by John Walker
Noah huffed. Sending the war dogs down to the surface meant civilian casualties. That was a guarantee. How command anticipated they could have a victory with something like that baffled him. Undoubtedly, the ervas had colonies. And while their homeworld may suffer near annihilation, the people on other planets would remain.
And why would they trust humanity in peace talks after that?
“Course set, sir,” Dorian said. “Technically speaking, we can all head out from our current positions. There’s no reason to form up here. It’ll happen when we arrive.”
Nina arrived on the bridge before he could answer. She took a seat with a sigh. “They’re working now but I’ve brought back their initial findings. It’s in your mailbox.”
Noah brought it up. He nodded. “Sounds interesting but not necessarily useful to us right now.” He hummed. “Erica, start a countdown for hyperspace. We’ll depart in thirty minutes. Nina, you’ve got the bridge. I’m going to brief the other captains on our objective and ensure we’re all on the same page. Let me know if anything comes up.”
“Thank you, sir.” Nina cleared her throat. “Um…”
“It’ll be fine.” Noah patted her shoulder. “Welcome to what I hope will be the final confrontation with the ervas.”
“There’ll be skirmishes,” Nina replied. “For weeks to come. Even if we win today.”
Noah nodded. “But the real fighting will be over, and the folks back home can start working on our future. That’s what I’m looking forward to. Everything else is just a bump on the road to that point.” And a distraction from our real goal of finally ending all the battles between the frontier and Confed space.
Whether or not that was a pipe dream, he didn’t know anymore. But he was willing to fight for it regardless.
***
While intelligence granted them coordinates to hit the ervas homeworld, they didn’t know what they’d find when they arrived. How many ships did the enemy hold in reserve? What sort of planetary defenses did they possess? What sort of standard militia force would stand against us?
Trenik had let them know about ground turrets and that sort of thing, but they weren’t the primary means of defense. He also let them know that his planet had never come under attack before. Noah felt that gave them an advantage. It meant there may not be as much resistance. Of course, he planned for the worst.
When his entire attack force emerged from hyperspace, he intended to initiate an aggressive stance regardless of what they found. The ervas war machine had been on the move. Hitting their homeworld had the potential of calling them back but it also meant a large, powerful force may be roaming around after the fight.
Alexander, Alden, and Erris had to contend with those problems. They were the ones holding down their friendly territories. Unfortunately, their positions had to leave vulnerable targets without aid. The ervas would cause some damage. The key was to mitigate it so a full recovery might be possible.
Tens of thousands of lives will likely be lost too. We’re looking at a tragic waste of life because of this assault.
Noah gave out assignments to the captains, letting them know where they should plan to be during the action. Gaston had orders straight from Alexander about the war dogs. That part still stuck in Noah’s craw. He hated the idea of sending them down to the planet, letting them run wild.
I can’t deny the military benefits but the aftermath…
Gaston insisted they had a foolproof way of shutting the machines down. Noah doubted it would work. I’ve got to stow that skepticism. They may have tested it for all I know. He requested all data relating to that plan, including what precautions they were taking. It was too late to stop that plan. At least he could understand it.
They wrapped up in short order, each returning to their respective bridges for the jump to hyperspace. The fighting would commence in less than eight hours. When they emerged, they’d be fighting for humanity. Their strike promised to be the telling blow. The one which caused the enemy to bleed fatally.
Now’s the time. Noah allowed Nina to finish the procedures for their deployment. She’d been less nervous over the last hour. I wish we could’ve eased her into the position. She’ll get it. He missed Jack. Not because she hadn’t been successful thus far, but the man had seen so much of the action. I can’t believe he’ll miss the end.
Maybe he was the lucky one. There was a chance they’d never come home.
Back to that pessimism. Rein it in, Markel. It’s time to be an optimist.
***
“Mobile command!” Trenik shouted. They’d been in hyperspace for a good two hours, working mostly in silence. The sudden yell started Harcourt. “I figured out where the signal came from. The ervas mobile command ship leading the war effort. I have even tracked them to where they are going right now.”
“Where?” Harcourt asked. “How?”
“It was not difficult. I tapped the device into this ship’s scanner. Using the technology inside, I performed a long-range contact through hyperspace. As it is designed to do. They are heading to these coordinates.” Trenik showed Harcourt. “Do you know where this is? What they might find there?”
“I do.” Harcourt sighed. “That’s the Gold Empire capital. Damn!”
“What is the matter?” Trenik asked. “They won’t be there for another five hours at least.”
“The problem is we can’t tell them,” Harcourt replied. “They might be surprised.”
“Ridiculous.” Trenik moved around to the other side of the device. He accessed one of the computers they had rigged up to the thing. “I will simply send a message to Adjudicator Erris. The technology on her vessel is powerful enough to receive this signal. We will need some power, but it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Whoa!” Harcourt hurried over. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? What if it… you know… causes this ship to blow up or something?”
