Secret of the Crystal - Omnibus Edition Books 1-3 (Time Travel Adventure)

by Larson, Brian K.

  “Why not take out their main jamming station in sector 523? That would make the rest of their approaching fleet venerable,” Ghaia offered.

  “That station is heavily guarded: five destroyers, eight battle cruisers, and a carrier.”

  “You could do it if only seven of our destroyers were equipped with the crystal tuner. You could set up a net, which would ultimately cloak your approach. They would never know what hit them,” Ghaia said with an evil smile.

  “I will confer with my defense ministers. Assemble a meeting with them.”

  “Yes, Your Excellency,” Ghaia said, bowing before her son.

  Ghaia turned and stepped off the council platform. Jhovahkan reached in his cloak and pulled out his crystal and resumed his position at the center of the floor and continued to commune with his master crystal.

  * * *

  Crytore Command Center

  Tamika stood on the bridge of the Crytore, and she leaned over the helm’s control station, reviewing their current location on the star map with the navigation officer.

  She pointed to the screen on the console. “Here are the jamming stations. Sector 523 holds the main jamming station, two on either side, one sector apart, forming an offensive. Our Intelligence reports that each jamming station has one destroyer and two battle cruisers capable of carrying up to thirty fighters. The main jammer has five destroyers, eight battle cruisers, and a carrier for a total complement of over two hundred fighters. We are outmatched even if we attempted to take out one of the smaller stations. We need to reach Kumar of the Karillians so we can tighten our alliance with them. We could take out one of the smaller stations if we had some help.”

  Her first officer, Lanatek, diverted her attention to the situation at hand. “Captain, the Telenian is closing in fast. We are almost eight hours form Karillian. The Telenian will make contact in less than fifteen minutes.”

  “Ah nuts,” Tamika said with disgust, “they must have had time to upgrade their slipstream.”

  “Ma’am, if we stop out here in the middle of nowhere, we could encounter Zelinites since their activities have increased,” the tactical offer said.

  “We may not have any choice. They will catch us and knock out our engines, leaving us vulnerable no matter how you look at it,” Tamika said with concern. “Helm, prepare to leave slipstream, turn us about, and hold your position. We will face off with the Telenian.”

  “Aye, aye, Captain,” the helm acknowledged.

  “Full power to shields! Arm weapons and prepare for attack!”

  Lanatek began to bark orders to the bridge crew to prepare for their encounter. The crew pushed buttons and toggled settings in compliance with their instructions. The Crytore exited slipstream space and glided forward at high velocity. The helm spun the ship 180 degrees and continued its speed now in reverse.

  “Prepare to launch all fighters,” Lanatek ordered the ship’s landing bay.

  “Ma’am, the Telenian have also returned to normal space and are approaching. They will be on top of us in two minutes,” the helm informed.

  “Scan the sector for any other ships and notify me of anything out there in our range,” Tamika ordered.

  “Aye, aye, Captain,” the tactical offer replied.

  “Okay, crew, give them all we got. On my mark,” Tamika said steadily. “Helm, bring us to a full stop.”

  Panru looked forward at the viewing glass from the bridge of the Telenian and gave the order to prepare shields and weapons.

  “Open a channel,” he instructed.

  “I am not sure what purpose that will have, sir,” the communications officer said.

  “Do it!” he shouted.

  “Channel open, sir.”

  “Lady Tamika,” Panru said, “do not fire your weapons. I am here as your ally.”

  The com returned static while the entire bridge crew stopped what they were doing and looked over at their captain in dismay.

  “Crytore, open your com channel. Let me explain,” Panru begged.

  Tamika stood on the bridge of the Crytore nearly speechless. “What do you think they are up to?” she asked as she turned to Lanatek.

  “I do not know,” Lanatek replied. “I suggest we find out what it is he wants.”

  “Open the channel,” Tamika ordered.

  “Channel open to the Telenian, ma’am.”

  “What do you mean you are my ally? You have pursued us all the way across the Zelinite jamming defensive line,” Tamika said with her hands on her hips.

