Patters had a bad feeling. The ground battle had become a stalemate for now, with Snark having the firepower, but the enemy having the numbers. It wasn’t her concern though.
The fleets were now an hour apart. The back of her neck prickled, and the fur along her back was standing on end. Mouse was looking grim, and Neep was sitting calmly watching them both.
New dots appeared suddenly on the navmap.
Behind them!
Emerging from the far side of the moon which circled the planet Snark was on, was another force of ships.
"How did we miss those?" asked Mouse.
"It’s a strange moon," replied Patters. "It takes three days to do one orbit of the planet, and it's been on the far side of the planet the whole time we've been here."
"I need to invent a scanner which sees through planets."
Neep laughed.
"We have a second fleet inbound," Patters said into the open fleet channel. "Thirty six ships, pretty well directly behind us. Three Battleships in the lead."
"Reverse course," said Tranquil. "Let them think you've decided to run from the main force in the hope you can take out the smaller fleet before you get overrun."
"Who is this?" asked Gruff.
"Captain Tranquil, Admiral. Hunter's Run trading fleet."
"Trader? I thought we had warships coming to help us?"
"You do Admiral. My ships are Cruisers, and my three have more than ten times the firepower of your entire fleet, including Seasprite."
It was more than that, but it wasn’t a time for boasting.
"What are your intentions Captain?" asked Hover.
"Admiral, they haven't detected me yet. I'm going to hit them in the side, and go straight through their formations. They'll detect me in time to reorient some ships at me, but it won't do them any good. I'll come to support you as fast as I can."
There was a pause. Gruff gave the order to reverse course. The fleet ponderously turned, holding formation, and began going back the way they'd come. They increased speed to keep the fleet behind them from overtaking them too fast. Seasprite calculated the optimum speed, and the fleet changed it up a notch.
Combat would begin for them in about forty five minutes. Tranquil would hit the fleet behind them fifteen minutes later. On all the ships, crews prepared for battle. A quick bite to eat and a drink, some attending to bodily functions, and they'd be ready.
Eighty One
Jamie was dreaming something about being back at school, before he came to. He was lying on a hard, white floor next to Anna. Where was he? He felt disoriented, particularly as the last thing he could think of was his dream about Mr Henderson from the Academy, pulling him up for telling bad jokes.
He remembered now. A bright light, so bright, he’d had to shut his eyes as tightly as he could, then nothingness. A feeling of falling, or vertigo, no sense of direction. He’d held on to Anna’s hand tightly, but there was an unstoppable force pulling on them, pulling them apart.
Then he'd woken up from the dream.
He sat up and leaned over Anna. For a moment he was worried, but she was breathing. He looked around, and quickly rose to his feet. They were in a brightly lit room similar to the one they'd just been in. He looked around for Sissness. Not here. What?
There were two figures coming towards them, indistinguishable with the brightness of the light shining around them. Anna stirred, and opened her eyes. Jamie stood between her and the two figures making their way towards them.
The two figures saw him, and slowed their progress, but still came on.
Anna sat up, and Jamie helped her to her feet. She smiled at him, and saw the two figures, now quite close.
Jamie felt for his gun. It wasn’t there. He checked again, but his suit, while still in place, had no weapons. He felt naked. Anna stood next to him. She smiled, and placed something in his hand.
"My ring," she said. "If anything happens, well, it’s for remembrance."
"Don’t say that," he said.
He saw it was the silver one she always wore, and clamped his hand around the ring.
"It was my mother’s. She gave it to me just before she died. She said it’s worth nothing but memories."
Jamie was watching the figures, who were now much closer.
"It’s ok. We’ll get out o’ here ok."
He kissed her quickly, and put the ring in a pocket of his backpack.
The couple now approached cautiously. Jamie and Anna both gasped, and quickly tried to recover with neutral expressions.
The woman was Anna. She looked startlingly like her.
"Anastasia," breathed Anna.
