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Mako (The Mako Saga: Book 1)

Page 48

by Ian J. Malone


  “That’s fine and good, Lee,” said Danny, “but I thought you said they had safeguards in place to prevent something like this from happening? The jamming thing, remember?”

  “Yeah well, that part is up to Mac.”

  “Sure, no problem,” she scoffed. “Gimme a sec to pull out my magic wand and universal hacker’s playbook, and I’ll get right on that!”

  “C’mon Mac,” Lee pressed. “Back home, you said it yourself. You’d had some success with a few simulations, right?”

  “You idiot!” she fumed. “Do you have any clue how many permutations of that code I ran? Try 1,736! You know how many actually yielded results, bearing in mind that by results I mean their signals weren’t completely degraded into oblivion? Two! And one of them went straight through a star to get there, which, believe me, isn’t exactly a trip to the tanning bed! That’s not even taking into account the fact that, in both instances, the Alystierians adapted instantly to the hack, meaning that even if I could pull this off—and I’m not saying I can—you only get one shot before the crack is useless. Not exactly Vegas odds, ya know!”

  Lee’s lips thinned. “They’ll have to do.”

  “They’ll have to do,” Mac mimicked. “Even if by some miracle this does work, and you don’t bounce off their hull like a bug or fry your own hyperdrive jumping through that much radiation, you just expect to drop a Mako right in the middle of main engineering, ram a missile down their throats, and jump out—no harm no foul? That’s not brave, you dumbass… It’s suicide!”

  “I can do this, Mac,” Lee declared. “This is doable. Listen to me, if they retreat now, then by all accounts, this war is over if the Alystierians push the issue. Nothin’ says they’ll back off if there’s no more Caldrasite mine because, after today, the Aurans will have never been more exposed, and Masterson knows this. With all due respect Admiral, they put you ‘all in’ with this offensive, and you know I’m right. But we can change that,” he challenged. “We… us. We have the chance to fix it, and by doin’ so, save the lives of countless innocent people. We, us, Mac! Just think about that for a minute.” Lee sat up straight in his seat. “We all came on this trip for our own reasons. Some of us came because we needed a change. It didn’t matter what that change was— as long as it got us away from the disappointments and mundane crap of our daily lives, we didn’t care. Others came because they hated their jobs, or they had no place else to turn for money. Then for some of us,” he huffed. “Well, some of us came because frankly… there just wasn’t a whole helluva lot worth stickin’ around home for. But that wasn’t the case 10 years ago, was it? Back then, we had dreams. We had drive. We had plans, ambitions, and aspirations. We had things in our lives that we were passionate about—things that we believed in—and come hell or high water, nobody was gonna take that away from us. Only somewhere along the line, that’s exactly what happened. Chalk it up to whatever you want— family crises, unforeseen life circumstances, crazy ex-spouses, or just plain bad luck—but for whatever reason, somehow, somewhere, we lost those pieces of ourselves.”

  Lee unclenched his fist and took a breath before continuing.

  “I don’t know about you guys,” he said, “but I’m sick of livin’ my life day to day, just gettin’ by for the sake of gettin’ by, with no real reason or point to any of it—and we all know that no amount of money can change that, either. It’s been a long damn time since I’ve felt this clear about anything, and now this is the second time today it’s hit me. So… just like back at Reiser’s condo when we started all this, I’m gonna put it to you this way: I’m doin’ this. If for no other reason than to have the peace of mind of knowin’ that I put it all out on the table for these people, I’m doin’ this… Because I believe that I have to. That’s me. Now you have to decide for you.”

  A long, thoughtful silence fell over the comm.

  “Alright,” Danny spoke up. “For the record, I still think this is the single stupidest plan I’ve ever heard, but where do you need me?”

  Lee wasted no time. “First things first, Danny… Layla needs to get outta here. She’s in no condition to fight, so I want you to fly cover to get her back to the Praetorian. From there, you can operate from the bridge and gimme real-time updates when needed.”

  “Copy that,” said Danny.

  “How about us, Top?” Link piped up from the Tuskan.

