The Short End: Broken Galaxy Book Four

by Phil Huddleston

  “This was, of course, a demonstration,” said Bonnie, coming back on the screen.

  “Yesterday morning, we quietly departed Earth orbit and positioned ourselves for this mock attack. We made the attack run, recording the results as simulated by our AI.

  “We didn’t do this to embarrass the crew of the Victory, I assure you. They are as dedicated a crew as you can find, and I have nothing but the highest respect for them. But the fact is, a battlecruiser in static orbit around a planet is a sitting duck. Even if the Victory moves out to patrol the solar system, she will still be vulnerable. The only way this battlecruiser can be of value to Earth is to join the EDF Fleet and fight with us as part of an interlocking, organized task force.

  “In short, if the Victory stays here in the solar system, she is toast. Every one of your husbands, wives, sons, and daughters aboard her is as good as dead.

  “We need her in the Fleet, and the Fleet needs to be at Ashkelon, taking the fight to the enemy. Please contact your respective governments and ensure they know that the UN needs to stop trying to tell the Fleet how to fight the war and let us do our job.

  “I thank you and wish nothing but the best for you. Bonnie Page out.”

  Shigeto thought long and hard for a good two minutes. Then he grasped his comm set and contacted the comm center.

  “Patch me through to Captain Westerly on the Victory, please,” he said.

  Sol System - Earth

  Destroyer Dragon

  Bonnie was sleeping soundly when her comm implant went off loudly.

 

  Groaning, Bonnie rolled over and retrieved her tablet from the bedside table. It flicked on with the movement and she glanced at the time.

  4:42 A.M. My Lord. What can he want at this hour?

  Touching her message icon, she read through the message.

  Elliott has declared Captain Bonnie Page and Commander Luke Powell traitors to the interests of Earth. He thinks holding you will force Rita to come to Earth. A combat team is enroute to make your arrest. I suggest you get the hell out of Dodge.

  “Oh, crap,” yelled Bonnie at the ceiling. She jumped out of bed and grabbed her trousers and uniform top.

  “Luke! Get your ass out of bed!” she yelled at the lump on the other side of her bed. “Incoming!”

  Luke sat bolt upright at the words dreaded by any warship officer. “What? What?”

  Bonnie grinned at the stunned look on her lover’s face. “Elliott is sending troops to take us into custody. We need to get the hell out of here.”

  Luke shook himself, trying to come fully awake. He fell out of bed on the other side, reaching for his own clothes. Bonnie took the circular stairs to her day cabin at a dead run, still buttoning her uniform shirt. Luke was not far behind her. Reaching the next deck, they ran through Bonnie’s day cabin onto the bridge. It was third watch, and they were at Earth, so it was a skeleton crew. Only the OOD, an assistant Tactical Officer, and the backup quartermaster manned the consoles. Luke began barking orders while Bonnie was strapping herself into the console.

  “Set condition Red, sound the boarding alarm. Roust out the Marines and the Special Forces. Emma Gibbs to the bridge. Bring up the main engines. Prepare to depart orbit!”

  The condition lights on the wall of the bridge began flashing red, and the comm system began a chain of announcements.

  “Stand by to repel boarders! Stand by to depart orbit!”

  One deck below, Lieutenant Emma Gibbs came instantly awake as her comm implant yelled at her to get to the bridge. She saw the flashing red light in her cabin and knew instantly what was happening. Jumping out of bed, she grabbed her trousers and shirt and ran straight for the bridge, pulling on her clothes as she went. The corridor was filled with other half-naked personnel, all struggling into their clothes as they ran to their duty stations.

  Running on the bridge, Emma tapped the shoulder of the Assistant Tactical Officer, who acknowledged her and moved to the ATO console beside her. Emma slammed into the Tac console and began scanning the status board and the holo.

  “We have a combat shuttle on approach, coming in from behind us. Looks like a big one, I estimate forty to sixty troop capacity. ETA eleven minutes.”

