The Coming Storm_A Pax Aeterna Novel

by Trevor Wyatt

  Ashley couldn't let her aggravation get the better of her, though. She had to do her best in the position she was in. Although she couldn't fight or fly, she could still lead.

  “Let's make another run at The Ghost. It's our only chance,” she declared to the pilots.

  “Roger that,” Powers replied.

  The Hunters turned their attention to the former Intelligence ship. For a ship that had been through a war and presumably salvaged, it seemed like it was in good shape. It was certainly overwhelming The Seeker at the moment.

  Ashley watched nervously as her fellow pilots made their move on The Ghost. Shots were fired one after another, but it still wasn't enough. Any damage was minimal. The Hunters weren't prepared to take down a ship like that. They could handle the boarding shuttles, although the sheer numbers game was still a problem. The shuttles plus The Ghost, though, were proving a terrifying team.

  “Going on the offensive isn't working. We just need to protect ourselves. Keep The Seeker safe. If we remain safe, we can still potentially protect the convoy. The top priority is the safety of The Seeker,” Ashley declared.

  The pilots took the command and positioned themselves around The Seeker, trying to take down boarding shuttles that were getting too close to the ship. They were having success, but the numbers were just so overwhelming, and The Ghost still loomed. It was carving a swath through space, firing particle beams in quick succession, and it seemed like nothing was going to stop it.

  Ashley looked over at Jeryl once more. If you have any tricks up your sleeve, now would be the time, she thought as if though she was attempting to communicate telepathically with him. She turned her attention to the battle brewing outside.

  In truth, it wasn't much of a battle anymore. The Seeker and its fleet were taking heavy fire. The convoy had been boarded. The Armada would not be pleased about this, but The Seeker and its crew would have to survive to be admonished for that. Any result was on the table at this point.

  “Hang in there, guys. We can still do this!” Ashley exclaimed.

  By now, she no longer believed it. The Seeker and the Hunters were being overpowered by the The Ghost. Nothing Ashley could do seemed to be helping.

  If only I was out there, she thought once more.

  Instead, she had to stay on CNC, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

  Chapter 8

  Jeryl

  “Keep fighting, everybody! This isn’t over yet!” Jeryl exclaimed over the chaos of the battle.

  It was his duty as captain to keep up morale and to rally his crew, but he was worried that it would all be for naught. Things had been slowly devolving since the first moment the boarding shuttles suddenly appeared surrounding the transport convoy. The Seeker had been taken by surprise, and Jeryl couldn’t help but feel like he was at fault.

  “We’re taking heavy fire,” he heard a voice call out from the deck.

  Jeryl couldn’t be sure who it was, as his eyes were transfixed on what was happening in front of him. His Hunters were doing their best to fight off the boarding shuttles, but even they were having a hard time. Even though Ashley was helping to coordinate her fellow pilots, she could only do so much. She was a great pilot, but she wasn’t a miracle worker.

  “What’s the status of the convoy?” Jeryl called out.

  “Every ship has been boarded by the shuttles!”

  Jeryl ran his hands through his hair. The unraveling of the situation continued apace.

  We’re on our last legs here, he thought. What the fuck am I going to do?

  He looked out at The Ghost, a ship whose arrival had unmoored him. Even now, Jeryl still couldn’t fully process what he was seeing. Kaine’s old ship was back from the dead. Jeryl wasn’t the only relic of the Earth-Sonali War in this battle, it seemed.

  “Ashley, how are the Hunters?” he yelled.

  “They’re keeping the boarding shuttles at bay, but they can’t make a dent in The Ghost.”

  Of course they can’t, he lamented to himself. We weren’t ready for this.

  Jeryl couldn’t help but wonder if he could have done something to prevent this. Though his attention was solely focused on the task at hand, on the back of his mind something was nagging at him. However, he realized it was only with the benefit of hindsight that he could ponder what could’ve been done. He had done nothing wrong, and all he could do now was try and make the best of a terrible situation.

