“Take it easy, Marine,” Jack said. “You will be okay.”
Jack returned the helmet to the Marine’s tactical suit and activated the onboard medical suite to administer emergency first aid.
“They came out of nowhere,” one Marine said. He winced in pain and gripped his shoulder.
Jack saw the scorch marks on the Marine’s tactical suit. It was the mark of military-grade weapons, but the aim was not as accurate as it would be in the hands of a military-trained individual.
“They came falling out of the sky. The ship was on fire,” the third Marine said. He managed to get up onto one knee. His breathing was labored, and he winced in pain as he moved. “They made a dangerous reentry. They knew they weren’t going to be using the same craft to take off again. I think they knew we were down here.”
Jack stood and walked out of the shade to look at the battleground around him. Whoever had been here could not have gotten far. Jack knew the boat’s speed and range. They were still relatively nearby.
Jack walked up the boarding ramp into Tac Boat Three and dropped into the seat at the flight console. He activated the scanner and surveillance network systems and scanned for the stolen ship.
The local system, as far as boat three’s sensors could spread, showed only one ship in the system, lying in orbit around the system’s orange gas giant. It was the Scorpio.
“The tac boat must be running dark,” Jack said to himself. He thought for a moment about how to track a ship that was able to evade all scanner technology. Then he remembered the only Marine not accounted for—Heaton, who Jack had placed under arrest and confined aboard the now-missing craft.
It was a long shot, but Jack was running out of options.
He tapped away at the controls and called up any and all ident chips on Fleet Marine tactical suits within scanner range. Most were right here at the landing site, and many of those chips were reporting back that the Marines wearing them were now KIA. Two others were also in the system. One familiar to Jack was Commander Sam Torent, currently aboard the Scorpio, and the only Marine reported to be aboard that ship.
“What have you done with my battalion, Sam?” Jack said, wondering why Sam was the only Marine left aboard the Scorpio.
The only other tactical suit ident chip in the system was that of the Marine Heaton. Jack identified the location and discovered he was also aboard the Scorpio.
Jack downloaded the ident chip’s tracking data and fed it into the holostage on the flight console. It showed that Heaton had been aboard Tac Boat One when it had taken off. Jack tracked the chip as the only marker of the boat’s course. It was now adrift.
Jack zoomed in on the chip’s location and sent a narrow-band emergency communication code to that location.
The TAC boat automatically replied.
“Whoever you were,” Jack said to himself, “you were pretty smart, but you forgot to turn off the emergency response protocol.”
With the code response logged into Tac Boat Three’s navigational and communications systems, Jack was able to log in to Tac Boat One’s internal systems.
Jack opened the internal surveillance node and displayed the boat’s interior. The boat was empty. Lying on the floor in an untidy heap was Heaton’s tactical suit. But Heaton was missing. The boat was empty, empty and adrift in space.
Jack scrolled back through the surveillance feed until he was able to see who had been aboard.
Jack paused the feed the moment he saw the two civilians stripping Heaton of his tactical suit. Jack zoomed in on them. He recognized one almost immediately.
“Beretta,” Jack said. He slumped back in his seat and looked at the still image on the holostage.
Beretta had evaded capture on numerous occasions. Jack knew him to be a devious and intelligent criminal. An excellent pilot and ruthless killer, Beretta was possibly the most dangerous man in the fleet.
Jack leaned forward and called up the boat’s external sensor data. Jack scrolled to the moment where the boat had been abandoned by Beretta, his criminal sidekick, and Heaton. Out of the black, Jack saw the tiny reflector on Tac Boat One’s external surveillance node. As it came closer, Jack could see it was a maintenance barge. The maintenance barge docked with the tac boat.
Jack attempted to access the maintenance barge’s internal surveillance node, but the systems on that battered old ship were offline.
“But you can’t stop me tracking your movements,” Jack said to himself as he tapped the controls on the flight console and scanned the system for the tell-tale trail of the barge.
