“Well then, we’ll just have to make sure you release me more than a hundred thousand meters out. I need your fighter in one piece to make it back to a safe area and warn the fleets. It won’t do me any good to take out the jammer ship if you’re scattered across half the solar system as glowing bits of radioactive dust.”
“This is no time for jokes,” said Sandy sounding dead serious. “You haven’t got a prayer. Even if you make it to the jammer ship, how will you take it out? For that matter, how will you get back to friendly lines?”
Tia didn’t bother telling her fellow fighter pilot that she didn’t have the faintest idea. All she knew was that she was a Trecorian and there was a job that needed done. She’d never run from a fight, and she didn’t intend to start now. Besides, she thought. Matt’s on the flagship. If those dreadnaughts attack before Liz finds out about them, the Planet Buster will probably be one of the first ship’s taken out. I’m not going to let that happen. Matt’s on that ship. The fleets have to be warned. All I can do now is hold on until Sandy gets to the release point.
Tia didn’t have to wait long. After skimming by a boulder the size of a twenty-story building, the split-wing found itself in open space. Tia spotted four dreadnaughts and three heavy cruisers dead ahead, surrounding a black ship of strange design. The black warship was the size of a small destroyer. Increasing the magnification of her flight helmet’s visor to maximum, she saw an emblem on the bow of the black ship. The image was that of a black dragon with a red stripe down its side.
Dragars, Tia thought. I saw enough of them during my year on Portalis to last a lifetime. I’d recognize one of their ships anywhere.
“Incoming,” said Sandy as lines of blue, green, and red energy shot out the sides of the dreadnaughts and cruisers. “Hang on!”
The fighter inverted before going into a near ninety-degree bank. A beam of blue energy missed the fighter’s left wing by a meter at most. Tuning the fighter back toward the cluster of warships, Sandy said, “Four hundred thousand meters. Get ready.”
There wasn’t much Tia could do to get ready. Everything depended on Sandy’s flying ability and what skills Rick and Gaston had taught her during their year on Portalis. She wrapped herself in Power and activated her best stealth shield. At the same time, she made a final check to make sure her flight suit’s camouflage unit was on. The flight suit wasn’t battle armor, but it was the best suit the Conglomerate could make. Matt had given it to her. She remembered how he’d told her that if she ever crash-landed on some Creator-forsaken planet, the suit’s camouflage unit might help keep her alive until help arrived.
There’s not going to be any help this time, Tia thought. No one’s going to come riding to the rescue. I’ve got to make it to that ship and take out the jammer. I’ve got to warn Liz and the others. I’m going to make sure Matt’s safe. That’s all there is to it.
“Two hundred thousand meters,” said Sandy. “I’m not sure about the timing. I’ll do my best, but there’s no guarantee.”
Tia gave a tightlipped smile. “Is there ever? Just do your best. I trust you.”
Beams of energy continued to light up the space around the split-wing. Jerked around by the fighter’s evasive maneuvers, Tia had little time to watch. She drew more Power from her reserve and converted it into an active scan. Wrapping the scan with a stealth shield the way she’d seen Rick and Gaston do, Tia reached out with Power and latched onto the jammer ship using her scan as an anchor point.
“One hundred thousand meters!” shouted Sandy as the fighter’s maneuvering thrusters shot out a stream of ion energy, spinning the ship a hundred and eighty degrees.
With little time to think, Tia released her hold on the fighter’s wing at the same time she turned off the flight suit’s magnetics. Once she was free of the split-wing, streams of ion energy shot out the port side of the fighter, kicking it to the side a hundred meters. When Tia was clear of the fighter’s rear exhaust, the ship’s main ion thrusters shot out a trail of bright blue energy. Then just like that, the split-wing was out of sight. Blue, green, and red beams continued to fly past Tia in the direction the split-wing had gone, but no explosions followed. Tia breathed a sigh of relief.
She made it, Tia thought. Go with the Creator, Sandy. You’re going to need all the help you can get.
