Countdown

by John Walker

  “Don’t mention it.” Alexander stood. “I’m off. You’d better get everything ready on your end. Let me know about Jack Shelley, by the way. He’s a good officer. I want to know when he regains consciousness along with his treatment plan.”

  “I will.”

  “Speaking of which, do you have a replacement in mind?”

  “For the upcoming fights, maybe. I’ll fill the role before we head off.”

  “Excuse me,” Alden stepped close, “I don’t mean to interrupt, but I just received word from one of our border space stations. The ervas struck. It’s been totally destroyed.”

  “How do you know?” Alexander asked. “Did someone survive?”

  “A couple of ships escaped during the attack. Civilians. They made it clear that multiple battleships seemed to come from nowhere and hit the place without warning. A few people loyal to us tried to fend them off and failed. But that’s confirmation it’s begun for sure. We need to make haste.”

  “I’m afraid you’re right.” Alexander sighed. He turned to Noah. “I think you’ve got a lot to do.”

  “I do.” Noah shook his hand. “Thanks again. Catch you soon.” He nodded to Alden. “Commodore. I’m sorry for your loss.”

  “I appreciate it. We’ll get them back.”

  “I’m sure.” Noah turned away, heading to the hangar. He hadn’t put too much thought into who might take over the commander role, even temporarily. It came down to a ground-based soldier or a pilot. He had one of each in mind, but either one had their work cut out for them. Especially now that they were absolutely at war.

  Looks like I’ll be grinding out some personnel files when I get back. Then he’d go for a nap. When we get into this fight, I need to be fresh. Way too much depends on all of us to be struggling with exhaustion. That means scheduling time off. And we’re all too dedicated to do it willingly. Which is a good problem to have in the grand scheme of things.

  ***

  Sasha gritted his teeth as the ship came out of hyperspace. The way the metal groaned every time set him on edge. He never got used to it. Despite the Engineering team insisting it was perfectly safe, he found himself doubtful. No other ship he’d served on had ever been so noisy and so full of complaint.

  But then none had been quite like the Broken Light. Neither in perseverance nor in length of duty. That didn’t necessarily make him feel better. Indeed, he found it troublesome to consider how many battles it had survived; how often it had been patched up. Some of the techs said that made it stronger.

  Practicality suggested otherwise.

  They’d spent the last two hours in hyperspace. During that time, his technicians had compiled a damage report that gave him some considerable hope of getting home. The problem came from the fact that they didn’t go as far as he’d hoped. Marston likely set the coordinates correctly, but the drive itself may have had a problem.

  “Report,” Sasha ordered. “Where’d we end up?”

  Daisy answered, “Two systems away from our previous position, sir. I’m… not sure why that is. We were set to go all the way back to Starbase Six. That should’ve been a thirteen-hour trip minimum.” She turned to him. “We’re literally in the middle of nowhere. No habitable planets… just rocks in space. There’s nothing even worth a mining operation out here.”

  “Confirmed,” Marston said. “But Daisy, check scanner three. I don’t understand what I’m seeing there.”

  “One moment.” Daisy hummed. “I don’t like this. I’ve never seen a power build up like that before. It’s as if something within the ship itself stopped us here. Correction, not inside… outside. I’m scanning the hull right now, but I advise going full defensive. Shields, weapons, etc.”

  “Why can’t we go into hyperspace again?” Sasha asked. “What’s going on?”

  “The drive needs time to recharge,” Daisy said. “I’m waiting to find out exactly how long, but the minimum amount of time would be ten minutes. More likely, thirty. That was a jarring departure. Likely why the ship complained more than usual. That creaking sound wasn’t good. We were literally torn from hyperspace.”

  “Could this be something the ervas did?” Marston asked. “And if so, why haven’t they done it before?”

  “Those were skirmishes,” Sasha replied. “We’re at war now. They’re pulling out all the stops. They don’t know if we sent a message. Therefore, they have to risk stopping us at all costs.” He thought about the destroyers. They had to have slowed the enemy down. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to have done enough. “Anyway, I agree with Daisy. Battle stations.”

