The minutes ticked by slowly. Nothing of significance occurred within the theater of operations.
Finally, 38 minutes later, the missiles began striking. The sphere as well as the base of the arms rippled with explosions. However, it was immediately apparent that something was not right. The missiles seemed to be hitting an invisible barrier several miles out from the surface of the Blackship.
Adamarus increased the magnification on the sphere. He knew that a large percentage of the missile strikes were multi-taps—there might be five missiles targeting the same spot, hitting it one after another. Multi-taps were designed for deep penetration and as he watched, they were doing their job. In many areas, multiple explosions ate into the invisible barrier.
“Yes,” he said as the missiles reached the surface of the sphere and blasted holes in it, leaving deep craters. However, each crater filled with what looked like boiling rust. This hardened into a familiar rusty corrosion, which broke away, exposing a completely undamaged surface.
“Another multiple missile launch from both groups,” Dials announced.
At that moment, the Blackship reacted. The four long thin arms moved unbelievably fast. They unwound and extended back. Then they came forward, the base first, the midsection bending, the ends trailing behind. It looked like some kind of sea creature waving its tentacles. They came forward then paused as the ends caught up and passed. Then, in the same waving manner, they whipped back and…space rippled.
The ripple moved forward from the alien ship. It was only evident from the distortion it caused to the stars behind it. It seemed to move forward slowly, but it expanded as it went, and despite the illusion of moving slowly, it was approaching the battle groups quickly. Thousands of missiles ran into the transparent ripple first.
---
On Radin’s flagship, the sensor specialist cried out, “The missiles—they’re…vanishing.”
Radin jumped from his seat, “Magnification on forward viewer.” Now the rippling of the stars could be seen better.
The sensor specialist reported again, “Admiral, there’s…a wall of...I don’t know…some kind of energy…its approaching the battle groups. Its energy signature is the same one we picked up when the diplomacy ships were destroyed.”
As the wall of energy was resolved, it appeared on the holograph. It was expanding and speeding up and almost on top of the leading ships of both battle groups—the Loud Umbrella Ship had positioned itself at the front of Battle Group One. The wall of energy was almost on top of it.
Radin said, “Please contact Bugs.”
There was no reply.
---
The seven-mile form of the Loud ship was now a sideways umbrella, the handle aiming at the Blackship. Its main grav-wave weapon utilized the entire ship.
The wave hit the tip of the handle.
Instantly, the Loud ship rippled and vanished.
Minutes later, it reappeared above Serena, well away from the battle, though no one saw this. It was slowly spinning out of control. The end of the handle was missing and smoke poured from it.
---
Radin watched the Loud ship ripple and vanish. He hollered, “Battle Groups One and Two, take evasive action.”
However, it was far too late.
---
As Adamarus, Dials and Van watched in horror, the energy wall hit the leading battleships just as they were starting to turn away. At first, nothing seemed to happen to them, but then they noticed that the texture and color of the ships were changing. They began to blur and lose their form. Realization hit them—ships were being transformed into some kind of powder or ash, which was losing its shape and dispersing. The energy wave was eating through their heavily armored wedges as if they weren't there.
Within seconds, 20 battleships were lost. It caught the second line of ships 45 degrees into their turn and the process repeated. One of the battleships exploded as the wave passed through the engine section. Twenty more were gone.
“Oh my God,” Dials cried out.
The third line of ships was caught halfway through their turn and again all were destroyed.
Waves of fear and panic coursed through Adamarus. His son’s ship was in the tenth row.
The fourth and fifth rows of battleships were hit broadside and turned to ash. Within a matter of seconds, two entire battle groups, half of Amular's entire Navy, were being destroyed right before their eyes.
---
Captain Nero Maximus was one of the few captains who did not attempt to turn before retreating. The energy wave’s rate of acceleration continued to increase and was moving extremely fast now. Nero used the forward backing engines to get his new battleship, The Appleton, backing away from the oncoming wall, then while moving away, started the rotation so the ship could use its more powerful rear engines. It was an ingenious plan. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be enough.
“It’s hit the sixth layer,” first officer Commander Lambert reported to Captain Nero.
They all waited as the ship rotated and when finally, it nosed away from the approaching energy wall, Nero said, “Engineering, kindly red line the engines—everything you’ve got, please.”
The rear engines came to life and the roar was deafening. The ship started vibrating and shaking as engine power passed into the red.
The Blackship’s energy wave had now taken out seven rows of both battle groups—140 battleships plus various support ships. It was still gaining speed, and although there were signs that it was beginning to weaken, it was still eating right through the battleships. Larger pieces of the ships could be seen in the dust that now seemed to be coarser. Within 12 minutes, the Blackship had destroyed almost 50 percent of Amular's Space Navy.
Finally, a few of the battleships at the edges of the eighth row seemed to have escaped the energy wave by veering off to the side of it.
“It's hit the ninth row, sir,” the sensor officer reported.
