In the holo to his right Jane looked his way. “Bill, I assume it’s better to fight them at this slower speed than on a parallel track at one-tenth lightspeed?”
He shrugged. “I think so. For one thing it makes my targeting more accurate. One-tenth lightspeed causes a slight warping of incoming light and other radiation. At this slower speed, laser fighting will be aim and shoot. No need to ‘lead’ the target like with an old-fashioned shotgun aimed at ducks.”
She chuckled. “Seems like you’ve adjusted to this new combat environment.”
He gave her a thumbs-up. “Was trained to make sudden adjustments. When you’re falling straight down in a freefall chute drop, you have to react quickly. Same with a close-up firefight. Bullets move fast. Better to think ahead so you don’t have to jump out of the way of incoming. And hope you jump fast enough.”
Bill reached down, grabbed his canteen, grabbed a granola bar donated by Jane’s backpack, and inserted the bar through his helmet’s intake slot. The canteen he held to the helmet’s suction tube. Inside his helmet he sipped on it, enjoying the coldness. Turning his head further right he took a bite out of the bar that hung from the inside of his helmet. He’d had several hours of rest time earlier. Now, with the new food, his energy levels would be high. And his combat reactions would be equally strong.
Fifty minutes later he leaned forward and tracked on the Collector ship as it neared the 10,000 mile range of their lasers. He tapped the weapons pillar control surface, waited for the ship to change its angle, then he tapped the antimatter projector dot.
“Antimatter projector firing,” the AI said loudly.
Jane looked his way, her expression curious. “Bill?”
He nodded acknowledgment but kept his attention fixed left on the system graphic and the purple dot of the oncoming enemy ship. “A backup. The antimatter stream will intersect the oncoming ship’s vector line minutes before it arrives there. If our lasers do not disable them, then the antimatter will.”
“If they don’t change course vectors,” she mused. “Still, a good choice. The defense of this ship is in your hands.”
He knew that. Eighteen lives depended on him fighting in a place he’d never been, with weapons he’d never used, against an enemy used to traveling in space and perhaps fighting off local pirates or high tech enemies. It reminded him of a saying by a SEAL Team Six officer that was emblazoned on one of the walls at Coronado.
“We want to be in a situation under maximum pressure, maximum intensity, and maximum danger. When it is shared with others, it provides a bond which is stronger than any tie that can exist.”
CHAPTER NINE
Three minutes later Bill fired both forward ship lasers.
Seconds later the Collector ship fired back.
The counter-attack missed them because their ship had moved upward at a right angle to their prior course. While still heading for planet five, their vector line now lay above their prior route line.
The true space holo to his right showed a green flare.
“A hit!” he yelled. “Traveler, move this ship toward the enemy ship. Now! Faster!”
“Moving. Speed of encounter has increased to 110,000 miles per hour,” the AI said.
“Launch two MITV torpedoes at the enemy,” Bill said quickly. “Allow for slower speed of torps. Lead the target.”
A low hum sounded. “I do understand about leading the target, as you did earlier with the antimatter barrage and now with two torpedoes. Which carry multiple thermonuclear warheads.”
Jane’s expression as she watched him was intense.
Bill adjusted the orientation of the ship’s nose and tapped the weapons control pillar. “Second laser strike fired!”
Less than a second later another green flare showed.
Their ship rocked.
“Laser strike on our outer hull!” the AI said hurriedly. “Adaptive optics on hull reflected away most laser energy. Ship hull integrity preserved.”
“The enemy!” Bill said. “I saw two flares. They were hit. Damage assessment?”
“Enemy ship was hit on its nose and then on its tail engine section. Spectral analysis documents air loss from second strike,” the AI said.
“Drop us down! Now!” Bill yelled.
“Dropping.”
Seconds passed.
The purple dot of the enemy ship closed to within 7,000 miles. Its course toward them also grew curved as the ship moved to parallel the course of the Blue Sky.
