Ep.#12 - A Price Too High (The Frontiers Saga - Part 2: Rogue Castes)

by Ryk Brown

  Table Of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The Frontiers Saga Part 2: Rogue Castes

  Episode #12: A Price Too High

  Copyright © 2019 by Ryk Brown All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.

  CHAPTER ONE

  It had not been long since the Aurora had jumped away, leaving the Gunyoki behind to protect the Orswellan system. They’d received word of the Aurora’s successful defeat of the Dusahn battle group, shortly after their departure. The fact that four battleships had been destroyed and a dreadnought turned back was difficult to believe on its own. That it had happened more than three hundred light years away, when the Aurora had been here, with them, just over an hour ago, was nearly impossible to fathom.

  Under Vol’s orders, his weapons and sensors officer was taking a much-needed nap. They had all been sitting in their cockpits for nearly two hours. Normally, that would be considered a short hop for a Gunyoki crew since, over the last month, they had been flying ten-hour patrols nearly every day. Unfortunately, the adrenalin from battle had worn off rather quickly, leaving them all exhausted.

  “You awake?” Jenna Hayashi asked from nearby Tekka Five.

  “Unfortunately,” Vol replied, keeping his voice low to avoid waking Isa. “Why aren’t you resting?”

  “The way Delan snores?”

  Vol smiled. “I had forgotten.”

  “How could you?” Jenna joked. “Pretty amazing, isn’t it?”

  “His snoring?”

  “The Aurora,” she corrected. “Jumping so far, so easily, fighting battles on two fronts within minutes of each other, and defeating four battleships… It boggles the mind.”

  “It is simply technology,” Vol assured her, “or, rather, the adept use of it.”

  “Maybe,” Jenna replied, “but when I think about it, I can’t help feeling as if this alliance can accomplish anything.”

  “A basic tenet of the Gunyoki code,” Vol began.

  “I know, many are the okah, few are the yagi.”

  “It never ceases to amaze me how little regard your generation has for the ways of the Gunyoki.”

  “It’s not that we have no regard,” Jenna insisted. “It’s just that times have changed. The ships we fly today are far more advanced than those of your day.”

  “It is true, the sixth-generation Gunyoki require far less effort and far less concentration to operate. However, that does not mean that such ways are misplaced. Imagine what you might do with such discipline.”

  “I’ll try to remember that, sir,” Jenna promised. “Might I ask a question?”

  “Of course.”

  “Are the Orswellan cruisers supposed to be changing course?”

  Vol looked over at his tactical display. “No, they are not.” He pressed a button on his side console, signaling his weapons officer. “Isa, wake up.”

  “Huh?” Isa blinked several times, looking around. “What is it?”

  “Why are the Orswellan cruisers changing course?”

  “What?” Isa studied his sensor display, making adjustments and gathering data on the targets. “They’ve raised shields, as well,” Isa reported. “Uh, they’re accelerating.”

  “I thought their crew abandoned ship?” Jenna asked.

  “They did,” Isa confirmed. “Hey, Delan, are you picking up any life signs?”

  “Negative,” Delan replied from the back seat of Tekka Five. “Not on any of them.”

  “They are heavily automated, right?” Jenna asked.

  “Yes, but…” Vol stopped mid-sentence, unsure.

  “But what?” Isa wondered.

  “I would not think them able to institute such maneuvers without orders from their crews,” Vol explained.

  “Uh, they’re changing course toward Orswella,” Isa reported, “and they’re still accelerating.”

  “This can’t be good,” Jenna decided.

  “Prepare to launch a comm-drone,” Vol instructed.

  * * *

  “Jump flash,” Kaylah reported from the Aurora’s bridge. “Comm-drone.”

  “Incoming message,” Naralena announced from the comm-station at the back of the bridge. “It’s from the Falcon. They report the Dusahn dreadnought has jumped another ten light years.”

  “They didn’t even wait for a full charge so they could jump twenty,” Jessica commented from the tactical station.

  “Maybe they wanted to get as far away from us as fast as possible,” Josh suggested. “I mean, we did just kick their asses.”

  “He’s got a point,” Jessica said, smiling.

  “I assume the dreadnought is still on course for Takara?” Nathan inquired.

  “Affirmative,” Naralena confirmed. “The Falcon reports they have not changed course. However, they have accelerated back to their standard jump speed.”

  “Mister Hayes may be correct,” Nathan decided. “At this point, they must at least suspect that our jump range has changed.”

  “Or that it was always a lot further than we let on,” Jessica added.

  This time it was Nathan who smiled. “Yeah, I’d want to get as far away from us as possible, too.”

  “Another jump flash, Captain,” Kaylah interrupted, “and, another comm-drone.”

  Nathan turned to Naralena, awaiting the impending message.

  “It’s from Tekka One,” Naralena announced. “They report that three of the four cruisers have changed course toward Orswella. They have raised their shields and are accelerating.”

