by Ryk Brown
“Jumping in three……two……one……jumping,” Mister Riley said.
The blue-white jump flash washed over the Aurora’s bridge yet again, as the ship shifted from their point more than two light seconds distant to only thirty kilometers away from the target.
“Jump complete,” Mister Riley reported as the bridge shook.
“Incoming rail gun fire,” Mister Navashee reported.
“They must have been firing before we even jumped in,” Nathan observed.
“Our nose is on the target, continuing yaw to track,” Mister Chiles announced.
“Firing all forward tubes,” Jessica followed. “Firing plasma cannons.”
“Continue firing,” Nathan ordered.
“Target is fanning her main rail guns in all directions,” Mister Navashee reported.
“They’re shooting blindly because their main guns can’t track fast enough to keep up with us,” Nathan said. “They’re going to make us earn every shot.”
“Target’s forward shields are down to fifty percent,” Mister Navashee reported. “Thirty seconds to KKV im… Damn it!”
“FTL?” Nathan asked, already knowing the answer.
“Yes, sir. Target is now eight hundred thousand kilometers from Earth and continuing on same course and speed.”
“We’ve only got one more chance at this,” Nathan said. “Mister Riley. I want to be directly in that platform’s path of travel, ten kilometers out.”
“Confirming ten kilometers, sir?” Mister Riley asked.
“You heard correctly.”
“Aye, sir. Ten kilometers, dead directly in front of them.”
“Comms. Message to Scout Two. Transfer targeting information for current track to KKV four and launch as soon as possible.”
“Transfer targeting for current track and launch ASAP, aye,” Naralena answered.
“They’ll jump right past us,” Jessica said in a low tone. “We’ll get spit out the back just like those antimatter mines were.”
“Maybe we will, maybe we won’t,” Nathan said. “And maybe we’ll give them just enough pause to buy us time to finally hit them. Just be ready with all plasma weapons.”
Commander Dumar looked at the tactical display on one of the large view screens on the far wall of the Karuzara control center, noticing that the Aurora had jumped again. His eyes squinted as he examined the Aurora’s new position… Along the battle platform’s course; two light minutes downrange and a few hundred kilometers higher than the platform relative to the system’s ecliptic plane. He glanced at the screen that showed their current position along their orbit around the Earth, from a polar view, and the angle between them and the battle platform. “Mister Bryant, new jump.”
“What?”
“New jump, quickly. We only have seconds.”
“I’m not even sure how much charge we currently have in the…”
“Do we have enough to jump eight hundred thousand kilometers?”
Mister Bryant looked at the officer in charge of the jump drive, who until now had nothing to do. The man nodded. “Yes, sir,” Mister Bryant replied.
“An eight hundred kilometer jump, then,” Commander Dumar said as he looked at the orbit tracking display again, “in twenty seconds.”
Mister Bryant noticed where the commander had been looking and glanced there himself. “Commander, the platform is only seven hundred and…”
“I gave you an order, Mister Bryant!” Dumar yelled. “Jump now!”
“Jump control!” Mister Bryant bellowed. “Emergency jump! Eight hundred kilometers! Snap jump! Now, now, now!”
“Snap jump! Eight hundred kilometers! Aye!”
Technicians scrambled as they quickly fired up the asteroid’s array of jump field generators and prepared to charge the array. Although they had simulated a snap jump in case they had come out in an inopportune position during their journey to Sol, they had never actually executed one.
“What’s the delay, Mister Bryant?” Commander Dumar demanded.
“Jumping now!” the officer in charge of the jump drive reported.
A pale blue wave of light emanating from the Karuzara’s hundreds of emitters spilled out across the rugged, uneven surface of the sixty-five kilometer diameter asteroid. The waves quickly joined together to surround the asteroid, after which they rapidly grew in intensity until the enveloping field became a brilliant bluish-white. The field flashed a brilliant white a split second later, and the entire asteroid disappeared.
