“You’re welcome,” Walker said, “but it wasn’t without sacrifice. If you will follow us, we need to get back to the CIC.”
* * *
Deck Sixteen, Keesius Cruiser “EG2,” Hyperspace
“That won’t work,” Dr. Sato said after inspecting the explosive charges Commander Earl’s men had labored to set on the CIC door.
“I’m an explosives’ expert,” Earl replied. “It’ll work.” After a moment, he muttered, “It has to.”
“Just because you want something to work,” Sato replied primly, “doesn’t necessarily mean it will.” He paused, then added, “No matter how much you might want it to.” He pointed to several places around the door. “Those cuts aren’t deep enough. You would need at least 12 times the amount of explosives you have to blow the door open.”
“That’s all the explosives we have, not including the mini-nuke we need to use to blow up the interior once we get inside.”
“Well then, you’re going to need to cut more before you detonate the explosives,” Sato said, “or I assure you, it will not work.”
“I’d take his word on it,” Walker said. “He usually knows what he’s talking about.”
Earl looked at the cuts in question. “Yeah,” he finally said, with a sigh that was audible over the comm system. “We need to make the cuts deeper.” Another sigh. “We’ll have to move the explosives, too. I’m not cutting next to that much ‘boom.’”
“Well, you better get going,” Walker said. “We’re down to six hours from emergence.”
“I’m not sure we can get it done and the explosives remounted in that time,” Earl said.
“You certainly won’t if you keep standing around jawing about it. Get going!”
* * *
Deck Sixteen, Keesius Cruiser,
The laser winked out, dead. “Well, that’s the last of our lasers,” Earl said.
“Are we done?” Walker asked.
“It is close,” Sato replied, “but I cannot confirm whether it will be good enough or not.”
“Well, we don’t have any more lasers to cut with,” Earl said, “and we’re out of time even if we did.” He waved his troops forward, and they began restringing the explosives. “We’ve got five minutes to blow this, destroy the CIC, and get out of here.”
“Hey, sir?” Corporal Calderon commed. “I’ve got a lot of the maintenance bots gathering at the ramp down to Seventeen.”
“What are they doing?”
“Nothing. They’re just sitting there. It’s creepy.”
“Well, keep an eye on them, and let me know if anything changes.” Walker looked back to the CIC door. The Bees were backing away from it, checking the placement of the individual charges.
“Everyone get the hell out of here,” Frank said. “I’d back off at least two passageways.”
The CASPers and spacesuited SalSha retreated from the CIC door. There was a flash, and then a cloud of shrapnel could be seen, some of which reached them where they were. Although it wasn’t an issue for the armored CASPers, the SalSha in their spacesuits were less protected and dodged behind a couple of the CASPers as some of the metal pieces went past them.
As the shrapnel storm passed, everyone rushed forward to find the door ajar.
Before anyone could approach it, though, everyone felt the unmistakable transition back into normal space
“Quickly!” Walker exclaimed. “Get it open!”
As the Bees rushed to the door, Walker felt his stomach settle as gravity started increasing—the ship was accelerating. “Everyone at the ramp, pull back to the CIC! Now! We’re leaving!”
With three CASPers bracing themselves and pulling, they were able to yank the door to the CIC open, and a small cheer went through the troops in attendance. Earl was the first to enter the CIC, followed by the Bee holding the mini-nuke.
“Dr. Sato, where is the best place for this?” Earl asked.
“There is a door off the CIC which has the steering controls and primary AI banks. That is the best place.” He looked around the CIC. “It is, however, a shame to destroy this without at least studying it a little.”
“Get the nuke placed,” Walker said, “and let’s get the hell out of here!” The acceleration-induced gravity was already up to a full G. He grabbed Sato’s CASPer and turned it toward the exit. “There’s another one of these things back in New Warsaw you can study.”
“Perhaps just a glance at the mainframe systems,” Sato said, breaking away from him and boosting toward the door Earl had just entered.
