by Ryk Brown
“Eyes on!” Josh announced as their forward floodlights finally reached the massive boxcar ahead of them.
“Fifteen, still a little fast!” Loki warned. “Ten meters to threshold! Dropping our gear.”
Josh’s eyes were glued to the view ahead of them, as the gaping rectangular opening into the boxcar’s cargo pod rushed toward them, and then passed overhead.
“Four green on the gear! Threshold!” Loki announced. “Translate down!”
Josh didn’t answer, instead he pushed the translation switch on his flight control stick. A hissing sound came from above them, as their topside thrusters fired, pushing them down onto the cargo pod’s deck.
“We’re not going to stop in time!” Loki realized.
“Brace for impact!” Josh warned as he brought their deceleration thrusters up to full power, ignoring any damage they might cause to the interior of the cargo pod.
All three of them suddenly felt incredibly heavy.
“Their gravity has got us!” Loki exclaimed.
“Oh, shit!” Josh shouted as the back wall of the cargo pod rushed toward them.
The nose of the shuttle struck the back wall of the cargo pod. The nose crumpled and the window in front of Josh cracked, but did not shatter. All three of them felt themselves being thrown forward, but the sudden deceleration was not as intense as they had feared.
Alarms sounded, and they heard hissing.
Josh looked about frantically, slightly dazed by the impact. “We’re venting atmosphere!” he exclaimed.
“Get in the back!” Loki yelled as he climbed out of his seat.
“I’m right behind you!” Josh climbed out of his seat and followed Gerard and Loki into the makeshift cabin, closing and locking the hatch to the cockpit behind him.
“Damn!” Josh said as he collapsed onto his bunk. He laughed. “Any landing you can walk away from, right?”
“We can’t walk away from this one, Josh,” Loki reminded him. “The cargo bay isn’t pressurized, remember?”
“No problem,” Josh insisted. “They’ll jump us back to Earth and land at Porto Santo. That’ll take what, an hour, tops? We’ve got plenty of air to last until then.”
“He’s right,” Gerard said. “We made it, Loki.” Gerard smiled.
Loki let his head fall back against the bulkhead. “Yup… The longest four days of my life.”
* * *
Robert Nash stood in his office at the Cobra gunship base on the asteroid orbiting Tanna. He had spent the last six months training the Tannans to operate their new gunships, and he had enjoyed every moment of it. Soon, the office would belong to his executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Rano, as would the responsibility to both train and command the Cobra gunship wing.
Robert found it odd that he felt such an attachment to this office, since he had actually spent very little time in it. Most of his time had been split between the training facility at the Cobra production plant on the surface of Tanna, or in the cockpit of a gunship as he led his crews through countless training flights. Still, the office was a symbol of his command, and he had grown an unexpected pride for it.
A knock sounded at the open door. Robert looked up and saw Lieutenant Commander Rano. “Izzu.”
“Robert. Are you all packed?”
“Just picking up the last of my things here.” Robert noticed the new rank insignia on his friend’s collar. “Well, now. I see it’s Commander Rano now. Congratulations, my friend.” Robert stepped out from behind his desk to shake the commander’s hand. “You deserve it, Iz.”
“Thank you,” the commander replied. “And thank you for recommending me for promotion.”
“Like I said, you deserve it,” Robert said, patting his friend on the shoulder. Robert leaned back onto his desk. “So, you ready to take over?”
“I’m not sure. It is a big responsibility, you know.”
“Believe me, I know,” Robert assured him. “But you’ll do fine. Of that I have zero doubt.”
“Your faith in me is reassuring, Robert.” Commander Rano sat down in the chair against the wall. “So, are you looking forward to your new command?”
“Yes, and no,” Robert admitted. “I’m going to miss this place, and all you people. Tanna kind of grows on you, you know?”
“Is it not every officer’s dream?” Izzu wondered, “to command a great ship?”
“It’s only a frigate, Iz.”
“Still, it is much bigger than a gunship, is it not?”
“Indeed it is.”
