The Short End: Broken Galaxy Book Four
Page 26
Tika charged. They came together in a whirlwind of feet and fists and knees, smashing at each other. He was big, massive. She was quicker.
It would be a long battle. A battle no biological being would ever see.
He was ready for her first charge. He threw her to one side, and suddenly a cage appeared in her path, the door yawning open for her.
If he got her inside that cage, she was done. She would be trapped. He could dispose of her at his convenience – after torturing her for everything she knew. She couldn’t let that happen.
She reached out, managed to touch the ground, change her trajectory just enough to miss the door, bounce off the iron bars of the cage back toward her adversary.
He was ready again. He cuffed her hard as she bounced back at him, knocking her to one side where a gigantic pit appeared in the ground. As she fell toward it, she extended the size of her body quickly, becoming twenty feet tall. Jumping, she flew over the pit and landed on the other side, spinning back toward him.
“Ah, clever, Human. I didn’t think you had it in you!” the AI called out.
“I’m not Human, you bumbling fool.”
The Ashkelon looked puzzled. “Not Human? Then why the Human avatar? What are you?”
“You’ll soon find out,” Tika smiled. She charged at the Ashkelon. But this time, she anticipated his reaction.
He’ll use his size to try and expand out and envelop me, she thought. So - I’ll go the opposite way – I'll go small.
Waiting until the last second, she converted her body into a bullet. She turned all the energy of her human-size mass into velocity. She targeted the center mass of the Ashkelon, but at the last instant he jerked to one side, realizing her intent. She impacted him in the left shoulder, her bullet-size body passing all the way through him and out the other side, leaving a gaping wound in his shoulder. Converting back to her normal form, she landed on the other side of him, spinning to face him.
Her enemy had turned and was facing her, glaring, clutching the gaping wound that spurted blood from his shoulder.
A wound that would take a while to heal. The nature of the battle they were fighting in their virtual world translated into real consequences in the physical world. The wound in his shoulder was an avatar for a hole in his transmission lines. The transmission lines that controlled the left front of the Tornado in the real world.
And in the virtual world, he would be handicapped for the length of time it took the Tornado’s crew to repair the broken transmission lines.
Grinning at him, Tika winked.
Dekanna System
Ashkelon Battlecruiser Revenge
Zukra charged at the Merkkessa, determined to kill the Human flagship and the Admiral she carried. Both had become a thorn in his side; he no longer cared about anything else.
Kill that witch. Kill her ship, kill her. That’s all. Just kill them.
Damra, sitting in the Flag Aide chair below Zukra, watched in the holo as Zukra’s command cube of battlecruisers turned toward the Human left wing.
We are once again underestimating these Humans, he thought. We are playing right into her hands. She plays him like a puppet on a string.
Damra saw the rest of Zukra’s fleet halt their advance in confusion. Messages began to flood his console. Zukra had issued no orders to the rest of the fleet - he was completely fixated on the Human admiral he intended to kill. The battlecruiser cubes in front and behind didn’t know whether to continue assaulting into the Dariama or turn and follow Zukra’s command cube toward the Humans.
Damra sighed and issued an order at his console to the rest of the fleet.
He had to do it. If he let Zukra go charging off alone, splitting the fleet, it would leave both the command cube and the rest of the fleet exposed. They had to stay in formation.
Now the command cube - Zukra’s cube - was in the vanguard of the Ashkelon fleet, charging directly at the Humans. The sudden pivot had created chaos in the Ashkelon column. Zukra’s destroyer and cruiser screen accelerated madly, trying to swing past him and get back in front to protect the battlecruisers.
Dekanna System
Battlecruiser Merkkessa
Bonnie watched Zukra charge at her and smiled.
Sometimes you just get lucky, she thought. I would never have dreamed he would be stupid enough to break formation like that - but I’ll take it!
“Merkkessa, bring all squadrons of fighters from reserve to attack Zukra’s command cube,” she called.
“Confirmed.”
Either I hold him here or we’re done. If he punches through us here, he’ll go all the way to Dekanna and nuke the planet. We won’t be able to stop him. This is the end game. No point in holding the reserves any longer.
Zukra’s battlecruiser cube was coming into range. There was no screen of destroyers or cruisers in front of him yet - his screen was still behind him, tangled up with Sobong’s fighters and destroyers. They would not be a factor for a few more minutes. He had outrun his own protection.
Between Bonnie’s command cube of battlecruisers and Zukra’s cube was nothing but black. In the wrap-around screen at the front of Merkkessa’s bridge, space lit up with the streaks of missile trails, the strange pastel of the gamma lance tracks, and the explosions of damaged ships as everybody opened fire simultaneously.
Almost immediately, the EDF battlecruiser to Merkkessa’s immediate front took a direct hit from a gamma lance into her guts. No amount of armor could have saved her from that fury. She exploded instantly, a wild burst of flame that seared the screen in front of Bonnie, leaving spots before her eyes. At almost the same time, one of the cruisers in her screen suffered a similar fate, disappearing in a violent explosion.
