Titan Fleet: The Invictus

by Jason J Black

  “Sir,” says Padley on seeing Pace, “You have an unknown creature attached to you. I must keep you in quarantine.” Pace turns and heads for the door, but a swift Padley gets to the door before he can open it. “I said quarantine, Captain. We can’t have you walking around like that, potentially infecting the others.” A persuasive hand presses against his chest trying to push him back.

  “Padley, we are in a war at the moment. See me after, if we survive.” Pace pushes Padley out of the way and leaves with Rusty. The two men head for the engine room, just to check things are running smoothly. The engine is working hard and the ship is still being thrown around, but thankfully they are still for the best part in one piece.

  “I need status reports everyone, how we doing?” One by one the crew check in and considering the situation, things are not as bad as first thought. After leaving Rusty in the engine room, Pace heads back up to the bridge. The ship seems to be rid of its invaders for the time being.

  “Hey, Cap, we have heard from Sam, he is doing fine. The ship he is on has lost a lot of its crew and it is almost out of power. They have thrusters, but are requesting to attempt to attach to the top of the Invictus. This will slow us, but do you think we should chance it? We don’t know these aliens.” Nova is sweating from the amount of flying she has been doing to keep the ship in one piece.

  “True, they are aliens and we don’t know what they are like, but they have been kind to Sam and kept him alive and I am not going to turn my back on a creature that has good will behind it. My Granfer always said, a stranger is just a friend you have not met yet, so the answer is a strong yes, without delay.” On Pace’s reply, Nova signals the small alien vessel to approach.

  The ship is so battered it does not even resemble a ship, but nonetheless, it hobbles closer and closer until it ploughs a gouge out of the side of the Invictus with a horrendous clang, not breaching the hull, thankfully, but it is way off course from the top. Anc jumps onto the giant mech arm control and grips the rear rudder of the ship, holding it close to the Invictus. The ship looks like it will explode any minute, so the order is given to salvage what they can and get it onto the Invictus. Out of a crew of 100 Gulmeds, only 11 are left alive. The captain was one of them and he does not want to leave his ship, and along with some of the others, he decides to leave Sam and two Gulmeds behind on the Invictus. He wants to try to get even by ramming the blues ship and blowing his energy core, which was so unstable now it was sheer luck it had not exploded before.

  Anc lets go of the Gulmed ship and Pace wishes the Gulmed captain luck on his journey, but also hoping that he will destroy one of these monster ships. The Gulmed ship limps towards the closest blue ship and manages to withstand a tremendous attack. With the intense amount of fire power concentrated on the Gulmed ship, Pace wonders how on Foloss it could survive the attack. Large pieces of Gulmed ship are breaking off and floating in space like confetti, but the ship still holds its course true. With a blinding light like an exploding star, the small ship finds its mark and crashing into the blue ship, its core explodes. The ship is split in half, with millions of blues spilling out into space. A cheer goes up amongst the crew.

  The Robur has done well also in the fight, but now the second ship is baring its guns down on her.

  “Captain Pace. I am about to fire PD1. Hang on to something. It may get rough out there. Miles out.”

  A few moments later a line of red is seen from the Robur to the second ship. A massive shock wave and billions of metal shards and chunks of ship disintegrate in an instant. The Robur and the Invictus are spun around like a big wheel, and everyone is thrown around inside the ships. The lights flicker on and off in the Invictus. The emergency power has been activated, as the main power core overheats trying to power the engines against the blast. The same can be seen on the Robur, but something good has come out of it. The ships were gone, or were they.

  “Oh crap! We need to get out of here, Cap, and fast!” shouts Nova.

  “Calm down, kid. What’s up?”

  Nova points to the map screen, at a massive object heading their way. “A Titan ship, maybe. Let’s hope they are good guys.”

  “Rusty, we will need that power back on soon, buddy.” Sweat is starting to bead on Pace’s forehead, like hundreds of diamonds reflecting light. He is feeling unwell, but soldiers on. He slumps in his command chair; the belt swiftly secures him to the seat with a jolt. “Open all channels, Nova, and try to contact it.”

