by Drew Wagar
'I guess so. I've been over the attack pattern a hundred times. You might have told me the Thargoids were equipped with plasma accelerators.'
'Thargoids don't have plasma accelerators.' The old woman frowned.
'I just missed five Thargoids inbound to Tionisla who ripped the prak out of a brand new ship. White fire, blown hull plates. Just like when Zerz ripped my old ship up eleven years ago! Plasma accelerators!'
'There's nothing in my memory about plasma accelerators in the Thargoid war.'
'There must be! Recheck.'
'I might be old but there's nothing wrong with my memory, Rebecca.' The old woman's holofac looked aggrieved.
Arguing with a sarcy computer simulation of a possible future me!
'So when you engaged the Thargoids, they were only armed with lasers?'
'That is correct.'
'This timeline sucks.' Rebecca snapped.
'It's diverged,' Rebka replied. 'Something has happened to change events again. You must find out what it is… '
Tell me something I don’t know…
'I've got a slightly more immediate problem!' Rebecca snapped. 'Plasma accelerators. What's the defense? How do I counter them?'
Rebka hesitated and then shrugged. 'You can't.'
'You're an AI simulation from the year 3199, don't give me that! Work something out!'
'The plasma accelerator isn't invented until 3164. There's no defence for it in 3151, not until the 3170s. Especially not in a Mk1 Vampire from 3140! You can't win!'
'Oh, this day is just getting better.'
‘Rebecca. You have to abort this. You won’t survive!’
‘Leave Station five to them? And just let four hundred thousand people die? Yeah, right.’
Rebecca pulled the cube out of the console and replaced it around her neck. The holofac faded.
Who needs artificial intelligence anyway? It’s not like anyone one will care if I get spaced…
She switched on the wideband.
Static crashed out of the audio system, overlaid with a curious pulsating warble. Rebecca recognised it immediately.
A jamming signal!
‘Tionisla approach, this is Vampire Eclipse, can you read me? Thargoid ships inbound. I repeat, Thargoid ships inbound! Do you copy?’
Tionisla was growing faster on the viewer, the graveyard disappearing into the glare of the sun, only the Chronicle array continued to cast its reflected glare. Rebecca could just make out the glow of the orbital stations.
There was a brief flare of light. One of the stations flickered and disappeared.
Kiri Mereso sent the mental impulse that switched off her embedded recording mem-chip and dropped back into her chair with a long sigh. She kicked off her boots and rested her feet on the desk, scowling at the holovid infront of her.
‘I spent hours on that. Look what’s left! Hardly any of my stuff ended up in the copy! All the journalists are out covering the war and what do I get? Babysitting the frakkin’ transmitter.’
She took out a small compact from her pocket and scrutinised her face and hands. At a brief touch, a small army of nanobots immediately took on the job of polishing her nails, adjusting her pencil perfect eyebrows and re-colouring her iridescent hair.
‘I deserve more than this,’ she pouted. ‘And if I have to say that stupid catchphrase one more time I’m going to scream!’
‘Transmitting the copy is important work…’ said a quiet voice from the next desk. Tania D’Mentiot was one of the techs supervising the distribution of content around the chart. She loved her job, getting huge satisfaction from seeing the viewing figures respond to what the Chronicle transmitted. Every little bit of news, celebrity gossip, hearsay and rumour came through these systems.
‘I know, I know. Mum tells me often enough.’ Kiri pulled a face. ‘Gotta understand all parts of the business, see it from the inside, learn the ropes, get a feel for all the departmental operations. Prak, you’d think she could do better than puffing out all those old clichés.’
‘It will help in the long run,’ Tania replied carefully.
And you should be grateful, you spoilt little bitch! We’re the ones doing the babysitting around here. You’ve already got it made, all you’ve got to do is wait a little. We’ve all got the long slog ‘til retirement.
‘It’s alright for mum. She made it during that Lave business back in ’38. And here’s me, stuck in the back-office whilst the biggest news story in history is happening.’
‘Maybe she wants you safe. It’s a war after all. People are dying out there.’
