Instantly, the grumbling edge of the propulsion became smooth and the Vengeance reacted so quickly to Recker’s input it was like the warship was anticipating his thoughts and acting upon them before he could translate them into movements of the controls. He gave the engines maximum and the warship’s velocity gauge climbed like it would never stop.
“Two thousand klicks per second,” said Eastwood. “Two-thousand five hundred.”
“The enemy have launched Feilars, as well as twenty Odans from the warships on the far side of the cluster.” said Aston. “Targeting us, the Stalwart and the Resolve. Holy crap, we’ve got some real heat coming our way – it’s like we’ve suddenly become the number one target.”
The tactical offered up the bad news in all its glory, with the battle computer counting a total of 54 missiles heading for the Vengeance. They were a concern, but Recker had even bigger things to worry about.
“Lieutenant Burner, way back on Oldis when that annihilator hit us with a lightspeed missile, you detected the launch. I would like some advance warning next time they deploy.”
“I remember that, sir. I got lucky.” Burner’s voice strengthened. “I’ll do what I can.”
Recker continued banking away from the Daklan fleet and the Vengeance was accelerating so hard that the cruisers were already far behind. The Feilars were locked and launched, so it was too late to outrange them and the Vengeance wasn’t going to outrun them, even if it maxed out at four thousand klicks per second like Lieutenant Eastwood predicted.
“Are those missiles too much for the interceptors and the chain guns, Commander?” he asked.
“My gut feeling doesn’t want to commit to an answer, sir. I don’t know the Vengeance well enough.”
“Ready the mesh deflector.”
“Yes, sir.”
Recker picked up the doubt in Aston’s voice and he turned. “Worried you won’t time it right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’m not.”
“We just lost the Opposing Force, sir,” said Burner. “The Monarch took some damage and it’s breaking off.”
The tactical – seemingly little more than a scattering of moving dots and overlays – told Recker everything he needed. With each passing moment, the superiority of the Daklan forces became more apparent. Soon, the tipping point would come, where resistance would falter and the engagement become a rout.
Recker had never accepted inevitability. Until defeat became a tangible thing, he’d keep fighting. As it always did in these most terrible of moments, his anger fell away, shed like an unwanted skin. The biological limitations of his mind were lessened, allowing him to focus without distraction.
Sometimes, he feared it happening, like his humanity in these moments was crushed and he became more computer than living, breathing entity. His brain turned, like the cycles of a processing core as it sought a way to do something – anything – that would fix what was happening here at Lustre.
“Mesh deflector activated,” said Aston.
The cage of sword cuts wrapped the Vengeance and the inbound Odan missiles detonated against the shield, their huge payloads turning every feed white.
“Interceptors released to mop up the last Feilars,” said Aston. “Chain guns targeting.”
A combination of sounds threatened to overwhelm Recker’s senses. He blocked them out and banked the Vengeance at the last possible moment. The warship was agile even when travelling at four thousand kilometres per second, and those Feilars which evaded the countermeasures overshot and were taken out by the forward chain guns.
“Sir, you don’t want to hear this,” said Eastwood. “I’m reading a series of ternium waves at a quarter of a million klicks.”
“You’re right, Lieutenant. I didn’t want to hear it.”
“Particle wave modelling suggests we’ve got three more annihilators inbound, sir. Plus eight or ten smaller warships.”
“We’ve still got a target lock on one of the existing annihilators,” said Recker. “We’re going to take it out with the Executor.”
“Sir, it’s over,” said Aston. “This battle is lost – we should take the Vengeance elsewhere so the HPA can benefit from its tech later in the war.”
“It is not over!” Recker shouted.
“Lightspeed missile launch detected,” said Burner. “Target: unknown.”
“Interceptors launched,” said Aston. “For what good they’ll do.”
“The Stalwart has taken a hit from a lightspeed missile, sir,” said Burner.