“Well, I am certain that you will…”
Alarm klaxons sounded in the corridor, and the alert lamps turned from standard white to red.
“Attention. Attention,” a Tannan voice announced over the loudspeakers. “General quarters. General quarters. All crews to your stations. Prepare to launch gunships. This is not a drill.”
Robert tapped his comm-set. “Nash. Status?”
“Sensor contact, on the edge of the system,” the comm officer replied over Robert’s comm-set. “No identification yet, but there is no transponder signal being broadcast. Profiles suggest Jung scout ships. Two of them.”
“How likely is it for a pair of Jung scout ships to show up by themselves?” Robert asked Commander Rano.
“Unlikely,” the commander replied. “We are too far out on the fringe. This system was taken by the Jung to act as a refueling and resupply outpost before heading out of the sector. When traveling this far out, fleet commanders like to send scouts ahead before arriving, just to be safe. If they are Jung scout ships, it is likely bigger ships will follow.”
“How many gunships do we have in port?” Robert asked.
“Sixteen, including ours,” Commander Rano replied. “Five more are down for service, and the other eight are on patrol. Cobra Three Zero just rolled off the line yesterday, and is still on the surface.”
Robert tapped his comm-set again. “Scramble eight gunships. Tell them to take the scouts by surprise and destroy with maximum force. No one escapes. Put the other eight on ready alert. Send mini-jump comm-drones to all ships on patrol, and vector them to hunt for more incoming ships. If there are more of them coming, I want to know how many and when.”
“Right away, sir.”
“And dispatch a jump comm-drone to Sol. Notify Alliance command of the situation, and tell them we’ll update as the situation changes.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Izzu, recall all crews from the surface, and bring up any of the trainees who have at least twenty hours in the sims, just in case. Tell your mechanics to get those five ships ready for action, pronto. And tell the production plant to get Cobra Three Zero into orbit as soon as possible. Captain Annatah and his crew are down there teaching basic flight right now. They can fly Cobra Three Zero up.”
“Then you believe more ships are coming?”
“I hope not,” Robert replied, “but if they are, we need to be ready. We can handle scouts. We can handle frigates. Hell, we can probably even handle a cruiser or two. But if they send anything bigger…” Robert and Commander Rano exchange concerned, knowing looks. “Help is a long way away, I’m afraid.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Admiral Dumar sat at the conference table, examining the images as Lieutenant Commander Bowden described them.
“Our biggest concern should be that moon,” the lieutenant commander said. “The thing is big enough to hold at least one hundred ships, easily. We counted at least twenty mooring stations, and at least ten bays large enough to hold a battleship… And that’s just on the side that we could see.”
“So, what’s your total estimated force strength?” Admiral Dumar asked.
“Based solely on what we could directly observe, there were six battle platforms, twelve battleships, thirty-eight cruisers—eleven of which were of a larger type that we have not seen before—and more than sixty frigates.”
Admiral Dumar sighed. “To be honest, that’s a lot more than I thought.”
&n
bsp; “Me, too,” Gerard agreed. “And that’s just what we could see. For all we know, there are even more ships inside that ring. Frankly, I’m starting to wonder if the reports that Jung ships were built in many different locations throughout the Jung Empire are just rumors. I mean, why would you have that many ships in one system, unless you were building them there.” Gerard changed images. “Look at how some of these ships are just lined up next to each other in orbit. We can’t tell from these images, of course, but I’d bet they’re all joined together.”
“Like a standby fleet?”
“Maybe. Or it could be something else. Something much worse. Like an invasion force.”
“Don’t you think you’re reaching a bit, Lieutenant Commander?”
“Am I? Other than us, the Jung have no legitimate challengers to their power. And they sure as hell didn’t build all those ships just to control this sector. Hell, they could do it with half that number, even as slow as twenty times light. I think those ships were built to control much more than just the Sol sector.”
“You think they’re planning on pushing further out into the galaxy.”