“Sir!” Corporal Calderon reported. “The bots are following us!”
“Are they shooting at you?” Walker asked.
“No, sir. They aren’t attacking, just following. They are staying just beyond where we can easily target them.”
“They are hoping to restore anything we do once we leave,” Sato said.
“Do you think they’d be able to turn off the nuke?” Walker asked.
“It is possible.”
“Someone’s going to have to stay and babysit it,” Frank said. “We can’t afford to let them turn it off.” He paused. “I can also remote detonate it if it looks like they’re going to get in to stop it,” he added.
“No,” Walker said. “I’m senior here. This is my task to complete, not yours.”
“Look.” Earl said. “We don’t have time to argue. I know the bomb, you don’t, and the acceleration is continuing to build. If you don’t get your assess off the ship, and right now, you’re not going to be able to do so—you’ll be pinned to a wall and along for the ride.”
“But—”
“Just go!” Earl yelled.
“Everyone back to the ship!” Walker ordered. “Now!” He started to leave, then turned back to Earl. “Thanks.” He started to leave, but saw a suit still standing at one of the consoles. From the shape, it was obvious who it was. “Let’s go, Dr. Sato!”
“I may be able to stop it, now that we have access here in the CIC,” he said.
“There’s no time!”
“But I—”
Walker slapped a puck-shaped object on the back of Sato’s suit, activated it, and stepped back. The suit died as the focused EMP hit. “Calderon, give me a hand.” The trooper came and grabbed Dr. Sato’s feet while Walker grabbed the upper half. It was awkward trying to jet down the passageway, but less awkward than dragging Sato kicking and screaming all the way forward to the access hatch they had to go through.
By the time they were back to the Avenger, the acceleration was up to 3G and still increasing, and getting the suits re-mounted to the bomber proved much more of a chore than it had previously. As Walker mounted Sato’s suit to the craft, he felt a rapid tapping, and he leaned forward to put the section of his suit in front of his face in contact with Sato’s suit.
“What?” he yelled, hoping Sato would hear him.
“The ship is going to blow up,” Sato yelled back. “If the bomb is triggered, and it doesn’t completely destroy the ship, the AI will self-detonate the ship and everything within a light-minute will be destroyed. We must hurry!”
* * *
Deck Sixteen, Keesius Cruiser, El Dorado System
“Vaya con dios,” Earl said as the rest of the group left, carrying the unruly scientist. He didn’t know how long he could hold out, but he would give them as much time as he could before pushing the button on the bomb that would bypass the countdown and trigger it. He sat down beside the weapon with the button in easy reach.
Motion on one of his cameras caught his eye, and his arm came up, but he didn’t fire the MAC. “What are you still doing here?” he asked, recognizing the spacesuited figure. “Get the hell out of here!”
“No one should go to meet the Light alone,” Klarb said, coming to stand next to him. “Thorb doesn’t need me to fly the bomber, and you might.”
“I’ve got this,” Earl said. “Really. Go.”
The SalSha sat down next to him.
“Hey, Frank,” Walker comme
d. “Sato just said the ship has a self-destruct mode the bomb is likely to trigger. I need you to give us as much time as you can to get away; he says the area of effect is about a light minute. I don’t know if that’s true, but when all that antimatter detonates, it’s going to be huge.”
“I’ll give you as long as I can,” Earl replied. The G began piling on, faster now. “Can’t say…” He grunted. “How long I…can stay awake. Accelerating…hard…now.”
“We’re off and headed outbound. Give us what you can.”
Earl reached over and grabbed onto the frame of the bomb, with his finger next to the initiation button. All he had to do was extend the suit’s finger, an act he could do with a thought, and the bomb would blow up.
* * *
Deck Sixteen, Keesius Cruiser, El Dorado System
As the acceleration built, Klarb slid across the deck and up against the CASPer. A social species, it was part of SalSha society norms that no one was left to die alone. When someone was sick, a death watch would be set on them. A race that lived most of their lives underwater, Klarb’s people believed they went into the light at death, based on what people who’d had near-death experiences said.
