The Key

by Brian Fisher

  Chapter 73

  Brilliant white lights erupted at the outer edges of Earth's solar system, leaving nearly four hundred Malgar starships in their wake. They were slightly older, and rugged by design, but in keeping with the Malgar people, they were all fit to fight. The ships formed tight battle groups of a dozen ships apiece, with each battle group holding a specific position in the concave wall of ships that started advancing toward Earth.

  Admiral Jason McWilliams paced Redemption's bridge as he checked his sensor reports. Every ship in the fleet had successfully made the jump, except for the three that he had left behind. It was in the three Resistance Captains commanding those ships, that Jason had left the fate of everyone if he failed.

  He hadn't wanted to jump prematurely, but sometimes the best of plans could not be followed. Admiral Wright and Maruk had both promised to send whatever ships and crews they could, but his hand had been forced. Corin was still searching for the ship that had scanned his fleet, and as far as he knew, the Ta'Reeth were already waiting for him to come. No, he reminded himself, the element of surprise was one of his greatest allies in this mission, and he had done what he needed to. Launching early was his only real choice.

  Redemption's position rightfully put her at the spearhead of the fleet. Inside her sculpted hull, she held a level of technology and raw power that no other ship had, and the combination made her invaluable. Her weapons and sensors were vitally important, but the greatest technological edge that she had, was Angel. Angel had more computing power at her disposal than a half dozen Malgar ships combined. In the event that her crew was incapacitated, she could even take Redemption through the battle herself.

  "Admiral." Angel materialized beside her commander, dressed in camouflage fatigues.

  "What is it Angel?" Jason glanced over at the hologram. So many things needed his attention right then that he didn't want to be disturbed without good reason.

  "Admiral, I don't understand something." Angel began, her red hair glimmering in the bridge lights. "My sensor readings indicate that there are only one hundred Ta'Reeth warships in the system. There should be much more than that."

  "You think that they're up to something?" Admiral McWilliams gave Angel his full attention. If she was right, there was definitely something wrong.

  "I don't know what to think, other than to inform you of the discrepancy. My programming shouldn't allow for anything else, but yes, I think that they're up to something." Angel looked away from Jason, as if she were ashamed. Angel had run a hundred diagnostic sub-routines on herself over the last few days, and she knew that there was nothing wrong, but still she felt as if there were. Personal growth had always been a part of her programming, but the way that she felt now, was something entirely new. She didn't want anything to happen to any of her crew, but if something did happen, and her Captain was killed, she was afraid that she may never be able to function properly again.

  "Me too." Jason frowned, not seeing the way that Angel looked at him. He knew that being a battlefield commander was about being able to adapt to changing circumstances, but he didn't want his crew to be killed in the process. "Let's go spring their trap, but keep your eyes open."

  Jason watched as the view screen filled with planets. The gasses of Saturn and Jupiter swirled in an endless dance of colors, with Saturn's rings constantly moving to music all their own. From the blue of Neptune to the deep red of Mars, with the spectrum of colors filled between, Jason's attention drifted away from the coming battle. Finally, Jason's gaze fell upon Earth. Earth was the crown jewel of this solar system. The third planet held white clouds dancing in deep blue skies, backed by green lands and crystal blue oceans.

  "It really is a beautiful world, isn't it?" Jason commented to Angel.

  "The whole system is." Angel whispered in return. "Sir, I have a reading on the Ta'Reeth defenses."

  "Show me." Admiral McWilliams watched a hologram appear before him. The core of the system, with the sun at the center, turned slowly on its axis. Each of the planets moved in its own orbit, at its own time. A hundred Ta'Reeth ships, highlighted in red, were making their way toward the fleet.

  The ships were different in size, and varied in shape. Each of the ships was dark in color, and protected by thick bone for a hull. The larger ships had massive, twisted spikes protruding from their hulls like giant gnarled trees. Imbedded in the hulls, between the spines, were large, powerful plasma cannons.

