...and they are us Homecoming

by Patrick McClafferty

  As he started his second cup of coffee he decided it was well past time to start his day. “LOLA, what is the status of the Creednax fleet?”

  “Sensors have begun to pick up their incoming tachyon wakes. From the density and disposition, it looks as though our initial assessment was correct. They will arrive in three days.”

  He took a long sip of his coffee. “Good. I hate waiting. How are preparations coming?”

  “Nearly completed. Berthing arrangements have almost been finished in the hangar area of the Boston.”

  “You might ensure video and audio entertainment are available, and maybe a small library. People are going to need a way to escape the reality of what they are doing, and what they are running from.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that. It will be completed in time.”

  “I never doubted you. I think that we should begin loading personnel into the Boston twenty four hours before the scheduled arrival of the Creednax Fleet; just in case.” He forced himself to eat the last of his home fries and eggs, despite his churning stomach. “Are the mines in place and programmed yet?”

  The AI sighed. “Yes Zed. The mines are smart enough to recognize the warships on their passive sensors, and coordinate their strikes.”

  “I’m impressed.” Zed said into his coffee. He set the empty cup down, nodding briefly to a young woman from Life Support who passed by with her own tray.

  “And the unknown fleet?” He murmured to LOLA.

  “Still unknown, although it’s beginning to look more and more like one large vessel supported by a single other ship.”

  Zed grunted. “How big is this second ship?”

  “Half again as big as a Creednax battleship, Zed.” Her voice held no particular inflection, and in that moment Zed knew he was dealing with an intelligence that had no experience with human emotions… such as fear.

  “Perfect.” He whispered. “Please keep this information to yourself, LOLA. The last thing I want is to have this as general knowledge. We’d have a panic.”

  “Don’t the crew have a right to…”

  “No!” Zed interrupted. “I’m trying to fight a battle here. If half the crew is panicking, and the other half are thinking of suicide, how will I ever have any chance at all of saving any of them?” LOLA was silent for a long while. Zed brought his tray to the recycling window, and took a single, long step back into his office. The world might be ending, but the paperwork continues. Zed thought to himself as he pushed papers from one side of his desk to the other. He hated to admit it, but he needed a secretary, or a new job. Neither seemed likely at the moment. He sighed as he picked up another stack.

  Chapter Eleven

  THE MORRIGAN

  The atmosphere on the bridge of the Rose of the Dawn was cool and quiet, without the usual pre-mission joking or idle banter. Each member of the crew knew in his or her own heart that this might be their last mission. Zed, acting as Captain stood still, hands clasped loosely behind his back. LOLA, dressed today in Terran blue, with medium blond hair, stood beside him. He secretly wished it had been Katherine standing there, but at the same time he was glad it wasn’t.

  “Weapons Systems, please bring up the tactical display.” Zed’s calm voice belied the screaming fear that raged within him.

  “Aye Captain.” Mike Flaherty’s voice was calm, and having talked to the man earlier, Zed knew that it was just as false as his. The red tactical display overlay the pitch black of the interior of Callidus. Athena had turned off the lights, powering down all nonessential equipment as the enemy drew near. “Display up.”

  Athena’s voice was soft and steady in his mind. They had discussed this the previous day and concluded that it would be better if outside communications where the other bridge staff could hear them should be kept to a minimum, especially during battle.

  He might as well be polite now, while he could, he decided. Later things might a little rushed for the correct forms. A single red dot appeared on the edge of the tactical display, moving their way, and then another.

  “What do we have coming at us, LOLA?” He leaned against the padded railing. Another two dots appeared.

  “Four Creednax cruisers, Zed.” Another cluster of dots appeared. “And four Tulari class destroyers.” Suddenly dots seemed to blossom onto the tactical display. Zed blinked. There were too many. “It seems that our sensors were in error Zed, or were perhaps being jammed. It now appears that the Creednax fleet has twice the numbers that we thought. One hundred and eighty vessels, and the majority are capital ships.”

  Zed felt the cold hand of death reach for him. “LOLA, please launch a communication pod and let Cybele know just what has happened. Give her…” Zed stopped for a moment as words failed him. “Give her my best.”

  “The pod is away Captain. We only have two more communications pods available to us.”

  “It won’t matter, LOLA. Based on the new Creednax numbers, retask the mines. Cripple or destroy the heavy ships first: the battleships followed by the cruisers and then the destroyers. Save the frigates for last.