  Red lights flashed a few times. Marston brought the defenses up. Sasha stood, pacing closer to the viewscreen. He stared out at the dark of space, contemplating what he’d do if a large battle fleet arrived out of the blue. If they started moving, chances were good they might get a head start in fleeing.

  Then hyperspace wouldn’t be so hard.

  Unless they can rip us out of it again.

  “Daisy, find what did this to us. We need to neutralize it before we try to flee again. Marston, get us underway. Course heading… sixty-seven by three-two-two.”

  “Aye, sir.” Marston cranked on the engine, turning them about. They began to move, making the floor shake. Sasha returned to his seat.

  Daisy added, “Engineering confirms that there must be some kind of device on the ship. They’ll begin scanning for it. We believe it’s somewhere near the port bow. Once they get some equipment down there, I’ll be able to help with more detailed scans from this terminal. Estimated time for that… five minutes.”

  “And do they know how long before we can go into hyperspace again?”

  “Negative,” Daisy replied. “There’s some kind of problem with the sensors connected to the hyperdrive. They are conducting repairs as we speak. That shouldn’t take more than a few minutes considering how good we are at swapping those out around here. I swear, circuit boards have short lifespans on this boat.”

  You’re telling me, Sasha thought as he strapped himself in. Christ, this ship needs another overhaul. If it wasn’t so damn stubborn, I’d say it should be decommissioned. Of course, that would mean losing a command. There were only so many battleships in the Gold Empire navy… and with a war brewing, there may well be fewer still.

  The ship rumbled along, moving swiftly away from their point of entry. Time seemed to drag while they waited for Engineering to give them accurate information. Five minutes passed… then ten. Sasha let out a sigh. He understood poor estimates, but they were in a state of battle readiness.

  They should know they need to hurry.

  “Get me an update,” Sasha ordered. “Where are we at… on everything?”

  “Okay,” Daisy said. “The forward bow took some damage. They thought they could enter that section without protective gear and were wrong. Heat was too intense apparently, which may be the device that’s stuck to the ship. They’re not sure. We’ll find out momentarily. As for the hyperdrive, the circuit boards are taking longer than expected.”

  “They should be experts on that now,” Sasha replied. “Find out specifically what’s keeping them then offer a stern reminder of what we’re doing right now. Light a fire, Daisy.” He shook his head.

  Sometimes, the Engineering staff seemed to miss the point of their ship. They forgot about the battle part in the title. When things were shooting at them, that was different, but during perceived downtime operation, they weren’t nearly as intense as they should’ve been. I’ll be drilling that out of them when this is over.

  The device worried him. During the battle, it was more than possible that such a thing could’ve happened without catching on. He understood that. How did it get by sensors letting them know about a foreign object? It must’ve been masking them. If Daisy couldn’t detect the thing without help, it had odd properties.

  Too bad we won’t be in a position to study this thing. Whatever it was, they needed to remove it. How many charges did it have? I have to err
on the side of more than one. And more importantly, we have to pray we won’t end up with some kind of hull damage that prevents a jump to hyperspace.

  “Oh boy.” Daisy sighed. “Sir, we’ve got hyperspace signatures behind us. Back where we first arrived in this area.”

  “How big?”

  “No more than two ships based on the previous power reading we received.”

  That could be a lot worse. Two ships, he felt confident he could escape. It wouldn’t be a fight per se, but evasion… that was more than possible. Depending on how aggressive their opponents came at them, he felt like they were in a good position to escape. Of course, I have no idea how long this thing’s going to take to remove… or recharge our drive.

  “I need those numbers,” Sasha said. “Now.”

  “Yes, sir. I’m pushing them but…”

  “I know,” Sasha interrupted. “It’s not helping them work faster.” If they really feel the urgency. Which I hope they do now.