  “Link, I need you and Hamish to clear a path for us through this mess back into open space. I’m gonna have to bring the Mako to a complete standstill before I make the jump, otherwise my inertia exiting the window could slam me into a wall or something, and frankly, I’d rather not have my day end that way if it’s all the same to you fellas.”

  “Aye, Lee,” Hamish answered. “We’ll clear the road.”

  “Captain, if you wouldn’t mind givin’ ‘em a hand with that?”

  “You got it, Summerston,” said Ryan. “My guys and I will fly in diamond formation around you on the way out. That should give you some extra protection, but,” he added, “it’s gonna leave us pretty exposed to enemy fire. Mac, if you wouldn’t mind flying solo on the tail, that’d be a huge help.”

  She said nothing.

  “Admiral, you onboard with this?” Lee asked.

  “Honestly, son,” said Katahl, “the fleet jumps whether you do this or not. So just tell us what you need.”

  Eyeing the battle telemetry on his display, Lee ran the numbers in his head. “Order all ships remaining on the right flank to swing ‘round 62 degrees to port and concentrate all the fire they can muster on that carrier’s forward section,” he began. “While they’re engaged, tell the rest of the fleet to circle in behind them in preparation for the withdrawal. But here’s the key: They have to take their time when they do it.”

  “Come again?” Katahl asked, confounded.

  “Masterson knows he has you on the ropes,” said Lee, “but he won’t take any chances. He’ll redeploy the majority of their forces to counter your move, and by doin’ so, that oughta put most of them right in the wake of the blast when it goes off. But we’ve gotta give ‘em time to get there.”

  “How do you know he’ll take the bait?” Ryan posed.

  Lee’s expression turned lopsided. “Honestly, sir… he’s too ambitious not to.”

  “Some of those ships don’t have much left in the way of hull integrity, Summerston,” the admiral noted. “They won’t be able to hold out for long.”

  “They won’t need to,” said Lee. “As soon as I make the jump, I want you to order the fleet back to a safe distance at the edge of the system and hold position there.”

  “What about you?” Ryan asked, drawing a dark chuckle from Lee.

  “Oh, believe me,” he answered, “I have no intention whatsoever of bein’ in that thing when it goes up. As soon as I’m in, I’ll have one finger on the trigger and another on the jump button to get outta Dodge. Just wait for me at the rendezvous, and I’ll meet you there when it’s done.”

  That left one final opinion to be heard, and in spite of his assurances that this was the right call, Lee could tell by her silence that its owner was struggling mightily with the decision, and why wouldn’t she be? At the end of the day, perilous circumstances or not, he didn’t want to leave her any more than she wanted him to go.

  “Okay,” Mac said in a cracked, near-whisper. “Let’s get this over with.”

  “Admiral, you’re up,” Lee instructed, throttling up his engines and triple-checking the last of his jump calculations in the Mako’s Nav-Com before transmitting them to Mac’s console.

  “Attention all crews, this is Fleet Admiral Katahl. All fighters return to your ships to prepare for immediate withdrawal. On my order, all ships are to…”

  “Five-One!” Ryan commanded. “Assume diamond formation around Daredevil and proceed to sector 37.1 at the edge of the battle zone. That should give him the space he needs to work. Jester, you’re on point.”

  “Copy that!” Link acknowledged, lumb
ering the Tuskan to the head of the convoy as the four remaining Hit Squad Threshers formed up around the Mako with Mac in tow for aft defense. That left the final call for Lee.

  “Move out!”

  ****

  Standing on the bridge of the Alystierian flagship Kamuir, Alec Masterson looked on with approval as the battle raged on several hundred kilometers away.

  “Flawless,” he thought, peering through the glass at the violent lightshow ahead, his plan to trap the Aurans into a single, fate-ending battle having worked to near perfection. Now, as one by one their ships continued to fall, the final killing stroke was all but at hand.

  Still, historically sweet as this moment may have been, for Masterson, it came as little consolation for the news he’d received from Myrick 4, or for the lives lost there—one of which weighed on him far heavier than anyone could ever know.

