A Show of Force

by Ryk Brown

  “I can blow the port-side, aft thruster pod!” Lieutenant Scalotti suggested. “The detonation might slow our spin and rotation enough to eject safely, if we time it right!”

  “Blow as in detonate?” Commander Eckert asked, surprised by the engineer’s suggestion.

  “Yes, sir!”

  “That’ll leave us adrift!”

  “What the hell do you think we are now?” Donny replied. “Fuck! I just lost reactor two! Captain?”

  “Do it!” Captain Nash ordered. “Then arm the self-destruct systems! All hands! Prepare to abandon the ship!”

  The Scout ship shook again, as a dull distant explosion reverberated through her hull. Captain Nash looked at his view screen again as both their lateral spin and longitudinal rotation began to slow. “It’s working!”

  Everything on the flight deck began to shut down. First the lights, then the console.

  “I’ve lost reactor one!” Donny announced. “We’re running on batteries!”

  Interior emergency lighting snapped on, and a few of the primary flight and systems status displays on the flight deck came back to life as the ship automatically switched over to battery power.

  “That’s it,” Captain Nash said as he released his restraints and began to float up out of his flight seat. “Donny, start the self-destruct sequencer! Everyone else, get to your pods, but don’t punch out until I give the order! We’re at zero-G now, so watch yourselves! Don’t forget we’re still spinning and rolling, so keep your hands on the rails at all times!” Captain Nash looked at his copilot, noticing the disappointed look on his face. “What’s wrong, Skeech?”

  “It was only our second pass,” the commander replied.

  Captain Nash patted him on the shoulder, pushing off as he passed behind him. “Don’t worry, Skeech. Just as soon as they get that assembly line up and running on Tanna, we’ll get a shiny new one.”

  “Scout Three is adrift and running on battery power,” Ensign Souza reported. “They’re arming their self-destruct and abandoning ship.”

  “Any chance they’ll get their jump drive back online?” Nathan asked Mister Navashee.

  “Not a chance. They took that hit right as their jump emitters were at full charge. I doubt any of them are even working right now.”

  “Mister Riley, new jump. Park us along the target’s port side, ten kilometers out, five kilometers astern,” Nathan ordered.

  “Aye, sir,” Mister Riley replied.

  “We’ll keep our nose on target and keep firing,” Nathan instructed Luis. “Single shots on all tubes and cannons. Use the plasma turret on anything that goes toward Scout Three, and the laser turrets on everything else flying around that isn’t ours.”

  “Understood,” Luis replied.

  “Mister Riley, what’s the shortest escape jump you can make?” Nathan wondered.

  “The shortest we’ve ever jumped is fifteen hundred meters,” Mister Riley replied, “but the settings go as low as five hundred. We’ve just never tried to make a jump that short.”

  “Well, we are now. If they fire missiles, wait until just before impact and then jump forward anywhere between five hundred and fifteen hundred meters. Your choice, but mix it up each time so as not to be predictable. I don’t want to leave the engagement area until I’m sure Scout Three’s jump drive is destroyed, but I also don’t want to eat a missile doing so.”

  “Understood.”

  “Comms, relay our intentions to Scout Three.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “On course,” Mister Chiles reported.

  “Next jump, plotted and ready,” Mister Riley added.

  “Take us in,” Nathan ordered.

  “Donny, let’s go,” Ensign Wells said as he floated down the center of the systems deck, passing behind the lieutenant.

  “Just a second,” Donny replied, “I have to finish arming the…”

  Ensign Wells grabbed the overhead rail to steady himself in the weightless environment. He rotated around to look at Lieutenant Scalotti. “Well hurry up and arm it,” the ensign exclaimed. He looked at the lieutenant, who wasn’t moving. He was just sitting there in his seat, strapped in tight, his hands frozen over his console keys, his eyes staring at the display screen in front of him. “What is it?” the ensign asked, his eyebrows furrowing. “Donny?” There was no response. “Donny, come on. We need to go.” He moved closer, floating over against the starboard bulkhead to look at the engineer’s face. The lieutenant was not staring at the display screen. He was just staring… at nothing. “Donny?”

