by John Walker
Gathering them up allowed ships to note their locations and avoid running into them. Once there was enough, a recycling ship would make the rounds, gathering it all up and returning to Earth to repurpose the stuff. Agile ships needed to collect the pieces, larger ones carted it away.
Mick was right about it being heavy. Two wasps might have a hard time pulling it all. Luckily, they’d be leaving some behind, essentially just pulling the net aside and allowing momentum to carry it all. Without the shot giving it a jolt, they’d probably need all four ships to pull it anywhere.
And even then, they’d be flying slow.
“Panther Two, I’ll be on top.” Meagan paused. “Don’t you dare make a joke about that.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it, Panther One,” Mick chuckled, dropping below her vessel and angling his own to line up the tow cable with the net. “In position.”
Meagan followed suit on the opposite side. They fired their tow cables, catching the net well above and below the clamps, far enough away that any damage incurred wouldn’t destroy their connection. She throttled her wench and felt the tug on her ship. A tiny jostle indicated Mick made his shot as well.
Panther Three settled in between them and took aim. “Get ready, guys,” David called out. “I’m going to take three shots total to get the stuff moving.”
Three flashes lit up the world behind Meagan and a moment later she felt the tension in her line go slack as the net opened wide. “Here we go,” she called to Mick. “Throttle up and under.”
“On it.”
They pulled away, opening the throttles as they tore the net free and dragged what little debris along which clung to the surface. Meagan turned to look at their pursuers, still a long distance off but menacingly close in reality. They needed to establish the trap quickly so they’d be nowhere near the blast but more importantly, they didn’t want to tip off their enemy to the plan.
Panther Four approached carrying the bombs and deposited them amongst the trash while One and Two continued to pull. “Get ready to detach,” Meagan said, checking her scanner to ensure they’d covered as much of the area as possible. “On my mark. Three…two…one…now!”
She hit the button and her cable came free. Mick followed suit and the two of them regrouped with Three and Four. “Make your way back toward the Behemoth, full speed. Panther wing, give yourself another twenty seconds of action then get moving. Rendezvous with the Behemoth ASAP.”
A series of acknowledgements came through the com. Meagan checked her rear camera and wondered if the ploy would work. Did the trap have a chance to work? Would it leave the enemy reeling? She had faith in Captain Atwell. His tactic, unorthodox as it may’ve seemed, sure sounded like a good idea.
Even if it didn’t cripple an enemy vessel, it might make them cautious and so far, they knew caution was not the strength of these invaders. They liked to drive in, punching and swinging with everything they had. Overwhelming their opposition with deadly, brutal force. Subtlety seemed totally alien to them but they were about to learn a really hard lesson.
One Meagan was more than happy to help teach.
Chapter 11
“The trap is set,” Paul announced. “The fighters have positioned the debris, and the bomb, in the path of the enemy. I’ve got a good reading on the device and can detonate at any time.”
“Perfect.” Gray patted his knees. “Keep us moving, Redding. Make it look like we’re trying to run away.”
“Sir?” Redding glanced over her shoulder.
“You know…make it look…” Gray shrugged. “Frantic.”
“Fly…frantically, sir?”
“Just put some feeling into it.”
Redding nodded slowly and turned back to her console. “Aye, sir. Adding feeling now.”
Clea cracked a smile at Gray. “I suspect that works better on smaller vessels, sir.”
“Maybe. But every little bit of thought helps,” Gray replied. “Have you ever heard the expression ‘the power of positive thinking’?”
“Yes, I believe it is used by charlatans trying to sell things which do not work.”
“She’s got you there, sir,” Everly said. “I’m getting a report from the fighters. They are preparing to disengage.”
“Why are we not letting them continue the fight?” Clea asked. “Won’t it seem suspicious that they’re suddenly breaking away?”
“Based on what little we know of the enemy’s tactics, there are two things they might be thinking about us,” Gray explained. “Either we’re total cowards and we’ll throw our people away to save our own skins or we’re struck dumb with compassion, which means we’ll toss aside the distraction to save our people. Whatever direction they take, they feel they have the upper hand with us.”
“That makes a certain kind of sense.”
“Of course it does.” Gray grinned. “Now, sit back and watch the fireworks. Our next tactic may not be so well received…or well played for that matter.”
Unlike fighter combat, large ship board battles required patience. Everything moved slower and the stakes were dramatically higher. A good blast from something like the Behemoth could cripple an enemy vessel and possibly destroy it. The trick came down to weakening the shields enough to do catastrophic damage.
Combat defenses made environmental shields look like tissue paper. Clea made it clear when she briefed them long ago. Properly calibrated protection could allow two ships to batter each other for hours if not days. One popular theory suggested this was why the enemy always sent two ships. Even the best shields could not stand up to a barrage from multiple vessels.
“Five minutes until the enemy is in range,” Paul said. “They are still gaining speed and our fighters have disengaged.”
“ETA for their arrival here?” Everly asked.
“Three minutes. They’re taking the long way around our little mine field.”