---
The fine ash material left from all the ships the energy wave had destroyed continued to disperse and spread. It was now seriously blocking Jumper One’s ability to see exactly what was happening. However, although they could no longer see Nero’s battleship, The Appleton, through the ash, they could still make out the ships at the edge of the tenth row.
Adamarus stood as the wall approached the final row, which contained his son’s ship. As the wall of energy hit and destroyed the fleeing ships they could see at the edge, Adamarus whispered, “No…” Tears were streaming down his face and his shoulders lunged, “No…”
---
The Appleton was significantly ahead of the rest of the ships due to Nero’s sly maneuver, but soon the energy wave would be bearing down on him.
In the distance, he could see The Bonnet, Radin’s flagship, and her two battle control ships racing for Serena’s furthest moon, DeOttelous, but the moon was too far away from his ship and not an option. “Time to impact?”
“Eleven point four minutes,” an officer replied.
Nero walked to the back of his first officer’s seat and laid his hand on Lambert’s shoulder. “Evacuate everyone in the second and third sections to the Wedge,” Nero ordered. “Quickly, Josh, quickly.”
He turned to his science officer, “Prepare for nuclear separation of the engine section.”
The science officer looked back at Nero, the shock evident in his expression.
“Just do it,” Nero turned and pointed up at the two control stations on the third level, “Environmental Control, please let me know the instant the rear of the ship has been evacuated. Damage Control, you let me know the instant the energy wave hits the rear of the ship—belay that. I want a ten second countdown to impact.”
“Prepared for nuclear separation,” The science officer reported.
“Number One, get aft,” Nero continued, “take a team with you to help with the evacuation.”
“But, sir...” Nero’s first officer started to object.
“Go, go, go,” Nero
said.
Nero walked to the captain’s seat. “Take sensor output, extreme rear main engine shields, route to the main overhead,” he ordered. These were the ship’s most aft sensors. They appeared on the center screen above Nero. “All seats to crash mode,” he ordered, and his, as well as all the other bridge seats, closed around their occupants. “All protective shields and grids to maximum.” Low-pitched hums and high-pitched buzzing sounds could be heard.
The minutes ticked by. Finally, Nero’s First Officer radioed the bridge, “Captain, everyone’s in the wedge.”
“One minute to impact,” an officer at the sensor station injected.
Nero’s voice became icy calm, “Seal everything up and get everyone in the wedge against the rear bulkheads, secure for impact as best you can.” The thing he’d been trying not to think about broke through and Nero almost doubled over as the horror of what he was about to do clinched his insides. Nero could hear his first officer’s voice over the com line as he hurried the hundreds of crew members in the armored rooms below the bridge. “Move, move, move! Now! Now!”
“Ten seconds to impact...nine...eight...”
“Prepare for impact,” Nero yelled, his voice breaking. Nero’s ‘prepare for impact’ had been for the nuclear explosion, which would hurl the rest of the ship away from the rear engine section. He’d taken the only option available to him. Still he knew that the nuclear separation would hit the rest of the ship like a freight train…knew that the hundreds in the wedge’s forward compartments would not have crash seats…and he knew that most of them would likely die.
“seven...six...five...four...three...”
As Nero watched the rear sensor readings on the overhead screens, he said, “Commence nuclear separation from section three on my mark...and...”
When the energy wave hit the rear of the ship, there was no noise or jolt—what did happen was immediate silence. The ever-present roar and vibration from the ship’s main engines just stopped. The rear-most sensors simply went offline and Nero said, “Separate.”
The nuclear explosion was the loudest thing Nero had ever heard. Everyone was slammed back in his or her seats and that was all anyone remembered.
The engine section turned into an expanding ball of white and the front two sections were thrown forward. The massive protective concaved shield—40 feet of molecular bonded slate—the strongest material known to Amular’s science—protected the forward sections from the blast, however, it was moving much faster than the middle and front sections ahead of it. Although this had protected the front two sections from the blast, it now crushed the middle section and slammed into the forward armor wedge like a sledgehammer.
The 10-megaton warhead had blasted the front of the ship away at 67 gees. The internal dampening had neutralized all but 22 gees, and the pressure and body containment of their advanced crash seats had saved them in the bridge. Still all of them had been knocked unconscious and were injured in various ways.
In the chambers below the bridge where the rest of the huge ship’s crew had taken shelter, hundreds of men and woman had not been so lucky. A sickening 72 percent were instantly killed and all of the lucky ones who had made it were unconscious and critically injured. Nero’s first officer was among the dead.
---
Radin could only watch in numb shock as both battle groups turned to ash. Almost 200 battleships gone and the Blackship’s energy wave, though weakening was still coming, still accelerating, range unknown.
Based on the wave’s acceleration curve, The Bonnet and her two control ships trailing behind her might be able to use DeOttelous, a small moonlet, as a shield. It was one of the moons that had not been vaporized so that the kinetic cannon in front of the Blackship could hide behind it. It was only 82 miles in diameter.
Sensors had showed that each ship the energy wave had destroyed had offered a miniscule, but measurable resistance to it. Therefore, the moonlet might be able to protect them, so the three ships headed for it at top speed.
