Far From Home: The Complete Series (29 page)

“Down to our last food stocks Captain,” he lifted his cup. “As you know, some of it’s run out already.”

She nodded. “Understood. Any estimate on how long we can stretch what we do have?”

“Clayton’s been working on it. Doctor?” Greene asked.

“Based on what we have, and the minimum nutritional requirements … I’d say we have a week and half of food left,” Clayton said.

She looked from one to the other. All department heads were present. “Have you told anyone else, Doctor Clayton?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“Good. We’ll keep this to ourselves. The last thing we need to do is cause a panic. The crew know things are getting tight, but I don’t need them to know just how tight they are. I’m hopeful that when we get through that nebula -“

“Hopeful?” Chief Gunn asked. She looked tired, stressed.

“At the minute, Chief, I don’t know what else to tell you,” King told her. “We’ve gotta hope. It’s all we have.”

“And what about the Ditaron for the core?” Gunn asked.

“I know as much as you. My gut tells me we can find something on the other side of that nebula. Gut instinct and hope. That’s what we got.”

The Chief lowered her head. “I know.”

The lights changed to red around them. The emergency klaxons blared.

“Captain King to the bridge! Captain King to the bridge!”
issued from the speakers.

She walked to the comm. panel. “Bridge this is the Captain. What is it?”

“Unidentified vessel. Closing fast.”

“I’m on my way,” King said and left the room at a run.

* * *

“Report,” she said as she took the command chair.

“Closing in off the stern,” Banks said. He changed the front screen from a view of the nebula to the rear of the ship. The unidentified vessel fast approached the back end of the
Defiant
. It was a wide, angular craft about the same size of the Union ship.

“Readings?” she asked Chang.

“They’re masking all emissions and energy signatures,” Chang said. “I’m getting nothing.”

Commander Greene arrived on the bridge.

“Do you think they’re hostile?” Banks asked.

“Given the fact they’re coming up on us fast, and blocking all attempts to read them? I’d say so,” King said. “Ready all tubes. Target the main batteries and activate the hull plating.”

“You expecting a fight?” Greene asked her.

On the viewscreen, the front of the alien ship flashed bright green. A single ball of sparkling green light shot away from it and hit the
Defiant
’s aft. The ship shook around them.

“Silly question,” Greene said.

“All hands! Battle stations!” Jessica yelled and buckled up.

2.

Lights flickered. The
Defiant
reeled from yet another direct hit from the alien vessel.

“Aft quarter taking a hit,” Chang said. She winced as the ship shuddered. “Pressure loss on deck six. Repair crew attending.”

“Keep on it. Put people where you need them,” King said.

“Perhaps I should go and help,” Commander Greene offered.

Jessica’s mind flashed back to Captain Singh lying on the deck of munitions, breathing his last. She pushed it away. “Yeah. Be careful. Ensign Boi, cover the Commander’s station. Rayne, I want you to cover navigation and communications for the minute.”

On the viewscreen, the alien ship swung back around to face them. The nebula before them grew closer and closer, filling every corner of the display.

“Fire tube one,” King ordered.

“Bird away,” Boi said. The warhead spun away from the
Defiant
, shimmering as it ploughed into the enemy. A flash and then an explosion at the front of the ship. “Direct hit.”

“She’s not slowing,” Chang said.

“Firing all batteries,” Boi said.

“Banks, get us into that nebula,” King said.

The helmsman shook his head. “We’re quite a way off yet, Captain.”

Jessica bit her lip as she weighed her options.

“Rayne, set the Jump Drive for a twenty second burst ahead. That should give us a head start.”

Chang spun about in her seat. “Captain, we don’t know the composition of that nebula. If we miscalculate and jump right into it, we could -“

“I’m aware of the risk,” King snapped. “Just do it.”

Another direct hit from the enemy. An alarm sounded somewhere, then it was silenced. Below decks there was a barely perceptible whine as the Drive charged.

“Ready …” Rayne said.

“Do it.”

