by Linn Schwab
But Stacey shook her head in despair and said, “It’s in the magazine! What should we do?”
“Open all of your torpedo tubes, and vent the fire into space!”
And as Stacey turned away to issue the order, she was silenced by the roar of a powerful explosion, followed by the stillness of a severed transmission.
There was a painful dilemma to the commander’s ordeal, but it was one she wasn’t sure she wanted resolved. She cherished the memory of young Stacey and her crew. But she knew it would be better if she could forget them.
EMERGENCE 035
It had taken Lieutenant Marlowe several hours to pull herself together and regain her composure. The mistake weighed heavily on her mind, rattling her confidence and hammering her with guilt. “It was an understandable oversight,” Major Richards had assured her. “One that anybody could have easily committed.” But it was still an oversight nonetheless. And one that might end up costing seven girls their lives.
After wrestling with her emotions for much of the day, Veronica had finally managed to turn the tables on them. Now, as she stepped back into the control room, her sense of guilt had also become her greatest motivation. The only way she would ever rid herself of it was to find ECHO 5 and bring them back to safety. She walked straight to the console where the optical scan was running and requested that she be allowed to take over.
“Are you sure?” Lindsey asked, expressing concern. “This procedure tends to wear you down pretty quickly.”
Veronica nodded, sat down at the console, and immediately began to fine tune the settings. “I’m sure,” she said as she reached for the headset. “I lost them. And I’m going to find them!”
It had been a long and convoluted journey for Peter and his squadron. Since departing from the carrier Independence, they’d been forced to hop from one fleet to another, landing to refuel on a series of different ships, en route to their destination in sector Y–12. The journey was now almost over for them as they neared the coordinates of their mysterious rendezvous. None of them were quite sure what to expect, but the uncertainty over what was waiting for them would soon be summarily swept away.
“There must be a casino there,” Jay said, “where the captains and admirals all come to hang out. That’s why they chose this secluded area. So no one would catch on to their secret pleasure palace.”
The joke didn’t elicit any laughs, but Jay hadn’t really expected it to. Idle conversation was almost a requisite during such lengthy excursions by fighter craft.
Peter was familiar with Jay’s dry wit, having been exposed to it on a regular basis for years. They were long time friends and combat companions who had seen a lot action together. His other two pilots were a few years younger, but they too had seen their fair share of combat. All of them were hoping for an end to the war, but their expectations were tempered by their past experiences. None of them expected it to end anytime soon. And none of them expected to live to see it happen.
“Here it comes,” Thomas said, eyeing his scanner. “Whatever it is, it’s pretty substantial!”
A few seconds of silent anticipation passed, then Angelo let out an exclamatory whistle. “Does anyone see what I see?” he said.
“My god!” Peter exclaimed, staring in awe at the expansive facility. A shipyard was always an impressive sight — even one that was largely empty. But this one was bristling with an impressive collection of more than sixty battleships.
“I can’t believe it,” Thomas said in amazement. “We’re gonna do it! We’re finally gonna do it!”
The others were all having similar thoughts. The presence of such a force could have only one meaning. There was no way the enemy could repel this much firepower. An advance on the planet was definitely being organized. And from the looks of things, it was going to happen fairly soon.
“Well,” Jay said, “it may not be a casino, but it does kind of look like we hit the jackpot.”
Peter scanned the area for a place to land. There were two United Earth Ships hovering together near the shipyard. One was a carrier named Melbourne, and the other was Admiral Sands’ flagship, the Alabama. “Jay,” he said, “didn’t you tell me once that you were originally from Australia?”
“I was born there, yeah. Why do you ask?”
“If you have any accent left, you might want to dust it off. It looks like we’re going to be landing in Melbourne.”
The second shift was now asleep in the Wallaby’s bunks, and Caroline was back at the helm controls. Robin had allowed her to sleep for five hours, then awakened her to give Phoebe a rest.
The rocks were becoming more dense in this area, forcing Caroline to occasionally push her way through them. She took great care to nudge them as gently as possible to avoid damaging the Wallaby any more than necessary. We’re going to get through this, she kept telling herself. This field of rocks can’t go on forever. But there were no indications of an end to them in sight. It truly seemed, in Caroline’s mind, as if every rock in the universe had been deployed against her.
HATCHLINGS 036
In the early morning hours, several members of Robin’s battalion gathered in the control room hoping for news. They hovered together near the back of the room, being mindful not to interfere with operations and watching the proceedings on the overhead monitors. They could overhear bits of conversations between the controllers, and calls coming in from patrol ships and other space stations. Commander Jeffries and Major Richards were also in the room, conversing with Jenny and some of the other Hornets. Veronica was still seated in front of her console, tirelessly tweaking the optical scan. Despite the abundance of activity in the room, it seemed eerily quiet to the young Sentinels.
Robin had wondered if she’d be able to sleep, knowing the danger her squad was still facing. But the day’s events had proven to be thoroughly exhausting, and sleep had seemed anxious to take control of her body. She’d surrendered willingly to its welcoming embrace, allowing it to shelter her from her pains and worries, and restore her ability to make reasoned decisions. Its recuperative effect on her had nearly run its course when Mindy frantically shook her awake.
