by Tony Healey
“. . . I have taken our Father’s pin. It’s the least I deserve, to take it with me. And I had another reason for taking the pin. It was to test whether or not I could alter history. It worked. You did not receive the pin, and it possibly altered how you reacted within the chapel. My doubts assuaged, I can now proceed with my plan. Whether I succeed or fail, you will likely never meet me. That’s how it should be. We each have our own path.”
She was about to close the recording off when she remembered she’d left out the most important information she had a duty to hand over to her other self.
“Before I go I need to tell you something about a medical condition you may, as yet, be unaware of. This revelation will shock you…”
That done, she finalized the file and transmitted it to the Defiant as a delayed message. It would show up in the other Jessica’s inbox a week from then.
Plenty of time, King thought.
* * *
With everything taken care of, she took advantage of the hours they had before the Draxx were due to arrive. A strange sense of calm washed over her, as it does to all who’ve done everything they possibly can in a given situation. Now there was just the wait for what was to come.
Jessica lay down on the bunk and closed her eyes.
Sleep came quickly to her exhausted mind, and she found she dreamed of jungles… and the black pyramids that towered over them, their dark tips touching the stars.
7.
Hours later, aboard the station, the memorial service for Captain Singh was in full swing. The Inflictor dropped from Jump and began its full frontal approach. The massive vessel did not attempt to mask its signature. It did not attempt to hide its presence from them. The Inflictor simply arrived, a Draxx behemoth hell bent on their imminent destruction.
“Slow a little,” Prince Sepix said. General Carn stood behind, his arms folded, watching as they approached the station. “Let them fear us.”
Behind his mask, Carn smiled.
* * *
As the station sensors were just announcing the arrival of the Inflictor, Jessica, Commander Greene, and Hawk were already preparing to disembark.
“Reactor operating at full power,” Greene said.
“Good. Full power to the hull plating. Hawk, disengage the clamps and back away from the station,” King ordered.
Even if the station had noticed their escape and wanted to make contact, they couldn’t. Commander Greene had already disabled the communication circuits.
As Jessica had said at the time, “Why not do what we have to do in peace?”
The Saratoga uncoupled from Station 6 with a jolt, then backed away much faster than regulations usually allowed.
“Good, now bring us about. Let’s look them right in the eye,” she said.
Hawk did so, turning the little ship on her axis to face the incoming Draxx giant bearing down on them.
Jessica got up, laid a hand on Hawk’s shoulder. He looked up at her.
“You ready, Ma’am?” he asked.
She slapped his shoulder once. “Go.”
He got up and walked to the exit. He hesitated at the threshold and turned back to look at them both. “Yuh know, meetin’ you lot has been one of the best things that’s ever happened to me.”
“And the same to you,” Greene said.
Hawk looked to Jessica.
“All our hopes, Captain,” she said.
He nodded curtly, and then he and his trademark lop sided grin were gone.
Jessica turned back to the helm console. “Right. Let’s do this thing. You ready, Del?”
“Yep,” he said from behind her.
She brought the Saratoga up to full thrust and aimed her straight at the Inflictor.
8.
“Lock all weapons and prepare to fire at my command,” Sepix said, pacing the bridge while the crew scurried to see to his orders.
The small Saratoga barely registered on the Inflictor‘s sensors. At least, until she was close enough for her to appear on the viewscreen.
“My lord! A ship approaches!”
Sepix’s head snapped about. “What!?”
Up ahead, the Union ship closed the distance between them – fast.
Carn stepped forward, head to one side as what was happening registered with him. He had thought for only one word. King…
“Target that ship and blow it from the sky!” Sepix ordered.
“Yes my –” the weapons officer stopped short as the Union vessel opened fire, unleashing every Duotonic warhead in its armament.
They erupted in front of the Inflictor, against its energy shield. Everyone on the Inflictor‘s bridge turned away from the blinding flashes before them. The ship shook as the energy shield failed and died, allowing several of the warheads to penetrate the hull at the bow. The sucker punches knocked both Sepix and Carn off their feet as the Inflictor stumbled, listing to the side.
“Damage report!” Sepix screamed as he took hold of a console to pull himself back up. “Stabilize the ship.”
* * *
Jessica’s voice issued from the speakers in the little hangar, barely large enough to house the single shuttle he now climbed into.
“Better hurry, Hawk, we don’t have any more warheads,” she said.
“Understood.”
He dropped into the pilot’s chair and activated the hatch. It closed in around him.
“Good luck,” King said.
“You too,” Hawk called as the shuttle sealed itself. The hangar door parted seconds later, and Hawk took the craft out into space at full speed, his hands tight against the controls and his jaw set.
* * *
“He’s away,” Greene noted from his console.
Jessica took the Saratoga beneath the Inflictor, careful to avoid any watchful defensive turrets that may have been tracking their progress. As it was, the bigger ship seemed to be caught off guard by their attack. Exactly how they’d planned it. By unleashing everything they had – apart from the single gun mounted at the front of the Saratoga, and a special surprise loaded into the aft garbage chute – they risked hitting the Inflictor and not leaving any punches aside for later. But there had never been any plans for later.
