by Tony Healey
14.
With her sensors seriously degraded by the radiation in the Formation, the Defiant could barely detect what was in front of her, let alone the position of the pulsars themselves. However, with Chang's help, Banks was able to locate one of the more powerful pulsars.
"Change course to suit," King said. "Fast as you dare."
"Aye Captain," Banks said.
The Defiant turned, the mounds of thick grey nebula outside rushing to the left of the viewscreen as Banks changed vector to match their new coordinates.
"Any sign of the Jandala?" Greene asked.
Chang shook her head. "Not certain. But I am detecting a very weak energy signal, in line with what I've monitored before from her. It could be the engine exhaust of the Jandala."
"Give Jackson that bearing," King ordered. She turned to the weapons officer. "Lieutenant, fire two warheads in that direction. Detonate after one hundred thousand kilometres."
She turned to Commander Greene. "See if that gets their attention."
"Locked in, Captain," Jackson said.
"Do it."
He fired the warheads. They disappeared from view in seconds, lost among the dense materials outside. "Detonation in five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one!"
There were two bright, simultaneous flashes as the warheads reached the parameters of their command lines.
"Any change in the position of the energy reading?" Jessica asked Chang.
The Commander's brow furrowed as she studied her readouts. "Yes. I believe they're turning to investigate."
"Fire one more, Jackson. Directly astern, one hundred thousand kilometres."
"Aye," Jackson said and fired another warhead. Within seconds he had blown it to smithereens.
Chang looked up. "They're increasing speed."
*
"This could be a trap," Gelvin said.
"More than likely," Cessqa agreed. "I'd be disappointed if it were not."
The Jandala broke through the region of charged plasma, just created by the explosion of the two warheads. A flash of light erupted directly ahead of them.
"Keep going," she ordered.
"This is meant to entice us in, make us come straight for them," Gelvin warned her, concern in his voice.
"And it's working brilliantly," Cessqa said. She shifted on her feet, ready for the first glimpse of the Defiant.
*
"Approaching the pulsar," Banks said.
"Chang, d'you have those numbers yet?" King asked.
The Commander nodded. "I'm putting it through to the helm now. I've allowed for some wiggle room when it comes to the point of no return."
Banks looked down. "Yeah I see it now."
"Thank you Commander. And you think we should be able to use a short Jump Drive burst?" Jessica asked.
"According to the computer, a short burst should be fine," Chang said. "Considering we're not in the thick of things. The nebula thins out close to the pulsars."
"There's a lot of conjecture," Greene said, worried. "We've got no guarantee this will work."
The pulsar loomed into view. The curtain of grey mist rolled back, and there it was: a strobing ball of light, painful to look at because it was so bright.
"Applying the screen," Banks said. Immediately a dull filter overlaid the viewscreen, softening the effect of the pulsar's frantic flickering.
"That's better," King said. "Spool the Jump Drive. Get ready for a short burst, as far as the terminator."
"Aye," Banks said.
"Jandala approaching fast," Chang said.
King looked at Lieutenant Jackson. "Give them a few licks, Lieutenant."
"Yes Ma'am," Jackson said. He turned the Defiant's guns to aim at the Jandala, where it emerged from the dense cloud formations that gave the stellar anomaly its name. Quick bursts of fire flew at their Jandala's energy shield, sparkling in hot yellow explosions where the projectiles struck.
"Jump Drive ready," Banks said.
"Punch it," Jessica ordered.
The Defiant lurched forward and the pulsar seemed to go from being a dangerous light at a comfortable distance to a terrifying nightmare that filled the entire viewscreen. Banks wrestled with the Defiant to get her to turn away from it, to escape its clutches.
"Jump back," she ordered through gritted teeth. New alarms sounded as the Defiant's hull screamed from the exertion of both the pulsar and her own engines. But she did turn.
Banks threw her into Jump again. To the Jandala, she wouldn't have even Jumped away yet.
The Namarian ship just sat there in front of them, as if it didn't detect their presence. They were moments ahead of the game.
