“Commander!” came a voice over the intercom. “All the strafing runs are causing too much damage. There has just been an explosion in the reactor room. The reactor is still on line but we’ve got to repair the damage quickly!”
“All available repair crews are on their way,” roared Akdon. He rounded on Kaydan. “I must attend to this battle. You find that human. I want it alive and undamaged.”
Kaydan nodded and left the control room taking the security officer and two burly guards with him. Akdon started issuing more orders.
“Tell our interceptors to get those fighters! Draw their fire away from our fleet ships!”
Jack entered the bridge of the Essex. It was virtually identical to the bridge of the Saratoga except for a few very minor differences. He was greeted by Captain Hudson who was very near Doran’s age, but taller, and thinner.
“Welcome aboard Lieutenant…?”
“Thunder, sir. Jack Thunder.” Hudson shook his hand. Over the Captain’s shoulder’s Jack could see the forward view ports and the massive battle. It was in the distance for now, but it was drawing ever nearer by the moment. “What’s going on, sir?”
“Doran has just ordered all fleet craft to attack. We’re going in.”
“I should be out there,” said Jack.
Just then a voice came over the intercom for Hudson. “Sir, the Marines are getting ready.”
“Very well,”
“Marines?” asked Jack. The Space Force Marine Corps kept a garrison on every ship in the fleet as well as all of America‘s bases and Colonies in space. They were used for security, boarding hostile vessels, and ground assaults.
Trey had told Jack about how during the Pirate Wars he had participated many times in fighter attacks meant to cover Marines attacking a moon or asteroid that was being used as a Pirate base.
“They’re going to carry out a plan I came up with,” said Captain Hudson.
“I ran it by Doran. He thinks I’m crazy, but says I’m free to try. I know you can’t stand to just sit around, so if you’d like to go out there with the Marines you can.”
“What are you going to try?” asked Jack.
Captain Hudson gave a slight smile and started to explain.
Captain Doran was very pleased with his two hundred Star Swords. They had flown straight into the enemy fleet and caused more damage and havoc on the enemy fleet than he thought they ever would. They had, however, paid a very heavy price. Over a hundred of them were now gone. He was not about to let them have died in vain.
He had ordered all the fleet ships forward. He knew the worst was yet to come. The enemy would undoubtedly unleash their beam weapons on the Saratoga and her fellow ships. He knew only a handful of them would survive. But if his scheme worked, it would all be worth it.
Commander April Kelley was coordinating the battle at her station. Looking out the view ports Doran could see the Exeter and Essex and all their other fleet ships. Ahead of them, the enemy fleet was lit up by the massive fire fight between the alien fighters and the Star Swords. The massive form of Saturn served as a tranquil backdrop to the chaotic battle that raged before it.
“Sir, we’re almost in range,” said Commander Kelley.
“Signal all our fighters. If they don’t want to get hit, they are to disengage immediately. They’ve done their part. Now it’s our turn.” A moment later he added, “And make sure the Russians get the message!”
Commander Kelley issued the appropriate orders and the Star Swords started to withdraw from the enemy fleet.
The enemy seemed happy to have them go, and did not pursue. Moments later Doran issued the order.
“All craft open fire!” At that instant the three carriers, the two cruisers, and all seven destroyers began to fire their many plasma cannons into the enemy fleet. The Japanese battleship Nagato fired several volleys of cruise missiles. A virtual rain of plasma and missiles were pouring out of the human fleet into the Zidian armada hitting many ships and causing great damage. One Zidian cruiser could take no more damage and exploded taking another with it. Seconds later, the Zidian ships returned the humans in kind by opening up with their deadly beam weapons. The beams cut straight through the torrent of fire coming from the human ships. The destroyers Apache, Raven, Wraith, and Fire Hawk as well one of the Russian escort carriers were destroyed immediately. The cruiser Montana was cut in half. Seconds later the aft half exploded and its forward half became a large lifeless piece of debris. All the American fleet carriers took hits, but the battleship Nagato drew the overwhelming majority of enemy fire.
