by Ryk Brown
“Interceptors!” Cameron ordered. “Lock on every damned one of those targets and light’em up!”
On the forward, upper side of the Aurora’s outer hull, just inboard of her forward flight deck gateways, two rectangular missile launchers popped up from their positions tucked neatly into the hull. They immediately rotated to starboard, tilted upward slightly, and let loose ten projectiles, each about three meters in length and a meter in diameter. The projectiles, departing in flashes of blue magnetic energy from their launch tubes, fired their engines to maneuver slightly, then disappeared seconds later as they jumped away.
“Interceptors are away!” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar reported from the Aurora’s tactical station.
“Get us close in to those fighters,” Cameron ordered.
“We’re on it, Cap’n,” Josh replied, turning the Aurora toward the battle.
“I’ll jump us in about two kilometers from them,” Loki said.
“Jump flashes!” Lieutenant Commander Kono announced. “Ten interceptor missiles!”
“Interceptors have engaged the targets!” the tactical officer reported.
“Comms! Notify flight ops! Tell them to warn our birds we’re jumping in close!” Cameron ordered. “And tell them to be ready to get down on the deck as quick as they can!”
“More jump flashes!” Lieutenant Commander Kono announced. “Targets are jumping away!”
Cameron turned to her left, toward her sensor officer. “Any more drones jump in?”
“Negative,” Lieutenant Commander Kono replied.
“Multiple hits!” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar exclaimed.
“I can jump us in any time,” Loki reported.
“Wait,” Cameron ordered. “Give our birds time to get ready.” She turned back to Lieutenant Commander Kono. “How many did we get?”
“Eight of them, sir!” the lieutenant commander replied. “The other twelve jumped ten light seconds. They’re turning back to reacquire our ships.”
“Jump us in now,” Cameron ordered.
“Jumping,” Loki replied.
The blue-white jump flash washed over the Aurora’s bridge again, as she jumped in close to her waiting ships.
“Get them on the deck!” Cameron ordered.
“Dusahn fighters are jumping back in!” Lieutenant Commander Kono warned.
“Locking point defense and plasma cannons on the enemy fighters!” Lieutenant Vidmar announced from the tactical station.
“Their fighters are highly maneuverable, and difficult to hit,” General Telles warned.
“Eagle One Seven is hit!” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported. “He’s breaking up!”
“Did the pilot get out?” Cameron asked urgently.
“Negative, Captain!”
“Damn it!” Cameron exclaimed. “Pipe the battle in!” A split second later, the sound of radio chatter between the Eagle and Reaper pilots was coming through the loudspeakers for all to hear.
“One, Four! Break right! Engage the guy at zero four zero, low!”
“Four! I’ve got him!”
“Shit! This guy is all over me!”
“Two Five! One Seven! Reverse your turn and hit your decels hard! I’m lining up for a shot!”
“I can’t! I’ve lost my starboard decel thru…”
“God damn it! Leader! One Seven! Two Five is down hard! No eject!”
“One Seven! Leader! You’ve got one at your four high!”
“Red Flight! Red Leader! Get on the deck! Combat landings! Roll your asses in fast to make room for the next guy! Nobody hits an elevator until the Aurora jumps!”
“Somebody get this son of a bitch off of…”
“We just lost another one, sir,” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported.
“Can we launch more interceptors?” Cameron asked.
“Negative, Captain,” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar replied. “We’re too close to the targets!”
“Aurora! Check your fire! Check your fire! Keep our approach lanes clear!”
“Red Five on deck!”
“Red Six on deck!”
“Red Two on deck!”
“Dusahn fighter just jumped in aft of us!” Lieutenant Commander Kono warned. “Starboard side! He’s making a run for the starboard landing deck!”
“I’ve got him!” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar assured them. “Aft plasma cannons!”
“Captain!” Lieutenant Commander Kono exclaimed. “A Dusahn warship just jumped in! Heavy cruiser, at least! They’re locking weapons on us!”
“Jump missiles on that cruiser!” Cameron ordered.
“Jump missiles, aye!” the tactical officer acknowledged.
“You got’em, Viddie!” Lieutenant Commander Kono exclaimed.
“What?” Cameron asked.
“The Dusahn fighter headed for the starboard flight deck,” Lieutenant Commander Kono explained. “We got him with our plasma cannons.”
“Jump missiles away!” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar announced.
“Cruiser has jumped!” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported.
“What?”
“Jump flashes!” the lieutenant commander continued.
“Our missiles!”
“No sir! Theirs! Four of them! Five seconds!”
“Firing point defenses!” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar reported.
“Brace for impact!” Cameron warned.
The impact alert alarm echoed throughout the ship, reaching all the way into medical.
“What the hell?” Jessica wondered.
The ship suddenly shook violently, nearly knocking Jessica off her chair next to Nathan’s bed in the medical bay.
“What’s happening?” Nathan wondered, trying to get up from his bed.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Doctor Chen told him sternly, pushing him back down.
