Unlike last time.
“Angus? Please send this message. Follow the parameters listed on the console.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Good.”
“Attempting transmission now.”
The screen returned to a ready state, and he stared at it, wondering what more they could do. “Angus, can you send the same message to Ezzaruh on Balaena?”
“I would need specific coordinates, otherwise I would transmit to the enemy fleet as well.”
Zee nodded. “Pull up the navigational charts.”
“They’re on your screen now.”
He stared at the display where a map showed the current solar system with their ship marked in red. He touched Balaena and moved his fingers around until it zoomed in. It took a little practice for him to adapt to the interface, but before long, he found the colony. He zoomed in, locating the governing center. “Here.”
“I’ll send as soon as the previous message finishes.”
He frowned. “You can’t send simultaneously?”
“Aye, I can, when the messages are packaged or on separate bandwidths.”
He nodded, but wasn’t sure he understood. It didn’t matter, really. It would be a miracle if either of them got through, let alone drove his people to action.
But what else could he do? He was in a civilian ship with no weapons. All his men were dead. He was on his own and ill-prepared.
He sat up straight, an idea forming. “Can you monitor transmissions while sending?”
“Aye, as long as they are on different bandwidths.”
“Good, do it.”
It was a start.
Ellie frowned at the screen in her room, frustrated with herself. Why couldn’t she figure this out? There had to be a way.
“Staring at it won’t fix anything,” Angus chimed in, his usual irritating self.
“Shut up, Angus.” She glared up at the ceiling where his voice originated.
“Just trying to be helpful.”
She put her hands on her hips. “Well, it’s not. Aren’t you supposed to be downloading military data or something?”
“I can do two things at once. In fact, I’m currently attempting to resend communications, scan for enemy frequencies, and download military strategic information.”
“Showoff,” she mumbled under her breath.
She glanced back at the display, but it might as well have been an abstract painting for all the sense she could make of it. “There’s too much,” she whispered. She tried to create some semblance of logic to the data, but her mind just wouldn’t cooperate. She turned away, pacing as Zee had done earlier.
What could they do?
What did they have?
She listed them off on her fingers.
Shielding against most known weapons systems.
Pulse system.
That was it, and the shielding wasn’t fully tested.
But the pulse system. What if…
She stopped, her breath locking in her chest. It was a beyond crazy idea. It was stupid. She should forget it. They just needed to get Ateles Command or the leaders of that colony to listen.
But the thought was already formed, and she couldn’t stop. “Angus?”
“Aye, Ellie?”
“Run a simulation. I want to know if we could use the pulse system to hit the entire fleet.”
“One moment.”
She froze, off balance as she waited, even holding her breath. If the pulse could knock out the entire fleet, it would buy the colony time. Not much, but hopefully enough. Bonus, it would kill their stealth systems, making the ships detectable to the planet below. It might help convince them of the threat.
But would it be enough?
“Aye, with sufficient power bypassed, the pulse system could impact the entire fleet.”
“But?” She knew Angus’s tone, knew there would be a price.
“Close proximity is required to affect the entire fleet and avoid impacting the planet.”
Her stomach sank as her limbs tingled with unease. “How close?”
“Well within firing range.”
“Shit,” she whispered. Words failed her, and she just stood there. “Oh, my God.” I’m gonna die. She couldn’t see a way around it. They had nothing else. They just had to hope the shields would hold long enough. She cleared her throat, her voice strong this time. “How long will we be within firing range?”
“At full speed? Two minutes.”
Two minutes. It didn’t sound like much time at all in normal circumstances, but while under fire? That was an eternity. “I’m going to the cockpit.”
Hopefully, Zee had an alternative.
Zee sat staring at the stars through the viewscreen. He had nothing better to do. Angus had said he’d received no error messages this time when trying to send, so hopefully both messages were received.
If not, he didn’t know what else to do.
Behind him, the door sailed open, and Ellie walked through. “Zee, any news?”
He turned, shaking his head, and she sagged against the wall. “Damn. I was really hoping I wouldn’t have to suggest this crazy idea.”
Crazy idea? “What do you have in mind?”
She squirmed in place, not willing to look at him. Then, her body stiffened, and she almost glared at him in her determination. “We can use the pulse?”
He frowned. He preferred acting to waiting, but… “Isn’t that a defensive weapon? You said it was for escaping a fight.”
She nodded. “More importantly,” she leaned forward, “it disables ships. Angus calculated we can disable the entire fleet with enough power.”
He nodded absently. He could see the merit of such a strike… should it be necessary. It could give the colony time to prepare an attack or time for Command to arrive. It would be smart to prepare a backup plan, just in case. “The ship has that much power?”
She shrugged. “I assume. Angus said it was doable. Angus?”
“The ship has more than enough power.”
“See?” she said with a small smile.
He frowned again. Why had she seemed so hesitant to present this option? While the fleet could recover from it, from what she’d said, it sounded foolproof. “What’s the problem?”
