Ep.#4 - "Freedom's Dawn" (The Frontiers Saga) (13 page)

There was little hesitation on the part of the captain. “Lead the way, Sergeant,” the captain said, gesturing with his left hand toward the idling airships.

Andre spun around, turning his back to the captain as he strode off toward the lead airship, the captain following close behind. The sun had completely set by now, and the night had engulfed the city in darkness. Most of her streetlights were out, as much of the city power grid had been disrupted by the bombardment earlier that day. Only those buildings such as their own, ones that were equipped with their own internal power plants, were still lit up. As he skirted the edge of the flight deck, he could see out to the city below. Other than the buildings running on internal power, the only other sources of light came from the many fires still raging out of control. Were he close enough to witness it all first hand, it would surely be a gruesome sight. However, from up here, it appeared exactly as it was to him, as the perfect diversion to conceal their activities.

Andre looked over all three airships as he moved toward the lead ship. In accordance with the mission profile, each of them had been given tail numbers that appeared to be of Corinairan military register, and displayed the standard crest of the Corinari between the pilot’s canopy and the cargo doors. As they planned on flying directly into the Aitkenna spaceport, it would be necessary to appear to be just another Corinari airship ferry troops around.

As he approached, Andre noticed that the captain’s men looked confused; they were mentally unprepared for the idea of sitting in the open sides of the little airships with their feet hanging out. Despite the ground crew checking to make sure each of their harnesses had been properly engaged, many of them still searched for something to hold onto for safety. He wondered how many of them would panic when the tiny airships started maneuvering hard. Despite their relatively simple design, the small ducted fan airships were incredibly agile, and their pilots played to that advantage whenever possible.

“Comm check, team one,” Andre called out. One by one, each of the five members of his team answered, all except the captain. “You would be number six, sir,” he explained to Captain de Winter, who was busy searching for a hand hold himself.

“Of course, six,” he answered.

“Team two,” Andre called out, but there was no response. He looked at the captain.

“Yes. Commander Rishwain, you’re the team two leader. Count off numerically by rank.” Commander Rishwain conducted a comm check for his squad. The senior officer of the nobles in the last airship did the same.

“Control, blue one. Ready for departure,” Andre announced as he looked around to ensure that nothing was amiss.

“
Copy blue one,
” the voice came back over the comms. “
Signals Intelligence reports a Corinairan transport is arriving at the hospital now. You should have a ten minute lead. Good hunting.
”

Andre turned and sat back down on the edge of the lead airship’s deck in the same position as before, port side, lead seat. Captain de Winter took a seat next to him, looking a little leery about having his feet hanging out of the small airship. “I suggest you lean back and lock in, captain,” he said with a sneer, as he reached out with his right hand and slapped the side of the pilot’s canopy three times.

The captain watched as Andre leaned back, locking his harness into the restraint mechanism. Noticing the sudden increase in noise as the rotors changed their blade pitch, the captain followed the sergeant’s advice and immediately did the same, locking himself against the airship as well.

Andre almost burst out laughing at the look on the captain’s face as the airship leapt up off the deck, gaining altitude at an alarming rate, and then turned and streaked away into the night.

* * *

“Sergeant Tukalov’s team is airborne, sir. Time on target: fifteen minutes.”

“Very well,” Commander Dumar said. “Bring in the next set of birds and load up the ground assault teams. I want them launched just as soon as that medical shuttle is taken. And send orders to all the other posts to do whatever is necessary to capture the other missile bases. Instruct them to use Karuzari tactics and weapons.”

“Yes sir.”

The commander knew that Captain de Winter’s attempt to capture the Aurora and in turn retake control of the Yamaro had little chance of success. If the captain was correct in his assumptions about the enemy ship’s staffing levels then there was a chance that a swift, decisive action could work. Unfortunately, those assumptions were based on many unknown factors, and everything hinged on their getting on board without conflict. Perhaps the ship was understaffed but carried a full company of ground troops. If that were the case, it would surely spell disaster for the boarding party.