  Lieutenant Scalotti started moving again. His eyes focused on the display screen, and his fingers began typing in commands at a furious pace.

  “Jesus, Donny,” Ensign Wells exclaimed. “You scared the fuck out of me. Everyone except the skipper and the XO are already in their tubes, man. Arm the fucking thing and let’s go!”

  Lieutenant Scalotti said nothing, only continued to input command strings as he studied the display screen.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Ensign Wells wondered as he turned to look at the display screen. “What the…” The ensign’s eyes widened. “Donny! What the fuck are you doing!” he exclaimed as he reached for the lieutenant’s hands to try and stop him.

  Lieutenant Scalotti grabbed Ensign Wells by the shirt and pulled him closer as he jabbed his left fist into the ensign’s throat. Ensign Wells gasped for air as the lieutenant then shoved his head into the console, tearing his forehead open and sending blood spraying across the bulkhead and his display console. The lieutenant shoved the ensign back as hard as he could, sending him, dazed and tumbling, down the compartment and into the hatch.

  Commander Eckert came floating down from the flight deck into the systems compartment, just as Lieutenant Scalotti pushed the dazed Ensign Wells across the compartment, causing the ensign to plow headfirst into the hatch, rendering him unconscious. “What the fuck, Scalotti?” the commander yelled as he pulled himself along the overhead hand rail as quickly as possible.

  Lieutenant Scalotti swung his left fist out at the commander, striking him in the side of the face, but the commander had a firm hold on the overhead rail. He swung his feet up, kicking the lieutenant in the face, nearly knocking him from his seat, had he not been strapped in.

  “What’s going on here?” Captain Nash demanded as he came floating down as well.

  Scalotti released his harness and lunged out at the commander, grabbing at his throat with both hands, sending them both tumbling forward.

  “Scalotti’s lost it!” the commander yelled.

  Captain Nash grabbed Scalotti from behind, prying him away from Commander Eckert enough to get his arm wrapped around the lieutenant’s neck and get him in a head lock.

  Lieutenant Scalotti lashed out at Commander Eckert with his right hand, while he repeatedly drove his left elbow into the left side of Captain Nash with all his might.

  “Donny! Stand down, goddamn it!” Captain Nash yelled. He moved his legs up around the lieutenant’s body, wrapping them around his thighs as tightly as possible, struggling to hold him and restrain him until he could figure out what was going on, but the lieutenant seemed to possess the strength of several men.

  “What the hell happened?” Captain Nash demanded as he struggled to restrain the psychotic engineer. He noticed Ensign Wells, unconscious and floating at the aft end of the compartment. “Wellsy! What the fuck happened to Wellsy?!”

  “Scalotti shoved him into the bulkhead!” Commander Eckert replied. “Knocked him out cold!”

  “Fucking why?”

  “I don’t know!” the commander insisted as he moved to look at the display screen and the engineering station where Lieutenant Scalotti had been working. “What the… Oh, my God!”

  Lieutenant Scalotti exploded in a fit of rage, breaking free of the captain’s legs and pushing off against the opposite bulkhead, sending him and the captain flying across the compartment. The captain slammed into the comm console on the port side of
the compartment, sending a wave of pain up his spine.

  “Fuck!” Captain Nash cried out. “Knock it the fuck off, Donny!”

  Lieutenant Scalotti finally managed to twist his way out of the head lock, turning around and grabbing the captain’s face with both hands as he tried to ram his thumbs into the captain’s eyes, causing him to scream in pain.

  Commander Eckert pulled the fire bottle from the wall next to the engineering station, then turned around and grabbed the overhead rail to steady himself. He then swung the fire bottle around, striking the lieutenant in the side of the head with the heavy metal fire bottle. The lieutenant released his grip on the captain, dazed by the impact, but the effect did not last. He turned to attack the commander next, but was met with the same fire bottle directly in his face. The impact knocked the lieutenant backwards, sending his head into the edge of the overhead console of the communications station on the port side of the compartment. The impact tore his scalp and cracked his skull, sending blood and cerebral spinal fluid flinging outward in globules that splattered against the deck and bulkheads around him.