“I’ve got to do something,” Nathan protested.
“Like the lady said, you’ve only been alive for what, thirty minutes now?” Doctor Sato said.
“But, my ship,” Nathan insisted, his voice still hoarse.
“It’s not your ship, Nathan,” Jessica reminded him. “Not yet, anyway.”
Doctor Chen and Doctor Sato continued examining Nathan. As she studied the peculiar readings on her medical scanner, Doctor Chen looked suspiciously at Doctor Sato and Jessica. “You two are going to tell me what the hell is going on with this man sometime soon, right?”
“He’s a clone,” Doctor Sato told her.
“A what?”
“A clone.”
Doctor Chen looked down at Nathan, as he flashed a small smile to confirm. “Are you sure?”
“I should be,” Doctor Sato replied. “I’m the one who cloned him… Five times, I might add.”
“Oh, yeah. There’s a lot you two are going to have to tell me,” she repeated, as the ship continued to shake.
“Damage reports!” Cameron barked from her command chair at the center of the Aurora’s bridge.
“Primary jump array is offline!” the chief of the boat reported from damage control. “Secondary is still good. Engineering is tying the primary energy banks into the secondary jump system, so we won’t lose use of that energy. We’ve got hull breaches along the port side. Sections four, seven, and eleven. Decks Charlie and Delta.”
“What about wounded?” Cameron asked.
“Currently at twenty-three, with at least that many unaccounted for. Rescue teams are on their way to the breached decks to look for survivors in safety compartments, but most of the intercoms are out in those areas, so we have no idea if anyone is alive.”
“Target is launching more missiles!” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported from the sensor
station.
“How many more birds still need…”
“Flight reports all remaining Eagles are on deck!” Ensign deBanco replied, anticipating his captain’s request. “Reapers are still standing off!”
“Their missiles are jumping!” Lieutenant Commander Kono warned them.
Cameron glanced at the navigational charts on the clear display panel directly ahead of her, between Josh and Loki, noting that their jump line was clear. But before she could give the command, the blue-white flash of their jump filled the bridge.
“Escape jump complete!” Loki announced.
“Good anticipation, Mister Hayes,” Cameron replied calmly. “Flight, Captain,” she called tapping her comm-set.
“Missiles jumped in behind us!” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported. “If we hadn’t jumped…”
“Send all Reapers to rally point Hotel Seven. Form up for quick recovery.”
“Hotel Seven. Form up for quick recovery, aye,” the flight controller replied.
“They’re launching missiles again!” Lieutenant Commander Kono told them urgently.
“Skip us ten! Starboard climbing arc, reverse on the threes!” Cameron ordered.
“Skip ten!” Loki replied, their jump flash filling the bridge before the words left his mouth.
“Starboard climbing arc,” Josh replied, turning the ship to starboard and pitching up as they came out of the jump. “Reverse on threes.”
“As soon as we finish, jump us to Hotel Seven, Mister Sheehan,” Cameron added.
“Hotel Seven, aye,” Loki replied, his fingers dancing across his console as he set up the next jump in the series and activated it.
“Last sensor reading showed the cruiser turning to intercept,” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported from the sensor station. “Suspect the target is trying to anticipate our escape route.”
“That’s what I’d do,” Cameron muttered, as the third jump flash in the series of ten washed over them.
“Reversing course and pitching down,” Josh reported, as he leaned his flight control stick hard to the left and pushed it forward.
“What the…” Lieutenant Dinev exclaimed, watching Josh push her ship through a turn that she didn’t think was possible. “How the hell are you getting her to turn so fast?”
“Just use everything you’ve got,” Josh muttered, as the fourth jump flash washed over them. “She wants to turn and burn. You’ve just got to cut her loose and let her.”
“We’ve lost the target,” Lieutenant Commander Kono announced from the sensor station, as the fifth jump flash lit up the bridge.
Cameron watched silently as Josh manipulated every thruster and propulsion system at his disposal, forcing her ship to fly more like a fighter than a fifteen-hundred-meter long warship- main thrust directors, attitude thrusters, maneuvering thrusters, deceleration thrusters…even the docking thrusters. The man had an uncanny knack for flying, and apparently that knack applied to just about anything that flew.
“Reversing our turn back to starboard and climbing,” Josh reported, as the sixth jump flash in the series washed over them.
“Are you varying the jump distances?” Cameron asked Loki.
“You bet… Uh…sir,” Loki replied, as the next jump flash washed over them.
“Reverse your turn again, but hold pitch,” Cameron ordered.
“Reversing to port, holding the climb,” Josh replied, yanking the stick back to the left and adjusting all the thrusters as well.
“Make the next two short, Mister Hayes,” Cameron added.
“Aye, sir,” Loki replied, as the eighth jump flash washed over them.
“I’ve got them,” Lieutenant Commander Kono declared.
General Telles glanced at the tactical display to Loki’s left, between the navigation and sensor stations. “Directly in front of where we would have been after the next jump,” the general said, as the next jump flash lit up the compartment. “Nicely done, Captain.”
