“Yeah, we have to warn them about… oh shit,” Mach said, leaning forward. He magnified the view and the feeling of disappointment soon changed to one of dread and not a little fear. Lassea had angled the ship down and to the port side. There, no more than a tenth of an AU away, was the hulking great form of the Atlantis ship.
“There she is,” Adira said.
“Ready to fire when you are, Mach,” Sanchez said.
“Hold fire for now,” Mach said. “Tulula, send all we have on the Atlantis ship to the Larunda Orbital. Tell them to initiate evacuation procedures while we engage.”
Their target approached the LDP—Larundan Defensive Platform—a colossal destroyer armed with nukes, lasers, and pulse weaponry. The LDP hung in space like a black granite wedge. Over a klick long and half wide, it orbited the Larunda station: a giant diamond-shaped structure that housed over five thousand of the CW’s best intelligence officers and tactical minds.
“Lassea, take us within firing range of the Atlantis ship. Sanchez, you’re on lasers; Adira, you’re on the ion cannon. Babcock, did you find us a target? We’ve only got enough juice in this bird for one ion shot; if we’re to disable that thing, we can’t afford to miss.”
The engineer approached Mach and lifted his smart-screen up. Mach leaned in close, reading the plans and schematics. A rear section of the enemy ship was highlighted with a red outline. “What is that exactly?” Mach asked.
“I believe it’s the power cell module for its primary weapon and wormhole drive.”
“They’re run from the same source? You’re saying its weapon is based on wormhole tech?”
“I can’t be sure yet, but the infrastructure tells me it’s likely the case.”
“Okay, patch the information to Adira’s targeting module.”
“Consider it done.”
Lassea brought the Intrepid to within fifteen klicks of the Atlantis ship. Even from that distance, the massive craft filled the viewscreen. “Would you look at that,” she whispered, her voice shaking with fear.
“Sure is a big bastard,” Sanchez said.
“Captain, we’ve got a message from Larunda,” Tulula said.
“Send it to my smart-screen. Lassea, we need to flank it. Take us slowly under the stern and prepare to engage full speed to the port. Use the LDP for cover.”
The LDP had already started to fire upon the Atlantis ship. Five orange-yellow plumes from the nukes’ rockets blazed across the five-klick distance. The missiles slammed into the side of the Atlantis ship’s left flank toward the large boxy bow section. A bright purple field rippled around the ship, absorbing the blasts. The last nuke managed to break through to the hull, but it barely dented the matte-black surface.
Mach pumped his fist, urging the LDP to keep going as Lassea brought the Intrepid within striking distance.
“Carson Mach, do you receive me?” a harsh female voice called to him via his smart-screen. He raised it and opened the video channel. The reception intermittently broke to a horizontal static each time the Atlantis ship fired its alien weapon at the LDP. Great blue bolts struck the defensive platform, smashing huge chunks from it as though it were made of eggshell.
“I receive you. Who am I talking to?” Mach said, trying not to let the terror of watching the LDP get smashed to bits show in his voice.
“Senator Margray, head of CW Intelligence. What the hell is going on up there?” The woman wore her hair in a bun on the top of her head. Her dark skin shone beneath a stark white light, picking out each individual wrinkle and eyes that held a stony determination.
“You got our message about evacuating, right? I suggest you do that. I was tasked by Admiral Morgan to track and disable the Atlantis ship. I’m sure you’re aware by now that your LDP will be an expensive pile of rubble within a few minutes. Larunda station will be next. You have to leave, right now.”
“Evac protocols are in operation as we speak,” Margray said. Behind her, Mach noticed dozens of people running in an orderly fashion toward a wide door in the dark office. “What are your plans?”
“Shoot the crap out of the ship until it stops, I guess, not much else we can do. We’ll at least buy you time.”
“Before you go,” she said, “are you up to speed on the news regarding Admiral Morgan?”
“No, I’ve been kinda busy with a few things. What’s going on?”
