Climbing the steps, Recker entered the bridge. The remains of his squad lounged against the same wall, as if they were in a competition to see who could act the most laid-back in the face of death. All the Daklan personnel were missing, apart from one.
“Captain Recker,” said Lera-Vel. “You have returned.”
“Like I promised.”
Swallowing down his emotions, Recker took his seat. He knew suddenly this was the place he was meant to be. Without the Ixidar, the confrontation with the Ancidium was doomed to failure and Recker was the only man in tune with this incredible warship.
The presence of Lera-Vel only added to the weight upon his shoulders, like his own happiness was inextricably tied up with the success of the coming mission. It was a burden Recker knew he’d bear, come what may.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Corporal Montero, open a channel to the Gorgadar,” said Recker. He called up the command menu and began some rapid checks of the status readouts.
“Requesting channel, sir,” said Montero, operating her console easily.
“Been practicing?”
She grinned at Recker. “I didn’t spend the whole time you were away talking crap with the squad. Here’s your channel, sir.”
“We’re about ready to lift off, Lieutenant Burner,” said Recker into the comms. “Leave this channel open, so we can communicate without needing to open a new one.”
“Yes, sir. Admiral Ildir-Ta-Rok and his fleet are in proximity to the Gorgadar – it’s you we’re waiting for.”
“I’d best stop scratching my ass and get moving,” said Recker dryly.
“Yes, sir.” Burner paused and then continued. “This feels like a mess. Like we’re charging into the unknown without a single idea what we’re going to do when the shooting starts.”
“That’s an accurate summation, Lieutenant. I wish it were otherwise.”
“Me too, sir.”
Recker remembered something. “I’ve been busy flying to the Ixidar – you’d best give me a summary of what we can expect at the Evia system.”
“Nothing out of the ordinary, sir. The Evia star is big and older than most. It’s orbited by ten planets in the usual kind of mix - two gas giants, one clad in ice, another a molten ball of rock. A couple of hundred moons scattered amongst them, most of those around the gas giants…”
“I get the message,” said Recker. “Where are you aiming the Gateway?”
“Way out on the fringe, sir. Commander Aston thought it best if we check out what’s happening at a safe distance – assuming such a distance exists.”
“What about the warships Fleet Admiral Telar mustered?”
“He wasn’t shitting you when he said he couldn’t gather as many as he wanted. We’ve got eight HPA warships, including only a single battleship, and an additional five from the Daklan fleet.”
“Forty-eight in total,” said Recker. “Plus the Ixidar and Gorgadar.”
“Those additional warships are hours away, sir. We’ll have thirty-seven when we arrive. Against anything else, I’d gamble on us having the upper hand even with thirty-seven,” said Burner.
Recker didn’t respond. He left the channel open and turned to Montero. “Ixidar stuff we discuss on the bridge channel. Anything the Gorgadar needs to hear comes through your chin speaker.”
“Yes, sir.”
He gave her a thumbs up and she returned one of her own.
“Want me to request clearance to depart, sir?”
“I think the Daklan know we’re leaving, Corporal.”
The Ixidar’s instrumentation readings were exactly where Recker wanted them and he lifted the warship carefully from its trench. The underside destroyer cannon emerged cleanly from the shaft and he increased velocity, passing through the clouds and into the upper atmosphere.
“I’ve received a request to join the local battle network and I’ve accepted, sir,” said Montero.
“Tactical populating,” Recker confirmed. “No chance of sonic damage to the ground facilities at our current altitude. Switching engines to overstress – let’s join the others.”
A surge of acceleration carried the Ixidar into space and Recker set a course for the warships which had clustered at half a million kilometres. At seven thousand kilometres per second, the intervening distance wasn’t significant and shortly, the Ixidar joined with the fleet. Montero focused the sensors and the approach trajectory gave Recker his best view yet of the Gorgadar’s exterior.
“The enemy really did a number on you,” said Montero.
“That they did,” said Recker.
Deep impact craters resulting from both gauss shots and missile detonations covered much of the Gorgadar’s visible starboard flank and five thousand metres of the nose section was unrecognizable. Torn armour plates dangled precariously, and ternium blocks showed through the openings. The heat had not yet dissipated, and a faint redness lingered in the alloy.
“There’s all kinds of particulate crap spilling out,” said Montero. “I guess we’re not too concerned about that.”
“Damn right we’re not,” said Recker. “Lieutenant Burner, we’re coming alongside. Ready the Gateway.”
“Lieutenant Eastwood was waiting for the order and he confirms the warmup has commenced, sir. Eight minutes and we’ll be in the Evia system. Do we know for definite the Ancidium will be there ahead of us?”
“There’s not much we have confirmation on, Lieutenant and this is one of those things. We’ve seen combat before – be ready for some more.”
“Fan, meet shit,” said Burner.
“Eloquently put,” said Montero.
Recker swapped back to the bridge channel and finished positioning the Ixidar. When he was done, the two Laws of Ancidium were side-by-side, with little more than a thousand metres separating their nearest extremities. In the space around, Admiral Ildir-Ta-Rok and the other Daklan officers had arranged the local fleet. For a minute or two, Recker studied their warships. A few had suffered recent damage, but the overall outcome of their engagement with the Lavorix fleet was a good one, considering the disparity in numbers and capabilities.
