“Impact in six-five-four-three-two-one.”
Jess observed a brief flash. And then something struck their vessel.
~ ~ ~
“This is Captain Wu to Command and Control. The target has been eliminated.”
51
Terran Space
Kipper could see her target. She grinned broadly. By all indications, Wu hadn’t noticed her yet.
“You think you’re the only one that can sneak up on someone?” she asked softly. “Guess you didn’t grow up with Cavanaugh for a big brother.” This had to be the first time she’d been grateful for anything relating to her worthless sand toad of a brother.
And then she saw something that made her cry out: a bright flash, quickly extinguished in the airless confines of space.
“No, no, no!” she shouted.
Quickly, she checked her instruments. The panel indicated the Star Shark was still present. But so was Wu’s ship. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but whatever that had been, it didn’t matter anymore. Wu had slipped into range. She fired a missile.
~ ~ ~
“It worked! It worked!” Pavel was shouting, cackling gleefully. “Wu’s missile totally went after the chair!”
“What was that thump on the hull?” Jess asked her brother. “It felt like something hit us.” She glanced through several screens, looking for signs of damage.
“They’ll have to put your decoy-projectile thing in the Academy curriculum now,” said Pavel, beaming.
“Get your harness attached right now,” Jessamyn shouted to Pavel.
“Most likely,” Zussman replied to Jess, “it was some part of your brother’s chair which struck our hull after exploding.”
“I am checking for pressure loss in our vessel,” said Ethan.
But Jess already knew the ship was fine. She could feel it in her gut.
And then she felt something else in the pit of her stomach. Almost like another set of eyes in the sky. Her own eyes darted to her display. “Specialist Jaarda, please confirm what I’m seeing.”
Her brother’s voice, as always, reported the bad news with a lack of inflection. “I confirm laser fire.”
Jess gave commands to her vessel to return to full power. Until it did, they were little better than a rock sailing on an unchangeable trajectory.
“Hades, Hades, Hades!” she shouted, pounding a fist on her nav panel.
~ ~ ~
Captain Wu’s attention was divided between his desire to understand what, exactly, he had just destroyed and his need to answer Command and Control.
“This is Command and Control. Please confirm mission accomplished.”
His blood pressure climbed. He breathed in and out several times, furious with himself.
“This is Command and Control. Please confirm mission accomplished. Over.”
Wu replied. “Negative. The missile struck a decoy of some sort. I’m engaging the laser cannon. The target appears to be dead in the water.”
“It could be a trap, sir. Approach with caution.”
“They have no weapons,” snapped Wu, irritated. However, he’d already fallen for one “trap” of sorts.
Engaging his engines at maximum, Wu approached the enemy ship. He was pleased by his ability to withstand the g’s with nothing worse than a few spots in his peripheral vision.
Then his instrument panel began blaring a warning signal. He read his display and swore. “I have an incoming missile. Taking defensive measures.”
Wu shut off the laser cannon, releasing a spray of debris from the aft of the ship. He turned hard to port, curving into a climb.
How was it possible he’d been fired upon? A Star Shark had no capacity for weapons, especially not missiles.
Command and Control contacted him just as he discovered the answer himself.
“We are seeing a second vehicle. A transport with arms. They refuse to answer our hails. You are to assume the transport is hostile.”
Yes, thought Wu as he fled for his life, I think I can assume that.
~ ~ ~
Jessamyn muttered to her ship, “Come on, come on, come on,” as Ethan relayed an update.
“The hull remains intact,” he said. “And the laser cannon fire has ceased.”
Jessamyn didn’t like that she had no explanation as to why the laser had ceased. What was Wu up to now?
The Star Shark’s engines flared to life, and Jess pulled up, hoping for a new opportunity to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere without Wu tailing her. “Pavel, seal the jettison hatch,” she called, thinking of the part of the ship most likely to cause a hull breach if the lasers reengaged.