“Absurd. There is plenty of power within this device. The only thing I will tap is their transmitters. Once I boost them, I will expend the ether within the internal core. This will send the message through hyperspace and give them a chance to respond.” Trenik paused. “I have also finished mapping the energy pattern this gives off.”
Harcourt checked his own device to look at it. “We can jam it now. I mean, without the burst they used.”
“Yes, far more efficiently I might add.” Trenik continued working. “What should I say to her?”
“Just the facts,” Harcourt said. “We know where the enemy plans to attack. Give them the exact coordinates. Hopefully, they can get there in time to hit them hard.” He shook his head. “Might be tight though depending on where she’s set up.”
“That is not our problem.” Trenik finished preparing the message. “With this information, they will be prepared to contact whoever is close by. We have done our part. The only thing left to do now is reverse engineer some of these contact points so we might implement the technology later. However, I think that’s beyond the scope of our current investigation.”
“What else are we doing?” Harcourt asked. “We might as well keep going until we have to strap in for the fight.”
Trenik nodded. “Agreed. I have sent the message. Let us hope she gets it in time.”
No doubt. Harcourt sighed, returning to task. At least we have something to do. I’d be going crazy sitting on my hands here. He’d already been through a couple fights and did not enjoy the experience. When this is all over, I’m finding a planet so far from potential conflict, I’ll be surprised to see birds pecking each other over worms.
Until then… he had one more brawl to suffer through.
***
Erris tapped through reports on her tablet, looking for anything that might have information about Rita. She wondered when Zem might report in… or if he would at all. If anyone made contact, she figured Captain McCully may consider it. Which is why
she checked over all the files coming in through the Confed sources.
Nothing. Erris sighed. You’d better be okay.
She sat on the bridge as her people went about their business. Many of her people were busy preparing for conflict which just meant checking and rechecking their various systems. Keeping out of their way seemed like the best course of action given the circumstances.
“Hey,” Eliza’s voice startled her. The elevator on her vessel proved far quieter than the one on the Morrigan. “What’re you doing there?”
“Just checking to see how things are going.” Erris shrugged. “Waiting for additional combat reports.”
“And information on your friend.” Eliza grinned. “Don’t be ashamed to admit it. For years after I left Whitaker’s service, I checked in on Karl. I get it. We make friends in this business. Sometimes it becomes even more than that. So chin up. You’re having a natural reaction.”
“I… don’t know what to say.”
“Are you surprised I can relate?”
Erris cleared her throat. “Or that you’d have such an opinion given our position with the company.”
“Oh, the company isn’t human. It doesn’t have feelings. We have to give it any soul it might have. And with the investors, I’d say there’s not much in the way of spiritualism going on here.” Eliza took a seat beside her. “But that’s not why I’m here. I just overheard the computer techs say they received a strange message.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m not entirely sure,” Eliza said, “but they’re decoding it. I thought we might be there when they figure it out. Or even help them. They looked insanely young.” She smirked. “Of course, everyone does now. Including me when I look in the mirror. What do you say? Or would you rather worry in here some more?”
“No, let’s go.”
They headed down to the tech center, a room dedicated to officers pouring over raw data. They could decode comms, break into computers, reprogram satellites…and a myriad of other intelligence related activities to boot. Eliza directed them to the back of the room where two men hovered over a terminal.
“Try that cipher,” the one on the left pointed. He had shaggy blond hair that dangled below his collar. Officers on the MerCon ships didn’t have the same regulations about appearance that the military did. “I think this is a Gold Empire code.”
“No way,” his companion replied. He didn’t have any hair but sported a full beard instead. He typed something then hit enter with a dramatic flourish. “The Gold Empire doesn’t know how to encrypt shit. I’m telling you right now, this is Confed at the least. Or something else we’ve never seen before.”
“Hello, gentlemen,” Erris said. Both of them stood immediately. The bald one banged his knee on the desk, wincing. “That wasn’t necessary. What’re your names?”
“Pendleton,” the bald guy blurted out. “This is Roger.”
“Good to meet you both.” Erris gestured to the computer. “What’re you working on? We’d like to help.”
“Some strange message came through to us,” Pendleton replied. “And we’re not sure who could’ve sent it. But it’s really strange. Have a look.”
Erris leaned over him. “That’s from our scientist friends. The ones who researched the ervas for the Gold Empire.” She tapped at his console. “You’ll need this cypher… and… voila.” The message decoded a moment later. “I do hope you two weren’t working on this for a very long time.”
“About fifteen minutes,” Eliza said. “I’m glad I came to tell you about it.”
“Attention,” Trenik’s voice piped through the speakers, “we have attached the coordinates to where a major ervas battle fleet is heading. Harcourt stated it is the Gold Empire homeworld. We urge you to take immediate action and ensure that there is adequate defense in place. What you are seeing is where they will emerge from hyperspace.
“Check the time stamp on this message. You will have six hours from that point to get into position. Good luck.”
“Holy shit.” Erris turned to Eliza. “That could mean…”
Eliza nodded. “This is huge. We need to move. We’ve got…” She checked the screen. “Just over four hours to get into position. Can we make it?”
