by Ryk Brown
Another flash of blue-white light appeared, followed by a flurry of red-orange weapons fire, as a Takaran fighter swept the enemy position to Jessica’s right. As the Takaran fighter pitched up to jump away, two more jump flashes appeared to the fighter’s right, firing as their jump flashes faded. The Takaran fighter took the hits on its starboard side, at such a close range that its shields failed, and its starboard engine exploded, sending the fighter tumbling out of control, slamming into the elevated transit rails beyond the Seiiki.
More weapons fire poured over them as Jessica, Nathan, and the others remained pinned to the ground at the edge of the landing pad. Jessica rolled over Nathan, moving into position to use Doctor Megel’s body as a shield while she returned fire.
Two more landers appeared on the far side of the building, and soldiers jumped to the ground behind them.
Dalen spun around and opened fire, but was caught in the leg by return fire, toppling him over.
Weapons fire erupted from the top of the Seiiki’s cargo ramp. Jessica glanced to her right, spotting Neli firing one of the plasma cannons that had been mounted on either side of the ramp, just inside the hatch collar. She stood out in the open, firing the mighty cannon constantly, sweeping back and forth in an attempt to keep the first group of Dusahn soldiers to the Seiiki’s port side down long enough for Jessica and the others to sprint the last ten meters to the cargo ramp and up into the ship.
“GO!” Jessica shouted, as she spun to her left and opened fire on the Dusahn soldiers advancing toward them from behind.
Another flash of light appeared, and a combat jump shuttle dropped in low, between Jessica and the enemy soldiers behind them. The combat shuttle opened fire, and Jessica heard the General’s voice yelling through her helmet comms. “Get out of there!”
Marcus grabbed Nathan, practically carrying him to the ramp. Michi followed, helping Dalen to his feet, together heading for the Seiiki.
Neli stopped firing, reaching out to help Marcus with Nathan. It was a mistake.
The Dusahn soldiers that Neli had been keeping down rose up and opened fire again. Their shots slammed into the sides and back of the Seiiki. Marcus stumbled as energy shots bounced off the ramp around him and Nathan. As he fell forward, an energy shot ricocheted off the port engine nacelle, and into the left side of Nathan’s helmet, snapping his head to the right and taking his body with it.
Marcus struggled to pull Nathan’s limp body up the ramp. Michi pushed Dalen past Nathan, sending him tumbling up the ramp and into the Seiiki’s cargo bay.
“Lift off!” Jessica ordered, as she ran toward the Seiiki, still firing to her left.
Four more jump flashes appeared nearby, as the Seiiki began to rise off the landing pad. Jessica ran the last few steps, jumping into the air and landing on the end of the cargo ramp as the Seiiki continued to climb, and the cargo ramp began to quickly rise.
All four of the jump flashes were Dusahn fighters which immediately opened fire on the Seiiki. Energy blasts slammed into the Seiiki’s starboard side, sending sparks and pieces of her hull flying. But a moment later, the Seiiki jumped away.
“We’re hit!” Loki exclaimed, as the Seiiki’s cockpit windows cleared, revealing the blackness of space and a myriad of stars. “Jesus! We’ve lost half our jump emitters on the starboard side! I don’t know how the hell we managed to jump this far!”
“The captain is on board!” Neli exclaimed over their comm-sets.
“We didn’t jump far enough, I’m afraid.” Josh stared out the forward windows, as their nose pitched down, revealing a large warship about four kilometers away, and headed directly toward them.
Loki looked up, his eyes widening. “Is that…”
“Yeah, I’m afraid so,” Josh replied.
“What the hell are you doing?” Loki asked, noticing that their nose was dropping back down toward the planet.
“I’ve got no thrusters,” Josh replied, frantically checking his controls.
“What about the mains?”
“Yeah, but I can’t steer, and we’re losing altitude fast.”
“We need more speed to hold orbit!” Loki insisted.
“I know! I know!” Josh replied. “But if I fire the engines now, we’re just going to spin out of control, and that sure as hell isn’t going to help!”
“I’ll try to reboot the flight computers,” Loki decided, quickly shutting down the system. “Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!” Loki called over the comms. “The Seiiki is in orbit over Corinair, dead stick, with a warship bearing down on us. We’re trying to restart, but our starboard jump array is fried!”
“Mayday from the Seiiki, Captain!” Ensign deBanco reported. “They’re dead stick in orbit over Corinair and going down. They’re attempting to restart, but they’ve got a warship bearing down on them!”
“I’ve got them, Captain!” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported from the Aurora’s sensor station. “They don’t have enough speed to hold orbit. Not even half of what they need. They’re tumbling toward the planet. The Dusahn battleship is three kilometers and closing on them!”
