by M. D. Cooper
Despite those factors, the Blue Wing took out three of the attackers within the first moments of combat. It was a testament to the pilots’ training that they were managing to hit anything at all.
“Vectors are too extreme,” Joe said as his fingers raced across a holo UI. “Onboard systems are overheating trying to provide accurate calculations. The pilots are also having neural cooling problems.”
“Didn’t really plan for a suicide run,” Captain Andrews muttered. “Priscilla, do you have enough bandwidth available to offload calculations from the fighters?”
“I can for some of them,” Priscilla’s voice said over the bridge’s speakers. “Signal isn’t strong enough to assist all of them.”
“I’m jacked in.” Amanda stood near the entrance to the bridge with her hood off. Her cowl was pulled down and antennae hair waved above her as she accessed the bandwidth reserved for her and Priscilla.
“Do it,” Andrews said. “Co-ord it with Commander Evans—we need our people to take those bastards out.”
“I’m in range,” the crewman at fire control announced.
“Fire at will; be sure your patterns are available to Commander Evans and the ladies,” Captain Andrews said.
“This isn’t working well,” Amanda said as another fighter in Blue Wing was destroyed. “The AI link on the fighters is too primitive and it’s slowing things down too much. With the time lag and the interface chokepoint we can’t be effective. I need to perform a partial transference.”
Andrews glanced back at her, his expression sharp. “That’s a very dangerous proposal. We could lose you.”
“You’ll have Priscilla if I get in trouble.”
“How long will it take?”
“Moments. I do need something, though. I need access to the mind of someone who has flown a fighter and understands the tactics.”
“Use me,” Joe said. “I’ll guide you.”
“No good,” Captain Andrews said. “You won’t be able to do your job with her subsuming your mind.”
“Use me.” Tanis spoke up. “I’m rated and have over ten thousand hours flight time.”
“You sure about this?” Andrews turned to look at her. “It’s not an exact science.”
Joe shot a pained look in Tanis’s direction, but didn’t say a word.
“It’s more exact than it used to be,” Amanda said; a living example of the neural advances.
“Just do it.” Tanis took a deep breath. “Before I change my mind and before one of those warheads hits us.”
Nothing prepared her; no warning was given. One moment Tanis was sharing her mind with Angela, and the next a massive presence pushed inside of her. She felt herself swelling; even Angela seemed taken aback by the will and power of Amanda’s mind.
There was a pause. Amanda said after several moments.
Whereas moments before the crushing force of Amanda’s presence had surrounded her, Tanis was now forced to the top, as though riding the cresting surf of thought; her mind racing up and out. She saw the Intrepid, and the fighters defending and attacking. All of the vectors and trajectories fit in her mind and were perfectly understood as a whole. Tanis examined the situation and knew what to do.
Her mind expanded over the tightbands to the Blue Wing. Angela and Amanda guided her through the fighter’s neural nets and she felt a portion of herself shift to reside in them. From there she reached out and established a Link with each and every one of the pilots.
Angela and Amanda gave assistance once they knew her scheme. It was bold and daring and impossible to grasp without their integration with her mind.
The Blue Wing ships were forming a cube of death. What would normally create a crossfire, where the fighters would suffer considerable friendly fire, was instead a killing field where only the enemy died. Fighters deployed relativistic chaff; beams and projectiles; creating a death zone that took out thirty-one of the enemy. All told, there were now only five attackers left.
Tanis shuddered at the notion, but knew Angela meant it as a compliment.
On the colony ship, the shields and sheer mass of the vessel absorbed most of the energy, but the same could not be said for the fighters. Tanis was lucky in that the moment Amanda detected the EMF spike she yanked the major’s mind back into her body. If she hadn’t, the parts of Tanis spread across the tightbands would have been torn from her forever.
“Sweet Venus,” Tanis moaned, falling to the floor. “I feel like my brain has been torn in two.”
“Priscilla,” Captain Andrews said. “We need medics now.”
“Already on their way,” she replied audibly. “I sent for them as soon as we made the merge.”
“Very good.” Andrews nodded. “Commander Evans, did any of our fighters survive?”
“Four are in communication, ten are structurally impaired with no chance of survival, the rest are somewhere in between, but with no comm.”
“Get recovery craft out there as soon as possible.”
“Aye, sir.”
The joy of survival was tempered by the near total loss of Blue Wing. Even amongst the four in communication, considerable damage had been sustained by both craft and pilot. No one was coming back in unscathed.
