Ep.#6 - "Head of the Dragon" (The Frontiers Saga) (37 page)

Jessica shook her hands at her sides as she waited for her turn to go, the vibrations of the ship becoming more intense. Both lines of Karuzari filed out of the transfer airlock onto the flight apron, breaking into a jog as they turned to port and quickened their stride. Jessica followed the line out. The artificial gravity of the flight apron had been adjusted to enable them to jog while wearing the heavy and cumbersome space-jump rigs.

In pairs, they ran to the port edge of the Aurora’s flight apron and jumped off its edge, their momentum carrying them away from the ship. Jessica and the Karuzari fighter next to her followed the pair before them, running off the edge of the deck to float freely in orbit above Takara. They coasted for nearly a minute in a long staggered line, drifting slowly away from the Aurora.

“
Teams nine and ten,
” Naralena’s voice called over the helmet comms, “
you are clear to activate auto-flight systems.
”

Jessica reached over to her left arm and touched a button on the control pad on her forearm, activating her suit’s auto-flight control system. She immediately felt her maneuvering jets fire from various points along her torso, forcing her to spin around suddenly. Her body was reoriented, with her face toward the planet below.

“
Stand by for retro rocket ignition,
” the computerized voice announced in Corinairan. Jessica’s Corinari suit technician had taught her the phrase while helping her prepare, knowing that it would be the second most dramatic jolt she would feel during her journey down to the surface of Takara. Even though they were already falling toward the surface, they still needed to separate themselves from the ship before the Aurora jumped away, as they had no idea what the effects might be on their suits. Even more importantly, they didn’t want to be on the exact same targeting path that the ground-based air defense batteries might use to engage the Aurora, as that would end their journey just as quickly.

Jessica felt a sudden jolt, like someone had swung a bat and struck her on the underside of her backpack. The entire suit and the torso package that surrounded her felt like it slid upward a few dozen centimeters. She could feel the crotch straps digging in between her legs and pulling tight against her hips. She could also swear that her head was now sitting a bit lower in her helmet than before. Her entire suit vibrated and shook as her retro rockets continued to burn. As she shook, Jessica shifted her eyes to her left and turned her head slightly toward the rest of the line. Each of them were also burning their retro rockets. The entire event only lasted thirty seconds, but it seemed like an eternity. Just as suddenly as it had started, the retro rockets shut down and everything was quiet once again.

“Shit!” Jessica exclaimed to herself. “That sucked.”

Without warning, her maneuvering rockets fired again, spinning her head over heels and rotating her body on its longitudinal axis so that she was diving toward it head first.

A computerized voice announced something in Corinairan. Jessica thought it said something about reentry and fifteen seconds… At least, she was pretty sure that’s what it had announced. That technician had run a lot of phrases past her in a hurry. She hadn’t really understood why he had been trying to teach her the phrases. After all, the entire process was automated. If something failed to happen properly, there would be nothing she could do but wait to burn up or slam into the ground.

The computer made another announcement. That one she did understand, and a sense of relief washed over her as the shield indicator on her visor display lit up, verifying that the energy bubble that surrounded her to deflect the heat of reentry away from her was fully operational.

“Teams nine and ten have begun atmospheric entry,” Naralena reported from the comm-station. “Teams one through eight are ready to go.”

“Time to second jump-off point?” Nathan asked from the command chair at the center of the Aurora’s bridge.

“One minute, sir,” the navigator, Mister Riley, reported.

“Time to critical hull temp?” Nathan asked urgently.

“Two minutes, Captain,” Mister Randeen answered from tactical. “We’re already picking up some heat from the atmosphere.”

“Comms,” Nathan called, “translate the following and broadcast over all known Ta’Akar communications frequencies.”

“Ready, sir.”

“Attention Ta’Akar command, this is Captain Nathan Scott of the United Earth Ship Aurora. I speak on behalf of the Earth-Darvano Alliance. You are ordered to stand down all military forces and relinquish control of all systems other than Takara back to each system’s local government. If you comply, you will be allowed to maintain sovereignty over Takara. If you refuse, all imperial military forces will be destroyed, the Takaran government will be disbanded, and your system will be placed under Alliance control. We will return for your answer in three days.”