“I can jump us in between them,” Ensign Bickle suggested.
The equation flashed through Cameron’s mind. The Aurora was the only warship in the region, and was the Karuzari’s only real weapon against the Dusahn. If she risked the ship to save the Seiiki, and lost, she could be losing the entire war in the first battle.
“The battleship is targeting the Seiiki”! Lieutenant Commander Kono warned.
“Comms!” Cameron called. “Give me the Ghatazhak channel.”
“You got it,” the comms officer replied.
“Jess! It’s Cam! What’s the package!”
“Cam! It’s Nathan! Nathan is the package!”
“Mister Bickle. Do it!” Cameron ordered.
“Jumping,” the navigator replied.
“Helm, keep us between the Seiiki and that battleship,” she added, as the Aurora’s jump flash washed over her bridge.
“Tactical, fire everything you’ve got!” Cameron continued. “Comms! Tell flight to launch a tug!”
The Aurora shook violently, as weapons fire meant for the Seiiki slammed into the forward starboard shields.
“Firing all cannons and rail guns!” Lieutenant Vidmar reported.
“The Seiiki is maneuvering!” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported with excitement.
“Belay that!” Cameron instructed Ensign deBanco.
“Slowly, but they’re moving,” the lieutenant commander added.
“Comms, get an update on the Seiiki’s status. If they can, tell them to land on our port flight deck.”
“Jump flash!” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported. “Just behind us! To the Seiiki’s starboard side! A combat jumper!”
“Seiiki thinks she can make our deck, Captain!” Ensign deBanco reported.
“Good!” Cameron replied. “Keep firing!”
“Shields down to seventy percent!”
“Jesus, she’s got a lot of guns,” Lieutenant Commander Kono commented, as the Aurora was shaken by another salvo.
“Combat One is requesting to land as well!” Ensign deBanco added.”
“Send them to starboard,” Cameron replied, as incoming energy weapons fire continued to batter the Aurora .
“The battleship is turning, Captain!” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported.
“They’re trying to get their tubes on us!” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar warned from the tactical station behind the captain.
“Shields down to fifty percent!”
“Tell both those ships to hurry the hell up,” Cameron instructed her comms officer. “Dinev! Keep as much ship between the Dusahn and those two ships as you can, but keep a clear jump line at all times! Bickle, the moment both tho
se ships are across our jump field boundaries, you jump us out of here, understood?”
“Shields down to forty percent!”
“Seiiki! Seiiki!” You’re cleared to land, port flight deck! Be aware, we may have to maneuver!” the Aurora’s comm officer called.
“Please don’t,” Josh mumbled. He glanced at Loki, a puzzled look on his face as he struggled to maintain control of his damaged ship. “Did he say port flight deck?”
“I think so.”
“When did the Aurora get a port flight deck?” Josh wondered aloud.
“Combat One! Aurora! Cleared to land! Starboard flight deck!”
“Well, all right then,” Josh said.
“Combat One copies!”
Josh glanced out the window, as the Aurora loomed in front of them. The Seiiki continued to tumble as Josh twisted and turned his flight control stick, using the Seiiki’s weak docking thrusters to try to get them into a stable flight attitude. “You couldn’t get anything other than docking thrusters?” Josh grumbled as he continued to struggle.
“It’s a miracle I got those working,” Loki replied. He glanced out the window as well. “Oh, God.” He caught sight of the backside of the Aurora’s forward section, just as they cleared the top of her main drive section. “There! Same level as the old flight deck! They’ve got two openings! One on either side! Steer to port!”
“Ya think!” Josh continued to manipulate his flight control stick, struggling to get the Seiiki’s yawing roll to slow down.
“You’re too high, Josh,” Loki warned.
“I know.”
“Josh.”
“I know.”
The Seiiki rolled back over, her nose coming down to point in the general direction of the port flight deck, but they were still yawing slowly to the left.
Loki stared out the front windows, as the hull directly above the opening to the Aurora’s port flight deck came rushing toward them. “Josh! We’re going to hit!” Loki exclaimed.
Josh fired the downward translation thrusters at full power, and closed his eyes.
“Combat One is on the deck!” Ensign deBanco reported.
“Shields are down to twenty percent!” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar warned.
“I don’t think they’re going to make it,” Lieutenant Commander Kono warned. “They’re too high!”
The Aurora shook, as more energy weapons fire slammed into their shields.
“Fifteen percent!”
“Roll us ten to starboard,” Cameron instructed calmly.
