by Chris Burton
Maria looks good today, thought Jake. He really must catch up with her soon.
Just then one of the faculty administrators entered and whispered in the ear of one of the permanent members of the Panel.
“The Chair has been briefly detained elsewhere but will return shortly. The meeting will remain in session, pending his return.”
Jake and Steve sat in silence and Steve shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Jake did feel for Steve. His actions merited this response, but it was clear he regretted them and was willing to do anything to get back onto the course. Whether that would be enough remained to be seen.
Steve sweated, feeling hot and uneasy. His future was being held in the balance and the bastards were making him wait for his punishment deliberately.
Why can’t Carla be here? He thought. Her wanderlust was just bad timing. He needed her here by his side. Jake was a help, and if he was honest, he could have been in even more trouble, if Jake hadn’t supported him both today and following the ‘incident’ itself. He forgot about how only days before he accused Jake of sleeping with Carla. He didn’t care anymore. He wanted Carla back and just wanted to get on with his training. Steve feared the worst. He knew they didn’t have the direct power to have him thrown off the course but they could influence his senior tutor and his flight trainer. He could be looking at graduating as a shuttle pilot.
The Chair finally arrived and took his seat. He shuffled some papers and spoke a few brief words to the other panel members and then he stood and addressed the meeting.
“Enson Costella, please stand. You have admitted to the charges brought forward by you flight trainer and your senior tutor. This Disciplinary Panel has sat today to determine whether appropriate discipline is required.”
“The panel has considered your actions; that you have admitted your wrongdoings, and your pleas for leniency, and we have reached a verdict from which your senior tutor can act upon should he elect to.”
“The Panel considers that your actions placed both your co-pilot, your immediate colleagues and the inhabitants of the substation at considerable risk and for what? You have a track record of disobeying instructions and flouting rules and conventions. You seem to have a complete disregard for the Academy rules, conventions and codes of conduct. My personal opinion is that you should be thrown out of the Academy. However, the collective verdict of the Disciplinary Panel is that you should be allowed to continue your training, including your jump ship training. You will be deducted one whole point from your graduation score and it is recommended that you should not be allowed to compete in the Top Gun competition this year. You are dismissed”
Jake led Steve through the chambers door and out of the main campus building. Steve looked ashen.
“They can’t stop me from taking part in the Top Gun, can they?”
“For God’s sake, Steve. You have just been let off the hook and back on to the training course. Never mind the competition, you can still graduate with an 8.5 if you knuckle down for the rest of this year. Just forget about the Top Gun.”
“I guess so,” said Steve. “There’s no way am I going to forget the Top Gun.”
Chapter Six
Aurora 5
The Sentinels’ Northern Fleet never really got to grips with the Humans’ technical capability, with their cunning and devious battle tactics. The fleet was in terminal decline, morale was low and their remaining ships were old and war-beaten. The humans’ success against the inferior forces of the Northern fleet was inevitable but unfortunate.
General Yoshi didn’t want to be here. He was intent on continuing his destruction of the Partacians and this was an unnecessary distraction. He assumed command of the Northern Fleet and made good what remained of the salvageable ships, and scuttled those left behind.
Earlier he visited his Northern Fleet incumbent. He declared the ‘Kaphflona’ and immediately assumed command as he watched the outgoing General plunge his ceremonial sword up through his abdomen and out through his neck. Death was slow and painful, but the path of the Kaphflona was clear. He was leader and General Timona was dead. He watched as the dead General was taken away for incineration.
The Sentinels were a deeply spiritual people who followed many faiths, but none more so then the teachings of the ‘Betanica Sect’. In essence, the Sect controlled the faith of each of his three thousand crew and that of each and every one of his Fleet Commanders, their crew and the Sentinels that surrounded the Galaxy. The Sect representatives numbered nearly one hundred in his ship alone and, although General Yoshi didn’t count himself to be truly a man of faith, he did respect the Sect and their importance in the greater scheme of things.
