by Saxon Andrew
“The explosion on the planet overwhelmed every scanner on our warships. Investigation reveals that ten of the warships were damaged or destroyed by some kind of missile that punched through their force fields. The remaining two were destroyed by blaster beams.”
Another Senior asked, “Was this done by the same warship?”
The Senior shook his head, “I doubt it.”
“Why?”
“In order to do that, it would have to be close to the ship that transmitted the data and we scanned that first ship moving away from the dust at high-speed. I believe it had to be done by another ship that was already inside the dust.”
“What is the status of developing the hiding field after the destruction of the Science Facility?” The Elder asked.
“Everything we had on that technology was on the planet, including the emitter used to create it. We’re back to starting over.”
“THE SCIENTISTS DIDN’T SEND ANY DATA ON WHAT THEY DISCOVERED!?”
“No, Senior, they did not. Nothing they had done worked. They failed to discover the frequency and sending their failures would serve no purpose. Whoever did this is more highly advanced than the Union and possibly us as well.”
The Elder stared at the Senior on his monitor and ordered, “Every home structure will release their warships to find that ship before it makes an escape.” His response was greeted with loud shouts and he sounded the tone again. “Every home structure will go to complete black out immediately and send all their warships out to find and destroy that ship!”
“What if there are more of those ships inside the dust?” A low-ranking Senior asked?
“There are enough weapons to defend our homes. I suspect there probably aren’t any more. They revealed themselves in attacking our Science Facility and they would have sent more ships to destroy it if they had them.” The Seniors didn’t like it but in their society, rank and wisdom was not challenged.
• • •
Brooks announced, “I’ve just intercepted an alien communication. It appears every hive in the cluster has released their warships defending it to join in the search for us.”
“OH CRAP!!” Alex exclaimed. “Jingle, we might have to do as you suggested and go to slow speed.”
Jingle released a heavy sigh, “It won’t work now, Alex.”
“Why not?”
“I have no doubt the aliens will form up their fleets with little space between them and start moving into the nebula hoping to catch us in its net. Every one of those additional ships are moving to this side of the nebula because they know we’re here. The odds of getting through undetected aren’t good.”
“But our stealth fields should keep us hidden!”
“Alex, has the Union ever run tests to determine if our warships can be detected?”
“Of course!”
“Jangle showed me those tests while I was wasting time moving around the Wilds and at no time did they test if a large number of overlapping active scanners would detect our ships. The detection fields are going to be massive and wide.”
“Jangle, is that true?”
“It is. In one test they did use four active scanners and one of the ships involved reported that it detected an anomaly before it disappeared.”
“Alex, I suspect the ship they were trying to find in that test moved before they arrived at the reported anomaly. We’re going to be facing hundreds or possibly thousands of overlapping scanner fields, not just four!”
Alex sighed, “I messed up.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Jingle, I should have saved a DD Missile; I had all of them launched at the planet; I wanted to make sure it was destroyed. It didn’t require all of them.”
“You couldn’t know that, Alex. You did what you believed was necessary.”
“I still have a DD Missile,” Jangle stated. Jingle and Alex’s head went back, “You ordered us to fire three missiles at the force field on that planet. I had four on board.”
“But Fleet says they only installed three!” Alex replied forcefully.
“They did. But I still had the original DD Missile on board from when the Union serviced me following our attack on the alien warships two years ago. I guess they had orders to install three and they carried out their orders.”
Alex’s eyes were wide as he stared at the monitor, “What are you thinking, Alex?”
“The only way out of this conundrum is to get the aliens to come out of their formations.”
“How do you intend to do that?”
“We’ll continue moving at maximum speed closer to the edge of the nebula; we’ll stop when we detect the active scanners and back off.”
“What happens then?”
“Jingle, you will eject the missile from your missile tube and program it to attack the first active scanner it detects. We’re going to move far off to the side of it and shut down all our systems.” Jingle blinked at him and Alex added, “They’ll have to believe the wake being left by the DD Missile is us. I think they will break ranks to surround it and that’s when we’ll make our break.”
“That’s a wild guess, isn’t it?”
Alex shrugged, “It’s the only shot we have, Jingle. I believe they’ve been ordered to stop us at all costs and rank discipline would be ignored to insure that happens.”
“Would the Union break ranks?”
Alex sighed, “No, they wouldn’t. But if you’re right about the Royal Leaders in their society, I’m hoping they react without much thought.”
“I’m not always right, Alex.”
“You were right about them putting a billion of their underlings out in open space to die. This is the only option open to us.”
• • •
They were less than a day out from the edge of the nebula when a huge scanner field was detected in the distance. The two ships turned and moved away from it. Alex stopped and asked, “Is the missile programmed?”
“Yes, but Jangle says we shouldn’t launch it until they’re closer.”
“Why?”
“If they break ranks like you’re suggesting, then we’ll be forced to break through huge numbers that are moving in around us from all directions. We should make our break the moment they break ranks and avoid all the warships moving in behind our location,” Jangle answered. “You also don’t want to give them enough time to determine the missile’s wake is much smaller than the one we make. Launch it close and take away the time they have to react.”
