by Tony Healey
Cessqa looked up from the holographic display. "They're not a rational species. Primitive in almost every way. They'll go to their deaths. And we'll push them there."
She did not have to explain to Gelvin, or Risa, that the same radiation that would slowly cook the humans within the Defiant wouldn't affect the Namarians the same way. They could withstand the excessive energies of the Formation far more than the humans with their soft, pink bodies.
"Returning to normal space," Gelvin said.
"Good. Prepare to continue our assault."
*
Commander Greene leaned in close. "Captain, you do know we can't stay in there forever. The radiation levels . . ."
She held up a hand to stop him. "I know, Del. I know. Believe me, I don't plan on hanging around any longer than necessary."
"The Jandala is approaching to aft," Chang reported. "Bringing weapons to bear."
"Banks, how long until we reach the Formation?" Greene asked.
The helmsman checked. "Thirty seconds, Commander. I'm pushing her hard as I can. Shame you can't just Jump in there . . ."
"Not unless you want to demolecularise," Chang remarked.
"Full power to aft hull plating," King ordered. "Ensign, contact the Chief and ask her to give our engines a little boost. Whatever she can do."
"Aye," Rayne said.
"They are firing," Chang said.
"Brace for impact," Greene advised as the Defiant took the hits to its aft section.
The Formation loomed ever closer, a deep mixture of greys and silvers illuminated from within by powerful bursts of electric blue. The afterglow of each one rippled outward, through the surrounding gases. It looked completely alien in there, a cosmic brew of toxic material that any artist would have gave his right arm to study and paint.
Jessica remembered that it had nearly been assigned the name The Medusa Formation for just that reason. Beautiful to look at but, in reality, inherently dangerous.
"The Chief said she'll do what she can," Rayne said.
"It is a shame we couldn't risk a short Jump burst," Greene said echoing Banks's sentiment although he too was fully aware of the fact that what stopped them Jumping inside the Formation also stopped them travelling at such speed in close proximity to it.
"Ten seconds," Banks said. "We'll have to slow down once we're inside."
"Not until you've breached a million kilometres," Jessica said.
Banks looked over his shoulder in surprise. "Cap . . ."
"Not until. You have your order," she warned him. "We need to gain some distance. She can take it."
"Hope you're right," Greene muttered so only she could hear.
So do I, Jessica didn't say aloud as the Defiant ploughed straight into the Mobius Formation head first, the dense clouds of matter smashing into the forward hull.
Hear me old girl? Do me proud and hold together . . .
12.
"Captain, we have an incoming transmission from the Jandala," Rayne said.
"Go ahead," Jessica told her.
The speakers popped and crackled, the sound fading in and out.
"I'm boosting the gain to audio," Rayne said. "But I don't know how long it'll last. It could go any time."
"The farther we get into this soup . . ." Greene said.
"Captain King of the Defiant," a voice said on the other end. "This is your opponent."
"Let's cut the formality of introductions. What do you want?"
"You have a hostile side to you, Captain. That is unexpected."
"Really? I find it hard to believe you honestly expected anything different. You are responsible for the murder of my crew. And I will see to it that you answer for your crimes. Regardless of your reasons. We do not accept the death of our own lightly."
"My crimes, you say?" Cessqa laughed on the other end. It was not a warm, friendly laugh. It seemed to come from nowhere, as if it consisted of little more than air. No humour there in the slightest. "And what of the crimes your people have committed against mine?"
Jessica frowned. "I'm not sure our actions constitute the same thing."
"Captain, we could discuss this issue at length. But I have neither time nor patience to do so. You have made war against the Namar. However, I'll give you one last chance to stop needless bloodshed. Hold position and offer your vessel for surrender, or suffer the consequences."
"This is going nowhere." Jessica made a cut signal gesture at Olivia Rayne, who promptly closed the channel between the two ships.
"Well, that was friendly," Greene quipped.
"You're telling me."
