The Battle for the Solar System (Complete Trilogy)

by Sweeney, Stephen

  “We should make a start, anyway. I’ll get a status on any ongoing efforts to do so,” Jenkins said. “But the clock is against us and things could take longer than just twenty-four hours.”

  “What else do we have that would pack enough punch?” Kelly asked.

  “Another ship?” Dodds said.

  “We’ve already discussed that. Nothing sizeable is getting anywhere near that battleship,” Parks reiterated. “Dragon would just turn two or three accelerators on it and that’d be it.”

  “A torpedo?” Kelly ventured.

  “Not powerful enough,” Jenkins said. “At best, you’re looking at rupturing the hull. Torpedoes deal a good deal of damage to mid-size and large vessels, but something the size of Dragon would require several, even on the inside.”

  “There’s no doubt in my mind that the explosive force of two dozen or so torpedoes would do the job just fine,” Meyers said.

  “That would affect the number of offensive armaments we could direct at the Enemy’s capital ships,” Parks said.

  “At this point it’s not as though we have much of a choice,” Jenkins stated, quite reluctantly. “So long as we could get it aboard, a single nuke would’ve been enough to eliminate Dragon, and we’d have had enough left over to give us at least a slight fighting chance against the rest of the Pandoran navy. We already know what a difference just a few torpedoes can make against their larger warships. But now we’ll have to work with a severely reduced offensive unit. I won’t lie, people – there’s a good chance that even if we take down Dragon, the Enemy could still overrun us.”

  “And we have no experimental weapons of any sort that might make a good replacement for our missing nukes?” Dodds said. “Surely there was something that has been cooked up in a lab somewhere?”

  “None that I know of,” Jenkins answered. “It’s nukes, accelerators and torpedoes, in that order. After that, we’re down to missiles, rockets, plasma, particle cannons, and our bare hands.”

  “What about the prototype TSB?” Natalia asked, after a brief period of silence.

  “The what?” Dodds said.

  “The prototype for the Tachyon Star Bombs,” Natalia said. “It was created to prove the construction theory, but was never actually used. It’s allegedly fully functional, just not nearly as powerful as the final builds.”

  “How limited was it?” Dodds pressed.

  “As far as I know, the spread wasn’t as wide as they wanted and the blasts were also far more concentrated.”

  “But it would work,” Dodds asserted, looking confidently around the other faces gathered at the table. “And if it’s got that skip drive that the real ones had, we could simply fire it directly into Dragon from here. Can’t see any reason why not?”

  “How about because we don’t know where it is?” Parks said.

  “The skip drive?”

  “No, the whole thing. We wanted to use the prototype during Black Widow, to increase the effective range of the nukes by way of the energy parcelling. It had the potential to shatter more of the asteroids and have a larger impact on the enemy forces. Using it would’ve meant that we could’ve cut down significantly on the number of warheads we employed.”

  “How have we managed to lose it?” Estelle asked.

  “It was actually stored away for safe keeping, and shipped to a secure location on a former Gloucester Enterprises vessel.”

  All eyes turned to Kelly, as if expecting the woman to supply some kind of answer to their dilemma, or pull the device itself out from under her seat. She met each pair of eyes in turn, but said nothing.

  “We need to find a solution, people, time is short,” Jenkins said. “We have …” she looked at the screen that was still displaying the overview of Sol and the various positions of Dragon’s assault point, “… God only knows how long before the Enemy decide to make their final move. It might be within the next few hours or it might not be for a week. Whatever it is, it’s not long. Let’s get down to it.”

  *

  The meeting continued for several more hours, without a resolution, whereupon Jenkins adjourned it and the teams retired to their quarters to rest.

  XVI

  — Together Once Again —

  An excerpt from A GIFT FROM THE GODS by Kelly Taylor

  24th August 2622

  I lost my immediate family on Saturday, 24th August 2622, around 5am local time, during the evacuation of the Rex system, where Chaz Koonan once worked as an interplanetary shuttle pilot. The last time I spoke to my father, mother and sisters was on that same day. I had been part of the team that had been sent to aid with the safe evacuation of the system.

