by J. N. Chaney
“The captain has a point,” cut in Alphonse. “Say what you will about the Union, but they do have quality ships.”
Our small squadron left Titan and moved into open space. I ordered Freddie and a few others to stay near the ship to help defend the arriving colonists.
I wanted to leave Z-28K and this miserable region of space behind for good. More than that, I knew we had to make it back to Earth before any other unwanted guests arrived. Given the fact that the Sarkonians knew how to find it now, there was no telling how long it would take before one or both of the two empires would come knocking.
At the moment, only The Galactic Dawn and Sigmond’s drones were there to defend the colony. Hardly enough, depending on the size of the attacking fleet that might arrive.
I’d have to make this fight quick, gather the new colonists, and hightail it out of here.
“Renegade Hughes, this is Commander-Raes. Surrender yourself to the Empire or we will open fire,” announced a voice over the comms.
“Siggy, patch me through to him,” I said.
“At once, sir,” said Sigmond. “Go ahead.”
I cleared my throat. “Raes, was it? This is Hughes. I’m afraid there’ll be no surrendering today. Sorry to disappoint.”
“Renegade Hughes,” said Commander-Raes. “Why not save us both a bit of trouble and do as I ask? I’d hate to destroy that ship of yours. It’s quite the marvel.”
I chuckled loud enough that he could hear. “You seem like you’ve done your homework, pal. Did you see what happened to the last time your people came into contact with Titan? It didn’t go so well for them.”
“Perhaps not,” he said. “But there were fewer ships in that encounter, and we’ve had time to study the footage.”
“That so?” I asked.
“It is,” he replied. “Your Titan might be powerful, but it can’t withstand the full force of this fleet. Your drones are far removed from this system as well, which means—”
“It means nothing,” I interrupted. “But if you’d like to test that theory, I’m ready.”
“Very well,” said the admiral. “May Dheus bless you with a swift death.”
The comm line went dead. “A bit overconfident,” I said, right as another line opened.
“Enemy cruisers are raising shields,” informed Sigmond.
“Everyone do the same,” I ordered. “And Alphonse—”
“I’m on it, Captain,” said the Constable. “Sending attack patterns to team leaders. Prepare to engage.”
The enemy fleet opened fire at the exact moment our squadron broke ranks. I rolled sideways, igniting thrusters and moving toward the nearest ship. Although not as massive or intimidating as their Union counterparts, the cruisers had enough firepower to present a valid threat. Ragtag as the Sarkonians were, they’d come prepared.
Abigail and several fighters engaged multiple nova-class ships while Alphonse’s team sped toward one of the nearby cruisers.
I had eight other strike ships with me, our formation weaving through the growing chaos as I went for the largest ship I could find. The cruiser’s guns ran along its hull like legs on a centipede, and when they fired, the dark void filled with enough firepower to cause the holo to glitch momentarily.
“Focus attacks on the shield,” I told the other ships. “Target the same area. Bring it down then hit the guns.”
Nine blue beams collided with the cruiser’s orange shield, causing it to flash and glow as the pressure of the cannons intensified. Multiple novas moved to engage us, but Abigail’s team held them.
One came uncomfortably close to me, sniping the shield at my rear and rattling the hull. I was about cut the beam when Freddie came flying from my rear, firing at the nova and clipping its nose. The ship spun from the impact, righting itself for a brief moment before two other strike ships hit it from behind.
The Sarkonian vessel tore apart from the center, its shield falling immediately.
At the same time, my target’s shield had nearly fallen. “I estimate the flagship’s shield has decreased to 33%,” said Sigmond.
“Hold the line,” I ordered.
A blast struck my ship, causing the holo display to light up with a flash of red.
“Sir, I believe one of the enemies has made you a primary target,” explained Sigmond. The miniature version of him that stood on the dash waved at one of the Sarkonian dots. It was blinking rapidly and growing slightly. “They’ve launched six missiles. Incoming in five.”
