by Ryk Brown
“Two dead ahead!” Loki reported. “They’re going after one of the SAR shuttles!”
“I’ll take those two,” Josh said. “You handle the ones at our three with the nose turret.”
“Got it!” Loki replied.
“Fuck,” Josh muttered as he looked out the forward windows. The Aurora was to his left, and the forward two thirds of the Celestia was to his right. He glanced out the right windows, looking past Loki, and saw the battered propulsion section of the Celestia. He looked at Loki, exchanging glances. “This is insane.”
“I know.”
Josh turned his attention forward again, as four shuttles departed the Celestia and made a run for a clear jump line out of the system. Two Jung fighters turned to attack the fleeing shuttles. “I don’t think so,” Josh said as he turned the Super Falcon toward them and pressed his firing button. Plasma torpedoes shot out on either side of the cockpit, passing behind the attacking fighters moving from his left to right. Josh continued firing as he tightened his turn, walking each successive round of plasma torpedoes closer to the Jung fighters. Finally he tagged the trailing fighter. But before he could tag the leading one, it exploded in a fireball, after which two Super Eagles flashed past their starboard side in the opposite direction.
“Shit!” Loki yelled.
“Cutting it a little close, aren’t they?” Josh muttered.
“We’ll take care of your jump drive,” Nathan insisted over the Celestia’s bridge loudspeakers. “Just get off that ship! The KKV will strike in two minutes!”
“Copy that,” Cameron replied over her comm-set. “We’re leaving now.” She rose from her command chair. “All right, people! Time to go!” Cameron stood and watched as her bridge staff left their posts and headed out for the exits. As soon as they were all gone, she followed Luis out the starboard exit.
As they stepped into the starboard airlock corridor, the ship suddenly lurched, throwing them against the left wall.
“Breach! Flight deck! Starboard side!” a voice called over her comm-set. Cameron struggled to follow the others. She could feel the gravity fluctuating under her feet as she stepped from the airlock corridor into the main corridor.
“The ramp auto-sealed!” Ensign Souza yelled from ahead.
“Around the corner, back this way!” Cameron yelled. “Down the ladder to B deck, then forward to the escape pods!” she explained, turning to lead the way. She ran as best she could, her gait thrown off by the variance in gravity fields from deck plate to deck plate.
Cameron rounded the corner to her left, ran a few more steps forward, then turned right and continued to the end of the short corridor. She popped open the hatch, revealing a microgravity tunnel that stretched from the fighter deck above to the lowest deck in the Celestia. “Here!” she ordered. “Down two decks to C, then forward through the primary bulkhead. Escape pods should be on your right as soon as you pass through the bulkhead!”
Luis stopped and looked at her. “You first, Captain!”
“No way!” Cameron objected. “The Captain is the last one off the ship!”
“Then I’m the second to the last!” he insisted.
“Suit yourself, Lieutenant!”
They watched as the other eleven members of the bridge staff dove down the microgravity tunnel, pulling their way quickly along the ladder. After the last one dove in, Luis followed, and then Cameron.
Cameron pulled herself along, rung by rung, at a steady pace, following the line of crewmen down to C deck. Finally, she came out of the tunnel onto the deck in a prone position, again being held by the deck’s artificial gravity plating.
Luis grabbed Cameron and helped her to her feet, pushing her through the bulkhead hatch. He stepped through after her, swung the hatch closed, and locked it.
They ran nearly all the way forward before they found the one escape pod that had not yet been launched.
There was a terrible twisting noise, followed by the screeching sound of metal being twisted and torn. The deck shifted, and the gravity plating failed, sending them spiraling in all directions. Cameron grabbed the railing and pulled herself toward the hatch to the escape pod, following the others. She looked behind her. Luis was only two meters away, struggling to make it to the hatch. Debris, tearing away from the decks and walls of the corridor swirled about, careening off the walls and ceiling.
Cameron managed to pull herself inside the escape pod hatch. She turned around to look for Luis, just as something tore through the bow of the ship with incredible force. There was a rush of escaping air, and Luis shot down the corridor with the rest of the debris, as everything was sucked out into space through the breach.
“LUIS!” Cameron cried out, reaching for him as the air around her was sucked out into space. Ensigns Souza and Kono grabbed their captain and pulled her into the escape pod, while Ensign Sperry closed the hatch behind them.
Seconds later, the Celestia’s last escape pod ejected.
“Direct hits on her bow!” Mister Navashee reported from the Aurora’s sensor station. “The last escape pod is away!”
“Kill that son of a bitch!” Nathan ordered.
“Give me ten to starboard and two down!” Jessica ordered the helmsman.
“Ten starboard, two down, aye,” Mister Chiles replied as he executed the change in course to bring their tubes to bear on the Jung cruiser that had just put a few hundred rail gun slugs into the bow of the Celestia.
“Firing all forward tubes!” Jessica reported.
“Mister Navashee! Tell me you have a data link with the Celestia’s self-destruct system!” Nathan said.
“Yes, sir, I do!”
“Target destroyed!” Jessica exclaimed.
“How long until the KKV hits?” Nathan asked.
“Thirty seconds!”