  “Captain,” Kaylah said, “those cruisers have antimatter reactors. Only one each, and not as large as those on the Dusahn battleship, but if even one of them reaches the planet…”

  “What level of damage are we talking about?” Nathan asked, fearing he already knew the answer.

  “It depends,” Kaylah replied. “If they crash into land, the damage will be severe. Everything within a thousand kilometers will cease to exist, and that’s a thousand kilometers in all directions, even toward the planet’s core.”

  “That is a big hole,” Josh commented.

  “And that’s the good scenario,” Kaylah continued. “Orswella has some really deep oceans. If they crash into one of them, and sink all the way to the bottom before their reactors go critical, they could crack open one of the planet’s main subsurface lava flows.”

  “But, then the people would survive,” Josh said.

  Kaylah looked at him, surprised by his ignorance. “Something like that could alter the planet’s orbit, screw up its rotation, and send ejecta into low orbit that could be falling back down for deca
des.”

  “Did Tekka One transmit target data?” Nathan asked.

  “Yes, sir,” Naralena replied. “I’m transferring it to Commander Yosef’s station.”

  Kaylah examined the data on her display, running a myriad of calculations. “Assuming they maintain the current rate of acceleration all the way to Orswella, their impact will be directly into the middle of its population center.”

  “That can’t be a coincidence,” Nathan decided.

  “Oh, my God,” Commander Andreola exclaimed, having been silent thus far. “It’s another Dusahn booty trap.”

  “That’s booby trap,” Jessica corrected.

  “They’re using our own ships to punish us,” the commander continued, “and it’s all my fault.”

  “Comms, send orders to Tekka One,” Nathan instructed. “Destroy all Orswellan ships.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “Captain, without crews to support, our ships will be free to channel all available energy to shields,” Commander Andreola surmised. “They will be all the harder to destroy.”

  “How much harder?” Nathan asked.

  “By at least fifty percent.”

  “Man, the Dusahn really did not trust your people, did they,” Nathan decided.

  “For good reason,” the commander replied.

  “Captain,” Kaylah interrupted, “I’m not sure the Gunyoki can take them out in time.”

  “Jess, is that dreadnought still within single-jump range of Rogen?” Nathan wondered.

  “Yes, but barely,” Jessica replied. “We have no way of knowing how much jump energy they have at the moment, though; not without moving the Falcon in a lot closer.”

  “Captain, you have to do something,” Commander Andreola insisted.

  “We’ve barely got enough energy to reach Orswella,” Nathan told him. “If we jump now, and that dreadnought comes about and jumps to the Rogen system, there will be two worlds destroyed instead of one. Damn, if I didn’t know better, I’d think they planned it this way.”

  “Captain, my people…”

  “The Gunyoki are probably opening fire on your ships as we speak,” Nathan interrupted. “Give them a chance.”

  “Maybe the Glendanon will get there in time,” Jessica suggested.

  “They’re still six hours away,” Nathan told her.

  * * *

  “Whoa!” Vol exclaimed as his shields suddenly lit up from incoming weapons fire. “Just how automated are these ships?”

  “Why did they even have crews?” Isa added as he routed power to the shields being impacted.

  “This is going to make things more difficult,” Vol’s wingman declared as he followed his leader into the fray.

  “Isa, drop a comm-buoy with instructions to all units. Concentrate on the lead ship’s midship dorsal shields. High-low, opposite angles, random alpha four, odds and evens, in pairs, ten-second engagements, five-second intervals.”

  “That’s awfully tight for forty-eight ships,” Isa warned while he typed in the instructions for the comm-buoy.

  “That will give each ship a few minute’s rest between engagements,” Vol said as their Gunyoki fighter streaked over the top of the lead cruiser, pounding it as they passed. “With any luck, we can all keep our shields strong enough to take out all three ships.”

  “Comm-buoy away,” Isa reported.

  Vol pressed the jump button on his flight control stick, instantly escaping the barrage. “Clock?”

  “Already started,” Isa assured him.

  Vol pressed a button on his console, switching his time display to the engagement clock that all the fighters would be using to synchronize their attack runs.

  “Why doesn’t the Aurora just jump back and take them out?” Isa asked as Vol took their fighter into a long, sweeping turn.

  “I’m certain Captain Scott has good reason,” Vol replied. “Besides, protection of Orswella is our responsibility. Drop a comm-drone to inform the Aurora that the cruisers’ point-defenses are also automated.”

  “Right away,” Isa replied.

  Vol pulled his fighter out of the turn, rolling out onto the perfect heading to re-engage the lead cruiser, and then glanced up at the clock to time his next attack.

  * * *

  “Tekka One reports Orswellan cruisers’ point-defenses are also automated and have engaged them,” Naralena reported. “They are focusing their attack on the lead ship.”

