by Ryk Brown
* * *
“Final insertion jump in one minute,” Ensign Lassen announced from the Falcon’s right seat.
“Finally,” Sergeant Nama exclaimed from the side-facing sensor station, directly behind the ensign. “That had to be our longest transit series yet.”
“Yeah, well, it’s going to be even longer on the way back,” Lieutenant Teison reminded him.
“No way.”
“Yup. Full evasion algos.”
“Why?” the sergeant wondered. “The Ahka aren’t a threat to us.”
“Orders are orders,” the lieutenant replied.
“Thirty seconds,” Ensign Lassen reported.
“Damn, what I wouldn’t give for a stasis pod,” the sergeant muttered.
“Okay, boys, this one will be low and fast. We jump into atmo, buzz the colony, take a bunch of pretty pictures and scans, and jump out again.”
“And if they don’t like us buzzing them?” the sergeant asked.
“Then they can file a complaint with the Ilyan,” Lieutenant Teison replied.
“Ten seconds.”
“Snap those shields up as soon as we hit the atmosphere, Riko.”
“You got it, L.T.,” the sergeant replied.
“Jumping in three……two……one……jump.”
The Falcon shook as it jumped into the atmosphere of Ahka, suddenly slowed by the drag. All three men felt themselves thrown forward against their shoulder restraints, nearly knocking the air out of their lungs.
“Damn, the air’s thick here!” the lieutenant exclaimed as he struggled to get control of the ship.
“Two thousand meters and descending!” Ensign Lassen reported. “Speed is falling rapidly!”
“Increasing power,” the lieutenant replied, pushing the throttles for the Falcon’s atmospheric engines forward.
“Eighteen hundred, still falling,” the ensign reported. “Airspeed’s coming up.”
“Ahka colony dead ahead, two hundred and fifty clicks, and closing fast,” Sergeant Nama reported. “They’re targeting us.”
“Shields up?” the lieutenant asked.
“The moment we hit atmo,” the sergeant assured him.
“Fifteen hundred, rate of descent is slowing. Airspeed is holding.”
“I’m picking up eight different targeting scanners,” Sergeant Nama announced. “They’re lighting us up!”
“Weapons type?” the lieutenant asked.
“Unknown.”
“Ready all countermeasures.”
“Countermeasures are armed,” Ensign Lassen confirmed. “Altitude settling…one thousand meters, as planned.”
“One-seventy-five to the target,” the sergeant updated. “I’m picking up two missile launchers between us and the target. Suggest one one five and full power. Make them work hard to track us. Jamming their scanners now…”
“One one five,” the lieutenant acknowledged, pushing his throttles wide open.
“Missile launch!” the sergeant reported. “Four…correction, six!”
“Track type?” Ensign Lassen inquired.
“One hundred clicks, closing really fast! Heat and sensor tracks! Ten seconds to impact!”
“Launching countermeasures,” Ensign Lassen announced as a series of ka-chunks reverberated through the ship.
“Closest?”
“One two four relative!” Nama replied before the lieutenant’s request had crossed his lips.
“Breaking left!” Lieutenant Teison jammed his flight control stick to the left, and pushed it down slightly, diving toward the two missiles coming at them from the left.
“Targeting inbounds with nose turret,” Ensign Lassen reported. “Firing!”
Streaks of red-orange plasma leapt from their nose turret, striking the two inbound missiles and destroying them.
“Targets destroyed,” the ensign reported.
“The two behind us went for the decoys!” Sergeant Nama announced. “Two more twenty to starboard. Five seconds.”
Lieutenant Lassen quickly dialed up the shortest escape jump setting and pressed the jump button on his flight control stick. The ground outside shifted as their ship jumped forward a few kilometers.
“Twenty clicks to target,” Sergeant Nama reported. “The last two missiles are turning to reacquire.”
“Where are those launchers?” the lieutenant asked.
“Behind us, fifty clicks now, but there could be more on the other side,” the sergeant warned.
Lieutenant Teison glanced out his forward windows at the rapidly approaching colony, just as a number of plasma turrets on the edge of the city opened fire.
“Incoming plasma cannon fire,” the sergeant warned as the ship rocked from the impacts against their shields.
“No kidding,” the lieutenant muttered. “Recon hot?”
“Cameras and sensors are running full tilt,” Ensign Lassen reported.
“Nerves of steel time, boys,” the lieutenant announced as their ship continued to be bounced about; plasma blasts impacting their shields. The cockpit was bathed in irregular flashes of red-orange light as the lieutenant held his course, allowing the data collection systems to gather as much information as possible.
The ship jumped violently, and a warning buzzer sounded.
“Port forward shield is down to forty percent!” Ensign Lassen warned.
“Hang on, baby,” the lieutenant said under his breath.
Another brilliant, red-orange flash lit up the cockpit as the ship jumped again, this time shifting slightly to port at the same time.
“Starboard lateral shield is offline!” Ensign Lassen reported as another alarm sounded.
“Just a few more seconds,” the lieutenant muttered as his eyes darted back and forth across his flight displays.
