“I’ll communicate our plans to the Archimedes,” said Chainer. “We’re patched into the local comms network.”
“What’s the total ship count?” asked Duggan.
“The Archimedes, the Maximilian, the Rampage, nine Anderlechts and fifty-eight Gunners.”
“It’ll be carnage – on both sides.”
“Everyone loses,” said McGlashan. “Most of all the people on Atlantis.”
“If this goes wrong, the Dreamers will find significantly less opposition from both ourselves and the Ghasts,” said Duggan. “So let’s make sure it doesn’t go wrong.”
“I’m ready to start the countdown,” said Breeze.
“No point in hanging around,” said Duggan.
They made the jump at a low lightspeed. Several seconds at Light-A was enough to carry them almost four hours conventional travel away from Atlantis. The ES Lightning reappeared in an area of normal space that contained no hazards to spacecraft, this being the primary reason for setting the navigational coordinates here.
“We landed on the button,” said Chainer. “Within a few thousand klicks.”
“Activate the stealth modules,” said Duggan.
“The engines need to recover from the jump, sir. It’ll be about two minutes.”
“Fine, do it when ready.”
“I’ve completed the close-in scan and there’s nothing visible,” said Chainer. “If this is where the Ghasts are coming, we’ve arrived first.”
“We could be waiting for a whole day or more if Gol-Tur’s estimates were accurate,” said McGlashan. “I’m not sure I’ve got the patience left in me.”
“The Archimedes has acknowledged our arrival, sir. They have nothing else to report.”
“Keep checking the area, Lieutenant. If there are no Ghast ships in close, look further afield.”
“I’m on it.”
“I’m activating the stealth modules, sir,” said Breeze. “Uh-oh.”
“They’ve failed?” asked Duggan sharply.
“Not the stealth modules, sir – they’re working fine. I’ve just got my first red light on the life support.”
“Any obvious cause?” asked Duggan, knowing what the answer would be.
“It’ll take me a while until I’m certain, but the early signs are it’s a recurrence of the problem we had on the way back from Corai.”
“Just like the technician warned,” said Chainer.
“The Ghasts don’t normally keep us waiting,” said Duggan. “I’m sure they won’t disappoint us this time.”
“You’re wrong, sir,” said McGlashan. “They only arrive when we don’t want them to. Since we want them to come as soon as possible, I can safely say they’ll be late.”
Duggan smiled. “I don’t think I’ll offer you a bet on it, Commander.”
It was a good job for Duggan that he didn’t put any money on the outcome. They remained in place, close to the navigational coordinates of Atlantis. Chainer scanned the local space continuously, in case the Ghasts had already appeared an unexpected distance away. In the meantime, Lieutenant Breeze kept watch for an energy surge which would herald the arrival of a warship from lightspeed. He detected several small signatures, each of which was associated with the appearance of a Space Corps warship close in to Atlantis. As the hours ticked by, a second of the life support units failed and amber warnings appeared on two more.
“The modules failed at a progressively faster rate when we returned from Corai,” said Breeze. “The guys at Tillos have only run diagnostics and then reset the entire system. Whatever the underlying cause, they’ve not fixed it.”
“They didn’t claim to have done so,” said Duggan.
“I know, sir. I’m telling you why the failures are coming faster. We’re running out of time.”
“Can you give me an estimate of how long we have?”
“At this rate? Ten hours maximum. After that, I’d be worried about us being crushed by high sub-light acceleration and lightspeed would be a definite no.”
“We can crawl back to base if needs be,” said Duggan. “Even if it takes us weeks.”
“It will take weeks.”
Duggan opened a line to Lieutenant Ortiz. “Our life support is failing – we estimate ten hours until the units are unable to protect us from the effects of acceleration. After that, the air goes and the heat. How many suits are there onboard?”
“Twenty for the troops, ten spares and four for the crew is the usual number, sir. There’ll be thirty-four in total.”
“Thirteen short of what we need. Gather them up and keep them close at hand.”
“Should I send four up to the bridge?”