“The second ship has fired,” reported Ethan.
“Oh, just great,” snapped Jess.
“We do not appear to be the target of the second aggressor,” said her brother.
“Could it be the Ghost?” asked Pavel.
“Oh, please no,” said Jess. They couldn’t head for re-entry if it was the Ghost. He wouldn’t know the first thing about engaging an enemy in space.
~ ~ ~
Kipper watched her missile as it stayed its course, adjusting to the movement of her target. She was so close. If she could just catch Wu before he had a chance to fire again!
“Shizer,” she murmured a moment later.
The missile, seeing the debris Wu released, mistook that for the target. She saw the explosion and changed course to intercept her quarry again. She had lost the element of surprise. So be it. She still had one last trick up her sleeve. She was ready.
Flicking on her comm to an unencrypted channel normally reserved for SOS’s, Kipper shouted at her opponent. “Say your prayers, Vladim Wu. I’m coming for you.”
~ ~ ~
Wu heard the taunt over his comm. So did Command and Control.
“What was that, Captain Wu?”
Wu ignored both taunt and question.
“The secondary vessel is coming too close for missiles,” he reported instead. “I am switching to laser cannon. Should the opportunity present itself, I will launch another missile.”
For now, his original target could wait. It wasn’t like that ship had anything in terms of ordnance to toss at him. Whatever his missile had hit, it wasn’t loaded. No, the second ship had clearly arrived as back-up to protect Pavel. Could it be the Martian pilot?
Wu grinned. Taking out both these prizes might well earn him something more than just a re-promotion to his previous status. The second ship was definitely flying with the red-haired pilot’s disregard for safety protocols. What kind of crazy flight school were they operating on Mars?
“Come on, then,” he said softly. “Just a little closer and you’re mine.”
~ ~ ~
Jessamyn and her crew heard Kipper’s taunt over the shared frequency.
“It’s Kipper!” cried Jessamyn. “That voice — it’s Kip!”
“Affirmative,” said her brother.
“What are you doing here, you crazy Marsian?” muttered Jess. “Can we get her on a secure channel?”
“I am attempting it,” said her brother. “She is flying dangerously close to Major Wu’s vessel.”
“She’s smart,” said Jess. “He can’t fire a missile if she’s too close.”
“He can utilize the laser cannon,” replied her brother.
Jessamyn shrugged. “A fat lot of good that will do him,” she said. “Kip won’t sit around long enough for any real damage.” At least, Jess hoped she wouldn’t. Unless she was having a hard time making critical decisions. Jess examined Kipper’s trajectory; something was off.
“She’ll get herself killed, flying like that!” shouted Jess. “Get me Kipper on a secure channel now!”
~ ~ ~
Kipper saw the laser cannon make a pass along her front hull. He clearly expected her to continue past. Wu had no idea what she was prepared to do. If he’d known, he would’ve kept that laser trained on the front of her ship, perhaps disabling her vessel.
“Too late
now,” she said.
Her earlier nervous energy had been replaced by a sort of calm resolution. There was no turning back from this course. And she would not have wished for it. Her time on Earth had been good, but Earth would never have been home. What she did now, she did for the love of a world far, far away.
It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known. The words came to her from a book she’d loved when she was young. She smiled at the memory.
“Kipper!”
It was Jessamyn.
“Kipper! Stop! Don’t do this.”
Kip opened her comm. “We both know why I’m doing this.”
She held her ship steady and cried out the familiar words: “For the love of Mars!”
~ ~ ~
The former Major Vladim Wu stared at the oncoming vessel. It was madness. What could the pilot be thinking?
And then Wu himself was thinking no more, he saw no more, he was no more as the oncoming vessel collided with his own, causing an explosion that would draw the unwanted attention of newsfeeds and amateur astronomers alike.
