Last Stand

by Jeffrey M. Fortney

  “Fleet Captain Bradley, that was a little gift from the crew of the Europa II,” said the voice of Commander Jarrod Caulder via radio from his vessel’s bridge.

  Bradley smiled and keyed his mic, “Well done, Jarrod! Keep it up!” Bradley did a rapid count of enemy vessels and the status of the defense forces. The Azairi were down to one carrier, a couple of troop carriers, three frigates, and a handful of smaller vessels. The Terrans were only a little better, even with the more powerful Z’Laan vessels.

  “Fleet Captain!” Bradley’s Terran/Z’Laan XO called out suddenly. “The remaining Azairi carrier is closing on us, sir!” Bradley checked his primary monitor. Sure enough, the enemy carrier, damaged as it was, had come about and was converging on Bradley’s flaghip. Suddenly, the bridge rocked as the Rivers rolled to port. Several of the bridge crew were thrown about and damaged.

  “Fleet Captain, we have been struck on the starboard Engineering section by two nuclear warheads. Sublight engines are down, FTL is down, however maneuvering jets are still available,” reported the Terran/Z’Laan avatar of Commander Huntington-Smythe, Chief Engineer of the Rivers. “Sir, we’re not going to be able to maneuver out of the path of the enemy carrier!”

  Bradley scanned his monitors then turned to the T/Z avatar of his English friend. “What do you recommend, Chief Engineer?”

  “Fleet Captain, we should get you to a fighter and have you taken to another vessel as quickly as possible. The Rivers can then self-destruct as the Azairi carrier impacts this vessel,” answered the faux Huntington-Smythe.

  “We need to get the crew off the Rivers, too!” Bradley replied.

  “Sir, we need to remain here to fight the ship as long as possible. We are not human, nor are we Z’Laan. We are merely nanite colony avatars of Terran members of your previous crew imbued with their memory engrams. We are not living beings, as are you. You must transfer your flag to another vessel and continue commanding our fleet,” said Huntington-Smythe’s doppelganger in a near perfect imitation of the man’s English accent.

  Bradley paused for a second, then realized his time aboard the Rivers was running out. He looked at each of the Terran/Z’Laan avatars of his bridge crew. They might be colonies of nanites given humanoid forms, appearances, and memories, but they had been a hell of a crew during the short battle. Bradley nodded his head in agreement and a junior officer stepped forward to lead him to the launch bay.

  Bradley stopped at the hatch and faced his bridge crew once more. “I’m very proud to have served with each of you aboard our vessel. I’ll never forget what you have done this day. Thank you!” He turned and followed his T/Z avatar guide through the Rivers’ corridors.

  The Rivers was rocking heavily under concerted attack on all sides from the Azairi. They had figured out that the defense of Camadin was being directed from this vessel and were determined to take it out. As Bradley and the avatar raced through the vessel in a maglev car tube, they could feel the damage being inflicted upon the Rivers and her crew.

  They finally reached the launch bay. An avatar pilot sat in the front seat of the fighter spacecraft, readying it for flight. Bradley’s guide helped him climb quickly into an armored spacesuit and then strap into the fighter’s back seat. Before the canopy closed, Bradley heard his guide call out to him, “Good luck, Fleet Captain!” Bradley gave the avatar a jaunty salute.

  Seconds later, the fighter shot out into space. Its pilot tried to fly an irregular course to throw the Azairi off but was hampered by Bradley’s physiology. The fighter and its Terran/Z’Laan avatar pilot could handle more g-forces than Bradley’s human body, so the pilot had to refrain from any high-g maneuvers. It was during one of the fighter’s twists and turns that Bradley witnessed the collision of the Azairi carrier and the Rivers.

  Rivers’ crew had continued firing upon the Azairi carrier as it closed upon them. Just before the two ships collided, all thrusters of the Terran/Z’Laan carrier had come on with full power, accelerating the Rivers toward the enemy vessel. The two massive vessels collided, first shield-to-shield then metal-to-metal. Bradley watched the collision for several seconds in an early silence. Suddenly, the Rivers’ forward reactors exploded, taking with them large parts of both carriers. Still the remains of the two massive vessles converged on one another, then another set of massive explosions occurred, this time aboard the Azairi carrier.

