by AZ Kelvin
GABI bobbed and weaved the ship through the barrage of weapons fire. Four Allied fighter squadrons broke away to fly close in and around the Kang cruisers harassing and distracting the defensive batteries. The main force of Allied fighters engaged the Kang fighters in skirmishes everywhere, while others yet flew with the corvettes in special attack squads to strike or defend where they were needed.
The frigates spread out around the Calibre and launched all the assault craft remaining aboard. The four frigates laid down defensive fire with powerful plasma cannons and missile batteries against the Kang cruisers. The Calibre was a fearsome sight, as she roared in and engaged in battle on both sides. She boasted two dozen military-grade charged particle cannons, fore and aft laser emitters, eight missile batteries, and a ‘Buzzbomb’ rail gun.
Several Allied attack squadrons merged between the Calibre and the largest Kang vessel. The Calibre’s commander used the diversion to hide the fire from the rail gun. The merged squadrons parted just as the deep violet glow of the Buzzbomb came through and slammed into the Kang ship’s command tower.
The Buzzbomb’s mass penetrated the armor plating and released hundreds of nano-fibers, quickly spreading out for dozens of meters in each direction from the impact. The nano-fibers connected themselves to every power conduit in close proximity and continuously surged power through them, disabling whatever systems they were connected to. The constant power surge created a loud buzz, which gave the weapon its name and also threw off arcs of electricity from the affected circuits striking out at anything or anyone in the immediate vicinity. The Kang ship ceased all weapons fire and veered out of control. The Calibre easily finished off her opponent with four missiles and a blast from her primary laser. The Calibre’s commander turned the ship’s firepower onto the next biggest enemy vessel.
GABI took the Altered Moon through every evasive maneuver in the book and a few that weren’t. The reinforced hull plating, the new shielding, the increased engine power, and the quicker weapons all came into play while the Altered Moon danced her way through the biggest battle she’d ever seen. Boss missed having someone in engineering to reroute power when he needed it. The Kang advance had cut off their escape route. GABI tried to stay away from the heaviest fighting, which was like trying to avoid sand at the beach.
A squadron of Allied fighters had been mostly wiped out and the survivors tried to escape their Kang opponents.
“GABI, close on those fighters, attack pattern On High Five!” Boss called out. “Cat, pepper that trailing Kang ship with the cannons and ready Heaters in every magazine.”
“Aye, sir.” GABI initiated her new orders.
“Missiles are loaded.” Cat brought all cannons to bear on the last Kang ship in line.
GABI brought the Altered Moon up and over the portside of the Kang ships before she strafed down on them. The Kang ship in back began to take some damage from the constant cannon fire, as the Moon closed in on them.
“Target the two forward ships with all missiles and fire! Load two more Heaters in the forward magazines and stand by.”
“Aye, sir.” Cat reloaded the forward missile magazines. “Missiles ready at your command!”
“Hold!” Boss said.
GABI completed the On High Five maneuver when she flew in over the last ship and wheeled around to face it.
“Now!”
Cat launched two more missiles, just as the four missiles they launched a few seconds ago hit and destroyed the first two vessels. The third vessel turned to a molten lump from the thermofusion blast before it blew apart at the seams.
The squadron leader sent thanks for the help and the fighters returned to the battle, as GABI continued to evade weapons fire. The course took them close to the Calibre and the frigates, one of which had three Kang vessels closing in on her.
“GABI, Full Moon burn over their heads. Cat, load three Geese and target the bridges of all three Kang ships!”
GABI engaged all thirteen engines to thrust the Altered Moon ahead as fast as she could in the time she had. The ship passed over the Kang ships at high speed, as Cat let three Geese fly, one at each of the ship’s bridges. The electromagnetic pulse from the Goose missile wouldn’t do much damage, but it would disrupt every electrical power system in its blast range. The missiles did their job on the Kang ship’s power systems, and the Arzian Alliance frigate did the rest. The Kang ships exploded one after the other, unable to withstand the frigate’s firepower now, without shields or defensive weapons.