“You know,” she said as she piloted the ship. “He never questioned the need for him to go over there and challenge Carn directly.”
“I know. I think he wanted to do it anyway,” Greene said.
She shook her head. “He needs to do it, Del. If the General is going to die, it should be by his hand. Not ours.”
“We never told him the rest of the plan,” the Commander said. “Do you think he still would’ve gone if we had?”
Jessica shrugged. “I don’t know. And I guess we’ll never find out,” she said.
She took the Saratoga out past the Inflictor, then took a tight turn and double backed on the Draxx monster. She imagined that if it had a mouth, it would’ve been gaping wide open, waiting.
I might have something to ram down that throat of yours, she thought. But I’ve got to hold out – give Hawk a chance to do what he needs to do first. This ends here.
9.
Hawk located the main hangar and took his opportunity to hail the Inflictor on an open frequency.
“If yuh readin’ me, this is Captain Hawk Nowlan. I’ll be landin’ in your main hangar in half a minute. I know you got General Carn on board,” Hawk said into the comm. “If he wants to settle this once and for all, he knows where I’ll be.”
He closed it off and checked his course, ready for capture, ready for death, ready for a final confrontation… ready for whatever came. The Inflictor seemed to swallow him up as he drove the shuttle toward the hangar bay. When he was starting to wonder if the doors would ever open for him, they did.
“Well, here we go,” Hawk mumbled under his breath as he settled the shuttle on the deck and shut down the little ship.
* * *
“We will detain him,” Sepix said. “We can torture him later.”
Carn shook his head. He had his blade out already. “No, my lord. He is mine. I must deal with him myself.”
Sepix regarded him with respect. “History does not lie, you are a true warrior.”
Carn bowed his head and walked away, the sound of his brisk footfalls receding down the corridor outside.
Sepix turned back to the bridge officers. “Fools! Every second you waste, the Union scum are using to their advantage!”
The station lay not far in front of them, almost within reach.
“Prince Sepix, we will have all systems restored in moments,” a bumbling officer told him.
Sepix grabbed him around the throat, lifted him into the air and shook him with powerful movements of his right arm until the small Draxx’s neck snapped in two. Then he tossed him to the side as if he were a piece of garbage.
“MOVE!” he bellowed, incensed with rage and frustration. “I want that station destroyed! NOW!”
10.
“They’re powering back up,” Greene reported. “That was quick.”
Jessica’s hands flew over the controls. “Taking us back. Get ready to fire the gun.”
“Aye,” Greene said.
The Saratoga swooped in over the Inflictor, her front gun firing non-stop under the masterful control of Commander Greene. The ammunition was like firing a pellet gun at a raging bull, but where it did connect, it impacted systems fitted to the exterior of the ship. They blew out below the Saratoga as it passed, miniature explosions.
“Multiple direct hits,” the Commander said. “But it won’t be long until they have their shields back up.”
“I know.”
She piloted the Saratoga across the blocky surface of the Inflictor and swung quickly out of the way when several of the Draxx ship’s gun turrets opened fire. A couple of shots hit their flank, diminishing the power of the hull plating.
“Looks like they’re already getting their systems back,” Jessica said. She swung the ship to port, tilted her over to her side. At the same time, Commander Greene rotated the forward gun to target the turrets. He managed to disable one of them before the Saratoga swept past and the others were firing again.
Shots raced past them, but the Saratoga cut through their path without getting hit.
* * *
“Systems are coming back online,” the weapons officer reported.
Prince Sepix pointed toward the viewscreen, at the Union ship that had caused so much trouble. “Take them out.”
“Yes, your highness.”
* * *
Greene looked up. “Jess, they’re targeting warheads at us. Getting ready to fire.”
She looked back over her shoulder. “Get ready to release the trash, Del.”
He managed a smile. “Aye.”
King steered them back around, then dipped them beneath the edge of the Inflictor‘s hull. It rushed past as they hung close, racing downhill. Beneath the Inflictor, where the behemoth’s huge reactor exhausts fumed invisible plasma, they jutted from the hull like the open valves of a heart.
“Ready?”
Greene’s hands braced against the release controls. “Check.”
“RELEASE!”
He yanked the levers down. The Saratoga jolted slightly as their secret cargo – every ounce of combustible material they could find, stuffed into a cargo container along with a warhead fitted with a remote switch – floated away from the back of the ship toward the Inflictor‘s exhausts.
Turrets turned in their direction and opened fire. Jessica swung the Saratoga left and right to avoid the fire, but she couldn’t get past it all. The Inflictor‘s weapons chased down the Saratoga‘s hull, smashing against the plating and tearing into the bare titanium alloy beneath.
“Hull breaches,” he reported.
“Seal us in,” Jessica said. “As long as they’re not in here, it doesn’t matter.”
“Aye.”
She turned the ship out of the line of fire. The Saratoga handled well.
Commander Greene tracked the cargo container’s path on his screen.