“Set it to blow in twenty!” Nathan ordered. “Helm, put us on a run out of here, full power! Don’t jump us until my order!”
“Yes, sir!” Mister Chiles replied.
“Comms! Tell all ships to jump to the departure rally point! NOW!” Nathan instructed.
“Aurora to all Alliance ships!” Naralena’s voice called over Josh and Loki’s comm-set. “Jump to Foxtrot One, immediately! Jump to Foxtrot One!”
“That’s it,” Loki declared. “Time to go!”
“Don’t gotta tell me twice,” Josh replied as he brought his throttles to full power and turned away from Zhu-Anok and toward open space.
“Jumping in three…” Loki began.
“Fuck that!” Josh replied, pushing the selector switch on his flight control stick up and pressing the jump button.
“Five seconds to detonation,” Mister Navashee announced from the Aurora’s sensor station.
Nathan watched the rear camera view on the Aurora’s main view screen as Nor-Patri, Zhu-Anok, and what was left of the Celestia, shrank away from them as they accelerated out into deep space. There was a bright white flash where the Celestia’s propulsion section had once been, as her antimatter reactors dropped their containment fields right on cue, destroying the jump drive along with everything within two thousand kilometers of it.
The flash only lasted a few seconds, and then it was gone. Five seconds later, the super jump KKV appeared from a flash of blue-white light, and slammed into Zhu-Anok, breaking the asteroid apart and taking the ring base along with it.
In the blink of an eye, Nathan had just killed close to a million Jung, and he didn’t feel the slightest bit of remorse. Is this what I’ve become?
Nathan stared at the destruction on the view screen for several seconds, then gave the order. “Jump us to the departure rally point, Mister Riley.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“General Bacca?” the ship’s pilot called from the doorway to the general’s quarters.
“Commander,” the general replied, looking up from his data pad.
“I hope I am not disturbing you, sir.”
“Not at all,” the general said, setting his data pad down o
n the table beside him. “In fact, you are a welcome distraction. I have been studying these signals from Earth too much. It is refreshing to speak Jung with someone. English is such a boring, utilitarian language, nowhere near as rich as our native tongue.”
“Of course.”
“What’s on your mind, Commander?”
“You asked me to inform you when we are only a few days out from Sol.”
“Indeed I did.”
“We are currently two point five Earth days from our planned drop-out point.”
“Excellent. Please, take the ship out of FTL long enough to put the high-speed comm-drone that we intercepted back on its way to Sol.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, General, to what end?”
“I wish the leaders of this Alliance to receive our leader’s so-called ‘call for peace’ prior to our arrival.”
“I was under the impression that you wished to deliver the message yourself,” the commander said.
“I had considered doing so, yes,” the general admitted. “However, considering the situation, and our recent history with the Terrans, they are more likely to, as they say, ‘shoot first and ask questions later.’ Not a very good way to start off a peace negotiation, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Indeed, sir,” the commander agreed. “What speed would you like the comm-drone to travel at?”
“Whatever speed gets it there at least a full day ahead of us, Commander.”
“Of course. I will see to it immediately.” The commander turned to depart, then stopped. “Pardon me, General. If I might make another inquiry?”
“Please.”
“You spoke of a ‘call for peace’? Does this mean that Jung Command is accepting defeat at the hands of the Terrans?”
“Doubtful,” the general replied. “It is more likely a ruse, a ploy intended to buy time so that Command can move more ships into the area so we can put these annoying people in their place, once and for all.”
“Then, there is still a chance?”
“A chance?” the general wondered.
“For us to save face, to avoid bringing shame to our caste.”
“You view failure as something to be ashamed of, Commander?”
“Of course.”
“Shame is cast by failure, only if those who failed did not learn from their mistakes, brush themselves off, and try again. You see, one can either accept defeat, or reject it and continue to try. While the latter does not guarantee honor, the former does guarantee disgrace.”
“But, I was taught that the Jung never surrender, that we fight to the death. We either succeed, or we die in the attempt.”
“Who is to say that the attempt is over, Commander?” the general said, a small smile on his weathered face.
The commander thought about the general’s words for a moment before leaving. “I will dispatch the comm-drone immediately, General.”
General Bacca picked up his data pad again. “Thank you, Commander.”
* * *
Nathan sat in his ready room doing nothing. His morning staff meeting was complete, his inspections of the post-battle repairs still in progress had been conducted, and the daily intelligence briefing from Karuzara had been read. He literally had nothing to do.
Or at least, nothing that he wanted to do.
It had been four days since they had attacked the Jung home system, and while it had been heralded as a major victory by all the worlds of the Alliance, the cost had been far greater than anticipated. Two ships had been lost, and a third badly damaged. Countless friends had died, including two of Nathan’s oldest and dearest.
He felt guilty for dwelling on the loss of two close friends, when several hundred members of the Alliance had also been lost. But it was the loss of Luis and Devyn that had hit him the hardest. Cameron would survive. She would be in the hospital for a few weeks, and would face at least a month of rehabilitation, but she would be back to her old self again. He only hoped that she would agree to be his executive officer again, now that she no longer had a ship, and since Commander Willard would soon be given command of the refurbished Scout One, to be called ‘Recon One’ instead.
