Lost Fagare Ship 1: Resolve
Page 8
“Running low on munitions,” Chris said.
“Shit,” Bobby yelled. All heads swiveled towards him. “Both nacelles are down. Ion drive is out. We’re down to positioning thrusters.”
“Does no power to the engines mean we’ve got something to put into the shields?”
“Negative, Captain. Port shield generator is gone.”
Jim eyed the counter for the millionth time. So close. “Well, if we can’t escape, and we can’t defend ourselves, the only option left is to win this thing. Keep firing until there’s nothing left.”
Chris nodded and said nothing. The two ships continued to fire at each other. The Razak were moments away from being able to strike a killing blow.
“Last round,” Chris said. “Other than the special ammo.” He fired and a burster, a weapon barely more than a grenade, left the weapons tube.
“Enemy shields are down. We did it.” Melissa fist pumped the air.
“We’re not done yet,” Jim answered. He wiped the sweat from his brow where it accumulated before it brought yet another stinging drop into his eye. “Lock on to their engines. Fire the weapon when ready.”
The torpedo hit the Razak ship right where Jim had directed. They held their breath. No hull breach, but the impact provided just enough momentum to push it into a device that the Razak had ignored, floating in space. Why should they worry about a small inert object? That’s what shields were for. The ship hit the abandoned missile and the device exploded on impact.
The weakened hull from the previous missile gave way under this one. Selenium gas started seeping into the air of the enemy ship. Jim held his breath. If the catalyst tank wasn’t damaged, the Star Destroyer would still have the capability to destroy them.
Seconds passed. Jim exhaled, but continued to wait. His fingers drummed against his seat. Still nothing happened. Jim resigned himself to the failure. Just as he’d feared, his best wasn’t enough and now seven billion inhabitants of Earth would suffer for it.
The explosion was much bigger than Jim anticipated. It started with white-hot fire ejecting from the tube integrated into one side of the Razak ship. A series of explosions burst from the hull in a circle. Then they connected with the first and completed the cycle. Selenium in the catalyst tanks reached critical levels and the entire thing exploded.
Jim held his arm in front of his eyes as blinding light filled the bridge. As it dissipated, he looked again to the Star Destroyer. Half of the ship was gone. It looked like a giant monster had taken a bite out of the ship, a full third of it was missing.
After being ignored through the duration of the battle, the connection to the Razak ship finally came alive.
Krazirk coughed twice. “What have you done?”
“I warned you of the consequences. On Earth, we have a saying about pride leading to downfall,” Jim said.
“No fool. The gas entered our life support. You’ve poisoned us.” In the viewscreen’s background, a thin yellow-green haze permeated the air. Most of the Razak had already succumbed to the gas and slumped in their seats. Krazirk stood firm, but his grip on the chair beside him didn’t escape Jim’s notice.
Jim balked. He’d wanted to disable their ship, not kill everyone aboard. His face probably matched the sickly color of the air behind Krazirk. “Surrender now and we will try to rescue you.”
“The Razak don’t surrender.” His grip faltered, and he fell. Jim watched as he struggled back to his feet. “But we do avenge.”
“We know how to defeat you now. The result might not be pretty, but the Earth now knows the Razak can be defeated,” Jim said. “Viewscreen off.”
Jim slumped back into his chair and let out a big sigh. “What did I do?”
Melissa stood from her station and gave her stepfather a hug. “You did what you had to do. None of us could have predicted that it would turn out that way.”
“I guess.” But Jim didn’t seem relieved.
Bobby turned his seat around to face Jim, biting his lip. “That’s not our only problem. The Resolve is dead. We’re stuck in the asteroid belt with no way to get home.”
The statement darkened the already somber mood. “Maybe we deserve to die out here.” He stood and leaned over Melissa’s chair, peering into her star chart, as if he could will the distance between the Earth and themselves to shorten. “I just wish I could get you three home.”
“We aren’t leaving without you, dad.”
“We aren’t leaving with him either, not unless we can figure something out,” Bobby said.
Chris hitched a thumb at the viewscreen. “What about their ship?”
“Uhh, that thing’s not going anywhere. And even if it could, I’m not flying home with a bunch of dead bodies.” Melissa crossed her arms. “I’d rather die out here than do that.”
“Bobby, do you think you can repair the Resolve with parts from that wreck?” Jim straightened as a plan germinated.
“From what I’ve been reading about Fagare history, the human spacefaring races have been trading with each other for so long that all parts are fairly standardized. With the help of our repair drone, especially if I can liberate another one or two from theirs, I can do it.”
“Good. We’ll do that. Bobby, ready the shuttle.”
“Captain, you sure that’s a good idea?” Melissa asked. “We don’t know what’s on that ship.”
“Relax, Mel. They’re all dead. What’s the worst that could happen?”
Continue the adventure with
Absolve
Victory comes with a price
For Jim and his crew, victory came at a price higher than expected. The Razak have been beaten back, for now, but the Resolve is stranded in the outer solar system.
The Star Destroyer has the parts they need, but also forces Jim to face what he's done. When Jim seeks absolution for his actions, he puts his crew, and Earth, back in risk.
Pre-order now: bit.ly/absolvebook
Get a free copy of
Once Upon a Saturn Moon
Bitter rivals. A dictator on the rise. One chance to save humanity…
Salaris thought her biggest problem was missing her fiancé during his mysterious mission. It’s only when the Barakaak learns of a master plot meant to rid the solar system of humanity that she learns her true purpose. When she’s abandoned by her allies, Salaris finds herself captured, tortured, and alone, sending humanity even closer to a deadly interplanetary trap.
Marsil is the sworn enemy of Salaris. But when this leader of a rival Saarkark faction learns of the plot against humanity, she makes her own plan to intervene.
As it becomes obvious that teaming up is the only way to save the human race, Salaris and Marsil must put aside their personal agendas or fail humanity in the process.
Sign up to get updates on new releases in this series and other works, plus get a FREE copy of Once Upon a Saturn Moon, Book 1 of Once Upon a Saturn Moon. Sign up here:http://seampublishing.com/free-book/
If you liked this book, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. Simply go to http://bit.ly/resolvebook. It doesn’t need to be long; just a couple words is fine.
Reviews serve two purposes. First and most obviously, reviews influence buyers decisions. The more reviews, the more likely something will be bought. The second is that reviews influence Amazon. After 50 reviews, they will start to promote a book to new readers. And more books sold means more I can pay for the production costs of the next book faster.