  Athena murmured in his ear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  “The mines are moving into the engagement area now. Detonation will occur in thirty minutes.” LOLA repeated for the benefit of the bridge crew. Zed leaned against the railing and waited.

  With barely eight minutes until detonation the tactical display was lit with a series of brilliant red beams lancing out from the advancing fleet. “What’s happening, LOLA?”

  “It appears that the advancing Creednax fleet has discovered our mines and are trying their best to destroy them.”

 

 

 

  The tactical display lit like the sun and blanked for a moment.

 

 

 

  Zed stood, lost in thought for several eternal moments as he weighed the fate of possible futures. He took a breath.

  There was a strange timber to the AI’s voice. She stopped.

 

  The tactical display lit like a Christmas tree, with fire flashing from the planet and to the planet. If
he hadn’t been looking for it, Zed would have missed the small blue arrow that represented the Frigate Boston slipping quietly away, at an oblique angle toward the approaching unknown fleet.

  “The Frigate Boston has successfully escaped the closer Creednax fleet, Captain. At their increased speed the approaching unknowns should pass her by within the hour.”

  Zed smiled. “Thank you LOLA.” On the tactical display he and the bridge staff watched the planet Callidus get pounded. Another Creednax cruiser flashed into incandescence as the massive ground based beams literally tore it apart. Two other cruisers and a destroyer lashed out at the planet, and on their tactical display the defensive gun emplacement suddenly turned red. The bridge crew watched the planet battle for its life in a surrealistic silence, broken only by the soft susurration of the air conditioning. This small background noise had been purposely added by LOLA to give the digital bridge a more human feel.

  Zed eyed the growing number of red defensive positions with rising concern. A kamikaze mine struck a damaged cruiser amidships, blowing the ship into two parts and as Zed watched, both halves spiraled off, bleeding air and water as they died. Creednax energy weapons lashed out wildly, and discovered to their dismay, a lesson American carrier commanders had learned during World War Two: fast moving evasive kamikazes are almost impossible to hit with defensive fire. A mine flashed to incandescence, just as two more hit the last remaining Creednax cruiser, tearing it to pieces.

  Another defensive battery turned red.

  Zed smiled, and focused on his bridge crew. LOLA already knew what was coming. “Athena just told me that she’s down to thirty five percent of her defensive batteries. The vast majority of the Creednax fleet has been destroyed, and now it’s time for us to earn our pay.” He took a breath. “LOLA, sound general quarters, activate all weapons systems and engage shields and cloaking. We’ll see if we can get close enough to get in a few licks before they even see us.” He stared into the darkness where he knew the main door was located. “Navigation, take us out, ahead slow.”

  Huan Lî murmured something to LOLA, and the ship began to move. In the distance before them hung the small circle that was the front door to Callidus. “Ship responding ahead slow, Captain.”

  Zed nodded. “LOLA, things will probably happen too fast for a mere human to follow once we leave Callidus. Offensive and defensive weapons are at your command.”

  LOLA gave him a serious look. “Thank you Captain. Four minutes until we enter normal space.”

  “Last call folks. Stretch your human legs, if you need. After that it will be too late.” He chuckled as a young woman disappeared from her seat at Life Sciences. No more than two minutes later she was back, looking sheepish… but relieved.

  “Exiting Callidus in three… two… one…” The screen was full of stars and eye searing bolts of light. Zed knew that, for the most part, energy weapons employed invisible beams. The computer generated bridge, however, seemed to believe that energy weapons should have red and green and blue beams. White it reserved for explosions of the ‘Earth-shattering-kaboom!’ variety. Zed liked that particular cartoon so much he knew the lines verbatim. A red beam rose from the planet, missing their nose by scant meters, to pierce a Creednax frigate. The white fire of ruptured containment swallowed the vessel, and when the screen cleared it was gone.

  “There are only two Creednax destroyers still functioning, Zed. Since they are flying side by side, I think I’ll try for the pair.”

  “Your decision lady.” His knuckles whitened as he gripped the railing. The Terran ship, invisible to the other combatants, dropped beneath the two Creednax warships. The Tulari Class Destroyers looked vaguely similar to a six hundred meter Oxalis seed pods, right down to the leaves at the base. Those, Zed guessed, must have something to do with the vessel’s drive. The olive green color of the hull was dull and splotchy. Targeting reticles appeared on the hull, aft and just before the leaves.

