Sean was himself enjoying her company and insights. She reminded him of all the things he loved about Kara and yet she was not Kara. If she were a living woman he could see himself with her.
It took almost sixteen hours with her guidance for him to see the problem and develop a solution. The Relentless’ vacuum energy generator pulled vast amounts of power directly from subspace. An enormous wave of subspace distortion intersected the VEGA/ Hyperdrive assembly and essentially for a faction of a second subspace ceased to exist and therefore any device using it ceased to function, turned off like a switch.
“What could cause such a subspace distortion wave?” Sean asked her.
“Our hyperdrive causes a similar phenomenon but on a much more limited scale just as we enter or exit our hyperspace window. It’s what causes the window to close behind us as we enter and exit.”
“How do we keep it from happening again? Any ideas?”
“I could reconfigure the hyperdrive envelope to allow the wave to pass around us if we are in hyperspace but nothing would prevent it in normal space unless you could detect it beforehand We can restart the VEGA with no foreseeable complications.”
***
“Akema, can we make a hyperspace jump yet?”
“Yes captain. We have not calibrated the drive. Navigating in hyperspace would be difficult, even dangerous.”
“We only need to stay in hyperspace a second.”
“I understand. Making the necessary calculations.”
***
“Their torpedo launchers are disabled. They have no other weapons that are a threat to us,” Malik informed Tomac.
“Good. Bring us about and hail them.”
***
“What are you planning,” Brice asked.
“If we open a hyperspace window directly in front of their ship it may disrupt their power core as we pass through.”
“Captain. The Tanari is hailing us again,” Sotaki said.
“Akema send the hyperdrive program to Deas station. Deas, when I give the signal, execute. Put him on screen.”
“Greetings Captain. I see you are well. Such adversity your crew has endured for you. I know I said no deals but I have reconsidered. I will accept your unconditional surrender, I will take you and your crew shall not be harmed.”
Sean thought of Akema. She was harmed, maybe lost to him forever.
“I have a counter offer. Join your wife and children.”
He nodded to Deas. Dax touched the execute button. The Relentless leapt forward as a hyperspace window opened in front of the Tanari. Deas saw the lights on the Tanari die. He would have been relieved except inside the hyperspace window appeared a ghost like apparition of the Tanari. He could do nothing it all happened so fast. A hyperspace window was not flat, it had depth. The Relentless collided with the front of the Tanari that was partially in real and subspace. The front of the ship crumpled and she rolled across the nose of the Tanari before entering the window and vanishing. She exited hyperspace in a slow spin several thousand kilometers away.
***
The Tanari was washed in a subspace wake similar to the gravity wake from a jump drive. It fractured his exoskeleton. The subspace apparition of the Relentless collided with him cutting a deep gash as she rolled away. Atmosphere escaped from the fractures and some large pieces floated away as he broke apart.
“REPORT,” Yasa screamed. He gripped the arms of his chair tightly. The Tanari was badly hurt. He could feel his pain in his mind.
“We lost all power. I have nothing sir,” Malik told him.
Yasa probed the Tanari’s mind further. He was dying. His subspace singularity no longer existed. His hull was badly fractured in multiple locations. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he experienced the Tanari’s pain and fear. The ship was trying to recatalyze the power core but his attempts were failing.
Tanari was beginning to panic as he realized he was going to die. Yasa tried to calm and reassure the ship with his thoughts but his thoughts betrayed him. Tanari could read Yasa’s thoughts as well. He knew that Yasa understood this was the end.
***
The Relentless floated helplessly as her crew was incapacitated from the experience. Akema too had received such a jolt she was rendered unconscious for a few moments despite the safeguards put in place to prevent it. She regained her senses. The readings she was no longer receiving from sensors that were destroyed let her know the extent of the damage.
Akema’s avatar formed on the bridge. She grabbed a med kit from the wall and went to rouse the captain and tend to his injuries. She lightly patted his face.
“Connor. Sean wake up.”
His head lolled around before he held it up and opened his eyes.
“I love you,” he told her.
She disregarded his statement as delirium.
“We are badly damaged. I need you to wake up. Hull integrity is sixty four percent. We are venting atmosphere.”
He unbuckled himself and grabbed another med kit. The duo went around tending to and rousing the bridge crew. Everyone on the bridge was fortunately buckled into their stations.
After everyone was awake the captain returned to his station and Akema took the one to his left. He looked to her and stared down at their wrists and remembered a dream he had of being married to her. He imagined the marriage bracelet she had made for him. He didn’t have the luxury of those thoughts right now so he pushed them away.
“I am attempting to seal the most critical hull breaches with what’s left of the nanites,” she said.
“How long until the hull regenerates?”
“Normally a full restoration would take up to twenty four hours. Our cargo bays holding our raw materials were destroyed. We have enough for approximately a ten percent restoration.”
“Better than nothing I suppose.”
“What’s going on up there,” Kara’s voice came through Connor’s commlink.