The commander, however, had never been one to play it safe. Instinct had gotten him through many battles in the past, and his instinct now told him that the reward was worth the gamble. For this reason, he had chosen to send one of his best agents to lead the assault. While he had some reservations about Captain de Winter’s assumptions as to the state of the Aurora’s crew, he was quite sure that the nobleman would be incapable of completing the mission without someone like Sergeant Tukalov calling the shots. There was something else that Captain de Winter was correct about; the capture of the Aurora would be a significant asset for the Empire… especially if she could indeed jump between the stars.

Unfortunately, as great an asset as it might be, it was equally as threatening. It was this that worried the commander the most, and it was the real reason that he had chosen to send some of his men along, especially Andre. The commander had no doubts that the sergeant would do whatever was necessary to complete the mission, even if it meant sacrificing himself.

Despite his confidence in Sergeant Tukalov’s skill and dedication, he still had one more concern.
What if they failed?
He needed a backup plan, and the only thing he had left was the Corinari land-based surface to orbit defense missiles. Due to the communications and response delays inherent in any interstellar civilization, the Corinairans had been granted the use of such weapons in order to defend themselves against attack by other forces outside the Ta’Akar sphere of influence. The weapons had been limited in their range and capabilities, but since they carried nuclear warheads, even a single impact could cripple or even destroy an enemy ship that wasn’t protected by the types of shields used by Ta’Akar warships. All the data gathered thus far indicated that the Aurora had no such protection. Then again, she could simply
jump
away once the missiles were detected. Unless—

“Lieutenant Neese,” the commander called to his subordinate.

“Yes sir.”

“How long does it take a Corinairan missile to reach a target in orbit around the planet?”

“That depends, sir. The location of the target in relation to the launch point, and the orbital altitude of the target—”

The commander shot a dour look at the young lieutenant. “Assume for the purposes of this discussion that I am referring to the enemy ship currently running alongside the Yamaro, Lieutenant.”

The young officer swallowed hard, embarrassed by his failure to anticipate his commander’s line of thinking in the matter. “If fired at the most favorable moment, approximately ten minutes, sir.”

“And how long do the electromagnetic pulse effects last after detonation?”

“The EMP only lasts a split second, sir. However, depending on the level of protection and the type of technology, the effect can last minutes to months, sir.”

“And the radiation?” the commander asked. “How much would that interfere with the enemy’s sensors?”

“It’s hard to say, as we know nothing about the enemy’s level of technology.”

“Extrapolate, Lieutenant.”

The lieutenant cleared his throat, buying a moment to think. “Well, my first thought would be that if they are advanced enough to jump between the stars, they would be equally advanced in other areas.”

“Such as sensors,” the commander commented.

“Yes. But they have no shielding, and no energy weapons. At least they showed no use of such technology during their battle with the Yamaro, according to what we learned during the debriefing of her captain and command staff. This might suggest that their advancements, at least for the time being, are limited to only propulsion.”

The commander stared at the planning table in front of him, contemplating the lieutenant’s comments. It seemed that using the ground-based missiles against the Aurora was still a long shot, but it was a shot.

* * *

The dimly lit flight deck atop the anti-insurgency unit’s operations facility was dark, except for the pale blue lighting that spilled out from the bottom edges of the walls out across the deck. The walls were only three meters high—just enough to conceal any activity from the streets below, or from nearby buildings of lesser height. The airships that came and went on this night were unmarked, unlit, and quiet enough that their flights were masked by the noise below. Unless someone were specifically watching the top of the building at the moment one of the airships was in transition, it was doubtful they would be noticed, especially when considering the chaos that still filled the streets of Aitkenna.

There were now four Kalibri airships on the flight deck, all idling with their ducted fan rotors at zero pitch so as to remain quiet and avoid disturbing the air around them while loading. Two of the airships were fitted with extended passenger pods that protruded considerably on either side of the small ships allowing them to carry up to ten passengers each. The other two remained in their standard configuration with an open cargo bay.

