Battle in the Stars (Marston Chronicles Book 4)

by D Patrick Wagner

  “Toast, what’s in the debris?”

  “Lots of alien and human wreckage, Captain. Looks like a big battle.”

  “Odin?

  “Don’t see it, Captain.”

  “Then, what is the human wreckage?”

  “From what I can tell, civilian ships. Freighters. Large and medium.”

  “So, Number Three did succeed in putting together some kind of defense fleet.”

  “Doesn’t seem to have done any good, Cap.”

  “Yeah. They paid dearly. But they killed a lot of alien ships.”

  “What alien ships are left?”

  “We all see the flagship. There’s also an alien dreadnaught. And three of those cruiser-sized ships. The carrier is almost to Latinia.”

  “Bad things are coming to Latinia.”

  The three crewmates sat in silence, remembering the videos they saw of Sasania and thinking of what was to come to Latinia.

  “We’ve been spotted! Six small ships just launched from the dreadnaught. Heading this way!”

  “Brooksy, punch it,” Scott commanded as all three activated their pressure pads.

  Brooks punched it. The little scout ship leaped towards the asteroids.

  “They’re gaining, Captain.”

  “Will they reach us before we can hide in the rocks?”

  “From the previous data, they should reach weapons range. But they won’t overtake us.”

  “Mr. Brooks. When we hit point six, flip us. I want to bring our X-cannon to bear.”

  “Aye, aye, Sir.” Like a light switch, everyone dropped from the casual mood to one of pure professionalism. The three became intently focused on staying alive.

  “Mz. Torres. Time to Asteroids?”

  “Six Minutes, Captain.”

  “Mr. Brooks, flip us four minutes from now.”

  “Aye, aye, Sir.”

  "Mz. Torres. Prepare. One shot. Reset for a second.”

  “We have a thirty second wait time, Captain.”

  “I’m aware. Mr. Brooks, after the second shot, flip us back and go to emergency evasion maneuvers.”

  “Aye, aye, Captain,” Lieutenant Brooks responded as he set up the commands on his control console.

  “Flipping in three, two, one.”

  Heimdallr flipped head-to-tail.

  “Fire!”

  Torres fired the X-cannon. The lead alien fighter ceased its maneuvering and became a dead conglomeration of alien ship and bodies. The other five began to juke and jag, attempting to avoid the killer beam.

  They all returned fire.

  “They can’t seem to get a lock on us, Captain.”

  “I see that, Mz. Torres. With our speeds and stealth tech, they can’t get a lock. They must be trying to hit us with manual targeting. Mr. Brooks, small evasions. Don’t lose our speed.”

  “Aye, aye, Captain.”

  “Ready to fire, Captain.”

  “Fire!”

  X-rays and EMP radiation move at the speed of light. The distance between the alien fighters and Heimdallr proved to be too short for safety. Another alien ship became a ballistic mass, continuing its now eternal vector.

  “Splash two, Captain.”

  “The remaining four?”

  “Backing off.”

  “Mr. Brooks, flip us and hide us in those rocks.”

  “One lost little ship coming up, Captain.”

  Onboard Ravage Maker

  Sitting at the head of the conference table, War intently studied his view screens as Ravage Maker drifted through the gate and into Arium space. He, along with Intelligence and Flight, watched as Purifier of Stars joined with the three remaining cruisers to form what remained of Fourth Fleet. The three Mortek leaders continued to watch as the carrier, World Crusher, took position to the rear, waiting to launch its assault craft at the main, inhabited planet.

  “Flight.”

  “My Lord.”

  “Have you found any soft skin ships in this system, this Arium?”

  “Just one, My Lord.”

  “The soft-skin dreadnaught?”

  “No, My Lord. Some sort of small, fast ship. Maybe one of those that crippled Defiler of Planets”

  “What is being done?”

  “We sent six patrol ships from World Crusher to run it down. Two were destroyed. Then the soft-skin ship escaped into the asteroid field.”

  “Send more ships.”

  “How Many?”