Nathan waited while Naralena translated and broadcast the message, watching the time display on the main view screen as the ship continued to vibrate against the thickening atmosphere of Takara.

“Message sent,” Naralena reported. She turned and looked at him. “We don’t really expect them to surrender, do we?”

“If only,” Nathan answered. “I’m just giving them a reason for our brief presence in orbit over their world. If they think we are simply jumping in, transmitting a message, and jumping away, not only will they think we are bluffing, but they hopefully will not realize that we just launched our first strike teams.”

“Ten seconds to jump-off point,” Mister Riley announced.

“Naralena,” Nathan said.

Naralena turned back to her comms, watching the digital time display as she keyed up teams one through eight on her comm-panel. “Teams one through eight… jump, jump, jump,” she announced as the time readout reached zero.

The first group of eight Corinari paratroopers jogged out of the Aurora’s port transfer airlock, turning left and heading for the starboard edge of the flight apron. They ran right off the edge, drifting away in a slightly uneven line. Five seconds later, a second line emerged, also running off the starboard edge of the flight apron. One by one, six more groups of eight paratroopers did the same, each group following fifteen seconds behind the other. By the time the last group had left the Aurora’s flight apron, the first group had already fired their maneuvering jets to reorient themselves into position in order to activate their retro rockets and begin their descent. Once the last group was properly oriented, all sixty-four men fired their retro rockets simultaneously.

“Teams one through eight have begun their descent,” Naralena announced.

“They will begin atmospheric entry in ten seconds,” Mister Navashee at the sensor station reported loudly in order to be heard over the increasingly violent rumbling of the ship as they continued to plow through the atmosphere.

“Hull temp?” Nathan inquired. He wanted to give the last group of jumpers time to get clear of the Aurora before he jumped, but he had to get the ship out of there before she got too hot and her heat shielded underside that had been designed for emergency aero-braking maneuvers began to fail.

“One thousand degrees Celsius and rising rapidly,” Mister Riley reported. “Estimate thirty seconds to critical hull temp.”

“Very well,” Nathan answered. “Mister Navashee, are those two closest frigates still maintaining the same course?”

“Yes, sir, same course and speed, five light minutes out.”

“Mister Riley, plot the first jump of a three jump series. I want to end up a few kilometers astern of those two ships when we finish the third jump.”

“Aye, Captain,” Mister Riley answered, immediately setting to his task.

“Tactical, load tubes one and two with conventional warheads, and load tubes three and four with fixed yield nukes. Set all four for snapshot. Also, bring the missile pod online and prepare to fire two pairs.”

“Loading tubes one and two with conventional, three and four with fixed yields, all for snapshot. Bringing missile pod online.”

“Let’s bring all rail guns up as well, Mister Randeen. We’ll fly between the two frigates and strafe them as we pass.”

“Aye, Captain, bringing up rail guns.”

“Naralena, tell flight ops to open the deck and be prepared to launch fighters.”

“Yes, sir,” Naralena answered.

“First jump plotted, sir!” Mister Riley reported from the navigator’s chair.

“Jump!” Nathan ordered, holding tightly onto the arms of his chair as the ship shook violently.

The perimeter shield around her glowed a pale, semi-opaque amber as it struggled to hold the steadily thickening atmosphere of Takara away from Jessica’s suit. Despite her shields, she could still feel the heat being generated by the friction of reentry as she continued to fall toward the planet below. She struggled with all her might to keep her hands at her sides and her legs together, knowing that any wild movement could disrupt the shield’s integrity, the result of which would be unpleasant.

As the atmosphere thickened, the sound of the air rushing past her shields intensified, eventually blocking out the sound of her own rapid breathing, interrupted only by the occasional expletive. The one thing she had always hated the most about floating in space was the sound of her breathing. Nothing made a person feel more isolated than to hear only their own respirations. Now, she longed to hear anything other than the incessant rumbling as she continued to plow through the air.

