by M. R. Forbes
She smiled. The ring was spinning quickly now, the space inside flattened and distorted.
"The wormhole is active and stable," Yousefi said.
"Riggers," Steven said. "Let's go save Earth."
"Riiigg-ahh," came the reply of thousands of voices across hundreds of ships.
Kathy put the Goliath in motion, moving it toward the wormhole for the second time in a few days. The rest of the fleet was lined up behind them, a long train of starships of various shapes and sizes easing into action.
"Thank you again, Yousefi," Mitchell said over the open channel.
"You are welcome, again, Captain," Yousefi replied. "I wish you all success."
The front of the Goliath entered the wormhole, distorting it as it crossed to the other side. Mitchell reached out and put his hand on Kathy's shoulder.
"Are you ready for this?" he asked.
"I was made for this," she said.
They watched the wormhole approach together. Mitchell didn't hold his breath this time. His heart still began to race.
"Here we go," he said as the bridge reached the ring.
There was no change in the feel of the motion as they crossed over, and the moment they did he could see the red planet on their left. Earth was visible beyond it, a small blue marble floating in a sea of stars.
"Father, we have a problem," Kathy said.
"What is it?"
"You'd better get to your starfighter. The Tetron are already here. We're too late."
72
Mitchell didn't wait for more information before he started dashing for the lift to carry him down to the hangar bay. Too late? How the hell had they come too late?
"Kathy, sound the alarm. All hands. What's the situation?" he asked as he descended, using his communicator to reach Kathy.
"Fourteen Tetron, and there appear to be at least four-hundred slave ships." Kathy's voice was calm and steady.
"Fourteen?" Mitchell's heart thumped against his chest. Even with Goliath, how were they going to stop fourteen of them? "Is Watson here?"
"Yes. They've detected us. A portion of the fleet is breaking off and vectoring our way."
"Is the Carver through?"
She was the second ship in the line. They would need Steven to help keep the fleet from falling apart when they arrived in the middle of a battlefield.
"Yes. Admiral Bayone has also arrived. Steven is sending EMS messages through the wormhole."
"Does that work?"
"I don't know."
The lift opened, and Mitchell raced down the corridor toward the hangar. Other pilots filed in with him.
"Green, this is Ares. Get your team ready."
"What?" Green said. "I thought we had a day?"
"So did I."
"Shit."
"Germaine, is everything set on your end?" Mitchell asked.
"Yes, sir," Germaine replied. "I'm starting up the drones now. I've never flown more than one fighter at a time."
"Good thing for Digger's mimic system then," Mitchell said. They had integrated Digger's software with the drone intelligence and tied it all back to a single virtual cockpit buried in the bowels of the Goliath. Germaine would be in control of an entire army of fighters that would move and attack in perfect unison, like a flock of birds.
The hatch to the hangar opened. There was already a craze of activity inside, pilots scurrying to ships while techs finished emergency prep. The S-17 was sitting alone in the corner.
"Good hunting, Colonel," Major Long said as Mitchell ran past. Long was climbing aboard the Valkyrie Two, its enhanced lasers a valuable addition to their forces.
"You too, Major," Mitchell said.
He reached the starfighter, climbing the repulser steps and falling into the cockpit. He grabbed the helmet and pulled it on while the clear carbonate closed him in.
A thought started the reactor. Another opened the fleet-wide channel, and a third brought up the battle grid over his eyes. A final thought opened a private channel to Kathy.
Steven's voice was crisp and composed over the fleet channel. "Federation, flank left. Alpha and Bravo, move right. Goliath, it looks like they're heading for you."
Mitchell checked the grid. Four Tetron had broken off from the main group, along with a fleet of Alliance warships. They were already close enough to make a long-range attack.
"We need to keep the wormhole covered until the rest of the ships are through," Steven said. "Goliath, keep your shields up, defense only. You need to absorb their attack until we can get our numbers up."
"Roger," Kathy said.