Jamie looked between the two of them in disbelief. It was like looking at the same woman, but with different clothes.
The man was less appealing. He wore a black all in one suit, but reminiscent of centuries ago. There was a sneer on his face, and his eyes looked down a long nose at them. Anastasia was dressed practically in a similar suit, but blue.
The man came closer, and as soon as he saw Anna, registered the same disbelief.
"Anastasia!" he cried, as he looked at Anna.
"Vasily," Anna said, half under her breath, but so Jamie could hear. He nodded.
Vasily and Anastasia approached Jamie and Anna, and they stood looking at each other.
Anastasia looked at Anna who looked back. It was almost like looking in a mirror.
"You," they both whispered at the same time.
Suddenly a hologram appeared. The two figures stood again in the bright light, so their figures and faces remained obscured.
“Greetings!” the hologram male spoke.
“Who are you?” demanded Vasily.
There was no reply. It was after a few minutes of silence before the woman spoke.
"You are in the Hall of Righteousness. You seek the Destiny Stone, and the Amulet of Truth. You will be judged."
"I brought the Stone!" claimed Vasily triumphantly. "Where is the Amulet? It is mine!"
The woman kept speaking, as if he hadn’t spoken.
"If you are found to be righteous, you will be granted the power of the Stone of Destiny."
"What about the Amulet!" screamed Vasily. "I’ve brought the Stone! I need the Amulet!"
Vasily pawed frantically in his pockets for the Destiny Stone.
"It’s not here," he said disbelievingly. "I had it. It should be here."
The hologram continued relentlessly.
"You are in the Hall of Righteousness. Time has no meaning here. What you had has no meaning here."
Jamie turned to Anna.
"Perhaps that’s how we can all be here at the same time. Anastasia and Vasily were in the Hall of Truth in their time, as we were, but somehow we’ve come together in the Hall of Righteousness because time means nothing here."
Vasily launched himself at the figures, but passed straight through them, overbalancing and crashing to the floor. He picked himself up, and walking carefully around them, returned to stand next to Anastasia.
The hologram figures were silent. It wasn’t possible, but it seemed they were waiting.
Vasily looked at Anna and Jamie.
"It’s you! You’ve stolen the Stone! Give it back to me!"
Vasily launched himself at Jamie, who dodged quickly out of the way. Vasily recovered and threw a punch which should have connected with Jamie’s jaw, but he ducked, and threw a mean upper cut, which did connect with Vasily’s nose. There was a spurt of blood. Jamie cradled his fist, where it'd connected, and readied for another blow.
Vasily came again, throwing a punch landing in Jamie’s solar plexus, despite his blocking move. Jamie bent over from the blow, but was unaffected by it, his suit protecting him. Vasily followed with an upper cut which landed on Jamie’s jaw, protected an instant before the blow landed by the suit, which returned to normal immediately after, and he staggered backward, but again without injury.
Jamie was no stranger to ale-house roughing, but this was different.
He was coldly angry, and found an inner strength. Anna’s stories fuelled a controlled fury he didn’t know he possessed. He dodged another blow, and followed with a right hook and jab combination which took Vasily off balance. He then proceeded to take him apart, blow by blow.
Finally, Vasily collapsed on the floor, weakly trying to get to his feet, total disbelief on his face that his punches had made so little impact. Jamie panted with the effort, but was otherwise unharmed. Not even his knuckles showed any signs of the fight. He waited to see if Vasily got up again.
The hologram was still there. The pair of figures were silent. Then the male spoke.
"Choose."
Anna looked at Jamie. Anastasia was on her knees cradling Vasily’s head.
"You must choose. The Stone, or your most treasured possession."
Jamie looked at Anna, and took her hand. She was his most treasured possession. He did not need to choose.
Anna looked at Jamie. What was the stone, compared to love? She tried to think. The search for the Stone had been all-encompassing for so long. Choose. She chose love, and took Jamie’s other hand looking up at him.