Two columns of men dressed in common Corinairan civilian attire and carrying a variety of weapons made their way into the passenger modules of two of the airships. Six others, all heavily armed and dressed in the standard black uniforms of the Corinari, took their seats on the decks of the remaining two airships.

Moments after the last man took his seat, and the passenger airships had closed their doors, the four airships lifted quickly and quietly off the rooftop flight deck and climbed away into the darkness of the night. In less than thirty minutes, they would covertly deposit their passengers near their objective and disappear once again.

* * *

“Maybe in the future you will spend more time in the simulator as a pilot instead of a navigator,” Vladimir told Loki as they made their way into the aft topside airlock.

“Right. Just try taking the stick away from Josh and see what happens,” Loki protested.

“What are you so worried about?” Vladimir asked as he placed the helmet over Loki’s head and locked it in place. The auto-seal engaged with a hiss and the life support pack on his back immediately began pumping breathable air into his helmet. “You have been in space many times.”

“In a space
ship
,” Loki argued over the comms, “not space itself. There
is
a difference you know.”

“Perhaps,” Vladimir admitted as he checked Loki’s suit and life support systems one last time.

“I still think Josh should go,” Loki muttered. “He did volunteer, you know.”

“Yes. But Josh must stay here to fly this ship.”

“What flying? We’re in orbit. All he’s doing is flirting with Ensign Yosef.”

“You see, he
is
busy,” Vladimir said with a smile. “Besides, we need the shuttle back here, not on the Yamaro.”

“But Josh loves this kind of stuff.”

Vladimir was getting tired of Loki’s complaints, and he wanted to get back to his repairs. He had been irritated enough when there was no one available to assist Loki in preparing for his EVA. “Just think of your suit as a tiny space ship.”

Loki looked at Vladimir.

“What?” Vladimir asked, shrugging his shoulders.

“That doesn’t help.”

“Stop whining. It will all be over soon,” Vladimir told him as he stepped out of the airlock, closing the hatch behind him.

“That doesn’t help, either!”

“
Depressurizing airlock now,
” Vladimir reported over the comms in Loki’s suit.

Loki’s breathing rate increased slightly. “This sucks. This sucks. This sucks,” he kept repeating to himself.

“
See, like a little girl you are,
” Josh’s voice came over the comms from his place at the helm on the bridge.

“Shut up, Josh.”

“
Leave her alone,
” Vladimir’s voice teased over the comms from the other side of the airlock door.

Loki turned his entire body so that he could see through the small porthole in the airlock door, which was currently filled with Vladimir’s smiling face. “Funny.”

“
Airlock depressurized,
” Vladimir reported.
“Disabling gravity plating. You are now clear to exit.
”

Loki felt his body become much lighter. The space suit and life support pack together had weighed an extra sixty kilograms, and even walking had been difficult for Loki’s wiry frame. Now he was weightless and the weight of the pack meant nothing. He began to drift upward slightly, his feet slowly rising up off the floor.

It wasn’t his first time being weightless. After all, he had literally thousands of hours in space, most of which had been out amongst the rings of Haven. However, other than the few times that he had gone into the aft compartment of the harvester during flight, his time in zero G had been primarily spent strapped into his seat in the cockpit. He had hated those times, mostly because Josh’s crazy maneuvering usually left him bouncing off the walls of the tiny ship. At least this time that wouldn’t be the case.

“
Slow and steady breaths,
” Vladimir said over the comms. Again Loki looked at the engineer’s face in the porthole on the airlock door. This time there was no comedic grin, only concerned, sympathetic eyes. He was trying to help Loki calm down.

“Got it,” Loki answered, swallowing hard. He concentrated for a moment on his breathing while he slowly floated up toward the hatch overhead. As he approached the ceiling of the airlock, he reached up overhead and grabbed hold of the locking lever on the hatch. “Opening inner hatch.”