by Ryk Brown
“We humbly request permission to land at the Assengil spaceport and offload our passengers and cargo,” Captain Tuplo responded, “after which we will depart your territory, never to return.”
“You will follow our instructions, or you will be destroyed.”
“What the…” Josh exclaimed. “Half the contacts just…”
Six jump flashes suddenly appeared directly in front of them, revealing menacing, black-hulled fighters trimmed in crimson and gold. The lead fighter fired his energy cannon, sending a stream of red energy bolts streaking directly over the top of the Seiiki’s cockpit.
The fighters streaked past them, two on each side, and one above and below, all of them passing dangerously close to the Seiiki.
Josh’s eyes widened as he watched the fighters speed past. He looked at his captain. “Those are Jung fighters, Cap’n.”
“Are you sure?” Captain Tuplo asked in disbelief.
“Trust me on this,” Josh insisted. “I’ve seen a lot of Jung fighters in my day.”
“But I thought the Jung didn’t have jump drive technology?”
“Apparently, things have changed,” Josh replied. “I’m going to manual,” he added, pressing the auto-flight disengage button on the flight control yoke.
“Seiiki, this is your last warning,” the voice said.
“Good idea,” Captain Tuplo agreed. He looked out the windows as the fighters swarmed up to escort them. Two on each side, and two in front.
“Seiiki, Seiiki! Jotakh Leader!” another voice called impatiently. This one had a heavy accent, one that Captain Tuplo could not quite place. “Follow us to Jar-Dortayo. Make no attempt to deviate, or destroy you we must. Are you to understand?”
“Yup, they’re Jung, all right,” Josh commented. “Same bad Angla.”
Captain Tuplo watched as the fighters on either side fell back.
“They’re surrounding us,” Josh warned.
“Are you to understand?” the lead fighter pilot repeated.
“Can you get us out of here?” Captain Tuplo asked, looking at Josh.
“Watch me,” Josh replied.
“Seiiki! Respond!”
“Fuck off,” Captain Tuplo replied flatly over the comms.
Josh pushed the control stick forward and brought the main engines to full power. There was a thud, and the ship rocked slightly, as their shields turned an opaque yellow.
“What the hell was that?” Captain Tuplo asked.
“I had to push one of those fighters out of the way,” Josh explained as he twisted the control stick to the right and pulled back slightly, putting the Seiiki into a diving right, rolling turn.
“You what?”
“Don’t worry, Cap, the shields protected us.”
Captain Tuplo glanced at the sensor display, as the icon representing the Jung fighter they had just nudged out of their way, disappeared. “Holy shit, Josh! You just destroyed one of their fighters!”
“Oops. I guess they don’t have shields.”
“Jesus,” Captain Tuplo exclaimed as he looked to his left out the side windows.
“Captain!” Marcus called over the comm-set. “What the hell is going on?”
Red energy bolts streaked across their nose from the left, moving closer as the enemy continued firing. The ship rocked with the impacts of the bolts slamming into their port shields.
“What the fuck! Is someone firing at us?”
“Neli!” Captain Tuplo called over the comm-sets. “Get everyone in their seats! Now!”
“It’s the fucking Jung, Marcus!” Josh called over the comm-sets.
“Shit!” Marcus swore. “Get us the fuck out of here, kid!”
“No shit,” Josh commented to himself as he twisted the control stick and forced the Seiiki into another evasive maneuver.
“Our shields aren’t designed for this!” Dalen warned over the comm-sets.
“We need an escape jump, Cap’n!” Josh yelled.
“I’m already on it!”
“Well get on it a little faster!” Josh insisted, as another energy bolt slammed into their right side.
“This ship isn’t like those Falco fighters you used to fly, Josh…”
“Falcon, not Falco…”
“It doesn’t have an escape jump button, you know!”
“Well, it would if you had ordered Dalen to install one, like I suggested!” Josh reminded him.
The ship lunged sideways, as more energy bolts slammed into her left side.
