Winged Hussars (The Revelations Cycle Book 3)
Page 34
* * *
Captain Geshakooka laughed long and hard while the command crew looked on, wondering if their captain had gone utterly mad. He continued to laugh, eyestalks shaking with ridiculous humor and unequaled irony. First the Humans had completely wrecked the Izlian fleet in less than a minute, and now, somehow, they’d gotten the quick-to-anger Maki and the prideful HecSha to turn on each other as if one had betrayed the other! From several light seconds away, Geshakooka watched the two battleships pound each other like raging giants.
Then the sensor technicians relayed data from the fleet—the Human ship had reappeared and was destroying both fleets. Amazingly, even though the HecSha and Maki were the ones sending Geshakooka the data, none of them seemed to realize they were being destroyed by the quarry they’d been hired to eliminate. The captain finally stopped laughing, his eyes fixing on the quarry. In quick order, it killed first one, then another carrier.
“They finally noticed!” SitCom said, indicating that several frigates were beginning to fire at the Human ship. First one, then another of those frigates were destroyed, but more of the other ships’ crews began to realize what was in their midst. What he didn’t understand was how the Humans had gotten the two fleets to attack each other. How? The key had to be the Maki battleship. Its behavior was the least logical in the engagement. It had fired first and switched targets more than a ship of that size should have. While that switching of targets was causing the ship to get torn up badly, it was also tearing up the other fleet’s secondary ships just as badly.
“Helm,” he said, “set course for the engagement zone.”
“Captain,” the XO spoke up, “we were ordered to stay on highguard at that stargate.” Geshakooka wasn’t used to the XO being back on station. He had been injured during the long pursuit back in Karma and had only this ship-day come back on duty. The XO was also a strident supporter of propriety and less willing to take risks than the captain.
“Noted,” he said; “however, there is no one left to tell us how to proceed, and our contract was to see that ship destroyed.” He indicated Pegasus on the tactical display, which was beginning to maneuver after having wrecked several more Maki ships. “We are going to see that contract fulfilled.”
* * * * *
Chapter 36
Paka took the controls of the shuttle. It was the only logical choice, considering the craft was of Maki design, and she was the only one familiar with their configuration. The craft was powered up quickly and everyone strapped in. Rick and Johansson were both out of their CASPers, which were stored in the cargo area.
Getting Rick out of his had been a chore, as the sealing spray was like concrete over the stump of his severed limb. Johansson was playing medic to both Rick and Oort. The more of the Tortantula’s armor they removed, the more they realized just how badly injured she was. Between the two, Johansson had already gone through three nanite dispensers. There had been 21 marines when they’d boarded in three pods; only nine were leaving.
“Powered and ready,” Paka said to T’jto, her copilot and the person holding the all-important control slate. “Arm them.” T’jto entered the coded sequences and the “Initiate” icon lit.
“Ready,” the lieutenant said.
“Go,” Paka said, and the MinSha tapped the icon with a finger.
A program which had been inserted into the battleship’s main computer evaluated the targets that were left. The HecSha fleet was in terrible shape after the extended, confusing battle. There were no clear targets there. So, the battleship locked onto the only surviving battlecruiser which happened to be Maki as well, and unleashed all its remaining weapons on it. The ship, already slightly damaged from trading fire with the HecSha, was caught flat footed by its own battleship attacking it and was almost immediately destroyed. A second later, charges left in the battleship’s engine room exploded.
“Better get out of here,” T’jto suggested as the battleship began its death throws. Paka nodded and used the controls located in the cockpit to open the hangar deck to space. As the battleship’s surviving reactor began a critical overload, she deftly piloted them out of the bay and into space. They were less than a mile away when the engine section went up in fusion fire.
“That happened faster than I expected,” Paka said as she adjusted the shuttle’s course and cut the engines.
“That’s Jeejee for you,” T’jto said. “He loved fast, big explosions. How long to rendezvous?”
Paka consulted the instruments before answering. “Fifteen minutes.”