  Commander Eckert spun around as he tried to steady himself again, letting go of the fire bottle, sending it tumbling through the compartment.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Captain Nash demanded in frustration as he felt his eyes for damage, blinking several times as he tried to focus.

  “Scalotti somehow managed to fry all the self-destruct control circuits,” the lieutenant commander said as he moved back to the engineering station to look at the display. “He somehow channeled what was left in one of the battery banks into the control circuits.”

  “What?”

  “He must be working for the Jung,” Commander Eckert realized.

  “I’ve known him for ten years!” Captain Nash exclaimed. “There is no way he’s a Jung spy!”

  “It doesn’t matter now, sir! Fact of the matter is, the self-destruct system is useless.”

  “Fuck!” Captain Nash yelled. “Get to the main bay. Look out the topside scope. When you see black, eject the crew. Then get in your pod and get ready to eject yourself.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I’ll contact the Aurora and tell them to take us out!”

  “While you’re still on board?”

  “Fuck no! I’ll be right behind you, Skeech! Now move!”

  Captain Nash pushed the floating body of Lieutenant Scalotti to one side and activated the ship-to-ship channel on the communications console, as Commander Eckert pulled himself to the aft end of the compartment and grabbed Ensign Wells.

  “Fritzi! Keesh! Give me a hand!” he called through the hatchway.

  “Aurora, Scout Three!” Captain Nash called over his comm-set.

  “Scout Three, Aurora, go ahead,” Ensign Souza replied.

  “Aurora, Scout Three. Self-destruct is down! You need to take us out!”

  “Stand by one,” Ensign Souza replied.

  Captain Nash looked aft as his XO and his crew pulled the unconscious ensign through the hatchway and aft toward the main compartment.

  “Scout Three, Aurora Actual,” Nathan called over the comms. “What’s going on over there, Nash?”

  “Our self-destruct is down, circuits are fried. You have to take us out. Just give us a few minutes to bail out first.”

  “How the hell did that happen?” Nathan asked. “Those systems are independent.”

  “Scalotti did something to them… fried them completely. He must have hooked them into the main power grid at some point.” Captain Nash shook his head in disbelief at what he was about to say. “He must have been working for the Jung.”

  “What?”

  “It was Scalotti, Nathan! All along, it must have been Scalotti! He tried to kill us! Now take the fucking shot. Just give us two minutes!”

  There was a pause, then half a minute later, Nathan came back. “That battleship is maneuvering toward you. You’ll be inside their shields in just over a minute. That’s all I can give you, so I suggest you get the fuck out of there, Captain, because I will take the shot in… fifty-five seconds!”

  “Got it!” Captain Nash replied as he ripped off his comm-set and headed aft. “We gotta go! We gotta go!” he yelled aft as he pulled himself along the overhead rail. “Everybody get in your pods and punch out now!”

  “What about the rotation?” the XO wondered.

  “No time! The Aurora has to take the shot in less than a minute! Punch out now and take your chances, or die here in forty seconds!”

  Commander Eckert and Sergeant Frisch quickly loaded Ensign Wells into his hibernation tube and activated the system. The door slid closed, and a few seconds later the window became empty as the pod shot out the top of the Scout ship. Sergeant Frisch and Sergeant Ravi both got into their tubes and repeated the process, their tubes shooting out the top of the ship moments after their doors closed.

  Captain Nash came floating quickly into the main compartment, pulling himself along the overhead rail. “Go-go-go!” he ordered the XO.

  Commander Eckert moved toward his tube and climbed inside, just as Captain Nash reached his tube. “Good luck, sir!”

  Captain Nash grabbed the edge of his tube opening and swung himself inside, bouncing against the back wall of the tube from the force of the ship’s spin. He twisted himself around, his hands against the side walls to steady himself as he tried to reach the controls to close his door and activate the automated rapid ejection system.

  “Jump complete,” Mister Riley reported.

  “Locking forward tubes and cannons on target,” Luis announced.

  “Two pods have ejected,” Mister Navashee reported from the sensor station. “Scout One has started another attack run. Forty seconds until the target’s shields envelop Scout Three. Target is firing rail guns!”

