Sentinels: Children of Valhalla (Sentinels Saga Book 1)

by Linn Schwab

  With the Wallaby’s signal still offline, Major Richards moved toward the rear of the room, where the rest of ECHO 5’s battalion was standing. “Come on,” she said to them, gesturing toward the door. “It’s time for you girls to leave now.”

  The girls all began to move toward the exit, still keeping their eyes fixed on the overhead monitors. Suddenly the link with Robin’s ship was reestablished, and the screens revealed what was happening again.

  “She’s going to attack!” Brooke yelled, immediately stopping right where she stood. A collective cheer went up from the young Sentinels, and one of them shouted, “Get ‘em, Robin!”

  Major Richards looked toward the monitors as well, realizing she would never get the girls to leave now. She felt troubled by their reactions to the scene, surprised at their zeal to see their friends engage in combat. Could it be that they’re just oblivious to the danger? Would they feel the same enthusiasm if it was them instead of ECHO 5? She was convinced that the answer to that question was yes, just by reading the looks in their eyes. And she made a mental note to herself that this lack of judgement would have to be addressed before she could allow their training to continue.

  “I’m linking the monitors to their onboard array,” Veronica announced. She switched the image on the overhead monitors to show views from the Wallaby’s external cameras, as well as the ship’s main status display. As the Wallaby circled into position, the enemy ship came back into view. It was just off to the left of the destroyer’s line of sight. The perfect alignment for a full spread of torpedoes.

  Robin didn’t have time to think twice. The heavy cruiser was already in her sights. She grasped firmly onto the edges of her seat and ordered Caroline to begin the attack.

  “Here we go,” Caroline said, nervously applying pressure to the throttle. The Wallaby jolted forward with a lurch and launched itself toward the enemy ship.

  As the crowd in the control room watched and waited, the monitors flickered and went blank again.

  “We lost the transmission!” Veronica said, and frantically began trying to reestablish contact.

  “What happened?” Major Richards asked her.

  “Interference. Something must be blocking the signal.”

  “Keep trying. Stay with them, Lieutenant.”

  Commander Jeffries could feel the pressure mounting. This was an absolute nightmare for her. There was still a slight chance that the girls might survive, but only if they abandoned their attack before the enemy ship spotted them. For now, she could only watch and wait, and hope that Robin would call off the assault.

  “I’ve almost got it!” Veronica shouted. The monitors hissed and sputtered — a sign that the signal was close to locking in.

  Jenny felt herself trembling nervously. She glanced beside her at Nancy, then lowered her head and covered her face with her hands. “I can’t watch,” she said. “This can’t really be happening.”

  Virginia moved up beside her and tried to offer a little encouragement. “She was beautifully positioned,” she said. “If she gets a good alignment, she might be able to pull this off.”

  Nancy grasped onto Jenny’s arm and watched the screen in anticipation.

  “That’s it!” Veronica yelled. The image on the screens suddenly cleared up again.

  Nancy let out a squeal of excitement, and immediately began jumping and shaking Jenny’s arm. “Ee–‌Yesss! Look, Jenny! She’s got ‘em pegged! She’s gonna tear ‘em to pieces!”

  Jenny opened her eyes and felt herself instantly overcome with excitement. The heavy cruiser was centered in the Wallaby’s sights. Robin had timed her attack perfectly.

  Commander Jeffries felt her heart sink. The fate of ECHO 5 had been sealed. There was nothing she could do to help them now. But, if she acted quickly, there was a chance that she could destroy the ship that killed them. She pointed at the monitor and leaned down toward Veronica, keeping her voice low so no one else would overhear. “Veronica,” she said with perceptible remorse, “contact the Sunbright. Give them those coordinates. Tell them to … incinerate that entire vicinity.”

  Veronica looked up at her in horror. The commander was calling for a nuclear strike! If missiles were fired at the heavy cruiser, the Wallaby would be destroyed as well. She felt a lump begin to form in her throat as she quietly whispered a query in protest. “What about Captain Starling? And her crew?”

