“Peggy Sue, Lost Ark One.” The call sign was an intentional joke based on the Indiana Jones stories. “Be advised we are about to enter radio blackout on entry to the planetary atmosphere.”
“Roger, Lost Ark One. Contact us on the other side. Peggy Sue out.”
A faint, cherry red glow began to show around the shuttle as the craft traded velocity for heat and a growing cocoon of plasma. Soon bright threads of light enveloped the plummeting shuttle.
Bridge, Fakkaa Flagship
“The interlopers have launched a smaller craft that is heading to the surface of the planet. Signal your ground commander to intercept that craft, it must not reach the surface of the planet.”
“Your pardon, Wise One, but won't that let the aliens know our position?” Admiral Raqqee asked cautiously.
“Yes, of course, but it is of little matter now. Maneuver your fleet to attack the larger ship. This will distract them while I fire upon them with weapons strong enough to destroy their ship.”
“Should we fire on the ship? None of our weapons will reach the enemy for the better part of an hour.”
“No, just turning toward them and sending the transmission should be enough to get their attention,” the alien Commander replied smugly. “My weapons will hit them within seconds, they will never sense them coming.”
“By your command, Wise One.” The Admiral turned and gave the appropriate orders to his subordinates, thinking: If the Wise One is wrong this will be a cold, lonely place for us all to die.
Bridge, Peggy Sue
“Captain, we have lost comm with the shuttle until it has finished entry.”
“Thank you, Number One.”
Beneath the starship's transparent nose the shuttle could be seen as a bright streak against the dark planet, a bright arc heading toward the daylight side of the globe. Being at a lower altitude than its mother ship, the shuttle was traveling faster in terms of angular velocity than the Peggy Sue. Eventually it would slow to subsonic velocity and the larger ship would overtake the survey mission.
“Captain, I have some anomalous readings on the sensor array from spaceward,” rumbled Umky.
“Anomalous? How so, Mr. Umky?”
“It seems to be a cluster of ten or more objects approaching from deep space. Range one hundred thousand klicks and closing.”
“Asteroids perhaps?”
“Sir, they are changing course and slowing down—in formation.”
“Sound General Quarters, raise the shields,” the Captain snapped. “Why didn't we detect them sooner?”
The klaxon rasped out its angry call to action stations as those already on the bridge sat bolt upright.
“Sir, they are not putting out much in the way of identifiable radiation. They certainly are not using gravitonic drives. If anything I'd say they are rather primitive spacecraft.”
“How long have they been out there?”
Moving to Mizuki's empty console, Beth replied, “based on their current deceleration rate they may have been out there for weeks.”
“Where did they come from?” asked Bobby from the helm. “I can't believe they are from this planet.”
“Running some probable trajectories, I would say they came from the planet orbiting the primary star,” Beth said. “Remember there were signs of a technological civilization on that world.”
“Nothing capable of launching a fleet of ships, not this far, not without outside help,” the Captain said. “I'd bet on that.”
“That could mean interference from the Dark Lords.”
“Or one of their client races, Number One.”
“Incoming!” Umky shouted.
“From the bogies?”
“No Sir, different vector...”
The transparent panels surrounding the bridge went gray as the space surrounding the ship exploded with star white brilliance.
“We just lost the starboard side shields!” Beth reported with some urgency in her normally placid voice.
“Another shot like that and we're vapor! Bobby, all ahead flank! Get the planet between us and whatever hit us.”
“Aye, aye,” Bobby acknowledged as the ship jumped forward at eighty Gs acceleration. At the same time the Peggy Sue performed a corkscrew maneuver that put the port side screens toward the attackers.
“Instruments indicate another series of explosions, probably antimatter.”
“Why aren't we detecting the incoming projectiles?”
“Captain, the readings are seal shit crazy—the incoming objects are barely registering and when they do the computer says they are moving at close to three time the speed of light!”
“But that's impossible—at least not in normal 3-space.”
