by David Bruns
Laz watched Addison’s fighter streaking toward the blast doors of the Invincible’s flight deck. Her trajectory never deviated. He knew she never had any intention of releasing the weapon and steering away. She would either get onto the flight deck or die trying.
A Swarm fighter crossed too close in front of them and the Renegade plowed right through it. Laz smiled to himself.
“You’re going to kill us all, Laz,” said Mimi through clenched teeth.
“She’ll get through.”
He saw Addison release the missile, saw it streak away, saw the fiery explosion, saw her fighter enter the ball of flame.
“She’ll get through,” he said again.
Then he pushed his throttles all the way to the stops.
***
SS Renegade – Cargo Bay
Ojambe clung to the cargo netting with both hands as the deck of the Renegade bucked wildly underneath him. A projectile punched through the cargo bay, depressurizing the room around them.
He keyed his mike. “Brace for impact, marines.”
The ship stopped for a split second, as if a giant hand had grabbed them and then lost its grip. Ojambe felt his body rush toward the bow of the ship, then fly backwards again. A moment later they slammed down hard, in gravity. The air rushed out of his lungs and he gasped for breath. The cargo bay slewed sideways like they were sliding, then ground to a halt.
The flashing strobe on the ceiling turned from yellow to red and the ramp in front of him dropped, clanging against metal. Artificial light flooded into the cargo bay.
Ojambe struggled to his knees, unhooking his belt from the cargo net. He stood. “Follow me, marines.”
He plunged down the ramp and onto the flight deck of the Invincible.
***
ISS Invincible – Flight Deck
Bright light. Pain.
Addison cracked open one eyelid.
If I can feel pain, I must not be dead.
She was upside down, mashed into a corner of the flight deck, her fighter nothing more than a few shreds of metal and composite around her.
But she was alive.
Her fingers scrabbled for the buckles on her harness. Too late, she realized that the flight deck still had its artificial gravity energized. Her body crashed into the floor. More pain.
She sat up, testing her limbs one by one. Nothing broken.
The Renegade lay a hundred meters away, battle damage evident. The ramp dropped and armed marines flooded from the rear of the craft.
Addison struggled to her feet, limping toward the Renegade.
Her head was starting to clear. They’d done it. They’d gotten back on board the Invincible. She wanted to cry and scream at the same time.
Addison took a knee, trying to catch her breath. Every muscle ached and she had a splitting headache.
The hand from a pressure suit entered her field of view. She looked up at Laz. “Can I give you a hand?” he said over the intercom.
He hoisted Addison to her feet. “I thought you were trying to kill yourself back there.”
“Hey, you know me. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing at Mach two.” It even hurt to smile.
The marines had deployed across the flight deck and secured all three entrances to the ship. Maybe this wouldn’t be that hard after all.
Laz smiled. “Let’s go get your ship back, Addie.”
Behind him, the main entrance to the flight deck erupted in a ball of fire.
Chapter 31
ISS Victory – Bridge
“Decks Four through Twelve are depressurized, sir. Lasers are offline, but rail guns are still fully functional.” Sam Avery’s voice was steady. Thank God for that, because the rest of the bridge crew looked like they needed a fresh change of underwear.
“What about torpedoes, XO?” Rimaud said.
Avery shook her head. “No joy, sir. We took a direct hit to the operating system. It’s possible we could launch them manually, but we’ve lost comms with that deck.”
Rimaud surveyed the battlefield.
The smaller ships were pretty much helpless against the superior firepower of the Swarm lasers. He’d watched at least eight of them get destroyed with one blast, their shields absolutely useless against that much concentrated energy. They stood a decent chance against the alien fighters, at least.
Their own fighter squadrons were able to outfly and outgun their opponents, but they were still outnumbered ten to one.
In short, it was a bloodbath out there.
The battle was going to come down to whether the heavies from the UEF and Russian fleets were able to take out the Swarm ships. And the difference-maker was the Invincible.