  Two ervas ships emerged from hyperspace. They initially remained stationary; likely catching their bearings. Once the two started moving, the race would be on. Sasha turned to Marston. “Give us more power. I want to be as far from those two ships as we can be. Combat is a last resort in this case. Daisy, scan them. I want details on their condition.”

  The ship picked up speed, fast enough to press Sasha back in his seat with some small amount of force. He hadn’t felt that in a while, even when they were fleeing the enemy at their previous position. That’s not a good sign. Something must’ve been wrong with the artificial gravity.

  “Daisy?” Sasha turned to her.

  “I know, sir. I’m looking into that right now. I can check those systems from here without interrupting the work they’re doing in the Engineering section.”

  The two ervas vessels began to advance, moving on an obvious intercept course. Marston put a meter up on the screen showing that the Broken Light had a thirty-minute head start. Ervas ships are notoriously fast. Sasha couldn’t count on keeping their distance. They needed to bail out as quickly as possible.

  Which may or may not happen. Two ships had already been sacrificed to give them a chance to escape. I can’t turn and fight. Unless one of the two of them is messed up enough to make it viable. They’d never faced off against multiple battleships before. Not alone at least. With one additional craft, he’d do it.

  “Information?” Sasha asked. “What do we have on those ships?”

  “Nothing out of the ordinary,” Daisy replied. “No odd energy signatures, no… wait! Wait!”

  “Okay…” Sasha shrugged. “Waiting…”

  “The one that I’ve marked seems to have thruster damage! Of the three, one is putting out significantly less power. Look! It’s lagging behind the other one.”

  “He took some damage during the fight then.” Sasha rubbed his temple with his left hand, massaging at a mounting headache he wanted to fend off. “Pipe that information over to my terminal.” He squinted at his screen as the silhouette came up. Green lines covered the image, indicating scannable power flow.

  Yellow indicated some type of interruption that slowed or hampered the energy. Red was a flat-out blockage where energy had once been but no longer passed through. The thruster in question flicked to the worst, meaning it would be completely offline soon. As that vessel’s companion left it behind, the separation provided the Broken Light with an opportunity.

  I might be able to take out two battleships here if I’m clever. Sasha changed the view on his monitor to a tactical view of the system. A decent-sized asteroid field sat near the system’s edge not quite an hour away from their current position. Beyond that, there were no other useful obstructions in the area.

  “Alter course,” Sasha said. “I’ve sent the coordinates to your station.”

  Marston looked over his screen before turning. “Sir, that takes us directly in line with…”

  “I’m aware of the heading, Mister Marston.” Sasha nodded. “Complete the order.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  Sasha watched the scanner intently, keeping an eye on their opponent. Follow the leader, you bastard. The enemy vessel didn’t immediately respond to their course change. He thought they might not… until a moment later, the leading ervas veered after them. Thank God. I won’t have long alone with you, but it might not matter.

  “Sir,” Daisy said, “artificial gravity surged when we left hyperspace. It’s considered low priority because only one of the systems is down. There are five more backing it up. They’ll get to that when the hyperdrive is fixed. Next report, the engineers have entered the bow and I’m conducting a scan of the foreign object.”

  “Good.” Sasha chewed his lip. If they can surge that thing to stop our weapons… this fighting nonsense might be a big mistake. He didn’t feel like he had a lot of choice. Not with all the problems plaguing the ship. I can handle two of them. I know I can. It’s a matter of making the fight advantageous. That’s all.

  The Broken Light had a full contingency of fighters. Sasha didn’t want to deploy them if they might leave suddenly. If anything went wrong, if they needed to jump suddenly, then several men and women would be abandoned. He’d seen it happen before and promised himself he wouldn’t do it except as a last resort.

  We’re not there yet.

  “Full speed,” Sasha said. “Keep us ahead of that ship. That might cut down the time to the field to… forty-five minutes. Check?”

  “Confirmed, sir,” Marston said, “nicely done, sir.”