A shudder was felt through the deck, indicating that the inertial dampeners were close to being overloaded. If the deck gravity compensation failed the crew would be turned into a thin goo coating the interior spaces.
“Portside shields down to 30%,” Beth reported in her precises English accent. In times of stress her accent grew more pronounced, while Billy Ray's cowboy twang disappeared.
“Fire control, lay down a cloud of railgun projectiles between us and those whatever-they-are we keep getting hit by.”
“Aye, aye, Sir!”
“And toss a couple gravitonic torpedoes at that enemy formation. They might not be the ones doin' the damage but we can at least see them.”
“Yes, Sir!” said Umky with a grin that was not at all friendly.
Jinking to throw off enemy targeting Bobby took the ship closer to the planet, following the curvature of the globe until out of the line of fire. Directly behind the accelerating ship another titanic explosion blossomed.
Bridge, Fakkaa Flagship
“By the gods of the seven hells! Did you see those explosions?” asked one of the bridge crew. “How could anything survive that barrage?”
“Keep your claws on your controls, Lieutenant!” snapped Captain Tikkoo. “Admiral! We have incoming from the enemy ship, projectiles accelerating at several hundred gravities. It must have gotten off a few rounds of its own before it was destroyed.”
“Order the rest of the fleet to undertake evasive maneuvers. Break formation and scatter.” The Admiral's digging claws sank deep into the armrests of his command chair. At all stations restraining belts contracted, holding the crew in place as plasma driven maneuvering thrusters fired for all they were worth.
In the end the thrusters proved to be worth little at all. The two largest troop transports were at the center of the Fakkaa formation. They had barely begun deviating from the fleet's attack trajectory when a new sun flared where the transports had been.
This was followed immediately by another burst of hellish light from the left side of the formation, as two of the lighter warships vaporized and a third was badly damaged. Admiral Raqqee shook his head hard enough to rattle his quills.
This is not believable! The Wise Ones struck the enemy ship less than three minutes ago and nearly half our fleet gone in a flash of light! The bulk of the commandos are gone!
Forcing himself to remain calm he spoke, “Have the Fleet reassemble. Send launches to pick up any survivors. Remember your duty to your comrades and the homeland!”
The bridge crew, stunned as they were, acknowledged the Admiral's orders and slowly returned to their tasks. Capt. Tikkoo looked up from the command bridge to the Admiral's bridge. For an instant their eyes locked as the two old warriors shared a common thought.
You are right my friend, we are truly out of our depth here. We are sand fleas caught in a battle between Gods. Heaven help us all!
Chapter 14
Bridge, Dark Lord's Ship
The ship commander pulsed arrhythmically, a sign of great agitation. Its subordinates all floated as far out of tentacle range as possible, busying themselves in their assigned tasks.
“Senior Functionary, did we destroy the warm life scum or not?”
“I cannot say with absolute certainly, Mos
t Wise. We scored several direct hits on the enemy's screens and the last round struck just as it was about to be eclipsed by the planet.”
“I need verification! That ship is obviously very powerful, capable of ruining our carefully laid plans.”
“We are scanning for debris, Most Wise. Even if the ship was vaporized there will be signs emerging from behind the planet—traces of molecules not found drifting in space under normal conditions. Right now the only such signs are coming from the Fakkaa flotilla.”
“Oh yes, our useless allies in this endeavor. The enemy ship managed to strike at them even while under attack. No matter, half of them survived, enough to accomplish the mission. It just means fewer to exterminate when I have recovered the artifact.”
“Yes, Wise One. Still, our ship was not detected and the warp drive torpedoes managed to strike the enemy without warning.”
“Yes, just as I planned. They were obviously unfamiliar with our warp technology, being dependent on gravitonic drives and travel through the alternate dimensions.” The Commander's pulsing had resumed its normal rhythm, signaling a calmer state of mind.
