The Phoenix Project (57 page)

    
“Let’s go,” Joshua said and stood up from
his seat. “Helm, take us down to intercept that shuttle. We’re doing some
escort duty.”

    
“Aye Sir.”

    
The olive colored fighters on Nadine’s tail
entered weapons range. A warning shot flew by the cockpit window shortly
afterwards. Nadine’s fingers scurried across the controls to raise the shields
and arm the obsolete aft Particle Beam Cannon. Pulses of emerald energy flew
from the back of her shuttle and struck the fighter’s shields, causing little
damage. Nadine knew the weapon wouldn’t stop the fighters, but she hoped the
shots would disrupt their targeting abilities for a few seconds while she got
away.

    
Joshua’s voice sounded throughout the
cockpit, startling her. “Got you covered, Nadine.”

    
The
Endeavour’s
hull appeared
overhead to provide an umbrella of protection for her shuttle. Solid beams of
particle energy slammed into the fighters attacking her. Torpedoes followed
them in and the fighters dissolved in a series of fireballs. Burning debris
began its long descent towards the ocean.

    
“We’ll open the shuttle bay. Prepare to
come aboard,” Joshua said across the communications system.

    
“Acknowledged,” Nadine replied in relief.

    
Deadly cruisers three hundred feet long and
a thousand feet wide slid out of their dry—docks. The ships were crimson in
color to reflect their lethal abilities. Ten thousand of the new Coalition
warships began to converge into formations. Soon afterwards, they were bound
for Alliance
battle groups and stations. The rest of the Coalition fleet was given the
order to begin the conquest of the Colonized Sphere seconds later.

    
“Open the shuttle bay doors,” Joshua said.

    
“Got it.” Madison’s walk to a nearby station was
interrupted when a slight shudder went through the ship. The monitor showed
flashes of green and orange from shield impacts coming from somewhere above
them.

    
“Ships from the Coalition A—2 Battle Group
have opened fire on us,” the weapons officer reported.

    
“Request assistance from our battle group!”

    
“The rest of Third Battle Group is under
attack as well.”

    
“It’s started,” Madison whispered.

    
“Tell Nadine to nix the docking and tell
her we’ll have to provide cover to Phoenix’s
outer defenses.”

    
“You do know that means we won’t be able to
defend ourselves from those destroyers,” Madison
said.

    
“I know. Do it.”

    
“Nadine, this is Madison.”

    
“What’s happening?”

    
“We’re under attack but don’t worry. We
will escort you to Phoenix
but we can’t risk a shuttle coming in under battle conditions. Keep under our
hull until we’ve reached the base’s defense grid,” Madison said.

    
“Madison,
are you sure? This is an old shuttle: it isn’t very fast.”

    
“If you try to come in now, it’s likely
that your shuttle will be hit. We both know that it won’t survive a cannon hit
from a destroyer.”

    
“I can’t ask you to do this.”

    
“You didn’t,” Madison said with a smile, “and you don’t
have to.”

    
“Acknowledged and thank—you, Madi.”

    
“Dorsal shields are at half power,” the
weapons officer reported.

    
“Divert all power to that shield and return
fire from all dorsal batteries,” Joshua said.

    
The weapons on the upper side of the ship
returned fire, but without being able to bring the full power of its main
weapons to bear, the
Endeavour
was ineffective.

    
“The enemy ships have sustained minimal
damage. Dorsal shields are weakening. Some of the weapons fire is getting
through,” the weapons officer reported.

    
“Damage report?”

    
A woman in uniform at the appropriate
console replied. “The hull has sustained damage, but nothing has gotten through
yet.”

    
A shudder went through the ship as it
struggled to rush through the Earth’s atmosphere and return incoming fire.

    
“How soon until we reach the Phoenix’s outer defensive
range?”

    
“Two minutes,” the helm officer replied.

    
“Engineering, if you have any more power
you can dump into our dorsal shield, now is the time to do it!”

    
“We’re on it Captain,” he heard through his
communications link.

    
“Shields are down to one quarter,” the
weapons officer said.

    
“Direct all fire to blind their targeting
systems,” Madison
commanded.

    
“Shields won’t hold much longer,” the
weapons officer reported. A shower of sparks fell from a console behind him at
the back of the bridge.

    
“Time?” Joshua demanded.

    
“Sixty seconds.”

    
“Shields are going down!”

    
A hail of particle beams scorched the
armored hull. A torpedo found its way into a magazine in the upper battle module
and detonated the volatile explosives within. The entire watermelon shaped
module mounted atop the hull exploded sending shrapnel into the ship. Joshua
and Madison felt and heard the churning and shearing away of metal from so far
away in the
Endeavour
. Both looked to the damage control station’s
attendant for answers.

