by Ryk Brown
“It would be better if she remained here, with us,” General Telles pointed out. “Then, the captain of the Mystic will be forced to come to us.”
“Isn’t that kind of like taking them hostage?” Nathan wondered.
“I prefer to think of it as strategy,” General Telles replied.
Nathan said nothing, mulling over the general’s words. He understood the urgency of the situation, and he understood the general’s point of view. He just wasn’t sure he could do what the general was asking. The Nathan side of him could, but the part of him that was still Connor Tuplo had serious doubts.
He only hoped that the captain of the Mystic Empress would want to help.
* * *
Nathan stood atop the Seiiki’s hull, in between her gun turrets, inspecting the work Vlad and his crew had done. “This will hold?”
“Bonded and welded,” Vladimir replied. “Both inside and out. We even added a second layer, just to be safe.”
“Good.” Nathan looked at the shield emitters they had added to the sides of the turrets. “And these guys will provide additional shielding for this entire area?”
“Think of them like the flat armor plates on either side of rail guns on old naval warships,” Vladimir explained. “Except these are more of a dome shape, and the barrels penetrate the shield. Luckily, the heat exchangers for the plasma generators are aft of the shields, so the heat won’t affect the shield emitters.”
“So the gun isn’t protected, then,” Nathan surmised.
“We could expand their coverage, but that would pull more power from the weapon itself,” Vladimir warned Nathan. “Besides, the odds of scoring a direct hit on the barrels is low. The goal of this shield is to protect the gunner, not the gun.”
“Speaking as one of the likely gunners, I appreciate that,” Dalen said.
The conversation stopped, as a distant warning horn sounded, and several red strobes began to flash over the number three, port transfer airlock door.
Nathan, Vlad, and the others watched as the transfer airlock door rolled upward, and the Ghatazhak’s last surviving combat jump shuttle rolled inside the main hangar bay.
“Jessica is coming,” Vladimir said, pointing forward.
Jessica walked over to the arriving shuttle, a gear bag slung over her shoulder. Ghatazhak soldiers began stepping down out of the jump shuttle as it rolled to a stop. Words were exchanged, then Jessica and the group of soldiers headed toward the Seiiki.
“Why are they coming over here?” Dalen wondered.
Nathan sighed. “They’re coming with us.”
“I thought we were going to talk with the captain of the Mystic Empress,” Vladimir said.
Nathan turned to look at him. “They’re plan B.”
“Bozhe,” Vladimir exclaimed softly.
“You all set here?” Nathan asked, gesturing toward the work that had been done around the gun turrets.
“All sealed up, lines and conduits run through,” Vladimir replied. “We just have to hook everything up on the inside.”
“Good,” Nathan replied. “Get all your gear inside. We’re departing shortly.”
Vladimir nodded, as Nathan turned and headed down the starboard side, toward the aft access ladder along the inside edge of the starboard engine nacelle. “Let’s hope plan A works,” he mumbled, as he and Dalen began gathering up their tools.
Nathan hopped down onto the deck, then turned and headed out of the transfer airlock and into the Aurora’s main hangar bay to meet Jessica and her troops.
“Nathan,” Jessica greeted as she and her men approached. “You remember Deno Anwar?”
“I sure do,” Nathan replied, reaching out to shake the master sergeant’s hand. “I see you got promoted.”
“Good to see you again, Captain Scott,” Master Sergeant Anwar greeted him warmly.
“Sergeants Morano, and Vela; and Corporals Rossi and Rattan,” Jessica introduced quickly.
“Gentlemen,” Nathan greeted. “Aren’t squads usually eight to twelve?”
“General Telles’s idea of a low profile,” Jessica replied, as they continued toward the Seiiki.
“It would be even lower if you lost all the battle armor,” Nathan suggested.
“If we are needed, we’ll likely need our armor as well,” Jessica explained. “Mine’s in here,” she added, holding up her bag momentarily. “I’ll come along in utilities for show, while my men wait on board the Seiiki.”
“I hope we don’t need them,” Nathan said, as if he thought she needed to be reminded of the original plan.
Jessica stopped, taking Nathan’s arm to stop him as well, as the rest of her men continued toward the Seiiki. “Look, Nathan. No one wants to storm in and take the Mystic by force. But we’ll do it if we have to. You need to understand that.”
“I understand it,” Nathan replied. “And I agree that it may become necessary, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“Well, the Ghatazhak don’t always like what we have to do. We just have to live with it.”
“I envy your resolve,” Nathan admitted, as they continued toward the Seiiki.
“You know, you could use some Ghatazhak training,” Jessica suggested as they walked.
“I have enough going on inside my head right now, just trying to sort out Nathan and Connor’s memories.”
“Our training might help,” Jessica insisted.
“How is learning kick ass going to help me?”
“Our training isn’t just about combat,” Jessica explained. “There’s a lot of physical training involved, yes. But there’s also a lot of mental training, and education that goes along with it. We believe that one must have the wisdom and discipline required to correctly use the physical techniques and weapons in a safe manner.”
“And they let you in?” Nathan joked.
