“It’s working, sir,” Hannah called out.
Irons barely heard her as he strained behind the wheel, trying to keep the giant ship from flipping over as it continued on its vertical trajectory.
Syracuse watched the display and noticed a familiar red glow start from the center of the fortress. “That thing just broke through the mesosphere! We’re outta time!”
“Xuyen!” Irons yelled. “I need more thrust!”
“Diverting life support to thrusters!”
“Are you crazy?” Durham’s head spun toward her.
“Shut it, Durham!” Irons ordered.
“We’ve got a good hour before it becomes a problem,” Hannah assured him.
“This won’t take an hour,” Syracuse added.
* * *
Bullets continued ripping into the fortress as the two spacefaring giants drove toward each other. The Lucky Liberty’s speed increased, thrusting as the crew harder back in their seats.
The red glow of heat from the Earth entry spread wider on the fortress while pieces of it were chipped off by gun fire.
* * *
“Brace for impact!” Syracuse yelled.
Nine
Wartech On An Old Ship
The Bull Head of the Lucky Liberty smashed into the Catter fortress, crashing an impact crater into the bottom of the massive structure. The two giants began their battle, one determined to make planet fall, the other determined to push back into space.
“Xuyen!” Irons yelled. “Gimme a reading!”
Hannah looked at the equations on the screen, discolored by the red heat glow from the bottom of the fortress. “Sir, the fortress has reached velocity. We need more thrust or we’re never going to exit atmosphere.”
“What else can we divert?” Syracuse asked.
Hannah scanned through the Lucky Liberty’s systems for anything they might not need. Anything that could give them more power or at least anything that could destroy the heavy Catter projectile.
“If we cut the cannon, that might give us a small boost.”
“Sir, I can destroy this thing,” Lindsay protested. “I just need a little more time.”
“We’re gonna need those bullets,” Syracuse told her. “Save your shots.”
Lindsay reluctantly took her hand off the trigger and removed the visor.
“Diverting power from the cannon.” Hannah’s fingers danced over her control console.
The ship surged forward a little but not enough to move the Catter fortress backwards.
“I don’t know if she can take the strain, Boss,” Durham said.
“She can take it,” Irons told him as his muscles bulged to keep his boat steady.
“This isn’t working, Albatross!” Syracuse said.
“I didn’t come outta retirement for ‘isn’t working’.” Irons gnashed his teeth together.
* * *
Outside of the ship as the two vessels pushed together, the hull of the Catter fortress screeched against the heavy steel plate of the Bull Head. Sparks flew off as the red glow from heat friction began to subside. Both space giants fell through the cooler air of the troposphere.
Both of them pushed against each other. The thrust power of the Lucky Liberty dented into the fortress, slowing the massive structure but not reversing its fall
* * *
“We’d better have come outta retirement for more than this!” Syracuse said.
“If we can get an extra push—”
“That’s it, sir!” Lindsay yelled. “An extra push. The Repulser.”
“That thing won’t push something this size, Brooks!”
“No, but it might give it the extra nudge,” Syracuse agreed.
“You wanna cut the engines for an extra nudge?”
“We got nothing to lose at this point, Captain,” Syracuse reasoned.
“Good point. Ok, Xuyen. Fire it up.”
“Diverting engine power to Repulser,” Hannah’s fingers danced on her console, inputting the appropriate commands.
James Irons did not like to admit fear but this was one of those times when he couldn’t deny it.
The Repulser was more of a tool than a weapon, one that mining ships used to gently push larger meteors away from them. It worked like the repelling side of a magnet. And with so many metals in meteors, mining ships were able to use it to avoid unwanted collisions and reposition meteors.
The fear that Irons felt came from how the Repulser worked. In order for the magnet to work, the engines had be powered down. In outer space, that was no problem. But in the pull of gravity, depowered thrust from so high up was a massive issue.
* * *
The thin flames from the back of the Lucky Liberty sputtered out as the Catter fortress continued to push down on the Earth ship.
* * *
“Repulser primed, sir,” Hannah reported.
“Hit it!”
Hannah slammed her hand against a bright blue digital circle on her console.
Suddenly a rippling hum accompanied by a wave of distortion coursed from the stern of the ship to the bow. As it passed through the bridge, everyone jerked forward, pulled by anything metal on their persons.
The Bull Head glowed a cool electric blue and the distortion wave stopped at the steel plate only for a moment before it shot upward and into the Catter fortress.
The enormous weapon of devastation slowed instantly, breaking contact with the Lucky Liberty which fell backwards and away from the fortress.
* * *
“Hannah!” Irons yelled.
“Power restored to thrusters! Slipstream Regulator at its narrowest!”
Irons pulled down the throttle then shoved it forward. Hard.
* * *
Thin flames shot out from the back like laser beams and thrust the Lucky Liberty back up and into the fortress.
The Repulser worked and the ship pushed the Catter weapon up. It worked slowly at first but rapidly gained speed. Irons continued to work the wheel, keeping the fortress balanced on the Bull Head as the white clouds gave way to completely open sky.
