by Lee Watts
Irritated, Sosimo tapped a series of buttons then hit the switch causing the communication monitor to display the face of a one-eyed, gloating man.
"Good job, LaRouche. I should have known a trickster like you could pull it off."
"And I should have known you were a traitorous, murdering, backstabber the day I met you, but let's not waste time on what we should have known."
"Agreed. I'm guessing you know why I'm here."
"Oh, I know, and you know I know, but what you don't know that I know is what I know that you don't know."
Crimson's brow furrowed as he tried to sort out what his rival just said. Unsuccessful, he shook his head to clear it.
"Listen, LaRouche, I don't know what you're going on about, but it comes down to this... the only reason you'd leave that planet is if you found the prism. I want it."
"And I want to see you dead, but it seems we're both going to have to wait to get what we want."
"LaRouche, I'm in a Hateeg warship, you're in a puny system patrol craft. It's no contest."
"You're right, I do have an unfair advantage."
"Advantage?" Crimson scoffed with a laugh. "What advantage?"
"The advantage of being brilliant while you have the cunning of an Edonian slug." Turning to Jaiden, Sosimo added, "Notoriously slow and slimy Edonian slugs, but good eating."
"That's it, LaRouche! Put the prism in an escape pod and jettison it, or I'm blowing that little ship of yours to pieces."
"No, you won't," Sosimo contradicted dismissively.
"What?! You don't think I'll do it?"
"No, you're probably dumb enough to try."
"What then? You think I care about The Vault? It might not even exist! Listen, if I find The Vault one day... great, but I'm not obsessed with it like you are. So, if the prism is lost in the explosion, that's a small price to pay for getting you off of my trail. I'm giving you two choices, either jettison it, or I'm sending you to meet Shen Lei. What'll it be?"
"Tell you what," Sosimo began, "I'll give you a third option. I keep the prism, you don't kill anybody, and you watch me fly away."
Crimson chuckled at the absurdity of the statement.
"And what in the worlds makes you think you can do that?"
"Because you didn't follow my advice."
"Advice?"
"Remember the day I promised to kill you that I told you to watch your back, well you haven't been paying attention."
With that the Fortune, with stealth mode engaged, came out of lightdrive precisely next to the two ships. Cutting the transmission, Sosimo activated the thrusters of the patrol craft propelling it straight into the Fortune's docking bay.
"We're in, Mei. Punch it," Sosimo called over the radio.
"You heard the Captain," she said and pointed to Byron to engage the engines.
Flaring to life, the three sublight engines at the back of the Fortune zoomed it forward. Crimson shouted in rage as his nemesis escaped, and he saw the enemy ship flying away.
"LOCK WEAPONS AND FIRE," he angrily shouted.
"They got stealth mode engaged," reported the crewman at the weapon's station. "I can't get a lock!"
"THEN TARGET THEM MANUALLY!"
"I gotta see them to get-"
"I KNOW! SHUT UP! Helm, bring us around to their heading!"
As the Hateeg craft started moving, it changed direction to chase the Fortune. In the Fortune's docking bay, Sosimo and Jaiden hurriedly exited the patrol ship and took off their Ramillie cloaks as they made their way toward the bridge.
"It sure was lucky that Mei got there when she did," Jaiden mentioned as they entered the lift tube.
"I make my own luck," Sosimo responded. "It's the only way to make sure you have enough when you need it. Before I opened the comm line with Crimson, I tied it into the Fortune's private frequency. Mei was listening to the whole thing and tracked the signal back to our position."
"You think of everything don't you, Captain?"
"No, mostly I think about only three things."
"Three things? What are they?"
"Finding The Vault, killing Crimson, and why each advanced civilization in the known universe has invented meatballs... It boggles the mind."
Jaiden wanted to ask more about Sosimo's answer but thought the explanation might boggle his own mind so he decided to stay quiet.
"Where is he?" the irate Crimson fumed as he slammed a fist on the armrest of his command chair.
"There," a crewman finally remarked.
"TAKE THE SHOT," barked the Fame's captain.