  As troubling as the ships were, the red specs orbiting each of the inner planets were more so. Earth and its moon had several hundred orbiting weapons systems. Mars, Venus, and Mercury had them too. The fleet had to pass by Jupiter and Saturn, each of them having nearly three hundred orbital platforms apiece.

  Jason zoomed in on Jupiter, near the Great Eye. Now he saw why the gas giant had such heavy defenses. Much like Home Station, there was a mining facility for the heavy gasses, floating in the upper atmosphere. Saturn had one as well.

  Something closer to Earth caught Jason's attention. Floating between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter was a ring of asteroids, right where there should have been another planet. Had the asteroid belt been a planet at one time? Whether it had been a planet or not, the asteroid belt was going to be a tactical challenge. There were too many obstacles, and too many places to hide.

  "Angel, I want a hundred drones ready to deploy as soon as possible." Jason ordered, shutting down the hologram of the solar system. "Make sure that we replace as many as we need for a full compliment."

  "Understood sir. They will be ready in approximately forty minutes." Angel didn't question the Admiral, she simply followed her orders. Angel looked past the prow of the ship for a brief moment, then turned and faced the Admiral. "Sir, the Ta'Reeth have launched fighters. My sensors indicate that there are ten thousand, sir. They will be in attack range in six minutes."

  "Thank you Angel. Tell the fleet to raise shields. Alpha and Bravo wings are to launch the first sortie of fighters on my command. The fighters are to remain within the protective perimeter, and are not to engage the enemy until I tell them otherwise." Jason sighed heavily, and sat in his chair. Ten thousand enemy fighters were headed his way, with who knew how many more to come. "Angel, activate the fire control link."

  "Yes sir. As I advised you before, when this link is active, I cannot have my hologram running." Angel nodded to the Admiral, and then disappeared.

  Sighing, Jason turned to his bridge crew. Normally, Angel would interface and assume the roles of the bridge crew. With the fire control link active, the weapons of every ship in the fleet were now being controlled from the weapons station on his bridge.

  Jason knew each member of his bridge crew. Normally, Narja would be there for weapons and security, but now there was a young Malgar by the name of Lieutenant Runnz. At the helm sat Lieutenant Aubrey Campbell, and sitting next to her at communications was Ensign Markus Priest. Kamira's station was linked to the bridge, but was actually in engineering. From there, in an emergency, Kamira could run every function of the command crew.

  "Lieutenant Runnz, give me an update." Admiral McWilliams forced himself to stay in his chair. He wanted to be doing anything other than what was required of him right then, but he knew that there was no one else to do it. Only Redemption could lead this fight, and Redemption answered to him. "Alpha and Bravo wings are to launch their fighters now. Their mission is to neutralize those orbital platforms."

  Time seemed to move excruciatingly slow as Jason waited for his fleet to launch the first wave of fighters. The larger, more powerful, capital ships were set to engage in a devastating exchange in which the outcome could not be predetermined. The only certainty was that people would die. There was no other choice than to follow the only constant in the universe: No one escapes life alive.

  "Admiral, Alpha and Bravo wings have successfully launched the first sorties. They are en route to Saturn. The Ta'Reeth fighters will be within weapons range in two minutes." the young Malgar's voice rumbled like a b
oulder crashing against a steel plate. He wore an onyx visor over his eyes that showed him all of the information that he needed, and gauntlets on his hands that controlled the weapons systems. All of the weapons in the fleet were slaved to his controls.

  "Ensign Priest, keep all channels open. Inform me immediately of any priority messages." Jason tried unsuccessfully to settle comfortably into his seat. The Ta'Reeth had something planned; he knew that much, but what it was still eluded him.

  "Yes Sir." Ensign Priest replied without taking his blue eyes away from his console. It was a simple, elegantly designed station with system readouts and communications relays imbedded in the polished composites.

  "Lieutenant Campbell, I expect your usual level of excellence." Jason smiled at the attractive blonde. He liked the Lieutenant, but he also knew that his wife was the smartest, most attractive woman he had ever laid eyes upon.