  My family, including both Susan and Gemma’s fiancés, were together on a private liner, Calypso’s Fancy, along with a number of close friends, staff and bodyguards. I remember at the time being grateful that they had managed to secure a vessel all to themselves. Public transports were available, but my father would not have taken the risk, as the family’s wealth and social standing could have endangered them. It wasn’t uncommon for desperate people to kidnap those who were well-known and demand ransoms. Mostly, such ransoms came in the form of safe passage, although some bartered for weaponry and supplies. On one occasion, someone demanded money. No one can understand why they did this, as currency had become near worthless. The ransom was paid quickly, as though it were nothing more than a barrel of water.

  The original intention of everyone stationed at Rex had been to jump to Gabriel. This became impossible when the Pandoran attack against the system effectively cut off that escape route for many people. A new route had to be found and everything reorganised, causing a delay. It could well have been the Pandorans’ intention to upset the evacuation process and throw us into disarray.

  It should have been easy – everything had already been put in place, the schedule was set and the resources had been allocated. The destination for many was Ecuador Minor; my own family bartering their way to Sol. The only thing that hadn’t been planned for was a surprise invasion by the Enemy. A single frigate, The North-South Divide, jumped into the system, accompanied by approximately three hundred fighters, of multiple configurations. Against such odds, we had stood no chance and were completely overwhelmed.

  As the fighters poured towards the space station, bombing the platforms and taking out the launch tunnels, I stuck close to the Calypso’s Fancy, doing what I could to drive the fighters off. It wasn’t enough. Before they had time to engage their jump drive and flee the system I saw two missiles hit the Fancy. The first blast completely wiped out the simple shielding it had. The second almost destroyed the ship. Following that, three Mantises set upon the liner like a pack of wild animals, ripping it to pieces in a matter of seconds. Maybe they attacked it so ferociously, just because of how strongly I was attempting to defend it.

  I don’t remember much of what happened for the remainder of the battle. After the horrific loss of my whole family, I went wild. I abandoned my main duty of attempting to protect shuttles and other transports still heading for the gate and began gunning down everything I saw. I dispensed all my missiles in under a minute; not seeing where half of them went, just that they had hit enemy targets. I then powered towards The North-South Divide, bringing my plasma accelerator online and aiming for its bridge. My aim was off, spoilt by burst cannons directed at me to throw off my advance; not that it really needed it – tears already doing an adequate job of that all by themselves. I ended up carving a large section out of its starboard side, pumping plasma cannon fire into the interior and attempting to loose off non-existent missiles before the frigate made an emergency jump out of the system. A number of its defending starfighters went with it, leaving me to finish off the rest. I did so – I don’t remember how long it took me. I recall being ordered a number of times by Commodore Mandeep to stand down and pull back. I completely ignored those orders, not stopping until there wasn’t a single enemy remaining.

  After the invading forces had been
driven off, I remained where I was in my fighter, staring at the void where my family had once been. I finally powered down my weapons and allowed myself to be towed back to Talos, doing little else but sobbing the whole way.

  Subsequently, after a psychological assessment, I was suspended from duty for one week on the advice of doctors. They initially suggested I be taken off the field for one month, but senior command objected heavily. Estelle and I were the only ATAF pilots in the inner Confederate systems. Losing one would be a major blow to the war effort. Though apparently there were several volunteers ready to step in and take up the mantle, their offers were all rejected. Given how people had begun hijacking starships, betraying their friends and comrades, and even stealing powerful armaments, charging any one else with the duty of an ATAF could have been dangerous.

  It took me six months to accept that my family were gone. I now understood fully the suffering of so many people in the galaxy; why some chose to take their own lives and bring their misery to an end. I, too, considered suicide. After that day there was only one person left in my life who mattered – and he was several thousand light years away.