  In less than a minute, both of the giant vessels were destroyed, little debris remained. Bradley took one last look then spoke to his pilot, “Which vessels do we still have in the fight and who’s closest?”

  The pilot tapped some keys on his console. “Sir, I’m receiving a ping from the Europa II. It is still functional and is within 100 hundred kilometers.”

  Bradley leaned back as best as he could in his seat. He sighed then said, “Take us there!”

  The pilot acknowledged the order and set course for the frigate. As they came within sight of the Europa II, Fleet Captain Bradley sent a secure message via his command implant to Commander Caulder. The neuroelectric linkage provided a verifiable means of communicating covertly between the two officers.

  “Pilot!” Bradley said over the fighter’s comm system.

  “Yes, Fleet Captain!”

  “The Europa II’s shields are weak but still up in most places. They’ll drop the shields outside the port aft landing bay in ten seconds. Be prepared to get us inside their shields and docked inside,” Bradley ordered.

  “Aye, sir! Lining us up and accelerating…now!” the pilot replied. The Terran/Z’Laan avatar acted with all of the enhanced speed and accuracy displayed by Harlu Az when Jarrod Caulder had been injured in the transport accident. The fighter flashed towards the much larger frigate, passing through the landing bay’s open doors then decelerating so quickly that Bradley let out a “woof” as he surged forward against his retraints and tried to keep his breakfast down at the same time.

  The pilot brought the fighter down onto the deck then shut down the spacecraft’s systems. Once the landing deck was pressurized, Bradley and the pilot unstrapped and climbed out of the fighter. Once on the deck, Bradley placed a friendly hand on the avatar pilot’s shoulder and said a heartfelt, “Thank you!” The pilot nodded and turned to inspect the fighter’s exterior.

  A T/Z avatar from the Europa II’s hangar crew stepped up to Bradley. “Fleet Captain, Commander Caulder has asked me to escort you to the bridge as quickly as possible. This way please!” The avatar led the way to a maglev car tube that ran the length of the ship. Once Bradley and the avatar were seated and belted in, the car shot forward speeding toward the bridge.

  A moment later, Bradley stepped out onto the bridge. Jarrod Caulder snapped to attention and called out, “Fleet Captain on the bridge!”

  “At ease!” Bradley said. “Captain, I wish to transfer my flag to your vessel.”

  “Europa II and her crew welcome you aboard, sir!” Caulder responded formally. He signaled his communications officer to inform the remaining Terran vessels that the Europa II was now the fleet’s flagship.

  Bradley smiled and stepped over to Caulder’s command station. “Well, we’ve a battle to win. What’s our status, Commander Caulder?”

  Caulder gave Bradley a quick update of the disposition of the two fleets, the number of vessels remaining in each, and the defender’s strategic and tactical situations. The Terrans were slowly gaining the advantage over the Azairi, who only had two troop ships and a battleship remaining. The Terran/Z’Laan vessels were focusing their fire power upon the battleship. While the enemy troop ships were armed and armored, the remaining Azairi battleship posed the greater threat to the Terran fleet. By now, the battle had moved into high orbit above Camadin.

  After receiving concentrated fire from the Terran/Z’Laan vessels and Camadin Station, the Azairi battleship was rocked by a series of massive explosions throughout its length. With a final burst of light, the battleship vanished in a cloud of gases and debris. Meanwhile, the two Azairi troop ship
s had begun to drop from orbit towards the planet’s surface.

  By now, Camadin Station was slowly approaching the planet’s far rim. Bradley checked the bridge’s status monitors and ordered half of his fleet to concentrate on the furthest troop ship while the Europa II and two other vessels went after the troop ship closest to them. He also detailed three vessels to begin searching for escape pods from the Terran/Z’Laan vessels that been severely damaged or destroyed. Standard proceed was for crews to abandon their vessels and go quiet in their escape pods until a friendly vessel pinged their transponders.

  A moment later, Bradley saw the first troop ship explode on one of the monitors. He didn’t have time to cheer because the Europa II was closing in on the second Azairi troop carrier.