  "Of course Admiral." Lieutenant Campbell smiled back, and sank her hands into the glistening liquid metal of her flight controls. The silvery liquid crept up her arms, past the elbow, and connected itself to her nerve endings. The slightest twitch from the Lieutenant, and Redemption responded.

  In the moments before a storm, the weather seems the calmest. War is no different. Uncomfortable silence permeated Redemption's bridge and crew until the enemy arrived. Hundreds of plasma bolts slammed against the ship's shields, shattering the quiet reverence for the carnage that was now upon them.

  "Lieutenant Runnz, fire at will." Admiral McWilliams gave the order. Seconds later, the Ta'Reeth fighters began to evaporate by the hundreds. Redemption's fire control computer locked on to several hundred targets at once, and systematically eliminated them. Particle cannons and railguns ripped mercilessly through the Ta'Reeth hulls, killing the fighters instantly.

  The Ta'Reeth fighters stood no chance against the combined, coordinated firepower of the invading fleet. Ten thousand Ta'Reeth fighters died as Redemption, and her partners continued inexorably toward Earth.

  As they neared Saturn, the planetary defenses came alive. Hundreds of heavy orbital platforms began spewing plasma at the Malgar ships. The cannons hammered at the ship's shields, constantly tearing away the precious barriers. As the orbital cannons fired, the Ta'Reeth cruisers engaged the fleet.

  Massive, gnarled hulls wove their paths through the dark blanket of space, trying to find a way past the killing field. As they came, the ships launched another wave of fighters. Several thousand of the fighters stayed to fight the capital ships, while the rest went in search of the Malgari fighters that hunted the orbital platforms.

  "Ensign Priest, inform the fighter squadron commanders that they are being followed by enemy fighters. Neutralize the platforms, and engage the fighters if necessary. The Ta'Reeth capital ships are secondary." Admiral McWilliams grimaced at the thought of sending these men and women to their deaths, but he knew that sometimes sacrifices had to be made. That was only one of the many burdens that a commander had to bear. "They are free to engage at will."

  "Yes sir." the ensign quickly sent the order, and quickly continued to monitor his station. Jason admired the young man's professionalism. He hoped that the Ensign, as well as the rest of his crew, would make it through the battle alive.

  "Lieutenant Runnz, clear a path to Earth." Jason could feel the victory at the edge of his grasp. It was almost a tangible thing, so sweet that he longed for it, yearning for the inevitable end, and the ensuing glory.

  Ta'Reeth cruisers crumbled under the combined might of the fleet. One after another, they fell and began to retreat. Slowly, the cruisers backed away from Saturn, bringing the fleet closer to Earth and deeper into the deadly grasp of the orbital platforms. The Ta'Reeth fought for every inch that they gave, requiring a heavy price for the conquest of Earth.

  The sleek Malgari fighters methodically attacked the orbital weapons platforms around Saturn. The giant planet's weapons reached out, spearing numerous Malgari cruisers. Their defenses weakened, then finally the shields failed, and the ships died in great fountains of fire. Seeing a hole in the wall, the Ta'Reeth poured as much firepower as they could into the wound.

  "Return fire!" Jason screamed as he watched the edges of his fleet begin to fray. "Charlie and Delta wings, launch sorties one and two! Target those orbital platforms! Seal that hole!"

  "Sorties away Admiral." Ensign Priest reported. Hundreds of fighters streamed out of the cruisers, and straight for the massive weapons systems that were raining death on the fleet. "Sir, ships are moving into position to fill the gap."

  Admiral McWilliams watched the view screen and the sensor readouts. The Ta'Reeth fleet was being ripped apart, but they had taken nearly forty of his ships with them. He knew instinctively that he had pressed too hard. The men and women on those ships had died because of him, and his choices. Even though his fleet was adjusting to the losses, he feared that it might not be enough.

  "Incoming!" Lieutenant Runnz's voice boomed throughout the bridge. "We're being flanked sir!" the Lieutenant's voice wavered slightly. "I'm reading a thousand ships, that's five hundred ships a side Admiral."