  Jeryl continued to bark out orders to his crew, all the while asking for updates as well. Through the fog of war, the captain remained calm and stoic. This was what made him so well-suited for the position, Admiral Flynn had once told him. Jeryl wasn’t so sure about that.

  The battle waged on, but Jeryl could see where things were heading. The convoy was of no use. All of those ships had been rendered helpless by this attack, and the boarding shuttles had left the entire convoy in the hands of the pirates. The Seeker and its Hunters were trying their best, but they couldn’t go on the offensive. All they could do was try and protect themselves, but Jeryl could see the writing on the wall.

  I’m losing control of this situation, and fast, he admitted to himself.

  While his outwardly visage was still projecting confidence, inside, he realized that defeat was on the horizon. The arrival of the The Ghost had flipped the script on the battle, as it did so many times when Kaine helmed it during the Earth-Sonali War. Jeryl cursed the lucky pirate who had found the ship and salvaged it. He knew that The Ghost deserved a better fate than being a pirate ship.

  “The Hunters can’t fight them off much longer!” Ashley exclaimed.

  “I know, I know!” Jeryl replied, his frustration bubbling to the surface.

  Jeryl was contemplating what to do next. Was there any way to save the convoy? Or was it a lost cause? He hated the idea of losing the transport ships. The whole point of the mission was for The Seeker to protect them as they carried their cargo. Clearly, they had failed. Disappointment filled Jeryl. However, he wasn’t able to stew in that disappointment very long.

  Alarms began signaling the crew on the CNC, and in a moment it dawned on Jeryl what had happened.

  “The Seeker is being boarded!” he yelled.

  As the captain’s words rang out, it was all hands on deck to deal with the situation. Jeryl had to admit it was only a matter of time before this happened. The Seeker was outmanned and outgunned. The pirates were going to break through their defenses eventually. Getting on board the transport ships was one thing, but getting on The Seeker was a real coup for the pirates.

  There were murmurs among crew members that clearly indicated a wave of fear and worry running through them, but Jeryl couldn’t allow himself to worry. He needed to take charge now more than ever. This was a bad situation, and he couldn’t let it get any worse.

  If he dithered too long, The Seeker would find itself overtaken by pirates. He couldn’t allow his ship to be captured.

  Whatever happens, The Seeker won’t be left in the hands of pirates.

  Though he couldn’t stop the transport ships from being overtaken, there was still time to save his ship.

  Jeryl knew his crew was looking to him for guidance. In his mind, there was only one avenue left to take.

  “Prepare the ship for an FTL jump!”

  “Are you sure?” Ashley asked.

  Though Ashley was busy coordinating the Hunters, she had taken a second to act as a sounding board for Jeryl. He respected her, and she knew that, and she was just making sure the captain was thinking straight in all the chaos.

  “Yes, I’m sure,” he said with total clarity.

  Jeryl wasn’t happy about it, though. In truth, jumping to FTL was a move of desperation. If he thought they had any other option, he would have gone with it. An FTL jump would mean effectively abandoning the transport ships. No, he sure as hell wasn’t happy about that. Alas, the die had been cast. There was no saving the convoy. The pirates had secured all those ships. It didn’t do anybody any good for Je
ryl to let The Seeker have the same fate.

  As Ashley instructed the Hunter pilots to return to the ship immediately to prepare for the FTL jump, Jeryl made preparations of his own. There wasn’t a second to spare. The moment Jeryl was informed that the Hunters were back on the ship, he ordered the jump. A few seconds later and The Seeker popped out of existence, folding time and space as it made way to its new coordinates. Jeryl breathed a sigh of relief, and he wasn’t the only one. The Ghost was no longer looming over them. Of course, this also meant the transport ships were now left to defend for themselves.

  “Is everybody okay?” Jeryl asked.

  Before he could get any answers, though, he realized something was still amiss. It quickly became clear that the attempt to board The Seeker by the pirates had been at least partially successful.

  “We’ve got enemies on the ship!”

  Jeryl, having identified where the pirates were though the holographic ship’s map, sprang into action. The fight wasn’t over yet.

