Countdown

by John Walker

  “Incoming!” Marston shouted. They took evasive action, moving swiftly downward but it didn’t matter. The hit caused the lights to go out on the bridge. Fortunately, all panels remained on, offering a blue-green glow. Red emergency LEDs kicked on in the corners, giving them enough light to see.

  “Blast went through shields in the starboard side rear,” Daisy reported. “A generator is offline. It handles basics for the most part so we’re okay. All major systems are still online. That will not prevent us from getting out of here. But we need to go now. Before they pull another attack like that.”

  “Is the jamming device in place?” Sasha asked. Is it ready to deploy?”

  “Yes, sir,” Daisy said. “I’ll initiate it from here the moment we enter hyperspace.”

  Sasha turned to Marston. “Get us out of here. Now.”

  “On it, sir.”

  A low hum emanated from all around them, as if the air itself began to vibrate. That was new, something Sasha hadn’t experienced before. He didn’t like the sound of it, especially with all the variables introduced from damage. Between the device stuck to the hull, the offline generator, and low engine efficiency, he had a bad feeling about their chances for escape.

  Sasha closed his eyes. Heavenly father, this is probably a bad time to talk. I’ve been quietly praying without any specific words, but right now, we really need You to have our backs. You might know what’s coming next, You might not. All I can say for sure is we have to get back to our people. Not only our lives but many others stand on the threshold.

  Marston started the countdown from ten.

  “Sir,” Daisy called, “the enemy ship is persistent. I don’t know how they’re doing it, but they’re giving chase. This will be close…they’re closing to within firing range.”

  Yeah, this is what I’m talking about, Lord. We could really use a little good luck right now. Or some of Your favor. Either way, our fate is in Your hands. We need six seconds… that’s it. Please.

  “Five…” Marston verbalized the countdown.

  “Enemy weapons—” Daisy spoke but she was drowned out by Marston.

  “Four…”

  This is far closer to the wire than I like to be. Sasha held his breath.

  “Three…”

  “Enemy is within extreme range!” Daisy shouted. “They can open fire at any second!”

  “Two…” Marston remained calm. Sasha had to give him credit. He felt his heart beating in his chest hard enough that he thought it might hop out and head to sickbay without him. “One…”

  “They’re firing!” Daisy shouted.

  Space warbled around them. The ship shook. The odd vibration sound went away as they hurled forward into hyperspace and away from their attackers. When no explosion took place, when they didn’t die, Sasha finally let his breath out, slumping back in his chair. He rubbed his forehead. The headache that had been creeping up finally settled in.

  “Did you jam their device?” Sasha asked. “Are we clear?”

  “Engineering reports…” Daisy held up her finger. “One moment… they’re scanning…”

  Do take your time. Sasha shook his head. Comes down to this moment and here we are… scanning.

  “Yes! It’s down! No signal!” Daisy clapped. “We made it!”

  Marston let out a woot, clapping his hands over his head.

  “Alright, alright,” Sasha said. “Let’s calm down and focus. We’ve got a lot of work to do before we arrive at our destination. Get Engineering working, Daisy. I need a casualty and damage report ASAP. Marston, get some relief. You’ve earned it. We’re almost through this, folks. Let’s make the most of our time.”

  And thank you, Lord. Even if you don’t exist, today… I’m feeling your presence.

  Chapter 7

  Noah worked through the myriad of reports waiting in his office. Nina took command on the bridge, but the real goal was to get her acclimated. Dorian showed her the ropes. She knew their systems well enough. It was just a matter of working through a few nuances. He had confidence in her.

  They’d been waiting around for hours. Engineering worked the entire time, switching off in shifts to ensure they were ready for battle. The MerCon vessels started a ferry service, bringing in new personnel and equipment. They’d been on standby since Erris took over their military and so they jumped into action swiftly.

