Ep.#3.6 - Evolution , page 23
General Telles was not a man to show his emotions, but he was obviously displeased. “Jaxak. Blow the package on departure.”
“Copy Jaxak,” Rezhik acknowledged. “Blow on departure.”
“Captain, wait,” Breyanna urged. “You said the pod was tucked under the ship’s primary reactor, right?”
“Yes, but…”
“The Traverna is a Boron-class cargo jumper. That reactor is a top-mounted ZPED that uses low density containment fields that are cheaper to produce.”
“What does this have to do with…”
“In order for a low density containment ZPED powered ship to operate in Alliance space, it has to have an auto-eject system that jumps the entire power compartment, reactor and all, at least one light year from the ship, in case of catastrophic failure of the fields that keep the zero-point energy singularity from expanding out of control.”
“How do you know all of this?” Nathan wondered.
“I just do,” Breyanna insisted.
The Maturo jumped in on the far side of the Traverna from the Atlantis, as the Ghatazhak warship continued its uneven exchange of weapons fire. With the enemy busy defending itself, the Zhulati flagship was able to maneuver for a close pass over the opposite side of the cargo ship, deploying four more boarding pods before jumping clear again.
“Captain, I am receiving some curious data streams from the Atlantis AI,” the Aurora’s AI reported.
“What kind of streams?”
“It has detected a pattern to the Maturo’s hit and run tactics. It believes it can predict their next arrival point.”
“Is it correct?” Cameron asked.
“I estimate a ninety-three percent probability of success.”
Cameron grinned, which was something she rarely did, especially during battle. “Looks like we may be able to help out after all.”
“Are you sure about this?” General Telles asked Breyanna, a deadly serious look in his eyes.
“I am,” she replied.
“They’ll have to withstand considerable g-forces during ejection,” Nathan warned.
“About fifteen G’s,” Breyanna stated. “Don’t ask me how I know. I couldn’t tell you.”
Telles looked to his second in command.
“Our suits are rated for twelve,” Captain Kellen stated. “Worst case, they pass out.”
“Worst case is the entire compartment falls apart in the process,” Telles corrected. “Shield strength?” he asked as the ship continued to rock from incoming fire.
“Sixty percent and falling,” their AI reported. “Three minutes, twenty-two seconds to failure.”
General Telles looked to Nathan, hoping for some sign of endorsement from his old friend.
Nathan only shrugged indifference. “It’s your call, Lucius.”
General Telles did something he never did. He sighed. He then touched his comms panel. “Rezhik, Telles. Fall back inside and hold. Signal Delta.”
“Understand Delta,” Captain Rezhik replied calmly.
“What’s ‘signal Delta’?” Nathan asked, fearing the answer.
“Hold position to their deaths,” Telles replied, just as calmly as Captain Rezhik.
“You’re asking them to sacrifice themselves?” Breyanna exclaimed in disbelief.
“Death is only a temporary state for the Ghatazhak,” General Telles replied solemnly. “Painful, but temporary.”
“Jess doesn’t have a backup body,” Nathan pointed out.
“I am aware,” the general replied.
Captain Rezhik hunkered down next to the Traverna’s aft hull breach, opening fire on one of the breach pods that had just attached itself to the ship. In order to quickly breach the hull, the pods had to divert all power to their plasma cutters, leaving their shields inoperative for ten seconds. This was the only time that the pods could be destroyed by handheld weapons.
A five second stream of steady fire, at full power and focused on the same spot, did the trick, and the captain’s attack was successful. The hull of the boarding pod ripped open, and two Zhulati soldiers were ejected by the sudden decompression of the pod. The soldiers, themselves also clad in pressurized combat armor, opened fire as they tumbled uncontrollably away from the damaged breach pod, barely able to hold decent aim for more than a moment with each revolution.
Rezhik shifted his aim, firing on the two soldiers, along with two of his men from inside the Traverna’s hull breach. His first shot glanced off the left soldier’s personal shielding, but his second and third shots found the second soldier as he passed behind the first. The second soldier had failed to activate his personal shield prior to being ejected and paid the ultimate price for his negligence.
A jump flash lit up the hull, drawing Rezhik’s attention upward. The Maturo passed overhead, stern to bow, no more than two hundred meters away. Four more boarding pods dropped from her port hangar bay, descending quickly toward the Traverna.