The cruiser was on one of the feeds and Recker didn’t need a damage report to understand that the warship was in a bad way – the missile had opened an enormous crater in its rear plating and fires blazed across much of its stern.
“Ready the Executor!” ordered Recker, adjusting the Vengeance so that the annihilator was in the weapon’s firing arc.
“Yes, sir,” said Aston. She sounded deflated in a way that Recker hadn’t heard before. “Range to target: 400 thousand klicks. Executor range: 100 thousand klicks. Odan launch detected.”
“The battleship Divergence has been struck by a lightspeed missile, sir,” said Burner.
“Three annihilators have entered local space,” Eastwood intoned. “Plus three desolators and seven ravager class destroyers.”
“Multiple lightspeed missile launches detected,” Burner continued. “The enemy have had enough of waiting.”
“I’m reading another particle wave,” said Eastwood. “Bigger than the last one and at five million klicks. Either these warships missed the target or they want to sit back and enjoy the show.”
“Odan bombardment of Adamantine defensive launchers underway,” said Burner.
The updates rolled in, like a hurricane of Recker’s worst fears. He stood firm for as long as he could manage. Suddenly, it struck him like a Daklan punch to the temple. He could deny inevitability as much as he liked, and maybe he could even fool himself. With the greatest of shame, Recker realized he was fooling others as well and even worse, he was using their belief to bring them to their deaths. They deserved better.
Maybe I convinced myself I’m invulnerable. Recker the machine. Recker the man who always pulls victory from the jaws of defeat. This is about more than just me.
“Feilars incoming,” said Aston.
“I’ve detected another lightspeed missile launch,” said Burner. The artificial calm in his voice was a cheap veneer. “I think this one’s got our name on it.”
Recker’s intended words – we’re getting out of here folks – died on his lips. The mesh deflector was on cooldown and the Vengeance wasn’t getting away from a lightspeed missile. Two softly glowing lights on the top of his control bar caught his eye. The first button would switch the engines to mode 3, while the second was something different.
Fracture.
He pressed the button to switch the engines to mode 3. Recker heard a whoosh like air being sucked into a combustion engine and the sensor feeds went blank. A counter appeared on one of his console screens, the digits rising in a blur. A split second later, he released the button and the feeds resumed.
The Vengeance was elsewhere.
In front of Recker’s eyes, the tactical populated with red dots representing Daklan warships. On his console, the power needles were high and falling fast, while the propulsion was back in mode 1, with mode 2 locked out.
“The enemy,” was all Burner managed to say.
Recker understood. Activating the third engine mode had cast the Vengeance into a short, low-multiple lightspeed jump. Unfortunately, it had carried the warship directly into the centre of the newly arrived additions to the Daklan assault fleet and left its velocity at zero. He saw annihilators, desolators and ravager destroyers in quantities that told him everything about the enemy’s commitment to this attack on Lustre.
Less than five kilometres starboard, a Daklan battleship was stationary, its turrets, domes, chain guns and cannons revealed in perfect detail - killing technolo
gy seen from up close.
These moments of realization were the longest of Recker’s life, as though the activation of mode 3 had enabled his mind to operate outside the bounds of normal time.
He activated the Fracture.
A cracking sound like a mountain snapping in two came from somewhere inside the Vengeance and the sensors registered the emanation of an energy wave. On the forward feed, Recker half-imagined he saw a rippling, which distorted the background of stars and continued until it was lost from the array’s focus.
At first, it seemed as though nothing had happened and Recker opened his mouth to order the discharge of the Executor. Then, he noticed a change on the hull of the nearest annihilator. Recker watched and saw cracks appear in the battleship’s plating. At first, these cracks were narrow but quickly they widened until they were dozens of meters across. Almost at once, new, smaller fissures formed on the undamaged areas of plating and spread like the onset of age.
“What the hell?”