“I see them,” I said, grunting as I sent the ship into another roll, speeding across the outer edge of the main cruiser’s shield. They were still on me. I cut into a drift, spun my ship around, and manually fired into the oncoming cluster.
The beam from my vessel slit through the bulk of the missiles, disabling or destroying most of them. A single projectile slipped through, however, continuing in my direction. “The remaining warhead’s guidance system appears to be disabled, sir,” said Sigmond.
Sure enough, the missile seemed to be drifting steadily toward the cruiser, paying no mind to my position. I followed it until the warhead was close enough to the enemy’s shield to matter, and then I fired.
Seconds before it collided with the invisible barrier, the missile ignited. As it did, the orange shield broke apart, shattering at last to reveal the exposed hull of the flagship cruiser.
“Thanks for the assist,” I muttered. “Everyone, focus your attention on the guns.”
“We’re with you, Captain,” said one of the pilots.
Seven fighters swept across the hull of the cruiser, taking out multiple turrets in rapid succession. The guns broke apart as a series of blue beams ran along the ship’s exterior, castrating the ship of its attack power, one weapon at a time.
I had Sigmond light up each of the guns, then tapped a series of nearby targets on the holo. This told the vessel where to strike. Once I was done, I willed the ship to fire.
A series of rapid shots struck the flagship, a burst of blue energy lighting up the dark.
“Sigmond, how much longer before we have the colonists?” I asked, sweeping around to target another nova that was fast approaching my position.
“Two ships remain inside the debris field,” he informed. “I estimate seven minutes before they arrive.”
“Just a bit longer, then,” I said.
The nova fired in my direction, releasing a burst of cluster munitions. I responded with a blast from my beam cannon, hitting the projectiles as they separated, causing them to engulf one another in a wild and consuming explosion.
As I did, something hit me from another side. The shield flashed, absorbing the blast. “Shields at 47%,” said Sigmond.
I checked the holo as I accelerated. I now had two other novas to contend with, which made for three.
Two red dots blinked—one directly behind me and another to the side—converging in what appeared to be an attempt at boxing me in. As I continued away from them, all three ships, including the one ahead of me, released their flak bursts.
With little time to think and trapped in what appeared to be a kill zone, I moved my ship into a scissor maneuver, shifting far to the left and then to the right. I repeated this movement while three groups of flak continued in my direction.
To my rear, the two groups of projectiles gathered in closer proximity to one another, gaining momentum as I continued swerving to each side. As I neared the forward cluster, I made a hard push to the left, avoiding most of the flak and letting it pass behind me.
The two groups converged into one another, causing them to explode. The swarm ate itself, giving me the chance to turn around and finish off the rest with a wide spread from my beam cannon.
I was about to call for an assist when one of the dots disappeared from my holo.
“You okay, Captain Hughes?” asked Freddie.
I scoffed at the question, hiding my relief. “I thought I told you to stay with Titan.”
“You did, but I broke off
when I saw you being flanked,” he said, sheepishly.
I smirked. “I’ll let it go this time. No hard feelings if you help me clean up the rest.”
I accelerated and targeted the nearest nova. It was the same one I’d attacked previously, and its shields were already down.
I fired first, my beam hitting one of its thrusters. It continued in the direction it had been going, but without any control over its trajectory. “Enemy ship disabled,” said Sigmond.
“Targeting weapons,” I said, magnifying the holo with nothing but a thought.
Another burst struck the nova, breaking off the main cannon. The combination of attacks rendered the enemy ship entirely useless.
Freddie went after the last of the three, and I set my sights on the same. The ship was between us, allowing us to flank it. We fired together. Where the two beams met, the defense barrier shattered, continuing through to the hull and destroying the enemy vessel.
“Captain,” said Sigmond. “All passenger ships have been successfully docked aboard Titan.”
The words felt like sweet relief. “Siggy, open a channel to—” A sudden rumble hit my ship as something grazed the side of my shield.