  “As many as it takes to destroy that ship.”

  “Yes, My Lord.”

  “Have you found any other ships in this system?”

  “As you know, My Lord, this system is heavily covered with multiple asteroid fields. There could be more than just the one of the soft skin ships hiding in them.”

  “Then we could be vulnerable to a counter attack from the asteroids.”

  “Possibly, My Lord.”

  “Intelligence?”

  “I believe that we have routed any ships that could be a danger to us.”

  “What about the rest of those fast, small ships that crippled Defiler of Planets?”

  “From all reports, they were not involved in the battle for this star system.”

  “So they could be hiding in the asteroids.”

  “Yes, My Lord. However, since we now know that they exist and we know what their capabilities are, they wouldn’t be much of a threat.”

  “The soft skin dreadnaught?”

  “Last seen, it fled to the gate leading to what the soft skins call ‘Tolimar’.”

  “I think we will wait. Have Fifth Fleet send a quarter of its ships to the soft skin’s Corrinar. And another quarter here. We will keep half of Fifth Fleet in reserve, in this Bridgelen.”

  “Fourth Lead Assaulter will not be happy, with a ripe planet waiting for harvest.”

  “That is true. He has always been more aggressive than patient. But now he must practice patience. Intelligence, let it be known. We hold here in a defensive position until reinforcements arrive.”

  “Yes, My Lord. I will send out your command as soon as I leave this meeting.”

  “Flight. Have communications sent a buoy through the gate ordering that Fifth fleet send half of their ships. And apprise them of their dispersal.”

  “Yes, My Lord.”

  “Maybe we can finally rid ourselves of that pesky soft skin ship and claim these systems as our own.”

  Nuevo Aires

  Nuevo Aires, like all of the cities and towns on Latinia, reflected its Spanish heritage. The first settlers, and those that followed, built their homes and businesses from brick and mortar, roofed with kiln-hardened tiles and metal sheeting. Their homes and businesses stood strong and hard. This, coupled with the strong and the hard temperament of Latonia’s people, made Latinia a strong world that would be hard to enslave.

  Latinia, at best, could be called a border world. At worst, a lawless world. And Nuevo Aires was the best, or, some would say, the worst of everything Latinia. Every family in Nuevo Aires owned and knew how to use firearms. Everyone knew how to protect their homes and their families. So, when they heard that the aliens who had murdered and enslaved the people of Sasania were coming, they prepared. Barriers were erected between the solid buildings. Traps and blast pits were dug in the roads and surrounding land. Sniper nests were constructed on rooftops and hidden cubbies. The people of Nuevo Aires prepared to fight off this alien invasion, prepared to protect them and theirs.

  “Time to leave, Ricky.”

  “Yes, Governor.”

  “Let’s get over to the command center. See if we can find out what’s going on up there.” Sheldon Moreno, Governor of Nuevo Aires pointed to the sky.

  “The limo is ready.”

  The trip through the city, by design, had become a wandering maze, working around fortifications, ducking down guarded alleyways and crossing sentry-controlled bridges. Finally arriving at the government building of Nuevo Aires, Ricky jumped out, opened the back door and waited for Gover
nor Moreno’s exit. Once the Governor reached the sidewalk, he looked up at the towering skyscraper then down at the heavy steel doors at its base.

  Approaching the doors, Shelly stared into the hidden camera and waited.

  The door loudly clicked and issued a noisy buzz. Ricky reached forward, pulled it open and stepped out of the way so that his boss could go first. Descending the first flight of stairs, the two came to another steel door. Again, Moreno stared at the camera. Again the door clicked and buzzed. Again, Ricky pulled the door open and the two descended another flight of stairs. This repeated a third time. The third steel door opened to a bustling bunker of frantic workers, preparing for the coming invasion. A well-dressed man deferentially approached, as though approaching royalty.

  “I see you’ve put our bolt hole to good use, Luis.”

  “It wasn’t hard to do, Governor. Since we were already set up in case of a Federacy invasion, all I needed to add were communications that linked around the city.”

