OMEGA Guardian (16 page)

With the press of a button, the sensor data would be run through an algorithm that selected and fired the best cannon for a shot. Any ships within a reasonable range would become targets for an automated, near-endless barrage of ion bolts. If the system functioned as designed, the
Heap
would become a formidable warship in the Omega sector. Without drones, however, we would have no way of testing our newly automated weapons.

The following day, I set a proximity alarm on the constantly incoming sensor data. If anyone or anything came within the range of our sensors, we would be up and manning our weapons. As it was, we each slept for a full twelve hours.

Garrett rocked my shoulder. "Hey, wake up. Go is overdue. I don’t think he is coming. Either he got questioned and caught, or he decided to just keep the ship and stay elsewhere."

I replied as I sat up from my bunk, "He didn’t seem the type to run. If anything, he would have been excited by the prospect of the adventure with us. As a loner, he wasn’t much of a chance taker."

Garrett sat on the edge of the bunk. "Either way, I think it’s time we moved against the Talisans. If those guns work properly, we could wipe out their fleet in a few minutes’ time, if they were all to engage us. Besides, if we don’t do something, that slave revolt is going to sputter and be snuffed out. If the slavers stay in control, we have no chance of wresting control of SS241 back from Governor Marcos."

I stood and stretched my long arms up to the cabin ceiling. "I would agree, as I am sure would Layda and Jallis. It is 4:00 a.m. I suggest we give Go until noon and then set out for Telfor. We should use the time we have to scavenge for more food. Who knows when we will have another chance."

Garrett nodded. "I’ll wake the others."

We searched the poor neighborhoods and again found the stockpiles of nonperishable food to be plentiful. The cargo hold was loaded with enough to last us for several months. When noon arrived, I set a course for Telfor and we lifted off. In the
Heap
, the journey would take four days.

As we approached the Telfor system, Garrett spoke. "This is going to be different."

I replied, "How so?"

Garrett gestured toward our current location by waving his hands. "I’m used to sitting back and watching others from a distance where I can’t be detected. The sensors on this barge aren’t that powerful. They will probably know we are here before we know they are there. I'm not sure I like being on the other end of that scenario."

I grabbed Garrett by the shoulder and shook him. "If we manage to survive this, I promise one of the first things we will do is to update our sensors."

Garrett laughed. "On this bucket? I wouldn’t waste the credits. We need to find something that is much faster than this. This barge is so slow we probably had Galvie flies following us all the way from Effica."

The sensors lit up with Talisan gunships.

I turned back toward Jallis and Layda. "The Harpians are about your size. There are suits back there that have an oxygen supply. Go put them on, along with the helmets. Garrett, you put on your helmet as well."

Layda spoke. "What about you?"

I replied, "We don’t have a suit that will fit me, so I will have to tough it out should we have a problem. If our hull gets punctured, the three of you can still function. I will have to take refuge in the captain’s cabin, and you will have to keep it pressurized. Get yourselves prepared and don’t worry about me."

As Jallis and Layda made their way to the back where the Harpian suits were hanging, Garrett leaned over toward me. "Hey, the captain’s cabin is not pressurized."

I replied, "I know, but I don’t want any arguments. In the event of a hull breach, we should keep as many of us alive as we can. Only makes sense."

Garrett stood from his seat.

I looked back. "Where are you going?"

Garrett replied, "We have at least fifteen minutes before they get here. I’m going to rummage around back there to see if I can come up with anything that will help you. And don’t say I’m wasting my time."

As Garrett walked away, I turned back and yelled. "Thanks!"

Garrett returned with several minutes to spare. "OK, this is what we have. If the hull is breached, Layda and Jallis will do their best to patch the inner hull if possible. That should at least buy us some time. Other than that, I pulled an oxygen supply from one of the Harpian helmets. I rigged up this getup for you. Jam it into your nostrils, and it should provide you with oxygen for about fifteen minutes. You don’t get the scrubber or the rebreather, so fifteen minutes is it. There are five more helmets back there. We can do the same to each of them if needed."

I looked over the crude device that Garrett had hastily put together. "Interesting, that might actually work."

Gerrett continued, "Layda and Jallis are stitching together a suit of sorts for you from the other Harpian suits. It won’t be perfect, but it should keep you from freezing your ass off if the pressure and temperature drop. I know your skin is thick, but it isn’t that thick."

