A Faded Star (5 page)

 “Aye, sir.” The helm began working the jump
calculations as fast as he could.

 “Miss Hanlon, run concurrent calculations. I want to
jump at the soonest possible moment.”

 “Sir, we will lose our drones if we jump before we can
recover them. Should I bring them back aboard?” Patho said.

 “No, it's a short jump. We can re-establish telemetry
links when we come out of the jump ring. They'll have to fend for themselves
for a moment or two while we get ahead of this ship.” Stokes' voice rattled off
the orders with a certainty that came from long experience in command. His eyes
searched the tactical overlay on the main plot, looking for the slightest
advantage he could wring from the situation.

 “Sir, some of the objects have entered close range of
the ship. They may be able to make contact once we steady on course to jump,”
Kri said.

 “Defensive batteries target those mines or whatever
they are, give them maximum priority,” Stokes said.

 Patho worked his console with frantic fingers.
Defensive batteries fired continuously, attempting to hit the tiny objects
before they were able to come in contact with the hull. “Some of them are going
to get through, sir, unless we make a big course change. Whatever they are,
they are incredibly capable of adapting to our maneuvers.” He paused for a
moment. “Sir! Two... no three of the objects have made it to our hull.”

 “Put them on the display.”

 The image that appeared on the main plot was
breathtaking. The creature it displayed looked like a four meter tall crab.
It's outer shell iridescent blue and black with reflections of the stars and
guns going off around it. It stood on four long, slender legs covered in round
protuberances. Across it's chest was a heavy harness covered with equipment.
The arms, if they could be called that, were hulking, tipped with meter long
claws that looked like they could take the leg off a man without even noticing.

 “Sir, it's moving towards the air lock.”

 Stokes nodded. “Are we ready to jump?”

 “Ten seconds, sir,” Hanlon responded.

 “Jump as calculated, exec.”

 “Jump as calculated, aye sir.” Hanlon turned to the
helm. “Helm, jump ship.

 “Jump ship, aye ma'am.” The helm replied and slid the
jump lever forward into the interlock socket.

 The main plot flickered and updated. “Jump complete,
all systems report normal, sir,” Hanlon said.

 “Very well, did that creature survive the trip?”

 “No sign of it, sir. Nothing along the outer hull.
Beta two is headed directly towards-” The ship jumped violently as a salvo of
incoming fire burst through the still recalibrating defensive batteries. “Us.”
Hanlon finished.

 Damage alarms droned. “Damage to sensors and
communications,” Kri said. “We're still in the fight.”

 “Mister Patho, would you be so kind as to bring that
ship down.”

 “Aye, sir. Main gun charging. Ready to fire in twenty
seconds.”

 "Very well, Mister Patho." Stokes watched
the countdown quietly. The drone data flickering and showing that every attack
was intercepted without difficulty now that the drones were protecting just
themselves and not the entire Rampart. He couldn't help but get a nagging sense
of wrongness about the whole situation. It was going far too well for Rampart.

 Patho reported, "Main battery ready to fire on
beta two, sir."

 "Fire on beta two, Mister Patho."

 "Aye, sir. Firing." Again the lights
flickered, and less than a second later, all energy readings from beta two
dropped to zero. "Looks like the hull is mostly intact on beta two, sir.
We may have some salvage."

 The bridge was suddenly filled with the sound of the
emergency announcement circuit coming to life. A man's voice shouted out of the
speakers. “Boarders! A monster is aboard the ship at-” the voice cut off in a
long scream.

 “Where did that report come from,” demanded Stokes.

 “Looks like crew berthing just aft of the forward
reactor,” Hanlon replied.

 “Alert the Marines. Begin a stem to stern search of
the ship.” Stokes was about to give more orders when the ship shuddered. More
damage alarms began to wail. “Damage report.”

 “Explosion in the mid ships weapons bay. The entire
area decompressed to space.” Hanlon scrolled along her panel for a second.
“Also looks like the marines have located a third intruder. It appears to be
headed for the aft reactor. The marines have engaged it just outside the
wardroom.”

 “Very well, Miss Hanlon.” Stokes turned his attention.
“Mister Kri, go back over the sensor logs with Miss Simmons and find out how
many of those things could have made it aboard the ship.”