Rayne looked up. "I didn't need to close the channel, Captain. Our comm. system is now down."
"Thank you, Ensign," Jessica said.
"Yeah, that's great. Just great," Greene muttered. "No calls in or out. We're on our own."
Jessica bit her lip.
*
Cessqa scowled at the wall of static around her, then shut the external communication feed off.
Gelvin watched her expectantly. His commander folded her lithe arms in front of her chest.
"So?" he asked.
She watched the Defiant disappear from view, concealed by the dense, silvery fog of the Formation.
"They have made their choice." She drew a deep breath. "They choose death."
13.
"Slow to one-fifth thruster power. Ten degrees to port, then hold our course," Jessica said. She unbuckled herself and stood. It felt good to stretch, to move around a bit. In all, it felt good to get some reprieve from being confined to the chair for so long.
One of the reasons she was so glad Dr. Clayton's treatment for her MS had worked so well. The thought of living her life in a wheelchair . . .
"I'm going to fetch a drink and stretch my legs," she said. "Commander Chang, you have the bridge. The first sign of the Jandala, you call me back up here."
"Sure will Captain," Chang said, assuming the captain's chair.
"Del, why don't you come with me?" Jessica asked. It's wasn't so much a question as an order. "I've a feeling you could do with a walk, too."
Greene looked around at the others on the bridge, then stood. "Yeah."
*
"So tell me why you really wanted me out here with you," he said when they were an entire deck away from the bridge.
"Do I need to?"
The Commander's own thoughts turned to the mercury-eyed menace hunting them down. She was out there, nearby. Hidden as they were, in clouds of toxic gases and ionised liquid plasmas.
"I suppose not," he said.
"It's pretty clear she's trying everything she can to ensure we don't follow the Enigma, or the Amarax . . . or whatever the hell you want to call it," Jessica said. "So she's followed us all the way out here."
"Wants it to look like she's only in it for the fight, when she's really protecting that thing," Greene said.
"Exactly. The question is, how far will she go?"
"Do you mean, whether or not she'll see this through to the end, or give up when the time's right?"
"Yes. Personally, I feel as though she won't leave here not knowing what's become of us. It'll plague her," Jessica said. "She seems the type."
"I think I agree with you," the Commander said.
Jessica sniggered. "Well, I'm glad."
"I didn't mean it like that, and you know it," he said. "From what I read about them, they were a true conquering race. Much like the Draxx in a way. Cold-blooded, ruthless and cunning."
"She's definitely all of those, and more," Jessica said. They arrived at the Officer's mess and grabbed a coffee. "Here, let's sit down for a minute."
The room was entirely empty, all hands at their posts, no doubt waiting for the next bombardment from the Jandala. Although it felt strange for them both to be in there, as if there were nothing going on, since the Jandala was elsewhere . . . Now was as good a time as any to take a quick break.
"Ah, that hits the spot," Greene said as he took a long swal
low of hot, sweet coffee. "I didn't realise how dry my mouth was."
"I know what you mean," Jessica said. "After this we'll head down to engineering, see how the Chief's doing."
"Yeah."
"It's getting serious between you two, isn't it? Between you and Meryl?" she asked, changing the subject for a moment.
The Commander's face grew serious. "Yeah. Yeah it is. I'm mad about her, Jess. Smitten as a kitten."
She laughed. "You do go well together, I'll give you that."
"Thanks."
They drank their coffee. The Defiant's steady rhythm felt reassuring as it reverberated through the deck, in the very chairs they sat on, gently vibrating the table their coffee cups sat on. It meant her heart beat as strong as it always had.
Commander Greene looked sideways at the twinkling lights beyond the viewport. He looked almost wistful, longing.
"Da dee da da, da dee dee . . ." he sang softly, barely audible.
Jessica's brows rose in surprise. "Del, I never took you for a singer."
He laughed. "I'm not. It's just something my Mother used to sing to me."
"Really?"