Lieutenant Burner focused the other arrays and each feed told the same story. Widening patterns of cracks appeared on every Daklan warship within this newly arrived fleet – patterns which made Recker think of old oil paintings which had decayed with the passing of the centuries.
“Shit,” said Aston, her eyes wide. “What did we do?”
Recker’s grip on the controls loosened and his hands threatened to slip free. He tightened his fingers and forced himself to pilot his warship through the enemy fleet. The Daklan warships were gone – destroyed – he knew instinctively and not a single one fired at the Vengeance.
“They’re falling apart,” said Eastwood, his voice faltering.
Like windblown sand, the enemy fleet crumbled, creating trails of thick dust through the space behind. Where a ship had been stationary, its edges became first blurred and then ephemeral, like the particles had been given hardly any impetus by the fracturing.
For twenty seconds – though it seemed longer – the crew of the Vengeance could only stare at the damage they had inflicted. This was like a graveyard of ships, where the decay had been accelerated by a hundred billion years and the effects played out in a betrayal of their sanctity.
“We should return to the conflict,” said Recker.
I can’t watch this.
Recker’s hands were shaking as he guided the Vengeance through the dead fleet. The warship emerged from the furthest edge of the cluster, travelling close to its maximum velocity. However much he tried to rein in the fevered thoughts in his head, Recker couldn’t focus on a plan.
Thousands dead, as easy as that.
“The Daklan are still attacking Lustre, sir,” said Burner.
“Do they realize what happened?” asked Eastwood in disbelief.
“They’ve still got the upper hand,” said Aston. Once again, she fixed Recker with a stare. “Captain?”
“Fracture is offline,” said Recker. “For how long, I don’t know.”
“That wasn’t what I was asking, sir.”
“I know. Status updates! I need to think.”
“We can’t switch back into engine mode 2,” said Eastwood.
“Mesh deflector now available, sir.”
Recker tensed the muscles in his arms and shoulders, and bared his teeth at the decision he faced. He didn’t know how long the Fracture would be offline and he didn’t want to challenge the Daklan fleet without the weapon. As he agonised, another HPA cruiser was turned into flaming wreckage by a salvo of alien missiles.
At that moment, the most unexpected of events took him along an entirely new path.
“Sir?” said Burner. “I’ve had a request to open a comms channel from the Daklan annihilator Ixoler. I’ve got Admiral Ivinstol for you.”
With a deep breath, Recker ordered Burner to open the channel.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Admiral Ivinstol’s voice was so harsh that he was difficult to understand, even with the language module rounding off the roughest edges.
“You are Captain Recker.”
“That’s right, Admiral. Why have you attacked our planet?”
“This is war, human. In a war, two sides traditionally fight each other.”
Recker wasn’t sure if the Daklan had a sense of humour or if this was the kind of human-alien misinterpretation he was meant to be aware of.
“I have destroyed many of your warships, Admiral.”
“You have. The remainder of my fleet is strong enough to pacify your planet and destroy its manufacturing capabilities. I have ordered a hold on the attack while we speak, though we will defend ourselves.”
Muting the comms, Recker turned to Lieutenant Burner. “Make sure Admiral Telar is aware.”
“Sir.”
Recker took the comms off mute. “Your gesture is appreciated, though I do not understand your motives.”
“You have the Meklon warship.”
There seemed no point in lying about it. “Yes.”
“And you have circumvented its security. You control its weaponry.”
The Daklan was guessing about how Recker had gained that access, but it didn’t seem like a good time to discuss the minutiae. “Yes. The Vengeance contains powerful technology. You have seen the effects. I would like you to call off the attack on Lustre.”
“That is how you name this planet?” The Daklan made a noise in his throat, the meaning of which Recker didn’t understand. “Tell me, Captain Recker - were you involved in the mission to capture the Lavorix Interrogator?”
“Lavorix?”
“You do not recognize the name?”
“No.” Recker took a guess. “They were at war with the Meklon?”
“Not were, human.”
