Modulus Echo

by Toby Neighbors

  “Is the shield ready?” Pershing asked.

  Her tone was neutral, but Ben still felt like a child who was behind on his chores.

  “The system is ready to be tested,” Ben said.

  “Three minutes,” Nance said.

  “We need to wait until we’re out of hyperspace, though,” Ben added.

  “Very well,” Pershing said. “We’ll be in the Yelsin system soon.”

  “And what’s the plan when we get there?” Holt asked.

  “We’ll be gathering the Royal Imperium forces stationed there before continuing to the Celeste system,” Pershing said.

  “If you have ships in the system, what do you need us for?” Holt asked.

  “We should have some,” Pershing said, “but not enough. And our Special Forces teams are ground units. They’ll be needed to begin pushing the aliens off Gershwin, but they won’t be sufficient to totally eradicate the threat.”

  “And you know all this how?” Holt asked.

  “When we left the Celeste system, there were a dozen alien vessels,” Nance said in usual calm. “That number has almost certainly increased.”

  “What if we get to the Celeste system and it’s filled with hundreds of enemy ships?” Duke Simeon asked.

  “Then we shall set up an observation post and continue mobilizing our forces,” Pershing said. “But our first priority is to get you and the queen to safety.”

  “What?” Duke Simeon asked. “You mean to carry out this attack without me?”

  “We can’t risk your safety, Your Highness,” Pershing said.

  “The hell you can’t,” Duke Simeon said. “It’s not your choice to make. I’m the heir to the throne and I’ll go where I please.”

  “Don’t be a fool,” the queen snapped. “You’re not a soldier.”

  “I’m not a coward either,” Duke Simeon said.

  “Sixty seconds to the Yelsin system.”

  “If the aliens have brought more resources into the galaxy, we will need your help raising the Fleet,” Pershing said. “News of the king’s death will be a difficult burden to bear, but you can ease the suffering. Please, let us send you to Mersa Prime where you can be the most use.”

  “No,” Duke Simeon declared. “I won’t hide on Mersa Prime and let others take all the risks.”

  “Thirty seconds,” Nance declared.

  Ben thought the argument was fruitless. The duke wanted to help, and that was admirable, but he wouldn’t be in danger on the Echo. For that matter, he wouldn’t really be helping either. It had been a long time since a member of the royal family had taken interest in the governance of the Imperium, but Ben believed the systems would be better off without the control of the galaxywide government.

  “I won’t try to force you to leave,” Pershing said. “But I will say that a warship is no place for a civilian. If you choose to stay with us, you will have to remain a nonactive participant.”

  “We shall see,” Duke Simeon said. “If there is no place for me here, I’m sure that one of the Imperium battlecruisers will make space for me.”

  “Ten seconds,” Nance said.

  The bridge fell silent as everyone realized the challenge the duke had just thrown down. He had decided to assert his authority, and the tension was growing thick.

  When the ship transitioned out of hyperspace, they were hit immediately with alarms and emergency beacons.

  “What’s happened?” Pershing said.

  “We have multiple SOS signals,” Holt said. “Too many to count.”

  “Those aren’t our ships, General,” Nance said.

  Ben looked up at the display that lined the front of the bridge. In the distance, he could see Yelsin Prime. There were several ships around the planet, and the alien designs were unmistakable.

  “It’s an attack,” Kim said.

  “That means they’ve hit the transports,” Pershing said, the confident tone of her voice seemed to have vanished.

  “That would explain the multiple calls for help,” Ben said. “They probably used the escape pods the way you did on the Deception.”

  “I’ve got a message coming through,” Holt said. “It’s from the R.I.F. Trojan.”

  “Put it through,” Pershing ordered.

  ... surprise attack. We have abandoned the ship, but there weren’t enough escape pods for the commandos and the crew. We’ll stay here and try to fight, but they’ve taken out our cannons. We’re losing atmosphere and the artificial gravity is knocked out. Power is down to twenty...