"You don't recognise it?"
She shook her head.
"Da dee da da, da dee dee," he hummed again. "Star of wonder, star of night . . ."
"Oh. What is it? Where's it from?"
"An old hymn or something. I dunno. I've never forgotten it, though. All these years, and I still find myself humming it in the shower," the Commander said. He looked down at the coffee cup in his hands, bashful. "Mother used to sing it all the time, like a comfort. Silly, really."
"No it's not. At least you have that memory of her," Jessica said. She didn't need to continue.
I didn't know my own Mother. I wish I had something like that to remember her by, she thought as she followed his gaze to the cosmic blanket beyond the confines of the Defiant. I wish I could see her face, hear her voice whenever I looked at the stars. All I see is what's been taken away from me. A dark void, filled with lights. Some of those I've known and lost shining among them.
"So anyway, what about you?" the Commander asked her, changing the subject to something less maudlin.
She couldn't stop the shock registering on her face. "Me? What d'you mean?"
"You know. I never hear you talk about your own love life. Do you even have one?"
"Del, if I didn't know you any better I'd be offended by that," she said with a chuckle. Jessica could feel the heat rising to her cheeks. "Well, I don't ever really think about it. There's nobody at the minute, obviously . . ."
"Has there ever been?" he asked her quietly.
She thought back to the last time she'd felt a man's hands on the sides of her face as they kissed. The last time she lay in a bed with a man, her body pressed against his. Skin on skin.
"Yes . . . a long time ago. Or so it seems," she said. "Maybe too long."
She realised she'd never once spoken about her love life with Greene before. It'd been so long, after all. Certainly she'd never discussed Will Ardai before. Not with anyone aboard the Defiant, anyway. She could still see him, the last time they saw each other.
The station hummed with activity. "It doesn't have to be a long break, Jess."
"I know," she said. "But it will be. You know it will."
He stepped forward, took her in his arms, gave her one last kiss before saying good-bye. "I'll miss you. And think about you. All the time."
She watched him go, dissolve into the crowd of moving bodies, everyone going to his or her destination. The body of the hive, all star-bound. When she was sure he'd gone, Jessica went back to the airlock that would take her onto the Defiant and away from him forever.
"I'll miss you. And think about you –"
"All the time . . ." Jessica whispered.
Commander Greene's eyebrows rose to points. "Sorry?"
She snapped to. "Uh, nothing. Nothing. Anyway, you're not considering setting me up with someone are you, Del?"
"In the middle of a battle? Is that really my style?" he asked.
Jessica stood, took both their empty coffee cups with her. "Ha! You have a style now?"
*
"I've had to divert power from several non-essential systems to the hull plating," Chief Meryl Gunn told them both. "This nebula is on constant attack. And what, with the pounding we’ve taken already . . ."
"Should it keep the worst of the radiation out?" Jessica asked.
"By all means, but I can't guarantee how long I can keep it up. Twelve hours may be the limit," Gunn said.
"I don't plan for us to be in here longer than that," Jessica said. "Shut down entire decks if you have to, Chief. Whatever it takes."
Gunn leaned back against a console, hands in the front of her apron. "That's the crux of it, though, isn't it? We need the hull plating to stand up to punishment from outside, and from her. I don't know if it'll do both."
Commander Greene looked at Jessica.
"It has to," she said.
*
On their way back to the bridge, the issue of whether their defences would hold against an assault from Nature and technology made her remember something she'd read during her Academy days.
It was a long shot, but . . .
"Del, you ever ask Captain Hathi'i about the Takara Offensive? I mean, what really happened?" she asked.
Greene looked sideways at her. "I might've mentioned it. I remember learning what happened that day, back in the Academy, prior to serving with him."
"Me too. That's what made me think of it. I've always wondered how he came up with that manoeuvre. How did he know for sure it'd work?"
"Well, if it helps any, I did ask him one day. A bit sheepishly, I wasn't sure he'd even tell me. But he did. Old Hathi'i was good like that."