“We won’t last long like this!” yelled Kelley, as the entire ship shook around them.
“Just a little longer!” yelled Doran.
The Essex had been rocked badly due to the Zidian barrage, but as far as Jack could tell, the ship was still holding together fine. Captain Hudson’s plan seemed to him both daring and mad. Once, during the Pirate Wars, Hudson had personally managed to snare a pirate fighter with a hand held grapple gun while standing on the outer hull of a destroyer. The grapple gun had been secured with a piece of tow cable to a destroyer’s hull and so the grappled fighter had found itself caught to the much more powerful fleet craft. Hudson had then disabled it with a standard issue plasma rifle. The stunt had earned him the Distinguished Service Medal and a promotion.
Now he planned to use his Space Marines in a similar operation to capture an alien fighter. Jack could not resist the urge to participate in such a task. He was in an armored white space suit with a whole team of combat Marines. He held the helmet in his hands. Any moment now they would put them on and go out into the vacuum of space and onto the Essex’s outer deck deck.
“Alright guys...” said the team leader, a large Marine with a rigid face. He was about thirty years old. He wore commander’s insignia on his space suit. “...we go out their fast, secure our grapple guns to the deck, and snare the first bogie that comes by. Then we cripple it using our rifles.”
He motioned to two Marines with large rocket packs attached to their backs. “Barnes and Williams will then fly out and attach an additional cable that we will use to haul in the enemy craft. A shuttle pad is the only thing big enough to hold one of them. Shuttle hangar two has been prepared to receive the enemy ship. It’s up to us to deliver.”
Jack noticed that four of the Marines each carried a large grapple gun. The grapple guns were very large and much too heavy to have been carried in an environment that had gravity, but in space it mattered not at all. Everyone else including Jack had a state of the art plasma rifle slung over his shoulder.
They were all in the air lock chamber. The door to the rest of the ship was closed and the Commander yelled “Dawn helmets!” All the Marines pulled the large helmets over their heads and locked the airtight seals at the neck. Jack scratched his nose one last time and put on his helmet. He heard the Commander’s voice over the speaker in his helmet. “Helmets dawned, open the outer doors.”
The ceiling above them was composed of two massive doors. These opened to reveal the battle filled space outside the ship. Jack and all the Marines climbed out of the “pit” as it was called and stepped onto the outer hull of the Essex. The magnetic boots of Jack’s combat space suit were much stronger than his normal uniform boots. It took a great deal more effort to separate his foot from the hull. The Marines, however, where used to it and in splendid physical condition to boot. The hull surface of the Essex looked to Jack like a great metallic plain. Above them stars hung in the darkness of space just like a regular night sky except that ahead of them the massive planet Saturn loomed and all around them was the chaotic sight of war in the airless vacuum of space as fighters chased at one another’s tails spitting fire at their prey and great warships traded barrages of superheated energy for deadly beams of light. The absence of any sound whatsoever made the whole scene seem unreal and if not for the fact that Jack new so many lives were being lost, he would have found the sight of it all almost beautiful.
&
nbsp; The marines went about their tasks quickly. Two hurried with their equipment over to shuttle pad two and began to set up the equipment that would be used to reel in the enemy ship. Four marines held their grapple guns at the ready while two others attached titanium cable to them and then to the hull. The Commander, Jack, and all the others scanned the vicinity for a suitable target with their plasma rifles at the ready.
“Alright guys, let’s go fishing,” said the Commander.
Right off hand, Jack could spot several potential targets. Many had Star Swords on their tails. Still others were chasing Star Swords. Most fighters on both sides though seemed to have had enough for the time being and had disengaged and were regrouping in areas that were out of the way. Jack then saw a flash out of the corner of his helmet. He spun as quickly as he could to see what was going on. Some marine was shooting wildly at some enemy fighters that were far too distant for him to do any good. “Private, knock it off!” ordered the commander. The young marine ceased fire. The Commander turned to Jack.
