by Don DeBon
"Tell them to stop! If anything shows up when we are like this, we're in the soup!"
"I tried. They told me it was 'necessssary' and I would like the outcome."
Galina spit. "Well tell them I don't like the outcome and to stop right now."
One of the Defiant's massive engines shut down. "Uh oh," Gregory said.
"What?" Galina asked as she looked over to Leon's console. "Oh shit!" All the indicators red-lined as the other engines shut down. The glow from the exhaust ports dimmed and the Defiant began plummeting towards the ground below.
Gregory hung on to a nearby bulkhead. "We're in free fall!"
"Tell me something I don't know!" Galina shouted. Her fingers flew across the controls. "I can't get the engines back online from here. Do something!"
Gregory tried to move over towards the Lytherians but instead he fell to the deck plate as the Defiant slid around under him. He climbed back to his feet. "Stop what you are doing! We're going to crash!" Gregory shouted towards the Lytherians.
They looked up but seemed calm. Their eyes blinked and drifted back down to their screens. A moment later Gregory the impacted the deck with a bone jarring lurch as the Defiant stopped its decent and crept back up to her previous position.
After a few minutes of shaking the stars from his eyes he managed to get his mouth working. "What happened?"
The gaze from one of Lytherians came up from the device he held. "Ssssory. We miscalculated. Your power system required more upgrading than we anticipated. We expected a two second shut down, not sixty. The new system is now online. No further disruption will occur."
Gregory turned towards the intercom. "We have stopped."
"No kidding Sherlock!" Galina's voice came through rather annoyed. "What happened?"
"They are doing an upgrade to the power core, it took longer than they thought and well—"
"You tell them we need to know next time. Several of the crew are bruised and battered."
"Including me." Gregory said rubbing the arm he fell on. "But they said it won't happen again."
"Good. Get yourself to the infirmary."
"Nah I'm fine, just my pride is hurt. Nothing broken."
"That makes two of us," Miles voice came through the intercom. "It was quite disconcerting to lose all connection with the ship. Everything is functional now. I am running diagnostics to verify."
"Good. And I will keep an eye on our guests." Gregory clicked off the intercom.
"Like you did a good job in the first place," Galina grumbled.
Chapter 17
Lavine tapped his fingers on the desk as his eyes narrowed. The door on the far end of his office opened and Halburn stepped through. "I need to get back to the Valiant."
"If I let you go back."
"If? I thought we had established I was right?"
Lavine's eyes narrowed. "Did I say that?"
Halburn's stopped and his stance changed. "Well, no …"
"Then do not assume." He motioned to the screen sitting to the right of his desk. "Get over here."
Halburn cleared the remaining distance between them with several large steps. "What is it?" Halburn's eyes widened as he saw what was displayed on the screen. "Holy!"
Lavine sat back in his chair. "That was my response as well. I have had several technicians crawling over all we found in the lab and it does not appear to be human design."
Halburn's head turned showing his grin. "So I was right?"
Lavine shot him a glare. "Don't push it." He pointed to the screen. "Either way, this certainly isn't. And it is massive."
"When did it arrive?" Halburn said looking closer.
"We don't know."
It was Halburn's turn to shoot a look. "How could you not know? Things this big don't just appear!"
Lavine's eyes narrowed. "Of course! But these images are from an ancient satellite. Perhaps even older than the Mechands. One of my technicians managed to find the access codes to it in the lab. But it isn't full access, or the satellite is damaged. Either way, it only gives us a picture every ten minutes or so."
Halburn stood up. "So one minute empty space, the next this thing appears."
"Yes. This thing is not only big, but can move faster than should be possible."
Halburn straightened folding his arms. "No kidding. Anything more since it arrived?"
Lavine shook his head. "Nope. Not a thing but—" His words were cut off as his console pinged. "Looks like I spoke too soon." He pressed a button and the screen changed to show more ships in the vicinity. He counted a hundred. All of them smaller, and most of them resembled ants compared to the first ship. A few more minutes several hundred more new ships appeared. And even more on the next update. Lavine swore. "This is more than I expected."
Halburn cocked his head as his eyebrows went up. "You were expecting this?"
"To an extent. After the large ship arrived, I figured more would be coming. But not this many."
Halburn leaned forward again. "I assume you have the same thought as I do?"
Lavine nodded. "Yes … invasion. I don't see any other reason for this new activity. And if it wasn't for this ancient satellite, we wouldn't have known."
"Agreed. And I doubt they know we can see them, or action would be taken. You mentioned the satellite is old and slow. They may see it as space junk."
"Yes we have the advantage."