  The commander lowered her head in anguish, then looked up at the monitors again in hesitation. If she was going to do this, she had to do it fast. That ship wouldn’t likely stay put for very long.

  Robin kept her eyes on the targeting display as the Wallaby closed in on the enemy cruiser. The nose of her ship was a little high. “Angle down point two degrees!” she ordered.

  “Down point two!” Caroline replied, directing the nose of the ship downward slightly. The targeting display showed a near perfect alignment.

  “Ready on torpedoes!” Robin ordered.

  Phoebe placed her hands on the firing controls. “Ready on torpedoes!” she echoed.

  Floating in orbit high above Valhalla, the missile ship Sunbright remained on standby, alongside her sister ship, the Sunburst. They were long, sleek, cylindrical vessels, with two rows of twelve hatches along the lengths of their upper decks. They remained positioned with their noses facing enemy space, presenting the smallest possible target. Each of them possessed a powerful payload, but they were only rarely called on to use them, when a scarce opportunity presented itself.

  On the bridge of the Sunbright, Lieutenant Chambers looked over her shoulder and tried to attract her commander’s attention. “Commander,” she said, beckoning her closer, “we’ve just received a targeting request from Volaris.”

  The commander rushed to her side, aware that her actions would have to be swift. “What do they have?” she asked. An image flashed up on the screen in front of her, along with a set of coordinates.

  “Heavy cruiser,” she said, looking somewhat baffled. “How did they get this image I wonder?”

  “I don’t know,” the lieutenant replied. She checked the coordinates for a location. “It’s in enemy space,” she said. “We’ll have to plot an arc over the top of Pangea.” She looked at the commander and held up three fingers, suggesting a spread of three missiles should be fired in order to guarantee hitting the ship.

  The commander nodded in agreement. “Do it!” she said. She then turned to her weapons controller. “Open silo hatches one, two, and three! Helm, bring us around eighty degrees to starboard. Rotate centerline axis, thirty–‌seven degrees to port. Prepare for missile launch!”

  In the control room, Miranda accessed the Wallaby’s targeting display and patched it into one of the overhead monitors. The room was filled with gasps of excitement when the numbers flashed across the bottom of the screen:

  HIT PROBABILITY – 96.4 PERCENT

  Jenny held her breath as the numbers steadily began climbing upward …..96.5 …..96.6 …..96.7…

  “Wait for it, Robin,” she quietly urged, “wait for it…”

  The Wallaby’s engines were humming now as Caroline zeroed in on the heavy cruiser’s bow. The other girls were focused on the targeting display, silently reading off the numbers in their heads …..96.8 …..96.9…

  HIT PROBABILITY – 97.0 PERCENT

  “FIRE ONE!” Robin ordered, releasing an eternity of pent–‌up tension.

  “FIRE ONE!” Phoebe echoed, twisting the dial of tube number one and pulling down on the firing lever.

  The ship responded with an unconvincing, hollow pinging noise that left the girls hanging in a state of suspense, sensing that something was terribly wrong.

  “Nothing happened!” Phoebe exclaimed.

  “Where is it?” Robin asked, looking out through the forward bank of windows.

  “It didn’t fire!” Katrina shouted.

  Sheri accessed an internal view of the torpedo tube, and said, “Tube number one is empty, Robin!”

  Jenny and
Nancy looked at each other in shock, wondering what could have possibly gone wrong. They both turned to look at Commander Jeffries and tried to get a read on her reaction.

  The commander closed her eyes and lowered her head, sensing the aura of everyone’s gazes upon her. She had known from the beginning that this attack was doomed to fail. The others would soon come to realize that as well.

  Robin fought desperately to maintain her composure. The attack still had a chance of succeeding if she could just manage to keep her wits about her.

  “FIRE TWO!” she ordered, hoping and praying that number two was loaded.

  Sheri shook her head in response, and said, “Robin! All torpedo tubes are empty!”

  “Try the reloader!” Robin insisted.

  “I am,” Sheri answered, “it isn’t responding!”

  A look of horror suddenly came over Robin’s face. Her ship was out in the open now, and she had nothing to throw at the enemy vessel. In an instant, she had gone from being predator to prey, and her squad was in serious jeopardy now.