Alex tried to visualize what Jangle was saying and gave up, “Jingle, jettison the missile.” Jingle felt a bump and moved away behind the Rapids. They finally stopped and shut down all systems. Jingle remained harnessed in her chair and stared out of the viewport. She was wearing a spacesuit and prayed it wasn’t needed.
• • •
Jingle sat in her chair and began to feel her fear start to consume her. The new force fields were powerful, but they couldn’t possibly hold up to hundreds of alien warships firing at them. There was no avoiding them, and the numbers were staggering; that distant scanning field was gigantic, and she knew not all of it had been detected. She decided if the worse happened, she could accept it; by destroying that alien planet, hundreds of thousands of Union crews wouldn’t die. It appeared this particular change the night was throwing at her was possibly the last. She thought about it and sighed; she wouldn’t be missed. Well, perhaps Dolly…Joesen…the regulars at the Watering Hole…Gee… she paused and decided she was wrong about that; she would be missed.
But who would miss Alex? She couldn’t come up with any one that would. He was far more alone than she was. It was his own fault! But somehow, she knew he didn’t care. He was first and foremost a warrior at heart and his missions came ahead of all else, including his life. Perhaps he chose to remain alone because of that; no one would weep if he died.
Chapter Seven
Alex kept his passive scanner operational and had it focused on the DD Missile. The giant web of alien
warships was approaching rapidly, and it extended beyond the scanner’s range above, below, and to both sides of his ship. The aliens had far more warships than anyone guessed. He said over the link, “Prepare to move, it won’t be long now!”
Jingle watched the feed coming in from the Rapids’ passive scanner and was constantly shaking her head, this was almost too much to wrap her head around. Jangle heard her thoughts and said, “Alex may be right about them breaking ranks.”
“Why do you say that?”
“That web of ships is like casting a net. If something falls into it, they will whip the edges in and move in to surround it in a globe formation. They’ll have to break ranks to make that happen.”
“Do you think we can break through?”
“The good news is that the entire web is made with just one layer of warships.”
“What’s the bad news, Jangle?”
“There’s a lot of them.” Jingle sighed and continued to stare at the monitor.
“Once the missile launches, we’re going to full power and move in on the closest edge of the aliens’ forces at half speed. We will immediately launch every defense missile ahead of our approach,” Alex ordered.
“Why don’t we go in at full speed?”
“Jingle, we’ll out run the missiles. We’ll go in behind them and Jangle will move back behind my ship where we’ll start firing our blasters. I’m depending on our computers to fly us through their lines, Jingle. We’re going to focus on targeting the blasters at any alien warships the defense missiles miss. If we make it through their lines, we will immediately go to maximum speed.” Alex paused and then added, “Jangle, your idea of moving ahead of the missile’s location was an excellent idea. We’re close enough that the explosion from the DD Missile should shut down the scanners of the ships ahead of us. Jingle, you’re going to have to use your manual targeting system to fire your blasters as we move in.”
“But won’t the targeting monitor be out?”
“Keep it shut down until after the explosion and reactivate it as we approach.” Jingle nodded and Alex stared at the monitor, “The aliens’ line is approaching the range you set for the DD to activate. Be ready!” Jingle turned off the manual targeting monitor and heard Alex say, “The DD has activated its gravity drive. Give them a moment to detect it!!” A moment later he said loudly, “FULL POWER AND LAUNCH YOUR DEFENSE MISSILES!!”
• • •
The DD Missile remained almost stationary in open space and detected the approaching alien formation. It moved into the programmed range, and the missile powered up its gravity drive. It accelerated toward the aliens’ lines at full speed leaving a large wake behind it.
Every alien warship within detection range of the missile’s wake broke ranks and moved in to surround whatever was making the wake. It was going to hit their lines in a moment, and they didn’t have time to compare the missile’s wake to the recorded wake of the Invader ship. It wouldn’t have mattered if they did; the ship that launched the missile would also be captured inside their formations as they moved to surround the area of the wake.
• • •
Jangle launched all sixty defense missiles and Brooks launched the remaining fifty missiles in the Rapids’ tubes. Jangle moved back in behind the Rapids and the two ships leapt forward following the missiles. The alien warships moving to surround the detected wake, suddenly saw a much larger wake appear. At that moment, the DD Missile detonated, and every scanner went off line.
The defense missiles also lost their scanners, but they also carried an optical system that was unaffected by the huge blast. They were close to the alien warships and flew in at high speed toward their chosen targets.
• • •
The two Union warships flashed in on the mass of alien warships ahead of them as the defense missiles began exploding. Alex flew into the middle of the huge blasts and opened fire on the alien warships that were still operational. “INCREASE SPEED NOW, JINGLE!!”
The two ships accelerated forward, and Jingle began firing at two alien warships close to the portside. They were raked by the blaster fire and she targeted three more ahead of them.
Jingle didn’t think but just fired at any ship she saw. They were hit by multiple blaster beams, but their force fields shrugged them off. She felt Jangle and Brooks changing course radically and when they punched through the aliens’ lines, she was amazed at how they could possibly have made it through the giant field of debris and swarming warships. Alex ordered, “FULL SPEED NOW!!”
