Flagship (A Captain's Crucible #1) (24 page)

"We lost two more missiles," Miko said. "And the same number of Avengers. Remaining nukes still intact."

"Second group of fighters is braking," Miko said. That referred to the group headed toward the
Callaway
.

"Will they contact us before the flyby?" Jonathan said.

"Negative. But judging from their deceleration, they'll definitely catch up shortly thereafter unless we increase speed."

"The Dragonflies and their MOTH escorts are decelerating," Lewis said.

Those crafts would have to fire reverse thrust early if the Dragonflies wanted any chance of grappling to the targeted enemy vessel. On the display, Jonathan watched two red dots break away from the main battle to harass them.

The external camera feed flashed a few minutes later.

"The enemy ships launched their particle beams," Lewis said. "They've taken out some of the missiles and mortars. MOTHs are still en route."

"Helm, start pointing our port side toward the target. Don't alter our trajectory. Tactical, prepare to fire Vipers at the dart ship containing the prisoners. Transmit the order to the fleet."

At that range, the spot area would be sixteen centimeters cubed on the target, and the megajoule intensity roughly twenty times less than at five thousand kilometers. The plan was to target the same spot on the enemy hull, so that their combined firepower would compensate for the loss in intensity.

Ops had approximated the location on the enemy ship where Lieutenant Commander Wolf's transmission had come from, and it was eventually agreed to target the hull approximately two hundred meters to the left of said position. Since no one knew whether Wolf had actually made the transmission from the alien prison or somewhere else, it was possible the breach attack might end up harming the prisoners. However, there were always risks and unknowns in any battle. Such was the fog of war.

"Enemy is twenty thousand kilometers off our port side," Miko said. "Near to the closest point of the flyby."

"Fire fleet-wide broadsides," Jonathan said. "Open up a path for the MOTH teams."

"Firing," Miko said.

The display flashed.

"Direct hit," Miko said. "We—"

"I'm detecting a thermal build-up on all three ships," Lewis announced.

An even brighter flash filled the display.

The bridge shuddered.

Alarms started going off.

"What happened?" Jonathan said.

"The three enemy vessels fired their particle beams at the same time," Lewis said. "Joining their beams, like we did, to increase its intensity at this range. They ripped a gash along the entire length of our port side."

"How bad is it?"

"The beams penetrated the hull in several places: we have hundreds of breaches. We've lost launch bays two and six, and the entire bank of port Vipers. Reactor one is offline. Mess hall one destroyed. Sick bay destroyed. Two hundred crew members reported missing."

Jonathan rubbed his forehead. "Any good news?"

"Mag-rails are still intact on that side."

"That's one plus," the captain said. "Any damage to other vessels in the fleet?"

"Negative."

"Another plus," Jonathan said. "Now tell me we hit them good."

"We did, Captain," Lewis said. "After the impact I detected a plume of radiated heat from the prison ship, which promptly went cold. That matches the thermal profile of a hull breach."

"Status on the smart nukes?"

Two more quick flashes erupted on the external feed.

"The modified Orange Squadron drone struck its target and the nuke payload detonated," Miko said. "I'm registering wreckage: the second dart ship is completely gone." He paused. "It looks like the enemy fighters managed to shoot down the other drone before it reached the capital ship. The entirety of Red Squadron was destroyed when the nuke detonated."

"Damn it."

"However, several of the close range kinetic kill missiles got through," Miko continued. "And the capital ship is severely damaged."

"Instruct the remainder of Orange Squadron to concentrate fire on the capital ship. Let's see if we can sink the bastard."

"Enemy fighters are closing with the
Callaway
," Lewis announced.

"Launch Black Squadron!" Jonathan said.

"Black Squadron away," Miko said.

The enemy fighters reached the ship a moment later and the bridge shuddered.

"How are our point defenses holding up?"

"We've already shot down one of their fighters," Ensign Lewis said. "The bastards are hitting us good, though. They're concentrating fire on our port side, and the breaches there. Black Squadron is moving in."