  “I’m not sure that’s the best strategy,” Jessica commented. “Those cruisers aren’t bunched up. When the lead one goes, it’s not going to take out the other two.”

  “I think he’s just trying to take them out one at a time,” Nathan said.

  “That’s not going to work, either,” Kaylah warned. “They can probably take out one, perhaps two, of the cruisers, but there’s no way they can take out all three, and it only takes one to destroy the planet.”

  Nathan thought for a moment. “Comms, send a message to the Falcon. Tell them to discreetly reveal their presence to that dreadnought.”

  “Aye, sir,” Naralena acknowledged.

  “Captain?” Jessica queried, feeling the need to question Nathan in Cameron’s absence.

  “They’re not short-jumping in order put more distance between us and them,” Nathan replied. “It doesn’t matter if they jump two, ten-light-year jumps or a single, twenty-light-year jump; it’s still the same distance. They’re short-jumping to keep their options open.”

  “You think they plan to jump past us and attack the Rogen system,” Jessica surmised.

  “To be honest, I don’t know,” Nathan admitted, “but I’m pretty sure they’re up to something.”

  “So, you’re letting them know we’re watching them so they don’t try anything?”

  “Something like that.”

  “What if they signaled those cruisers to attack?” Jessica suggested. “They could be trying to force us to react.”

  “That’s also a possibility,” Nathan admitted, “but I’m betting the cruisers are acting under pre-programmed standing orders, and that dreadnought knows it. They jumped short so when we jump back to Orswella to deal with the cruisers, they can jump back to Rogen and attack.”

  * * *

  “They’ve got every gun from all three ships targeting us!” Isa exclaimed as Vol jumped their Gunyoki fighter away from the engagement zone. “That’s not each ship automatically protecting itself. That’s all three ships working together. That’s some awfully good automation, I’d say.”

  “I know,” was all Vol was able to say as he brought his ship into a turn toward his next jump point.

  “That’s three passes with forty-eight ships,” Isa continued. “With forty shots per pass, that’s two thousand and eighty impacts on the same damned shield, and those shields are still at forty percent!”

  “It is just a matter of time,” Vol insisted.

  “Time is not going to do it, Vol,” Isa argued. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Six minutes between passes may seem like an eternity, but it’s not enough to keep up with the drain we’re experiencing with our own shields. We’re taking two steps forward and three steps back with each pass. It’s only a matter of time until we start losing ships.”

  “Once we defeat the first cruiser, the number of guns on us as we pass will be diminished by a third,” Vol replied as he jumped their ship to the next turn point.

  “At which point we’ll be at least even, yes, but that doesn’t increase the rate at which we destroy those cruisers.”

  “Then we will shorten our cycles and attack with greater frequency.”

  “Vol, there just isn’t enough time,” Isa argued. “Even if that works, at least one of those cruisers is going to get through. For the sake of all those people, we need to swallow our Gunyoki pride and call for help. We need
the Aurora.”

  “That is the math?”

  “That is the math,” Isa confirmed.

  “How much time until impact?”

  “Forty-seven minutes until the lead ship impacts the surface.”

  Vol sighed. “Two, One, I am out of comm-drones. I need you to send word to the Aurora. Inform them that we are unable to destroy the cruisers before they reach the planet. If they are unable to assist, we need to warn the population.”

  “To what end?” Isa wondered. “There’s no time to evacuate them.”

  “They can at least make peace with their God,” Vol said.

  There was silence for several seconds.

  “Launching comm-drone,” his wingman finally acknowledged from Tekka Two.

  * * *

  “Update from Tekka One,” Naralena reported from the Aurora’s comm-station. “Commander Kaguchi reports they will be unable to destroy all three ships in time. At least one, possibly two, of the Orswellan cruisers will reach the planet.”

  “How long?” Nathan asked.

  “He estimates forty-seven minutes,” Naralena replied, “and the time stamp on the message shows it is two minutes old.”

  “We have to help them,” Kaylah urged.

  “I know,” Nathan replied calmly.

  “What if we send some more Gunyoki or a few Orochi?” Jessica suggested.

  “There’s no time,” Nathan reminded her. “We’re the only ship in the galaxy that can jump that far in a single jump.”

  “Captain, is there nothing you can do for my world?” Commander Andreola pleaded.

  “I’m not going to let any of your cruisers reach your world, Commander,” Nathan promised. “I just have to find a way to do so without putting two other worlds at risk.” Nathan tapped his comm-set. “Prechitt, Scott.”

  “Go ahead, sir,” the commander replied over comm-sets.

  “How soon can you get your Nighthawks back up?”

  “Seven are refueled and ready, now. The other three sustained damage and were lucky to have made it back. What’s the mission?”

  “We need to jump back to Orswella, but that dreadnought is still within jump range of Rogen. I need to leave some muscle behind as insurance.”