She looked at him expectantly. "And . . ."
"He said he got it from Captain Driscoll. You know, back in the day. You've gotta remember, Hathi'i was pretty old when I served under him. He'd been Driscoll's second in command at one point. But you know, his people don't age the same as humans."
"Those were the days," Jessica said as they moved out of the way of crewmen carrying a heavy piece of equipment. They continued on their way to the bridge. "Admittedly, it was a bit messed up, you know, with the replicant situation. But apart from that, it was a simpler time. The enemy were the enemy. We were united against them. The Archon class were brand new."
"Very few women skippers around back then," Greene reminded her.
"Yeah, well . . ." Jessica said. "Anyway, so he got it from Driscoll. What next?"
The Commander cleared his throat. "He told me that the suns of Takara are binary. Twin suns. They had a flute of plasma connecting them together."
"I know this part. I remember it from the paper."
"Yeah, and it's not a safe thing to be around. A lot of survey ships have been lost that way, drifting too close to suns and underestimating the way they can just pull you in. Or whip out a load of plasma in your direction. So anyway, he's up against six other ships. His ship, the Sonata, is badly beaten. He's dead meat."
"But he got away," Jessica said.
"Sure did. Flew right at the belt itself. At the connecting stream of matter between the two suns. The enemy followed him, but they didn't take the necessary precaution," Greene said.
"Now this they didn't put in the history books," Jessica said. They stopped outside the bridge.
"In order to survive the encounter, Hathi'i had a negatively charged probe fly opposite the Sonata, connected by a thin cable. When the ship got hit with charge from the ribbon, the probe acted as a kind of ground. Instead of the energy destroying the Sonata, it blew the probe apart. It lasted long enough for them to get past it. Two or three of the Draxx ships flew right into it, destroyed instantly."
"He took a calculated risk," Jessica said. They stepped back on to the bridge. Chang got up, went to her station. "One that paid off."
"You're not thinking about doing the
same, are you?" Greene asked.
Captain King buckled herself in. The plan was a crazy one. Yet it had worked for both Captain Hathi'i and Captain Driscoll at some point. Admittedly not all Driscoll's exploits from that time were recorded. The same for Hathi'i. She'd certainly never read about something like that being done.
One lick from a sun could destroy a starship instantly, without warning. She wondered how the Defiant might fare in a similar ruse.
"Commander," she said, turning to Chang. "Tell me about the suns at the Formation's core."
"They're like black holes, Captain," Chang told her. "Immensely strong radiation, pulling everything in as much as their shoving material and energy into the nebula. They're fast rotating pulsars. Highly dangerous."
"What would happen if we got really close?" Jessica asked.
"I seriously advise against it. We wouldn't survive the encounter," Chang said flatly. "The force would either rip the Defiant apart entirely, or pull her in toward them."
Captain King chewed the inside of her mouth as she thought it over. To get too close was suicide. Captain Hathi'i had used a close encounter with a binary to his advantage, but this situation was entirely different. The pulsars powering the maelstrom of the Mobius Formation were, as Chang had said, a lot like black holes. Too close and you went slipping in . . .
"What're you thinking about?" Greene asked her.
"I'm considering time travel."
Banks turned around. "Excuse me Captain, but . . . what?"
Jessica smiled. "I've not lost my mind, if that's what you're thinking. I'm wondering if there will be a time dilation effect when you draw near to the pulsars. A delay."
"Perhaps," Chang said.
"Just humour me for a moment. Say, for instance, Cessqa watches us fly close. Will what she's seeing be moments behind where we actually are?" Jessica asked.
"It's plausible. I'd have to run it through the computer, see exactly what the effect would be on an observer, but in theory, it works."
"Do that now. Let me know," King said.
"So what's the plan?" Greene asked.
Jessica shrugged, as though it were nothing. "A simple matter of going back to the future, Del."