  Jason turned his attention to a hologram of the battle. Lieutenant Runnz was right. Dropping out of hyperspace were a thousand Ta'Reeth ships. Mostly, they were heavy cruisers, but there were also several hundred battleships coming to kill the intruders.

  "Angel, target the hundred closest Ta'Reeth ships, and launch the drones at them." Jason watched as the enemy fell upon his fleet with devastating force. The ships at the edges of his fleet fought valiantly, but in the end, they still died within moments. The Ta'Reeth wasted no time in their killing spree. Once one Malgari ship was gone, they moved immediately to the next. "I want fifty drones on each side. Make it happen."

  "Drones away Admiral" Angel's voice came from nowhere as Redemption shuddered under the impact of hundreds of plasma bolts.

  The drones raced through the black expanse of space, dodging the friendly ships, before crashing into the exposed hulls of the Ta'Reeth vessels. Immediately they began ripping into the armored bone hulls, and started to process the material. The parts came together quickly, and soon each drone had built a particle cannon on the hull of its target ship. Once the cannons were finished, they became active, and started to acquire Ta'Reeth targets before they opened fire. With the first hundred cannons active, the drones moved on to build more.

  "Return individual fire controls now!" Jason ordered. The Lieutenant was right. Ta'Reeth cruisers were bearing down on the fleet, with five hundred capital ships on each side. Hundreds of gnarled heavy cruisers poured salvo after salvo of burning hot plasma into the shields and hulls of Jason's fleet. The ships out on the flanks erupted in gouts of fire as they absorbed the punishment from the enemy.

  "Launch all fighters." Jason ordered as he checked his sensors. "Alpha and Bravo wings, engage the enemy on the port side. Charlie and Delta wings, engage on the starboard side. Stay in your battle groups. Watch each other’s backs."

  Hundreds of fighters streamed out of the ships. The sleek and powerful fighters formed into squadrons and attacked the larger Ta'Reeth cruisers. Jogging in and out of the twisted spires, the fighters unleashed a maelstrom of missiles and particle cannons upon the enemy, in a desperate attempt to even the odds.

  As the fleet shifted position, the Ta'Reeth ships pushed forward and broke through the lines. They infiltrated, and swiftly surrounded the Malgari vessels, outnumbering them now by three to one. The battle groups fought hard, killing as many Ta'Reeth ships as they possibly could before they succumbed to the flames themselves.

  With the fleet overrun, Redemption found herself surrounded.

  "Take evasive action! Flight pattern lima seven." Jason called out to his helmsman. He gripped the arms of his chair as Redemption wove her way between two Ta'Reeth battleships. She was faster, and more maneuverable than the Ta'Reeth, but the two battleships had her outgunned. Redemption's heavy railguns pounded each of the battleships as she raced between them, ne
ver presenting a stable target to her enemy. Lieutenant Runnz kept every particle beam, railgun, and ion cannon firing until Redemption was clear.

  "Status report." Jason unclenched his hands. It had only taken a few moments to pass between, and kill the two Battleships, but time has a way of slowing down in intense situations.

  "Admiral, our shields are at ninety-six percent and climbing." Angel showed a hologram of the battle. Ever so slowly, the numbers were beginning to even out. The remote particle cannons fired endlessly into the enemy ranks, and the Malgari crews were making the Ta'Reeth pay a high price for every ship that they destroyed.

  "This isn't right." Jason studied the hologram intently. "No, something isn't right. They're holding back."

  "Disengage! All ships, disengage! Lieutenant Campbell, flank speed." Jason yelled as he checked his readouts. "Get the fleet into that asteroid belt."

  As Redemption began to move, ten more Ta'Reeth ships dropped out of hyperspace. The ships were larger and more robust than the ones already in the fight. A crown of enormous, gnarled arms reached forward from the bow of the ships, with a swirling void in the center. Each of vessels instantly focused on the nearest Malgari ship, and pulled it into the void.

  "Ensign Priest, all available fighters are to attack the base of the gravity well generators." Admiral McWilliams pursed his lips. Command was never easy, and now he had to risk everything, or lose it all.