“Robin,” Mindy insisted, “we’re coming out of the asteroid field … but we have another problem!”
“How long can they survive out there?” Nancy asked, gesturing toward the mission chronometer. The clock was still running on the Wallaby’s absence, counting up the increments of its lengthy ordeal.
“At a level of minimal activity,” Major Richards explained, “a destroyer can function for more than a week before it runs completely out of fuel. But,” she cautioned, “if they really are inside that debris field, they’re going to be burning through their fuel very quickly.”
Commander Jeffries nodded forlornly and stared at the numerals on the chronometer. The prospect of losing another training squad was tearing her to pieces inside. The uncertainty had kept her awake through the night, which only added to the strain and the pressure she was feeling. She was just about to close her eyes for a moment when she heard a sudden gasp from Lieutenant Marlowe.
Veronica sat up and reached for her headset. She thought she’d heard something but she needed to be sure. She focused intently on the weak signal in her earpiece, struggling to extract even the slightest detail. “I found them!” she suddenly cried out in excitement. “I found the Wallaby! She’s still transmitting!”
A chorus of cheers rocked the control room and everyone turned their attention to Veronica.
The commander leaned over Veronica’s shoulder to get a closer look at her display. “Where are they?” she asked. “Do you have a lock on their position?”
Veronica focused on dialing in the signal, feverishly trying to get a better lock on it. “The signal’s very weak,” she said. It must be bouncing off from something.” A look of confusion appeared on her face as she studied the Wallaby’s status indicators. “They’re running silent!” she announced in surprise. “Their radio and all of their scanners are
off. Only the optical signal is active. It’s almost like they’re hiding from something.”
Commander Jeffries cast an inquisitive look at Jenny, as if to ask, “Is this something you taught them to do?”
Jenny shrugged and shook her head, indicating she was surprised by this as well.
“I’m patching their cabin microphone in to the speakers,” Veronica announced. There was an audible click from the control room’s speakers, followed by an extended period of silence.
“I don’t hear anything,” Commander Jeffries insisted. “Are you sure it’s functioning properly?”
“It’s on,” Veronica informed her. “They just aren’t saying anything.” She continued to go over the data from the Wallaby, searching for clues about the ship’s condition. “There’s still pressure in the cabin,” she said. “Life support is still functioning.” She toggled to another of the Wallaby’s functions. “Their surveillance scope’s been activated.”
“Can we see what they’re looking at?” the commander asked her.
“I think so.” She flipped a switch on her control panel, then leaned back to look up at the overhead monitor.
The control room remained perfectly silent and still as everyone focused on the center display. The screen showed static for several seconds, then the signal suddenly became crisp and clear. It was a picture that sent a chill down all of their spines. The unmistakable image of an enemy warship.
“Oh my god!” Jenny exclaimed in panic. “Commander, you’ve got to get them out of there!”
“Where are they?” the commander asked Lieutenant Marlowe. “Do you have their coordinates?”
Veronica nodded. “They’re on the upper far side of Pangea,” she said. “They’re in enemy space.”
The commander quickly considered her options. “Can we get a message through to them?”
Veronica shook her head and warned her, “Not without giving away their position.”
The commander looked at Jenny in helplessness, her eyes expressing, “What would you have me do?”
The Wallaby hovered in its hiding place, carefully concealed behind a large asteroid. Robin was drawing tenuous, shallow breaths as she watched the image on her display screen. She felt her heart pounding fiercely in her chest as she studied the enemy patrol ship’s actions. It hadn’t changed course or velocity yet, and its guns still appeared to be centered and secured.
“I don’t think they saw us,” she told her crew, trying her best to calm their fears. “Maybe they’ll just pass us by.” The enemy ship was approaching from the starboard side. If it continued to follow its present course, it would pass by in front of their hiding place and drift away until it disappeared off to port.
A cautious air of hope filled the control room when Robin’s voice came over the speakers.
“Good girl, Robin,” Jenny whispered to herself. “Don’t panic. Just sit tight.”
The Wallaby’s bridge remained quiet for a moment as the girls continued to watch the other ship. But Michelle was growing increasingly frustrated by Robin’s apparent willingness not to take action. “Robin!” she insistently whispered, attempting to get her captain’s attention. When Robin turned to look at her, she quietly mouthed the words, “Prepare for battle?”
“What?” Robin responded in shock and surprise, stunned that Michelle could even be thinking such a thing.
Michelle got up from her seat and stood loosely at attention, facing Robin. “Prepare for battle?” she softly urged, voicing her suggestion aloud this time.
Robin looked around at the other girls and attempted to get a read on their reactions. They all seemed to be surprised and confused, uncertain of what Michelle’s intentions might be.
“Captain,” Michelle insisted, “…it’s our duty to attack that ship.”
“Oh my god!” Nancy cried in disbelief after hearing Michelle’s voice on the intercom. “What is she saying?”
“Don’t do it, Robin,” Jenny pleaded aloud. “Just stay put. Just stay right where you are!”