  “Engaging.” LOLA’s voice was cold.

  “LOLA.” Zed said quickly. “Don’t get too cl…” Two intense beams shot from the Rose, striking the indicated targets on each Creednax ship. A blindingly intense ball of fire consumed both alien ships. The entire bridge plunged into blackness, and then flickered slowly back to life. Although he hoped it was his imagination, Zed thought that he could smell burning circuits.

  “Sorry Zed.” LOLA’s voice actually sounded the least bit apologetic. “I was too close. The Rose has suffered damage to the cloaking on her forward quarter, the window in the Bow Wave lounge was shattered and the room is open to space. That section of the ship has been sealed off and Damage Control notified. Several crewmembers from Damage Control were killed.”

  “Keep your eyes open, LOLA. Recriminations later.”

  “Yes Zed. We have two frigates engaging us, while six more are turning our way.”

  “Damn.”

 

  “Astro, 128 mark 7 and take her down to a kilometer over the surface. Athena is going to try and pry those Creednax off our tail.”

  The display flickered again, and Zed was now sure that he could smell burning components, probably through the ships sensors. “We have taken another hit, Zed. Hydroponics and the left rear quadrant are open to space. The area is sealed.”

  “Casualties?”

  LOLA sounded deflated. “Several. The names are still coming in.”

  “Damn!” Zed swore. “Convince those bastard Creednax they shouldn’t follow us too closely.”

  “Launching a quartet of RVMs.” LOLA murmured. Behind them three of the red dots following the blue arrow suddenly blossomed white and disappeared. “That leaves us with only a dozen Rapid Velocity Missiles left, but the Creednax are holding back.”

  “Good.”

 

  It felt to Zed as if the Rose was actually skimming the tops of structures on Callidus. He could see glowing craters where gun and missile emplacements had been.

  “The Creednax are closing, Zed.”

  He frowned. “Evasive pattern Tango two.” The surface of the planet swayed beneath them as they jigged and jogged. To their right a tall structure burst apart as a Creednax energy weapon hit it. They passed over a low mountain range. She didn’t reply, but a half dozen heavy energy weapons lashed space and the Creednax frigates following the Rose disappeared in balls of fire. Zed let out a long breath.

 

 

 

 

  “LOLA, can you get the cloaking up in the forward quad?”

  “Yes I can, but…”

  “No buts… yes or no!” Zed growled. Some of the bridge crew stared at him.

  “Yes Zed.”

  “Good, do it. While you’re doing that prepare us for a high speed run at the Creednax formation. I want to come in fast and fire all our RVMs in a single volley, doing whatever other damage we can do as well with energy weapons. When we’re out of Creednax range we’ll turn and do it again, with just energy weapons.”

&nbs
p; Athena said softly.

 

 

  Zed commented dryly, He shut his eyes, wishing he could have seen Kat one last time.

  Members of the bridge staff gave Zed questioning looks when he burst out laughing.

  “The forward cloaking unit has been temporarily repaired, Zed.”

  “Good. How long will it last?”

  “I estimate one hour, or the duration of the battle, whichever comes first.”

  “I believe you’re developing a sense of humor, LOLA.”

  “Not likely at this late hour.” She muttered grimly.

  “It still sounds like a sense of humor to me.” To his right he heard Mike Flaherty chuckle. Zed glanced at the tactical display. “Take us out on a wide ellipse, swinging back as we pick up speed.”

  “Front stern re-attack, like the last time?”

  “Like you said, it worked the last time. Let’s go for it.”

  “As you wish.” The stars swung as the Rose of the Dawn turned on the long curve that would lead it to the Creednax fleet. “Weapons ready.”

  “Volley fire at best solution, LOLA. We have 12 missiles available. I want 12 kills.”

  “Yes Captain.” The stars flashed by as they accelerated. “Launch in fifteen seconds.”

  “Announce that those that can get to survival areas should do so now. Close all air tight doors, LOLA. Sound brace for impact.”

  There was a long pause. “Completed, Captain. Launch in seven seconds.”

 

 

  “Launch!”

  In the tactical display a dozen Creednax frigates, only slightly smaller than the Rose herself flared and died. Blue beams lashed the clustered ships and one by one the Creednax died. The entire bridge display flickered and died, and several crewmembers flickered and disappeared, as their seats became damaged.