Captain Baltasar used the superior maneuverability of his vessel to make up for the slower Swarm ships, darting into one-on-one Earth-versus-Swarm matchups to throw the balance in the alien’s favor.
He watched as the Constitution took another withering barrage of Swarm laser fire while the Invincible went low to rake her vulnerable underside with rail gun projectiles. Geysers of atmosphere sprouted from the Constitution’s belly.
Rimaud snarled to himself. “XO! What’s the status of Halsey and Renegade? Did they get onboard the Invincible or not?”
“I can’t tell, sir,” Avery replied. “There was a huge explosion near the flight deck, but I don’t know if that was them getting in or . . .” She let the rest of her thought go unsaid.
“Alright, the Constitution is getting slaughtered out there. Tell the Independence to form up on my port side and let’s go after the Swarm ship. Maybe we can draw their fire off the Connie for a while.”
“Aye-aye, sir,” Avery shot back. “The Indy is in formation. Standing by.”
Rimaud pointed to the jagged crack in the hull of the Swarm ship. “Concentrate our rail gun fire on that location. Tell the Indy to follow us with as much laser energy as they can muster.”
The hull throbbed with the familiar pulse of rail guns. They were using thirty-kilo slugs, the biggest they had, on the Swarm ships. Rimaud thought he could see the damaged area expanding. He pounded his fist on the armrest.
“Tell the Indy to finish this bastard off!” he shouted.
“The Swarm ship is returning fire, sir!” Avery called. The now-familiar green laser blasted toward them, blanking out the viewscreen.
“Direct hit, but the hull is holding,” Avery said. “For now.” Rimaud thanked the ship designers again for the meters of tungsten that protected them from the emptiness of space. The Swarm ship on the screen began a slow roll as explosions consumed her.
“The Swarm ship is breaking up! We did it!”
“Head in the game, people,” Rimaud said. “That’s one of four. What’s the status of the Constitution?”
“Constitution has lost main propulsion, but she still has weapons.”
“Good, where’s—”
The ship pitched forward.
“The Invincible is on our six, sir!” Avery shouted. “She’s targeting main engines!”
“Hard starboard!” Rimaud roared. He stopped in mid-command. Whatever evasive maneuver he gave, Baltasar would recognize it and counter immediately. He needed to do something completely out of the box. “Helm, all stop!”
“Sir?” The helm gaped at him.
Avery leaped past him to the helm station, stopping the engines. “All stop, sir!”
The Invincible screamed past them.
“Target her main engines, Weapons,” Rimaud screamed. “Fire!”
The Victory’s rail gun fire rained down on the Invincible’s exposed rear, tearing into the ship’s hull. A blast of plasma ejected in a bright corona. “We got a hit, sir!” shouted Avery.
Too late, Baltasar realized what had happened, and he began slewing the ship around in a tight circle. The Swarm ship’s laser blazed at them, overloading the viewscreen.
“XO, message to Indy: ‘You take the Swarm vessel. We’ve got Invincible.’”
“Message sent, sir.”
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The screen cleared and Rimaud saw the Invincible bearing down on them fast, rail guns and lasers blazing.
Rimaud drew in a deep breath. So that’s how it was going to be. “All power to forward shields. Direct all rail gun fire on the Invincible’s damaged side. Intercept course to Invincible.” He waited for the acknowledgments, then sat back in his chair. The seat throbbed with incoming and outgoing rail gun slugs.
“XO.”
“Sir?”
“I’ve got a job for you.”
Chapter 32
RSS Murmansk – Bridge
Captain Sonya Gubanov hated sitting in her command chair during a battle. She liked to be on the move. She placed a manicured hand on the helmsman’s shoulder. The young man trembled under her touch. Gubanov knew how he felt. Seeing a warship like the RSS Brezhnev destroyed in front of you would do that to anyone.
