Frontiers Saga 10: Liberation

by Ryk Brown

  “What the…?”

  “Wait,” Loki interrupted, “I’m picking up a lot of debris on active.” Loki studied the sensors. “Man, something really big was destroyed here.”

  “Do you think it was the Aurora?” Josh asked, his tone showing concern as well.

  “I don’t know,” Loki answered. “I’m increasing my scan range and turning on the data recorders.”

  “I don’t like this,” Josh said.

  “I’m picking up something near Jupiter,” Loki said, “something small, a fighter maybe, or a probe.”

  “Maybe you’re picking up one of the Talons from before.”

  “We’re not far enough out,” Loki corrected. “The light from Jupiter is from after the Celestia departed, well after.”

  “What about those jump buoys?” Josh said.

  “I almost forgot,” Loki said. “Transmitting a hailing pulse now.” Loki watched his display for several seconds. “I’ve got it!”

  Josh sighed with relief.

  “Querying the buoy.”

  “Where’d they go?”

  “You’re not going to believe this,” Loki said. “They’ve jumped back to Earth. We must’ve jumped past them in the opposite direction on the way here.”

  “Well, that doesn’t sound too safe,” Josh mumbled as he started to turn the Falcon around. “What the hell are they doing jumping back to Earth anyway? That wasn’t in the plan, was it?”

  “Not that I know of,” Loki said as he began plotting their return jump.

  * * *

  “Jump complete,” Mister Riley announced as the jump flash subsided. “We are one thousand kilometers off contact three’s estimated course. If the target is traveling at their maximum FTL speed, they should be passing our position within the next few minutes.”

  “What’s our current distance from Earth?” Nathan asked.

  “Twenty-eight point four light minutes, sir,” Mister Riley replied.

  “Very well,” Nathan answered as he turned to his left. “Keep an eye out for them as they pass, Mister Navashee. If we’re going to make this work, we’ll need to know their exact course and speed.”

  “Understood, sir,” Mister Navashee answered.

  “Captain,” Mister Randeen began, “no disrespect intended, sir, but is it wise to attempt to chase down those frigates? They are headed back to Earth and not after the Celestia, after all.”

  “For now, yes, but for how long?” Nathan responded. “The Jung didn’t send their battleship or their last cruiser, probably because they don’t want to leave the Earth and their spaceport undefended. That means those two frigates are probably the only ships they can send searching for the Celestia. We get rid of them and the Celestia’s chances of escape are greatly improved.”

  “But we’re not even sure we can force them out of FTL. Perhaps it would be better to ambush them when they come out of FTL near Earth.”

  “Then the odds would be four to one,” Nathan said, “and one of the four is a battleship.” Nathan shook his head. “No, better to engage them farther out, beyond the protection of that battleship.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Contact!” Mister Navashee reported.

  Nathan turned his head, expecting his sensor officer to report the passing frigates.

  “Jump flash!” Mister Navashee added. “It’s the Falcon.”

  “Message from the Falcon, sir,” Naralena reported. “Jumper One has been destroyed.” Naralena’s eyes came up to meet the captain’s. “Unknown survivors.”

  Nathan felt a cold wave flow over him.

  “They’re low on fuel and requesting to land.”

  Nathan sighed. “Very well,” Nathan said. “Tell them to get on deck quickly. We could be jumping out at any moment.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And call Lieutenant Telles to the bridge,” Nathan added.

  “Aye, sir,” Naralena answered, turning to one of her comm operators to carry out the captain’s request.

  Nathan rotated slowly to port in his command chair. “Anything yet?” he asked his sensor operator.

  “No, sir,” Mister Navashee answered. “They must not be traveling at top speed.”

  “Because of damage?” Nathan wondered.

  “Possibly. It could also be that they don’t use top speed when performing FTL hops within a system. The timings of their last few hops would indicate an FTL speed closer to five times light, instead of ten.”

  “Any chance they already passed us by?”

  “No chance, sir. We jumped well ahead of them, unless they can go faster than we originally thought.”

  “Very well,” Nathan said.

  “You wanted to see me, sir?” Lieutenant Telles said as he approached.

  Nathan rose from his seat and stepped up onto the raised section of the back half of the bridge to meet the lieutenant. “Yes, Lieutenant.” Nathan escorted the lieutenant into the small alcove that led to his ready room. “I was hoping you might have some ideas on how to rescue our people from the surface.”

  “I can analyze the situation and possibly make some recommendations. However, it was my understanding that there may not be anyone to rescue.”

  Nathan stared at the lieutenant, a look of confusion on his face.

  “I was in combat control when the Falcon reported in, sir. I will need more information about the tactical situation.”

  “The Falcon should be setting down to recycle at any moment,” Nathan told him. “Perhaps they can provide the information you need.”

  “I shall speak to them and report back to you, sir,” the lieutenant promised.

  “Thank you, Lieutenant.”

  Lieutenant Telles nodded politely, then turned and headed for the port exit.

  “Contacts!” Mister Navashee reported. “Energy signatures, visual images, electromagnetic radiation…” Mister Navashee turned and smiled, “and sewage. All extremely redshifted. It’s them. Give me a moment to calculate their course and speed.”

