by William Wood
Calvin took them close to a large red planet, hoping to use it as a shield.
“They're launching fighters and bombers,” Astra said. Tiny dark specs poured out of the heavy carriers like swarms of angry bees.
“I’m detecting power surges in four of the ships weapons array. I think they’re getting ready to fire radiation missiles.”
Calvin watched in horror as four bulky frigates moved ahead of the enemy formation and fired dozens of missiles. Each long thin missile flew at incredibly high speed to different points in the solar system and detonated in a series of bright flashes. An alarm blared suddenly, making Calvin jump. Ion quickly shut it off.
“Radiation,” Ion reported. Small red circles erupted on the sensors screen.
“Whoa, this is going to be a problem,” Astra said. “Look at how fast it’s spreading.” The radiation instantly began spreading in every direction, from a hundred different places.
“What’re we gonna do?” Calvin asked. “There won’t be
anywhere to hide from it.”
Calvin suppressed his fear. “When is Aleria’s Hope going to jump out? They need to hurry.”
“No,” Astra said. “They have to let the Goremog fleet detect them first, so they chase after them and not us.”
Aleria’s Hope was nearing the edge of the system, between two rapidly expanding clouds of radiation.
"Master Calvin,” Ion said. “Just take us behind the planet. We should be safe there."
Within seconds Aleria’s Hope was enveloped in radiation, and there was a visible reaction from the shields. The ship was fully visible on the sensors. The Goremog fleet reacted at once and surged forward.
“They’re taking the bait.” Calvin said.
It didn’t take long for the fighters to catch up to Aleria’s Hope and swarm the massive flagship. Hundreds of tiny red laser beams lashed against the shields. Aleria’s Hope returned fire, lights and flashes lit up the area like a violent storm.
The corvettes were next to catch up and added their cannons to the fray.
Calvin winced. "She's really taking a beating.”
“Their shields are holding,” Ion said. “For now.”
The battleships and carriers were much slower and unable to catch up before Aleria’s Hope jumped into hyperspace. As soon as they reached the edge of the system, all the Goremog ships followed, except one; a Frigate. But Calvin's attention was on something else.
“Astra, look at the screen,” Calvin said. The radiation field was rapidly approaching them. “What happens if it hits us?”
“You saw what happened to Aleria's Hope," Astra said. "The same thing will happen to us. The enemy ship will be able to see us.”
Calvin forced himself to concentrate on doing what he needed to do; get the Frost to a safe place. The gas giant was now directly ahead of them, growing larger in the window. The pulsing red blanket of radiation was closing in on them.
“Calvin, you might want to hurry,” Astra said.
“I know!” Calvin said. “We’re already at full speed, I can’t go any faster!”
They reached the planet within a few short moments. When they neared the gas giant, Calvin was struck with how beautiful the massive blue-silver planet was. Its atmosphere was thick with deadly storms. He knew it would be very dangerous flying around inside that atmosphere. This was going to be very tricky.
Calvin took the Frost over the top of the gas giant, close enough to nearly skim the surface.
"Not too close Calvin," Astra said. "You might leave a visible trail in the atmosphere."
Calvin pulled back, giving them some distance. Then back down the other side. The radiation was getting closer.
When they got behind the gas giant, Calvin cut the engines and let them drift. Several minutes of silence passed.
“I am detecting an energy surge from the enemy ships,” Ion said. “It looks like they are charging their hyper-drive engines.”
Sure enough, after a minute, all of the ships jumped into hyperspace. All of them, except one small cruiser.
Calvin stared at it on the scanner, one small red dot. He zoomed in on it, and a picture of it appeared on a monitor above him. It was a small dark colored cruiser. It didn’t look special. It had small thin lines sticking up all over it. Calvin expected that at any moment it would jump into hyperspace, but it didn’t. It just sat there.
“What is it doing?” Calvin asked.
“I recognize that ship type,” Astra said. “It’s a detection ship. I'm not sure how sensitive it is, but I’m pretty sure it’s making sure nothing was left behind.”