“Almost there…”
“Wait till it’s right in the exhaust fumes,” she advised. “That little spark should do a lot of damage.”
Greene bit his lip as he watched the blip roll into the Inflictor‘s plasma exhaust. He slammed his fist down on the detonator.
Before they could get away from the blast zone, the container exploded, igniting the exhaust. The chain reaction started in the exhaust manifolds, spreading toward the many pipes feeding the Inflictor like arteries directing the flow of blood to muscles. In an effort to restrict the fire, the safety systems built into the Inflictor‘s inner workings sealed entire sections of the ship, and in so doing, robbed the Inflictor of any engine capability.
The explosion swept the Saratoga to one side, as if she were a fly batted away by the back of a hand. Circuits blew all over the tiny bridge, raining hot white sparks down around them.
“Yes!” Greene yelled with joy. “Direct hit! Multiple explosions inside.”
“Nice one,” King said. “Now what about us?”
He checked his readings, his expression changing to one of concern. “Same as them, loss of thrusters. We have manoeuvring jets and the Jump Drive. Other than that we’re dead in the water,” he said.
“Well that’s put a dampener on proceedings…” Jessica said as she tried to get something – anything – out of the engines.
Nothing. Totally inoperable.
“Dammit!” she snapped, smacking her fists down on the console.
“Uh . . .” Greene muttered.
She turned around. “Del?”
“They still have weapons control. The Inflictor is firing!”
Jessica looked back up at the viewscreen. Sure enough, like a dragon, the Draxx ship spat balls of fire at them. The spheres of crackling, wicked energy rushed toward them. Jessica stood to attention, facing the inevitable, her hands clenched at her sides.
At the last minute, she registered movement to her left. Then it swooped in front of them, a ghost from the past, a thing of beauty. The Defiant cut between them and the warheads struck her side. Explosions registered there, but they did not stop the Union vessel as she swung past.
“Wow,” Greene managed to say.
Jessica smiled as in front of them, the Defiant locked heads with the Inflictor.
11.
The hangar tested positive for a breathable atmosphere, and Hawk clambered out of the shuttle. He removed his kataan, flicked its switch, and stood with it braced at his side. The hangar was empty, save for him, his shuttle, and dozens of Draxx fighters.
Warning sounds issued from within the ship, and red lighting flashed at the far end of the hangar, but the hangar itself was dark and deathly silent.
Then he heard the blast doors open about two hundred yards away. General Carn stood there, silhouetted against the white square of light in the doorway. He, too, held his blade at the ready.
The General stepped into the hangar. The doors slid shut. Then the General ran at Hawk, blade held forward. Hawk broke into a run, his kataan out to the side, both hands on the grip.
He grimaced, every bit of rage he could possibly muster directed into a furious growl. They rushed upon one another, and their blades clashed in a huge white spark.
* * *
Up ahead, the Defiant attacked the Inflictor with all she had, but the Draxx ship just had more punches to swing. The exchange of firepower was furious and blinding from the Saratoga‘s standpoint.
But as the Defiant turned away from the Inflictor to gain some distance, the Draxx giant didn’t stop. Hits registered in small explosions along her hull.
“This is going to be a short battle,” Jessica said.
They both looked at one another, and in the silence was an unspoken agreement between the two of them. Greene’s eyes were sad, regretful. But his face remained determined, and the fact she could rely on him brought Jessica strength.
“I a
lways knew this would be a one way trip,” Commander Greene said.
Jessica stared dead ahead. “I didn’t want it to come to this…”
“I know,” he said simply.
It was all that was needed.
“Del, spool the Jump Drive generator,” she ordered, sitting back down at the helm.
Ahead of them, the Inflictor continued to fire at the Defiant, and it was all she could do to watch her old ship try and evade.
12.
Hawk leapt backwards onto the nose of a Draxx fighter, and still Carn swung at him. He parried the hit, knocked the General’s blade to the side, and kicked him.
His foot connected with Carn’s head, smashing the mirrored face plate. The General stumbled backward, one hand holding the remains of his mask while the other held his sword outstretched in front of him defensively.
Hawk dropped to the deck and dived forward. Carn blocked one of his hits, then followed it up with one of his own. But with one hand held to his face, he was handicapped somewhat in his intimate battle with the Union legend.
Hawk ducked beneath one of Carn’s hits. He sliced up through the General’s armpit. His sword arm fell away and black blood splattered over the deck from the raw, exposed flesh at the gaping hole.
“GAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!” Carn screamed, forgetting his face to touch where his arm had been seconds before. He looked down incredulously at his arm on the deck – the hand spasming around the handle of the sword, the fingers still twitching. Body fluid spurted down his side.
Hawk didn’t wait. He stood up, raised his kataan and brought it down on the General’s torso. It sliced through his body armour, revealing dark flesh beneath. Hawk spun about, jabbed the sword backwards into the General and skewered his midsection.
“I’ve waited a long time for this,” he said. He stepped forward, pulled the blade free. Carn fell to his knees, and when Hawk turned around to face him, he found himself seeing Carn’s identity for the first time.
