by Ryk Brown
“Go! Go! Go!” Gerard ordered.
The man directly across from her pulled a lever, causing the rear doors to spring open, and the inner door to drop down like a ramp. The man charged out, and Jessica followed, turning on the power cell on her weapon and deactivating its safety as she jumped down out of the vehicle.
Amber needle-like bolts of energy slammed into the side of the truck as they jumped out, fired by the guards running up the pathway from the entrance. Jessica quickly returned fire, along with two other men, dropping the three charging guards with ease from their slightly elevated position. Jessica turned and ran around the side of the truck, as more amber bolts streaked past her from inside the lobby. She reached the front of the cab and fell in behind Gerard, who was returning fire. Seconds later, the firing stopped, and they charged forward, moving deeper into the building.
Two Jung frigates turned away and accelerated to get clear of the third frigate as it began to break apart. Two jump flashes appeared, revealing two Scout ships, aft and above the fleeing frigates, less than a kilometer away. The Scout ships immediately opened fire, each targeting one of the two frigates that were already returning fire. The Scout ships fired three bursts of plasma energy from their top-mounted torpedo tubes, repeating the pattern three times before pitching up and jumping away, just before the incoming fire reached them.
Balls of red-orange plasma splashed against the frigates’ shields, one after the other. After four direct hits, one of the frigate’s starboard aft shields collapsed, allowing the next volley of plasma energy to reach her hull. The impacts tore the frigate open, igniting secondary explosions deep within the frigate’s stern section, breaking her in half. The second frigate, her shields still holding, tried to pitch up and avoid the forward section of the other frigate as it tumbled toward them, but they were too late. The second frigate collided with the forward section of the first, causing her own shields to collapse. The nose of the first frigate slammed into the second frigate, tearing open her port side. Small bursts of fire spewed out from her open decks as electrical energy met combustible materials and oxygen, igniting fires that flashed and disappeared moments later as the oxygen that fed them was sucked out into the vacuum of space.
“Jump complete,” Commander Eckert reported as Scout Three came out of her jump. “Target is turning and climbing. Come thirteen degrees to port and pitch up two.”
“Foxtrot six has no shields on her port side, and has decks open to space!” Ensign Agari reported from the ship’s sensor station.
“I said two up, sir,” Commander Eckert said as he noticed their nose had already come up four degrees.
“Micro-jump,” Captain Nash said as he counter-thrusted to stop his course change. “Single kilometer in ten seconds.”
“Target is locking rail guns on us!” Ensign Agari reported.
“Pitching over,” the captain announced as he cut his forward thrust and pulled back hard on the ship’s attitude control stick. “Be ready on those forward tubes, Skeech.”
“Jumping in three……two…”
“Target is firing!” Ensign Agari reported.
“…One……jumping.”
The Scout ship’s only windows, situated directly in front of Captain Nash and Commander Eckert turned opaque for two seconds, protecting their eyes from the intense light of the jump.
“Jump complete,”
“Stand by to fire,” the captain said as he watched his flight displays. He glanced up at the window as their nose came over. The shrinking image of the damaged Jung frigate slid into the upper edge of their forward windows. The captain fired his attitude thrusters again, ending their pitch-over and putting their forward tubes onto the frigate that they were now coasting away from.
“Light ‘em up,” the captain ordered.
“Firing triplets,” the XO replied.
Three bursts of three balls of plasma streaked from the outboard edges of their forward windows toward the center, converging on the damaged frigate just as it shrank down so small that they could barely distinguish it from the rest of the stars in the sky.
There was no mistaking the impact of their weapons. Small distant flashes of red-orange light obscured the tiny dot of light that was the damaged Jung frigate, followed immediately by yellow-white flashes indicating greater explosions.
“Nice,” Captain Nash said under his breath as he began to pitch their nose back over to their direction of flight.
“Multiple secondaries,” Ensign Agari reported. “Foxtrot six is destroyed!”