“So what do we do?” Calvin asked. “Why don’t we just fly into the atmosphere now, and get the fifth segment? We could do it quickly. Our ship is cloaked. They won’t even see us do it.”
“No,” Astra said. “As I said, I don’t know how sensitive the equipment on that ship is, but we will cause a minor disturbance entering the atmosphere, they’re almost certain to detect it. We need to wait. They’ll give up eventually, and leave.”
“Mistress,” Ion said. “I believe that ship is capable of detecting even the smallest energy signatures. Our cloak was designed to trap all of our emissions inside, but if there is even the smallest chance, if they can detect the tiniest power levels, they will call their fleet back, and we may never get the fifth segment, at least not for a long time.”
“Let’s not take any chances then,” Astra said, pressing buttons on the science computer. “Turn off all active systems and everything that’s not essential.”
Calvin’s mind raced. He wanted to tell everyone on the ship to be quiet, afraid that the Goremog scanner ship would hear them, but he realized that sound doesn’t travel in space.
When everything was off, Astra sat back down in her chair. The room was dark. Only the light of the gas giant gave the cockpit an eerie glow.
“Astra,” Calvin said quietly. “If the sensors are off, how will we know if they see us? How will we know if they are going to attack us?”
“I’m using passive sensors only,” Astra answered. “It means we’re not emitting any energy that can be detected. We’ll still be able to see energy coming from other ships.” She pointed to a display that showed large blotches of colors and lines. They sat quietly for ten minutes, watching the enemy ship. According to the scanner, it was sending out big, dark red energy waves. Calvin had a hard time separating the dark red scanning beams from the blankets of radiation.
Suddenly Astra’s eyes got big. “They’re scanning in our direction now.” They looked at each other and didn’t move.
“Oh no,” Astra whispered. “They’re looking right at us. Their scanning beam is on us. It’s right on us.”
Calvin held his breath. Had they just been found? How sensitive were their scanners? How could they possibly see through their new cloak?
“Master Calvin,” Ion said very quietly. “I am reading an energy surge in their engines.”
“What?” Calvin said, a little too loudly.
“The ship is moving,” Astra said. “It’s coming this way.”
Calvin reached out and ignited the engines, but kept them in standby mode.
“Calvin! Pull up!” Astra shouted.
“What’s wrong?” Calvin asked, pulling back on the controls.
“We’re skimming the atmosphere! We’re leaving a visible trail!” Astra said, pointing at her screen. There was an image of the planet with a bright line above it that was slowly dissipating.
“They can see it. They know we’re here!”
“Ion,” Calvin said, pushing the throttle forward. “Power up the weapons, quickly.”
“Yes sir.”
“Calvin, what are you doing?” Astra asked.
“We have to destroy that thing before it calls for help,” Calvin said. “Lock all weapons and prepare to fire!”
“Wait,” Astra said, trying to get her thoughts straight. “Calvin, they can’t see us, remember? They know where we stopp
ed, so if we move, they won’t be able to find us.”
Calvin wanted to destroy that ship. It would be so easy, all he would have to do is get a little closer, and pull the trigger.
Astra looked out the window, wondering what Calvin was going to do. Then she saw the Goremog ship directly in front of them. Astra looked at Calvin. He was staring intently ahead, finger on the trigger, caressing it. All he had to do was squeeze. She held her breath. The enemy ship flew right by them, and Calvin took his finger off of the trigger. The ship turned away from the planet. Calvin and Astra both took deep breaths.
“You’re right,” Calvin said. “I’ll put us in a very high orbit around the planet, far away from its atmosphere. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize we were in the atmosphere.”
“It’s alright,” Astra said. “We all make mistakes.”
Calvin set the navigation computer to circle the planet on the widest orbit possible. Astra kept the sensors focused on the enemy ship. It flew to the exact spot the Frost left the atmosphere, and stopped.
“Ion, what’s our status?” Astra asked.