Using telekinesis to spin around, Tia spotted the jammer ship. It was right where her active scan told her it would be. Slightly off course, she supplemented the momentum Sandy had given her with the fighter’s maneuver by using telekinesis to head for the black ship.
As Tia sped toward the jammer ship, she fully expected beams of energy from its anti-ship weapons to start firing at her. They didn’t. She said a silent pray thanking Rick and the deceased Gaston for training her in stealth shields, then said a second prayer thanking Matt for giving her the flight suit with its camouflage unit.
The jammer ship continued to grow larger in her visor. As she drew close to the black ship, Tia used telekinesis to slow her apparent rate of movement. She zeroed out her relative speed just as her feet and hands made contact with the side of the ship. Looking to her left and right for a door or any kind of opening, she saw none. Only a solid wall of black metal was visible from one end of the ship to the other.
Well, Tia thought. This sucks. How am I supposed to get in? I’ve got a feeling that I’m going to have to think of a plan B.
* * *
The fighter-bomber wasn’t nearly as agile as the Zip fighters or X-shuttle Matthew was used to flying, but he didn’t complain. It beats walking, he thought as he adjusted the controls for the ion engine. They’d come out of hyperspace thirty minutes earlier just outside the asteroid belt near section three Bravo. Since then, they’d been dodging the mass of floating rocks while trying not to get smashed to bits.
Matthew grinned at a sudden thought. At least we haven’t run into any Crosioians. That’s a plus. He yelled over his shoulder, “How much farther?”
“All I can say is that we’re getting close,” replied Brachia. “Just keep us on this course.”
Matthew glanced back from the pilot’s seat, into the cargo bay. As soon as they’d made the jump to hyperspace, the boy-genius had given up his spot in the pilot’s seat and moved to the rear to start unloading crates of electronics. Metal boxes with flashing lights were now scattered from one end of the cargo bay to the other. All of the equipment seemed to be connected via a mass of wires and cables. Jerking a thumb at the seemingly disorganized mess, Matthew said, “Are you sure all this stuff’s necessary? If we get in a fight, it’s going to be bouncing off the walls, not to mention our heads.”
The young boy looked up from a piece of equipment he was attaching to a computer with a spider web of wires and smiled back at Matthew. “Do you want to stay alive? Trust me. We need all of it. I know what I’m doing. If my calculations are right, we’ll be able to slip within torpedo range of that jammer ship and blow it to pieces before they know what hit them.”
Matthew had his doubts. “If you say so. I’d still rather be out looking for Tia.” A vision of Tia rushing into the necromancer’s den to rescue him when he’d been captured back on Portalis a few weeks earlier flashed in his mind. “She risked her life to save me. I’m not going to let her down.”
Brachia stopped what he was doing and weaved his way through the mass of tangled wires and metal boxes while taking great care not to knock anything over. Once he stood next to the pilot’s seat, he placed a hand on Matthew’s shoulder. “Tia’s going to be all right. You said you can sense her with that ring of yours, but that you can’t get an exact fix. I think that’s because the jammer is messing up whatever magic’s in your ring. This bomber’s got four nuclear-tipped torpedoes on it that are designed specifically to blast through dreadnaught armor.” Pointing back at the equipment, he said, “That stuff’s based upon the stealth shield on the X-shuttle. It’ll get us close enough to the jammer ship to blow it to pieces without getting ourselves killed. Once it’
s gone, our long-range communication channels should clear up. We’ll be able to contact the fleet. You should also be able to locate Tia with your ring. We’ll fetch her from wherever she’s located. Then we’ll high-tail it back to the Planet Buster before anyone knows we’re gone. Trust me. It’s all going to work out. Isn’t that right, Omar?”
A small box strapped to Brachia’s belt crackled. “Aye, aye, Captain. If you say so.”
Brachia winked at Matthew. “I do say so.” The boy grew serious. “So, Matt, are you with me or not?”
Matthew looked at the curly-haired boy. Even after all their time together, it was hard for his ego to take advice from a ten year old. With no plan of his own, he swallowed his pride. “I’m with you, Brachia. Just point the way, and we’ll blast that ship to hell and back. Then we’ll go get Tia.”