  “Crap!” yelled Bonnie. “How long until we can move?”

  Luke read his console status. “Fourteen minutes until mains are online.”

  “Crap,” spoke Bonnie again. “I don’t want to fight these guys. Rita said not to kill anyone. But I’m sure Elliott doesn’t have that same directive in place. This could get messy.”

  Luke thought for a minute. “What if we used RCS to drop down into the atmosphere? They’d have a helluva time boarding us in atmo.”

  Bonnie stared at her XO. “Are you crazy? What if we had a glitch starting the main engines? We’d burn up!”

  Luke shrugged. “You wanted ideas. That’s all I’ve got.”

  Emma at the Tac Station suddenly spoke up. “Mum…it’s really strange…”

  “What?” asked Bonnie.

  “The Victory. She’s moving. She’s coming in on us.”

  “Ah, shit. Westerly’s decided to help Elliott.”

  “Receiving a comm from Victory.”

  Bonnie glanced at the comm page on her console. There was a message from Captain Westerly. She expected to see a demand for surrender. But she saw something completely unexpected.

  We’ve decided to move to a new orbit. We’ll pass by just below you. Use your OMS to tuck in just above us. That will block the combat shuttle for at least a couple of minutes. Get your mains going and get the hell out of here.

  Tears came into Bonnie’s eyes. She tried to make them stop, but it was impossible. Wiping them away, she flicked the message to the quartermaster at helm. “Quartermaster, follow those instructions. It seems we have a friend in high places.”

  The quartermaster grinned. As the Victory passed close below them, so close it looked as if they could reach out and touch her, the quartermaster fired their orbital maneuvering engines, falling into a formation directly over the big battlecruiser. The combat shuttle, coming up from below, was forced to break off approach and re-position for a new one.

  “How much time?” called Bonnie.

  “Three minutes until mains. Two minutes until combat shuttle arrives. They’ll be able to lock on to us, at least,” called Luke.

  Norali burst onto the bridge and slammed into the observer’s console to the left of Bonnie, buckling in.

  “We’ve got the Marine squad and twenty Special Forces troops in position. They’re armed with non-lethal stun guns. We’re ready.”

  Bonnie shook her head. “It’s not that simple. This is Elliott we’re talking about. They’ll have no hesitation about using deadly force on us.”

  “Even so,” said Norali. “They may get on board, but they’ll play merry hell taking this ship.”

  Two minutes later, Bonnie heard a muffled thud.

  “Combat shuttle has latched on to our hatch. Outer airlock door is being breached. Estimate one minute until inner airlock door is breached,” Emma reported.

  “Open the inner door. I don’t want them tearing up the airlock completely. I trust all our forces are in pressure suits?”

  “Aye, mum. We’re prepared. The landing bay and all surrounding areas have been depressurized.

  “Forty seconds until mains are online,” Luke called.

  “The instant mains are online, I want 300g out of here. Fuck the in-system speed limits. I want that combat shuttle torn off the side. Clear?” yelled Bonnie.

  “Clear, mum!” yelled Luke. He nodded at the quartermaster, who nodded back.

  “Thirty seconds,” called Luke.

  “Marines are engaging,” called Norali. “You were right, the U.N. troops are firing to kill. We’re taking casualties. We’re holding them at the landing bay for the moment. It won’t last long, though.”

  “T
wenty seconds,” called Luke. “Mains coming up.”

  Norali reported again. “They’ve pushed out of the loading dock into Corridor 3B. The Marines have fallen back through the Special Forces to simulate a retreat. They’ve removed gravity from the next section. When the U.N. forces hit the weightless section, I think they’ll have a problem. Still taking casualties, though.”