The blue sky became darker as both vessels continued upward, eventually entering the mesosphere where the stars of space began to shine.
“We’re gonna make it,” Durham said, hopeful for the first time since they reenlisted.
“Of course you are,” Benjamin’s voice sounded in all of their ears. “I always had faith in the Iron Albatross.”
“Just in case,” Irons said. “Brooks, get back on that gun. I wanna be sure we get this thing flying the opposite way in zero G’s.”
Lindsay dropped the visor back over her eyes and squeezed the trigger on the cannon.
* * *
Once in the frictionless void of space, the Lucky Liberty’s speed increased dramatically and the bullets from the cannon pushed the Catter fortress off the Bull Head, sending it farther ahead of the ship.
* * *
“That’s it, kiddos,” Syracuse said. “Let’s full stop and get our bearings.”
Irons pulled the throttle back down, cutting the thrust from the rear engines.
“Give us a one second, one hundred percent burst on the bow thrusters, Xuyen,” Syracuse ordered calmly.
“Sir, one second, one hundred percent burst in 3…2…1.”
Everyone on the ship jerked forward as the front thrusters, assisted by the Slipstream Regulator, shot forward, stopping the Lucky Liberty.
* * *
The thin flames sputtered almost as quickly as they’d fired. The one second burst was enough to put the large ship in place where it stayed, stock still in the zero gravity of space. Finally the ship was back where it belonged. Back where it was meant to be in the vastness of space.
Ten
A Calm Before the Storm
“All I know is I don’t want to deal with any more of those.” Durham laid his head back on the head rest of his seat.
“All I can say is good luck with that, Private Durham,” Benjamin’
s voice said to everyone through the Neural Transmitter. “It’s highly unlikely there won’t be more of those.”
“If there are, they’ll be easier to deal with in zero G.” Lindsay took off the AR visor again. “Out here they’re no different than any meteor.”
“Except that whole being launched from something bigger thing,” Durham told her.
“Hopefully we won’t have to deal with that,” Hannah said as she began running calculations for the rest of their trip.
“That’s also unlikely,” Mona’s voice broke in through the display.
“Admiral,” Irons looked up at the static image that flickered with Mona’s face in brief increments.
“I hope you’re getting this, Irons.”
“We’re having trouble seeing you but we hear you fine,” Irons replied. “Hannah, try boosting the signal.”
“Sir, the transceiver is already at max.”
“The Lucky Liberty never had that great of a reception anyway,” Mona said. “We’ve already got our end boosted as much as we can. The Slipstream Regulator took you out too far and too fast for us to have the best signal. This will have to do until we’re completely out of range.”
“Then how come—”
“The Admiral doesn’t know about the Neural Transmitter.” Benjamin broke in. “She doesn’t know I can talk with you.”
“How come what, Captain?” Mona asked.
Irons looked around at his crew as they stared, wondering the same thing. Why the secrecy? At this point Wartech and the fleet seemed to be working toward the same goal but if Benjamin was keeping secrets from the Admiral, there might be more going on than just the fate of Earth.
“Irons, are you still there?” Mona asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” Irons replied. “I was just wondering how come you don’t get a bigger boost from Wartech?”
“Check your position, Captain.”
Hannah’s fingers glided across her console and a window view of the outside of the ship appeared on the display. The crew of the Lucky Liberty found themselves staring at one cosmic body in a sea of stars.
“Boss, is that…” Durham’s voice trailed off.
“The moon?” Syracuse finished the question.
Hannah didn’t wait for an answer as she broke into a fit of giggles. “I can’t believe it works so well.”
“Would you believe we’re working on a second version?” Benjamin asked. “R&D is calling it the Slipstream Zero G Dual. It’s really fascinating engineering. It can…”
Irons tuned out the tech speak from Wartech’s CEO and his own Specialist.
It was hard to believe that they made it that far that fast. Certainly he was glad they’d not only pushed the Catter fortress off their own planet but they pushed it past the moon. He would have been content just to get it past the point of reentry. The idea that they could make it to their ultimate destination within three days still seemed far off but not impossible now that they could travel that fast. But Benjamin was hiding something and that was still unnerving. There was a sudden question of trust and Irons and his crew were in the middle of it. At some point, a choice was going to have to be made. But until he knew why, they still had an important mission ahead of them.
“The Catter’s attack destroyed parts of our communications array. We’re getting a boost from Wartech but it’s hard to maintain a signal that far out,” Mona said.
“Awaiting orders, Admiral,” Lindsay said.
“Right. You all did good work getting rid of that fortress. It is my hope that the rest of your journey is less eventful.”
Irons grunted. “All due respect, let’s cut the speeches, Admiral. We got this far really fast but the Catter homeworld is on the other side of the universe. You and I both know we ain’t making it there in three days. Even with the added boost. So what’s the play, here?”
“We’ll have to discuss your attitude on your return, Captain.”