And no one went into the light alone. If this Human was going to stay behind so the rest of the group could escape, how could the SalSha do anything other than keep him company on his mission?
He started to try to explain it to the Human, but quickly realized it was too much effort to talk, especially for the Human, and he decided to spend his time focusing on how long he could stay awake as he continued to be pressed down against the suit. It rapidly went from being a fun game to being something that hurt. A lot. It was easier in a cockpit full of water.
With a sudden surge, the ship’s acceleration spiked up past 10 Gs.
“That…hurts,” he said, but the Human didn’t reply. “Are you…okay?”
The Human still didn’t reply, and Klarb realized the man had been knocked unconscious by the G spike. From the position of his arm, and the conversation Klarb had heard, it appeared he’d been waiting to push a button on the bomb; with the Human unconscious, Klarb would have to do it.
His body hurt, pressed against the unforgiving metal of the suit, but he was able to slide across the arm to the bomb, using it as a bridge as he struggled to pull himself across. Despite the increased G tolerance of his species, he could see the peripheries of his vision starting to narrow as he reached the end of what he could withstand. With a last, desperate thrust, he pushed the button as the darkness reached for him.
For a fraction of a second, he saw the light. He didn’t have to go to it, though; the light came for him.
* * * * *
Chapter Twenty-Three
EMS Pegasus, Golara Command Center, Golara System
Alexis smiled. It was hard to believe only one day had passed since they’d left for Earth. Flitting back and forth across the galaxy using 2nd Level Hyperspace would take some time to get used to. Of course that wouldn’t be anytime soon, as she had decided to stop using the region, at least for now. The increasingly concentrated attacks made it an easy decision. It wasn’t reasonable to assume they’d seen the best the enemy had to offer, in either weapons or ships. They’d been probing to determine the Humans’ capabilities…and at some point, they would attack in force.
She needed Sato to work on what they’d discovered there, and she didn’t know if he was alive or dead. The mission to stop the Keesius doomsday machine was probably playing out that very minute, untold thousands of light years away. It was unfortunate, but they couldn’t let the rest of the operation be delayed by how that might play out. Not after tweaking Peepo’s nose, anyway.
“Readiness report, Captain,” Paka said, floating into the wardroom.
Alexis took the slate and scanned through the information. It was largely good news. All the heavily-damaged ships were under repair and expected to be fully operational within two weeks, with one exception. The escort frigate Hrunting, after review by the engineering team, was deemed too damaged to be easily repaired. Its spine had been split by a particle beam.
“That name isn’t very lucky,” she mused.
“Third ship of that name we’ve lost?” Paka asked.
“Yep,” Alexis confirmed. “Last time was in the operation where my sister died.” She sighed and shrugged. “We’ll commission another one.” She never agreed with naming ships with numbers; it was celebrating their loss, in her opinion. The report said even Stonewall Jackson, which looked like it had gone through a blast furnace, would be repaired on the same schedule. Alexis had entered a reprimand on Lieutenant Commander Ewald’s record for disregarding orders and endangering his ship, right next to a commendation for gallantry for risking it all and saving Sleipnir. Commander Yoshuka had also added a letter recommending Ewald be promoted to full commander upon completion of the campaign.
The two battleships were fully operational, and the new Bakulu members of the Winged Hussars were quite happy with them. Bakulu and Maki often used each other’s ships. While one was a mollusk and the other more like a lemur, they were similar in size and arboreal characteristics aboard ship. Alexis had named the two ships Lubiszew and Byczyna after the first two battles fought by the original Winged Hussars in the 16th century. A couple hundred existing Hussars were transferred onto the massive ships as well, largely technical staff and marines. Last, she assigned first officers to both ships from her own command. Byczyna got Chug, her helmsman, and Lubiszew received Glick, her former SitCon. Both would serve as the battleship’s SitCon, in addition to conducting their first officer’s duties, to help the Bakulu crews integrate into the Hussars’ command structure and combat doctrine.