The maintenance ship’s drive systems were functioning, but dangerously misaligned. They were close to total shutdown. The asymmetry in the drive reactor left a trail that any Fleet officer could follow with even the simplest of scanning equipment. Space-time churned and tortured in the wake of the maintenance barge. Jack followed that trail as it moved across the system toward the orange gas giant.
“The Scorpio,” Jack said, suddenly feeling his anxiety peak.
Jack opened a channel to the Scorpio immediately. Beretta was heading to the Scorpio. He was possibly already on board. Jack needed to warn Captain Pretorius.
The communication channel failed to connect. The destroyer’s communications were offline. And now Jack knew for certain that Beretta was aboard. His objective, although outrageous, was clear.
The old pirate was attempting to steal the Scorpio.
Jack felt anger and frustration building inside him. He forced himself to be calm. No Marine could act effectively if he was overwhelmed by his emotions. Jack scanned the rest of the system with a wide-beam sweep, attempting to detect any Fleet vessel. Jack’s sensor range was limited by the atmosphere of planet Blue and the tac boat’s own limited range. He opened a channel and called out to any ships that could receive a signal with the wide-beam, high-gain message.
“This is Major Jack Forge. I am aboard a tac boat on planet Blue of the Scorpio System. Any Fleet ships receiving this transmission please respond.”
Jack waited a moment for a response. It could take minutes for the any of the fleet to respond if they were just on the edge of his sensor range. It could take hours if they were not even in system yet.
A small light on the communications panel flashed and Jack knew he had received a standard reply. Jack put it on the holostage.
The message simply told Jack to stand by.
Jack checked all systems and prepared the boat for takeoff. If the fleet had replied to his emergency hail so swiftly, they could not be far away. Jack would be able to takeoff and rendezvous with the fleet.
As Jack brought the systems online, he received a communication from the Scepter.
“Major Forge, this is Group Captain Tanaka. Are you in contact with the Scorpio?”
Jack looked at the holoimage of Tanaka on his holostage. The image was flickering. The fleet was on the edge of communication range.
“Sir, the Scorpio is not responding to my communications. I believe the pirate Lou Beretta has boarded her.”
“Proceed immediately to the Scorpio, Major Forge,” Tanaka said. “Secure it and make contact with the flagship as soon as possible. Proceed immediately.”
“Copy that, sir,” Jack said. “I request additional Marine units to rendezvous with me en route to the Scorpio.”
“Negative. Proceed with whatever units you have available.”
“But, sir,” Jack said, trying to remain diplomatic, “I don’t have even a single active squad. We were attacked.”
“Go with whatever you have. Go alone if you must. There are no units available for you at this time, Major. The fleet has just detected a swarm heading this way leaving the stellar void. The Skalidions have followed us, and they have caught us. Proceed to the Scorpio and secure that destroyer for me, Major. Instruct Pretorius to rendezvous with the fleet on the edge of the system where we will engage the Skalidion. If Pretorius is unavailable for command duties, then you are authorized to take control of the
Scorpio and bring her to the fight. Go now, Major Forge. Do not fail. We are outnumbered and outgunned, and I need to the Scorpio in this fight. Tanaka out.”
Jack jumped out of the pilot seat and ran onto the plain. He looked at the Marine resources he had available to him: one poorly-trained squad leader, one poorly-trained squad, and one battered tac boat.
Jack pointed at the three wounded Marines.
“Squad Leader Lane. Move these wounded men away from the boat and then board your squad. We are leaving in thirty seconds.”
“We can’t leave them down here, sir,” Lane said in a reasonable tone.
Jack stepped up to Lane. “Follow your orders, Squad Leader, is that clear?”
Lane nodded and then called his squad to him.
Within thirty seconds, the squad had moved the wounded aside and were boarding the boat. Lane was the last to step up. Jack walked up the boarding ramp alongside him. Once inside, he tapped the boarding ramp and pulled Lane with him toward the flight deck.