She squirmed again. “How good are you at flying?”
Flying? What the hacht? “Ellie?”
She looked away. “We need to be pretty close for it to work,” she hedged.
“How close?” he snarled.
She flinched. “Firing range.”
Incredulous, he said, “Can this ship handle that?”
She shrugged and shook her head. “I don’t know.”
Zee leaned back in the seat. He hoped they wouldn’t need to use it. “Hacht, Ellie. Why would you even suggest that?”
She shrugged again. “We might not have a choice.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ellie groaned under her breath. They’d been at it for hours. She leaned back in her seat in the cockpit and sighed. A part of her hoped Zee would get a response from his messages, that they wouldn’t have to go through with this.
Actually, most of her did.
As they went over the details with Angus, it looked grimmer and grimmer. They didn’t know if the shields would hold. They’d never been tested under such extreme conditions. That meant they had to assume they wouldn’t.
Problem was, neither Zee nor herself were trained in piloting during battle conditions. They could get fairly close using sub-space, but that would still leave the final approach. If they tried to use the pulse weapon, there was a very real possibility they would die in the attempt.
“The fleet has started moving,” Angus interrupted, jarring Ellie out of her thoughts.
“What? They weren’t supposed to attack for a few days!”
“What’s their ETA?” Zee said, jumping to his feet.
Ellie just stared, frozen with her butt plastered to the leather.
“Two
hours.”
“Shit.”
“Hacht.”
“What do we do?” Ellie said, her hands hanging uselessly from her lap.
Zee growled. “I’ll have to fly the ship.”
Ellie jumped to her feet, her heart pounding painfully. “Like hell, you are!” She pointed a finger in his face, almost stabbing him with a sharp nail. “You said yourself you couldn’t fly evasively!” Her heart raced at the thought of attacking an entire fleet, but they still hadn’t received a response from either message. They could probably reach the colony, but would they have enough time to convince leadership of the threat, let alone prepare a defense?
“What choice do we have?” Zee yelled.
“Angus?” she said, half begging.
“Aye, Ellie?”
“What are our chances if either of us fly the ship?”
“I do not have sufficient data to estimate.”
She rolled her eyes. “Assume he’s as good a pilot as me.”
“Less than one percent.”
“Shit.” Her chin dropped to her chest. She bit her lip, worrying it. She’d expected that, but it was still disheartening.
There’s got to be something else. What else do we have? “Angus?”
“Aye?”
“What are the chances if you fly the ship?”
“I do not have sufficient data to estimate.”
“What data are you missing?”
“The type and yield of the enemy weapons, how many ships will be within firing range, the quantity of hits the shield can suffer before failure.”
She chewed her lip some more. “Assume no shields then assuming shields lasting thirty seconds, one minute, and a minute and a half.”
“Probability of success with no shields is less than 25%, at thirty seconds is 37%, a minute is 59%, and ninety seconds is 76%.”
She turned to Zee. “Do we know anything about their weaponry?”
He rubbed his neck. “Some. My kind have tangled with the Pardus before, but not the Thunnus. If they’re all Pardus ships, they’ll mostly be energy weapons.”
Ellie sighed in relief. “That’s good.”
“It is?”
She nodded. “Victoria mostly tested the shields against energy weapons. Getting anything else required military contracts, which she wasn’t willing to do. She has issues working with others.”
“Go on.”
“As long as there’s sufficient power to the shields, I think there’s a good chance they will hold.”
“What about the pulse? Don’t we have to reroute power to that?”
“Yeah, but not until the last second. If we maximize power to the shields until we need to use the pulse, we should be fine. I think.”
“That’s not very reassuring.”
She scoffed. “You’re military. What do you need reassuring for?”
“I guess I don’t.”
“So, do we have a plan? Angus flies in as close as he can in sub-space then drops out. We’ll have two minutes in firing range with Angus attempting evasive maneuvers. Shields will be at maximum power, which should divert the force of any hits. When we’re at optimum range, Angus will divert all power to the pulse and activate it.”
“So, we’re just along for the ride?”
She shrugged. “What else can we do? You okay with that, Angus?”
“I’m not the one who dies if this goes wrong.”
Zee growled, and Ellie glared at the ceiling. “You don’t have to rub it in.”
“Aye, I do.”
She looked over at Zee. “So, I guess this is it.”
He nodded.
Ellie took in a deep breath and sat, doing up her harness. Zee followed suit. “Let’s do this, Angus.”
“Aye.”
Before her, the view morphed into a kaleidoscope, nearly making her sick. She leaned toward Zee, her hand reaching out. Before she reached his chair, she touched his hand. Their fingers intertwined, his claws digging into the back of her hand, but she didn’t say anything. She was gripping him just as hard.
We are so gonna die.
Zee held on tight to Ellie’s hand as the ship careened forward. His claws dug into the right armrest as the distorted universe loomed too close for comfort.
What the hacht was this madness?