Another thought had crossed his mind as well. Resignation. Once Cameron returned to duty, he could tender his resignation. He could leave the service and return to Earth. His grandfather’s home was still intact, for the most part. Even his old plane was there. It, like the house, was in need of repair, but it would be therapeutic for him. The fresh air, the hard work. And the idea of flying again…real ‘stick and rudder’ flying. That appealed to Nathan as well.
But it was still not over. It was true, they had dealt a devastating blow to the Jung, but no one yet knew what the Jung’s response to their attack would be. And until they knew, until he could be sure, he could not find peace.
The intercom panel in his desk beeped. “Flash traffic from Command,” Naralena said, a sense of urgency in her voice. “Long-range sensors have detected an object headed for Earth at eighty percent light. It just dropped out of FTL. Command suspects it could be a Jung weapon. They are requesting that we jump out to intercept.”
“General quarters. Break orbit and prepare an intercept jump,” Nathan ordered as he stood. “I’m on my way.”
“Aye, sir.”
Nathan moved quickly out of his ready room and onto the Aurora’s bridge. “Status,” he queried as he moved quickly from the back of the bridge toward his command chair located at the center.
“Breaking orbit now,” Miser Chiles reported from the helm.
“Jump point to intercept in twenty seconds,” Mister Riley added.
“Anything more on the object, Mister Navashee?” Nathan asked.
“No, sir. I’ve got the feed from the Karuzara’s long-range sensor array, but the object is so small, and so distant…”
“How distant?”
“About eighteen billion kilometers, sir,” Mister Navashee clarified. “It came out of FTL just inside the heliopause.”
“Could it be a weapon?” Nathan wondered.
“If it is, whoever sent it doesn’t know how to use it very well,” Jessica said as she entered the bridge and went straight to her usual station at the tactical console.
“On course and speed for intercept jump,” the helmsman reported.
“All departments report general quarters,” Naralena announced. “XO is in combat, chief of the boat is in damage control.”
“All weapons systems are charged and ready,” Jessica added.
“Very well,” Nathan said. “Mister Riley, jump us out there.”
“Aye, sir,” Mister Riley replied. “Jumping in three……two……one……jumping.”
Nathan slowly took his seat as the jump flash briefly illuminated the interior of the Aurora’s bridge.
“Jump complete,” Mister Riley reported.
“Contact,” Mister Navashee said. “I’ve got the object. One million kilometers and closing fast. It appears to be a Jung comm-drone.”
“Is it on a collision course with Earth?” Nathan wondered.
“No, sir,” Mister Navashee replied. “Captain, it’s changing its attitude. It’s flipping end over.”
“I’ve got locks on it with both forward plasma cannons, Captain,” Jessica reported.
“It’s firing its main engines,” Mister Navashee added. He turned to look at the captain. “I think it’s decelerating, sir.”
“Captain,” Naralena called from the comm station at the back of the bridge. “The object is transmitting. Omnidirectional, all frequencies… It’s in Jung.”
Nathan stood again, turning around to look at Naralena as she listened to the message. After a few seconds, he grew impatient. “Well?”
“I believe the message is from the Jung High Command… It could be ‘council’, the words are very similar. They are asking to begin negotiations… Captain, I think they’re offering a cease-fire.”
“Of course they are,” Jessica said. “We just kicked their as
s.”
“No,” Nathan disagreed. “Their top comm-drone speed is one hundred times light. There’s no way in hell that thing was launched after we attacked them. This thing must’ve been in flight for…” Nathan snapped his fingers several times. “Help me out with the math, here, Mister Riley.”
“Two hundred and forty-seven days, sir.”
“Like I said, it was sent before we attacked their homeworld. Long before we attacked.” Nathan thought about it for a moment. “Double that number for a round trip… This call for a cease-fire is probably in response to our retaking of Earth.”
“How the hell do we know if they still mean it?” Jessica wondered.
“There’s more,” Naralena interrupted. “They say they’ve already sent an envoy to begin negotiations, and that they will arrive shortly.”
“Did they say how soon?” Nathan asked.
“No, sir,” Naralena replied. “They also say that the probe is programmed to enter into a stable orbit around Earth, so that we may use it to send a message back to the Jung, if we wish.”
“No way in hell we’re letting that thing anywhere near Earth,” Jessica insisted.
“Agreed,” Nathan said. “Is that it?” he asked Naralena. “Nothing more?”
“No, sir. They clearly announced the end of the message.”
“Take it out,” Nathan ordered, stepping up to the front of the tactical console.
“Gladly,” Jessica replied. “Firing forward plasma turrets.”
“Comm-drone is destroyed,” Mister Navashee confirmed.
“Conduct a full sweep of the area,” Nathan ordered. “I want to be damned sure that drone wasn’t some kind of a Trojan horse.”
“A what?” Mister Navashee inquired, unfamiliar with the term.
“It’s a history thing,” Nathan replied. “Comms, load that message into one of our jump comm-drones and send it back to Command. Let them know we’re sweeping the area before we return.”
“You know what this means,” Nathan said to Jessica.
Jessica just looked at him and shrugged.