Streaking through the void came an orange beam of energy. At first, missing the Fortune entirely, the gunner kept the beam engaged and corrected his aim. In stealth mode, the Fortune had no protective screens, and the attack sheared off some of the radar absorbent material coving the hull.
Reaching the bridge, Sosimo stumbled for a second as his ship took another hit from the Fame.
"MEI, REPORT."
"Crimson's taking potshots at us. We're on course for The Cloud's edge," she answered as she rose from the command chair. Sosimo tossed his Ramillie cloak over the side of the chair then sat.
"Have we returned fire?" he asked.
"No," Mei answered. "I thought that would only make it worse."
"You're right. Good call."
Everyone rocked as another blast hit the ship.
"Get Crimson on the line. Quick," Sosimo ordered.
A few moments later, Crimson's seething face appeared on the screen.
"Crimson, you idiot! Cease fire!"
Expecting Sosimo was hailing him to announce his surrender, these weren't exactly the words he expected to hear.
"Why should I?" Crimson demanded.
"Because all that high-powered energy you're blasting everywhere is probably lighting up every Ramillie scanner in the system! They're going to show up in force then we're both dead!"
"Not me, LaRouche. When they get here, I'll cloak, and if there's anything left of you when I'm done the Ramillie can have it," he sneered then closed the channel. A moment later two burning orange spheres launched from the Fame.
"INCOMING TORPEDOES," Mei warned.
"Evasive maneuvers," Sosimo ordered.
Jaiden, back at the helm, pulled the controls hard to swerve the ship but was only able to avoid one of the weapons while the other slammed into the rear section of the Fortune.
"We just lost the starboard engine," Mei reported. "At this rate, he'll have us before we reach The Cloud."
Sosimo grumbled but knew his first officer was right.
"Disengage stealth mode," he ordered though was loathed to do so. "Power weapons and engage the secondary shield generator."
"Aye, Cap'n," Byron nodded.
Taking another hit as the stealth panels retracted, the Fortune readied itself to return fire.
"Load the aft torpedo bays, and stand by on cannons," Sosimo ordered. "Target their cloaking device generator. I'm not letting him disappear and get away. Prepare time on target."
Jaiden, unfamiliar with the order 'time on target' was unsure if it was an instruction to him as the helmsman or not.
"What's that?" he called out.
"Means the Cap'n wants the torpedoes to hit at the same time as the lasers," Byron explained as he worked the weapons control panel. "Torpedoes locked. Time on target set."
"Fire," Sosimo ordered.
In rapid succession, two torpedoes launched from each of the rear facing launch tubes of the Fortune. A pair of heartbeats later the secondary cannon activated and sent a steady beam of power pouring into the Fame's forward shield. Weakened by the relentless blue ray, the Fame's shields couldn't stop the four torpedoes. Penetrating the failing defensive screens, the torpedoes slammed into the hull causing significant damage.
Crimson, nearly thrown from his chair, cursed as his ship took the full brunt of the attack.
"YOU IDIOTS! GET US OUT FROM DIRECTLY BEHIND HIM," Crimson yelled.
"Changing heading," a c
rewman reported. This was quickly followed by another person on the bridge saying that main power was fluctuating.
As the Fame veered sharply to a new heading, the tertiary cannons of the Fortune sprayed rapid, short burst of blue energy in a wide arc. Many of the shots connected with their target, rippling across the Fame's shields like a stone thrown in a pond.
On the bridge of the Fame, a console exploded in a crewman's face, engulfing the man in flame. He began wildly flailing about, which only served to feed the fire. Drawing his pistol, Crimson shot the man in the head, killing him instantly. He then pointed to another crewman.
"PUT THAT OUT! WEAPONS, RETURN FIRE!"
A deadly orange beam of energy streamed from the Fame and seared across the Fortune's shields.
"Starboard shield collapsing," Byron reported as the ship rocked under the massive attack.
"Jaiden, twist us one hundred eighty degrees," Sosimo instructed.
Moving the controls to comply with the order, Jaiden spun the narrow ship to upside down of the way it was a moment prior. With no up or down in space, this twisting had no effect on the Fortune's crew but did manage to almost instantly protect the ship's weak side by turning its stronger shield to the enemy.
