Mercurial: Ace Evans Book 5 (Ace Evans Series), page 15
He had considered just leaving the other military groups to fight things out among themselves. If his ships had left the system, it made sense that he should too. A lone ship, with no backup, was vulnerable. But he didn’t feel he could leave until he shared what he knew about Lynn Faulk’s conspiracy. Any group that lost resources in the Askerria Sector was vulnerable to her growing army under the banner of Sigma Services.
“Commander,” the radar operator announced. “The Montabon ship is slowing down.”
“Is that unusual?” he asked, his stomach tightening.
“They’re still seventy kilometers out,” the radar operator said.
“She’s a big ship,” the navigator said. “But there’s no need for her creep in the last fifty kilometers.”
Loman feared the Montabon ship wasn’t merely being cautious. He turned to the fire control operator.
“What’s the range on their weapons?”
The FC officer swiped through a few screens on his display, then read the information.
“Unless they’ve updated their weapons, sir, they carry ship-to-ship torpedoes with a range of one hundred and fifty kilometers. Their laser batteries are effective at fifty kilometers.”
“Alright, let’s be careful, but I want you to bring our ship between them and the other vessels who have responded to our call for a parley,” Loman said. “And raise the deflector shields on the exposed side of our ship only.”
“They’ll register it,” the FC officer said. “There’s no way to hide those shields. Scanners will get a read on them the moment they go active.”
“We’ve called for a parley,” Loman said. “We aren’t powering up weapons, just protecting ourselves. If raising our deflector screens makes someone nervous, so be it.”
The truth was Loman was nervous. The Drachma and the other ships that had responded to his call were vulnerable. They had moved into close proximity, and while the Montabon ship-to-ship torpedoes had a greater range, they were also susceptible to a ship’s point-defense system. Lasers were not. They moved at the speed of light and could turn an interstellar ship to molten slag in just a few seconds of sustained fire. Even the Drachma’s deflector screens wouldn’t hold up against a broadside blast, and Loman had the sneaking suspicion that the Montabon ship was slowing down to perform a turn that would bring all her guns to bear.
If one ship could destroy or disable seven rival vessels, it might be tempting enough for someone to break the peace implied in a parley. It was a temporary truce that relied on the goodwill of each party, and while the Montabon couldn’t win the day by firing on the group, it could weaken several of the current military groups vying for control of the Askerria Sector. Loman thought it was a desperate move that would likely bring the combined wrath of the corporate militaries being fired upon, down on the Montabon Industries group. But if the attack was successful, it would make most of the other battle groups think twice before taking on the Montabon group head to head.
“Sir, all six ships are on station,” the radar controller said.
“Comms, send them all copies of the video files from Parleon’s ship,” Loman said. “And my preliminary report of what the cabal was trying to do.”
“Sending now, Commander.”
“That Montabon ship is turning,” the fire control officer said.
“Perhaps they changed their mind about joining us,” Lieutenant Jones said.
“Do you really believe that?” Loman asked.
Jones looked at the deck, his neck turning a splotchy red. “No, sir, I don’t.”
“I don’t either,” Loman said, swiveling in his command chair to look at the Montabon vessel. He pressed a button that allowed him to communicate directly with Cronus Team. “Sergeant Evans, take your Titans out toward that Montabon ship at full speed.”
“Roger that,” Ace Evans replied. “Cronus Team, moving out.”
“I want to know what they’re trying to do,” Loman continued. “They may be preparing to fire on us. Make sure they can’t do that.”
“Copy, we will neutralize their weapons system,” Alex said.
Loman caught the strange look on the faces of several officers. They didn’t know about Alex’s unique skills. It would all come out in time, but Loman didn’t have the time to explain it all while they were at risk of being fired on.
“And spread out,” Loman warned. “Watch for their laser cannons to begin tracking you.”
“Aye, Commander,” Alex replied.
Loman could see the three Titan MBS, even though they didn’t use after-burners or traditional fusion reactors to propel themselves through space. The Titan wasn’t made to be a fighter craft in hard-vacuum warfare, although Cronus Team had engaged in that type of battle before. They only used thrusters and had no exterior lights, so that once the trio of mechanized battle warriors was out of the circle of light cast by the Drachma’s running lights, they were much harder to see.
“What’s that Montabon ship doing?” Loman asked.
“Still turning, sir,” the radar operator said.
“I’m not reading an increase in power that would suggest they are powering up their weapons,” the FC officer announced.
“But they may have already powered them up,” Loman said. “I don’t lik—”
His sentence was cut short by a flash of brilliant light followed by the blare of several alarms.
“Shots fired!” the FC officer shouted. “Deflectors shields are down!”
“We have full damage on level two, starboard side,” the chief engineer called out. “Several systems were overloaded by the power surge.”
“Spin us,” Loman said. “Turn us on our center axis and bring our good side around to face that ship.”
Another barrage lanced out from the Montabon battleship. Loman thought they were done for, but the aggressive vessel had already moved on and was firing on the other ships in the group. Three were fortunate enough to have strong deflectors, but a fourth erupted in a dazzling display of fire and venting gasses.
