Frontiers 07 - The Expanse

by Ryk Brown

  “The size and configuration are similar,” Cameron stated. “Is there any way to enhance the image quality?”

  “This is a very short exposure, sir,” Mister Navashee reported. “I only had enough time for this one shot, as the OAP was about to slip behind the planet. I can get a better picture when it comes back around in about an hour and a half.”

  “Give us another low-power sweep, Mister Randeen,” Nathan ordered.

  “Aye, sir.”

  “What do you think?” Nathan asked Cameron.

  “Not what I expected,” Cameron admitted. “However, it all does make sense when you think about it, assuming the system is on a war footing, that is.”

  “They have every reason to be; that’s for sure,” Nathan agreed.

  “Still no contacts, Captain,” Mister Randeen reported.

  Nathan stared at the main view screen, the tiny yellowish star beckoning to him. “Recommendations?”

  “We could transmit a message via laser comm and wait for a response,” Cameron suggested.

  “It would take sixteen hours for the initial hail to reach them. With encryption, ID challenges, and the time it takes while some comm officer in Fleet operations runs around yelling, ‘The Aurora is alive. The Aurora is alive,’ it could take days to get instructions out of them.” Nathan shook his head. “No. The Earth is a mere sixteen light hour jump away, and the system is clear. Mister Riley, plot jump seventy-five to Earth. Put us a few minutes from orbital insertion.”

  “Plotting jump seventy-five to Earth, aye,” the navigator reported.

  Nathan felt a chill go down his spine. “I guess this is it,” he told Cameron and Abby. “We’re finally home.”

  Abby looked at Nathan with gratitude in her eyes. “Thank you, Captain,” she whispered.

  “Jump seventy-five plotted and locked,” Mister Riley reported.

  Nathan looked at the faces of each and every person on the bridge at that moment, the key personnel with whom he dealt daily: the auxiliary technicians working in the background in supporting roles, most of whose names he never knew; his executive officer and his chief of security, both whom were good and trusted friends; then there was the physicist whose father’s genius had completely changed the course of humanity from the moment the first jump had been initiated. These people and this ship had been his world for the last four months. They had been his sole reason for both living and dying, day in and day out. Now, it was all about to come to an end. For months, he had longed for this moment, the moment when the enormous burden and responsibility of command would be taken from his shoulders, and he could stop pretending to be captain. A small part of him was sorry to see it end.

  “Comms, ship-wide,” Nathan ordered. He cleared his throat and waited for Naralena to signal that the ship-wide address channel was active. “Attention all hands. This is your captain. We are about to execute the final jump in our voyage back to Earth. For those of you who are from Earth, I welcome you home, and I thank you for your tireless efforts in getting us back to the place of our birth. To those of you who joined us in the Pentaurus cluster, I welcome you to the birthplace of humanity, the home of your ancestors. I thank each of you as well, for without your willingness to leave your homes, we never would have made it back to ours. Again, I thank you all for your service. You have all earned your place in history. The crew of the UES Aurora will never be forgotten. That is all.” Nathan gestured for Naralena to close the channel.

  “Ship-wide closed,” she reported quietly.

  Nathan took a breath. “Mister Riley, you may execute jump seventy-five when ready.”

  “Aye, sir,” Mister Riley reported. “Activating auto-nav. Executing jump seventy-five in twenty seconds. Auto-correcting course and speed.”

  Nathan again felt the ship move slightly as the auto-navigation system made the final course and speed corrections before jumping the ship to her final destination. A lot had happened over the months. Many had died, but many had survived. The Aurora, a ship only partially completed at the time of their first flight, was now not only finished but was vastly improved. He and his crew had good reason to be proud.

  Cameron moved to stand directly beside Nathan. “You surprised me, Nathan,” she said in a hushed tone so that only he would hear her.

  “How so?”

  “You were a fine captain.”

  “Jumping in five seconds,” Mister Riley reported.

  “Thanks,” Nathan answered. “You’re lying, but thanks anyway.”

  “Three……two……one……jump.”

