by Joe Vasicek
“Gulchina!” said Katya, her eyes widening. “Major, Gulchina’s men must have gotten wind of our briefing. If they—”
“Thank you, Lieutenant, but we’ll handle things from here. Wake every soldier from the cryotanks and have them rush to engineering to put down this so-called mutiny.”
“But most of the soldiers in the cryotanks are Gulchina’s men!”
Alarms sounded overhead, and the lights flashed red.
“What the hell?” said Achilles. He lifted his wrist console to his mouth. “Captain Noah, what’s going on?”
“We have incoming warships, sir,” Noah’s tinny voice said over the wrist console speaker. “Eight ships, unknown class. They’re launching boarding craft and charging weapons.”
“Major,” said the sergeant, “we have to get you and the other senior officers to safety. If you please, follow me.”
The squad led the stunned officers out of the briefing room. Mara drew her energy pistol and set the charge to maximum. It hummed and throbbed in her hand.
You’re going to kill someone today, she told herself. Few thoughts could make her heart pound so hard.
* * * * *
Aaron followed Katya and Mara with the rest of the officers out of the briefing room and into the hall. Chills ran up and down his arms as they walked quickly down the corridor. He knew this place—he had been here before. And last time, he’d been lucky to escape with his life.
Shots rang out from a side corridor, making several people scream and drop to the floor. Mara lifted her pistol while the soldiers escorting them hugged the wall and fired around the corner. It was just like the Battle of Colkhia, where they’d boarded this very ship. Flashbacks came to him, flooding his mind with images of plasma-scorched hallways and bodies lying in blood. The soldiers opened fire around the corner, and he froze where he stood.
“Come on,” said Mara, grabbing him by the arm. He was too stunned to resist as she dragged him off in the opposite direction.
“Where are you going?” Katya screamed behind him.
“To the ship, you idiot. Let’s get the hell out of here!”
The ship, Aaron thought, his mind suddenly sluggish. We have to get back… to the ship… or else…
The edges of his vision began to grow foggy, and his response time began to slow. He heard gunfire again, though whether it was coming from nearby or from one of his flashbacks, he couldn’t tell. Panic and fear rose, drowning out rational thought.
Katya yelled at Mara, but he couldn’t comprehend what she was saying. Something about death? Or was it a dead end? He understood the words, but they didn’t make any sense to him. Mara understood, though, because she darted down another side corridor and pulled him through as quickly as he could run.
At that moment, two men in dark clothing rounded the corner right in front of them. Aaron didn’t know who they were or what they wanted, but he saw their knives almost the moment they came into view. A shot sizzled through the air, and the man on the right fell back against the wall. The other one lunged at Mara, but she threw him over her back and leveled her pistol at his head.
Zzap!
The man’s face melted to blackened hole, blood and brains spurting out from the back of his head. Aaron gasped in shock and horror at the sight. The smell of burnt flesh filled his nostrils, making his mind swim.
At that moment, the fog on the edges of his vision swept over him. Images of death and destruction flooded his mind, drowning out all rational thought. Nothing made sense any more—he couldn’t tell the difference between dream and reality. He reached out and tried to scream, but the words would not come.
Isaac! he cried out in his mind. Isaac, don’t let me fail you!
But then the panic overwhelmed him, and his thoughts became an incomprehensible mass of scrambled words.
* * * * *
Mara stood up, her heart pounding. Only when she saw the two dead bodies did she realize what she’d done. The smell of burnt hair and flesh filled the narrow corridor, while the second soldier twitched in the last of his death throes.
You’re a monster, the voice from her nightmares told her.
“Stars of Earth!” Katya exclaimed. She stared in shock and covered her mouth with both hands.
“We need to get out here,” said Mara, holstering her energy pistol. “Pick up that gun and let’s go.”
She took Aaron by the arm again, but he shrugged her off and fell to the floor. His eyes rolled back in their sockets, and he started convulsing.
“Aaron? Are you…”
Her voice trailed off as she remembered what Phoebe had told her about his brain damage. Her stomach sank, and her knees began to shake.
“Captain!” Katya yelled, kneeling down beside him. “Can you hear me? It’s me, Lieu—”
“He’s out of it,” said Mara. “Here, help me lift him.”
They took him under the arm on either side. He shuddered and tried to shake them off, but they held him tightly enough that he couldn’t break free. Still, with how much he was struggling, there was no way they could hold him and keep their guns free at the same time.
This isn’t going to work, Mara realized with dismay. She reached for her wrist console.
“Mathusael, can you hear me?”
“I hear you, Commander. What’s your status?”
“It’s pretty bad, Chief. Aaron’s had a relapse and gone completely out of commission. What’s the situation topside?”
Down the corridor, the sound of gunfire started to get closer. Katya let go of Aaron to keep a nervous watch by the corner.
“Gulchina’s ships have surrounded us, and their launching outriders to board the Starfire. The other ships are responding, but shots have already been fired and it looks like there’s going to be a nasty fight.”
Mara’s heart sank. “You’d better head out then, Mathusael. The way to the ship is blocked, and I don’t think we can make it.”
