Far From Home: The Complete Series (33 page)

Stanton nodded and eased the power levels toward a hundred percent.

“Chief, how will handle background energy? Stuff coming back at us?” Lieutenant Belcher asked her.

“I got the Krinuans to attach something like a feedback dampener into it. That’ll handle anything that comes flying back. After all, we’re dealing with pure energy here …” Gunn said.

“Yeah that’s what I thought. A substantial amount of energy feedback could blow the whole system,” Belcher said.

“You’re right,” Chief said. “It could put an end to the whole operation, to be honest.”

Stanton turned to look at her and swallowed.

“But of course it’s all conjecture. Everything will be fine. I feel it in my waters,” Gunn assured him. “So don’t poop your pants just yet, Lieutenant.”

2.

“Energy shield holding. Though we don’t know how much damage it will take, or how long it can last under constant bombardment,” Chang advised.

“Do you expect such a bombardment, Lieutenant?” King asked with a smirk.

Chang grinned. “On this ship, anything’s possible.”

Jessica laughed despite herself.

“Closing in on the battlefield,” Rogers reported from the con.

“Krinuan vessels fanning out into a wider formation,” Chang reported.
King turned to Ensign Rayne. “Patch me through to Praror, please.”

Olivia accessed the communication channels via her console, then nodded to the Captain that she was connected.

“Captain Praror?”

“Greetings, Captain. You see we’ve given each other some room to manoeuvre.”

“Yes. The best strategy?”

“Our own sensors show concentrations of Naxor energy signatures … there is a chance the enemy will already be lying in wait, ready to blow us from the sky.”

“A logical assumption,” King agreed. “For our own part, we will try to bring some muscle from the rear. Our energy shield is still untested.”

“I concur.”

“Praror, do we have an exact location of the stricken ship yet?” King asked.

“I will send it through now,” Praror told her. “If you handle the rescue operation, we can cover the
Defiant
until she is done.”

“Understood. Best of luck to you all.”

“And to you, dear Captain …”

Rayne closed the channel. Jessica looked around at them all. Rogers looked calm next to Jackson’s contained anxiety. The man sweated profusely. It didn’t make her nervous. She’d seen it before in men who were eager to get to the task at hand.

Highly trained, and extremely capable men and women who were always best at performing in their role. It was when they left the navy, the army, that they faltered. That the limitation of their stoic personalities was truly revealed.

Jackson was one of these capable men. He’d perform admirably for her, of that King had no doubt.

But he was nervous and she could see it; his fingers itching to pull the trigger.

On the forward viewer she could see a scattering of ships, fields of debris, the ghostly exhaust of spent vessels hung like smoky entrails above a rocky planetoid. Praror’s ship remained front and centre, with the other two Krinuan ships out of view to the left and right.

“Combat zone in thirty seconds,” Chang reported.

“Everybody buckle up,” King said. “Red alert. All hands, prepare for battle.”

3.

The
Defiant
entered the battlefield - or what remained of it. It was more of a debris field, a starship graveyard.

“Slow to one third,” Jessica ordered. She peered forward. “Watch your step, Rogers. A lot of obstructions here.”

“Aye,” Rogers said. “Noted.”

He handled the helm with confidence as he took the
Defiant
around the giant chunks of broken ship that blocked their path.

“Looks like they destroyed everything in their path,” Chang said.

Jessica folded her arms. “Scan for the stricken vessel. Jackson, be at the ready. The Naxor could have cleared off … or they could be lying in wait.”

“Aye,” Jackson said without looking away from his terminal.

“Praror reports they’ve detected the emergency beacon. He’s sending me the co-ordinates now,” Rayne said. She relayed them to Rogers.

“Best speed to those co-ordinates, Rogers,” King ordered.

The
Defiant
turned, then the helmsman gave her a brief surge of engine power. She coasted past one particularly large obstacle. The damaged Krinuan ship lay dead ahead, turning in circles like a small toy model on display, hanging on a wire.

“Their starboard engine appears to be operating at half speed, hence their spin. We’ll need to match in order to get a good link-up, or use a shuttle,” Chang advised.

