“Altitude - thirty-five klicks,” said Shelton. “The Raggers aren’t going to sit back and watch us fly off into the sunset.”
“Maybe they don’t have much choice,” said Kenyon. “Admiral Yeringar has their hands tied.”
“But how long can he maintain the attack?” Griffin mused. “Will he sacrifice everything in the cause?”
“He will not give up,” said Isental. “I have fought alongside Admiral Yeringar on many occasions.”
Isental’s opinion reflected Griffin’s own. Yeringar possessed all the positive qualities required by a fleet commander, including the ability to envisage every aspect of a combat arena. This engagement with the Raggers was all-or-nothing. A glance at the tactical spelled it out. The two sides whittled away at each other. Whoever won, their losses would be terrible.
“Altitude - fifty klicks.”
“Maybe the tharniol flush didn’t work,” said Jackson.
Griffin didn’t want to believe it and he told himself that a little more time was required. At the upper reaches of the storm, he aimed the Nullifier to the north, hoping to fly the spaceship around the planet and out of danger. A few plasma missiles struck the energy shield and he feared the Raggers wouldn’t let him go so easily.
Suddenly, a new status code appeared on the command console. It took him a split-second to understand what it represented.
“The dark cannon is online,” he said.
“Looks like it’s got a warmup time, sir,” said Jackson. “I’ve got a progress bar – it won’t be long.”
“The Revingol is under sustained attack, sir,” said Kenyon. “Admiral Yeringar requests an update.”
“Tell him what Lieutenant Jackson just said.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Ten seconds on the dark cannon,” said Jackson.
“Target Prime011.”
“Prime011 in our sights.”
Hass-Tei-112 had a sixth sense for danger. Without warning, Prime011 accelerated directly away from the Nullifier, gaining altitude at the same time. The capital ship was punishingly fast and Griffin watched in astonishment as it gathered speed.
“It must have a secondary propulsion,” he said in wonder. “Or he’s drawing power from every subsystem onboard.”
“Dark cannon online.”
“Fire it!”
The discharge of the Nullifier’s dark cannon produced a whumping sound from somewhere forward of the bridge. The sound tapered to a whine, which quickly merged in with the note of the vantrium drive.
Prime011 didn’t so much explode as it turned into an immense cloud of particles. For a tenth of a second, the shape of the capital ship was recognizable and then it spread across the sky in a thick smear of grey alloy. Griffin watched as the particles lost their momentum and fell to the mercy of the wind. They dispersed so quickly that it seemed as if Glesia took enormous pleasure in exacting its revenge on the construction which had defied it for so long.
“Gone,” said Griffin in wonder. “Just like that.” He took note of two new status updates. “Life support online. Tharniol flush complete.”
“The dark cannon is recharging, sir,” said Jackson. “It’s going to take about two minutes.”
“That long?”
“Our main drive took a big hit when we fired, sir,” said Kroll. “I reckon we came close to losing the shield.”
“A weapon that threatens our defenses when it’s fired,” said Griffin with a shake of his head. “Whoever built the Nullifier must have a sense of humor.”
“I’m sure there’s a way to balance the two so that the dark cannon never draws enough to shut down the shield,” said Kroll. “I just don’t know how to do it.”
“I don’t know why it required so much power,” said Jackson. “Best guess is that it depends on the size of the target.”
If Jackson was correct, it would be the first time Griffin had seen anything like it. The Nullifier contained plenty of new tech and he was sure more surprises waited. In the circumstances, precise answers would have to wait.
“Admiral Yeringar passes on his thanks,” said Kenyon. “I’ve advised him that the dark cannon doesn’t have a full-auto setting.”
The balance tipped. To Griffin it seemed like Prime011, or perhaps Hass-Tei-112’s management of his fleet, had been the single differentiating factor. With the destruction of the mighty warship, Attack Fleet 1 began to pick off the remnants of the Ragger presence. It began gradually, with the enemy losing a handful of warships, and then picked up pace. The Raggers didn’t flee and their resistance ensured the deaths of numerous ULAF and Fangrin personnel.