52
Terran Space
Jessamyn could feel every part of her crying out, “No!”, but her mouth remained closed, her lips pinched so tightly together they were turning white. She couldn’t say anything. There was nothing which, once spoken, could alter what had just transpired. Grief gathered thick and fast inside her, a gravity well drawing all things to its center.
“No,” said Pavel, his voice a whisper.
A choked sob erupted from Zussman — calm, poised Zussman.
Ethan’s fingers ran along the ship’s auxiliary wafer.
“Specialist Jaarda,” said Jessamyn, her voice dull and flat, “please confirm the destruction of….” She broke off. She didn’t know the name of the ship Kipper had been flying.
“The Amazing Grace, Expedition-class vessel, has been destroyed,” said her brother. “There are no survivors.”
Stick to protocol, Jessamyn ordered herself. Do this by the book.
If she allowed herself to feel right now, none of them would make it to safety.
“The PSS Avenger has also been destroyed,” continued Ethan. “There are no survivors.”
“Navigator, set a new course returning us to low Earth orbit,” said Jessamyn. They would have to start over to make re-entry.
At her side, Pavel remained motionless, large tears clinging to his eyelashes, hovering in their state of near weightlessness.
“Navigator Brezhnaya-Bouchard!” called Jessamyn.
Pavel looked at her, his eyes accusing her of the heartless behavior she felt herself utilizing.
“If I might be allowed to cover for Master Pavel?” asked Zussman.
Jessamyn gave a curt nod and the two traded seats. Jess watched their awkwardly weightless bodies and felt a sudden urge to hurl herself from the ship so that she could float away, away, away, endlessly floating without gravity or air or life.
“Everyone processes their grief in a way particular to themselves,” Zussman said to Jessamyn, his voice soft.
She nodded once. “Set course for low Earth orbit. From there, we will attempt once more to proceed to Tresco, Isles of Scilly, Earth,” she said to the butler.
And then she pushed back into her seat, her hands pressed against the nav panel. In her weightless state, it felt as if she had no substance, as if her own insides were cold and dead.
Kipper is gone.
Her eyes stung and she blinked several times. She didn’t need stupid floating tears right now.
How would she tell Mei Lo?
She shook an escaped tear quickly away. It clung to the inside of her helmet, blurring her vision. Another tear escaped.
“Ares and Aphrodite!” she swore.
From somewhere, Mr. Zussman produced a pocket handkerchief which Jess took with a small choked laugh. “Always prepared, aren’t you, Mr. Zussman?”
“It is the ideal to which I chiefly aspire,” replied the Butler. “It would seem there is no need to keep our helmets on at present.”
But Jess kept hers on. She needed a barrier between her and the world outside right now. She wondered how her brother was handling things.
Turning to look, she saw her brother’s truncated form, the legs of his g-suit folded neatly under his stumps. “You okay, Eth?”
The lines on her brother’s forehead deepened into furrows. “I am attempting to recall the final words I spoke to Captain Kipling,” he replied. “I am in hopes they were appropriately friendly and not … insensitive. I am aware that I am more often perceived as insensitive than not.”
“I’m sure whatever you said was fine, Eth,” replied Jess, her voice losing its military edge. “If she told me once, she told me a million times how lucky I was to have a brother like you.”
“Her own sibling’s positive attributes were so minimal as to make simple the task of exceeding him,” said Ethan.
“He may have been the worst brother in the history of the Solar System, but Kip wasn’t comparing you to him when she said that,” said Jessamyn. “She admired you on your own merits.”
“I am pleased to hear it,” said Ethan.
Jessamyn was silent for a moment. Then she asked her brother, “Do we have a recording of her final words?”
“Aye, Captain,” replied her brother.
Jessamyn felt her chin quivering and swallowed hard against the imminent flow of tears. “Please play Captain Kipling’s final words back for us.”
Ethan gave the command.
“For the love of Mars!”
At the sound of her former captain’s brave words, Jessamyn felt a rolling swell of love and pride. It grew inside her, reanimating the cold and hard places, bringing warmth to her fingertips, feeling to her heart, and tears to her eyes. She removed her helmet.
