Frontiers 07 - The Expanse

by Ryk Brown

  “Understood, sir.”

  “Once we fire on the second cruiser, bring the nose back on course, fire up the mains, and pitch down so we can jump clear before the nukes go off.”

  “Yes, sir,” Mister Chiles answered.

  “Flight reports five minutes, sir,” Naralena announced.

  “Jump plotted and locked,” Mister Chiles reported. “Updating as we fly.”

  “Port plasma cannon charged and ready,” Jessica reported. “All tubes loaded with nukes and ready for snap shots.”

  “Mister Randeen, I need you to clear us a path through those missiles before we can jump in and attack. Use the quads if you have to.”

  “Yes, sir,” Mister Randeen answered. “Recommend we reset the quads to the topside and show our uppers to the targets. We can get more guns on those missiles that way.”

  “Very well,” Nathan said. “Helm, pitch down ninety degrees.”

  “Pitching down ninety, aye,” Mister Chiles answered.

  “Missiles will be in range in ten seconds,” Jessica reported.

  “Comms, let flight know we’ll swing back to pick up our fighters after the first pass on those cruisers.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Mister Riley, after our first strike, I want to jump just past the targets. Another hundred thousand kilometers should do it. We’ll put another torpedo into their backsides on our way out.”

  “Aye, sir,” Mister Riley answered.

  “We’ll use the same yaw maneuver with the aft tubes, Mister Chiles.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Firing point-defense. Firing quads,” Mister Randeen reported.

  All sixteen mini-rails guns located around the Aurora’s perimeter opened fire at once, sending thousands of fragmenting point-defense rounds per second toward the incoming Jung missiles. At the same time, the Aurora’s four larger quad-rail guns also began firing, sending much larger frag rounds toward the targets at an even greater velocity.

  One by one, the icons representing the incoming missiles disappeared from Jessica’s threat board. “It’s working, sir. Our path will be clear any moment.”

  “What about our missiles?” Nathan asked.

  “They’re shooting them down at the same time,” Jessica reported.

  “Figured that.”

  “All twelve incoming missiles have been destroyed,” Jessica reported.

  “Hold your fire, Mister Randeen,” Nathan ordered.

  “Point-defense and quads are cold,” Mister Randeen reported.

  “Helm, bring our nose back up and prepare to jump.”

  “Pitching up,” Mister Chiles reported.

  “Ready to jump in five seconds,” Mister Riley added.

  “Stand by forward tubes,” Nathan told Jessica. He turned his chair around partway to face her and added, “Feel free to take a few shots with our new plasma cannon, if you get the chance.”

  Jessica turned to Mister Randeen. “Would you like the honors?”

  “Hell yes.”

  “Jumping in three……two……one……”

  The bridge filled with the blue-white flash. A moment later, the flash cleared.

  “Jump complete.”

  “Yawing to port,” Mister Chiles reported.

  “Full magnification,” Nathan ordered. “Keep the camera on the targets.”

  A moment later, the view screen zoomed in. Nathan could barely make out the two gray and red blobs at the center of the screen, but they were rapidly growing larger as the Aurora raced toward them.

  “Our nose is on the port target,” Mister Chiles reported.

  “Fire tube one!” Nathan ordered.

  Jessica pressed the button on the tactical console to fire the first torpedo. At the same time, Mister Randeen fired the plasma cannon in tube two.

  Bright red balls of plasma energy streaked across the magnified view screen, lighting up the entire bridge as they streaked ahead of the first torpedo.

  “Jesus,” Nathan exclaimed, surprised by the intensity of the plasma shots as a dozen of them streaked toward the first cruiser.

  “Torpedo away,” Jessica announced.

  “Yawing to starboard,” Mister Chiles reported from the helm.

  “Direct hits all across the port target’s bow, sir!” Mister Navashee reported. “Her forward shields are gone, damage to her forward sections, forward missile battery, rail guns… Damn! She’s hurt! She’s venting atmosphere!”