“Forgive me, Wise One, but you should probably talk to the Fakkaa Admiral. He has been calling and sounds as though he could use some reassurance that things are still on track...”
Bridge, Peggy Sue
“Helm, engines all stop,” ordered Billy Ray. There was no doubt about it, they had just gotten their butts kicked, and the Captain did not like it at all. “Bobby, I want you to plot us a change of course that will take us on a ballistic trajectory above the planet's orbital plane—just a short burst of maximum acceleration and then power off. I want the engines shut down before we clear the planet's shadow.”
“On it,” the Sailing Master replied, a glint of understanding in his eyes.
“Engineering, Bridge.”
“Engineering here, Captain.”
“Arin, I want you to take what's left of the deuterium processing plant and jettison it out the cargo hatch.”
“Sir?”
“But before you do, get Mendez's body out of the reefer and stick it in the midst of the tubing. Then have the Marines attach a small antimatter charge to the junk on a two minute timer. Just enough to blow things to bits, not enough to vaporize it completely. Understood?”
“Aye, aye, Captain. Understood.”
“Let me know when you are ready to jettison the equipment.”
Cargo Hold, Peggy Sue
The Chief Engineer ran forward from the engineering spaces, headed to the cargo hold. Passing by the armory he shouted to the Marines stationed there.
“You men, get into your armor. I need you to throw some heavy equipment from the ship.”
Not waiting for an answer he moved on to the ship's frozen storage locker. As he paused at the reefer, he realized that he would need the Gunny to come aft from the Marines' normal action station at the port side torpedo launcher.
“Port Torpedo Launcher, Cargo Hold. Come in Gunny.”
“Go, Cargo Hold.”
“Gunny, could you come aft and bring an antimatter grenade?”
“On my way.”
That is one good thing about Marines, Arin thought. They don't hesitate or ask for explanations when given an order. They might ask what the hell you were thinking after the fact, but they get the job done first.
Two of the engineering mates hauled Mendez's frozen cadaver out of the walk in freezer and drug it toward the tangle of pipes, filters and other components of the half disassembled deuterium extraction refinery.
“Lower the gravity in the hold, that will make it easier to throw the equipment overboard.”
“Aye, Chief,” replied an engineer, scrambling to obey. The two carrying the body wedged it in among the pipes and duct work. Marines started arriving from both fore and aft.
“If you don't mind me asking, Chief,” said the Gunny, trotting up carrying a grapefruit sized metal sphere, “what do you intend on doing with an antimatter grenade inside the cargo hold?”
“Not inside, Gunny. The Captain wants this pile of equipment, along with the dead rapist's body, thrown overboard and blown to hell and gone.”
“Always something exciting going on around here,” she quipped, tossing the grenade to the engineer. “Try not to set it off early.”
“Ja, that would ruin everyone's day.”
Arin secured the grenade to the tangle of equipment with some all purpose spray on goop. He set the timer but did not start it. Then he turned to the Jumbo twins, who were just clumping up in their heavy armor.
“You two, grab either side of this pile of equipment and, when I tell you, throw it out through the starboard cargo door.”
“Aye, aye, Sir!” came the response over the suits' speakers. On suit-to-suit Hezekiah said, “You think we can move this pile of junk by ourselves?”
His brother replied in kind, “Sure, they got the gravity turned down and that mess can't mass more than four or five tonnes.”
As the hulking armored Marines moved into position, Arin checked the antimatter grenade one last time and called the bridge.
Bridge, Peggy Sue
“Damage reports coming in, Captain,” said the First Officer. “We seem to have gotten off with no casualties among the crew and minimal structural damage to the ship. The shields, however will need repair.”
“Fortunately we took that last shot on the stern. Reinforcing the rear shields was one of the things I insisted on last time we were in space dock.”
“We do seem to spend a great deal of time running from things.”