“Why didn’t we drop more?” Tim turned to the captain. “We could’ve put in enough to wipe out both ships.”
“Too many bombs would’ve picked up on their scanners,” Clea said. “Pulse munitions emit a distinct signature. Two amongst so much debris will simply appear like radiation on scanners, the exact kind you would see anywhere in space where objects clung together.”
“Oh…that makes sense.” Tim turned back to his console. “So they can’t pick them out of the junk.”
“Correct.” Clea confirmed.
“Two minutes.” Paul announced. “Our ships are docking in the hangars.”
Gray nodded. “When we have everyone on board, I want you to speed up, Redding. Overtake the Silver Star if you have to. Make it look like we’re going to make a real run for it. That’ll get them moving.”
Clea stiffened with realization. “Causing them to be less cautious so they’ll run right into your little trap.”
“By the time their scans pick up the two bombs, it’ll be way too late.”
“Sixty seconds to optimal range.” Paul paused. “Sir, they’re not slowing down.”
“They’ll barrel right through the trap,” Everly said. “Get ready to detonate.”
“When the bombs are closest to the shields, Paul,” Gray added, “hit the button.”
“Aye, sir.” Paul watched his console intently, waiting for a series of numbers to hit zero. The others stared at the view screen, set to the rear cameras. They watched the enemy vessels power toward them, moving haphazardly fast, unconcerned about the debris field in their way. Tiny flashes of green light indicated where the first of the debris burned up on contact with their shields.
Paul held up his hand. “Detonating…now!” He slammed a finger down on the console and the screen lit up with a massive white flash, engulfing both targets in an instant. Tim, Redding and Agatha cheered but Gray shushed them with a quick gesture. It took nearly ten seconds for the light to fade from the bombs going off.
When it did, the enemy vessels had stopped but they remained intact. Smoke came out of the one nearest t
he blast, seemingly from extensive damage in the lower levels on the port side. Gray leaned back and let out a sigh. He had allowed himself to hope they’d do more but this seemed to be enough for now.
“Can you get a reading on the damage?” Everly asked.
“One ship experienced only minor damage to their port side. Their shields held strong in the blast and it’s still at…eighty percent capacity.”
“And the other?”
“Shields are currently down,” Paul replied. “Extensive damage to the lower levels. I’m picking up a hull breach. I can’t get anymore.”
“That’s enough.” Gray rubbed his chin, watching as the relatively undamaged ship moved between them and the damaged craft. This might be the time to turn and attack. “They’re on the defensive.”
“Which is usually when an animal is at its most dangerous,” Clea answered.
“You said I should attack when they weren’t hurt,” Gray replied, “and now you’re cautioning me?”
“They wouldn’t have expected it before,” Clea said. “Now…they’re ready for us to turn around. Without shields, you’re right, we could take down that ship but they’ll use their shielded friend as cover and we’ll still be up against twice as many guns as we have.”
“I don’t know if they’re going to fall for another trick.”
“They don’t know tricks, Captain. I believe the plan was to get the Silver Star operational enough to get their story.” Clea nodded to him. “You proved to me that we should stick to it.”
Gray nodded. “I agree. Redding, catch us up to the Silver Star and have them change course. I want to loop around and get between those two ships and Earth. Time to go back to being the shield. Paul, get Olly on the line. I want to know where they are with the repairs and how long we can expect to wait. There’s still a lot of work to do, people. Let’s get it done.”
***
The explosion made the marines high five each other and hoot enthusiastically. The others didn’t quite share their enthusiasm but they definitely seemed glad it worked. For Olly’s part, he wondered how long their little victory would last. Surprises like that only worked once. They’d be a lot more cautious in the future and maybe that’s what Captain Atwell wanted.
Olly finished briefing the Behemoth on where they were. He knew they wanted better than his ambiguous ETA but his crew hadn’t finished mapping the extent of damage. Captain Atwell tasked him with restoring weapon capabilities, to help even the odds.
They made progress, however, especially with gathering some context into the people who built the ship. If Cathleen’s reboot worked, they might gain some insight into their way of thinking. Such a point would go a long way toward understanding why they structured their tech the way they did.
Maria finished mapping conduits and after twenty minutes of rerouting, managed to get power to several systems. Some were still damaged, including the computer specifically designed to wake the inhabitants of the pods up. Gregory joined them and started to see what he could do with it.
“Lieutenant,” Lisa called. “I’d like to get to the bridge to see what I can do. If I can direct connect into their systems there, I might make some headway with the databases.”
“We should send someone to engineering as well,” Maria added. “If we work in tandem, we’ll get a lot more done.”
“Take an escort,” Olly said, “and check in every ten minutes. But I agree…though we seem to have pretty solid access to various systems down here.”
“AI,” Lisa looked up as she spoke, “please give us the blue line to engineering and the ship’s bridge.”
“When you leave the room, take a left for the bridge and a right for engineering. You will need to use an elevator to reach both. The former is above us by several decks and the other down and near the fabrication facility.”
