Darkness: Book One of the Oortian Wars

by Iain Richmond

  “I am in control, I am in the present, I am alive.”

  “Captain?”

  A battered crewman floated into his line of sight, leaping from handhold to handhold. The faltering VSV system created a surreal background. The man gripped, pulled and launched himself with one arm. Floating in front of the swirling blackness for a second and then hopping in front of the pulverized hull of the Kwan Yin and back and forth. Blackness to hull until he was only meters from Fei.

  “Captain.”

  The man wore a shredded engineer uniform, his body bloodied and swollen.

  “Engineer Koto?” Fei tried to picture the face without the damage.

  “Yes, Captain. I began surveying the Kwan Yin after the last shock wave passed.”

  Koto’s eyes looked hollow, his face swollen in directions Fei had never seen or knew were possible.

  “What is our condition, Lieutenant Koto?” Fei knew it was bad, but Koto had miraculously been able to move through the ship and obtained firsthand data.

  “The situation is dire, sir, but we live.” Koto released his grip and rubbed a heavily bandaged and immobilized arm. “We have a single stern thruster that may fire, Captain, but we need to check if we can control it.”

  “That’s a start, Koto. Survivors?” Fei stated with an edge of hope.

  Koto’s head swiveled as he surveyed the bridge. Captain Fei watched the engineer assess the carnage with a cold, knowing gaze.

  “I thought I was the last. Now there are two.”

  “Then we must continue on, Engineer Koto. This,” Fei looked to the swirling black outside the hull, “will not be the final resting place of our crew.” They exchanged a nod and began to move through the bridge.

  “I am sorry, my friend. Om Mani Padme Hum…” Captain Fei whispered the sacred mantra in perfect rhythm. His eyes tight, tears flowing as he pulled his way past the battered and unrecognizable face of Commander Zhu. He broke the mantra, “until the next life my brother, live through me for as long as I draw breath.” Fei pressed a tear-soaked cheek against Zhu’s broken chest and pushed towards the pilot station.

  Engineer Koto moved to the smashed hatch that led to the bridge. With his good hand, he opened a small panel next to it and began pulling wires.

  “Nav-system recognizes thruster.” Captain Fei continued to punch at the controls. Growing confident he looked towards the lone engineer, all that remained of his crew. “I can control it from here if you can keep the thruster firing.”

  Engineer Koto reconnected a few wires and closed the panel. “I have a lone functional COM-link from the engine room to the sensors station behind you.” Koto released his right hand and pointed towards a tiny silver case fused to the bulkhead near the hatch. “That is as close as I can get to the pilot station. Volume is maxed, best I can do.”

  “You have given us the opportunity to leave this place, Engineer Koto. We will take it and do what we can.” Fei began floating up from the pilot’s seat, reached down and tightened his harness. The NAV-station was foreign, but Fei would figure things out quickly. Koto pulled himself through the hatch with incredible speed and was off to the engine room at the stern of the Kwan Yin.

  Shadows moved past the bow of his boat, large forms swimming with purpose. Yes, they are moving through the black as whales swim in the sea. His heart pounded in his ears and sweat dripped from Fei’s forehead. I must calm my soul, he thought, heighten my senses and follow the currents. If nothing else we will die in the open, die as a warriors, as humans in the light.

  “Thruster is ready, sir.” Engineer Koto’s voice rang metallic from the small box near the sensor station.

  Another group of shadows swam passed the Kwan Yin, almost brushing her hull. They think we are dead, Fei thought, or of no significance. Good, then lead us home.

  “Can you hear me, Captain?”

  “Yes, loud and clear. Fire up the thruster, I know the way.”

  A slight tremor ran through the deck of the battered Kwan Yin and the thruster fired. Captain Yue Fei took the helm. “We follow the shadows, Koto.”

  “Overhead, Captain! Incoming!” Koto yelled from the aft of the Kwan Yin.

  Captain Fei looked up. A glowing orb closed in, moving aft of the bridge and towards amidships. “Hold on!” Fei turned the Kwan Yin hard starboard. The light from the flaming sphere burned through the black field surrounding them, the Virtual Surround Vision flickering on and off like the strobe light of the damned. Fei looked overhead and the sphere smashed into the center of the Kwan Yin.