  “On the second target,” Mister Chiles reported.

  “Fire tube three!” Nathan ordered.

  Once again, a dozen balls of red plasma energy streaked over the upper left side of the screen toward the ever-enlarging targets in the distance.

  “Torpedo away!” Jessica announced.

  “Bringing her back to course and pitching down,” Mister Chiles reported.

  “Second target is taking damage as well!” Mister Navashee reported. “Shields, hull damage, just like the first target, sir!”

  “Five seconds to first torpedo impact!” Jessica reported.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Nathan urged.

  “Clear jump line coming up,” Mister Chiles reported from the helm.

  “Jumping in three…” Mister Riley announced, “…two……one……”

  The jump flash came and went, and the two targets that had been growing in the center of their view screen were gone.

  “Jump complete,” Mister Riley reported.

  “Yawing to starboard…”

  “Belay that,” Nathan ordered. “Steady as she goes.”

  “Holding steady,” Mister Chiles answered.

  “Torpedo one impact!” Mister Navashee reported.

  “Aft view, Jess,” Nathan ordered.

  Jessica quickly put up the view from the Aurora’s aft camera and zoomed in on the targets as the first torpedo’s detonation flashed brightly. The explosion tore the cruiser on the right into several large pieces. The secondary explosions that followed broke the doomed cruiser up even further.

  “Target destroyed!” Jessica yelled. “Torpedo two in three seconds.”

  Nathan watched the screen and waited, the second flash coming a few seconds later. The second cruiser did not break apart like the first one, but she was visibly damaged with secondary explosion blowing sections off her outer hull.

  “Second target is hit. She’s lost all power,” Mister Navashee reported. “She’s out of the fight for now.”

  “I’m not taking any chances,” Nathan said. “Jess, put a spread of missiles into her.”

  “Captain, she’s not…”

  “They were waiting for us, Jess,” Nathan snapped. “That means they’ve already invaded the Earth. Who knows how many people have died. And where are all our ships?” He stared at her directly. “Fire the goddamned missiles and finish that bastard off.”

  “Aye, sir,” Jessica answered.

  “Helm, prepare to come about as soon as the target is destroyed. We’ll jump back to Earth and pick up our fighters before we engage the last ship.”

  “Yes, sir,” Mister Chiles answered, exchanging glances with his navigator.

  “Missiles loaded and ready,” Jessica reported.

  “Fire,” Nathan ordered calmly.

  Jessica hesitated for a moment, then pressed the button. On the view screen, four missiles streaked overhead on their way to the target.

  “Missiles away,” Jessica reported. “Ten seconds to impact.”

  The bridge remained quiet as the missiles traversed the hundred thousand kilometers between the Aurora and the crippled Jung cruiser. Finally, there were four bright flashes of light, and the cruiser exploded.

  “Target destroyed,” Jessica reported.

  “Helm, come about,” Nathan ordered.

  “Coming about, aye.”

  “Mister Chiles, jump us back to high Earth orbit as soon as we finish our turn. Then prepare to jump out to engage the next target.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “C
aptain, another wave of fighters is coming up from Earth to engage our Talons in orbit.”

  “Time to jump?”

  “One minute,” Mister Chiles reported.

  “Mister Navashee?”

  “The second wave of contacts will reach our Talons in five minutes, sir.”

  “Comms, alert flight. Ready the deck. We’ll be picking up our fighters in less than two minutes.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “How are we doing on propellant?”

  “Down to four percent,” Mister Chiles reported. “I’m using as little as possible in my maneuvers.”

  “I know,” Nathan assured him.

  “Turn complete.”

  “Jump.”

  The bridge filled momentarily with the jump flash, and the Aurora arrived back in high Earth orbit.

  “Jump complete.”

  “Green deck,” Nathan ordered. “Let’s get our birds on board.”

  “Green deck, aye,” Jessica answered. “Recovering fighters.”

