"I'm pre-accessing the controls. Getting a reading on their equipment right now. I should be able to confirm ship signaturization within the next five minutes."
The two small ships appeared again outside the cockpit. Both had reversed course and headed again towards the frigate. RadCom noticed this time their attack formation was not as tight. Both ships wobbled in space. One nearly turned over on its side.
RadCom alternated his attention from the battle being waged outside and the readings on the instruments across his lap. A small green line glowed across the rectangular monitor.
“There’s some energy across the controls,” RadCom reported into the holovid. “Both the command stick and main console.”
He adjusted the controls for a more sensitive reading.
"Captain," RadCom spoke again into the small holovid screen. The image showed the captain with his back to his own transmitter as he hunched over some of the remaining command consoles not yet on fire.
RadCom could see his head nod in acknowledgement.
The units in RadCom’s lap hummed quietly still searching the command equipment for signs of the signaturization process.
“Their fighters are self-powered, but if I can access the main ship, I can fire weapons at them from here and prevent them from re-docking. They have limited oxygen and power. When they’re out, I can talk them in."
"Whatever’s going to be done, needs to be fast," the captain said not turning around.
An access door to his left began to open and then stopped before reaching halfway. Two pairs of hands appeared from the opening. They gripped the sides of the door and shoved it the rest of the way back into the wall.
The men that appeared were the returning members of RadCom’s boarding party. RadCom was now the only member of the explorer frigate left aboard the Hideaway.
"They had a good first hit. The bulk of our own defense weaponry is just coming online now."
"They're coming again for another strike," RadCom replied.
He looked in horror at the multitude of rockets detaching themselves from the bottom of one of the crafts. The small ship then bobbed and tripped across the frigate’s hull.
"Oh my God," RadCom said with wide eyes. He looked up from the monitors on his lap and stared at the rockets flying straight towards the front of the frigate.
Some punched into the ship beneath the command center, a few punctured the boarding tube, and others impacted against the Hideaway.
The fighter that had launched them fell away and exploded across the boarding tube ripping it from its sealed moorings between the ships.
"Captain!" RadCom yelled at the holovid hurrying to complete his reading across the ship's controls. So far there were no signs of abnormal energy across the controls that indicated that the signaturization process had been activated.
"We're still here, RadCom," the captain said from behind a thick wall of black smoke. The men that had left RadCom onboard the Hideaway to re-board the frigate picked themselves from the rubble across the floor. All quickly stood and retook their positions at the command center stations.
None of them appeared to be too seriously hurt.
"That's one. We’ve got one pilot down,” the captain reported with confidence returning to his voice. “All weapons up. RadCom, you’ve only got about one more minute to access ship controls. We’re going to have to shoot the other one down if he makes another run. And then you’ll have to come up with another way to pilot the Hideaway back to Earth.
He should be visible on your portside any second."
"Copy that, Captain..."
And only then did RadCom see the appearance of another large ship. Before he could take a second breath, it swooped at them from the black reaches of space.
No lights marked its hull or signaled its presence. Other than the glow cast by the lights and fires of the Hideaway and the explorer frigate, its shape was completely dark. Completely dwarfing it in size, it descended upon the frigate.
"Captain!” RadCom screamed. “J.G.U. attack ship in view over your port bow!"
"In sight!" the captain yelled terror now in his voice.
On his holovid screen, RadCom watched the men in the frigate command center work in frenzied horror to address the threat. They bent intently over the command consoles frantically trying to power up what was left of their ship’s weaponry.
"Firing weapons!” the captain barked. “Firing weapons now! RadCom, get control of that ship and head for deep space!"
RadCom jerked his eyes from the screen back to the Hideaway monitors in front of him. Not even looking out the cockpit window, he could still feel the enormousness of the third ship outside.
He punched quickly at the two devices in his lap. The energy pulse readings along the pilot controls were constant and consistent with readings on the terminals controlling the rest of the ship. He didn’t see any signs of additional energy or baseline charges. No extra power that would indicate synchronization had been initiated across the controls.
Outside, the mammoth J.G.U. ship slowed its flight until it hovered just above the frigate.
RadCom still worked hurriedly at the controls on his lap.
"Get the Hideaway out of there!" the captain ordered again from the holovid. "We have J.G.U. confirmation on that ship, RadCom. Repeat. We have a J.G.U. confirmation on that ship."
RadCom kept his attention at the controls. He listened to the captain bark new orders to his battered and undermanned crew. He took another quick look at the holovid screen while waiting for a final confirmation reading on the pilot controls.
Back on the frigate, men jostled into each other, tripped over debris and dodged sparks and small fires in the command center.
"Contact? Contact? Any contact?" he heard the captain bellow at the man at the communications station. Like all the men in the command center, he still wore his bulky assault gear.
"None sir," the officer answered. "No signal. It's just sitting there."
"It’s hitting us with a full sensor scan," another crewmember yelled from across the room’s chaos.