“For all we know, they already have. Other than the route between the Sol and Pentaurus sectors, we haven’t reconnoitered anything further out than fifty light years, except the Jung system. We’ve just assumed that their efforts were concentrated on this sector. We could just be one of several neighboring sectors that the Jung have either conquered, or are planning on conquering.”
Admiral Dumar turned to Jessica, who had been quiet the entire time. “What is your assessment, Lieutenant Commander?”
“I agree with Lieutenant Commander Bowden. I don’t believe the forces in the Jung system were built solely for conquering the Sol sector. I believe this is solid evidence that the Jung have a much bigger agenda.”
“How far do you think they have spread?” the admiral wondered.
“Given the amount of time it takes to build such facilities, and to build ships, as well as their top speed of twenty times light, they couldn’t have gotten too far, at least not yet,” Jessica insisted. “The problem is, we don’t know enough about where the populated systems are. The Jung could have expanded in an even sphere, or in branches stretching out from one inhabited system to another. I’m betting the latter, since we’ve already seen that pattern in the Sol sector.”
An alert tone sounded through the intercom.
“Admiral, Comms. Priority traffic.”
Dumar tapped his comm-set. “This is Dumar.”
“Message from Tanna, sir,” the comm officer began. “Two Jung scouts have entered the 72 Herculis system. Captain Nash has dispatched gunships to intercept and destroy, but he suspects they are advance scouts for a larger incoming force.”
“Did he indicate an estimated time of arrival for the additional forces?”
“Negative, sir. They are sending gunships to search the expected arrival route, based on the general direction that the scouts arrived from. They have promised to update us as the situation changes.”
“Mister Bryant, are you on the line?”
“Yes, Admiral, I’m here,” Mister Bryant replied.
“Position of our ships?”
“Aurora and Celestia are already breaking orbit in anticipation of your order to reinforce Tanna. The Jar-Benakh and the Kent are in the Tau Ceti system.”
“Clear the Aurora and Celestia for Tanna, and have the Jar-Benakh and the Kent return to Sol. We’ll wait for an update from Captain Nash before moving them to Tanna as well.”
“Yes, sir,” Mister Bryant acknowledged.
“Also, order all Super Falcons to jump ahead to Tanna. It’s not much, but it is a few more guns, just in case.”
“Yes, Admiral.”
Admiral Dumar turned to Jessica. “Take the Mirai to Tanna. See to the safety of Doctor Sorenson. Bring her and her family back here, if you think it’s necessary. We cannot allow harm to come to her, or worse yet, allow her to fall into enemy hands.”
“Yes, sir,” Jessica replied, rising from her seat to depart.
“What would you like me to do, Admiral?” Gerard asked.
“Keep studying that data,” Admiral Dumar instructed. “I want you to squeeze every bit of knowledge you can from what you have collected.”
“You’re thinking about attacking the Jung homeworld, aren’t you, sir?”
“I’m just looking for options, Lieutenant Commander, and it’s your job to find them for me.”
* * *
“Message from Karuzara,” Naralena said as Nathan entered the Aurora’s bridge from his ready room. “They are requesting that we send our Super Falcons ahead to Tanna… The Celestia’s as well.”
“Notify flight ops. They can launch once we reach the layover point,” Nathan replied. “Any word from Lieutenant Commander Nash?”
“Yes, sir. She’s been ordered to take the Mirai to Tanna and evacuate Doctor Sorenson and her family back to Porto Santo. She will join us at the layover point after she completes her assignment.”
“Very well.” Nathan continued forward, passing the tactical station. “Looks like you’re primary TO for now, Mister Sorro.”
“Yes, sir,” the young lieutenant replied nervously.
“Jump one is plotted,” Mister Riley reported. “Ship is on course and speed for the jump.”
“Comms, notify the Celestia we are jumping,” Nathan instructed. “Mister Riley, execute your first jump.”
“Aye, sir,” the navigator replied. “Jump one, in five seconds.”
Nathan tapped his comm-set as he took his seat. “Cheng, Captain,” he called over his comm-set.
