* * * * *
“My Lord, the rebels have just fired a missile in our direction,” General Lychen said.
Still sitting in his command chair, Koroan calmly leaned on his knees. Without turning his intense gaze from the viewscreen, he said, “Besides the electro-magnetic shields, are the Raqel’s other defenses still operational?”
“Yes, my Lord, but—”
“Then there is nothing to worry about,” Koroan interrupted as he watched the missile cut across space directly for the command bridge. Even though the defenses of his new command ship had never been battle tested, he was confident that they would work.
“My Lord, what are your orders?” General Lychen said with panic beginning to set in his voice.
“Patience, General,” replied Koroan, staring at the missile as it sped closer and closer for a head-on collision with the bridge.
The missile was now within 200 yards of the ship when two lasers shot out from each wing, exploding the missile into a million pieces before it could reach its target.
Koroan stood and walked toward the viewscreen. “Enhance the image, so that I can get a better look at what we’re dealing with.”
The image of the rebel warship magnified, making it so Koroan could look over its hull. “How long until all of our systems are up and running?”
General Lychen relayed the information he had just received from engineering. “Another two hours, my Lord.”
Koroan placed his hands behind his back. “We could destroy them with a barrage of plasma blasts, but that will take too much precious power needed to get our systems back on online. So, we will wait until our missile targeting systems are back online. And if we cannot move, then they will not be able to move either … Target their propulsion systems with our plasma guns.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
After a few seconds, four hot, orange plasma blasts shot out of the Raqel’s wings.
* * * * *
Scott cursed after seeing the missile he had fired destroyed before hitting its target. He was beginning to try and maneuver his ship out of range when Petey yelled, “They’ve fired!”
Scott snapped his head up to look at the viewscreen just in time to see four plasma blasts pass underneath the hull. In an instant, the warship trembled and a large explosion blew out from the bottom of the ship. Alarms began to buzz throughout the entire ship.
“Scott, they hit our propulsion systems!”
Scott squeezed the controls and tried to veer the ship away. But it was useless. Their propulsion systems were destroyed. “We’re sitting ducks.”
Petey didn’t respond. He just sat there with dread all over his face, looking at the menacing bird of prey staring back at them.
Scott stared as well. He knew that their firepower was no match for the ship before them. Even so, he was not sure what to do next. He waited a few more minutes. “Why haven’t they fired at us again? We’re wounded, and now would be the perfect time to either destroy us or dock with us and take us as prisoners.”
“They haven’t moved either,” Petey added. “Maybe they’re having a problem with their propulsion systems as well.”
Scott nodded slowly, trying to guess what Koroan’s next move would be. “Well, we can’t fire missiles at them. They will just destroy them with their anti-missile defenses, and plasma blasts will do nothing against the Omutx armor that thing is covered with.”
Petey just nodded in agreement.
Then, Scott had an idea. He shot an intense look at Petey. “Can you reroute all of the power we have left in the ship to the thrusters?”
Petey looked at him with a skeptical look on his face. “Maybe, but I’ll have to go down to engineering to assess the damage. If the damage is too extensive, I’ll have to manually reroute cables and wires from our other systems directly into the thruster control panel.”
“How long would that take?”
“I don’t know, maybe two hours, six hours tops.”
“Go then, do it. I want every ounce of power this ship has, including our weapons systems, rerouted to the thrusters.”
Petey stood and was about to head to the command bridge doors, leading into the main corridor of the ship, when he stopped and turned around. “But, Scott, if I reroute all of the power to the thrusters, you won’t have steering control, and you will only be able to fire the thrusters once at maximum velocity.”
Scott turned his head and looked back at the viewscreen with ferocity. “Maximum velocity is what I’m counting on.”
* * * * *
Adrian secured Celeste’s and Jake’s helmets to their spacesuits and then managed to pull their unconscious bodies under the massive satellite arm of Mars I. He looked up at the ceiling of the payload bay and then back down. That should give us enough protection, he thought. Then, he crawled underneath the arm as well, huddling next to his son and Celeste. “Skyler, do you copy?”
