by John Walker
We might survive long enough to get out of here.
“They’re attacking again!” Violet called. “Move point three three degrees starboard!”
Jane complied, but the ship didn’t respond fast enough. They took a solid hit, one that brought about a deep whine from somewhere within the ship. It continued, grinding like an old combustion engine. Titus had last heard something like that as a child when his uncle had tried to fix one of their threshers.
I hope that’s not our reactor. If so, they had only seconds to live. When that thing went, they’d all die. No escape pods, no surrender… they’d suffer the same fate as the two destroyers. A battleship reduced to a debris field. And our shuttle will follow shortly after. With nowhere to go, they won’t stand a chance.
“This isn’t going to work!” Rudy shouted. “We have to—” An electrical surge from his chair interrupted him, wringing a scream out of him that came from his core. Titus disengaged his safety harness, fumbling with the clasp before dropping to the floor. He scampered back as the captain danced in his seat for a good ten seconds.
The relay line popped. Rudy stopped moving, half his body smoldering from burns that blackened his skin. Titus climbed to his feet, staring at his commander’s body. Parts of his face and neck melted, revealing charred internal bits. Titus swallowed, forcing himself to look away at the viewscreen.
“Violet, get the medics up here now! Jane…” Titus cleared his throat. “Jane, how much longer before we’re out of their range?”
“We’re reaching the curve now,” Jane replied. “They’d… they’d have to… to…”
“It’s okay.” Titus put his hand on her shoulder. “Focus. What do they have to do?”
“Pull wide.” Jane took a deep breath. “Leave orbit and come at us from another angle. Or they can give chase but we do have a head start. I can keep this up for a while. Unfortunately, we’ve got major power drains from all over the ship. Engines are taxed by it. And the helm’s sluggish… I can’t make quick maneuvers.”
With the artificial gravity diverted to shields, Titus felt the g-force of their motion. He needed to take a seat. He moved to the terminal opposite Violet, strapping in. “Can the cast arrays take another shot?”
“Based on the first couple hits,” Violet said, “yes. At least one more. But I wouldn’t want to push our luck much beyond that, sir.”
“Understood.” Titus considered the planet. Their ship was too big to enter the atmosphere. His best bet was to keep the enemy away until the shuttle returned. “What about warp? Can we get out of here?”
Violet sighed. “If we had a gate… yes. But without one out here, I mean, we’re barely flying right now, sir. Going into warp with our shields in this state means we might not be able to keep the radiation from killing everyone on board. I’m working with Engineering right now to get them back to a reasonable standard.”
The bare minimum protection to go into warp should be around twelve percent. Titus found himself more concerned with their FTL drive’s status than charging shields. He’d divert all power from other systems to defenses if it meant surviving. He also knew Engineering had to be up to their eyeballs in work.
Titus tapped the comm at his station. “Chief Huxley, are you there?”
“Commander,” Huxley shouted, “we’ve got a shit storm down here. I hope you’ve got some good news about how we’re going to survive it!”
“That depends on you, I’m afraid.” Titus glanced at the viewscreen. The enemy ships had thrown themselves into motion. And, as Jane suggested, they were going wide to come in behind them. “How long before you can get shields to a safe level? And… the million dollar question… do we have warp capability?”
“The reactor took a major blow from the last attack,” Huxley said, “we’re down to six techs from twenty. Warp is intact. We’re working on the cast arrays now. If you want them to surround the whole ship for FTL, we’ll need at least five more minutes. I want them up to fifteen percent. Twenty would be safer.”
“And the reactor will hold?”
“Can’t say for certain,” Huxley replied. “It’s a mess down here, sir. Panels open… wires exposed… we just finished putting out the fires that would’ve ended our run in a horrifying manner. I’ll get you an update shortly.”
“Thanks.” Titus turned to Jane. “They’re taking that maneuver you mentioned. How long before they have another firing solution on us?”
“Four minutes.”
“Damn.” Titus got back on the comm, reaching out to Andrews. “What’s going on down there, man? We’re trying to get out of here.”
“I’m on my way to orbit now,” Andrews replied, “the ground crew came under heavy attack. They… they lost a lot of people.”
“How many?”
“Unsure, sir.”
Titus rubbed his eyes. “Are you being pursued?”
“They launched,” Andrews replied, “but I have a serious head start. I’m not worried about them.”
“Okay, we’ll rendezvous in six minutes.” Titus figured if they were going to die, it would be in the next enemy attack. Might as well give the shuttle crew a chance to survive through surrender… or creative crashing. “I’ll let you know when to board. Sending you a waypoint to meet us at.” He cut the line.
“Sir,” Jane said, “I’ve calculated the means to gain momentum with this particular planet. I can slingshot us to gain some more speed.”
“Violet?” Titus asked, “any objections?”
“Not if it keeps us alive,” Violet replied. “Numbers look solid. It may not be much, but it’ll definitely give us some range on our pursuers.”
“How long will it take?”
“Just a minute.” Jane tapped her controls. “We’re beginning our run now.”
I hope she’s not crazy. Titus had seen the concept used before with larger freighters that wanted to conserve energy to get to the next colony. They borrowed some of the momentum from a planetary body, decreasing the speed microscopically while transferring it to themselves.