Anastasia was looking at Vasily, with a resignation Anna found heartbreaking.
Even though he'd tortured her through her married life, across parts of two galaxies, she did not choose the Stone.
Vasily screamed out.
"I choose the Stone. But I want the Amulet as well! Show me the Amulet!"
"You will be judged," echoed in their ears, as a great wind descended.
Vasily screamed again for the Amulet.
Anna and Anastasia reached out to each other, and clasped one hand each. Anna’s other hand clasped Jamie’s, and she held on tight.
The bright light increased unbearably until they had to clamp their eyes closed against it. They were sucked into the void, the strange nothingness, and the mysterious force pulling at them, pulling them apart. Anna lost her grip on Anastasia, but clung to Jamie’s hand. The force was incredible, and Anna felt her grip loosening as Jamie was pulled away from her.
"No!" she screamed as she felt Jamie’s hand pull away from hers.
The void consumed her, and she blacked out.
Eighty Two
The waiting was getting on Patters' nerves.
Fifteen minutes before, half of the big fleet coming after them had peeled off, and headed for Tranquil's three ships. The rest continued on after them.
Neep had asked for a channel to all ships, and Seasprite had opened it.
"This is Neep. I'm a mediator here to help both sides of this conflict come to a peaceful resolution."
The only response had been a single voice, laughing.
The channel closed, Neep sighed, and settled back in his chair.
"Worth a try," he said.
Patters didn’t answer, being engrossed with the tactical display.
"Targets almost in range," said Seasprite a little later, into the open fleet channel. "Targeting information is being sent to each ship. Prepare to fire on my signal."
"Ready," said Gruff.
"Ready," said Hover.
"Buckle up," said Seasprite, and Patters settled herself in a chair, and buckled up the restraints.
Mouse and Neep did likewise. There was nothing any of them could do now. Seasprite would be controlling the fight.
"Fire," said Seasprite.
Capital ship missiles launched at the lead Battleship. All of Seasprite's big guns fired at the Battleship next to it. Six massive rail bolts launched at the third one.
Targets shifted, helms received course changes to bring the beetle ships in line with them, and fire orders came again.
All three Battleships came apart, one of them blown into large chunks by missile impacts in random places, the second ripped open all the way down the middle, and a second later, the six bolts ripped through the third, breaking it up into large chunks. None of the three had fired a single shot.
Seasprite fired again, and again, before the beetles next shot left their guns. Enemy ships died.
The first enemy fire approached the small fleet. Bear gunners targeted the larger projectiles, and hit more of them than Patters had thought possible. Seasprite's point defence lasers picked off many of the remaining solid shot projectiles including the smaller ones, reducing them to shrapnel. Mosquito missiles launched on those the point defence couldn’t reach. Some made it through, and bear and beetle hulls began to erode, while Seasprite's shield indicators seemed to shiver as they were impacted, and renewed.
As the two fleets came together, the center of the enemy formation was gutted, so as the two fleets began passing each other, the beetles no longer had a target they could aim for. With enemy fire reducing as well, the bear ships changed tactics, and began firing directly at the enemy ships as they went past. All ships were trying to avoid debris, but some collisions were inevitable. The need to change course to avoid something large made the fleet formation shift and change constantly.
"Tally-ho," yelled Tranquil, as her three ships, in a wide line abreast formation, began firing on the main fleet, half of which was coming head on at her.
Her gun turrets were widely aimed across a sixty degree vector, and firing like a machine gun. Instead of deliberately aimed salvos, she was alternating each gun in each turret, and firing a continuous barrage over the entire arc, the ships spaced for minimal overlap of the arcs. Instead of target acquisition, she was going for maximum damage, and shock and awe.
