by H. Alesso
He gave the younger man a friendly shove. “Now off with you.”
The lieutenant rushed to fulfill his orders.
Hawkins took over the defense of the crumbling fortress. He issued a string of rapid orders to those around him, starting with enhancing the power to the Unified Quantum Field (UQF) force shields. Next, he identified groups of weapons that would fire in unison from a selected battery commander.
Hawkins ordered, “Fire.”
Luck favored him and his first barrage damaged the warship as she maneuvered over the planet. The men were cheered.
The lieutenant gave a final salute and his small caravan of men and weapons set off. Soon he was hiding along the road in ambush, waiting.
Hawkins remained in the fort’s control center which was still the main target of the enemy. He changed the firing sequence. He went from weapon station, to weapon station, setting the parameters of each to ensure the most effective fire. His vigor stimulated the skeleton crew and the fort’s fire became more effective. He had weapons stop firing when the ship targeted near them. This let the enemy think those weapons had been destroyed. Later he returned them to service, catching the ship off guard, while it was entering a lower orbit to prepare for a landing. This offered Hawkins an opportunity to score some effective hits. His effort was enough to cause the warship return to a higher orbit.
The men responded to this temporary reprieve with a cheer and looked to Hawkins as if he were a miracle worker. However, the warship returned to a stable firing position and began battering the fort once more.
Daring, as always, Hawkins continued to bait and switch his fire for as long as his weapons remained, but after an hour of cat and mouse the game was up, and a series of targeted bursts from the warship found their mark. In a burst of light and noise, his remaining heavy weapons were reduced to red-hot slag.
Once again the warship entered lower orbit and readied to land its assault force. The warship fired a final devastating barrage which struck an ammunition dump. It caused a horrific explosion that torn the fort apart and shook the ground stronger than any earthquake had ever done. It tossed Hawkins high in to the air and whacked him hard onto the ground . . .
. . . in that instant, he was four years old again; listening to his mother say that his father would not be coming home. Then, he was outside, running as fast as his underdeveloped legs could carry him, seeking to escape an unfair world, until exhausted, he finally collapse and lay on the ground looking up at the heavens . . .
When Hawkins opened his eyes, he lay on the ground looking up at the sky through the outstretched branches of a burnt out tree. It was several seconds before he was able to struggle painfully to his feet. His skull felt as if it were split in two and warm blood trickled freely down his left ear and cheek. Nevertheless, he dismissed the pain, as well as his visions of the past—because there were things he needed to do—in the here and now.
He ordered the remaining soldiers to abandon the fort and seek shelter.
He said, “Your work is done. I still have more to do. Now go.”
Several hesitated, wanting to remain with him, but he stared them down and ordered them to join the lieutenant.
With the fort overwhelmed, Hawkins made his way toward the maintenance tunnel near the spaceport. It was now time to put the second half of his plan into action—and launch a surprise attack on the warship.
CHAPTER 9
Hijack
The smoke and damage from the bombardment hid Hawkins as he crawled into the pitch black subterranean maintenance tunnel. He had to feel the walls and guess where his fellow conspirators were. A rat squealed and scamper past.
“Hawkins!” called Hale, his voice high pitched and tense.
“Yes. Is everyone else here?”
“We’ve been waiting for you.”
“Gather around,” Hawkins said. “Things have not played out as we originally imagined, but we’ll succeed, if we act without hesitation.”
“Just tell us what to do, Jamie,” said Gunny, eager as always.
“Yeah, we’re ready,” said Mitchel.
“Are the lookouts set?” asked Hawkins.
“Everywhere they’re needed.”
BANG!
The men all jumped at the sudden noise, right next to them.
“Sorry, sorry, it’s only me,” said Gunny. “I think I knocked over a tool chest.” Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
“Follow me,” said Hawkins.
They scurried, much like the rats around them, feeling their way through the wet stink of the passages to where the outlet emerged behind the shuttle bay.
A half a dozen Hellion guards were patrolling around the shuttlecraft, relaxed and confident, believing the attack was going well. They failed to notice Hawkins and his men sneaking ever closer, until it was too late. The skirmish was brief, violent, and over in a minute with many of the Hellion unconscious, or dead.
Securing the shuttles, Hawkins now switched into a Hellion officer’s uniform. His men switched from their Jaxon uniforms into uniforms of the fallen Hellion guards. In a few minutes, they were aboard the shuttles along with their Hellion prisoners.
As the shuttles took off, they overheard the Hellion landing force reporting that they had been waylaid and taken casualties. Just as Hawkins had predicted, the ground troops had marched from the spaceport over the mountain road and straight into the lieutenant’s ambush, suffering devastating losses.
Hawkins signaled the warship, Destiny, “This is Captain Hawkins of the assault force, we have casualties aboard. Have medical staff standing by.”
The officer acknowledged, “Medical staff will be waiting at the docking bay.”
The shuttles carried over a hundred of Hawkins’ men and though he estimated that there were over two hundred defenders remaining on the ship, he counted on the element of surprise and the fact that most of the ship’s crew would be at their stations unarmed.
