Arkship Vengeance (The Arkship Saga Book 2)

by Niel Bushnell

  WARNING

  ‘I don’t think this is wise,’ Gofal warned Bara as they walked out of the elevator.

  ‘I’m not known for my wiseness,’ Bara quipped.

  Gofal shook his head. ‘That’s not even a word.’

  The Tateishi-Maru’s bridge was a small space, long and thin, with an air of claustrophobia to it that set Bara’s heart racing immediately.

  An officer looked up as they entered. ‘Engineers? You’re not logged on my service rota.’

  ‘We’re not here to do work. We need to speak to your captain, urgently.’

  ‘The Shushō is busy.’ The officer stood, his hands herding them back.

  Bara stood her ground. ‘You have to listen. The Tateishi-Maru is in danger.’

  A voice bellowed from the far end of the confined bridge. ‘In danger?’

  They watched as a broad figure approached them. He had short cropped silvering hair and a fixed expression on his wrinkled face.

  ‘You are the captain?’ Bara asked.

  ‘The Shushō, yes. Shushō Nakamura. Who are you?’

  ‘I’m Bara Delaterre, this is Gofal and Derward Tarkkail. We’ve come to warn you of a possible attack on your arkship.’

  The old man’s face cracked a tiny smile. ‘Please, go on.’

  Derward pushed past the others, so that he was face to face with the Shushō. ‘I have come from the Draig arkship Fenrir. Orcades Draig is coming here. He intends to take your arkship by force. He will overwhelm you with his firepower, he will board your vessel and kill you and your men. There is still time to prepare yourself for battle, but you must act now.’

  Nakamura stared up into the one remaining eye of the taller man, transfixed. ‘Draig is coming here?’

  ‘Yes. He will be here soon.’

  The bridge fell silent, then Nakamura began to laugh. ‘We have a trade agreement with the House of Draig. We will not interfere with their affairs, and they will leave us alone. They are an ally of Li Zhang, not an enemy.’ He turned to one of his men. ‘Get them off my bridge.’

  ‘Shushō Nakamura, you must consider the implications of our warning,’ Gofal shouted. ‘I would advise you assemble your other arkships, or move the Tateishi-Maru to a safer location, where you can . . .’

  His voice faded as an alarm sounded. The bridge crew returned to their positions, shouting orders to each other.

  Bara stared out of the small windows; a distortion was forming, as if space was being pulled into a point. Then, out of the distortion, an arkship appeared, dark and ominous.

  ‘We’re too late,’ she gasped.

  One of the bridge officers looked up from his station. ‘The arkship Fenrir, Shushō.’

  Nakamura glanced to the trio on his bridge, a nervous expression betraying his doubts. He turned back to his officer. ‘Open com. Arkship Fenrir, this is Shushō Nakamura of the sukaitaun Tateishi-Maru. On behalf of the Li Zhang family, I welcome our ally to this region of the Cluster.’

  The com channel crackled empty static.

  ‘Anything?’ Nakamura checked. His com officer shook his head.

  The imposing Fenrir grew larger, closing in.

  ‘Please, at least power up your Gilgore grid!’ Derward said. ‘Be prepared to defend yourself, before it’s too late.’

  Nakamura said nothing. He paced the length of the narrow space, stopping to stare out of the small windows. The Fenrir was almost alongside now. Finally, he turned back to his bridge officers. ‘Power up the grid. Sound general quarters. Prepare for–’

  The arkship shuddered with the recognizable impact of weapons fire, and a familiar dread took hold of Bara’s stomach.

  ‘The Fenrir has fired upon us!’ an officer shouted.

  ‘Registering more Cube transit distortion points.’

  ‘Clear the bridge!’ the captain demanded, turning his attention on the unfolding crisis.

  Bara, Gofal and Derward were pushed into the elevator by the bridge officers. As the doors closed, they saw another arkship appear to join the Fenrir.

  The elevator descended, buffeted by the impact of the Draig assault.

  ‘Perhaps I should contact the Vengeance,’ Gofal suggested.

  Derward shook his head. ‘I think that’s what they want. I think they allowed me to escape so that I’d lead Wynn here.’

  ‘Sol! These people don’t stand a chance!’ Bara muttered.

  ‘And neither would the Vengeance. There’s nothing more we can do here. We need to get out before they board the arkship.’