On the display he saw the blue dots of Black Squadron move to intercept the incoming enemy.

"Status on the MOTH teams?" Jonathan asked Lewis.

"MOTH teams have landed."

The bridge shook as the alien fighters made another strafing run.

Rade proceeded down the tight cylindrical passageway in single file after the Praetor and four Centurions. Three other human team members and four more Centurions brought up the rear; the two rearmost robots hoisted a portable airlock between them. Humans and robots alike carried spare spacesuits strapped to their backs.

Every member of the group was armed with an M1170 laser pulse gun. The chief scientist, Connie Myers, claimed she had found a way to penetrate the darkness the aliens used as a shield by modulating the firing rate of the lasers to a certain frequency. The M1170s the fireteam carried contained the necessary modifications. Rade also had a plasma rifle with him as a backup.

All the combat robots would be left behind, as every spare inch of space on the shuttles would be needed to hold the prisoners. There was no real worry about the human tech falling into the hands of the enemy, however—the bodies of each robot were rigged with powerful explosives. Though he had full remote control over the detonators, Rade was slightly worried that the explosives might go off prematurely in a firefight.

The landing had been rough. The two shuttles had fired reverse thrust long before the main target came into range, and they had to fend off several attack runs from the enemy fighters. By the time the prison ship had neared, they had reversed course completely and were moving at top speed in the same direction as the target. But the vessel had still approached with twice their velocity. The shuttles had jockeyed into position and fired magnetic grappling hooks as the target passed. The carbon fiber cords had grown taut—two broke away, but they reeled in the rest and managed to touch down.

The enemy attack runs had ceased by that point: the fighters didn't want to damage their own ship.

The
Callaway
and the rest of the fleet had carved a roughly twenty-centimeter diameter hole into the hull with their Vipers during the flyby. That tear penetrated the five meters through the hull and ended in what looked like a passageway from outside. They had spent the first fifteen minutes enlarging that hole with the laser cutters they'd brought along. When the breach was two meters in diameter, enough to fit the MOTH fireteam members, robots, and all their equipment, the group had hauled themselves inside.

There was working artificial gravity inside. A little stronger than Earth's. One point one Gs, according to the HUD.

Small filaments glowed red in unique, almost floral patterns on the metal bulkheads, providing dim background light that was brightened by the helmet lamps of the group. Rade remembered the strange symbols he had noticed in the alien wing segment he had explored before, and he guessed that was how these filaments would look without power.

Fist-sized HS4s accompanied the group. The drones had gone in first and mapped out the immediate area, so Rade knew that a sealed hatch awaited up ahead. He had the video feed from the foremost Centurion piped into the upper right of his HUD, and he watched as the group reached the aforementioned hatch.

"Cut through," Rade said.

The lead combat robot switched its heavy gun to the appropriate mode and began cutting. Yellow gas misted into the compartment from the molten square the weapon formed in the metal.

Rade found himself growing impatient. "Get down," he instructed the robots.

The Centurions and Praetor in front of him complied immediately.

Rade lowered his plasma rifle and fired. He knew he'd caused a breach, because the atmosphere contained beyond the hatch gushed outward, and the force of it nearly toppled him. In moments it had drained completely. He fired two more times, enlarging the white hot hole he'd made, then tossed the weapon to the Centurion in the lead.

"Use this from now on."

"Show the robots how it's done, Chief!" Aaron said over the helmet comm.

Rade sent the HS4s through first. The drones kept close to the bulkheads so that their powerful X-Ray payloads could penetrate the thick metal and flag any human life beyond. The HS4s were programmed to return immediately upon encountering any of those dark amorphous masses, or other indications of alien or robotic life. They would leave the locations of any such enemies marked in red on the maps the drones generated in realtime.

When the HS4s returned the group proceeded forward.

They continued that way, melting every hatch they encountered, venting the internal atmosphere, letting the HS4s scout each new area. Often multiple sealed hatches provided different ways of proceeding. Rade took the rightmost branches on those occasions.

