Orphans of War

by Cory Travis

  Chapter Four

   

  It had been nearly two weeks when Karina walked into the small, luxuriously furnished room that Matt and Duncan had shared since their arrival to notify them of an irate man by the name of Finn demanding to speak with Duncan.

  “It’s about time,” Duncan commented although the tone of his voice suggested that he wasn’t quite as frustrated as the comment was meant to sound.

  “Not enjoying my company any longer, then?” Karina retorted with a smirk.

  Duncan just gave her a look of mock hurt in return as they left for the hanger and waved Matt to follow.

  In their time at Arrowhead Karina had taken special care to ensure Matt felt at home and was well taken care of. She had also warmed up to Duncan some as Matt often saw the side-long glances from both of them directed at each other that suggested perhaps their past was being put behind them. Matt had tried to broach the subject of the past that Duncan and Karina shared multiple times, but was always met with a defense stronger than an Alliance heavy armada.

  The walk from the room Matt and Duncan shared to the comm room was a short one. Their room was situated right across the narrow metal hallway from Karina’s and the comm room was right next to hers – she liked to keep a close eye on things in case anything happened.

  “Just get me someone in charge, you half-witted waste of oxygen,” Finn’s screaming voice poured out of the comm unit as they walked in.

  “Eugene Finnegan always did have a way with words,” Duncan laughed.

  “Uncle Finn’s real name is ‘Eugene’?” Matt was slack-jawed and almost rolling from laughter.

  “Just get him calmed down and into docking spot Echo Five,” Karina retorted impatiently.

   

  Duncan got Finn’s ship, The Curse of the Black, into his spot in the same hanger bay as the Freedom with minimal outbursts on Finn’s part. By the time the three of them emerged from the elevator leading to the landing bay the ramp of the Curse was already halfway down.

  “Get your stuff and let’s get off this blasted rock,” Finn’s red face emerged, not stepping off the ramp of the Curse as he spoke.

  “Good to see you again too,” Duncan cut in sternly.

  “Look, we don’t have time for the pleasantries right now, I’m late for a delivery and every minute we stay here costs me and my crew more coin,” Finn retorted. “You can stay or come along; either way we’re lifting off in ten.”

  “Alright already,” Duncan raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Give us a second to grab our gear.”

  “You still sure this is a good idea?” Matt asked Duncan as they turned and walked back toward the elevator.

  “My offer still stands – whoever is looking for you won’t find you here,” Karina offered to both of them, wrapping her arm across Matt’s shoulders as they walked.

  Duncan’s reply was cut-off as the proximity alarm sounded and the corresponding alert lights flashed red. Before he even had a chance to ask what was happening the whole station rocked violently, knocking everyone inside to the floor.

  Karina was back on her feet nearly as fast as she lost them and halfway up a service ladder leading to the main control room overlooking the hangar bay.

  “Get to the Curse,” Duncan ordered Matt as he turned to go after Karina.

  Duncan vaulted up the ladder; by the time he got to the top Karina looked like a dark hurricane swooping across the control room – knocking an inexperienced comm officer out of the way as she stole his headset and barked orders at one of her security officers, all while flipping switches to activate the base’s automated defenses. Karina was the center of the room; everyone gravitated towards her command and followed her orders to the letter. But even great leadership cannot save a doomed situation. Duncan knew that was exactly what they were looking at as soon as he saw the radar screen revealing the incoming flotilla of Alliance battle cruisers, corvettes, and fighters swarming the station. He knew in that instant the station was doomed. He ran after Karina.

   

  Matt watched Duncan go for an instant, then followed after him up the ladder, but turned in the opposite direction at the top and ran as quickly as he could.

   

  “Karina,” Duncan started, but was cut off before he could get two words out in the whirlwind that was Karina as she attempted to find a way to save the station.

  “Get the batteries up,” she ordered someone on the other end of her comm. “Where are those missiles?” she shouted to a frazzled young man frantically pushing buttons at the defense command station.

  Duncan looked at the tactical read out in front of the young man trying to get the station’s missiles online and saw what he feared – the first jolt to the station had been the armada destroying the station’s missile defenses outer control pod, without it, those missiles were just deadly decorations gleaming along the outside of the station.

  “Get to your escape shuttle,” he told the young man.

  “Hey,” Karina started to object, before seeing the hopelessness of their situation for herself.

  “We have to go,” Duncan stated as he dragged her toward the ladder.

  “Order the evac now!” she shouted at the last member of her command staff still coordinating movements within the station.

  Duncan practically threw Karina down the ladder before putting his feet and hands along the outside railing and sliding down himself. They ran for Duncan’s ship, The Spirit of Freedom, certain that Finn would have left them by now and gotten Matt to safety. But before they could reach it a small two-man shuttle tried to shoot the gap between two small freighters and ended up slamming into both of them, sending one ricocheting off the far wall as the little shuttle tried to fire up its landing thrusters, only to realize the collision had damaged them, causing the little shuttle to tumble on its side before diving nose first into the Spirit of Freedom, completely caving in the cockpit before rolling into the ship next to it as sparks and flames erupted all around.

  “There goes our ride,” Karina stated, already searching for an alternate escape. “There,” she pointed toward the Curse, still sitting anchored to the deck.