  Bara glared at him. ‘You want to leave?’

  ‘We have to! This is not our fight, not yet.’

  Gofal said, ‘I’m inclined to agree with Derward. Retreat seems like the best option. The Tateishi-Maru does not have sufficient armament to withstand an assault from a fleet of Draig arkships.’

  Bara’s frustrations became too much, and she punched the wall. Everywhere she went, every home she made, was broken. Melchior, the Obsidian, the Vengeance, now the Tateishi-Maru.

  The elevator stopped, and the doors opened.

  ‘Let’s get out of here,’ Bara said.

  TRUST

  ‘We are running out of time!’ Wynn said, clutching his head in his hands. The pain was getting worse.

  The Lord Chamberlain Cam Tanis stood at his side, leaning in so that only Wynn could hear his voice. ‘My prince, you must rest. You are unwell.’

  Wynn pushed him aside. ‘No! You don’t understand, Tanis. Time is running out.’

  ‘You’re right; I don’t understand. What is the urgency?’

  The visions clouded Wynn’s thoughts, growing more distracting all the time. He hardly knew what was real any more. He could hear Tanis speaking, but there were other voices as well.

  ‘They’re under attack,’ he muttered. ‘They are being hunted. We have to go.’ Wynn shook his head, squeezing his eyes. He looked at Tanis, forcing him into focus. ‘Are the engines ready?’

  ‘They have yet to be tested. Another three hours and we should be–’

  ‘We can’t wait three hours! We have to act now. Give the command, Tanis, get us moving. And power up the Cube drive.’

  The Lord Chamberlain glanced around the flight deck, hesitating. ‘Wynn, I don’t think you’re in a fit state to give out orders. For your own safety I think you should return to you room and rest.’

  Wynn glanced around him. Amongst the officers of the flight deck he saw Reader Mallory, watching him from a distance. Could she tell? Did she know about the voices in his head? She was a Reader, from the Church of The Infinite. Did that give her some sort of insight into his visions? Wynn shook his head, dismissing the idea. The encounter was for him alone.

  ‘Please, listen,’ Wynn said, grasping Tanis by the arm. ‘I know how this looks, I know I’m not making any sense, and I know you mean well, but you have to do as I say. You have to trust me, Cam, that’s all I’m asking. Trust me.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Wynn, there’s too much at stake.’

  ‘You don’t understand!’ Wynn said, his voice growing louder. ‘You have to trust me.’

  ‘I also have to consider the welfare of this arkship and the people on it.’

  ‘Trust is not a weakness, Tanis. Trust is a strength,’ Wynn said. ‘You have a choice: trust your prince, or break your bond of belief in him.’

  Tanis looked at Wynn’s steely glare and picked up the com unit.

  ‘Engine deck? This is Tanis. Clear your people and prepare to get us underway.’

  Relief flooded through Wynn, and the images in his mind receded a little. ‘Thank you, Cam, thank you.’

  Tanis leaned closer and whispered, ‘I trust you, Wynn, but I still do not see.’

  ‘You do not need to see. I see for both of us. The Gods have spoken, and we must act. Power up the Cube drive.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  Wynn smiled resolutely. ‘I’ve never been more certain. This is what I have to do.’

  ‘But where are we goin
g?’

  Wynn hesitated. He didn’t know. He closed his eyes, letting the visions roll over him. He saw his fractured future, his tormented past, but over and over again was Bara’s face. She was in danger.

  Suddenly, Wynn was elsewhere, a place he had never seen before, a narrow dark corridor. No, not a corridor. There was a tight space, two rows of seats, with a line of consoles in front of them, and at the far end were small windows. He saw people, frozen in moments of terror, and he could sense their desperation. He was on a bridge, in the middle of a battle, and Bara was close by. He couldn’t see her, but he knew she was on board.

  He walked the length of the bridge, towards the windows, and saw the arkship Fenrir firing down on him. For an instant he felt anger at the sight of that vessel, but he suppressed it, knowing he must keep calm.

  Where am I? he wondered.

  ‘You know where you are.’

  The voice was everywhere at once.

  Wynn reached out and touched the nearest console, letting his mind expand, and a rush of information washed over him.

  The sukaitaun Tateishi-Maru. He was on board the Tateishi-Maru.