“Funny, Number One. Tell all sections to rig for zero G. When we emerge from behind the planet I want everything shut down, including the deck gravity. And I want the shields, such as they are, in stealth mode, deflecting any EM that might come from a search radar.”
“If we point the stern in the direction of the alien fleet we should be able to mask ourselves fairly effectively.” Beth paused for a second before full comprehesion of the Captain's plan struck her. “You intend on playing dead, no, invisible, and drifting away from the planet so we can effect repairs.”
Her husband grinned as the comm squawked.
“Bridge, Cargo Hold.”
“Go, Cargo Hold.”
“Captain we are ready to jettison the equipment as ordered.”
“Good. Wait one.” The Captain turned to Bobby, seated at the helm. “Ready to make our escape?”
“Course laid in, Captain,” he replied, his hands resting lightly on the controls that would send the ship accelerating madly in a new direction.
“Mr. Baldursson, eject the debris.”
“Jetsam away, Captain.”
“Mr. Danner, put us on our new trajectory.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.” Bobby initiated the maneuver.
Cargo Hold, Peggy Sue
“And what do you suppose that was all about?” asked one of the junior engineers, staring at the empty space that used to contain the deuterium refinery. The whole exercise seemed rather anticlimactic—they threw out the explosive laden pile of junk and nothing else seemed to happen.
“I think the Captain has got a trick up his sleeve,” replied the Chief Engineer.
“It's the Romulan trick from the old Star Trek series,” said Jumbo Two.
“Yeah, from 'Balance of Terror' where the Romulan captain dumps his friend's body with a bunch of other junk to trick Kirk into thinking he destroyed the bird of prey,” added Jumbo One.
“Wasn't that whole scenario copied from some old war movie?” asked one of the engineers.
“'The Enemy Below', with Robert Mitchum and Curt Jurgens,” said another. “Even some of the dialog was repeated.”
“Not exactly,” said the Gunny. “The trick with the dead body was from 'Run Silent, Run Deep', another movie about submarine warfare.”
“Well, wherever he got the idea I hope it works,” said Arin, as the zero gravity alarm began to sound. “Because we have a lot
of repair work to do on the shields before the Peggy Sue can fight again.”
Bridge, Dark Lord's Ship
“Commander! We have detected debris emerging from behind the planet,” exclaimed the Senior Functionary.
“What vector?” demanded the Commander.
“It is on a course consistent with the last observed movements of the warm life vessel, Wise One. Sensors show that there are metallic fragments and complex molecules embedded in an expanding cloud of cooling plasma.”
“But is it from the ship?”
“The debris matches the hull composition of some T'aafhal ships and there are also organic molecules present, the type found in warm life infestations. I think the vermin have been destroyed, Most Wise.”
“Excellent, now to get this plan back on schedule...”
Chapter 15
Small Shuttle One
As Nigel promised, the display outside the shuttle's hull during atmospheric entry was spectacular. Fiery ribbons of plasma twisted and turned like living creatures in a fervid display that obscured the world outside. The craft had passed into the daylit hemisphere of the planet by the time the light show abated.
“You were right, Lieutenant, the light show is spectacular.”
“You don't have to call me 'lieutenant', Ms. Hamm. This isn't the Navy. Call me Nigel, at least when there are no senior officers present.”
“OK, Nigel,” Kate smiled at him, “and you can call me Kate, all my friends do.”
“Jolly good, Kate.” Nigel took his eyes off the instruments long enough to give the woman what he hoped was a winning smile. Outside the glow diminished. “I think we are about through with the exciting part of deorbiting.”
As both world and sky faded into view a brilliant white light flared behind the shuttle, causing its viewscreens to overload and turn black.
“What the bloody hell was that?” asked Nigel as the cabin darkened, lit only by the glow of the cockpit instruments. Seconds later the shuttle tumbled as a shockwave struck it. Just as Nigel managed to right the craft a second blast shook the shuttle.
The Queen's Daemon (T'aafhal Legacy Book 2) Page 12