  “Thank you.” Sasha leaned back. Okay, time to relax until they get too close. As long as their friends don’t fix the engine, we should have plenty of time to wipe this one out then go for his buddy. This might well prove to be a demoralizing blow for the ervas. They’d already lost at least two ships. Two more would make a near total defeat for their little invasion force.

  Sasha was certain they had plenty more but if he proved victorious, it wouldn’t matter. His side would know they could be defeated… and by an older ship, no less.

  ***

  Trenik paced in his locked quarters, staring at the floor. He felt helpless there, angry, frustrated. The humans had promised to let him participate in their briefing. At the last moment, that had changed and he was relegated to waiting. Harcourt said even he wasn’t invited, though he certainly didn’t show himself.

  I’m sure I’m being left out in the cold, but they need me. If they hope to talk peace, they can’t do it without my presence.

  After their foray out to the edges of ervas space, he felt all the more certain his people were in for a huge surprise. The humans might’ve been easy to take out when Whitaker controlled them but unified? With three different forces at their disposal? His people knew how to fight but those odds seemed overwhelming to him.

  He looked over the data they recovered from the buoy. It didn’t help as much as he promised. They didn’t have the entire fleet numbers however, it did contain the locations of several large colonies and the main homeworld of the ervas. That last bit made Trenik the most nervous.

  If the humans decided to be cruel, they could jump straight there with bombs. His people held a decent force in reserve there though it likely wasn’t enough to fend off a full-scale invasion. They’ll be stupid if they do not do that. He wondered if they took his advice about the different types of buildings. Will they hit civilian targets?

  Part of him believed they didn’t care about collateral damage. They wanted to preserve their own people. Why worry about the damage done to aliens? But if peace held any value to them at all, they needed to work with him… to ensure the ervas had a chance to surrender before their homes and industry went up in flames.

  Something else he knew for certain… the ervas military was on the move. Even before Dora’s ship infiltrated their space, they had been massing a fleet for invasion. They were ready to take the plunge into the frontier, to annihilate the Gold Empire first then move on to the Confederacy.


  After their assault on the border worlds, they felt confident in their chances. He knew that from before he’d been captured. Now they wanted to put their newfound courage into action… which meant taking an enormous risk. One that only a few commanders wanted to exercise caution over.

  Their voices are currently the minority. Hopefully, the most zealous ones will get a good thrashing to bring them back to reality.

  The door opened. Harcourt entered. “I’m sorry I’ve been gone so long. I hope you’ve been okay?”

  “No one has come,” Trenik said. “I have had no word about what is going on. What have your people decided to do? How can I help them make the right decision so my people do not suffer unnecessarily?”

  “I received a small part of the briefing,” Harcourt replied. “Right now, they’re massing their forces. Once they do… well, I guess they’re going into your space. They’re arguing about whether it’s a pre-emptive strike or reactionary one, but I don’t think that matters. The bottom line is that we’re about to be at war. However brief.”

  “It will be reactionary.” Trenik sat on the bed. “My people have already launched an attack. They are coming for the Gold Empire. I would like to know the whole plan.”

  “I don’t think they’re going to tell us. I’m getting the feeling they don’t trust either of us.”

  “That is ridiculous. You are one of them.”

  “I’m a civilian,” Harcourt pointed out, “a scientist, yes, but not a military man. We are… not as privy to information as you’d think.”

  “Idiotic. But okay. I should speak with the captain. Or this commodore. Anyone! Please, Harcourt… help me help them. Before it is too late.”

  “Alright, alright. I’ll try again.” Harcourt turned away. “I wish Lyson had stayed. She might have better luck with these people. But I’ll do what I can.” He stepped out, holding the door. “Talk to you soon. Hang tight.”

  Of course. Trenik rolled his eyes. Because I can do something else. Frustration burned in his chest. He tried to breathe through it, but it didn’t work. He remained aggravated. It will only get worse the longer I have to do nothing. Unfortunately, that was exactly what he had to do. And what’s more, he had to learn to accept it.