I replied, "Let’s hope that cannon automation works."

When Layda and Jallis returned, I slipped on the makeshift suit they had prepared. It reasoned that it would be adequate for a short duration of cold exposure.

Garrett pointed to the other two consoles on the ship’s bridge. "Take up your positions. If the sensors aren’t fast enough to lock onto targets or if the algorithms I threw together are rubbish, you two will have to operate the cannons. Jallis, you take the high turret while I have the low one. Layda, you take the back-facing cannon. It’s fixed; just take your best-timed shot. Knog will be shooting at whatever is in front of us. That’s all I’ve got. Make sure your suits are buttoned up tight and be prepared. I can’t say that this will be fun."

Four Talisan gunships fired as they approached. The first shots went wide. I turned the
Heap
directly towards the lead ship and fired my twin forward cannons, clipping a wing and sending the ship spinning out of control. The other three ships quickly fanned out from their formation.

Garrett spoke. "Auto is on. Just do your best to aim straight at a ship, and the cannons should fire for you."

As the first automated shots fell behind their target, I replied, "There is only one problem with that, Garrett. We will always end up firing behind them because they will have moved from that location."

Garrett shook his head. "I was hoping it wouldn’t come to that. The automation should work well when they are in close, but at a distance, we’ll be lucky to get a hit. I’m switching back to manual. Jallis, Layda, try to lead with your shots if possible."

The four gunships kept at a distance, all the while taking random shots as I maneuvered the
Heap
ever towards the remaining fleet. As we drew closer, we began to take hits to the hull. The Talisan gunners were well practiced.

Eight additional gunships began to move towards us. Garrett spoke. "There’s no backing out now. I would suggest you take us in close to Telfor. If we do have a hull breach, we could at least take her down into the atmosphere."

I replied, "That was my plan."

Jallis fired a shot that impacted one of the gunships broadside. The side of the craft opened wide before the entire ship split in half.

Jallis yelled, "Whooo! Scratch one!"

I continued my drive toward the planet, and the other gunships of the Talisan fleet headed our way.

Garrett said, "I count forty-two ships minus the one Jallis just took out. We need to start racking up some kills!"

The strikes to our hull began to increase in frequency as the bulk of the Talisan ships closed in. I continued to fire and was soon rewarded with a kill of my own. The twin ion bolts from the forward cannons perfectly caught the port and starboard sides of an approaching gunship. The forward half of its hull disintegrated in a bright fury.

Garrett managed a kill that sent the debris from one ship into another, taking the second out of the fight as well. Jallis took down another ship, but the hits to our hull continued to increase. When the bulk of the gunships came within range, the number of strikes to our hull became critical.

I yelled. "Get your automated targeting ready, Garrett. I’m taking us right into that pack. Either your algorithms work, or this is a suicide run!"

Garrett pressed a button. "OK, automation is online. This is for all or nothing!"

The multi-blaster cannons of the
Heap
began to fire nonstop. The hull gave off a series of horrifying sounds as if an angry mob was just outside with blasters, firing at will. Our hull was taking a beating as the thirty-odd gunships fired upon our location.

However, Garrett’s automated cannons began to take their toll. Five Talisan ships exploded in the span of ten seconds’ time. Another three exploded in the next fifteen. As I moved deeper into the thick of the Talisan fleet, our multi-blaster cannons and Garrett’s automation system became even more effective. Eight more Talisan ships violently exploded. In an instant, their fleet was in chaos.

I pushed the
Heap
further, and she took more of a beating than she was made to handle, but she continued to hold together. Another seven Talisan ships were taken out of the fight before the fleet commander changed tactics. The least-armored portion of the ship was over the top of the fuselage. This had been a Talisan ship, and someone in their fleet had remembered the thinner plating of the top hull.

As two more Talisan ships exploded, we received a hit that caused our first hull breach.

Jallis and Layda jumped up and headed back to the cargo hold where the pinhole leak was jetting away our air. "We got this; just keep flying!"

Garrett stood. "I’m going back to strip the air supplies from those helmets."

A second and then a third pinhole breach occurred in the inner hull. Jallis and Layda quickly had a patch on the first one. As they moved to the second, three more opened up high on the ceiling.

