by B. C. James
He poked at his console, checking the status of the other systems. The hull had been damaged in several places, but luckily there were no breaches. The CO2 scrubbers were replenishing the air supply and, with power back up, he could now use the med pod to mend his broken nose and battered face, though that would have to wait until he was sure his ship was safe. The distance between them and the Endurance continued to grow. Even so, Sharp felt they were in danger and would be until they were far away from Pierce. He scanned down the console readout. The propulsion systems were out of commission, but Briggs and Arnold were working hard to get them back online. Until then, Sharp would keep a close watch over the Endurance.
“Cap, look,” Morales said, drawing his attention to the view screen. The sides of the cargo module trapping the front of the Endurance bulged out. A yellow wall of flame obscured the forward section of the ship as fire blasted out the cargo module around the Endurance. The ship moved forward slightly from the force of the escaping flames. The sides of the module bent further out as the ring of fire intensified. A bright flash overwhelmed the view screen for a split second then refocused to show the Endurance blasting backward as the module launched forward like a missile.
“Holy shit,” Morales said as the ruined cargo module whizzed past the screen. The viewer panned to follow the Endurance’s path as it curved up and away from them, its forward rockets burning brightly at full power. It arced up into a massive loop, circling back toward the Pescado Rojo.
“Hold on,” Sharp yelled as the Endurance raced toward them. The blazing rocket engines kissed the Rojo’s nose as the out-of-control ship zipped by, narrowly missing the bridge. The viewer changed angles, following the Endurance’s path. As the ship sailed beneath them, its rockets snuffed out and tiny jets of gas blasted from its maneuvering thrusters, flattening their trajectory.
“That was a close one,” Morales said, her eyes wide, and a hand pressed over her heart.
Sharp released his vise-like grip on the command chair’s armrests as he looked at the main viewer. The Endurance slipped away from the Rojo’s lower hull, carried by the momentum of their perilous rocket burn and putting a welcome distance between them.
As Sharp’s pounding heart calmed, a blast flashed behind the Endurance. “What the hell was that?” Morales asked.
“They’re firing their pulse drive,” Sharp said as another flash erupted from the tail of the Endurance. Its backward retreat became a forward march toward the Rojo.
The ship was several thousand meters off, but Sharp could see its blackened nose bearing down on them like a giant bloodthirsty raven. His mind raced, trying to think of a way to counter this new threat.
His comm clicked on, static screeching over the line before Briggs’ voice came through. “Captain, grav-thrusters are back online,” he reported. “But I can only give you about twenty percent power.”
“Good work, Ensign, I’ll take whatever I can get.”
“Ion thrusters are still down, Cap,” Briggs continued. “You won’t have much maneuvering capability.”
“Alright, get them up as soon as you can.”
The Endurance grew ever larger on the screen, the ruthless raven closing in on its prey.
“Morales, engage gravity thrusters. Maximum available power.” He ordered.
“Heading, Sir?”
“I don’t care. That way,” he said pointing toward the front of the bridge.
She nodded and powered up the forward gravity emitter. It hummed through the room, vibrating their feet from its position underneath the bridge. Sharp split the view screen into two images. The Endurance gaining on them on the left side and a forward view on the right. A green glow filled the bottom of the screen as the emitter projected a dark sphere in front of them. The surrounding stars turned into arcing curves of white as their light bent around the artificial gravity well.
The Rojo lurched forward, drawn by the gravity. The black sphere moved ahead of them at a steady distance while they picked up speed. As the Endurance lagged on the screen, a series of flashes fluttered behind it like a strobe light. The Endurance accelerated in vain and shrank slowly away as it tried to intercept the Rojo.
“Morales, can you give it any more power?” Sharp asked.
She twisted her head to look at him. “We’re at twenty percent, Cap. You’ll have to talk to Briggs if you want any more.”
