by William Wood
When he went to the dining room for breakfast, he found everyone there already. They all ate mostly in silence. Wexton and Dev joked a little, but for the most part breakfast was quiet.
At four, they went to the armory to get their weapons, gear and armor. Calvin wanted to talk to Astra, but he didn’t know what to say. The mood was subdued. They put their advanced combat gear on and took turns checking each other. Then they selected their weapons, shield and cloaking generators and scanners. All this happened without talking.
When they were done, Calvin and Astra went to the bridge. Nils and Wexton went down to a room near the airlock to wait. Four large, heavy combat robots lined up near the airlock and waited.
They still had ten minutes until they arrived at the coordinates for the asteroid base. Calvin sat down in the pilot’s chair, and put on his harness. Astra was in her seat, and began checking the ships systems after she buckled herself in.
There was nothing to do but wait. The minutes passed slowly. Calvin glanced at the status board. When the ship was fully repaired and operating at one hundred percent all the lights were green, but now, there were dozens of yellow and red lights. So much damage! He hated that they were going into an unknown situation with damage they couldn’t repair. That wasn’t a good way to go into combat, which he knew was coming. There was no possible way they were going to get the ninth and tenth segments unopposed. Especially not now since the Goremog and No’Rath knew what they were trying to do.
A soft beeping filled the bridge. Calvin reached out and took hold of the hyperdrive controls, and slowly pulled them all the way back to the off position. The transition back to normal space was not as gentle as it normally was. The blue clouds dispersed violently for several seconds. Calvin instinctively grabbed the sides of his chair.
The shaking ended as quickly as it started, and Calvin found himself looking out at an asteroid field that spread out in all directions. It was bigger than he expected.
On the main console, a large red digital clock appeared that displayed ‘2:59’. That’s how much time they had until the No’Rath fleet arrived.
“Scanning,” Astra said quickly. “At least the short range sensors are functioning normally.”
“So far, so good,” Calvin muttered, certain their first inconvenient event was imminent.
“I’m scanning for the asteroid’s profile that was in the data base,” Astra said. “According to the sensors, the asteroid base is not here.”
“Expand the profile,” Ion said. “The asteroid’s size and shape may have changed. Also, make sure you input the base’s energy signature. That will help narrow it down.”
Calvin sat quietly while they scanned.
“Wait,” Astra said a few minutes later. “I think I found it. Look at that.” She focused the sensors on the spot she was looking at. The screen zoomed in and a strange looking asteroid filled the screen.
The asteroid base was hard to spot. The only thing that indicated there was a base was a small landing platform sticking out of the side of the rock. Other than that, it looked like an ordinary asteroid.
“Good job,” Calvin said. “I can’t believe you found it.”
“It wasn’t me, it was the computer,” Astra said. “They built these bases so they would be extremely hard to find. Fortunately for us we have the code to get inside.”
“I need the coordinates.”
“Oh, sorry,” Astra said. “Here you go.”
The coordinates appeared on his screen, as well as a navigation point that told him which way to go. He felt a surge of excitement and panic as he jammed the throttle all the way forward, a little too hard. The Frost jumped forward. Unlike the debris field, the asteroid field was easier to fly through. Either it was easier, or he was getting better at it. He was feeling pretty good about himself until he almost hit an asteroid. Then he paid more attention. If he hit a rock he would never hear the end of it. The sensors scanned the way ahead, and Calvin could already tell some sections of the asteroid were very dense. He avoided those areas.
“Wexton,” Calvin said, speaking into the comm system. “Astra found the asteroid base. Estimated arrival time is ten minutes.”
“Yes sir,” Wexton said. “We’re ready.”
Calvin took a deep breath and forced himself to relax.
“There’re more than just rocks out there,” Astra said. “I see mines.” She zoomed in on one and displayed it on the main screen. It looked just like a rock. In fact, even with a trained eye it would be hard to tell them apart. “Ion, we need the codes, quick.”