“Ha, ha. The Sword of the Stars!” Boss triumphantly called out the Altered Moon’s poetic name.
The Mighty Eighty-Eighth cleared out the rest of the rabble and rejoined the Allied battle line. The tide of the battle took a disastrous turn for the worse when a massive armada of Kang reinforcements jumped into space and engaged the Allied forces around Century Four.
“Altered Moon, Captain Frazier of the Calibre requests visual comms.”
Boss opened the channel and a tall slim man with pale skin around stern steel-grey eyes, dressed in the blue-and-grey uniform of the Arzian Star Guard, came into view.
“I’m Cullen Frazier, Captain of the Calibre. I just wanted to say thanks face-to-face for helping out back there. Captain…?”
“Science Officer, Boss Keltzer, second in command of the Altered Moon. Thank you for coming to our assistance, Captain Frazier.”
“Don’t thank me yet, Mr. Keltzer. We’ve just received orders to fall back and I suggest you jump out immediately, sir. The Eighty-Eighth will cover until you’re gone.”
“Yes, of course, thank you again, Captain.”
“Best of luck to you and your crew. The Mighty Eighty-Eighth won’t forget what you all have done here today.” The image faded back to space and the battle continued until the Allied forces fell back to secondary positions in the system.
“Moonshadow, Moonshadow, this is the Altered Moon, how do you read?” Boss tried ship-to-ship comms, as well as each crewmember’s comms channel. “Captain Evermore, come in please. Gina, please respond. C’mon G, hear me dammit. Chief Evermore, please respond. Cal, do you read me? Moonshadow, answer the blasted hail!” Boss accentuated the last four words with pounds from his fist.
The largest contingent of Kang warships that Boss, or any of them for that matter, had ever seen in one place emerged into space and moved in to join the battle.
“Altered Moon, Altered Moon, this is the Calibre,” a hail came from the Arzian destroyer. “That’s your cue to get the hell out of here!”
“Roger that, Calibre, we are jump capable and ready to go. Thanks for saving our ass.”
“May the Stars light your way. Calibre out.”
“GABI, set destination to Outlook Station,” Boss said, with a heavy heart. He poked the ship-to-ship icon on the comms panel one last time. “Moonshadow, if you can read this, rendezvous at Outlook Station, repeat, rendezvous at Outlook Station. Gina—I love you.” He closed the channel.
“Boss…” Cat hesitated, as if she didn’t know what to say. They couldn’t go back to the planet and they sure as hell couldn’t stay here.
“I know, Cat.”
“We’re leaving them?” Pene asked, shocked. “We can’t!” Tears gathered in her eyes. “They didn’t leave me behind! We can’t just leave them down there!”
“Pene! We’re no good to any of them if we’re dead,” Cat said, even though she knew the chances CJ and the team got off the planet before the Kang started their bombardment were slim to none. “Cal,” she whispered.
Boss closed his eyes. “GABI, jump the ship.”
*~*~*
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The Altered Moon emerged back into normal space surrounded by peace and quiet, which lasted only a minute or two before the blips of four ships showed up on the sensor scan when they jumped into space around them.
“Shields up,” Boss said.
“I haven’t had a chance to bring them down,” Cat answered with a sarcastic snort.
“Attention unknown vessel, this is Outlook Security Force, squawk ID immediately or be fired on.”
“Outlook Security, this is the Human merchant vessel, Altered Moon, Boss Keltzer commanding,” Boss responded. “We request clearance to Outlook Station.”
A few seconds went by. “Altered Moon, you are clear to proceed. Be advised, there has been recent pirate activity in this sector.”
“Roger that, Outlook Security, thanks for the warning.”
“Why would they open fire on us?” Pene asked.
“We probably surprised them,” Boss said. “Merchant vessels usually don’t have String Field Drives. They have to use the jump hubs and the shipping lanes. That way the local star systems can collect their tariffs from the ships travelling through. We not only have a String Field Drive, but we also have GABI, who may be the only sentient being capable of calculating a quantum jump inside the gravitational field of a star. So, a merchant vessel that can jump into their star system on its own probably isn’t on the list of what to expect during their patrol.”