“Captain, I have multiple strikes that are in transit,” he said sharply. “First is the antimatter barrage I ordered earlier. Second are the multiple independently targeted vehicles that went scattershot from the two torpedoes. They’re set for nuke burst based on proximity detection. I’m planning a second antimatter barrage once the range drops to 4,000 miles.”
“Understood. I have full confidence in your actions,” Jane said, her tone soft and caring.
Bill wished he had the same confidence. But he did have instincts honed during more than a dozen overseas assignments. “Traveler, change our course so we are at a diagonal intercept to the enemy’s approaching vector. Then make this ship move in a spiral down that vector!”
“Adjusting course,” the AI said, its tone calm and matter of fact. “Spiral approach achieved.”
The spiral should make it harder for the oncoming Collector ship crew to guess where they would be and fire at their expected vector, or to lead his ship as he had done theirs. So Bill hoped.
Green laser streaks zipped by above them.
“Second laser attack by enemy has no effect,” the AI said.
Bill could see that from the system graphic holo, which had expanded to show his ship and the Collector ship, their course changes and the coherent energy beams of each ship as detected by ship sensors.
A massive yellow fireball suddenly glowed in the true space holo.
“Thermonuclear detonation!” the AI said, sounding a bit agitated. “From one of our MITV warheads.”
“Effect?”
“Minimal,” the ship mind said. “Detonation occurred when enemy ship was within five miles of warhead and moving upward and away.”
Suddenly a cluster of pink dots showed near the Blue Sky. They were closing.
Bill tapped the fire control for the plasma batteries that sat atop their spine and on their belly. “Counterfire against incoming warheads!”
The plasma fireballs had a range of 400 miles before they lost coherence.
Bright light flared.
“Thermonuclear detonations!” the AI said. “At distances of 371, 369 and 350 miles. Other warheads are diverging from our course vector.”
Sweat slid down Bill’s back. The living crew on the other ship were doing much of what he had done moments earlier.
“Traveler! Increase our speed to one-tenth lightspeed! Now! And give me a two second warning before we arrive within 4,000 miles of the enemy!”
“Increasing speed. Magfield spacedrive set at maximum acceleration.” A low hum sounded. “It takes some seconds before this ship can move from 110,000 to 67 million miles per hour.”
Bill knew that. He just hoped his sudden burst of speed would disorient the living gunners on the other ship. While it could also speed up as quickly as the Blue Sky, that took time. And a decision by another bioform on the ship. That extra time to act should give him the chance to fire first.
“Two seconds.”
Bill bit his lip, then tapped the antimatter projector fire control on top of the weapons pillar. “Firing antimatter!”
On the system graphic the purple dot of their ship spiraled around their vector line while the enemy ship’s purple dot made a logarithmic curve to parallel the vector of the Blue Sky. Distance between the two ships dropped to 2,100 miles.
A yellow-white sun glowed in the true space holo.
“Damn!” He blinked, gave thanks for the automatic light filtering of the holo, then saw the roiling plasma shell of the new sun was
fading into yellow-orange, then red. “Traveler! Was that a hit on the Collector?”
“It was.”
“Damage assessment! What do your sensors show?”
“Electro-optical image transferred to system graphic holos of both bioform stations,” it said.
The gray metal ship that had been a fat elongated teardrop now lacked its forward half. Fumes, silvery water globules and white air burst from the rear section of the dead ship. Which now tumbled in space as they swept past it at one-tenth lightspeed.
“Traveler! Move vector inward at a right angle to our former vector line,” Bill ordered hurriedly. “Then lift ship’s course line upward, relative to our new vector line.”
“Complying.”
On the system graphic holo the glowing hull fragment rapidly grew smaller as his ship swept past. Bill tapped the top of the weapons pillar. “Firing two more torps with a spread of warheads,” he said, his mouth dry. “Traveler, reduce ship speed down to 30,000 miles per hour. As quickly as you can!”
“Adjusting. Such a change will require twelve seconds.”