“Missile launches!” Sergeant Nama announced. “Dead ahead! Twenty-two clicks! Fifteen seconds!”
“Targeting the inbounds!” Ensign Lassen added, firing a split-second later.
“Ten seconds to jump point,” the lieutenant announced.
“One inbound down!” Ensign Lassen announced.
The ship suddenly bounced and slid to the left, as if they had been hit by a large truck. Alarms sounded all over the cockpit.
“Impact! Starboard side!” Ensign Lassen reported. “Our starboard atmo-drive is overheating!”
“Shut it down!” the lieutenant ordered.
“Five seconds to missile impact!”
“I’ve lost the forward cannon!”
“Jumping!” Lieutenant Teison announced as he pressed the button on his control stick, jumping them to safety. A split-second later, they were in space again, and everything went silent, except for the various alarms still sounding.
“Twenty hours of jumping for two minutes of terror. How are we looking?” the lieutenant asked his copilot.
“We’re okay,” Ensign Lassen replied as he turned off the last of the alarms. “We’ve lost two shields and our starboard atmo drive, but we should be able to make it back. Worst-case scenario, we set down on Casbon and make repairs.”
“No, thank you,” Sergeant Nama said. “I’m ready to go home.”
“Agreed,” Ensign Lassen concurred.
“Let’s get out of here,” the lieutenant said.
“Give me a cold-coast through Dusahn territory over this, any day of the week,” Sergeant Nama stated from the back.
“Entering the return evasion algorithm now,” the copilot replied.
* * *
“What’s up, Lieutenant Commander?” Nathan questioned as he entered the Aurora’s intelligence compartment.
“Something curious has turned up,” Lieutenant Commander Shinoda replied
. “As you know, we’re constantly gathering signals intelligence from all directions. This includes comms traffic.”
“Understood,” Nathan replied, inviting his intelligence officer to continue.
“We picked up a message being transmitted from a jump comm-drone from the Jamayan system to the Rakuen port authority. They were asking if one of their cargo ships, the Tentibol, had made it there.”
“To Rakuen?”
“Yes, sir. Apparently, it has not made it back to Jamaya and is now three days overdue.”
“Was it here?”
“I checked with the Rakuen Port Authority, and yes, it arrived yesterday morning and departed ten hours later after off-loading her inbound cargo and loading outbound cargo.”
“How long is the journey to Jamaya?” Nathan wondered.
“According to the port authority, about eighteen hours,” the lieutenant commander replied. “So, she should have arrived by now.”
“Was she late arriving on Rakuen?” Nathan wondered.
“Yes, sir, by twelve hours. They reported having problems with their jump drive but refused service while on Rakuen, claiming to have resolved the problem.”
“Maybe they had more problems on the way to Jamaya,” Nathan suggested.
“A possibility,” the lieutenant commander agreed. “I would suggest sending a Reaper along her filed flight path, just in case.”
“Very well, launch a Reaper and keep me informed,” Nathan concurred, turning to exit.
“Aye, sir.”
* * *
Sergeant Olivo stepped out onto the front porch of the rundown farmhouse. Having always been an early riser, he particularly enjoyed having his morning nutri-drink while watching the sunrise. It was about the only thing he liked about his assignment on this dusty, smelly, hellish, little world. For the life of him, he never understood why humans tended to settle on such barren rocks, especially when there were so many truly hospitable worlds out there.
Nevertheless, he had pulled the duty. It had taken him nearly a week, and several trips into town, to make the abandoned farm somewhat hospitable. Unfortunately, it was a constant struggle to keep the interior of his humble abode clean, due to the fierce afternoon dust storms this time of year.
Fortunately, he would soon be rotated back to the fleet, and some other poor Ghatazhak would get to spend sixty days on Haven, relaying messages from some nameless operative on whatever world he, or she, was on.
The sergeant stepped to the front edge of the porch, enjoying the soft red glow of the Haven dawn. Soon, the reds would yield to ambers, eventually blending in seamlessly with the pale amber sky. Fortunately, the day and night cycles on Haven were slow, allowing him to witness the dawn twice in a single waking period.
He watched the pale indigo illumination of Haven’s parent planet begin to mix with the amber sunlight of the system’s star. But, unlike most mornings, the serene transformation was interrupted by dozens of small flashes of blue-white light on the horizon, in the direction of town. Seconds later, flashes of light from surface explosions appeared, glinting in the waning light of dawn. Haven was under attack, and the sergeant was fairly certain of the aggressor’s identity.
Sergeant Olivo returned to the farmhouse, quickly heading to the locked cabinet along the opposite wall. He pulled the data pad out and activated the device. A few moments later, he was hacked into Haven’s security monitoring system, and had confirmed his suspicions. A few more taps on the data pad and he had sent an urgent message to the jump comm-drone lying in wait in Haven’s dense ring system. In less than a minute, the comm-drone would begin a complex series of jumps and maneuvers, ensuring that it evaded pursuit before reaching its destination.
Once the sergeant received confirmation that the jump comm-drone had departed, he placed the data pad into his survival pack and headed out the door. It was only a matter of time before the Dusahn traced his signal back to the farmhouse, and he had no intention of being there when they arrived.