  Nova gets to work, glad of the moments break from flying like an angry bee. Despite her best efforts she cannot contact the approaching ship, which they can now see out of the bridge window. The Robur’s lights come back on and it looks like their power has been restored. For the moment the Invictus feels like a tomb, only basic power is running the ship. They can breathe and move around inside the ship but that is about it, no engines, no lights as such and no weapons. They are sitting ducks.

  Chapter Forty-One

  “Anc, pass me that polaronic inverter, will you. It is a little bit heavy for me, and can you hold it here, while I bolt it to this ruddy, ah blast it. I need more light here too.” Rusty is working on the core of the engine, trying to cool it down and power it up again at the same time, but it is hard in the dark to do anything, but Anc sheds light on the area with his powerful work lights. “This should do it I hope, throw that switch, Anc.” Anc pulls down the switch and a buzz and a large pop is heard as more fuses and components blow, but for a brief moment there was light and power, and then back to the cold darkness of space. “Blast, blast, and I should have known better.” Rusty is getting uptight now. He has been trying so hard to fix things that he is forgetting to see the big picture, and that is to cool the core down. He stops what he is doing and sits for a moment with his head in his hands.

  The door to the engine room opens and in walks Sam with a smile. “Hey, Rusty, need a hand? I have brought a couple of friends with me. Hear them out; they may be able to help in some way.”

  Rusty raises his head, nodding in hope of a solution. In walk two slender alien creatures, purple in colour with orange eyes. They both stand around six feet tall, slightly taller than Rusty.

  “Steganthian and this Draxeounous. What problem be?” The two alien helpers move in closer to the engine and core and start to look over them. They seem to see well in the dark, which Rusty considers to be a great skill.

  “So Steg and Drax then. Ok, well, no, don't touch that, because that will make us all go boom. Do you have a degree in core tech? No, probably not.” Rusty begins to follow the two aliens around the room and tries to explain the workings to them, while the two creatures talk to each other in their tongue.

  “Ok, what’s that and what are you planning to do with it?” Rusty is concerned when Steg pulls out of his metal pouch, on what looks like a strange backpack, a large glowing blue device that looks like it has some sort of fluid inside it.

  “That hot. This cold. Will fix problem, Rust Tree.” Steg places the device into the open port on the core tower and closes the small door and smiles, and then nods to Rusty to throw the switch again.

  “Ok, ok, we will try it your way, but I can’t see it working.” Rusty pulls down on the switch and instantly the temperature drops to normal. The core’s fluid and the device’s fluid merge as one, creating an amazing colour similar to that of a rainbow. The lights spring into life and the engine starts and begins to purr like a cat that got the cream.

  “Wow, you boys are good. So are you planning on staying long on the ship, because it’s customary for you to buy me a drink? It’s a human thing, you see.” Rusty winks at Sam and begins to listen to the ramblings of the two creatures as he tidies the room and throws away the numerous spent parts on the floor.

  “Well done, Rusty, I knew you could do it.” sings a happy voice through Rusty’s speaker on his gauntlet.

  “Power initialised, Cap. Burn on all engines in five, four, three, two, one.”

  Before Nova could press
the button, Pace shouts, “No, stop Nova, look.” A mighty ship, almost the size of a small planet has begun to attack the Robur and has not noticed the darkened Invictus just off its aft. A large blue green pulse hits the Robur with devastating effect, tearing a hole in the side of the ship, its contents and crew spilling out in space like geyser. The Robur begins to list to the left, but she is firing frantically back.

  “Cap, what shall we do, we can’t just leave them.” Nova says, turning her head around to look at Pace.

  “They were planning to kill us, Nova, all of us, with no remorse, so why should I help them eh?” Pace pauses a moment to think, but Nova is quick to answer him.

  “Because, Cap, we are better than they are and you never know, one person on that ship might just care and be fighting to survive, and that one person could change the future for someone else, but it’s up to you, if you are scared, then …” Nova turns away and looks at her panel.

  “You’re right, kid. Ok, here is what we do ...” Pace orders Sam to take some oxygen tanks up into the scrap bay where he meets with Anc, who welds them inside the ball ship he had stored earlier. They weld various pieces of scrap together and place small proximity mines amongst them, for a punch if something gets close.