  Panru began to explain his motives while the Telenian bridge crew looked on in disbelief of what they were hearing.

  “Lady Tamika, I do not support your brother. The last time we were together, he began to cut the face of one of his officers in a private meeting. I knew then that I had to break away. I could not do that while in Ackturrian space. That is why I positioned the Telenian closer to the orbit of the Crytore. I knew Jhovahkan would dispatch the closest ship to intercept. The Telenian crew did not even know until just this very moment. We needed to be on the far side of the jamming stations in order to contact you safely. Your brother would have killed me had he known my true feelings.”

  Tamika replied, “How can I be sure you are telling us the truth?”

  “By the mere fact that I have you outgunned and outpaced and have not fired on you. I was in range just before you entered slipstream and delayed firing. I could have taken out your engines back there, and you would be standing before your brother right now,” Panru answered.

  “It is true, ma’am,” the Telenian’s tactical officer added. “I can confirm that what he is saying is true.”

  “What about my brother’s mind manipulation and the speech that he gave? It was broadcast to all ships in range,” Tamika quizzed.

  “There are others. The southern clans have all joined together. They do not support this all-out war declaration. It is foolhardy, and it is pure suicide. They got a message out to block the signal to the ships that are in the southern tribe,” Panru continued.

  Luanren stood off to the side of the bridge and focused her mind on the captain of the Telenian. “He is telling the truth. I have probed his mind.”

  Tamika looked over at her mother. “How did you do that? I destroyed your crystal!”

  “I do not know. It just occurred to me that I could do that,” Luanren answered, astonished at her own ability.

  “Captain,” Tamika’s tactical officer interrupted, “we have multiple ships inbound... Zelinite origin.”

  Panru’s tactical officer confirmed the finding, “Yes, sir. I have them on my scope as well, three battle cruisers and one destroyer.”

  “Captain,” Tamika ordered, “as a member of the council, I will assume command of this skirmish.”

  “I yield to your lead, Lady Tamika,” Panru said as he bowed to her command.

  “Turn your ship hard about and come into standard formation,” Tamika said. “We have them matched one for one on fighters, but they outgun us two to one on weapons.”

  “They have launched fighters, and the cruisers are nearing weapons range. It seems the destroyer is holding back to engage later,” Tamika said.

  “Panru, launch your fighters to engage the incoming ships. Lanatek, launch all our fighters and join up with Panru’s. Helm, power up ram shields. Bring us to ramming speed. Initiate delta pattern. We are going after the destroyer first,” Tamika said with a firm voice.

  “Tamika,” Panru said from the Telenian, “that is suicide.”

  “Engage the three cruisers and fighters. We will rejoin you from their rear once we have taken out the destroyer. We will not stand a chance until that destroyer is gone,” Tamika shouted.

  The Crytore and Telenian both launched twenty fighters as they joined together to head off the Zelinite attack.

  The Crytore broke off from formation and sped around in a half circle around the main attack fleet. The Telenian opened fire on the approaching cruisers with their main weapons bays, n
ow fully upgraded. The three cruisers returned fire on the Telenian as the two foes closed in on each other. The fighters opened fire on each other with obvious success as the Ackturrian pilots showed more skill and training than the Zelinite fighter pilots. The Ackturrian fighters swooped in and all around, taking out many of the lower-skilled pilots very quickly.

  “Incoming missiles!” the Telenian tactical officer shouted. “Brace for impact!”

  “Launch countermeasures!” Panru ordered.

  The Telenian countermeasures fired, causing three of the inbound missiles to change course; they exploded off the starboard bow, which shook the Telenian. The remaining two missiles hit directly on the forward shields of the Telenian, exploding on impact. The crew of the Telenian was knocked forward as the ship pitched back and forth from the exploding payload, causing her to shudder and groan.

  “Sir,” the tactical officer shouted, “shields are down to 80 percent.”

  “Fire all weapons at their lead ship!” Panru instructed.