  The message cut out. Ben felt a ball of fear forming heavy and sour in his stomach. Kim glanced back at him, her eyes flashing with anger. He hoped he didn’t look too afraid, but the truth was he hoped the general would turn them around and run away. The Echo wasn’t a fighting ship. She had weapons and an incredible pilot, but Ben didn’t want to fight. He didn’t want the responsibility of the galaxy resting on his shoulders.

  “Alright, well, it looks like you’ll get your wish, Your Highness,” Pershing said as she activated the ship’s coms system. “Bravo group, spread out and activate your weapons systems. The alien ships are faster than us, but we have the edge on maneuverability. They use articulated grappling arms to disable and capture ships, so we don’t want them getting close. Stand by.”

  “Should we advance?” Kim asked.

  “No, let’s hold this position,” Pershing said. “If the transports have gone to their escape pods, there isn’t a lot we can do for them. Most will make landfall, and they’re trained to survive hostile environments. We’ll let the training groups pick up the survivors. Ben, now would be a good time to test your shield.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Ben said getting up. “I’ll run it from the engineering bay.”

  Ben sprinted down the stairs to the cargo hold and then dashed into his beloved engineering section. The new wave generator was already mounted to the reflective ball that projected the ship’s artificial gravity. Ben felt the knot in his stomach grow larger as he stopped at his workstation, checked the status of the flux shield, and typed in the command to activate it.

  The wave generator rose up from the small tray where it sat, almost as if by magic, and began to rotate around the artificial gravity ball. Around and around it spun, moved by the flow of gravity. Ben didn’t understand the theory exactly, he just knew from his conversations with Professor Jones that gravity wasn’t static, but always in motion. The wave generator, once it was up to speed, would cast a current of gravity out beyond the ship that would spin tens of thousands of rotations every minute, creating a vortex of gravity that was exponentially greater than that being projected by the art grav gennie. Like a ship in the eye of the hurricane, the Echo would be relatively unaffected by the swirl of powerful gravitational forces around it.

  “We’re spinning up,” Ben said after tapping his com-link. “Everything is looking good so far.”

  “Keep your optimism in check,” Pershing said. “I want status reports only.”

  Ben wanted to tell the general where she could shove her status reports, but he kept his opinion to himself. Instead, he watched the readings on the flux shield system. The sensors they had placed on the Echo’s hull were giving real-time feedback, and fortunately everything was looking good.

  Chapter 52

  The first test had come early, and while General Pershing wasn’t exactly ready for it, she had been expecting it. The question was how the aliens had found the Yelsin system. The most likely explanation was that they had followed the Modulus Echo’s trail through hyperspace. Once the battle was over, she intended to retrieve the surveillance buoy they had left in space and find out for certain.

  The more frightening explanation was that the aliens had hacked into the Navigation Network. Without the computer techs who had been lost along with Fleet HQ when the wormhole was opened, the Nav Net had no oversight. No one could tell whether the system was being accessed by the aliens in the Celeste system or not. But if they had access to the Nav N
et, then they could go anywhere in the galaxy. The entire Royal Imperium would be laid bare to a hostile enemy with unfathomable resources.

  The key to the war lay in retaking the Celeste system. Even if the aliens had brought a thousand ships through the wormhole already, the Imperium Fleet had to retake control of the system and cut off their reinforcements. Once that was done, any aliens who had spread through the galaxy could be hunted down and exterminated.

  In her mind, she wondered briefly if total war was necessary. Perhaps a compromise could be reached? It was possible the aliens had knowledge and resources that could be used to further advance the human race. Was it ethical to eradicate them completely? She didn’t know. Her training was not in the field of ethics or philosophy. She was a soldier, trained to do just one thing, fight the enemies of the Royal Imperium. And while it might not be ethical to destroy the aliens, they had proven themselves to be hostile. The responsibility to eradicate them fell to her, and she was resolved to do whatever it took to defeat them.