  The bridge shook as rail gun fire from the Jung battleship pounded the topside of their hull, sending vibrations from the impacts throughout the ship.

  “Firing, all forward tubes and cannons,” Luis reported.

  “Two more pods have eject… Oh, my God! They’re headed right for the Jung battle… They’re firing point-defenses! They’re targeting the escape pods, sir!”

  “Shall I warn them?” Ensign Souza inquired urgently from the comm station.

  “Do they have any other choice?” Nathan commented, controlling his frustration and rage. “Time to KKV launch?”

  “Four minutes!” Mister Navashee replied as the bridge shook again, lurching slightly to port.

  “Firing again!” Luis reported as the bridge again flashed red-orange from the departing plasma torpedoes.

  “Target’s stern shields are down to twenty percent,” Mister Navashee added. “They’re firing missiles! Twenty seconds to impact!”

  “Combat is targeting incoming missiles with point-defense lasers,” Luis reported.

  “Four launched!” Mister Navashee added. “Two down! Three down! Four down! All missiles intercepted! Twenty seconds to shield barrier…” Mister Navashee paused, his eyes widening. “They’ve dropped… CAPTAIN! Target has extended her shields around Scout Three!”

  Nathan jumped to his feet, a sense of panic washing over him like he had never felt before. “Target Scout Three and fire at will! All weapons! Fire everything!”

  “Helm, one to port and two up angle!” Luis ordered. “Targeting plasma cannon! Firing!”

  “One to port and two up, aye!” Mister Chiles replied.

  “Battleship is firing grappling gear at Scout Three! I think they’ve got hold of her!”

  “Firing all forward tubes!” Luis announced.

  The bridge began flashing red-orange as plasma torpedoes began spewing forth from all tubes.

  “They’re accelerating!” Mister Navashee reported.

  “Helm! Stay with them!” Nathan ordered. “Tactical! Keep firing!”

  “Target is swinging all guns and launchers aft,” Mister Navashee warned. “They mean to open fire on us wi
th everything!”

  Nathan felt hope draining away from his soul as the Jung battleship fled, their shields flashing with each plasma torpedo impact, but still not allowing their weapons to pass.

  “Target is firing guns!” Mister Navashee announced. “She’s locking missiles on us as well!”

  “Helm, two to port and two down!” Nathan ordered. “Stand by escape jump, one hundred kilometers! Cease fire on the forward tubes and cannons, but keep trying to hit that Scout ship with our plasma cannon!”

  “Aye, sir!” Luis replied, desperation obvious in his voice as well.

  “Two to port, two down!” Mister Chiles acknowledged.

  “One hundred kilometers, aye,” Mister Riley followed.

  “They’re firing missiles!” Mister Navashee reported. “Impact in ten seconds!”

  “Jump line?” Nathan asked.

  “Three seconds,” Mister Riley reported.

  “Five seconds!” Mister Navashee warned.

  “Jump!”

  “Jumping,” Mister Riley replied as the jump flash washed over them again.

  “Swing your nose around and get our tubes to bear on her,” Nathan ordered. “Stand by all forward tubes and cannons. Snap shot as soon as possible!”

  “Target is charging her FTL emitters!” Mister Navashee warned.

  Nathan felt himself losing control. “Fire, Luis! Fire!”

  “It’s no good!” Luis replied. “Her forward shields are at full…”

  “Target is going to FTL!” Mister Navashee reported.

  “NO!” Nathan yelled. He watched the tactical display at the lower center of the main view screen as the icons representing the Jung battleship and Scout Three disappeared. “GODDAMN IT!” Nathan spun around to face aft. First he looked at Luis, wanting to blame him for not shooting fast enough. Then he turned to his right, looking at Mister Navashee, but he had no one to look at but himself. He was in command. He had let the Jung get away with a jump drive.

  He could feel his hands trembling as the adrenaline coursed through his veins. He could feel himself losing control. He felt as if he were about to fly apart in all directions, but something in him took over… held him together… brought back his focus. “Comms. Flash traffic for Scout One. Tell them to pursue and track the Jung battleship, but do not engage. Feed them the battleship’s last course and speed at the moment she went to FTL.”