‘She’s getting old. Safe! Journalists don’t want to be safe! If that’s your attitude then you might as well give up and grow herbs on Leesti.’
Tania bit her tongue to stop a retaliatory remark. She couldn’t bring herself to suck up to the boss’s daughter but it wouldn’t be a great career move to antagonise her either.
She’s only here for a few more days, then I get my peace and quiet back.
‘Newsfeed is due to go. Do you want to send it?’ Tania asked.
Miri threw her a look. ‘Oooh. Let the little girl press the big red button? How exciting!’
‘Up to you,’ Tania said, clamping down on her infuriation.
Miri made a big show of climbing out of her chair and stomping over to Tania’s desk.
‘What do I do?’
‘First we have to secure the bandwidth, see those monitors? That ensures we can transmit.’ Tania gestured at the big monitor screens overhead, which burst into life, displaying statistics, graphs and monitoring information.
‘Ok,’ Kiri said in a bored voice.
‘Then we’ve got to ensure the syndication is connected and our relays have the proper acknowledgement.’
‘Figures.’
‘I thought you’d like that one, that’s how we make our money. You can watch the cash roll in.’
‘And?’
‘We do a test transmit to the local stations first just to make sure everything is up and running. If you check over there you’ll see the status for the locals.’
Kiri looked across at the furthest monitor. She looked, blinked, looked again and then turned around.
‘I’m assuming there’s not supposed to be a red flashing light?’
Tania frowned and turned to look. ‘What?’
‘Station three. Look, red. It says “no connection”.’ Kiri made way for Tania as she came over.
Tania typed in some commands. The red light refused to go out.
‘That doesn’t make any sense; we’ve got triple redundancy on all comms,’ she said, quickly going through the diagnostic sensors. ‘We’re not getting anything from three at all. What’s going on? Can you punch up some video?’
Kiri rolled her eyes. ‘Make me do all the work, why don’t you.’
She walked across and accessed the external video cameras on the Chronicle array.
Tania was absorbed for a moment before she realised Kiri hadn’t responded. She turned to see the infuriating girl staring at the screen.
‘You got that vid yet?’
Kiri didn’t answer. She was staring, her mouth hanging open.
‘What…’
Tania looked at the screen. Instead of the familiar vista of the spinning coriolis space station, there was a flaming spinning ball of disintegrating wreckage. Surrounding it, moving outwards, pursuing and destroying a rag tag collection of vainly fleeing vessels was a set of five Thargoid warships.
‘’Stards!’ Tania whispered. ‘Thargs. Here in Tionisla.’
‘What do we do?’ Kiri managed to stutter, her nonchalance evaporating.
‘Call for help.’ Tania snapped, already setting to work. ‘Send for the frakkin’ Navy.’
‘And then?’
Tania favoured the girl with a knowing look. ‘We switch on every camera we’ve got and you get to do your big news story. Welcome to the front line.’
Rebecca saw the broadcast at the same time as everyone
else in the Tionisla system. Grainy, distorted images flickered across the wideband as the Chronicle transmitter punched though the interference.
‘This is Kiri Mereso onboard the Chronicle Array. We’re bringing you live and shocking video feed from the Tionisla system! Station three has been attacked and destroyed by Thargoid invaders. I’m broadcasting live from the Chronicle array and we can see everything. The station has gone, there’s nothing left. Ships are being destroyed as we speak… there’s another! This is horrible… All those people…
‘They’ve destroyed all the ships that tried to flee; they’re not leaving any survivors. It looks like the Galcop ships never even got a chance to launch…
‘No, not true! We can see Vipers coming in now. They’re engaging the Thargs… there’s heavy fire being exchanged… we can’t see what’s happening. Clearing now…
Rebecca distinctly heard the startled gasp from the reporter.
‘The Vipers are gone. Frak! The Thargs are still there. I don’t understand this; I’m just telling you what I’m seeing. Our defences have all been destroyed! If anyone can hear us, the Tionisla system is being invaded. This is Kiri Mereso on-board the Tionisla Chronicle Array! We’re calling on all channels for assistance.’