“Power our laser batteries,” Loman snapped. “I want that ship taken out.”
Several of the ships that had gathered for the parley began to move, spreading out and trying to bring their weapons to bear on the Montabon ship. Loman’s attempts to stop the fighting were failing before his eyes. He knew there was only one hope to salvage his efforts.
“Where are the Titans?” Loman asked.
“Thirty-two kilometers and closing,” the radar operator said.
Loman pressed the button to engage his com-link. “Cronus Team, watch for incoming fire.”
“Roger that, Commander,” Alex responded. “I’m almost in range.”
“Comms,” Loman said. “Get me through to the other ships. Tell them not to fire. We’ve got people out there.”
Loman felt a sour feeling in the pit of his stomach. If he wasn’t careful, everything he had worked for could fall to pieces in the next few seconds.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Alex could scarcely believe his eyes. The laser blasts might not have been close, but his mind told him they were. One second he was flying through space, and the next he was nearly blinded by the bright flash, and he would have sworn he felt a wave of heat. But his battle suit was insulated, making it impossible to feel a change of temperature, even if there was one. And he hadn’t actually seen the bright light of the laser. His INC took in the video feed from his suit’s external cameras and his brain translated the data into sight. Yet the laser blast had been so frightening as he flew through space toward the Montabon ship that his mind was playing tricks on him.
“Man, that was close,” Sly said.
“Ash, you okay?” Alex asked.
“I’m fine, Ace. Don’t worry about me.”
But it was impossible not to worry. They were on the front line of a space battle and it seemed to Alex at that moment that his Titan battle suit was little more than a flimsy T-shirt that would do nothing to protect him from the firestorm he was flying into.
“Nyx?”
We took damage, but nothing catastrophic. Commander Haley is rotating the ship so that we don’t take another hit on our weak side.
“I’m almost close enough,” Alex said.
He could feel the EM waves from the Montabon ship, but he was too far away to sync. Despite the distance, he tried to intervene but only got a stabbing pain behind his eyes for his trouble.
Before Nyx could reply, another barrage of laser light flashed in front of Alex. He switched his external camera feed to the rear of his suit, too afraid to speak. It was such a relief to see the Drachma avoid the laser fire that he felt his eyes sting with tears.
“Ace! We’ve got to do something,” Ash said.
“I’m almost there,” Alex said. “Just a few more seconds. You and Sly watch my six.”
“Roger that,” Ash said.
But there was no response from Sly. Alex looked back again; his friend’s battle suit was still on course, but it looked different somehow.
“Sly? You okay back there?” Alex asked.
There was no answer.
“Sly? This isn’t funny,” Ash snapped.
But Sly still didn’t answer.
His Controller has lost all contact, Nyx said.
“Ash, see about Sly,” Alex ordered, his fear twisting his stomach so tightly, he felt the acid rising into the back of his throat.
“What about you?” Ash said.
“Don’t worry about me,” Alex said. “Get him back to the Drachma.”
“Roger that, team leader.”
Alex, are you okay?
“I will be,” he replied. “But not if that ship fires again.”
He was just close enough, somewhere around thirty kilometers from the Montabon ship, when he forced the INC to sync with her control systems. Pain erupted in his head, but Alex ignored it. He felt as if someone were stabbing him in the brain with a red-hot poker, but he had to shut down the Montabon ship’s weapons systems.
Alex had never encountered a Montabon Industries ship before. The company made machinery for a variety of industrial uses, but they had no consumer products. Their computer operating systems were different too, specialized for large equipment. They used their own programs and servers to run their battleships. Alex didn’t have time to sort it all out. Instead, he ordered the system to shut down. It was a risky move because while it would render the ship momentarily disabled, it would also be obvious what the cause was. And until the crew got the systems back up and running, Alex wouldn’t be able to do anything else.
The running lights on the hull of the ship blinked off, and Alex’s connection to the ship disappeared. Fortunately, the pain in his skull receded significantly too. Alex continued flying toward the ship but looked back at his friends.
“Ash? Anything?”
“No,” she replied. “But he isn’t fighting me. I can get him back home.”
“Nyx, notify the MBS techs. They’ll probably have to cut him out. And they should have medical personnel standing by.”
I’m already on it, but be careful. You could get caught in the crossfire.
“You’re shooting back?” Alex asked, his voice strangled with near panic.
Not us, some of the other ships.
Alex couldn’t blame them for wanting to defend themselves, and Loman couldn’t tell them what Alex could do. The best he could hope for was that the sudden loss of running lights might make them hesitate. Alex altered his course. He had been flying straight toward the Montabon ship, but after Nyx’s warning, he angled up in order to go around to the back of the vessel.
A moment later, VP Haley’s voice crackled over Alex’s com-link.
“Cronus One, be advised, torpedoes have been fired,” Loman said. “Get clear of that ship, Evans.”
“You want me to let the torpedoes destroy the ship?” Alex asked.
“What’s their status?”
“I’m not sure,” Alex said. “I had to shut down their operating systems to ensure they didn’t shoot again. But they could have them back up any second now.”
