Far From Home: The Complete Second Series (Far From Home 13-15) (18 page)

6.

"Movement!" Banks yelled from the front of the bridge. All eyes turned to the viewscreen where something emerged from the
Amarax
.

"Is that
. . ." Greene said, his voice trailing off.

Jessica's eyes widened. "Yes. Everyone, strap yourselves in. Lieutenant, hold midships."

"Aye."

The horn shape of the
Jandala
appeared, her grey hull under the shadow of the
Amarax
's bulk. She drifted away from C2, falling clear of the
Amarax
fully before showing signs of propulsive power.

"Enemy vessel travelling away from the
Amarax
," Chang reported.

"Track her," King said. "Do we detect weapon signatures?"

Chang looked up from her readouts. "Yes. Energy weapons of a type I've not seen before."

Jessica stifled the urge to swallow. The new ship, the one shaped like a horn, was almost the same length as the
Defiant
. Where she tapered off at the back end, there was a blinding white light. She moved with surprising speed and grace, almost unburdened by her considerable mass.

"Shall I lock weapons?" Jackson asked.

"Do so," King said. "But under no circumstances are you to fire until I give the word. This isn't like giving a few warning shots. This one can fire back."

"Understood, Ma'am."

Commander Greene looked across at Rayne. "Ensign, attempt to make contact with the new ship. See if they pick up this time."

"Yes, sir," Rayne said. She set to work, but moments later glanced up and shook her head. "Nothing."

"I didn't think they would," King said.

"Worth a try, boss," Greene said. He turned back to the viewscreen.

The new ship circled around. Looping back on itself from where it had left the
Amarax
. . . and headed straight for the
Defiant
.

"I could be wrong, but they look like they're making a play for us," Greene remarked.

"You could be right," Jessica said. "Banks, full reverse, ten degrees to port."

*

The
Defiant
veered back and, from where Cessqa stood watching, reversed and veered to the right. Risa had arrived and was below decks, monitoring the work of the drones. Gelvin stood before the helm controls, both hands either side of a giant orb. It was a clear ball, suspended above the dull metal of the main console itself. It could be turned, manipulated, and yet not moved out of place. The orb hovered where it was. Gelvin moved the transparent ball minutely and the
Jandala
responded in kind, making a course adjustment as they bore down on the
Defiant
.

"Excellent," Cessqa said behind him. She stood, watching everything unfold on a large holodisplay, her hands clasped behind her back.

"Your orders?" Gelvin asked.

"Target their starboard side. Fire on my command."

*

As the
Jandala
raced toward the
Defiant
, the
Amarax
closed back up. The three sections of its cylindrical body slid back toward one another on their axis. Ranesh stepped away from the controls to monitor the progress of the crew. By now they had all woken fully, and were in various stages of adjusting to their situation.

Ranesh watched on the holographic display as the
Jandala
closed in on the
Defiant
. Cessqa would preoccupy them now.

Ranesh ensured the
Amarax
knew where to go next, plotting their course into the computer, then left to aid what consisted of the last of their race.

Gelvin and Risa had woken quickly, ready for action. It really depended on the individual. For some it took far longer.

No doubt why she chose them
, Ranesh reflected.
It doesn't surprise me that Risa would rise so fast. Would anything less really be expected from one of Namar's finest?

Ranesh left the bridge. Once she was sealed shut again, the
Amarax
once more turned her attention to the Chimera Cluster. The giant cylinder would pilot them safely away from NA-45 without incident while he focused on getting their people up to speed.

Now is only the beginning,
he mused.
Our work begins here.

*

"Captain, the
Amarax
is moving off," Chang warned. "Shall I launch a probe?"

On the viewscreen, the giant cylinder of the
Amarax
moved off at speed while the cone-shaped vessel fast approached. Face on, it looked like a dagger plunging straight at them, a knife in the literal dark of the void.

"Will the probe survive the ravages of the Cluster? I mean, there can be no doubt that's where they're going," King asked.

"If it attaches to the hull somehow . . ." Chang said.

"It is essential we follow it for as long as we can," Gentry said, now seated back at his terminal behind her. "We must know
why
they are headed for the Cluster."

"Understood Doctor. Do it," King told Chang. "Whatever you have to. But make it fast, Commander. That thing's getting away from us already."

"Aye," Chang said.