  The bridge filled once again with the blue-white jump flash. When it cleared, the familiar sight of the Earth sat in the middle of the view screen. She appeared as a quarter crescent, beautiful and blue, with white clouds partially obscuring her land masses. Even her dark side was stunning, bathed in the faint light reflected from her only moon.

  Nathan felt his heartbeat quicken and his hands and feet become cold. Excitement washed over him like a cool breeze. This was a familiar sight, one that he had seen in pictures as a child and again as an adult as a member of the fleet. He had seen it from this perspective before as a cadet during flight training and from the Aurora’s aft cameras as they had pulled away on their first flight.

  “Jump seventy-five complete,” Mister Riley reported.

  “Verifying position,” Mister Navashee announced, although it was obvious to everyone that they had arrived precisely where they had intended.

  “Position verified,” Mister Navashee reported. “We have arrived at Earth.”

  “Five minutes from orbital insertion,” Mister Riley added.

  “Comms, prepare to transmit a message to Fleet,” Nathan ordered. “Standard encryption, all Fleet comm frequencies. Message reads, ‘Aurora returning. Orbit in four minutes. Requesting instructions.’”

  “Aye, sir,” Naralena answered.

  “Is it true?” Vladimir asked as he entered the bridge. “Bozhe moi,” he exclaimed as he stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the main view screen. “It’s true; we are home.”

  “Shouldn’t you be in engineering?” Cameron asked.

  “I had to see it for myself,” he said. “I’ve never seen it from this far out, only from orbit. Who knows if I’ll ever get another opportunity?”

  “Why wouldn’t you?” Cameron asked.

  “With all the amazing repairs I’ve made, and my work with Corinairan and Takaran technologies, I’m sure Fleet will move me to special projects.”

  “You don’t think they’re going to do that with all of us, do you?” Cameron wondered.

  “Don’t worry, Commander,” Nathan said. “You and I are going to be tied up with reports and investigations for months. After that, I’m sure you’ll get a shipboard assignment.”

  “One minute to orbital insertion,” Mister Riley reported.

  “Reply from Fleet,” Naralena announced. “Message reads, ‘Welcome home. Clear for orbit. Proceed to OAP and make port.’”

  “That’s it?” Cameron asked. “No ‘Where have you been?’ No ‘You’re supposed to be dead’? Just ‘Welcome home. Park it over there’?”

  “What did you expect, Commander?” Nathan said. “They’re probably running around yelling and bumping into each other trying to figure out how we’re still alive.”

  “It’s probably just a standard response from some young comm officer,” Jessica added. “Word probably hasn’t even reached the brass yet.”

  “We left four months ago, stocked for a day trip,” Cameron said. “You would think they would at least ask if we needed assistance.”

  “Perhaps our disappearance is still classified,” Vladimir suggested.

  “Now that would make sense,” Nathan agreed, pointing at his friend.

  “He is correct,” Abby agreed. “Security around the project was frighteningly tight. As far as I know, only two people outside of the project knew of its existence.”

  “Well, it doesn’t matter now,” Nathan said. “W
e just appeared out of nowhere right in front of the Earth and everybody on her.”

  “You’re just begging for that court-martial, aren’t you?” Cameron said.

  “Well, if that doesn’t do it, nothing will.”

  “Entering Earth orbit,” Mister Riley announced.

  “OAP on the horizon,” Mister Navashee reported.

  “Take us in, Mister Chiles,” Nathan ordered.

  “Aye, sir, taking her into port,” the helmsman answered.

  “Sir, I have a contact coming up from behind the planet,” Mister Randeen reported from tactical.

  “What is it?” Nathan asked.

  Mister Randeen looked at his display, his expression suddenly changing. “I’m sorry, sir. I lost it. It went to FTL as it came over the horizon.”

  “A recon ship?” Jessica suggested. “Headed out to Alpha Centauri, no doubt.”

  “If they had just waited a few more minutes, we could have saved them the trouble,” Nathan bragged.

  “We’ll make port in ten minutes, Captain,” Mister Riley reported.

