Frontiers Saga 10: Liberation

by Ryk Brown

  “God, I hate these turns!” Loki complained. “Why can’t we dial up the dampeners to full power?”

  “I’ve gotta feel the flight,” Josh insisted. “It ain’t flyin’ if all you do is look at your console!”

  “I much prefer spaceflight,” Loki grumbled as the turn finished and the ship rolled quickly back to level flight.

  “Droppin’ to the deck!” Josh announced. Josh could feel himself become lighter as he pushed the Falcon’s nose down.

  “Ground targets dead ahead,” Loki reported. “Bringing the nose turret in.”

  “I’ll put them on our left so we’re not going nose to nose with Jumper One,” Josh said.

  “Good idea,” Loki agreed. “Gun range in five seconds.”

  “Light ’em up,” Josh said as he reduced forward power and increased his lift thrust to maintain his altitude just above the treetops.

  A stream of brilliant, red-orange balls of plasma energy streaked out of the Falcon’s twin-barreled nose turret as it slowly rotated to the left. The streams of energy tore into the three vehicles as they traveled down the country road at top speed. The last vehicle in the convoy blew apart and flipped over, spreading Jung soldiers and burning debris all over the road and its shoulders. The next vehicle swerved to try to avoid the incoming fire, only to lose control and roll over onto its side. It, too, exploded as the Falcon’s energy weapon found its target. Finally, the last vehicle, the lead in the doomed convoy, slammed on its brakes and swerved to its left, away from the attacking interceptor, as its deadly blasts of plasma energy slammed into the road to its right, sending chunks of asphalt flying in all directions.

  “Damn it!” Loki swore again.

  “I thought you had him!” Josh added.

  “Jumper One, Falcon! One truck got through!” Loki announced over the comms as the Falcon began to accelerate and climb. “He’ll be at the LZ in one minute! We have to deal with the inbound shuttles first or you’ll never get out of there in time!”

  “Jumper One copies,” Jumper One’s copilot answered over the comms. “We’ll deal with them. Hurry back.”

  Major Waddell looked out the shuttle’s starboard window as they skimmed the treetops. The trees and brush suddenly gave way to a manmade clearing, in the middle of which was a large warehouse along with several smaller outbuildings. The clearing was poorly lit with floodlights mounted on the sides of the main building. Several large tractors and a few large trucks were parked off to the sides, and the clearing was surrounded by woods with dirt roads at either end of the compound. “Looks like some type of a maintenance yard or farming station,” the major said to his sergeant as they passed overhead.

  “Looks like everyone has gone home for the night,” the sergeant answered.

  “Fine by me.”

  “Forty seconds,” the copilot’s voice announced over Major Waddell’s comm-set. “Coming about for touchdown. LZ is hot.”

  “Understood,” the major answered. He stood in front of the hatch that led from the cargo area to the cockpit of Jumper One. “Thirty seconds!” he yelled at the ten Corinari troops standing along either side of the shuttle. “We’ve got company coming! Drop the door and get ready to welcome them!”

  The shuttle crew chief in the jump seat to the major’s right pressed the door control panel. The lights inside the shuttle turned a dim red, and the rear cargo door began to open, its top edge pulling away from the top of the cargo bay as it lowered downward and away from the shuttle. The sound of rushing air was heard as wind blew into the cargo area of the shuttle from outside. Ten seconds later, the door was level with the cargo bay deck, forming a platform that extended three meters beyond the back of the shuttle. The two soldiers closest to the exit stepped onto the ramp as the shuttle finished its turn and leveled off only ten meters off the ground. The two Corinari soldiers on the ramp raised their energy rifles, took aim on the approaching truck, and opened fire. Their barrels flashed in rapid succession as they sent a stream of energy bolts toward the approaching vehicle. The truck stopped suddenly as it took several blasts to its nose, blowing its engine apart. Jung troops began jumping and falling out of the back and sides of the vehicle, quickly running into the scattered woods on either side of the road. The soldiers on the ramp continued to shoot, spraying the area on either side and behind the truck as their energy rifles continued to rain fire down upon the scrambling enemy soldiers. A few shots were returned by the Jung troops as they scrambled for cover but were all wide of their marks.