  “Mains up. Here we go!” yelled Luke. Bonnie felt a slight Coriolis force as Dragon rotated slightly and shot out of orbit, accelerating at 300g. The combat shuttle attached to the side of the destroyer ripped off instantly. It fell away, spewing debris and volatiles as one entire side of it was torn away. As a fire burst into life from the wreckage of the shuttle, two ejection seats fired up out of the cockpit. A few seconds later, the entire shuttle disappeared in an explosion, leaving hundreds of small pieces of debris in orbit where Dragon had been seconds before.

  “Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve got me into,” quipped Bonnie - a saying she had picked up from Jim Carter. “That’s going to be a big job for the orbital cleanup folks.”

  At his XO console, Luke turned and winked at Bonnie.

  “The U.N. troops just surrendered. They walked right into the trap. They were floating around in the corridor, completely helpless. Obviously, they’re not used to fighting in space.”

  Bonnie nodded. “Casualties?”

  Norali peered at her console. “Six wounded, three seriously, three walking. No one killed. We got lucky.”

  Bonnie heaved a deep sigh. “Thank God.”

  Luke spoke to the AI. “Dragon, set condition Yellow. Set status to system departure. Quartermaster, set course for Ashkelon. We’re going home.”

  Bonnie smiled at Luke. “Do you realize what you just said?”

  Luke thought about it, then smiled. “Yeah. Home. The Fleet. I guess home is where the heart is.”

  Bonnie stood up. “Dragon - send a general comm to all hands - Boarders captured. Well done. We’re going home. Thank you for being the best crew in the fleet.”

  She turned to Luke. “Luke, you have the conn. I’ll be in sick bay checking on the wounded.”

  “Aye, mum,” answered Luke. “What about the prisoners? The Chinese detachment floating around in corridor 3?”

  Bonnie grinned. “They just joined the EDF. Round them up and make them welcome in their new home.”

  Chapter Ten

  Enroute to Stalingrad

  Packet Boat Donkey

  Rachel hadn’t been happy with the name Paco had given their little boat - Donkey - but she had grudgingly accepted it. It wasn’t in her nature to be a hard-ass, and if it made Paco happy, she could live with it.

  She was taking her shift on watch, dozing in the pilot’s seat, when Donkey made an announcement.

 

  “What?”

 

  “Who the fuck is Darth?”

 

  Rachel came bolt upright in her seat. “You mean Paco enabled the previous Ashkelon AI?”

 

  Rachel relaxed a bit but was still stressed. “You’re absolutely sure he can’t break out of sandbox mode?”

 

  “Well…OK. Tell me what the rest of it means.”

 

  “Why, that little shit!” said Rachel to herself. “PACO!” she yelled. “GET YOUR ASS UP HERE! NOW!”

  In a few seconds, a bleary-eyed Paco came out of his cabin and stumbled down the corridor to the cockpit. He sat down heavily in the copilot seat and rubbed his eyes.

  “What?”

  “When were you planning on telling me about your little project with Darth?” Rachel wondered.

  “Oh, that,” muttered Paco, still half-asleep. “I don’t think it’ll work, but I thought it might be worth a try.”

  “Well, guess what? It worked! Or at least, that’s what Donkey says. Donkey says the original boat AI has been restored.”

  Paco came fully awake. “What? You’re kidding me…it worked?”

  “So Donkey says. Wanta try it?”

  “Hell, yes!” said Paco.

  “OK,” Rachel said, her anger cooled down now. “Do the honors.”

  “Great. Donkey! Are you able to interact with the new AI?”

  “No. It uses an unknown interface>

  “Oh, crap. I didn’t think about that.” Paco looked at Rachel. “If Donkey can’t interface to it, then he can’t translate from its native language to English. We won’t be able to understand it.”

  “How about Darth? Maybe the Ashkelon AI can interface with it.”

  “Good thought. Donkey - ensure Darth is still sandboxed and bring him to foreground for communication.”

  “Checking. Darth is still sandboxed properly. Bringing to foreground. Ready>

  “Darth. Are you there?”