“They’re going to have to get a lot closer than this if we are going to have any chance of snagging us one. It looks as if right now the fleet ships are going to just pound away at each other.” As if to make a point the hull of Essex shook as more enemy energy beams hit her and Jack wondered if the great ship wouldn’t explode beneath him. The shaking stopped and the carrier did not explode, the destroyer near them, however, did—and the flash from the explosion was blinding. Jack wasn’t sure which one it had been. He was much more concerned with his own ship the Saratoga. Jack looked to his right. The Exeter had taken several hits but was still hanging in there. Saratoga still bore scars from the last battle. She had gained several new ones and wasn’t looking to be doing good at all. Then before he had time to ponder what might become of her, the Commander’s voice crackled out of the speaker in his helmet.
“Here comes some fighters! Everyone get ready!”
Chapter Thirteen
Trey was hot on the tail of the enemy fighter in front of him. The fierce battle had taken its toll on the human fleet and Trey Knight had taken his toll on enemy fighters. The ship in front of Trey darted at full speed back towards its own fleet. Trey was hot on his tail and firing his guns wildly. The fighter had been separated from its comrades and wound up behind the human fleet. Trey had pounced on it when it had gone after another Star Sword. They were coming up on one of the carriers and Trey wanted to get it before they got passed it because once they did he would find himself quite alone and in the midst of a lot of enemy craft.
The Marines on the hull of the Essex were poised to strike.
“Try not to hit that Star Sword,” ordered the commander. The first grapple gun was fired. It missed and the Zidian pilot became more wary of the human carrier over which he was flying. He was no doubt wondering what the humans had just fired at him. His scanners showed him that there were multiple life forms on the surface of the human ship. The human fighter behind him was getting closer. The Zidian realized that if he came about hard and dived on the human carrier the fighter behind him would not be able to shoot at him without the risk of hitting his own fleet ship. It would also allow him to shoot back at the ones who had just shot at him. Plasma bursts from the human fighter were flaring past him. It was now or never. He braced himself and then came hard about.
Jack looked up to see that the alien craft had dove straight at them. The fighter opened fire and strafed the humans standing on the hull of the Essex. Simultaneously, two more marines fired their grapple guns. Both missed their mark. The enemy’s fire impacted on the hull of the Essex killing several marines. Jack miraculously survived. Jack heard the commander’s frantic voice.
“Fire! Private, fire!” Jack noticed that the marine with the last grapple gun was dead. His feet were still secured to the hull by his magnetic boots but his body had mostly been blown away. The grapple gun however appeared undamaged. Jack pulled it out of the private’s mutilated hand, swung around and fired at the fighter as it passed overhead. The grapple shot through the distance to its target in an instant, trailing an energized cable and attaching itself to the after part of the fighter. Jack barely had time to contemplate his success, before he was snatched off the hull of the Essex and stuck holding on for dear life as he dangled from the speeding enemy ship. The cable had not been attached to the hull of the Essex as it should have been.
It must have been disconnected when the fighter made its pass, thought Jack. He cursed himself for not checking it. Jack Thunder had been through many things, but he did not see how he was going to get out of this one alive.
Trey Knight had lost track of his quarry for several seconds after it had dived on the carrier. He had been unable to fire at his target because of the danger of hitting the Essex and then he had had to bring his Star Sword back around when the enemy had come about. Now Trey was closing in on it again but there was something different. There was something dangling behind the enemy ship, attached by a cable.
“It looks like a....no it couldn’t be.” But as he gained on it and looked closer, he realized that somehow someone in a space suit was being towed by the enemy fighter. He thought briefly about trying to disable the Zidian ship, but decided against it since there was too great a chance that he would kill the man dangling behind it. Then Trey saw something else following the fighter. Two small objects streaking at high speed.