  *

  Kelly lay on her side, studying the walls of her quarters, letting her mind tick over idly as she took in the cracks and the flaking paint, picking out the random patterns she could see emerging there. The room was bigger than the one she had been brought to initially. This was a double room, in a different part of the station. With its en-suite shower, toilet and other furnishings, it felt more like a hotel room than a naval stateroom. It was like being back at Gabriel again. Fort Dyas had provided incredible accommodation for a military base – one benefit of being posted to such an affluent member of the Confederacy. It was all dust now.

  Enrique, lying next to her, sniffed and she saw him dabbing at a wetness around his eyes. He was still weeping – the flood had come just after the end of the meeting.

  “Definitely caught a cold on Kethlan,” Enrique said.

  Kelly smiled sadly to herself, continuing to hold Enrique’s hand, but not rolling over to face him. “I’m not going to judge you for crying,” she said. “It’s only human; we’ve all done our fair share over the years.”

  “Question for you,” Enrique then asked, after a moment of silence.

  “Hmm?” she replied.

  “Your journals – why have you started to write them as if they’re a memoir?”

  “It’s just what I started doing after you, Dodds and Chaz left with Parks, to go to Imperial space. It just felt more appropriate.”

  “Because whenever I read them now, it feels like you’re accepting defeat,” Enrique said. “It’s like your chronicling the final years of the human race.”

  Kelly was glad that he couldn’t see her face just then. She forced a smile, in case he were to lean over unexpectedly. “It was my mother who suggested that I write it like that,” she said. “It would come across as more sophisticated, sort of historical, she reckoned, something you would read if you were interested in studying the period.”

  “Optimistic as always,” Enrique said. “That’s what I love best about you.”

  “Do you ever miss your family?” Kelly suddenly asked, not taking her eyes off the wall. Enrique seemed a little puzzled by the question. It had been abrupt, Kelly admitted.

  “Not really,” Enrique answered, a little absently.

  “Never?”

  “Never.”

  “How come?” Kelly said, finally looking in his direction. He hadn’t greyed as much as Dodds had, his blond hair masking the wisps of white strands that might have emerged during the three years they had spent apart. He had lost tone, though, a result perhaps of not having eaten so well in the past few months, as well as not exercising as much as he used to. Maybe it was because he’d lost enthusiasm. But then again, it could be age.

  “It’s difficult to explain,” Enrique said. “I can’t really remember them.”

  “Not at all?”

  “I remember a few bits and pieces, but I was eight when the accident happened. After that, it was just me and my grandfather, so I never really had a family. Actually, if I’m honest, the navy has sort of become my family. You, Dodds, Estelle, and I guess now, Chaz, are all very close to me.”

  “And Parks is Dad,” Kelly smiled, sadly.

  “Does that make Mandeep our mum?” Enrique asked.

  “Step-mum.”

  They chuckled, and Enrique cuddled her tightly to him. The joy of it left Kelly quickly, however. She truly missed her real father. The thought of the last thing that she had ever promised her family – that she would protect them so that they could get to safety – kept invading her mind. She pushed it aside as quickly as possible, lest it reduce her to tears.

  “Funny how things go,” Enrique said. “Parks is now married to a woman he met at a dinner party one night when he was meant to have been making strategic decisions about how to deal with a major problem.”

  “Guess he decided to deal with the major problem of being an eternal bachelor, first,” Kelly said.

  “That family’s going to be expanding soon, too,” Enrique added.

  “Huh?” Kelly said, sitting up a bit. “Is Sima pregnant?” How would that be possible? They’d not seen one another for three years.

  “No, no. They’re adopting,” Enrique said. “Didn’t you know?”

  “No,” Kelly said, lying back down and rearranging the bedsheets a little. “First I’ve heard of it. It’s nice that they are looking to get a family started.”

  “Hmm,” Enrique murmured. “Are you missing yours?” he asked after a time.

  “Yes,” Kelly said. “I think about them all the time.”