Mach looked up from his smart-screen to watch the final piece of the LDP get blasted by a huge blue bolt. The energy weapon tore through the platform’s defenses, ripping the titanium graphene hull as though it were nothing more solid than a sheet of rice paper.
Lassea had followed his order and was bringing the Intrepid around in a sideways drift, flanking the hulk of the enemy ship. At least they had the maneuverability advantage.
“Fire,” Mach said to Sanchez. “Full quads, use Babcock’s target coordinates.”
“I’m on it,” the big hunter said, thrusting his hands back into the holocontrols and powering the lasers.
Mach turned his attention to the spy boss. “The news,” Mach said. “Make it quick, then get the hell out of here, you don’t have much time.”
“Very well. Morgan’s taken over the CW. The president and vice president were killed in a terrorist attack earlier this morning. Morgan negotiated with the Vestan Three. They’ve pulled away from the Axis and joined the CW. Hostilities have come to an end on the NCZ.”
Mach couldn’t quite take it all in; he had so many questions but not enough time. He was thankful that Morgan had managed to do something about the Axis, but it didn’t change the fact that he was about to get blasted across the Larunda sector any minute.
“That’s great,” Mach said. “Now run. We’ll hold the Atlantis ship for as long as we can.”
“Thank you, Captain Mach,” Margray said, saluting him before cutting the transmission. Mach dropped his arm and focused on the view in front of him.
All around the shining diamond that was Larunda, ships launched out of hangar bays and immediately engaged their LDs, creating dozens of pinched points of light winking out like supernovae.
“Firing everything we’ve got, Mach,” Sanchez said.
Lassea stabilized the Intrepid with the retro thrusters so they matched velocity with their target. A loud hum echoed throughout the craft; a pulse from the quad-lasers shot out across the three-klick distance, striking the enemy ship’s stern section.
The first pulse activated its shields, but the LDP’s nukes must have weakened them; three remaining laser pulses got through, striking the hull, but they only managed to create a small scar along the matte-black surface.
In response to the attack, two cannons, half the length of the Atlantis ship and installed atop the hull, swiveled to point in the Intrepid’s direction.
“Get ready to engage full power to the Gamma Drive,” Mach said. “Get us under and out the other side, then swing us round. Adira, you’ll fire the ion cannon, we’ve got one chance at this. Ready?”
“Aye, aye, Captain,” Lassea said.
“Do it,” Adira said.
“GO!” Mach shouted as the first of the cannons fired, belching out great gobs of blue plasma.
Lassea engaged the drives to full power, thrusting the Intrepid forward like a bullet from a gun. The cannon blast missed them by a few meters. Within five seconds, they had passed beneath the behemoth and came out on the other side.
“Hold on,” Lassea said as she put the Intrepid into a tight half-spin, bringing the bow around to face the opposite flank. The momentum meant they were flying backwards away from it, but still within firing range.
“Now, Adira!” Mach yelled.
Adira coldly followed his order with a single gesture of her right hand. The lights within the bridge went out. A thwump thwump noise vibrated through the hull. The hairs on Mach’s arms stood on end as the tartarun ion cannons drained every last watt of power from their converters.
The viewscreen flickered back on after the cann
ons fired.
“Oh crap! Everyone hold on!” Mach shouted as a blue bolt from the Atlantis ship came firing their way; the damned thing must have anticipated their movement and had a cannon ready on the other side.
Lassea screamed and lurched her hands across the holocontrols. The Gamma Drive didn’t fire, due to the lack of power, but the retro thrusters kicked in, jolting the Intrepid to the starboard side and flipping her over in a barrel roll.
Mach glimpsed the viewscreen as he fell out of his chair and crumpled to the floor. The blue bolt struck the portside wing, tearing it away. The hull of the Intrepid sounded like the insides of a thundercloud, boom after boom came, metal rending and tearing.
Adira and Babcock were tangled in a pile. Tulula lay motionless on her side, her face illuminated by the swirling red alert light. Then sirens blared; warning signs flashed on the screen. Smoke and air hissed from somewhere behind Mach, and then, finally, silence.