  “Commandant, sir?” a blond major asked from tactical, snapping Masterson from his trance. “Something is happening with the Auran fleet.”

  “Report,” Masterson ordered.

  “Several of their ships are being redirected to zone 46-Delta for an apparent assault on the Crimson.” The major looked up. “The rest are retreating, sir.”

  Stroking the whiskers of his silvery black beard, Masterson’s gray eyes narrowed, his bittersweet mood shifting momentarily to puzzlement.

  “You can’t be serious, Katahl,” he muttered, fully aware that the Aurans had nowhere near the firepower left for a run on a ship the size of his carrier. So why sack the ships if only to retreat?

  No matter, he concluded. At this point, his enemies were outgunned three to one, which meant that any further resistance after today would be an exercise in futility… not that he had any intention of giving them even that chance. The time had come to end this, once and for all, and these traitors would pay dearly for what they’d taken from him today.

  “Colonel Strouder,” Masterson barked, slamming a finger on the comm panel of his chair. “The enemy appears to be repositioning itself for an assault on your position. I’m redeploying all available ships to assist. Deal with the immediate threat as swiftly as possible, and then proceed after the retreating ships.”

  “With respect, sir,” said the colonel, “are we not to proceed to Kendara? If we—”

  “The mine can wait!” the commandant sneered back, his icy-calm facade showing the briefest of cracks under his ever-mounting grief. “I want these people broken, is that clear? This war ends today!”

  “Yes sir!”

  “No mistakes, Colonel! Kamuir out.”

  ****

  Powering his Mako toward the war zone’s outer edge, Lee fought to hold his concentration over the anarchic mayhem surrounding him, both in and out of the cockpit. Silencing the former with a final adjustment to his fire controls, he watched in horror through his canopy as the four remaining Hit Squad Threshers held deadlocked in their defensive formation around him, their hulls ablaze in a deluge of weapons fire so thick it was almost blinding. With Link and Hamish stuck on point, that left Mac’s Mako as the only one among them that was free to operate offensively, and breaking from his instruments long enough to glance her way, Lee marveled at the ferocity with which she did exactly that.

  Swooping and swirling through the black with a grace surpassed only in spectacle by the lethality of her assault, Mac tore through the enemy’s opposition, turning back wave after wave and Phantom after Phantom, all completely on her own and with no support from the rest of the squad—who were in no position to render assistance. Still, fast as she was, she was by no means invincible, and Lee’s heart wrenched when her Mako took a hard shot to its port side, stunning it for a moment before it could recover to stay with the pack.

  Several heart-pumping seconds later, the madness around Lee eventually gave way to calm when Ryan gave the order to break formation, launching the squad into a star-patterned climb before looping and leveling out into a defensive line ahead of his position.

  “Alright, Summerston, if you’re gonna do this, it’s gotta be now,” called the captain, and feeling his fighter come to a complete standstill—his engines cooled and his heart all but in his throat—Lee waited for Mac’s signal, inhaled a breath, and engaged the drive.

  ****

  The blinding flash filled the Mako’s canopy like a shroud, engulfing it in a magnificent vale of blue before quickly dissolving the endless void of space into the nauseatingly tight confines of a gaping, metallic chamber. Recoiling from the sudden pang of claustrophobia that hit him, Lee followed the length of the four-story hall with his eyes, inspecting every inch of its grate and wire-covered interior before locating his objective; a giant, pulsating component at the center of the section. Clutching his knotted stomach, Lee’s gaze fell to the scene below, where dozens of gray-uniformed personnel stared up in amazement, their eyes fixed on the silver-winged intruder that had literally just appeared out of thin air into the atrium above their heads. Their stillness was short-lived however, as it quickly morphed into mass hysteria.

  “Security!” an officer screamed, pushing through the scattering scrum like one of a thousand ants in a soon-to-be-cherrybombed anthill.

  Instantly gripped with panic, Lee froze.