Halburn coughed. "The advantage? The Valiant against all of them? While I don't like going down without a fight, even those odds I won't take on."
"Do you want to give the Earth to them free and clear?"
"Of course not! But a frontal attack is out of the question, I can't reach them. Even if I could, the Valiant won't last long against that many ships. And that's assuming our weapons technology is comparable to theirs. Which I doubt."
Lavine smiled. "How about if you had a fleet of Valiant's?"
"That would be all well and good, but I don't."
Lavine's smile broadened as he pressed a button and his screen split into eight sections. Each section displayed a vast hanger filled with Mechand carriers similar to the Valiant. "Will this do?"
It was Halburn's turn to grin. "It will. But why did you send me out with just the Valiant when you had this armada available?"
"I didn't. Most of them have been offline until now. And the vast majority have additional cannons mounted everywhere possible. Most of the parts are used, pulled from destroyed Mechand carriers, but functional. I have put every resource we have into getting them upgraded and operational after Doran sided with the Mechands."
Halburn pulled his gaze away from the screen. "Do you still think Deven sided with the Mechands? He did try to tell us about these aliens."
Lavine shook his head. "I don't. But I suspected the Nexus was misleading him into something. And now I know what. Although the reason is still unclear. Perhaps the Nexus plans on delivering him to these alien overlords. Either way, neither can to be trusted."
Halburn rubbed his chin. "With this new information, I think I can get Deven to join us. There is no way he would side with some aliens. He risked his life too many times against the Mechands to turn his back on humanity now."
"I agree. But I want to be clear, if you can't get him to join up. You are to take him down. He is too much of a risk otherwise." Lavine's eyes narrowed. "Is that understood?"
Halburn returned to the window and watched the Valiant hover above them. Before, he was sent out with questionable equipment and crew to bring Deven in. Now he had the advantage and knew if Deven didn't join him, his friend would die. Turning back to Lavine he saw the narrowing, impatient eyes. "Yes Chairman, I understand."
Halburn stepped forward, folded his arms again, and watched the screen for a moment. His right hand reached up to stroke his chin. "Don't think I am ungrateful for the additional firepower, but what are we going to do for crews? You told me of the difficulty in crewing the Valiant."
Lavine cracked a grin. "I may have exa
ggerated a bit. Granted, the Valiant has the best. But I managed to find enough people to get these ships in the air. Most of the systems are automated, reducing the training level required. Still, they all have a level of basic training. It isn't what I planned to be sending you out with, but they will give you the extra firepower and backup."
"You lied to me?"
"No, I didn't mention details."
Halburn's eyes narrowed. "Anything else I should know about? Like a secret weapon you have been building without my knowledge?"
Lavine laughed. "No, my secret weapon is you. Well, you and the fleet. Nothing more."
"I sure hope so," Halburn muttered.
Lavine turned. "What was that?"
"Nothing Chairman, nothing at all."
Halburn stood on the bridge of the Valiant. With repairs completed, they had rendezvoused with the other ships in Lavine's armada and were speeding towards the last location of the Defiant. He worried about his friend though. Lavine had detected two small craft from the large ship descending into Earth's atmosphere. The satellite had lost them a few seconds after. Lavine had tried to direct the satellite but either the orientation system was damaged or the control codes he had, didn't grant full access. But he did determine where the Defiant might be, assuming their course continued in a straight line.
Halburn thought of the ships arriving the way they did. They weren't invading, at least not yet. He wondered what these aliens could be up to, but even worse, what they could have planned for Deven.
"Sir?" Naud said hitting several keys. "We are nearing the position. It would appear the Defiant is still here. As is the Mechand carrier."
Halburn spun around. "Still? I am surprised they haven't moved yet. We must have been detected by now." Halburn knew with an armada behind him, there was no way they could sneak up on the Defiant. Her scanners were from a different era and may have greater range than his own.
"If they have, no action is being taken."
"Very strange. How long until we drop out of overdrive?"
"One minute sir."
"Can you scan inside the ships?"
"Yes, their shields are down. One moment." Naud's fingers flew across his console. "Hmm this is odd."
Halburn leaned over Naud. "What is?"
Naud pointed to his screen. "I figured you would want to know how many people were aboard. It is hard to tell at this distance, but this is what I am talking about." He zoomed in on several figures in various locations around the Defiant and the Mechand carrier. "These heat signatures are far lower than normal. I can't explain it. Unless they are dead, but they appear to be moving."
"No, they are the aliens. Aliens all over the Defiant." Halburn straightened. "They have taken it over." He gestured to his ear then made a looping motion. Naud tapped a button opening communications to the fleet. "Everyone, this is commander Halburn. We have confirmed a take over of the Defiant. I say again, we have confirmed hostile take over of the Defiant. When we emerge from overdrive you know what do to." As Naud closed the channel Halburn closed his eyes and whispered, "I am sorry. Goodbye my friend."
