Ascendancy: A Near Future Sci-Fi Thriller

by Randal Sloan

  “Don’t kill the messenger. But yes, after your last little episode, and the fact that the picture on your ship is all over the dark web. Most definitely; Zeke here even said the other day that it was appropriate.”

  Zeke threw his paper cup at Joe. “That’s not what I said. I said that was not accurate at all.”

  “No, actually you said, and I quote, ‘She’s not a princess. Empress is more accurate!’ and you went on to elaborate.”

  “What have I done?” Julie cried out. “I let you two get back together. That was very, very foolish of me.”

  “Yes, it’s actually an evil plot to take over your empire.” Joe quipped.

  Zeke laughed at the two of them. “Anyway, back to the killing pirates thing. We’re not foolish enough to wait till we get hit by a nuke to try this, but we want to go out to R4 with you to test it.”

  She smiled at them. “I’ll agree for you to test your shields and if successful, modify both ships. That means we’ll have to bring Joe’s ship back in.”

  “Just got my ship,” Joe said sorrowfully. “And now you guys are going to take it apart and change it.”

  Zeke couldn’t help but laugh at his friend. “Only just a little bit. Yeah, but just think what it’s going to be able to do. Those pirates won’t know what hit them.”

  Zeke was already assuming she was going with his plan. Julie wasn’t so sure about that. “That’s not a go for your second plan, Zeke. I don’t like it one bit and you know that. It puts you at way too much risk.” She gave him a glare.

  Finally she relaxed a little, “Now, for the shields, I should be ready to go out to R4 in a couple of days to work on the big ship. They’ve already installed the power plants and the field generators, so it’s just a matter of pulling cable and hooking it all up. The hard part will be adjusting the field strengths correctly, which is why I’m having to go out there to do it.”

  A mischievous grin flashed across Julie’s face. “By the way, we might as well bring Caitlyn along so Joe won’t be pining after her. I’ve seen the way you two have been hitting it off.”

  “Guilty as charged. I’ll even get to let her ride with me in my new toy. Woo-Hoo! I can finally beat out her and her BMW. This day is really looking up.”

  #

  Julie had tried to get some sleep that evening but something kept bothering her; something just didn’t feel right. She suspected it was her second sight trying to get her attention, one of those times when the full details were blocked from her. That meant it probably affected her directly.

  Finally unable to take it any longer, Julie dressed and headed down to the space station control center. Something must have leaked across her connection to Zeke, because she felt him awaken and start to get dressed too.

  Arriving in the control room, Julie sat at one of the control stations. She pulled up the scan of the area around the station trying to spot anything suspicious. There, a tiny little blip on the radar that immediately disappeared. Without a second thought, Julie punched the override on the control system, firing the thrusters to move the station so that the habitation module was out of the path of whatever she had seen. Her sudden action caused the station to shudder in reaction, but that was nothing compared to the violent shaking the station experienced seconds later with a near simultaneous sounding of the station alarm.

  A station wide message went from the control AI, ALERT! ALERT! We are under attack. All personnel to their defensive stations!

  That explained her feelings; as she expected, the station was under attack. The AI immediately started reporting damage; several other areas of the station had been hit. Based on what the AI was telling her, it had to have been a long distance rail gun attack. Later, she would have to figure out how they had gotten the exact coordinates to aim that attack, which would have struck the hab module dead center if she hadn’t moved it out of the way at the last instant. Jon’s words about how the ones behind the Organization could somehow predict the future rang in her head. How else could they have had them?

  Frantically, Julie sent queries to check on her family, then Brian and Tim, and finally the rest of her Space Forces. She held her breath until she knew they were all ok. Afraid to ask but knowing she had to, Julie prompted the AI. “AI, what is our damage estimate? Did we take any casualties?”

  She knew how bad it could have been if she hadn’t been able to shift the station. Each room in the habitation module had its own emergency air supply and would automatically self-seal unless the damage was too severe, but anyone asleep wouldn’t have had time to get into a protective suit, assuming they survived the initial contact. The other areas weren’t as protected, depending on bulkheads to separate the corridors into sections, but at least they would have had a chance. Luckily they had been mostly unoccupied, but several maintenance crews had been working in those areas.

  She drew her breath in sharply when she saw the report. To the AI, it was only numbers, but to Julie it meant much more.

  Estimated casualties 12, including 8 crewmen missing and presumed dead. Several sections damaged, two offensive missile launchers offline, several defense systems damaged. Defensive capacity still remains above 80%.

  Zeke had come in behind her and he saw the report as it came in. Julie tried to give him a half smile, but she failed miserably. All things said the station had been lucky, but not those men. “If only we’d had time to look at your and Joe’s idea of the shield generators,” she whispered to Zeke. “That’s going to be my priority to get done and we’ve got to get them installed on the station.”

  “It’ll be ok,” he told her. “We’ll sort it out. Now that we know we’re under attack, the AI will be able to defend us.”

  Julie expanded her VR view to surround the two of them with a VR simulation of the space around them. Right now, she was trying to spot any sign of their attackers she knew had to be out there.