“Bullshit, Commander. Pallas and his squad are on their way to get you. Keep the captain safe, and we’ll get him to the medical bay as soon as you’re on board.”
“What?” she said, her breath catching in her throat. “Pallas? When did you—”
“As soon as the Tamerlane matched orbits with ours,” said Mathusael. “I figured something fishy was going on and gave the green light to thaw them.”
“They’re coming!” said Katya. “I can see them coming now!” The relief in her voice was as bright as a supernova.
“I can’t believe it,” said Mara, utterly dumbfounded. “I thought we were toast.”
“What?” said Mathusael, chuckling a little. “You didn’t think I’d run off without you, did you? I want you back on the bridge so I’m not the one who gets blamed when everything goes to hell.”
She grinned. “Thanks, Mathusael. We’ll get back as soon as we can.”
Pallas rounded the corner, dressed in heavy black armor and carrying his laser rifle. His visor covered his eyes, and the mask on his helmet gave him a fearsome look. He motioned with his hand, and his commandos set up watch on either side of the corridor.
“We’re here to get you back to the ship,” he said. The mask on his helmet modulated his voice, making it sound robotic.
“So we heard.”
Aaron yelped like a frightened animal and tried to run away. It was all Mara and Katya could do to grab him and hold him down.
“Steady there, Aaron,” she said in the most soothing tone of voice she could manage. “It’s going to be okay.” No matter how much she tried to calm him, though, he refused to stop struggling.
Pallas reached into a pocket on his arm and pulled out a syringe. In a single deft motion, he plunged the needle into Aaron’s side.
“What the hell was that?” Mara screamed.
“A tranquilizer,” said Pallas. “That should make him easier to handle. Come on.”
With gunfire and explosions sounding closer behind them, there was no time to argue. Mara and Katya hefted Aar
on’s limp, unconscious body between them and followed Pallas out.
* * * * *
Alarms greeted Mara as she stepped through the airlock onto the Merope-7. The commandos who guarded the door grabbed Aaron’s limp body and pulled him forcefully inside. Moments later, the door hissed shut, sealing them off from the chaos and fighting on the Starfire.
“We’re on, Mathusael,” Mara said into her wrist console. “We’re all here.”
The floor shuddered, and the grind of the docking clamps resounded through the bulkheads. Mara and Katya stumbled against the wall. For a very brief moment, the whole ship seemed to wobble, but then the gravitics kicked in and restabilized.
“Mathusael, what’s going on?”
“Sorry, Mara. Gulchina’s ships are closing in—we’re accelerating to a higher orbit.”
“Sounds like you’re needed on the bridge,” said Katya. After all that they’d been through, those words hit Mara the heaviest.
“Get the captain to the medical bay immediately,” she ordered the commandos. “Katya, come up to the bridge with me.”
“But Commander—”
“We’re short on officers, Lieutenant, and you’re no good to me in the command center. I need you with the rest of us on the bridge.”
Without waiting to see if Katya would follow her, she left the airlock for the elevator. Fortunately, Katya ran after her, catching up before the doors closed.
“What do you need from me, Commander?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Mara admitted, “but you’re not the kind of person who needs orders to figure things out. Keep your eyes open, and if you see something I don’t, let me know.”
“Thanks. I’m on it.”
The floor shook, making them both stumble. Somewhere down below them, Mara heard what sounded like an explosion.
“We might not even make it to the bridge,” she muttered.
Katya frowned at her. “That’s the most pessimistic thing I think I’ve ever heard from you, Commander.”
I wasn’t being pessimistic.
Another explosion sounded through the bulkheads, but they made it to the bridge without further incident. Mara hurried in to the sound of ringing alarms. Flashes of light from countermeasure flares and plasma bursts filled the view outside the window, and the stars reeled ever so slightly as Apollo pulled them clear of the fray.
“Thank God you’re safe,” said Mathusael. He rose, yielding the command chair to her.
“I wish we could say the same about Captain Deltana,” said Mara as she seated herself. “What’s our status?”
“Every damn one of Gulchina’s ships is here, and they’re sending outriders to board the Starfire. For a while, we were afraid they’d board us, but they seem content just to shoot us instead.”
“Jason, how are our countermeasures holding?”
“For the most part, very good,” said Jason. “A couple of shots got through, but nothing the ablative armor couldn’t handle.”
“Engines? Damage?”
“Hang on,” said Mathusael as he hurriedly accessed his console. “We have some light damage to the starboard nacelle, but nothing too critical—for now.”
“How’s the captain?” Phoebe asked. Her face was white.
“Your people are caring for him as we speak,” said Mara. “I want updates from them as soon as we’re out of this mess. In the meantime, let’s focus on the matter at hand.”
“Commander, where do you want me?” asked Katya.
“Just—just have a seat at my station,” said Mara. Her ears were starting to buzz, and the commotion all around her was making her dizzy. There was so much going on that she hardly knew what to do.
“One klick above the Starfire and rising,” said Apollo. “Our new orbit looks clear to the horizon.” Outside the forward window, the flashes became increasingly sparse.
“Commander,” said Jason, “we’re out of the combat zone, and Gulchina’s ships are not pursing.”