“Easy, Comrade Androvich,” she said in a low voice. “We will get through this.” The lie was needed at a time like this. The Swarm ships were huge things, their fighters like clouds of wasps that stung them over and over. They would be lucky if any of them made it through the day.
Their lasers were all but ineffective on the exterior of the alien ships. But if they used projectile weapons to puncture their hide, then lasers had more of an effect—providing they could fight their way through the clouds of fighters to get within laser range.
“Get me the captain of the Vladivostok,” Gubanov barked.
“On screen, Comrade Captain.”
Captain Yelizarov was one of the old-school warship captains. Unlike the newer political appointees, he’d clawed his way up through the ranks. The man was older, maybe mid-sixties to Gubanov’s forty-five, and his lined face showed signs of hard living.
“Comrade Captain,” he said, his voice flat.
Gubanov wasted no time. She was the senior Russian officer now and the battle plan was hers. “Captain Yelizarov, I’m pulling all the smaller ships back. They will work with the fighter squadrons to take out as many enemy fighters as possible. You and I will concentrate on the Swarm vessel.”
Yelizarov grunted.
“Form up on my port quarter for a full-speed run. The Murmansk will use rail guns to open up the alien hull. I want you to concentrate laser fire into the damaged areas.”
Yelizarov nodded. “I concur, Captain.” He cut the comms channel.
Gubanov spun toward the helm. “Bring us out, Comrade Androvich. I want to run down the Swarm ship starboard side.” She watched the helm work, then said, “Engage.”
They closed the space between them and the alien ship quickly. “Weapons Officer, continuous rail gun fire. Let’s see if we can open a seam in this big bastard.”
“Incoming laser fire, ma’am!” The green light oversaturated the viewscreen and the ship buckled under the massive energy impact.
Gubanov swung into her command chair and buckled the seat belt. “Divert all remaining power to shields,” she said.
“Shields at fifty percent and dropping, ma’am.”
“Very well, Sensors. Keep firing, Weapons Officer.”
The ship lurched, and she felt their speed drop off. Gubanov stabbed at her armrest. “Engineering! Report!”
“We took a direct hit to the mains, ma’am. We’ve got thrusters only for now.” She could hear screams and explosions in the background.
“Helm, spin us so we are facing the alien vessel. Full power to forward shields. Weapons Officer?”
“Still firing rail guns, ma’am.” Gubanov could see a hole developing in the side of the alien vessel. She nodded. “Good work, Comrade Lostov.”
The green laser blazed at them again. Her ship slewed under the directed energy. It wouldn’t be long now.
“Engineering reports that main engines are unrecoverable, Captain,” said her XO.
Gubanov nodded. She couldn’t take her eyes off the burning hole they were forging in the alien ship. “XO, tell the Vladivostok that we’re leaving them a nice opening to work with. Tell them to finish this bastard off.”
“Captain, we’re being hailed by the Vladivostok.”
“On screen.” The Swarm noise was deafening and the screen kept pixelating as Captain Yelizarov’s face came into view.
“Captain,” he said, “I’m maneuvering my ship between you and the Swarm ship. Keep up the rail gun fire. I’m going to target the damaged area with lasers.”
“Captain, that’s only going to get both of us killed. Get out of here—” But she was talking to an empty screen.
“The Vlad is moving in front of us, Captain!” The effect was immediate. The hull of the Murmansk stopped vibrating.
Gubanov stepped out of her chair. “Sensors, extend our shields around the Vlad. Divert all power to forward shields. The only thing I want running is shields and rail guns.”
“Even life support, Captain?”
“Even life support.”
The Vladivostok poured laser fire into the opening in the Swarm hull. A billow of fiery debris started to drift from the hole.
“Incoming fighters, Captain!”
“Ignore them.”
“Ma’am?”
“You heard me, comrade. Keep firing on the Swarm ship.”
