A glance at his console screen told him it was the Haukr, a Draig arkship. Already it was powering up its weapons, charging its Gilgore grid. At this range, Faron knew he was inside the grid’s field. He had to get away from the surface.
‘This is gonna be tight, Lucy,’ Faron muttered, demanding his fighter accelerate, willing her to climb away from the Haukr. As the lights of the arkship’s windows receded from discernable rectangles to vague dots, the defensive batteries opened fire on him, illuminating his cockpit. At the same moment, he felt the static charge of the Gilgore grid, and his ship’s systems went dead. Faron pulled at his com, trying desperately to call for help, but nothing worked any more. Lucy had gone dark.
WAITING
‘The Dulac fleet has engaged the enemy,’ Gofal said, his systems in covert communication with the Caerleon. ‘A single Draig arkship . . . the Haukr.’
Bara and Wynn waited, listening as he relayed his information. They were inside the elevator tube, close to the door to the conference level, waiting for the signal to proceed.
‘Commander Watson says that four arkships have been disabled in the Cloud of Tranquility.’
‘They fell for it,’ Wynn said, his relief obvious.
‘The Caerleon is progressing towards its target, awaiting the all-clear signal.’
Wynn checked his wrist com. ‘Almost time. It’s up to Miller now.’
CONTROL
Valtais Valine entered the meeting room, walking briskly towards the head of the table. The other board members were already seated, their conversation curtailed at the sight of their Chair. Only Harrison Miller was yet to take his seat, following quickly on Valine’s heels.
‘Thank you for your patience,’ Valine said as she sat down.
Miller found an empty chair, avoiding the inquisitive glares of the others.
‘Before we begin the business of the agenda, I must tell you of an imminent threat to our safety,’ Valine continued, her voice calm and measured.
The room became silent, all eyes fixed on Valine. She paused, letting their anxiety grow.
‘Right now, a fleet of arkships is positioned outside of this shipyard.’ She watched the others closely for any sign that might show deception or collusion. ‘One of my arkships has gone to investigate and is currently under heavy bombardment from the enemy.’
A ripple of shock and surprise passed through the room. Valine watched it, then continued. ‘We believe a second fleet is somewhere in the Cloud of Tranquility, heading this way. I have sent four of my arkships to intercept them, but they are no longer responding.’
One of the board members stood; Captain White from the House of Jackson. ‘We must evacuate at once!’
‘Sit down,’ Valine ordered. Her voice was quiet, but forceful. Captain White, a look of terror on his face, returned to his chair.
‘They will not attack this shipyard, or your ships, not yet.’
‘Not yet?’ General Leonov asked.
‘They await the deactivation of our Cube drive suppression system. Once the Casimir field is switched off, they will bring their fleet inside the shipyard’s defensive perimeter.’ Valine explained.
‘But that’s ridiculous!’ White noted. ‘We would never deactivate the field.’
‘No, we would not,’ Valine replied. ‘But Prince Halstead is under the impression that one of our board is a traitor.’
The rumble of agitation increased.
‘Who?’ White asked feebly.
Valine stood, wanting to dominate them all. ‘Harrison Miller.’
As one, they looked to Miller. His face was fixed in a deep frown. ‘Hell, I’m not a traitor,’ he told them. ‘I brought this to Valine. I warned her.’
‘Yes,’ Valine smiled, ‘you did. A loyal member of the board. We thank you for your diligence.’
Miller nodded, looking uncertain.
‘Halstead and his alliance expect the field to be disengaged. They expect to bring their fleet to our door, but they are mistaken,’ Valine said.
‘To what end?’ It was Genshu Hoshino from the House of Li Zhang. He rarely spoke in these meetings, so when he did everyone listened.
‘They wish to take control of Carter & Grey.’
‘As you did?’ Hoshino said, his tone defiant.
‘I was voted onto this board, as you know, Hoshino,’ Valine replied. She had not expected such outward willfulness. ‘Halstead seeks to take control, to kill the board and make this shipyard his own arkship factory. Is that what you want, Hoshino?’
