“Thirty-five days? Forty? Maybe a couple more,” said Breeze. “There are a few variables stopping me predicting an exact duration.”
“If we take the fastest-case scenario, in which an Anderlecht has been upgraded to Light-J and takes thirty-five days to get from A to B, they needed to leave approximately twenty days before us, in order for us to arrive in good time.”
“Or as many as twenty-five days before us at Light-H,” said Breeze.
“It was seven days from the time we brought the Goliath home, till they landed the Crimson in the dry dock next to the Cadaveron. They’d have had to set up the interfaces, and Admiral Teron told me it took two days for the Dreamer core to unlock the Ghast AI. After that, they had to search through everything they’d extracted, make sense of it, and come to a high-level decision about how they were going to proceed. After that, they approached the Ghasts, who would have then needed to agree to negotiations and decide on the place for the negotiations to take place.”
“It’s starting to look a bit tight time-wise,” said McGlashan.
“Very tight, Commander. So tight, I’m left wondering exactly what is going on.”
“There could have been enough time, couldn’t there, sir?” asked Chainer. “We were on Pioneer for over a month. If everything fell into place, it could have all worked out?” He sounded as if he were looking for confirmation.
“Yes, there could have been time, Lieutenant. In fact, there must have been, because however hard I try to guess, I can’t for the life of me think why we’d be sent alone to a place that’s not even on the charts. It makes so little sense, that I’m trying to convince myself everything must be fine.”
“Except you’re not convinced?” said McGlashan.
“I’m damned sure I’m not convinced, Commander. Now I’m left trying to decide what we’re being used for. I had enough of this crap when we went looking for the Crimson in the first place.”
None of the crew had answers and Duggan was left trying to figure out exactly what, if anything, was going on.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The ESS Crimson came steadily closer to its destination. The crew had not been idle during this time. In fact, they’d applied themselves to the task of trying to disable the lockouts on the deep fission engines and the guidance systems. Duggan wasn’t quite sure what he intended to do if they succeeded. First and foremost, he wanted to leave lightspeed so that he could use the long-range comms to speak to Admiral Teron. After that, he wasn’t sure what the plan would be. If everything was above-board, he’d definitely be in for a stern lecture from Teron, but he could handle that. It was the hurtling into the unknown that he didn’t like.
“They went to a lot of trouble, sir,” said McGlashan. “This isn’t an amateur job – they really didn’t want us to play around with what they programmed in. There’s all sorts of encryption and I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve fitted some additional hardware for extra security.”
“I don’t suppose there’s one of those simulations you can run, is there Lieutenant? To let us take control again?”
“The Crimson’s too old, sir. They probably didn’t start adding that stuff until later. Besides, I’m not certain there’d be any sim that could do what we want.”
“Particularly since you told the Space Corps how we’d disabled the Cadaveron’s sensors, sir,” said Breeze. “I imagine they realised we might try and pull that trick again. I don’t think it matters anyway. We’re coming out of lightspeed in less than five hours.”
“Might as well see what they’ve got in store for us, eh?” asked Chainer. His tone suggested he had no genuine desire to find out and he sounded on edge. He’d been drinking hi-stim almost continuously and Duggan wondered if he should speak to him about it.
“It doesn’t seem as if I’m going to be given the choice,” said Duggan. “Another mystery to be solved.”
“Not long to go,” said McGlashan.
“I want everyone on full alert when we enter normal space. Weapons ready and a full sensor check of the area. Lieutenant Breeze, you will check to see if the fission drive lockout persists after our arrival. If any of you needs to rest, now is the time to do it.”
None of them left the bridge. In truth, they’d arranged their sleep shifts around the projected arrival time. On a Gunner, the mainframe could dump you out of lightspeed many hours either side of the estimated time. The Dreamer core on the Crimson could pin it down to the minute, so the crew had been able to plan their rest breaks with a high degree of confidence.