Yoshi attended the Katana Ceremony. This four hour ritual involved the blessing of the ship and the fleet prior to battle and the sacrificial slaughter of a representative of the enemy. The human female was nude and muted. She would die painfully and slowly but her death would be the start of many that he, General Yoshi, would inflict on the humans. Despite his lack of faith, this was a good ceremony, he reminded himself.
* * * *
The Aurora 5 hit the dust cloud at maximum cruising velocity. A huge vortex of dust and debris from the Beta five planetary rings swirled into existence as the Battle Cruiser ploughed through the dust cloud on route to its latest destination.
Jonathan Hoskins sat at his desk in his study and attended to his administrative tasks, without even noting the curious special effect that was erupting around his ship. He spent many years in space and the shudder from the impact of a ship entering a dust cloud at high velocity was hardly a special moment for such a seasoned traveler. Over his years, both in command and as a sub-officer, he saw many sights, and today’s special-effects show would continue to go unnoticed. He glanced up at his window when the ship’s stellar drive started to power down. This noise was distinct, and was a signal to him that his ship was nearing its new target. He opened a comm channel
“Bridge: Status?”
“We have located the Sentinel vessel and have taken the stellar drive off line. We are at standard pursuit velocity.”
“Excellent. Let’s hold off the fireworks until I get to the bridge.”
Hoskins left his quarters and headed down the corridor to the main bridge access lift.
He was ready for the next battle, and the ease in which his ship was eliminating his enemy meant he did feel calm considering that his ship was about to go in to combat. As he neared the lift, he did feel a sudden sense of urgency. Something didn’t feel right. He considered this for a moment…
“Bridge. Run a full diagnostic and scan to check if there is anything else out there.”
Lieutenant Commander Jacques, the Aurora’s First Officer came back almost immediately and confirmed that all diagnostic checks came back clear. The ship ran at ninety-two percent, and short range scanners revealed nothing out of the ordinary.
His instincts still told him something was wrong. He entered the express elevator which whisked him quickly upwards three decks before coming to a rest on the top deck, the command bridge.
* * * *
The Sentinel ship was in silent mode. This was a more practical mode for pursuing the enemy than the safer—and more secure—stealth mode. The vessel was a Sentinel dark ship. It was constructed of dark metal composite alloy which made it barely visible in the twilight of space. Add to that the silent mode, which in the context of the Sentinel flagship really was silent.
The dark ship pursued the Alpha vessel for several days, and when the Aurora 5 dropped out of light speed, the Sentinel vessel parked on top of the smaller Alpha ship. General Yoshi was pleased. He had the Alpha vessel exactly where he wanted it. The Alpha ship’s weapons would be useless at such a short range, and from here he could suck the life out of the enemy vessel’s stellar drive. He waited patiently as they plowed through the dust cloud. It was here that they would be noticed, and they needed to clear the phenomenon before they could commence an attack. His weapons were po
ised for an instant response, should the Alpha vessel fire first. They would see their own demise, he was certain of that, but at the right time.
* * * *
Hoskins was anxious. He sat at his bridge chair and monitored the ship’s immediate surroundings on his head up display. There was something there, he was certain.
The ship’s status was ‘Conditional alert’, a hybrid state where the ship was neither at battle stations nor ‘stand down’. Hoskins requested further checks when he arrived at the bridge but still they detected nothing material. His crew was used to Hoskins’s gut feelings and went about their duties without reference or question.
‘There.” Hoskins pointed out a definite shadow to his first officer.
Lieutenant Commander Jacques leaned forward.
“Can I suggest a sensor sweep?”
“Yes, promptly and discretely Number One.”
Hoskins knew that, whatever it was, it was likely to be Sentinel. It was big and too damn close. He needed to get some distance between them.
“Aurora 5. Prepare for emergency jump on my command, charge up the plasma converters and raise defense shields to maximum.”