The Swarm laser lit the combined shields of the Vladivostok and the Murmansk a sickly green. Alien fighters crawled across the screen like ants, shooting blips of fire. Sonya felt the deck plates of the Murmansk rattle as the fighters found their mark on vital systems.
But she kept her focus on the Swarm ship.
A ripple started on the edges of the damaged area. Gubanov smiled. With an incandescent flash, the hide of the Swarm ship buckled under a series of secondary explosions.
The green laser stopped firing. The screen filled with fiery destruction.
“Full reverse thrusters,” Gubanov said. It was a meaningless gesture. There was no way they’d be able to escape this explosion.
She looked down to see a secure text from Yelizarov scroll across her screen. Dasvidanya, Comrade Captain.”
The Swarm ship erupted.
Chapter 33
ISS Invincible – Flight Deck
Second Lieutenant Ojambe picked himself off the ground, his ears still ringing from the explosion.
“Fall back,” he yelled into his microphone. “The doors are booby-trapped. All squads, fall back!”
He waited for the reports from his squad leaders. Correction: squad leader. Two of his sergeants had been among the seven men killed in the explosion. He cursed to himself. He should have been more cautious, should have sent in bomb-hunting drones.
Scollard and Commander Halsey joined him, trailed by Topper and Little Dick. Together, they approached the blackened hole that had once been the main entrance onto the flight deck.
“Guess they figured out we were coming,” Laz said.
“We need to move, Lieutenant,” Addison added. “We need to get this ship back and get her in the fight.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Ojambe projected the 3-D image of the Invincible’s decks from the hologram device on his forearm. He wanted to shake his head but stopped himself. The ship was huge. It would take the better part of a day to clear, especially if they needed to search for booby traps around every corner.
He started highlighting sections. “Sergeant, you take first squad and—”
“Wait, Lieutenant,” Halsey interrupted. She was studying the image and tapping her foot. Through her faceplate, Ojambe could see a trickle of dried blood on her temple. “Let’s think about this. Since there’s no armed force here to greet us, we can assume that Baltasar has not been able to infect the whole crew, right? So where are they?”
She pointed to a spot three decks up from their location. “These are the mess decks. Besides this hangar, that’s the only place on the ship you could hold a large group of people. Let’s start there.”
Ojambe nodded. His finger traced a track through the ship. “So we get there by moving through—”
Halsey interrupted again. “Send a squad that way, but let’s also take a group through the maintenance tubes. Maybe we can catch them by surprise.”
Ojambe divided his remaining men, putting a team of twenty under the sergeant and the rest with him. Halsey led the group into the charred hallway to a maintenance panel, which the huge bald man removed for her. “Up we go,” she said.
They climbed straight up through three decks to their destination. Ojambe released a mosquito drone through a ceiling vent to recon the hallway.
“Two men,” he reported. “Armed and posted outside the mess decks. The doors are sealed. No sign of explosives outside, but one man does have a detonator on him.”
He watched Halsey digest the information. “They could fit most of the crew on the mess decks if they pack them in. But the detonator . . .” Her face went pale. “I bet he’s rigged the windows in the mess decks. If we attack, he’ll space them all.”
Ojambe projected the detailed 3-D image of the deck beneath them, the light reflecting off Halsey’s faceplate. He pointed to where two hallways converged directly below a maintenance access. “We need to get the detonator guy to this spot right here,” he said.
“And then what?” Halsey asked.
The marine gave her a grim smile. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t use his detonator.”
Laz wormed his way up next to Halsey. “I’ll send Topper and Little Dick with the marines. They’re good at diversions.”
Ojambe stripped off his helmet and pressure suit, then carefully crawled through the maintenance tube to his destination. He peered through the grate down into the empty hall and unclipped the metal mesh. He flashed a thumbs-up back to Halsey.
“The lieutenant is in position,” she whispered.
Ojambe felt his muscles tensing. He loosened his pistol in its holster and made sure his knife was secure. As the minutes dragged by, Ojambe did his best to control his breathing.