“What do you know about their conflict?”
“Some and not nearly enough.”
“No need for either the HPA or the Daklan to become involved,” said Recker.
“It is already too late for that, wouldn’t you say?”
“At this precise moment, Admiral, I don’t know what the hell I should be saying. You’ve attacked our planet and I guess most people in the HPA wish we’d never started fighting. Maybe you’re the same, or maybe this is what the Daklan live for.”
“We do not live for death, Captain Recker. However, that is a discussion for another day. Did you claim data from the Interrogator, human?”
Recker wasn’t sure where this was heading, but he sensed this was a pivotal moment in the HPA’s existence. “Yes.”
“What did the Interrogator extract from your warships?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do your superiors know?”
“I have just returned from a long mission, Admiral. I have not yet been debriefed.”
“The Daklan have known tragedy, human. Soon, you will know the same.”
“I don’t understand.”
“The Meklon and Lavorix fight with weapons of unimaginable destruction, designed to bring about the extinction of their opponents. Both the Daklan and your HPA are now involved, however remotely. Should this distant war end, perhaps the victors will come hunting for those they have recently become aware of.”
“We are not looking for an extension to our war, Admiral Ivinstol.”
“The choice is no longer yours, human. As I told you - the Daklan have known tragedy. Five days ago, we lost a planet. Billions killed. An attack from a place unknown.”
“You blame us?”
“At first, we believed you had accessed the network of tenixite converters and used a depletion burst to kill our people. Then, we recovered a shuttle from a distant world – a world into which the Lavorix Interrogator crashed. The personnel on this shuttle survived the engagement with your forces and they had also recovered data from the cube.”
Recker knew the Daklan were resourceful and this was another example of it. “And in that data, you found coordinates of your destroyed world.”
“That is so. At that moment, we knew the HPA could not be blamed.”
“And here you are, attempting to destroy our planet.”
“No human – we came here to finish the war between us, so that we can focus our efforts elsewhere.”
“You’re trying to neutralise us?” asked Recker in disbelief.
“Your fleet is already depleted. Our war council decided it best if we reduced your warship numbers as soon as possible. After that?” Admiral Ivinstal made a sound that might have been dismissive, like the decision would then no longer be important.
The logic sort of worked, in a kind of strange manner that Recker would have never himself considered. Perhaps if you were a warlike alien, it made perfect sense.
“Your plans have changed,” said Recker.
“You have the Meklon ship and this introduces a significant anomaly into the war council’s projections. In order to consider, I will withdraw my fleet from your planet. Should it be required, I will return.”
“How did you find Lustre?” asked Recker, desperately trying to find some answers. “Was it in the Interrogator data?”
“No, Captain Recker – we discovered this planet months ago.”
“Then why now?”
“Because that is how it was decided,” said Ivinstol, like it was the most obvious reason imaginable. “I have given the order for our ternium drives to activate. Once again, we will defend ourselves from attack.”
With that, the comms channel went dead.
“I’m detecting huge energy waves coming from the Daklan hulls,” said Eastwood. “I’d say they’re as good as their word.”
“Lieutenant Burner, I need to speak to Admiral Telar – immediately.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll do what I can.”
Recker was coiled up and the adrenaline was pumping. Neither was lessened by the entrance of Telar into the open comms channel.
“Captain Recker, what just happened?”
“Sir, we can’t talk about it now! Did we pull anything out of the Interrogator’s files?”
Telar understood immediately. “The coordinates of Fortune. They were amongst the transmitted data.”
“We lost the planet?”
“No, Carl. The planet has not been destroyed by a tenixite converter – I am looking at a list of comms received in the last five minutes.” Telar took a deep breath and suddenly it sounded like he had the weight of the universe on his shoulders. “Before you engaged with the Daklan fleet, I told you this is only the beginning. I recommended the planet be evacuated.”
Fractured Horizons (Savage Stars Book 2) Page 22