By the time the dark cannon was ready for another discharge, the outcome was already decided. It didn’t prevent Griffin from ordering Lieutenant Jackson to open fire. She selected two enemy cruisers and disintegrated them both.
“Twenty second recharge,” she said. “Don’t ask me why.”
Griffin watched the weapon charge gauge from his own console. It hit one hundred percent and Jackson destroyed a third light cruiser.
“Seventy seconds on the next recharge.”
“I’ll do what I can to figure it out,” said Kroll.
“Please.”
The Nullifier didn’t get off another shot – not during this engagement. AF1 swept over the flashpoint area, ripping through what remained of the enemy fleet. A few of the Ragger ships sped away, low to the surface. They weren’t running, they were simply hoping to cause problems later. Admiral Yeringar didn’t permit it and he directed his warships to pursue the enemy until every last one was finished.
When it was over, Griffin brought the Nullifier once more to the flashpoint. Already his ability to pilot the battleship was improved and his recent doubts about the neural link’s potential faded. With the life support online, he was able to accelerate with greater aggression than before. Even so, he took it slowly, aware of the stress groans from the spaceship’s hull.
“I’ve requested the scan data from one of our other spaceships,” said Dominguez. “Here’s what we look like with all that Sekar crap melted off our hull.”
The external view of the Nullifier was not a pleasant sight and Griffin was shocked at the appalling state of the battleship. Originally, it must have possessed the same basic shape as a long cuboid with rounded edges, a lower profile nose section and few external features. Now, the hull plates were extensively corroded and in some places they seemed almost rusty. As well as that, part of the aft section had been torn away, leaving the entire area jagged and exposed.
“How are we even holding together?” asked Kroll in shock. “We’ve got a four-hundred-meter hull breach.”
“Don’t ask me, Lieutenant.”
“Here’s the Revingol on the sensors,” said Shelton. “It’s going to need some time in the repair yard.”
The Fangrin vessel didn’t look any better than the Nullifier. Yeringar’s spaceship was a similar size to a ULAF carrier, though with broader beam, lower profile and a more angular, tapered shape. It had suffered multiple plasma warhead strikes and Griffin counted six visible railgun indentations. In several places, sections of its plating had been torn off and two of its upper railguns, along with their turrets, were completely missing. Retained plasma heat turned the external plating into a mottled patchwork of dull reds, smoldering blacks and scorched greys.
“Victory has come at a price, Captain Griffin,” said Yeringar on the comms.
“I’ve never found one that didn’t, sir.”
“Only thirty-five ships of Attack Fleet 1 remain, plus four Vipers from the Brightstar.”
“A few hours ago, we believed that AF1 was completely lost, Admiral. Now we have thirty-nine warships, plus the Nullifier.”
Yeringar laughed with genuine delight. “That is a fine way to view the situation, human.” The laughter faded. “How is your control over the Nullifier?”
“Improving with each passing second. What are your orders, sir?”
“You should return
to the closest allied planet. Do you have star chart data that will take you there?”
“One moment, sir.” Griffin muted the comms channel. “Well?” he asked.
“The Nullifier has star charts, sir,” said Shelton. “I’ve not had a chance to examine them in detail.”
“Will they get us home?”
“I don’t know. I’d feel safer if Admiral Yeringar provided us with some positional data from the Revingol.”
Griffin took the comms off mute. “We require additional star chart data, sir. Could you provide us with a copy of the Revingol’s main database?”
In those few short moments, something had evidently occurred to Yeringar.
“This control entity on the Nullifier worries me,” he said.
“In what way, sir?”
“It suggests the battleship possesses a level of sentience.”
“Yes.”
“And we do not yet understand the battleship’s purpose.”
“It was built to destroy the Sekar, sir.”