  “Satellites still up?”

  “Yes. And working.”

  “The battle?”

  “Lost.”

  “How many of our ships get out?”

  “None. Except for Odin.”

  “Of course, Weiskoff would get away. I suppose he high-tailed it to Tolimar.”

  “That was the direction he was headed.”

  “The bugs?”

  “We made a good showing, Governor. We cleaned out the entire fleet except for three cruisers. Then that monster dreadnaught showed up. Followed by the carrier and some other big ship.”

  “So, if the bugs do to us what they did to Sasania, we should see the carrier and a swarm of ships dropping off their troops.”

  “That’s my guess.”

  “Is this place ready for the invasion?”

  “Marcos went through the food stores. He says everything is good. We can stay down here for six months, maybe stretch it to a year, if needed.”

  “Air, water?”

  “As you know, the air ducts all run into the subway system. The only way to affect us would be to completely collapse it. Oh, I upgraded the air scrubbers. We only get what we want. No contaminants or poisons. The bugs won’t be able to gas us out.”

  “Good thinking. Water?”

  “Hooked into the aquifer. Marcus rechecked and serviced the recycler. It’s ready to go.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “I got the Governor’s quarters cleaned up. It’s ready for you.”

  “Ricky?”

  “He gets to bunk with the rest of us.”

  Shelly looked at his second in command. “Tough luck, Ricky.”

  “Hey, when we go to the mattresses, we do what we gotta do, Gov.”

  “You’ve been watching too many of those old vids, Ricky. Luis, let’s get the coms and feeds going. I want everything ready when the bugs get here. I want to see what’s going on.”

  “They’re already up and running, Gov. That’s why Ricky doesn’t have his usual room. All of the monitoring gear is in his.”

  “Then, we’re not using the main communications room upstairs?”

  “Just for the satellites. I figured, once the bugs land, the governor’s building would be one of the first to be taken down.”

  “Good point. And we sit right below them, dug in and hiding like gophers.”

  “You made the plan, Governor. I just implemented it.”

  “With some nice modifications. Well done. Let’s take a look at our little resistance, shall we?”

  Pantea

  One year. The time it takes to traverse the gates between the Atlantius and Sol star systems. One year. Almost two million souls confined to thousands of ships, rationing their food, their water, their air. Almost two million souls fearful of this one year journey to come. But all knew, if they were to survive, it needed to be done.

  The people in charge of saving this small portion of Humanity surrounded the conference table, each displaying various states of stress, fear, worry and anxiety. They sipped their liquids, fiddled with their tablets or stared around at everything and nothing. Small conversations periodically started up and wound down, to be replaced by the atmosphere of near panic.

  “People! Ladies and gentlemen! Settle down. Focus. Let’s get this meeting to order!”

  Fleet-Admiral Weiskoff clapped his hands to emphasize his point. He waited as everyone settled down.

  “Now, let’s address our final issues. Mrs. Weber? Everyone on board?”

  “Everyone except those wishing to stay. There’s about four thousand people who plan to stay here. For the rest, everyone has been re-assigned and transported to the fleet, Admiral.”

  “Excellent. Admiral Cruz, status of the fleet?”

  “During the course of refit, we found some ships that wouldn’t make the journey. We had to decommission those. Fifty-one.”

  “How does that effect our accommodations?”

  “Some. Not much. With almost two thousand ships, the actual rejection rate is pretty small. Concerning the remaining fleet, we’ve reorganized all of the ship interiors as best we could to handle all of the people. It’s tight. But we got them all in. Knowing people, I have no doubt that there will be some trouble. But, we have everyone on board.”

  “General Simmons. Security?”

  “The marines are deployed throughout the fleet, Admiral. We’ve been running drills for rapid response tactics. Keeping them very visible, very noisy. I’m hoping that the presence should keep any bad people from doing bad things.”

  “Good thinking, General. Keep up the drills. Let everyone know that there are tough people with guns waiting for any bad characters.”

  “Sir, yes, sir.”