 “Aye, sir.” For a moment the only sound in the bridge
was the quiet tapping of panels and breathing. Kri looked up from his panel.
“Sir, it looks like three at the most. The rest were gunned down by the point
defense turrets.”

 “You are certain, Mister Kri?”

 “Yes, sir. Only three made it close enough to touch
the hull.”

 “Very well.” Stokes addressed Hanlon. “Shipwide,
exec.” Hanlon activated the shipwide announcement circuit and gave Stokes a
nod. “This is Commodore Stokes. We have been boarded by a hostile alien force.
One has presumably destroyed itself in the midships weapon bay. The second is
pinned down at the wardroom, and the third is just aft of reactor one. Marines
are to repel boarders. All small arms trained personnel report to one of these
areas with arms and combat armor to combat the intruders.”

 Pounding feet could be heard in the passageway just
outside the bridge as people ran for the nearest small arms lockers.

 “Sir, report from the aft marine party,” Hanlon said,
“Looks like the one outside the wardroom has been killed.” The ship shook
violently as another explosion went off. Yet more damage alarms sounded. “Sir,
the alien exploded once it was down. We lost the wardroom and some of the
officer berthing areas.”

 “Get the forward team to drive the last intruder to a
nonvital area. If that thing goes off near the forward reactor, it could cause
catastrophic damage. Evacuate all non-combatant personnel and anyone not in
combat armor from the area. Move the uninjured combat armored marines to the
forward intruder.” Stokes' voice crackled with the authority of command.

 “Aye, sir.” Linis' eyes narrowed in concentration.
“Area is clear of potential casualties if we have another decompression. The
intruder looks to be moving aft. Sir, it is coming in this direction.”

 “Very well. Grab a weapon, everyone.”

 Each bridge station was equipped with a small firearm,
mostly in case of mutiny or prisoner escape. Sharp clacks of metal against
metal filled the bridge as everyone retrieved their weapons and checked the
charges. The whine of one millimeter lasers could be heard from the passageway
along with unintelligible shouts of the Marines engaged with the intruder.

 The sound of gunfire died down for a moment. Everyone
on the command deck began to relax, thinking the intruder must have been
stopped. Suddenly, the bridge door burst inward from its frame.

 Standing in the doorway was a massive crab-like
monstrosity. Bodily fluids oozed from multiple injuries along its shell. Almost
as one, the members of the bridge crew opened fire. Smoking holes opened across
the front of the creature. It took three steps and snatched up the helmsman in
one massive claw. The man screamed as he was ripped in half by the pincers. The
man's scream became a sickly gurgle as the last of his breath drained from him.
Blood sprayed across the port bulkhead of the bridge. Simmons shrieked at the
sight and dropped her gun, diving under the secondary science console. The
gunfire intensified as the intruder took another step and then collapsed.

 Stokes shouted into the sudden quiet, “Evacuate the
bridge immediately!” He waived his arms wildly at the rest of the bridge crew.
Patho snatched Simmons from under the console and carried her out of the bridge
under his arm as if she were a child. Stokes followed close behind the pair,
ensuring no one remained on the bridge as he left. Combat armored marines were
in the passageway outside of the bridge and closed ranks behind the fleeing
bridge crew. A massive explosion shook the ship as the fallen crab detonated.
Debris and super heated air rushed through the passageway. Everyone was thrown
to the deckplates.

 Raising his head and shouting into the ringing of his
ears, Stokes demanded, “Anyone hurt?”

 A chorus of no sirs followed the question. Stokes
scrabbled and found himself being helped to his feet by Hanlon. Patho looked
into Stokes' eyes and said, “Are you alright, sir?”

 Stokes shook his head and tried to clear his thoughts.
“I think so. Just stunned from the blast.” He turned to look over the rest of
the bridge crew. “Report to the secondary bridge.” He reached out to a bulkhead
mounted comm panel and activated the general announcing circuit. “Damage
control teams report to the main bridge to run bypass and battle damage
assessment.”

