by Jan Domagala
“Let’s move,” De Boer said and they all left the colony through the hatch onto the main body of the Pulsar. The moment they were aboard, the AI steered her away from the colony and back towards the Odyssey.
“WE’RE NOT GOING TO make it are we?” Kurt said as he and Riley stood on the bridge watching through the forward viewport at the space before them. In the distance, they could just make out the missiles heading towards the planet. The gap between them was closing as the intercept course they were on brought them closer to their targets. In Kurt’s mind though, the gap was not closing quickly enough and he thought they would fail. If that were the case then the planet below would be destroyed as the atmosphere would ignite and kill all life below with the possible exceptions of any marine life deep in the oceans.
Over fifty years ago, the two warring bodies issued a story that the planet had been destroyed, made uninhabitable due to the war between them, which was not the case, now though they seemed determined to make that fiction a reality.
“Artie, we need to close the gap faster if we want any chance at all of stopping those missiles,” Riley said both as a reply to Kurt and as an instruction to the AI piloting the craft.
“I am attempting to bring us in at an angle that will give us the best firing solution, sir,” replied Artie.
“We haven’t much time, Artie, whatever you’re planning on doing I suggest you do it now,” Riley urged.
“Almost there, sir,” replied the AI calmly.
“HOW LONG TO MISSILE detonation?” asked Sinclair.
“Less than two minutes, sir,” replied ops.
“It looks like they won’t make it, sir,” Captain Biggs said.
“Give them time, Captain, I trust my men and you should too, they are the best at what they do.”
“ARTIE WE HAVE LESS than a minute before the missiles enter the upper atmosphere. If you destroy them once they’ve entered the effect will be the same,” Riley said with a trace of panic in his voice.
“Almost there, sir,” Artie replied.
“SIR, THE MISSILES WILL enter the atmosphere in less than thirty seconds, then it’ll be too late,” said ops, who had been tracking them with an eye on the clock as well.
“It’s not over yet people, there’s still time,” Sinclair said resolutely.
KURT KEPT ONE EYE ON the missiles’ progress and the other on the chronometer below the forward viewport, which was set on a countdown timer.
It read 00.24, the amount of time they had until it was too late to help.
00.23
00.22
00.21
00.20
“Artie, time is running out,” Riley told the AI.
00.18
00.17
00.16
“Firing forward cannons,” the AI said.
The forward mounted pulse cannons fired a continuous stream of high intensity pulsed plasma bolts at the missiles.
Kurt and Riley, along with the bridge crew of the Odyssey, those aboard the Pulsar and the approaching super destroyer, watched the plasma bolts streak towards the missiles, which were flying in a formation.
Everyone held their breath as the bolts closed the gap, hoping that the potential disaster could be averted.
The first missile was struck by the stream of plasma bolts and detonated and, because of how the missiles were linked, it caused a cascade effect whereby each individual missile followed suit, detonating one after another.
The explosions sent out a shockwave that buffeted all the craft in the vicinity. However, because they were Thermobaric missiles the detonation was not as powerful as if they had gone off in the atmosphere where the oxygen present would have acted as fuel.
The AI steered the nose section of the Pulsar away from the shockwave, turning the craft as soon as the pulse cannons had finishing firing. Artie knew exactly what he was doing and exactly what the outcome would be and he took the necessary actions to save his crew and himself from any further danger.
“Wow Artie, that was awesome, did you know that would happen?” Riley said.
“It stood to reason, sir, that the missiles would be linked, after all they were fired through a fail-safe device linked to the commander’s bio readings. I assumed because of this, sir, that if I detonated one of them the rest would follow due to their being linked,” replied the AI.
“Nice work Artie,” Kurt said with a broad smile.
“See what I meant now about him being one of the crew, part of the team?” Riley said.
“I must admit, I’m warming to him,” Kurt said.
“Artie take us back to the Odyssey, we have friends waiting,” Riley said.
“Yes, this isn’t over just yet, we still have that Alliance super destroyer to contend with,” Kurt said, his smile rapidly disappearing.
A CHEER HAD GONE AROUND the bridge the moment the missiles all detonated at the last second as relief flooded the ship.
Sinclair had simply watched and allowed a smile to play along his thin lips for a moment or two as he silently congratulated his team for their good work.
“Prepare for the return of the men, Captain. As soon as they are here safely make preparations to return to Earth, we still have much to do,” he said, his voice cutting through everyone’s euphoria.
