by Ken Lozito
“Fire!” Connor said.
HADES IV-B missiles shot from their tubes. No sooner had the order been given than another countdown timer appeared. LaCroix was already hard at work identifying additional targets for the next wave of missiles.
“Ops, you’re going to bring PRADIS back online. Active scans,” Connor said.
PRADIS came back online and the Vigilant’s computer system fed the data from the scanner drone into it.
“Scanner drone has gone offline,” Sergeant Browning reported.
That hadn’t taken the Vemus long. Connor watched the PRADIS output and didn’t know if it was an act of providence that had spared them from having any Vemus ships around them or if they were just lucky, but they were alone for the time being.
A second wave of HADES IV-Bs fired from their tubes.
“Helm, bring us about, toward the Vemus fleet,” Connor said.
“Yes, sir, bringing us about,” Sergeant Edwards replied.
“Sir, I’m showing HADES IV missiles have been launched from Titan Space Station,” Sergeant Browning said.
“Acknowledged,” Connor said, thankful Kasey hadn’t wasted any time engaging the Vemus. “Tactical, account for the incoming HADES IVs from Titan into your targeting solutions.”
“Yes, sir,” LaCroix answered.
“General, one of the Vemus ships has broken away from the front and is on an intercept course for us,” Reisman said.
“Ops, target that ship with the rail-cannon. It’s big enough for us to hit it even at this distance,” Connor said.
The rail-cannons were bolted into the superstructure of the ship. It was the only way they could be fired without tearing the ship apart.
“Colonel, any sign of the Wyatt?” Connor asked.
Reisman peered intently at his own holoscreen. He looked up at Connor. “Negative, sir.”
“Understood. Helm, hold this position for twenty seconds and then plot a course toward Titan Space Station, best speed,” Connor said.
Sergeant Edwards echoed his command. Connor watched as the Vemus battleship carrier drew steadily closer.
“Confirm hits with rail-cannon, sir,” Sergeant Browning said.
“Good, keep pelting it. Tactical, what’s our missile status?” Connor asked.
“All our birds are in the air, sir,” LaCroix said.
They’d gone through their HADES IVs already? Connor glanced at the main holoscreen. There were still so many enemy ships. They had to get out of there before they were caught in the crossfire of their own weapons.
“Sir, I’m detecting a faint comms channel from the Wyatt,” Sergeant Boers said.
“Can you lock onto their signal?” Connor asked.
“Yes, sir. Ship has been identified,” Sergeant Boers said.
Connor looked back at the main screen. On the other side of the Vemus line, drawing steadily toward Titan Space Station, was a signal from the Wyatt. “Helm, plot a course to that signal, best speed. Tactical, make use of the Hornets as we go but keep twenty percent in reserve,” Connor said.
This mission could go to hell at any moment. The Vemus ships were scrambling to find them. Connor had no illusions that this was a battle he could win. He was just determined to take down as many of the enemy as he could.
“Enemy missiles detected! Danger close! Brace for impact!” Reisman shouted.
Connor checked his seat straps to be sure they were securely fastened. It had been only a matter of time before the Vemus fired back at them. Now it was a matter of how long their luck would hold.
Connor felt a violent shudder spread across the bridge and then his body jerked hard against his restraints. He watched helplessly as Sergeant Browning crashed into his workstation panel and then slumped over in his chair. Connor gritted his teeth and held on. As the ship stabilized, Sergeant Boers and several others went over to help Sergeant Browning.
A massive overload registered on Connor’s terminal. He opened a comlink to Engineering. “Damage report,” Connor said.
“Sir, we lost two of our main drive pods. The system is completely overloaded. Main engine power down to twenty-five percent,” Engineer Hatly replied.
Connor’s mouth went dry. “What about the other two drive pods?”
“One is fully operational and we’re attempting to reroute power to the other one. Pods three and four are completely gone, sir,” Engineer Hatly said.
“Understood. Get me that other drive pod ASAP,” Connor said.
He cut the connection to Engineering and looked over at the Ops station. Sergeant Browning was awake and back in his chair.
