Jason and the others scrambled to replace their helmets and reach for their side arms. Their plasma rifles were back down the catwalk where they’d dropped them. The assault was nothing short of a long distance firing squad. The two rhino-warriors were back on their feet.
“We will face this last battle with honor, not on our ass,” Traveler bellowed, while firing his hand-held plasma weapon across the corridor. Jason, Billy, and injured Rizzo got to their feet and stood with the rhino-warriors, firing until their weapons grew hot in their hands. Increasing black scorch marks erupted on the front of their suits. Jason took a direct hit to his helmet—a horizontal crack splintered across his visor. Rizzo went down first, followed shortly afterwards by Billy. And then there was nothing but black.
Chapter 24
The Lilly had shifted back, and was now positioned right in front of them. Billy stirred, looked up, and grumbled in Spanish, “¿Qué coño?”
Jason sat down next to his friend, took off his ruined helmet, and watched as the flight deck doors began to open. The Lilly’s forward and aft pulse cannon snapped into place and quickly dispatched a maelstrom of plasma fire onto the Craing and Craing Hybrids on the opposite lower decks. Within seconds, the guns were secured back inside The Lilly’s hull. Only now would he let his thoughts go there, to the realization of what he’d almost lost, and now, inexplicably, had regained. His thoughts turned to Mollie, Nan, and his father. And then to Dira.
* * *
As soon as Jason was back on board, he ordered The Lilly to shift further down the corridor, closer to the Dreadnaught’s bridge, and pick up the remaining SEAL teams and rhino-warriors. Their fighters and two shuttles were now on board as well. Billy and Rizzo were rushed to Medical. Traveler and Silent Hunter were too large for the MediPods, but preferred, anyway, to return to their natural habitat in the Zoo, where they could have their wounds attended to by their own kind.
Jason wanted The Lilly away from this damn Dreadnaught as soon as possible. Although tempted to stop off and see Mollie and Nan, there was still a formidable battle ahead. He went directly to the bridge, half expecting to see the admiral sitting in the command chair, but he was not on the bridge. Taking his seat, Jason studied the virtual representation of the Craing fleet; he realized it was substantially reduced in size—much smaller than it had been.
“Status report,” Jason requested, looking over to his XO. “How the hell did you survive the destruction of that hold?”
“Welcome back, Captain,” Lieutenant Commander Perkins replied. “When the hold was jettisoned we immediately phase- shifted—fortunately, we’d previously set the emergency default coordinates for the three mile limitation.”
“Where did you go?”
“It was an arbitrary shift and we ended up on top of another Craing Cruiser. We basically cut her in half. We’d sustained damage prior to phase-shifting, and we were dead in space. All systems were off line: gravity generators, environmental, drives, helm control, everything. Ricket went to work getting the AI online first; then, one by one, we brought the other systems back on- line. We phase-shifted several more times into the holds of several more Craing ships. That’s when we scanned the Dreadnaught for your position and shifted back.”
“Well, not a second too soon. Thank you for saving our bacon. So how many Craing vessels remain?”
“About two hundred and fifty. The Battle Dreadnaught and the rest of its fleet went after one another for quite sometime. We assumed that was your doing. We thoroughly enjoyed the show.”
Jason looked around the bridge. McBride was at the helm, but Orion and Ricket were not at their stations. Perkins must have read his expression. “Ricket and Gunny have something they want to show you up on sub-Deck 3B.”
Jason took note of the time on the bridge clock. “We’ll need to maintain control of this Dreadnaught for a minimum of twelve more hours. I want you to rotate a combination of SEAL and rhino-warrior teams on patrol, and any area near their bridge. Also, let’s maintain aerial sorties up and down the main corridor. Hang here for the time being with our shields up. Put a plasma bolt into anything that moves,” Jason said, as he headed out of the bridge.
On the way he stopped off at Medical just as Billy was climbing out of a MediPod. Jason surmised Rizzo was still in another MediPod, his injuries had been critical. Billy looked up as Jason entered.