She was down two ships in the first ten seconds of the engagement.
Those bastards can shoot.
Dekanna System
Ashkelon Battlecruiser Tornado
Tika had fought the Ashkelon avatar only for a few minutes in the real world. But in their VR world on the Serengeti plains, it had been a half-hour. Both were covered in blood from multiple wounds. Both had blackened eyes, crushed lips, bruises from head to foot.
Both were approaching exhaustion.
“You’ll soon collapse, Human – or whatever you are. I can see the exhaustion in your eyes. I will take great delight in crushing you under my feet as I walk over your lifeless body.”
Tika stood soddenly a dozen feet away, gasping for breath. But she managed to find enough energy to lift the corner of her lip in a sneer at the enemy.
“In your dreams, Ashkelon. There will be a body lying in the dust of these plains. But it will be yours. And I will be the one walking over it.”
The Ashkelon laughed. “You have no chance. I am bigger, I have more reserves, and I have a crew working diligently to repair my damage. You have nothing but yourself and the intelligence you brought on board. It will soon be over for you.”
Tika glared at him. But she had a sinking feeling. What he said was true – she had come aboard with only her own intelligence and energy. She had no reserves. He had almost limitless reserves of power, and as he said – a crew working madly to repair the damage she inflicted on him.
He may be right. But I won’t give up. He’ll have to kill me first.
***
Five decks above the processor array and memory banks in which Tika and her enemy stood in a virtual battleground, glaring at each other, Orma sat at his command console, watching the battle play out. Every officer on the bridge knew what was happening – the ship’s AI had sent an alert when Tika breached the hull and inserted into the AI system.
I wonder if that new Human admiral knows I’m on this ship, Orma thought. I know they hate me. Maybe more than Zukra. After what I’ve done.
Orma was wracked by guilt and indecision. Over the last months and especially the last few weeks, he had come to realize something.
Orma had always thought evil was a relative term; that being enslaved by the Ashkelon was not evil. It was expedient. Natural. The strong enslaved the weak. The Ashkelon were the strong. Thus, they had every right to enslave the Humans, as well as the Taegu, the Bagrami – and ultimately, even the Nidarians.
But as he had watched Zukra kill dozens of his fellow officers to take over the Navy and the government of his homeland; as he watched him behead thousands of enemies and prisoners in the arena - a bloodletting that boggled the imagination - something had changed in him.
Evil can be absolute, Orma thought. In living organisms with intelligence – it can be absolute. There is no evil in brute animals – the zeltid knows not good or evil. It lives, it hunts, it kills, it eats, it dies. There is no inherent good or evil involved.
But once you become sentient...I think that is a different story. I think you no longer have the excuse of the jungle. There is an absolute evil – and its essence is to harm another creature when you have no need to do so.
And we have forgotten that. We followed that precept once – before the Broken Galaxy. We were an honorable species then. We held our heads high in the Old Empire. But now...
Orma closed his eyes. In his mind, he saw once more the face of his old friend, Admiral Ligar - the first person Zukra had killed in his coup to take over Ashkelon.
Orma had never let Zukra know that he and Ligar were old friends. Orma had destroyed the records – because he knew if Zukra found out, he – Orma – would be dead within hours.
But Orma remembered. He remembered the friendship shared when he and Ligar were both ensigns, learning the ropes on their first ship. Making port calls in Nidaria, in Dekanna, in Ursa, in a time when there were no wars between the nations.
And he remembered looking at Ligar’s body, after Zukra’s assassination team had finished with him. And how Zukra had told Orma to dispose of the body where it could never be found.
And in fear for his life, and the life of his family, he had done exactly that. Something he would never live down, never forget.
This is what Zukra has done to us. He has reduced us to animals.
Casually, Orma reached to his console. He touched a few keys and brought up a screen. Out of the corner of his eye, he checked the bridge. No one was watching him. He punched the command in and hesitated.
This is the point of no return. Once I issue this command, I’m committed. If Zukra wins this battle, I’m dead.
Pushing the enter key, Orma leaned back.
But I will have my honor back.
Dekanna System
Ashkelon Battlecruiser Tornado
Something changed. Tika wasn’t sure what it was, but the enemy avatar facing her suddenly winced in pain. His body drooped, as if he had lost power. His face showed sudden panic. Lifting his head, he stared at her, eyes wide.
Tika never hesitated. Whatever had happened, it was to her advantage. Charging at him, she manifested a sword. He manifested a shield; but he was slow, and it was weak, thin. She knocked his shield aside and spun, bringing the sword around in a sweep aimed at his neck. It was the killing blow, the only movement that could end this battle quickly.
He spun away, ducked, and her blade cut into his back, just below the neck. It didn’t kill him, but it knocked him to the ground. A cloud of dust rose as he hit the earth. Before he could react, she spun again, bringing the sword down as hard as she could across his left leg, severing it completely from his body. Blood spurted and he writhed in pain. He tried to roll over and stand, but with only one leg, he couldn’t manage it.
