Alastair (Ghosts of Ophidian Book 2)

by Scott McElhaney

  “I don’t think this is a safe room for us to wait this out,” Theo said.

  “Let’s find somewhere else to be,” Jill said, struggling to make her way to the door.

  The ship continued to shake, causing more crashing sounds to rise from the depths of their room.

  “I propose we don’t go to the kitchen either,” he said, opening the door to the passageway, “That place could be equally as deadly.”

  There was a significant amount of commotion in the corridor in spite of the fact that the airtight doors were sealed throughout the ship. People were stumbling through the passageway in a rush, many of them dressed for combat.

  “Out of the way, kids,” one of the three men nearby growled as he shuffled past, dragging a large ammunition case.

  “Is that safe?” Theo asked, moving to find the other handle at the back of the ammo case, “Slow down a moment!”

  The man who seemed to be struggling with the long wooden crate stopped and turned to Theo. Jill joined Theo at the other end and helped him locate the handle, then she helped him to lift it. The impatient anger slipped from the man’s brow.

  “Thank you,” he muttered, barely audible as the others passed by them.

  “Where are we headed?” Theo asked.

  “Forward Railgun Six,” he said, turning and moving with much more ease than Jill and Theo, “Apparently only eight of the twenty railguns were actually loaded with ammunition. We’ve also got three unmanned guns now thanks to the shootings yesterday.”

  Theo stumbled, almost losing his grip on the handle. Jill reached out to steady him with her free hand, but she proved to be of little help. They paused for a moment so Theo could reclaim his grip.

  “Are the guns something that a newbie could manage? I’ve reached Commandant level on ‘Gunner’s Mate 2’,” Theo said.

  “Video games,” he laughed, “Well, it’s really not all that different, I guess. Ask the Armament Commander when we get up there.”

  . . . .

  They brought the crate of ammunition to the railgun in need, then sought out the Armament Commander who was currently assisting the person loading Railgun Two.

  “We brought five hundred plasma-tungsten rounds to Six, sir,” the man said, “And this kid wanted to talk to you about helping with the unmanned turrets.”

  “Not a chance,” Hutchins replied, trying to keep his footing as the ship shuddered violently, “You want to help, kid? Go up to the bridge and make sure the Captain has someone on the gunnery mike. That’s where I’m supposed to be right now if it weren’t for all these imbeciles.”

  “Yes, sir,” Theo stated, “I could call up to him if you want.”

  “That’s just it. No one on the bridge is answering. I imagine that since he called half the military to the bridge, no one can hear through all the commotion. Just go and give him the message,” the Commander stated, “I’ve got railguns to arm.”

  “Yes, sir,” Theo said again, taking Jill’s hand and heading for the main corridor.

  “Don’t you think it’s going to be a little crowded and Mutt’s going to be a bit preoccupied with saving us from the gravitational torment the ship is going through to care about the Armament Commander’s post?” Jill asked as they fought to keep their footing.

  “To be honest?” Theo asked, opening the airtight door to the stairwell, “Yes, I think we’re going to look like idiots bringing that to his attention considering he was very clear that we weren’t under attack in any way. We are just following orders.”

  Twenty-three

  The bridge was crowded as expected. Although the Truman was truly owned and commanded by civilians, the presence on the bridge begged otherwise. Most present on the bridge were in uniform and they were the ones who seemed to be in charge of everything at the moment.

  “I have a duty to my crew and to the ship’s owner,” Mutt shouted to someone beyond Theo’s view, “You said that I’d be hauling your crew out here, releasing you to do your thing, then hauling my backside home with my ship no worse for the wear.”

  “And it was the Space Command who paid for your engine upgrades, not to mention the deployable turrets,” a voice calmly, yet firmly replied, “Those ten-million dollar engines will be no match for the outer regions of a black hole.”

  “Maybe so, but the ship’s structure may not hold up,” he replied, “I don’t know what that Pli outpost is constructed of down there, but I can promise you it’s not a simple double-hull of iron and steel. We’re not made for continual gravitational forces like this.”

  “We just demonstrated without a doubt that we are! I had my science officer and my engineer promise you that the Truman can make it down there and back without incident,” he replied.

  Theo and Jill nudged their way past two of the uniformed officers near the door. The main view panel at the front of the bridge was displaying what looked like a digital image of an enormous rotating whirlpool attached to another much smaller one rotating the opposite direction. The smaller one was located on the outer reaches of the larger whirlpool’s digital swirls.

  “What’s going on?” Jill whispered to a uniformed female who was focused intently on the screen of one of the workstations.

  “Mutt doesn’t trust our Commander,” she replied, continuing to operate some unknown controls.

  “No, I mean, what’s that?” Jill asked, pointing to the large “window” at the front of the room.

  “We’re maintain a position at the cusp of a black hole collision, but we’re far enough away that there’s no risk,” she replied, still distracted by what she was typing into the terminal, “Try telling that to Mutt, though.”

  “Well, the ship is shaking non-stop,” Jill offered.

  The woman looked up from her terminal and finally acknowledged the presence of Jill and Theo.