“Damage control General?” asked Captain Biggs.
“Very much so, I’m afraid. We have to issue a counter statement to the one the Alliance issued; one that tells a more truthful account of what actually happened out here.”
“Good luck with that, sir,” Biggs commented not sounding too hopeful.
“Quite, I’m sure our actions here in averting the destruction of the planet will go somewhere in addressing the balance,” Sinclair said, hinting that he already had a strategy in mind.
Before anything else could be added a call came through to Sinclair, which he routed through to the com. channels in the bridge so they could all hear. He knew who it was calling and wanted them all to hear for future reference.
“Congratulations General, on your men’s outstanding work today. I commend them for averting a possible tragedy and in doing so giving us the opportunity to gain control of the planet,” General Tillic said.
“I’m sure they will be pleased when I pass on your message Lokar,” Sinclair said, not rising to the bait.
“In the spirit of goodwill, because I am so grateful to you and your men, I will allow you all to leave the area unharmed. You can return to Earth and ponder on what you did here today, and the consequences of your actions. You can feel safe in the knowledge that the planet is safe in our hands and we will put to good use any and all knowledge gleaned from it,” Tillic goaded.
Again, Sinclair refused to take the bait, instead he replied, “I thank you for your kindness and I pray for your safety.”
This left Tillic slightly bemused, why would he pray for his enemies’ safety, it did not make any sense to him. While he thought about what Sinclair could have meant he watched as the Confederation ships gathered in preparation for leaving. No closer to an answer, he watched as the enemy ships all entered hyperspace windows leaving the area heading back to Confederation space.
They were alone, the colony had been destroyed, but that was no great hardship another would be in place soon enough. This time though it would be an Alliance outpost, there would be no need for subterfuge any longer. Any discoveries made now would be for the betterment and glory of the Elysium Alliance.
47
When the two starships returned to Confederation space they both made the final jump to the solar system where they rendezvoused at IO Jupiter’s largest moon and the home of the largest Col Sec base inside the solar system outside of Earth and the Lunar colony. Once they reached IO, General Sinclair, Admiral Garvey and his daughter, Natasha, all transferred over to the Pulsar from the Odyssey. The Odyssey then went back on patrol whilst the Pulsar continued on to Earth.
General Sinclair made himself comfortable in the Pulsar’s ready roo
m while he composed the statement he would give to the media regarding the Tartaran Incident repudiating the Alliance version of events.
Natasha and her father were on the bridge with the rest of the Wildfire Team, Kurt and Matt. The mood in the room was less than euphoric as Riley and Natasha had unresolved issues over their relationship. The others were feeling a little down even though they had saved the planet, all the deaths and the loss of control of the planet weighed heavily on them.
“Go to him, talk, you two never sorted this out,” Admiral Garvey said as he and Natasha stood apart from the rest of them.
“Dad, stay out of this, please. It’s complicated,” she replied quietly so as not to alert Riley and the rest of them as to what they were talking about.
“Complicated how? If you feel about that young man the same as he obviously still feels about you then it’s as simple as the nose on your face. You go and talk to him and try and make it work.”
“How Dad, how do we make it work? Neither of us have a nine to five kind of job; we could end up working in different sectors of the galaxy for months at a time. You know as well as anyone that long distance relationships just don’t work.”
“True, I can’t deny that but I also know that what you two had was real, and if any of it remains then it’s worth fighting for. Somehow you’ll make it work and trust me you don’t want to go through your life wondering what it would’ve been like. I know what that’s like too, and you don’t want that, ever.”
Natasha looked at her father in astonishment; this was something she had never known about. Who was the woman who had got away, or did he make the same decision she made over her relationship with Jake?
“Go, talk to him,” Garvey said and he walked towards the rest of them leaving his daughter staring at his back as she stood alone.
He walked over to Riley and said, “Go to her Jake, say what you need to before it’s too late.”
Riley shook his head, “What’s the point, she made her decision,” he replied looking away.
“Don’t be so stupid man, this may be your last chance to either save whatever you two had or get closure and move on, it’s up to you.”
Grabbing his wrist Torres pulled Riley around to look at her and said, “Don’t be such a tool Jake, go to her. Don’t make me have to kick your ass, get over there.”
“What do I say to her?” he asked sheepishly.
“You’ll know when you get there. Just tell her how you feel then take it from there,” Torres replied softly.
Riley nodded his head and haltingly left the group.