"Trying to decide who we are and what we intend to do," the captain said to no one particular in the room. "I want everything we have ready to fire in the next minute."
"Captain," RadCom said from the Hideaway. His final check on the controls almost complete. "Have you seen the size...?"
"RadCom, I want you to take control of that ship," the captain said again pressing his head against the holovid transmitter. His face filled its tiny screen. "And get it the hell out of here. We’ll engage and buy you some time."
"But captain, the size of..." RadCom stammered.
Before he could finish, a loud buzzing came from the monitors on his lap. The green baseline indicator started shifting up and down. It moved only slightly, but what it monitored was there. A definite reading in the ship's controls. A slight extra surge of energy guarding against unauthorized access to the Hideaway controls.
"Son of a fucking bitch!" RadCom swore violently. His voice echoed loudly about the small cabin.
On the holovid, RadCom heard the crew reporting to the captain all stations were now primed and ready to fire.
"Captain!" RadCom screamed at the holovid screen. "You should see the size from out here! They more than outgun you! Jesus Christ! Don't provoke a fight! Good God, don't..."
"RadCom, do as I fucking say!" the captain turned amidst the chaos of the command center to face the holovid screen again. "Get the fuc...!"
"The whole thing is synchronized! I just got the reading! This fucking ship's going nowhere!" RadCom shrieked. "Don't fire! Repeat! Don't fire!"
The captain held up his hand. The men waited behind him at their stations.
And then rockets from the mammoth J.G.U. ship finally flew. Three large weapon surges lashed out from the large attack ship's nose. The first cut across the frigate’s engine compartments ripping most of those sections and the crew stationed there into deep space.
&n
bsp; The second flight of fired weaponry tore into the frigate's main weapons area. The third obliterated the front of the frigate. Only jagged hunks of metal stuck into space where the command center used to be.
RadCom covered his eyes with both hands against the blinding flash of the three simultaneous explosions. The Hideaway shook from the nearby blast and the bombardment of debris pummeling against its hull. Sirens wailed throughout its halls.
The massive J.G.U. ship loomed over the frigate. Its weapons were still. There was no need for a second assault. The frigate and its crew were dead.
Only one survivor remained.
RadCom stared out the cockpit window at the destroyed frigate. His hands rested in his lap away from the controls he could not operate. At least not without bringing the same destruction to himself and the prized Beam Cannon Hardware it contained.
RadCom stared out into space and just tried to think.
Chapter 26
RadCom sat for a moment in the cockpit of the Hideaway. His eyes focused on the looming J.G.U. battleship.
His mind was blank. Completely emptied by the shock of its sudden appearance, the attack on the frigate, and the readings that were now coming across the energy monitors on his lap.
It was very faint. But it was there.
Excess energy flowed across nearly every computer terminal and flight control of the ship. The only thing not rigged to respond to only the hands of the pilot were the communications controls.
RadCom was sitting in a suicide room. If he had attempted to maneuver the Hideaway to defend against the small fighter attack or had tried to run power into anything, he would have been dead right now.
Like the rest of his crew.
The Beam Cannon Hardware would now be nothing more than cosmic mist. Ripped to shreds by the explosives controlled by small amounts of energy now bled through the cockpit controls he sat within.
Leaving the world forever different.
RadCom lowered the monitors on his lap to the floor and carefully moved from his seat. He slowly untangled himself from the pilot station and backed out of the cockpit. He was careful not to jar or nudge anything.
He pushed the two system energy monitors out behind him with his heels into the corridor past the threshold. Through the command window in front of him, he watched the J.G.U. warship float within the debris of his former ship.
RadCom kept moving the monitors with the rear of his feet until they were all the way out in the corridor. When they were out, he stepped carefully from the cockpit.
When he had fully crossed the entranceway and stood outside, he raised a shaky hand and hit the switch near the door. The cockpit sealed itself with a gentle swish.
RadCom stood there for a moment just looking at the door. His mind raced at what now he could possibly do.
It would only be a matter of time before the J.G.U. tried to board the Hideaway and attempt to access the cargo hold. And once they did, there wouldn't be much left to worry about. They would all be gone, scattered into the cosmic winds with the shattered remnants of Earth's destroyed moon.
RadCom just hoped they didn't find him first.
He turned around towards the corridor into which he planned to make his retreat. He had no idea where it led.
Sirens blared across the ship. Warning lights in the walls and ceiling indicated breaches in the hull, explosion readings, and unauthorized attempts at mainframe network access. The lights and sounds were maddening. They intruded on his shock and impeded his ability to think.
He grabbed the two devices at his feet. With a scream of rage, frustration and fear, he swung them over his head against the ceiling. They shattered across some of the flashing lights and silenced the sirens raging down that section of the passage.
Sparks and pieces of the destroyed devices fell across his head. Jagged metal, glass, and inner components dropped down around his feet. He grabbed the cords trailing from the back of their metal frames and hoisted up what was left.
With a final shriek of rage, he hurled them down the corridor where they left large dents along two of its walls.
