by Ryk Brown
“Coming up on initial impacts plus thirty,” Mister Navashee announced.
“Jump us in,” Nathan ordered.
“Jumping.”
Nathan closed his eyes briefly as the jump flash illuminated the bridge for a split second.
“Jump complete.”
Nathan opened his eyes.
“Range to target, one hundred meters!” Mister Navashee reported. “Her midship shields are down to twenty percent!”
Nathan stared at the main view screen as the Jung battleship’s starboard side slid across, filling it from side to side.
“Those are some impressive shields!” Jessica commented.
“Jump flash! The Celestia jumped in above us,” Mister Navashee reported.
“Firing position in five seconds,” Jessica added.
“Fire when ready,” Nathan instructed.
The Aurora slid sideways alongside the massive Jung battleship, approaching from her stern, forty-five degrees below her. The Celestia was sliding sideways as well, but approaching from the battleship’s bow, sliding aft, forty-five degrees above the enemy vessel.
The Aurora was the first to open fire, firing triplets from her forward mark three plasma torpedo cannons, as well as her new mark five torpedo cannons under her bow. In addition, all four of her forward, quad-barreled, plasma cannon turrets opened up, sending a constant stream of plasma bolts pouring into the battleship’s starboard midship shield.
The enemy ship’s shields turned a bright yellow as both ships continued to pound away at her failing shield. The battleship swung every gun it had onto its attackers…their dorsal guns taking aim on the Celestia, and their ventral guns firing at the Aurora. But both ships were nose-toward-target, giving the battleship very poor firing angles which greatly reduced the effect of their rail gun slugs on the Alliance ships’ shields.
All three ships’ shields glowed and shimmered as their strengths were tested. The Jung’s a brilliant yellow, and the Alliance ships’ a pale blue.
Nathan watched as the flashing shields of both ships lit up his bridge. Never before had he brought his ship so close to an enemy target in order to sit there and slug it out. The view was almost mesmerizing, filling the entire spherical view screen. He looked up, and could barely make out the Celestia high above him as she fired away, her image obscured by both ships’ shimmering shields.
Then there was a brilliant white flash of light.
“Target’s shield is down!” Mister Navashee reported.
Nathan’s attention returned to the middle of the view screen, as the Aurora’s plasma torpedoes tore into the hull of the battleship, as it began to slide to the right.
“Target is accelerating!” Mister Navashee said. “She’s making a run for FTL! She’s charging her mass-canceling fields!”
“Celestia has ceased firing!” Jessica added. “They’re yawing to starboard! We’re losing our firing solution!”
“Full translation to starboard, Mister Chiles!” Nathan ordered.
“Starboard translation at full!”
The rate at which the Jung battleship slid to their right decreased almost immediately, but did not stop.
“Keep our tubes on them!” Nathan insisted.
“Celestia is firing her mains!” Mister Navashee reported. “She’s accelerating past the target. She’s… She’s moving in front of the battleship, sir!”
“They’re trying to block them from running!” Nathan realized.
“We can’t translate fast enough to keep up with her,” Mister Chiles warned, “and if I yaw to keep our tubes on her, we can’t use our translation…”
“The broadside cannons!” Jessica yelled.
“Helm! Return our nose to flight path and fire up the mains!” Nathan instructed. “Bring us level with the target and bring our port broadside cannons in line with her midship!”
“Aye, sir!” the helmsman replied.
“I’ll bring in all our portside guns as well,” Jessica said, “top and bottom!”
“Fire at will!” Nathan ordered.
The Celestia pulled ahead of the fleeing Jung battleship and turned to put herself directly in the path of the ship, about eight hundred meters ahead of her and matching her speed. She then swung her nose around, flying backwards, and used her deceleration thrusters to accelerate at the same rate as the Jung battleship.
“Target is still accelerating,” Ensign Kono reported from the Celestia’s sensor station.
“Doesn’t matter,” Cameron replied. “As long as we’re in front of her, she can’t go to FTL.”