  “Who are you and why are you on the bridge?” she asked before turning to those at the back of the room, “Lieutenant, get these children off the bridge!”

  Mutt and his white-haired rival turned and took notice of the two of them.

  “We were sent here by Commander Hutchins,” Theo said, nodding a greeting to Mutt, “He’s stuck for a while arming the railguns. Only a few were actually loaded with ammunition.”

  “You gave me guns, but no ammunition,” Mutt growled to the officer who almost resembled a short-bearded Santa Claus with the same weight issue, “Typical military.”

  “You had initially told us you were doing the hyperspace jump tomorrow evening,” Santa replied, “The military is accustomed to sticking with a schedule and we operate by that. This ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ garbage isn’t something we have a familiarity with.”

  Santa turned to Theo.

  “Did he say how long he will be, son?” he asked.

  “It sounded like it’ll be a while. He asked that you have someone man the gunnery mike,” Theo replied, “He’s on the ball though, sir, and I’m sure he will be back as soon as he’s confident in our defenses.”

  Santa laughed and pointed his thumb at Theo as he looked at Mutt.

  “You hear this kid? ‘Confident in our defenses?’” he repeated, “That’s a PR rep I wish I had when I bumped that communications satellite at Ophidian last year.”

  “We’ll make sure he’s covered for,” Mutt nodded to Theo, “If you’re going back, let him know we’re not seeing much activity up here anyway.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Santa replied, turning to the main view panel, “Gomez, can you bring us back to the image of the Pli outpost?”

  The image changed immediately to a yellow, triangular structure surrounded completely in a cage of crisscrossing beams. It was situated in such a way that one of the three flat sides was aimed toward the Truman. The other two flat sides were completely covered in thrusting exhausts, all aimed toward the two colliding black holes. It was maintaining its position by keeping its thrusters online and aimed at both back holes simultaneously – a “V” sitting in the V-shaped pocket
created by the outskirts of the two monsters.

  “That, kids, is activity that we should be concerned about,” Santa said, pointing to the screen, “But Mutt here believes it’s of no concern to us in spite of the fact that they are launching something into the convergence spot.”

  Theo watched the scene, and indeed, the triangular craft was launching something out to the turbulent region between both holes, but it appeared to still be connected to the craft by a lifeline of some sort.

  “So, tell the Commander to get those railguns online as quickly as he can,” Santa said, “We’re going in, with or without your Captain’s permission.”

  Mutt jabbed a finger toward the other man.

  “This is on you, Admiral,” Mutt spat, then turned his back and stormed away.

  Theo turned to Jill, then looked back toward the man they now knew was not the jolly old elf, but an Admiral in the Space Command. Suddenly, Mutt’s voice called over the intercom.

  “This is your captain speaking. I regret to inform you that my command of this ship was revoked by Admiral Comstock. He will henceforth be giving all orders and direction. I would also like it to be recorded that I do not support any decision that puts this ship at further risk to the infinite gravitational forces of not just one, but two black holes,” Mutt said, “I will maintain a presence on the bridge, but the command belongs to Admiral Comstock.”

  “I think we should go,” Theo whispered to Jill, nudging her toward the door.

  “This is the Admiral speaking,” his voice echoed over the intercom, “We have discovered a Pli outpost on the edge of both colliding black holes. It is my belief as well as the belief my fellow officers that this outpost is conducting some sort of indeterminate and potentially hazardous experimentation in a unique portion of space. The Pli have always been about enslaving races to do their dirty work, so it’s quite possible there are humans down there risking their lives for God only knows.

  “We know for a fact that they have been abducting our ships and our people. We know for a fact that they are somehow able to abduct our people even while the Pli aren’t actually aboard our ships. We can safely assume that they are responsible for the import of sheol weed. It is our responsibility to find out what’s been going on and to stop it. I have full faith in our capabilities. At this time, I’d like the ship to prepare for battle. I want all available railguns manned and brought online. I want the first squadron of HArt pilots to enter their craft and be ready for a rapid launch if necessary. All non-essential personnel are ordered to stay clear of all passageways and hunker down as the gravitational forces will cause some discomfort in the coming hours. That is all.”

  One of the officers reached out a hand to stop Jill as she led the way to the door.

  “You’re non-essential now,” the man said, “Better just find a corner and stay out of the way.”

  “We have to deliver-”

  “The Admiral just did. Your only jobs now are to stay out of the way.”

  Twenty-four

  The Truman’s engines, which were aimed toward the Pli outpost, were ordered to reduce power. The ship was now being tugged in both directions, but the ship’s navigational thrusters were able to maintain its direction toward the triangular caged structure.

  “Admiral, we’ve got two incoming,” an officer stated, “We’ve been scanned and identified as a harmless Earth freighter, but it doesn’t look like they are particularly happy with our presence.”

  “They’re only greeting us with two fighters, Ensign?” the Admiral asked.

  Theo heard the person operating the gunnery mike identify two incoming craft at 181 degrees. He called for the aft gunners to be ready since the tail of their ship would be the first point of contact.

  “Sir, we’ve just been scanned again,” the woman Jill had talked to earlier stated, “It doesn’t look like they are able to get through the shielding we set up to hide our cargo, but they aren’t giving up. They’re performing various scans at once.”