“Mistress, our shields are up and are at full strength. All weapons are charged and ready. All shipboard systems are operational.”
“Excellent,” She said. “But remember what my father said.” She looked at Calvin. “We are not to engage the enemy if we don’t have to. We need to keep a low profile.”
“OK,” Calvin said. He was a little disappointed. He deeply wanted to blow that ship out of existence, but at the same time he didn’t want to put the ship and their mission in danger. He decided to be safe, instead of sorry. “You’re right. What’s that ship doing now?”
“They are thoroughly scanning the area,” Astra said. “One sector at a time. I think they are trying to decide if there is something here or not.”
Calvin sat uncomfortably in his chair. What were the Goremog thinking? They saw a trail left by their engines, so they knew something was out there. How long would they keep looking? Then suddenly Calvin thought of something.
“Astra,” he said. “If they’re looking for something, why don’t we give them something to find?”
“What do you mean?” Astra asked, her tone full of skepticism.
“Well, do we have something we can fire out in to space, like a small probe or something?”
“Yes,” Astra said, understanding. “We could send it through the atmosphere. When they find it, they will think it’s the only thing here.”
“And they will leave us alone,” Calvin said.
“That’s a good theory,” Astra said. “It’s worth a try. I’ll get a probe ready to launch.”
She got up and hurried out of the room. Ion followed her. “I’ll help you,” he said. The door closed behind them, and Calvin was alone on the bridge.
Calvin turned on another monitor, and set it to display short and long range sensors. He could see the Goremog ship, slowly circling above the atmosphere. Calvin watched in nervous fascination for several minutes. He knew he had an incredible amount of firepower at his command and he was invisible. The tactical advantage was his. He knew that he was supposed to stay hidden, but knowing the enemy ship was looking for him made him feel very nervous. It was quiet on the bridge, and the silence was not helping him to feel better. It wasn’t completely quiet. There was a soft hum from all of the computers, and an occasional soft beeping noise from various things.
Then something unexpected and terrifying happened. Two more Goremog ships appeared out of hyperspace. Both of them were about the same size as the one looking for them. Calvin brought them up on a separate monitor, and requested information from the computer.
It only took the computer a second to project their course. They were heading towards the other Goremog ship. Now there were three of them. Did the one call for help?
“Calvin, we’re almost ready to launch a probe.” Astra said over the comm system. “We need one more minute.”
“Ok, but you really need to hurry up.”
“What’s wrong?” Astra asked.
“Two Goremog frigates just arrived,” Calvin said.
There was a brief pause. “OK, we’ll hurry.”
Calvin watched the screens intently. The activity was all happening on the other side of the planet, far from them. Calvin decided to reduce speed to a crawl. He liked how far away they were from the Goremog ships and wanted to keep it that way. The two new Goremog ships spread out, scanning as they moved.
“Probe launched,” Astra said. “We’re on our way back to the bridge.”
“Good,” Calvin breathed a sigh of relief. A minute later both Astra and Ion were back in their chairs. Astra checked the scanner. “There it is,” she said. “I hope this works.”
“Me too,” Calvin said.
“I’m instructing the probe to fly through the outer layer of the planet. We’ve rigged it with a tiny cloaking device so they won’t see it. We’ll fly it around a little bit, in and out of the outer stratosphere until we’re sure the Goremog are watching it. Then I will order it to selfdestruct. Hopefully they’ll assume that’s what their sensors picked up and will leave the system, believing there is nothing else here.”
“Ok, I like that plan,” Calvin said. “I really hope it works.”
“Me too,” Astra said.
The probe appeared on the sensors as a tiny dot. All of them watched intently as it hit the atmosphere of the planet and began to orbit. It took a few minutes, but the Goremog ships finally saw the trail it was creating. All three of them started moving towards the probe at once.
Calvin watched with fascination as the three ships seemed confused, flying back and forth across the trail the probe was leaving. This went on for several minutes.
“They’re trying to figure out what it is,” Astra said. “They know it’s cloaked, but they can’t find it.”
