Tarizon, Conquest Earth, Tarizon Trilogy Vol 3

by William Manchee

Lt. Lamh flew by Earth’s Destiny looking for signs of life.

  “ED1, do you read? ED1, do you read?” He saw nothing until he spotted the wreckage of a fighter smashed up against a launching platform. The exterior of the ship was smoldering from the explosion, but it didn’t appear the hull had been breached. “ED1, do you read?”

  Rossi Sincini’s eyes opened. He blinked and tried to remember what had happened. He sat up and looked around. The bridge was intact but dark. All power had been lost. He saw Tam sitting limp in his chair. Rossi unbuckled his restraints and staggered over to him. “Commander, are you all right?” Tam didn’t respond, so Rossi put his hands on Tam’s shoulders and shook him slightly. “Commander, wake up.”

  Tam woke up with a start. “Wha–”

  “Commander, we’re still here. The hull wasn’t breached.”

  Tam blinked and looked around. “Holy Sandee! What happened?”

  “I don’t know. I guess some missiles must have gotten through.”

  “What happened to our power?”

  Colonel Belmoht began to stir. “Ahhh . . . Oh, God. What happened?” he moaned.

  “We need to get the power back on. We’re sitting dirkbirds right now,” Rossi warned.

  “Right,” Tam said. “What do you think killed the power?”

  “Some primary connections must have been severed. I’ll get a crew together to do a visual inspection. In the meantime push that red button, over there on the center console, and the emergency power will come on. It will be enough for lights, communications, and vital sensors.”

  Tam reached over and pushed the button. The lights flickered and came on, and static came out over the com links.

  “ED1, do you read,” SQ1 said.

  “ED1, here,” Tam said.

  “Thank Sandee. I thought you were all dead in there.”

  “Not all of us. What’s the situation out there?” Tam asked.

  “What’s left of the enemy fighters have returned to their nests.”

  “Where are the attack cruisers?”

  “They’re still out there watching you.”

  “How many of your squadron are left?”

  “Only twenty-one, I’m afraid,” Lamh said.

  “Okay, we’re working on restoring our power. As soon as we do we’ll open the launching platforms so you can come back in.”

  “Affirmative. We’ll be waiting.”

  The close-range sensor began to beep. Grugger woke up suddenly and looked around. “What the—”

  “Specialist, why’s your sensor beeping?” Tam asked.

  Grugger looked at Tam like he’d never seen him before. “Huh?”

  “That sensor; it’s beeping.”

  Grugger looked down at the sensor and frowned. Then suddenly there was recognition in his eyes. “Oh, sir. Yes, sir. Ah . . . one of the attack cruisers is moving toward us.”

  “Which one?” Tam asked.

  “Signature reads Humanities Hope, sir. She’s launching her fighters, too.”

  Tam leaned into his com unit. “Rossi, any luck with that power? We’ve got an attack cruiser coming at us.”

  “We’ve found the break. Repairs underway,” Rossi replied.

  “How long? We don’t have much time.”

  “Two loons, maybe three. Stand by.”

  Tam had a sudden thought. “Hey, Rossi. Any chance we can use one of those plasma cannons you installed?”

  “If they get close enough and we have time to power up.”

  “Good, because I think that’s our only hope right now. They’re coming in for the kill.”

  “SQ1 here. Engaging enemy fighters, but I don’t think we’ll be able to hold them off too long. Better get your shields up quick.”

  “We’re trying,” Tam said. “In the meantime, give ’em hell.”

  “Bridge, we’ve almost restored the main power, but we don’t want Humanities Hope to know it,” Sincini advised. “Turn off all exterior lights before we power up.”

  “I’m on it,” Tam said. He scanned the row of lighting control buttons and killed the exteriors. Then he waited.

  The lights on the bridge flickered and then came on in their full radiance. “Power restored,” Rossi announced. “Now we need ninety tiks to power up the plasma cannons.”

  “Humanities Hope moving in, 1500 strides,” Grugger said.

  “Why is she coming in so close?” Colonel Belmoht asked. “Why not let the fighters finish us off?”

  “I think they want our ship,” Sincini suggested. “They plan to board us.”

  “Big mistake,” Tam said. “Counting down, twenty-one, twenty, nineteen . . . ”