“Ten to starboard, aye,” Lieutenant Dinev replied, as she applied a touch of roll thrust.
“Five percent!” the lieutenant commander warned, as another salvo slammed into them. “One more hit…”
“Seiiki is across the threshold…”
“Jump!” Cameron ordered, as the jump flash was already lighting up the bridge.
“Jump complete!”
“Seiiki is on deck!”
Cameron jumped from her command chair, heading toward the exit. “Jump us to the recovery point! Have the XO come to the bridge and take the conn!” she ordered as she moved quickly toward the exit. “I’ll be at the main hangar bay!”
The Seiiki pulled into the transfer airlock and stopped. Josh let out a big sigh of relief. “Not my best landing, that’s for sure.”
“I was positive we were going to slam into the side of the ship,” Loki admitted.
“Remind me to kiss the Aurora’s helmsman,” Josh said.
“Airlock secure,” the deck controller called over comms. “Pressurizing airlock. Stand by.”
“You know, I’d never admit it to Lael,” Loki began, “but I miss this. I really do.”
“Even my crazy flying?” Josh wondered.
“Especially your crazy flying, my friend.”
Cameron ran down the ramp from the command deck, then bolted down the corridor toward the main hangar bay. “Make way! Make way!” she shouted. She ran into the bay, slowing down as she ran across the deck, toward the aft, port transfer airlock, which was just starting to open. She continued to walk forward, as the door slid open, and the battered Seiiki, or what she knew as the Mirai, rolled into the Aurora’s main hangar bay.
Cameron heard someone yelling, and Vladimir ran into the bay from the starboard side, headed straight for her. He too slowed down, as he saw the Seiiki roll in and come to a stop. Safety teams rushed toward the ship, as did rescue workers.
Vladimir came up to Cameron, standing beside her. “Is he…”
“I don’t know,” Cameron said softly, still staring at the back of the Seiiki.
“He’s waking up,” Michi said, as she knelt over Nathan in the Seiiki’s cargo bay, tending to his head wound.
“How is he?” Jessica asked. “I can give him a nanite boost.”
“We need to examine him thoroughly first, all things considered,” Doctor Sato explained. “But it’s not bad. The helmet absorbed most of the heat. He may have a concussion, though. At the very least, he’s going to be groggy for quite some time.”
“If anyone has right to be groggy, it’s that man,” Marcus declared.
“We’re shut down,” Loki announced over the Seiiki’s loudspeakers.
“Nathan?” Doctor Sato said, trying to get his attention.
Nathan opened his eyes slowly.
Jessica smiled. “We made it, Nathan. We’re home.”
“Home?” Nathan said, his voice still weak and scratchy.
“Help me get him up,” Jessica said.
Marcus knelt down beside the man whom he had stuck to like glue for the last five years, while his true self had been locked up inside the head of Connor Tuplo, and helped him to his feet.
Josh and Loki came through the forward hatch, sliding down the ladder one by one, coming up to the captain.
“How is he?” Josh asked.
“He’s going to be fine,” Doctor Sato assured them.
“Is he?” Josh started.
“They’re both in there,” Michi replied.
Josh breathed a sigh of relief. By some miracle, he had his old captain back, without having to lose his new one.
“He looks younger,” Loki realized.
Jessica laughed. “He is.” She looked at Josh. “Open it.”
Josh smiled, and went to the cargo ramp controls at the back of the Seiiki’s cargo bay.
The ramp began to lower slowly, revealing the interior of the Aurora’s main hangar deck outside. Gathered around the back of the Seiiki were at least twenty members of the Aurora’s crew…
…And two familiar faces.
Jessica and Marcus flanked Nathan on either side, helping him keep his balance as he walked down the ramp, seemingly under his own power.
Cameron felt as if her heart would stop, as she spotted Nathan coming down the ramp, flanked by her old friend Jessica, and that crusty old chief of the boat, Marcus Taggart. Her heart swelled as she watched her friends descend the ramp, with Josh and Loki behind them. She tapped her comm-set and spoke softly. “Now, Mister deBanco.” Then she took a deep breath and barked. “Attention on deck!”
Ensign deBanco’s voice echoed throughout the hangar bay, as well as the rest of the Aurora, as he made the announcement.
“Aurora… Arriving.”
Thank you for reading this story.
(A review would be greatly appreciated!)
COMING SOON
“REBELLION”
Episode 4
of
The Frontiers Saga:
Rogue Castes
Visit us online at
www.frontierssaga.com
or on Facebook
Want to be notified when
new episodes are published?
Join our mailing list!
http://www.frontierssaga.com/mailinglist/