“Yeah, kind of a shocker, huh,” Jessica admitted. “Actually, it’s been a lot of help. I still have a long way to go—as Telles loves to point out—but I’ve made a lot of improvements. I had a lot of anger built up inside of me, because of everything we went through back then. It was making me reckless, and irresponsible.”
“I seem to remember a few episodes, yes,” Nathan agreed.
“Don’t get me wrong. I still have my moments. And I still pull some crazy stunts once in awhile. But now, I’m actually thinking them through beforehand, instead of just acting impulsively.”
“Interesting,” Nathan said, as they approached the Seiiki’s cargo ramp.
“You should give it a try,” she urged.
“I’ll think about it,” Nathan replied, as he gestured up the ramp. “Ladies first.”
* * *
After moving the jump sub to the Aurora, Deliza once again found herself staring at the sleek, black, hybrid vessel.
“So that’s a jump sub,” Yanni said.
“Yes.”
“I always imagined it bigger,” Yanni added. “I mean, this thing actually jumps, from space, into the water, right?”
“Correct.”
Yanni shook his head in disbelief. “Seems like it should be bigger.”
“Thanks for agreeing to help with this project,” Deliza said, turning to face him. “It’s been a while since we got to work together on something.”
“My pleasure,” Yanni replied. “Besides, it’s not like I had much else to do. And to be honest, it’s starting to stink a bit on the Glendanon.”
“I know, right?” Deliza sympathized.
“What do you want me to do?” Yanni asked, looking back at the jump sub.
“I want you to plug into the environmental control computer and see if we can update the software, or if we just have to scrap the entire thing and replace it.”
“Got it. How many people does it need to support, and for how long?”
“Five, maximum,” Deliza replied. “For a couple hours, tops. I’m going to work on adapting the leaching module to power the sub’s systems directly from the jump drive’s energy banks.”
“What are they going to do?” Yanni asked, pointing to the Alliance technicians who were already opening up the sub to get access to the interior.
“They’re going to yank out the old jump drive, and replace it with one of the spares for the Super Eagles, but using our heated emitters.”
“Shall we?”
Deliza took a deep breath, and started toward the sub. “All right, people! We’ve got a job to do, and it needs to be done quickly. So let’s get to it!”
Yanni smiled. Deliza had come a long way from the demure young princess who would suddenly talk your ear off once she found out someone had an interest in science. Now she was funding a rebellion, and leading its technical team.
* * *
“Ready to depart?” Nathan asked, as he passed Vladimir and Dalen in the Seiiki’s port corridor, headed forward.
“We’re ready,” Vladimir replied confidently. He waited a moment for Nathan to round the corner and head up the ladder to the cockpit, then whispered to Dalen. “You closed the gun deck hatch, da?”
“Uh…”
Vladimir’s eyes widened, gesturing urgently for him to go and check, then headed forward after Nathan.
Nathan climbed up into the Seiiki’s cockpit, taking a standing position, behind and between Josh and Loki.
“We’re all closed up and green across the board,” Josh reported.
“Transfer airlock depress cycle has already started, Captain,” Loki added.
Vladimir climbed up the access ladder, moving into the auxiliary station behind Loki, immediately calling up several systems to monitor.
“Something wrong?” Nathan wondered, noticing Vladimir’s sense of urgency.
“Nyet. I’m just watching various systems…to get an idea of their performance parameters.”
Nathan didn’t respond.
“Thirty seconds to full depress,” Loki reported.
“That’s pretty fast for this big of an airlock,” Nathan commented.
“Two minutes to full vacuum,” Vladimir boasted. “The pumps for the number two locks are the same ones that used to be for the entire hangar bay, before the flight deck rebuild.”
“How long ago was that, anyway?” Nathan wondered, as the Seiiki began to rotate to starboard inside the transfer airlock.
“Nearly three years ago,” Vladimir replied.
“Depress complete,” Loki reported. “Outer door is opening.”
“That’s when they converted the Aurora to her original design as a combat carrier,” Vladimir continued. “We were about to go in for our final refit when the Dusahn attacked the PC, and Jung ships began appearing within Alliance space in the Sol sector.”
“What was the final refit supposed to be?” Nathan asked.
“All four antimatter reactors were to be removed, and replaced with ZPED reactors.”
Nathan looked surprised. “Then they solved the problem with the ZPEDs gravity well interfering with the jump drive?”
“Not completely,” Vladimir explained. “But with proper shielding, and by running several ZPEDs at lower power, instead of one big one at higher power, the effect becomes manageable, much like with smaller ZPED-powered jump-capable ships. Plus, we would be able to run all six reactors at full power and reduce our recharge time by more than seventy percent.”
“Six ZPEDs?” Nathan said in disbelief. “They were going to put six of them into the Aurora?”
“The Cape Town has twelve of them.”
“Aurora Flight, Seiiki,” Loki called over comms. “Ready for roll out.”
“The Cape Town?” Nathan asked, unfamiliar with the ship.
“The first Protector class ship built by the Alliance,” Vladimir replied.
“Seiiki, Aurora Flight. Clear for roll out, starboard side, launch position two.”