Mach’s vision blurred when he tried to stand. The ship’s anti-g had switched off. He floated up and spun round. Tulula’s leg was trapped against her console, pinning her to the bridge floor. Everyone else hovered a few meters off the floor.
Squid approached Mach, its OLED eyes blinking.
“Is everyone alive?” Mach said, his voice sounding far off. His ears still rang from the din before. “Is there a hull breach?”
“Screw that,” Sanchez said, grabbing onto Mach’s leg and pulling himself closer. “I thought that was it… damn, this ship can take a hit. Did the ion cannon hit?”
Squid flickered its tentacles and chirped before saying, “No hull breach, the port wing is gone, taking with it the missiles and retro thrusters. The vestans designed the ship in such a way that the wings could be removed separate from the hull.”
“Well, that’s something, I guess,” Mach said. He floated over to Adira and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Hey, you okay?” he said, shaking her gently.
Adira blinked and winced. She held her head. “Are we dead?”
“Not yet, no, but we might be in a minute.”
Mach went around the crew, making sure they were okay. Babcock, Lassea, and Tulula were mostly fine with just a few grazes and cuts. The ship, however, was in bad condition. They only had one set of thrusters on the starboard wing, no access to weaponry, and no Gamma Drive or LD. They were the proverbial sitting duck.
“Squid, do we have visuals?” Mach asked.
The floating device hovered over to the viewscreen and used its tentacles to adjust the wiring behind a console cover. “The external cameras are damaged, but I think we can get… yes, here.”
Half of the screen flickered on, showing a grainy image of the Atlantis ship receding slowly into the distance. Its cannons were pointed at the Intrepid, but it wasn’t firing.
“Wait a damned minute,” Mach said, floating over to the screen until he was just inches from it. “Look at the stern… does that look like—”
“A big asshole,” Lassea said, pumping her fist. “The ion cannon worked!”
“Holy mother…” Sanchez whispered, shaking his head.
The whole crew gathered together and stared at the inert ship.
“I guess we ought to get closer,” Lassea said. “We should board it. I doubt it’ll stay inactive for long.”
“Lassea’s right,” Babcock said. “From what I could gather from the tartaruns’ intelligence, they believe the ship to have a failsafe system. We’ve probably only got thirty standard minutes before the systems reboot.”
“Lassea, do you think you can pilot us into that hole?”
“I’ve done okay so far, haven’t I?”
“That’s the spirit. Okay, everyone, let’s get to the airlock, get suited up. When Lassea brings us in, we’ll see if we can find our way into the ship and shut its core down. Babs, you got the schematics on your smart-screen?”
“I do,” he said.
“Good. Tulula, would you stay behind and help repair what you can, see if you can get the Gamma Drive or the LD back online? If we fail, you’ll need to get the hell away from here and deliver all we have learned to Fides Prime.”
“I’ll do that,” the vestan said. “It’s the least I can do.”
“Right, everyone, get your shit together, we’ve got an alien ship to deactivate.”
He just hoped no one was at home preparing for them.
The legendary ship just floated there, looking menacing, waiting…
Chapter Thirty-One
The Intrepid loomed alongside the Atlantis ship. Mach peered through the airlock window at the gaping hole created by the tartarun ion cannon. Pieces of twisted debris floated around the mangled chasm and bounced off the side of their ship. With only thirty minutes before a reboot, it was now or never if they wanted to disable and capture it.
Adira, Sanchez and Babcock held a rail by his side in their suits and helmets. Squid was attached to Babcock’s belt on a graphene line. All had attached the mini thrusters around their forearms. The airlock was already depressurized and Mach held his gloved hand over the black glass pad, ready to open the outside door.
“Just a little closer if you can,” Mach said through his smart-screen.
“Doing my best,” Lassea replied from the controls. “It’s difficult with a missing wing and thruster.”
“Bump into the damned thing,” Sanchez said. “We haven’t got time for perfection.”
“Once inside we should split up,” Mach said. “Sanchez, Babcock and Squid, you head for the core. Adira and I will find the bridge. If you can’t stop it rebooting, we’ll try to get it the hell out of here.”
