by T. R. Harris
He ordered Kaylor not to enter the system, but rather to sweep to port and circle the system over to the Volseen Corridor side. It was in this region where Adam last knew the Kracori fleet to be on station.
“I have new contacts, Adam,” Jym reported.
“Where?”
“Below us and definitely vectoring in. Strong sigs; military craft without a doubt.”
Adam had wondered if they were being tracked through the minefields. It wouldn’t have taken much to do so. Tiny, passive monitors would have seen them come and go and then reported the course back to Elision. He was actually surprised the intercept units had not appeared before they reached the system; an indicator of a smaller, damaged fleet?
Five minutes later, he had his answer.
By then the pilothouse of the Pegasus was packed with all the inhabitants of the ship. “Holy crap! That’s a full fleet,” Andy Tobias exclaimed.
The long-range tracking screen was displaying a near solid line of contacts at the extreme range of their detectors. The computers were already analyzing the data and counting ships.
“Over three thousand,” Jym reported in a concerned voice.
“Any debris, any intermittent or weakened grav-sigs?” Adam asked, hope evident in his tone.
“None; this is an intact fleet, undamaged and ready for battle.”
“Send it, Jym. Get this to the fleet.”
“Yes sir.” Even Jym had taken to Human military protocol.
“I have a new spread of ships,” Ruszel cried out as Jym moved to the comm station to send the report to Admiral Nash. “Many spreads now. They are moving to block our progress.”
“Everyone not already strapped in, do so now!” Adam commanded.
“I have a CW-link coming in, Adam.”
“Put it on speaker—”
“It is not from your fleet.”
Adam craned his neck in Trimen’s direction. “It’s not, from where then?”
“Elision.”
“Our link was open? Shit!”
“Sorry, Adam, I was not aware to do otherwise,” Trimen said.
“It’s not your fault, Trimen. Go ahead and open the link.”
“Is that you, Adam Cain, back for another attempt to thwart the Kracori war effort?”
Adam elected to keep the link on audio only. He had no desire to look into the face of Langril Nomar Polimic again.
“In the flesh, Nomar. How are things down in your capital complex? I can recommend a good rehab contractor if you need one.”
“I assume that is some kind of witticism, now lost in translation. And still you keep trying. Nonetheless, I suppose you have come back to find out what happened to the glorious battle that was about to take place, just before you made your reckless and crude escape.”
“It worked; we escaped.”
“For now you are free. We shall see what the next few minutes will bring.”
“Speaking of that, can you get to the point? I’m a little busy right about now.”
“Of course you are. Now that your fleet has been discovered by the Juireans—and your fleet has discovered them—I assume you have much work to do, preparing for a battle against two full-strength fleets.”
“They reported this to you?”
“Yes, that is what allies do.”
Adam’s stomach tightened. “How the hell did you pull that one off?”
“I detect a question there, even with some rather odd phrasing, as usual. But if you must know, the Juireans have decided that it is the Humans who pose the greatest threat to them and not the Kracori, so we had common ground on which to build an agreement.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“Ah, that phrase again. It is no bullshit, Adam Cain. And now with your fleet trapped inside the Dysion Void, it will be the Humans who shall all die this day. And how you did gloat over the demise of the Kracori. Our Legend will survive—in fact grow—now that this alliance has been formed. And your world will lie open and vulnerable to the combined forces of the Kracori and the Juireans.”
Jym had returned to his station and was now waving his stubby arms emphatically. Adam motioned for him to transfer his screen to the main forward monitor. Now Adam saw the reason for Jym’s concern.
The vectoring units had now closed on the Pegasus, as Kaylor had slowed the ship as it approached the wide cone of starships spreading out in front of it. The six ships closing on them were now moving into attack formation; they would be opening fire very soon.
“Listen, Nomar, it’s been fun chatting with you, but I really have to go. But one last thing for you to ponder as the events unfold over the next few days.”