“Why didn’t we just jump right to the station?” Pene asked.
“Well, what goes on inside a star’s gravity field is highly unpredictable,” he said. “There could be a rogue comet, or an uncharted asteroid or dozens of other things we’re not aware of that are outside of scanner range. The safest thing is to arrive outside of the system to scan the area for anomalies first and then proceed to our destination.”
“Does the shuttle—” Pene started to ask.
“Pene,” Boss, who was worried about Gina and the others, cut her off abruptly. “How about holding off on the questions, for now.”
“Okay, sorry, I just wondered if it had one of those cryscomm things.” She felt a little embarrassed for asking.
“Well curse me for a blasted idiot. The cryscomm!” Boss threw a hand in the air to emphasize what an idiot he was. “Pene, I apologize to you, and to answer your very good question, no, the shuttle does not have a cryscomm, but Crissi’s ship does!”
Boss activated the cryscomm which ended up, at CJ’s great enjoyment, being built into the command station. The dark crystal lit up with a green and gold background; it created faint light trails swirling in slow motion, as they brightened for a moment then faded away. A tabbed list of ships, stations, and bases, along with limited information about each entry appeared along the right side.
Boss went for the icon that represented Crissi’s ship, but stopped and turned to Pene. “Care to do the honors, Ms. Burnette?” Boss asked her.
“Really? Yeah, I mean, yes, sir!”
Pene walked over to the cryscomm console and poked the icon for the Rhhkt’tau Aurrinn which sent an immediate hail to Crissi’s ship. The image of a Keect’na officer appeared in the crystal. The translator changed his Keect’na greeting into the common language.
“We receive you, Altered Moon,” the Keect’na comms officer said. “How may we assist you?” Crissiael came from off screen to stand behind her officer.
“Eealann Na’Hann, Denneellaudee.”
“Eealann Na’Hann, Crissiael. Please stand by for Science Officer Keltzer.”
Boss nodded at Pene for a job well done and turned to Crissi. “Eealann Na’Hann, Crissi. I’m afraid that we are in need of your help.” He went on to tell her about the attack on Century Four. “Can you get any intel on when that area may be clear for search and rescue?”
“Zzhnn jha, taukt leenn auall rrehg jj’nau,” Crissi said. The translator tried to find the best translation. “Definitely yes, departure for search-and-rescue operation is immediate.”
“We set a rendezvous at Outlook Station in case they received our transmission. Please let us know when the fourth planet of the system is clear enough for us to sneak in and search the area, will you?”
Crissi sangspoke several sentences which the translator relayed as, “Roger that, Boss. Several ships from Cantankerous Base are launching now to blanket the system with hit-and-run sensor sweeps. We will advise upon step-down of military actions. Remain open channel and stand by.”
“Acknowledged, Crissi, and thanks. Altered Moon out. GABI, hold position here.”
“Aye, sir.”
Boss sat quietly for a moment then turned to Cat. “So, tell me…”
Cat knew that he meant the cargo. “Well, the only things to come up were the two sleep chambers. Both of the chambers are still operational and sealed. Also, there is no patient information listed and no observation port, so there’s really no way to tell what’s contained inside.”
“You don’t think its people in there?” Pene asked.
“That would be the most reasonable idea, Pene. But, I don’t think we’re dealing with reasonable people here.”
“The Captain joked about it being a Human-Kang hybrid,” GABI said. “But, there could be dangerous possibilities here.”
“Explain,” Boss said.
“Imagine, if you will, this individual, or individuals, who have laid out such an intricate scheme up to this point. What if they orchestrated all of this, only to have some sort of revenge waiting, like a virus or a poison, instead of whatever was promised to be there?”
“Revenge?” Pene asked.
“Yes, the treasure hunter who is killed by their own acquisition,” Boss answered. “It’s a very old story; a last fatal booby trap in the name of revenge. Cat, what do you recommend?”
“That the chambers be opened in a fully sterile and sealed environment.”