  “Looks like they’ve spotted us,” Kim said.

  “I have nine alien ships advancing from the planet,” Nance said.

  For a second, Pershing marveled at the computer technician’s calm. She rarely left her station on the bridge, and she obviously had fears of leaving the Echo, yet even as hostile aliens advanced toward them, she showed absolutely no fear.

  “We need to target each one,” Pershing said. “Holt, let’s have each of your Confederate vessels target an alien ship and advance.”

  “I can assign those targets from here,” Nance said. “I wrote a new program during the hyperspace jump.”

  The view on the display changed. A larger plot filled the screen, and Pershing could see the advancing alien ships as red V’s and the Confederate ships as yellow arrows, each was assigned a letter and number. The Echo was shown as a blue diamond on the screen.

  “Excellent work, Nance,” Pershing said. “Designate the alien ships as Lima one through nine and assign each one to a ship in the Bravo squadron.”

  “One Confederate ship for each of those behemoths?” Holt asked.

  “We have the advantage,” Pershing said. “The aliens don’t have weapons systems. We should be able to stop them before they get close.”

  “And if we can’t?” Holt said.

  “Then we’ll outfly them,” Kim said.

  “Take us up,” Pershing said. “Holt, give the order for your people to advance. They need to be up to speed before they engage.”

  Holt began to speak into the communication headset he was wearing, giving orders to the Confederate ships. Pershing felt strange giving orders to the rebels, and naked without troops of her own. Yet that was the hand fate had dealt to her. She was a general without an army, an admiral without a fleet. Despite it all, she had found a way to fight.

  “Do your cameras record?” Pershing asked Nance.

  “Yes, General.”

  “Good. We’ll need this footage to show the rest of the fleet, and hopefully the Confederacy as well.”

  “What are you going to show them?” Holt asked. “How we came to your rescue.”

  “I think it’s clear that the rebellion isn’t as important as the alien threat,” Pershing said. “Video of Confederate forces fighting side by side with the Royal Imperium Fleet will send that message.”

  “Only there’s no sign of the Royal Imperium Fleet,” Holt said. “The only people fighting are Confederates, you’re even in the most infamous ship in the galaxy.”

  “Then we can learn about our enemy,” Pershing said. “Let’s stay focused. The aliens are our enemies now, and they will show no quarter.”

  “It’s up!” Ben announced over the com-link. Pershing didn’t wear the little buttons on her collar, but she had the short-range system pulled into her console speaker.

  “You’re certain?” Pershing asked him.

  “Absolutely,” Ben said proudly. “Flux shield is at one hundred percent.”

  “Good,” Pershing said. “Now, shut it off.”

  She ignored the looks from the others on the bridge.

  “Magnum, power up the ship’s lasers.”

  “I’m sorry, General,” Ben said. “Did you just order me to turn off the flux shield.”

  “That’s right,” Pershing said. “We can’t fire our weapons with it up. And at the moment, we’re outnumbered by the aliens. We need every weapon we can bring to bear against them.”

  “Alright,” Ben said. “Just keep in mind those lasers are tied to our auxiliary batteries. You’ll only get a few shots and then we’ll have no backup power.”

  “We’re aware of your ship’s limitations,” Pershing said, fully aware of the minor dig she was aiming at the young engineer. “Alright, everyone needs to get into emergency gear. Full vacuum protocols. If the aliens get through our shields, they’ll almost certainly puncture the hull. And the ship has no escape pods, so we have to be ready for any circumstance. Nance, Kim, Holt, go now. Magnum and I will man the bridge until you return.”

  “We’re only four minutes from range at this speed,” Nance said.

  “Then hurry,” Pershing said.

  Kim was already in a flight suit, which had emergency measures. All she had to do was don the suit’s gloves and helmet, which were kept in the pilot’s seat. Nance hurried to her quarters, which was close to the bridge. The commandos lead the royals to the upper deck to get emergency space suits on, and Holt got one from the medical bay.