  Then, inexplicably—as if struck by some great, earth-shattering revelation that would henceforth reshape the very foundation of human understanding forever—it hit him… there wasn’t a damn thing any of them could do about it. He was inside their ship, which meant that if they took any sort of aggressive action against him whatsoever, he wouldn’t have to blow the core to detonate the carrier… they’d do it for him.

  Of course, there was still the matter of Lee’s redlined hyperdrive to contend with, and whether or not it could withstand another pounding of radiation on the way back out, but right here and right now, he held all the cards. Better yet, the looks on his enemies’ faces said that they knew it, too.

  His previously nervewracked sense of fright now relaxed to a strange, almost euphoric calm, Lee looked down to see a group of armed guards scurry into view—their rifles raised in a hollow threat of force—only to be waved off by a frantic engineer whose lips mouthed an emphatic “Do you want to get us all killed?”

  Amused by this, Lee shot them a wry smile before turning his attention to the observation room glass ahead, and the two dozen sets of mortified eyes now gawking back at him. They had absolutely no clue what was coming. For that matter, though, neither did he, given the borderline status of his fighter… but that was okay.

  She was safe now—they all were—and for Lee Summerston, who wouldn’t have traded his time with any of them for all of the money, tenure, and career prestige in the world, that was good enough.

  Then, with a finger on the trigger and two more in the air—forming a peace sign that signified anything but—Lee closed his eyes, thought of the woman he loved, and pulled.

  “Ruah.”

  ****

  Mac watched helplessly from her cockpit as the vibrant, pulsating blast-wave surged from the carrier, lighting up the space ahead of her like a newly formed star and disintegrating every Alystierian ship in its wake, just as Lee had predicted. Her trembling fingers still clamped around the flight stick and her face drenched in a cold sweat, she looked on with heart-stopping anticipation as the thunderous ballet of orange, yellow, and red swirled in spectacular fashion through the heavens, though to her, these colors meant nothing. The only ones she longed for now were the bright blue of hyperspace, and the breathtaking flash of silver that everything within her yearned to see emerge from it.

  Leaning forward in her seat, eyes glistening and squinting in search of these two simple colors that now meant everything to her, Mac stared breathless into the starry horizon as, on the comm behind her, the jubilant Praetorian crew erupted in triumph.

  ****

  “What’s happening?” Danny shouted, sprinting out of the lift toward the communications station on the Praetorian’s bridge. “Where is he?”
>
  The brunette comm officer shook her head. “I’m sorry, sir, but there’s been no contact from Daredevil since the Crimson went up.”

  Having risen from his chair upon seeing the young man enter, Katahl stepped to Danny’s side and saw his expression plummet.

  “I’m so sorry, son,” said the admiral. “I can’t tell you how...”

  His words faded to an inaudible blur after the first sentence.

  For the next minute—one that rivaled his mom’s passing as the longest of his life—Daniel Tucker felt his mind retreat into itself, the scene around him falling inconsequentially away amid a pummeling rush of disbelief and senseless regret. Meanwhile, on the bridge behind him, the celebration roared on, otherwise unaffected.

  ****

  “Mac?” Danny’s shaky voice trickled across her comm. “Mac, please talk to me.”

  There was no response.

  Staring blankly through the saline—the last ounces of her composure now officially gone—Mac quivered in her seat as, in a time-halting instant of cruel reality, the debilitating truth of Lee’s absence slowly took hold, the one that said, “He’s not coming back to you… not this time.”

  That was when the levee of emotion that had welled up inside of Evelyn McKinsey broke.

  From the cockpit of the Tuskan, Link and Hamish watched, fraught with concern, as a spastic Mac—now lost in a volcano of grief— ripped the helmet from her head, slammed it against the dash, and unleashed a single, agonized scream into the silent black beyond.

  ****

  Rising from her station to celebrate with her colleagues, the comm officer found her attention jerked abruptly back to her terminal by the faint sound of a single, electronic ping.

  “Admiral!” her voice trailed upward as, down the hall, a bloody hand jarred the lift doors back open.

  “What is it, Floyd?” Katahl asked from his chair.

  “Sir, we’ve got…” She double-checked her display. “… Incoming?”

 

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