“How’s our next scheduled target?” Captain Nash asked.
“No idea,” Lieutenant Commander Nash admitted. “They’re scrambling in all directions,” he added as he studied his threat board. “I’m pretty sure everyone knows they’re under attack, now.”
“Wellsy?”
“Command is tasking Scouts One and Two to attack the two frigates over Sorenson, Cap,” Ensign Wells answered.
“I’ve got the Aurora,” Ensign Agari added. “She just jumped in over Kohara. I’m pretty sure she’s making a run at the three frigates coming around the planet’s far side.”
“That leaves us with the one still on patrol further out,” Commander Eckert realized.
“They’re far enough out that they may not yet realize what’s going on,” Captain Nash said. “We may get one last chance at a surprise attack here.”
The combat jump shuttle shook violently as its windows became clear again.
“Jump complete,” Ensign Latfee announced. “Altitude, one thousand meters and holding, speed at one five zero.”
“Open the doors,” Lieutenant Kainan ordered. “Gunners stand ready.”
The two gunners in the aft compartment activated their controls, causing the side doors of the shuttle to slide aft, disappearing into the bulkheads. The gunners clipped their harnesses to large rings built into the ceiling just inside the door, pulled their weapons down from above the open doorway, and then swung them outside until they locked into their firing positions hanging just outside the doors. The gunners sat down on the floor, with their feet stepping onto small ledges that had deployed from either side of the shuttle. The change in position relative to the ceiling caused the harnesses to become taught, allowing them to safely lean outward as needed to angle their weapons in all directions.
Commander Telles leaned into the open doorway, noticing the setting sun on the far horizon, as the last of the second wave of shuttles and boxcars jumped into the skies of Kohara. Above him were several boxcars, each carrying four Kalibri airships and two heavy airships. The under-hung airships were released one by one, dropping fifty meters before their ducted rotors spun up to full power, allowing them to continue flight under their own power. As soon as the last airship was released, the boxcars jumped away, beginning their journey back to Porto Santo to reload and return with a new payload.
“Two four north, directly below,” the lieutenant announced.
“I’ve got fast movers on the threat board,” Ensign Latfee warned. “Our seven o’clock low. Forty seconds out.”
“Any Falcons in the area?” Commander Telles wondered.
“Falcons, Falcons, Jumper One over sector two four north. Fast movers to our east, thirty seconds out. Looking for help.”
“Jumper One, Falcon Leader,” a voice replied over the comms. “I’ve got two birds to your north, vectoring your way. They’ll be there in twenty seconds. Suggest you take it to the deck and use the buildings for cover.”
“Falcon Leader, Jumper One. Copy that, taking it low. Make it fast,” Ensign Latfee replied as the lieutenant pitched the shuttle downward toward the city below.
“Hang on, gentlemen,” the pilot warned.
Jessica, Gerard, and his men stormed into the broadcast studio. Gerard fired his energy rifle into the ceiling, causing instant panic on the broadcast floor as camera operators and technical crew ran screaming for cover.
Jessica looked about the studio, recognizing the
set as belonging to one of the many news broadcasts that Naralena had been watching for the last few days. “Perfect,” she smiled. “You!” she hollered, pointing at a camera operator cringing in terror behind the base of his camera. “Keep that thing pointed on me, understand?”
The camera operator just looked at her blankly.
“Did you hear me?” she asked. “What the…”
“They don’t understand English,” Gerard said. He barked out a translation, and the camera operator immediately got back to his feet and swung his camera around at Jessica.
Gerard turned to one of his men, barking orders at them in Cetian as well. Two of them went to cover the entrances, and the other one headed for the control room. He looked at Jessica, who was still standing in the shadows. “Perhaps you should move over there?” he suggested, pointing at the set.
“Why?”
“The light is better.”