This was no time for martyrdom. “Yes, please. As soon as you can.”
When Ortiz was gone, Duggan swore loudly. “I should have left some of them behind!”
“I thought you were fairly clear when you described the risks, sir,” said Chainer.
“You can’t predict the future, no matter how much you might want to,” said McGlashan.
Duggan knew they were right and their words should have brought him reassurance. However hard he tried to come to terms with it, he couldn’t help but blame himself. McGlashan saw the anguish in his face and came over, under the pretence of looking at one of his viewscreens.
“Sometimes there is no right answer and all roads lead to death,” she said quietly. “It takes strength to keep going.”
“I know it,” he said. “It’s hard.”
“It might never happen,” she said. With that, she returned to her seat, leaving Duggan with his struggle.
McGlashan’s words hadn’t resolved the matter, but Duggan took strength from them. In his younger years, he’d never let the possibility of failure lead him to inaction. As he grew older and his responsibilities increased, it became progressively harder to jump in without thought for the results. Damn I really am getting old, he thought. For some reason, the idea made him smile inwardly and the clouds cleared from his mind. After that, he sat patiently for the next six hours. He was normally the one with the pent-up energy, but this time he felt like an oasis of calm amongst the others. Chainer fidgeted and drank coffee, while Breeze shifted endlessly in his seat. The life support units continued to fail, until Duggan wondered if he’d need to call off his self-made mission.
“Get your suits on,” he ordered at last. “We can leave the helmets for later. Message Lieutenant Ortiz and let her know.”
“She says they’re already wearing them, sir,” said Chainer.
It took a few minutes to struggle into the spacesuits. When it was done, Duggan felt only slightly more secure. Then, with two hours left before the predicted failure of the life support units, the Ghast fleet dropped out of lightspeed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“LOOK at the size of those bastards,” said Chainer, showing a zoomed-in view on the bulkhead screen.
They stared. A single Oblivion was wonder of menace, backed up by colossal firepower. Seeing two of them together, accompanied by an escort of Cadaverons and Kraven light cruisers was an awe-inspiring sight. The Space Corps was catching up rapidly, but for the time being, the Ghasts were building better warships.
“The closest is fifty thousand klicks away and the furthest another thousand on top of that,” said Chainer.
“Any indication they’ve detected us?” asked Duggan.
“No, sir. They’re just sitting there at the moment.”
“Let the Archimedes know we have visitors.”
“Aye, sir.”
While Chainer sent his message, Duggan studied the formation of the Ghast ships. Mentally he found it a struggle to avoid thinking of them as the enemy fleet. The Dretisear still showed battle scars from its encounter with the Dreamer warship – the Ghasts had either lacked the time or the inclination to remove the imperfections. There was no doubt from looking at it that the battleship was otherwise at one hundred percent of its operating capabilities. The Kuidenar was exactly the sam
e size and design as the Dretisear, though its hull had a pristine, highly-polished surface. There was no record in the Space Corps of an encounter with the Kuidenar and it was clearly one of their newest warships.
“They appeared at the same time and they’re clustered within a few hundred klicks,” he said. “I wonder if they’ve discovered a way to coordinate more accurately when they’re at lightspeed.”
“Could be,” said Breeze.
“This is the moment of truth, folks. If Gol-Tur is as good as his word, the captain of the Kuidenar will be aware of the order to withdraw.”
“They won’t be ready for another lightspeed jump yet,” said Breeze. “I’ll let you know as soon as there’s a fission signature.”
“There’ll be no way to tell if they’re getting ready for a long journey or a short one by that stage,” said Duggan.
“True. They could decide to go home or to head for Atlantis and there’d be no way to know what their intentions are.”
“We need to act,” said Duggan firmly.
He took his seat and grasped the control bars. Power surged through the ES Lightning’s gravity engines and it sped towards the Ghast fleet. Even with the huge power draw from the stealth units, it had enough in reserve to close the distance rapidly.
“If they decide to head off at anything like their maximum velocity, we’ll be left behind,” said Breeze. “I’m not sure I like our chances if we have to drop stealth in order to keep up.”