“Yellow is outbound. They’ll do some nudging and correct trajectories for the tugs,” Joseph said.
“Keep me apprised,” Captain Andrews replied. He surveyed his bridge and looked over the damage reports that were scrolling on the main holo as well as the bridge net, finally determining that nothing needed his direct intervention. Only then did he allow himself to turn and look at the woman who had just risked being a mindless husk for the rest of her life. Who may still face that fate.
Tanis lay in a fetal position; shaking slightly with the odd spasm tearing through her body. Joe was holding her, a look of helplessness on his face. Andrews knelt at her side.
“Tanis, can you hear me?”
“Aye, sir…all seven thousand of you. Do you all have to yell?” Tanis whispered between ragged breaths, tears streaming from her eyes.
“Sorry,” he replied softly. “You’re going to be all right. The medics are on the way. I imagine you’ll be taking a bit of a nap though.”
“Sounds good, sir.” Tanis closed her eyes tight, but a small smile pl
ayed at the edges of her mouth. “Try to keep the ship in one piece while I’m out.”
CHAPTER 35
STELLAR DATE: 3227366 / 02.17.4124 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: GSS Intrepid, Within 0.5 AU of Sol
REGION: InnerSol, Sol Space Federation
Rescuing the remains of Blue Wing took several hours. The tugs had trouble maintaining their v relative to the Intrepid but eventually, with some tricky maneuvers, they managed to bring all of Blue Wing aboard.
As it turned out eleven pilots survived, and though that meant nineteen had died, it cheered everyone nonetheless. The Intrepid had ceased burn during the operation but now that all were once again aboard, the mighty drives resumed their fission reaction and the ship recommenced its acceleration toward the sun.
TSF monitoring had detected the conflict on their scans and Captain Andrews saw that a full report was filed. The tugs had also picked up the remains of several of their attackers, and once the Intrepid had completed its slingshot maneuver around the sun a TSF intercept patrol craft would meet them just past Venus’s orbit to collect what physical evidence they could. That was still roughly fifteen days away, depending on whether the Reddings determined it would be beneficial to boost acceleration beyond 0.25g.
Andrews checked the current status of the engines and saw that they were creating the equivalent of just over ten trillion newtons of force to achieve their velocity. That was slightly better than expected, even with the twenty-five thousand kilometer wide ES ramscoop deployed. Calculation showed that their final velocity at Mercury’s historical orbit past the apex of their slingshot would be closing in on 1,000 kilometers per second, or around 3.6 million kilometers per hour. Current projections were all in line to complete this stage of their journey and exit the solar system only forty hours after that point. The TSF interceptor would have to leave the Intrepid in time to decelerate around Saturn, or they would take them over a year to return to Callisto.
He could have looked up their status on the Link, but he owed it to the survivors of Blue Wing as well as Major Richards to visit them in person. That and he had news for the major she would appreciate hearing.
Upon entering the infirmary, he noticed that he was one of many visitors. The staff had sound barriers in place to keep the noise down, but even so he could still hear a dull murmur. He made his way amongst the wounded, saying a word here, or giving a nod there. Each member of the squadron was being awarded a TSF Medal of Valor for their bravery. They had earned it.
Tanis Richards had her own little crowd. Commanders Evans and Ouri as well as that strange woman, Trist, were all at her side. The officers snapped off salutes when they saw him approach, and Trist gave a friendly smile. He wasn’t entirely certain about that one, but Tanis had vouched for her, so she had received special dispensation to be a part of the colony mission.
Tanis herself looked much better. Her face was no longer twisted in a rictus of pain, and an easy smile rested on her lips.
“You appear to be in much better condition.” The captain placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’m glad to see that the doctors are getting you patched up.”
“Nothing I can’t handle sir, just a bit of swelling in pretty much every one of my lobes as well as some implant overheating.”
“No permanent damage?” he asked.
Tanis chuckled. “None other than what was already there. Angela took more of a beating than I did and we’re having some bleed between our thoughts, but the docs said it will straighten out.”
Captain Andrews nodded and smiled. “While it is mostly a formality and of little bearing now, I wanted to be the first to inform you that the TSF has officially recognized your actions over the last few months. You’ve been awarded the Star Cross of Bravery and have also been promoted to lieutenant colonel.”
Tanis schooled the surprise from her expression. “I guess they decided it was OK to promote me now since they don’t have to increase my pay. It is nice to have it back, though.” She mouthed the words “Lieutenant Colonel” and smiled.
“Credit won’t do you a ton of good where we’re going anyway,” Trist said.