“They didn’t lose a single warship,” said Recker. “The Daklan fight well. They always have.” He couldn’t stop himself from turning. Lera-Vel was sitting at the engine console, her head down as if she were working on a difficult problem. She didn’t look up, nor even notice Recker’s attention.
“Corporal Hendrix looked at my eye, sir,” said Montero, her expression full of mischief.
“And what did she say?” asked Recker, going with the joke.
“It might be a recurring problem.”
“Why am I not surprised at that diagnosis?” said Recker, shaking his head.
“You should go and see her, sir,” said Montero, surreptitiously pointing over her shoulder.
The timer on Recker’s console informed him the Gateway would activate in four minutes. He knew he shouldn’t leave his station.
Screw it.
He climbed from his seat and approached Lera-Vel. This time she looked up.
Recker crouched next to her. “When this is over, I want to be with you,” he said.
“You will, Captain Recker. It is destined.”
He stared into her alien eyes and felt himself becoming lost. Lera-Vel’s expression was less confident than her words, as if this were new to her as well.
“I’m Carl,” he said.
“You will not lose, Carl. You are not accustomed to failure, though you fear it.”
“It’s not failure that fills me with dread, Lera-Vel. Only the future. And now not that. Not anymore.”
Recker didn’t want to take his eyes away, but he forced himself to stand. Giddiness swept through him and he wondered if Lera-Vel was no more than an illusion – an image of alien perfection conjured up by his mind to strengthen him against what was to come. He placed a hand on her shoulder and she was as real as everything else.
“I must return to my station,�
�� he said.
Lera-Vel smiled and indicated the control panel in front of her. “I had hoped to learn something useful from this console. Something that might help. I am too late.”
Recker returned to his seat, wondering which of Corporal Montero’s eyes would be affected by dust this time. It turned out her eyes were fine and she gave him another smile.
“One minute to go, sir,” she said, pointing at the timer. “I love Gateway travel.”
“Sarcasm doesn’t suit you, Corporal.”
“I learned it from Drawl, sir.”
“Is there anything that Private Drawl isn’t responsible for?”
“There’s a simple rule to follow, sir. If it’s bad, Drawl did it. If it’s good, it was someone other than Drawl.”
Recker laughed, though only briefly. The sound of it faded on his lips and instead he grimaced as he took the controls in an iron grip.
“One Gateway coming right up,” said Montero on the squad channel. “Be ready and be steady.”
A few seconds later, the timer fell to zero and the Gorgadar opened its Gateway. Darkness engulfed the Ixidar and the sensors went offline, and the effects of the transit were no better or worse than they always were.
“Get those sensors up,” said Recker. It was a struggle to make his voice sound normal.
Montero uttered a couple of random curses and then acknowledged. “Sensors coming online, sir.”
“We’ll have dropped off the battle network during the transit. Watch for the request to re-join.”
Recker held the Ixidar stationary. The distance between the warships would have diverged a little during the transit, but not enough that he could safely begin evasive manoeuvres.
“Sensors up, working on the adjustment,” said Montero. “Battle network request received and accepted. Lieutenant Burner has requested a new open channel. Also accepted.”
The first feeds were of darkness, as they usually were before the sensor operators got on top of things. Recker waited for developments, which he expected to hear about any moment now.
“Sir, the local battle network is in place,” said Burner. “The eight HPA and five Daklan warships which were inbound separately will not arrive for another two and three hours, respectively.”
“The ninety-five percent outcome for the Ancidium’s arrival at Earth was between one and forty-eight hours, Lieutenant.” Recker tried to figure out how much of that had already been taken up by the engagement with the Ruklior, and he wasn’t sure. “We can’t afford delays.”
“I know, sir. I’m looking to see what I can find.”
Lieutenant Eastwood’s voice came through the speakers. “Sir, another of our engine modules has switched itself into superstress.”
“Have you made any effort to switch it back?”
“No, sir. Like you ordered, I’ve left well alone. Eventually, we’re going to run out of stabilisers and I don’t want to imagine what’ll happen then.”
“Another reason to deal with the Ancidium quickly,” said Recker. He swapped into the bridge channel. “Have you found anything, Corporal Montero?”
“Planet five, sir. It’s called Vaan – a gas giant.”
The fleet had a lot of space to scan and the distances were great. Recker’s frustration climbed as the minutes passed, but gradually the combined efforts of the warships located the different planets. Since Evia was known to the HPA and had been scouted, the locations of the planets, as well as their orbital track positions, would have been available to an HPA warship. Unfortunately, those vessels hadn’t arrived yet, and the Daklan charts only had data on the Evia star, rather than on anything orbiting it.
“It’s not the planets I care about,” said Recker. “It’s the damned Ancidium. Is it here or is it not here?”
“There’s a lot of space to scan, sir,” said Montero. “I doubt the enemy ship is blind side of anything, but there’s a chance of it.”
“We’ve located an object close to Evia, sir,” said Burner.
