“We should probably get out of here.”
“Agreed,” said Andrew.
Chapter 43
Sergeant Williams led them through the Dreadnought's corridors. They didn't come across many of the ship's crew, the detention area didn't have a lot of personnel assigned to it. Those they did encounter usually did a slight double take at seeing the Sergeant in full assault armor. Something Sarah was thankful for, as it helped distract any attention from her and the young woman.
After about five minutes, they arrived at a set of elevator doors.
“This should lead to the block of detention cells,” Andrew informed them.
“Are you sure?” Asked Sarah.
“I had our little friend here link my armor with the ship's internal network,” he explained.
“According to the prisoner records, they should be here.”
Andrew gestured at the elevator's control panel and the drone flew off its perch, hovering before the panel. A few seconds later, it beeped and the elevator doors opened. They stepped inside, the doors sliding shut behind them. The elevator ride took only a few seconds, when the doors opened, they found themselves in a familiar corridor.
“Yes, this is it,” said Sarah.
“I remember this, the others should be over there,” she added, indicating one of the doors further down the corridor. She led them to it and waited for the drone to hack the door. A few seconds later it slid open and they hurried inside.
The rest of the Twilight's crew looked up as they entered.
“Major?!” Exclaimed Lieutenant Graham.
He looked wearily over at the Sergeant.
“It's all right Lieutenant,” Sarah assured him.
“The Sergeant's back to his old self.”
“If you say so,” replied Graham, still eying him.
“Are you two all right?” Asked Anna.
“We're fine,” Sarah assured her.
“But how did you get here?” Asked Graham.
“A story for another time Lieutenant.”
She looked around at the others, they looked back at her and Sarah could see the fatigue and exhaustion in their eyes. She noticed Ensign Aziz sitting in a corner, examining his arm.
“It's good to see you Ensign,” she said.
Aziz looked up.
“Thank you, it's good to see you too Major,” he replied.
“How's the arm?”
“It's on the mend.”
“Major,” interrupted Graham.
“Lieutenant Dolohov, Aziz told us they didn't restrain her when they took the shuttle's cockpit.”
“I know,” Sarah cut in.
“She sold us out to Jones, that's how he managed to capture the shuttle and take control of the Sergeant.”
“If I ever get a hold of that bitch,” Anna said darkly.
“Revenge will have to wait,” interrupted Sarah.
“The first thing we need to do is get off this ship.”
“Any ideas how we do that?” Asked Graham.
Anna shrugged.
“Steal a shuttle? Provided we can get to a hangar bay without alerting anyone.”
Major Clark shook her head.
“The three of us were already conspicuous enough, there's no way all of us would go unnoticed for long and the second anyone spots Saskill.”
“I don't think we have any other choice,” said Andrew.
“The second anyone checks on that interrogation, they'll raise the alarm anyway.”
“But someone is bound to spot us and then we'll be in the same predicament,” countered Nolan.
“Either way, we'll have to deal with ship security,” said Andrew.
“At least this way, we'll have the element of surprise.”
“The Sergeant's right,” agreed Sarah.
“We'll probably have to fight our way out, but staying here isn't an option.”
Sergeant Williams nodded and moved towards the door.
“All of you stay behind me,” he called over his shoulder.
“And be ready to run.”
They walked along the corridor, back to the elevator.
“According to my map of the ship,” said Andrew.
“The closest hangar bay should be a few decks below us, this elevator will take us most of the way there.”
It was a tight fit, but they all managed to squeeze in. The doors slid shut and they began to descend, a minute later they came to a halt. The doors parted to reveal a much wider corridor than the ones in the detention area. Up ahead, they could see a single massive door.
“That should be the cargo elevator,” Andrew informed them.
“It leads straight down to a hangar bay.”
Just then, a young woman in an Ensign's uniform came out of a door ahead and to their left. She had her face buried in a data pad as she walked, but looked up as she drew closer. The Ensign froze in her tracks, staring at them. Her data pad fell to the floor, as she stared in wide-eyed amazement at the group of beings before her. Then she turned and ran back the way she had come. Before she could get two steps however, Andrew leaped after her. In a split-second he had caught up with her and grabbed her around the waist with one arm. He brought up his free hand to cover her mouth. She kicked and struggled, but stopped when it became apparent that her efforts to escape were pointless.
“Remain calm,” Andrew told her.
“I'm not going to hurt you, my friends and I just need to get to the hangar bay. After that, I'll let you go.”
The Ensign didn't look reassured by that, but remained still all the same. The rest of the Twilight's crew ran to catch up.
“Come on,” Andrew said to the others.
“We need to move, before anyone else spots us.”
“What about her?” Asked John.
“I'll let her go once we're aboard the shuttle.”
“She'll raise the alarm the second we're gone,” Saskill warned.
The Ensign stared at the shengyet in wide-eyed terror.
“It's a chance we'll have to take,” said Sarah.
“Now everyone move!”