When she had dried her eyes, she spoke Kipper’s final words aloud once again.
“For the love of Mars!”
She looked around at the faces of her friends. “Whatever we do going forward, we do in memory of the bravest captain I ever had the privilege to serve under.”
“She was the only captain under whom you served,” said Ethan, puzzled.
Jessamyn laughed bitterly. “Yes, my precise brother, yes, she was the only captain I served under, but she was also the bravest. And I intend to use her bravery as my standard, come what may, once we set foot on Earth again.”
“That is most admirable,” said Ethan.
“Get me a secure comm link to Madeira as soon as you’re able to,” said Jessamyn. “They need to be told.”
“Jessamyn,” said her brother, “it would appear Captain Kipling sent a personal message to you prior to her decease.”
Jess swung around to face her comm panel. A final message. She took a deep breath. “I’ll listen to it once we get this thing back on solid ground.”
There would be time, later, to remember Kipper. To listen to her final message. Right now, Jess had a job to do. She had to make sure Kip’s sacrifice wasn’t in vain. Terrans would have noticed by now that Vladim Wu’s ship was gone and that he wasn’t answering comms.
Eventually, they would send someone else to do the job. Jessamyn wasn’t planning to stick around for that. She straightened her spine, flexed her fingers, and began plotting their re-entry. Tomorrow there would be time for tears. Right now it was time to test those replacement heat shield panels.
“Everyone check your straps and hold tight,” she said, making final adjustments to her angle of entry. “We’re going down.”
53
Tresco, Isles of Scilly, Earth
The Star Shark looked impressively blackened along the seam joining one replacement heat shield panel to an original panel, but Jessamyn had gotten them safely home, landing only a kilometer from her intended site amongst the Isles of Scilly.
That evening, after the group had finished a very quiet evening ration togethe
r, Jessamyn asked her brother to relay Kip’s message to her pocket-wafer. She thought about asking Pavel to watch it with her, but there was a long talk she needed to have with Pavel first, and she wasn’t feeling up to it. Besides, the comm had been sent to Jessamyn alone, not to the crew. She would listen to it by herself before deciding whether the rest of the crew should hear it.
She settled in the room that had been hers before the flight to Station 92-AE, before the sojourn on Earth’s round moon. After hesitating for a full minute, she gave the order and the message played back.
“Hi Jessamyn,” said Kipper’s voice, disembodied. A moment later a visual appeared.
“Sorry about that. The comm system on this ship could really use an overhaul by your brother. It’s ridiculously clumsy.”
Kipper’s eyes strayed to one side. “So, if you’re getting this message, I think I can safely say it is the last thing you’ll be hearing from me. And I’d like to think that means you have to pay especially close attention to my orders. Which, of course, you’ve always been so good at.”
Kipper laughed softly before continuing.
“So here’s the thing. I’m sure you’re pretty mad at me right now. You can go ahead and take a minute to call me every name in the book. I’ve got all the time in the world at the moment.”
Her former captain grinned broadly.
“Sorry. Couldn’t resist. Okay. Here’s the thing. It had to be me. It couldn’t be Pavel and you and Zussman. Between you guys, you’re like, the trifecta of Marsian hope. As soon as I heard the Chancellor was sending Vladim Wu himself to intercept your ship, I knew what I had to do. And, hey, if you’re listening, my gamble must’ve paid off.
“I need you to do something, Jess. Promise me you’ll go to the capitol of Earth and tell everyone about Mars Colonial. Tell them the truth. Tell them about sunrise from Mount Cha Su Bao. Tell them about desert camp for elementary school kids. Tell them about the Festival of Coming Cloud and how polite everyone is in New Tokyo and how ornery everyone is in Squyres Station and how beautiful the night sky is with Phobos and Demos racing one another overhead.”
Striking Mars (The Saving Mars Series-5) Page 20