  The bridge of the Baton Rouge was peaceful and serene, just as it always seemed to be. The operators were lazily monitoring their instruments while the captain feigned reading a routine shift report. He flipped through the pages mindlessly, just to give the appearance of keeping busy. It was important for the crew to see him working so they’d take their own responsibilities seriously. Vigilance was an absolute must on a warship. Even on one assigned to such a pointless patrol.

  Captain Kneller glanced up from his shift report as a female lieutenant passed by in front of him. In her hands was a tray full of empty coffee mugs which she’d collected from all of her colleagues on the bridge. She smiled at the captain and picked up his mug, then continued walking toward the port side of the ship. A few seconds later the tray hit the floor, and the young lieutenant screamed in terror. Everyone on the bridge looked in her direction, and in an instant, the reason for her scream became apparent. Through the windows on the port side of the bridge, an enemy ship could be seen closing in on them.

  “Captain!” one of the officers shouted, “Enemy destroyer closing to port!”

  “Evasive maneuvers!” the captain ordered. “Sound general quarters! Seal all decks and open fire!”

  “They see us!” Mindy yelled, observing the heavy cruiser’s movements. The ship was beginning to alter its course, and its guns were now attempting to target the Wallaby.

  “Hard to port!” Robin ordered. “Stand by on the starboard rocket batteries! Set the spread for close range!” It was an act of desperation, she realized — firing rockets at a heavy cruiser. They weren’t intended for such heavily armored vessels, but they might cause some damage if she could hit the upper decks. And the distraction might help her withdraw from the engagement long enough to get her torpedo tubes loaded.

  Caroline pulled the Wallaby leftward, aligning her parallel with the enemy ship’s course. She had a sense that she understood Robin’s intentions, and tried to line up the cruiser’s bridge for a shot.

  Phoebe reached for the rocket controls and looked back over her shoulder at Robin. “Close range locked in!” she announced, then readied herself for Robin’s command.

  Keeping her eyes on the enemy ship, Robin tried her best to judge the timing of her shot. As the cruiser’s bridge drew even with the Wallaby’s starboard windows, she looked at Phoebe and yelled, “FIRE!”

  Phoebe pulled down on the firing handles and a thunderous wave of noise rolled through the Wallaby. A flash of light enveloped the destroyer’s starboard side, and all twenty–‌four rockets shot out at once. They streaked in a pack toward the enemy vessel and slammed into it together just below the bridge. The cruiser was rocked by the massive explosion, and shards of debris showered back out toward the Wallaby, riding the crest of a plume of smoke. Robin had no time to gauge the effects of her shot. She was already shifting into full retreat mode.

  “Caroline, bring us about!” she yelled. “Get us back behind that big rock again! Michelle,” she ordered, “check the magazine! We need to get those torpedo tubes loaded!”

  Michelle nodded and darted out of the bridge. While Caroline was swinging the Wallaby around, Robin kept her eyes on the enemy ship’s weapons. Some of the smaller guns were already firing, but as yet, they had failed to score any meaningful hits. It was the larger gun turrets that had her worried — two of them on the front of the ship, and one toward the rear. If one of those managed to score a direct hit, the Wallaby would likely be done for in an instant.

  “Ready on the smoke screen!” Robin ordered, hoping to frustrate their attempts to target her.

  “Ready!” Katrina yelled. Her fingers trembled as she reached for the control.

  There was utter chaos on board the Baton Rouge. The surprise attack had caused panic among the crew. Their extended assignment to such a quiet patrol zone had allowed them to become complacent over time, and now they were paying the price for that. Some of the crew had been away from their stations, and the call to action had come too late. The rocket barrage had caused serious damage to the upper decks, effectively cutting off movements through that area, and preventing the ship from staging a full scale response. Watching the enemy ship double back toward his stern, Captain Kneller considered himself lucky to be alive. He ordered a quick damage assessment of his ship, and instructed his officers to track the destroyer’s movements.