  “Feed the data to navigation as soon as you finish,” Nathan ordered. “Mister Riley, I want to be one minute ahead of them, no more than ten kilometers off their flight path.”

  “Yes, sir,” Mister Riley answered, looking at his partner at the helm to his right as he grimaced.

  “Mister Randeen, make sure all tubes are loaded and ready to fire,” Nathan ordered. “We’ll put as much firepower into their flight path as possible. If we’re lucky, either the nukes, the plasma torpedoes, or the rail gun fire will knock them out of FTL,” Nathan said.

  “Contact three’s course and speed plotted and transferred to navigation,” Mister Navashee reported.

  “Calculating jump,” Mister Riley announced.

  “Flight ops reports the Falcon is on deck,” Naralena added.

  “Helm, pitch us over so we’re flying stern first.”

  “Pitching over, aye,” Mister Chiles answered.

  “Tubes two and four are loaded with nukes set for timed detonation. Plasma cannons in tubes one and three are fully charged and ready to fire. Missile launcher is also loaded and ready with high-speed, short-range missiles. All quads are topside and ready to fire. All operational mini-rail guns are set for point-defense mode and are ready to lay down a fragment field across the frigate’s flight path.”

  “Very well.”

  “Jump plotted and ready,” Mister Riley reported.

  “Jump when ready,” Nathan ordered.

  “Five seconds to jump,” Mister Riley announced.

  Nathan took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  “Two……one……jump.”

  The blue-white jump flash washed over the bridge, disappearing a split second later.

&nb
sp; “Jump complete.”

  “Position verified,” Mister Navashee announced. “Fifty seconds to intercept.”

  “Fire tubes two and four,” Nathan ordered. “Start building your point-defense wall.”

  “Firing two and four,” Mister Randeen announced. “Activating point-defenses. Torpedoes away. Thirty seconds to detonation.”

  “Forty seconds,” Mister Navashee reported.

  Nathan watched the time tick away on the tactical display on the lower right side of the Aurora’s spherical view screen.

  “Thirty seconds,” Mister Navashee reported.

  “Twenty seconds to detonation,” Mister Randeen added.

  Nathan continued watching the time, saying nothing.

  “Twenty seconds,” Mister Navashee reported.

  “Stand by to fire tubes one and three,” Nathan ordered calmly.

  “Aye, sir,” Mister Randeen acknowledged. “Five seconds to detonation.”

  Nathan looked at the main view screen, looking for the frigates speeding toward them even though he knew that, while traveling at faster than light, they could not be seen.

  “Two……one……”

  A small, white flash appeared in the center of the view screen. The flash was only slightly larger than the stars in the distance and might have gone unnoticed had he not been watching for it.

  “Fire one and three,” Nathan ordered.

  “Firing one and three,” Mister Randeen answered.

  Two red bolts of plasma energy streaked over their heads on the view screen, disappearing quickly toward the same center point.

  “Pitch down ten degrees,” Nathan said. “Be ready to fire quads and missiles.”

  “Pitching down,” Mister Chiles acknowledged.

  “Contact!” Mister Navashee shouted. “Just came out of FTL! She has considerable damage across her forward sections!”

  “FIRE!” Nathan ordered.

  “Firing quads! Locking missiles on target and firing!” Mister Randeen announced.

  Four missiles streaked over their heads on the main view screen. Nathan looked at the center of the screen. A small, almost imperceptible, gray and red dot began to grow rapidly in size as the Jung frigate gained on them.

  “One down!” Mister Randeen reported.

  “Another contact!” Mister Navashee reported with excitement.

  “Where?” Nathan wondered.

  “Two down!”

  “Behind us,” Mister Navashee replied, “or past us, I should say. It’s the other frigate! They must have dropped out of FTL as soon as they realized the other frigate had reverted to sub-light! They overshot us!”

  “Direct hits!” Mister Randeen reported. “Two detonations!”

  “Contact three has lost all forward shields!” Mister Navashee reported.

  “Flip us over and bring our stern tubes onto contact three!” Nathan ordered.

  “Pitching back over!” Mister Chiles acknowledged as his fingers input the attitude change.

  “Reload two and four. Recharge one and three, and prepare to fire on the other contact!” Nathan ordered. “Reload the missile launcher as well, and prepare to put another volley into contact three!”

  “Aye, sir!” Mister Randeen answered.

  “Contact two firing her deceleration engines, Captain!” Mister Navashee reported. “She’s trying to slow down!”

  “Pitch over complete!” Mister Chiles reported.

  “New jump!” Nathan ordered. “Put us ten kilometers aft of contact two!”

  “Plotting,” Mister Riley acknowledged.

  “I have a firing solution on contact three,” Mister Randeen reported.

  “Fire tubes five and six!” Nathan ordered.

  “Firing five and six!” the tactical officer answered. “Torpedoes away!”

  “Full power, Mister Chiles!” Nathan ordered. “Recalculate your jump, Mister Riley!”

  “Full power, aye!”

  “Recalculating!”