The battle platform began to shimmer, its features becoming slightly distorted as its FTL fields began to fold the space ahead of it in preparation to transition into FTL travel one more time. The distortions increased, and the platform began to fade from view at an increasing rate.
A brilliant blue-white flash of light appeared only a few hundred meters before the platform, and slightly to starboard of its forward arm. A moment later, when the flash of light subsided, the Karuzara asteroid appeared. The fading image of the Jung battle platform reversed, becoming normal once again as the platform plowed into the side of the massive asteroid in a glancing blow. Two of the platform’s arms tore away from its main body, the arms sent tumbling over the surface of the asteroid. The platform began to rotate, as if rolling across the surface of the asteroid, spinning slow from the force of the impact, as did the asteroid itself. Debris was thrown in all directions, as were huge sections of rock blown from the surface of the asteroid by the force of the impact.
“Jumping in three…”
“Contact,” Mister Navashee announced.
“…Two…”
“Jump flash.”
“…One…”
“CAPTAIN!” Mister Navashee yelled.
“Hold your jump!” Nathan ordered.
“Oh, my God!” the Aurora’s normally calm sensor operator continued.
“Jump aborted,” Mister Riley acknowledged.
“The Karuzara, sir! They just collided with the battle platform!”
“What?” Nathan exclaimed, rising to his feet.
“They jumped in right in front of them. Maybe a few hundred meters at the most, sir,” Mister Navashee explained.
“A head-on collision?” Nathan wondered as he moved quickly over to Mister Navashee to see the sensor displays for himself. “Is there anything even left?”
“It wasn’t head-on, sir. They were just to starboard of the platform when they came out of the jump. It was a glancing blow, but a bad one, I’m sure.”
“Mister Riley,” Nathan called out, “Jump us in. One hundred kilometers downrange and a few above relative to the target.”
“One hundred downrange and a few above the target, aye,” Mister Riley answered.
“Comms. Tell the Celestia to hold position.”
“Aye, sir.”
“How bad is it, Mister Navashee?” Nathan asked as he turned back toward his sensor operator.
“Two whole arms have been torn off of the platform. She’s also suffered extensive damage to her central structure, but she’s still got power and weapons.”
“Shields… What about her shields?”
“She’s lost all shields on her impact side, but she’s still got them on her remaining three arms on her outboard side.”
“We should attack now, while she’s still shaken up,” Jessica suggested from the tactical station.
“They just collided with an asteroid three times their size,” Nathan said. “Trust me, they’re not going to become ‘unshaken’ any time soon. Besides, they’re still too close together. With half her side opened up, our weapons could easily breach her antimatter containment fields and take out the Karuzara as well, and we need the Karuzara.”
“Jump plotted and ready, Captain,” Mister Riley announced.
“Jump us in,” Nathan ordered.
“Target is launching more ships,” Mister Navashee reported.
“Jumping in three…”
“You’re kidding,” Nathan replied in shock
.
“…Two…”
“Gunships,” Jessica added, “and troop shuttles. I count six each.”
“…One…”
“Where are they headed?” Nathan asked, already knowing the answer.
“…Jumping.”
“For the Karuzara, sir,” Jessica said as the jump flash washed across the bridge.
“Jump complete.”
Nathan turned forward again as the jump flash subsided. “Forward ventral cameras. Zoom in on the target.”
The main view screen changed, revealing the battered battle platform and the Karuzara asteroid.
“Oh, my God,” Nathan said under his breath.
The Jung battle platform was missing two of its six arms, presumably where the Karuzara asteroid had impacted them. The entire side of the platform’s main central structure was open to space in several sections, with obvious hull damage nearly to its peak. Fields of debris glistened in the light of the distant sun as the pieces of the platform spun away in all directions.
“What about the Karuzara?” Nathan wondered, noticing debris that looked more like chunks of rock than pieces of hull.