“Three…”
“Go ahead, sir,” Vladimir replied.
“Two…”
“After the jump, I want to shut down all nonessential systems…”
“One…”
“…so that we can charge both jump drives simultaneously.”
“Jumping.”
“We can do that, right?” Nathan asked, as the jump flash briefly illuminated the interior of the bridge.
“Jump complete,” Mister Riley reported. “Calculating next jump.”
“Yes,” Vladimir replied, “but you will not be able to conduct normal flight operations, and you will not have active sensors. We will basically be cold-coasting.”
“But that will get both drives recharged in eight hours, correct?”
“Seven and a half, actually,” Vladimir corrected.
“Can we interrupt the process to restore flight operations temporarily, if need be?” Nathan asked.
“It will delay the recharge, but it is not a problem.”
“Great. We’ll go cold as soon as we launch the Falcons. Be ready.”
“I will.”
“Jump two is plotted and ready,” Mister Riley reported.
“Contact,” Mister Navashee reported. “The Celestia just arrived. Fifty kilometers to starboard, a few kilometers below. Same course and speed.”
“Captain,” Mister Riley interrupted, “jump protocols only require seven percent energy remaining upon arrival…”
“In case we have to do battle. I know, Mister Riley, I wrote them,” Nathan finished.
“That’s about a light year’s worth of jumps, sir. When is the last time we used that much jump energy in a single battle? From the recharge layover point, we’ll only be nineteen light years from Tanna. We won’t need a full charge to get there.”
“How much will we need?” Nathan asked.
“By my calculations, five and a half hours.”
“Are you sure?”
“I haven’t run the numbers yet, to be sure, sir,” Mister Riley admitted, “but we’ll have plenty of time to do so at the layover point.”
Nathan turned toward Naralena. “Comms, relay our plans to cold-coast to speed up the recharge to the Celestia,” Nathan ordered. “And let them know that we expect to jump to Tanna in five and a half hours.”
“Yes, sir,” N
aralena replied.
Nathan turned back to face the front of the ship. “You may have just saved us two hours, Mister Riley. Well done.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Celestia has received the message,” Naralena confirmed.
“Very well. Take us to the recharge layover point, Mister Riley.”
* * *
Jessica stood in the middle of the Mirai’s cockpit as she completed the last jump.
“We are now in the 72 Herculis system,” Ensign Nambianno announced.
“I’m picking up a lot of traffic in orbit over Tanna,” Sergeant Liamo reported from the sensor station. “Mostly cargo jump ships and jump shuttles…”
“Get Cobra operations on comms,” Jessica ordered.
“One moment,” Sergeant Isan replied.
“More jump flashes,” the sensor operator reported. “Eight of them. Super Falcons.”
“Comms, belay last. Open hail.” Jessica paused a moment to let the sergeant set up her comm-set. “Falcon One, Mirai. Do you copy?”
“Mirai, Falcon One. Is that you, Lieutenant Commander?” Loki replied over the comms.
“Yes, it’s Nash. What are your orders?”
“We’re here to reinforce the Tannans as best we can until the Aurora and the Celestia get here.”
“What’s their ETA?”
“Roughly seven hours. They’re running cold, on backup fusion reactors only, so they can recharge both drives simultaneously.”
“I’ve got Cobra operations, Captain Nash, on the comms, sir,” Sergeant Isan told Jessica.
“Stand by one, Loki,” Jessica instructed. She signaled the sergeant to switch her to the other channel. “Cobra Ops, Mirai, Lieutenant Commander Nash. What’s your situation?”
“Mirai, Cobra Ops, Captain Nash. We took out the scouts without any problem. We’re currently searching for other Jung ships.”
“Bowden says those scouts are short range, so the ships they came from cannot be far away…a few hours at the most,” Jessica told him.
“That’s pretty much what we were thinking as well. We just received word from Alliance Command that the Aurora and the Celestia are at least seven to eight hours out.”
“Yeah, we heard the same. Any idea what’s going on with those cargo ships?”