As the minutes ticked down, the air on the bridge became progressively more stifling. Chainer kept blowing out his breath and running a finger around the inside of his collar. He shifted constantly, until his fidgeting started to bother Duggan.
“I need another hi-stim,” said Chainer at last.
“I’d rather you held off for now, Lieutenant. It’s making you jumpy.”
“Sorry, sir. It happens when I’m on edge. I’m worried about where we’re going to end up.”
“That’s fine. No more hi-stim until we’ve found what lies ahead,” said Duggan. He didn’t know if Chainer’s excessive consumption was a matter for concern. It seemed better to err on the side of caution and ask him to stop drinking the stuff.
“Coming out of lightspeed in less than a minute,” said Breeze.
“All weapons online,” said McGlashan. “Disruptors powered up, countermeasures ready.”
“I’ve programmed in a full scan to begin as soon as we slow down,” said Chainer.
The engineers had done a good job with the life support and they experienced hardly any nausea when the Crimson appeared in local space. What they found was completely unexpected.
“We’ve been dropped twenty minutes out from the fourth planet orbiting an unknown sun,” said Chainer. “It’s a big old place from what I can see. A quick sweep shows nothing to be concerned about in our vicinity.”
“Nothing at all?”
“Give me time, sir. There could be something behind this planet. They’d be hidden from view, though.”
“Where’re our warships?” asked McGlashan.
“Sir?” said Breeze. “The lock on the deep fission engines is still in place. However, I’m now locked out of the gravity drives as well.”
“What do you mean, locked out?” asked Duggan sharply.
“Exactly that, sir. I have no control over our speed or direction.”
“Are we moving?” Duggan checked his own console and discovered the Crimson was flying at one-hundred percent on the gravity drive. “What the hell is going on?” he asked.
“We’re moving directly towards that planet, sir.”
“Still no data on it?”
“Nothing in the Crimson’s arrays. Doesn’t this stuff normally get fed from ship to ship as soon as they find somewhere new?”
“Not always,” said McGlashan. “And only if you’re within range of the ship carrying the new data.”
“Uh, sir? You might want to look at this,” said Chainer, fear in his voice. “I mean, right now.”
Duggan jumped up and stood next to him. “What is it?”
“This planet is populated, sir. Densely populated. In fact, there’s hardly a part of the surface which isn’t covered in metal or other signs of building.”
“A Ghast planet,” said Duggan. A coldness swept into him, which dried the sweat on his skin immediately.
“I’m picking up activity in high orbit,” said Chainer. “Coming towards us.”
“Ours?”
“No, sir. I’d say it’s two Ghast light cruisers.”
“What’s on the planet? Can you find our ships, Lieutenant? Could they have stopped here and been captured or destroyed?”
“That’s a lot to look for,” said Chainer. “I’ll let you know as I find out.”
“Damnit, I don’t want us to fire on those Kravens and then find out our ships are on the other side of the planet, negotiating for peace.”
“We could have got here first,” said McGlashan.
“It’ll take at least one orbit before I can give you an educated guess as to whether or not our warships are here, sir. On the other hand, I don’t need a full orbit to tell you the Ghasts have at least five surface areas which could function as shipyards or landing areas. Those Kravens will be in firing range in a few minutes.”
“Anything on the engines, Lieutenant Breeze?”
“I’m trying, sir. They’re still pointing us straight ahead. No deviation in our course.”
“Have we been programmed to crash?” asked McGlashan incredulously.
Duggan didn’t think they were going to crash. He’d begun to realise exactly what they were here for and exactly why the Crimson’s weapons systems had been upgraded. “I think we’ve been betrayed by our own side, Commander. Target those Kravens and launch everything we can bring to bear.”
“I can see activity on three of the landing areas,” said Chainer. “If I’m not much mistaken, there are at least a dozen gravity engines warming up. Big ones and small ones. They’re scrambling everything they’ve got.”
“Lieutenant Breeze, I want us to get away from here. Now.”