  “Ten seconds to torpedo impact,” Mister Randeen reported. “Missiles will be reloaded and ready to fire in twenty seconds.”

  “Jump plotted and ready,” Mister Riley reported.

  “Torpedo impact! Two detonations!”

  “How much charge on one and three?” Nathan asked.

  “Eighty percent!”

  “Stand by on one and three!” Nathan ordered. “Jump, Mister Chiles! Jump!”

  “Jumping!”

  The blue-white jump flash came and went.

  “Jump complete!”

  “Contact two, dead ahead! Eight kilometers and closing!” Mister Navashee reported.

  “Charge?”

  “Ninety!”

  “Seven kilometers!”

  “Damn!” Nathan swore as he waited for his plasma torpedo cannons to reach their full charge.

  “Ninety-five!”

  “Six! Aspect change! Target is trying to gain altitude relative to us!”

  “Kill our mains and pitch up to keep our nose on them!”

  “Five kilometers!” Mister Navashee reported.

  “Mains to zero! Pitching up!” Mister Chiles answered.

  “Full charge!” Mister Randeen reported. “Locking on target! Keep us pitching up, Mister Chiles!”

  “Three!”

  “Fire when ready!” Nathan ordered.

  Mister Randeen watched his console as the Aurora’s helmsman continued pitching upward to keep the ship’s two plasma cannons pointed at the climbing target. “A little more… and… FIRING!”

  Two bolts of energy streaked over their heads on the main view screen, the red light flashing across the bridge.

  “Two!”

  “Pitch down!” Nathan ordered! “Full power! Pass under them!”

  “Direct hits!” Mister Randeen reported.

  “Pitching down! Going to full power!”

  “Hit them with all four quads as we pass under them!” Nathan ordered.

  “Firing quads!”

  “Topside cameras!”

  The image on the main view screen switched to the Aurora’s top-facing cameras and zoomed in on the fleeing frigate as she suddenly streaked away.

  “What the hell?” Nathan exclaimed.

  “She went to FTL!” Mister Navashee reported.

  “Kill the mains! Flip us back over and bring our tubes back on contact three,” Nathan ordered.

  “Aye, sir!” Mister Chiles answered.

  “Disengaging quads,” Mister Randeen replied.

  “Jesus, I can’t believe they just abandoned the other frigate,” Nathan said in disbelief. He turned to his left. “Damage assessment on contact three?”

  “One moment,” Mister Navashee said as he examined his displays. “Contact three has sustained major damage,” he began. “No shields, plenty of hull and structural damage, and her lower missile launchers are gone. She’s also missing several of her point-defense turrets.”

  “Does she still have main power and maneuvering?” Nathan asked.

  “Yes, sir,” Mister Navashee answered. “Two missile launchers as well. She’s definitely able to fight, sir.”

  “Not for long,” Nathan said.

  “Missile launcher reloaded and ready,” Mister Randeen reported. “Tubes two and four reloaded with nukes. One and three at forty percent and rising.”

  “Pitch over complete,” Mister Chiles reported from the helm. “We’re flying stern first, nose toward the target, sir.”

  “Very well. Slow us down and move us in closer, Mister Chiles,” Nathan said. “It’s time to finish her off.”

  “Yes, sir,” Mister Chiles acknowledged. “Bringing the mains back
up.”

  “Keep an escape jump plotted, just in case she has a trick up her sleeve,” Nathan told his navigator.

  “Always, sir,” Mister Riley answered.

  “Range to target is five thousand kilometers and closing,” Mister Navashee reported.

  “Another round of missiles her way, Mister Randeen. Full acceleration. Let’s see how her point-defenses are holding up.”

  “Locking missiles on the frigate,” Mister Randeen answered. “Firing four.”

  Nathan watched the tactical display on the lower right side of the main spherical view screen as the missiles advanced toward their target.

  “Twenty seconds to impact.”

  “Flight operations reports the Falcon will be ready to launch again in fifteen minutes,” Naralena reported.

  “Very well, have them return to Earth and attempt to make contact with survivors,” Nathan said.

  “Aye, sir,” Naralena answered.

  “Ten seconds.”

  Nathan looked at the tactical display again. One of the icons representing the Aurora’s missiles disappeared.

  “One missile intercepted,” Mister Randeen reported. “Two missiles intercepted.”

  The remaining two icons converged on the red triangle representing the Jung frigate.

  “Two detonations,” Mister Randeen reported.

  “Damage assessment?”

  “One moment,” Mister Navashee answered. “Target has lost all forward maneuvering. She has a major hull breach on her starboard side and is venting atmosphere. She’s also venting propellant, sir, a lot of it.”

  “Does she still have propulsion and power?”

  “Power, yes. Unknown on main propulsion. However, she isn’t running any engines at the moment. Wait… she’s firing… Eight missiles inbound. Twenty seconds out.”

  “She’s fighting to her last breath,” Nathan mumbled. “Tactical, lock plasma torpedoes and fire both tubes.”

  “Locking on target,” Mister Randeen answered.

  “Fifteen seconds,” Mister Navashee updated.