“It’s over. We are assessing the damage.”
“I’m on my way.”
“We are being hailed sir,” Hirusho said. “Union. Command.”
“Put it on screen.”
“Hello Captain Connor. We received an automated distress call from the Relentless. I have dispatched the Ragnarok to assist you. Did you complete your mission?” President Maedar asked.
The captain showed no signs of knowing the president was behind it all.
“The enemy ship is destroyed. We are dead in the water. We would appreciate the assistance.”
“See you when you get home,” he smiled.
The transmission ended
“We don’t have an automated distress beacon do we?” Sean asked.
“No Captain. I do not have an automated distress beacon,” Akema told him.
“We are in trouble then.”
The Relentless was so impossibly damaged he had no idea what orders to give his crew to begin repairs. It could be of little consequence anyway once the Ragnarok showed up. How they could survive an entanglement with the flagship he did not know.
“Is the hyperdrive still working?”
“No. Whatever happened back there disabled it. I can’t determine if it’s physical damage to the systems or if it’s simply offline,” Sotaki informed him.
Akema stared off into space for a moment.
“It is the control systems. I have found the damaged sections. Everything is too damaged to reroute.”
***
Admiral Perry stared out the viewscreen. The President had informed him of the situation involving the Relentless and the captain’s betrayal. He had told him he had been attacking outposts on both sides trying to rekindle the war. Sean had been under his command as a Razor. He had a hard time believing he had gone rogue. Still the mental strains war places on an individual can make even the toughest man snap. He knew the horrors Sean Connor had endured during his recovery. Maybe he did have a psychotic break of some sort.
“Jump drive charged to one hundred percent sir,” t
he ensign at the helm said.
“Execute jump.”
The jump window opened and pulled the Ragnarok through. He exited the other side of the jump with tremendous speed.
“Full sensor sweep. Locate the ship and set a course to pursue.”
“Aye, aye, Admiral.”
“We have a badly damaged Telarian ship just ahead. The other vessel is also just ahead several thousand kilometers distant.”
“The Relentless is hailing us sir.”
“Disregard all communications from that ship. I have information that they have a way of piggybacking a virus on the carrier wave and disabling a ship without a shot fired. Destroy what’s left of the Telarian ship. Full volley from the forward launchers should do it.”
“Yes sir.”
***
The atmosphere was getting thinner as it bled away from hull ruptures all over the ship. Yasa fumbled in his pockets. He withdrew the perithricine device he kept on his person. He slid the dispenser across the side of his neck and collapsed to the deck smiling.
The sun shone brightly across the flowered meadow. Beya sat on a blanket at the base of a large beautiful tree reading a book. She had a large picnic basket beside her and Llihanan swung in a swing hanging from the branches.
“Llih.”
She heard her father call. She quickly dismounted the swing and ran towards her oncoming father.
“Dada! Dada!”
Beya looked up shading her eyes from the sun. She put her book down and went to greet her husband.
Yasa picked Llihanan up and swung her around in the air.
“Hello my darling.” They hugged each other tightly as she repeatedly kissed his cheek.
“I love you Dada.”
“And your Dada loves you Llih. Have you been keeping your mother safe from monsters today?”
She shook her head yes. He produced a small toy sword from behind his back and handed it to her.
“Maybe this will help.”
Her eyes lit up and she wiggled down from his arms and ran off to fight imaginary monsters to keep her momma safe.
Beya walked up shaking her head.
“You have a way with her. I have never seen a happier child.”
“You have never seen a happier husband or father,” he replied with a smile taking her hand and escorting her back to the blanket.
Llihanan ran up beside them as they sat down shouting. “I GOT ONE!”
“How big was it?” her father asked.
She outstretched her arms as far as she could.
“Wow! That big. Thank you for keeping your momma safe.”
He pulled them in close hugging them both. The world seemed to stop. No wind. No birds. Only him and his darlings. He looked up at the gleaming sun and everything faded to white.
***
Twenty torpedoes fired at once. This ability of the Ragnarok to dispense wholesale destruction made it feared by the adversary and revered by the ally. Every torpedo found its mark all at once. What was left of the Telarian ship simply vaporized, in a bright explosion it ceased to exist.
“Target the Relentless. Full volley.”
***
“They won’t answer my hails,” Brice said frustrated. “Admiral Perry would never attack this ship if he knew me and the boys were on it.”
“I’m sure that part was conveniently left out of his orders.”
They felt a rumbling through the ship.
“Captain. The Ragnarok just destroyed the remains of the Telarian ship. Full volley,” Chaz said. “They are reloading the launchers.”
“Those would be for us,” the captain said. “It has been an honor serving with all of you.”
“We received a message from the Ragnarok.” Hirusho swallowed past the lump in his throat. “Goodspeed son. Admiral Perry,” Sotaki said to the silent bridge crew.
The bridge crew looked to one another and waited for the end they all knew was coming as the Ragnarok closed to weapons range. A minute after the message a full barrage of torpedoes were fired by the Ragnarok. The lights flickered and went out as the Relentless jump drive activated and pulled the ship through. The torpedoes flew through empty space.