“I just got to the moon in an old boat that’s expected to beat out the Catter fleet. My attitude is the least of my worries.”
“Understood under the circumstances. The play is still the same. Get there by the deadline, save one ship and save the Earth.”
“How are we supposed to get that far that fast?” Durham asked.
“I wish I had a good answer for you, Private. Sadly, that’s something that you and your crew will have to figure out. We’re estimating that approximately forty million miles out all planet-side communications will terminate. You’ll be alone. I’d offer you my prayers but—”
“You know better,” Irons said.
“Don’t worry, Captain,” Benjamin said. “You’ll still have my voice in your ear for a little bit farther.”
“Yeah? How much farther?”
“Not to the Catter homeworld but that’s not where you’re going,” Benjamin’s voice was secretive.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Durham asked.
“Private?” Mona asked
“…Uh, nothing, ma’am. I just—”
“Private Durham gets like this sometimes, Admiral,” Syracuse interrupted. “Seems after every break back home, we get back in orbit and he gets a small bout of oxygen intoxication. Makes him hear voices.”
Durham shot an insulted look at Commander Syracuse Hill. Hill glared back in silent order to drop the subject.
“I understand. I trust it won’t interfere with the mission,” Mona replied.
“Not at all, ma’am. It usually passes within an hour.”
“Very good. I’ll be in touch soon. If any developments arise, let me know ASAP.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the crew, except for Irons, said in unison.
“James?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good luck. All of you.”
The Admiral’s communication disappeared from the screen, leaving only the moon left for all to see.
“Alright, Stevens, what’s going on?” Irons asked brusquely. “I got three days to get somewhere we all know I can’t get to in that amount of time. Even with the regulator. And now you’re telling me that ain’t even the right place?”
“Sorry, Captain. There was a need for secrecy.”
“That ain’t answering the question,” Syracuse joined.
“After the original Catter scout landed on Earth, we put a tracker on it and sent it back out to scout for us. Something locked onto it and pulled it in. We found the general area that it resides and sent out a string of satellites to read off any data sent back. It’s those satellites that are allowing us to stay in communication. One of them was destroyed so the farther out you get the worse our connection.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Stevens, but I don’t need a suit telling me how to do my job.” Irons said to the disembodied voice.
“I agree, Captain. But you do need this suit to tell you what that job actually is.”
“We get our people back,” Syracuse said.
“I’m afraid it’s far more complicated than that, Commander Hill.”
Eleven
Missions Within Missions
The Slipstream Regulator was incredibly efficient at bringing the Lucky Liberty from the Earth to the moon. But in order to make it to the Catter homeworld, they would need something much faster. At their current top speed it took the USS Lucky Liberty minutes to travel two hundred thousand miles. Lightspeed would have taken them to their current destination in roughly two seconds. So while slow by light standards, it was still no small feat that a vessel of its size, whilst pushing something even larger, made it such a distance in such a short time. And it was certainly an engineering marvel that the Slipstream Regulator worked as well as it did.
“You still have a long way to go and who knows what will be in your path,” Benjamin said.
“Just point me in a direction,” Irons told him.
“Your target is not the Catter homeworld. It’s Jupiter.”
“Hold on. The rest of our fleet is in Jupiter?” The brow o
ver Irons’s good eye rose.
“Correct,”Benjamins said flatly.
“Well that sounds easy,” Durham chimed in. “It’s a lot closer than the other side of the universe.”
“But you still face the same problem,” Benjamin told him. “Here’s what we know. Queen J had no intentions of taking Earth Fleet ships back to her planet. The idea was to leave Earth defenseless and move in. My guess is she’d be able to do that once all ships were taken or destroyed, regardless of how much time has passed. And unless I’m wrong, the Catters have a pretty good idea of our tech limitations.”
“But the regulator—“
“I’m sorry to tell you this, Specialist Xuyen,” Benjamin said. “As great as the device works there was no way you were going to make it to the other side of the universe in three days. Not without wormhole tech.”
Irons pounded his fist on the wheel. “So the Catters want to send us on a snipe hunt with no chance of victory,”
“J is playing a game within a game, Captain,” Benjamin said.
“We gotta save just one ship with no way of getting to the aforementioned location,” Syracuse added. “So J changes the location to be closer and—”
“Jupiter is still three hundred and sixty-five thousand miles away, Commander Hill. And that’s at its closest point. Even without running the calculations in my head, I can tell you it will take longer than three days to get there. And that’s at a constant speed.”
“Sir,” Hannah said. “The regulator is amazing at fuel efficiency but even so we don’t have enough fuel to make it to Jupiter at a constant speed.”
“She played us,” Durham said. “There was never a way to win.”
“Shut it, Durham,” Irons ordered. “You know I don’t like that kind of talk. Hannah, start running some numbers and tell me how to make the deadline. In the meantime, Stevens, I wanna know why you didn’t tell the Admiral about this.”
IRON SPEAR Page 5