They ran to the cargo elevator door, the little drone zooming ahead of them. It had the door open by the time they got there and everyone hurried inside. The elevator descended and the doors parted to reveal a cavernous hangar bay. There were a number of fighters docked there and two shuttles. At the very end of the bay however, a large group of workers and technicians were gathered around the Twilight.
“I don't believe it,” said Anna.
“Jones must have had the ship brought on board,” Graham remarked.
“She looks almost completely repaired,” said Anna scrutinizing the ship.
“Those technicians are going to notice us if we try to take the ship,” Saskill warned.
“They'll notice us anyway,” countered Anna.
“And the Twilight will make a much better get away ship, than one of those shuttles.”
Andrew shifted his grip on the Ensign, who had started struggling again at the sight of her fellow shipmates.
“Hang on a moment,” he said.
“I might be able to get us a little bit of a head start.”
He looked down at the Ensign.
“Nod if you can hear me.”
The Ensign hesitated for a moment, then she nodded.
“I'm going to release you and you're going to stay here nice and quiet. Otherwise, my shengyet friend is going to get very upset,” he added, nodding in Saskill's direction.
The Ensign looked over at Saskill, clearly terrified.
“Nod if you understand.”
She nodded again and he slowly let her go. She simply stood there, looking at them.
“Get as close to the Twilight as you can without being seen,” Andrew told the others.
“Go,” he urged when they hesitated.
“When you see the signal, get on board.”
“What's the signal?” Anna wanted to know.
“You'll kno
w,” Andrew assured her.
Without looking back, he darted off behind one of the fighters.
The rest of the crew made their way towards the Twilight, using the various parked craft and equipment that littered the bay as cover. They had made it to one of the shuttles, it was only about a dozen meters from the Twilight. Anna peered around it at the group of people gathered around the ship. Most of them were standing at the foot of the rear loading ramp that lead into the ship's small hangar bay. Just then, an explosion shook the deck under their feet. Anna whipped around to see flames and smoke billowing from one of the fighters. A voice blared throughout the bay.
“Attention, attention. All personnel in hangar bay two, deck six, evacuate the area immediately.”
The people gathered around the Twilight hurried for the nearest exit. As Anna watched, five more technicians came hurrying down the ramp and ran after their fellows.
“Go,” shouted Clark.
They ran for the ramp and into the ship. The Twilight's hangar bay was empty, save for a few bits of wiring and debris left over from the crash. They sprinted through it and into the corridor that led past cargo storage, to the rest of the ship.
“Chief,” panted Anna.
“Get to the engine room; make sure the systems in there are ready to go.”
Chief Nolan nodded and headed through a door to their right. Everyone else continued on down the rest of the corridor, skidding to a halt in front of the elevator doors at the far end.
The elevator took them up to the command deck. They sprinted to the bridge doors, which opened at their approach. It appeared the bridge had been a major focus of the repair efforts, it looked to be in perfect condition.
“Get to your stations,” ordered Anna.
“I'll take over for Dolohov,” she added, sitting down at the sensors station.
Anna activated the ship's comm.
“Nolan, how's it looking?”
“We're good to go, there are some minor auxiliary systems still down, but the reactor; engines, thrusters and dimension drive are all working.”
“Good, start the reactor initialization sequence.”
“Aye Commander starting now, you should have primary power in two minutes.”
“Secure all hatches and airlocks,” said Anna.
“Prepare for takeoff, but leave the hangar bay ramp down for now.”
Graham tapped commands into his console.
“Done.”
Anna turned her seat to face the rest of the bridge.
“Saskill, you mind heading back down to the hangar bay? I want to know the instant Sergeant Williams is on board.”
Saskill nodded and left the bridge. A slight rumbling went through the ship as the reactor initialized.
“Commander, thirty seconds to full reactor power,” came Nolan's voice over the com.
“Prepping engines for takeoff,” he added.
“Copy that chief.”
“Commander,” said Aziz.
“What about the hangar bay door?”
“Let me worry about that,” Anna replied.
The com beeped and Saskill's voice filled the bridge.
“The Sergeant's on board.”
“Good,” said Anna.
“Get up to the bridge, both of you.”
“Will do,” replied Saskill.
“Lieutenant Graham.”
“Already retracting the ramp Commander,” said Graham, typing commands.
“Sealing hangar bay doors, we're good to go.”
Anna activated the com.
“Nolan, what's the status on those engines?”
“Online.”
There was a great rumbling as the engines activated.
“Aziz, raise the ship a few meters,” Anna ordered.
“Orient us so the forward drone launchers are facing the hangar bay door.”
“Wait, you're not going to do what I think you are?” interjected Major Clark.
Anna turned her seat around to face the Major.
“We don't have time for anything else,” she replied.
“And besides, it'll be one more thing other than chasing us for them to worry about.”
At that moment, the bridge doors opened, Andrew and Saskill stepped onto the bridge.