Hoshino took his time, eyeing his pad on the table. ‘I have just read a report of one of your arkships attacking the Narwoulf shipyards with a dark matter bomb . . . Would that have anything to do with the fleet now approaching this facility? Perhaps Carter & Grey are not their enemy. I wonder if this fleet is here for you alone, Valine.’
‘The attack on Narwoulf was a mistake, an unauthorized action,’ Valine said quickly. ‘The person responsible has been removed from office. Remember, I am your ally, Halstead is not.’
‘We were allies with the House of Kenric before this,’ Hoshino noted.
Valine was losing this argument. She had to change track. ‘Already Draig arkships have engaged the enemy. Soon we will overwhelm them. They think Miller will save them, but they’re wrong.’ She smiled, oozing confidence. ‘Really, there is nothing to fear. I am in control.’
As Valine returned to her seat, she felt an odd sensation, something she had not experienced in a long time: doubt. Her grip on the board had loosened, and she had allowed them to question her rule. This was not going the way she had anticipated.
POWER
Faron Dulac fought for control, desperately trying to revive his silent ship. Nothing worked, all power was gone, and Lucy was moving on inertia alone. He looked out of the cockpit window: below him was the imposing landscape of the Haukr, distorted by the ripple of the Gilgore grid. Her guns fired at his comrades, picking off fighters as they approached. They had stopped shooting at him. His ship was no longer emitting any power, rendering Lucy invisible to their sensors.
The Haukr had taken heavy damage as the Dulac fleet rounded on it, and the space around Faron was filled with gas and debris. He flew onwards, unable to control his course. Lucy was moving away from the Haukr, away from the battle, and he was unable to call for help. All he could do was sit and wait, hoping that when his ship cleared the influence of the Gilgore gird his systems would reboot.
Ahead of him he could see the vast shipyard. He was heading straight for the central complex.
‘Damn,’ he muttered, pulling a panel out from under his feet. He found the main power feed and tried restarting it manually. The system gave a quick rumble, then died.
‘C’mon!’ Faron shouted, pulling at the exposed wires. He’d stripped these systems down to their component parts many times. He knew how it all worked, but he still couldn’t get the fighter started.
The noise and vibration of the battle faded behind him, while the towers of the shipyard complex grew in his cockpit windows.
‘I must be clear of the grid now,’ he mused. ‘Let’s try this again.’
He pulled on the manual fuel pump, working the cylinder up and down until the pressure forced him to stop. He held down the engine start button, waiting.
Nothing.
He pressed the button again. Still nothing.
Faron checked over the wires, decided to bypass the pre-flight systems, and tore at the cables, plugging them directly into the engine ports. This would be a rough ride, if it worked.
He took a breath, bracing himself, then he hit the start button again.
The engine screamed, and the cockpit blazed with light. The fighter spasmed as fuel was rammed into the engines, and Faron felt the painful drag of g-force as the ship accelerated rapidly. He tried to focus on the blurred console, flickering with information, screaming warning after warning. Lucy had been damaged, it seemed, and the engines were firing hot. He had to shut them down.
He hit the kill switch on the console, but nothing happened.
‘Damned fool,’ he hissed, realizing this was his fault. He’d bypassed the safety overrides. There was only one thing he could do now. He pulled at the wires beneath his feet, disengaging the power feed. The ship died once more. The cockpit fell into darkness, and the engines cut out.
He smiled with relief, then he glanced up and saw the structures of the Carter & Grey shipyard, rushing to meet him.
THIN LINE
Commodore Oscar Larsson chewed on his thumbnail, looking at the streams of information flowing over the console screen built into his chair. The Haukr was outgunned, taking heavy damage, and the four arkships he’d sent to the Cloud of Tranquility had not reported in. Just before they went offline, they registered an energy spike inside the Cloud, suggesting a series of explosions.