“Have a nice nap?” Jason asked, smiling. But before Billy could answer, Dira entered from the adjoining room. Startled, her surprised, wide-eyed expression quickly turned to one of relief, and something else?
“Captain, good to see you’re back,” she said. He felt the warmth of her hand on his arm, her eyes momentarily locked on his, and then she brushed past to remove a small bandage from Billy’s forehead. He’d never noticed her eyes were violet-blue with small violet and amber speckles.
“Thank you. How’s Rizzo doing? Will he make it?”
“He’ll be fine; needs to take it easy for a while. And you should too,” she said to Billy, as he got up out of his MediPod. Smirking, Billy eyed the two of them, and then stood up. Jason scowled and said, “What?”
“Nothing, I didn’t say anything.”
* * *
He’d reached sub-Deck 4B with its large school bus-sized phase synthesizer unit. Standing at a nearby display, Ricket and Orion were in the midst of a heated discussion that was cut short with Jason’s arrival.
“Welcome back, Captain,” Orion said with a smile. Ricket simply nodded his head, the bill of his Dodger’s cap waving up and down.
“Gunny!” Jason acknowledged her, “and Ricket, or do you prefer Emperor?” he asked, with a chuckle. “What’s all the commotion about in here?”
Orion and Ricket looked at one another. “Well, are you going to tell him or should I?” Orion asked. Ricket walked over to an output bin-hopper at the side of the phase synthesizer, picked up several items, and returned.
“Captain, here is the integrated fusion power plant we recently incorporated into our fighters, allowing them to phase-shift as The Lilly does.” Ricket handed Jason a metallic cylindrical object about the size of a standard shoebox. Jason flipped the object over in his hands several times. Very similar to the devices he’d seen in old Gus’s tool shed.
“Heavy for its size,” he said. Ricket took back the device and handed Jason a different one about the size of a standard compact disk, although several inches thick.
Ricket said, “And this one is our latest version. Almost equal-power distribution and a fraction of the size and weight.” Orion and Ricket didn’t say anything else, just stared back at him, waiting for Jason to connect the dots. Then he had it.
“By any chance is this small enough to fit within the substructure of a missile?” They both nodded.
“How long would it take to integrate this, along with the phase-shift circuitry, to where it’s operational?”
“That’s what we were discussing when you arrived. The missile has to stop firing its thruster just prior to hitting a ship’s shields, then phase-shift to a designated target, and detonate.”
“Yeah? So what’s the problem? Can we do that?” Jason asked, excited.
“We think so. We’ve come up with a prototype that we need to test,” Orion said, looking down at Ricket and shrugging.
“If it works, how long before you can integrate it into the JIT munitions, like any other missile?”
“It would be instantaneous. In fact, they are already constructed by the multiverse,” Ricket said. Just then explosions reverberated in the distance. Jason steadied himself as The Lilly shook violently.
* * *
Ricket needed another hour to fine-tune his design before it would be ready to test. Jason walked through the final DeckPort to Level Four and headed for the officer’s cabins, stopping in front of Nan and Mollie’s cabin. Seconds later, the hatch disappeared. Admiral Perry Reynolds, with Mollie up on his shoulders, was there to greet him.
“Look who we have here,” Ad
miral Reynolds said.
“Dad!” Mollie’s smile lit up and then turned to a scowl. “Did you know we were almost killed? Set me down, Grandpa, I’ve got a bone to pick with the Captain here.” Jason put on as serious a face as he could muster up, and crashed down on a nearby couch.
“Why do you keep running off? You know the lights went out and we started floating around.” Mollie was providing visuals with her story, holding her arms out straight and moving in slow motion.
“Well, someone had to go and fight the Serapins.”
“You fought Serapins, like the ones in the Zoo?”
“The ones in the Zoo are kittens compared to the ones I fought.”
“Holy crap! Okay, I guess you’re forgiven.”
“Watch your mouth, Mollie,” came a voice from the back bedroom.
Jason looked over to his father. His hair had been gelled and spiked. “Looks like Mollie has you ready to join a boy band.”