“Ops, I need a damage report,” Connor said.
“Looks like they concentrated fire on our stern engines. Missile tubes six through fifteen are offline,” Sergeant Browning said.
“Understood,” Connor replied and looked at Reisman. “They’re trying to disable us, and they knew where to hit us.”
“Agreed. I think it must be what they did to the Wyatt,” Reisman said.
Connor looked at the PRADIS readout. The ship that had the com signal from the Wyatt had disappeared.
“Comms, are we still receiving a signal from the Wyatt?” Connor asked.
Sergeant Boers worked with a frantic frown. “Negative, sir. They’re no longer broadcasting any signal,” Boers said with a shaky voice.
The Wyatt was gone. Two hundred CDF souls aboard.
“Sir, I’m showing waves of HADES IV missiles making their final approach. We need to get out of here to achieve minimum safe distance,” Lieutenant LaCroix said.
“He’s right, sir. With the Wyatt gone, we should head back toward Titan Space Station,” Reisman said.
Connor clenched his teeth. They were still just inside the Vemus front lines, and the enemy fleet hadn’t increased their speed. “Helm, plot a course for Titan Space Station. Best speed. Execute as soon as you have it.”
“Yes, sir,” Sergeant Edwards said.
Connor ran the numbers on his terminal. With only one drive pod, even at best speed they only stood a slim chance of clearing the detonations of the HADES IV missiles.
“Come on, Hatly, get me that other drive pod,” Connor said softly.
Reisman heard him and gave a grim nod. They needed that engine or they were going to die.
“Sir, I’m showing drive pod two is now active!” Sergeant Edwards said.
“Punch it!” Connor said.
The Vigilant lurched forward as the magneto-plasma drive pods sucked in power from their remaining reactors. Connor felt a shudder under his feet and he watched the plot as the Vigilant slowly moved ahead of the Vemus fleet.
19
Noah had remained in the command center and continued to assist Caleb at the tactical workstation. He glanced at the time on one of the main tactical holoscreens that were tracking the missiles they’d launched at the enemy fleet. When Noah first joined the CDF, he’d assumed that missile deployments were effectively straightforward affairs. Nothing could be further from the truth. Even with the increased accuracy he’d been able to achieve for the HADES IV-Bs, they still had to reach their relative positions. Colonel Douglass hadn’t gone for the simple and direct approach, which would have been to fire all the missiles in their arsenal. Each wave of missiles had an effective targeting location and they flew at different speeds in order to hit the enemy fleets all at once. There was a delicate balance of timing and precision that Noah had come to appreciate.
He glanced at the PRADIS screen, and none of the enemy fleet had broken formation.
“Colonel, I’m showing a CDF responder coming just ahead of the enemy fleet’s front line. It’s the Vigilant,” Caleb Thorne said.
Noah’s eyes widened in excitement. They hadn’t heard from the Vigilant since the attack first began.
“Sir, I have a comms channel from the Vigilant. It’s General Gates,” Lieutenant Foster said.
“Put them through,” Colonel Douglass said. The comms channel registered as active.
“I was beginning to think you were going to miss the party.”
“We had a few shake-ups of our own. The Wyatt is gone. I sent the Banshee to you, but we’ve taken significant damage and I don’t know if she made it,” Connor said.
“Major Cross has checked in and I told her to stay close to the station. She’ll get to see some more action before this day is done,” Colonel Douglass said.
Noah’s brows drew upward and he looked over at the colonel. Surely all the HADES IV missiles armed with their nuclear warheads would be enough to severely damage the approaching fleet?
“What’s the status of the Vigilant?” Colonel Douglass said.
“The Vemus started to return fire on us. They targeted our engines and we’re down to only two main engine pods left. Our analysis is that they were just trying to disable the ship so they could take us alive. One of the last broadcasts from the Wyatt was that they were repelling boarders. There’s a good chance they’re going to try the same thing on the space station,” Connor said.
“Understood. We’ll be ready,” Colonel Douglass said.