“Limited power readings. No emissions. Lots of dust and rock floating about. Slight reduction in the asteroid’s overall mass.” Mister Navashee turned and looked at the captain. “She looks dead, sir.”
Nathan continued staring at the view of the heavily damaged battle platform, noticing the tiny black and red ships as they disappeared into the Karuzara’s main transit tunnel. “Well, that explains why they aren’t firing.”
Warning sirens wailed in the distance, alerting all of Porto Santo Island of the approaching danger. Automated defensive turrets swung into action, guided by tracking systems situated on the highest hill on the island. The turrets located on the small, rocky islands that lay just off either end of the island were the first to open fire even before the approaching Jung fighters could be seen by the naked eye.
Civilians all over the island scrambled for the underground bunkers that had been excavated and prepared for just such an attack. The Ghatazhak had known full well that such an attack was possible, and had chosen to provide at least some manner of shelter for the locals who had shared their island with them.
The first wave of black and red Jung fighters dove straight down at the main airfield, firing energy weapons in rapid succession. The balls of energy slammed into the tarmac, leaving craters everywhere. They slammed into buildings, collapsing their roofs and setting them ablaze. The incredible heat melted the steel beams, and caused the concrete floors to explode, sending out showers of rubble in all directions. By all appearances, the attack was devastating, except for one thing… None of their aircraft or equipment was there to be targeted.
Once the Porto Santo air defenses had been destroyed, two Jung troop shuttles were next to descend from the skies. They came in low over the ocean, approaching from the beach side of the island, coming to a hover over the middle of the devastated tarmac of the airfield. Amid the smoke of the burning buildings, the two shuttles set down to allow the Jung troops within to begin off-loading. That’s when they struck.
Four combat jumpers appeared in flashes of blue-white light, hovering a few meters above the tarmac on all four sides of the two troop shuttles. The Jung soldiers already in the open immediately raised their weapons to return fire, but it was too late. The double-barreled energy weapons on either side of each combat jump shuttle tore them and the shuttles that sought to deliver them to pieces, while the turrets on top opened fire on the fighters flying cover above. The engagement lasted only a few seconds before the four combat shuttles flashed again and were gone, leaving nothing but two burning troop shuttles surrounded by the bodies of dead Jung soldiers.
The Jung fighters overhead had broken formation in their desperate attempt to avoid the sudden fire that had caught them all by surprise from below. They had lost eleven of their flight of sixteen, and the remaining five quickly tried to reform into a cohesive unit.
The combat jumpers reappeared again, this time coming out of their brilliant white flashes from above and to the east, the sun at their backs. Although the Jung fighters detected them on their sensors, they did not see them until it was too late. The combat jumpers swooped down from above at high speed, blasting away with both their side-mounted twin energy cannons and their topside turrets. A minute later, Jung fighters were falling from the sky on to the island below, exploding in fiery crashes as they slammed into the ground.
The combat shuttles split into two pairs, each pair headed up and away in opposite directions. They flashed again as they climbed away, disappearing once more. They left behind relative silence, punctuated only by the ocean waves and the sound of burning buildings and Jung wreckage.
“Well, that wasn’t much of a challenge,” Sergeant Jahal stated as he watched the tactical displays from the safety of Porto Santo’s underground command bunker.
“I believe those pilots were not properly briefed about possible jump drive tactics,” Lieutenant Telles replied. “We should not depend too heavily on such oversights in the future.”
“Lieutenant,” the communications officer called. “We are getting reports from our outposts of similar attacks, on all the major continents.”
“Advise all outposts to hold their position if possible. If faced with overwhelming forces, they are to abandon their outposts and use the combat jumpers.”
“Ghatazhak do not like to withdraw,” Sergeant Jahal commented.