Garrett yelled, "Get whatever equipment and materials you need for patching and drag it up front. We can’t cover this whole area. I’m going to seal it off and pump whatever air is left into our tanks!"

Jallis nodded, and the two scrambled to gather metal patch plates. When several dozen had been moved forward, they returned for an ion welder and an epoxy sealant mix. Garrett finished stripping the Harpian helmets, and the door to the cargo hold was closed and sealed.

The automated cannons managed another four kills before the first pinhole breach opened up in the cabin ceiling.

Garrett yelled. "Layda, start mixing the epoxy! Make up enough for two plates. Go light on the activator, and we should have five to ten minutes before they fully set. If a hole opens, slap on a plate. We can weld them up later!"

Before the first plate could be applied, two additional holes opened in the cabin. We were bleeding air at a rate that could not be sustained. The patch plates were quickly slapped on as two more Talisan gunships left the fight.

I yelled as the others scrambled to secure the cabin, "Six ships to go! I thought I saw one of them take a full strike, but it’s still flying!"

As Garrett patched the last breach, he sat back in the copilot’s chair. "We are down about three-quarters of our oxygen. You might want to head for the atmosphere. A couple more hits and you are going to have to jam that rig I made into your nostrils."

The
Heap
took a series of six hits at once, all across the cabin sealing, all breaching the outer and inner hull. The oxygen level in the cabin and cockpit fell off dramatically. I could feel the cold seeping into the crude stitching of my makeshift suit. My nostrils were soon filled with the plastic piping that Garrett had pieced together. I was surprised at how it remained somewhat effortless to breathe.

Jallis and Layda pulled the patching equipment and materials up into the now-cramped cockpit of the
Heap
. The cabin door was closed and sealed.

Garrett stooped to help Layda mix up the epoxy. Two more Talisan gunships exploded, and then a third. The top turret then took a direct hit.

Garrett yelled, "Crap! We lost the high gun! Keep this ship rolling, or we won’t have a shot!"

Four breaches opened up on a line going across the ceiling of the cockpit. A heavy piece of shrapnel embedded itself in my shoulder. Layda and Jallis jumped up to patch the holes as Garrett swung around to look at my arm.

Garrett said, "It’s not bleeding. At least not out here. I think we leave it until we get settled."

I replied, "That isn’t going to work. The longer that material stays there, the sooner that portion of my body will begin to swell and shut down. Deep foreign objects will send Grunta bodies into shock after only a few short minutes. I need you to remove it as soon as possible."

Garrett looked at the jagged piece of metal. "OK, here goes."

Garrett pulled on the shrapnel, but my skin would not release its grip.

Garrett spoke after a second try. "It’s not coming out of there easy. I need something to cut you with if I’m going to get that out of there cleanly."

I sent the
Heap
into a roll followed by a counter roll. Another Talisan ship met its fate. "Just grab it and rip it out if you have to. I can feel that I am on the verge of losing consciousness! Just do it!"

Garrett grabbed a pair of pliers and took a firm grip on the metal shrapnel. As he pulled, I screamed out in pain. The jagged metal would not release. Three more pinhole breaches opened in the cockpit.

I yelled out, "Pull! It! Out!!!"

Garrett stood on the base of the copilot’s chair and reached over. With a massive grunt and strain, the jagged metal shrapnel began to tear through my muscle and skin. With a second grunt and strained pull, the object came free.

The pain was extreme, and I fought the urge to let myself go into that passed-out state where the pain would end. At the same moment, the
Heap
began to enter the atmosphere of Telfor. Jallis slapped a patch on the last of the cockpit breaches as Layda fired up the ion welder to secure them.

As the hull began to heat up, the epoxy began to burn, filling the cockpit with smoke. My shoulder was bleeding profusely as Garrett attempted to apply pressure. My eyes teared up from the smoke, making it difficult to see the instruments in front of me. For a moment, everything seemed out of control.

Garrett located the valves needed to purge the cockpit of air. Within seconds I was able to see that the ground was fast approaching. I rolled the
Heap
over, allowing the lower cannon turret to fire back up toward the two remaining Talisan gunships that followed. The move worked to scatter the gunships as I pulled up just short of the ground. I left the
Heap
in an upside-down state and settled on the jungle floor with the lower turret still facing the sky. The gunships moved to just out of range and hovered.