“Like med bay?” Boss asked hopefully.
Cat shook her head. “No, we need a lab that’s capable of physiological revival of subjects in quantum sleep, and biohazard containment, just in case. Maybe Outlook Station has one, I don’t know, but I know for sure that CB does.”
“Biohazard?” Boss made sure he heard her right.
“We really don’t have a clue what’s inside those chambers, Boss. What if it is a lethal virus?”
“We can’t scan them to see what’s inside?” he asked.
“No, sir. The chambers are shielded to avoid disruptions in the quantum boundary holding the subjects in suspension.” She gave him the short answer.
“Hm, well, I guess they’ll have to wait. We’ll go on to Outlook Station and wait for word from the Captain or Crissi.”
An incoming message alert lit up on the comms panel.
“Well, that was fast,” Boss said.
“That was not a standard communiqué. We just received an encoded message for Captain CJ Evermore of the Altered Moon,” GABI said.
“What, from whom?” Boss asked in surprise.
“There is no accompanying information at all, including any point of origin.”
“That’s impossible,” Boss said. “You can’t send a message without a point of origin. Run a security scan on the message. Cat, give me a full tactical sweep.”
“Reading only the Outlook Security ships in the sector,” Cat said after she ran the sweep.
“The message is clean and uncorrupted, Boss.”
“Very well, let’s see it.”
GABI hesitated, and Boss guessed rightly at what bothered her. “If it’s a personal message to CJ, we’ll stop, but, if it’s important to the ship, then we need to know.”
“Aye, sir, understood.”
“Captain Evermore, this is Leland Stile, I must speak with you. I left Skriti Station just after you folks. I don’t know why really. I’m sorry ‘bout that. I guess I should’a waited a while before I left. I found my Father’s base and had some time to explore. I was settlin’ in okay when I picked up a Blood Stars scout ship in the sector. I had to run before they discovered the base. It seems that I’m fated to follow in my Father’s footsteps no matter how hard I try not to. I’m still in the survey ship from Trydden. I think that’s how they managed to track me. They must have gotten to Bobby Bluay and probably your man on Trydden, as well. I’m sorry about that, too.”
Leland stopped to let out an exasperated sig
h and continued.
“Anyway, I’ve dismantled the transponder, but this ship doesn’t have a jump engine, so I’m hiding out on the third moon of the Balscion Star System in Arzian space. I found something here. I don’t know what it is—an artifact of some kind I imagine. Looks like gold and it’s very heavy. It was hidden away in, Skiff, my Father’s shuttle. Help me and this artifact is yours. It has to be worth something. Please, Captain, I can’t outrun them and I have no one else to turn to.”
The recorded message came to an end and the bridge fell into a thoughtful silence. Pene tried to breathe as quietly as possible and waited for someone to say something.
“We’re gonna help him, aren’t we?” she asked tentatively.
Boss sat silent for half a second then turned to smile at her. “It’ll be up to the Captain, but I’m sure CJ won’t leave Leland hanging in danger. GABI, run that message through the security filters and take it apart piece by piece. I want to know where it came from.”
“Aye, sir.”
“You don’t think it came from Leland?” Cat asked.
“If he sent it from the survey ship there would be an origin marker embedded in the message, and there wasn’t one. Just how did he manage that?”
“The smugglers on Skriti all had comms scramblers, if that helps,” Pene said.
“Usually scramblers don’t erase origin markers, but who knows?”
“I hope he’s okay,” Pene said absently. “Hang in there, Leland.”
“We’ll get to him, Pene,” Boss reassured her. “We’ll get to everybody,” he added with a smile he truly didn’t feel.
“Do you think they made it off the planet?” Cat asked.
Boss turned and gave her the most confident nod he could. “I’m sure they’re being picked up as we speak. The universe wouldn’t deal the Altered Moon such a devastating blow. GABI, bring us to two hundred thousand kilometers off Outlook Station.”
“Aye, sir, engaging ISE.”
“Pene, do you think you can handle hailing the station?” Boss asked after they emerged into normal space again.