“I’ll explain on the way.” Jack dropped into the pilot seat, and within moments, the tac boat was blasting off the surface of planet Blue. “Strap in. We’re leaving.”
Jack hit the main drive and sent the tac boat racing up from the plain toward space. Once in orbit, Jack performed a slingshot maneuver to fling him around the planet and toward the Scorpio in orbit around the orange gas giant.
If Beretta had already taken the command deck, then he may well identify the tac boat racing toward him. One blast from the Scorpio’s hail cannon would reduce the tac boat to a cloud of debris with no piece bigger than a pulse rifle power pack. Jack just hoped Beretta didn’t see him coming.
And Jack was coming. Beretta was his target.
10
The Skalidion swarm filled the image of the Scepter’s main holostage. Group Captain Tanaka sat in the command chair looking down at the holostage. Admiral Henson, flanked by General Wallace and Colonel Snipe, stared at the huge swarm racing toward the Scorpio System.
Tanaka switched the holostage view from the Skalidion swarm pouring across space toward the fleet to show the fleet itself. The Scepter sat at the center of the image, flanked by the destroyers Aquarius and Canis. The three battleships sat in front of the hundred civilian transports, each the size of a city and holding more civilians than they were designed for. The civilian transports moved slowly, creeping deeper into the system toward Blue.
Between the three warships were arranged the dozens of support craft. Every fleet frigate and corvette was in the line alongside the bigger brothers standing ready to engage the oncoming enemy. Between the ships of the line were the smallest ships of the fleet, the Blades and the tac boats. The fleet’s full complement of fighters were deployed and massed in two squadrons, deployed on the port and starboard flanks of the fleet, ready to swoop in and attack the Skalidion fighters in ship-to-ship combat.
Holding position throughout the battle line were the tac boats. They added their scanning and surveillance data to the fleet’s, creating a millimeter perfect aiming system for even the biggest guns across the huge warships. The boats also brought their own significant firepower to the fight.
Every gun was primed and ready to give fire.
The civilian ships limped away, slowed by their burned-out drives and constant deviation from the direct course to planet Blue. The civilian fleet went on, winding their way in arcing moves instead of direct clean lines. The civilian ships ran in loose formation, fear of collision due to the erratic movements on the minds of every civilian transport captain.
The Skalidions came in tight formation, a bulbous teardrop with the fighters in the front, observer drones on the fringes, and at the tail of the teardrop came the massive nest asteroid.
Tanaka watched the range on the small armrest holostage of her command chair as the Skalidion swarm approached the Oort cloud of the Scorpio System. Admiral Henson turned from the main holostage and looked up at Tanaka in her command chair.
“Launch your combat drones, Group Captain,” Admiral Henson said.
Group Captain Tanaka looked carefully at the distances between the fleet and the swarm. If she played her hand too early, the swarm may spread and evade the combat drone strike.
“Launch now, Group Captain,” the admiral repeated.
“You have ordered that we make our stand here, Admiral,” Tanaka said as she studied her armrest holostage, “but I have tactical command of the fleet.” She watched the holostage range finder race down as the swarm closed in.
Henson stared up at Tanaka. She could feel the admiral’s eyes on her. The admiral was the senior Fleet officer, but his position had been largely political before the fleet began their long retreat across dangerous space. Tanaka had tactical acumen beyond that of the admiral and everyone knew it. And now the admiral was feeling nervous as the Skalidions charged at what remained of the once-mighty fleet.
“Launch combat drones,” Tanaka said suddenly. The Skalidions had reached the critical point, just inside the system’s Oort cloud.
The order went out from Tanaka to the combat drone officer on the Scepter’s command deck. That officer activated launch authority to all ships in the fleet. Combat drone launch tubes along the massive carrier and both destroyers were open and loaded with the first salvo of drones.
The drones shot out of their launch tubes and their independent drive systems activated, kicking them up to maximum speed in an instant, acceleration beyond what any crew could endure even with hull stability fields compensating.
Tanaka watched as the drive trails traced straight lines across the dark space between the fleet and the swarm.