"Why's he flying upside down?" Crimson questioned.
"Actually," one of his crew began to say, "there is no up or-"
"Shut up and keep firing," Crimson sneered.
In a frenzy of fire, multiple cannons of the Hateeg craft spewed orange energy at the adversary. Under the brunt of the attack, the Fortune's shields flashed as the secondary shield generator shorted out.
"That's it, Cap'n," Byron reported. "Secondary shields are gone. Should I bring the primary online?"
"Not yet," Sosimo answered. "Mei, call up the file 'Shooting Blanks,' give it a level one encryption then send it on a tight beam transmission to the Fame.
With no time to ask for an explanation, Mei quickly moved her hands over the computer controls to carry out the captain's instructions. In less than fifteen seconds she had finished.
"Message away."
Sosimo smiled roguishly.
"Brilliant," he boasted quietly to and about himself.
On the Fame, the seemingly clandestine message was intercepted.
"Message?" Crimson asked.
"Aye, text only, and it's encoded."
"Run it through the cipher descrambler, quick," he directed.
"Coming through now. It says, 'Friend, reduce weapon power to one percent now.' It's signed LaRouche."
"Friend? Who's his friend?" Crimson angrily demanded. "WHICH ONE OF YOU IS WORKING FOR LAROUCHE?!"
No one spoke up.
On the Fortune, Sosimo couldn't be more pleased with himself.
"That should be long enough," Sosimo announced. "By this time, he should be accusing every member of the crew of being a traitor. Byron, go ahead and bring up the primary shields."
"Aye, Cap'n," Byron complied with trepidation.
Jaiden also was concerned.
"Captain, I don't mean to be disrespectful, but aren't the primary shields the ones we bought on Mutineers' Moon?" Jaiden asked.
"Exactly right."
"Aren't they... well, weak?"
"Extremely weak," Sosimo replied cheerfully. "And remember, we have a hundred and eighty-three of them."
"But we can only activate one of them at a time, right?"
"Precisely, and that's the beauty of it. As soon as Crimson hits us with anything those things will short right out."
"And why is that not a bad thing?"
"Because Crimson now thinks he has a spy on board who just reduced his weapon power to virtually nothing. When he scans our shields, he'll see they are all but gone, so he'll fire, the first generator will fry, but the relay will bring the next one up, and our shields will look as strong as they did before he fired. This will make Crimson think his weapons are useless."
Just then the ship rocked as the Fame's weapons struck. On the outside of the Fortune, the shields flashed as the generator popped and the screens blinked into nothingness. Less than half a second later, the next relay activated the second shield.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEIR SHIELDS ARE STILL UP?" Crimson bellowed. "I've got him. He's down to nothing. Fire again!"
To Crimson's extreme consternation, his next attack yielded the same results.
"TRAITOR," he yelled as he rose and drew his weapon. Before anyone could react, he shot the person at the weapon's station in the back, killing him. Stomping toward the dead man, Crimson pulled the slumped body off the console, checked the weapon's setting, and then fired them himself.
Three more blasts of orange energy burst from the Fame. Each splashed upon the Fortune's shields, which would flash and yet remain. Sosimo's ship returned fire, and his narrow vessel turned, it brought its main cannon to bear on the Hateeg craft. Lights flickered on the Fame, sparks shot out of the conduits and smoke began filling the bridge. Crimson screamed out his enemy's name in hatred.
"LAROUCHE!"
"All their systems are failing, Captain," Mei reported. "We have him."
Sosimo smiled in victory as he was about to keep his promise to avenge Shen Lei.
"Mei, take the weapon's station," Sosimo instructed. He would give the order to destroy his old friend's murderer and thought it only fitting that Mei be the one to carry it out. Byron rose from his position, yielding the weapon control station to the first officer.
"CAPTIAN," Jaiden suddenly called out as half a dozen Ramillie cruisers zoomed out of hyperspace portals in front of them.
"I told him this would happen," Sosimo grumbled. "Time till we could reach The Cloud?"
"Ten minutes," Jaiden answered.