"FIRE!!!" Jessica yelled.
15.
Cessqa looked disbelievingly as the Defiant appeared off their starboard bow, then watched as the more distant Defiant sped ahead, toward the pulsar.
"Bring us about!" she ordered Gelvin, but it was too late.
The Defiant let loose everything she had, and at such close proximity, the result was devastating. The Jandala felt every hit as her shields buckled under the barrage of firepower. Gelvin tried in vain to get the Jandala out of range. The pointed ship turned, headed back for the cover of the nebula but the Defiant pursued. The humans' bombardment of them was unrelenting.
"Cessqa our shields are failing!" Gelvin said, disbelief in his voice.
If they were here I would crush their skulls with my bare hands! Cessqa thought. I would stamp their brains into the floor!
She contacted Risa below decks. "Launch the hornets."
"Yes Cessqa. It will be done."
"Are we damaged?"
"Not yet. But our shield weakens. Almost to the point of total failure."
"Understood, Risa."
Cessqa monitored the holodisplay before her and watched as the hornets left the confines of the Jandala. The hornets were spherical creatures, their bodies formed to the exoskeleton of their own, thin hulls. Much like a woodlouse when it rolls into a defensive posture. The hornets had propulsion, weapons, sensor capabilities.
They swarmed from the Jandala and she gave them the necessary directional support, aiming directly for the Defiant.
*
The devices spilled out of openings along the Jandala's hull, like ball bearings, then formed into groups.
"I don't like the look of this . . ." Greene said, standing to watch the viewscreen. As if on cue, the spheres headed straight for the Defiant and started to fire.
"All batteries, fire. Don't let any of them through."
"Aye Captain," Jackson said. The Defiant's artillery criss-crossed before them, cutting their path toward the beleaguered Union vessel. They exploded on impact, not built to withstand much in the way of enemy firepower. But it didn't stop a dozen or so from slipping through. They careened over the hull of the Defiant, strafing her with bursts of energy weapons that weakened the plating in multiple locations. It all happened so fast, Jackson barely had time to react.
"Hull plating is weakening considerably," Chang said, worried. "By taking smaller shots at us, but spread out all over the outside of the ship, the plating is having a hard time adapting."
Defiant shook and shuddered around her. Jessica called over to Ensign Rayne.
"Get me Dollar!" she said as a pipe burst overhead, filling the bridge with steam. "Get him on the line!"
*
"Cessqa we must withdraw! Our defences weaken considerably. Any more, and . . ."
Risa's voice trailed off. The implication of what was about to happen was enough. As if to emphasise her point, the Jandala suffered a pounding from the Defiant's weapons.
I have underestimated them, Cessqa thought. They are warriors.
"Continue the assault," she told Risa. "Do what you can to keep the energy shielding from fracturing."
"But, the radiation . . ."
"You have your orders," Cessqa snapped. She closed the channel and focused her energies on the hornets.
*
/> Just as the woman tasked with keeping the Jandala together contacted Cessqa, Chief Gunn buzzed the bridge to speak with her own Captain.
"Yes Chief," Jessica said curtly. The hornets battered them from all sides, the guns struggling to keep up.
"They're tearing us apart, Captain," Gunn said.
"I know that. Chief, believe me, I'm working on it."
Bright flashes went off around them as the Defiant's batteries landed their targets, destroying one after the other in one swoop.
"Yes!" Jackson cried.
"Luck, Lieutenant," Greene said. "Concentrate. Don't get cocky."
"Yes sir."
Jessica gripped the sides of her chair. It felt like the Defiant would literally break apart around her. As if the drone's weapons would cut the great ship into little chunks.
Come on Dollar.
*
Eisenhower slapped the back end of the Dragonfly. He saw Dollar raise a gloved hand in response from within the cockpit, then he got to the other side of the blast door. It slid down, sealed. The atmosphere bled from the hangar within seconds, before the great doors opened to reveal the crazy roiling colours of the Mobius Formation beyond.