Robin stared at Michelle in silence, convinced that the girl had lost her mind. But Michelle continued to stare back at her expectantly, as if waiting for her to issue an order.
“What are you talking about, Michelle,” Sheri said, concerned that Robin might be considering her suggestion. “This is just a training mission.”
Michelle took Sheri’s complaint in stride, not even turning her eyes away from Robin for an instant. “That’s an enemy ship,” she said. “It’s our duty as Sentinels to destroy it.”
Katrina decided she had listened long enough. It was time for her to talk some sense into Michelle. She stood up and tore her headset off, and angrily slammed it down on her console. “THAT is a HEAVY CRUISER, Michelle!” she said, pointing emphatically toward the enemy ship.
“I know what it is,” Michelle calmly informed her. “We are well–equipped to take out a heavy cruiser.”
Katrina was now beginning to panic. She turned to face Robin with fear in her eyes. “Robin, don’t listen to her!” she pleaded. “Let’s just get out of here before they see us!”
Michelle turned to face Katrina and shook her head in irritation. “I can’t believe you, Katrina,” she said, finally beginning to betray her emotions. “After what they did to us, you just want to run away and hide?” She raised her hand and pointed toward the enemy vessel. “They used biological weapons on us!” she fumed. “They killed everything on our planet that had male chromosomes! Because of them, we’ll never have husbands or boyfriends! We’ll never know what it’s like to have parents, or children! Because of them, Katrina …… we were hatched instead of born!”
Robin closed her eyes for a moment and dwelled on the feelings that were stirring inside her. She knew the others were feeling them as well; Michelle’s words were like salt in an open wound. She opened her eyes and looked at the image on her screen, glaring at the enemy ship with contempt. She thought about the anguish and suffering they’d caused — not just to her friends, but to everyone on Valhalla. And to her surprise, she felt genuinely, deeply disturbed by the fact that she was actually experiencing hatred. I want to kill those people, she realized. I want … to hurt them.
The control room monitors suddenly went blank as the Wallaby’s signal cut out for a moment. Major Richards studied Robin’s battalion as she pondered what effect Michelle’s outburst might have on them. Their eyes were still glued to the overhead screens while they breathlessly awaited Robin’s decision. This can’t be good for them, she decided. I should probably send them out of the room.
For a moment, Robin remained deep in thought, allowing sufficient time for her emotions to cool. She was determined not to make a hasty decision that might end up costing the lives of her squad. She searched for something that could help her choose a direction. Something that would push her one way or the other. There were compelling arguments both for and against staging an attack. Which one was the proper course of action? Her eyes caught a glimpse of the fuel gauge display, and shortly thereafter, she made her decision.
With a look of determination in her eyes, Robin sat up straight and issued an order. “Prepare for battle!” she said, softly but firmly, keeping her eyes fixed on the enemy ship.
The other girls hesitated at first, then quickly returned to their positions. Only Katrina remained where she was standing, staring at Robin in disbelief. The expression on her face was one of despair — the look of someone who’d been utterly betrayed by a friend. Robin lowered her eyes for a moment, then attempted to justify her decision to Katrina.
“Look, Katrina,” she tried to explain, “there’s no telling how many of our sisters that ship has killed. Or how many more will die if we don’t take it out.”
“But we’re not ready for this,” Katrina whimpered.
“I know,” Robin admitted with reluctance. “We’ll just have to do our best.” She looked pleadingly into Katrina’s eyes, desperately hoping to win her approval. “Okay?” she pressed. A
few more tense seconds passed by, then Katrina wavered and gave in to her. She lowered her head and sniffled once, then nodded and quietly returned to her station.
Robin breathed a sigh of relief and considered what her next action should be. She then realized she needed to be certain that Caroline was on board with her decision. Lifting herself up out of her chair, she stepped forward to Caroline’s station and leaned down close to her, over her shoulder.
Alerted to Robin’s presence, Caroline glanced up at her with a quiet, questioning look in her eyes. Robin could immediately tell from her expression that she did not agree with the decision to attack.
Caroline’s reluctance wasn’t completely unexpected. Robin had kept the true reason for her decision to herself, in order to avoid upsetting the others. But Caroline wouldn’t be so easily swayed. She was going to have to be open and honest with her.
With a silent, subtle gesture of her eyes, Robin directed Caroline’s attention to the fuel gauge. As the significance of the readout began to sink in, Caroline reacted with a look of despondency. The reason for Robin’s decision was clear to her now: they had already burned up more than half of their fuel. If they actually were in enemy space — which seemed very likely right at the moment — there was little chance of them making it back through the debris field. Their fate, it seemed, had already been sealed. There was nothing for them to lose by attempting an attack.
After a few seconds of collecting her thoughts, Caroline grasped the flight controls in her hands and flashed a look of determination at Robin. The message in her eyes was perfectly clear — she was on board now with Robin’s decision. Robin gave her a gentle tap on the shoulder, then turned and walked back to her own position.
“Retract the surveillance scope!” she ordered. “Open the outer torpedo tube doors! Caroline, take us around the left side of this rock, and keep us out of sight until I give the order!”