  The Telenian fired the three main laser banks while firing the forward torpedo bay at the Zelinite lead cruiser.

  “Direct hit, sir!”

  “Fire again!”

  More batteries fired from the Telenian and impacted on the lead cruiser once again. The Zelinite ship burst into a massive explosion, sending debris to hurl outward, which caused damage on the other two cruisers in the path of the lead ship’s destruction.

  “That is one down. Change course and circle around for another pass. Get those shield generators back up to full power,” Panru said as he sat in the captain’s chair.

  The Crytore closed in on the massive Zelinite destroyer.

  “Ram shields at full power,” the helm said, turning to Tamika. “Nearing ramming speed!”

  “Keep her on course. Steady as she goes. All stations brace for impact!” Tamika ordered.

  “Captain, they’re turning toward us,” the helmsman reported.

  “Keep her on course, mister. We will go through regardless,” Tamika said with confidence.

  The Zelinite destroyer began to fire all of their main weapons banks at the approaching Crytore. The two ships neared each other on a collision course.

  “Thirty seconds to impact,” the helmsman shouted.

  “Keep her steady. All stations report,” Tamika ordered.

  “All stations ready for impact, ten, nine, eight,” the tactical officer counted.

  The forward shields absorbed the weapons fire from the Zelinite destroyer as they neared her target; the ship rocked to and fro with each discharge.

  “Three, two, one, impact!” the tactical officer hollered.

  The Crytore connected with the massive destroyer and pierced through the bridge and slid down the length of the ship, causing explosions to erupt at each section. The Crytore buckled as the hull began to tear as the shields weakened.

  “Get us outta here, mister!” Tamika shouted as some of the ship’s systems began to fail and exploded on the bridge.

  “Changing course,” the helm replied.

  As the Crytore pitched downward, it tore through the rest of the hull, causing the Zelinite destroyer to come apart at every seam. The reactor of the destroyer breached; the massive explosion lit up the entire region of space, sending a shock wave out in all directions.

  “Reverse power to the rear shields!” Tamika ordered as they exited the hull of what was left of the destroyer. “Status report!”

  “We took heavy damage, Captain,” The tactical officer informed. “Only 20 percent of shield power left. The reactor is intact, but we need to take it off-line soon. We took 20 percent hull damage. Several systems are down. We may not be able to use ram shields until repairs can be made.”

  “You say we may not be able to, but I need to know, can we?” Tamika asked.

  “I do not advise it, ma’am.”

  “Set course back to the Telenian. Open a channel to Panru,” Tamika ordered as the communications officer complied. “Panru, what is your status?”

  “One cruiser down. One cruiser heavily damaged. We are holding our own with minimal damage,” Panru answered through the com system.

  “Great!” Tamika said with joy in her voice. “Set up to ram the least damaged cruiser. We will take out the other one.”

  “Acknowledged,” Panru confirmed.

  As the Telenian began to set up for ramming speed, the undamaged cruiser turned and powered up its engines to make a getaway. The Zelinite battle cruiser fired their main weapons on their injured comrades’ ship. The weapon’s blast finished the job that the Telenian began, exploding the ship in what seemed like millions of pieces as they made their escape. The last of the Zelinite fighters set a collision course with the Crytore for one last blow to the Ackturrian ship. A few fighters were destroyed by the Crytore’s returning fighters. Three of the fighters collided with the Crytore, which took out the remaining shields, ending the battle with the Zelinites.

  “Stand down. All fighters, return to your hangar bay,” Tamika once again ordered. “All systems, damage report.”

  “It will take several hours to repair the damage to our shields. The weapons bays have no damage,” Lanatek reported. “The main reactor needs to be taken off-line for at least two hours. It did sustain minor damage.”

  “Panru, report,” Tamika said as she had a com link opened.

  “We have minor damage to our shield generators, minor damage to our forward weapons bays, no hull or reactor damage. We lost seven fighters,” Panru reported.