“You need to head up and forward,” Babcock said. “It’s at the front end of the ship. We’ll head for the guts.”
“Okay. Stay in touch. Let me know if you come across any trouble.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Sanchez said. “I’ll make sure nothing stops us.”
The Intrepid thrust to the side and drifted toward the damaged superstructure. Mach pressed the pad and the door whined open. He hit the thrust button and drifted forward with his laser raised.
Sparks crackled and quickly vanished in the cavernous space inside the Atlantis ship. Mach swatted away floating parts of smashed electrical boards and white plastic casing. He switched on his shoulder lights. The remaining equipment looked like it was designed for giants. A ten-meter-high console, with a series of symbols, shattered screens, and buttons the size of his head, lined the opposite side of the room. A five-meter-high stool, still secured to the chrome floor, sat in front of it.
A tall corridor, matching the scale of the infrastructure, on the right-hand side provided access further into the ship. A vertical shaft in the bottom right-hand corner led down. Mach twisted around to check the other three, who had also activated their lights.
“Split from here,” Mach said. “We’ll take the corridor.”
Adira thrust toward him. Babcock, with Squid in tow, and Sanchez tilted and powered themselves down in the direction of the shaft. For a brief moment, Mach thought splitting up wasn’t the best idea, but with the clock ticking, it was the most sensible option.
Light shone through the meshed flooring and ceiling in the twenty-meter-high corridor, creating beams of light that crisscrossed the space. Darkness lay beyond, but Mach realized that he had no time to analyze every last little detail and delay their search for the controls.
Pounding echoed through the helmets’ listening sensors. Mach looked up. Something scuttled across the floor two floors above them. Life or machine was still active on the ship. He curled his finger around the trigger and gestured his laser up.
“Seen it,” Adira said. “Let’s keep heading up.”
“Not unexpected,” Mach said. “Shoot first, ask questions later.”
She thrust toward another upward shaft and advanced. Mach immediately followed and they rose through dull mirrored walls that rose at least forty meters up toward flashing lights. He pressed his glove against th
e wall to maintain a steady ascent and glanced up.
“How are things with you?” Sanchez said through the intercom.
“We’ve got company in here,” Mach said. “Keep your eyes peeled.”
“All good so far,” Sanchez replied. “What did you see?”
“I’m not sure. Not big but it made a lot of noise.”
“We’ll be at the core soon. I’ll—”
The transmission cut to static.
“Sanchez? Sanchez, are you there?”
Nobody replied.
“Could just be frequency jammers or protective shields for the core,” Adira said. “We better keep moving.”
Mach continued up and tilted his chest back, allowing his lights to shine into the space above. A murky ceiling stretched fifty meters above the edge of the shaft.
“Cover me,” Mach said, pushed his arms back and thrust. He rose out of the shaft and glanced around. Whoever designed the Atlantis ship had a strange way of doing things, but it all seemed configured for giants.
Adira’s helmet knocked against his boot. He knew she wouldn’t be far behind. Two things were reliable when she was around. Death or conviction. It’s what drew Mach to her in the first place. She had a compulsive nature and saw things clearly in black or white.
The lights brightened overhead and Mach punched his thruster to shoot higher. Twenty large dust-covered space fighters, with broad wings and triangular bodies, pointed diagonally toward a closed oblong exit shoot. These craft hadn’t moved for generations to be in this kind of state in space. A fresher looking tartarun droid stood by the closest. The fighter bay was the size of the Intrepid.
“Look out,” Adira screamed.
Mach looked down. He couldn’t see anything and thrust left. A pain shot across his right leg and droplets of blood floated in front of his visor. He twisted down and powered toward the first fighter, coming to a rest at its side and grabbing the wing. Dust puffed away from it and spread in the immediate area. He looked down at a tear in his suit. The compartmentalized nature of the fabric meant he wouldn’t have his life support degraded, but it stung like hell.
Carson Mach 1: The Atlantis Ship Page 23