He wanted to escape, return to his normal life, even to the grief of losing his whole team just days ago. That was far superior to this stomach-twisting ride through a nightmare. He looked over at Ellie. She had her eyes closed. Did she normally travel through this? Her people were nuts.
Then, just as soon as it started, it ended. He let out a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived. He grunted as an evasive maneuver defeated the ship’s artificial gravity, pushing him to the side in his seat. His fingers almost lost their grip on Ellie’s hand, just the tips holding on, but they corrected a moment later, and he held on, her sweaty palm dampening his.
Then a bright purple toroid plasma pulse fired from the main ship, coming straight at them. He gritted his teeth, ready this time for the ship to react. His body jerked in the opposite direction.
This isn’t going to work. Why did I think this would work?
Another plasma pulse fired. This time, he spotted the arcs of lightning at the edges. He held his breath as the view canted to the side, the pulse growing bigger. The arcs seemed to reach toward them like fingers, eager to touch.
Too close.
The ship rocked as the pulse hit, throwing off the thrusters that controlled the artificial gravity. A purple glow licked at the viewscreen before everything hazed orange and red. “Hacht.”
“Relax, Zee, we’re fine. The shield dispersed the impact.”
He turned to her. Her jaw was tense as she stared ahead. “That’s normal?” he asked incredulously.
“The shield disperses the energy across the entire surface of the ship, minimizing the damage.”
“But it doesn’t stop it.”
She turned to him, squeezing his hand tighter. “It doesn’t have to. The outer hull is designed to take a beating. As long as the shield disperse the energy, it can’t damage the hull.”
Ellie didn’t look too certain of that fact, and he reminded himself that the shield wasn’t fully tested. He turned away as she closed her eyes again, her face scrunched up.
One way or another, it would be over soon.
Oh, why did I come up with this idea?
Ellie’s heart hammered away in her chest, slamming painfully against her ribcage. She wanted to tell Zee she’d changed her mind, that they should turn back, run away.
I’m such a coward.
It was too late anyway. They couldn’t turn back. She opened her eyes, but squeaked as another doughnut-shaped plasma round flew straight at them. She shut her eyes with all her might.
Please let it go away.
“They’re releasing fighters,” Zee said beside her.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” She opened her eyes. Yep, fighters. She didn’t want to see. She covered her eyes with her hand. “I’m not here. This isn’t happening.”
“Ellie?”
“This isn’t happening. Oh, why the fuck did I suggest this?”
Zee’s finger rubbed gently over the back of her hand. “It’s going to be over soon.”
She dropped her hand and looked at him, wanting to believe him, but then a fighter flew right in front of the ship, and she shrieked. “I don’t want to die!”
“You’re not going to die. It’s almost over. Angus?”
“Fifteen seconds.”
“Fourteen,” she said, counting down.
Her nails dug into Zee’s hand. Another attack hit the ship, and the shield flared red. “Thirteen.”
Ellie’s stomach rolled as Angus swerved to avoid another fighter. “Twelve.”
“You’ve got this, Ellie. Look at me.”
Ellie turned to Zee, staring into his eyes. Her breath came in pants. “Eleven.”
He nodded, a smal
l smile on his face as he tried to encourage her.
She felt queasy all over, and having her head tilted to the side didn’t help. “Ten.”
Another hit and an alarm blared. She whimpered. “Nine.”
“Angus, what’s that alarm?”
“Hull damage. An incendiary round from a fighter got through the shields.”
“Hull integrity?”
“Eight,” Ellie said through her teeth, continuing her countdown.
“Intact as long as we don’t take another hit,” Angus said.
“Seven.” She couldn’t open her eyes anymore. It was too much. She felt like she was about to pass out. Or maybe throw up. She couldn’t tell. She just wanted it all to be a dream, a nightmare.
Just let it be over.
“Six.”
The alarm grew more strident.
“Hacht, Angus, did we take another hit to the hull?”
“Minor damage. The hull will self-seal.”
“Five.”
Zee sighed beside her. He continued to caress her hand. “Hacht!” he yelled, growing tense as the entire ship seemed to careen out of control.
She screamed, trying to grab onto Zee with both hands, needing him to anchor her. An odd silence settled into the background as the shield ran out.
“Report!” Zee yelled.
“Three,” she said, biting her tongue.
“Direct hit from a plasma round from the main ship. Status unknown.”
“We still have power? We can still fire the pulse?”
“Two,” she whispered.
“Calculating.”
Zee growled as Angus fell into silence.
“One.” She gripped Zee’s hand tighter, bracing for what came next, not expecting this to work, not expecting to survive.
“Firing.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Ellie closed her eyes tight, gripping Zee’s hand hard, her entire body tense with anticipation. This was it. Any moment now, they would die.
“It’s over, Ellie,” Zee said, a finger stroking over the back of her hand.
She relaxed her body, but it took her a few moments to open her eyes. “Is that them?” she said, noticing the dotting of objects on the horizon.
Shifting Cargo (A Shift in Space Book 1) Page 16