Reaching it in time was doable at full military power, however, the energy wave would reach the moon seconds later. The problem was that upon reaching it, halting the ships behind it without flying out beyond its protection was going to be very tricky.
As The Bonnet approached the moon, it rotated on its center of gravity in order to use the more powerful rear engines to halt it. The Bonnet slid behind the dull rock moon.
“Emergency stop,” Radin yelled. The ship vibrated violently as the engines kicked in, slowing her.
The other two smaller command and control ships raced in behind her at breakneck speeds. The first one slid behind the moon and desperately reversed engines, but she didn’t have the stopping power of Radin’s battleship, and The Bonnet’s bridge crew watched her pass and slide out of the other side of moon’s protection.
The second one reversed engines before she slid behind the moon and made it just as the energy wave hit.
The wave started turning the moon’s cratered surface to dust. The dust streamed back as if the moon were being hit by some ferocious wind.
Behind the moon, The Bonnet was still firing all her rear engines, trying to stop before it passed beyond the moon. The dust streaming from the moon’s far side thickened and finally blocked out the stars.
The C&C ship that had passed beyond the moon’s protection had started back, but the energy wave stripped off her outer hull, killing everyone aboard before the charred wreckage coasted back behind the moon.
Radin watched as his ship headed for the curtain of dust. He wasn’t going to make it. Then he realized that a safe zone extended outward directly behind DeOttelous. “Hard to starboard.” The Bonnet turned away from the moon while continuing to slow. This gave it a little more room to stop. “Come on. Come on.” Radin hollered.
They almost made it. The rear engine section, which was firing its engines at full power, slowly slipped into the curtain of streaming ash and into the alien’s energy wave. Immediately the roar and vibration of the rear engines died. The huge ship finally came to a complete stop. The side engines, still firing, slowly started moving the ship forward and the engine section slid back out of the thick wall of ash. However, the damage had been done. It looked like it had been sandblasted.
The ship was still moving, now toward the other edge.
“Fire forward thrusters and bring us to a halt,” Radin ordered. The ship came to rest centered behind DeOttelous.
The second C&C ship followed Radin’s example, turned, and safely came to a stop.
Radin collapsed into his seat. “Damage report.”
The fact that two complete battle groups were gone hit him then, but he had no time to stop and think about it. “Battle Group Three,” he said to himself, as he jumped up again. Battle Group Three was coming in behind the Blackship and coming in fast. Damage control started giving its report, but Radin interrupted it. “Contact Admiral Willard,” he ordered.
After several seconds, the communications station reported, “We’re being jammed.”
Radin jumped up and quickly walked to the com station. “From communicating with the Serena hub?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Can you break through it?”
The officers at the com station worked desperately for several minutes. The senior com officer looked up, “I don't think we’re going to be able to, sir.”
“Oh God,” Radin exclaimed.
In the background, the report from Damage Control was saying, “…six fatalities. Both main and secondary engines have suffered catastrophic damage…”
---
The roar and shaking went on and on. Then suddenly it stopped and everything was perfectly still and silent. Nero looked around at his officers. Fear clouded their faces. The air stirred then a strong wind struck as atmosphere escaped. Alarms blurred and red lights flashed. In slow motion, Nero turned and looked toward the back of the bridge. Suddenly the back of the bridge started turning to dust. It was rushing toward him.
Someone gripped his shoulder and shook him...
“Wake up, sir.”
Nero jumped and opened his eyes. The bridge was dimly lit with red emergency lighting and a collage of strange and unpleasant smells permeated the air.
“Are you all right, Captain?”
“Yes, yes,” Nero looked around. He could see that many officers were conscious and were mostly trying to revive others that were slumped in their seats.
The officer who had woken him had moved off to help with the effort.
Nero sat up, coughed, “Status?”
No one answered for several seconds, then, “Sir...sensors are offline.”
Another voice, “The computer is down. It’s attempting to reboot.”
Out of the red smoky gloom, his Science Officer, Commander Bevel, stepped before him. He was covered with dirt and...blood. “Sir,” his voice broke, he cleared his throat, “I regret to inform you that Commander Lambert is dead.”
The news about his first officer hit Nero hard. It literally knocked the wind from him. He had sent Lambert to his death. With empty eyes, he asked, “How bad?” He meant in the lower compartments.
It had been the only option that had given them any chance, he told himself.
“So far we’ve found two dozen—all with critical injuries, but alive.”
Twenty-four out of almost 300. Nero seemed to fold in on himself—the facts too horrible and overwhelming to accept. He literally had to shake himself and, remembering the living, decided denial or whatever it took to allow him to function was best right now.
He stood on shaky legs and looked to the rear of the bridge. The bridge crew who’d recovered were helping the injured from below up to the bridge and attending to them as best they could. He looked up at the stations on the third level and for a second forgot what he was doing. Then in a haunted voice, he asked, “Is there any kind of a damage report?” He got the answer he expected.
“We’re still getting the systems back online...we don't know yet.”
Countdown Amageddon (The Spiral Slayers Book 2) Page 33