  85

  Admiral Chen

  10th Fleet

  Admiral Chen released another rasping breath. The hologram feed on the bridge of the Qing Long displayed what every remaining crewman among the eleven surviving vessels of 10th Fleet already knew. The Oortian numbers were simply too many, and regardless of their powerful weapons, the enemy kept coming, wave after wave.

  “The Oortian forces are closing the gap, Admiral,” Commander Lee coolly stated, his brow dripping sweat. He rotated his chair to face the holo-feed in the center of the bridge. “The red one leads them. It’s different from the rest.”

  “Yama, the Oortian Admiral,” stated Chen. “Cruisers to 110 percent burn.” Chen straightened in his chair. “Push them, Commander. They must keep up with the dreadnoughts.”

  “110 percent burn,” Lee looked to the Battle-Net feed, “and holding.”

  Commander Lee now managed the Battle-Net instead of directing it. “We have a hard lock on the red Oortian and the larger vessels of the Oortian Fleet.” Lee stated.

  “They want us to fire, Commander. By now the Oortians know the range of our weapons. They move the heavy vessels forward, tempt us to fire and the moment our munitions leave their cradles…?” The admiral left the question hanging.

  “Their large vessels drop back, the Hull Pounders come up and take the brunt of it and we just wasted hundreds of missiles,” Lee finished.

  “We stand with Battle Station Pluto, soon they will—” Chen stopped, the Battle-Net acknowledged friendly forces in range, the holo-feed glowed with what looked like a spear racing toward 10th Fleet.

  “Captain Falco’s gifts have arrived.” Admiral Chen tapped his data-pad. “They should pass down the center of our formation, stop under the dreadnoughts, spread and pass through as if fired from our own vessels.” Chen raised an eyebrow. “Let’s hope the Oortians are focused on our fleet and not what’s in front of us.”

  A few minutes passed and the streaking line of 250 Data-Pods put on the breaks under the three dreadnoughts, a few meters forward of their main engines and above the eight cruisers. The holo-feed showed the spreading dots maneuver to precise locations, stop then fire off toward the chasing Oortian fleet.

  “And now we watch the thread on which our existence hangs.” Chen sat locked onto the holo-feed only meters from his station. The Data-Pods flew closer to the Oortian front wave.

  “They’re moving to intercept!” Commander Lee leaned toward his screen. “Wait. The Oortians have stopped pursuit. They are returning to their formations.” He stopped punching at his controls. “Data-Pods should pass into the bulk of the Oortian formations in three minutes.”

  Admiral Chen hit the Fleet-wide COM switch. “Did you hear that, Captain Falco?”

  “Yes, Admiral, we have adjusted the speeds of the pods for greatest collateral damage and will detonate in two minutes twenty-eight seconds. Mark.”

  At the Battle-Net station, Commander Lee quickly entered the information. Numbers appeared on the hologram, 2:28, 2:27, 2:26…

  The open-COM filled with a deep growl and Captain Falco’s voice echoed, “And Admiral, we’re here.”

  Admiral Chen tapped the Fleet-wide COM again, the light burned blue, “10th Fleet, prepare to initiate Goujian maneuver in…” Chen looked to the hologram, “… T-minus 2:17. When we come about, my Battle-Net controls the Fleet engagement.” Chen’s voice boomed, “WE FIGHT AS ONE!”

  The crew on the b
ridge of the Qing Long tightened their harnesses. A massive object entered their sensor range and a green light appeared on the hologram, moving with surprising speed towards 10th Fleet.

  Battle Station Pluto had arrived.

  86

  Captain Falco

  Battle Station Pluto

  “Slow us down, Chief!” Falco stated more calmly than he felt. He sat alone in the Pluto Room and current command center of Battle Station Pluto. It was the equivalent of a bunker in the innards of the structure. Falco would remain here as long as he could or until the fighting forced him to command on the run. His officers were placed in key areas with key responsibilities and soon the chaos of battle would begin.

  The hologram floating in the center of the massive table showed 10th Fleet growing in detail as the station approached. The Oortian forces were now coming into focus. The sight of what Falco and 10th Fleet were fighting was out of a child’s nightmare.