  “In that case, what you need to remember is that they’d never want you to be unhappy, and would be very proud of everything that you’ve done.”

  The sadness in her voice must have been all too obvious. Kelly blinked, feeling a little damp around her eyes. Don’t, she told herself. Think happy, positive thoughts. However hard it was. “Does it get easier?” she asked.

  “It does,” Enrique assured her. “Time’s a good healer.”

  So she’d heard. Hopefully there would be plenty of that to come. Positive thoughts – she was good at encouraging those in others. “Hey,” she said, changing the subject, “you know what I was thinking of doing once this is all over?”

  Enrique chuckled. “Wow, you are being optimistic today, aren’t you?”

  “No, really,” Kelly said, patting him on the chest to make him take her seriously. “I’ve always fancied working at a ski resort.”

  “As a chalet girl?” Enrique teased.

  “Sure, why not? I’d look after everyone, make sure they had what they needed, make sure they were kept happy and entertained. Cook for them …”

  “Cook for them? Kelly, let’s not kid ourselves – you’re probably the worst cook I know.”

  “Oh, thanks,” Kelly said. It was true, though. She could probably burn cornflakes. In fact, she was certain that she had at some point in her life. Hot milk, microwave, other things in the bowl … Best not to go there. “Actually, perhaps something more along the lines of an instructor or a rep, or something like that. I’d like to do a season in one place, really get involved in all of that. Have you ever skied?”

  “No,” Enrique said. “In fact, I barely ever saw snow until recently.”

  “Really?”

  “Uh huh.”

  “When?”

  “Kethlan.”

  “What?” Kelly sat up again, staring at Enrique in total disbelief. “You’d never seen snow until then?”

  Enrique shrugged. “Never. Well, sure, I’ve seen it, but never experienced it.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Seriously. First time was pretty much yesterday – on Kethlan. Weird stuff. I had a general idea of how I thought it might feel and taste and that—”

  “You ate some?” Kelly giggled.

  “Sure, why not?”


  “Please tell me it wasn’t yellow …!”

  “Oh no, of course not. I only caught a little on my tongue. It was Kethlan after all, so it could’ve been risky to scoop a whole load up.”

  “But how could you never have seen snow?”

  “Because whenever I went away, it was always to a beach resort with Dodds and some of the other lads,” Enrique said, after some consideration. “Just … never got around to a snow vacation, I guess.”

  “Ha,” Kelly chuckled.

  “I don’t know why you find that weird. There must be quite a few things you’ve never done?”

  Kelly laughed. “I don’t think so,” she said.

  “Oh, come on.”

  “You’re forgetting who I was before I enlisted in the navy – the spoilt little rich girl of a highly successful galactic commodities trader.”

  “Ah,” Enrique conceded. “True.”

  “So, enjoy your first true winter experience?”

  “Sure. I’d go again. Probably not all the way out there, though.”

  “You should try snowboarding,” Kelly said. “I think you’d love that. Give it a go down there, when you get a chance.” She nodded at the floor, towards the planet below them.

  “Does Earth have a lot of snow resorts?”

  “Oh, God, yes!” Kelly laughed. “France, Austria, Italy, America, Canada … I’ve heard that Canada is supposed to be the best. Nice wide slopes and great powder. All real snow, too.”

  “Aren’t I too old to learn?” Enrique said, sounding genuinely concerned that his age might impede him.

  “At thirty-six? No. You’ll have plenty of time to pick it up,” Kelly reassured, leaning over and kissing him. They cuddled for a time, doing nothing but holding one another. “You know what else I’d like to do?” Kelly said. “Become a teacher.”

  “A teacher? Really?”

  “Logical step, don’t you think?”

  Enrique’s brow creased. “I can’t see the connection to the navy,” he said. “How do you figure it?”

  “Oh, not the military, Enrique,” Kelly said. “Remember how I always wanted to inspire others to reach their maximum potential? Well, that’s why I kept my journal, remember?”