  Alexander hadn’t reached out in a while. He’d been on Alden’s dreadnaught, working through various plans of what they needed to defend. The idea was to determine how much of their force needed to be allocated to holding their resources and how much they could throw at the ervas homeworld.

  Conflict arose from the fact that neither side wanted to commit too much of their force to the attack. It had to be a joint operation. If it was doomed to fail, then one side or the other would be in a desperate situation… one that could lead to being conquered. Their truce remained shaky… which wasn’t entirely surprising.

  Eliza acted as a representative for MerCon, offering to mediate between the two. She wanted her organization to be the glue that bound them together. If that happened, they’d have considerable power over the galaxy. Noah figured she’d probably get what she wanted too. Probably without much difficulty.

  “Captain.” Nina’s voice came through the first officer’s line. It felt jarring hearing her instead of Jack. “Marshal Northam is on the line. He states it’s urgent.”

  “Put him through, Commander.” Noah made a point of using her new rank. He wanted to normalize it with her. They didn’t have a lot of time for her to find her confidence so the faster they could do it in common parlance, the better.

  “Noah?” Alexander called out, “can you hear me okay?”

  “Loud and clear, sir. What’s going on?”

  “First, the quick thing. I got your request to boost Larson’s rank. I’ve approved it. Her record’s solid. I think she’ll do well. I have no problem giving that to her now and letting her keep it. Might be solid incentive to do a fabulous job on your next mission… which I’m afraid is coming fast.”

  “Thank you, I’ll let her know.”

  “On to the less fun part. Alden just received word from a battleship he assigned to a sector near ervas space. They figured it might be a target. Sure enough, five enemy battleships turned up. They did a number on them by sacrificing destroyers and it’s likely that all five have at least been crippled.”

  “That’s good news,” Noah said, “except for the destroyer part.”

  “Yes, and no,” Alexander replied. “They’ve got some intelligence that shows our enemy has a pretty nasty little toy at their disposal. Something that allowed them to pull the battleship out of hyperspace. Had all five of the enemy vessels pursued them, we might not know about it. Furthermore, we believe this means they can communicate during FTL travel.”

  “You’re right, that’s scary.” Noah rubbed his eyes. “Okay, so what’re we going to do?”

  “Harcourt and Trenik are ready to go. I’m sending them over to the Morrigan right now. You’ll rendezvous with the Broken Light to do some diagnostics on the device. I’ve got four battleships and seven destroyers en route to the location as well. They’ll arrive long after you which should give you time to perform your analysis.”

  “Then?”

  “You’ll take charge of that fleet. Your vessels will be joined by a Gold Empire armada of equal size there. I’m assigning you to the attack of the ervas home planet. With Trenik onboard, hopefully you can broker some peace with the sensible ones after you’ve given the zealots a good thrashing.”

  “How many ships are we committing to that endeavor?” Noah asked.

  “Fourteen destroyers, five battleships, and the Morrigan from our side. Gold Empire is sending four battleships, five destroyers, and a number of scout class. Intelligence suggests it’ll be more than enough considering we believe the main ervas fleet is moving on key positions throughout the frontier.”

  “Meaning we shouldn�
�t find much in the way of opposition.” Noah nodded. “This should be a big surprise for them too. But…they might know we’re aware of their position. Dora wasn’t able to extract that data without being discovered. So I appreciate you giving me a reasonably sized force.”

  “Of course. I wish I could spare more but we have to take up defensive positions around the border and of course, Earth.” Alexander cleared his throat before continuing. “MerCon is providing support. They’re positioning their ships for defense at our respective homeworlds and key facilities that would cripple regions.”

  “Sound… and mercenary. Pretty much what I’d expect.”

  “They have a point though. I’ve got a report that states you’re restocked on fighters and pilots. Security as well. Is that accurate?”

  “Yes, I just went over the reports a few minutes ago.”

  “One last thing. Have you heard anything from the op to get Rita Peck back?”

