Angels of Eternity

by Timothy Mayer

  “How long till we’re in range?” Shakti asked Lashmi, who was filling in for Durga while the other woman took her crew to the former pirate ship.

  “Our range?” she asked Shakti. Seth was still close to her, which was a continual irritation to Shakti.

  “Our range,” Shakti acknowledged. “I have no idea what kind of range those things possess.”

  “Ten minutes,” she informed. “Look at this: the wasps must know about us already.” Shakti floated over the screen and pushed Seth out of the way to see what Lashmi had found. Seth bounced off the wall behind and grabbed a handhold. He was next to Bravi who turned and smiled at the young man.

  “Cute,” she said to him. “I’d give you one on the house.” The rest of the women snickered as she hadn’t turned on her external audio. He couldn’t hear her comment.

  “Focus on the task,” Shakti snapped at her. “Would someone please tie Seth down so he doesn’t float off and get in the way?”

  Tara pulled out a utility cord and moved over to him. As Seth tried to understand what she was doing, she tied a complicated series of knots around his upper chest in a matter of minutes. Next, she lashed him to another handhold. Tara tested the restraint and showed Seth how it could be untied easily with a simple pull of a loose cord. She left him there and floated back to her station.

  “Never thought that trick would come in handy again,” Tara commented as she found her place over a panel.

  “How are you, Durga?” Shakti asked her second in the Bugkiller. “They’ve spotted us, so time to separate.”

  “We are in position,” she transmitted back. “Separation in three…two…one….” There was a thud heard in the command center and the pirate ship broke loose from the corvette. Shakti watched it move away from Widowmaker and match velocity as it fell back. The nuclear engines came to life and it followed the corvette. The Widowmaker was running under electrostatic power, but had the nuclear engines ready to be used.

  Shakti had the three wasp ships brought up on the holographic display in the center. Each one had a slightly different color. The one nearest to them, which appeared to be flying an intercept pattern, was shaded yellow. It was followed by red and blue wasp destroyers.

  In Shakti’s briefing on wasp technology, the war college made available to her some of their findings on the enemy. Since the wasps didn’t communicate much by sound, they were reliant on other sensory input. They had a highly developed sense of smell and visual recognition, both that surpassed human abilities. Although the wasps existed in different castes for functionality, they discovered the warfighting interstellar ships used by the wasps emitted light in different shades of the visible spectrum for identification purposes. No two wasp ships were colored the same way, although most humans couldn’t tell the difference.

  “Bugkiller,” Shakti transmitted to Durga’s crew. “We’re bringing the nuclear propulsion engines on line. We’re powering down the electrostatics to save energy. I see you’re running your reactor already. Good, I want you to move thirty-six degrees from us on the same plane. See if you can lure the yellow wasp destroyer in your direction. We’re going to hit it with a thermonuclear torpedo and see what happens.”

  “Give us five minutes,” Durga sent back. “And let me know before you launch the torpedo because I want to be ready to pull pack when it detonates.”

  “I will. The yellow wasp isn’t moving fast enough to be inside your damage perimeter, so I don’t see a problem. Yet.”

  Shakti turned and looked to the women with her. Dharma was inside her suit armor, just as her co-wives, and working at her station. She filled in for Kamala’s absence. Dharma was focused, but her disappearance still worried Shakti. What if she went unresponsive in the middle of battle? Shakti wasn’t sure they could reconfigure everything while taking fire. It all depended on what kind of weapons the wasp destroyers carried. Dharma’s life signs were displayed inside Shakti’s helmet, but they didn’t tell everything.

  Back on the Bugkiller, three women were in control of a ship meant for a much larger crew. They discovered a secondary command center left over from one of the commercial ships used to build the overall pirate ship and made use of it. The secondary command center was located inside the rotating part of the habitat, which allowed them to experience simulated gravity while they monitored the situation. Durga had considered stopping the spin as it turned the ship into a huge gyroscope. This made it difficult to execute any kind of maneuvers. Imperial warships had all kinds of compensators for the spin, but this pirate ship had none of them. The best she could hope to do was avoid any tactic that would put too much stress on it.

