“That’s a negative, sir. No other ship within a light-year.”
What in the hell is that thing?
Nicolas had read reports that Marauders in the outer regions of the commonwealth were getting more daring of late. But he thought it unlikely they’d attack a planet-based facility of Orion’s size. And even if it were Marauders, it wouldn’t explain the speed of the ship. Not even a Defense Force vessel moved that fast.
Koeman walked back over from an adjacent console. “I’ve instituted a facility-wide alert. Everyone’s been instructed to make their way to the evacuation shelters.” He frowned. “I’d tell you to get back to your ship, but you won’t have time.”
Nicolas couldn’t care less about himself at that moment, all he could care about was his ship.
And Susan…
UECS Vanguard
“Ensign Xeh, open a commlink with the vessel,” Commander Ravith Perera ordered.
“Commlink open, sir.”
“Unidentified vessel, this is the UECS Vanguard at Orion V. Please identify yourself.”
A hush permeated around the command deck. “You are entering restricted UEC territory. You’ve already killed a commonwealth citizen and destroyed commonwealth hardware. If you do not identify yourself, we’ll have no option but to assume hostile intent.”
More silence followed.
“Anything?” Ravith asked.
Xeh shook her head.
“Repeat broadcasting.”
“Aye, sir.”
Ravith stared at the command station with green lights flickering across the board. The relatively young crew had impressed him with how quickly they’d prepared.
He turned to Lieutenant Sharma, the ship’s combat officer. “How’s our team going in the torpedo bay?”
The lieutenant didn’t even have to check. “All forward tubes are loaded.” His console beeped. “Sir, the bogey’s coming into visual range.”
“Ensign Worthington, turn us away from the planet. I want to see what’s coming at us.”
With a touch of his console, the helmsman activated the thrusters and veered the Vanguard one-hundred and eighty degrees. Orion V disappeared from the viewport and was replaced with the dark depths of space. As the blip moved closer on the scanners, Ravith made out a speck in the center of the viewport until its shape formed.
Audible gasps spread around the command deck as the unidentified vessel slowed. It was huge. At least five times the size of the fleet’s largest carrier. Its four outstretched wings had jagged edges, while at the center there was a bulbous almond-shaped segment, which Ravith assumed was the ship’s command and habitat section.
Its color was black.
A deep obsidian black.
Like something from a nightmare.
“What the hell is that thing?” he overheard someone say from the upper level.
Ravith wished he knew the answer.
The vessel continued to move, filling up the viewport. A rumble reverberated throughout the Vanguard as it maneuvered over the top of the hull, missing them by mere meters.
“It’s headed for the planet, sir,” Worthington said. “They passed us as if we weren’t even here.”
“The ship’s taking a geostationary orbit above the mining facility,” Sharma added.
“Ensign Worthington. Bring us around and follow them. Full thrusters,” Ravith instructed him.
“Aye, sir,” the helmsman shot back.
While the Vanguard circled, Ravith studied the scans of the foreign ship. It was unlike any design he’d seen. Who’d have the technology to build something like this?
“Approaching the unidentified vessel,” Worthington said.
“Come to a full stop.”
The Vanguard came to a halt off the unidentified ship’s stern. The behemoth gazed at the planet ominously.
“Commander, look!” Worthington pointed at viewport.
Two green blasts burst forth from the ship’s wings and dropped into the atmosphere of Orion V.
“The blasts have made direct hits on the mining facility!” Sharma shouted.
Ravith gripped the edge of the command station, his knuckles whitening. “Ensign Xeh, get me the captain!”
She shook her head. “I can’t establish a commlink!”
“Then try again.”
“I can’t! We’re being jammed.”
The unidentified ship fired another pair of blasts which tore through the planet’s atmosphere.
“Sharma, get me a firing solution.”
The lieutenant was way ahead of him. “You’ve got it, Commander.”
“Fire tubes one and two.”
