by Ken Lozito
Connor sighed. “Tell them to get started. Once everything’s in place, I’ll order the broadcast stopped.”
They needed to find a way to survive for fifteen minutes while utterly exposed to the Vemus fleet. Connor glanced over at the plot. Their current heading had them crossing the Vemus fleet formation in tighter quarters, making steady progress toward the front. There was no easy way out of this. If they retreated to a safe distance, the Vemus fleet would regroup and quickly recover, but if they stayed and stopped disrupting the Vemus control signal, they ran the risk of being destroyed while they were trying to increase the broadcast range. The Vemus knew they were here even if they couldn’t locate the Vigilant at this time.
There was no other way. Increasing the broadcast range of the Vemus signal was essential if they were going to protect New Earth.
“Sir, Engineering is ready for the cut over,” Major Hayes said.
Connor looked at the plot and their current position. “Helm, try to keep us near the center of the enemy fleet formation.”
He glanced around the bridge. They all knew that the odds of surviving what they were about to do were stacked against them. Even if they miraculously stayed alive for the fifteen minutes required to reroute more power to their comms array, they were well within range of the defense platforms. Either the Vemus ships or missiles from the CDF defense platforms would destroy them. They couldn’t even abandon ship. Their escape pods weren’t equipped to repel the harsh radiation from nuclear warheads and couldn’t get far enough away to escape. Only by remaining on board the Vigilant did they stand the slightest chance of survival, but more importantly, they’d stand a much better chance of delivering a crippling blow to the enemy.
28
The cargo carrier had slowed its velocity to a crawl to allow the Vemus fleet to catch up to it. Noah watched the plot, which the frustratingly slow ship’s computers had to update based on the data feeds sent back from the missile-defense platforms. There was probably at least a twenty-minute delay because the processing power of the Chmiel’s computing systems was nowhere near that of an actual warship. On a ship like the Vigilant, the data feeding the plot would be processed in almost real time.
“I still can’t figure out how he’s doing it,” Noah said, probably for the third time.
Kara stood next to him. “It’s like they can’t see him for some reason. General Gates likely found a way to throw off their sensors, but the range is limited.”
The Vemus forces held their formation along the edges of their approach, but the ships toward the interior were breaking formation as they pursued the Vigilant—at least they had been as of twenty minutes ago.
Noah glanced at the timer for the next data refresh and sighed heavily.
Captain Benson came over and stood beside them. “General Mallory just informed me that the three orbital defense platforms have been moved into position.”
“That took a while,” Noah said.
“They reside at the Lagrange points so the distance they had to cover was pretty great,” Captain Benson said with a shrug.
Noah shook his head. “Did you know they’re only partially outfitted?”
Kara glanced at him sharply. “What do you mean?”
Noah bobbed his head up and down. “There’s supposed to be a full complement of HADES IV missiles on those platforms. They have the anti-ship missile tubes but not the missiles. Resources were diverted elsewhere since we’d already completed the missile-defense platforms.”
“Governor Parish?” Captain Benson asked.
“The one and only. So the orbital defense platforms have a couple of rail-cannons each and one plasma-cannon each,” Noah said.
“What about the moon base where the shipyard is?” Captain Benson asked.
“There’s a CDF battleship carrier being constructed using the remaining resources from the Ark, but it’s nowhere near ready. Any defenses on New Earth’s moon will be on the wrong side of the planet by the time we get near it,” Noah said.
The timer on the main holoscreen dwindled down and the main plot started to update with new information. As the information refreshed, Noah’s eyes widened at the snapshot from twenty minutes ago that finally appeared on their screens. He stepped closer. The Vemus ships seemed to be converging on a single point of contact with rigid clarity.
“Whatever they were doing isn’t working anymore. You have to authorize the launch,” Kara said.
The remains of the Vemus fleet were well within range of the missile-defense platforms. If he authorized them to fire now they could destroy the Vigilant. Connor’s ship was in trouble.
“Even if we did fire on them now, it wouldn’t mean they’d be in time to make a difference,” Noah said.
Though Kara outranked him, he had operational authority over the defense platforms, so it was on him to execute the launch commands.
“You don’t know that. All the calculations in the world can’t tell you that. If you launch them now, at least they might have a fighting chance,” Kara said.
Noah walked back over to his terminal. He felt like he was on autopilot, as if someone else were moving his body and he was just along for the ride. He brought up the command module for the missile-defense platforms and hesitated. His mouth went dry and he glanced up at the plot.
Captain Benson walked over to him. “Your friends are on that ship?” he asked gently.
Noah’s throat became thick. “Yes,” he answered, his voice sounding husky. “They’re my family,” he said, thinking of Connor and Sean. He had other friends in the colony, but from their earliest days together a powerful connection had been forged among all of them, even Dr. Bishop, who had looked after him like an older sister. How could he face Lenora if he did this?
“What would they do in your place?” Captain Benson asked. His deep voice was soothing, but there was an edge to it.