“Are you sure about that?” Lieutenant Delaveaga challenged as he continued to fire the Celestia’s plasma torpedo cannons.
“She’s right!” Ensign Kono confirmed. “We’ve got too much mass! If they go to FTL, they’ll collide with us, and their mass-canceling fields will fail! The result would be catastrophic!”
“Yeah, for us as well!” Luis replied.
“They’re closing on us,” Ensign Sperry warned.
“We’re already at full power on decel engines!” Ensign Hunt added.
“Can we flip back over and go to our mains?” Cameron asked.
“No, sir!” Ensign Sperry replied. “She’d ram us before we completed our end-over.”
“That’s what she wants,” Cameron realized. “How badly will they be damaged if they collide with us at our current closure rate?”
“Plenty of damage,” Ensign Kono replied. “But I’m pretty sure we’ll get the worst of it.”
“She’s right!” the systems officer confirmed. “Our forward shields are at fifty percent and falling!”
“Target’s forward shields are at eighty-four percent, and falling slowly,” Ensign Kono added.
“The Aurora is pulling alongside the target!” Lieutenant Delaveaga reported from the Celestia’s tactical station. “They’re going to broadside guns!”
“How long before they ram us?” Cameron asked.
“Ninety seconds!” Ensign Kono replied.
“Be ready on that escape jump, Mister Sperry.”
“We’ll be jumping along the same course as the target, sir!” the navigator replied. “If we execute a standard escape jump, and they go to FTL…”
“Set your escape jump range to one light hour!” Cameron ordered. “That will give us plenty of time to get out of their way!”
“The target is still accelerating toward the Celestia!” Mister Navashee reported from the Aurora’s sensor station. “Target has dropped all shields except for those around her bow! She’s channeling all her power into her forward shields!”
“Keep firing everything you can, Jess!” Nathan ordered. “We’ve got to crack her open before she goes to FTL! She’s betting she can win this race!”
“I am, sir!” Jessica replied. “But that bitch has got one thick-ass hull!”
“At her current rate of acceleration, the target will collide with the Celestia in one minute!”
“She’ll jump out of the way, right?” Jessica wondered.
“I sure as hell hope so,” Nathan replied.
“Jump flashes!” Mister Navashee reported with excitement. “Six Super Falcons! Aft of the target, three kilometers and closing!”
“Comms!” Nathan called. “Tell them to fire on her main propulsion!”
“Aye, sir!” Naralena replied.
“Our port shields are down to fifty percent across the board!” the systems officer warned, as the enemy ship continued to pound the Aurora’s shields with her massive rail guns.
“Falcons are firing!” Mister Navashee announced. “Target is bringing her aft guns around to target the Falcons.”
“Oh, fuck!” Loki exclaimed. “They’re bringing their aft guns around! Two and Three! Target those guns! Quickly!” Loki instructed over the comms. “Everyone! Take evasive actions, but keep firing!”
Josh began maneuvering the Super Falcon about wildly, while keeping their nose pointed at the target, as he continued to f
ire their plasma torpedoes at the Jung battleship’s main propulsion section. “We gotta slide in close!” Josh insisted. “They won’t be able to touch us!”
“We’ll be in the thrust wash, Josh!”
“It’s better than being in their cross hairs! Besides, we’ve got shields, remember!” Josh didn’t wait for Loki’s agreement, dialing up a jump range of two and a half kilometers and pushing his selector switch up.
“Falcons have jumped!” Mister Navashee reported. “They jumped in closer to the target!”
“They’re getting in tight so the target’s aft guns can’t get a solution on them!” Jessica realized.
“They did it!” Mister Navashee exclaimed. “The battleship has lost main propulsion! She’s no longer accelerating!”
“Comms, tell them to keep firing!” Nathan ordered. “Mister Navashee, how long until they collide?”
“She’s still closing on them,” Mister Navashee replied. “Maybe fifty seconds now.”