“With some good navs and a push, yes.” Erris patted the men on the shoulders. “We’ll talk about that type of thing later, gentlemen. If you get any additional messages like that, let us know right away.” She waved at Eliza to follow her. “We need to get a message to Alden and Northam. Depending on how big the fleet is, we’ll need more firepower.”
“This may be a turning point in the conflict for us, don’t you think?”
“I do.” Erris nodded. “I hope they’re right. If so, Trenik and Harcourt may well have won the war for us. It’s all a matter of getting there in time. If we can do that…” She felt confident but cautiously so. A normal hyperspace jump to that territory would take six hours. She had to cut serious time off of that.
Time to put our navigator to a test and to motivate him properly. The fate of a lot of worlds, and perhaps much of humanity, rested with the results.
***
Noah clenched the arms of his chair as they emerged from hyperspace. The thirty second countdown had been murder, every second making his heartbeat all the harder. All the conflicts he’d been part of, all the battles he commanded never amounted to something so monumental. Not even the rebellion.
We’re on the threshold of saving our entire species. Some might’ve considered his thought hyperbolic. They hadn’t seen the things he did in the frontier. The lives impacted by the ervas, their influence over the various worlds they encountered. Nor the conflicts they faced with the aliens.
No, this is a desperate hour. Only people back home would think otherwise.
“Sensors coming online,” Dorian called. He sounded nervous, speaking louder than was necessary. The whole ship felt tense. Everyone aboard knew what they were getting into and it showed. “When the viewscreen comes up, I’ll put up the system information and what we’re up against.”
“Is it always so slow?” Nina asked. “To come back online, I mean?”
Noah frowned in thought. “Hyperspace has many minor systems hovering in standby. It isn’t slow per se… but I can see why you’d think that if you haven’t seen it before.”
“It was much the same when we met up with the other members of the fleet.” Nina turned to her terminal. “Fighter squadrons report ready to go. They can depart at our command.” She looked around. “Given the fact we haven’t been shot yet, I’m guessing whatever opposition we’re about to meet isn’t near enough for launch.”
“Good call.” Noah turned to Dorian. “How many of our ships have arrived?”
“Com traffic is picking up,” Mac answered the question. “We have all Confed vessels in the area. Ten Gold Empire ships have also emerged. Scout class vessels. In fact, they arrived slightly before we did. They are already spreading out, moving to provide screening for approach to the target.”
“Come on, Dorian,” Erica muttered, “kinda need that information if you want me to move this tub.”
“I’m getting there!” Dorian grumbled. “It’s not like this is different than any other time we’ve flown this thing!” He paused. “Okay! Here we go. Five planets in the system. Three are habitable but due to distance to the star, I’d say that two of them were modified much like we’ve done with terraforming.”
“Ships?” Noah asked. “I’m more interested in opposition than astronomy.”
“I’m getting some readings…” Dorian sighed. “I’m sorry, this shouldn’t be taking so long. We might have some kind of interference. I’ll check for that while I communicate with the scouts. They may know what’s going on.”
“I can answer that,” Mac said. “Satellites around the third world are causing the interference. They are essentially jamming devices. I am sending an adjustment frequency to the console now. If you implement that, our equipment shou
ld function again. Be advised this is technology put forth by Lyson, Trenik, and Harcourt.”
“Thanks,” Dorian muttered. “I’m inputting it now and sending it to our allies as well. Give me just a moment to implement.”
“We need to hurry,” Noah said. “Every minute we delay is cutting into the surprise aspect of this attack.” He tapped the comm, reaching directly out to Gaston. “You’re receiving information that should help guide the shuttles with your payload. Are you sending them out right away?”
“I am,” Gaston replied. “They can cut around the main force. Is your viewscreen operational?”
It flickered on just before he could answer. A number of enemy ships mustered some distance off near their homeworld, forming a screen both tall and wide. He didn’t have an accurate number yet… that would come from Dorian or Mac shortly…but they certainly had a reasonable force.
“I’ve got it now,” Noah said. “How will they get around that? We’re going to have hell getting through it.”
“They’re war dogs,” Gaston replied. “They find a way. It’s what they do.”
He’s got a point. “Keep the tactical comm open and let’s get this done. All ships on this channel, charge the enemy position. Full speed ahead.”
“What about the Gold Empire?” Nina asked. “We’re going to leave before their forces arrive?”
“We can’t wait for them,” Noah replied. “Every moment we aren’t moving is time the enemy has to call for reinforcements, fortify their position, and fend us off. No, they’ll be here soon. We’ve given them the same tech we do for navigating through hyperspace. Believe me, they’ll make it.”
“Yeah? Will it be in time?” Nina shook her head. “I don’t want a repeat of that incident…”
“Look to the present, Commander,” Noah interrupted. “To the right now. We’ve got a serious force to contend with. Get ready to launch your fighters.” He paused, considering a tactic. “Mac, those satellites. I’m guessing they have more of a purpose than merely jamming scans, am I right?”