“That is what you have been told.”
Griffin understood. “It’s too big a risk to give it a map of our known space.”
“Yes, Captain Griffin. As it stands, I will not provide you with a copy of our star charts.”
“What do you suggest, sir?”
“Part of Attack Fleet 1 and the Nullifier will head away from Glesia to a place in the middle of emptiness, where the Raggers will not find you should they send reinforcements. Once there, you will do what you can with the Nullifier’s existing star charts and see if you can locate a suitable destination that is no less than a day’s travel from one of our populated worlds. Once you arrive, our superiors will decide how to handle the situation.”
It was as good a plan as any. While falling on the side of caution, it ensured the Nullifier didn’t end up in enemy hands and kept it away from centers of population.
“I’m sure my crew will manage what you ask, sir. What of the soldiers in Refuge 9?”
“I will speak to their commanding officer and decide. I have not made it widely known, but the transport which brought those men to the surface was also carrying a nuclear bomb. That bomb is now underground.”
“One way or another, the Raggers aren’t getting anything out of Glesia,” said Griffin.
“Not if I can help it. Part of me believes that Hass-Tei-112 was operating alone, using his personal fleet. The Raggers are untrusting and arrogant. It may be that he has not informed others of his species what he has found here.”
“The thought occurred to me also, sir. I’m sure you know the Raggers a lot better than I do.”
“That is likely. Anyway, you must take the Nullifier away from here. I will send you some additional details through my comms team. Expect to hear within the next few minutes.”
“Yes, sir.”
The comms went dead and Griffin sat quietly for a few moments. The outcome on Glesia was definitely a win, except it didn’t exactly feel that way. Maybe it was because the death pulse tech could take years to implement, while the Nullifier was just one ship which had no chance of single-handedly defeating two numerically superior enemies. The potential of both was there for the future. Unfortunately, the alliance required something more immediate.
He sensed a shape at his shoulder and turned to find that Captain Isental had approached without being heard. The Fangrin laid a massive hand on Griffin’s shoulder.
“Before judging, you must ask yourself if you could have done any more.”
“This is the best we could have hoped for.”
“In that case, have no regrets.”
The Fangrin was older and wiser, and Griffin was grateful for the words. While his sense of disquiet didn’t entirely dissipate, he nevertheless felt his mood improve.
“Lieutenant Kenyon, let me know the moment you receive the course details from the Revingol.”
“Will do, sir.”
Griffin wasn’t expecting to be left waiting and he was correct.
Chapter Fourteen
Twenty minutes later, the Nullifier was gone from Glesia. It was a fast ship and the planet was already far behind, a dwindling sphere of grey on the aft sensors. The ten warships assigned to escort duties struggled to keep pace and Griffin backed off in order that they could keep up.
“I don’t think I’ll miss the place,” said Kroll.
“Not much,” said Griffin. “What about you, Captain Conway?”
Conway leaned against one of the unmanned consoles, his eyes on the sensor feeds. “Like a hole in the head.”
The situation onboard was stable for the moment. Conway believed the Raggers still had a presence on the Nullifier, but he was certain they were no immediate threat to the occupants of the bridge. The concern was that the enemy might sabotage something important elsewhere on the spaceship, but the Nullifier’s internal security was online again and Lieutenant Kroll was assigned the task of keeping watch for Ragger activity. However, not every door was responding correctly, which left an element of doubt in Griffin’s mind.
“A broken ship, an enemy presence and a bunch of tech we hardly understand,” he said.
“Little details, sir,” said Shelton. “In a couple of hours you’ll be asking yourself why you worried about them.”
“Get me some answers and I’ll worry less.”
“I’m on it, sir.”
Everyone had work to do. They each had access to the neural framework and should, in theory be equally capable of operating the Nullifier as anyone else. However, the limitations were becoming more apparent. The human brain didn’t appreciate being force fed data and the neural framework - which had initially seemed to be so full of finesse - now seemed clumsy. Griffin asked himself if it was because his requirements already surpassed the capability of the framework.