A harpoon from a nearby centurion had struck my side.
“Shields at 20%,” said Sigmond.
I wouldn’t be able to take too many of those.
Activating my thrusters, I accelerated just in time to escape another two harpoons. The centurions withdrew their cables and repositioned themselves to try again, taking both my sides. They were faster than novas, more maneuverable, but also significantly weaker. It would only take a single clear shot from my beam cannon to take one down. They also had to be far closer than the novas to make a dent, which meant I just had to—
Another strike against my side. “Shield at 5%,” informed Sigmond.
I decided it was now or never, then turned the ship in a 360 degree motion, activating the beam cannon in a steady, short-distance attack. With only a thought, my ship turned the beam, lining it up with each of the two ships, sweeping through them both. The ships easily broke apart, exploding into chunks of steel and dust.
Without a second to spare, I reignited my thrusters and took off. “Like I was saying, get that asshole on the line,” I snapped. “Whatever the hell his name is.”
“Commander-Raes,” said Sigmond. “Opening now.”
I didn’t wait for the commander to answer. “Raes, this is Captain Hughes. I have all weapons trained on your vessel. I’m sure you can guess what’ll happen if you press me.”
It was quiet for a moment. “Renegade, if you plan on surrendering, I’m ready to accept.”
Typical Sarkonian, never one to back down. I guessed he’d stand his ground until the very end, if need be. These people never surrendered or knew when to walk away. “I’m leaving, Commander. You can either back off or take the hit. It’s your call. Last chance.”
“If you think you can intimidate this fleet, you do not know the sons and daughters of Sarkon,” he responded.
“Fine,” I said, flicking the channel off. “Athena, can you use Titan’s main cannon yet, now that everyone’s on board?”
“I can, Captain,” said the Cognitive.
“Fire it at 50% across their thrusters,” I said.
“Understood,” she replied.
“In the meantime, everybody form up and fall back,” I called out. “We’ve got somewhere else to be.”
Titan charged its main cannon as the rest of us retreated. Multiple smaller beams converged into one, erupting from Titan and blasting through Raes’s ship.
“Thrusters are disabled, sir,” informed Sigmond, right as I entered the docking bay.
“Shall I fire again?” asked Athena.
Normally, I might have stayed and fought this fight to the end, maybe send a message that the people of Earth were not to be trifled with, but right now I had larger concerns. This fleet knew Earth’s location. Hell, they’d probably already forwarded that information to Sarkon and the rest of the R.F.E.
There was a fair chance that the Union even knew.
“Open a tunnel and take us home,” I told the Cognitive. “Our people need protecting, and we’ve been gone for far too long.”
Before I returned to Titan, I set my strike ship into a slow drift and reached out to Alphonse. The former Constable’s face appeared on the holo in seconds.
“Captain,” he said with some surprise.
“Al, I need you to reach out to Shaw and find out exactly what happened after the meeting we had.”
“I’ve been trying, but I’m afraid I haven’t been able to reach him. My sources say he was relieved of command. Vice Admiral Vick is now overseeing the fleet,” he told me.
“Of course, he is,” I said, letting out a short sigh. “The Sarkonians said the contract came from Vick. Seems like he didn’t care much for my proposal.”
“It certainly does,” said Alphonse.
“Is Admiral Shaw alive?” I asked.
“Yes, he’s being forced into an early retirement. On paper, he left willingly, but unofficially—”
“He was forced out,” I finished.
Alphonse nodded. “Right, well, that leaves us in a mess.”
“I don’t believe all hope is necessarily lost,” said Alphonse. “We can still try to negotiate with Vice Admiral Vick. By all accounts, he is regarded as a reasonable man. If we can force him to look beyond his own grief over General Brigham, we may be able to sway him.”
“Even after all of this?” I asked.
“I believe so,” said Alphonse.