  Waves of small black-glistening ‘creatures’ the size of data pods clustered around squid-like things that again clustered around whale-sized ships… All powered by single engines that left a trail of black mist hanging behind them and fusing into a greasy cloud. Behind this wave were vast spheres of light and other things soon to come into focus. And then there was the leader – Falco called it, Yama. It moved between the Oortian vessels, never staying in the open, always in motion and always using the other Oortians as screens. Like a sniper, Falco thought.

  Above the holo-feed, a clock showed :32, :31, :30.

  “Lieutenant Wallace!” Chief Tenzin’s voice sounded over the shared COM, “Full retro burn, NOW!"

  Falco readjusted his harness. The slightest push moved through the Pluto Room, a resistance to their forward progress. Lieutenant Wallace was posted in the Anam Cara in Station Pluto’s private bay and had just engaged her main engine in reverse. Probably firing her bow thruster also, Falco thought and hoped her grav-locks held or the Anam Cara would be shot out of the private bay like a rocket.

  :10, :09, :08…

  “Chief, good enough!” Falco tapped on his data-pad. Two hundred fifty green dots deep within the Oortian waves and heading toward their black field came to full stop. Thousands of Oortian hull pounders changed course and burned toward them.

  “Too late,” Falco whispered.

  Three dreadnoughts and eight cruisers angled their bow thrusters and ignited them in unison while shutting down their main engines. Falco watched the hologram, fascinated at the brilliance and insanity of Admiral Chen’s Goujian maneuver. Eleven boats flipped bow over stern, leaving enough room in center for Battle Station Pluto to slide in with the dreadnoughts above and the cruisers below.

  :02, :01…

  Two hundred and fifty Data Pods erupted in a popping chain of fire that flashed, turned black and was replaced by streaking red-hot chunks of lead cutting into the Oortian forces. Missiles coordinated by Chen’s Battle-Net spewed from every cradle of the eleven boats.

  Falco waited for a few seconds for the Fleet’s missiles to lock on targets then gave the order. “Battle-Cubes, FIRE!” Crews manning Battle-Cubes facing the Oortian's unleashed their Javelin missiles. “Rail guns, target the spheres, FIRE!”

  Lead slugs flew off their rails, belched from the top and bottom of Battle Station Pluto. The deadly rounds ignoring 10th Fleet’s chasing missiles and dying Oortian Hull Pounders, squids and whales and hammering the massive spheres behind them.

  Falco’s holo-feed looked like the remnants from fireworks, falling in beautiful, burning, colorful lines in the night’s sky. Thousands of Oortians were destroyed or dying. Like wounded beasts, they crawled through space, some trailing pieces behind them, but they kept coming toward 10th Fleet.

  Another wave of missiles flew from the Fleet; the greasy cloud of Oortian exhaust hung and grew with each Oortian death. Falco’s holo-feed darkened in the center, missiles skirted around the mass, loosing their target locks and searching for new ones. The cloud continued to grow with each Oortian’s destruction.

  “No. Jesus, oh no.” Falco opened a direct COM to Admiral Chen. “They’re creating another camouflaging field with their dead!” Falco’s holo-feed filled with a thousand blurs moving toward its middle. It was like looking down at a frenzied ant colony attacking a spider at its center. The hologram went dark except the outer edges where the chasing embers of missiles searched for Oortian targets.

  A ripple formed in the center of the new black field. “Rail guns, fire at the center! FIRE!” Falco shouted.

  The rail guns adjusted their firing line. Slugs sliced through the center of the small dark field that hung only a few klicks in front of 10th Fleet and Battle Station Pluto.

  “Bow thrusters, Captain.” Chen’s voice sounded in Falco’s personal COM. “We must create space—”

  An Oortian sphere the size of a cruiser blasted out of the center of the ripple. Its bulk blazed with swirling energy and flew toward Admiral Chen’s command ship. Missiles hammered the sphere and slugs from the rail guns pierced its fleshy layers and still it raged forward. Another sphere burst through behind it, using the first as a shield.

  Missiles continued pounding it, but the Oortians were too close, moving too fast. Bow thrusters lit the front of 10th Fleet’s boats and Battle Station Pluto was already moving back. The first sphere exploded like an erupting volcano a few hundred meters from the Qing Long. Only this volcano aimed its lava behind it. The chunks of molten debris showered the one following it which simply added the mass to its own and shot forward.