“They might have enough time to flip over and use their mains,” Jessica suggested.
“Secondaries!” Mister Navashee reported. “Several of them!”
“Target’s losing all forward shields!” Jessica added.
“They’re losing main power!” Mister Navashee continued.
“Keep firing,” Nathan ordered with determination. He slowly rose to his feet, staring at the main view screen as it displayed the view from the portside cameras. Chunks of the Jung battleship’s hull flew in every direction as balls of plasma fired from the Aurora’s broadside cannons tore into the target. More secondary explosions deep within the battleship ripped her apart, from the inside out.
The Aurora’s shields suddenly stopped flashing and shimmering.
“Target is no longer firing,” Mister Navashee reported. “They’ve lost all power, Captain. Main and secondary.”
The nose of the great battleship suddenly exploded, destroying the entire forward quarter of the ship.
“The Celestia hit their missile bays!” Mister Navashee reported. “The target is slowing. Collision is no longer imminent.”
“Cease-fire while we bring our tubes back onto what’s left of her,” Nathan instructed. “Comms, tell the Falcons to disengage and stand clear. Same goes for the Celestia.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Forward cameras, please,” Nathan instructed as he stared at the main view screen.
“They’re doomed, Captain,” Mister Navashee said. “That explosion slowed them down enough that their orbit will decay in a few days. They’ll burn up in the atmosphere.”
“I don’t care,” Nathan replied coldly, as he watched the battleship slide to the middle of the main view screen once again. “Helm, back us away to avoid debris. Tactical. All forward tubes and guns. Full power, singles. Let’s finish this.”
“Full power singles on all forward tubes. All forward guns. Firing,” Jessica replied.
Nathan stood there and watched, along with everyone on the Aurora’s bridge, while the Jung ship that destroyed Tanna broke up, and finally exploded under the Aurora’s heavy bombardment.
* * *
Nathan entered the Aurora’s main hangar bay located directly below her main flight deck. Normally full of Super Eagles, Super Falcons, and various types of jump shuttles, it was now full of evacuees from Tanna. Medical teams, jump-shuttled in from both Earth and Tau Ceti, triaged Tannans and Terrans alike as they unloaded the shuttles still sitting in the elevator airlocks. The triage started with radiation scans meant to separate those with lower dosages who could wait for treatment, from those with higher dosages who needed immediate nanite therapy to prevent death. Once categorized by the radiation teams, they went to medical triage. Those who could walk moved under their own power through the registration line where volunteers provided food, water, and comfort while the identities of the refugees were logged. Those whose injuries prevented them from walking were further divided into immediate and delayed treatment groups.
It had been less than two hours since the last Jung ship bombarding Tanna had been destroyed, after which the search and rescue operations on the surface of Tanna had begun in earnest. The Jung had only managed to bombard two thirds of the planet, but it was enough to guarantee that it would be uninhabitable for decades to come, if not centuries. Boxcars were already shuttling Tannans from the one third of Tanna that had not been directly attacked, back to Earth as quickly as possible in order to return and load up again. There were still tens of thousands of people on the surface who, although not directly attacked, were at great risk of radiation exposure if not evacuated in short order.
Two hours, and the Aurora had already taken more than one thousand wounded onto her decks. Troop and cargo jump shuttles, hastily converted into medical transports, were ferrying the wounded stable enough to survive a few more hours without treatment back to Earth, while those in immediate need were being treated anywhere they could. In the medical departments of the Aurora and the Celestia, in the corridors, even in the hangar bay itself…the wounded were everywhere. The goal was simple: stabilize them enough to move them to Earth.
Nathan couldn’t imagine how Earth was reacting to the events on Tanna. Every Alliance world was offering help. Food, shelter, clothing, water, medical care, housing…anything and everything they could share, they were willing to provide to the people of Tanna.
Although the scene in his hangar deck seemed like a chaotic mess, Nathan knew that it was anything but. His medical staff, led by Doctor Chen, had recently conducted such mass casualty drills, and in this very bay. They had a system, and they had rehearsed it. Now those efforts were paying dividends that could not be adequately measured.