Mitchell looked out into the hangar. The activity had died on the floor, all of the pilots in their ships and the techs safely out of the area.
"Goliath, this is Ares. Blow the hangar."
"Roger."
Mitchell fired the thrusters, spinning the S-17 to the open space outside the hangar. He hit the thrusters, shooting ahead of the rest of the forces as the shields over the space fell and the atmosphere began pouring out. Docking clamps released in a synchronized pattern, each of the ships firing thrusters as the gravity vanished. Mitchell didn't see any of the other ships depart. He burst out into space, a single small ship racing toward the Tetron forces.
"Ares, are you crazy?" he heard Germaine say.
"Get them up behind me," Mitchell said. "Follow my lead."
"Roger."
Mitchell checked the grid again. The Goliath had turned broadside across the wormhole, making itself a massive target while also blocking the incoming ships from enemy fire. Blue energy pooled on the port side while the starboard remained completely dark. He wondered how many hits from a plasma stream the starship could take like that.
A warning in his ear told him he was going to find out. The Tetron were still a distance away, but they had figured out the Goliath's defensive tactic. Four massive balls of energy loosed from them, nothing but specks of light. They grew quickly as they rushed toward the Goliath, their path forcing Mitchell to take an alternate route ahead.
"Firing warheads," he heard Lieutenant Lewis say. He watched the Carver on the grid. It had been sitting behind the Goliath, and it dropped below and fired its nukes toward the plasma streams.
Two quick flashes marked the warhead detonations, right in the path of two of the streams. They dissipated beneath the energy of the nuclear reaction, waves of color washing out into space. The other two continued their course, slamming into the side of Goliath and causing the shields to flare so brightly they momentarily blinded everything.
"Shields intact," he heard Kathy say. "Rerouting power for the next hit."
It would take more than two hits to drop the starship.
"This is Bayone. I've reached my position."
"Bayone," Steven said. "Concentrate fire on the lead Tetron. Ignore the slave ships. Ares, get ready to back him up."
"Roger," Mitchell said, his eyes forward and tracing the sudden volley of projectiles launched from the Federation ships on his right. "Germaine, we need to speed it up."
"Yes, sir."
Mitchell continued to add thrust and velocity, sending the S-17 screaming toward the oncoming Tetron and Alliance fleet.
"Father," Kathy said through their private channel. "We need to hurry. The remaining Tetron have begun bombarding Earth. I don't think they intend to take any slaves."
"We can only get the fleet through the wormhole so fast," Mitchell said.
"I can break off. I can jump the Goliath between the two forces and attack Watson."
"Did Steven order you to do it?" Mitchell asked.
"No."
"Then don't. Wait for your orders."
"Father, he doesn't know how to-"
"Kathy," Mitchell shouted. "It isn't your call."
"Yes, sir."
The Tetron ships were drawing closer. Mitchell's ears burned from the warning alarms of a thousand amoebics heading his way.
"Evasive maneuvers," Mitchell said. He threw the fighter over into
a wild pattern, firing lasers at the same time. The field was so thick it was impossible not to hit the explosive projectiles, knocking them away as he cut into them. Germaine followed suit behind him, unable to prevent all of the drones from being hit.
"Bayone, fire," Steven said, monitoring the action.
The Federation ships opened up again, projectiles and lasers surrounding Mitchell and the drone squadron, blasting past them with precision. They hit the lead Tetron hard, their fire focused on a single point, causing its shields to flash brightly in that area.
"Germaine, hit the same spot," Mitchell said, vectoring the S-17 away from the drones. Every one of them fired at once, concentrating their energy on the spot.
"Goliath," Steven said. "I'm picking up energy spikes from the Tetron closer to Earth, firing on the planet. We need to draw their fire away."
"Roger," Kathy said. "I can jump her closer in."
"Do it."