  “Let the pilots and crew know that we have pirates on board that must be disposed of. Tell them to be on high alert. Ashley, you stay here.”

  He knew she wouldn’t like being kept in the CNC, but he wasn’t about to let her get in harm’s way. Jeryl, weapon drawn, ran out the CNC doors and headed into the ship to find the pirates. Along the way, he was joined by the pilots, plus a handful of other crew members deft with weaponry. Things were calm, but tense. Then, the first shot rang out, a particle beam hitting the wall right behind Jeryl and leaving a mark.

  “There’s over there!” Jeryl exclaimed as he ducked for cover.

  He wasn’t sure how many pirates had made it on board. That wasn’t an important detail in the moment. All that mattered was that the crew kept shooting until the return fire stopped.

  A shootout between The Seeker’s crew and the pirates, a ragged team of rough men wearing mismatched clothing, ensued. Gun blasts flew as the two sides exchanged volleys. Fortunately, Jeryl and his crew were well-versed in the art of combat, all thanks to the mandated hours in the ship's simulator. Their marksmanship greatly surpassed their pirate trespassers.

  “I got one!” Powers exclaimed upon successfully hitting a pirate, his body now sprawled on the corridor ahead.

  In time, a few more pirates fell, their cries and grunts of agony making Jeryl wince. He peered around the corner. He could see one pirate left standing. He steadied his trigger finger and got ready to make his move. With one smooth swoop, he swung his body out into the hall and shot. It was a dead-on hit. The pirate crumpled to the floor, dead.

  “Is that the last of them?” Guillermo asked.

  “I believe so. How is everybody? Was anybody shot?” Jeryl replied.

  Fortunately, and perhaps miraculously, none of the crew had been hit. The pirates may have been good at taking a convoy by surprise, but their shooting left a little to be desired. Jeryl exhaled deeply. Things were calm once again.

  He returned to the CNC where all eyes turned to him.

  “The pirates are all dead. We’re safe,” he assured them.

  There was some rejoicing on the crew, but Jeryl didn’t join them. He was glad The Seeker had avoided being captured, but he still couldn’t view the day as anything but a failure.

  Their mission had been a failure.

  Chapter 9

  Admiral Flynn

  “Admiral. I wish we were meeting under better circumstances.”

  “How is your crew holding up?” Flynn asked.

  “It was a rough experience, but we’re managing,” Jeryl replied, pursing his lips tightly. “What’s really important is where things go from here.”

  Flynn didn’t say a word, but he certainly agreed. Something had gone amiss out there in the vast reaches of space. The Seeker had been put in charge of protecting a convoy of transport ships by the Armada. These ships had been finding themselves attacked by pirates, looted, and sometimes lost. This mission was supposed to bring an end to it.

  That had not been the case. The Seeker and the convoy had found themselves under attack by total surprise. The transport ships had been lost, and Jeryl was only able to save The Seeker from a similar fate, thanks to an FTL jump. This was a black mark, and Flynn wanted to know what had happened. He needed to get to the bottom of this.

  “I need to see the images of the battle,” Flynn remarked.

  “Absolutely,” Jeryl replied.

  The admiral looked up at the big screen in front of him as Jeryl patched in the recording. The Seeker and the convoy were making their way to Edoris station when suddenly they were inundated with boarding shuttles. It was a true swarm.

  “Do you have any idea where those ships came from?” Flynn asked Jeryl.

  “I’m afraid not. I was in my quarters when it happened, but by all accounts they were able to sneak up on us. Whoever they are, they’re good.”

  Flynn was disheartened to hear it. Not because he blamed the captain for what happened on his ship, but because the idea that so many boarding shuttles could get the drop on a convoy led by somebody with the acumen of Jeryl was worrying. Sitting in silence, he continued to watch the battle unfold before him.

  As he watched the Hunters battling with the boarding shuttles, another ship came into view on the screen. Flynn’s eyes were drawn toward the ship as it emerged. For a moment, his eyes were disbelieving. Then, he knew he couldn’t deny what he was seeing.

