“Commander, what’s happening?”
“Three Emim frigates are attacking Kontana’s ship and we’re caught in the middle.”
The power of the lasers was enormous as each hit sent major vibrations throughout the hull. Even 107 began to shake severely. Randall quickly returned to his seat and belted in as their only option became clear.
“General Quarters! Retract lines, standby all weapons!”
“Weapons are hot!”
“Pilot, get us some room to fight! W.O. target the engines of the closest ship. Strikers, Starr penetrator pattern four. Fire!”
Addison hit her vertical and reverse thrusters hard. As soon as they were clear of Kontana’s ship she literally snatched 107 hard to port, and in less than a heartbeat she had them lined up just two hundred yards directly behind the Emim ship. The instant their nose returned to horizontal, Sela had a loud flat tone and microseconds later they all heard the rapid-fire hiss of four missiles exiting the tubes below the main deck.
The Emim never knew what happened as the missiles entered their engines one right after the other. The much larger ship quickly became a bright orange fireball that lasted almost a minute before burning out, but while it burned, Addison was trying to maneuver behind the trailing ship.
A thick, white hot beam streamed from the Rigelians main cannon as it began cutting into the Emim ship on their port side. Molten material trailed into space from its severed hull as the beam cut them in two. Two Emim ships had been quickly eliminated but the third was focused on Kontana’s engines.
“Tracking four torpedoes on Kontana’s six!” Randall and crew could only watch as the Emim missiles found their target.
Finally, Addison had them in position to take out the trailing ship, but just as Randall gave the command to fire, the frigate went to full thrust. Addison managed to evade most of their exhaust, but the turbulence she had to fly through was still enough to overload their power grid and shut down their systems. The loss of power and angle of impact from the exhaust sent 107 into a rapid flat spin.
“Engines, off line! Weapons, off line!”
“Pilot, you’ve got about 55 seconds to get us under control before we black out.”
“I know. Working on it!”
Without main power all Addison had left were her thrusters, but not all of them were responding. Gradually she fired those opposing their spin, and with each rotation they could feel the spinning begin to slow until finally they were stable again.
“Sir, Kontana’s ship is completely dark and the Emim ship is coming about. It looks like they’re moving in for the kill.”
“Sela, get main power back up!”
“Already working on it, but it’s going to take at least half an hour. Everything looks ok, but the reactors are offline. I’ve begun a restart, but it will take some time. All we have is emergency back up!”
“We’re out of time, Lieutenant!” On 107’s forward screen they could see the Emim ship turning inbound on the Rigelians.
“Sir, the Emim may be trying to communicate but all I can hear is buzzing.”
“They’re launching!”
“Aye, tracking five missiles.”
“If we’re ever going home we have to stop them now. How long until impact?”
“Fifteen seconds.”
“Main power?”
“Twenty-seven minutes.”
“Gats?”
“Not at this distance.”
“Manually launch our missiles?”
“No time, sir.”
“There’s got to be something…” Randall desperately tried to think of some way to intervene but all he could do was watch.
Sela’s eyes met Randall’s glare. “The cupboard is bare, sir.”
Penelope looked down at her station. “That’s not true. We have their missiles!”
As the crew fell silent, the sound of Penelope banging the daylights out of her keyboard echoed throughout the bridge. Slowly the others turned to see her feverishly pounding the keys, then all at once she stopped and turned toward the main viewer as she punched the enter key and yelled.
“Buzz, buzz, buzz! I’ve got your buzzing, losers!”
Randall’s eyes returned to the monitor to see all five missiles arcing back toward their point of origin. Penelope had suddenly remembered something Verna had shared with her several months ago about alien communications and targeting systems.
“Three… two… one!” Another orange fireball erupted across the bow of the Emim ship as a third of it disintegrated.
Randall, Sela and Addison sat in amazement as they watched the alien ship break up before their eyes.
Addison’s mouth was wide open as Sela slowly turned to Penelope. “WAY TO GO, PATIENCE!”
Randall was smiling from ear to ear. “Penelope, that was awesome! What did you do?”
“Their infernal buzzing has been driving me crazy since our first encounter, and I had been trying to find a way to block their signal for days, when I suddenly remembered what Captain Starr told me about Nephilim and Emim tracking and targeting networks. Unlike ours, their weapons do not have onboard radar, visual or infrared, for targeting. All their weapons are aimed or guided remotely from their ships by a central operations station that uses dual transmitting and receiving of signals. Unlike our system that operates in two parts that transmit and receive carriers separately, their system is always open and allows a carrier for both signals simultaneously.”
“And that means…”
“It means, if I can match their frequency perfectly, their system is open to receive any signal, including ours, but the only time they are vulnerable is when their missiles are in flight, which is usually only a few seconds. I simply tapped in and reversed their targeting signal. Their missiles were refocused onto their own transmitter and BOOM! In all honesty, I was very lucky.”
“Luck or not that was excellent work, Lieutenant! You just saved all of our lives including the Rigelians. And speaking of Kontana, let’s see what we can do to help. Sela, how long until we have main power back?”