Valine wasn’t here. Larsson had to make a decision. He bit off the end of his nail and spat it away.
He had a finite resource at his disposal, a fleet of six remaining Draig arkships, plus three Li Zhang ships in a wide orbit. They had refused to respond to his request for assistance, and he was starting to wonder how strongly he could rely on them.
‘So much for the Draig Empire,’ he muttered to himself. He cleared his throat and called the Coms Officer. ‘New orders: the Hestr, the Hundur and the Dreki will move to support the Haukr.’
‘Yes, Commodore,’ the officer replied, sending the appropriate messages.
Almost immediately, Larsson saw the flashing icons of the Draig arkships moving to respond. His eyes were drawn to the region inside the Cloud of Tranquility where he’d lost contact with four arkships. A dark circle surrounded their last known position, an empty region without data.
‘The scanners were broken . . .’
‘Sir?’ It was the Com Officer.
‘Thinking out loud,’ Larsson explained, dismissing her with a wave of his hand. The Com Officer nodded and returned to her work.
Larsson stared into the dark circle, then he noticed a fine sliver coming from the circle.
‘Have we had more sensor malfunctions inside the Cloud?’ he asked the Surveillance Officer.
‘Three more have gone dark, Commodore.’
‘And you didn’t think to tell me?’
The officer reddened. ‘I presumed it was because of the explosions.
‘Never presume!’ Larsson barked. ‘That thin line is large enough to hide a fleet in single file. That’s where the enemy is.’ He turned back to the Com Officer. ‘Get the Hvalr, Krár and Melrakki to intercept.’
‘Sir, the Melrakki is without a Commodore.’
‘Who is next in command?’
‘Nieminen, sir.’
‘Congratulate him on his promotion.’
IN THE STORM
Commander Watson watched the swirling grey dust of the Cloud of Tranquility. The storm had become violent, and the Ark Royal Caerleon was being buffeted by the shifting gas. From time to time, a static charge would build up, letting off a flash of lightning that would illuminate the nebula. The shockwaves sent rumbles though the hull, as if the storm was calling to them.
Watson shivered, feeling uncertain. She didn’t believe in religion, and she wasn’t the sort to be frightened by ghost stories, but as she waited here, she could almost believe some of the old legends about monsters living in the Cloud.
The flight deck tilted, then corrected itself as a burst of lighting struck the hull.
‘That was close,’ Peterson said.
Watson inhaled, trying to remain calm. ‘Any word?’ she asked, knowing the answer.
‘Nothing,’ Peterson replied as he checked the operations map. ‘Holding position, waiting on Gofal’s signal.’
‘They should have had the field shut down by now.’
Peterson nodded grimly, rechecking the map. ‘The storm could be interfering with our signals.’
‘Can you move us away?’
‘Not without falling outside of our corridor and being detected.’
Watson nodded. They would just have to wait and hope.
The storm grew again, raging over the arkship, pushing it back and forth. Was this how it felt to sail a ship over water? Watson wondered.
An alarm forced itself over the storm.
‘We have incoming,’ Peterson shouted.
They both looked up at operations map. A camera feed showed the view outside. A dark rectangle appeared, silhouetted by a crack of lightning. A second shape emerged, then another, each one advancing closer and closer.
‘Three arkships, inbound.’
The emerging shapes lit up with tiny flashes of color.
‘Tracking missile launches, I count eighteen.’
Watson grimaced. ‘Inform the fleet, we are under attack. Set Battle Condition throughout the ship. Authorization to engage the enemy is given.’
‘Authorization received,’ Peterson replied. ‘All guns primed, weapons tight. Missile launchers standing ready.’
‘Fire,’ Commander Watson ordered.
CONNECTIONS
The entrance to the junction station was through a discreet service hatch that Keres Mallory would have easily walked past, if not for Derward’s keen eye. He managed to override the security panel with professional ease, making her start to question what else he was capable of. She’d always thought of him as a simple man, a trader and former Reader, but it was obvious to her now that there was much more to Derward Tarkkail than she had realized.