A yellow-white thermonuke blast occurred directly ahead of them.
“There’s antimatter ahead of us! It killed one of our warheads,” Bill yelled. “They fired a burst just before our AM hit them. Move this ship outward! Fast!”
A second thermo-nuke blast appeared in the true space holo. This one was closer. Just forty miles away.
“Moving outward. Ship speed reduced.”
Bill bit his lip. He had no idea how dispersed the antimatter field was. He’d fired the two torps with warheads ahead of them in order to detect such a danger. Which had now become real.
“Captain! I think we’ll avoid contact with the enemy’s antimatter broadside if we get far enough—”
A third thermonuke blast happened. Only this time it lay behind them. And on their former vector line.
“You are correct, Senior Crewman Bill MacCarthy,” the AI said. “The enemy antimatter cloud appears to lie behind this ship.”
Bill turned in his seat and looked back to Jane. Whose brow showed wetness. She gave him a thumbs-up.
“Well done, Weapons Chief and combat master,” she said, sounding relieved. “This space battle stuff sure as hell is different from rifles and artillery barrages!”
He gave her a nod, a quick salute and turned back to monitor the four holos before him. In the holo to his right Jane moved her attention from him to other ship holos. The true space holo next to it was blessedly calm. The system graphic holo to his left showed them back on course for a meeting with planet five. Ahead of him the ship weapons holo showed the status of all weapons systems. Which were green normal, except for the torpedoes. The holo showed only two torpedoes remaining. With each torp carrying five MITV thermonuke warheads, they still had lots of firepower. But the drop in inventory made him think ahead.
“Star Traveler,” Bill said. “Can you detect the locations of our thermonuke warheads that did not explode? Leastwise, those warheads that are paralleling our course?”
“I can. Twelve warheads are detected. All are behind us but have a relative velocity that places them near us.”
“Can you dispatch a collector pod to pick them up?” Bill asked. “I hate to waste weapons. And you could use them to outfit new torpedoes.”
“I can dispatch a collector pod for the purpose you describe. Fabrication of new torpedoes will commence in my Factory Chamber,” the AI said.
“Well done,” Jane said firmly. “We have no idea what the future holds, especially if we encounter ships from high-tech civilizations. While I prefer to avoid any more space combat, it is best to be fully armed and fully prepared.”
Bill knew that and agreed. Keep your pack full, your rifle loaded and your ammo close to hand. That had been one of the first lessons he’d learned in the constant SEAL training on San Clemente. The lesson had served him well during his team assignments.
“Thanks, Captain. Wish I had my .45 semi-auto. Had a great Pachmayr grip on it and was nicely tuned by a great Denver gunsmith. Miss my flies too, and my fishing rod. Guess they are all somewhere back on Earth.”
“Incorrect, Senior Crewman Bill MacCarthy,” the AI said, its tone sounding puzzled. “All personal items present at your campsite, and at the capture locations of other captives, are presently stored in the Collector Pod Chamber. Do you wish access to your items?”
“Yes! Uh, please. How soon can I get them?”
“Me too!” Jane said hurriedly. “Had my favorite fishing pole out there with me. Plus my own Browning Hi-Power semi-auto and flip-knife.”
An extended low hum sounded through the room. “The personal items of each bioform in this room are now being transferred to your habitat rooms. Is that satisfactory?”
He looked to Jane’s image in the command seat holo. She gave him a grin. “Star Traveler, yes, Bill and I are pleased to have our personal items returned. Uh, how will this be done? I thought the three repair robots were still dead and immobile.”
“You are correct that those robots are non-operative. Though I have moved them to my Factory Chamber for repair and renovation,” the AI said calmly. “However, small items are transported on this ship by means of my hover bots. Observe to your rear.”
Bill turned in his seat as Jane did the same.
Down from the ceiling came two silvery pods fitted with tiny grippers. A whir said some kind of internal fan kept the bots suspended in air. The two drifted toward the still open Command Bridge entry door and disappeared through it.