"Good luck, kid," Eisenhower said under his breath as he watched the Dragonfly lift off of the hangar deck. It's engines glowed white hot. Dollar piloted it with ease through the opening.
*
He rounded the edge of the Defiant, throwing the Dragonfly into full thrust as he came up and over her topside. The hornets swarmed left to right, relentlessly attacking the Defiant.
"Okay baby, let's see what ya got," he said to himself more than anything.
The fighter roared beneath him. He closed in on the nearest group and let loose his cannons. Dollar grinned with satisfaction as they burst on impact.
"We’re monitoring your life signs," a voice from the Defiant said in his ear.
"Yep," he said flippantly. "Gotchya."
"If the radiation levels get too high, you need to return to the Defiant immediately," the voice continued.
Dollar swung the Dragonfly about, firing the cannons in a wide arc that destroyed an impressive number of hornets. "What're ya, my mother? Lemme work here!"
A small group of hornets made straight for him, their attention now on the tiny ship effectively destroying them than the larger one struggling to.
He took the Dragonfly down, full thrust, a deep dive that had the hornets veering off to follow. He grimaced from the effort as he pitched the Dragonfly back up, performing a barrel roll while firing at the same time.
The hornets blew one after the other, Bang! Bang! Bang!and he tore through the resultant fire and debris. It popped and fizzed off the Dragonfly's hull.
"Yeehaaaaa!" he cried, never more so in his element than when he was pulling crazy manoeuvres. "Come on!"
16.
"He's cleaning up out there," Greene said. "And by the looks of it, the Jandala's in a bad state."
There were hardly any hornets left by now. Dollar had made short, clean work of destroying them. Blasting them apart, one after the other. At no point had their enemy stepped in. In fact it looked as though they were now retreating.
Jessica watched the viewscreen. The Jandala limped away, into the nebula. She noticed faint trails of atmosphere and exhaust from breaks in her hull.
So, she got whipped too.
"They're hiding," King said.
Greene made a face. "Not a bad idea. We could do with hiding too."
"Agreed," Jessica said. "Banks, get us out of here. Back into the clouds."
"Aye Captain."
Rayne looked over. "Shall I recall Dolarhyde to the ship?"
"Better," Greene said. "His readings are probably through the roof by now anyway."
"They're not far off," Chang said. "Those little ships just don't have the shielding like we do."
Jessica gave Rayne the nod. "Do it. Get him back on the double."
*
"Dolarhyde, you are ordered to return to the Defiant," the voice on the other end said again. "Captain's orders."
"Dammit!" Dollar shouted. He pitched to the right, released a heavy burst of cannon fire into the last group of hornets. "I was just havin' fun."
"You are ordered to return –"
"Yadda, yadda, yadda, I got it. Nobody likes a Moanin' Myrtle."
He reluctantly turned the Dragonfly around and headed back to the hangar opening. The little ship had performed better than expected. For a Do-It-Yourself job, she was quick, fierce, and gutsy.
Should've called her Selena, he thought with a smirk.
*
The clouds took them again. Cessqa stepped away from the holodisplay and stretched. Even a body filled with cybernetic enhancements and nanobots got the odd ache and pain.
"Gelvin, let us hide from the enemy momentarily. I will head down below and assist Risa with repairs."
"Yes, Cessqa."
She turned on her heel and left.
So, hornets are simply not enough, she thought as she made her way below decks to where Risa was busily putting the Jandala back together again. Luckily for the three of them, the automated systems would handle the worst of it.
It's ship on ship combat they respond to. Leader against leader. A battle of intellects. She tasks me, this one. In my own time she would have been a worthy adversary, with whom I would have relished such conflict . . .
17.
"Please forgive the shambolic nature in which we've organised this meeting," King said. Huddled around the table in the briefing room were Commander Greene, Dr. Clayton, Dr. Gentry, Chief Gunn, Dollar and Master At Arms Eisenhower. "Under better circumstances I'd at least have a coffee pot in here."