  Noah’s heart sunk. He hadn’t thought about that for a while, particularly because he hadn’t received word. Zem would’ve definitely contacted them if they had something. “I wish. I’m afraid they’re still comm silent. Frankly, they might not even be out of hyperspace…or in a position to talk.”

  “Understood. I wish them luck. That didn’t sound like an easy situation. Anyway, do you have any questions for me?”

  “Reinforcements?” Noah asked. “How do we get some if we need them?”

  “You’ll mostly be on your own,” Alexander said. “There’s no way we can get anyone to you in sufficient time to help. But we do have a couple buoys on board the battleships. Once you’re in position, you can deploy one to get word back to Gold Empire space. Let us know how things are going and… well, if you need to retreat.”

  “I don’t think that will be a problem. Thank you, sir.” Noah paused. “One last thing, not related to the op. Do you know what’s happened to Whitaker?”

  “Hasn’t shown his face, I’m afraid. We’ve got an APB out for him. Any military personnel, any security or militia that locates him is to place him under arrest. We’re assuming he won’t surface for a while though. Probably hoping the heat will die down to give him a chance to weasel his way into some situation or other.”

  “Understood.” Noah stood. “Alright, I’ll be ready to receive Harcourt and Trenik. Talk to you soon and good luck with your side of things. I know you wanted to come with us.”

  “Alden and I both did. We’ve spoken to our respective governments and decided against it. I know you understand. I wish I could make it easier for everyone else to do the same.”

  “Anyone with sense knows you shouldn’t be out there,” Noah replied. “Alright, talk to you when we get back. With good news, I’m sure.”

  “I have the utmost faith, Noah. Godspeed.”

  Noah clicked over to Nina. “Commander, we’re about to receive a shuttle. I need them brought to the bridge right away. Have Erica set a course to the following coordinates.” He dialed them in to her. “Once our new passengers are aboard and everything’s locked down, we’ll be departing.”

  “Is this it, sir?” Nina asked. “Are we on our way into the fight?”

  “Soon. A quick stop to meet up with our allies, a little diagnostic analysis…then it’s the endgame.”

  “Their homeworld?”

  “Indeed, Commander.” Noah turned to look out the window. “We’ll take this fight directly to their doorstep.”

  And God willing, we’ll put an end to this nonsense once and for all.

  ***

  Vic disembarked through an airlock into space. He immediately regretted his decision. The maneuvering pack they had available on The Pegasus had to be a decade old. When he pressed the thruster to give himself a little boost, it didn’t work initially. Panic seized his heart until the damn thing vibrated, compelling him forward.

  I’m going to slap the shit out of Borden when this is over. The station was only two hundred yards away. It might as well have been a hundred miles. Even with the pack giving him some decent thrust, he still felt dreadfully slow… until the wall was less than two hundred feet away when it suddenly seemed to come up really fast.

  Okay, so it’s been a few years since I’ve done any zero-gravity work. He turned, firing the thrusters hard to slow down. Vic gritted his teeth, closing his eyes in anticipation of slamming into the station. After a few minutes, it hadn’t happened. He looked around… found himself floating in place. Thank God.

  Turning toward the station again, he goosed the thrusters to bring himself close without slamming into it. As he made contact, he sidled his way to the outer door of maintenance access. The panel outside was old enough that hacking it wouldn’t be a problem. He tapped at his computer, going through nearly a hundred passwords before the light turned green.

  The door slid upward. Vic crawled in then tapped the panel to close it up. The small chamber pressurized. He slipped out of his suit before moving to the next door. A window gave him a reasonable view of a hallway. It was dark… all the lights were out but some dim LEDs provided illumination on the floor.

  Vic tapped the panel, drawing his pistol. He slipped into the hallway, taking a left. They mapped the station easily enough. It had been a standard model. Providing the people living there kept the parts in a logical place, he knew precisely where he was going. It was just a matter of navigating two floors to get there.