“What’s a boy band?” his father asked, from the other end of the couch.
“We have an emergency officer’s meeting in one hour. We’re getting ready to finish off the rest of the Craing fleet. Want to join us?”
“Two days ago I wouldn’t have thought that possible. Now, I’m not so sure. I wouldn’t miss it,” his father said, while Mollie proceeded to apply a generous amount of lipstick to the admiral’s lips. Feeling the ship shake again, and hearing the distant explosions, Jason wondered if they were simply ignoring the Craing missile strikes, or had just gotten used to them. The Dreadnaught was immense, but sooner or later, the inner compartments would breech.
Not sure if he’d have energy enough to stand up, Jason slowly got to his feet. He went back down the hallway to where he’d heard her voice earlier. Nan was sitting on her bed, a paperback in front of her nose. “Are you hiding back here?” he asked.
“I don’t know which one is more juvenile, the eight-year old or the sixty-year old,” she said, lowering her book. She caught Jason’s eyes lingering again, this time on her chest. She didn’t scold him. Instead, she placed the paperback down on to the bed, rose up on her knees and gestured for him to move closer. She kissed him long and tender, like he hadn’t been kissed for a long time. When she pulled away, she continued to look into his eyes. “Welcome home, sailor.” Nan fell back down on the bed smiling, and reached for her paperback.
Chapter 25
One more attendee had joined the emergency officers meeting so everyone had to cram together around the conference table. Jason insisted Admiral Reynolds take the head of the table. The plan was simple: find a way to defeat the Craing fleet, at least those 250 Craing warships surrounding the crippled Battle Dreadnaught.
“Okay, everyone, we’ll have to keep this meeting short. Soon we’ll be engaging the enemy one more time. As the admiral will attest to, the Craing shields are virtually impenetrable. Their fleets have gone unchallenged for hundreds of years. What we accomplished yesterday was a first. Two hundred and eighty Craing vessels have been destroyed. Their emperor has been killed. They are in disarray so we need to act quickly and decisively.”
“Why not continue doing what worked previously?” the admiral asked.
“Unfortunately, we won’t be able to use the same tactics that have gotten us this far. The Dreadnaught is basically drifting dead in space with no weapons to speak of. Phase-shifting in and out of holds of their warships is no longer a viable solution. They are expecting something along those lines again, and after what happened to The Lilly yesterday, I don’t want to chance it.”
The admiral asked, confused, “What other options do we have? You can’t possibly think we can go toe to toe with that fleet? They’ll destroy The Lilly within minutes, then continue on to take their revenge on Earth.”
“We have a few ideas—Ricket and Orion will run us though the technical aspects.”
* * *
“I still don’t see how you’re going to avoid what happened yesterday. Two hundred and fifty warships targeted, it’s ludicrous,” the admiral said, sitting by Jason’s side at the back of the bridge.
“I agree, that would be ludicrous on our part,” Jason replied. “Watch the display. You’ll see that we’re only engaging fifty to seventy Craing vessels at any one time.”
“Gunny, prepare all tubes for fusion-tipped missile loads. XO, have our fighters powered up and ready to go on the flight deck. Prepare to phase-shift to open space to specified coordinates. Remember, I want our ass right up against the hull of this Dreadnaught. Shift,” Jason commanded.
The Lilly shuddered and materialized within five hundred feet of the external hull of the cube-shaped Battle Dreadnaught. All eyes were on the overhead virtual display.
“Well, son of a bitch!” the admiral exclaimed. You’re using the Dreadnaught as a shield—most of the Craing warships can’t even see us. Not to mention get a clear firing solution.”
Jason kept his attention on the display. “Gunny, I want their drives and shield-generators targeted first, weapons are secondary.”
“One moment, Captain, The Lilly’s still acquiring targets,” the Gunny said, excitedly.
“Captain, were taking fire from twenty vessels, thirty, forty… Shields down to 95%.”
“Targeting complete, Captain,” Orion yelled.