Calvin watched their little clumsy dance with fascination. He was a little afraid of being discovered, but secretly hoped for a reason to fight. They still had the element of surprise. He could come up behind them quickly and finish them off before they knew what was happening.
“Now aren’t you glad you didn’t destroy that first ship?” Astra asked. “The other two would have arrived and found its wreckage.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Calvin admitted. “It might have been harder to get rid of them.”
After two orbits, Astra decided it was time to end it.
“Ok Ion, it’s time for the probe’s cloak to fail, and crash it into the planet.”
“Yes, mistress.”
It all happened in a second. Ion switched off the probe’s cloaking device. It flickered several times and there was a tiny explosion on the side of it. It was brilliant, it looked like it malfunctioned. Then the probe nosedived straight into the gas giant and exploded when it hit the surface at too steep an angle.
“The probe has been destroyed,” Ion said. “The debris has burned up, the Goremog should not be able to salvage any pieces of it.”
“Good job Ion,” Astra said.
Then they waited. Hours passed. They watched as two of the Goremog ships circled the gas giant, scanning intensely. The third maintained a position near where the probe crashed into the planet.
At lunch, Calvin and Astra decided to leave the bridge and go get something to eat in the dining room. They left Ion on the bridge and told him to call them if anything changed. There they found Dev, Wexton and Nils eating lunch and joined them. Calvin and Astra told them everything that had happened that morning with the probe.
“So what have you guys been up to today?” Calvin asked.
“Not too much, trying to be quiet,” Dev said. “I know they can’t hear us, but for some reason I just wanted to be quiet.”
“I know what you mean,” Calvin said. “Knowing those ships are out there, scanning every area of the system is making me very nervous.”
After lunch Calvin and Astra walked back to the bridge. Nothing had changed. They checked bac
k in before dinner, things still hadn’t changed. The Goremog ships had been scanning for six hours and showed no signs of quitting.
“So much for tricking them with the probe,” Calvin said. “I really thought that was going to work.
“Unfortunately we may have done the reverse of what we wanted,” Astra said. “They think there’s a ship here somewhere, and they’re determined to find us.”
“What do you think we should do?” Calvin asked.
“I don’t know,” Astra admitted, taking a sip of coffee. “We can’t leave without the segment.”
“Let’s wait,” Calvin suggested. “They have to leave eventually, don’t they?”
“I hope so. I really do. I want to get out of here as much as you do. But chances are there are only robots on board those ships, and they can stay here for days, even weeks. We can’t afford to waste that much time.”
They didn’t go back to the bridge after dinner. They instructed Ion to keep an eye on the enemy ships, and alert them if anything happened.
Calvin went to the library, the plush private office he found when he first explored the Frost. He opened the thick red curtains and thick metal blast doors so he could look out the massive floor-to-ceiling windows. He sat in the large over padded chair, his favorite seat on the ship because it faced the windows and had an incredible view. He turned on a nearby floor lamp and sat back in the chair. Off in the distance he could see the gas giant, Yelsha Four. It was one thing to see it on a computer screen, but it was another to see it with your own eyes, through a window. It was small, but the silver and blue were stunning. Calvin could see two small dark dots in orbit around the planet.
“Come on,” Calvin said out loud. “Just leave. You’re not going to find anything.” Why were they still here? What were they doing? He didn’t go to bed right away. He was almost afraid to go to bed. What if something happened while he was asleep? So he sat and looked out the window for a while. He felt very anxious, as if a dark oppressive cloud was hanging over him. What was he supposed to do now? He hated waiting.
He lost track of time, unsure of how long he sat there staring out the window at the gas giant. He couldn’t stop thinking, should they leave and come back later? The Goremog are scanning the system with three high powered scanning ships, what if they find the base inside the gas giant? Could they risk losing the segment? No. Calvin didn’t know what to do, but he knew they couldn’t take that chance. After a while, the door opened and Astra walked in carrying two large cups.