“We’re losing our port shields! Aft section!” Josh warned.
“Dalen!” Captain Tuplo called over the comms. “Port shields! Aft section! Can you boost them?”
“The fucking access hatches are blocked, remember!”
“Son of a…”
Another round of energy bolts slammed into the starboard side, sending the ship careening in the opposite direction.
“Captain!” Josh urged.
“I’ve got it! I’ve got it!” Captain Tuplo replied. “Jumping!”
The Seiiki’s windows turned opaque, clearing a second later. The Jung fighters were gone, they were no longer being rocked by energy weapons fire, and the sensor screen was clear. There were, however, still plenty of warning alarms going off in the cockpit of the Seiiki.
“Now will you have Dalen install an escape jump button?” Josh demanded. He took a few breaths before continuing. “What do we do now?”
“We go to our next stop, Haven.”
“Why? None of the passengers are going to Haven,” Josh argued. “Maybe we should take them back to Ladila?”
“We told the Jung that we came from Ladila. If they wanted to track us down and destroy us, that would be the first place they would look,” Captain Tuplo reasoned.
“Why would they want to do that?” Josh wondered. “We’re just one little cargo ship.”
“I don’t know. Maybe because we destroyed one of their fighters?”
“Oh yeah, that.” Josh started punching the destination into the jump navigation computer. “Gonna be a hell of a culture shock for the passengers… Going from Ladila to Haven.”
“Better than a Jung detention cell, I would imagine,” the captain replied.
CHAPTER FOUR
Vladimir stood in the middle of the captain’s ready room just aft of the Aurora’s bridge, looking at the woman he had called his commanding officer and his friend, for the last seven years.
“So, this is it, I guess,” Cameron said softly.
“Da, da.”
“Seven years of trying to get you to say ‘yes’, and you still say ‘da’.”
Vladimir shrugged. “It is who I am.”
“Yes, it is.” Cameron rose from her seat and came around the desk to give her friend one last embrace. “I’m going to miss you,” she whispered as she held him tightly.
“I will miss you as well,” Vladimir replied. “I will not miss the salads, mind you.”
Cameron chuckled as she pulled away, wiping a tear from her eye. “Just try to eat one every so often, for me?”
“I will,” Vladimir promised. “However, I will smother it with tons of creamy dressing and a modest portion of meat.” A broad smile spread across his face.
“If that’s what it takes.”
Vladimir sighed. “You did it, you know.”
“Did what?” Cameron asked.
“You became the first female starship captain in all of Earth’s post-plague history.”
Cameron smiled again. “The youngest too.”
“Indeed,” Vladimir agreed. “You should be as proud of yourself, as I am to have known you.”
“And I, you,” Cameron replied.
“Safe travels, Captain Taylor,” Vladimir said, as he came to attention and issued a perfect military salute.
Cameron understood the significance of her friend’s gesture, which made it all the more difficult for her to hold back her tears. To her knowledge, Vladimir had only offered such a salute two other time
s in his life. To their friend Nathan Scott, when he surrendered himself to the Jung to save everyone, and later at Nathan’s memorial service on Earth.
Cameron straightened up and returned the salute, in the same spirit that it had been given.
“Captain, Comms. Flash traffic,” the voice called over the desk intercom.
“Message?” Cameron asked, turning her head slightly toward the desk.
“From Command, sir. We’ve been ordered to intercept a pair of Jung cruisers spotted inside Alliance space, en route to Mu Cassiopeiae at maximum FTL.”
Cameron looked at Vladimir. “Your replacement isn’t due for two weeks.”
“You won’t need him,” Vladimir replied as he turned to exit. “I’ll be in engineering,” he added on his way out. “Cheng to Flight Ops. Have the line return my belongings to my cabin…and be careful with my cat.”
Cameron followed Vladimir out of the ready room, continuing toward her command chair as her friend turned aft to exit. “Mister deBanco, contact the XO on Port Terra and have him rendezvous with us at the intercept point. Cancel all leaves, and recall all crew to the ship. They can meet up with us later as well, if our mission is extended.”