The grin returned to Brachia’s face. “That’s more like it, ya swab. Trust me. That jammer ship’s as good as destroyed.”
* * *
The ensign waited patiently on the bridge of the Destiny for Liz to finish giving orders to the two admirals. Once the pair of senior officers nodded and left to relay their orders to their staff, Liz turned to the ensign. The ensign held a portable halo-pad in her left hand.
“What is it?” Liz said doing her best to keep any irritation out of her voice. It was a chore. The continued stress of the last several hours had long ago pushed her past the point of being diplomatic.
“Uh, Sir, I have a Wizard Scout Richard Shepard on the line. You left orders that if he called—”
Reaching out, Liz practically snatched the portable halo-pad from the ensign’s grasp but caught herself in time to say, “Very good, Ensign. You did well. I’ll take it from here.”
“Very good, Sir.”
Turning away, Liz placed the pad on the armrest of her command chair and touched the ACTIVATE button. An image of her friend appeared over the pad that was more static than actual image.
“Tell me you’ve got good news, Rick. Things aren’t going well on our end.”
The static increased to the point where Richard’s face was only a blur. After a couple of seconds, the image settled down enough for Liz to see his eyes. He looks worried, she thought. That doesn’t bode well.
A tendril of long silver hair fell into view from someone standing off to Richard’s side. Despite the situation, something resembling jealously passed over Liz. She shoved the feeling aside. I’ve found my soulmate in Tim. Rick’s found his. I’m glad for him.
“…blocking communications,” said Richard as his image sharpened somewhat. “I’ve got their supreme leader with me. She’s prepared to give the orders for her fleet to withdraw, but we can’t get through to their commanders. I’m going to need you to withdraw all Empire, Trecorian, and UGA fleets back to Empire space until we sort this mess out.”
Although she’d only received part of her friend’s message, Liz had heard enough. “Are you crazy? We’re already in contact. Our sailors are dying as we speak. I’m not going to withdraw! The Crosioians would blast half of my ships to pieces before we could get out of range. If anyone needs to withdraw, it should be the bats. As soon as I see them leaving the Criterion system, I’ll give the orders for my ships to hold their fire, but not one second before.”
“Impossible,” hissed a voice out of the hologram’s sight. “Our ships would be destroyed before the Empire ships received any ceasefire orders. Not that it matters. We cannot contact our fleets anyway.”
The worry in Richard’s eyes increased. His holographic image practically pleaded with Liz. “Please. Someone’s got to be the first to stop the killing.”
“Forget it, Rick,” Liz said letting the pent up stress come out in her voice. “I’m not pulling my ships out just to get shot in the back.”
The Destiny shuddered, nearly knocking Liz out of her command chair. Once she regained her balance, she looked back at the halo-pad. “It’s too late, Rick. Forget it. I’ve got a war to fight. Destiny out.”
* * *
Richard stared at the blank halo-pad for a half-dozen heartbeats before turning to his right to look at Jeena.
She gave a timid smile. “You tried, Rick. Sometimes that is all you can do.”
Nodding his head, Richard turned to face the Crosioians’ supreme leader. She stood across the Defiant’s mess table flanked by Red Wing and Charge-In-The-Face-Of-Great-Odds. Sergeant Ron was on Richard’s left, opposite Jeena.
“You heard Liz,” Richard told the supreme leader. “I tried. It’s up to you to stop this war.”
The supreme leader turned and swiveled her ears at Charge-In-The-Face-Of-Great-Odds. No sound ensued, but Richard got the distinct impression they were communicating somehow.
“I suspect they’re using their fighting-computers as go-betweens,” said Nickelo in their shared space. “I could do that with other battle computers if there weren’t so many security programs blocking me. I calculate ‘the One’ is still concerned I will emotionally corrupt the tele-network.”
“You’re part of ‘the One,’” Richard pointed out, “so don’t go acting like it’s some other entity. Admit it. You’re as much to blame as any other computer.”