Now at Mei's post, Byron checked the sensors.
"Cap'n, more portals are opening behind us. I'm detecting four more cruisers. We're cut off."
Sosimo's mind raced to try and come up with a way out of the predicament. His ship already damaged, with nowhere to run, and facing ten Ramillie cruisers he knew there was no escape. Quickly he stood and removed his burgundy jacket. It was the first time Jaiden had fully seen the captain's robotic arm. It attached to his flesh just below the elbow. Tapping some controls, Sosimo activated one of the tiny servo motors. It made a soft whir as a small compartment opened. Reaching into his Ramillie cloak, he removed one of the prisms and slid it into the compartment. Sosimo hit a button, and the servo motor retracted the prism inside the prosthetic then closed. Slowly, he re-donned his calf-length jacket and sat. As Ramillie ships encircled the Fortune, its captain signaled his surrender. With the Fame's cloaking device damaged, it was unable to disappear and so too was captured. Both ships were impounded, and their crews were dragged to the prisons of the Ramillie homeworld of Kohath.
CHAPTER 17
"And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span." - I Samuel 17:4
Admiral Balin and the rest of the crew of the Dauntless staggered as Ramillie missiles pounded their shields.
"RETURN FIRE," Balin ordered over the cacophony of the attack.
Aft facing torpedo tubes spewed brightly burning spheres as cannons of the Realm craft lanced blue beams of light at the Tyrannus.
"Set tertiary guns on point defense," Balin instructed.
"Gunners reporting ready," an officer reported, "but we'll have to turn broadside for them to get a shot."
Balin knew turning the side of the ship to face the beast would only provide more of a target, but with more of a target, the enemy weapons couldn't concentrate on the engines as they were presently doing. Turning would also allow the many gunners of the Dauntless to start targeting the barrage of missiles zooming toward his ship.
"Bring us about," Balin called to the helmsman.
As the super battlecarrier began turning, Warlord Ra'daq smiled.
"He's turning to fight," the Ramillie hissed in pleasure. "Good, it makes it much more fun t
han running him down. Come, Balin. The beast awaits."
"How many Plyeecian stones do we have left?" Balin asked the chief weapons officer.
Calling up a munitions inventory chart, the officer reported they had twenty mid-sized stones remaining and five small ones.
"Route all the mid-sized ones to the starboard tubes and prepare for launch on my command."
"Aye, Admiral."
"Normally I'd say that was overkill," the first officer remarked. "But with the Tyrannus, do you think it will be enough?"
"It'll have to be," Balin maintained then one of the bridge consoles exploded.
Alarms blared, and warning lights flashed.
"REPORT," Balin called out.
"Primary shield generator destroyed. Weapons going offline. Switching power to the backup shield generator!"
"Belay that," Balin called out. "Divert power to the weapons systems!"
The ship trembled from the relentless attack of the Tyrannus forcing Balin to grab onto a railing to keep his footing. Sparks shout out of control stations, and a crewman shouted in pain as his station surged with power and energy coursed through him for a second. Fortunately, the blast sent him toppling from his station and away from the electricity.
"Get him to sickbay! ARE THE STONES PREPPED?" he was forced to shout over the rage of sound from the attack.
"AYE, ADMIRAL. STANDING BY."
"I WANT ALL OF THEM LAUNCHED IN RAPID SUCCESSION. FIRE!"
In an uninterrupted series of flashes, a score of missiles leaped from the Dauntless toward the enemy vessel. From that distance, with their warheads removed and replaced with the initially inert Plyeecian stones, the projectiles were virtually undetectable by Ramillie sensors.
As explosions belched from the dying craft, her weapons going silent and shields down, Warlord Ra'daq savored the last moments of the Dauntless.
"Perhaps not so worthy an opponent after all," Ra'daq quipped with superiority.
Suddenly, shrill sirens began whirling as incoming objects were detected.
"What is it?" demanded Captain Crex.
"Sensors detecting massive Omicron radiation spikes. Readings going off the chart!"
As the Realm missiles sped toward the Ramillie ship, the ancient stones began glowing brightly.