“We getting underway?” Asked Andrew.
“If the Commander's plan works,” replied Clark.
“It will,” said Anna.
“Everyone brace yourselves.”
She flicked on the com.
“Nolan, get ready for some pretty severe acceleration.”
“I'm ready.”
Anna turned back to her console and typed in commands. Of the three forward drone launchers, two were loaded with recon drones. She programmed them for a straight trajectory at maximum thrust.
“Aziz,” she said.
“As soon as that door is gone, get us out of here, fast as you can.”
“Aye Commander.”
Anna typed in the final command and the drones launched. They rocketed towards the hangar bay door. Both hit just left and right of center respectively and exploded in a brilliant flash.
The hangar bay doors had impressive protection and normally the two recon drones wouldn't have done much. But the door's defenses were designed to protect against threats coming from outside the bay. The outer part of the door was lined with thick nanite armor. Armor that would activate strong magnetic fields, holding the nanites together with tremendous strength. The system that activated those fields however, only sensed incoming threats from outside the ship. As a result, it wouldn't activate when hit by projectiles coming from inside the bay.
Two huge dents appeared in the door, which buckled and creaked under the strain of the pressurized air filling the bay. For a moment it looked like the door might hold, but then it peeled back, blowing out into space. The air in the hangar bay turned into a hurricane, as it rushed out into the vacuum of space. The Twilight lurched forward as Aziz engaged the engines. A moment later, they were clear of the bay and rocketing away from the dreadnaught.
Anna examined the sensor station readouts, none of the ships in Jones' fleet appeared to be following them, although she knew that could change at any moment. There was no way their sensors were going to miss a ship the size of the Twilight rocketing through their formation. Hopefully, they would be able to get out of the system before anyone could mount an effective pursuit.
“Nolan,” Anna spoke into the comm.
“Get the dimension drive warming up, on the double.”
“Aye Commander.”
She glanced back at the sensor readouts. Jones' fleet was slowly reacting to the escaping ship. The destroyers, stationed on the flanks of the fleet's formation, were peeling off to give chase. A number of fighter squadrons that had been on sentry duty, were also joining the pursuit. All of a sudden warning lights flashed over her console. New sensor contacts detected. Dimension vortexes, dozens of them, were materializing. Anna stiffened as she identified the ships, it was the alien fleet they had escaped earlier.
Hundreds of ships were pouring into the system. The gargantuan form of the alien mother ship appeared. It settled itself into the center of the formation and then, as one, the alien fleet headed straight for them.
Chapter 44
Sarah stared at the main view screen, displaying the armada of alien ships moving towards them. She turned to the young woman who was also staring at the screen in disbelief.
“I didn't think,” she began.
At that moment however, the sensor console flashed, indicating an incoming transmission. Everyone on the bridge turned to look at it as Anna opened the com channel.
The image of an old man in white robes appeared.
“You have brought shame upon our people,” he said without preamble.
The young woman moved forward.
“I do what I think is right,” she countered.
“I am not alone in believing that peace is the proper path.”
/> “Peace?!” The old man scoffed.
“There can never be peace with these fanatics.”
“They are not all like that,” the young woman argued.
“If we can avoid bloodshed, we should do so.”
“I will not-,” the old man began, but the transmission went dead.
“The signal's being jammed,” Anna reported.
She switched the main view screen to show a tactical overlay of the system. On it they could see Jones' fleet and the ships guarding the ship-yard, maneuvering into attack formation.
“Jones, that arrogant bastard,” said Major Clark.
As they watched, the alien fleet responded, breaking off their course towards the Twilight and maneuvering to face the incoming threat. The ship's rear cameras showed the human destroyers moving to the front of Jones' formation, providing a screen for the carriers and dreadnought. The launch bay doors on the carriers retracted and wave after wave of fighters launched. Splitting up into squadrons, the moved to guard the formation’s flanks. As the fighters took up their positions, a wave of drone corvettes exited the carriers’ launch bays. They were roughly twice the size of a fighter. Flat, slightly oval shaped craft, their hulls looked like they were covered with small jagged plates. They moved to the head of the formation, in between the destroyers.
Anna suddenly realized the Twilight was caught between two massive and hostile fleets.
“Ensign,” she said.
“Those two fleets are going to start shooting at each other any second now and I don't want to be caught in the middle.”
“Aye Commander, coming about ninety by two hundred degrees.”
The Twilight changed course, moving out of the way of the converging ships.
Anna glanced at the view screen, the dreadnought had moved slightly ahead of the carriers. As she watched, hatches opened all over its surface. Out poured millions of defense drones, swarming around the ship like great clouds of insects. The drone corvettes maneuvered slightly ahead of the destroyers. The plates on their hulls detached, to reveal dozens of drones now buzzing around them. These were attack drones, they were basically a Gauss cannon with an engine and thrusters mounted to it. The sheer distances involved in space combat, not to mention the potential interference with communications, meant the drones had a limited range.
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