As they stepped through the hatch, Keres felt her stomach lurch.
‘Woah!’ she cried, tumbling forwards. The floor was a stomach-churning distance below her.
‘Yeah, should have said,’ Derward muttered. ‘No grav lines in here. Keep hold of the hand rails.’
They were inside a funnel-like chamber that appeared to stretch through the entire core of the complex. The walls of the compartment were lined with cables, coils, pipes and panels. Keres clawed at one of the many handrails, managing to right herself in a clumsy maneuver that ended with her facing upside-down to Derward. He offered her a hand, and she was able to rotate to face him.
‘Thanks,’ she hissed, looking down at her feet adrift in midair.
‘Sorry,’ Derward replied. He began to look about him, making sense of the clutter of equipment that covered every part of the curved walls.
‘How will this help us escape?’ Keres asked as she watched him work.
‘If I can shut down the Casimir field generator, we can steal a shuttle and use the Cube drive to get far away from here.’
Keres touched the chain around her neck, finding the reassuring shape of The Infinite hanging there. She ran it thought her fingers as she watched Derward work, feeling helpless. He pulled himself up the tube, grunting in pain with every movement.
‘Here,’ he said from above her. ‘This looks like it.’
She pulled herself up to join him, watching as he detached a series of port connections from a flashing unit. He removed the last link from the device, but the light continued to blink at him.
‘Look out,’ he warned as he took his foot to the flashing box, striking it until the panel fell away, exposing the complex innards. Derward pulled at them, tearing them from the device until the blinking light finally died.
‘Better,’ he declared, breathing hard. Blood dripped from a cut on his hand and formed a dancing ball that drifted away from them.
Derward scrutinized the shattered device, and his momentary satisfaction faded.
‘What’s the matter?’
‘That’s got nothing to do with the Casimir field generator.’
‘What is it?’
He squinted at the ruined device. ‘Relay point for the station’s auto defense system. It takes out any stray objects like micro meteorites or asteroids before they can do any damage.’
He began to search through the junction station once more, lowering himself down past the entrance hatch. ‘This is going to take longer than I thought.�
��
INSTRUCTIONS
The Scribe listened to the gentle rhythm of the life-support systems, feeling it calm her thoughts.
‘Scribe.’
She opened her eyes, hiding her irritation, and looked at Reader Mori.
‘Forgive me,’ he said, ‘but why are we here?’
‘We are passing through, that is all,’ the Scribe explained. She took a deep breath, feeling her lungs expand, then exhaled slowly. ‘I like to walk here from time to time. This patient should have died weeks ago, yet he clings to life. He fights on, in the face of insurmountable odds. I admire him for that.’
‘Admire him?’ Reader Mori asked, sounding disgusted.
‘Yes, why not? Life is a gift. Some squander it, throw it away, others will do anything not to give it up. But to answer your question, we are here because I wish it.’
‘Yes, Scribe.’
‘. . . and to tell you that I’m leaving.’
Reader Mori frowned, turning from the bed and its life-support systems to look her in the eye. ‘You are not scheduled for a pilgrimage, Scribe.’
‘No, I’m not. This is a personal matter. I am taking a leave of absence.’
‘But . . . you are the Scribe.’
She smiled, trying to keep her composure. ‘It is within my power to step down for a short period.’
‘Are you ill?’ Mori asked, his eyes revealing his fear. She had never thought of him as sentimental before, but she saw now that she was wrong.
The Scribe put her hand on his, reassuring him. ‘I am well, Akito. There is no need for concern. I just need to leave, for a time. And while I am gone I would like you to be in charge.’
‘I am honored, Scribe, but you must choose one of your Librarians. Horst is the obvious choice.’
‘Horst is a fine woman, but this is not a formal role, Akito, not yet. As such, I do not need to seek the approval of the Circle. I can appoint another to oversee things in my absence, and I would like to have someone I can trust.’
Arkship Alliance Page 16