“Nor me,” said Duggan. “Lieutenant Chainer, please put me in contact with the Dretisear and get Nil-Far. I want the narrowest broadcast you can manage, so the others don’t pick it up.”
“They’re all narrow when they come from a warship, sir.” He caught Duggan’s stare. “I’m contacting them now!”
It took a few moments before Chainer received a response. “I think they’re confused about why they can’t see us. I’m sure they’ll soon have a good idea of our approximate location from the strength and direction of our comms signal.”
“They’re unaware we’ve developed stealth technology. It might give them pause for thought. Repeat the request – I want to speak to Nil-Far.”
This was the crucial moment and Duggan clenched his fists as the seconds ticked by. He wanted a chance to talk with Nil-Far before the rest of the Ghast fleet was aware of the ES Lightning’s presence.
“Come on!” he said.
“Got him!” said Chainer.
“Put him on the bridge speakers. Now!”
Nil-Far spoke, his rasping, alien voice floating in the air in front of the bulkhead screen. “Captain John Duggan,” he acknowledged. “I see the Space Corps has successfully implemented a cloaking device.”
“What are your plans, Nil-Far?” asked Duggan, unwilling to waste precious seconds discussing Space Corps secrets.
“We will destroy your world in retaliation for the destruction of Vempor.”
“You’ve been given the order to withdraw. I personally spoke with Subjos Gol-Tur.”
“I have received no such order.”
Duggan gritted his teeth. “You must listen to me. The Dreamer pyramids are all connected somehow. There was one on Vempor – I saw it with my own eyes. They do more than just create oxygen – they can destroy worlds. I have seen it happen. I don’t know why there was such a pyramid on Vempor, nor why there is one on Sinnar, but the Dreamers know how to find them. Do you hear me? The Confederation is not responsible for this!”
“The Ghast fleet is moving towards Atlantis, sir! They’ve gone straight to full sub-light speed!”
“What are your plans, Nil-Far?” said Duggan, struggling to keep calm.
“Dax-Nide leads this mission. He has ordered an assault upon the Confederation planet. The Dretisear and Kuidenar are equipped with the weaponry to eradicate anything living upon the surface.”
“We are not enemies!” Duggan shouted. “You have been ordered to withdraw, damnit! You need to speak to Dax-Nide and tell him to stop!”
“I am not aware of an order to withdraw, John Duggan.”
“Then speak to Subjos Gol-Tur!”
“If such an order existed, Dax-Nide would have communicated it to me.”
“Gol-Tur told me that Dax-Nide is vengeful. I repeat, we are not responsible for the loss of Vempor. If you go through with this, the Dreamers will destroy Sinnar anyway and the Confederation will be forced to use its Planet Breaker on the remainder of your worlds! This is a situation which can have no victors, unless you get Dax-Nide to stop this attack!”
“He’s cut you off, sir.”
Duggan thumped his fist down. “I will not allow a false accusation to kill billions!”
“They’re way ahead of us already, sir. It’s still going to take them a long while to get to Atlantis,” said Chainer.
“Let the Archimedes know at once. Recommend immediate and full assault directed at the Dretisear and the Kuidenar. The others aren’t equipped with the incendiaries.”
“Are we sure?”
“The Ghasts don’t lie. The atmosphere bombs have low range – we should have the opportunity to intercept and destroy their battleships,” Duggan said.
“What are we going to do?” asked McGlashan. “If we de-cloak, we’ll be an easy kill.”
“We need to wait until they’re out of Shatterer range – then we’ll do a lightspeed hop in front of them.”
“We saw the Dretisear launch from one-point-five million klicks,” said McGlashan. “They’re travelling at the speed of their slowest Kraven, so we need to wait twenty-five minutes. That’s assuming they don’t have a longer range and we don’t know about it.”
“I’ll take the risk,” said Duggan. “We’re going to head directly away from Atlantis in order to put some extra distance between us and the Ghasts. Let’s see if we can cut that time to below twenty minutes.”