  “Five seconds!” Major Waddell called to his troops.

  “Jumper One, Falcon,” Loki’s voice called over the major’s comm-set. “Incoming shuttles destroyed. Returning to provide cover.”

  Jessica watched from the partially open doorway of the main warehouse as the jump shuttle settled down onto the packed dirt. Just before the shuttle’s gear touched the ground, two Corinari jumped from the rear cargo ramp, immediately moving off to either side as they continued to fire toward the burning vehicle at the mouth of the far entrance. In pairs, the rest of the Corinari troopers jumped out of the shuttle, also fanning out as they sprayed both the truck and the surrounding woods with energy rifle fire. The entire scene was bathed in a combination of amber light from the warehouse floodlights, bright white from the shuttle’s landing lights, and the incessant flashes of red-orange from the Corinari energy rifles as they hammered the Jung soldiers in the distance.

  She waited until the last two men to exit the shuttle turned and headed toward her position in a crouched run. She grabbed her backpack and pushed the door open, stepping out into the clearing so they could see her and know that she was a friendly. In an instant, she knew that it wasn’t necessary, as she recognized the man coming to get her.

  “Nice to see you, Lieutenant Commander!” Major Waddell yelled as he approached.

  “Goddamned nice to see you as well, Major!” she answered. “What took you so long?”

  “You know how it is with pilots,” the major answered with a grin. “They always need to double-check their math.” He looked at her shoulder wound. “Can you make it?”

  “Hell yes!” she answered, handing her backpack over to the sergeant next to Major Waddell.

  “We’d better move out,” the major said. “We don’t want to miss our flight!”

  Jessica smiled as she crouched down and jogged toward the waiting shuttle, holding her left arm up to shield her face from the shuttle’s engine wash as it kept its lift turbines running just under the level needed to lift off. She followed the major around to the back of the shuttle and up the ramp as weapons fire continued to be exchanged between the Corinari spread out around the back end of the shuttle and the few surviving Jung troops still hunkering down in the woods at the edge of the compound.

  Once inside, Major Waddell led her to the starboard jump seat and buckled her in. He then stood up and tapped his comm-set as he turned around and headed back to the open aft end of the shuttle. “Package secure! Orderly withdrawal! Let’s get the hell out of here!”

  Jessica cringed as the sergeant cut away the fabric around her shoulder wound. “Damn!” she cried out as he sprayed the wound with a temporary antiseptic sealer.

  “That’ll help ease the pain and keep it from getting infected!” the sergeant explained over the sound of the shuttle’s turbines and the weapons fire outside.

  “A little late for that, isn’t it?” Jessica mused. She looked aft, trying not to pay attention to the sergeant’s medical aid and watching as Major Waddell stood fearlessly in the middle of the ramp. He laid down cover fire as his men climbed aboard the shuttle from either side in orderly fashion. Each man called off the next number in succession as he boarded, and when the last man called the number ten, the shuttle began to rise off the ground with surprising speed. Major Waddell continued firing into the trees below for seve
ral seconds as the ramp began to rise beneath his feet, forcing him to step backward into the shuttle. No longer with a firing line to the surface, the major discontinued his barrage, raised his weapon, then turned and headed forward as the cargo ramp continued to rise behind him.