  “We’ve got multiple craft leaving the Pli outpost now,” the Ensign stated, “And they are headed in our direction. The first two are within eight hundred miles now and closing fast.”

  “Are the aft guns online and ready?” the Admiral asked.

  “Yes, sir, and they are holding fast,” the man with the gunnery mike stated, “The Commander believes they’re unaware that we’re armed yet, so he told them to stand down until the enemy is close.”

  Theo and Jill were seated on the floor near the back wall. He leaned down and whispered to her.

  “Whatever they are sending out into the void, they just retracted it,” he whispered.

  “Actually, that’s the second one. I saw them retract the first one already and then send out another,” she replied, “It’s like they’re fishing.”

  “They are firing on us, sir. Photon-type shots inbound!” the Ensign stated, “No time or room for evasive action.”

  “Photons inbound – aft!” the Admiral called over the intercom, “Release the first round of fighters. All railgunners have permission to fire.”

  “If they hit our engines, we’re done for!” Mutt shouted from his seat in the corner, “Get us out of here now before we get sucked into the black hole.”

  “Quiet! If you keep this up, Mutt, I will have you escorted off the bridge,” the Admiral stated.

  “Aft Railgun Twelve took out one of their fighters,” the man at the gunnery mike said, “Aft Railgun Eleven is offline. I’m also getting a report of a hull breach in the area as well. No further word on the damage.”

  “That was a human pilot in the enemy fighter we just destroyed,” the Lieutenant said.

  “Should have figured the Pli would use disposable troops to do their fighting,” Mutt growled, “That whole platform out there is probably operated by human slaves.”

  “Sir, their fighters are letting loose on the Truman as well as on our fighters,” one of the officers stated, “I don’t know what those weapons are, but it only took two photons to tear through Eleven and breach the hull as well.”

  “Stack is right, Admiral,” the Lieutenant added, “They’ve got twenty-two fighters coming at us and we’ve only taken out two of them.”

  “We’ve not lost any fighters yet, right?” the Admiral stated, “We need to get to that outpost and shut it down. Send out the second squadron of fighters.”

  Twenty-five

  After the first round of fifteen fighters left the cargo bay, Mac was ordered into his craft. He lowered his face shield and then climbed into the fighter. He powered up the craft, then closed the cockpit. He brought all weapons online, then tested each visual targeting system within his face shield.

  Aft Insanity targeting screen, Aft Proximity Mine targeting system, Four Forward Railguns overlay targeting, Nuclear Rocket overlay targeting. All screen worked perfectly.

  “Second squadron leader, ready,” Mac said into his mike, “All fifteen ready when needed.”

  “Good to hear,” the dock commander replied, “Because the Admiral just called for you. You’re free to launch.”

  “Second round HArts, I want us to go out under cloak,” Mac said, “I know this isn’t normal, but we really don’t know our enemy, so it’s worth a shot.”

  “Don’t forget that you’ll be fighting against some strong gravity out there,” the dock commander stated.

  “Let’s go, boys,” Mac said.

  The upper cargo bay doors opened and Mac launched at the first opportunity. He exited the ship through the forward portion of the freighter and away from the battle. He veered to the right and immediately noticed that his fighter was being pulled strongly in the very direction he turned.

  He gritted his teeth, growling as he pulled on his joystick. He was suddenly grateful that they came out under mirrored cloak because by the time he found the strength to regain control of his craft; he was merely 4000 feet from the incoming Pli fighters. It only took him a second before he realized the damage the Pli were d
oing to the freighter. They’d already blown four holes into the bottom of the ship, presumably where there used to be turrets.

  “At this rate, men, these aliens are going to easily take our ship down,” Mac said, “We have no choice but to take them out completely.”

  Mac brought up his forward targeting overlay and targeted the nearest fighter. He squeezed the trigger, launching a rapid-fire double stream of 25mm solid titanium rounds and a double stream of 35mm exploding rounds all traveling at 6300 feet per second. He veered to the left, already targeting the next fighter before his first target imploded, then exploded in an orange fireball.

  He ripped apart another fighter just as quickly as the first. It didn’t take the enemy long to realize there were some visually cloaked fighters in their midst. Mac knew their cloaking was no match for any scanning systems, even ones as primitive as radar. The second squadron was now being targeted by the Pli as they raced through their enemy. The radio traffic between the fighters increased significantly as the battle ensued.

  Mac looked down at the Pli outpost and was suddenly frightened by the intense blackness in all directions beyond the structure. It was fascinating however to see the outpost’s exhaust trails streaming diagonally into the black holes on both sides.

  He dropped down to get a better visual of where the enemy fighters were coming from. He now had an enemy on his tail. He switched weapons, then quickly triggered the Aft Insanity as he veered to the right and downward.

  His fighter was releasing what amounted to a thousand shrapnel grenades per second, literally shredding anything that chose to come up behind him. He took his craft to the left again, discovering indeed that he’d destroyed the fighter that was on his tail. He was now lower than the Pli outpost and could see an opening where the fighters had dropped. No further craft seemed to be forthcoming at the moment.