The deck shuddered as the shuttle settled into the docking bay. A green light flashed when the pressure was equalized and they were able to disembark.
“Permission to come aboard?” asked Hawkins in a professional manner, saluting as he did so.
The gangplank watch stander didn’t recognize Hawkins, but responded to his rank and saluted back. He said, “Permission granted, sir.”
As the medical staff began unloading the unconscious Hellion guards, Hawkins and his men, quickly subdued them.
Then Hawkins said, “Mitchel, take your men and secure engineering.”
“Will do, Captain.”
“Gunny, you and your men hit the armory and communications. Hale, you and the rest follow me to the bridge.” Without waiting to seeing if anyone followed him, Hawkins ran off at full speed.
He briskly stepped through the security hatch and into the operations compartment and passed silent machinery that had sustained battle damage. Few pieces of equipment were operating and a few others were being serviced by crewmen.
When he entered in the corridor leading to the bridge, Hawkins crouched and peeked around the corner. He darted from one position to another. There were a number of Hellion crewmen working and laughing in a relaxed good-natured way, thinking they had already won the battle.
Hawkins jumped up and startled them.
“Gentlemen, surrender peacefully and you will not be harmed,” he offered.
For a long moment, the bridge watch gaped at him, trying to identify the man in the officer’s uniform who stood so boldly before them.
“Who are you?” one finally asked.
“I am Captain Hawkins, and you are now my prisoners,” he said, pointing his pistol at each of them in turn.
“What? Why?” came the perplexed response.
“These men and I are escaped prisoners from the planet below. We have taken over your ship.” For a long moment, they only stared at him. Then, as one, those of the Hellion crew who were armed drew their weapons and opened fire.
Hawkins and
his men fell back into the corridor and laid down heavy fire, forcing the Hellion crew to the far end of the bridge. With Hawkins providing cover, Joshua made his way to the ship’s AI control panel and quickly gained control of the communications system.”
While Hawkins and several of his men laid down covering fire, Joshua was able to tap into the ship’s AI control pane and gained control of the communication system.
Joshua reported, “It looks like there is fighting in engineering and elsewhere on the ship. Lights and power are out in most of the ship.”
The Hellion crew resisted throughout the ship, however, without their communications systems they weren’t able to mount a coherent defense. They continued to fight resolutely in small bands, wherever they could. They fired pistols, rifles, and tossed a few grenades.
One blast stunned Hawkins.
Why has everything gotten so quiet?
His senses told him something was seriously wrong; at first he couldn’t hear and when his hearing returned the sounds were the wrong noises; the rumbling of machines and the humming of equipment were absent. Instead, loud cries of anguish and the jostling of crewmen combating fires reached his ears. It took several minutes before he shook off the effects of the concussion. He took a deep breath. The acrid fumes of fire stung his nose.
One Hellion crewman charged. A shot rang out; he staggered and fell down, mortally wounded.
Hawkins’s men kept up a steady fire, and under his direction, they drove the enemy back. Some of the Hellion men were struggling to get into battle armor and gather their weapons even as Hawkins fired at them.
A blast burned through the hatch, he was hiding behind.
“Ugh—” he cried from the scorching heat of the near miss. The plasma blast splattered off the bulkhead next to Hawkins.
This was followed by a series of earsplitting explosions.
KABOOOM! KABOOOM!
The shocking roar briefly rendered Hawkins nearly deaf. He instinctively raised his hands to his ears.
What happened?
Footsteps approached. It was Hale bringing up more men to the bridge. As he turned around, he found Hale at his side, his face eager and ready to go forward. Calmer now, Hawkins observe several Hellion men swarming into the compartment.
Focus!
As Hawkins climbed up behind them, Hale opened fire and engaged them in the firefight. Together they methodically targeted the Hellion crew.
Rapid firing his projectile gun, Hawkins soon heard the click of empty chambers. Letting the gun fall from his hands, he pulled out a grenade and hurled it forward.
Got to keep fighting . . .
After a few moments of agreeable respite, he was beginning to get a glimmer of optimism when . . .
Peering over his shoulder into the dark, he tripped on some debris. As he crashed to the deck, he lay still and listened.
Thoughts flashed past him.
Where are they?
As Hawkins twisted around a corner, he crashed into a panel that impact knocked him back and spun him around. His legs were exhausted and unwilling to move. Leaning against the bulkhead, like a dead weight, he slid slowly down to the deck and rested for a minute.
He held his breath.
Who is that?
In the dim light, vague phantoms lurked nearby.
“Jamie?”
It was Hale! From behind the bridge, he had picked off several of the more exposed crewmen.
Hawkins continued to move toward the fiercest fighting. Twice he felt the heat of near miss plasma blasts. Then the wave of the action washed past him and he found several men moaning nearby on the deck. The wounded men sought shelter behind a panel. As the fighting madness ebbed away, Hawkins realized the nearby crewmen would die soon without medical assistance.
Hawkins grabbed a discarded rifle and launched forward. A few men rallied toward him, and together they charged one more time, but the group was insufficient to drive the Hellion off the bridge.