“We’re six billion klicks out, Lieutenant!” said Recker in astonishment. “This has to be your best spot yet.”
“I’m afraid I can’t claim the credit,” said Burner. “Not this time.”
“I figured it out, sir,” said Eastwood. “I scanned for lightspeed tunnels and there’s an end point of one right next to Evia. I can’t confirm it’s the Ancidium, but whatever came through that tunnel, it’s in the centre of the sun’s corona – the temperatures are likely greater than a million Fahrenheit and there’s only one spaceship we know that’s going to be comfortable in the middle of that.”
While Recker and his crew had recovered the Gorgadar on the edge of a different star’s corona, the temperatures there hadn’t been anything like so extreme as those endured by the object at Evia. Perhaps the Gorgadar’s energy shield could have withstood the burning heat, but he doubted it. The Ancidium was immune to most physical damage, and that’s what made Recker believe it was the Lavorix mothership so close to the sun.
“What better place to hide while you scan for life?” said Montero.
“I don’t think the Ancidium does much in the way of hiding,” said Recker.
Or maybe it does, came the thought. It’s running from the Kilvar. Now it’s found humanity and the Daklan, and we’ve destroyed its most powerful warships. Perhaps those bastards have learned something of fear and respect.
At that moment, the planet Vaan, which was still on one of the bulkhead feeds, exploded.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Recker had never witnessed anything like this before. The Ancidium had destroyed Tokladan, though he hadn’t seen it happening. Regardless, Vaan had about a hundred times the mass of the Daklan world and here it was, reduced to discrete sections of grey, liquid metallic hydrogen which were hurled away from the original core in defiance of all known science.
It happened quickly – as the compressed matter was flung apart, the forces holding it together lessened and the remains of the planet become indistinct, as if the process which had initiated the planet’s demise was designed to continue until no trace was left of the original.
“We’re six billion klicks from there, sir,” said Montero. “I can’t improve the feed any more than this.”
“I’m not sure I want to you to improve it, Corporal. I don’t think I want to see any more than this.” Recker spoke loudly through his chin speaker. “We weren’t the only ones scanning the Evia system,” he said.
“I can’t confirm the Ancidium has located us, sir,” said Burner. “We’re twelve billion klicks from the star and I have yet to locate the enemy warship using our sensors.”
“The Lavorix know we’re here,” said Recker with certainty.
“What orders, sir?” asked Commander Aston. “Admiral Ildir-Ta-Rok accepts his warships lack our capabilities and knows he must follow our lead.”
“We can’t go anywhere,” said Recker. “If we’ve been detected, then there’s no time to warm up the Gateway, even if I wanted us to.”
“Why blow up a planet?” said Larson.
“To show that it’s easy for them,” said Recker.
“Planet seven – Louna - just went the same way, sir!” said Burner, his voice climbing an octave.
Louna was on another of the feeds. It was a much smaller planet than Vaan, and cased in ice. Smaller it was, but the death of Louna was no less shocking to watch, and Recker asked himself if whoever or whatever commanded the Lavorix was no more than a petulant child given control of a weapon with hideous potential.
“What are we going to do, sir?” asked Montero.
“The Ancidium is coming, Corporal and there’s nothing we can do to escape. Not unless we abandon the Daklan, and that’s not happening.”
Recker’s problems ran deeper than just the Ancidium.
“Sir, another of the Gorgadar’s stable modules went superstress,” said Eastwood, talking quickly. “I think a tipping point has been reached – there are too few stabilisers left and
they’re going to switch over one by one. It’s too late to stop it happening.”
“How long before they’re all in superstress?”
“I don’t know - less than an hour. Maybe a lot less. I said before that if the Gorgadar’s propulsion went critical, we might be facing an event that makes the Dark Bomb look insignificant, but I really don’t know what’s going to happen, sir.” Eastwood’s exhalation between clenched teeth was audible over the speakers. “I don’t want to be here to find out.”
The same old mountain of crap was building the same way it always did and Recker struggled to think of the best way to stay on top of it. More than anything, he wanted a target – something tangible he could destroy.
“Where’s the Ancidium?” he said. “Lieutenant Eastwood, do you have precise coordinates?”
“Yes and no, sir. The lightspeed tunnels are fuzzy and the detection tools aren’t perfect. I can tell you within half a million klicks where the Ancidium emerged.”
“I want precise coordinates – we can’t enter million-degree heat and then start searching!”
“It might have moved anyway, sir.”
“What about the sensors?” asked Recker. “Is it showing up on those?”
“The star’s radiation is screwing up the readings, sir,” said Larson. “We have no sensor confirmation of the Ancidium’s position.”
At that moment, the tactical display began filling with red as first ten, then thirty Lavorix warships dropped out of short-range lightspeed transits less than five thousand kilometres from the allied fleet. Recker acted instinctively, pushing the controls away from him and setting the Ixidar into a tumble. With physics-defying ease, the warship’s velocity increased.
The Daklan were no slower to react, and their fleet of thirty-five accelerated from their starting positions, spilling missiles at the first of the Lavorix warships.
“The enemy are still coming, sir!” said Montero. “We have seventy confirmed targets on the tactical. Now seventy-five!”
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