In the back, Rick looked after himself as best he could with one arm. A ragged, chewed, burned hunk of meat marked the end of his other arm. His mom wouldn’t be pleased; that is, if she were still talking to him.
“Sorry about the arm,” Johannsson said. Rick shrugged.
“I fared better than Lynn.” The sergeant patted him on the right shoulder and went to check on her other patient.
* * *
Pegasus accelerated from the engagement zone for several minutes before executing a turn and slowing. The remnants of the HecSha and Maki fleets exchanged desultory fire as they both withdrew in complete disarray. Either insufficient senior staff remained to remember what they’d been hired to do, or they didn’t care any longer. Between the asteroid drone attacks, the two fleets attacking each other, and Pegasus taking advantage of the same, the three combined fleets had lost more than 27 ships, and another 10 were seriously damaged. Alexis didn’t know it, but since hers was the only ship actively involved on her side of the battle, it was the most one-sided trouncing in galactic history. Admiral Omega was unavailable for comment.
“Full sensor sweeps for the boarding teams,” she ordered Flipper. “They will be running quietly to keep any stragglers from taking pot shots.” The Selroth sensor tech nodded, water sloshing around in the rig he wore on the bridge to breath. “Glick, any signs they can pull it together and pursue?”
“None, captain,” the SitCon replied. “I don’t even see indications of an organized regrouping. It’s a real mess out there.”
“Good,” she said. She looked at the spot where Admiral Omega’s battleship would have been on the plot. “Hunt me, will you?” she added, quietly. She’d only wanted to get her stranded task force home, but sending them a message was good too.
In the back of her mind she was already formulating a plan of action for when they got home. It was plain to see a huge shift in the galaxy was taking place. If it were Earth, she’d have thought it was political, but there were so little politics in the Union, at least not the kind you found on Earth. Considering the hell they’d just been through, and the extent to which someone had gone to try and kill her, she decided she’d had just about enough of being a target.
“Helm is being overridden!” Chug cried out.
“
“Prepare for radical maneuvers!” she yelled. Even as the last word was out of her mouth, Pegasus’ powerful maneuvering jets spun her around and the fusion torch screamed to life with more than 10 Gs of brutal, crushing thrust. Everyone on the bridge gasped and struggled to draw breath. Alexis gritted her teeth, feeling the skin pull taut on her face and prayed the casualties would be low. But she knew something bad was coming.
“Incoming missiles,” Glick managed to say. Ten gravities was intense, even for a Bakulu. “Ten missiles inbound.”
“Anti…missiles…firing,” Edwards groaned, crushed so far into his chair that he was nearly invisible. If it weren’t for pinlinks, no one on the CIC would have been able to do a thing. “Lasers…too.” He used his pinlinks to resolve the missile tracks then spoke again. “Prepare…for…impact.” He triggered the collision alarm.
Pegasus rolled and yawed, thrust increasing even further as her hidden controller struggled to save the ship’s life. Alexis struggled to understand what the tactical Tri-V was displaying, but a red mist was descending over everything, and she cou
ldn’t concentrate. It took every bit of strength just…to...breathe! Then the world exploded.
* * *
“Multiple hits,” TacCom announced.
“Their shields are down,” the sensor operator reported. “Thermal variance indicates a possible fire on several decks.”
“Excellent,” Geshakooka said. Finally, they’d hurt the entropy-cursed Human ship! “Commence rapid fire with the bow particle cannon. Target her engineering section! Order the escorts to reload missiles and prepare to fire.”
* * *
“Shield generators two, nine, and 18 are down!” Guylan said as thrust suddenly fell off. “Radiological alarms on Decks 25 through 28. Hull stress alarms tripped amidships, but no signs of failure. There is a fire on Deck 27 in the aft shield generators. Dispatching damage control teams.”
“Edwards, get a firing solution on the attackers! Flipper, what do we have?!”