“What is that?”
“It’s not over until the fat lady sings.”
“That comment makes no sense, even in translation, Adam Cain.”
“And that is why you’re going to lose, asshole.”
Adam nodded and Trimen cut the link.
“Prepare to come about, Kaylor. We’ll have a better chance going against six Kracori than two hundred.”
Kaylor turned to face Adam, a near-panicked and frightened look on his face. “I am afraid to ask, but what does prepare to come about mean?”
Adam merely smiled. “It means get ready to turn around. We’re heading back the other way. And Jym, help Trimen take the recording of the conversation with Nomar and send it to the fleet.”
“Captain, what would you like the rest of us to do?” Admiral Tobias asked.
“Get Riyad on the weapons. He’s done a lot of firing of flash-cannon in his day. You can hang with him and offer your technical advice. Sherri and the Chief—just hold on. I’ll have us out of here in no time. Bring us abo—turn the ship, Kaylor, back the way we came.”
********
Vice-Commander Wic Zimorin watched as the target ship made a tight loop in front of the spread of warships fanned out from the main fleet.
“Prepare for a blanket salvo,” Wic ordered. “This ship is fast, so we must anticipate its actions before they occur. Fire on my command.”
The alien ship had now completed its turn and was heading directly for VC Wic and his squadron. At the speed they were approaching, he would have to fire his flash-cannon long before he would have under normal circumstance. Which was....
“Fire!”
The massive electric-blue bolts shot out of three locations on each on the six ships, creating a spread of eighteen deadly, roiling balls of energy covering a wide area of space between them and the alien spacecraft. The craft took evasive maneuvers, yet it was still buffeted by the explosions that took place at the end of the bolts’ target range.
And then the alien opened fire. The bolts from this craft were not as wide or as powerful as those from the Kracori warships, yet they seemed to be very intense for their size and were extremely accurate. Two of Wic’s ships took direct hits on their shields, which were overloaded and went down briefly. And then, almost as if it had been anticipated, two more bolts shot out from the alien craft even before the shields failed on his. They aimed directly at Wic’s ships with the temporarily damaged shields ... and the Kracori commander sat in stunned silence as he saw two of his six ships disappear from the active monitor.
With a boiling anger, Wic and the surviving four ships sent out two more rapid salvos at the alien vessel, yet because of the unbelievable speed of his opponent, only two of the twenty-four bolts struck the vessel. As luck would have it, these two strikes were enough to cause a marked decrease in the speed of the craft.
Yet it could still fight. The next barrage released from the enemy took out another of Wic’s ships, however, when it lined up for another shot, nothing happened.
Immediately, the alien craft began to make radical course corrections attempting to avoid a lock-on by Wic’s weapons batteries. He smiled. The weapons were down on the alien spacecraft; all they had left was their speed and maneuverability, and the speed had suffered as a result of Wic’s prior salvos.
Mirroring the screens from the ships on his flanks, Vice-Commander Wic took control of the weapons aboard all three ships and prepared to send a battle-ending barrage of hot energy right into the mouth of the enemy. He personally gripped the fire control button and began to squeeze.
Just then he heard a loud clang and felt a reverberation move from the rear of his ship to the forward section. He looked to his executive officer.
“Something has just attached itself to our hull. It could be—”
********
Chief Rutledge lay on the deck with a serious amount of blood escaping from his head. Sherri knelt over him applying pressure to the wound. Tobias and Trimen manned fire extinguishers, trying to damper the electrical fire that had started near the comm station, and the pilothouse was clouded with smoke, making Adam’s view of the forward tactical screen nearly impossible to see.
They were running out of options, and with three focusing rings offline, speed was one of them.
Just then a tiny flash appeared off in the distance through the glass viewport. Adam squinted at the tac screen to see if a series of new bolt-tracks were emanating from the alien spaceships. There were none, and the more he looked at the screen, the more he became confused. The middle ship of the three aligned against them was now gone, and the other two were drifting slowly away to either side, their grav-sigs barely registering.