Aleshia awoke in a cold sweat. Images blew around in her mind for a few moments before she could make sense of them. Halburn would be there any second. She jumped out of the truck and ran for the bridge. A few seconds later the bridge hatch irised open and the doors in font of it slid back. Leon and Dakarth were working on the chair, but Deven and Otis weren't here. "Get the shields up now!" Aleshia said between quick breaths.
Leon's head popped up from his console. "What for?"
"I agree. I do not detect anything in the area," Minerva said.
"I don't care what the scanners say. Get the shields up now!" She ran over to a console and hit a button. Galina's face appeared. "Get the Defiant's shields up now!"
"What—"
"Just do it!"
She tapped a few keys. "I am not sure they are working. The Lytherians are driving our systems crazy over here."
Dakarth titled his head. "They sssshould work. My men reported the shields upgrades were completed. But it may take longer for them to activate the first time."
A bright blue hue snapped into being around the Defiant. "There they ago. Now mind telling me what is going on?" Galina said.
"Halburn will be here with a fleet of Mechand carriers in less than a minute."
Minerva's eyes went wide as Galina choked. "Not possible!"
"Oh how I wish it was. Minerva, are the shields up?"
Minerva shook her head. "No, I am detecting a disconnect in one of the main power nodes." She frowned. "I have lost connection with it. Deploying a Mechand to investigate."
Dakarth yanked a device from his belt. It snapped open and another Lytherian appeared on its small screen. "What is wrong with the shields? You told me they were online!"
"A power distribution point was damaged, when the upgraded shields were activated it exploded. No damage except to the node itself."
"How long until repair?"
"Five time units, perhaps more."
"Too long. Are the engine upgrades completed?"
The Lytherian on the screen shook his head. "Negative. While they are operational, they do not have full power yet."
Dakarth looked up. "Thissss is not good. I assume this Halburn will fire as soon as he arrives."
Aleshia nodded. "I saw him give the order."
"Galina, extend the Defiant's shields around us," Leon said.
"While that is possible, even with enhanced shields I fear it will not be enough against a fleet of Mechand carriers," Miles inserted from a nearby speaker.
Galina's fingers flew over her console and the blue aura expanded to cover the Phoenix. "Done. Minerva, move closer to us. The less distance the stronger the shield should be."
"I—" She never got a chance to finish. Bright bolts of energy began slamming into the shield as the carriers began to appear.
Dakarth looked back down at his screen. "Put the engines on priority. The sooner we get out of here the better."
The Lytherian on the screen nodded. "We will do our best." The screen went black and Dakarth replaced the device on his belt.
Leon pointed towards the hatch as he ran for it. "I will see what I can do with the engines."
"But my engineers are working on it."
Leon turned back. "Yes, but they don't know these engines like I do." He disappeared as he went down the access ladder and the hatch irised closed.
Deven and Otis appeared through the hatch a few moments later. "What's going on? Leon passed us running like a mad man," Deven said.
"In short, up a freaking creek!" Galina said as console behind her sparked and her image flickered. "We have extended shields around you, but I was told there is a problem with them and they are not at full strength."
Deven studied carriers blasting them. "This has to be Halburn, but where did he get this fleet? And why didn't we see it coming?"
"It is, and I saw them coming. Be thankful I did. Our scanners never picked them up," Aleshia said.
Dakarth sighed. "Your systems did not detect this assault because the upgrades are not yet complete. We did not expect an attack based on the information provided."
Deven gripped the back of a chair. "Nor did we. The information was accurate, until now." Everyone was thrown across the bridge as the Phoenix shuddered. "What was that? We shouldn't have felt anything."
"The continued impacts pushed the Defiant in a direction I did not anticipate. We scraped against the shield," Minerva said.
"Don't do it again! Your bump took one heck of a chunk from our shields," Galina said.
Minerva frowned. "It also dented my ship. Thankfully the hull is still intact."
"Boss, I know it is obvious, but we need to get out of here," Otis said as he appeared through the hatch.
Deven shook his head as pointed to a nearby console. "We can't. Overdrive is offline."
"Dang it. Weapons aren't ready yet either. I just came from there."
"I told my men to put the engines on priority. But it will be a few more of your minutes," Dakarth said.
The Phoenix rocked as it bumped into the Defiant's shields again. "Minerva! You do it once more and we are both toast!" Galina shouted.
"I am sorry, but I may have a solution to our problem," Minerva said as the energy barrage stopped.