Jessica suddenly ran past him. Nathan watched her run toward the starboard, forward elevator airlock as it opened. A cargo shuttle was inside, its aft end pointing toward the bay so that its passengers could be offloaded down its cargo ramp and directly into the hangar bay.
Commander Telles came walking down the ramp, carrying an injured young woman.
Nathan headed toward the commander, breaking into a run within a few steps.
Jessica ran up to the commander as he stepped out of the elevator airlock and carefully placed the injured woman onto the deck. “Oh, my God, Synda,” Jessica gasped, kneeling down next to her and brushing Synda’s hair back from her eyes. A nearby medical team noticed that the commander had carried in the wounded girl himself, and immediately ran to her side to provide aid. They pushed Jessica back out of the way and started working frantically on the badly wounded young woman.
Jessica knelt down a meter beyond the medical team, her hands cupped over her mouth, her face twisted with anguish as she watched them try to save her friend’s life.
As Nathan stepped up behind Jessica, he saw Synda turn her head toward Jessica and open her eyes. Synda looked at Jessica and tried to speak, but could only cough, small amounts of blood and tissue spewing from her lips as she did so. Synda’s eyes were pleading for help.
Nathan looked down at Jessica, as she lay face down on the deck straining to reach her friend’s hand. Despite the objections of the medical team, Jessica finally managed to take Synda’s hand and squeeze it firmly. As she did so, Synda’s eyes went blank and motionless. Her breathing stopped. Jessica watched as the light in Synda’s eyes faded away, and her grip on Jessica’s hand went limp. The medical team worked frantically to revive Synda, but her injuries were too severe, and there were so many others who needed their help…others who had a chance to live, if they received care in a timely fashion. For Synda, all hope was gone.
Jessica’s face fell, her arms wrapped around her head, as she lay motionless on the deck.
Sergeant Lazo came down the ramp from the cargo shuttle, carrying an infant wrapped in a medical blanket. The baby started crying, startled as it came from the more quiet environment of the small cargo shuttle, into the noisier environment of the massive hangar bay bustling with activity.
Jessica heard the
baby’s cries and raised her head. She spotted the sergeant, and immediately got to her feet and moved quickly toward him, taking the baby from his arms. Jessica looked at the child, recognizing the tiny face. “Give her to me,” she said softly.
Sergeant Lazo handed the crying infant over to Jessica.
“There, there,” Jessica cooed. She looked at the sergeant. “Where’s the other one?” she asked.
Sergeant Lazo looked at Commander Telles, unsure of what to say.
“The other child did not survive,” Commander Telles told her. “This one lived only because her father attempted to shield them all from the blast with his own body.”
Jessica’s eyes were welling up with tears as she rocked the baby in her arms, trying to calm the terrified child down.
“I am so sorry, Jessica,” Commander Telles said.
Jessica looked at the commander, then turned to look at Nathan as he moved closer to her. “I don’t even know which one she is,” Jessica whispered, choking back her tears. “Ania or Esma. I think it’s Ania,” she said, starting to weep, “I’m just not sure.”
Nathan put his arm around her, and led Jessica and the infant slowly toward the exit.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Admiral Dumar sat at the head of the conference table in the command briefing room deep inside the Karuzara asteroid base, listening to representatives from each of the Alliance worlds within the Sol sector.
“The fact is, this could happen to any of us,” the representative from Weldon insisted. “Once routine communications are lost with a Jung world, it is only a matter of time until a fleet of ships comes to investigate.”
“The only reason a fleet of ships arrived in the 72 Herculis system was because they were on their way out of the system,” the representative from Beta Hydri argued. “Until a few years ago, we never had more than a single Jung ship in our system.”
“You don’t know that for sure,” the representative from Weldon replied. “They could have been responding to a report made when the first Falcon appeared in the system. More than enough time has passed since then for…”