  “Captain Mitchell, any problems?”

  “Just what you would find everywhere, Sir. We’ve run down some smugglers. Transporting stolen foodstuffs and supplies.”

  “Punishment?”

  “Carried out, Sir. Their ships seized and re-assigned.”

  “General Simmons. Have you been apprised of this?”

  “Yes, Admiral. However, I do not have any personnel with the qualifications to address this problem. It is more of an intelligence issue.”

  “I agree. I’ll get the Sedition Division on it. I know just the man. Chairman Thompson, are all of the Pantean people loaded?”

  “As Mrs. Weber said, except for the four thousand that decided to stay.”

  “Then all is ready?”

  Fleet-Admiral Weiskoff waited for the responses from all of the people at the table. All returned words or gestures of affirmation.

  “That’s it then. Send word. We’re pulling out two days from now. Use that time to recheck all of your areas of responsibility. I want every ship personally contacted by each of you to verify their readiness.”

  Again the leader of the survival fleet waited for affirmations. He received them.”

  “Let’s do this. Two days, Ladies and Gentlemen. We leave in two days. Dismissed.”

  Onboard Griffin

  Still sipping morning coffee or mint tea, Mack, Master Varrini and Krag stood, half-circling Igaklay’s avatar. The man-height, main fusion drive stood over them, the object of their discussion.

  “You want only the center fusion reactor removed.”

  “That is correct, Igaklay.”

  “I can take out the others. Really. It would make Griffin much more efficient.”

  Krag looked at Mack. Mack looked at Igaklay.

  “Ya, Iggy. It would make the girl more efficient. But you heard Cap. An order is an order. We want to keep Ballison tech a secret. So, we got to keep the wing engines. Keep the two smaller fusion drives.”

  “Oh, alright. And I’m not pouting.”

  “Good, Igaklay. About the coating. Tell us about it.”

  “As I said, Captain, it collects dark matter from all around and moves it to the storage in the thruster.”

  “How do you get my ship coated? And, how does it work?”

>   “Nanites. They lay down the material, a modified polyoxometalate, which bonds to the hull at the atomic level. It will take about three or four days to apply.”

  “I understand that part. We have this magic coating that collects dark matter. What color is it?”

  “Any color you want, Captain Marston.”

  “Ya got this coating so that it absorbs dark matter. Can you make it so that it absorbs light? The current hull has an albedo percentage of about five percent.”

  “I can beat that! I can get it to zero!”

  “And still flat black.”

  “I said that, Mack. I can do any color.”

  “Cap?”

  “In for a credit, Mack. Do it, Igaklay. Flat back. Albedo percentage of zero. No light reflection.”

  “Iggy. Not any of the sensors or communication arrays.”

  “I’m on it, Captain!”

  “Another thought, Igaklay. We have Griffin collecting dark matter. How does it get to the storage container?”

  “Something that resembles very old technology. Like direct current electricity. We make the entire layer a giant dark-matter battery. The nose is negatively charged. The storage is positive. The dark matter binds to the electrons and gets deposited in the storage container.”

  “Residual radiation?”

  “A little.”

  “But measurable.”

  “Um, yes.”

  “Then we need to be able to shut off the electrical flow. Can we do that? Without hurting the drive?”

  “Yes, Captain. When the collector coat gets full, it just stops collecting. Then, when you switch the current back on, it begins the transfer.”

  “Then we need an off-on switch. Mack. Talk to Sue. See what she needs to program.”

  “On it, Cap.”

  “I’m satisfied. Let’s get it done.”

  “The compound is currently being created, Captain. Once it is ready, I will direct the worker robots to begin coating Griffin”

  “Thank you, Igaklay.”

  Krag gave a head nod towards the faraday cage. Mack nodded back.

  “Mack. Contact Sue. Let’s meet in the conference room. Discuss her involvement.”

  “Got’cha, Cap.”

  Mack and Marston arrived just as Sue reached the bottom of the gangway. All three filtered in with Mack closing the door.