“Agreed,” King said. “Contact Captain Nowlan and ask him for his assistance. We could do with some of his legendary piloting skills on this one.”

There were chuckles all around.

“Captain!” Jackson snapped. He turned in his seat. “Enemy vessels. Closing fast.”

Jessica sighed and nodded at Chang. “Tell him to hurry.”

Lieutenant Jackson’s fingers flew across controls, and Jessica felt the main guns rotating into position. “Batteries activated. Locking in on targets.”

“Chang, the status of our energy shield?” King asked calmly.

“At optimum efficiency,” Chang reported. “And hull plating charged.”

King turned to Jackson. “Lieutenant, hold fire until my order.”

“Understood, Captain,” Jackson said. He licked his top lip.

“Krinuan ships confirm they are bogies,” Rayne said.

On the viewscreen, Greene’s ship turned and turned uncontrollably. To the far right, a dozen ships sped into view. Jessica felt her stomach twist into a knot.

“Captain Nowlan has just left in a shuttle. He’s asking we cover his flight path,” Rayne said, a hand to her ear piece as she relayed his message.

“As if we’d do anything else,” King said. “Okay, Jackson. Let’s show our hand. Fire tubes four through six. Proximity blast.”

The Lieutenant nodded sharp. He threw a switch and three missiles blasted away from the front of the
Defiant
on a collision course with the enemy ships.

“Krinuan ships are moving to intercept the Naxor,” Chang said.

The warheads blew. A lead Naxor vessel erupted into flame, dipped its nose and turned end over end. The other ships sped around it.

“Follow up with a chaser, Jackson. Tubes seven through nine,” King ordered.

“Aye!”

Three more Duotonic missiles burst from the front end of the
Defiant
, at the same time Hawk’s shuttle came into view as it raced toward Greene’s ship.

“Keep moving us in closer, Rogers,” King said. “We’ll cover them with the
Defiant
herself if need be.”

“Yes Captain,” Rogers agreed.

“Captain Nowlan now thirty seconds from the other vessel,” Chang said.

The three warheads blew. They took another two Naxor ships with them. But now the other Naxor were on them. They fired energy weapons. Jessica shielded her eyes. The friction of energy weapon and energy shield caused violent explosions of light just beyond the ship. A burst of thunder.

“God …” Chang said with a wince.

“Fire all batteries!” King yelled.

The deck trembled rhythmically as the
Defiant
‘s mighty guns let loose against the enemy. Through the breaks in fireworks, she could make out the Krinuan ships ducking in and out amongst the Naxor vessels.

“Captain Nowlan has achieved dock!” Chang reported.

Jessica grinned.

Legendary,
she thought.

“Roll along her main axis, Rogers. Give that ship cover,” she ordered.

4.

The Naxor hadn’t noticed a small shuttle making its precarious journey from the underbelly of the
Defiant
to the crippled ship spinning in circles before them. For any lesser pilot, it would have been a chore to align correctly with the other vessel, but for Hawk it was a piece of cake. He slipped alongside, matched its spin as it went around and around, and slowly edged in against the docking ring. The shuttle butted up against the side of the other ship with a slight clank of metal on metal.

He equalized the pressure between the two, then accessed the interior of the ship.

Inside was smoke and chaos. He could smell burning. Could hear the whimpering of injured crew.

Hawk grabbed his kit and proceeded into the ship to see who was still alive.

* * *

The Naxor ships swarmed the
Defiant
, bombarding her with fire.

“Shields showing signs of strain,” Chang said.

I’m not surprised
, Jessica thought.

“Captain?”
Chief Gunn asked on the overhead speakers.

King accessed her comm. panel. “Go ahead, Chief.”

“We’re struggling to reroute extra power to the shield down here, Captain. Any more of this and we’re in big trouble.”

“Understood,” King said and closed the channel again.

Directly ahead Jackson struck lucky against a Naxor ship and it exploded. The
Defiant
rocked from side to side.

“Rayne, contact Captain Nowlan and tell him to move his butt,” King ordered. “Chang, try to move power from non-essential systems to feed into the energy shield. See what you can do.”

“Yes Captain,” Chang answered and set straight to work.