  General Pershing watched the approaching ships on the plot. Having them translated to simple shapes made them seem less threatening, but with the ship’s bow cameras zoomed to their max settings, she could see the ships racing toward them on her console display. They were a motley crew of mismatched vessels, and while they were still hundreds of kilometers away, she could feel their menace. They weren’t in the Yelsin system to merely explore, and certainly not to establish talks that could lead to a mutually beneficial peace. No, they had come for one reason, to plunder the humans in whatever form was presented to them. They would use violence to take everything of value, including the lives of anyone who opposed them.

  Pershing took a deep breath and smiled. The aliens were there for nefarious purposes, but they hadn’t counted on her. She would do more than oppose the raiders; she would see them destroyed, one way or another.

  Chapter 53

  Kim pulled the shoulder straps down and locked them into place. They cinched down to hold her securely in the pilot’s seat. She couldn’t deny how much she loved being in control of the Modulus Echo. Not that she flew the ship alone, it was a group effort, but she took the lead and the Kestrel class ship obeyed her every command.

  With one hand on the throttle, and the other on the joystick, Kim had full operational control of the ship. As long as the engines had power, she could pilot the ship anywhere. The laser aiming reticles came up on her console screens. Having the weapons at her command gave Kim a sense of power unlike anything else. She was a great pilot and could outfly even the hotshots of the Imperium’s fighter squadrons in a pinch, but it was having the ability to target her enemies and take the fight to them that gave her a thrill. Not that she liked killing or would risk using up the limited amount of power for weapons by making careless shots with the laser cannons. But just the knowledge of what she could do was empowering.

  The flight suit gloves were annoying. Kim understood the need to survive if the hull was compromised, and her flight suit would allow her to do that, but they took away the tactile feel of wrapping her bare hands around the throttle and the joystick. Her gloves were skintight, not bulky like most space suits, yet they still felt strange on her hands as she flew.

  “I’m plugging in,” Kim said.

  Everyone was busy doing the same thing. Kim picked up the emergency tether that would supply oxygen to her helmet. It also transferred her console’s capabilities to her helmet’s heads up display. It reminded Kim of a virtual reality simulator, but she didn�
�t mind having all the information she needed at her fingertips.

  “Ben, are you suited up?” Kim asked over the com-link.

  “Yeah,” he replied. “Helmet and everything.”

  He sounded a little put out, and Kim couldn’t blame him. He had worked so diligently to get the shield working, and General Pershing didn’t show any appreciation for his efforts. Plus, with the flux shield down, he would need to stay on the engineering bay instead of at his console.

  Kim glanced over her shoulder and saw Duke Simeon strapping into Ben’s seat on the bridge. He saw her look and winked. Kim wanted to gag almost as much as she wanted to pound the smug look off the duke’s face.

  “The duke’s in your chair,” Kim said in the com-link.

  “Better tell him not to touch anything,” Ben said.

  “I already have him locked out,” Nance said.

  “Who is on this channel?” Kim asked.

  “I am,” Magnum said.

  “Anyone else?” Ben asked.

  There was silence, then Ben started talking again.

  “Okay, gang, listen up. I know I got us in this mess, and I’m sorry. But just remember we can do this. General Pershing may be calling the shots, but we’re flying the Echo. We know this ship and we will get through this together.”

  “You should be a motivational speaker,” Kim said with a giggle.

  “Do you need help down there?” Magnum asked Ben.

  “Nah, me being down here is really redundant. If things breakdown I want to be close to the problem. I can do everything down here at my work station that I can up there. Just keep your com-links on.”

  “Are you confident the shield is going to hold up?” Nance asked. Her voice was calm and steady, but the words revealed her fear.

  “Yes,” Ben said. “Don’t worry about that. As long as Kim keeps us alive while it’s spinning up, we’ll be fine.”

  “I make no promises,” Kim said. “I’m having too much fun.”