“Multiple targets in our threat box,” he responded, “they were coming from the stargate so we never saw them. Feeding the solutions to SitCon.”
Alexis turned to the Bakulu who was sifting through the data.
“Four ships,” Glick said, then added a second later, “you’ll never believe this.”
“Let me guess, a Bakulu cruiser?” A single eyestalk looked back at her and managed to appear incredulous. “Captain Geshakooka is back. What’s the position of Task Force Two?”
“They’ve already completed their orbit around the gas giant and are coming at the stargate from the opposite side,” Chug said. “Shall I send for Commander Kowalczy to assist?”
“Negative,” she said, “They’ll never get here in time, and if the other fleets get organized, they still have enough throw weight to outgun our people, especially since our ships have no drones. No, let him get through the stargate as planned.”
“We don’t have any drones either,” Edwards reminded his captain.
“I’m all too aware of that,” she replied. “Anything that will keep us from fighting?” she asked the DCC.
“Not immediately,” Guylan admitted.
“Very well. Chug, bring us about to the target. One point five gravities, please. Edwards, full spread of missiles. Target Yushispa. Forward lasers fire on the escorts.” On the Tri-V, the enemy ships were closing at a good clip. “Keep her nose toward the enemy to avoid giving them a shot through those downed shields.”
“More missiles,” Glick warned.
“Reload rear missile batteries with defensive missiles, fire when ready,” she ordered. On the forward section of the battlecruiser, powerful lasers began to pulse and dump energy into the shields of the approaching escorts. “Raise the boarding party, tell them we’ll have to pick them up later.”
“I have them on speaker,” Hoot said and Paka’s voice instantly came on.
“We’re coming up astern, Pegasus,” the XO said. Alexis looked, and there was the tiny shape of the Maki shuttle hurrying up from behind. “We saw the sneak attack and realized the original intercept was not going to work.”
“You’re taking a hell of a chance,” Alexis warned; “if those Bakulu notice you, that shuttle is gone.”
“They have to hit us first.” There was a moment of silence. “We’re going to be alongside in two minutes if you maintain thrust.”
“Close approach to enemy?” Alexis asked.
“Three minutes,” Glick replied. Alexis’ eyes narrowed as she thought.
“Engineering, decrease power slowly. Helm, reduce thrust to one gravity at the same rate.” Edwards looked at her and grinned.
“Wounded mother bird?” he said.
“Exactly,” she agreed, “and it gives our chicks an extra few seconds to get aboard before the shit hits the fan. Helm, plot and prepare for hyperspace. Engineering, we’re going to need Reactor Two again. Begin channeling surplus power…”
* * *
“The enemy ship is slowing,” the sensor operator reported, “and EM readings indicate fluctuations in power output from their reactors.” The captain weighed the odds. If they were hurt, and some shields were down, this was the moment for a bold stroke to end the battle and fulfill their contract.
“Prepare for close approach,” he said, “ready all weapons. Escorts, spread formation and continue to fire as the enemy ship comes to bear.”
* * *
Pegasus shuddered and alarms sounded as a laser from one of the Bakulu escort frigates slashed through an opening in a downed shield.
“Hull breach,” Guylan said, “Deck 27. Damage to the water purification plant. Closing connecting air tight doors.”
“Chug, keep them away from those downed shields,” Alexis ordered.
“They’ve spread their formation,” Glick said. “We can’t keep all the unshielded sections away from fire.”
“Spread out, are they?” she asked and that look crossed her face again. Her lips skinned back from her teeth and she let out a little laugh. “Initiate roll, vary speed, keep them guessing.” The ship began to roll along its long access, causing the unshielded sections to change bearing. As ordered, the helm operator randomly increased and decreased the rate of roll, making it impossible to predict. Guylan had been working furiously over his damage control teams’ dedicated channels when he suddenly called out.