  “Do we have a lock on the yellow wasp?” Shakti called out. Time was short; in any second, the wasp destroyer could decide to strike first.

  “It’s moving in the direction of Durga’s ship,” Tara called out as she did double duty on the panels. “We have a fix on it if you want to fire.”

  The damage lights on the Bugkiller illuminated without warning. Durga faced a display panel, which screamed at her as several hull breaches were recorded. The yellow wasp had stung them badly and from a distance, which they didn’t expect. She raced to give commands to the patched computer network inside the ship, which wanted to know what do. Already they’d lost life supports in twenty percent of the Bugkiller.

  “Shakti,” Durga cried into her helmet, “we’ve been hit. That wasp destroyer has something no one knew about. Their effective range is further than we thought. We’re still able to function, but they stung us pretty good.”

  “Quark laser,” Chimata commented as she read the information on her screen. “They hit us with a quark laser.”

  “I didn’t know the wasps had those,” Kamala said to them. “I’m going down to the propulsion section. The reactors are acting funny and I want to see what’s happening.”

  “Alright,” Durga informed her. “But get back here if you see the slightest sign of a reactor leak. I don’t need you carrying radioactive particles back to the corvette.” Kamala nodded and left the small command center.

  Back on the Widowmaker, Shakti observed the movement of the yellow wasp. They replayed its energy discharge on the Bugkiller when it attacked. Chimata informed them of her quark laser suspicions. This was not something they were prepared to fight. Quark lasers were the most intense ones in operation, which meant the wasps had acquired them from the empire. Once again, she worried the wasps were close to learning how to fold space. This left her with few options.

  “Fire the torpedo,” she told Lashmi. “And keep a close watch on it.”

  “It’s done,” Lashmi told Shakti seconds later. Although they were in freefall, Shakti and rest of the women in the corvette each felt the torpedo’s thrust as its engine ignited and it left the ship. Without magnification, the yellow wasp appeared to be a bright star in the distance on the screen. The Bugkiller was to the far right of it and appeared as another. Now, a third star moved in the direction of the first.

  “Torpedo on its way,” Shakti transmitted to Durga. “I’d get the heck out of there as soon as you can.

  “Yellow wasp appears to be holding its position,” Dharma observed from her station. The blue and red ones have changed course and are headed toward us.”

  “Solves the problem about what to tell the war college,” Shakti commented as she watched the torpedo close in on the yellow wasp. “Durga, get the hell out of there, you’re too close to the blast perimeter.”

  “We’re moving as fast as we can,” her second transmitted back. “Kamala is inspecting the propulsion center. “We lost some control from the laser sting.”

  The star near the yellow wasp blossomed a second later. Once again, the thermonuclear explosion in the warhead created a miniature sun next to the wasp ship. Their vision of outer space flared up with a new source of light and radiation, which neatly vaporized the yellow wasp next to it. The side effect was a beacon for the red and blue wasp ships.

  Shakti glanced b
ack. Her worst fears were realized as she saw Dharma curled into a ball and as she gripped a handhold. Now they were down one warbride and under attack. She gritted her teeth and scanned the room. Shakti watching the glow on the screen die down from the thermonuclear explosion. The yellow wasp was gone. Two more destroyers were headed in their direction. By now, the wasps knew the corvette had thermonuclear torpedoes in addition to the standard nuclear ones.

  “Durga,” Shakti transmitted. “What is your status? You were too close to the detonation.” She couldn’t tell much from her point of view.

  “We’re still here,” Durga sent back. “We were on the edge of the blast zone. Nothing in the way of heat, but we took a flash of radiation from the explosion. Some damage to the outer hull. I’m trying to get the service bots out there to have a look.” The service bots were small robotic devices that maintained interstellar spacecraft. They constantly fixed and repaired problems on the exterior.