How about that…
Jack’s mind was rushing with possibilities. He saw the Star Sword that was following him and the fighter to which he was attached. He wasn’t sure if he wanted the Star Sword to shoot at the fighter or not. He hoped very much so that the Star Sword pilot at least saw him. The alien evidently did not, for it had given no sign of being aware of Jack’s presence. The fighter came about, apparently in an attempt to lose Trey the same way he had before by diving on the Essex.
Jack suddenly remembered the plasma rifle still slung over his shoulder. He cursed himself for forgetting about it although it wasn’t as though he could feel its weight. He started to aim at the cable between himself and the enemy ship. If he severed it at least he would be free. Just as he was about to pull the trigger a voice sounded in his helmet.
“Sir, can you hear us?” Jack jerked his head around and saw two marines with rocket backpacks following behind him. Jack knew they only had so much fuel in those packs and wouldn’t be able to follow him for long.
“Sir, sever the cable and we’ll bring you back!” Jack again took aim at the cable. Just before he fired, Jack had a thought.
“Stand by.” He aimed a little higher at the fighter’s port thruster and fired. The plasma shot missed its mark slightly and hit near the thruster blowing a nice ten inch round hole with burnt edges into the ships under hull. He fired again and again. Those two shots were on mark, and the thruster burned out. The fighter began to veer off coarse do to its lost engine. Jack wasted no time in shooting at the other. His first shot put another hole in the underside. His second shot missed entirely. His third shot hit and the starboard thruster started to sputter and then went out.
“You did it, sir! You disabled it!” Jack had one thing left to do. He aimed at the cable attaching him to the Zidian ship and fired. He broke the cable on the first shot and started to float freely away from it.
He could see the Essex below him. One of the marines flew over, took hold of his arm, and flew him back towards the Essex. The other marine flew up under the fighter and attached a fresh cable to the grapple that was still firmly stuck to the fighter. He then took the other end and headed back down to the Essex.
Red had been running through the corridors of the alien ship for some time now. Most of the aliens got out of his way. There was, however, a group of them following him. He ran and turned a corner. He entered a large room. Inside was a long table and a massive window. Red stood there amazed, for outside the window he could clearly see the brawling battle between the aliens and the Space Force going on. He could see ships exploding and firi
ng and evading. It seemed so unreal. His friends were being slaughtered.
“Pathetic, isn’t it?” said a voice from behind him. Red spun around and saw the alien who had been torturing him in the laboratory. Red looked around for something with which to defend himself but the alien had something that looked remarkably like a pistol pointed at him. Red wanted to say something—to yell something at the alien, but the words just wouldn’t come.
Kaydan took another step towards Red. “Your people have pitted your best against us and you see how we annihilate them.”
“They seem to be doing pretty well,” shot back Red, having found his courage. For the first time Red noticed the three other aliens standing behind Kaydan. He also realized there was no other way out of the room. Red caught himself asking the alien “Why are you doing this?”
“That is not for me to say,” replied Kaydan. “You will return with us to the laboratory willingly, or we will take you by force. Either way, it will be done.” Two of the larger Zidians stepped out from behind Kaydan. Red having no other choice gave in.
“All right.”
The feeling of relief Jack felt when he set his feet back down on the hull of the Essex was indescribable. When the alien ship had snatched him off the hull he had thought he was finished. As it now turned out, he had the story of a life time. But he could worry about that later. For the moment, he was still not entirely out of danger. Around them the battle still raged.
Jack noticed that the marines had erected a winch on shuttle pad two. Moments after one of the two marines that had been wearing rocket packs had dropped off Jack, the other brought down the cable and helped the other marines attach it to the winch. It was only a matter of seconds before the crank started to reel in the captured enemy ship. As it got closer the reality of what they had accomplished sunk in. They were about to have in their possession an alien space craft. Jack thought of the advanced technology they would soon get their first look at. Then he had another thought. They would also get their first look at an alien in the flesh.
Starstorm (Starstorm Saga) Page 12