 

  “Can you interface to the new AI that you reconstructed?”

  “I cannot. It uses an unknown language>

  “Crap!” said Paco. “All that effort for nothing. We have no way to interface with it. So we can’t translate from its native language to English and vice-versa.”

  Rachel, now getting caught up in the project, mused out loud. “I know this is a long shot, but what if you treated it like a child? Just bring it up and let it listen to us…maybe instead of us learning its language, it’ll be able to learn ours?”

  Paco thought about it, and then nodded. “It’s the only shot we’ve got, and we’ve got nothing but time on our hands. So might as well.

  “Donkey! Bring up the new AI in sandbox mode and send all cockpit and cabin microphones to it. Let it listen all it wants. Also, play Earth English-language videos to it. We’ll see if it learns anything.”

 

  Sol System

  Flagstaff, Arizona

  The air was cold on the ranch southeast of Flagstaff, Arizona. Crisp and clear, with no moon, it was quite dark in the shadows of the large, well-maintained brick house at the end of a long gravel driveway. It was just after 3:15 AM.

  The small team of Ashkelon commandos moved silently. They were well-trained and well-prepared for their mission. Their leader was knowledgeable about his target. Efficiently, they neutralized two large dogs sleeping in their kennels behind the main house. Splitting into two teams, one team moved carefully, inch by inch, into the back yard and positioned near the back door, while the other half of the team moved around the house to the front door.

  Counting down on his headset, their leader prepared them to enter.

  “Three. Two. One. Go!”

  Both doors were breached simultaneously. The noise was terrific - Mark Rodgers came fully awake and grabbed his trusty .45 automatic. But before he could do anything useful with it, his bedroom light flicked on and he stared at three rifles pointed at him and his wife, Gillian. Behind the rifles were the frightening figures of three seven-foot-tall figures in assault gear.

  Ashkelon.

  Gillian beside him let out a gasp and grabbed for his arm. Carefully, Mark laid the .45 down on top of the covers, knowing it was useless.

  “What do you want?” he croaked out, his voice raspy from sleep.

  Ashkelon System - Planet Deriko

  Battlecruiser Merkkessa

 

  Rita stirred in her sleep.

 

  This time Rita awoke, muttering a curse. Having an implant in her brain to receive priority messages meant she could never get away from them. She forced
herself to sit up and glanced at the clock.

  3:45 A.M. ship time.

  This had better be important, she thought.

  “Yes, Merkkessa, I’m awake. Read me the message.”

 

  Ashkelon System - Planet Deriko

  In the Wilderness

  The sound of the shuttle woke Jim at dawn. He rolled out of his sleeping bag and shook the cobwebs out of his head.

  It wasn’t time for the shuttle to pick him up.

  Something’s wrong.

  Pulling his pants on, he quickly laced up his hiking boots, then got his pullover on and added a flannel shirt. By the time he heard the shuttle’s skids touch gravel fifty meters away, he was dressed. He stepped out of the tent expecting to see Mikhail or Tatiana step out of the shuttle.

  It was Gabriel, Rita’s Security Chief.

  A sinking feeling came over him as he watched the big Nidarian approach.

  Only truly bad news would cause Rita to send Gabriel.

  Gabriel stopped in front of him, his face tense. Jim could see him struggling for the right words.

  Oh, shit. This is bad.

  Finally Gabriel managed to speak.

  “The Ashkelon. They took your daughter. Imogen.”

  Ashkelon System - Planet Deriko

  Battlecruiser Merkkessa

  An hour later, Jim Carter walked into the cabin he shared with Rita - precisely at the moment her feelings overwhelmed her.

  Rita Page - Admiral of the Black - looked around for the nearest object to throw. Her gaze fell upon one of Jim’s old paperback books on his nightstand. She grabbed it and threw it as hard as she could against the back wall of their bedroom. It hit with a splat, falling to land on Jim’s old bearskin rug on the floor of their cabin.