  “What about your crew?”

  “I’ve got Chimata with me. Kamala is still down checking out the propulsion system. I expect her back soon.”

  Kamala was injured. A blast shield malfunctioned near her, but Durga had no way to know about it. The blast shield triggered when it detected an unusual and high level of X-rays, caused by the detonation of the torpedo. The blast door was supposed to check with the rest of the ship’s computer network before it triggered, but it was damaged during the laser attack. Kamala was knocked back into the rest of the corridor when the door slammed shut and isolated the propulsion unit.

  She stood up slowly and felt her sides. No breaks on her ribs, but her leg felt odd. The door had thrown her across the corridor and against the wall. Background radiation was normal, thank the gods. She managed to stand up and checked her suit armor over. Everything was normal, except the transmitter, which no longer worked at all. She would have to use hand signals until returning to the corvette. Each warbride had a spare set of suit armor and parts for repair.

  Relieved to hear the Bugkiller was still in operation, Shakti turned her attention back to Dharma. She was still off to the side curled up in a ball. Goddamit, she didn’t need this! Working hard to maintain her frame, Shakti turned to see Tara nearby. Then she had another idea.

  “You think Seth can do something about Dharma?” she asked the other warbrides in the corvette over their channel. “Lashmi, why don’t you have Seth go over and comfort her? Hell, have him take her down to the infirmary and get her out of that armor. She’s of no use to anyone right now.”

  “I wouldn’t do that,” Tara transmitted back.

  “Why?” Shakti asked.

  “How do you think she got that way?” Tara asked her. “Haven’t you noticed how Dharma avoided Seth the moment he came into the command center? I think he would make matters worse.”

  “Then just leave her be for the moment,” Shakti told her. “Lashmi, what’s the position of the other two wasp destroyers?”

  “Blue destroyer is moving into our range,” she informed. “I don’t know why they both don’t strike at the same time. By allowing us to use all of ships on each of theirs, we have an advantage.”

  “Tactics,” Tara commented. “They have no concept of tactics.”

  “Do you have a lock on the blue wasp?” Shakti asked Lashmi. She glanced back at Dharma, who was still nonresponsive. Seth was drifting in the harness made for him as he tried to understand why the small figure in the suit with a pole painted on her chest plate was huddled alone.

  “Got it,” Lashmi told her. “It’s just as predictable as the last one.”

  “Hit it with another torpedo,” Shakti told her. “Use one of the nuclear ones this time. We only have one more thermonuclear and I don’t want to waste it.”

  “Okay, but it’ll have to detonate a lot closer than the last one did.”

  “I’m sure Durga won’t mind,” Shakti commented, then opened a channel to the other ship. “Durga, we’re firing another torpedo. A nuclear one this time. You still need to be ready for it.”

  “I hear you,” she said just as more red lights appeared in front of her. “Damn, they’re turning another quark laser on us. Ouch, we really were stung that time. I don’t know how much longer I can keep this thing operational.” She turned and saw Kamala hobble into the command center.

  Kamala walked over and touched her helmet to the one Durga wore. It was the only way they could communicate without removing them. Popping their tops was not a good idea at the present.

  “Transmitter out,” she heard. “Leg busted from door. Propulsion system still works.”

  “Stand by your station,” Kamala heard from Durga. “Watch me. Second wasp hit us bad.”

  The second torpedo detonated in range of the blue wasp and tore it apart. Shakti watched the second wasp ship fracture into multiple parts as the heat and shock wave from what was once a small torpedo burst across the target. In space, there was no air for a shockwave, but the torpedo was built to provide its own. In close enough range, the plasma generated by the exploding torpedo could still slice through most material objects. It was quite effective.

  “That takes out number two,” Shakti observed. We still have the red wasp to worry about.”