The familiar shift sensation pinned her back into the command chair as the space in front of the
Defiant
shrank back for a second, and the Union vessel Jumped toward the nebula. The guess was just right. They were several minutes away from the edge of the pearlescent cloud.

“It worked,” Chang said, relief in her voice.

Jessica smirked. “You sound surprised, Lieutenant. Banks, get us inside the nebula. Fast.”

“Aye,” Banks said.

“We’re going to hit turbulence when we enter that cloud,” Rayne said.

“Understood,” King said. “Compensate with dampeners and redirect emergency power to the forward plating.”

“Enemy vessel closing,” Chang reported.

“Rear view,” King said.

The screen changed back to the stern. The other ship closed the gap between them.

“Whatever it has for engines, they’re better than anything we’ve got,” Banks noted.

“Slow and steady wins the race,” King said. “Boi, fire the aft tubes. All of them. Now.”

Several warheads flew away from the back of the
Defiant
, impacting the alien ship in four explosions, one after another.

“Excellent,” King said. “That’ll give them something to think about. Switch to front view. How long until the nebula?”

Before Banks could answer the
Defiant
shivered, as if it had sailed into an icy cold sea.

“Captain -” Rayne said.

“Ensign?”

Olivia Rayne strained to hear through the comm. unit on her ear. “They’re contacting us. Audio only. The computer is working to translate.”

“We are now completely enveloped by the nebula,” Chang said. “Minor interference to sensors.”

Captain King crossed her arms. “Helm. Maintain speed and correct our course, five degrees to starboard every minute.”

“Aye,” Banks replied.

“I got it,” Rayne said.

“Go on …”

“They say to surrender … while we still have the chance,” Rayne looked up, her eyes full of worry.

Jessica nodded. “Put this into the computer to translate: Go screw yourself. Then send it. End transmission.”

Everyone chuckled. Despite their hunger, and the fact that
Defiant
was under attack from a superior vessel commanded by hostile aliens … they couldn’t help but laugh.

“It’s sent,” Rayne said.

An explosion rocked the ship. Jessica gripped the sides of her chair reflexively.

“And there’s our response.”

3.

“Banks, execute corkscrew manoeuvre. Ensign Boi, hold your fire for the moment.”

Lieutenant Banks did as he was told. On the screen the hazy form of the enemy still followed them. An unrelenting shadow in the mist.

“I wonder why they’re doing it. They’re obviously more advanced …” Chang said.

“It’s because we won’t stop, so nor will they,” Jessica said.

“But why attack us in the first place? No questions. No introductions. Just hostility.”

King shrugged. “I wish I could tell you lieutenant.”

Although it bugs me too,
she thought.
They don’t know us. We’re completely alien to them, and yet they attack us on sight.

“Gaining some distance,” Banks said.

“We may be shielded by the charged particles within the nebula itself. Perhaps it’s clouding their sensor readings,” Chang explained.

“Stop corkscrew, and correct our course. Aim for the other side of this nebula, lieutenant.”

* * *

Commander Greene moved aside for several crew members to make their way off the deck. “Get to your stations. Help where you can,” he told them.

“All clear,” Lieutenant Rourke said.

“Every compartment checked?” Greene asked.

Pressure steadily fell to dangerous levels. Enemy fire had pierced the hull outside, but there just wasn’t time to locate the hole and patch it. Not with the
Defiant
bucking like a bronco beneath them.

“Yes sir,” Rourke said.

“Then seal the deck. We can deal with the hull breach later,” Greene told him.

“Do it,” Rourke told two officers. Greene and Rourke stepped back and watched as the two men pressure sealed the deck. They activated the environmental controls for the deck from a panel on the wall to bleed out the remaining air. No point wasting it to the dead vacuum of space.

“Right, boys, on to the next,” Greene said and led the way.

* * *

“Visual on the other ship?” King asked.

“On screen now,” Chang said. The viewscreen changed to show the enemy vessel receding behind them into the milky white haze of the nebula. “They’re falling back.”

As Jessica watched the ship disappeared completely.

“Can we maintain sensor contact?”