"Yeah and by the looks of things, we won't have a chance to follow either," Greene said. He pointed at the screen as the
Namarian vessel sped toward them.

7.

"Did you see that?"

Cessqa did not answer
immediately. She watched as the tiny device launched from the
Defiant
headed for the
Amarax
, yet did not impact the larger vessel. She examined it in detail, the
Jandala
's sensors giving her all the information on it she needed within seconds. She saw that it was some kind of probe.

So the humanoids are a lot
smarter than I first thought . . .

They clearly intended to have the device follow the
Amarax
while they dealt with her. Interesting, although they should have known it would not survive its encounter with the Chimera Cluster. Metal balls filled with sensitive equipment never fared well in the unpredictable depths of the Cluster. It was why her people had chosen it as the location of the Third Quarter. If the
Amarax
was the Namar's ark, then the Third Quarter was their last refuge. The
Amarax
gave them a chance to survive, to live on as a race, whereas the Third Quarter went a step further. It had been intended to offer them a second chance . . .

"Pay it no mind," she said. "It is trivial. Target the enemy."

Gelvin reached over to another smaller sphere, ran a hand over it. "Locked."

"Fire," Cessqa ordered. Gelvin didn't pause to consider her order. His fingertips found the necessary controls, accessed them, made it happen. Simple as that. The front weapons ports snapped open and let loose a stream of highly charged energy bursts that spiralled away from the blunt
end of the
Jandala
in a flurry of angry green sparks.

*

"Brace for impact!" Commander Greene yelled. The Namar bursts ploughed into the
Defiant
, impacting against the hull in multiple locations. The cacophony of explosions shook the ship from bow to stern. An alarm whined and died somewhere nearby, but Jessica barely registered it.

"Damage to hull plating," Chang reported.

"Return fire," King ordered, barely missing a beat. "All tubes."

Jackson's hand went to the firing lever. "Ready."

"Fire."

"Aye," Jackson said and unleashed the
Defiant
's arsenal of deadly warheads. They burst free from the
Defiant
and headed directly for the
Jandala
. The bridge crew watched expectantly as the
Defiant
's warheads struck the Namarian vessel's side in flashes of light. But as the intense brightness of the impacts faded, it was clear they'd barely touched the other ship's defences.

"I'm not registering damage," Chang said.

"Rayne, attempt contact again. We have to try and reason with them," King said.

We can't exchange blows like this
. . .

Olivia tried, face tight with concentration, hand to her ear as she tried to hail them on every available channel. She looked up, perplexed. "They're not answering
. . . however I
have
found a channel that seems to receive what we send. So I do believe they hear us, Captain."

King looked at Commander Greene, who silently agreed with her. "Put it on audio, Ensign. Translate."

On the viewscreen, the horn-shaped vessel swung about. The
Defiant
continued to back off, twisting gradually off to one side. Ordinarily Jessica would have ordered a full offensive manoeuvre to close the gap between them. But there was doubt there. She truly wanted to end it before it even got started, despite what Cessqa had done to her people. Killing them like that, as if they were nothing . . .

Even with that, she still felt compelled to give her a chance to talk it over. Was it all just an unfortunate misunderstanding?

Afterall, we did just break in,
Jessica thought.
And there's the issue of the hibernation pods that were empty when we got there. Who got to the Amarax before us? Who stole that crew away and vanished without a trace?

Perhaps there was a chance, even a slim one, of pulling it back somehow.

Did Cessqa have justification for being hostile toward them? Why, yes she did. But that did not condone the senseless murder of the
Defiant
's crew . . .

"This is Captain Jessica King of the starship
Defiant
. Respond."

A faint crackle of static hummed over the speakers, but no answer to her message.

"I know you receive. I know you can hear me," Jessica said.

*

Gelvin turned to look at Cessqa as the human's voice echoed around the room, translated into Namarian.

"Shall I continue to fire?" he asked her.

The humanoids had shot back and though it had barely made a dent in their energy shields, it demonstrated to Cessqa the humanoid's willingness to exchange blows. When hit, they'd hit right back.

"No," Cessqa said.

"I know you hear me. Please, let us meet and discuss this. I am sure our two people's can find even ground . . ."
the humanoid female said on the other end.

Cessqa accessed the
Jandala
's communication relays.