  “But where are their ships? They should have staged their attack simultaneously with the remote attack.” She stared at the VR display the AI was giving her; she knew it really had only been a couple of minutes since it all started, but not knowing was driving her crazy. She hoped Zeke was right.

  “There!” Zeke pointed. An even dozen icons appeared in an arc above the station, flagged by the AI as unknowns, assumed hostile. “That many of them, it’s got to be the pirates. Nobody else could get that many ships in space to attack us without us knowing about it.”

  She looked at Zeke desperately. “I can’t believe I don’t have my corvette here. They must have known it’s out at R4. If I had it, I could defend the station myself. Maybe I could try with Joe’s ship, but I’m not familiar with its handling with the armor.”

  “It’s for the best, Jules. There’s just too many of them for you alone; even as good as you are, you couldn’t do it.” Zeke pulled up a view of the station in a virtual window. “It would take you too long to get out there anyway. Look at the sections of the station closed off by the damage. You’d have to take a roundabout path to get there. It’ll be over one way or the other before you could get there.” Zeke gave her a sympathetic look. “Believe it or not, I feel the same way, but our place is here, controlling the actions of the AI.”

  Julie nodded. “As smart as your AI’s are, you’re right — an AI only defense would be much too risky; too rigid and unable to see outside the box.”

  The pirates were hovering at the edge of the detection grid. They appeared to be uncertain of how much of the station defenses had survived the attack. Apparently they finally made a decision; a large number of smaller red icons separated from the ships. Missiles! The sheer number of them momentarily struck fear in Julie’s heart, causing her to gasp out loud.

  “It’s ok,” Zeke told her. “They should have waited to get closer. They’ve got to be at the extreme range of their missiles and the extended time will give the AI much longer to pick them off.” As he said that, a large number of green icons appeared around the station, most of the gaps in the cov
erage able to be filled in by the defensive stations nearby. The only real gap was the new module under construction, but even there the AI managed to redirect enough defenses to cover the area.

  Julie nodded. “I hope you’re right. Now that we know they probably have nukes, we need to get them sooner and not later.” Julie held her breath, watching as the icons disappeared, the explosions making no sound in space. A few made it a lot closer than she liked, the last few close enough to shake the station, but not close enough to damage it. A couple detonated really close to the module under construction. Suddenly she realized part of their intent. “They’re looking for gaps in our defense to direct their targeting! At least no nukes yet.”

  Shifting to her command voice, she said, “AI, rotate the station to cover the gap where the new module is under construction. Place the rest of the station between it and the attackers.”

  The AI immediately complied, the movement of the station felt by them all, but not to the extent of the original emergency shift. Julie knew that wouldn’t have worked if the ships had been closer.

  “Zeke, can we launch our own attack against them from this distance?”

  Zeke glanced at the display before answering her. “If you override the AI to do it, but the likelihood of a hit is pretty small. I suggest you hold some of our capacity in reserve in case they move closer.”

  Julie quickly agreed. “Yes, I want to keep them guessing as to our capabilities, but I also want them to be at least a little worried so they don’t move a lot closer.”

  Again using her command voice, Julie said, “AI, override your maximum targeting distance and launch a thirty percent spread of our offensive missiles, evenly spread across the attackers.”

  “So you’re trying to make them think we don’t have much of a bite. That does mean they’ll probably move closer.”

  “Yeah, I want them to get just a little closer, but not too close. I’m still worried about those nukes.”

  The offensive missile launch finally reached the pirate ships. It looked like a couple of near misses but none of them reached their target. The pirates again launched a full spread of their own, the screen once more full of red, but again the AI was able to destroy all of the incoming missiles, although several detonated much too close, shaking the station rather violently. At least with the station repositioned, there was no longer the large gap of coverage around the construction module.

  Still that was much closer than Julie wanted. How long can we keep this up before one of them makes it through? A lot of people are depending on me. She was terrified that she would let them down. “What if they do have nukes?” she asked Zeke.

  Zeke nodded. He was worried about that too. “I don’t know, love. We’ve just got to be sure we stop them.” He knew the real problem with nukes; they wouldn’t even have to get that close. “Try to keep them busy, so they can’t just sit back and launch at us.”

  Julie nodded. The pirates had started to inch a little closer, but still not close enough for her to get a decent strike against them. “AI, launch another thirty percent spread. Use the same missile launchers as before.”

  Again they waited as the missiles streaked toward their targets. This time there were several near misses. “Just a little closer,” Julie murmured.

  Zeke had been working furiously with something on his pad. He pressed the Submit button and gave Julie a wicked smile. “I just made a tweak to the AI targeting system based on the profiles we’re seeing from the pirates. I believe I can get you a little better results the next time you launch.”

  The VR lit up again with red icons as the pirates launched another wave. They had definitely inched a little closer and the pirates’ targeting seemed to be getting better too. Once again, the AI destroyed all the incoming missiles, but several came close enough that Julie felt the explosions shake the station even harder. A few more areas of the defensive grid turned red. Julie had to end this soon!

  Four of the pirate ships had started to move closer. “I’m willing to bet those have the nukes,” Zeke told her.