“Copy, Adrian, do you have them?”
“Roger that. Blow it open,” Adrian said as his ducked his head.
An explosion ripped down from the top of the bay. Adrian could feel its heat, as two large chunks of metal came crashing down upon the satellite arm, shielding the three underneath. While Adrian had Macaria distracted, Skyler had fired sticky charges from the Wildcat II he flew onto the top of the payload bay. He was then ordered to wait until Adrian gave him the signal to detonate.
After the smoke cleared, Adrian crawled out from underneath and radioed Sage Merrok, who was now flying Gnolom 1. “Colonel Merrok, are you in position?”
“We’re on our way now,” Merrok replied. “Our mission within Mount Resumpsi took a little longer than anticipated.”
“Copy that,” Adrian said, hearing the battle cruiser engines approaching.
Looking up, he saw the large cruiser stop over the top of Mars I, its engines blazing in hover mode. The emergency panels at the bottom of the ship slid open and three tow cables equipped with chest harnesses dropped into the payload bay of Mars I. Adrian waved up to Skip and Nichelle, who were manning the winch controls.
He then dragged his son, who was in the most critical condition, to the first harness. Using all of the strength he could muster, he managed to secure the harness around him, avoiding the broken rib jutting out from his side. He checked the vitals on Jake’s wrist indicator. His pulse was barely visible, and his blood pressure was 50 over 35, near coma range.
“Skip, do you copy?”
“What is it, General?”
“Jake is secure. Once you get him up there, get him to the medical bay immediately. Get an I.V. going, as well as an immediate blood transfusion.”
“Copy that,” replied Skip.
Adrian watched as his son was pulled into the safety of the battle cruiser. He then turned to Celeste who was now conscious, but on her knees. She looked around the bay as if she was in a daze.
“Celeste, are you okay?”
With panic in her voice, she responded, “Adrian, I can’t see! I can’t see! S-something happened when I was straining to move the arm.”
“It’s okay. I’m going to secure you to a tow cable and then Nichelle will pull you to safety, okay?”
Celeste nodded as Adrian helped her to her feet. He put the harness on her and then secured it to the cable. “She’s on, Nichelle. Pull her up.”
Before securing his own harness, Adrian watched as Nichelle began to pull Celeste up with the winch. After seeing that she was okay, he then began to take the few steps to his own harness when his foot kicked an object on the floor. Looking down, he saw that it was Gnolom’s golden tablet. He quickly picked it up and secured it into one of the pockets of his spacesuit. Then, he grabbed his own harness and began to pull it on when a cold chill entered his body. He paused and looked around the bay. “Macaria … You’re back.”
Within inches of his helmet’s shield, the apparition appeared. He stepped back in horror from her hideous appearance. She hissed and seethed as she spoke. “How dare you deceive me.”
&n
bsp; Adrian didn’t respond, but flashed a victorious smile at her, despite the fact that her presence made him feel as if he was in the depths of Hell. She began to throw another tantrum, gnashing her teeth and bellowing with a shrill scream so high pitched that pain shot through Adrian’s ears and head like he had been stabbed with a searing, hot knife. “Get me out of here, Nichelle,” he ordered, looking up.
He felt the pull of the winch and his feet lifted off the floor. Celeste was nearing the top of the payload bay, when he saw the satellite arm move out of the corner of his eye. Macaria had control of the arm again, and she swung it upward with a tremendous amount of force in his direction. His eyes widened, realizing that if the arm hit him, it would send him back first into the jagged edges of the payload bay ceiling from when it had been blasted open. Lifting his legs, he caught himself on the arm and launched himself higher into the air and over the arm, avoiding the impact.
As he fell back to the floor before the slack in his cable tightened, he heard Nichelle scream. “No! Celeste!”
He snapped his head around just in time to catch a glimpse of Celeste taking the brunt of the force of the arm, sending her back first into a long, jagged piece of metal. She shrieked in unspeakable pain as the jagged edge ripped through her back, plunging all the way through her chest.