They were moving away from the Endurance, but not fast enough for Sharp’s liking. They needed more power. He was about to open the comm channel to engineering when something on the viewer caught his eye. The Endurance’s nose pulled up, the ship flipping away from them as if to make an escape. “What the hell is he doing now?” he thought out loud as her rear end came about and faced the Rojo. As the ship leveled out, the small dark hole in the center of the pusher plate pointed right at them.
“Oh shit,” Morales yelled. “He’s going to shoot us.”
***
Pierce peered through the viewport in frustration as the Rojo pulled further away. Even with the barrage of nuclear charges he’d launched, the Endurance was no match for the propulsion systems of the more advanced ship. The Rojo had the advantage of five centuries of technological progress.
Pierce felt the Rojo slipping through his grasp. He couldn’t let them get away. He bared his clenched teeth and slammed his fist down on the bridge console. “We have to stop them,” he yelled.
“Sir,” Baker said, “maybe we can hit them with a nuclear charge.
“I do not want to blow them up dammit,” Pierce scolded.
Daniels leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin. “We could aim for the gravity well,” he said, nodding toward the dark sphere.
Pierce looked over at him. “Explain.”
“Sharp used a nuke blast to disrupt the warp field and drop us out of warp. I think the same thing could work on their gravity thrusters. But it’d have to be a precise shot to avoid blowing up the ship.”
“Do it,” Pierce ordered. “But be careful. I want that ship intact.” He yanked the flight stick, rolling the ship over backward to point the pulse cannon toward the Rojo.
Daniels tapped away at his control panel, entering long strings of numbers. “Hurry up. They are getting away,” Pierce demanded, his face flushed with rage.
“Alright, ready,” Daniels said, punching in one last command. “Turn maneuvering thrusters over to the nav computer. I’ve linked it with the pulse drive. It’ll have to aim the whole ship to target the well.”
Pierce released the flight stick and switched to automatic control. The nav computer flipped the ship around and attempted to lock onto the well, making the stars in the viewport swirl in small circles as the ship rocked back and forth, the computer compensating for the damaged thrusters, sending more power to the ones that were operational. As the ship steadied, Pierce switched his control panel screen to a rear view.
The cannon twanged as it launched a charge, the force of the launch slowing their momentum slightly. Pierce grinned as the small ball streaked across the screen, racing toward the front of the Pescado Rojo. As the nuke reached the gravity well, the dark sphere shifted to port, changing the Rojo’s trajectory. The charge detonated in the emptiness next to the well, sending purple bolts of lightning coursing through the black sphere as the blast ballooned into a yellow cloud of energy. The Rojo shuddered as the shock wave washed over it, but appeared to be undamaged.
“Again,” Pierce cried. “Factor that course correction into your calculations and fire four charges around the gravity well. If they change course again, at least one blast will hit it.”
Daniels clicked away at his controls, his fingers moving with a flurry of energy. He leaned away from the console as the cannon twanged four times in quick succession, each launch robbing them of forward velocity.
Wide-eyed and smirking, Pierce watched the charges race across his screen toward the Pescado Rojo.
***
“They’re firing!” Morales yelled.
Sharp leaned forward in his seat, watching the small metal ball streak toward them. The Main view screen augmented the picture, tracking the projectile’s path and displaying its predicted course as a dashed line. Sharp’s heart sank when he saw the line intersected with the artificial gravity well in front of them. “They’re trying to knock out the grav-emitter,” he shouted. “Can you shut it down?”
“There’s not enough time,” Morales replied.
“Are the maneuvering thrusters back up? Can you take evasive action?”
“Still offline, Cap. But maybe I can use the…”
“What? Use what?”
She ignored him, her eyes focused on her control console. “Hold on,” she called out.
The ship lurched to the side, almost tumbling him out of his chair as the gravity well shifted under Morales’ commands. She’d vectored the emitter to shift their direction of travel. It was the best evasive action she could accomplish without the use of the maneuvering thrusters.
