The Edge

by Leslie Lee

Commander. He could see Tenor watching him through the thick glass separating Squad Ops with the Bridge.

  She spoke to him as if Mak was in a pod. "Blue Box Leader, we see anomalies in the two squads. We're not seeing anything else in the other squads. Blue Box Leader, what do you make of it?"

  "Squad Ops, damned if I know. Anybody asking them what the hell they're doing?"

  "We're monitoring S'reh'du traffic." There was a pause. "S'reh'du is trying to raise those squads but they are not responding."

  He watched as the S'reh'du launched two more squads.

  "Captain," said Chou, looking at the screen.

  Mak looked up as well to stare at the main viewer which was displaying the troops on board the Kyrzal ship. There was no movement. The men who had just a few minutes ago been searching the ship were now just standing there. The screen jumped from different helmet cameras as if hunting for some thing.

  "They've lost contact with the acquisition force," murmured Chou. "No one's responding."

  The screen suddenly switched to a battle bot's camera. It was still responding. A second battle bot clumped into view. Somebody on the S'reh'du had taken control of the bots. The Soldiers didn't seem to notice or care about the bots moving amongst them. The second bot swung its turret and connected gently with one of the men. He rocked slightly but took no notice. The turret swung more briskly and the man fell to his knees. But that was it. He stayed there.

  Mak switched his attention to the two squads approaching one of the pods which had stopped responding. This pod was dancing but less violently than the others. A pod approached the quivering craft and used its camera to peer at the seemingly paralyzed pilot. He sat there unperturbed at the sight of another pod in such close proximity.

  "Sir," said Chou. "Kyrzal activity."

  "Figures," Suth muttered. Things were going to hell in a major way. "What's their trajectory?"

  "Intercepting the planet in twenty minutes at current speed. Looks like a Colossus Group."

  Suth swore vigorously. All Colossus Groups were supposed to be tracked. How had one shown up here? If one had disappeared from its normal station, they should've been notified. There was supposed to be only three and those were supposed to be positioned around the Kyrzal home world. The Kyrzal hadn't managed to produce more. Although a Colossus wasn't a match for a DN, let alone three, it could still be trouble. Its retinue included twelve smaller ships.

  "What's the S'reh'du doing?" Suth said to Chou. "They should be evacuating that ship."

  "Cobra Command is on comm 1," Chou said. "Intercept coordinates are being sent. They're taking high, we take low."

  Suth nodded. The X and the Warszawa would pincer the Colossus Group and destroy them. This was more like it.

  "What's happening with the S'reh'du?" he asked.

  "They've lost contact with two more squads," Chou said.

  Mak could see it was more than just loss of communication. The S'reh'du squads were now jittering with an intensity he hadn't seen since his flight school days. They were losing control.

  Brahms swore and went to another station. Mak saw him talking urgently to the Science department.

  "They've no contact with the acquisition force," Chou reported. "S'reh'du's considering their options."

  Mak figured they meant they didn't want to send more troops after what happened with the boarding party.

  Suth acknowledged it with a grunt. "Keep me apprised of any changes. Let's take care of business."

  Mak watched the X's Dime coordinating with the Warszawa. The two Dimes easily outnumbered the Kyrzal. The Colossus was going to be swiftly overwhelmed. Chou had assigned a nearby station to keep track of the S'reh'du and Mak moved to watch as well as keep an eye on the upcoming battle. He wondered if it was okay to leave and check out his pod. He ached to get out and do something.

  "The Kyrzal are firing," Chou said sharply.

  Suth leaned forward. "Who are they firing on?"

  Chou muttered into this comm mining his stations for information. Mak thought he saw one of the controllers at a station at the other end of the room throwing up his hands. And from the bobbing of the heads, things weren't going well.

  "As far as we can tell, sir," Chou said grimly. "Absolutely nothing. They're also slowing down."

  "Son of a bitch! Correct our vector. Is the Warszawa compensating?"

  "Affirmative. They're warning the Kyrzal ships off the area."

  "What's in the area?"

  "We're detecting no ships there," Chou said.

  "But they're definitely shooting at something," Brahms called out.

  "How do you know that?" asked the First Officer.

  "Because they're hitting it."

  Brahms quickly showed the area. Dots showed up. The Kyrzal ships. Lines were drawn. They intersected in roughly the same spot. The lines didn't continue. They represented firing patterns.

  "What's there?" Suth barked.

  "Still nothing detected," Brahms said. "I'm confirming this with the other Science units."