The other advantage of all the new Bakulu was that Peepo had hired extra crew. Each battleship took a crew of 4,500, and Alexis had filled three hundred of those with existing Winged Hussars crew members, so only 8,400 of the 11,500 Bakulu were needed. The extra 3,100 were needed, since she’d also suddenly found herself the proud owner of 20 former Maki ships. She’d taken 17 of them in the battle of Golara, and the other three had come in since the battle and been claimed as war prizes. Two cruisers, four light cruisers, seven frigates, four escort frigates, and three corvettes. She’d lost seven ships, and gained 22, counting the battleships.
The remaining unassigned Bakulu would have been too few to crew the 20 ships, especially since six of them were cruisers; however, the Maki made up the difference. During a debriefing led by her ranking marine officer, a Maki named Major Aske, it was discovered that the Maki had developed quite an amount of folklore about the Hussars, especially after Alexis had single-handedly wasted Captain Yackyl and the Maki battleship Ardent Grove at the Battle of Sulaadar almost a year ago. Their opinion of her varied from horror to awe.
Alexis sent Commander Yoshuka to help Major Aske, and together they went through the prisoners, sorted them, vetted them, and offered jobs to those who proved amenable. Many were under penalty contracts, meaning they would have to pay a fine if they left their current company. Alexis offered to pay their fines—all of them. When it was over, she also added 3,102 Maki to the rolls of the Winged Hussars, in addition to the Bakulu.
“You’re going to be in trouble with Peepo again,” Paka said after the final tally was made.
“What do you mean?” Alexis asked.
“We’re now more than 50% non-Human,” the Veetanho said with a grin. Alexis laughed. “We’re actually about 59% non-Human.”
“Understood—we’re just going to live with it for now. Pass the fleet distribution plan off to Commander Yoshuka,” Alexis ordered. “Inform stores to continue their inventory of the shipyard and warehouses, and tell them to begin loading the transports per the order of priority I’ve assigned.”
Paka looked at the orders for a second, then noticed something. “I see you aren’t leaving any of the ships commanded by the Maki or Bakulu to stand guard here.”
“That’s correct,” Alexis said.
>
Paka nodded. “When I saw how you assigned personnel, I figured you’d do that. Afraid Peepo might pull one over on us?”
“I’m pretty confident this whole operation was a gut punch to her; however, we can’t know if any of these new personnel were in on her plan. We don’t have enough Bakulu or Maki members who were home recently enough to understand the current politics. Aske said his people’s apparent veneration of the Hussars was a complete surprise to him.”
“Very well, Colonel,” Paka said and turned to sail out.
“Paka, have you heard from Colonel Shirazi?”
“No, why?”
“I wanted to know if he, Cartwright, and Enkh have worked out their target choices on the colony worlds.”
“I haven’t heard, Colonel.”
“Understood. Go ahead with what you have,” Alexis said and nodded at the slate. Paka departed. She used her pinplants to contact Nigel. His XO answered.
“Colonel Cromwell, I’m sorry, Colonel Shirazi forwarded you to me. Is there something I can help you with?”
“No, thanks. I’ll get hold of him later.” She cut the connection and was about to shift her attention to other things when she reconsidered. Using her pinplants, she checked to see where Nigel had set up shop. He was located on the shipyard office’s gravity deck, the same as most of the merc commanders and officers. Ground pounders, she thought with a grin. She set her auto answer to indicate she was temporarily unavailable, although anything major would still get through to her. She wanted to talk with Nigel.
The deck officer in the hangar bay’s Flight Control looked up in surprise when she floated in, and then he came to attention.
“Colonel Cromwell!” he said. “Nobody told me you were coming.”
“It’s not official, Ensign,” she had to look at his uniform to remember his name. Darrell Fenn.
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