“Yes mistress,” Ion said.
Calvin looked at her quizzically.
“The mines will target us,” Astra said. “Unless we use the codes, they will think we are hostile.”
Calvin had to watch where he was going, but couldn’t help notice the mines on the scanner. “Is that mine moving?” He asked.
“Yes,” Astra said. Calvin could hear the suppressed panic in her voice. “Fifteen mines are moving towards us.” Calvin increased speed, and turned away from the approaching mines.
“Not that way,” Astra said quickly. “Ion, hurry, there are fortyseven mines following us.”
“Stand by,” Ion said, typing the code into the computer. “There.” Calvin watched as the mines stopped following them, and returned to their previous locations.
“You don’t even want to know how close that was,” Astra said, looking at Calvin.
“Are we clear?” Calvin asked.
“Yes, good to go,” Astra said.
“Excellent,” Calvin said. “Let’s get to the base.” He increased speed, faster than he originally wanted but feeling pressure as time was running out. Time: 2:47.
“I know you want to make up a few minutes,” Astra said. “But be careful. If we hit one of those rocks it’s going to really slow us down.”
“I know,” Calvin said, backing off a little.
“Remember, when the enemy ships arrive, they’re going to have to get through the asteroid field too, and they’re going to have to deal with the mines. They won’t have the code and won’t be as lucky as we were.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Calvin said, slowing them down a little more. The asteroid field was becoming denser. Calvin cringed as he took them between two large rocks, feeling for sure they were going to brush up against one of them. To his relief he missed both of them. But the rocks were getting thicker, and harder to maneuver around in. He had to slow down and go around one massive rock that almost looked like a moon, not an asteroid. The going was much slower than he wanted.
At one point he had to steer around a messy clump of rocks. It took several minutes to go around. There was no way they were getting through it. Calvin doubted even a fighter could get through. Time: 2:35.
“Captain,” Wexton called to the bridge. “What’s going on up there? Why haven’t we docked yet?”
Calvin looked at Astra.
“He’s talking to you,” she said, smiling.
“The asteroid field was much denser that I thought,” Calvin said. “We’ll be docking in a few minutes. Stand by.”
It took five more minutes to get there, and three more to line up Azure Frost’s docking port to the base’s airlock. Much to his dismay, it took five more minutes to dock because there was a problem with the docking clamps. The computer was unable to complete the process so it had to be done manually. Time remaining: 2:22.
“Stand by,” Calvin announced. “We’re docked. You can release the Sipper.”
Astra smiled as her fingers danced across her keyboard. “This is perfect. I can see the whole station. Look at this.” She put the sensor readings on the main monitor.
Calvin watched intently, and studied the inside of the station as it appeared, room by room. It wasn’t very big. At the bottom of the screen he saw Azure Frost attached to a docking port. The main airlock opened, and a small green dot moved into the station.
“Sipper released,” Wexton’s voice fl
oated over the intercom.
Calvin looked across the screen at all the rooms. There were no red dots, in fact, there were no dots except for Sipper, now moving through the middle of the station.
“The base is clear,” Astra announced. “No life signs and no energy signatures. Shall we go?”
“Astra and I are on our way down,” Calvin said.
“The bridge is yours,” Astra said to Ion on her way out, with Calvin right behind her. When they got to the airlock, Wexton and Nils were in the doorway looking down an empty corridor.
“That was a long ten minutes,” Wexton said with no small amount of sarcasm.
“I couldn’t have gone any faster,” Calvin said. “Anyway, we have almost two and a half hours left.”
“Let’s hope that’s enough.”
While they waited, Calvin checked his laser pistol. He couldn’t feel the glossy black barrel through his gloves. The power pack was firmly in place and fully charged. He wiped a smudge off its perfectly reflective surface.
Why had they rushed down to the airlock? A moment later one of the robots called over the comm.
“All clear,” the robot said in a deep metallic voice.