The cylindrical passageways varied in radius. Sometimes the group had to proceed in single file, sometimes they could advance two abreast.

Twenty minutes passed. So far the party had encountered zero resistance. Either the aliens were too busy with the main fighting to pay the intruders any attention for the moment, or they were ill-equipped to deal with a boarding party.

Twenty minutes. And still no sign of the prisoners.

His daughter was here, somewhere.

I'll find you.

But what if she wasn't even alive anymore?

He refused to entertain the possibility.

And then, when the party had almost begun to grow complacent, after melting through one of the hatches the lead Centurion immediately toppled over. Sparks erupted from its torso.

The group dropped to the deck, hoping to use the lower portion of the hatch that was still intact for cover.

Alerts appeared on his HUD, indicating that infrared lasers were being fired into the passageway above him.

It was time to see if Connie's modifications to the weapons worked. "Units A and B, return fire!"

The two Centurions at the front of the party coordinated, moving at inhuman speeds. The first raised itself enough to fire, and the second behind it rose even higher, and together they unleashed hell into the compartment beyond the hatch. They adjusted their aim between shots and in moments ceased shooting.

"Tangos down," Unit A said.

Well done, Connie.

"Units A and B, inside!" Rade said.

The two Centurions leaped through the hatch one after the other. The first went high, the second low. He saw flashes as the two fired again, but he heard no sounds with the atmosphere vented like that.

"Clear!" Unit A transmitted.

Rade observed the compartment via the video feed from Unit A. Several black mists lay motionless between hollowed out sections of the deck. He wasn't sure if he was looking at an alien barracks, a berthing area, or a mess hall.

Well it didn't matter what he was looking at, did it?

The area was clear.

Rade sent in the HS4s to map the place, and the drones determined that there were three sealed exits leading forward, right, and left. As always, Rade chose the rightmost. He retrieved his plasma rifle from the downed combat robot and tossed it to the new Centurion that had assumed the point position. The robot went to the hatch.

"Sir!" the Centurion said urgently.

Though the robot hadn't fired, the metal on the hatch had turned white hot. A hole abruptly formed in the middle.

"To the deck!" Rade said.

The team dropped as the inner atmosphere explosively decompressed. The magnets in their exoskeletons prevented the team from being tossed down the rear passageway like rag dolls.

They waited several moments but the atmosphere continued to vent. That meant one of three things: A) there was a very large area behind that hatch; B) the other adjoining compartments had lost the ability to seal; or C) the ventilation systems in that area were malfunctioning.

Rade aimed his weapon at the hatch. Others did likewise.

"Orders, Chief?" Aaron transmitted over the comm.

"Hold..."

Fifteen seconds passed.

"Chief?" Aaron pressed.

"Hold..."

Thirty seconds.

Finally, at the forty-five second mark, the venting ceased.

The hole had enlarged slightly by that point, thanks to the pressure of the moving gas. The glow of the hatch had faded to blue from white hot, but in that moment it flared white again, and plasma from an unseen weapon spilled through from the passageway beyond. The hole became man-sized.

Rade prepared to fire.

Black mist flowed inside...

"Wait!" an unrecognized voice came over the comm. A woman's voice.

"Hold!" Rade shouted to his men. He was relieved that none of the robots had fired. They were programmed to attack only after receiving his authority, but he never really trusted them, not after the terrible malfunctions he had witnessed in the past.

"I'm human," the voice came again.

Was that his daughter?

"What alien trick is this?" Aaron said over the comm.

"Be quiet!" Rade snapped, lowering his weapon. He stood up and approached the darkness.

A figure in a spacesuit emerged from the darkness.

"We're human," she repeated.

He went to her and looked into the face plate. Disappointment filled him. It wasn't his daughter.

A small, rectangular device dropped to the deck underneath the darkness and the mist dispersed, revealing a man in a spacesuit.

"Lieutenant Commander Jason Wolf and Lieutenant Lin Akido at your service," the man said.