“We’ll see what happens,” Loman replied. “I don’t want to give away what you’re capable of just yet. Make sure you’re clear of the blast zone.”
You should be at least ten kilometers back, Alex. More if you can manage it.
“Roger that,” Alex said.
He was right at ten klicks from the Montabon ship, and he was about to alter course to move closer, but instead he fired his retro thrusters to slow his progress and angled away from the ship so that he wouldn’t get any closer.
Before he could stop his momentum, the lights on the Montabon ship came back on. He felt a surge of power, like the crescendo of a large symphony, his INC naturally reaching out to sync with the strange ship again. Lasers flashed through space, but they weren’t aimed at the ships near the Drachma. Instead, they took out the torpedoes racing toward the Montabon ship. The torpedoes detonated in space. But with no oxygen, there was no fire, just a white flash and then twinkling space dust spreading out in a cloud. Alex knew that while the torpedoes had been blown to millions of tiny bits of matter, some of it was red hot and glowing in the darkness of space. The brilliant display dissipated quickly.
“They’re preparing a counterattack,” Alex said, not sure if anyone was listening other than Nyx.
“Lasers? Torpedoes?” Loman Haley asked.
Before Alex could answer, two massive bay doors on the Montabon ship slid apart and hundreds of small drones came racing out. They looked like a swarm of insects.
“Drones!” Alex said.
He could feel the EM waves as someone on the Montabon ship directed the drones to their targets.
“Good God! There are hundreds of them,” Loman said, the despair in his voice was unmistakable.
We can’t stop that many, Nyx said. The Silent Partner used fifty drones and we still missed some of them.
Alex knew there were enough drones in the swarm to destroy the Drachma and all six of the other ships that had come to talk about peace with Loman Haley. There was only one way to stop them. He searched through the Montabon operating systems. They were all strange, but he quickly discovered the purpose of each until he found the drone controls. They weren’t individually operated. One person programmed the lot of them and sent them racing to destroy anything in their path.
Alex looked for a self-destruct, but there wasn’t one. He looked for a way to disarm the drones, but he couldn’t find it. Instead, he had to settle for selecting a new target. The only problem was, once he ordered the drones to turn back toward the Montabon ship, whoever was in charge of the deadly devices would know and could countermand his order. Alex was faster; he could operate the huge ship’s systems at the speed of thought. He just didn’t know the ship as well as her handlers. Instead of ordering the drones back, Alex selected a spot in space just ahead of the drones, then ordered them to converge.
“Nyx, rotate up my autocannon,” Alex said.
Hard metal slugs are ready to fire, she responded without a second’s hesitation.
Alex felt a surge of affection for Nyx. She hadn’t questioned him, or wasted time wondering what he was doing. She just did as he asked. It was a sign of total trust, and he hoped he deserved it. He was twenty kilometers from the drones, but he raised his autocannon and started firing. The drones, having reached their target, were ready to explode. His barrage of metal projectiles raced through space. They were gas propelled, and while the drones were out of normal range, in a frictionless environment they would fly forever, never slowing down, never losing any of their destructive force. The first bullets hit the outer edge of the drone swarm just as the operator entered a new target into their programming. The drones started moving, but it was too little too late. Their payloads were already activated. When the bullets impacted the drones, they exploded, and the shock waves started a domino effect.
Alex watched the drones self-destruct less than halfway to their intended target. Then he turned his attention back to the Montabon ship. He ignored the searing pain in his head and engaged the ship’s main drive. The vessel immediately began to move. She was large, and it took a lot of thrust to move her significant mass, but slowly the ship began to spin off her axis. Alex was firing every thruster in random order, faster than the helmsman and engineers could correct, all the while slowly feeding the fusion reactor with more fuel.
“Nyx, move me,” Alex said. “They’re trying to get a lock on my location.”
Where to?
She had already fired his thrusters and was flying him in a zigzag pattern to avoid enemy fire.
“Anywhere, just keep me close,” Alex said.
He could tell by the orders the crew was putting into the operating system that they were trying to find him. He shut down their radar and disabled their weapons, all the while firing random thrusters to keep the big ship in a strange tumble. The crew was working hard to stop him. Alex was faster than any of them, but there were more of them and they were onto his tactics. Someone shut down their main reactor and switched the power over to their auxiliary batteries. Alex sent power surging through the system, tripping the fuses, but the engineers were waiting and reset the breakers.
The pain in his head was a searing, blistering heat. It was almost too much to ignore, even in the heat of battle. He wanted to break his connection with the ship, to run and run away, anything to make the pain stop, but he couldn’t do that. If the crew regained full control over their ship, they might fire another unexpected weapon that Alex couldn’t stop. The thought of his friends being hurt, especially Nyx, drove him on.
Alex, there are more ships inbound to this location.
“Friend or foe?” Alex managed to say through clenched teeth as he increased the power to the ship’s artificial gravity.
And that was the turning point. The increased gravity hit the crew harder than even Alex expected. He increased the thrusters to full, and they didn’t correct them. He disabled the weapons, and no one turned them back on.