It generally worked better with probes and things prior to warp. In this case, while they waited for their systems to make faster than light travel safe, it made perfect sense to utilize an antiquated technique.
I told Rudy she was worth promoting. Titus turned his attention to the captain again… then to Ronin. At least the pilot remained alive, but he needed medical attention. Where the hell are they? He fought back a surge of frustration. God knows how many people are hurt or dying. The casualty reports are going to be terrible.
Jane’s maneuver might well determine if they lived or died. If she got them farther away from the enemy, then at least they’d buy a few minutes. That might be all it took to escape with their lives. Though what happened next… Titus had no idea. Regardless, their world became a whole lot more dangerous.
***
Andrews disengaged all safety protocols, pushing the engines past the red zone. With the enemy vessels in pursuit, he had no desire to test their capabilities. Getting as far away as possible made the most sense. Unfortunately, their best chance to survive seemed on the verge of their own problems.
I have no idea what we’ll do if the Triton goes down. Andrews had suffered a serious crash back in his day. That experience dropped him behind enemy lines for three days before being rescued by allies. Every minute on the ground had been a struggle just to live and his opponents were pirates armed the same as him. These guys… God, who knows what they have?
“I haven’t strapped everyone in!” The shout came from the new guy. Andrews didn’t know him, but he understand the man’s concern. They were hauling ass, and it couldn’t have been much fun to be a passenger. “Can you level this thing out for a minute? They’re hurt and I have to be careful!”
“I’ll do what I can!” Andrews replied. Maybe you should look out the window. He kept that bit to himself. He rarely gave into stress. It never paid for a pilot to lose their cool. That meant biting his
tongue when his payload had opinions about what he had to do to keep them alive.
A proximity alarm went off, showing the enemy had broken the fifty mile mark. That’s nothing when we’re talking about afterburners. Andrews had the needle buried. They were going way faster than they should’ve, pushing hard enough that the vessel shook from the strain. And they’re still catching up to us.
“Triton,” Andrews said, “come in please.”
“We’re a little busy,” Violet replied, “what’s going on?”
“We’re in serious trouble, that’s what.” Andrews checked the scan again. He figured they’d be in firing range inside of five minutes. “I’m doing everything I can to stay ahead of our opponents, and they’re still catching up. How long before I can rendezvous with the ship?”
“Might not matter in a minute,” Violet said. “I hate to sound negative but…”
“Is it that bad?” Andrews believed it. If the shuttles chasing him were that dangerous, then he could only imagine what their capital ships were like. “Are their weapons scary?”
“The destroyers are gone,” Violet replied. “And… we’re…” Her voice finally broke. She cleared her throat. “You can’t begin a climb if they’re on you anyway, right? They’ll be on you faster at that point.”
“Yeah, but… even if I lose them, I need somewhere to go.” Andrews checked the topographical map. He needed something high… trees, rocks, anything that he might use as a means to slow his opponents down. There was nothing. Maybe if I strafe the ground. “I’ll try some things. Let me know the second I can come up.”
“Will do.”
Andrews dropped them down until they nearly touched the ground. They had to be flying no more than two hundred feet above the surface. Their proximity tossed dirt into the air, a fair sized dust cloud, but it wouldn’t mean much to those following him. It wasn’t the old days of blinding an aircraft.
Modern sensors made such tactics pointless. However, forcing them to give chase and to get low might save him. It all depended on their skills as pilots. Could they react quickly enough to changing elevation in the land? Hell, can I? Andrews didn’t feel entirely confident in his own abilities. I haven’t had to fly like this in a long time.
He didn’t exactly practice low altitude flying like that.
“What the hell are you doing?” The new guy again. “Do you realize how close you are to the damn ground? Come on, man! This isn’t safe! You’ve never flown here before!”
“Get your ass up here,” Andrews called. “You’ve been here a while. Tell me where I can go to lose these bastards.”
“Lose them?” He came onto the bridge, flopping into the co-pilot’s seat. He strapped in immediately. “How fast are they going? I’m Alon, by the way.”
“Fast. I need rocks. Hills. Anything that might foul them up. Hell, a quarry would be fantastic. Come on. What’ve you got?”
“This part of the… wait. We’re really far away.” Alon looked at the scanner. “We don’t come out this far. It’s not even settled yet!” He sighed. “Um… I guess you could… go east! Thirty degrees. That’ll take you over some trees. We surveyed them for harvest but hadn’t gotten around to installing an appropriate… whoa!”
Andrews veered hard to the east, banking hard enough to jostle them in their seats. Alon gripped his seat with a hiss. At least he kept his mouth shut.
Unfortunately, the turn lost them some distance to their opponents. As the two shuttles came around behind them again, they opened fire. Beams blasted the ground around them, throwing chunks of dirt high into the air all around them. Andrews risked a climb to gain a few hundred feet then went full-on again… straight for their destination.
“How far to the trees?”
“Uh… I dunno. A hundred miles, I guess?”