“Still twenty-two minutes, but we have enough now to maneuver.”
“Good! Skin to white. Pilot bring us to 300 feet above and in front of the Rigelians. COM, put me through to Kontana.”
“Go ahead, sir.”
“Ferryman to Kontana. How may we assist?”
“This is Kontana. We do not require your assistance but obviously we have much to discuss.”
“Yes, I thought we might.”
“We will be fully operational soon. Do you see the red light above the port side landing bay?”
“I’ve got it, sir,”
“Yes, we see it.”
“When it becomes blue, at that time you are ordered to enter the bay. My people will secure your ship and we will talk. This transmission ends now.”
Sela rolled her eyes as she turned to Randall and while gritting her teeth she noted, “He seems a little testy. I don’t like condescending people, especially aliens.”
Randall nodded. “Nor do I, but for the moment we’ll have to do as they ask. He’s probably not very pleased that we hitched a ride, but if we hadn’t come along he may not be here to be condescending.”
“The light is blue, sir.”
“Take us in pilot and land with us facing the door, just in case.”
“Just in case of what?”
“Exactly!”
Addison set the fighter down gently and waited for the bay to pressurize while Sela continued to work on the reactors. As the door closed, the bay became very dark with only a few lights twinkling near an interior hatch.
“Sela, is there a way to bypass the reactor protocols? I’m tired of losing power whenever we take a hard impact.”
“I don’t think so, sir, but we probably don’t want to do that because Sirius is still tweaking the system. The reactors have done very well to this point and they’re supposed to shut down rather than overload and turn us to crispy atoms.”
“Well, it’s danged inconvenient!”
“How long do you think this will take, Commander?”
“I don’t know; not long I hope. I want all of you to remain on the ship and Sela get us back to 100 percent asap.”
“Don’t you think I should go with you?”
“No, I want you here should anything go wrong. Everyone stay strapped in until I say different.”
“Do you think we’re in danger?”
“To be honest, I don’t know what to think. Our alliance seems to be a bit lopsided to me, but then I’m not a politician or in command of DSSF.”
“The bay is pressurizing. Be careful, sir, and don’t forget your sidearm.”
“The hatch is opening.”
“I think that’s my cue. Lock the door behind me, get something to eat and drink plenty of fluids. It may be a while before you have another opportunity.”
Penelope watched as Randall disappeared through the hatch. “I’d feel better if we could see more than two feet past the ship.”
“Main power is back up now. Turn on our running lights and hoist the colors. That should help.”
As he reached the other side, Randall stepped into a large open room where he could see Kontana waiting for him on the opposite side.
“Welcome, Commander Randall. Please sit.”
Randall stuck out his hand, but Kontana ignored the gesture. “I guess you’re wondering how we got here.”
“No, we knew your ship was attached to ours before we entered the conduit, but after sharing consciousness with Cheveyo I am aware of your determination when it comes to her. I knew you would not rest until you found a way to come along. My engineers scanned your ship and determined you would survive the ride, so we allowed you to stay. I will admit I am impressed by your ingenuity. However, when we return to your planet your ship will do so in our storage area while its crew rests safely in guest quarters. The effects of hyper speed are neutralized within this ship.”
“That would be most appreciated, thank you. How long before we can return to Earth?”
“Repairs are proceeding well. No more than two of your days.”
“Two days! You do realize there’s a large fleet headed straight for Earth and we still don’t know where Verna has been taken. Have there been any reports?”
“We dispatched six ships to search for the Emim vessel, but thus far it has not been located. I have no doubt that we will find it, but I am concerned it may not be soon enough. Now, it is I who must thank you. Our survival was in question for a few moments, but again, your ingenuity accomplished more than I would have believed.”
“The credit for that goes to my communications officer, Penelope. Even though our own defenses were not available at that time she was able to use their weapons against them.”
Kontana smiled. “Perhaps she should be commanding your ship instead of you.”
“Give her time.”
“Commander, I think I should tell you that while Cheveyo was among our people we learned as much from her as she learned from us. In sharing her mind, I learned everything about her from her earliest memories and time in school, to all of her relationships. I know you are not convinced that we are your allies, but I assure you, we only want to help your people realize their full potential.”
“I certainly hope so, but it takes time to develop trust, and for all practical purposes we’ve just begun. But in time, we’ll see. Our president says we should ‘Trust but verify,’ so for once I’m following his lead.”
Before Kontana could answer, his communications officer, Mintaka, appeared with an update on their search.
“Please pardon my interruption, Great One, but you will want to know this immediately. We have a report from Guardian. The Emim ship that took Cheveyo is now in orbit of Earth.”
“You were correct in bringing this to me. This is good, yet puzzling news.”
Randall looked relieved. “What’s puzzling about it?”
“Much! We have had dealings with the Emim for eons. In all of our history they have never released a prisoner alive and none have ever escaped. Starr would be the first!”
“We’ve got to get back!”