  Stepping off the bottom rung of the ladder, Michelle headed straight for the magazine and pressed the control that opened the door. She gasped in horror as she entered the room, and immediately lowered herself to her knees. All of the torpedo racks were empty — their sprocket chains hanging limp and loose, and swinging in reaction to the Wallaby’s movements. There was nothing wrong with the reloader, she realized. There was just nothing there for it to load.

  The room’s emptiness filled her with a sense of despair, and weighed her down with overwhelming feelings of regret. She and her friends were now going to die as a direct result of her own actions. The Wallaby could have remained safely hidden if she had only kept her emotions in check. But she had pressured her friends into attacking … and killed them all by doing so.

  Robin’s decision to reverse her course was appearing to have payed off for her. The heavy cruiser’s forward turrets were out of position to fire on her now. Only the rear turret remained an imminent threat, and she was carefully following the angle of its guns as it swung around to threaten her ship. When she felt that its aim was getting too close for comfort, she decided it was time to take further action.

  “Deploy smoke screen, now!” she ordered, convinced that the guns were close to firing.

  Katrina pushed the SMOKESCREEN button and checked the rear view monitor to see if anything was happening. “Smoke screen deployed!” she said, watching the action on one of the screens.

  A cascade of small explosions appeared behind the Wallaby as the smoke screen dispersed its many layers of protection. Its projectiles spiraled outward in a complex pattern, dispensing a cloudy veil of smoke.

  “Evasive maneuvers!” Robin ordered, still hoping to throw off the enemy’s aim. The Wallaby began to bank sharply leftward in response to the input from Caroline’s controls. Through the growing cloud of smoke between the two ships, Robin’s eyes caught the burst of a discharge flash from the barrels of the heavy cruiser’s massive rear guns. Something powerful struck the Wallaby, tearing a gash in the upper right corner of the bridge and exposing the ship’s interior to space. Gale force winds tore at Robin’s hair and her dress as the Wallaby’s atmosphere siphoned through the opening. A deafening roar from the airflow rang in her ears and she felt the cabin pressure starting to drop. The emergency seal kicked into action, releasing its black liquid into the air stream where it was immediately drawn in the direction of the hull breach. It began to coagulate around the hole’s edges, but the opening appeared to be too large for it to seal.

  Through the strands of Robin’s wind–‌whipped hair
, she saw Caroline still wrestling with the Wallaby’s controls. Sheri was lying motionless on the floor, and Phoebe and Katrina were struggling to hang on. She tried to shout something over all of the noise, but the air was already being sucked from her lungs. Sensing that the end for all of them was near, she somberly turned to look beside her at Mindy … she felt her ears pop … and everything went black.

  The control room’s monitors were still following the action, showing views from the Wallaby’s external cameras. The status display revealed that the cabin’s air pressure was dropping — an indication that the hull had already been breached. A feeling of dread overcame the room’s occupants as they stared in silence at the bank of displays. They saw another flash from the heavy cruiser’s rear guns, and all of the screens in the control room went blank, except for a single solemn line of text:

  CVS WALLABY – CATASTROPHIC FAILURE

  “What does that mean?” Christy asked.

  Several seconds of silence passed, then Virginia explained, “It means their ship came apart.”

  A scattering of muted sniffles breached the silence, but for the most part, the room remained quiet and still. Jenny stepped over to the mission chronometer and closed her eyes as she switched it off. She felt an ocean of grief boiling up inside her, threatening to dispense with her self control, and she decided that before it could overwhelm her completely, she needed to get some answers from Commander Jeffries.

  “Alright, Commander,” Jenny demanded, “what the hell is going on!” She walked over to Commander Jeffries and glared directly into her eyes. “Why wasn’t that ship fully armed!”

  The commander took a deep breath and tried to issue a measured response. “We don’t send thirteen–‌year–‌old girls out with live torpedoes on board. It’s too dangerous.”

  Jenny pointed at one of the screens that had just been following the Wallaby’s actions. “Did they look like they weren’t prepared to face danger?” she argued. “They just put their lives on the line to protect you, and me, and everyone else on this station!”