“Got it.” Andrews engaged the lasers, powering them up. That was one more thing to tap the engines, to slow them down but this was an essential risk. One of the energy attacks struck them from behind. He glanced at the HUD, wincing at the shield percentage. They were down to fifty percent after a single hit.
Okay, so evasive maneuvers are essential. I get it. Andrews dropped then veered to the right. He jostled the stick, keeping them in constant motion while climbing as well. Additional attacks filled the air around them, coming way too close. They’re damn fine shots. I hate this kind of thing.
“This is nuts!” Alon shouted. “What the hell are you doing, man?”
“Narrowly keeping us alive,” Andrews replied. The HUD showed their shields were up to seventy-five percent. “We can basically take two hits before our defenses go down completely, so I can’t let them catch us again. Hold on tight and don’t puke. I can’t handle a mess on top of everything else going on.”
“Was that supposed to be funny or something? Cause it wasn’t!”
“Nah. Just being straight up, man.” Andrews frowned at the forest ahead. They’d be on it in less than two minutes. Come on, baby! The ship rattled, panels sounding like they wanted to pop off. Even his seat vibrated enough to be a distraction. His ass went numb, his legs aching from pins and needles.
This is literally the worst day of my damn life. Another shot caught them, this time on the top. I wonder if I should shoot back. The thought appealed to his offensive side. Unfortunately, he recognized the futility of it. Taking either of those ships out had a one in a million chance. My best chance is losing them.
Shields were at forty-percent.
Come on! Recharge!
“We got hit!” Alon shouted, far too late.
“Dude…” Andrews shook his head. “Just be quiet.” He opened fire, cutting into the forest. Flames immediately engulfing the trees, greedily devouring the branches while sending up dark smoke into the air. He didn’t let up, cutting a swath of destruction through the woods before jamming on the forward thrusters.
Alon screamed as they jostled to a stop. Dropping the ship down low, he backed them into the raging fire. Shields could withstand the heat, they couldn’t handle being shot. If I’m right, they won’t pick us up through the fire. Our heat signature won’t help, and this should interfere with finding tech.
Even if it only bought them a few moments, it would be worth it.
The enemy ships whizzed by them, becoming small in a matter of moments. Okay, that’s at least five minutes of living. Andrews turned to Alon. “How bad are the people back there?”
“I mean, they’re hurt.” Alon shrugged. “There were only two of them who made it.”
“Jesus…” Andrews sighed.
“What’re we doing?”
“Hiding until our ship lets us know we can make a run for orbit.” Andrews shrugged. “I don’t know how long this’ll last, but we’ve got a few minutes.”
“They must have sensors. How’d this even work?”
“They’ll come back around shortly,” Andrews replied. “The idea was to buy some time, not shake them completely.” Though maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll think we crashed in this mess. He figured that was too much to hope for. Then his scanner showed the two ships were on their way back.
So much for that. They’ll do a sweep and clear. Well… now’s our chance. Andrews jammed the throttle forward again, climbing up at a forty-five degree angle. We might not make it to orbit if we don’t go now. Figure it out, Triton. We’ll see you soon… for good or ill.
***
The Triton hurled away from the planet with their thrusters helping to give them a quick boost. Scans showed they were well out of range of their attackers, at least for a moment. Furthermore, they had enough obstruction to give them some hope of survival. Every second they claimed was a little more time for the shields to power up.
As they reached twelve percent, Titus felt confident getting out of there. Engineering wanted more, but he figured they were erring on the side of caution. Even if they weren’t, he had to take the risk. A few lives lost over the entire ship being destroyed was the crap decision he had to make.
“Warp status,” Titus called out. “Where’re we at?”
“They’re not quite done with the check,” Violet replied. “Another minute or two.”
Titus reached out to Andrews. “We need you up here ASAP.”
“Good thing I started my climb,” Andrews replied. “The enemy shuttles are in pursuit so I might need some turret cover fire.”
“We’ll try. No promises.” Titus set up the rendezvous coordinates. “Jane, alter course to meet up with the shuttle.” The elevator opened. Four medics came in. They checked Captain Barrington first before hurrying over to Ronin. They started working on him, securing themselves to his station as they administered aid.
I hope you make it, pal. Titus watched for only a moment. He had too much going on; too much on his mind. Scans showed the enemy ships closing on them rapidly. Those things are huge. What kind of systems do they have allowing them to move so quickly? Their crews must’ve been miserable… or were they? Had they advanced their antigravity technology to the point they could move at such a speed without moving into warp?
All TCN vessels relied on their shields to supplement the inertial dampening, to allow faster than light travel. There were still limits, especially when it came to traditional travel.
The warp drives themselves emitted protective measures so the crew had three layers of protection against the motion. So where’d they get these things? Violet had been gathering data on them, scanning both them and what they did to the colony. If we survive, we might have enough information to track down the manufacturer of these things. But to what end?
If they had more than two of the ships, if these weren’t mere prototypes, he doubted the entire fleet had the firepower to put them down. Their power output alone made them giants. They represented a total nightmare, the kind of enemy that should’ve been impossible to encounter. And yet…
“Andrews is nearly here,” Violet said. “I’ve got him on scans. Two ships are in hot pursuit.”