Eight more much smaller flashes of light revealed the arrival of incoming ordnance. Jump missiles. But they weren’t headed his way. They were barreling toward the Maturo. Four of them reached their target, detonating as they impacted the Maturo’s shields. The Zhulati cruiser’s shields flashed, collapsing a second later, leaving that section of the ship fully vulnerable to the remaining missiles less than two seconds behind.
Unfortunately, the Maturo had the presence of mind to jump clear before the second wave arrived.
Another group of flashes revealed the four Dragons that had launched the missiles. They quickly jumped again, in pursuit of the Zhulati flagship.
Two more Dragons appeared to stern, and the Dragons streaked over him, no more than twenty meters distant. They opened fire, destroying three of the four pods descending toward the Traverna.
“Four inside!” one of his men warned over comms. Rezhik had his orders, and stepped into the breach, pulled down by the ship’s artificial gravity.
Inside, he was met with arms fire zipping past either side, as Zhulati troops already inside attempted to advance on their position. “Fall back!” he ordered, pulling a plasma grenade from its position on his left thigh. His men did as ordered, walking quickly backward, passing him on either side as bolts of energy ricocheted off the walks. Two of his men fell, their personal shields failing from the overwhelming amount of energy being sent their way. But Captain Rezhik felt no remorse, no sorrow. He activated the grenades fuse, then tossed it toward the enemy, turning and running afterward.
Josh looked upward through his canopy as his Dragon fighter passed over the aft breach on the Traverna’s dorsal aspect. A flash of red-orange light was visible through the breach as he streaked past, with debris being ejected through the breach itself.
“Shit!” Nikolas exclaimed. “Did you see that?”
“Plasma grenade,” Josh replied.
“Ours, or theirs?”
“I don’t care,” Josh replied, pulling his nose up and pressing the jump button to escape the incoming fire from the Zhulati battleship.
“How can you not care?”
“It’s not my job to care,” Josh explained. “My job is to kill whatever they tell me to kill. Caring now gets in the way of that.”
“Shields down to forty percent,” the Atlantis’ AI warned. “Incoming fire has increased.”
“Move closer and put us directly between that battleship and the Traverna,” General Telles instructed.
“Revised time to shield failure, one minute,” their AI warned, as if inferring that moving closer to the enemy had been an unwise decision.
“If we have to jump away before they manage to eject the reactor compartment, they’ll see the ejection. They’ll know.”
“It is a gamble,” the general replied calmly.
“But your AI…”
“Executes our commands,” the general stated firmly. “It does not make decisions for us.”
“I completely agree,” Nathan defended. “It’s just that the Ghatazhak are always so analytical, and if I didn’t know better, I’d swear you’re following your gut right now.”
“A lot has changed over the last five centuries,” the general assured him. “Including my gut.”
Josh came out of the jump still hot on the tail of the Maturo, who was already executing a turn to jump back to the Traverna, just as the Atlantis AI had predicted, and then relayed through the Aurora’s AI.
Josh immediately toggled the launch button on his flight control stick, holding course as two more ship busters dropped from his weapons bay and streaked forward on fiery tails.
Josh quickly rolled left, just as the two missiles launched by his wingman streaked past. He immediately turned back, holding course alongside the Maturo as she banked hard right and jumped away, barely avoiding the approaching ordnance.
“Speak to me, Sweetie,” Josh begged his AI.
“Bearing zero zero three by zero one zero. Range two light minutes.”
“Stay on her, Josh,” Nikolas urged.
“Like stink on shit,” Josh replied as he pressed his jump button.
“Like what?”
Josh just grinned as his threat alarm flashed once again. The Maturo was again directly ahead of him, turning hard and diving, anticipating another attack. “We’ve got her on the run, Reems!” Josh declared as he fired his last two missiles and peeled off. “Dragon Three, Dragon One. We’re empty. You’re up.”
“Dragon Three copies,” Talisha replied over comms. “We’ll intercept on her return jump.”
“Execute,” Cameron ordered, sitting in her command chair with her eyes fixed on the forward view screen.
The jump flash washed over the bridge, and the Traverna, the Atlantis, and the Zhulati battleship were now directly in front of them, closing rapidly.
“Put us between the Atlantis and that battleship,” Cameron instructed her AI.
The bridge shook as the battleship redirected some of its firepower toward the Aurora.