“Aye, sir,” the communications officer replied.
“Tactical,” Cameron continued as she took her seat in the command chair, “sound general quarters. Helm, take us out of orbit and prepare to jump to the far side of Mu Cassiopeiae.”
“Target plots coming in from Command now,” the tactical officer announced.
“Taking us out of orbit,” the helmsman replied.
“Plotting jump to Mu Cassiopeiae,” the navigator added.
“I have Commander Kaplan on the line, sir. She is asking if you’d like her to rendezvous immediately, or wait for some of the crew to report in and bring them along?” the communications officer asked.
“Who’s in combat?” Cameron asked.
“Lieutenant Atchison,” the tactical officer replied.
“That’ll work for now,” Cameron decided. “Tell the commander to bring a full load with her.”
“Yes, sir,” the comm officer nodded.
“The ship is at general quarters, Captain,” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar announced from the tactical station directly behind the captain.
“Breaking orbit now,” the helmsman reported.
“Mister Bickle?” Cameron said.
“It’s pushing the limits, sir,” the navigator replied. “The intercept point is just under four light years past Mu Cassiopeiae, which makes it just over twenty-eight light years away. We’re going to have less than a full light year of jump range remaining upon intercept.”
“Stretch the first jump to max range,” Cameron ordered.
“Aye, sir.”
Cameron pressed a comm-panel button on the arm of her command chair. “Cheng, Captain. I’m going to need you to rapid charge the number one jump drive once we get there.”
“It will not be a problem,” Vladimir promised over the intercom.
“On course for Mu Cassiopeiae,” Lieutenant Dinev reported from the helm.
“First jump set for fourteen point nine light years,” Mister Bickle announced. “Ready to jump.”
“Execute departure jump,” Cameron ordered.
“Departure jump, aye,” the navigator replied.
“Load two spreaders with anti-FTL mines and prepare to launch,” Cameron ordered as the blue-white light of the jump flash washed over the bridge.
“Two spreaders with anti-FTL mines, aye,” the tactical officer responded.
“Preparing arrival jump,” Mister Bickle reported.
“Jump flash,” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported from the Aurora’s sensor station. “Alliance comm-drone.”
“Position update from Cobra One Four Seven,” Ensign deBanco reported from the comm-center at the back of the Aurora’s bridge. “Cobras One Four Two and Two Two Five are keeping positive tracks. No change in course and speed noted. Updated orders from Command authorize maximum force.”
“Very well,” Cameron replied.
“Reactors one and two are now running at one hundred and twenty percent, each,” the systems officer reported.
“Very well,” Cameron repeated. For a moment, she wondered if her next chief engineer would be willing to take such risks as easily as Vladimir.
“Arrival jump is plotted and ready,” Ensign Bickle reported.
“Spreaders are loaded and ready to launch,” the tactical officer added. “All weapons are charged and ready.”
“Execute your jump, Mister Bickle,” Cameron ordered. “Tactical, stand by to launch spreaders.”
“Executing arrival jump,” the navigator announced.
“Spreader launch, standing by,” the tactical officer confirmed.
Cameron watched the main view screen as the jump field energy poured out from the Aurora’s emitters, spreading quickly over her hull, until its entire surface was bathed in the pale blue light. The blue light quickly intensified, becoming a brilliant blue-white flash a mere second later. Had the main view screen not been designed to greatly subdue the brightness of the jump flash, she would have surely been blinded, at least temporarily. The entire event took less than three seconds. It was a sight she had witnessed thousands of times before, yet it still amazed her as much as it had when she witnessed it during the very first test jump of the prototype nine years earlier. Despite the fact that she had been jumping all over the Sol sector for the last nine years, as well as to the Pentaurus cluster and back, the idea that a ship could jump fifteen light years in the blink of an eye still astounded her.