Two torpedoes launched from the forward tubes of the Vanguard. They streamed across the abyss toward the hulking black mass. The seconds felt like minutes for Ravith, watching the graphical representation of the torpedoes home in on their target.
Then they hit.
Everyone shielded their eyes from the explosion. As the blast dispersed, they looked up. The giant wing in the night hadn’t budged a millimeter.
“Did we do any damage at all?” Ravith asked.
“It doesn’t appear so, sir.” Sharma’s eyes widened as the unidentified ship rotated and moved toward the Vanguard. “But I think we got their attention.”
“At least it stopped them firing on the surface.”
It hovered over them, as if eyeballing the smaller vessel.
“I’m reading an energy buildup, sir,” Sharma said. “They’re firing!”
Two bolts of energy discharged from the giant ship.
“Worthington, evasive maneuvers!” Ravith bellowed. “Everyone brace for impact!”
It happened so fast. The boom was deafening. The attack threw the Vanguard into a spin. The command deck lights extinguished, and Ravith tumbled against the rear bulkhead. The yells of his crew echoed around him.
With a rub of his head, he gradually pulled himself to his feet. He peered around at the carnage in horror. The command deck had been gutted. Everyone was either dead or unconscious, slumped over their consoles. In two shots one of the finest ships in the Commonwealth Defense Force had been crippled.
Ravith gazed at the unidentified ship continuing to draw closer through the viewport. He hurried up the steps to the combat station where Sharma was coming around. He grabbed the lieutenant by the shoulder.
“If anyone’s left in the torpedo bay, I need you to tell them to load a tritonium torpedo into a working tube.” It wasn’t a decision he took lightly. A tritonium warhead hadn’t been detonated since the end of the Earth-Centauri War and wasn’t to be used unless it was deemed absolutely necessary.
Sharma hesitated for a second before he alerted the torpedo control team below decks.
Ravith activated a commlink on the opposite station. “This is the UECS Vanguard in orbit of Orion V,” he said. “We are under attack by a vessel of unknown origin. We request immediate assistance. We—” The console went dead.
Damn it. We’re being jammed.
“The torpedo is loaded and ready, sir.”
Ravith walked back over to Sharma and stared at the beast through the viewport. At this distance, the Vanguard would go up with them, but if it meant taking that thing out, they’d at least save a lot of people on the surface. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“Fire!”
Seventeen
Cargo Ship Argo
Jason stared back at himself. His eyes were bloodshot and his eyelids heavy. Above the mirror, the light flickered while the bulkhead gently vibrated. The Argo was shooting through the stars at FTL to deliver their consignment to the Tau-Zeta system. Frontier’s Reach had become a distant memory.
He felt like hell. His bottle of bourbon sat next to the washbasin with only a few mouthfuls left. He eyed the reflection, hearing footsteps coming toward him. His uncle detoured into the Argo’s communal bathroom and ignored Jason, stepping into one of the two toilet stalls.
The last thing Jason wanted to
listen to was Althaus taking a crap.
After a few minutes, the toilet flushed, and Althaus left the stall. He stepped up to the washbasin beside Jason and cleaned his hands. The pair locked eyes and Althaus peered at the bottle of bourbon. Without saying a word, he strode towards the door.
Jason breathed a sigh of relief.
“You had no right to do what you did, you know.” Althaus glared at him from the doorway.
“No right to do what?” Jason spun around, getting slightly dizzy.
“You know very well.”
Jason rolled his eyes. “I’m not in the mood to play your games. If you’ve got something to say, then say it.”
“You shouldn’t be here.” Althaus put a hand on his hip. “You should never have asked your brother to take you to Frontier’s Reach.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t have.” Jason couldn’t believe Althaus might be right for a change.
“What did it get you? Nothing.”
Jason might have been drunk, but he had enough of his wits about him to realize Althaus was trying to get a reaction out of him, just like he did when he was a kid. “I’m already feeling crappy. I don’t need you compounding the problem.”