“Ready? Let’s go,” Wexton said, leading the way. Calvin, Astra and Nils followed. Calvin’s senses were heightened. Even though he could see the entire station in the short range sensors of his Helcomp, he still had a firm grip on the laser pistol. If he learned anything, it was that unexpected things happen very quickly.
They crept down a featureless corridor, illuminated only by the vision enhancement of their Helcomps. It was very dark and quiet, like a tomb. After a few minutes, the hallway opened up; twenty feet wide with windows on both sides. There was a dim pale light coming through the windows that cast eerie shadows on the floor. Outside, large and small asteroids floated nearby. Their footfalls echoed loudly. Normally the suit integrated scanner was busy relaying readings from every source of power around him. But now, that part of his vision was nearly blank. Only the vital signs of his companions and energy levels of the combat robots were registering.
“The station has no power,” Calvin said. “No life support.”
“No power readings at all,” Astra said. “Not a single source of energy anywhere. The base is completely dead.”
Sipper was still moving from room to room, but Calvin focused his attention on the segment detector, which was now reading a strong signal from the ninth segment. The corridor was leading them straight to it.
They reached the vault door without incident. The door turned dark green when Calvin and Astra both put their hands on it, and the door clicked opened. The ninth segment was sitting on a table in the middle of the room. Wexton had a robot pick it up and carry it back to Azure Frost. The only other thing in the room was a small computer, which they took with them. That was it. They walked directly back to Azure Frost and boarded. The airlock door closed and Astra made a call to the bridge.
“Ion, go!”
Azure Frost disconnected from the space station and slowly pulled away. Calvin and Astra took off their battle gear in the changing room.
“We did it!” Calvin exclaimed. “Easy, just in and out, I knew it was possible. Wow, we should’ve let Wexton plan the missions earlier.”
“Come on,” Astra said playfully. “Scribbles could’ve planned that mission, and it would have gone just as well.”
“True,” Calvin agreed.
“I’m gonna go take care of the ninth segment,” Astra said. “OK,” Calvin said. “I’ll see you later.”
“Get us out of here, Captain,” Astra said. Calvin ran back up to the bridge and plopped into his chair.
The clock displayed 2:02. Calvin eased the throttle forward a little more and plotted a course out of the asteroid field. He took a deep breath and smiled. They were going to get away with the ninth segment without a fight. Calvin sat back and got comfortable. He checked the readouts. The shields were at fifty-four percent and holding steady. The helm was handling nicely as he eased Azure Frost in between floating rocks. The short-range scanner was clear of enemy contacts. Fifteen minutes to the edge of the asteroid field, and he would be able to take the ship back into hyperspace.
“It’s about time we start having good luck!” Calvin declared.
“Sir?” Ion asked.
“Never mind,” Calvin said, keeping his eyes on the way ahead. Suddenly a sharp beeping shattered the mood.
“Contacts,” Ion said. “Two small ships just exited hyperspace on the far end of the asteroid field.”
“Where?” Calvin asked, glancing at the sensors.
“One hundred and eighty degrees, sir.”
“Behind us?”
“Yes sir; two small ships; probably scouts.”
“How did they get here so quickly?”
“Unknown. I suspect they are not part of the fleets that we’ve been tracking.”
Calvin watched in horror as the two scouts turned, and headed directly towards Azure Frost. They weaved in an out of the asteroids gracefully. Suddenly one of them exploded in a brilliant cloud of light.
“They can’t see the mines, can they?” Calvin asked.
“No sir, I don’t believe they can.”
The other scout turned and went back the way it came. On its way out, it clipped a rock and spun out of control. It careened into a large rock fragment and exploded.
“Yeah!” Calvin shouted. Then he turned and looked at Ion. “That was close. Do you think it got a signal out, to warn the others about us?” “Master Calvin, I don’t think our location is a secret any longer.”
“Right,” Calvin said. “But at least the enemy fleets are going to have to go through the mine field to get to us!” Unfortunately, he didn’t get to celebrate very long.