Chang shook her head. “Too much interference. But it does work both ways.”

“Understood. Banks, continue on to the other side of the cloud. Maintain present speed. Work with Rayne to follow the star chart of this area. Ensign Boi, keep your eyes peeled,” she ordered.

King opened a direct channel to Commander Greene. “Del? How’s it going?”

“Just sealing compartment four of deck seven now, Captain,”
Greene answered.

“Very well. We can deal with the problem areas later,” King said.

“My thoughts exactly.”

Just keep our people safe,
Jessica thought.

“Uh … Captain?” Banks said.

Jessica looked toward the viewscreen. The enemy were right in front of them.

“Firing all batteries!” Boi yelled, his fingers flying over the controls.

The enemy vessel launched a barrage of green fireballs at the
Defiant
.

“Helm, hard to port!” Jessica shouted. Banks threw the
Defiant
into a sudden lurch to the left. She gripped the sides of her chair so hard she felt her knuckles pop.

“Brace for impact!” Chang called over the sudden scream of the collision alarm.

There was a loud flash, an eruption of sound. Jessica closed her eyes.

4.

Never a break
, Jessica thought. The bridge looked to be still intact.
Thank God we’re still here
.

“Hull plating down,” Chang said, running her hands through her hair. She looked frazzled. “Absorbed approximately seventy percent of the blast.”

“I’m packing quite a wallop, but she’s not slowing down,” Boi reported. He continued to fire. King wasn’t sure he’d stopped even for the explosion.

“Power?” King asked.

“Unaffected,” Chang said. “But it won’t stay that way we keep taking hits like that.”

“Lieutenant Banks, bring us about. Collision course,” King ordered.

“Wha - ?” he half-asked as he turned to look at her.

“Do it!”

He did as he was told. The
Defiant
turned.

“Ensign Boi. Lock and load all tubes. Fire on my command,” King said.

She unbuckled herself, got up and stood behind Banks. The
Defiant
turned until the enemy came into view. They rushed to meet the other ship.

Now they’re wondering what I’m up to,
she thought.

“Captain -” Banks said, cringing in his seat as they looked certain to plough straight into the hulk of gleaming metal.

“Drop our nose! Evasive action! Take us down,” she ordered. “Boi, fire all tubes.”

“Aye sir!” Banks yelled back. He threw the
Defiant
into a sudden nose dive. Jessica’s feet lifted from the deck. Her grip hardened on the back of Bank’s chair.

“Firing,” Boi said.

The
Defiant
shook from the shockwaves behind them. Chang switched to show the aft of the ship. The enemy vessel had suffered serious damage this time. Half of its front end had been blown away, hull fragments and debris drifting away from it like shattered teeth from a good, solid fist.

“Jesus!” Banks said as he glanced up at the screen. He held his chest. “For a minute there …”

“Get us out of here,” Jessica said, ignoring him. Up on the screen the other ship turned to follow them.

She strapped herself back into the captain’s chair.

“We only hit them good. Any other ship would’ve been destroyed by a hit like that,” she said.

“Enemy vessel closing,” Chang said, deflated.

“Understood,” Jessica said. She considered her next move.

“Oh.”

She turned to Chang. “What is it?”

The lieutenant looked up from her screens. “Sensors show three smaller ships headed our way.”

“Forward viewer.” The screen showed three ships emerge from the nebula ahead of them and tear past. “Track them.”

The camera changed in sequence. The three ships raced towards the larger alien vessel and bombarded it with what looked like energy bombs. With each hit the other ship visibly weakened. The attack went on for several moments, and then it started to turn away.

“Licking its wounds,” Jessica said under her breath.

She took a deep breath. The three ships sped after the bigger ship, and then returned seconds later to hold formation just behind the
Defiant
.

“We’re being hailed,” Rayne reported.

Jessica licked her lips. Could anything more happen today?

“Yes?”

Ensign Rayne waited for the computer to translate. Then she smiled. “They simply say, ‘Hello.’”

5.

“They want us to follow them to their home planet. They’re offering assistance,” Rayne said.