“All power diverted toward gunward shields,” the Aurora’s AI reported.
“Three more boarding pods just attached to the Traverna’s hull,” Laza reported from the sensor station. “The Ghatazhak will be overrun.”
“Jess, Cam,” Cameron called over her comm-set as Vladimir charged onto the bridge.
“I’m a little busy trying to figure out how to eject this fucking thing, Cam,” Jessica snapped. “Not to mention the place is crawling with Zhulati and our boys are dropping like flies just outside the hatch!”
“Shut up and listen!” Vladimir demanded. “Back side of the reactor, between the lateral vertical coolant lines, there’s a small, unmarked cover. Open it, and pull the red handle out, and then up. That will initiate a manual compartment jettison and jump, or at least it should.”
“Whattaya mean, should?”
“Just do it!”
“Good luck, Jess,” Cameron added.
“Fucking great,” Jessica muttered as she made her way around to the back side of the reactor. She found the panel right where Vladimir had said it would be. A push on the lower edge of the cover caused it to pop open and swing upward. She pulled the red handle out, but held it in place, not jamming it upward. “Rezhik!” she called over her comm-set. “We’ll open the hatch and you guys jump inside! We’ll all eject together!”
“Negative!” Rezhik ordered, intense weapons fire nearly overpowering his words. “Jettison now! That’s an order!” he added.
“Yes, sir!” Jessica replied. “Hang on!” she warned Kit and the other three members of their team. “We’re about to get squashed!”
“See you on the other side,” Captain Rezhik called over comms.
Without hesitation or remorse, Jessica pulled the handle upward.
“What are you doing, Captain Taylor?” General Telles inquired over comms as the Aurora slid into position between the Atlantis and the Zhulati battleship.
“Taking the initiative, General,” Cameron replied. “Now do what you’re going to do, quickly. We can’t take this much pounding for long.”
“The Traverna’s reactor compartment is ejecting,” Commander Sonoda reported.
“Atlantis, four nukes into the Traverna on my mark,” General Telles instructed. “Aurora, jump on my go,”
“Reactor compartment is charging its jump systems,” the commander added. “Estimate jump in three…”
“Launch missiles,” the general instructed.
“Two…”
One of the view screens above the main windows showed four torpedoes armed with nuclear warheads leaving the Atlantis’ launch tubes, heading for the Traverna with an estimated impact time of three seconds.
“One…”
“See you on the other side, gentlemen,” the general said to himself.
“Reactor is jumping,” the commander announced.
“Aurora, jump now,” the general instructed over comms. “Atlantis, jump as well,” he added, noticing that the countdown to impact was at one second, and then zero.
The blue light that encircled the bridge flashed once, indicating the jump.
“Atlantis. Lock all jump missile batteries on that battleship’s last known position. When ready, launch in waves. One missile per battery, cycle every fifteen seconds. Maximum yields, one-hundred-meter arrival ranges.”
“Executing,” their AI acknowledged.
“Aurora, Atlantis. Would you mind retrieving that reactor compartment for us? We’re a little busy raining terror on that battleship from afar.”
“We’re on it, General,” Cameron replied. “How much time do we have?”
“Two minutes.”
“Oh, no problem. I was afraid you were going to say one,” Cameron joked.
“First wave of missiles away,” the Atlantis’ AI reported.
“You may recall your Dragons as well,” the General told her.
“I already have, sir,” Cameron assured him. “We’ll update you when we have the package.”
General Telles stood from his command chair, turning to face Nathan and Breyanna.
“So that’s it?” Breyanna wondered. “It’s over?”
“For now,” the general replied. “But we have much to discuss, the three of us.”
“Why me?” Breyanna wondered.
“Because you are the key to understanding the capabilities of this technology,” the general explained. “In fact, you just might be the key to preventing the Alliance from taking over the galaxy and destroying the entire human race.”
“That’s insane,” Nathan argued. “Why would they want to destroy themselves?”
“Because the Alliance is no longer controlled by humanity,” the General stated. “It has been hijacked by a consortium of the most powerful corporations in the galaxy. And those corporations are controlled, in whole or in part, by AIs. You see, Captain, humanity has inadvertently lost control of its own destiny. We intend to correct that error.”
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Ryk Brown, Ep.#3.6 - "Evolution"