“Your new rank holds here,” Captain Andrews said. “With it you’re the third highest ranking military officer on this vessel and when we arrive at our destination you’ll be given duties and responsibilities according that position.”
“Third highest?” Joe asked. “Who other than Sanderson is above her?”
“We’ve got some crusty colonel in the deep freeze,” Ouri said. “A real treat, let me tell you.”
“Rank or no rank, the Reddings, Terrance and I know who we owe our safety and very lives to. Not to lay it on too thick, Lieutenant Colonel, but we are all in your debt…again.”
“Thank you, sir.” Tanis smiled. She really didn’t know what else to say.
“You’re welcome.” The captain returned the smile. “You’ve done your job well, and we’ll soon be traveling too fast for any type of attack. We’re safe, and finally on our way. You can rest now knowing your work is done.”
Tanis laid her head back and closed her eyes. It felt done. Analysis had shown that the fighter attack was a last attempt by Strang to take them out before they left the system. He was now being held without ability to electronically communicate and all STR operations were on lockdown, the entire company frozen.
Nothing could interrupt the Intrepid’s flight now, it would be smooth sailing from here on out.
Eventually everyone left her side except for Joe.
“I’m due to enter stasis in a few hours,” he said.
“I saw that on the schedule.”
“I’m getting tired of almost losing you, you know.” Joe sounded like he was choking.
“I know how you feel.” Tanis grinned.
“Always with the jokes. I suppose I’ll see you in a hundred and twenty-five years.”
“Forty.” Tanis smiled up at Joe.
“What?”
“I pulled rank and got you on a duty rotation with me in forty years.” Her eyes twinkled, and she thought his might be misting up.
“Those last three years, don’t they?”
“Just you me and…a pair of GSS ensigns. We’ll order pizza and watch lots of movies.”
Joe looked exasperated. “Why do you always do that, make light of things?”
Tanis scowled at him. “I can’t be miss emotional freedom overnight you know.”
“You’re right I’m so—”
Tanis interrupted him, “Commander Evans, could you please stop overanalyzing everything and just kiss me?”
It was loving and passionate.
It was worth the wait.
EPILOGUE
STELLAR DATE: 3227378 / 02.29.4124 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: Trans-Neptunian Space - SDM Belt G9
REGION: Scattered Worlds, Sol Space Federation
Tanis closed down the holo viewer where she had been enjoying one final look at the footage of several more STR officers being arraigned in a Sol Space Federation court. She finished securing her quarters, ensuring that nothing would be disturbed should the ship have to alter course or thrust during the journey.
A final scan satisfied her that everything seemed to be in place and she stepped out into the corridor. After closing the hatch she placed a personal seal on it to ensure her things wouldn’t be disturbed. Not that anyone would be around to snoop or cause problems, but old habits died hard.
The ship was effectively deserted. A few people were still about: Priscilla was at her post, and the captain and the Reddings would be staying out of stasis with a small crew for a few months more. After which a rotation of four duty officers took effect; each taking a few years
out of stasis to monitor the ship and ensure all was well. Tanis was scheduled for two such rotations, the first in forty years when the ship neared LHS 1565.
She had enjoyed one final dinner at the captain’s table and bade her farewells to those still awake. It was a sad thing, but Captain Andrews reminded them all that he had done it several times and survived intact. They would all meet again on the far side of their journey and share in the reward that their efforts had won them.
After a short walk she arrived at her designated stasis chamber. The officers who were going to be awoken periodically were not in the regular crew chambers below, but in smaller ones, closer to the officer’s quarters and the bridge. Tanis saw the pod holding Joseph and ran her fingers across its surface, a light smile on her lips. When they awoke they would no longer be TSF and would be free to see where their relationship led them.
She shucked her clothes and placed them in a locker before slipping into a suit that would stabilize the stasis field around her. She said her farewells to Angela, who had already slowed her processes in preparation for shutdown. Her AI would completely power off before the stasis took to ensure that no key cycles were interrupted by the field.
With no more tasks to perform, or things that needed doing, Tanis stepped into the pod and reclined on the cushion. The lid closed over her and she knew no more.
Awareness came back rapidly, like a jolt of light driven into every corner of her mind. Tanis had been in stasis many times before, but had never been awoken in such an abrupt manner. Perhaps it was because of the time lapse in this case. Forty years was a significantly longer period than she had ever been under until now.
The pod lid was already opening and she eased out, marveling how she felt exactly as she had the moment she stepped in. She even felt the sense of fullness from the meal at the captain’s table.