Fuck, it was on top of them. How long it was there? He asked himself. This was not a side of the Sentinels he had seen before. They didn’t sneak around, the Northern fleet didn’t. This tactic and this ship suggested something different. What were they planning and when?
He didn’t have to wait long for the answer. The Sentinel vessel launched a low yield atomic charge directly into the Aurora’s drive section amidships. The missile exploded and the auxiliary drive immediately ceased.
“Go to condition yellow and prepare for emergency jump Number one, what is the state of the sensor sweep?”
“Preliminary results confirm a large Sentinel vessel immediately above us. Shall I launch a Rapier battle group?”
“Negative. Battle stations. Go to jump on my mark and sweep round 180 degrees to port and drop to 220.”
“Prime the PBA and raise forward shields to maximum.”
“Mark.”
The Aurora 5 instantly surged forward at maximum thrust. The power of the emergency stellar jump forced the Sentinel vessel upward and briefly into a downward spiral, but the vast Sentinel ship corrected itself immediately and fired broadside clusters at the Aurora as it steadied itself, scoring direct hits and causing minor damage to the aft decks and again to the auxiliary drive.
“She’s big,” said the Aurora’s first officer.
“I think we may have met our match, Mr. Jacques. This might be our first contact with General Yoshi. Take us to SD5. Brace for hard acceleration. Mark.”
The ship’s stabilizers compensated and the Alpha Battle Cruiser lurched forward, accelerating briskly to SD5. The Sentinel ship started its pursuit but despite her obvious ailments, the Aurora 5’s thrust was too great and she began to pull away.
The Aurora 5 was in some difficulty.
“Stabilizers to maximum,” shouted Jacques.
“Status report.”
“Significant damage to aft decks, no reported casualties as yet, the auxiliary drive is offline and we are venting plasma from the stellar drive,” replied the first officer.
“Effect immediate repairs and maintain velocity. Steady as she goes.” said Hoskins. He decided this day was a long way from being over.
Chapter Seven
The President
President Roslyn was in a bad mood. The news from Beta Five reported Alpha encountered the Sentinel’s Southern Fleet—or part of it—and that the Alpha came off worse. To add to his woes, the news wires were reporting his approval rating at a new low of just twenty-seven percent and the public’s generally-positive perception and support for the war was beginning to lose ground.
This was definitely not the right time for the Defense Secretary to come to him to request additional Alpha funding, but the incompetent fool was doing just that. He was standing there right in front of him and demanding further funding.
Charles De Voort was a diminutive, spectacled man who usually spoke his mind. He was confident, articulate, and generally got what he wanted. He headed up the Defense Department for the last eight years, and had visited President Roslyn for Alpha funding on numerous occasions in the past. He always got what he wanted.
Not today. Roslyn was not in the mood to play party politics. He was not in the mood to create yet another headline about yet another increase in funding and he was not in the mood to see De Voort’ s face, let alone have to listen to him.
However, the case for further funding was clear. Alpha required funds to launch an all out strike on the Sentinels’ Southern Fleet. He was obligated as an APF member to remove the threat from the Sentinels, because he had signed a treaty which pledged to do just that. Not that upsetting the APF was of particular concern, but they did still provide Central APF funding, albeit directly to Alpha. Their ultimate aim was to remove the Sentinels from APF airspace.
The cost was ridiculous, really. Fully twenty-five percent of Earth’s GDP went towards defense, and despite APF’s treaty commitment, to fund their contributions, to date was derisory; a further half of one percent GDP funding was required to fund the new strike. What could he do? Alpha was not yet completely self-funding. They still relied on ECG—Earth’s Central Government—to provide the funds, and if Earth didn’t fund it then Alpha would go short and, inevitably, losses would be greater. Would they be able to find the funds elsewhere?
Roslyn stood and beckoned De Voort to take a seat in front of his vast desk.
“Can you give me a justifiable reason as to why I should authorize, and why the senate should follow suit? The costs are ridiculous. I need you to reduce costs, not increase them.”