“More contacts,” Ion reported.
“What? Where?” Calvin asked, growing frustrated. “I thought we had more time!” So much for getting out of the area without a fight!
Two colossal blue clouds burst open in front of Azure Frost, and blossomed into supernova sized eruptions that could only be one thing: two ships were emerging from hyperspace. Calvin yanked hard on the stick and turned to port, just as two Goremog battleships appeared. Right in front of his eyes, Calvin watched as dozens of small fighters poured out of each battleship.
“Red Alert!” Calvin shouted into the comm system. “All gunners get to the turrets, we’re under attack!”
Calvin reversed course and kept the Frost inside the asteroid field. He checked the sensor readings. The two Goremog battleships were farther away than he thought. Their size made them look deceptively close.
“Whoa!” Calvin shouted. The fighters, according to the sensors, were five minutes away at full speed, and they were coming directly toward them. Calvin took them deeper into the asteroid field.
“I’m in the top turret,” Wexton called in.
“Dev here; I’m in the rear turret.”
“This is Nils, in the front turret.”
“All right guys, this is it,” Calvin announced into the ship-wide intercom. “Two Goremog battleships just popped into the system ahead of us, and now there’re fifty-two enemy fighters heading our way. I’m going as fast as I can in this asteroid field, and will take the ship to the closest edge of the asteroid field so we can jump into hyperspace as soon as possible. But the fighters will get here first. Our shields are at half strength; you’re our only protection. Keep the fighters off our backs. Shoot anything that comes near us. I don’t need to remind you, this is bad! We’re in no shape for combat!”
“What’s the problem?” Dev’s voice floated over the intercom. “Does it have something to do with the fact that our shields are weak and they can see us? No pressure!”
“Don’t worry about us, captain,” Wexton said. “We’ll give them a fight they won’t forget!”
“I know you will,” Calvin said. “Good luck.”
Calvin headed towards the marker on his navigation screen, when sud
denly it moved.
“I found a shorter route,” Ion said. “Go that way.” Calvin turned, skillfully avoid rocks with ease. But he noticed something as he turned.
“That takes us closer to the battleships,” he noted.
“It is not as close as it looks,” Ion said. “Do not worry.” Calvin took his word for it. If he thought it was better, then it was. More disturbing was that all the fighters lined up directly ahead of them. Time remaining: 1:51.
It was impossible to miss when the fighters entered the asteroid field. There were several bright flashes as they unknowingly collided with mines. They quickly learned of the hazard, and adjusted their strategy. They increased speed, and were able to outrun the mines. Soon, there was a cloud of mines chasing the forty-six surviving fighters. They weaved in between the rocks at high speed. An occasional flash marked where a chasing mine hit a rock, or an enemy fighter crashed.
The enemy fighters entered weapons range. Lines of laser fire from Wexton in the top turret streamed ahead of the ship. Calvin fired several bursts from the main gun into the approaching swarm. There were several hits, but for the most part, the Goremog fighters were hard to hit as they dodged back and forth. Within seconds they flashed by. Azure Frost rocked violently as the passing fighters got in solid volleys of laser shots. The forward shields were mauled, but were holding at forty-five percent.
Calvin gripped the controls tightly, expecting the worst from what was coming next; space mines! He had no time to react. A cloud of tiny but powerful mines appeared, but parted and flew around Azure Frost like a rock in a river.
The internal communication system was busy; loud with coordination between the gunners.
“On your side, Nils!” Wexton shouted.
“Got ‘em!” Nils shouted back. More laser bolts splashed into Azure Frost’s shields. Tiny pinpricks. The shields were holding, but even a thousand small shots could take down a destroyer.
It was a strange sight, seeing dozens of fighters, with mines following each one, all swarming around in a deadly dance. Every chance they got, they stabbed at Azure Frost with their lasers, while the men in the turrets fought back furiously.