***
“The target ship just jumped away Admiral. All torpedoes missed.”
The Admiral breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t want to be the harbinger of death for his friend.
***
The Relentless creaked and groaned as she passed through the jump window. Something snapped and resounded throughout the ship. In front of the Relentless loomed a large asteroid.
“What just happened?” Connor asked.
“I jumped the ship with the gravity drive utilizing a full charge from the VEGA,” Akema responded. “Admiral Perry’s message was encoded with an information packet with these coordinates for a jump. I wasn’t sure we would make it. We are in the Expanse.”
“What made you think you could trust the coordinates?” Brice asked.
“You all seem to trust the Admiral implicitly. This is a long abandoned stardock facility used for building ships in the beginning of the war he says. It does not appear in the Union database. He transmitted the codes for access as well.”
“Mr. Deas give us a tour,” the captain said.
Ensign Deas throttled up the damaged redundant sublight engines and orbited the asteroid. He was using sensors since most of the external cameras his station and the viewscreen used were destroyed. The Union had built a stardock in the asteroid. Long slim doors in the side were the only evidence something existed inside.
“Out this window you can see a large, dusty space rock,” Dax announced like a tour guide.
He chuckled at his own sarcasm, sometimes he cracked himself up.
Kara arrived with Jacob in tow. Jacob ran to his father and sat in his lap.
“What happened?” Kara asked. “I felt us jump.”
“We are safe,” Connor said.
“The stardock is accepting the codes. Opening the doors,” Akema said.
External light blinked to life and the hanger doors parted before them.
“Dax, take us in,” Sean said.
Epilogue
Galloway’s shuttle flashed into existence. He stumbled to the back and grabbed a med kit and went to work to stop the bleeding from his leg. His hands shook as he opened the kit withdrawing the items he thought he needed. He tried to cut open his nanosuit but it would not cut. His entire leg was going numb and he was starting to panic. He dropped the kit and activated the subspace array. Galloway hailed the president. After several agonizing moments the president appeared.
“Is it done?”
“Hell yeah it’s done. Bastards shot me up for it too, I need medical assistance,” Galloway panted.
“Send me their coordinates.”
Galloway tapped commands into the interface.
“Sending. What about me, I’m bleeding pretty badly?”
“Thank you for you devoted service Mr. Galloway but I’m afraid I will be unable to hold up my end of the bargain.” The lights on the interface panels began to flicker and electricity began to dance across the surface. “I have to tie up all my loose ends. There will be no one coming to rescue you.”
Galloway tried to touch the panel and was rewarded with a jolt of electricity that made him snatch his arm back.
“NO, NO, NO.”
The president had sent a virus on the carrier wave to overload and short out the entire power grid.
As suddenly as it started, it ended. All of the power went out. It was pitch dark except the curtain of stars visible through the windscreen.
“MAEDAR! YOU SON OF A BITCH!”
Galloway screamed to himself. He was alone in the middle of deep space. No power. No reserves. No hope.
***
Dr. Patrick Corrigan sipped his coffee while he awaited the president’s arrival. President Maedar had requested a meeting with him. He had met him several years ago at a science conference when Eliron M
aedar was still a senator. What the president was interested in him for he could only guess.
Patrick was a molecular biologist, the most renowned in his field. He dabbled in quantum physics as well and several of his research projects involved both fields of study.
“Good afternoon Dr. Corrigan. Sorry to keep you waiting. It seems something is always making me run behind schedule.”
“It’s quite alright Mr. President, I cleared my afternoon for this meeting. How can I be of service?”
“I have a top secret project I have been working on with an acquaintance. He recently met an untimely end and I need someone to take over his work. The Union has a great deal of money invested in the project and we don’t want to lose that investment as you can understand. We have all of his research and I would like for you to continue his work.”
“What kind of work would I be doing? I also have several projects I am involved with I would have to take that into consideration.”
“Biogenetic ship construction. Growing a living ship, a totally organic spacecraft.”
“That is an intriguing proposition. I’m not sure that’s possible,” Dr. Corrigan said
“We have already had a proof of concept and prototype. We need to go full scale in a warship and I need someone knowledgeable to lead the project. Your expertise would be an asset and as far as your other projects are concerned I’ll allow you suitable time to find replacements or take it with you.” The president handed him a tablet. “Look it over. I feel confident you will want to be a part of this groundbreaking work. Its years ahead of anything else. If you decide not to accept my proposal simply return the tablet to my office.”
***
Relentless Log Entry: Ship SI
Critical damage has been sustained to all ship systems. Likelihood of repairing the structure and experimental systems seems unlikely with estimates reaching eighty five percent system wide failures. The crew survived with minimal loss of life.
SI memory core damage unrepairable but not a threat to ongoing operation of the central processing unit.
Relentless: Book One of the Union Warship Saga Page 25