Mitchell caught the conversation as he dropped the S-17 in close to the Tetron. He could feel the presence of the intelligence from the distance, and feel the energy pouring off the structure. He fired a dozen amoebics into the same area as Germaine's lasers, gritting his teeth as he watched the blue energy crackle and shatter in a small space around it.
A space just big enough for him to fly through.
He shot through the gap only seconds before it closed, finding himself inside the Tetron's defenses. He could almost sense its displeasure as dendrites began to move, breaking away as tentacles that reached out for the starship.
"Ares? Frigging hell you are crazy," Germaine said, seeing the maneuver from the outside.
Mitchell didn't hear him. His entire being was focused on navigating the Tetron form, getting the fighter through the maze of dendrites and cell bodies toward the core. He recognized only vaguely when the Goliath vanished from the grid, reappearing a few seconds later between the two forces. There were over two hundred ships through the wormhole so far, more than half their force. Every single one of them opened fire on the three Tetron, forcing them to the defensive and preventing further attack.
"Come on, you son of a bitch," Mitchell said. The S-17 rolled and swung, making swift vector changes that would be impossible in an atmosphere, and difficult for a lesser pilot to manage. He pushed deeper into the structure, firing on dendrites that blocked his path, or that reached out to touch the ship.
Then he was through, the core coming into clear view. He dropped a handful of amoebics, sending them spinning toward the dense bundle of nerves.
It exploded behind the S-17. Mitchell continued maneuvering, diving and rolling through the suddenly darkening structure of the Tetron. His focus was complete as he blasted through and out the other side at nearly the same time as the blue shields dissipated for good. The S-17 launched out into space in a straight line toward the second Tetron, which was already dying.
"That one was mine, Ares," Bayone said. "Even these things will die with enough nukes in their sides."
"Roger," Mitchell said, checking the grid. Germaine was leading the drones around the third Tetron, ganging up on it in conjunction with Major Long and the upgraded Rigger ships. Amoebics pounded the shields, breaking them down to nothing. A follow-up warhead from the Carver made a direct path through the hole, blowing the core apart.
Three Tetron had fallen, and their forces had yet to suffer any heavy losses. It was better than he had hoped.
He checked the grid, finding Goliath a million kilometers distant. Kathy had fired a plasma stream at one of the bombarding Tetron, burning it to nothing. It forced the others to stop their attack on Earth, and they were repositioning to respond to the new threat.
"I've got their attention," Kathy said. "Now what?"
"Lead them back," Steven said. "Bring them into us. We'll spread out and converge on them from the outside."
"Roger. Coming back your way."
Mitchell looked out through the carbonate, able to see the Goliath in the distance. A spear of blue energy appeared in the stern as Kathy guided the starship back to the fleet. He expected that Watson and the other Tetron would give chase, eager to put an end to him and the Riggers before they continued with their decimation of the planet.
He was surprised when they didn't. As the Goliath retreated to them and the final Tetron sent to attack the incoming force fell, the nine remaining Tetron that were bombarding the Earth vanished.
73
"What the hell?" Steven said. "All stop. Cease fire. Stay alert."
The entire fleet came to an abrupt halt, ships firing reverse thrusters to bring them to a stop. The Tetron were gone, and they had left their slave fleet behind.
"Did we win?" Germaine asked, his voice hopeful.
"They ran?" Major Long said. "Ha! They realized they couldn't beat the heat of the fleet."
"Don't get happy just yet," Steven said.
"I don't trust this," Kathy said over the private channel.
Mitchell kept the S-17 headed toward the Goliath. "Me neither. What do you think they're up to?"
"Ares, I'm getting a hail from the Alliance Battleship Poseidon," Steven said. "Admiral Bixby. He's confused as hell."
"This is Bayone. I'm getting hailed from the Federation cruiser Hakai. It looks like the slaves are free."
"That means the Tetron left the area," Mitchell said. "Doesn't it?"
"Not necessarily," Kathy replied. "They may have released the slaves to confuse us."
"It's working."