“I will make propulsion our top priority; perhaps a day. “
Chapter 14
Meanwhile, onboard Dziban’s ship…
“How much longer, Captain?”
“I’ve finished my inspection, Lieutenant. While it’s banged up a bit, she’s still flyable. The life support system and controls are intact. As long as we don’t run into any trouble she’ll get us back to the Yard, but that still leaves us with two problems. The power level is too low to start the engine and we have to get the space door open to escape.”
“I think we may have to wait, ma’am. It’s getting brighter in here.”
“You’re right. Let’s get back behind the support.”
Just as Starr and Lucy made it into the shadows, several Emim entered the bay. Dziban had returned with Tyl and two warriors to prepare the Interrogator for her descent to DSSF HQ, and to go over their plan one last time. Lucy could not believe the size of the warriors or her eyes when she saw Tyl wearing a DSSF flight suit, but as Tyl stepped into the light the lieutenant got the shock of her life. For a moment she stared at Tyl then began to tremble as she turned to look at Verna.
“What the… it’s…. it’s you! Captain, what’s happening?”
Verna quickly placed her hand over Lucy’s mouth then whispered, “Keep it together, Lieutenant. I see her. Not a sound, understand?” The lieutenant nodded as Verna removed her hand.
The two women watched in silence as one of the warriors moved to a control station behind the large steel poles, and after a few seconds the Interrogator eased down onto the deck. Once it was stable, Dziban opened the canopy and leaned inside to program the controls for automatic flight. When he had finished he gave Tyl her final instructions.
“It is time to board Tyl. We are almost to the drop point. There is nothing for you to do except enjoy the ride down. I have activated the ship’s automatic return protocol. Just keep your hands off the controls and the transport will take you directly to their main base. When you land they will come to meet you and from that point you will put Thuban’s plan to work.”
“Yes, I know what to do, Dziban. I know every inch of their base and where to go so well I’m beginning to think I am Verna Starr.”
“Now, one last time, let me hear you recall the plan.”
“You are infuriating. I am not a child! I pretend to be unconscious with a head injury and I cannot remember what happened or how I got there. Once I am inside I will locate their tactical center and shut down all communications and defenses. When that is accomplished I will signal Thuban and he will take their base while you lead the main attack force and destroy the humans and Anakim’s fleet. I understand!”
“Good. Then you also understand that if you fail, Thuban will make certain your last days are a slow, living nightmare, before he has what’s left of you stuffed and hung on the wall of his bed chambers.”
Tyl bowed her head and nodded. “I do understand, but have no doubt Dziban. I will make sure you are there with me. Now, launch this thing so that I may get on with the task at hand.”
Dziban glared at her with complete contempt as he placed his hand on his sword. “If your talents were not required for this mission I would kill you myself, here and now!”
“And what would you do to Thuban? To him you are no more than me, just a pathetic underling. You will never lead our people.”
“Enough, slave! Thuban will be monitoring your progress and move in once you have defeated their defenses.”
“Understood.”
After a moment to concentrate, Tyl adjusted her size to fit nicely within the small seat and belted in while the others returned to their bridge. As they closed the door behind them, Verna and Lucy could hear some sort of machine start up that made a spinning noise.
“Quickly! Close
your visor and pressurize your suit! They’re evacuating the air in order to open the door.”
Lucy did as instructed, and managed to get her air back on just in time to see stars appear through the large opening. After a few seconds a familiar blue flame illuminated the bay as the fighter lifted from the deck. Verna and Lucy again crouched behind the support column and watched their only chance of getting home leave without them.
“Captain… do something!” The fear and desperation in Lucy’s voice weighed heavily on Verna’s mind. For an instant she flashed back to when she and Ono were being held on Anakim’s cold dark ship wearing little more than chains.
“It’s going to be alright, Lieutenant. I’ve been in worse situations. Just stay calm and we’ll get through this.” But what the captain knew that the lieutenant did not, was that last time she had a plan of escape and Commander Randall to back her up. This time no one knew where they were and all they had to work with was forty minutes of air and two clips of ammo.
As Tyl left for DSSF HQ, Lucy turned to Verna almost in tears. “Now what do we do?”
“The first thing we do is remain calm and think. For the moment, they don’t know we’re here and we can use that to our advantage. They were on us quickly I didn’t get a good look, but I believe we are on an Emim frigate, and if I recall correctly there are only five officers and thirty-five crewmen. They all have to breathe, the same as we do, and that means the air has to circulate throughout the ship.”
“So, what’s the plan?”
“Plan A is to find a way to get into the ventilation system and from there do some recon in order to gain access to the ship’s controls.”
“What’s plan B?”
“We find a way to destroy the ship.”
“I don’t like plan B. What’s plan C?”
“Plan C is we kill as many of them as possible, but save the last bullet for ourselves. You do not want to be a slave for the Emim.”
“I really dislike C. I vote for A.”
“Then let’s find a way into the ventilation system, Lieutenant. We only have about forty minutes of air left.”
At DSSF HQ…
“General Barrett, please report to Tactical.”
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