“Okay,” Jessica replied, moving toward the news desk in the center of the well-lit set. She looked at the newscaster sitting behind the desk. She was one of the few people in the room who did not run and hide when Gerard fired his first warning shots.
“Hi,” Jessica said to her as she came around the desk to stand next to her. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna shoot you, as long as you just sit there and be quiet.”
“I’m a newscaster,” the woman replied. “I’m not paid to be quiet.”
Jessica looked at Gerard. “Hey! I thought you said they didn’t understand English?”
“As a general rule, yes,” Gerard replied. “However, there are always exceptions to any rule.”
“Who are you people?” the newscaster asked. “Are you CLA?”
Jessica looked at her funny for a moment. “Ah, Cetian Lib… They are, not me. I’m from Earth.”
The woman recoiled slightly, in a state of semi-controlled terror.
“Relax,” Jessica told her. “All that shit the Jung have been feeding you about the plague is exactly that… shit. The bio-digital plague died out on Earth about nine hundred years ago.”
“But, the quarantine…”
“More shit. The Jung tried to conquer us just like they conquered you guys, only we managed to liberate ourselves, just like we’re about to liberate your world as well.”
“But, we’ve seen video,” the woman argued. “Your world is in ruin… the desolation, the poverty, the sickness and death…”
“All true, I’m afraid,” Jessica admitted. “But not because of the plague, because the Jung tried to bomb us back into the Stone Age… Twice!” Jessica got a puzzled look on her face. “Or was it three times? I lost count. Point is, they’re lying to you.”
“Why are you here?” the woman asked. “Are you trying to make all of Kohara believe you as well, at gun point?”
“Actually, I could care less what you people believe. I’m just here to get a message out using your emergency transmitter.”
“What kind of message?” the woman asked.
“The usual stuff,” Jessica replied. “Hi, Mom, having a great time. Wish you were here. That kind of…”
Jessica interrupted herself as she noticed guards moving down a corridor on one of the monitors on the wall. “Movement on the monitors!” she yelled at Gerard.
Gerard turned and saw the monitor as well. He barked a warning to his men, just in time for them to get into better position and open fire on the charging security forces.
Jessica watched on the monitor as weapons fire flew back and forth. The engagement only lasted a few seconds.
“Better make this quick,” Gerard said. “Jung have got to be on their way already.”
“Just tell me when to start talking,” Jessica replied.
“Start already!” Gerard instructed.
“Is that thing on?” she asked.
“The green light on top means it’s on,” the newscaster explained.
“Oh, thanks,” Jessica replied.
Jessica chuckled. “Funny how many things you find that are the same everywhere.”
The newscaster looked at her, unsure of her meaning. “I having a feeling I should interview you.”
“We’re ready!” Gerard reminded her.
“Maybe another time,” Jessica told the newscaster, just as the green light on top of the camera lit up.
Jessica turned and looked at the camera. “This is Lieutenant Commander Jessica Nash of the Alliance ship Aurora. I’m trying to get a warning to the Alliance. The Jung have two battleships hidden behind a small moon called Itimor, orbiting a gas giant called Tandral. It’s the third gas giant in the system. Some of their comm-drones can go one hundred times light, so they already know about the liberation of Sol, and everything else. If you can hear my voice, get word to the Aurora. An ambush will be coming from a moon orbiting the third gas giant. Two more battleships are hiding, waiting to attack…”
Jessica stopped mid-sentence, noticing that Gerard had grabbed his weapon and was leaving the control room. “What’s going on?” she asked as the green light on top of the camera shut off.
“The Jung have arrived.”
“What about the message?”
“I have set it to repeat. We must hold them off for as long as possible.”
“They’ll just take out the transmitter,” Jessica said as she followed Gerard out the door and into the corridor.
“They will, as soon as they realize what we’re doing. For now, we fight while we can.”
“How long do we have?”
“It depends.”
“On what?” Jessica wondered.
“On how long it takes the Jung to kill us.” Gerard replied.