There was a long moment of garbled static before the channel was cleared by the comms AI that automatically aligned communications signals for optimum performance.
“How long do we have, Kasey?” Connor asked.
Noah frowned at the somberness of the tone. He’d rarely heard Connor break protocol on an official CDF channel before. He looked over at Colonel Douglass and saw that the former Ghost’s mouth formed a thin grim line.
“Not long,” Colonel Douglass said, his voice sounding thick.
“I thought so. Our PRADIS array has taken some damage, so not all the scanner fields are working anymore,” Connor said.
Colonel Douglass muted the comms channel so Connor wouldn’t hear him. “Tactical, will the Vigilant reach minimum safe distance?”
“Hold a moment, we’re picking up something on our sensors,” Connor said.
Within moments, multiple contacts showed on PRADIS.
Colonel Douglass took the comms channel off mute. “We see them.”
Captain Thorne worked through the blast radius from the HADES IV missile envelope whose detonation timing was closing in on the Vigilant. “It’s going to be real close, sir.”
Colonel Douglass nodded. “General, you’re almost at a minimum safe distance. You’re still in this. The noose is closing in standard V deployment.”
“Understood. The new contacts are moving much faster than anything else we’ve seen so far. They’re smaller vessels. Can’t do the analysis here, but I suspect they’re some form of Talon 5 assault crafts,” Connor said.
Noah brought up a search on his terminal. Titan’s computer systems held a data repository of all known NA Alliance navy vessels in existence when the Ark left Earth’s solar system. He entered Talon 5 into the search field and his mouth went dry. Talon assault crafts were specifically designed to puncture a hole through bulkheads and deliver troops onto enemy vessels. They were also designed for speed and were highly maneuverable. Soldiers were strapped into place and administered a special cocktail to help them withstand forces that were beyond the inertia dampeners’ ability to compensate.
“Ops, I need you to confirm that,” Colonel Douglass said.
“Yes, sir. We’re tracking,” Sergeant Moors said.
“We’ll attack them from the rear, but you’re going to need to unleash the fury and initiate Jade protocol,” Connor said.
Noah glanced at Colonel Douglass. He’d never heard of Jade protocol and had no idea what that meant.
“Understood, General. I’ll be in contact,” Colonel Douglass said.
“Good luck, Titan,” Connor said.
Noah watched as Colonel Douglass went over to his terminal.
“Colonel, the Talon 5s will be here within thirty minutes,” Sergeant Moors said.
Colonel Douglass broke focus on his terminal session and glanced up. “Understood. Go to Condition One. Imminent attack on the station. Defense protocols authorized.”
Noah heard the operations officer send a broadcast throughout the station. A new notification appeared on Noah’s terminal with orders for him to report to the main hangar. He glanced at Colonel Douglass and noticed that several CDF personnel began leaving the Command Center. Other CDF personnel sprinted in to fill the vacant posts. Noah closed his terminal session, stood up, and went over to Colonel Douglass.
“Colonel, is this accurate?” Noah asked and flipped the screen of his PDA toward the Colonel.
Colonel Douglass stood up. “Donnelly, take over. I’ll only be a few minutes.”
Lieutenant Colonel Donnelly went to the command chair.
Colonel Douglass looked at Noah. “Walk with me, Noah.”
Noah frowned. The colonel addressing him by his name rather than rank didn’t make him feel at ease in the slightest, but he followed his commanding officer away from the Command Center. They went toward the lifts.
“Your orders are correct. You are to report to the main hangar and board the Frigate Abacus,” Colonel Douglass said.
Noah’s eyes widened. “I’m not sure I understand, sir.”
Colonel Douglass glanced around to be sure they weren’t overheard. “You’re returning to New Earth.”
“But why, sir? I can help you,” Noah said.
He knew he was overstepping his boundaries by questioning his superior officer, but he didn’t want to leave.