Rebecca could see the Chronicle array to the port side of her ship as she raced towards station five. The array was at the external Lagrange point, far higher than the stations.
‘We’re picking something up, some kind of transmission. Just processing it…
Rebecca spared the console a brief look.
ETA Tionisla Aegis, 1 minute.
‘The Thargs are transmitting a message. I don’t know what it means… here, we can relay it…’ the reporter’s voice was replaced by the harsh translated tones of the Thargoids. Rebecca instantly recognised it from previous encounters.
‘VULGATE! DUO, QUINDECIM, NOVEM!’
Odd, they usually just insult you before they kill you…
‘We’ve no idea what it means… the Thargs have never used this before as far as we can tell. This something new… wait, they’re moving. Moving fast! We can see at least five of them. They’re heading towards station five. No! Can you hear us station five? Inbound Thargoid warships!’
The video feed switched. A coriolis station appeared. Rebecca could already see a phalanx of police vessels in an X formation, a mix of Mk1 and Mk2 Vipers, heading away from the station on an intercept course.
‘Station five has launched defences… they’re going to head off the Thargs before they can get in range…
Rebecca could see two remote points of light converging. She punched the narrow-band transmitters.
‘Galcop Vipers. Do not engage directly. Thargoids are armed with plasma weaponry. Do not engage!’
Rebecca knew it was in vain, the transmission bandwidth was swamped; partly with interference, partly with the Chronicle transmitter overpowering everything else. Her ship-board transmitter had no hope of punching through.
The lights converged.
Too late…
‘…this is terrible! The Thargs seem to have some kind of new weapon. It’s obliterating our ships! They’re being ripped apart! They’re getting through! There are thousands of people on the station! The Thargoids are going straight in! Oh frak… no…’
Mass locked. Hyperspeed aborted.
'Station five, I'm a hundred clicks out. Report status.' Rebecca snapped into the narrow-band, hoping to break through the interference again.
Something got through.
A garbled message came back. '… … defences! Ships lost, we can't… transponder! … incoming… Mayday! Mayday!'
Rebecca instinctively triggered the fuel injectors, her ship lurching forward furiously, burning a blazing path towards the station. As she closed she could see ships of all shapes and sizes fleeing the scene. None were staying to defend the station. They were all running.
Cowards. Unbelievable!
The signatures of three more ships appeared on the scanner, launching side by side from the station. These three didn’t flee but took up point defensive positions between the station and in the incoming Thargoids.
I was supposed to do this single-handed…
Rebecca triggered the ident computer and performed a fast scan.
Caduceus Omega, Mass 250 Metric, Speed 0.0 LM. Call sign ‘Persistence of Memory’
Caduceus Omega, Mass 250 Metric, Speed 0.0 LM Call sign ‘Hammer of Sorrow’
Cobra Mk3, Mass 150 Metric, Speed 0.0 LM, Call sign ‘Dark Star’. 15% Discrepancy
‘Souped up Cobra and a pair of bio-ships…’
Almost immediately the Dark Star opened a narrowband comms channel.
‘Senor, you have your targeting computer pointing at the wrong ships. We aren’t the bad guys… at least, not today… You might want to focus on the bug-eyed monsters heading this way.’ The voice had a peculiar accent Rebecca hadn’t come across before.
She blinked in surprise.
‘You making a stand?’ she snapped.
‘Ah… Senorita! My humble apologies… And yes, I guess we’re throwing our hats in the ring so to speak…’
‘I haven’t got a hat,’ said a strangely clipped voice emanating from the first Caduceus, the Persistence of Memory. ‘Does that let me off the hook?’
‘Not unless you want the hook buried in your back,’ said a deeper, almost mechanical, voice emanating from the other Caduceus, the Hammer of Sorrow.
‘Subtle as always,’ the clipped voice replied.
‘Who are you guys?’ Rebecca demanded.
‘Looks like we’re your last best hope,’ the pilot of the Cobra quipped back. ‘Now get the frak out of here. All hell is about to break loose and you don’t want to be around for that.’
‘I’m here to help,’ Rebecca replied sternly.
'What are you flying, senorita? Daddy’s Ophidian?'