“Fire all tubes,” Jason ordered, stealing a look at Ricket. Everything came down to whether or not his missile loads worked.
“First round missiles away, JIT reloads in progress. Second round missiles away, reloading, and third round missiles away.”
The admiral was on his feet now, standing at Jason’s side. Three formations of bright yellow icons moved out from The Lilly. Individual missiles separated to follow their own targeting vectors. The closest Craing warship was a destroyer; two missiles were closing in on their target.
“Shields down to 90%, sir,” the XO reported.
“Missiles within ten miles of target,” said the XO. Then the two yellow icons disappeared off the display. “Both missiles have been destroyed, captain.” The next vessel, a battle cruiser, also destroyed the incoming missiles.
“Crap!” yelled the admiral.
“Shields down to—”
Jason cut off the XO. “Just let me know when they’re down to 80%.”
“Gunny, can you shift those missiles any earlier—they’re targeting them faster than we anticipated.” Orion looked over to Ricket, who jumped off his chair and was at her station, fingers moving, entering commands at lighting speed. When finished, he turned and nodded toward Jason.
“Our remaining missile formations were all destroyed. Let’s try this again, Gunny. Three more sets with adjusted shift parameters; fire when ready,” Jason commanded.
“First round, second round, third round missiles all away, Captain.”
“Helm, go ahead and phase-shift us to our second coordinates. Gunny, acquire the new targets.”
The latest round of missiles moved toward their assigned targets. This time they disappeared from the display substantially earlier. Jason expected to hear they’d been destroyed, but no one spoke.
“Direct hits, sir. Two battle cruisers and one destroyer. They’re dead in the water.”
Jason felt the weight of his father’s hand on his shoulder as they both watched the display. The remaining missiles shifted and too found their targets. “Forty-five warships have been disabled, sir. We’ll need to phase-shift back there again for the remaining five.” The admiral was pumping his fist in the air now. “Yes!”
“We’re not home free yet, Pops,” Jason said, but found it hard to keep the smile off his face. “XO, go ahead and phase-shift our active fighters into the holds of those disabled ships. We need their weapons systems taken out.”
“Sir, shields just dropped to 70%.”
“Next batch of missiles are away, sir. And there’s ten percent more Craing vessels on this side. We need four sets.”
As before, the missile formations headed off in groups but quickly broke
off according to their individual targeting parameters. One by one the missiles vanished from the display. The bridge went quiet in anticipation.
“All sixty-two Craing warships have been disabled, sir.”
Perkins looked over his shoulder toward Jason. “Shields substantially down, sir, 40%.”
“Gunny, can Lilly preconfigure the targeting for both the third and fourth shifts ahead of time?”
“Already ahead of you, Cap, but their ships are changing positions. They’ve figured out what we’re doing. But Lilly’s tracking them, we’re good.”
“Helm, make the third shift,” Jason commanded again. The next volley of missiles were immediately deployed, again with four batches. “And now make the fourth shift, Helm. Gunny, same thing. Deploy your missiles.”
Jason noticed Perkins was getting fidgety in his seat. “Shields down to twenty percent, Captain. And forward shields could go down any time.”
“Helm, put us back inside the Dreadnaught. Phase-shift us out of here.”
“Power reserves are gone, we can’t shift for at least five more minutes, sir.”
“Shields will be down in two,” Perkins barked back.
The last of the remaining yellow missile icons disappeared. All sixty vessels were disabled from the third shift and another seventy from the fourth. The Craing fleet had been nearly decimated.
“Status report, Gunny?”
“Only five warships remain from the original shift,” replied Orion. “They are quickly moving to intercept.”
Perkins was fidgeting again. “Shields are gone, sir. All power reserves are depleted. Weapons are down too, no power reserves; we’re switching to backup power but that’s barely enough to keep our environmental systems going.”
“What about the fighters?”
“Maybe, but they’re all requesting help from us. The Craing were waiting for them. We can shift them to the approaching vessels, but they’ll encounter the same resistance.”
Scrapyard Ship Page 23