“Nice,” Jane said, her tone thoughtful. “Do you have many hover bots available?”
“Forty-three hover bots are present in sections of this ship,” the ship mind said. “More can be manufactured if needed.”
Jane waved a hand dismissively. “That sounds like plenty of hover bots. Uh, you said you are repairing and renovating the three repair bots we had to disable. Can you repair the entry door to this chamber? So it will open and close normally?”
“I can. Replacement of wall circuitry and broadcast power receptors can be done within two hours, 14 minutes and—”
“Enough!” she laughed. “Proceed with the door repair in the time it takes.” Jane turned back around and looked at the system graphic holo that hung before her. “Resume ship speed toward planet five at the one-tenth lightspeed level.”
“Resuming.” Bill felt nothing, thanks to the inertial damper field. “Distance is 11 AU. Estimated time to arrival is 15 hours, 27 minutes.”
He let out a sigh and sat back in his weapons station seat. He’d passed his first live-fire space battle test. He devoutly hoped it would be a long, long time before another such test occurred!
♦ ♦ ♦
They arrived at the Saturn-like planet five to discover the automated atmosphere refining station was plugging away as it sucked up raw hydrogen by way of a suspended tube. Inside the ball-shaped station were devices that separated out the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium, which Bill recalled were vital for any fusion reaction, whether in a weapon or in a fusion reactor. Floating next to the giant ball were long metal tubes that linked to dozens of white metal balls. Those balls contained supercooled deuterium and tritium, according to the ship mind. The true space holo of planet five was amazing. While mostly pale yellow, the world had bands similar to Jupiter.
“Nice colors on that world,” Jane murmured as she sat in her captain’s seat atop the command pedestal.
“Agreed,” Bill said, scanning the system graphic holo to his left to confirm there were no Alien spaceships nearby. The four Collector ships remained in orbit above the Market world of planet four, while the six local spaceships transited between the Earth-like third planet and the Market moon. They had not heard a word from Traffic Control since the battle and destruction of the attacking Collector ship.
“Ship sensors say the planet is putting out a lot of radio waves from its north and south poles,” Jane said amiably. “And like Jupi
ter, the five largest moons of this world all orbit within its planetary magnetosphere, according to this holo graphic provided by Star Traveler.”
Bill could see those tiny worlds, along with another 42 moons of highly varied size, thanks to the details shown by the system graphic. He didn’t give a damn about airless, icy, or asteroid-blasted moons. It only mattered that there was no one around to shoot at them. “When do we start the refueling?”
Jane laughed softly. “In five minutes. Once we get close enough to the nearest fuel ball. One of the collector pods, which is already out and alongside us, will grab the fuel flow hose at the black spot on the fuel ball, attach it to our Engine Chamber hull, and begin pumping the isotopes into our fuel chambers.” She paused as she tapped on one of the control pillars that ringed her seat. “Check your weapons ship graphic. The fuel intake location is now highlighted.”
Bill saw that. He had developed the habit of frequently checking the holo graphic that showed a cutaway of the ship, the location of every ship weapons system, and internal ship chambers and hallways. It was a weapons-modified version of the first ship holo they’d seen right after their escape from the containment cells. It seemed there were two fuel chambers lying between the rear cross hallway and the Engine Chamber itself. An Engine access hallway ran between the two fuel chambers. To him that arrangement made sense. The live space holo on his right now showed a collector pod connecting a hose from a white fuel globe to the nearest fuel chamber. He glanced at the adjacent holo of Jane, who had changed into her blue jumpsuit. Which was visible through the transparent fabric of her tube suit.
“Captain, once we finish refueling, shall we get the hell out of this system?”
Her look turned serious. Command serious. “We will. I see no point in staying in a place where this Market world sells intelligent people to Buyers. And with four other Collector ships in orbit, we could easily die if we attacked the Buyer facility down on the moon’s surface.”
Escape 1: Escape From Aliens Page 13