He then heard Macaria scream as well. He looked down and watched as the evil spirit writhed in disappointment before vanishing into thin air. The arm was meant for him, not Celeste. The spirit wanted Celeste and her unborn child alive.
“No. No. No,” Adrian uttered, gaping in terror at Celeste’s body impaled onto the serrated edge of the payload bay. With eyes wide open, her head hung loosely and blood dripped from her mouth. “Nichelle, get me up there.”
The winch pulled him into the cruiser, and he quickly unhitched the cable from its harness. Right away, he grabbed Nichelle by the shoulders. She continued to stare at Celeste in shock, tears streaming down her face.
“Nichelle!”
No response.
“Nichelle!” he hollered again.
Nichelle slowly turned her gaze. Her face was pale white, and she stammered as she spoke. “I-I tried. I tried to c. . .to catch her, Adrian. Bu-but I’m not . . . not strong enough.”
She then lowered her head into Adrian’s chest and began to sob. “I know, Nichelle. I know,” he said softly as he embraced her. “Can you use your abilities to pull her free?”
Nichelle pulled away, nodding her head. “I’ll try.” She then turned, looking down at her best friend’s body, and raised both arms. Celeste’s body began to pull away from the jagged edge holding her in place. Adrian turned his head. He couldn’t bear to watch, knowing that she was gone. He fought the instinct to drop to his knees in absolute despair and weep. He had lost not only their most powerful ally, but also someone he had grown to respect and love with all of his heart.
He turned back around as Nichelle was able to levitate Celeste’s body into the ship. The panels closed, and he said, “Get her body to the medical bay.”
Without a word, Nichelle nodded. Then, Adrian rushed to the command bridge. He sprinted through the main corridor of the cruiser faster than he could ever remember running, unsealing and throwing his helmet to the side in the process. Every emotion of grief and sadness swept through him, but he had to stay strong. He launched himself into the command bridge, and quickly buckled himself into the copilot’s seat next to Sage.
Sage turned to him, grief all over his face as well. He had listened to the entire scene as it unfolded and had obviously deduced the result. “What are your orders, General?”
It took a few seconds for the words to register. “Weapons hot, and then get some distance from Mars I.”
Sage flew the cruiser to a safe distance and turned it around to face the old space shuttle. As soon as they were in place, Adrian gave Sage the order to fire. “Blow that witch back to Hell.”
He watched as two missiles fired from the wings of the cruiser. Within seconds, the missiles hit Mars I, obliterating it in a giant fireball. Adrian knew that destroying the shuttle wouldn’t kill Macaria. No, she would roam the desolate surface of Gnolom for eternity, which gave Adrian some semblance of vengeance. At least Mars I, the space shuttle that had caused him so much pain and anguish, was gone, forever eradicated from the face of Gnolom’s surface.
CHAPTER 22
Onboard the Gnol warship, orbiting Gnolom . . .
Peter Sanchez made his way down into the engineering deck of the warship. He was grateful, at least for now, that radiation readings were normal, which indicated that the nuclear reactor inside was not damaged and still running. It was obvious that the plasma blast had targeted their propulsion system. The door leading into engineering slid open. Emergency lights flashed, and alarms buzzed. Quickly making his way over to a functional computer terminal, he pressed the application to silence the alarms.
Then, he made his way around the reactor, shielded by a lead-lined glass dome. Everything seemed to be functioning properly. After he made his way to the other side of the reactor, he turned and looked at the damage inflicted upon the ship near the propulsion system’s control panel. The plasma blasts had blown a giant, gaping hole into the hull of the ship. Thankfully, the old warship was designed with emergency plasma shield generators that automatically turned on whenever there was a breech in the hull, which was the case now.
Petey stared through the plasma shield, protecting him from the vacuum of space, and peered down to Gnolom as he walked slowly to the propulsion system’s control panel. Looking back at the panel, he knew that the task before him was going to be a difficult one. The panel cover had been completely blown off, and the wires and cables within were entirely destroyed and still smoking from the heat of the blast.