Each frenzied violent assault was met by courageous resistance in a final desperate act of passion. Finally, Hawkins found himself, fighting hand to hand with Destiny’s remaining senior officer. The struggle ended when Hawkins conked him on the head and rendered him senseless.
The final Hellion resistance collapsed.
The internal contest was over.
Despite having claimed the ship, they had no time to rest. Somehow they had to defend the ship and move her out of range of the planet’s weapons.
Hawkins acted swiftly. Before long Mitchel had the engines operating and they were able to move the ship.
***
Amid the smoke and debris on the planet’s surface, Seward stormed about in a seething lather. He ordered, “Lieutenant, fire your mobile weapons batteries at that ship.”
“But sir, our troops are fighting on that ship under Captain Hawkins,” replied the confused lieutenant.
“You fool. You utter imbecile!” Seward raged throwing his hands in the air. “Hawkins is not one of our soldiers. He’s an escaped prisoner.”
The communication tech interrupted with a report, “Warden Seward, sir. I’ve just received a message from Captain Hawkins aboard the Hellion warship. It says, ‘Jacob Seward, I am leaving now, but I hope someday to chance upon you once again.’”
CHAPTER 10
Man of Destiny
There was no question who the captain of the Destiny was—there was no vote or discussion, no argument or controversy, no persuasion or cajoling—every man who the day before had been a prisoner without hope and today was a free man with a future, knew who they would follow—the man who was at the forefront of the battle—Jamie Hawkins.
Captain Jamie Hawkins was seated in the command chair of the Destiny when Hale stepped onto the bridge and reported, “I’ve given the astrogator the coordinates of rebel base Echo.”
Hawkins nodded. “Helm, set course for base Echo, ahead full.”
“Aye, Captain.”
“What now, Jamie?” asked Hale.
“What now, you ask?” said Hawkins jubilantly, spreading his arms wide to encompass the entire universe. “Now, we do as we please.”
He watched as Zeno shrank to nothing on the view screen.
Freedom is delicious.
***
Hawkins was not yet twenty seven years old, yet, he had served in combat for several years as a Marine, and now he was in command of a fine ship. He knew commanding a ship would to be different from other responsibilities he had known, but he did know how to handle men.
He stood at the head of the wardroom table, with his newly promoted officers around him. He placed his hands on his hips, and barked, “Ha! You’ve done it, you great lump of fools. I call you fools for attempting so foolhardy an assault in the face such overwhelming odd, but most of all, you’re fools for following the likes of me!”
Around the table the men roared with laughter and nodded their heads in agreement with every word. They knew all too well how foolish they had been, but they now had true faith in Hawkins. He could do no wrong in their eyes. He searched their faces, hoping to know them soon—their strengths and weaknesses. One of his strengths was his positive attitude which was infectious and lead to everyone thinking that whatever they faced, they could succeed.
The Destiny had a rocket-shaped hull. It was over two hundred meters long, equipped with a sub-light antimatter engine and thirty-six ray guns, half of which were medium caliber 24 gigajoule dark energy lasers capable of penetrating an enemy ship’s shield and titanium steel hull. Lesser caliber guns were mounted as well for close range. The sensing equipment included several different types of active radars and passive telescopes. The spectrum of emissions was strictly controlled so that the ship would be difficult to detect when it operated at minimal power.
Looking around the spacious semicircular bridge, Hawkins shifted in his seat to get a better glimpse of his new home. He met the eager faces of the bridge crew with an approving eye.
Soon the Des
tiny was alive with bustling repair activities. The next few days flew by swiftly. It seemed that there were never enough hours in a day and he found himself delegating more and more responsibility to his executive officer, Aaron Hale.
For the first time, in a long time, Hawkins was satisfied. Later, he would determine the fate of the Hellion prisoners. But for now it was with excitement, curiosity, and impatience that he took the Destiny to Echo.
***
Hale knocked on the captain’s stateroom door. Without waiting for a response, he entered and said, “We need to have a conversation about the rebellion.”
Hawkins grimaced and replied, “We’re escaping from prison, not founding a political movement. We’ve no infrastructure, or support, for an insurgency.”
“You’re a folk hero, thanks to the hospital episode. People will rally around you. Why do you think the government worked so hard to convict you and sentence you to Zeno? It was to get you out of the public eye.”
“I have simple passions—a desire for love, a thirst for knowledge, and pity for the deplorable plight of mankind,” declared Hawkins. “None of those compel me to start a revolution.”
“It’s already started. We just need to find the right leader. I think that might be you, but we don’t have a great deal of time. Victor will mount an all-out effort to eliminate. He’ll hunt us down, in order to destroy the threat we represent to his foul government.”
Hawkins felt a kinship with Hale, born of need and spirit, but they served separate goals and desires. Hale wanted to build and support a revolution while Hawkins was still narrowly defining his role in terms of escape and evade. Yet, they put a good face on their alliance. Someday, Hawkins hoped to profit from Victor’s fall, but he was reluctant to predict when it would happen, or if he would be a part of it.
“I think you see our government as a sham, a farce acted out by hypocritical buffoons. For you, politics is the playground of the wicked.”