  “Prepare our next combat jump, Mister Chiles,” Nathan ordered. “Same as before, one hundred thousand kilometers out. We’ll launch two nukes, then hold on target long enough for Mister Randeen to get even more plasma shots off before we pitch down and jump under. We’ll put two more in her from behind if necessary.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Captain, maybe we should…”

  Nathan raised his hand, cutting Jessica off in mid-sentence. He had only one thing on his mind; he wanted the Jung out of Sol and off the Earth, and he would do whatever was necessary to accomplish his goal.

  “Flight reports all fighters are on board,” Naralena reported.

  “Very good. Red deck. Helm, break orbit and set course for our next combat jump.”

  “Red deck, aye,” Jessica answered.

  “Breaking orbit,” Mister Chiles acknowledged.

  “Load nukes in tubes one and three. Stand by on the plasma cannon, and ready another round of missiles,” Nathan ordered.

  “Aye, Captain,” Jessica responded. “Loading nukes in tubes one and three. Plasma cannon standing by. Readying missiles.”

  “Jump point in ten seconds,” Mister Riley reported.

  Nathan could feel his rage growing by the moment. He wondered how long the Jung had been in his system, how long it had been since they had invaded the Earth and destroyed her defenses. Had it happened yesterday? A week ago? A month ago? What if it were recently? If so, if he had gotten back sooner, could the Aurora have made the difference? While they were fighting the Ta’Akar, were people back on Earth being slaughtered the way the Corinairans had been?

  “Contacts!” Mister Navashee reported.

  “More fighters?” Nathan wondered.

  “No, sir, two more contacts coming in from behind the moon.”

  “What?” Nathan asked. “How is that possible?”

  “They must have come in by FTL like the others, sir.”

  “More cruisers,” Jessica reported.

  “Another contact!” Mister Navashee reported. “Coming out from behind the sun.”

  “She’s too obscured by the sun to ID,” Jessica said, “but she’s big, bigger than the others.”

  “Contacts by the moon are launching fighters!” Mister Navashee reported. “Thirty, maybe forty contacts!”

  “Time to attack range?”

  “Five on the fighters, ten on the ships,” Jessica reported. “The one by the sun is a few hours away unless she goes to FTL.”

  “Bridge, Combat!” Cameron called over comms.

  “Go, Commander,” Nathan said, although he already knew what she was going to say.

  “We don’t have the propellant for this, sir.”

  “We can still take out the third ship,” Nathan argued.

  “Every drop counts here, Captain. We’re it. We’re all the Earth’s got left. We’re going to need all the propellant we’ve got just to find more. We try anything else, and we’re guaranteed to lose. If not now, very soon.”

  Nathan stood there silently, staring at the screen, anger and frustration boiling up inside him.

  “Captain?” Cameron called over the comm-set.

  “Sir?” Jessica urged.

  “Nathan,” Cameron called, “you know I’m right, damn it! If you don’t break off and jump out now, I will!”

  Nathan turned and looked at Jessica. His eyes were pleading and full of pain. He knew he had no choice; he had to run.

  “To fight another day, sir,” Jessica told him.

  The slightest of smiles formed at the corner of his mouth, if only for a moment. “Secure all weapons. Mister Riley, jump us out of the system.”

  “Securing all weapons,” Jessica answered.

  “Where to, sir?” Mister Riley asked.

  “Where to?” Nathan wondered. “Anywhere. Just jump us clear of the system, a few light years maybe. Just leave us enough in the energy banks for another one light year jump.”

  “Two light years out, then?” Mister Riley asked. “That should put us off any obvious transit routes between core worlds.”

  “Very well,” Nathan agreed. “Execute when ready.”

  “Aye, sir. Jumping in five seconds.”

  “Aft view,” Nathan ordered. He watched as the view screen switched back to the aft facing camera. The Earth was slowly shrinking as they pulled away from her. A few seconds later, the jump flash came and went, and the view screen was empty, showing only the stars behind them.

  “Jump complete,” Mister Riley reported.