“Is this a good idea?” Lisa’s escort asked before they left. She’d learned his name was Chuck, a newer addition to the marines. He didn’t sound scared, just cautious. She smiled at him.
“I’m sure it’ll be no big deal. All the internal security stuff is off. We’ll be fine.”
“Famous last words,” Chuck muttered. “Alright, let’s move out.”
Maria also headed off and just as they cleared the door, Cathleen clapped her hands, calling out, “Lieutenant! I’m into that database! Sid is translating it right now.”
“Amazing,” Olly replied. “Have it put the information on my console over here.”
“Linking it up now.” Lisa hummed. “It seems to be a fragment of history…their time stamps don’t make any sense though.”
Olly expected a string of text, something translated into English to make it easier to read. Instead, a video popped up first displaying a major city from a high altitude then zooming in to various parts. It showed the inhabitants after a moment who looked remarkably human but for a few key differences.
First, most of them sported odd colored hair which didn’t appear naturally on Earth. Deep reds, vibrant blues, lime green mixed in with the occasional raven black. Skin tone ranged from pale to tinged with gold and silver. They seemed to glow under the white-gold light of their sun.
Olly hoped it might give him the composition of their atmosphere and radiation levels from their star but this seemed to be a historical document, not scientific.
People milled about, performing everyday tasks as they traveled the city which reminded him much of New York. Congested streets housed hundreds of people and sleek vehicles which tugged along sluggishly behind endless lines of others. Without sound, he couldn’t immediately tell what was going on. Was this business as usual or did something happen to make travel so slow?
Then he noticed the looks on people’s faces. Panic. They weren’t going to work, they were trying to evacuate. A few moments later, the sky lit up and huge blasts pummeled the buildings around the people he watched. Rubble tumbled from the highest skyscraper, crushing people and vehicles under enormous weight.
The aerial bombardment didn’t seem like it would stop any time soon and Olly had no interest in watching thousands of people die. “AI, fast forward, please. Take me to the part where people boarded this ship.”
The video stopped and a moment later picked up in a wilderness setting. Twisted, white and red trees stretched into the sky. A green stream passed over jagged rocks. Fluffy gray clouds littered the teal sky. As the camera panned over the wilderness, it settled on the ship landed in an open area miles long but surrounded by trees.
“They hid it there,” Sid announced, “because the foliage defended it against the active scans of the enemy. They targeted technological hubs first and by the time they resorted to this ship, few places remained. The secret of Protocol Seven came too late.”
Men and women boarded the ship, some carrying belongings, others unburdened. The view changed to the hallways Olly and his people walked down recently until it settled on the chambers. People embraced, some cried and some bitterly approached their pods without a word. Each crawled in and the tube sealed up, putting them into their deep slumber.
“They look like us,” Cathleen said, “for the most part.”
Olly nodded. “And they boarded their version of the Ark, hoping for a better world when they weathered the storm. How the hell did they break atmosphere and escape the enemy?”
“That information is currently locked. I cannot access it at this time.”
Olly rolled his eyes. “Thanks, AI. I’ll get that from you later.” He turned to Cathleen. “Was this everything in that database?”
Cathleen nodded. “But I think it gave me an access point to the next one. I’ll start digging at it.”
“Good. Let me know how you do.” Olly patched his com to Lisa and Maria. “Hey, we need to get weapons back online ASAP. That’s your first priority. Lisa, when you get to the bridge, I want to know whether we can take control of navigation. Find out. We might need the Behemoth to send someone over to fly this thing.”
�
��AI seems to be doing a pretty good job right now,” Lisa replied.
“Why thank you, Lieutenant Oxton,” Sid said, “but intuitive flying beats computer flying any day. My people learned that years ago.”
“You heard the um…man.” Olly cleared his throat. “Anyway, those are the priorities. Weapons, manual flight, database access. Everyone on board?”
He received a line of acknowledgement and turned back to his own task. They were still a ways off but closer than ever before. With context into the enemy and what they could do, he figured he had all the incentive in the world to fight and really push hard to get this work done. Just before diving back in, he sent the video to the Behemoth for them to review.
If anyone doubted the danger of the threat they faced, they wouldn’t for long.
Chapter 12
Clea finished watching the video Olly sent and turned to Gray. His expression remained grave throughout his viewing and when the screen went dark, he drew a deep breath. She understood his concern. Unlike him, she’d seen this type of thing before on other worlds. Her own people picked up the pieces of other cultures devastated by the enemy.
This was Earth’s first real look at what they faced if they failed.
“I can’t believe…they attacked civilian targets…” Gray shook his head.
“That’s how they operate,” Clea replied. “The stakes are high, Captain. If we fail, your world suffers the ultimate price.”
“I’m getting that.” Gray rubbed his eyes. “We seem to be doing okay so far.”
Clea smirked but it lacked all humor. “I will remain cautiously optimistic, isn’t that the term?”
Gray nodded. “Yes…and good point.”
“Captain,” Paul practically shouted with alarm. “Captain, the enemy! They’ve…they’ve disappeared!”