“Too bad.” Althaus raised his fist. “You intended to leave your father before he died, and then walked out on your brother when he needed you the most. You’re not allowed to get away with this.”
Jason faced the mirror again.
Althaus stepped closer to him. “Don’t turn your back on me, kid!”
Kid?
Althaus gave him the moniker when he was a child. Jason hated it then and hated it now. He took a long swig of his bourbon and slammed the bottle down on the edge of the washbasin.
Althaus smiled with the same ugly grin he remembered. “Look at you. You’re pathetic.”
“Piss off.”
“What was that?”
“You getting deaf in your old age?” Jason turned.
Althaus took another step closer. “You’re just a delinquent. No better than that pimply-nosed teenager who turned his back on his family and ran off to the academy.”
Jason narrowed his eyes. “I fought for my planet.”
“And we’re so proud of you,” Althaus said sarcastically.
“At least I made something of myself. All you’ve ever done is ride on the coattails of your brother and then your nephew for the better part of forty years as a do-nothing cargo jockey.” Jason smiled. “You’re a loser, Althaus. And what really burns for you, is you know it.”
His uncle’s face reddened, and his fist clenched.
Yep, that sure pissed him off.
Jason didn’t have time to react to the right hook that crunched into the side of his face. The one swing sent him to the floor. Althaus might have been older, but the big mule could still pack a punch.
“Never forget your place, kid.” Althaus walked toward the door.
Kid…
Jason surprised himself by leaping up and running toward Althaus. He cannonballed into his back, sending them both sprawling into the corridor. Jason quickly reacted and spun Althaus around, landing several jabs to his head.
But Althaus returned serve, throwing him backward and shoving an elbow into Jason’s ribs. He did his best not to vomit up his bourbon and pushed Althaus back down, launching a right hook hard, downward into his face. His uncle groaned in pain.
But again, Althaus showed age hadn’t impaired him. He twisted Jason around and pounded his knee into his back.
Jason rolled away to avoid another blow, but Althaus was quick. He’d got to his feet and closed in on him while he crawled on his knees back to the elevator chute. Althaus grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and wound back his right hand, ready to strike.
“What’s going on here!”
Beyond Althaus’s hovering fist, Kevin came out of his quarters, staring at the pair.
Althaus dropped his fist and let go of Jason’s collar. “The kid and I just got into a little disagreement.” He pulled Jason to his feet. “We were just, uh, hammering out some details.”
“Is that right?” Kevin regarded the pair as if they’d got their hands caught in the cookie jar. “And how many more disagreements are you going to have? There’s still a long way to go before we reach Tau-Zeta and return to Odyssey Station. Need I remind you I’m the one who runs the infirmary on this ship? I’ve got no interest in setting your broken bones.”
Jason took hold of the rail on the elevator so his wobbly legs wouldn’t give way on him. “Lucky for us you have a great bedside manner.”
Kevin didn’t laugh.
“Everyone to the bridge immediately,” Tyler’s said over the ship’s intercom, alleviating the awkward silence.
Jason breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t in the mood to be dressed down. He wasn’t a cadet anymore. The three of them entered the elevator and made their way to A Deck. Tyler and Aly were standing over the operations station when they arrived on the bridge, while a message played over the speakers.
“This is the UECS Vanguard in orbit of Orion V. We are under attack… We request… We—”
“That’s where the message ends,” Aly said.
She and Tyler turned at the three men entering. Both looked disapprovingly at the wounded pair next to Kevin.
“Orion V?” Kevin said. “Isn’t there a mine there?”
Tyler frowned and nodded. “A decium ore facility.”
“Only the big cargo firms get jobs with them,” Althaus added.
“And the Vanguard?” Tyler directed the question to Jason.
“It’s a CDF cruiser,” Jason remembered, even if his mind was fuzzy. “Tough ship. Got quite a reputation during the war.”