“I gotta tell you, Al, I’m not sure I even want the help at this point. Every time we try to reason with the Union or the Sarkonians, we wind up staring down the barrel of a gun.”
“It may seem hopeless at the moment, Captain, but you must not relent. The Union is arrogant, and the Sarkonians prideful, but they are still human, driven by fear and self-preservation. Show them why siding with us is better for their own survival and you will find yourself an eager ally.”
“You make it sound so easy,” I said, setting my ship down inside the bay.
“If only that were the case,” said Alphonse. “Unfortunately, these defining moments rarely are.”
18
The RFE Bright Horizon was in much better shape than the RFE Darkstar and boasted an AI instead of a standard ship’s computer, though Sigmond had already disabled it. I’d ordered both Cognitives to work on breaking down the cloaking devices with the hope of backwards-engineering it in the near future.
Now that I could relax a little, I decided I’d try to get some rest. I hit the bed and drifted off almost immediately, and I only briefly woke again when Abigail arrived to join me.
When the alarm rang, I found we were still twenty-six hours from the slip tunnel exit. Abigail was now gone, probably getting breakfast. I stretched, loosening up my stiff muscles, and got dressed. Abby’s scent lingered on the bed, a comforting familiarity that yesterday had lacked.
A knock sounded at the door as I strapped on my boots.
“Yeah,” I said, yawning deeply.
“Mr. Hughes, I brought you something,” said Lex, her muffled but familiar voice coming through the door.
“Come in,” I said.
The door slid open and Lex walked inside. She held a steaming mug of coffee in her hands, calmly and carefully guarding the brim so as not to spill a drop.
“Is that for me?” I asked, smiling as the scent graced me.
“Siggy says you like this kind,” she said. “I wanted to bring you some.”
“Thanks, kid.” I took the cup and had a sip. It was the same blend Sigmond had given me on our way to meet the Union. Perfection.
“Well, um, there was something,” muttered Lex, her voice trailing as she spoke the words. “Just, uh . . .”
“Hold on,” I said, giving her a look. “Did you bring me this coffee because you wanted something? Is this tainted coffee?”
> She squirmed at the question. “Octavia said she would teach me some self-defense moves but I had to come ask you and Abby.” She spoke so quickly that the words seemed to tumble out of her.
“Did you say self-defense?” I paused at my own question. Given recent events, maybe having her train wouldn’t be so bad. “What did Abby say?” I asked.
“I didn’t ask her yet. Please, Mr. Hughes!” Lex rarely asked for anything, so this was certainly a new behavior. Still, I understood where it came from. I was there during the fight. I’d watched those men attack her. Hell, I’d even seen her kill a man. It was no wonder she wanted to take control of her own life, to find the strength to defend herself the same way the rest of us had.
I was quiet for a long while, letting the notion hang in the air. “Okay,” I finally said. “But have Octavia talk to us before you start. I want to see what sort of training she has in mind for you.”
“Thank you, Mr. Hughes!” she whooped, then took off in a mad dash for the door. She stopped halfway there and came back, then kissed me on the cheek before zooming out of the room again.
I couldn’t help but smile. It was probably a good thing that she’d at least learn a few basics, but I wondered if Abigail would want to be involved. She was a better fighter and more experienced than Octavia. She’d even trained Freddie. Both of the women were expert combatants and had a great relationship with the girl, but I’d always thought when the time came that Abigail would probably want to do it. Maybe she still would, once she learned about all of this.
I certainly wasn’t looking forward to that conversation.
Sigmond informed me that Abigail was on the bridge, so I grabbed a sandwich and quickly ate it on the way. When I entered, I also found Lex and Octavia there talking in the corner.
“Late as always,” said Octavia, right when she saw me. “I already talked to Abigail about Lex. She’s agreed with the training for now.”
“Did she?” I asked, glancing to Abigail, who was standing alone near the helm.
Octavia nodded. “I thought there might be enough time for a quick lesson. We’ll be in one of the training rooms if you need us.”