The image on the main holostage showed the fleet shrinking away, the Scepter at the center facing the swarm head on, the destroyers on either side presenting their port-side batteries. The holoimage zoomed out to show the combat drones spread out to form a disc, with dozens of drones hundreds of kilometers apart. They raced on in perfect synchronization with not one drone a millimeter ahead of its neighbor. Perfect coordination from all drones in the attack.
They closed in on the Skalidion swarm.
Tanaka leaned forward and watched the drones as they neared their detonation point. Just at that moment, the swarm spread out. The teardrop seemed to crumple at the forward end as the fighter swarm spread out into a vast oval, gaps appearing in the densely-packed swarm.
Tanaka clenched her fist. She’d launched too early and the drone detonation would not be as effective against the dispersed Skalidion swarm is it would have been against the tightly-packed group.
“Maximum dispersal of combat drones. Manual detonation on my command.”
Tanaka watched as the disc of combat drones spread out across space. Even at maximum dispersal, the point where the drones were attacking the spread-out Skalidion swarm was little more than a pinprick.
“Detonate.” Tanaka gripped the armrest of her command chair.
With the combat drones close to the front of the swarm, the drones collapsed their anti-matter containment shells. The blast front of a white billowing cloud of plasma fire appeared all along the advancing front of the Skalidions.
The sensor readings from the fleet were blinded by the sudden, massive anti-matter explosion. Even the tac boats’ powerful sensor arrays in concert with the fleet’s ability could not penetrate the seething wall of plasma fire thrown up against the advancing Skalidions. Only when the first Skalidion ships were destroyed did the sensor data begin to show.
Green flashes across the combat drones’ detonation field showed where Skalidion fighters were being destroyed, dozens a second were falling as they plowed on into the plasma field. But within seconds, the destruction of Skalidion fighters stopped. The anti-matter blast front was dissipating.
Henson spun around and looked up to Tanaka. “You detonated too early,” Henson said, his voice shaking with fury and fear.
Tanaka tapped the controls on her armrest, resetting the fleet’s sensor network. “No, w
e launched too late. Far too late. We should have laid the combat drones in the cloud before the Skalidions reached the system.”
“We had no way of knowing where the Skalidions were going to enter the system,” Henson growled. “We would have wasted all those combat drones mining an area of the Oort cloud that wouldn’t even have been threatened.”
Tanaka sent the surveillance drones out to the sides of the drones’ blast front. “No, the Skalidion have been on a direct heading to the fleet since we first detected them. We knew exactly where they were going to be. We lost our chance to ambush them.” Tanaka looked down at Henson. “Now we are in a straight-up fight. Let me do my job.”
With the sensor drones redeployed, Tanaka looked at the main holostage. She watched the edge of the blast front for the point where the Skalidions would emerge. And then the first signal was detected on the upper left edge—a Skalidion fighter evading the plasma fire and maneuvering around the deadly wall.
And then on the lower right, another Skalidion. And then another at another location, the craft appearing until a ring around the plasma fire field showed the Skalidions evading the fire.
“Send another salvo of combat drones and target the fighters,” Henson said. He marched across the command deck toward the drone control console. “Launch another salvo. Launch every combat drone in the entire fleet. That is an order.”
“Belay that order,” Tanaka said calmly. “Combat drones will not help us now, Admiral.”
Henson turned back to the holostage. “General Wallace, have your Marines arrest the group captain. I’m taking command of the fleet.”
Tanaka adjusted the orientation of the Scepter to sit in a line with the two destroyers. “Hail cannons, stand by to deploy hail curtain.”
“Do you hear me, General?” Henson said.
“My Marines are deployed throughout the ship, ready to repel any intruders. I don’t think now is the time to be redeploying my resources, Admiral,” General Wallace said calmly.
“Right then, I will take command myself.” Admiral Henson stepped up to the foot of Tanaka’s command chair. “You are relieved of duty, Group Captain. Step down now or I will have you shot.”
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