Rebecca's lip curled in anger at the jibe. ‘Vampire. Mine!’
Son of a bitch…
'Mk3 or MK4?'
'It’s a Mk1!'
‘Could be worse,’ the deep voice said. ‘Then again, could be a lot better.’
‘Maybe we could use her as bait?’ The clipped voice suggested.
‘What’s your combat rating?’ the Cobra’s pilot asked.
‘I’m Deadly,’ Rebecca replied. ‘And…’
‘Thank Giles, we’re saved…’ the deep voice was clearly unimpressed.
'Prak!’ the clipped voice said testily. ‘Stop wasting our time little female! Get back to your brood!’
'Senorita, this is not your time to die… Jump while you still can. We can hold the fort.’ The Cobra pilot’s voice was dismissive.
‘We have… some experience with this type of altercation,’ the deep voice intoned, almost amused.
'I'm not leaving!' Rebecca fired back angrily.
The pilot of the Cobra had clearly had enough.
‘Listen to me, Senorita. Things are about to get awful messy out here. We probably aren’t coming back from this little jaunt… An inexperienced pilot in a deadbeat old ship is a liability we don’t need… The Chronicle has told us Navy reinforcements are on their way. They’ll be here in a few minutes. Now… Amscray!’
Arrogant ‘goid! You don’t know what you’re dealing with here!
'Listen! The Navy won’t get here in time,' Rebecca snapped back, 'Trust me. I know.'
‘How can you possibly…’
‘And I also know the Thargoids are packing a plasma accelerator which will cut through your shields like they’re Ontiat crème brulee! You can’t hit them head on, it’s suicide. One solid hit and you’re fragged. I know how to take them out.’
At least, I hope I do!
There was a poignant pause on the narrowband comms.
‘Given we were just discussing the whole head-on-assault-thing, can we listen to the little human girl’s option now?’ the clipped voice said, with a hint of a snigger. ‘Can’t stand crème brulee.’
>
‘She could be right,’ said the deep voice. ‘Remember station three? I dislike traps. Another option would be refreshing.’
‘Ok, I’ll bite… What’s your plan, senorita?’ the Cobra pilot said, clearly irritated.
Rebecca angled her ship between the pair of Caduceus and above the Cobra, triggered her injectors and dropped into a diamond formation with them.
‘First you can stop calling me ‘senorita’. The name’s Rebecca.’
‘Derik Roh’i,’ said the clipped voice. ‘And don’t bother trying to pronounce it properly.’
‘I’d prefer not to divulge mine over an open channel,’ the deep voice said laconically. ‘Maybe later, if we survive.’
‘Coyote,’ the Cobra pilot snapped. ‘And we’re still waiting for the plan.’
Rebecca had been punching commands into her console all the while.
‘Set your gravitic dampers to a ninety degree offset and switch off your newtonian flight baffles. Coyote you can override your outrigger engines to achieve the same thing. Strafing moves, with high speed passes. Separate your velocity and attitude vectors. I’m assuming you’ve all got flank weapons?’
‘Newtonian flight?’ Coyote growled. ‘You’re testing my patience now…’
And maybe you’re not the pilot your ego thinks you are!
‘Arrgh! Noooo!’ Derik cried. ‘That stuff does my head in!’
‘It has the virtue of hardly ever being tried,’ the deep voice said. ‘We’ll have the element of surprise if nothing else…’
‘Our only chance is to be unpredictable,’ Rebecca ignored their complaints. ‘Their weapon has greater range but lower accuracy. It also needs to be cycled. With five of them that’s no disadvantage. We need to engage at close quarters and use off-axis tumbling techniques. Stay right next door to them. If they gain any distance on us we’re toast.’
‘Unpredictable I can do,’ Derik replied.
‘If we’re still alive at the end of this,’ Coyote said. ‘You and I are going to have some serious words young lady.’
‘Not until after I’ve had a serious drink,’ Rebecca snapped back.
‘Can I suggest we focus on the task in hand?’ The deep voice intoned, interrupting their bickering. ‘Any other cogent advice, Rebecca?’