Sighing, he reached up and pressed the comlink within his ear. “Scott, do you copy?”
“How is it down there?”
“Uh, not good. The propulsion system’s control panel is destroyed. I’m going to have to thread the wires and cables from all the other system’s control panels into a makeshift propulsion control.”
“Well, get on it then. We don’t have much time.”
“Copy that,” Petey replied as he looked at the other undamaged control panels within engineering. The job he was about to undertake was monumental to say the least, but he was confident that he could at least get the aft thrusters functioning. “Just to remind you, Scott, once I get the thrusters online, no other system will be operational, including life support.”
“Copy that,” Scott answered.
Once the comlink clicked off, Petey got to work.
* * * * *
Onboard Gnolom 1 on Gnolom . . .
Adrian wiped the tears from his eyes as he jogged down to the medical bay. He had ordered Colonel Merrok to find a safe landing area so that the turbulence from the ship leaving the atmosphere wouldn’t disrupt any medical procedures that Skip was attempting in order to save Jake’s life. Skyler had successfully docked the Wildcat II into the payload bay of the battle cruiser. He was still in the payload bay, securing the fighter for their trip back to Terrest.
Adrian finished wiping the rest of the tears away with the sleeve of his spacesuit just as the medical bay doors slid open.
“Clear!” Skip ordered, placing the defibrillator pads upon Jake’s bare chest.
Nichelle, eyes swollen red and tears still steaming down her cheeks, stepped back.
Skip shocked Jake, and his body convulsed as the volts of electricity shot through his system, trying to stimulate his heart. Adrian rushed toward them, taking a glance at the bed on the other side of Nichelle. Celeste’s body was covered with a white sheet draped over her face and a large red bloodstain in the center of her chest. Sadness flooded over Adrian. The image of a sheet over Celeste was surreal, yet it gave finality to him that she was truly gone.
“Still no pulse,” Skip said with panic beginning to set in as he prepared the paddles once more. �
�Clear!”
Adrian and Nichelle stepped back, as Skip applied the defibrillator again. Jake’s body reacted once more. All three looked at the monitor. The line was still flat, indicating that his pulse had not returned.
Skip dropped his head. “I-I’m sorry, Adrian, he’s gone.”
Even though he had heard the words, they didn’t register with Adrian. “No! No! He can’t be!” he hollered, pushing Skip away and grabbing the paddles.
Skip tried to stop him. “Adrian, I’m sorry. I’ve tried too many times. He’s gone.”
But Adrian wasn’t about to give up. He was not going to lose his son, not like this. He pushed Skip away again and placed the paddles on his son’s chest. He shocked him. Again, nothing. He tried over and over again all with the same result. Now sobbing, he began to charge the paddles again when he felt the soft touch of Nichelle’s hand upon his.
He looked up, meeting her tear-filled eyes. She spoke softly. “I’m sorry, Adrian, but he’s gone.”
Looking back down at his son, he dropped the paddles to the floor, buried his head into the nape of his son’s neck, and began to sob uncontrollably. “I-I-I am so sorry, son. I was too late. It’s my fault. I promised your mother that I would protect you when she died. And now I’ve failed.”
He continued to sob for what seemed like an eternity as grief and sadness turned into rage and anger. He pulled his head away from Jake, stood up tall, and looked up toward the ceiling. “Why?” he shouted. “Why? You were supposed to protect him, both of them! They’re gone now! And so is my grandson, the chosen one! The one who is supposed to defend you! Keep you on your throne! Now, all is lost!”
He felt the gentle touch of Skip’s hands on his shoulders. “Adrian.”
Adrian whirled around in anger, grabbing Skip by the collar. “God did this, Skip! He could have prevented this!”
But all Skip could do was shake his head. “No, God didn’t do this. We did. We chose to come to Gnolom. We shouldn’t have and because of our wrong choice, this is the consequence.”
Worlds Without End: Aftermath (Book 2) Page 38