Sharp steadied himself in his seat. On the screen, the dotted line no longer intersected with the well. The metal sphere exploded next to it, having no effect. The shock wave scarcely rocked the ship as it washed over them, having lost most of its energy to the void of space.
“Nice flying, Ensign,” he praised.
She smiled. “Nothing to it.”
The Endurance fell behind on the screen. Sharp smiled, they were losing them. His quiet celebration was short-lived, however, as he saw four puffs blast out of the Endurance’s pulse cannon. The color drained from his face. There was no way they could evade all four of them without the ion thrusters. He clicked on the comm. “Briggs, I need maneuvering thrusters now!”
“Five minutes, Captain,” he replied.
“We don’t have five minutes,” he yelled as the four nukes barreled toward them.
“Morales, can you dodge ‘em with the grav-drive?”
She shook her head. “Uh, I’ll try, but it’s like steering a canoe through a bowl of pudding.”
The charges were nearly to the gravity well. Sharp braced himself in his chair. He was ready this time as the ship jerked from Morales vectoring the grav-emitter. The nuclear charges detonated, the flash of light washing out the image on the view screen. An explosion sounded beneath them as the shock wave hit. Sharp rocked forward in his chair as the force of the blast slammed into the hull and knocked out the emitter.
“We’ve lost the forward gravity emitter, Sir,” Morales reported as the view screen cleared. The Endurance still followed them. “Sir, we’re moving away, but we lost some speed from the shock wave. Pierce might be able to catch up with us now.”
The Endurance twisted on the view screen. Sharp watched as it flipped around to point toward the Rojo. A flash blazed behind the ship as a nuke detonated, propelling them forward. He opened the comm channel. “Briggs, can you get the forward emitter back online?”
“Sorry, Sir, Looks like the blast completely fried the circuits. The whole unit will have to be replaced. But I got the rear emitter working and maneuvering thrusters are back up.”
“How about the warp engine?” Sharp asked, hoping for a bit of luck.
“Still working on it, Cap.”
“Drop everything else, get the warp engine back online ASAP,” Sharp ordered and closed the line. He wanted this chase to be over.
Flashes rhythmically pulsed behind the Endurance, pushing them forward. The small ship gained on them. If Sharp could swing the Rojo around, they could use the rear emitter to pull them along backward. “Morales, how long would it take to flip the ship around? Could you do it before the Endurance reaches us?”
She pecked at her console. “No, not enough time, Cap.”
He watched the Endurance growing larger on the screen, like a storm front being carried on the wind. It was time for drastic measures. “Ensign, power up the rear grav-emitter on my mark.”
“But, Sir, the change in momentum could rip us apart,” she informed him.
“You’ll just have to use your expert piloting skills to make sure it doesn’t,” he replied, his eyes locked on the Endurance. “Ease into it gently, Ensign. Trust the ship. She’ll take care of us.”
The Endurance was closing the gap between them, nipping at their heels. He put his hand on the console to brace himself. “Now!” he yelled.
Morales engaged the rear emitter, gently edging it to full power. The inertial shift slammed him forward despite his hold on the console. He flipped over the control panel and smashed into the back of Morales’ chair before sprawling onto the deck.
“Well hello, Captain,” she joked as she helped him up. She tucked a thumb under her harness where it wrapped over her shoulder and held it out for him to see. “Not that I don’t enjoy your visits, but you should really consider wearing your harness.”
He let out a short laugh. “With the way you fly, it’s probably a good idea.”
From his kneeling position next to Morales, he looked up at the main view screen. Just as he’d hoped, the Endurance had shot past them, unable to change direction as rapidly as the Rojo. He saw their forward rockets fire as they struggled to slow down. The Endurance flipped around and shot back toward them with a salvo of blasts from their pulse drive cannon.
“Sir,” Morales said, drawing his attention from the screen. “That little stunt bought us some time, but it overheated the rear emitter, it’ll be out of commission for a few minutes until it cools down below the cutoff threshold.”