“Great,” Jessica said as she flipped the safety off on her energy rifle.
“Foxtrot ten destroyed,” Mister Navashee announced in rather routine fashion.
“Helm, new course,” Nathan began, “turn toward foxtrot…”
“New contact!” Mister Navashee interrupted. “Charlie four is back! Two kilometers off our starboard side! She’s firing! Guns and missiles! Ten seconds to…”
“Snap jump!” Nathan ordered. “Five hundred meters! Helm! Kill the mains and kick our tail out twenty to starboard!”
“Jumping five hundred!” Mister Riley replied as the jump flash washed over them.
“Kicking out the tail, bringing tubes to bear.”
“Snap shot, triplets out the stern tubes, Fire when ready!” Nathan ordered. “Standby on another half-kilometer jump!”
“Snap shot, stern tubes, triplets, firing…” Luis paused for a moment, waiting for their tubes to line up with the Jung cruiser that was now five hundred meters behind them and to starboard.
“She’s bringing her guns around again, and her missiles are turning to track,” Mister Navashee warned.
“…now!” Luis announced. “Torpedoes away!”
“Snap jump five hundred meters!” Nathan ordered.
“Jumping.”
“Helm, come ninety to starboard and forty-five down relative, quick as you can.”
“Ninety to starboard, forty-five down, aye,” Mister Chiles replied.
“Be ready on a third snap jump, same as before,” Nathan told his navigator.
“Standing by to snap jump, five hundred,” Mister Riley acknowledged.
“Port tube missed,” Mister Navashee reported. “Starboard tube hit. Her ventral shields are weak.”
“How weak?” Nathan wondered.
“Two or three more hits should bring them down.”
“Turn complete,” Mister Chiles announced.
“No time,” Nathan commented. “Lieutenant, charge the main cannons. Full power, single shots.”
“Charging main cannons to full power, single shots,” Luis acknowledged.
“Snap jump us another five hundred meters, Mister Riley.”
“Snap jump, five hundred,” the navigator replied as the jump flash spilled out across the hull on the main view screen, then filled the bridge momentarily. “Jump comp
lete.”
“Forward tubes to bear, Mister Chiles,” Nathan urged. “I want a clean shot at her belly.”
“I’m with you, sir,” Mister Chiles replied as he manipulated the Aurora’s helm controls to rapidly bring their nose up on the target.
“If she goes to FTL again…” Luis began.
“I don’t think she can, sir,” Mister Navashee commented.
“Almost there,” the helmsman said.
“Target is rolling,” Mister Navashee warned. “She’s trying to protect her weak side.”
“Three seconds,” Mister Chiles reported. “Two……one……”
“Firing!” Luis announced.
Four massive red-orange balls of plasma energy streaked across their main view screen, from the edges toward center, disappearing a split second later. Just as soon as they disappeared, four flashes of yellow-white light appeared in the distance at the center of the Aurora’s screen.
“Direct hits!” Mister Navashee reported with excitement.
“Full mag,” Nathan ordered.
The view screen changed a moment later. It was now filled with the image of the fourth Jung cruiser as secondary explosions ripped it apart, sending debris both large and small in all directions.
“Mister Navashee, where are foxtrots eleven and twelve?” Nathan asked.
“The Scout ships are already on them, sir.”
“Very well. Helm, take us into orbit over Kohara. Let’s see what we can do to help out our troops on the ground.”
“I understand how you got the name ‘Hotshot’, but how did I get stuck with ‘Stretch?’” Loki asked from the back seat of the interceptor.
“You’re the tallest guy in the whole damned unit, Loki,” Josh exclaimed.
“What does ‘Stretch’ even mean?”
“It’s an old Earth term,” Josh explained. “It means ‘tall guy’. You see it all the time in old vids and stuff.”
“Ten seconds to intercept,” a voice called over the comms. “Four, you take the two to the north, we’ll take the two to the south.”