  “Is that…The Ghost?”

  “It is indeed,” Jeryl replied.

  As The Ghost began looming over everything else on the screen, the admiral’s blood ran cold. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He never expected to see it again. Now, not only was he seeing it, he was watching it partake in a battle with The Seeker and an Armada convoy.

  The Ghost's reputation proceeded it. It began its life as an Intelligence ship helmed by Captain Kaine Reed. Many, in fact most, didn’t even know it existed. The Ghost existed to perform covert operations for the Armada. Kaine took his ship behind enemy lines on numerous occasions during the Earth-Sonali War—the perfect operative commandeering the perfect ship.

  The Ghost made dozens of excursions in secret, and during the process the Armada made a tremendous dent against the Sonali. It had been one of the greatest death dealers of the entire war. Few, if any, ships of the Armada were deadlier than The Ghost, and Kaine had been deeply revered for his acumen as a captain. That, of course, until someone got wind of a few covert operations and leaked it to the media. After that, the Armada simply allowed Kaine’s name to be dragged through the mud. Flynn didn’t care—he still admired the dead captain.

  If only…Flynn thought to himself. If only Kaine hadn’t died during the war.

  He still remembered the tales. The Ghost and The Seeker were both involved in a battle against the Sonali where The Ghost was destroyed and its captain was killed. Jeryl was able to escape physically, but in truth he had never escaped mentally.

  The admiral looked over at Jeryl who was standing next to him, reliving the battle as the images unfolded before them.

  Poor guy, Flynn thought, he still blames himself for Kaine’s death.

  The admiral knew that Kaine and Jeryl had been like brothers. They were inseparable. Jeryl would likely never forgive himself. Flynn believed he was being too hard on himself, but there was no point on arguing the matter. Jeryl would never be convinced otherwise, – the man was that stubborn.

  The two men finished watching the battle. The Ghost had completely changed the landscape of the scene. Once it arrived, The Seeker was at a clear disadvantage. The ship went into an FTL jump and the replay of the battle stopped. Both men stood silent. They needed time to process what they had seen. Not so much on the clash; after all, they both had seen plenty of battles. It was The Ghost that had shaken them up.

  Flynn turned to Jeryl and asked, “So you were able to escape safely?”

  “Yes. A few pirates were able to board us, but they were shot dead.”

  “S
o you suffered no casualties? That’s fortunate.”

  “That’s true, Admiral…but we did have to abandon the convoy.”

  Flynn turned and paced across the floor, taking a moment to collect his thoughts.

  “Indeed, and it’s far from the first one that we’ve lost. However, at least you were able to find out what has been happening. We know that The Ghost is involved. It must’ve been salvaged by these pirates.”

  “That is what I assumed,” Jeryl replied.

  Flynn still couldn’t believe that The Ghost was, perhaps fittingly, back from the dead. To see the once-venerated Intelligence ship of the Armada being used to perform acts of piracy was sickening. However, that just made him even more determined to vanquish these pirates. The good name of the Ghost would not be sullied.

  He turned and faced Jeryl with steely determination.

  “One thing is for certain, Jeryl. The Armada is going to have to get to the bottom of this. We must absolutely figure this out and solve the problem.”

  “I agree wholeheartedly, Admiral.”

  Flynn turned toward the screen and put an image of the The Ghost back on it. It was chilling.

  “It’s not merely a matter of protecting these transport ships. The fact that The Ghost is being used in these pirate operations is what makes this matter so pressing. We cannot have a TUS going around leading pirate raids, particularly when they’re directed toward the Armada.”

  Jeryl strolled over next to Flynn and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him, both of their eyes transfixed by the old Armada ship they were both deeply familiar with.

  “It’s not just leading these operations…it’s succeeding,” Jeryl noted.

  “Absolutely, Captain. The fact one of our own ships has been taken over by pirates and used to undermine us will frankly be taken as a sign of weakness by all other races. The Union can’t absolutely have that. It will be a black mark on all of us, not to mention a threat to our security.”