“Not a hope, sir. Whoever’s been playing with the gravity engines, they’ve done the same job as they did with the fission drives. It won’t override from here.”
“First Kraven at one-hundred and forty thousand klicks,” said McGlashan. “Firing clusters one through ten.”
The external missile coverings slid back to allow one-hundred and twenty Lambdas to burst away from their launch tubes. The coverings slammed back in less than a quarter of a second, leaving the Crimson’s hull smooth and pristine once more.
At his console, Duggan tried everything he could think of to give him control of the ship again. He engaged the autopilot and disengaged it. He instructed the mainframe to begin full evasive manoeuvres, and he pulled at the manual control levers. Nothing worked. The Crimson followed its pre-programmed course exactly, bringing them ever closer to the Ghast planet.
“There’s a power spike,” said McGlashan. “And another.”
“Disruptors,” said Duggan. “They’re trying to shut us down.”
“It hasn’t worked,” said McGlashan. “We’ve got the Dreamer core. The first Kraven’s launched missiles. Only thirty.”
Only thirty. The number seemed pathetic in comparison to what the Crimson could launch. Duggan found no satisfaction in the thought. “Shut down the second Kraven at one-hundred and sixty thousand klicks. Destroy it with Lambdas.”
“The first Kraven’s launching its countermeasures. Three Vule cannons and plasma flares. I don’t think it’ll be enough.”
The Ghast light cruisers outgunned the Vincent class vessels in the Space Corps. The Kravens which had been equipped with disruptors could easily give an Anderlecht a run for its money. Against the swarm of Lambdas from the Crimson’s arsenal, this one had little hope. The ten-metre missiles twisted and turned as they homed in on their target. The Kraven swung away, trying to hide behind its cloud of countermeasures. Some of the Lambdas were fooled and detonated against the white-hot plasma flares. A few more were shredded into pieces by a hurricane of Vule fire. The rest – almost fifty – crashed into the light cruiser at a combined speed in excess of three thousand klicks per second. Plasma warheads blazed with shocking intensity, engulfing the Ghast ship. When the light faded there was nothing remaining except a cloud of fine debris, scattering in all directions.
“Launch our own countermeasures?” asked McGlashan.
“Wait, please,” said Duggan. “If we release too soon, we’ll have flown past the cover of our drones when their missiles reach us.”
“Ten seconds to impact.”
“Launch countermeasures. Where’s that second Kraven?”
“Shock drones away. Second vessel coming to one-sixty thousand klicks.”
Thousands of reflective shapes spilled out from the Crimson, their tiny engines boosting them away on a course given to them by the ship’s mainframe a nanosecond before they were launched. Each drone was slightly different in shape and each one gave off a mock-signature that was meant to confuse or fool missile guidance systems. The drone cloud was enormously expensive, but it did its job. Twenty-eight of the Kraven’s missiles unleashed their payload onto a drone, rather than the ESS Crimson. The remaining two missiles were tracked and destroyed by depleted uranium projectiles from the four port-side Bulwarks.
“All thirty incoming missiles destroyed,” said McGlashan.
“Sir, do you have any idea what’s happening here?” asked Chainer. “In less than two minutes, we’re going to have half of the Ghast fleet launching from the surface.”
“We’ve been sent on a mission, Lieutenant. I’m certain it’s not one of peace. If I’m correct, those Ghast ships won’t reach us.”
“Sir? I don’t understand,” said Chainer.
“Disruptors fired,” said McGlashan.
“That’s taken the fission drives to thirty percent,” said Breeze. “Positronic output from the Kraven hull at close to zero.”
“Fire,” said Duggan. “Eight tubes, this time. No need to waste ammunition.”
“Ninety-six missiles gone. They should impact a few seconds before the Kraven comes back online. I’m seeing activity on the weapons console, sir. I don’t know what it is. There’re utilisation spikes on the mainframe, like it’s powering something up.”
“I can access the gravity drives!” said Breeze.