“We’ve having difficulty in containing the fire,” he told the captain. “Several of the magnesium feed mechanisms have caught, and we’re struggling to arrest the spread.” The original mechanisms had been made of a hybrid alien alloy. They were replaced with a light weight but strong magnesium alloy decades ago. It was the best choice for such operations, but came with its own risks. “Aft missile feed system is offline. All you have are what’s in the tubes.”
“Very well,” Alexis said, “get that fire under control. Update on the shuttle?”
* * *
Oort had been treated and strapped into the cargo hold; the Tortantula was riding in silence. It took four emergency nano treatment canisters to seal all her wounds. She’d never made a noise during the therapy. No one knew the alien’s state of mind after having lost her longtime friend and companion in combat. It wasn’t often a Flatar was killed and not its mount. The entire shuttle smelled of blood; Oort was coated in it.
Instead of staring at his teammate, or fixating on his missing arm, Rick watched the monitor next to his seat. The Maki ship was quite a bit fancier than the no-nonsense shuttles of the Winged Hussars. Each seat, while snug for a Human, was well apportioned with its own monitor slate and comfort controls. It was like a commercial suborbital shuttle back on Earth. On that display, currently, was Pegasus.
The battlecruiser was thrusting away from them, and their shuttle was braking as it caught up. Once away from the battle, Paka rode the engines, pushing them for stints upwards of five Gs for a minute at a time, to reach a preplanned rendezvous destination. But when the Bakulu ambushed Pegasus, everything changed.
“We can continue to the rendezvous area and hope Pegasus makes it,” Paka had explained to them, “or try for an ASAP intercept. I say we go for the intercept.” No one disagreed with the strategy, though if they’d known how hard the Veetanho would be pushing the shuttle, they might have reconsidered.
Several minutes of hard maneuvering later, they were coming up astern of the ancient warship, alongside her blazing fusion torch. Luckily, their shuttle was approaching aft-first, so their most shielded part faced the blazing radioactive drive of their ship. Their angle of approach had to be close; there wasn’t time to maneuver laterally as they came alongside…and, if they came alongside from further out, they’d be a bigger target for the Bakulu.
“We’re going to be doing an underway docking,” Paka warned them. “This isn’t going to be pretty. Strap down as best as you can and hang on for all you’re worth.”
In the cockpit Paka tightened her restraints. Her body was longer and legs shorter than the Maki, though they weren’t completely dissimilar. T’jto didn’t fare nearly as well. She set
tled for locking the copilot’s chair flat and wrapping the restraints around her thorax twice before buckling them in place. Her combat armor provided a lot of protection, if she could keep from flying free during maneuvers. Oort was secured like cargo; the Humans were all crammed into the overly small seats.
“Final approach,” Paka said as they came up on Pegasus at what appeared to be an improbably fast pace. “Prepare for last burn.” She flipped on the PA again. “Six gravities for 10 seconds,” she warned. “Here we go.”
Outside, the flare of Pegasus’ fusion torch was a white-hot flame hundreds of yards long, and it appeared as if they were about to fly right into it.
Paka touched the controls, and they were slammed back into their chairs or restraints as the shuttle’s engines roared. Six Gs was bone crushing, even for the relatively short burst needed to bring them alongside. In the rear, Rick watched on the monitor as Pegasus loomed large, his arm burning in agony. He imagined this was what it felt like to have your arm eaten, slowly. Then Pegasus was sliding by at an astonishingly close distance, close enough to see the burn marks from the recent combat. His eyes widened—there were gouges just north of the engines that were trailing the vapor plumes of escaping fluids. The battle had not been without cost.
As he watched, the movement of the battlecruiser slowed quickly, and then stopped at the exact instant Paka cut the engines. They were drifting close to the looming hull of their home, almost perfectly adjacent to the hangar decks. Amazingly, Pegasus was spinning, so the hangar doors rotated by every few seconds. Outside, missiles shot away from Pegasus in the quiet of vacuum, and Rick wondered, are they going to stop the rotation? But then, as an open hangar door appeared, Paka pulsed the reaction thrusters, pushing the shuttle rapidly sideways.