“This war will not be fought on the ground,” Lieutenant Telles told his sergeant. “The Jung will send their forces down to the surface to try and keep us busy, to keep us unaware of their true objectives. We must remain mobile. We must stay one step ahead of our enemy. Only then can we respond properly once the Jung’s true objective is revealed.” He turned to look at his sergeant. “I trust that our assets are safe?”
“Still tucked away in the caverns on the far side of the island,” the sergeant answered, grinning from ear to ear.
Lieutenant Telles looked at his sergeant with an odd expression. “You smile way too much for a Ghatazhak, Sergeant.”
“Perhaps that is why I shall always remain a sergeant, sir.”
Commander Dumar opened his eyes. His head hurt, his body ached. Something wet was running down the side of his face. The room was dark, punctuated by occasional flashes of light from shorting circuits. The flashes revealed a haze that filled the control room. He could hear people making sounds, calling out to one another. He was in a sitting position, leaning against something… A wall, or the back of a console.
“Commander!” a voice shouted.
Dumar recognized the voice. “Over here!” A body moved toward him in the flashes of light, coming to kneel by his side a moment later. “Mister Bryant, what is our status?”
“Unknown. Are you injured, Commander?”
“Nothing serious, I suspect.” He reached for his head and felt a wet, open wound. “Maybe a laceration or two. We need power, Mister Bryant. Get us power.”
“Yes, sir.” Mister Bryant stood in the darkness. “Power! Are you still with us, Mister McKinney?”
“Yes, sir,” a voice called out. “I’m on it, sir.”
“Everyone, find your stations and wait for power to be restored. Help will be here soon.”
“Mister Bryant,” Commander Dumar called. “The emergency doors. Did they close?”
“I believe so,” Mister Bryant replied as he searched the darkness, using the flashes of light to try and see the main entrance to the control room. “Yes, yes, they are closed.”
“Very good, then we are sealed in for now. Backup power and life support should come on automatically in a few moments.”
Lights began to flicker along the edges of the room, as if commanded to do so by the commander’s very thoughts.
“You see?” Commander Dumar said, trying to smile. He could see Mister Bryant’s face more clearly now. “You are bleeding, Mister Bryan
t.”
“As are you, Commander.”
“I’ll survive,” Commander Dumar said, reaching up. “Help me up.” Commander Dumar rose to his feet with the help of his trusted subordinate, and began to look around the dimly lit control center. The shorting circuits had died down to only the occasional spark. “We must ventilate the room of this smoke.” He looked around some more, noticing a fallen overhead truss that had smashed into one of the consoles and had crushed one of the technicians. There were others injured as well, but of the thirty men in the room, at least twenty of them appeared to be no worse off than himself.
“Reactors are still online,” Mister McKinney reported. “Our primary feed has been damaged. I am rerouting the power. It will only take a minute.”
“At least no one appears to be shooting at us,” Mister Bryant said.
“A blessing indeed,” the commander agreed. “We need sensors and communications, first,” he continued. “Then weapons. We also need to establish comms with our security forces. Also, contact flight operations and determine how many functioning shuttles we still have, in case we have to evacuate.”
“We’re working on it, sir,” Mister Bryant promised. “Everyone is doing what they were trained to do. You should sit. Let me clean you up.”
“Don’t worry about the blood,” Commander Dumar told him. “It makes me look tough. Just spray some coasep on it.”
“Yes, sir,” Mister Bryant answered as he reached into the med-kit and pulled out a small spray bottle. He shook it a few times and then sprayed it onto the commander’s still-oozing head laceration. The laceration bubbled for several seconds, then formed a solid, skin-colored patch over the wound, sealing it off.
Half of the overhead lights came to life, illuminating the room unevenly.
“Main power is restored,” Mister McKinney reported.
“Good work, Mister McKinney,” the commander said.
“It will take a few moments for all the systems to restart,” Mister Bryant said as he sprayed the coasep over the cut on his left arm. He looked at his commander. “It was a bold move, Commander,” he said. “How did you know it would work? If the platform had jumped a second earlier…”