Sirens and lights still wailed angrily from the end of the hall. RadCom reached into the holster just above his left knee and pulled his sidearm. Clutching it with both hands and extending his arms outward, he walked further down the corridor until it branched off into three different directions.
Before stepping into the intersection, he pressed his back against the wall and opened the Sunszk’s ammunition chamber. Satisfied the clip was completely full, he moved again from the side of the corridor.
His arms still outstretched, he stepped away from the small enclosed corridor leading from the cockpit into the more open area of passageways stretching throughout the ship. He pulled the Sunszk's firing mechanism out to its ready position and set out to ascertain the condition of the Hideaway.
Now, he sought mostly only a way to save himself. And escape the J.G.U.
The Hideaway’s cargo was no longer in his power to defend. Only the pilot that had activated its signaturization process could save it now. And for all RadCom knew, that pilot was dead. Killed when his copilot went down or destroyed a few minutes later with the explosion of the frigate.
RadCom didn’t care. His only goal now was to escape the J.G.U. and take his chances back on Earth.
He set off down the corridor in the direction he hoped was the docking area where the Hideaway pilots had boarded the small attack fighters. He prayed the Hideaway carried one more small craft to sneak away unnoticed into space.
With his chest heavy and the senses in his head light, he rounded the passage corner contemplating what he would do if a third smaller ship did really exist and how he would elude the J.G.U. when he made his escape attempt.
And if there wasn't a ship, and he really was stranded, RadCom planned to decide then how he would end his own life.
He dropped his weapon to his side and rounded another corner trying to keep his arm from banging against the metal of the close passage walls. The corridor turned another ninety degrees right and stretched deeper again into the rearmost areas of the ship.
RadCom slowed a bit around still another corner and then increased his stride when he found a straight section of passageway.
He started to raise his weapon again and improve his pace when a loud crash came from over his head.
When RadCom looked up, a body crashed through the ceiling. With arms and legs flailing, it smashed down across his arm and knocked him to the ground. The man’s weight plus the extra force from the fall ground the tip of RadCom’s shoulder blade hard into the metal deck.
RadCom shrieked in pain. He raised his head and tried to see through the agony coursing through his body from his shoulder. His vision just started to focus again when a bloody fist crashed into his face.
The entire corridor became a near senseless blur.
A set of hands jerked him by the top of his head back towards the passage wall.
Not even sure if he still held a weapon, RadCom raised his hand. An additional bolt of pain flashed at his wrist. He saw the barrel of his Sunszk sail end-over-end across the room and clatter across the floor.
He felt himself lifted into the air by powerful arms. They pulled him up and steadied him.
When RadCom regained his balance across his feet, he looked into the eyes of the man that held him. He didn’t wear the uniform of a J.G.U. soldier or officer.
RadCom could only assume he was staring into the face of one of the Hideaway pilots. The only man that could helm the controls of the ship and save RadCom's life.
"Who are you?!" the man screamed. The figure had turned him and held him painfully hard at his side.
RadCom then felt the weight of his body leave his feet. Propelled by the fury of the man’s large powerful arms, his body flew through the air and landed hard across the metal deck.
He laid there facedown and sprawled across his stomach. The coolness of the steel floor felt soothing against
his bruised cheek.
A thin line of blood trickled from his nose. And again he felt his head jerked roughly back. His attacker pressed his fist firmly into the small of RadCom’s back. The jagged sharpness of a piece of metal scraped lightly across the front of his neck.
RadCom’s breath was cut off in a gasp at the base of his throat. He reached up trying to grab at the man holding him. The sharpness of the jagged metal pressed harder against his skin.
Blood seeped from a spot just below his larynx. His legs kicked helplessly out behind him between the legs of his attacker.
"Who are you?!" the voice demanded again.
"Can you pilot the ship?" RadCom wheezed through the grip around his throat.
The arms holding him tightened. For a moment, RadCom's sight faded to a dull gray and then black. The pain in his shoulder disappeared. He felt his arms drop to his side.
"My copilot is dead,” the man holding him hissed in his ear. “And you are an unauthorized boarder on my ship. I want to know who the fuck you are before I let you go. So don't die on me before I do."
RadCom's body hung limply.
He felt the arms holding him start to shake. He could feel his attacker’s rapid breathing across the back of his neck.
"Who are you?!" the voice said again louder and more panicked in pitch.
The grip around RadCom's neck tightened making the room in front of him fade again away.
His body acting without guidance from his mind, RadCom dropped his arms to the belt at his side. His long fingers disappeared beneath the material of his assault gear while his assailant tightened his grip.
His own arms and shoulders starting to shake violently from pain, anger and fear, RadCom brought his hand back out.
In the base of his sweaty palm, he held his last concussion grenade.
The pressure around his throat then slightly lessened.
"You want us both to die here?" the voice rasped again.
"With them out there…,” RadCom wheezed. “…with them out there, we’re both going to die anyway. Wouldn’t you say that’s right?"
Overrun: Project Hideaway Page 28