  "Notify Tar," Suth said.

  "Done," Chou answered.

  New commands. The two arms of the Battle Group slowed.

  "Sir," said Chou. "The S'reh'du's saying the boarded Kyrzal ship is powering up."

  Everybody within hearing distance snapped around. Mak gave himself a slight pat on the back for hardly flinching.

  "What?" Suth said. "Confirm that."

  "Already confirmed. And the four squads they've lost contact with? The four S'reh'du Squads have burned up in the atmosphere."

  Mak grimaced. Pod's could enter atmosphere and operate, but it was tricky. Certainly, there was no reason to do it here. They must have lost control and simply died. Thirty-two pilots, gone.

  "The troop ship has undocked and has stopped responding. The troop ship and the Kyrzal ship are breaking orbit."

  "Keep me apprised," Suth answered grimly.

  "Warszawa is continuing to warn off the Kyrzal. They are not responding."

  Mak watched the S'reh'du Group send the Hammer and Raptor towards the two remaining ships in orbit. He knew what he'd do.

  He was not surprised when a Hammer and a Raptor launched missiles at the two abandoned ships. Two more Hammers and four Raptors were closing on the boarded Kyrzal ship and the troop transport. That strategy was definitely unclear to him. Then the Hammers and Raptors fired missiles at the oncoming ships. He was shocked.

  "The Colossus is coming into range of whatever's at that spot," Chou murmured. "It's powering up it's FBG."

  The FBG was the one thing making the Colossus a real force to be reckoned with. And one of the new technologies the Kyrzal had recently produced. It was a big energy type weapon much more suited to protecting rather than attacking. The Colossus was lighting up like a beacon as it powered the weapon.

  "Now this is going to be interesting," Brahms said, scanning his monitors quickly.

  Suth had ordered the X to a come to a halt. The Warszawa was moving away from whatever the empty space contained. Most of the smaller Kyrzal ships broke off their attack and started fleeing. The rest for some unknown reason were suspended.

  Mak glanced back at the S'reh'du display. The missiles closed on the two abandoned Kyrzal ships, four per target, then nothing. Not even an explosion. There was no hesitation from the S'reh'du and her escort. They let loose with enough fire power to cook a small planet. The display blanked out as it tried to cope with the energy display.

  He glanced back in time to watch the FBG fire.

  "That is one big gun," Brahms murmured.

  The display showed the beam instantaneously appearing from the Colossus and streaking to the empty spot in space. The beam should have just kept going to dissipate harmlessly. But it didn't.

  "Son of a bitch!" snarled Suth. "There's something there."

  He leaped from his seat. "Chou, Reform the X group. Move to?" he glanced at the board. "Point 49. Inform the Warszawa."

  Chou spoke urgently into his c
omm. Suth and Mak looked at the S'reh'du display. The Kyrzal ship and the troop transport were accelerating. All that firepower had done nothing.

  The S'reh'du was retreating.

  "Warszawa is rendezvousing at Point 49," Chou said. "S'reh'du is going to rendezvous there as well."

  "I don't think so," Mak said.

  Chou looked at a controller while talking. Mak could see him shrugging in confusion.

  "S'reh'du Group is decelerating," Chou said. "They're changing course."

  Suth was speaking in his own comm. "We stick to the plan. Keep an eye on the S'reh'du."

  "Something's happening in the empty sector," Brahms said sharply. "The Colossus has ceased firing. Looks like they're withdrawing. I can almost detect something there."

  "The Colossus group is slowing," Chou corrected. "They're not withdrawing. S'reh'du group is changing course to intersect with them."

  "Tar is ordering us to intercept S'reh'du," Suth said grimly.

  "What kind of a solution?" Chou asked shaking his head. "Are we going to take them on?"

  "He's not saying. Where's the Kyrzal ships, the abandoned ones?"

  "They're following right behind the S'reh'du, captain."

  "Alright. We're going to give them a wide berth. We'll take a parallel course on their port side. The Warszawa's taking their starboard side. They're sending a transport to dock with the S'reh'du."

  Suth gritted his teeth, his face turning white. This wouldn't have been his tactics. "What's the Colossus doing?"

  "They're starting to move towards the S'reh'du." Chou turned away for a second. "Sir, Security has a situation."

  "What do they want?" Suth barked out.

  "Gold Ghost has disappeared."

  This time Suth really swore.

  "I'm sorry, Captain Suth," Brenn said,