  “Very good.” Nathan turned to Cameron and the others. “I guess it’s time to start packing.”

  “Time for you to find an attorney,” Jessica teased.

  “At least that will come to an end,” Nathan said, pointing at her.

  “Captain,” Naralena called, “I’m picking up a transmission from the surface.”

  “From Fleet?” Nathan asked.

  “No, sir, at least, it’s not through any Fleet comm channels. It’s in the clear, no encryption.”

  “From who?”

  “No caller ID. Just the message,” Naralena reported.

  “How do you know it’s for us?”

  “They called us by name… Aurora.” Naralena looked back at her console. “It’s repeating, sir.”

  “Put it on speaker.”

  “…a trap! Aurora! Aurora! It’s a trap! Aurora! Aurora! It’s…” The message was suddenly interrupted, replaced by a high-pitched, whiny static.

  “What happened? Why did it stop?” Cameron asked, frowning.

  “The message stopped, Captain.” Naralena spun around and looked at the captain again. “They just stopped transmitting.”

  Nathan looked at Cameron, his expression sinking and his face turning pale. He then turned to Jessica. “General quarters,” he ordered.

  “General quarters, aye,” Jessica responded.

  “Helm, break orbit and make for open space,” Nathan ordered. “All ahead, one quarter. Steer toward the sun.”

  “Breaking orbit, aye. All ahead, one quarter. Making way toward the sun,” Mister Chiles reported.

  “Mister Riley, keep an updated combat escape jump,” Nathan ordered. “One light minute out.” Nathan turned to Cameron. “Get to combat, Commander.”

  “What is going on?” Abby cried out.

  “Vlad!” Nathan called.

  “I’ve got her,” Vladimir answered as he wrapped his arms around Abby. “Come on, Abby. We’ve got to go.”

  “Wait! What’s happening?” she cried again in anguish.

  Vladimir led Abby toward the exit, handing her off to one of the newly arriving guards, as the bridge detail was increased during the alert. “Get her out of here,” he ordered the guard.

  “Aye, sir.”

  “Nathan, I’ll be in engineering!” Vladimir yelled as he left the bridge.

  Nathan waved his acknowledgment as he continued giving orders. “Tactical, alert flight to be ready for combat ops as soon as the deck goes green, and spin up the rail guns for point-defense.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “Mister Willard,” Nathan called out as Mister Willard took his station at the electronic countermeasures console. “Start jamming all frequencies, comms, target acquisition, radar, the works!”

  “Aye, Captain,” Mister Willard answered.

  “Contacts,” Mister Navashee announced. “Coming up from the surface fast. I count fifteen, maybe more. Transferring tracks to tactical.”

  “I’ve got them,” Mister Randeen responded. “Attempting to ID,” he announced, but Jessica beat him to it. “Jung fighters, Captain! Count eighteen.”

  “Helm, steady as you go. Kill the mains and stand by.”

  “Steady as she goes. Mains at zero, Captain.”

  “Green deck, launch fighters!” Nathan ordered.

  “Green deck, aye,” Mister Randeen answered.

  “Nathan!” Cameron’s voice came over the comms. Nathan could tell she was running by the sound of her voice. “Keep a close eye on your propellant levels!”

  “Copy that,” Nathan answered.

  “I’ll be in combat in thirty seconds.”

  “First four fighters are airborne, sir. Vectoring towards contacts.”

  “Comms, tell flight to keep them high and not to dive down on the contacts until they reach max range.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Tactical, deploy the quads through our underside and sweep those contacts before our birds get there. Let’s see if we can thin them out a bit.”

  “Aye, sir. Deploying quads.”

  “You run the guns. I’ll take tactical,” Jessica told Mister Randeen as she stepped in beside him.

  “Yes, sir,” he answered, relieved to have some help.

  “Second wave is airborne,” Naralena reported.

  “Jamming on all frequencies.”

  “Commander Taylor reports she’s in combat, Captain,” Naralena reported. “Chief of the boat is in damage control. All battle stations report manned and ready.”

  “Two more contacts,” Mister Navashee reported. “They just came out of FTL on the far side of Venus.”