"I am Cessqa, commander of the Jandala. Do I address Captain King herself?"

"You do."

Cessqa remembered the woman from before, by her bedside. Strong, confident. She would not bend easily.

"I have a proposal," she said. "For Captain King, the invader of the Namarian's territory."

"I am listening,"
obviously bristling at her mention of being an 'invader.'

"Surrender now, and I may spare your lives. You have committed an act of war against the Namar, one I do not take lightly. However, on this occasion I will be lenient."

"Utterly unacceptable,"
Captain King said.
"We have committed no such act. We were exploring an ancient artefact to determine its purpose."

"So you deny. And you lie to cover your imposition on my people. Your race breached the
Amarax
before. This was not the first time. This conversation is as dead as your crew will be, Captain," Cessqa said and closed the channel.

She looked across at Gelvin. "Ready the weapons. Indulge yourself. Obliterate them."

8.

The
Jandala
hit again and again. Banks took them forward, full thrust while Jackson attempted to fire back. There seemed no pause in the
Jandala
's weapon fire. It came in a steady stream, smashing into the hull plating. The
Defiant
reeled.

"Evasive!" King yelled. "Get us some room. Jackson
, load all tubes."

"Yes Ma'am," he said. "Ready."

"Fire!"

The warheads veered away from the
Defiant
, pummelled the
Jandala
's aft section, where her hull came to a point around her engine exhaust.

"Minor damage to their defences," Chang reported.

"Jeez," King said as the
Defiant
swooped past the
Jandala.
There was a break in the enemy fire.

"Chang, the status of our probe?" Greene asked her.

The Commander checked on her screen. "As expected. Riding shotgun with the
Amarax
, gaining distance from us and holding steady."

With that, Greene turned to Jessica. "I think we should get out of the open. We're at a disadvantage here. That thing can run rings around us, all the while hitting with everything they've got. All we can do right now is try and keep up. We need to level the playing field."

It made sense. In order to ensure the safety of the
Amarax
, Cessqa would follow them wherever they went. Perhaps in the hope of destroying them. Or, for that matter, to merely keep them occupied long enough so that the
Amarax
could disappear.

And he was right. The whole time they stuck around in open space, they were a sitting target. Whatever Jessica lacked in terms of firepower she made up for in terms of her experience and gifts as a commanding officer – if given the chance to use them. Cessqa, from the looks of things, relied on the advancements of her
tech.

Jessica, on the other hand, relied on her people first and foremost. The one advantage Cessqa had was a more powerful gun. They needed to lead her somewhere she'd have difficulty using it.

"What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander," Dr. Gentry said. King and Greene turned to look at him. The doctor managed half a grin. "The odds will be even."

Chang stifled a chuckle, her eyes still focused on her data readouts. "Nice."

The
Defiant
took another round of hits from the
Jandala
, breaking the momentary reverie of Gentry's humour.

"Where do you suggest, Del?" she asked Commander Greene.

Greene was about to answer when Lieutenant Jackson piped up. "Captain, might I make a suggestion?"

Both King and Greene exchanged looks before she said, "By all means."

"There is the Mobius Formation, not far away. A short Jump. The probe works, we can afford to allow the
Amarax
to fall out of immediate sensor range and leave it to track their progress," Jackson said.

"What do you think, Doctor?" Jessica asked Dr. Gentry.

"The Formation could be just what you're looking for," he said. "Indeed, both ships will be impaired to a fashion."

"You can't get fairer than that. How far to the Formation?" Greene asked.

"A half hour Jump."

Greene raised an eyebrow. "It'd be the perfect place to conceal the
Defiant
."

"Agreed. And I see your point of fairness. As much as it'll screw with their sensors, it'll do the same to ours."

"A word of warning," Gentry chimed in. "The sheer amount of radiation in the Formation is immense, from what I remember reading about it . . ."

The Commander nodded. "Yet, I get a gut feeling we'll somehow use that to our advantage. Knowing the Captain."

Jessica smirked. "Del, you read me like a book."

She gave the go-ahead for Banks to plot them a course directly to the Mobius Formation.

"Aye," he said. "Spooling the Drive."

"Good call on that, Jackson. The Formation is just the right mix of stormy weather we need," King said. The
Defiant
shook violently from another series of hits. "Now get ready to fire those weapons. We've gotta keep them interested, after all."