Not one to question good fortune for more than a moment, Adam ordered Kaylor to proceed at their best possible speed directly toward where the three craft had once been positioned. Even with three rings down, the Pegasus should still be able to stay ahead of the pursuing elements of the main Kracori fleet, assuming no other units moved in to cut off their escape route.
“What happened?” Ruszel shouted from the nav station. “I registered a massive explosion in the middle of their formation.”
“We’ll figure that out later,” Adam said. “Right now, make sure we’re clear of all hostiles—and get us out of here as fast as possible.”
“Yes Adam Cain,” Ruszel said, a loud cough escaping his lungs as the room continued to fill with the excess smoke that was unable to be drawn away by the ship’s emergency ventilation system.
Adam looked around at the scene of controlled disorder. That’s when his eyes fell upon Master Chief Geoffrey Rutledge. He unbuckled and ran to his side. There were tears actively flowing down Sherri’s cheeks as she held a blood-soaked bandage against the head of the ex-Navy SEAL.
Adam pressed his fingers against the carotid artery of the Chief’s bloody neck, shifting his fingers several times, all with the same results. The pulse was gone.
And so was Geoffrey Rutledge.
********
Operator Kelsum’s pulse was racing; it soared to an almost unbelievable level when Lead-Commander Ioniff stalked up to his station.
“What happened?” The LC’s voice was a high-pitched squeal, causing all eyes in the room to turn toward him.
“Apparently the pursuing spacecraft moved into the path of the mine, and once it caught up to the battle, it attached itself to a friendly vessel.”
“Could you not deactivate it?”
“It all happened so suddenly, my Ludif.”
“Ludif? I am not your Ludif—not now. You are relieved, Operator Kelsum, and are to report yourself to Command for disciplinary actions.”
“This was unanticipated, my Lud—Lead-Commander Ioniff.”
“That is why you must submit yourself; you should have anticipated such an outcome. And now the alien has escaped, and it will be I who will be held responsible as your lead—along with you, Operator Kelsum!”
********
“We have ships closing on us from in-system!” Jym cried out.
“Have any of you replaced focusing rings before,” Adam asked of all in the pilothouse. Kaylor and Ruszel said they had. “The two of you get to work. We need at least two more operating to get us out of this mess. I’ll take over the stick. Andy and Riyad, take the Chief to the landing bay and put him someplace safe.”
“Safe?” Sherri queried.
“I don’t want his body flying around if it gets rough. Sherri, can you clean up some of the blood?”
“In this light gravity I can help carry him. Why is it that the woman has to do the cleaning?” Sherri added.
Adam slipped into the pilotseat as he felt his anger growing. “I don’t have time for your insecurities at the moment, Sherri. You and Riyad take the body then. Andy would be more valuable on the bridge anyway. Stay in the damn landing bay if you want. That would be fine with me.”
“Is this because of what you saw in the hallway?”
“Dammit, Sherri, we’re fighting for our lives here. Just do what I say!”
“Aye, fucking, aye, sir!”
Riyad took hold of Sherri’s elbow. “Help me with Geoffrey,” he said gently. Sherri broke her fierce gaze from the back of Adam’s head. “Fine. I’ve had about as much of that jerk as I can stand.”
Kaylor and Ruszel had been frozen in inaction as the argument between the two Humans raged. Adam noticed them still in the pilothouse. “Get to work you two! Admiral, take Ruszel’s seat.”
“Yes sir.” Rear Admiral Andy Tobias said to Captain Adam Cain. Soon the pilothouse was five bodies lighter.
“Damn bitc—”
“More incoming!” Jym reported. “Transferring screen.”