“Whatever,” said Nickelo. “I was merely trying to point out that the two Crosioians are probably using their fighting-computers to communicate.”
Richard had an idea. “Ask their fighting-computers what they’re saying.”
“I can’t.”
“What do you mean you can’t? Telsa told me that Raj was able to connect with some of the scouts’ computers when she was in the demonic plane.”
“Well, that was Raj, and that was then. The tele-network connection to the Crosioians’ computers has been cut off from us battle computers. I calculate something’s jamming the connection, and I don’t think it is ‘the One’ this time.”
Before Richard could question his battle computer any further, the supreme leader turned away from Red Wing to look across the table at him. “I am going to tell you this because in theory, this ship is the royal yacht and you are all in the service of the combined Crosioian tribes.”
Sergeant Ron placed his right hand on the butt of the sidearm he’d taken to wearing since the first bat technicians had come on board the Defiant. “Like hell we are.”
The supreme leader bared her fangs in what Richard took as the Crosioian’s version of a smile. “I said in theory,” said the supreme leader. “Based upon that theory, I am going to tell you all this. The battle for Estos and the entire Criterion system is a well-laid trap. Our fleets outnumber your Empire’s forces six to one.”
“The Empire has had worse odds and come out on top,” said Sergeant Ron keeping his hand near the butt of his pistol.
The smile left the supreme leader’s face. “Perhaps, but we have massed a fleet of a thousand dreadnaughts and heavy cruisers as a strategic reserve. They are hidden in Criterion’s asteroid belt. If the ambush goes according to plan, in ten minutes they will attack in force and tear a hole through the Conglomerate’s flank. Nothing can stop them. The dreadnaughts will be followed by a strike force of warships from the Andromeda galaxy. The Empire, Trecorian, and UGA fleets will be obliterated.”
Richard pounded the table. “No! We can’t let that happen! Your own scouts have told you what we saw. They told you what the master demon said. We’ve got to stop this war now!”
The supreme leader shrugged her wings. “I agree, Wizard Scout, but there is nothing I can do. Like I said, long-range communications with my fleets are out. Your plan was to get closer to our fleets so I could order them to cease fire. Your plan will not work without communications. Once the dreadnaughts attack, no one, not even I, will be able to stop the fighting. I am sorry, Tribal Brother. Your plan has failed.”
Richard glanced at Jeena.
She smiled. The smile was accompanied by an emotion of confidence coming down their bond link.
Richard nodded. He looked at the supreme leader and smiled. “Then I gu
ess we’re going to have to come up with a plan B.”
Chapter 56 – Hopeless
____________________
Wizard Scout Trinity Delgado glanced at her heads-up display and noted the locations of the other wizard scouts on Estos. She paid particular attention to the location of her husband, Jared, five thousand kilometers away on another continent.
“Do not get sidetracked,” cautioned Jennifer. “Remember, the only communications the POWs have with the Empire is through the wizard scouts that were sent to Estos. You have to get the POWs here organized. I’ll admit our long-range communications are sketchy right now for some reason, but from what I can gather, Admiral Bistos and her fleets are holding their own against the Crosioians. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, our troopships should be landing on Estos in the next twenty minutes. You’ll need to get as many prisoners off as possible before the Crosioians try to stop you.”
Trinity glanced around the prison compound. The last day had taken its toll as the cumulative effects of the radiation on Estos took hold. From what she could tell, half of the POWs in the camp were barely able to walk. She knew tens of thousands of other prisoners in the makeshift hospitals spread around Estos would need to be carried onto the troopships when they arrived.
“I’m just a wizard scout,” Trinity told her battle computer. “There’s tens of millions of prisoners. What can I do?”
“Your best,” said Jennifer. “That is all any of us can do.”
* * *
Tia did her best to locate an entrance into the jammer ship. Despite her efforts, she failed to find a way to gain access. After five minutes of searching, she gave up and lifted the protective cover on the nuclear warhead that was strapped to her chest.
Wizard Defender (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 8) Page 45