  “Our targeting systems are out of alignment, Mac!” Caulder reported. “We need to bring Europa right in on that troop ship’s ass then hit her with everything we’ve got!”

  Bradley didn’t hesitate. “Do it!” he ordered.

  The Azairi troop carrier reached Camadin’s upper atmosphere as the Europa II closed on its target. Europa’s bridge crew worked feverishly guiding the frigate into position behind the Azairi vessel as the distance between the two vessels lessened second by second. Commander Jarrod Caulder leaned forward in his seat, eyes locked on his tactical monitor. “Steady, steady, a little closer,” he said as the two ships were now less than a mile apart. “Closer…closer, NOW! Fire, fire, fire!”

  Plasma beams and kinetic kill rods flashed from the Europa II’s forward weapons batteries. Their initial impacts were on the troop ship’s aft shields. Those shields flared from the energy released in the impacts, stuttered, then failed. The Europa’s second salvo struck the Azairi vessel’s engines and engineering spaces. Explosions aboard the Azairi vessel cascaded forward and added to the damage caused by Europa’s third salvo. Suddenly, the Azairi troop ship exploded into a massive debris field. Some compartments and their contents were vaporized while others were ripped apart and their contents flung out into Camadin’s upper atmosphere.

  The Europa II, moving at high speed and so close to the doomed troop ship, flew into the debris cloud. Her weakened forward shields deflected much of the larger debris before failing. Still the ship plowed forward, struck repeatedly by smaller objects. On the bridge, the monitors showing the view forward began to go dim then blacked out altogether. The Europa II shuddered and groaned as it passed through the debris cloud. A moment later, it cleared the cloud’s farside dinged, battered, and partially blind, but intact.

  “Get us into low orbit!” Commander Caulder ordered. “Vessel status?” Reports were already coming in from throughout the ship.

  The vessel’s executive officer stepped across the bridge to stand before Bradley and Caulder. “Sirs, the Europa II is intact. Only minor venting from two forward compartments on Decks 3 and 12. Minor damage to several avatars reported and those are being treated in the med-bay. Engineering crews are checking all systems, especially the forward visual sensors which are blinded. We’re repurposing radar and other scanner data to produce a forward visual display. We should be in low orbit in just a moment, sirs!”

  Jarrod acknowledge the reports and added, “Get those forward sensors back online ASAP! This battle may not be over yet!”

  “Aye, Commander!” the XO replied.

  The Europa II limped into low orbit around Camadin. Reports were coming in from the remaining Terran and T/Z vessels. All of the Azairi vessels had been destroyed! Survivors from the damaged and destroyed friendly vessels were being rescued from escape pods and damaged vessels. Apparently the Azairi didn’t believe in escape pods as none were ever found.

  The Europa’s forward visual scanners came back online less than 15 minutes later. The vessel’s chief engineer delivered the report on the cause of the outage personally to the bridge. “Sirs, we’ve found what knocked out the forward visual scanners.”

  “What was it, chief?” Jarrod asked. “Did we strike some dense debris? Clouds of heavy metal powders? What?”

  “All four of the forward visual sensor scanner suites were indeed affected by our passage through the debris cloud without shields,” the engineer began. “I sent out four engineering teams to check out the SSS pits on the wings and bow of the ship. Here’s what they found!”

  The chief engineer tapped a few keys on the bridge’s engineering console then directed Bradley and Caulder look at one of the bridge monitors. The monitor showed a small group of engineering personnel in spacesuits walking across the Europa’s hull. The video had been captured from a camera built into one of the suits. The engineers approached one of the SSS pits, basically an indented section of the hull about 20 feet across, 10 feet high, and 5 feet deep with sides that angled inward toward the visual scanners at the base of the pit. The pit was packed with debris. With her shields down, the Europa II had picked up some of the detritus from the exploding Azairi troop ship. Two of the engineers moved forward and began pulling material from the scanner housing.

  Amongst the various pieces of metals, composites, and transparent materials were some organic-looking objects. From the debris, one engineer pulled out a part of an insectoid leg. The other pulled out a composite eye, then a segment of a carapace. More and more debris was pulled from the scanner housing, much of it organic…Azairi body parts, to include heads, torsos, and limbs!