  “Attention,” a woman’s voice sounded over the intercom. Vic’s stomach tightened. “New vessel on docking approach. Grab your gear to give them your kind of welcome. You know what to do.”

  Son of a bitch! Vic cursed. He’d hoped they were being assholes by sneaking in. I wonder who these pricks are. I’ll bet they screwed up the buoy… then lured people in to steal their shit. He checked his scanner. There still didn’t appear to be any ships onboard. Which means they’ve got people who come check on them.

  “Borden,” Vic broke comm silence. “Don’t bother to dock. They’re going to try to hijack the ship. I think they’re pirates or raiders… someone who basically stole this place from the Gold Empire.”

  “Why the hell did they send us here, dammit?” Borden grunted. “Can you get out of there?”

  Vic glanced over his shoulder. He already got a decent way into the place. Glancing at the computer showed two red dots converging on the maintenance access he’d used to enter.

  “No, they’re checking out the place I came in through.”

  “I’ve got to dock then,” Borden said, “or you aren’t getting out of there. Hurry up. You know which one to get to.”

  “I’ll be running into a welcoming committee,” Vic replied. “That’s not going to work.”

  “Hm.” Borden paused. “Get to their reactor. Set it to overload. They’ll have to commit people to stop it. Then you can make a break for it.”

  Vic considered the plan. The reactor itself was only two stories down. He’d have to get four back up to the docking clamp where Borden would be. He figured it might just be possible. And if this place blows up, so be it. The Gold Empire won’t be able to take it back for a while.

  “I’ll see what I can do,” Vic said, “stall them as long as you can though. I need a few minutes.” He picked up the pace, running for the nearest ladder heading down.

  The access panel was security locked. He had to hack through it the same as the one on the outside. Every password that failed made him more anxious, wearing on his nerves. When it finally beeped, he winced at the sound. Slipping in, he started down. Footsteps above him made him pause.

  Vic clung to the ladder, holding his breath as two people moved by.

  “They have to be around here,” one man said. “Scans show him around here.”

  “There’s no way he went in the maintenance tunnels, right?”

  “They’re locked, asshole.” Guy one slapped his buddy. “Use your head! No one’s hacking into those. We can’t even figure them out.”

  “Maybe he took the elevator then. We
’d better check.”

  “Alright. Hurry up.” They moved off.

  Vic let out a breath, descending the rest of the way. He checked his scanner for the new floor. There were four people in the technical center, possibly technicians though he doubted that’s all. He drew his pistol in his right hand, a knife in the left before slipping out of the maintenance tunnel.

  The hallway curved around in a perfect loop. Four doors should’ve led to his destination. He moved to the one furthest from the four men who seemed to be congregating around a particular terminal. Tapping the panel, the door opened.

  Vic burst in, firing his weapon. Two men went down before they even had the chance to look. One dove for cover. The other dashed to the right, avoiding three shots before he got behind a console. They started shouting at one another, incoherent gibberish that may have been a strange form of battle language.

  Moving toward the guy who hit the floor, Vic hustled across the floor. If they had weapons, he figured they would’ve already opened fire. He got to the point where his opponent hit the floor, rounding the corner.

  A blow to the face took him off guard. This guy has nerves of steel! Vic swiped his blade, a lateral cut that sliced through the man’s clothes. The blow brought out a hiss though it didn’t seem to do enough damage to end the fight.

  Another punch came at him. This time, Vic faded out of the way, lifting the gun to finish it. A heavy blow to his wrist knocked it aside but miraculously, he maintained his grip on the weapon.

  Vic tossed a kick, connecting with the man’s gut. That drove his opponent back far enough to bring the gun back into play. He blasted his target three times before taking cover behind the console.

  A strange hum burst in the room. The console burst into sparks and flames, both of which showered down on him. Vic moved back the way he came, glancing out at the final guy. He carried some kind of laser drill, a tool that probably didn’t belong near the reactor. They made eye contact.