  In the Bugkiller, Durga did her best to keep the ship operational while Chimata watched the final wasp destroyer. The wreckage of the second wasp destroyer spread into a thin cloud as it dispersed from the detonation of the torpedo. The quark laser from the blue wasp had damaged the outside of their ship. Durga’s bots were wiped out when the laser swept along the outer surface and scraped it clean of any kind of external projections. To make matters worse, Kamala worked her station with a bad leg and communicated with hand signals.

  “Can you still show some aggression?” Shakti asked her from the Widowmaker. “I know you took a bad series of stings from them, but the wasps might think you’re still a threat”

  “I’ll do what I can,” Durga told her. “With Kamala’s busted leg and transmitter out, there isn’t much we can do but shuffle around. Half of the ship has lost life support and we may lose the rest of it before long. Plenty of damage to the outer surface from the lasers. I don’t want to risk another hit. At least we have some idea of their range and I can stay out far enough. Hey, what’s that? Did you see what the last wasp ship did?”

  Shakti spun to the nearest screen and increased the magnification. The final wasp destroyer had launched three torpedoes of its own. She couldn’t be sure, but the safe bet was to assume they were nuclear. This meant they needed to take evasive action and quick. She looked back at Dharma. The small woman was uncurled and back at her station. How long would they have to put up with this?

  To make matters worse, Lashmi had secured Seth near her on his tether. Shakti ground her teeth and made a mental note to have a long talk with her if they survived. Bravi glared at Lashmi who held Seth close with one arm over him and operated her panel with another. Tara was not pleased either at the state of affairs. Only Dharma, trapped in her own nightmare, seemed oblivious to the presence of a man in the command center. Or she was ignoring him.

  “I’m tracking three objects from the final destroyer,” Lashmi announced. “Two are headed in our direction, one moving at the Bugkiller.”

  “Bravi,” Shakti said to her, “can you bring the laser cannons up? We need to take out that torpedo headed toward Durga’s ship. They don’t have much left over there. The Bugkiller is damaged beyond their ability to fix.”

  “Done,” Bravi announced as she moved her hands over the panel. “I have the lasers focused and…” Another star shined and went dark in seconds. “Successful destruction of the torpedo, but what do we do about the other ones in our direction?

  “Do you have enough power to use the cannons again?” Shakti asked her.

  “Barely, I can take out one; we may have to get out of the way if I can’t eliminate the third. It’ll take a few minutes to power up and I don’t think we have the time.”

  “Do it
,” she ordered. “Wait! Hold your fire! Lashmi, send out two torpedoes at the last wasp destroyer. They want to raise the bargain, we can too.” She watched Lashmi make the adjustments on her panel and turn back to Shakti.

  “Torpedo’s three and four are out there. I used the nuclear ones, as I figured you want to save the thermonuclear ones for later.”

  “Good move,” Shakti congratulated. “Bravi hit those torpedoes coming at us with the lasers.”

  From the Bugkiller, Durga and the women with her saw the battle between the final wasp destroyer and the corvette. She watched the three torpedoes fired and felt relief when the corvette lasered the one headed in their direction. The nuclear propulsion unit was down to ten percent and the electrostatics couldn’t be used. Their only recourse left was the Schrodinger generator and she didn’t think the former pirate ship would survive the fold of space.

  “Torpedo two out,” Bravi announced. They watched the star headed toward them extinguished, but one still remained.

  “Tara,” Shakti announced, “It’s in the perimeter. Give the nuclear engine all the power you can because….”

  All the screens, which fed from the exterior, went white then faded to black as the wasp torpedo detonated. Shakti watched red lights pop up everywhere in the command center, but saw no breech of the outer hull. The torpedo had struck, but not close enough to do any serious damage.

  The communication with the Bugkiller was out. Part of the surface sensors were damaged, but they needed to do something about the damage done to the exterior transmitter or there would be no way to communicate with the other ship.

  “Bugkiller seems to be fine,” Lashmi said as she idly stroked Seth’s hair. “Torpedo is in route to the final wasp destroyer. It’s trying to get away.”