Goddamn energy shield’s the only thing keeping us alive,
Jessica thought
. That and Jackson’s trigger finger.

* * *

Commander Greene helped pull the weak and injured through the airlock onto the awaiting shuttle. At a push, it would take all of them in one hit. Given Captain Nowlan’s account of the huge fire fight going on outside, that was fortunate.

The Commander ushered a group of Krinuans toward the airlock.

“I’ll take care of these,” Hawk said. “Go and get yuh people from the bridge. Yuh say Salnow’s in a bad way?”

“Yeah. Cut to ribbons. The sooner he gets to medical, the better,” Greene said.

“Well go get the last of ‘em. I’ll make sure we’re good to go the second that hatch is shut,” Hawk said.

* * *

The
Defiant
shuddered.

“Return fire on that Naxor ship,” King ordered.

Jackson nodded, accessed the gunnery controls and turned all turrets to target the enemy vessel. They blanketed it with a wall of deadly munitions. The hits registered against its own energy shielding.

“Direct hits across its port side!” Jackson reported.

“Fire tubes one and two!” King snapped.

Two missiles sped from the
Defiant
’s nose to the Naxor ship. They broke through the fractured shielding and slammed straight into the enemy’s hull. The resultant explosion tore the ship in two.

“Yes!” Jackson yelled. He looked about at everyone else with a grin, then turned back to his console. Jackson cleared his throat, as if restoring his resolve. “Uh, locating the nearest enemy vessel to engage.”

Good work,
Jessica thought.
The strength of the Union must remain unrelenting.

Who had told her that? A Fleet Commander many years ago. It all seemed like memories of another life. In a way it was.

“Captain, Naxor vessel targeting the rescue party,” Chang said. “They’re locking weapons. If that ship gets hit…”

“I know. Jackson, protect that ship. We need to give them time to get the hell off,” Jessica ordered.

* * *

The bridge of the Krinuan craft was in a state of complete carnage. Virtually pitch black with only the feeblest green light attempting to cut through the dark haze. The acrid burn of metal and plastic made his eyes sting, but Greene pushed through it. He found Ensign Boi tending to Salnow. The security officer sat slumped in a corner, cut all over. Boi turned at the sound of Greene’s approaching footsteps.

“Commander.”

“How is he?” Del asked. He got down on his haunches and looked the man over himself. He was in bad shape.

“Not really with it sir,” Boi said.

The ship shook around them. Greene looked about, as if he expected the roof to cave in any second. Something sizzled to his right. A burned out console. The bridge was dead. As was the ship.

“Where’s Banks?”

Boi ran a hand over his dirty, sweaty face. “The Lieutenant took a couple of the Krinuan crew to the shuttle.”

“I didn’t pass him on my way through,” Greene said doubtfully.

Boi shook his head. “Not from here, sir. Their engineering section. There were crew still messing about in there last we heard. Banks went down there to round them up.”

“Good.” He helped Boi get Salnow to his feet. “Get the other side, Ensign and let’s get him -“

A murmur at the entrance to the bridge made him stop mid-sentence. A female Krinuan staggered into the room, dazed. Greene spotted the hole in her side, the fur poking through her uniform matted with blood. She looked at him helplessly, then her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Before she could fall Greene got there and scooped her into his arms. She was surprisingly light, if awkward to carry.

“Come on, Ensign. Let’s move.”

* * *

The
Defiant
’s fire blasted the stern of the other Naxor ship, its energy shield crackling from the reactions of impacting artillery smashing into it. The vessel released two sparkly balls of energy from its bow.

“Enemy fire!” Chang reported.

“Target those birds! Now!” King shouted.

Jackson shifted his targeting recticals to the first of the Naxor torpedoes. The battery fire detonated it with a bright flash of energy. However, the other torpedo continued its course toward the stricken vessel.

“Jackson…” King said.

The Lieutenant didn’t say anything. He bit his bottom lip with concentration, yet still the guns failed to reach their target.

“Oh no…” King heard Chang whisper to the side of her. On the viewscreen the crippled ship turned with the Union shuttle clamped to its side. The torpedo ploughed down on top of it. Jessica flinched from the explosion.