  Julie nodded. “If that’s true, we can’t take any chances with them. I would have liked to get them all in range and finish them off once and for all, but I’ll have to take what I can get. It’s time to show them all of my claws.”

  “AI, target the four closest ships. Use full capacity and target only those ships. Immediately afterward launch a full spread at the remaining ships.”

  The display filled with green icons that raced toward the four ships. Panicking, the four tried to reverse their course, but the huge number of missiles concentrated on just the four of them was more than they could handle. Each of the four managed to launch a single missile before one-by-one they started to drop off the display as they were destroyed.

  Four ships destroyed, the AI told her.

  “AI, concentrate all defenses on those four missiles,” Julie said somewhat anxiously. Those four had to be the nukes.

  The remaining pirate ships launched their own missiles, but the furious attack on the four leaders had caught them off-guard and they mis-timed it again. Julie held her breath as the AI concentrated on the four missiles she suspected were nukes, momentarily ignoring the others. Hopefully, there was enough time to handle both threats.

  Julie’s certainty that those four separate missiles were nukes was quickly borne out. The intensive defensive effort reached the four missiles almost simultaneously, causing the four to explode in a furious explosion that was all the confirmation Julie needed.

  The AI’s sensors and Julie’s ability to watch were both momentarily blinded by the explosions. That meant the remaining missiles were able to get much closer, although since it was only two-thirds the number of ships launching them, at least they were fewer.

  Watching as the AI finally was able to once again track the missiles, Julie’s guts twisted at how close they were. They needed those shields! Their defenses lashed out but the missiles grew closer and closer.

  Finally, the defenses began to reach them. Luckily, no sign of nukes, as the missiles began to be destroyed, but they were much too close. Was this going to be it? Someone else will have to take up the task of fighting them if we don’t survive this…

  Several explosions rocked the station as a number of near misses exploded around them. Julie knew the station was taking more damage this time, but there was nothing she could do about it. Finally, it was over, causing Julie to let her breath out in a sigh of relief. Thank God, none were a direct hit. No question; we’ve got to get those shields working.

  Without being prompted, the AI automatically updated the casualty list. With much trepidation, Julie read the report. Several more injuries, but at least no more deaths this time.

  They had been so distracted by the near misses, at first no one was watching as the AI’s second offensive launch began to reach the remaining pirates. Even though they were at the extreme range, the sheer number of missiles overwhelmed them. The entire group of pirate ships tried to turn around, attempting to flee. Some of them weren’t fast enough.

  Not as successful as the strike against the four who had made the mistake of getting too close, nevertheless, the strike had good results. Two more red icons winked out.

  Two ships destroyed, the AI intoned.

  A lot of near misses too, Julie was certain. That meant most, if not all, the ships should have suffered some damage. This time, the pirates didn’t turn back around. Julie held her breath as they continued moving away from the station until they dropped off her radar.

  Zeke looked over at her. “I think they’re gone, Jules. That last was way too close, but you did it!”

  Suddenly feeling rather weak now that the emergency was over, Julie nodded. “AI, please summarize the after action report.”

  Six hostiles destroyed, Six escaped with probable damage

  That meant they still would have to deal with them. At least it would take them a few days before they could regroup, she knew, especially with all t
he damage.

  The AI continued its report. Final casualty report: Total casualties 20; 12 injured, 8 dead. Sectors reporting damage 15, twelve offensive missile launchers offline, defensive capacity 65%. ETA for repairs 4 days.

  Now that she had time to look, Julie drilled into the list of casualties, filled with dread at what she might find but knowing she had to look. She wasn’t sure if it was good or bad, but she didn’t recognize any of their names. Then, she saw the last name on the list of the ones presumed dead. Stephen Jackson.

  “No!” she managed to get out. Her heart clinched with sadness and regret. Steph, the young man she had just met, the one filled with such excitement and happiness to be working on Space Tech Station. The one who she was going to introduce to Zeke when they were to meet with him and his friends tomorrow evening, back when she thought she had all the time in the world.

  Julie turned to Zeke, the anger she had held in check during the battle now flashing in her eyes. “Zeke, both your plans are now a go! I want those shields on the corvettes yesterday, and I want them here on the station sooner. And then, I want you guys to bait your trap and kill those pirates. I want them all wiped out, not a single one left alive!”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  A View of the Future

  Julie paused for a short break, thinking back over the last few days. Despite her impassioned demand for immediate action against the pirates, it hadn’t been that simple. The next day had been spent working to get the station put back together, talking with the media, and visiting with the injured in the medical center. Julie fought feelings of guilt that she hadn’t been able to prevent what had happened, but everyone insisted it wasn’t her fault. Julie knew it really wasn’t; it was all on the pirates, but it still hadn’t been easy to deal with.

  The next day, they all gathered at noon for a memorial service for the people killed in the attack. The service was led by the Space Tech Chaplin. A large group had been in attendance. Just another one in the crowd this time, Julie cried for Steph and the others, but at the end, she dedicated a plaque to remain on display within the station in memory of them. She talked with some of Steph’s friends afterwards, everyone sharing a little bit of their memory of what a special person he had been.