That produced a much needed chuckle from all assembled, apart from Gentry who appeared deep in thought.
"Anyway, on with business," she said. "I'm sure you're all aware of the situation, but for the sake of clarity let's have a little recap. Commander?"
She handed the floor to Greene, who stood and took her place.
"We've taken damage from the Jandala's attacks, but I think we got a few licks in there ourselves," he said.
"Damn straight we did!" Dollar remarked.
"So she's in the same boat as us, no pun intended. Damaged, flying blind and at increasing risk from the radiation of this nebula," Greene continued. "We're reduced to making visual contact with her until we can fire. And I'm sure the same is true for Cessqa."
"Is it even safe to be operating in here when we can't even see where we're going?" Dr. Clayton asked.
"No," Jessica said. "It's not. That's why I want to depart as soon as we can. There's also the matter of the radiation the Commander has already mentioned."
"Yeah, where do we stand with that, Doc?" Greene asked.
Clayton's expression was grave. "I'm afraid time is running out. There's simply no way for the Defiant's defences to keep that level of radiation out indefinitely. I'm starting to see levels rise in readings taken on decks closer to the hull. It's leaking through."
"How long?" King asked.
"A matter of hours. We need to leave here, Captain. There's no other option."
"I agree. The trick will be to get her out of here with us. Chasing our tail, preferably," Jessica said. "Anyone have any thoughts on that?"
"Reckon I might," Dollar said. "I could take the Dragonfly out again. Do some recon of the surrounding area. Give you a fix on her position."
"Out of the question," Clayton said firmly. "The jab I gave you for your last soiree outside hasn't even kicked in yet. Another half hour of exposure right now would kill you."
"I understand, Doctor," King said. She turned to Dollar. "He's right, you can't go out there again. I'm not willing to take that risk, or to let you either, for that matter."
Dollar slumped into his chair, deflated.
"A probe?" Greene suggested.
"It'd never find its way back."
"Fishing," Gunn said, her gaze distant, face lost in
thought.
Jessica cocked an eyebrow. "Chief?"
She cleared her throat. "Sorry. Didn't mean to blurt it out like that. But why don't we go fishing?"
"I'm still not getting –"
The Chief waved her hands. "No, no, no. It'll work. I just have to rig harnesses for each probe. One off the bow and stern, one starboard, one port."
"Chief?" Jessica asked. She looked at the others, then back to Gunn. "Care to share what you're thinking?"
"We have grappling hooks on all four sides of this tub. Y'know, for hauling cargo. It's pretty old school, but they still fit them to even the latest ships because they're a good fallback. We attach the end of each one to a harness, which I'll mount to the probes, then let them fly either direction, searching for the Jandala yet still attached to the Defiant so we can reel them back in," Gunn explained.
"I see. So that's what you meant by fishing," Jessica said. She couldn't help but be impressed by the simplicity of Gunn's suggestion. The probes would act like the feelers on the head of a moth.
Tasting the air.
"Good idea," Dollar said.
"The limit of the grapplers is approximately two hundred kilometres a side. As you know they're powered by miniature thrusters on the claw end, to allow us to steer them. So there shouldn't be a need for the probes to fly under power," Gunn said.
"All they have to do is observe."
"Yeah."
"Doesn't the cable act as a communications line, too?" Greene asked the Chief.
"Yeah, that's what allows us to steer the claws where we want them. Otherwise you'd be firing blind, hoping it hits the spot. They'd be useless."
"Interesting . . ." Greene said, his voice trailing off.
"Thoughts?" King asked.
"Not yet," he said cryptically.
The Chief looked away. "No change there, then . . ."
Greene shot her a look, but at the sight of the Chief's subdued grin he wasn't able to maintain any expression of hostility. He blushed and looked down.
"Come sit back down, Commander," Jessica said, sparing him the looks of the others. She watched him sit opposite her. "So that's our plan. The Chief will make the necessary adjustments to the probes. How long, d'you think?"