She watched the display on the inside of her helmet visor. The small maneuvering jets built into her reentry suit were maintaining her flight path automatically, keeping her angle such that her speed was reduced while not generating more heat than her shields could handle. She and the nineteen members of the Karuzari had begun their atmospheric entry just over five minutes ago, and by her clock, they had another five minutes to go.

The computerized voice announced something in Corinairan through her helmet comms. All she understood was the Corinairan word for ‘fifty.’ She scanned her visor display and found a bar graph that indicated her shield strength.
That has to be it
, she thought.
How long have I been falling?
She checked the displays again, cursing herself for not insisting that the display be translated into Angla before jumping.
How the hell did I miss that one?
She was reasonably certain that she had been in reentry for just over five minutes, and the entire reentry was supposed to last ten minutes. With just over half of her shield strength expended, it was going to be close. The suits had been designed for reentry into the Corinairan atmosphere, but Takara’s atmosphere was a bit thicker. So much so that even the additional shield power that the suit designers had considered an adequate margin of error might not be enough to see them completely through reentry. It was a calculated risk, and the suit technicians had assured them that they would make it, barely. However, it was a risk they had all been willing to take.

She watched the shield strength bar and the reentry timer so intently that she no longer cared about the view beyond her visor displays. The computerized voice made another announcement. Jessica could count in Corinairan. Her shield strength was down to twenty-five percent. She checked the reentry time again. Two minutes. There was nothing she could do except continue to plunge through the atmosphere and pray that those Corinairan geeks had been correct in their calculations.

* * *

“Distance to targets?” Nathan asked.

“One light minute, sir,” Mister Randeen answered from the tactical station. “Target course and speed remain steady. Distance between the two targets also remains unchanged.”

“Third jump plotted and locked,” Mister Riley announced.

“Mister Chiles, as soon as we come out of the jump, put your nose on the port target. Once the first torpedo is clear and away, turn into the starboard target. After the second torpedo, steer us directly between the two targets and accelerate. I want to be past those ships when our torpedoes hit.”

“Aye, sir,” the helmsman answered, swallowing hard. Although he and his partner, Mister Riley, had already flown the Aurora in combat over Ancot, there had been no warships to deal with, only fighters, which had all been handled by Major Prechitt and his pilots.

“Ready all weapons,” Nathan ordered. “Stand by on tubes one and two.”

“Weapons are ready. Tubes one and two ready to fire,” Mister Randeen responded.

“Here we go, people,” Nathan stated calmly. “Jump.”

The bridge filled with the brilliant blue-white jump flash, the main view screen automatically dimming a split second before the jump fields initiated the transition.

“Jump complete,” Mister Riley answered.

“Come to port,” Nathan ordered as he realized Mister Chiles was already doing so.

“Range to targets: twenty kilometers and closing fast,” Mister Randeen reported from tactical.

“On port target,” the helmsman called out.

“Snapshot tube one,” Nathan ordered.

Mister Randeen pressed the fire button on his weapons console. “One away.”

Everyone looked forward at the main view screen as the torpedo began to pass them.

“Coming to starboard target, three seconds,” Mister Chiles reported.

“That’s it, Mister Chiles,” Nathan commended. He was happy that his new helmsman understood the situation and wasn’t waiting for the order to act when the correct moment to execute his turn was painfully obvious.

“On the starboard target,” the helmsman reported.

“Snapshot tube two.”

“Two away.”

“Adjust course and accelerate. Full power, Mister Chiles,” Nathan ordered.

“Aye, sir. Altering course to pass between them,” he announced as he steered the ship back slightly to port. “Mains coming up to full power.”

Despite the Aurora’s inertial dampeners, they could still feel her accelerate hard as her main drive came up sharply to full power. Nathan could imagine Vladimir’s delight as his engines began spewing forth their massive amounts of thrust. Unlike the slower Defender class warships of Earth, the Aurora could accelerate a lot faster and could maneuver with the best of ships.