A ship in front of her began to break up, but instead going around it, she held her course. Large debris hit her shields and vaporised, bits and pieces of the remainder exploding outwards, and hitting their own ships further out in the enemy formation. Her shields took the hit, and began to regenerate. Until they took the next hit, and the next, dropping faster than the regeneration generators could handle.
The three ships carved a passage through the enemy formation, and emerged from the other side at the same time as Seasprite and her fleet emerged as well. The difference being, Seasprite had almost full shields, but they were a beetle ship down, one of the bear ships had a significant hole in one side and was barely keeping up, with minor damage to the other ships as hulls had taken random hits.
"Coming to you now," said Tranquil, as her three ships, all with shields below twenty percent, turned to follow the other half of the larger fleet.
What remained of her first target fleet, something less than two thirds of the ships, many of them damaged, were beginning their turns to follow. Small grey dots were moving away from Tranquil's ships towards the debris field, and Mouse checked one to find it was a search and rescue droid.
Patters was absorbed by the tactical display. The battle had lasted less than half an hour so far, and enemy ships and debris were now spread out across a wide area of space. Her fleet was on the planet side of the smaller pincer fleet, which was now turning to follow them, as they kept running to gain range. Half of the larger fleet, so far not having fired a shot, was bearing down on them, although the formation was coming apart due to the need to avoid colliding with their own ships making their turns across their course. Patters could imagine captains screaming orders on a lot of ships, and cursing the ships making them avoid. Behind them was Tranquil, three green dots in a calm part of a sea of red dots.
In front of Tranquil, but behind the main fleet, the single grey dot which had puzzled her, was still in position.
Suddenly it turned green, and Patters noticed it was now moving significantly faster. Mouse saw it too, and whooped. Neep sat there with a sad expression on his face.
A channel opened, and Patters recognised the voice.
"I'm assuming command of this battle," said Warspite. "Tranquil, follow me in. Seasprite, run your fleet as far as you can before you turn to hit anyone who manages to keep after you. No unnecessary risks."
"Who is this?" demanded Gruff.
"Admiral Warspite, commanding the Hunter's Run Battleship Warspite. I appreciate you o
utrank me Admiral, but I command the single most powerful ship in this system. You've done what you needed to do Admiral, helping to divide up the enemy into manageable chunks. It's my job now to finish it."
The channel closed. On the tactical display, red dots began to vanish.
Patters pulled up the ship information for Warspite. As she did, a pop up display showed an external view of the Battleship. Its huge main triple gun turrets were firing salvos, and each salvo destroyed a ship. The smaller turrets were emulating Tranquil's, firing a continuous barrage across a wide area of space, causing random damage and chaos.
Tranquil's ships spread out now, each one aiming towards a portion of the enemy fleet unaffected by Warspite, shields now above fifty percent, and gaining rapidly on their next targets.
By the time Warspite was destroying the lead Battleships from behind, Tranquil's had entered the remainder of the enemy formation in three places.
Ships died.
Patters looked to see how Neep was coping with the death toll, and he nodded towards the com panel. She opened the channel to the enemy fleet again.
"This is mediator Neeps again. You may out mass the humans and their allies still, but in terms of firepower, you are sadly outmatched. Now is the time for a cease fire, in order we limit the death toll to those already dead. There is no point in continuing to fight. What say you?"
The channel changed to a vid, and they saw a single avian form looking at them.
"I am Brother Paulus, and I command here. My will be done. This fight continues until the Destiny Stone is mine."
"Is it worth so many lives to you?" asked Neep.
"It is worth all lives to me. This is a fight to the death, winner takes all."
The channel closed. Neep nodded to Patters, and she opened it back up again.
"This is mediator Neeps again. I implore all ship captains to consider standing down. Any ship which stops fighting will be considered non-combatant, and will not be fired on. This is not a battle you can win. This is not even a battle you can escape from. Stand down, stop your ship, and I will negotiate your surrender with the humans."
He nodded at Patters again, and she closed the channel.
A.I. Destiny 4 Destiny Stone Page 31