  The remaining sphere slowed its pace as it neared Admiral Chen’s dreadnought, burned translucent, its interior filled with smaller orbs like fish eggs.

  Aboard Battle Station Pluto, Captain Falco continued to give orders through his personal COM to his crew. He zoomed in on the glowing Oortian sphere, its pace slowing.

  “Hull Pounders!” He tapped into the Fleet-wide COM. “Arm yourselves, prepare to repel—”

  The sphere exploded like a mammoth shotgun blast at close range and thousands of Hull Pounders tore into 10th Fleet and Battle Station Pluto with the bulk of the Oortians focused on Admiral Chen’s dreadnought. Concussion rounds from M40 combat shotguns and small arms fire sounded over the Fleet-wide COM and within Battle Station Pluto. Falco punched his personal code into the compartment under his seat. A drawer slid open and he grabbed the small, stout shotgun and two ammo belts before tapping his personal COM.

  “Battle Station Pluto, this is Captain Falco, man your stations, do your duty, repel Oortian borders.” He switched to his officer COM. “I’m on the move. Commander Shar’ran you’ve got the Battle-Cubes, Chief Tenzin keep us moving and keep those rail guns firing on the biggest Oortian targets. Lieutenant Wallace, prep Anam Cara for takeoff. Ensign Holts, keep the ammo coming to the Cubes and Rail Guns.” Falco’s lungs burned, but he kept moving toward the sound of gunfire. “Officers! If I fall, next in line according to rank.”

  The bulkhead to Falco’s right disintegrated. A Hull Pounder covered in blood punched through and slammed into the bulkhead to his left and lodged in layers of plastic. Falco dropped to a knee, slung the M40 toward the Oortian just as it ignited its engine and blasted down the corridor in a smoky-haze and stuck its armored top into the overhead. Fleshy appendages dangled from above, exhaust sputtering from an orifice buried somewhere in its glistening limbs.

  Falco sprinted up, slid onto his back and pumped three rounds into it. The Hull Pounder stopped moving. Falco stood, prodded the hanging corpse with the barrel. Everything but the armored head was now jelly.

  Station Pluto shook violently. Falco slammed into a hatch, his body a full meter off the deck and slumped to the floor, stunned and dazed. Something warm and wet moved under his uniform and pooled by his elbow. The left arm of his Med-suit tightened, he felt a needle prick, ‘SNAP.’

  “FUCK!” Falco screamed, the sharp pain awakening his senses, grounding him in the moment. His left arm straightened from its awkward angle, the rings
of the med-suit fiercely gripping his numbing bicep.

  “Captain!” The COM in his ear sounded again followed by wet, popping sounds, “Falco!” Definitely Shar’ran, he felt the mental haze lifting.

  Battle Station Pluto shook again, less violently, but still teeth rattling.

  “Yes, Commander, what the hell was—”

  “Qing Long is gone, Admiral is dead, dreadnoughts destroyed. What’s left of the Fleet is heavily damaged!” Commander Shar'ran took a deep, rattling breath. “Most of the Hull Pounders were different this time, breached the hulls then exploded like frag-mines, knew right where to hit us. Station is damaged, only a handful of Battle-Cubes left…” Muffled blasts sounded in the background. “…We’ve cleared the Oortians we could find that didn’t exploded on impact.”

  “Hold on, Commander!”

  Falco grabbed his shotgun and ran to the nearest holo-feed. Blood dripped from the fingers of his left hand, but his Med-suit did its job. The bone in his arm was set and the pain meds were flowing together with the right amount of adrenalin to keep him upright. He punched in his command code and a hologram appeared from the bulkhead feed.

  He spun the glowing image of the Space Station and zoomed toward the Oortian front. Pieces of dreadnoughts and cruisers floated in front, mixed with thousands of dead Oortians, humans and a sea of frozen parts entombed in repair epoxy. The smaller, dark field was dissipating, but the damage was done.

  Three damaged cruisers and Battle Station Pluto was all that remained of the mighty 10th Fleet. There were no signs of living Oortians. Falco opened the Fleet-wide COM. Clicks mixed with static filled his ear. The COM-Sats were down. Of course, he thought, the Oortians target them first. Falco switched to Station Pluto’s local COM, the equivalent of ship-to-ship WIFI and hoped they vessels were close enough. “Officer report, cruisers first!”