Noah pressed his lips together tightly. He knew exactly what they would do. They’d push the damn button. They’d hate themselves, but they would do it. Noah glared at his terminal and authorized the missile-defense platforms to finally engage the enemy. He closed his eyes for a moment and whispered a prayer, pleading that his friends . . . his family . . . would somehow survive what he’d done. A rush of adrenaline surged through his veins and a deep-seated anger stretched throughout his chest. He wanted to scream and shake his fists above him, but he knew neither of those things would help.
“It’s done,” Noah said.
Now, they’d wait.
“Multiple bogies inbound, sir,” Lieutenant LaCroix said.
Connor cursed. “Helm, keep us in tight near that ship.”
When they’d stopped broadcasting the Vemus signal, their ships had quickly regrouped and targeted the Vigilant.
The Vemus ships used a powerful particle-beam cannon that melted deeply through their hull. The Vigilant was belching atmosphere from hundreds of hull breaches. Their only saving grace was being able to stay nearby a Vemus ship that had suffered tremendous damage from friendly fire. They peppered the hull with shots from their remaining rail-cannons and narrowly avoided the harrowing particle beams from their main batteries. They couldn’t stay anywhere long, and if an opportunity came for them to move to another Vemus ship, they took it.
Connor looked at the status of the comms array. It was still red. The area near the comms array had taken damage and there were engineering teams trying to fix it. They were well beyond the envelope for piloting a heavy cruiser. Sergeant Edwards’ skills as a helmsman were one of the reasons they were still alive.
“Sir, I’m seeing missile launches on PRADIS,” Lieutenant LaCroix said.
That was it; they were out of time. The missile-defense platforms had been engaged. They either stayed where they were and got destroyed or made a run for it and likely got torn apart by Vemus particle beams. Those weapons had been new when Connor was part of the NA Alliance military. There must have been developments in the years since the Ark left the Sol Sys
tem.
He kept thinking about the beings they’d encountered on board the Indianapolis. Some were human-like but so much more. It was known that they were some type of virus or parasitic organism that came from Earth’s oceans and was able to target multiple species of mammals. The scientists had tried to stop the virus from spreading and made it worse. They had records they’d downloaded from the Indianapolis, but they hadn’t had time to analyze them. Connor had ordered the data stored on multiple comms drones that hadn’t been launched yet.
“How long until the missiles reach us?” Connor asked.
Lieutenant LaCroix updated the information on the main holoscreen. Not much time. The defense platforms were in close proximity. Given the capabilities of the NA Alliance military, Connor thought the Vemus would have made use of other weapons of war. This fleet relied on sheer numbers and large weapons like the particle-cannon. They didn’t use combat drones or short-range fighters, and Connor didn’t understand why that was the case.
“Sir, the comms array is coming back online,” Sergeant Boers said, her voice high with hope.
Connor swung his gaze to Major Hayes, who was already on a comlink with the engineering teams in the area.
“The system’s charging. Full power will be available in sixty seconds,” Major Hayes said.
Connor nodded. “Ops, confirm the range of the broadcast with the higher-yield energy available once we start boosting the signal.”
Connor waited for the capacitors to finish charging. “Comms, begin broadcast.”
The battered communications array on the Vigilant started pumping out the complex signal.
“Broadcast has started at known levels, increasing incrementally,” Sergeant Boers said.
“Helm, take us away from their shadow and stand by for evasive maneuvers,” Connor said.
“Taking us out, sir,” Sergeant Edwards said.
The Vigilant moved away from the Vemus ship. Scans had indicated that it was a cruiser class, but there was evidence of smaller vessels that had been absorbed into the main hull.
“Vemus ships in the area are firing their weapons!” Lieutenant LaCroix said.
Connor felt a gasp catch in his throat.
“Sir, they’re firing blindly,” Sean said, frowning at the tactical screen.
“Put it on screen,” Connor said.
Bright flashes of charged particles being fired in rapid succession appeared on screen as if there were a lightning storm in space. Sean was right; the Vemus were firing blindly, banking on the off chance they might hit them, which meant they’d updated their tactics.
“Comms, boost the signal to maximum,” Connor said.
“Boosting signal to maximum, sir,” Sergeant Boers said.
“Tactical, focus our high-res optics on the ships farthest away. I want to know if they start firing their weapons,” Connor said.
Their current trajectory didn’t put them in the path of the Vemus weapons, but that could change at any moment. Connor watched the range of their broadcast leap across the plot as the more powerful signal doubled its range.
“Confirm additional ships firing their weapons. They’re hitting each other, sir,” Lieutenant LaCroix said.
“Helm, plot a course back to New Earth, best speed, but wait to execute,” Connor said.
“Yes, sir. Plotting course back to New Earth,” Sergeant Edwards said.
Connor waited.
Major Hayes glanced over at him. “Firing blindly isn’t going to cut it.”
“No, it won’t—” Connor began.
“Sir, Vemus ships within range of the broadcast are altering course,” Lieutenant LaCroix said.
Connor frowned at the PRADIS output. The CDF missiles were closing in on them. If they were going to live, they had to move.
“They’ve realized they’re getting cut off from each other and are trying to find us,” Connor said.
There was a bright flash as one Vemus ship’s particle beam cut into another. More of the same continued to appear on the screen. It was chaos.