“Jump complete,” the navigator reported.
“Knock them out of FTL, Lieutenant Commander,” Cameron ordered.
“Firing spreaders,” the tactical officer replied.
Cameron watched the main view screen as two jump missiles, one from each side, shot out of their forward launch tubes. The missiles adjusted their courses slightly, then disappeared behind their own jump flashes a few seconds later.
“Spreaders have jumped away.”
Cameron waited patiently.
“Jump flashes,” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported from the sensor station a minute later. “And antimatter detonations, full spreads.”
Cameron waited, breathing in a calm, regular fashion, until the next words came out of her sensor officer’s mouth.
“New contacts,” the lieutenant commander announced. “Two Jung cruisers…heavies…just out of FTL. Fifteen million kilometers and closing.”
“Are their shields up?” Cameron asked.
“No, sir. Not yet.”
“Comms. Transmit message in Jung. Message reads; ‘This is the Alliance ship, Aurora. Reverse course and depart Alliance space immediately, or you will be fired upon. You have one minute from receipt of message to comply. There will be no further warnings.’ End message.”
Ensign deBanco swallowed hard. “Yes, sir.”
“Targets are raising shields,” the sensor officer reported.
“Load a full spread of jump missiles on all cats. Antimatter warheads on all six,” Cameron ordered.
Lieutenant Commander Vidmar looked from his tactical console to his captain seated directly in front of him. “Confirming antimatter warheads on all six jump missiles, Captain?”
“That is correct,” Cameron replied.
“Aye, sir,” the tactical officer replied. “Loading all catapults with jump missiles, antimatter warheads.” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar exchanged concerned looks with Lieutenant Commander Kono at the sensor station.
“Captain,” Lieutenant Commander Kono began, “a single antimatter warhead is more than enough to take out a heavy cruiser.”
“Relax, Lanea,” Cameron replied, “I’m not going to lead with them. I’ll fire a few warning shots first, I promise.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Message should be reaching them now,” Ensign deBanco reported from the comm station.
; Cameron glanced at the ship’s time display above the main view screen. “Very well.” Cameron watched for exactly fifteen seconds. “Any change in target course and speed?”
“Negative, sir,” Lieutenant Commander Kono replied.
“Lieutenant Commander Vidmar. Paint those ships, then lock all weapons on their targets and open the launch tube doors.”
“Painting targets and locking weapons,” the tactical officer replied. A few seconds later he added, “Opening launch tube doors.”
Cameron glanced at the clock again. Thirty seconds had passed since the two Jung cruisers should have received their warning message. “Lock forward cannons on the targets. One turret on each ship.”
“Locking forward plasma cannons on both ships,” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar responded.
Cameron looked up at the time display. Forty-five seconds had passed. “Stand by to fire cannons…twenty-five percent power.”
“Twenty-five percent power, standing by.”
Cameron watched the last few seconds tick away. Exactly one minute after the moment the two Jung cruisers should have received their warnings, she gave the order. “Triplets, both cannons. Fire.”
“Firing triplets, both cannons,” the tactical officer replied.
Cameron watched the main view screen as red-orange bolts of plasma energy fired from their forward plasma cannons, disappearing into the distant blackness of space ahead of them a split second later. Again, she waited.
“Direct hits, both ships,” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported from the sensor station thirty seconds later. “Minor reduction in their forward shields. Still holding course and speed.”
“Launch all missiles, but hold the jump until my command,” Cameron instructed calmly.
“Launching all missiles, manual jump,” the tactical officer replied.
She watched as six jump missiles, armed with antimatter warheads, left their port and starboard launch tunnels, moving ahead at a leisurely pace toward the still onrushing enemy cruisers.
“Six missiles away. All weapons are auto-updating their jump plots as they go.”
“Very well,” Cameron replied. She could feel the tension in the room. They had just launched enough antimatter to take out a small moon.
“Targets should detect the launches in ten seconds,” Lieutenant Commander Kono announced.