“I believe I have outlined a fully justified and coherent plan for additional funding.”
Just then Alpha’s chief of staff entered. Admiral Neville was Alpha’s commander in chief. De Voort asked him to attend to give substance to some of his costing plans. The Admiral was late, which offended the President, and he didn’t like the Admiral either which offended him even more.
It was right at this point that President Roslyn elected to make a stand. There will be no additional funding. The economy cannot afford it and Alpha would have to cope by cutting costs elsewhere. The media would have their say, but that would die down. In the end he was doing this for the good of his party and the next president.
Chapter Eight
The Wounded Fox
The Aurora 5 limped into Alpha Territory at sub-stellar speed, having sustained a velocity in excess of light speed for over 36 hours. This was much longer than Hoskins intended, but it was clear they were still being pursued, and to reduce to sub-light speed before would have almost certainly resulted in the Sentinel ship going in for the kill. He had the relative protection of territorial space, even though his ship was still over twenty light years from home. Surely Yoshi would not try to engage in battle here?
The rational was simple, made simpler by the fact that while the Aurora’s stellar drive still operated, most of his ship clearly didn’t. Repairs were carried out to all decks affected, but the bulkheads were damaged. No amount of patching up mid-flight would resolve this problem for long. In addition the shield systems faltered, plus the ship’s pitch and yaw controls were knocked out of balance by twenty percent. The Auxiliary drive was back on line, but the plasma injectors in the stellar drive poured plasma into the void, leaving a trail for all to follow. Like a wounded fox, the prey was being pursued; his blood was the plasma, and with a weakening heart, he waited for his attackers to catch him and finish their kill.
The Sentinel vessel still pursued them. It was some way back, but within range, and the gap between them was definitely closing.
Hoskins turned his attention to the location of the nearest Alpha vessels. There were two ships within short range and a further four just outside. His communications officer tried to contact them but this area of space was notoriou
sly bad for comm links. Hoskins knew he needed to get nearer to a sub-space communications booster before his transmissions were picked up. At current velocity, the Aurora 5 would be within comm range in fifteen minutes. Hoskins knew he could not rest on his laurels waiting, so he left his quarters and headed straight to the main hangar deck.
The Aurora’s jump ships were stacked two high each in an individual ‘workshop’ to the left of the hangar. The ship’s CAG was Lieutenant Eileen Collins and she looked up as Hoskins walked towards her.
Aurora 5 had a complement of twenty-seven vessels stored within two hangars in the center of the ship. This provided protection and allowed the jump ships, in particular, the opportunity to achieve maximum thrust before they left the relative safety of their mother ship.
The main hangar housed twenty Rapier jump ships, twelve of which were Rapier 7’s. The other eight, the reserve fleet, were aging Rapier 6’s. The smaller hangar deck to the rear of the main deck housed five Sabres and two Eagle carrier ships.
Hoskins briefed his CAG some hours earlier that the likelihood was that he would be calling all the Rapier 7’s and three Sabres into action. In this situation, the jump ships would provide the Aurora 5 with ‘cover of last resort’, if the comm links failed to call in assistance from the other nearby Alpha vessels.
Hoskins knew his options were running short and it was time to brief his CAG and get the jump ships primed and ready for launch. This was the kind of decision he hated. He was about to order his crew into action, with the likelihood that some would not return. This was different from the elation of a few days before. The hunter became the hunted.
Hoskins briefed Lieutenant Collins and ordered that the jump ships in question be made ready for standby status. He left the hangar deck and headed straight for the bridge.
The ship was in relative calm. The crew was not naïve; they all knew that they were being pursued, rather than being the pursuer, but they also knew that if the ships commanders were relaxed then the situation must be under control. Hoskins learned not to over-hype these situations and he deliberately tried to air a feeling of calmness as he walked towards the front of the ship. He knew the time for calmness neared its end and battle was imminent.