  Duncan cursed to himself as they took off in a dead sprint for the little ship. “Why hasn’t he taken off yet?” Duncan demanded.

  Karina saw the ship lurch and realized the source of its troubles; she raised the comm unit around her left wrist to her lips. “Override all lockdown procedures.” As she spoke the simple phrase to the station’s automated computer system all ships were released of their magnetic anchors, the stations shields around the hanger bays opened for take-off, and all doors throughout the facility unlocked – why it hadn’t happened yet, she did not know.

  The Curse lurched once more, the rear of the ship rising, but the front still anchored.

  Finn spewed a near endless stream of curses as he exited his ship, pulled his pistol, aimed at the magnetic clamp on his landing strut, and fired - the device clicked open, releasing the Curse from its magnetic grip.

  “What are you waiting for?” Duncan screamed at Finn as he sprinted for the Curse, Karina in tow. “Let’s go!”

  They boarded and Duncan surveyed the situation. Just as Finn was shoving his way past, Duncan grabbed him in a mixture of panic and anger, “Where’s Matt?”

  “How the hell should I know?” Finn shoved himself free.

  Duncan cursed under his breath and turned for the exit ramp when Matt came sprinting through the hatch and hit the close button, before crashing against the hull completely out of breath.

  “I told you to get on the ship,” Duncan started angrily, but was stopped in his tracks as he saw the family photo clutched tightly in Matt’s hands. He couldn’t blame the kid. “Come on, let’s get you strapped in.”

  Finn sprinted for the cockpit where he found that Wes, a scrawny seventeen year old kid who was far better with electronics than people, already had the ship floating toward the exit of the hangar on its landing thru
sters. Finn hit the throttle and they rocketed out of the hanger, skimming a little transport shuttle that was attempting take off on the way out.

  Duncan emerged from the back and strapped himself into the seat behind Finn’s.

  The scene outside the hanger was one of utter chaos as ships of all shapes and sizes swarmed in confusion trying to avoid the barrage from the Alliance flotilla.

  “Doesn’t look like their interested in taking prisoners,” Duncan gave Finn an impatient look.

  “How you coming on those jump coordinates, Wes?” Finn asked.

  “Almost there; but we’re going to have to get past the ring of meteors.”

  “On it,” Finn answered, even as he pushed the Curse into a corkscrewing dive away from the center of the battle.

  Transports, freighters, and shuttles all jockeyed for position and survival in a maelstrom of chaos around what was left of Arrowhead. Not more than a pair of heartbeats into their corkscrewing dive a large cargo ship cut off their descent; a flash of light later and the ship was reduced to a hundred million pieces of super-heated space junk that pinged off the Curse’s shields like rain drops off an umbrella.

  “You can’t go this way,” Karina warned, emerging in the doorway and pulling herself into the seat opposite Duncan’s. “There’s no clear route through the asteroids, we’ll never make it.”

  “No choice, we’ll never make it past those cruisers head on,” Wes answered as Finn concentrated on dodging two more freighters on a collision course.

  “Best get to the guns,” Finn ordered Duncan and Karina over his shoulder as they cleared the battle into an open lane of space.

  The pair didn’t waste any time as they sprinted down the narrow hallway leading from the cockpit to a tee where Duncan went left and Karina went right. They settled into the gun controls, really nothing more than a seat with feedback controls, a stick like a pilot would use with the fire button resting under the users trigger finger and a large digital screen that spanned the entire area in front of the gunner.

  “We’ve got a tale,” Finn’s urgent voice echoed from the speakers above the heads of the gunners’ chairs.

  Duncan flipped the switch to power up his gun and quickly found a standard Alliance fighter in hot pursuit; he lined up the crosshairs and started to squeeze the trigger when the fighter suddenly exploded into a brilliant flash of light.

  “You’re slowing down Duncan,” Karina’s sultry voice echoed over his head.

  Duncan was already swinging his cannon around to bear on his next target. He lined up the crosshairs and not only took out the next ship following them, but hit its wingman as well.

  “Is that so?” he retorted.

  “Very nice,” Karina commented, impressed.

  For the next few moments the pair picked off incoming fighters from every angle as Finn navigated their escape away from Arrowhead and entered the asteroid field.

  “I sure hope he knows what he’s doing,” Karina commented as she noted where they were when the last of their pursuit turned back toward the battle.

  The Curse weaved, zigged, and zagged in and out of the paths of swarming asteroids. This part of the asteroid field was always in motion, always changing, that’s the main reason it was never considered safe for travel in and out of this section. Anybody to try it had to be either insane or desperate – probably both. All of this crossed Karina’s mind as she found herself sitting in the cannon chair shooting at the asteroids that couldn’t be avoided, trying to diminish them in size, make them change course, or just slow them down enough for them to survive. Yes, Karina had had her sanity questioned on more than one occasion, but now she was also very desperate. So she squeezed the trigger again and felt the small amount of control she still maintained over her situation pulse back to her from the vibration of the large cannons.

  It seemed like hours, but the truth of the matter was that it took only a few minutes for them to clear the asteroid field. Finn immediately kicked the Jupiter Drive into gear and the asteroid field vanished behind them.