  That was where he had to take the Vengeance. But where was that?

  More information, a set of coordinates, clear and vivid, fell into his mind.

  Wynn laughed, and the vision began to break part. He blinked quickly, focusing on the flight deck of the Vengeance.

  ‘You should return to the Caerleon and prepare for battle,’ he told Tanis. ‘I know where we need to go.’

  Tanis shook his head. ‘Commander Watson is control of the Caerleon. She can handle things there without me. I’m not leaving your side.’

  Wynn smiled, too tired to argue, and walked to the navigation console, eager to input the coordinates before they drifted from his mind.

  LUPAUS AND LEXICA

  Bara ran across the hanger bay towards Lexica. Gofal bounded beside her, his long stride making him appear to be strolling compared to her headlong sprint.

  ‘This is my ship,’ Derward said, slowing at a junction. The diminutive Lupaus waited just ahead. ‘Good luck. Stay in com. I’ll look out for you.’

  ‘Can you still fly that thing with the bridge destroyed?’ Bara asked.

  ‘Pad control, all from the comfort of my bed,’ Derward shouted.

  ‘See you soon,’ Bara called as she and Gofal continued towards Lexica.

  The bombardment had increased, shaking the arkship, tearing through its hull, throwing cargo and equipment into their path. Bara glanced at the hanger bay opening and saw the dread spectacle of an arkship closing to dock.

  ‘If we don’t get out soon . . .’ she said, breathlessly.

  ‘I have already started the pre-flight sequence.’ Gofal replied. ‘We can launch as soon as we’re onboard.’

  ‘Good,’ she said as the Lupaus rose into the air and hovered close by.

  Other ships began to leave their berths, heading for the exit. Suddenly, a flash of light struck one of the escaping ships and its nose section exploded. The flailing body began to spin, throwing off a trail of smoke and debris as it lurched towards the floor of the hanger bay. It smashed into the deck, hurling a billowing fireball into the air. The blast of heat sent Bara ducking for cover. She rolled onto her side, then felt a pair of metallic arms scoop her up. Gofal raced towards Lexica, Bara curled up in his arms, crossing the distance in a matter of seconds. The entrance ramp descended, and they retreated into the ship. Gofal closed the hatch as Bara ran up the steps towards the bridge.

  ‘I’ve triggered the launch sequence. We’re on autos,’ Gofal shouted after her. ‘Take control when you get there.’

  ‘Got it!’ she shouted as she threw herself into her pilot’s seat and took the control yoke in her hands.

  As Gofal joined her on the bridge the hanger bay opening was on fire with burning ships.

  ‘The arkship is picking off anyone who attempts to leave. We can’t get through that without being shot down,’ Gofal said.

  ‘Yes, we can,’ Bara replied, determined. She opened a com channel to the Lupaus. ‘Derward, stay close. I mean really close.’

  Derward’s voice responded. ‘Are you going to do something stupid?’

  ‘Oh, I wouldn’t say that.’ Bara replied, pushing Lexica towards the burning husk of another ship. ‘Really close, Derward!’

  She pushed the yoke forwards and the ship rammed into the wreckage. Lexica powered forwards, pushing the debris ahead of it. She checked the holograph; the Lupaus was tucked in directly behind them. Good. She killed the engines and let the ship’s momentum carry them out of the Tateishi-Maru, towards the waiting Draig arkship.

  ‘If you believe in anything,’ Bara said quietly, ‘now would be a good time to pray.’

  Fire licked over the front of Lexica, obscuring the view. Bara nudged the yoke, guiding the ship, along with its burning shield, under the attacking arkship.

  ‘So far so good,’ she said, watching the dark hull drift overhead. Just a few more seconds and they’d be clear . . .

  ‘Incoming!’ Gofal warned.

  Lexica twisted away as Bara responded. The enemy fire skimmed over the surface, illuminating the bridge with its yellow light.

  ‘Derward!’ Bara shouted over the com. ‘Go!’

  She activated their engines – maximum thrust. Behind her, the Lupaus did the same, curving under Lexica, leaving space between the two ships.

  Bara turned the ship, and the cowl of burning hull fell away. ‘We’re clear!’ Bara laughed as they passed the arkship. Then, through the burned scars on the windows, she saw another shape, and another: Two arkships, blocking their escape. She glanced upwards, already planning another route: there was a third arkship.