Sinclair came out of the ready room and approached the group. He sensed that Riley and Natasha had things to talk over and that this was possibly the only time they had before they returned to Earth and were redeployed, so he left them to it and went to stand with the rest of the group.
“Well gentlemen and ladies, I must congratulate you on a job very well done,” he said.
“There he goes calling me a lady again,” Torres said to Vance.
“How dare he!” joked Vance with a smile.
“Sir, somehow this doesn’t feel like we did a very good job,” Kurt said to nods of agreement all round.
“Well, you should. We were thrust into a situation that we handled well considering what we had to work with and the odds that were stacked against us. I think we came out of it very well indeed. Don’t forget, too, that you saved the planet from total destruction, which has now been reported around the GalacticWeb. Everyone will know that we went to rescue the Prince and that the Alliance had stationed troops there who killed all the passengers on the Colonial Queen.”
“So you came clean with the truth, sir?” Matt said a little shocked.
“There was no need to hide it any longer and I’m betting that the fact we both lied before about the planet will be lost amid all the recent revelations about the Alliance troops posing as Outlaws and the subsequent deaths that whole scenario caused.”
“That’s a mighty big gamble, sir,” Kurt observed.
“Noted Kurt, now let’s get down to business and what we plan to do about reclaiming Tartaran.”
EPILOGUE
The starship in orbit around Toldax was brought there to help with the cleanup after the disaster, which destroyed an Alliance facility on the surface.
“Have they docked yet?” asked Captain Frohme as he paced up and down the bridge deck. He was employed by the specialist company, a subsidiary of MaxCorp that engaged in the cleanup of environmental disasters. After the discovery down on the surface, they contacted the CEO of the company to inform him of the find and to ask for instructions. They were told simply to do nothing and that a team would be along presently to take charge.
A team of specialists to take over from a team of specialists did not seem to be the standard operating procedure, considering what the find was, but nevertheless they went along with the instructions and waited.
Three hours later another starship was on an approach vector and after identifying themselves proceeded to dock with the larger starship.
“Yes, sir, they’ve docked and the crew has debarked and are on their way to the bridge,” replied Albert Linkdale, the first officer on board.
“Well, I must admit they didn’t waste any time getting here,” Frohme observed and at that moment a tall muscular man strode onto the bridge without waiting to be announced.
He walked up to the captain and looked down at him, the newcomer stood at least six feet five inches tall with a broad chest and chiselled face that could have been hewn from rock. His dark hair was cut short to an almost military length and when he spoke his voice boomed out of that broad chest.
“Are you in charge?” he asked.
“I’m the captain on this ship so I guess I am in charge,” Frohme replied.
“You guessed wrong, I am in charge now,” the newcomer said.
“And who the hell are you?” Frohme wanted to know.
“Call me Maguire, now take me to it,” he said and turned to allow Frohme to pass.
Frohme thought against arguing with the man as he stood at least four inches taller than him, had at least fifty to sixty pounds on him and was at least twenty years younger, so arguing was definitely off the agenda. He decided to go along with this and hoped they would leave as quickly as they had come so they could continue and do the job they had been contracted to do.
“This way,” Frohme said and led the way off the bridge.
The two of them walked down the corridor to the maglev car that took them down two decks and across to the Med Lab section.
From outside the Med Lab they could see through the Plexiglas wall where the find was laid out on a bio-bed covered with a thin sheet.
It was the figure of a young woman with light mocha skin tones and dark lustrous hair.
Maguire stared at her through the Plexiglas, his opaline eyes taking in every detail. Suddenly the young woman sat bolt upright in the bio-bed and took a huge gulp of air, like that of a diver coming up for air after a submersion. A scream of pure agony was rent from her lips as Zara Hardy opened her eyes.
Maguire turned to Frohme and said, “She’s coming with me.”
Fin.
About the Author
I was born in Staffordshire to a typical working class family.
At school I discovered the joys of reading. I would read almost anything I could get my hands on. My mother took me to join the local library as soon as I could read and from that day on, if it had words on it, I’d read it.
Along with sci fi I’ve always been a fan of action movies and because there were no books that I could find that combined the two, I decided to write the book I wanted to read. After several abortive attempts, around a decade or more ago, the Col Sec series was born. It’s a thrilling action adventure series set in the twenty fifth century that features the exploits of the men and women who look after the security of the Colonial Confederation.
The series began with Ronin a
nd to date is eight books strong with the latest book, War Dogs was released in December 2017.
At the moment I’m working on the next book in the series.