“What’s our ETA to Orion?” Tyler asked.
Kevin took a seat at the helm and did the calculations. “We can be there in two hours if we cut through this area of space,” he said, pointing at his monitor.
“Plot the coordinates.”
Althaus stepped forward. “Is that wise?”
“We’ve received a distress call from a CDF ship, Conrad. Under the Commonwealth Shipping Network merchant code, we must render aid.”
“Isn’t that what the rest of their fleet is for?”
“Out this far, there probably isn’t another ship within five star systems.”
“Then it falls to us?” Althaus shook his head. “We’re hardly in any state to attempt a rescue in the Argo, let alone take on whatever attacked them.”
Jason chuckled. “You’re a coward.”
Althaus spun around, but Tyler stopped him with a firm grip on his shoulder before he could launch another assault.
“Enough!” Tyler demanded of the pair, clearly over their disagreement.
“We’ve already pushed our luck with our client on Tau-Zeta,” Althaus said. “If we don’t deliver this shipment at the agreed time, not only will we lose out on a ton of cash, but it’ll sully our name. I don’t need to tell you what bad word-of-mouth does for us out here.”
“What are you suggesting?” Aly asked him. “That we pretend we never heard their call for help?”
Althaus nodded. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“Jason’s right. You are a coward.”
His face reddened yet again. This time it was Kevin he looked to. “Can’t you control your daughter, Rycroft?”
Kevin raised an eyebrow. “She’s not a child anymore. And to be fair, she makes a point.”
Althaus muttered something under his breath.
“Okay. Enough, everybody.” Tyler did his best to play peacemaker. “Have you plotted that course?” he asked Kevin.
“It’s in.”
“When you’re ready, take us to FTL. Aly, get to the engine room. Make sure we get everything we can out of those engines.”
Aly did as she was instructed and made a rapid exit.
“Uncle,” Tyler said to Althaus in a hushed tone. “Please contact our buyer, make them aware of our situation. Hop
efully, they’ll understand and give us more time.”
Althaus didn’t seem done arguing but finally relented, leaving the bridge. Tyler stepped toward his brother.
“And you,” he told Jason. “You look like crud. Have a shower. Get a coffee and have your wits about you when we reach Orion. Understood?”
Jason mock saluted. “Yes, sir.”
His brother had indeed grown up. Eyeing his own bloody knuckles, Jason wished he could say the same about himself.
Eighteen
Decium Ore Mining Facility - Orion V
What is that incessant beeping?
Nicolas opened his eyes. Darkness surrounded him. Only a dim red light illuminated his environment while dust particles floated throughout the air.
He peered at the ceiling, immediately realizing he was flat on his back. He peered out the viewport with a turn of his head. A massive cliff face stared back at him. Nicolas tried to drag himself from the floor but was caught. He glanced down. His right foot had gotten wedged in a hole. He yanked at it, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Susan!” he yelled.
You fool. Susan wasn’t there. He didn’t know whether she was dead or alive. I hope she’s okay.
“Koeman!”
He didn’t answer either.
“Bloch!”
The only response came from his echoes. My ship?
Nicolas hauled himself into an upright position and surveyed the damage. Beams had fallen through the ceiling, and the workstations were mangled. Memories of the grisly sights from the Siege of Maxima returned to him.
Beside him, under a broken girder, lay the limp body of Mister Bloch. His eyes were still open, but he was well and truly dead.
Nicolas reexamined his foot. He didn’t want a beam to fall through the ceiling to seal his fate as well so acted quickly. He could still move his toes, so he tried to break loose again, but it was in vain. Reaching down, he grabbed the laces of his boot and untied them. With one almighty heave, he wiggled free.
“Can anyone hear me?” Nicolas stood to get a better view of the decimated operations center, but the darkness and the particles in the air made it almost impossible to distinguish anything.
Frontier's Reach: A Space Opera Adventure (Frontiers Book 1) Page 9