Indeed, it appeared as though the whole of the Kracori military apparatus was after them. Undoubtedly the Langril had received the report of Adam’s survival—once again—and had gone berserk. Every Kracori spaceship in the area, be it military or not, had been ordered to pursue or contain. With the burst transmission already sent to the fleet containing all the intel regarding the Kracori fleet, this new action against them was strictly out of vengeance on Nomar’s part. It seemed he would go to any measures to see Adam dead.
Their original line of approach had been effectively cut off, so Adam spun the Pegasus to starboard and climbed high above the ecliptic. There were fewer ships here—at least for the moment. Yet without at least another focusing ring or two working, it was inevitable that some Kracori units would gain the angle on them.
Even though five rings were still functioning—compared to three in a traditional array—without them working in unison, the Pegasus was only slightly faster than the fleet units in a dead sprint. And another item weighing heavy on Adam’s mind was his personal experience with replacing focusing rings from the interior of a starship. It wasn’t the easiest of tasks to perform. But Kaylor and Ruszel were experienced pilots, with many more years of experience than Adam. If anyone could perform a ring replacement in record time, it would be those two. At least that’s what Adam kept chanting to himself.
Chapter 42
“My Pleabaen, the Humans have broken off their pursuit of the pods.”
“They have ... why?”
“It appears the Juireans have located the Human fleet and they changed course in response. It appears as though a major engagement is about to begin.” Even the young Klin messenger could see the possibilities, as evidenced by his slender smile and jovial tone of voice.
Velsum lifted a datapad and pulled up a graphic displaying this section of the Dysion Void. “Have Senior Fellow Huriniss proceed to the rendezvous point at maximum speed, yet have him first lead the Juireans back to the Humans as he does so. It would appear the Juireans are following Huriniss’ every move. If there is a conflict to begin, then let us hasten its arrival. We are approaching the Shield at this moment, so there is hope that his pods can still reach the breach as the combatants make battle.”
“That would be magnificent, my Pleabaen.”
“Indeed. I had already accepted their sacrifice. This is a great relief—for all of us.”
Chapter 43
“This is unfucking believable!” Fleet Commander Nash yelled. He was known for his calm manner and iron nerves, yet the transcript he had just read sent him over the top. He was in the st
rategic planning room just off the CIC aboard The Trident, his senior staff gathered around him.
“Why on earth would the Juireans and the Kracori unite against us? We are not at war with the Juireans—and it wasn’t us who dropped a rock on their precious Juir. This doesn’t make any sense.”
“And yet it’s now confirmed that both fleets are still intact—and with the Juireans apparently out trolling for us,” said Commander Gordon Henley, the fleet’s intelligence officer. “Combined, we’re looking at over eighty-five hundred enemy combatants.”
There was a profound sense of disappointment in the room, not from a fear of defeat, but rather from the growing possibility of a retreat. They had come such a long way on a mission to avenge the deaths of so many, that to now tuck tail and run would be a sickening embarrassment. And yet all in the room were pragmatists as well. The integrity of the fleet had to be maintained.
“What’s the latest on the Juireans?” Nash asked, his tone more even now after his outburst.
“The Juireans are doing a good job of knocking out our drones, yet we do have some intel that indicates no significant change of course, Admiral,” Commander Henley replied.
“Then they haven’t noticed our change of course, not yet?”
“We’re still fighting off multiple drones ourselves, Admiral, but at the outer markers. That’s good, but we can’t be sure. As far as we know, the Juireans are still tracking the Klin ships.”
Nash grinned, a gesture not matched by the sadness in his eyes. “Maybe they consider the Klin a more valuable prize. Besides, with the Kracori and Nebula forces guarding the Corridor, they may think they have us trapped in the Void and can dispose of us whenever they feel like it. What’s the update on Cain and the Pegasus? I can only give him so much time to return to the fleet before we high-tail it out of here.”
There it is, Nash thought. I said it. But what option do I have? We can’t go up against over eighty-five hundred ships, even with the Cain Drive. What an incredible waste of time this has been....