  “Jung cruisers,” Jessica reported. “They’re still ten minutes out at present speed.”

  “Quads are online,” Mister Randeen reported. “Targeting approaching Jung fighters.”

  “Fire when ready,” Nathan ordered.

  Along the underside of the Aurora at her midship, all four quad-rail gun turrets spun around to point back at the Earth as she slowly fell away. Bright, electrical flashes ran up the gun rails as fragmentation projectiles leapt out of the Aurora’s largest guns. The rounds streaked through space, heating up slightly as they penetrated the upper atmosphere of the Earth on their way to the Jung fighters. Just before they reached their targets, the rounds burst apart into hundreds of smaller pieces, each piece carrying tremendous, kinetic energy that tore through the small fighters as they struck. Several fighters exploded instantly, while others spun out of control and began falling back toward the Earth.

  “Five contacts down,” Mister Randeen reported. “Six, seven, eight…”

  “The first four Talons are approaching max range, sir,” Mister Navashee reported.

  “Cease fire!”

  “Holding fire on the quads, sir,” Mister Randeen answered.

  “Tell flight their birds are clear to engage,” Nathan instructed.

  “Aye, sir,” Naralena answered.

  “Jess, let’s send some missiles toward those cruisers. No reason to let them walk in unimpeded.”

  “How many would you like?”

  “How about four each to start,” Nathan ordered.

  “Aye, sir,” Jessica answered. “Launching missiles.”

  “Contact!” Mister Navashee exclaimed. “Just beyond the orbit of Mars. Just came out of FTL as well.”

  “Another cruiser,” Jessica reported, “maybe a battleship. It’s bigger than the others.”

  “A battle platform, maybe?” Nathan wondered.

  “Not big enough.”

  “How did they all know?”

  “That contact that went to FTL as it came over the horizon,” Mister Randeen said, “it must have been a messenger.”

  “They must have had ships sitting just outside the system,” Jessica surmised. “Just far enough out that we wouldn’t find them, but close enough that they could FTL to them and recall them quickly.”

  “Shit
,” Nathan exclaimed as the first round of missiles streaked away from them on the main view screen toward their Jung targets. “We don’t have the propellant for this.”

  “Flight reports fourth wave is airborne,” Naralena announced.

  “That makes twelve of our fighters to ten of theirs,” Jessica advised.

  Nathan looked at Jessica. “Tell flight to hold off launching any more for now.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “But have them ready in the tubes just in case.”

  “I expect the major will have them there whether we tell him or not,” Jessica commented.

  “Combat, Bridge,” Nathan called over the comm-set.

  “Go for Combat,” Cameron answered.

  “Commander, give me a call on the current tactical situation. Do we have enough propellant to engage all three ships using the same jump-shoot-jump tactics we used against the Ta’Akar?”

  “I’ll get back to you in a moment, sir.”

  “The first two cruisers are firing missiles,” Jessica reported. “Spread of twelve. Time to impact: five minutes.”

  “Keep an eye on them, Mister Randeen. Start your point-defense fire when they get in range.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “Bridge, Combat,” Cameron called over the comms.

  “Go ahead,” Nathan answered.

  “Captain, we can engage all three and still have enough propellant to cut and run or achieve Earth orbit again, but only if we get them in the first pass or two. More than that and we risk running dry.”

  “Understood.” Nathan stared at the tactical map displayed on the main view screen.

  “Orders, sir?” Jessica asked.

  “Charge the plasma cannon in tube two. Load nukes in tubes one, three, five, and six.”

  “Aye, sir,” Jessica answered.

  “Comms, I need to know how soon those Talons can finish off those Jung fighters.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “Mister Riley, plot a jump. I want to come out one hundred thousand kilometers in front of those two cruisers, equidistant between their flight paths.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “Mister Chiles, when we come out of our jump, you’re going to yaw to port just enough to bring our tubes to bear on the first cruiser. As soon as we fire, you’ll yaw back to starboard and put our tubes on the second cruiser,” Nathan explained.