  “We are all set, sir.” Sam is ready for action and Nova is raring to go too. The Robur is hit a second time. Unable to withstand this sort of power, her lights flicker and the engines turn to a dull red. But she is still firing, so someone is still alive, thinks Nova.

  The Invictus creeps up on the giant doom ship. Pretending to be a chunk of space debris, she bounces off the hull of the Titan ship before steadying for the attack.

  “Steady, Nova, steady. Wait.” There is a large shimmer on the side of the ship, like before when the ball ships attacked from the other vessels. Seeing this chance, Pace changes his plan at this instant, from attacking outside to passing into the ship through the shimmer. A crazy plan that might just work, he thinks in a flash.

  “Nova, there! Go through the shimmer. Let’s see if we can give this ship a belly ache.” Nova complies and steers the Invictus towards the ship. The Invictus looks tiny in comparison to this giant metal monstrosity.

  “20 metres and closing, Cap. You sure about this?” Nova says in a worried voice, cringing a little.

  “Go for it! When we are in, try to set her down somewhere, if you can.” The ship passes through the shimmer with ease and before them float hundreds of metal ball ships. Lucky for them, they are yet to be manned, and are just floating, waiting to deliver death. The inside of the ship is quite dark, apart from the normal working lights you would expect on a ship, and as the Invictus sails further in for a covert landing, Pace calls on Padley to see how Megan is doing in the medbay.

  “Sir, she is awake and normal once more. She is requesting to return to the bridge. Should I keep her under observation for longer?” Pace replies to Padley, telling her to keep Megan busy until he gets to medbay. First he must land the ship somewhere that is easy to get back to and won't be noticed.

  “Nova, there looks good to me. What do you think?” Pace puts his hand on his chin with a hopeful rub.

  “A bit tight, Cap, but she will squeeze in nicely. Great spot.” Nova flies between two large generator devices that must be a source of power to the ship. There are many, but she sets the ship down with ease on the edge of a large drop. Below them, they can see transport ships and cargo ships, busy buzzing around like horse flies. It is amazing that they don’t crash into each other but amongst the mayhem, things seem to be getting done.

  “What now, sir? We are ready up here to release our little stomach upset, when you are.” Sam is waiting with Anc in the scrap bay to deliver the surprise.

  “Sam, you stay up there and be ready. I need Anc down in the loading bay. We are going to take a look around while we have a chance, see what we can learn about the blues.” replies Pace, getting out of his chair and rubbing Nova on her shoulder on his way out the door. “You take it easy, ok, and keep a watchful eye on things. You know the drill. Power down.”

  Interrupting Pace with a smile, “Come on, Cap, you know me.” Nova responds with a cheeky cheer to her voice. Pace laughs and hops in the lift, wondering how Megan will be towards him, but no matter what, he still has love for her in his heart and that is the main thing that will see past all the bad.

  The lift stops and the doors open. A flash back in Pace’s mind tears at his brain, like a hungry tiger before his eyes. He remembers nothing but a red horror, and then it is gone and the lift doors close behind him, but this time he does not fear for his life, because this time it is a set of loving eyes he can see looking at him as he enters medbay. Getting up off the bed, Megan runs into the arms of her lover, as if she had not seen him in years, and with a long passionate kiss Pace feels all the fear and anguish disappear, like early morning mist on a mountain top.

  “You ok sweet?” Pace poses the question in the hope that things are as good as he has just felt on his lips.

  “I guess I have some explaining to do, don't I, darling.” Pace looks at Megan, waiting to hear her explanation as to why she almost killed him. The room begins to sway a little to Pace but he thinks nothing of it, forgetting about the parasite digging deep in to his flesh.

  “You almost killed me, sweet, that is all, but wow, what a temper you have.” Trying to make light of the situation, Pace tries to make a joke of things, but it is not received well by Megan.

  “A temper! Do you know how hard it is for me to speak about this, and why I have this hair, and how I have lived my life in fear? No, you don’t. You could not even begin to see where I have been or what I have done or what has happened to me, and why is that? Because you stand there and make jokes, just like all the others and instead of listening to someone who was about to open up to you, you would rather make fun and it makes my blood boil.” Megan’s cheeks are red with fury as she steps back from Pace and pushes him away from her with a small shove.