“Helm, execute course, emergency!” Connor said.
The lighting on the bridge dimmed and Connor felt a shimmy move through the weakened hull of their ship. Their two remaining drive pods gleamed as they were brought to maximum capacity. The Vigilant lurched forward with the maneuvering thrusters firing at the behest of the navigation computers that kept the ship on course. The energy drain on their main reactor was enormous, and Connor ordered all available power to the engines and the comms array. They had to keep that signal up for as long as they could.
The Vigilant flew through a nightmarish maze of charged particle beams in the heart of the Vemus fleet. Connor watched the PRADIS screen, knowing that a maelstrom of HADES IV missiles was about to tear the Vemus fleet apart.
“Detonation detected, sir,” Lieutenant LaCroix said.
Connor looked at the main holoscreen and saw that the first wave of HADES IV missiles was striking at the rearmost forces of the Vemus fleet. They would drive the Vemus forces forward into the orbital defense platforms that were stationed at the Lagrange points around the planet.
Klaxon alarms blared on the bridge as a particle beam lanced through the forward section of the ship. There was nothing he could do for the CDF soldiers serving there. Bulkhead doors would automatically shut and there were damage-control teams moving to the area. The casualty count kept rising. How many more of them would need to die in order to stop this enemy fleet?
A rough shimmy worked its way through the ship and Connor gritted his teeth. He didn’t need LaCroix to confirm that they were now within the shockwaves of multiple HADES IV missiles that had delivered their warheads.
The optical sensors went offline and the holoscreen blanked out. They still had PRADIS, but for how long?
29
The Chmiel had passed the orbital defense platforms and Captain Benson had his ship on an approach to New Earth. It seemed strange to Noah to be offloading people from the ship when there was an attack force on its way to the planet. HADES IV missiles had been launched from the defense platforms and the monitoring systems running on those platforms reported updates for as long as they could. Once the warheads started to detonate, they lost their visibility into what was happening to the enemy and, more importantly, what the fate of the Vigilant was to be. In the lengthy time between updates, the snapshots showed the Vemus ships in the interior of the attack force going into complete disarray and the ships on the edge converging in a feeble attempt to restore order.
The chaotic mass of enemy ships moved closer to them.
“Orbital defense platforms have begun firing their weapons,” Kara said.
“How do they even know what they’re firing at?” Noah asked.
“They’re using the rail-guns to paint the targets, then the plasma-cannon to finish the job,” Kara said.
Shuttles were inbound from New Sierra and would be arriving soon. Offloading the CDF personnel from Titan Space Station would begin as soon as they arrived. Noah felt completely drained and useless. They’d succeeded in updating the targeting systems of the missile-defense platforms, but this constant waiting was wearing on his nerves. Even now, those missiles were tearing apart the remains of the Vemus fleet, but there was no way for them to know exactly how much damage they were inflicting on the enemy. Were the orbital defense platforms enough to finish the job?
Thirty minutes later the shuttles arrived. They still hadn’t gotten usable data from the missile-defense platforms. Most of them were now offline, which wasn’t a surprise given how much interference there was from all the detonations in the area.
“COMCENT has sent a request for you to be in the first group to return to the planet,” Captain Benson said.
Noah’s brows pulled together. Jade protocol—protect the best and the brightest. “I’m not going,” he said harshly.
Kara looked at him in concern.
“I may not officially be in the Colonial Defense Force, but refusing
direct orders isn’t tolerated, as far as I know,” Captain Benson said.
Noah clenched his teeth. “You’ve done as they asked and delivered the message. I’m not going anywhere, not until I know what happened to the Vigilant.”
Captain Benson regarded him for a moment. “I understand, and I’ll have them informed.”
Noah looked away and focused on the main holoscreen. He didn’t want to believe the Vigilant was gone. They must have survived but were unable to contact them.
Stay focused, Noah thought to himself.
Captain Benson had given them full access to the ship’s systems, so he went over to his terminal and opened the communications interface for the Chmiel. He started scanning different broadcast signals, hoping for some sign that the Vigilant was still intact.
The Chmiel was a cargo ship and wasn’t equipped with military-grade sensor arrays or high-res optics. They had standard avoidance protocols, which could identify if a ship was in the vicinity of a communications array. The data that fed the plot on the main holoscreen was hours old, so Noah removed the plot in favor of using the limited optics on the ship. They could see flashes of bright red from the orbital defense platforms, but the targets the onboard computers were firing at were too far away to see. He rubbed his eyes, giving them a momentary respite. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept and he was sure he could use a shower.
He snorted as a thought came to mind. Kara glanced at him questioningly.
“I just thought of something. Don’t know why it hasn’t occurred to me before,” Noah said.
He opened a comms channel to the orbital defense platforms and connected to their onboard computer systems. Since the Chmiel had the slowest data processing capabilities imaginable, Noah stopped what he was doing to consider how best to access the data he wanted.
“I got this. We just need to see what it’s firing at,” Kara said and took over the comms session. She quickly coded a query to pull only the targeting data from the system and then had it output to the plot they’d used before.