Knowing it was too late, Duggan gripped the control rods and swung the Crimson away from the planet, still at full power. Deep within the hull of the vessel, something howled. The noise built rapidly until it was painful to hear.
“What the hell?” said Chainer, his words drowned out by the sound. Duggan saw realisation dawning on the man’s face.
The floor and walls vibrated angrily, as if they fought to contain something of incredible ferocity. The howling turned to a whine, which dropped away to nothingness as quickly as it had started. On the bulkhead viewscreen the image showed the Ghast planet breaking into pieces. It was slow at first, nearly serene. The Crimson was already far distant, so when the world behind them exploded, the crew were given a perfect, terrible view of it happening. The largest fragments split and split again, becoming smaller fractions of the whole as they cracked away from the centre. To Duggan’s eyes, it appeared as if the pieces moved lazily, though in reality he knew they were travelling at hundreds or thousands of kilometres per second. The light cruiser they’d targeted was lost amongst the chaos, its destruction a certainty.
Ahead of it all flew the ESS Crimson, her gravity drives sufficient to keep the vessel ahead of the tumbling shards of a broken world.
“Planet Breaker,” said Duggan, so softly he wasn’t sure he’d spoken aloud.
Chapter Twenty-Four
For a time, there was silence. No one spoke while they stared at the bulkhead screen. Eventually, Duggan switched it off. The bridge was eerily dark without the illumination it provided.
“The deep fission drives are available, sir,” said Breeze. His voice was expressionless. “Want me to get them ready?”
“Where will we go?” asked Duggan. He sighed. “Hold tight for a moment, Lieutenant. I need to gather my thoughts.”
“I’ve got Admiral Teron on the comms, sir. He wants to speak to you, privately.”
“I don’t give a damn what he wants. Put him through on the bridge open channel.”
“Will do, sir.”
Teron’s voice spoke through the speakers positioned all around, giving it the appearance of floating in the air before them. “You have done what you have done, Captain Duggan?”
“Yes, sir, it’s done.” He felt too tired to shout his anger.
“I’d like to say well done, but I don’t believe it’s a time for congratulations. You should have been left in full control of the Crimson once the Planet Breaker discharged. I’m sen
ding you a new set of coordinates. The meeting with the Ghasts is taking place, just not here.” Teron sounded genuinely sorrowful.
“Where are we going, sir? If we’re permitted to know.”
“You’re coming to Pioneer and bringing the Crimson with you.”
“Why do you need us there?”
“To remove the Planet Breaker, of course. We’re not even close to being able to copy it and it’s far too valuable to have it flying around the universe.”
“What about the negotiations? The fleet we sent to meet the Ghasts?”
“I’m sorry, Captain Duggan. We’ve already had our first meeting with the Ghasts. We showed them what we could do and they either didn’t believe us or didn’t think we’d have the determination to carry out our implied threats. We have another series of talks due soon. This time we decided it would be best if we showed our intent beforehand. To encourage them to pursue a more peaceful relationship with us.”
“There must have been another way,” said Duggan. “Conventional arms could have sent a message.”
“This is the way we have chosen, Captain. It’s finished now and we must look forwards to a brighter future for the Confederation.”
“Why me? Why us?”
“I think you know the answer to that one, Captain. For what it’s worth, I would not have chosen to handle matters in this way.”
“Is the Space Corps planning to use the Planet Breaker again?”
“I genuinely hope not. We will see what the Helius Blackstar brings. That’s where it started and that’s where we should end it. Twelve days from this point and we should have news. Keep your fingers crossed that we achieve the result we want.”
“What happens at Pioneer, sir?”
“No one will know about your mission and it must stay that way. We’ve got a dozen Vincent class fighters at the Pioneer shipyards, waiting for men and women to act as their crew. You’ll be assigned to one and put onto your usual duties. Only this time, you might be able to perform them without an expectation that death will result from your endeavours.”
Bane of Worlds (Survival Wars Book 2) Page 17