  “Sweetheart, I did not mean anything by it. I was trying to make you feel better that’s all. I am interested, so why don’t we calm down and get a cup of tea and you can tell me all about your troubles.” Pace moves in, trying to get closer again to Megan, but is stopped by a strong stubborn hand.

  “I thought you came up here to see how I am, not belittle me, Pace. I just want to get back to my duties, ok?” Pace picks up Padley’s litepad to look at Megan’s medical records and reads a few lines, before seeing ‘unrecognised bio-enhancements’ written into the notes. He does not need to read more and turns to Megan.

  “You did not mention you had unrecognised bio-enhancements when you came aboard my ship. Why?”

  Megan with anger in her voice replies, “That was personal to me and me alone, and none of your business, Captain, that’s why. It was ‘need to know’ and you don’t need to know.”

  Pace is now also looking angry and raises his voice in retaliation. “I thought unrecognised bio-enhancements were illegal and the punishment was death or life in the rancid mines. I laid down with you and did not know this.” Pace shakes his head in disbelief, thinking he has won the argument, until Megan hits him with a blow that hurts him mentally.

  “Darling,” she returns, sarcastically, “You loved me and you are the same as me and if it was not for me, you would be a blob on a cart in the street begging. I built you. I gave you illegal enhancements, alien genetics, just like mine. Only thing is, I know what my enhancements do, I’m still learning about yours, and I was sent here by Eve to study you and make more like you, to fight against the blues.”

  Pace slams his metal hand against the wall in temper. “What! I thought my arm was legal. I was in hospital and you were sent to spy on me! So loving me was just part of that plan then, eh? I can’t believe that.”

  Letting out a shrill laugh that Pace hasn’t heard from her before, Megan replies once more. “It was a medbay made out to look like a hospital, and did you not notice how fast we were all sent out into
space, to avoid the laws. It was all planned to work this way, but you can’t plan who you fall in love with Pace, that just happened.” Megan turns her back on Pace and walks out the door to avoid more conflict. Pace pauses for a few moments, pondering on what has just happened. He thinks to himself, why do people walk all over him and try to deceive him all the time? In fact, his whole life he has been treated this way. Was it because he was too soft and did not stand up for himself much and just went along with others. If he did stand up to others, people would have hated him for his temper instead. A no win situation that was not worth worrying about now.

  Standing opposite the door to the medbay stood Sam, who had heard the whole thing. He was trying not to listen in, but that was hard to do. As Pace looked at him, he just pretended to turn a blind eye to it all, as if nothing had happened. Anc had already gone down to the loading bay and Pace just nods his head to Sam before joining Anc in the loading bay.

  “This is the Captain. Myself and Anc are going to take a look around the enemy vessel and see what we can find. First Officer Frost is in charge, and any repairs you can do while we are gone, the better. Let’s get the ship tip top again. Pace out.” Megan sits down in Pace’s chair. She runs her hands along the arms of the chair and she likes the way it feels, and now she is in control, this was meant to be, she thinks to herself, but she can’t help but feel worried for Pace. Even though they had argued, she wants him to return in one piece to her soon. She thinks she should have said she loved him before he leaves, but is still a little angry too, so keeps silent, sat poised in his chair.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Pace puts on his spacesuit, which is mechanised, to help him move easier in a hostile environment. The suit has large working lights and a few different upgrades to the normal suit, and was designed by Pace and built for salvage work, mainly underground, but stepping out, it begins to work fantastically. Pace whispers to Anc to move down the drop-off side of the platform on the winch wires from the ship, and once they both have travelled a few hundred metres they come to a platform that looks like a bridge across to a tunnel and a giant door. The platform is covered in plant life, as is the rest of what they can see of the ship. From the little that Pace knows about botany, it looks like the plant life could be toxic to humans, but that is just a guess. Some of the plants give off light, and some of the plants give off a green gas similar to the alien they encountered. They both continue up to the door, all the time under watchful eye of the ship via the cameras on Pace’s suit and Anc’s body armour cameras.