There was worse. The more he studied the framework, the more Griffin became convinced that parts of it were either never uploaded into the Nullifier’s data arrays, deleted or purposefully hidden from him. He could live with the former, but the idea of the latter two made him distinctly uncomfortable. Again he attempted to speak with the control entity and once more his request was met with silence.
On the plus side, the longer Griffin spent on the Nullifier, the less he required the neural framework. He knew how to access most of the spaceship’s functions without assistance and the rest wouldn’t take much longer to learn. The only part of the battleship that he couldn’t manage without keeping his fingers on the interface bar was flying the damn thing.
“How’s everyone getting on with their consoles?” he asked.
“Pretty good, sir,” said Lieutenant Murray. “I don’t really need that computer in my head anymore.”
“Nor me,” agreed Kroll. “I can appreciate how they set up the Nullifier with these fancy ways to allow a newcomer to fly, but I prefer the ways I’m accustomed to. I guess I don’t like the intrusion in my brain.”
“Yeah, it is an intrusion,” Shelton agreed. “And I don’t think I’m ready to trust this spaceship quite yet. Not after what Admiral Yeringar said about the star charts.”
“Before the Sekar turned up, we’d have welcomed the promise of this new technology with open arms,” said Griffin.
“Things change, sir.”
“Once your entire species is threatened with extinction, trust becomes a luxury you can’t afford,” said Jackson. “If that makes me a cynic, then so be it.”
Griffin wasn’t going to criticize, especially since his own bright outlook on the universe was being eroded each time he witnessed or learned about a new atrocity. He recognized the fact and didn’t like it, but he couldn’t deny the realities of humanity’s existence.
Whatever makes me strong. That’s what I’ll believe in.
He continued the task of familiarizing himself with the Nullifier, while keeping one hand on the interface bar. While the framework informed him about the existence of the numerous systems and subsystems, it didn’t give him
any technical information about them. So he knew the vantrium drive was able to catapult the Nullifier into lightspeed and he knew how to initiate the procedure, but he didn’t have any idea how long it would take to warm up or what kind of velocity it could attain. Doubtless both were better than anything a ULAF warship was capable of, but there were times you needed specifics.
“How are you getting on, Lieutenant Kroll?”
“I’ve tried running queries on the data arrays, sir. There’s a whole section on the propulsion.”
“And?”
“The queries are turning up blanks and I haven’t figured out why.”
“You know this stuff, Lieutenant.”
“Like the back of my hand, sir.”
“So why the problem?”
“I don’t know. The only thing I can think of is that the most sensitive parts of the data arrays are locked down. Maybe you can check from your console, sir?”
“I already did and I can’t see any active security systems.”
“Which doesn’t mean those systems don’t exist.”
“No.”
“Five minutes until we reach the coordinates set by Admiral Yeringar, sir,” said Shelton. “Once we figure out how the star charts work, we’ll be good to go. Then we get to test the lightspeed drive for real.”
“Ever get the feeling this has been too easy?” Griffin asked.
“I wouldn’t say that dodging Ragger incendiaries in order to get here was too easy, sir,” said Kenyon.
“I’m talking about the Nullifier, Lieutenant. It’s like we’ve been spoon fed everything we required, while some other stuff is being hidden away from us.”
“If that’s the case, then the control system entity must have the same goals as we do, sir, since it let us use the dark cannon on Prime011,” said Jackson.
“Maybe I’m overthinking it,” said Griffin.
“Or maybe you need to think even more, sir,” said Dominguez.
He turned in order to see her face. “You feel the same?”
“I don’t know. Like you said, it’s convenient that we made it so far.” She shrugged. “On the other hand, we killed that Sekar-Major and now the Nullifier is able to continue with its claimed purpose.”
Nullifier (Fire and Rust Book 6) Page 11