  "Lieutenant Campbell, attack speed to the nearest Ta'Reeth gravity well ship." Jason turned his attention to his link with Kamira. "Kam, I hope your stuff works. We're about ready to test it out. Activate the shield modifications."

  "Yes Sir." came his wife's swift reply as Kamira activated what she hoped would save their lives. "Modifications are online."

  At Lieutenant Campbell's control, Redemption sped back through space, towards the Ta'Reeth fleet. She wove past the lighter of the enemy ships, ripping into their hulls as she did. Her own fleet passed by swiftly, in an effort to evade the new Ta'Reeth super weapons.

  Redemption reached the nearest of the ships, only to find yet another of her own fleet caught in the grip of the black hole. The hull of the Malgar ship stretched and twisted in the intense gravity, then disappeared into the void before Redemption could attempt to save them. No sooner was the Malgari ship destroyed, than the powerful Ta'Reeth focused on Redemption.

  In the center of the void, all light died. All things elongated, twisted, crumpled, and died as it became yet another victim of the black hole. All things, except the starship Redemption. Her modified shields absorbed the incredible energy, and then used it to strengthen her shields, weapons, and structural integrity.

  "Lieutenant Runnz, rip that ship apart." Jason sneered. He wanted desperately to turn every Ta'Reeth ship into a smoking wreck, even if he had to do it by hand. "Kam, keep me updated."

  "Jason, our shields look good. Power levels are stable, we're doing fine." Kamira reported. Even though the situation was dire, the fact that her modifications were working, made her smile.

  Redemption sat comfortably in the grip of the void. Her shields held strong, and proved nearly invulnerable, due to the influx of raw power. From inside the safety of the shields, Redemption fired salvo after deadly salvo into the ranks of enemy ships.

  Ta'Reeth cruisers began to surround Redemption. Their heavy plasma cannons relentlessly pounded her shields, with no discernible effect. The cruisers came first, and then each of the gravity well generators came to bear.

  "Admiral, we are..." Angel appeared next to Jason. She wavered in the light as she brightened in intensity. "...surrounded by..."

  "Admiral, we've got a problem." Kamira called to the bridge, breaking through Angel's static filled hologram.

  "...over a hundred enemy vessels." Angel finally finished. Her confused and angry look said more than the words that she could no longer form.

  "What is it?" Jason knew that anytime Kamira did not call him by name, it was serious. "There's something wrong with Angel."

  "I know. Look, when I designed the shield modifications, I designed them for facing one black hole. Not ten." Kamira rubbed her temples as she spoke, trying desperately to come up with a solution. "We can't disperse the energy of ten gravity well generators."

  "What do you mean we can't disperse the energy?" Jason focused intently on his link to engineering. "What is it, the shields will fail? We'll get sucked into a black hole? What?"

  "Boom." Kamira leveled her gaze at Jason.

  "Boom?" Jason's eyes went wide.

  "Unless I can find a way to release it, yeah." Kamira nodded.

  "How long do we have?" Jason asked quietly.

  "I don't know. We don't have the power to break free, and we can't shunt the power somewhere else." Kamira pursed her lips, and looked off to the side of her display. "Unless... I need to take over control of the ship from down here. I'll explain later, if this works."

  "Alright, I'm transferring the controls." Jason took a deep breath, and slowly let it out. He trusted Kamira more than he trusted anyone else, but he still didn't like relinquishing control of his ship to her. "I hope whatever you're up to works."

  "Yeah, me too. Love ya. Bye." Kamira started working before Jason was gone.

  Helpless, Jason studied his bridge crew. They were good, better than he actually expected. He hadn't asked for any of this, but fate was rarely one to take requests.

  The Ta'Reeth continued their onslaught. Ignoring the other ships that Redemption had come with, nearly half of the enemy fleet was trying to annihilate Redemption.

  Without warning, Redemption's shields collapsed. They crushed against her sculpted hull, and then burst outward. The energy of ten black holes erupted from Redemption, and crashed through the Ta'Reeth fleet like a tsunami over rice paper.

  With her energy gone and her systems overloaded, Redemption hung dead in space.