  “Threat board is clear,” Jessica announced.

  “Stand down from general quarters,” Nathan ordered.

  “Standing down from general quarters,” Naralena acknowledged.

  Nathan turned and walked past Jessica at the tactical station on his way toward the exit. “Tell the XO to report to the bridge,” he instructed as he passed.

  “Nathan,” Jessica started.

  “Until she gets here, you have the bridge.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’ll be in my quarters.”

  The bridge was silent as Nathan walked to the exit and left.

  “Captain off the bridge,” the guard at the hatch announced.

  Jessica sighed. “Tactical is yours again, Mister Randeen.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Jessica moved toward the command chair. “Mister Navashee, full passive scans, three hundred sixty degrees. Nothing approaches us without our knowing: not a ship, not a rock, not a grain of dust. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And start thinking of where we might find some propellant,” she added as she plopped down in the command chair. She looked at Mister Chiles and Mister Riley sitting in front of her at the helm. “What are you two looking at?” she snapped. Both men immediately turned back around to face forward without saying a word.

  * * *

  Nathan lay motionless on his bed. The room was dark, and his eyes were closed, just as they had been for several hours. As usual, sleep eluded him. He had considered going to Doctor Chen and asking for something to knock him out for a few days, but his desire to avoid all contact with the crew was greater than his need for sleep.

  The buzzer at his door sounded. He continued to lie there, ignoring the buzzer as it repeated its obnoxious call. “Go away,” he mumbled to himself as the buzzer continued to sound. Eventually, it stopped. “Thank you.” Nathan continued his attempts to force sleep to come. This time, it was his comm-set, lying on the nightstand. The small light on the side of the comm-set flashed, casting an intermittent green hue across the room. He could hear a faint voice calling to him through the ear piece.

  “I know you’re awake, Nathan.”

  It was Cameron, and apparently she was determined to speak with him.

  “Open the door, or I’ll have Jessica override it, and we’ll come in anyway.”

  Great, there are two of them, he thought as he rose from his bed and headed toward the main
room. Nathan walked lazily across the main room. “I’m never going to be able to sleep again,” he moaned as he opened the door. Standing before him were Cameron and Jessica. Directly behind them were Vladimir and the chief of the boat, Master Chief Montrose. “I don’t remember calling a meeting.”

  “I called it,” Cameron stated as she pushed past him and entered. “Can we turn on some lights?”

  Nathan stood aside as the others followed Cameron past him into the main room. The lights came on without warning, causing Nathan to squint. “Bright.”

  “What? Have you been sleeping the whole time?” Cameron wondered.

  “Trying? Yes. Actually sleeping? Not so much.”

  “For six hours?” Cameron asked, surprise on her face.

  “Maybe you should see the doctor, sir,” Master Chief Montrose said.

  “When I can’t sleep, I drink,” Jessica stated. A moment later, she realized everyone was looking at her. “I mean, when I’m off… Okay, fine. I know a guy who knows a guy who has a still, okay? Come on. Tell me none of you has ever wanted to throw a few back and unwind.”

  “Why have you not shared this with us?” Vladimir asked.

  “Is that why you’re all here?” Nathan wondered. “To get me drunk?”

  “No, sir,” Cameron answered.

  “Too bad,” Nathan said as he plopped down on the couch.

  “Maybe later,” Jessica added as she plopped down next to him, “if you’re a good boy.”

  Master Chief Montrose watched as Cameron and Vladimir also took seats. “Terrans have very unusual military protocols.”

  “Take a seat, Master Chief,” Nathan said. “That’s an order.”

  “As you wish.”

  “We want to know what the plan is,” Cameron said.

  “The plan? Other than trying to get some sleep, I don’t have any plans. Although, Jessica’s sounds like a good one. How much booze does your friend of a friend have on hand?”

  “We’re serious, Nathan,” Cameron insisted. “We need a plan.”

  Nathan sighed. “I’ve been trying not to think about it.”

  “And how has that been going?” Cameron asked.