Colonel Douglass placed his hand on Noah’s shoulder. “Listen to me. Jade protocol was put in place so we could ensure that key personnel would be transported back to New Earth in case this station fell into enemy hands. This is not a slight on your abilities. Quite the contrary. You’re one of the good ones and essential for the defense of New Earth.”
Noah swallowed hard. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to leave. He wanted to stay and fight.
“Now, can I count on you to get to the frigate, or do I need to assign a security detail to take you there?” Colonel Douglass said.
Noah glared at the man. “Yes, sir.”
Colonel Douglass gave him a firm squeeze on his shoulder and then headed back toward the Command Center.
“Colonel,” Noah called out, and Douglass turned around. Noah stood up straight and snapped a salute. “Good luck, sir.”
Colonel Douglass saluted in kind. “Good luck to us all.”
As Noah ran toward the lifts, he brought up his PDA and looked for Kara’s signal. Her personal locator showed that she was several levels up from the main hangar, in Engineering. Noah went inside the elevator and selected the Engineering level. A group of soldiers ran toward the elevator as the doors started to shut and Noah thrust his hand out to stop them from closing.
The CDF soldiers piled inside, easily filling the space. One of the soldiers glanced at him. “Captain, you should be armed. The order was just given. Where are you heading?”
Noah hadn’t heard the order. “Engineering. I’ll stop at the nearest weapons locker.”
“Phelps, give him a weapon.”
The soldier named Phelps turned toward Noah and handed him an M11-Hornet. Noah took the SMG and thanked him.
“Are you familiar with that weapon, sir?” the sergeant asked.
“Yes, I’ve used one of these before,” Noah answered. He’d kept up with his weapons training after his introduction to them when Connor had recruited him to Search and Rescue and then later to the Colonial Defense Force.
The elevator stopped and the CDF soldiers ran out. Noah hadn’t even gotten the sergeant’s name before the doors shut and the elevator resumed its descent to Engineering. As Noah checked the Hornet, the elevator came to a sudden halt. The lights flickered and Noah glanced at them in alarm. There was a muffled boom and he gasped. He went over to the doors and tried to pry them open, but they wouldn’t budge. He opened the control panel and tried to override the door, cursing when it failed.
“Think, Noah!”
He glanced around
and then looked up at the ceiling panel. He’d have to climb. He went to the side of the elevator and opened the service panel to metal rungs that led upward. Noah climbed up the ladder and reached the service hatch, which he unlocked and thrust upward. The hatch swung open and he climbed out of the elevator.
The long gray elevator shaft stretched out above him. The shaft shuddered as if something massive had slammed into the space station, and the elevator car jerked downward. Noah stumbled toward the wall. He was stuck between floors. Emergency lighting shined on the yellow rungs of a ladder built into the shaft. Noah ran over and began climbing. He reached the next floor and pulled on the emergency release for the door. The metal doors slid open and Noah yelled for help. He heard someone yelling, but they sounded as if they were far away. With one firm hand on the ladder, Noah reached across and grabbed the edge. He let go of the ladder and shuffled across, using his hands to hold him. The elevator car was only ten feet beneath him, so he wouldn’t die if he fell, but he didn’t relish the thought. Noah pulled himself up and swung his foot to the side, climbing out the rest of the way and pushing himself to his feet.
“Alert! Vemus forces have entered the station.”
Noah’s mouth hung open. They were already here! That must have been the loud booming sound he’d heard—the sound of those Talon 5 assault ships slamming into the station. Noah glanced over at the emergency container fastened to the side of the wall. Those containers were spaced throughout all the floors of the station. He raced over and opened it, pulling out a rebreather mask and then grabbing a few more, which he stuffed into the sack that hung inside. He slung the sack over his shoulder and tied it off. Since there were ships dive-bombing the station, there could be a sudden loss of atmospheric pressure. The one thing Connor Gates had drilled into him was the value of being prepared so he could adapt to new situations as they unfolded.
Noah ran down the corridor, worming his way among people as they scrambled to get where they needed to be. He opened a comlink and tried to reach Kara. He was one level above where she was, but there was no answer. Noah came to the end of the corridor and turned right.
