option at his disposal.
“Once we’ve breached, make your way through the outer sections towards this central area,” Sterling called out, highlighting the location on his wrist computer. “Scans of the station have shown it to have a honeycomb-like structure around the circumference, surrounding a larger, more open space in the center,” Sterling continued, as his computer updated the images to match what he was saying. “Based on what we've seen on Sa’Nerran outposts in the Void, this should be a command center.”