“Use the maneuvering thrusters,” he directed. “Give us as much rearward speed as they can muster.”
She nudged the thrusters to full power. The ship moved backward, slowly picking up speed. Sharp regained his feet and stood next to Morales, one hand on the back of her chair and the other on her console. Together they watched the view screen as the speck of the Endurance approached.
“Here they come again,” Morales said.
***
Pierce let out a triumphant laugh as the blast enveloped the black sphere of the gravity well. A yellow cloud blew out from the center then collapsed on itself, taking the well with it. Tendrils of lightning shot in all directions as a wave shot toward the Pescado Rojo, traveling along the conical energy field projecting from the forward emitter. The wave smashed against the emitter, sending a cloud of debris erupting from below the bridge. The green glow from the emitter snuffed out, and the shock wave from the collapsing gravity well washed over the Rojo, arresting enough of its momentum for the Endurance to catch up.
“Flip us around,” Pierce ordered. “Fire the pulse drive, get us to that ship now!”
Daniels complied, and Pierce was pushed back into his seat as the pulse drive fired in rapid succession. His thin sneer shifted to a wide grin as the Rojo drew nearer in the viewport.
“We’ll intercept them in a few minutes, Sir,” Daniels reported.
Pierce tented his fingers in front of his chin and grinned. He had them now. “Prepare to fire forward rockets. Then bring us alongside cargo bay two. We will send out another mining drone and cut through the door.”
Daniels had no time to reply. A blinding green flash pulsed from the rear of the Rojo. Pierce shielded his eyes until the light cleared. When he looked again, the Rojo had disappeared from the viewport. “Where are they?” he yelled.
Daniels pulled up the rear view on the console screens. “Sir, they’re behind us. Looks like they engaged their rear gravity emitter to evade us, but blew it out in the process. They’re moving away on ion thrusters only.”
“Fire the forward thrusters. Bring us about.” Pierce ordered. He was becoming weary of the cat-and-mouse game Sharp was playing with him.
He held on as the forward thrusters blazed to life and the ship flipped end over end to face the Rojo. “Fire pulse drive. We have them now,” he said, clenching a fist.
As the Endurance slipped toward the Rojo, Pierce imagined the look Sharp would have on his face when he came marching back onto his ship.
/> His daydream was interrupted by Daniels. “Sir, look,” he said, pointing out the viewport.
Pierce followed his outstretched arm. A cargo module had blasted off from the Rojo and was careening toward them. There was no time to give orders. Pierce grabbed the flight stick and rolled them hard to starboard. The ship groaned as the thrusters engaged, barely moving them in time as the huge module ripped past them. He looked down at his console screen and watched the module disappear behind them, lost among the multitude of stars.
“Here comes another one,” Baker yelled from behind.
Pierce’s head snapped up to see another module headed for them. He pushed the stick forward, and the ship sank below the tumbling module with centimeters to spare. The Endurance was not built for this. Each acrobatic maneuver was costing them forward momentum.
Another module launched out from the Rojo, nearly clipping its forward warp ring before sailing toward them. Pierce easily dodged this one now that he had some advance warning.
“Sir,” Daniels said, drawing his attention. “They’re powering up their rear grav-emitter.”
Pierce looked aft of the Rojo where a familiar green glow was building. “I thought you said they blew it out,” he yelled.
“They must’ve got it back online,” Daniels defended.
Pierce frowned at his crewmate. “Fire the pulse drive. Give us as much forward speed as possible. Then flip around and take out their rear emitter. They must not escape.”
***
“Sir, they’re gaining on us,” Morales said, informing him of what he already knew. The ion thrusters weren’t powerful enough to escape the Endurance’s primitive, yet effective, pulse drive.
“How long till the rear grav-emitter is back up?” he asked, watching Pierce’s ship bearing down on them.