  The shuttle rose, gaining forward speed as it ascended. The deadly rain of energy weapons fire now over, the few surviving Jung soldiers rose from their positions and ran toward their disabled vehicle, its front still burning. The most senior of the men barked orders in Jung to the others as they scrambled to pull a large weapon out of the back of the damaged truck. Two Jung soldiers quickly carried the large weapon past the burning front end of the truck into the edge of the clearing, then stopped and deployed its tripod base. As one soldier steadied the base, the other soldier swung the weapon around to point it at the climbing shuttle. The senior officer continued to urge them on, hurrying them to fire the weapon before it was too late. As the weapon began to charge, a faint, blue-white light began to quickly spill over the departing shuttle’s hull, pouring out from small emitters. In the same second as the blue-white flash was about to reach its peak, the Jung soldiers fired their weapon. A ball of yellow light streaked away from the weapon, striking the shuttle in its port aft turbine. The shuttle rolled onto its left side as its back end kicked out to the right. The blue-white light instantly disappeared, and the shuttle’s nose went down. Seconds later, it disappeared behind the trees, followed by a crash, a massive cloud of smoke and dust, and the bright, orange flash of an explosion.

  * * *

  “Captain, both frigates have gone to FTL,” Mister Navashee reported from the Aurora’s sensor station.

  “Last range?” Nathan wondered.

  “Ninety light seconds.”

  “One or all of them are going to come out of FTL in front of us,” Nathan said. “Let’s make another course change, Mister Chiles. Twenty degrees up relative to the ecliptic.”

  “Twenty degrees up relative, aye,” the helmsman answered. “Mains are still running at full power. Current speed is fifty thousand kilometers per second and increasing.”

  “Damage control reports power restored to forward rail guns, sir,” Naralena reported.

  “Very well.” Nathan looked about the bridge as he waited for the Jung to execute their next move. Either his enemy believed the false intelligence Jessica had planted on Tony’s body and were trying to get them to use up the last of the jump energy, or they were testing that intelligence before committing to a full-on battle. Either way, his plan was working. They were keeping the Jung ships away from the Celestia, buying her time to disappear into the cold darkness of space.

  Nathan rotated aft in his command chair. “Did we receive an updated status report on the Jung ships still in orbit over Earth the last time the Falcon was near?”

  “Yes, sir,” Mister Randeen answered. “The battleship and the cruiser we damaged during the previous engagement were still in orbit.”

  “That was, what, fifteen minutes ago?”

  “Twenty minutes, forty seconds,” Mister Randeen corrected.

  “Contact!” Mister Navashee reported. “Off our starboard beam, well below!”

  “It’s the cruiser, sir,” Mister Randeen added. “She’s matching our old course and speed.” Mister Randeen smiled as he looked at the captain. “They thought they would come out right next to us.”

  Nathan smiled back.

  “Contact is turning with us and accelerating,” Mister Navashee announced.

  “They’re trying to move closer,” Mister Randeen surmised.

  “Multiple contacts!” Mister Navashee reported. “Four missiles inbound! Impact in eighty seconds!”

  “Point-defenses,” Nathan ordered.

  “Already firing,” Mister Randeen answered.

  “Helm, thirty degrees to port and continue pitching up,” Nathan ordered. “Try to keep them from getting alongside us.”

  “One missile down,” Mister Randeen announced.

  “Lock four missiles on the cruiser and fire when ready,” Nathan ordered.

  “Locking missiles on target,” Mister Randeen answered as his fingers entered the commands. “Firing four! Time to target: one minute…”

  “Contact!” Mister Navashee interrupted. “Frigate!”

  “Two missiles destroyed!”

  “We’re turning right into the frigate, Captain!”

  “Helm, reverse your turn and pull up hard!” Nathan ordered.

  “Reversing my turn! Pulling up hard, aye,” Mister Chiles answered.

  “Three down!” Mister Randeen announced.

  “Third contact!” Mister Navashee reported. “The other frigate!”

  “Where is she?” Nathan demanded.

  “High and to starboard!”

  “Fourth inbound missile destroyed,” Mister Randeen reported.

  Nathan glanced up at the tactical display on the side of the main view screen as the last of the Aurora’s missiles were destroyed by the Jung cruiser’s point-defenses. “Helm, turn into the third contact. Tactical, stand by snapshot on tubes two and four with nukes.”

  “Turning into the third target,” Mister Chiles answered.