  ‘Five arkships!’ Derward said, his com signal breaking. ‘Evasive!’

  Bara threw Lexica into a hard dive, heading for clear space, pushing the engines as hard as she could. The Lupaus moved with her, rolling to evade the weapons of the closest arkship.

  ‘We can make this,’ Bara whispered, trying to convince herself. ‘We can make this.’

  The gap ahead narrowed, becoming a slither of clear space, a narrow pass between the guns of two of the arkships.

  ‘Bara, I’m not so sure,’ Gofal replied.

  ARRIVAL

  The arkship Vengeance rattled and moaned as its Cube drive pushed the ship towards its destination.

  Wynn clutched the arms of the command chair, his head beginning to throb once more. The visions had diminished, but the pain had not.

  ‘Engines holding,’ Tanis said, checking the holograph readout. ‘Cube drive running true.’

  ‘One minute to target,’ an officer announced.

  ‘All stations, stand by for ST bubble shut down,’ Tanis ordered.

  Wynn closed his eyes, letting the blur of commands fade away. The details were unimportant to him, all he could focus on was their destination. They had to be there, but he still didn’t know why. He sensed that Bara was in danger, but he couldn’t tell if that was happening now, some time in the past, or twenty years hence. The visions were an unhelpful jumble.

  ‘Here we go,’ Tanis muttered as he braced himself against the side of Wynn’s seat.

  ‘ST bubble dissipation!’

  ‘Approaching superluminal threshold.’

  ‘Acquiring normal space-time vector.’

  ‘Shockwave displacement activated.’

  ‘Inversion is green. Shutdown.’

  ‘Co-ordinates acquired.’

  ‘Incoming!’

  Wynn opened his eyes and saw the giant mass of two arkships directly in their path.

  ‘Retros!’ Tanis shouted.

  But it was too late, their velocity pushed them towards one of the arkships.

  ‘Brace for impact!’

  Wynn cried out as the restraining harness dug into his shoulders. The entire flight deck jolted as the Vengeance tore into the other arkship, dragging it along as they slowed. A wall of fire engulf
ed the windows, rolling over the hull of the flight deck, and dissipated into space. A shockwave of debris followed, bouncing off the hull as it tumbled past.

  Power drained from the Vengeance as smoke filled the flight deck. In the darkness, all Wynn could hear was coughing and screaming.

  HOMECOMING

  Derward swung the Lupaus into a tight spin as the narrow escape route suddenly widened. One of the arkships was moving away. He checked the holograph, wondering what was happening. He saw Lexica ahead of him, the two arkships either side of the smaller ship. One was the Gargan, the other the Fenrir. Then he spotted a new signal, and he realized what had caused the gap to open: the Vengeance had appeared and was about to hit the Fenrir.

  He watched in awe as the mighty Vengeance struck. Its enhanced hull defenses cut through the Draig flagship, exposing the inner decks. A torrent of explosions erupted, throwing pieces of hull and other debris into space as the Fenrir was sliced apart. The Vengeance began to slow, dragging the helpless Fenrir with it, impaled on the Kenric arkship’s prow.

  ‘You seeing this?’ Bara asked over the com.

  ‘Can’t miss it,’ Derward replied.

  The guns of the Gargan cut short their conversation as they refocused their anger on the two ships. Derward threw the Lupaus into an evasive curve, shouting into the com. ‘We’re not clear yet. Head for the Vengeance. They won’t fire on it while it’s so close to the Fenrir.’

  ‘Got it,’ Bara replied, already turning Lexica towards the Kenric arkship.

  The hanger bays came into view – luckily, they were unscathed by the damage to the front of the Vengeance. Derward plunged his little ship towards them, opening a link to the Vengeance’s docking computer. He skimmed past the damaged section, marveling at the carnage, then slowed to enter the hanger bay, letting the arkship’s docking systems take control. In front of him was Lexica, already descending towards a vacant berth.

  The Lupaus dropped onto an adjoining pad, venting gas as it cooled its overworked engines. Derward threw himself from his bunk and rushed out of the ship, feeling the uncertain listing of the arkship’s deck beneath him. As he saw the confusion around him he wondered if they had done the right thing.