  “You fared better than we did. Our shields are down, we have taken 20 percent hull damage, and we lost ten fighters,” Tamika answered. “We need to take our reactor down before we can complete repairs. Come around in formation and extend your shields around us. I do not think we have seen the last of them, especially since we let one of them go. They will be back in a few hours with more ships.”

  “Acknowledged,” Panru said. “Helm, bring us about and form up with the Crytore. Extend shields.”

  “Aye, aye, sir,” the Telenian helmsman said with a lift in his voice.

  “Sir, we can only extend our shields for two hours before we experience a power drain on our own shields,” the tactical officer said.

  “Tamika, we can give you two hours of shield protection. After that, you will be on your own,” Panru said.

  “Understood. Our repairs are under way. We will advise once we are ready to bring them back up,” Tamika said. “I think this fleet came from the jamming station we passed by. I wouldn’t mind taking a shot at the one they abandoned.”

  “Not so fast, Lady Tamika,” Panru said. “We need to keep the jamming field up for the time being. With that taken down, Jhovahkan will be able to communicate with me, and he will undoubtedly sense my treason.”

  “Too bad. We really should take the tactical advantage. It is an open target,” Tamika said with a certain expectation. “But I do see your point. We do not want to expose yourself to my brother at this time. Perhaps it would be wiser to continue to our original objective.”

  “Thank you for hearing me out, Lady Tamika. I am glad I was able to reach you in time,” Panru said.

  “Helm, set course for the Karillian system as soon as we finish the repairs,” Tamika said.

  “Aye, aye, Captain,” the helmsman acknowledged.

  The crew of the Crytore spent the next few hours making the necessary repairs to allow the shield generators to pull power from the reactor. After the first two hours, the Telenian had to stop extending their shields or they would risk having their systems fail. With most of the damaged systems repaired, the reactor could be started and the two ships could make their way to the Karillian system.

  “Begin reactor sequence start. All teams, stand by for initiation checklist,” Tamika ordered. “Reactor coolant check.”

  “Coolant check good,” the engineering team answered.

  “Injector check.”

  “Injectors all check and locked closed.�
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  “Reactor containment field on.”

  “Containment field initialized and check good.”

  “Start coolant flow, 50 percent. Core start sequence. Open core, 10 percent.”

  “Coolant flow now 50 percent. Core open and locked at 10 percent,” the engine room confirmed. “Monitoring core pressure. Pressure good. Coolant good.”

  “Start sequence initialization passed,” Tamika said. “Begin engine start.”

  “Ready engine start,” the engineer officer confirmed.

  “Unlock and open injectors 1, 3, and 5.”

  “Confirm, injectors 1, 3, and 5 open.”

  “Unlock and open injectors 2, 4, and 6.”

  “Confirm, injectors 2, 4, and 6 open. All injectors open and primed. Ready for power infusion.”

  “Increase core pressure to 50 percent and begin infusion to power inverter.”

  As the engineer began the energy transfer from the reactor core through the injectors and finally into the engines, a familiar drone and vibration increased in the Crytore that reverberated on all of her decks.

  Tamika stood from her captain’s chair and moved to the center of the bridge and closed her eyes. “Ah yes, I can feel the engines. A good captain can tell when her ship’s engines are running at optimal performance. She should feel just like this,” she said as she exhaled a sigh of relief. “Signal the Telenian. We are ready to get under way.”

  “Aye, aye, Captain,” the com officer acknowledged. “The Telenian confirms they have set course for the Karillian system.”

  “Full power to the engines. Ready slipstream drive. We are getting out of here,” Tamika instructed.

  “Engines are at full power. Course set for the Karillian system. Slipstream drive is ready at your command,” the engineer said.

  The Crytore and Telenian both engaged their powerful engines and approached the slipstream threshold. The Crytore began to shudder and shake slightly.

  “Something is not quite right,” Tamika said curiously. “What is that shimmy?”

  “It could be a slight imbalance with the hull facture, ma’am,” the engineer offered. “The shields will hold us together until we can make a complete repair of the hull damage in port.”