  “Loading two and four with nukes.”

  “How long until our nose is on target?” Nathan asked his helmsman.

  “Ten seconds.”

  Nathan turned and looked at Mister Randeen.

  “No problem, sir,” Mister Randeen answered.

  “Multiple contacts!” Mister Navashee reported. “Four missiles inbound from contact two! Impact in eighty seconds!”

  “Turn complete!” the helmsman reported.

  “Two and four, snapshot!” Mister Randeen announced. “Torpedoes away! Time to target: forty seconds!”

  “Pitch down ten and roll us to port!” Nathan ordered. “Tactical, all point-defenses on the inbounds. Pound both frigates with our top and bottom quads as we pass between them.”

  “Aye, sir!” Mister Randeen reported. “Quads firing!”

  Nathan felt vibrations in the deck.

  “Taking heavy rail gun fire from the cruiser,” Mister Randeen reported. “Aft port side!”

  The bridge began to shake violently.

  “Rail gun fire across our belly from the nearest frigate!”

  Nathan glanced at the tactical display again, noticing that only one of the missiles fired by the first frigate had been destroyed by the Aurora’s point-defenses.

  “Two detonations!” Mister Randeen reported.

  “What about those missiles?” Nathan demanded.

  “Two down. Two to go!” Mister Navashee reported. “Impact in fifteen seconds!”

  “Escape jump! Two light seconds!”

  “Two light seconds, aye,” Mister Riley answered from the navigator’s chair.

  “Contact! It’s the Falcon!” Mister Navashee reported.

  “Jump plotted and locked!” Mister Riley announced.

  “Comms!”

  Naralena didn’t waste time answering the captain. “Falcon, Aurora! Jumping ahead two light seconds!”

  “Three seconds!”

  “Jump!”

  The bridge filled with the blue-white jump flash. The shaking stopped as the flash cleared, then there was a dull thud.

  Nathan looked around. “What the…”

  “One of the missiles came through the jump with us!” Mister Randeen reported. “The energy of the jump must have caused it to detonate just before impact.”

  “Damage?”

  “Nothing yet, sir,” Naralena answered.

  “Where’s the Falcon?”

  “They just jumped in off our starboard side,” Mister Navashee answered.

  “Flash traffic fro
m the Falcon,” Naralena reported.

  Nathan pointed to his comm-set.

  “Patching them in,” Naralena said, noticing the captain’s gesture.

  “Aurora, Falcon! Jumper One is down! Jumper One is down southwest of the extraction point!”

  “Falcon, Aurora Actual,” Nathan said into his comm-set. “Any survivors?”

  “Unknown, sir,” Loki answered over the comms. “The shuttle is badly damaged, but the hull was basically intact. No one was answering my hails.”

  “Hostiles?”

  “Fast movers maybe three minutes out, and more combat landers about five out.”

  Nathan closed his eyes and clenched his jaw as a wave of despair swept over him. He had no options. “Falcon, Aurora Actual. Destroy Jumper One.”

  “Sir, there may be survivors inside. Maybe we can hold them off long enough to…”

  “Negative,” Nathan interrupted in a stern tone. “Too risky. We cannot afford to lose the Falcon, and we cannot afford to let the jump drive technology fall into Jung hands. I’m ordering you to destroy Jumper One, maximum force. Is that understood?”

  There was a brief pause. “Understood, sir,” Loki answered. “Falcon out.”

  The bridge seemed unusually quiet.

  “Mister Navashee,” Nathan began calmly, “I want damage assessments and position updates on all three targets ASAP.”

  “Aye, sir,” Mister Navashee answered.

  “Helm, hard to port, five degrees up relative to the ecliptic. Maintain full power.”

  “Hard to port, five degrees up relative, full power,” Mister Chiles answered. “Aye, sir.”

  “Load nukes in two, four, five, and six. All full yield, all set for snapshot, Mister Randeen.”

  “Yes, sir.”