  Fleet Captain Bradley began to chuckle then broke into laughter. Caulder, who had been watching the video in astonishment, turned to his friend, wondering what the senior officer found so amusing.

  Finally, Bradley stopped laughing and shared the joke. “Hell, Jarrod, you can’t expect to fly through a cloud of alien bugs and not expect to get some bug guts on your windshield.” With that, Fleet Captain McLelland Bradley moved to the other side the bridge…laughing.

  When the engineering teams returned, they briefed the chief engineer who, in turn, reported to Commander Caulder on the bridge. “Sir, we’ve cleaned the SSS pits and our forward visual scanners are back online. My engineering teams brought aboard a number of samples from the pits for analysis. We’re examining the pieces of machinery and metals recovered and have put the organics in stasis until medical personnel can exam them.”

  “Thanks, chief!” Jarrod replied. “Tell your personnel good job!”

  The chief engineer placed the box he was carrying on the console. “Sir, the teams also found these in amongst the debris.” The engineer lifted two roughly cylindrical objects from the box and handed one to Jarrod. The young commander carefully examined the object, turning it over and over in his hands to look at it on all sides. It was about 9 inches in length and about 3½ inches in width with a coarse, off-white appearance. Suddenly, Jarrod recognized what he and the chief engineer were holding…Azairi eggs!

  Chapter 14

  Station Log

  Camadin Station

  Earthdate: 26 January 2231

  Commodore James B. Rivers, Commanding

  Thanks to Fleet Captain McLelland Bradley, Commander Jarrod Calder, their crews, and our new friend, Harlu Az of the Z’Laan, we’ve defeated the Azairi fleet attacking Camadin and this station. The battle was a close one but we prevailed. But this was only one battle…the rest of the war awaits us out amongst the stars. Hopefully, with the Z’Laan technologies added to our own, we can take the fight to the Azairi and push them out of our star systems!

  Fleet Captain Bradley and Commander Bradley were seated in Commodore River’s office aboard Camadin Station. The three officers sat in the informal corner of the office with each man in a comfortable arm chair with a drink in his hand. Initially, they had said very little to one another. Each was lost in thought thinking about the horrific battle of the previous day.

  The Battle of Camadin was over, lasting only a little over four hours though it seemed to have lasted far longer to the Terrans who fought it. The vessels of the Azairi fleet that had attacked the Camadin System had been destroyed, but the cost in Terran lives and vesse
ls had been high. Only a few of the Terran-built vessels survived and each of them were heavily damaged. The Z’Laan vessels of Bradley’s fleet had faired better. More than 20 of them survived the battle, each of them with some type of damage.

  Most of the Terrans and T/Z avatars who had made it to escape pods when their vessels became too badly damaged survived. They, too, bore the physical and mental wounds of the battle. Dr. Rivers and her remaining staff were working around the clock to save as many of the wounded as possible.

  Camadin Station had, somehow, received only minor damage during the battle. It had been too far from the attacking vessels and well defended. Still, some battle damage was evident and a few lives aboard the station had been lost.

  Commodore Rivers broke the uneasy silence by raising his glass and saying solemnly, “To fallen friends.” Bradley and Rivers raised their glances and replied, “To fallen friends.” The three officers each took a stiff drink from their glasses.

  “Meaghan didn’t make it, James,” said Bradley, thinking of his friend and former shipmate. “We saw the Connie take several direct hits to her primary reactors from two Azairi vessels. They didn’t stand a chance.”

  James Rivers nodded his head. “Meaghan and the Conestoga went down fighting. They helped take out two Azairi vessels before they died. The Connie was a colony ship. Meaghan and her crew did everything they could to turn her into a battlewagon. They didn’t want to be left out of the fight amd we owe each of them a tremendous debt for the victory they helped us achieve.” Bradley nodded and said his own mental farewell to Captain Meaghan O’Reilly.

  Caulder fidgeted in his seat and cleared his throat before speaking. “Commodore, we also lost Commanders Ian Huntington-Smythe and Maria Esteban-Smith. Without them, we couldn’t have solved the mystery of our Progenitors, the Z’Laan. We also owe Harlu Az for helping us put together a Z’Laan fleet and the T/Z avatars who fought beside us.”