“I’m not familiar with that class,” Nathan admitted.
“Roll out starboard side to launch position two,” Loki confirmed.
“Based on the Defender class, only bigger. Fully armored and shielded, and armed to the teeth. Plasma cannons, rail gun cannons, jump torpedoes, jump missiles, jump KKVs. She is a beast. A ship-killer to the core.” Vladimir explained.
“How big?” Nathan wondered, looking out the window as the Seiiki began to roll out of the airlock toward the opening at the back of the starboard flight deck.
“A third bigger than the Defender class,” Vladimir replied.
“What’s her jump range?”
“Same as the Aurora’s- fifteen light years. But she’s got four full energy banks, so she can clear sixty light years in five minutes time, which means she can respond to any place in the Sol sector in minutes.”
“How many does the Alliance have?” Nathan wondered.
“Just the one. Five more are in progress, but it takes five years just to build one. There are five construction bays carved into the sides of Port Terra dedicated solely to the construction of the Protector class ships,” Vladimir explained.
“Port Terra?” Nathan asked. By now, he was sitting in the jump seat behind Josh, his mind processing the new details that his friend was providing him. Undoubtedly, a lot had happened during his absence. At some point, he would need to catch up, and this seemed as good a place to start as any.
“The Karuzara asteroid,” Vladimir continued. “It was renamed Port Terra after the initial refit. They even carved out a massive cavern to hold the new Alliance headquarters.”
“Aurora Flight, Seiiki, ready starboard side, launch position two,” Loki reported over comms.
Nathan noticed that Vladimir was staring intently at his console. Curious, Nathan rose to peer over Vladimir’s shoulder. “Gun deck is holding pressure?”
“Uh… Of course,” Vladimir replied, caught off guard.
“Weren’t sure, were you?” Nathan teased.
“I never had any doubts,” Vladimir lied.
“Seiiki, Aurora Flight, cleared for departure. Safe journey.”
“Seiiki is departing starboard side, launch position two. Thanks.”
Nathan stood up, looking out the front of the Seiiki’s cockpit windows. It was the first time he was able to see the changes made to her aft flight decks since his arrival. “Holy crap,” he exclaimed in disbelief. “Look at the size of that apron,” he said, looking out the right side windows. “It wraps all the way around to the port side.”
“And the center apron goes all the way back to the drive section,” Loki pointed out.
“What about the heat exchangers?” Nathan wondered.
“The center deck is a grate, so no heat builds up underneath it,” Vladimir explained, rising up to stand beside Nathan to look out the windows as well. “You see that square in the center? That retracts, and a docking column with a cargo elevator comes up. It’s designed to dock with the underside of a standard Alliance cargo ship, or with a tanker.”
“Man, you guys have expanded the Aurora’s flight operations capabilities just a bit, haven’t you,” Nathan commented.
Josh twisted the flight control stick, causing the Seiiki to turn to the left, bringing the ship around and accelerating alongside the Aurora, parallel to her line of flight.
Nathan shifted his gaze to the left windows, taking in the forward starboard flight deck, where the forward launch tubes had once been. “You’ve got openings in the front, as well,” he realized, turning to look at Vladimir. “So, they turned the fighter alleys into flight decks?”
“Da.”
“Can you fly all the way through them? Front to back?” Nathan wondered, looking out the left window again as they passed by the forward flight deck.
“Nyet,” Vladimir replied. “They were originally intended for such, but it was decided to install the large transfer airlocks, to support large spacecraft, like our heavy shuttles, and the Cobra gunships.”
“Cobras?” Nathan asked.
“We can use the large transfer airlocks to bring them inside for repairs, if needed,” Vladimir explained. “One of the Aurora’s new roles is to support distant operations. We have quite the spacecraft repair facility below decks.”
“I see you still have the forward launch catapults.”
“For launching jump KKVs,” Vladimir replied. “The Aurora carries twelve of them. Theoretically, we could take down three or four battle platforms.”
“Seems like overkill, doesn’t it?” Nathan said.
“Until the Cape Town was launched, we were the only ship that could carry and launch such weapons, other than the dedicated boxcars that had been adapted to carry the super jump KKVs…the planet killers.”
“Damn,” Nathan said. “Galiardi isn’t gearing up to defend Earth. He’s gearing up to destroy the Jung entirely.”
* * *
Commander Maclay entered Admiral Galiardi’s office, data pad in hand. “The Tanna has missed two check-ins, Admiral.”
“Was she tracking anything?” the admiral asked. “Maybe she picked up a hot track and went stealth to track it.”
“SOPs say to drop a comm-drone on a launch delay, in which case we should have heard from her by now.”
“There could be plenty of reasons they couldn’t launch a comm-drone,” the admiral insisted. “Did you send a gunship to investigate?”
“Yes, sir. Three of them, actually. Nothing.”
“Who’s the Tanna’s CO?” Admiral Galiardi asked, trying to remember.
“That’s the thing that worries me,” Commander Maclay said. “Her skipper is Robert Nash, Jessica Nash’s older brother.”