“I do have some tricks up my sleeve,” Cameron quipped, as the tenth jump flash illuminated the bridge.
“Turning to Hotel Seven,” Josh reported.
“Jumping in five seconds,” Loki added.
“Enemy cruiser is turning toward us,” Lieutenant Commander Kono warned. “I’m pretty sure they’ve spotted us.”
“Deploy a standard mine field between the target’s estimated intercept course and us,” Cameron ordered.
“Three…”
“Launching mine clusters to starboard,” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar replied from the tactical station.
“…Two…”
“Hundred-meter spread,” Cameron added.
“…One…”
“Hundred meter, aye.”
“…Jumping.”
For the eleventh time in the last minute, the bridge of the Aurora was momentarily illuminated by the subdued blue-white light of her jump fields, as the warship finally jumped ahead to the alternate recovery point.
“Multiple contacts!” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported from the sensor station. “Eight Reapers! Dead ahead! Two formations!”
“Slide in under them, Mister Hayes,” Cameron instructed. “They should be spaced perfectly to touchdown on both forward flight decks.”
“Slick,” Josh replied approvingly. “Sorry, I mean yes, sir.”
“As soon as those Reapers are down, you can start your algorithm, Mister Sheehan,” Cameron added.
“Yes, sir,” Loki replied. “But, it’s not going to get us all the way to Big Blue. We’re going to have to stop and recharge along the way.”
“Pick a spot where we’re least likely to be detected,” Cameron said. “Something well away from any shipping lanes. You two are locals, surely you would know.”
“I think I can figure something out,” Loki replied.
“Jump flash,” Lieutenant Commander Kono announced. “Dusahn drone.”
“They never give up, do they?” Cameron declared.
“No, they do not,” the general replied.
“All Reapers are on deck,” Ensign deBanco reported from the comm station.
“Drone has jumped away,” the sensor officer added.
“Very well, gentlemen. Show us what you’ve got,” Cameron instructed.
“Jumping in three…” Loki began.
“Maintain alert status until we’re sure we’ve lost them,” Cameron ordered.
“…Two…”
“Aye, sir,” her tactical officer acknowledged.
“…One…”
“Picking up the cruiser again,” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported.
“…Jumping.”
“Looks like she passed right through the mines, taking at least a few hits. Looks like some hull damage, and some collapsed shields.”
“Executing first turn,” Josh announced.
“Hopefully that’ll slow them down a bit,” Cameron commented, as she turned to face General Telles. “Now, perhaps you’d like to finish telling me what’s going on.”
“How far back would you like me to begin?” General Telles asked.
“I want everything,” Cameron insisted. “So maybe you should start right after Nathan surrendered himself to the Jung.”
* * *
“All hands, maintain condition two,” the voice announced over the loudspeakers and intercoms.
“How do you feel?” Doctor Sato asked Nathan.
Nathan tried to clear his throat. “Like I’m recovering from the worst bender of my life.”
Doctor Sato looked at Nathan, a puzzled expression on her face. “Bender?”
“An Earth expression,” Jessica explained. “Like he was out drinking all night.”
Docto
r Sato didn’t look any less confused.
“Alcohol intoxication,” Doctor Chen added. “Like he’s suffering from withdrawals after consuming excessive amounts of alcohol.”
“We don’t consume alcohol in my culture,” Doctor Sato stated. “Although, the Corinairans did so from time to time, but rarely in excess.”
“Dehydration, headache, blurred vision, nausea, mild vertigo, feeling rather disconnected from one’s senses…” Doctor Chen elaborated.
“Oh, yes. All of that is to be expected, considering the circumstances.”
“Do all your people go through this when they change bodies?” Nathan asked, his voice still rasping.
“Oh, no. Not at all. It does take a few days to get complete coordination back, but other than that, we generally feel quite normal after a transfer. Some even feel rejuvenated.”
“Not the word I would choose,” Nathan whispered, trying to save his voice.
“I believe I can help your throat a bit,” Doctor Chen told him. “I’ll be right back.”
“How is your vision?”
“I’m not seeing double anymore, so that helps,” Nathan replied. “It’s still hard to focus from one thing to the next, especially when they’re at different distances.”
“That will improve within a few hours,” Doctor Sato assured him.
“Nathan, do you remember anything about Connor?”
“Yes, I do,” Nathan replied. “It’s weird, actually. The best way I can describe it is like I was a spy or something, pretending to be Connor Tuplo, except, that I didn’t know I was pretending.”
“That actually makes sense,” Jessica told him. “It’s one of the things they taught us in spec-ops training. That you have to be careful to not actually become the person you’re pretending to be. There are actually documented cases of undercover agents doing just that.”
“I even remember the pain of not knowing who I really was, if you can imagine that,” Nathan added. “It’s all very confusing.”
“It will take time to sort out these memories,” Doctor Sato told him. “Our people experience similar problems in differentiating which lifetime a memory is from.”