“The Space Corps fleet is moving to intercept, sir,” said Chainer. “We’re pretty far out but I can see enough to build up a picture.”
“There’s going to be the sort of confrontation we’ve never seen in the war to date,” said McGlashan, with one eye on the sensor feeds.
“Commander McGlashan is right, sir,” said Chainer. “This is going to be terrible, whatever the outcome.”
“It hasn’t happened yet,” said Duggan. “What sort of formation are our warships in?”
“Gunners in front, Anderlechts after, followed by the Rampage and Maximilian flanking the Archimedes. They’re tight together – only a few klicks between each ship.”
“Good,” said Duggan. “The Gunners will act as a shield against the Shatterers. The Ghasts can’t fire them very quickly, so with any luck they’ll detonate a few against our smaller vessels.”
“Sucks for them,” said Chainer.
“We know it, Lieutenant, but it’s the best approach.”
Duggan kept a close eye on the distance counter. The numbers rolled across his screen in a blur, yet without increasing anything like as quickly as he wanted.
“We’re cutting it fine with the life support,” said Breeze.
“You should consider the option of landing on Atlantis, sir,” said McGlashan. “Leave it to the other guys and gals to sort things out up here.”
“I acknowledge your comments. We’re staying out a little while longer.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Keep trying Nil-Far. Something tells me he’s the key to this.”
“No response from them, sir. They’re closed to our comms requests. According to the local network, there’s comms traffic from the Archimedes to the Kuidenar and the Dretisear, asking them to desist with their actions and withdraw. So far there’s been no response.”
“We’re at a million and a half klicks,” said Duggan.
“Giving it five extra seconds for luck,” said Breeze. “Okay, the stealth modules are powered down.”
“Fire us in towards the planet as soon as we’re ready. I want us as close as possible.”
“
Won’t be too long. Fingers crossed we live through it.”
“It’s that bad?” asked Duggan.
“Getting there – the life support is going to fail in the near future.”
“I only need this one jump.”
“On the plus side, if we die, there’ll be no time for pain.”
“Great,” said Chainer. “That makes me really happy.”
“Three, two, one…”
The Lightning disobeyed the laws of nature and reappeared a moment later, twenty thousand kilometres above the surface of Atlantis. The entry and exit transitions were rough, leaving the crew retching and nauseous.
“I don’t want another one like that,” gasped Chainer, trying to pull himself together.
“Be thankful you’re not dead,” Breeze said, steadying himself with one hand.
“I need to know what’s going on,” said Duggan, shaking his head to clear it.
“The whole of our fleet is continuing dead-ahead towards the Ghasts,” said Chainer. “Admiral Franks has left a handful behind.”
“Damned if she does and damned if she doesn’t,” said Duggan.
“What do you mean?” asked Breeze.
“If she sits and waits, the Ghasts might be able to punch through and launch their incendiaries. If she intercepts, the Ghasts could try a lightspeed jump that takes them between the fleet and the planet. If she splits her forces into two, each group will lack the firepower to knock out the Oblivions.”
“Our warships don’t show any sign of slowing down,” said Chainer.
“They will,” said Duggan. “Admiral Franks is doing the only thing she can do, which is to try and position herself in a place that’s far enough away from the planet if the Ghasts come head-on, yet close enough to attack if the Ghasts attempt a lightspeed jump past our fleet.”
“They’re holding the aces,” said Breeze.
“A planet is an easy target, Lieutenant. We found that out ourselves at Lioxi.”
“What’s next for us?” asked McGlashan.
“We’re carrying no weapons, so the only thing we can do is put ourselves in the way. Any objections?”
“Nope.”
“Let’s do it.”
With the stealth modules deactivated, the ES Lightning was devastatingly fast. The warship burst away from Atlantis, gaining quickly on the rest of the Space Corps fleet. Duggan wasn’t sure if he imagined it, but there was a faint sensation of acceleration. If the gravity drives could produce this feeling, the life support system was definitely on the border of a total failure.
Fires of Oblivion (Survival Wars Book 4) Page 16