The two ships accelerated away as their monitors came back online as Jingle saw thousands of warships that were outside scanning range of the DD Missile’s wake turn and accelerate toward the giant wake they were making. She stared at the huge mass moving toward their course and after a very long moment, she saw they weren’t going to be able to cut them off. Her head fell back on her chair and she blew out a breath she had been holding. Now it was going to be a race to the edge of the nebula.
Alex appeared on the monitor, “We’ve made it through their lines but I’m certain that the aliens are vectoring warships around the edge of the nebula to cut us off.”
“I thought this was all of their warships, Alex?”
“It’s all they had on this side of the nebula. But those located on the other side couldn’t get here in time to join the search. Those ships are moving to cut us off.” Jingle’s eyes closed and Alex added, “We’re twelve hours from the nebula’s edge.” Alex was silent for a moment and then said, “Brooks says that we should shut down all systems except for the gravity drives to provide more power to them. That includes environmental and gravity handlers.”
“Alex, if we suddenly change course, we could die with the G forces hitting us.”
“Jingle, we’re not changing course; this is a race to the finish line.”
Jingle sighed and ordered, “Shut them down, Jangle.” Jingle glanced at the speed indicator and saw it suddenly jump. She felt the force of the acceleration push her back in her chair painfully and she looked at her spacesuit’s oxygen supply; she had just over ten hours remaining. She’d worry about that when it became an issue.
She suddenly remembered when she moved her belongings on board and stood up when the acceleration forces eased off. The ships were moving at a constant velocity as she stood up, went to a closet at the rear of the bridge, and opened it. She saw a small oxygen cannister. She struggled back to her chair and attached it to the connector on her space suit. The indicator suddenly jumped to fourteen hours. She sat back and closed her eyes. The fatigue from staying awake for more than a day hit her and she fell into deep sleep.
Alex saw Jingle close her eyes on his monitor and after a few moments saw she was sleeping. He was worn out, but he was driving this train and couldn’t afford to sleep. He pressed a patch on his shoulder and felt the injection of a stimulant into his arm. He closed his eyes as it hit him, and his fatigue was pushed away. He started typing into his communicator and hoped Admiral Thorton was capable of carrying out his orders.
• • •
The hours seemed to drag slowly by. Alex felt the stimulant wearing off and he pressed the patch again. He looked at the tactical monitor and saw a giant mass of alien warships pursuing them. They were slowly falling behind and had launched a huge barrage of their new missiles at them. Alex almost woke up Jingle but stopped. The small missiles were gaining on them but started self-destructing when they ran out of fuel. He allowed her to continue sleeping. He wasn’t worried about the warships chasing them; it was what was ahead of them that had him concerned. The wake they were leaving behind them was huge, but he couldn’t slow down to reduce its size. He had no doubt that their location was transmitted to every alien warship in the nebula. They were out of defense missiles and blasters alone couldn’t save them if they ran into a large alien formation.
• • •
Jingle saw a giant creature in front of her. She was standing in front of it and it had hundreds of legs u
nder it and thousands of arms reaching out to embrace her. It was pitch black with only small lights covering its body. It rushed in on her and she heard, “Jingle, wake up!”
Jingle opened her eyes and the nightmare faded. “We’re forty-five minutes from the edge of the nebula.”
Jingle took a deep breath and replied, “Thank you, Jangle. What’s going on?”
“The stealth probe Alex dropped in the debris field is still operational and it’s detecting large numbers of alien warships headed in its direction.”
Jingle looked up at the tactical monitor and was shocked wide awake, “Jangle, that’s more than just a huge number!!”
“That’s true but most of them won’t arrive in time to be ahead of us.”
“How many will arrive in time?”
“Three thousand, Jingle.” Jingle closed her eyes and lowered her head; they had failed to escape.
Alex appeared on the monitor and saw her expression, “I see Jangle has told you what we’re facing.” Jingle nodded and shook her head. “I’m going to order our ships to remove the safety protocols on the gravity drives,” Alex stated.
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
“That’s why they’re called safety protocols, Jingle. Our ships are in touch with every system on board and they will shut down the gravity drives before they explode.”
Jingle asked softly, “Jangle, are you capable of doing that?”
“I have no idea, Jingle.”
Alex shrugged, “We’re forty minutes out and we must shorten that time. Remove the safety limiters now.”
“Jingle?” Jangle asked.
“Do it!”
“Safety limiters are by-passed.”
Alex looked at Jingle and smiled, “Thank you for all you’ve done.” Jingle stared at him in silence and Alex ordered, “Feed the full power of the reactors to the gravity drive…now!”
Jingle felt like a huge fist hit her in the chest as she was pushed violently back in her chair. The gravity drives started immediately wailing at high-volume and she saw the speed indicator suddenly sweep around the dial. The wail of the gravity drive rose in frequency until it moved above her ability to hear it. She heard loud pings on the hull as some of the dust in the nebula made it through their force fields. Her head was throbbing in pain as she saw the edge of the nebula moving toward them at an impossible speed.