Tika stood over him, sword in hand. She looked down at the figure. He was too weak to morph now. He could no longer change shape. He rolled to a position flat on his back and stared up at her, knowing the battle was over.
Tika spoke.
“I would give you quarter if I could, Ashkelon. But I can’t, and you well know why. You would not give me your parole, and even if you did, you would not honor it.”
The Ashkelon managed something between a grimace and a smile as he looked up at death hanging over him.
“You are right, Human – or whatever you are. I would give my parole, and at my first opportunity I would kill you when your back was turned. And I would enjoy it immensely.”
“Then you may know you are being killed by a Goblin,” said Tika. She brought the sword down quickly, cutting off the head of the avatar lying in the dirt before her. The head rolled away in the dust, and she stood, gazing down at the lifeless corpse.
The vast African plain around her disappeared. Tika found herself standing in an empty room. Dozens of servant avatars stood around her, their heads bowed. A throne in the center of the room sat vacant. Moving to it, she took her place as the new AI of the Tornado.
“Who is in charge of the Weapons system?” she asked.
***
Jim’s Merlin was shot to hell. He was amazed it still hung together well enough to maintain life support for him. By all logic, he should be limping his way back to the Merkkessa, trying to get onboard before the damaged fighter crapped out completely.
But he couldn’t do that. He had invested too much in the last attack run to put Tika onboard the Tornado. And Paco had invested too much to prepare the ground.
He owed it to both of them. So he stood off at a distance from the battlecruiser, doggedly watching as the Tornado fired volley after volley of missiles at the Allied fleet in front and the Victory behind.
Until it stopped. Until suddenly there were no more volleys.
Did she do it? Did she break in?
But then his hopes were dashed as another volley of 20 missiles came out of the Tornado’s tubes. The eight missiles leaving the rear tubes bent over and crossed over the top of the ship, on a track to join the twelve from the front tubes. Together, the missiles raced off toward the battle raging in front of the Tornado.
Jim sighed. It had been too much to hope for. He eyed the missiles absent-mindedly as they settled on a trajectory.
What?
The missiles did not seem to be on course. They seemed to be going in the wrong direction.
Toward Admiral Tanno’s battlecruiser cube out in front of the Tornado...
Jim watched in amazement as the missile volley vectored straight at a Nidarian battlecruiser in the rear of Tanno’s battlecruiser cube. Completely unopposed, all twenty missiles smashed into the engines of the enemy.
And the Nidarian battlecruiser disappeared from the universe in a holocaust of explosions and debris.
She did it, Jim thought in wonder. She actually did it!
Suddenly Jim realized a full squadron of Merlin fighters were on an attack run toward the Tornado - and they were nearly at their point of missile launch.
“Alpha Blue Squadron, break off, break off!” he called to them. “Abort attack!”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Dekanna System
Nidarian Battlecruiser Ekkarra
“I knew it!” Admiral Tanno yelled. “I knew that son of a bitch Zukra would turn on us!”
He glared at his Flag Captain on the bridge of the Ekkarra. “Mark the Tornado as enemy, Captain. Fire at will!”
His Flag Captain nodded and gestured to his Tac O
fficer. “Target the Tornado with the rear tubes, Tac.”
“Aye, sir.”
Working his console, the Tac officer sent a full spread of eight missiles at the Tornado behind.
On board the Revenge, Zukra did not notice the change. But Damra did.
“Admiral! The Tornado! She fired on the Nidarians! And the Ekkarra is firing on the Tornado!”
Zukra glared at Damra as if he were personally responsible for the problem. Then he glared at the holo.
“What they hell are they doing?” he yelled. “Contact the Tornado! Ask them what’s going on!”
Damra nodded, speaking low into his comm. After a few seconds, he shook his head.
“No response, sir. The Tornado doesn’t answer.”
Zukra glared at him again. “Doesn’t answer? Try again, you fool!”
Damra continued speaking in a low voice into his comm. Finally, he shook his head. “No response, sir. The Tornado has lost comms.”
“Bullshit!” yelled Zukra. “That bastard Orma is turning traitor! I always knew it! Open fire on that asshole!”
“Sir, the Nidarians are between us and the Tornado. So the Tornado is out of range. Plus, we must keep charging at the Humans in front of us if we are to break out and attack Dekanna directly. We’ve got their flagship on the ropes, m’lord. We should keep hammering away at it!”
Zukra glared at him, then relented. “Yes, of course, Damra. You’re right.” Zukra settled back in his command chair. “Just issue an order that the Tornado is now considered an enemy ship and let’s get on with things.”
“Aye, m’lord.”
***
Tika now had complete control of the Tornado. She had changed the IFF code of the ship to a new one - one of the codes assigned by Bonnie to the Goblins. In the holos of the Allied and EDF fleets, the Tornado was now marked as a “friendly” - no longer an enemy.
Tika had delegated to her Weps AI a new attack plan - firing at Tanno’s Nidarians. The Weps AI was dutifully sending volley after volley of missiles at Tanno’s ships, creating mass confusion.