"Everyone stay on high alert," Steven said. "They could come back at any time. Bayone, have your people shut down their receivers. Alliance forces are doing the same."
"Affirmative, Admiral," Bayone said.
Mitchell waited in the cockpit of the S-17, tense minutes passing in radio silence as Bayone and Steven communicated with their nation's fleets.
"All ships, we'll be regrouping under Plan Alpha," Steven said. "Follow procedure. Assembled Alliance and Federation forces will be integrated with the defense formation."
"This doesn't make sense," Kathy said. "Why would the Tetron give up their slave fleet?"
"I don't know," Mitchell replied. "Maybe they wanted to get wherever they went faster? Maybe they decided it's better to return and attack a larger force that they can quantify and simulate ahead of time?"
"That would be a logical conclusion."
"Do you have any other ideas?"
"Not up front, but since Watson was involved, I still don't trust it."
"Keep your shields up. Don't lower them for anything."
"Steven didn't order that, and it isn't in Plan Alpha."
"I know. Forget what I told you before." Mitchell opened a direct channel to Steven. "Steve, I have a bad feeling about this."
"Yeah, I know this feels off. It was too easy, right?"
"Much too easy."
"I've been thinking the same thing. Except I wonder. We've never fought the Tetron completely on our terms before. Maybe they aren't so powerful against our numbers and upgraded weapons? We're so used to losing, and to tricks, that even when we win we can't accept it."
"You think we've won?"
"It looks to me like we won. We destroyed five of them with barely any losses. The ships they had under their control have all shut down their receivers, so they can't come back and claim them again. It seems we caught them with their pants down."
Mitchell considered it. It certainly did seem that way. "Maybe you're right. Maybe the back and forth is making us paranoid. How bad is the damage on Earth?"
"According to Bixby, New York is a ruin. So are most of the other largest cities. I won't say we didn't take massive losses on the ground, but we saved billions."
It wasn't the best news, but it would have to do.
"And the fleet?"
"We've got over two hundred new ships to add to our forces. They haven't seen any combat, so they're fully armed and operational. It's enough of a military that we can probably leave a defense force here for whe
n the Tetron come back, and head to the Federation homeworld."
"What about the Council? What about General Cornelius?"
"Cornelius is missing. So is half the Council. It's like all the Tetron made themselves disappear all at once."
"And you trust this?" Mitchell asked.
"No. Not completely. I won't deny the Tetron are up to something, but all logic points to them regrouping to try again, or maybe shifting their focus to Federation space. They weren't expecting the resistance they met; I'd bet my life on that."
"Would you bet Laura's?"
Steven paused at the question, leaving the channel silent while he thought about it.
"Yes," he replied at last. "I would. We can't keep chasing ghosts, Mitch. We can't keep looking for reasons why we can't win. We need to accept that maybe we did, in part because of that crazy ass maneuver you pulled. I've never seen flying like that before."
"Thanks. Maybe you're right. Maybe we won this battle. It isn't over."
"No. Not over. It's a start. I don't think the Tetron expected you to pull together a fleet like this."
Mitchell looked out of the starfighter to where the fleet was moving into formation. The wormhole had closed behind them, and they were bypassing the Goliath to arrive in orbit around Earth. As they did, the former slave ships began dispersing, joining the formation in the pattern Steven and Bayone had arranged them.
Mitchell closed his eyes. He wanted to believe they had won the battle. He wanted to have hope that they had a real chance at defeating the Tetron and for the first time winning the eternal war. He wanted to agree with his brother, in part because he knew he would go insane if he didn't, just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
He needed to find a way to accept it and to help them move on. From here to Jingu, and then from Jingu to the rest of the universe. If the Tetron had retreated to regroup, they had to do everything in their power not to give them a chance.
"Yeah, okay," Mitchell said to Steven, letting out a long-held breath. "They ran, right? We won. Hell, we won more one-sidedly than I ever expected we would. "
"That's because we're the frigging Riggers," Steven said.