* * *
Lieutenant Commander Shinoda picked up the remote on the conference table in the Aurora’s command briefing room, activating the view screen and lowering the lights. “The Ahka are actually better equipped than the Casbon realize. As you can see from these scans, they have missile batteries and plasma turrets, all of which can be quickly activated.”
“How quickly?” Nathan asked.
“The first missiles were launched eighteen seconds after the Falcon jumped into their atmosphere.”
“You did a penetration recon?” Cameron questioned.
“We needed to know how quickly they could react to an attack, as well as what they had to respond with,” Commander Verbeek defended.
“Isn’t that tipping the Ahka off that something is up?” Jessica wondered.
“The Super Falcon’s design is quite different than anything they’re used to seeing in that quadrant. Even after the Casbon take delivery of the Sugali fighters, it is unlikely that the Ahka will link a single low-level buzz by our Falcon with the Casbon. Besides, it’s better to risk a single asset than an entire squadron.”
“Were we able to establish a range on those missiles?”
“Based on their acceleration rate, size, and power plants, we have to assume they can reach targets in low orbit, as well,” Lieutenant Commander Shinoda replied.
“What about their ships?” General Telles asked.
“Scans and images show that they are arming more of their shuttles, turning them into raiders.”
“Anything larger?” the general asked.
“Not that we could detect,” the lieutenant commander replied. “However, they do have larger shuttles. They just weren’t arming them, as of yet.”
“Then they aren’t showing any signs of escalation,” Nathan concluded.
“No, sir, they simply appear to be replacing the raiders that you destroyed,” the lieutenant commander explained. “However, it should be noted that they have at least thirty more shuttles that they could arm, if necessary.”
“That’s good,” Commander Prechitt said. “That means we have some time to prepare.”
“At the very least, we have enough time to get our Eagles into position to defend the Casbon, before the next attack.”
Nathan looked at Commander Prechitt. “Any reservations, Commander?”
“No, sir.”
“Commander Verbeek?” Nathan asked, looking at the Aurora’s CAG.
“None, sir, we’re ready to go.”
“Very well,” Nathan said. “Let’s get this operation under way.”
“Yes, sir,” Commander Prechitt acknowledged. “We can depart within the hour.”
“Lieutenant Commander Shinoda, let’s return the Falcon to her Pentaurus recon duties.”
“She sustained a bit of damage on her Ahka run, but she should be ready for action by tomorrow.”
“Very well. Get her back up as soon as she’s ready.” Nathan looked around the room. “Is there anything else?”
“Yes, sir,” Lieutenant Commander Shinoda replied. “There was another late arrival today. Another cargo ship, this time from the Alayan system, the Chalmer Basil. She arrived a day and a half late.”
“Jump drive trouble again?” Nathan surmised.
“No, sir. Navigation error. Ended up fixing on the wrong star.”
“Is that even possible?” Jessica wondered.
“Not unless they’re manually calculating their jump plots,” Cameron said jokingly.
“What is the significance of this?” General Telles wondered.
“Not sure there is any,” Nathan admitted. “But it’s the second late arrival in the last week.” He turned to the lieutenant commander. “Any luck finding the Tentibol?”
“Negative,” the l
ieutenant commander replied. “Reaper Four jumped along her filed flight path all the way back to Jamaya and turned up nothing.”
“The Tentibol?” Jessica asked.
“The first ship to arrive late,” the lieutenant commander explained. “The only reason we even took notice of her late arrival was because we picked up a communication from her home port asking if she arrived.”
“Then, she’s missing?”
“As far as we know, yes,” Lieutenant Commander Shinoda replied.
“It’s not enough to draw any conclusions,” Nathan admitted, “but it is enough to keep an eye out for similar patterns.”
“Shall we track the Chalmer Basil when she departs?” Lieutenant Commander Shinoda asked.
“Negative,” Nathan replied. “If she turns up missing, as well, I’m sure we’ll hear about it from the Alayans. Besides, with all our Eagles gone, the Reapers will be taking over their patrol duties.”
“Let’s hope it’s nothing,” Cameron commented.
* * *
Terig’s wife always went to bed at twenty-two thirty. Always…except tonight, the one night he needed her to go to bed on time, if not early. It was well past zero two hundred by the time she was in a deep enough slumber for him to feel confident he could slip out of bed for a few minutes without being noticed.
At least he had no problem staying awake until now. Once Lord Mahtize had sent him the encrypted message about the massive number of Dusahn troops being moved from Takara to ships in orbit, all he could think about was getting home and sending word to the Karuzari. He had no idea how long it normally took for messages he hid in his fake molo twine orders to reach them, but he feared that whatever the Dusahn were preparing for, would happen before he could warn those who were fighting them on his world’s behalf.
After sliding out of bed, without disturbing his sleeping wife, he had made his way to his makeshift office in the corner of their living room. It took him several minutes to recode the message, using the Karuzari’s encryption algorithms, but now he was finally ready to send it and get the proverbial latta off his back.