“Your orders, Commander?” Apollo asked.
Mara took a deep breath and forced herself to stay calm. “Give me an image of the Starfire on the main screen,” she ordered.
After a brief moment, the main screen flashed, showing the Starfire superimposed over the white and yellow clouds of the planet below. Explosions flared all around it, while a number of smaller craft circled around the edges just outside of plasma range. A number of smaller outriders zipped in closer, though, and those were under heavy fire from the Confederate flagship.
“They’re trying to capture it,” Mara mused. “It’s just like Colkhia, where we took it from the Imperials.”
“Your orders, Mara?” Mathusael asked, repeating Apollo’s request.
She blinked and came back to the present. “Hold our orbit, and open the fleet channel—I want to hear what they’re saying.”
“Opening channel,” said Phoebe. A moment later, the bridge was filled with radio chatter and busts of static.
“Merope-2! Merope-3! Get in there!”
“They’re putting up a heavy masking fire—we can’t get through.”
“We’re hit! Asterope-5 is hit!”
“How soon can we get another battle group into their orbit?”
“Dammit! New wave of outriders launching from the Ogedei!”
On the screen, the battle drifted out toward the horizon as their orbit drew them farther away. Tracers arced from half a dozen different directions, no doubt from ships whose orbits crossed the fray but could not effectively maneuver into it. Engines flared in eerie silence, while explosions rocked one of the light frigates trying to intercept the outriders. It broke apart in a deceptively peaceful fall toward the planet below.
What am I supposed to do? Mara thought to herself, fighting back the urge to panic. She glanced around the bridge and realized that everyone on the bridge was staring expectantly at her.
“Mathusael, what’s your take on the situation?”
“Frankly, Commander, the fleet needs us,” he said. “We’re the only ones who can reinforce the Starfire now.”
“Yeah, but the guns just stopped firing,” said Jason. “Whatever’s going on over there, it looks like the pirates are getting the upper hand.”
“Then we need to get down there and kick some serious ass.”
“We don’t have the firepower, Chief! Did you see how the Merope-3 just got shot down? That could have been us!”
“Enough!” said Mara. “Apollo, bring us closer but keep us just out of the fray.”
“Understood, Commander.” said Apollo. The gravitics tilted ever so slightly, and the view out the forward window began to pitch as he brought the ship around.
“What’s going on here?” Mara mused, leaning forward in her seat. “Why would the pirates choose now to strike?”
“It must have been us,” said Mathusael. “The Tamerlane didn’t start acting suspiciously until after we dropped in—and we did reveal our hand on a public channel.”
“But what did we find that would set them off like this?”
Katya gasped. “Stars and constellations of Earth!”
“What, Lieutenant?”
“The jump beacon—that’s what the pirates were after! They’re going to capture the Starfire and use the jump beacon they stole from our operative to get away!”
Mara’s gut clenched. “Are you sure about that?”
“It’s the only explanation that makes any sense. Gulchina didn’t join the fleet until after the operative went missing. Her plan must have been to capture one of our capital ships and use the jump beacon to get away.”
“If that’s true,” said Mathusael, “the moment those pirates storm the bridge of the Starfire, this whole thing is over.”
“Not if we can stop it first,” said Mara. “Jason, target the engineering wing of the Starfire, just above the reactors. Apollo, bring us in hard and fast.”
“Are you crazy?” said Jason. “Do you see how bad the fighting is? If—”
“Just do it. If this works, we’ll be out of there before they can hit us.” And if it doesn’t…
The planet came into view, with the flashes and explosions of the battle just a few hundred klicks away. The Starfire was just a speck from their distance, but it was clear enough from the tracers and scattered fields of debris that the battle was going in the pirates’ favor. In ten or fifteen minutes, the rest of the fleet would be ready to intercept on parallel orbits, but if Katya was right, they didn’t have that much time.
“Phoebe, bring up the full sector map.”
“Got it, Commander. Just a second.”
The main screen switched to an elliptical grid representing the orbital coordinates along the Bacca V gravity well. Green and red dots marked the various ships, with short lines representing their calculated trajectories. The trajectory lines of the smallest ships were shorter than all the others, with those of the outriders shortest of all. It made sense, considering that the maneuverability of those ships made them the most unpredictable.
Mara examined the map as the battle grew closer. The outriders showed up as a swarm of red specks immediately around the Starfire, with Gulchina’s seven ships establishing a perimeter. The few Outworld ships in the fray were mostly firing on the outriders, but the larger pirate ships were intercepting most of their shots. The cross-orbital broadsides seemed to be more effective at dealing damage, but far too many of those shots fell short of their intended targets.
“The Starfire is launching escape pods,” said Phoebe. “Some of the shuttles are pulling out, too. It looks—it looks like they’re abandoning ship.”
“Or trying to escape from the boarders,” said Mara. “Open a channel to the rest of the fleet.”
Phoebe nodded, and the computer chimed. Mara took a deep breath.
“Attention all vessels, this is acting-captain Soladze of the Merope-7. We have reason to believe the pirate forces have possession of a jump beacon. I suggest we concentrate fire on the Starfire’s engineering wing to disable them and prevent them from jumping out.”
