Damage Control - ARC
Page 15
“No, of course, you’re right as usual.” I said, “I didn’t want it, because you told me to take it. Honestly, I’d rather go out there and take my chances in a scout ship than stand on this Bridge while you get us all killed.”
“That’s insubordination, commander. You’re relieved of duty! Security—” He never got to say anything else because I slugged him a good solid right hander that knocked him to the ground so hard he didn’t get up.
It was strange how everyone was more shocked by me punching my husband unconscious than by the mass assault going on outside.
“Laxmo,” I said, “you’re in charge. Do what you’ve got to do, but let me get those scouts on their way.” I could see the commander running through his knowledge of naval regulations, looking for the paragraph on what to do when your Captain’s dead and your recently non-commissioned Commanding Officer has just knocked her commodore husband out cold, but he couldn’t come up with anything. The only relevant regulation for me was that striking an officer was an offence that resulted in being cashiered out of the service, even if he was your husband and he was being a complete dick.
As I clambered down into the hangar through a section of twisted bulkhead, I was horrified by what I saw. All around me were destroyed ships and dead crew. One section had escaped relatively undamaged. It held a wing of scout ships that were still operational. Some of the surviving pilots were trying to put out the fires or help their injured crewmates. I recognised one of them as Wilby and ran over to her.
“Is your team ready to fly?” I asked.
She looked at the pilots and their ships. “We’ve got five Lonestars left, but only four pilots.”
It seemed like fate was pushing me towards the one thing I’d been fighting for months. “Go,” I said to Wilby. “Don’t wait for launch clearance.”
“Commander Veros is dead; his ship’s over there,” she offered. Then she shouted out the order to launch to the other pilots and climbed aboard her own craft. I made for the ramp of Veros’s ship, the Star Chaser.
I did the short version of the startup procedure and watched Wilby’s ship, the Star Runner, blast out of the hangar at top speed. I knew if I stayed my career would most likely be over. I would be found guilty of insubordination in my absence and all my many achievements would be erased. My name would mean nothing. I throttled up for take-off and followed the others and left the Talisman behind.
Of the initial six groups of attack ships, the Bodarians had lost three. What remained of one group was now mounting a boarding action on the Talisman. The others had turned to pursue the scouts. Each Lonestar was equipped with a single-use hydrive, just like a galactic hydrive, but with a shorter range. It was a one-way trip. They were charged up on the carrier and their launch point was pre-calculated to trigger when they reached a waypoint some distance from the carrier.
I got in behind one of the Bodarian ships on Wilby’s tail and lined him up, then opened up with everything I had. I took out half of the rear end of his ship.
Wilby hit the jump point and vanished.
I checked the other three had got away, then lined up for my own jump.
My radio crackled with an incoming transmission. “Honey, what are you doing out there? You can come back in, now, okay? Look, I’m not mad at you. You were right, I should have listened to you.”
I couldn’t bear to hear his voice. He would talk me out of leaving. I shut off the comm unit. The Star Chaser hit its jump point and the hydrive triggered. My trajectory was set; soon I would be in another part of the Galaxy, somewhere so far away that even getting home would take years. Even if I’d wanted to go.
To read the rest of “The Scout’s Tale,” as well as other tales, read The Canterbury Tales by Luke Bellmason.