 The bridge crew trooped to the nearest lift and within
moments were walking into the secondary bridge. Patho sat Simmons gently in the
command chair Hanlon would normally occupy. He talked to her quietly for a
moment until she shook her head. Simmons then stood and moved to the secondary
science station. The rest of crew brought all sensor feeds and systems under
their control with shaking hands and furtive looks around the bridge as if
another of those monsters might appear at any moment.

 “Status report, Miss Hanlon.” Stokes was starting to
feel clear headed again. The aftereffects of the massive adrenaline dump made
him feel like every part of his body was quivering. His voice came out clearly
despite his shakiness, “Get us a replacement helmsman as well, Miss Hanlon.”

 Hanlon nodded, a smear of blood from flying debris ran
down her left cheek. “Aye, sir. A replacement is on the way. Alpha is sitting
three hundred meters off our damaged flank, where the mid ships weapons bay
decompressed. It looks like he is trying to recover survivors. He is directing
a signal at us, similar to the one that the.. what shall we call them?”

 Kri said in a sage tone, “Crabs.” He then paused and
gave a hysterical sounding giggle. The rest of the bridge crew smirked or
chuckled at their stations, except for Simmons, who just looked at her console
with a fixed expression of determination.

 “Settle down folks. We aren't secured from battle
conditions yet.” Their reactions made him remember the war. Too much of the
war. Stokes sighed. “Now, can we see the signal Alpha is painting us with,
Mister Kri?”

 “Ah... yes, sir.” The plot, half the size of the one
on the main bridge sprang to life and in front of them was a wave form everyone
on Lashmere had seen before. Shaped like an F but with a double curl at the
bottom and a long tapering trail from the middle bar that slowly curved
downward. Kri spoke into the stunned silence “Sir.. that looks like...”

 “Yes, I can see it, Mister Kri. It looks like the
origin tablet. Miss Simmons, is that a comm signal? Miss Simmons?”

 Marli gave herself a shake and began working at her
console. A single tear leaked down her cheek, but she kept her hands busy.
“Sir, it must be a comm signal. Look at how directional the taper is off axis.
Could it be the origin tablet is supposed to be something we... were supposed
to get? A signal like this one?”

 Stokes did his best to put his command face back on,
but he knew he was not completely successful. He looked at Hanlon. The exec had
a nearly expressionless mask on her face and gave him a tight nod. Stokes felt
relief that she was holding it together so well, but she was a veteran of the
war like he was. “You know as much as I do, Miss Simmons - more, most likely.
We'll have to figure this out when we get the immediate situation under
control. Mister Patho what is the status of our drones?”

 “Sir, the drones are still on standby. They went into
patrol pattern one when we stopped issuing orders, and there were no hostiles
left. The autonomous program seems to be working perfectly.”

 "Very well, Mister Patho. Redirect drones for
defensive envelope on alpha one." Again Stokes mentally reviewed the
situation. Despite the damage she had taken, Rampart had performed well during
the brief engagement. "Miss Hanlon, any word yet from command?"

 "No, sir." Linis Hanlon turned and looked at
Commodore Stokes. "I'll begin a new sitrep and let them know what has
happened."

 "Very well. Also, send another text message to
alpha and find out what the heck is going on. We just destroyed two ships and got
some big holes in our brand new flagship, and I want to know why."

 "Aye, sir." Hanlon worked the communication
console for a moment. "Message coming in now, sir. Reads: I am a scouting
ship, was headed here to search for resources for conflict resolution. No data
on sentience in this system, please identify your species."

 "Conflict resolution, hm?” Stokes refrained from
commenting on getting involved with other people's wars.

 Hanlon responded, "Aye sir. Another incoming text
message from alpha. Message reads: My language is completely unlike from yours.
Request sanctuary for repair." Hanlon then let out a low chuckle.
"Sir we also just received a message from command. It says 'Defend the
system per rules of engagement, Attempt peaceful solution if at all
possible.'"

 "Very good. Mister Kri, would you take command of
the salvage operation. The boat bay chief will be able to check you out a
pinnace with a crew of technicians. Also, bring a squad of marines in case
there are survivors on the wreck."

 Halford Kri nodded and said, "Aye, sir. Mind if I
take Miss Simmons along with me?"

 "You may if she thinks she is up to it."

 "Thank you, sir,” Kri looked over at Simmons
questioningly.