    
“We’ve just lost the upper battle module.
We have a major hull breach in the aft section.”

    
“Send damage control to do what they can.”

    
“Yes, Sir.”

    
“Helm, get us to Phoenix Base,” Joshua
said.

    
“Just another thirty seconds.”

    
“Five more hull breaches! We’re losing one
of the sub—light engines,” the damage control officer reported.

    
A massive hit to the forward part of the
ship shook the entire bridge, despite its position at the center of the forward
third of the vessel. An officer on the left side of the bridge saw the displays
turn bright white and knew to run as the station began to receive a rush of
energy it couldn’t contain. He raced away from the glowing displays just as
they exploded.

    
“Divert shield energy to the engines!” Madison shouted amidst
the mayhem.

    
“Aye Sir,” an officer responded.

    
“We’re almost there!” the helm exclaimed.

    
“Prepare to exit the atmosphere.”

    
Scores of hits registered across the hull as
the ship entered its death throes. The
Endeavour
began to blow away its
armored plating as internal explosions began to take their toll. The proud ship
turned into an inferno blazing away against the morning sun rising to witness
its destruction.

    
“We’ve got it! The General’s shuttle is
within the Phoenix’s
defense grid. The destroyers are withdrawing,” the helmsman reported. A moment
after he reported the situation, the entire screen occupying the forward wall
of the bridge burst into flames.

    
“Damage?” Joshua asked.

    
“We’ve got major breaches across the upper
hull. Secondary explosions from overloaded generators have crippled the ship
and one of the FTL drives is on fire. Engineering reports they can not eject
it,” she said and turned to face her superior officer. “It’s going critical.”

    
“How long?” Joshua asked, while Madison watched him in
sympathy.

    
“Less than five minutes, Sir.”

    
“Is there nothing they can do?”

    
“No Sir,” she replied.

    
Joshua looked at the burning forward wall
of the command center before he spoke again. “Abandon ship.”

    
The drilling klaxon of the evacuation order
sounded after Joshua entered the command into his console. All of the officers
jumped to obey the order and hurried out in an orderly manner. Joshua armed the
self destruct to preserve the atmosphere from the cataclysmic explosion of the
plasma powered FTL drives. He remained on the bridge in a desire to stay with
the ship that had been home to him for the last five years. Madison waited for a moment before she put a
hand on his shoulder.

    
“It’s time to go, Josh.”

    
Flames engulfed the entire weapons centre
at the back of the bridge. Joshua grabbed Madison
by the hand and raced off the bridge.

    
Chaos started to take shape as they ran
through the corridor leading from the bridge and to the nearest life boat.
Fires rose into existence from the walls and ceilings caved in as the ship
began to disintegrate. They were forced to change their escape route when an
explosion deep inside the ship blew a hole through the deck plating. Smoke
collecting through the upper half of the hallways forced the two to run bent
over to the next available life boat.

    
They were relieved to find the few personnel
on board the life boat were waiting for anyone left on that deck. Joshua and
Madison boarded the tiny escape vehicle and sat on a bench within its confines.

    
“Is there anyone left on this deck?” Joshua
asked.

    
“No Sir, you were the last ones,” a
midshipman replied.

    
“Then get us out of here.”

    
An exterior armored plate’s bolts exploded,
allowing it to fall from the burning cruiser. The cylindrical escape vehicle
flew out on its thrusters to join a flotilla of similar vehicles gathering in
the sky above the American
Sea.

    
“Heading, Captain?” the pilot of the
lifeboat asked.

    
“To Phoenix
Base. We’re already within its defense bubble.”

    
The pilot nodded and the entire flotilla
headed to an island in the middle of the American Sea.
Behind them, the
Excalibur
ship began to lose altitude. Long clouds of
smoke flew from it as the ship became wreathed in flame. Its dive into the American Sea was interrupted when it self
destruct activated.

    
 
The
sub—light furnaces exploded and erased much of the aft third of the ship
forcing the rest of the blasted hull forward into a vertical position relative
to the water. Powerful explosives throughout the rest of the ship detonated and
forced the ship apart until it was nothing more than boulder—sized pieces
falling into the water.

    
Nadine entered the command center of the
Phoenix Base. Maria interrupted her trajectory towards Elliot.

    
“I hope you were God Damned worth it!”

    
“What do you mean?”

    
“The
Endeavour
was just lost in your
escape attempt.”

    
“What about Joshua and Madison?” Maria
asked.

    
“They just reported in. They’re safe and on
their way,” Elliot said as he joined them.

    
“I am so glad I got to you in time,” Nadine
said.

    
“What about all those people who just died
on the
Endeavour
?” Maria asked.

    
“I,” Nadine replied and stopped.

    
“Maria!” Elliot exclaimed.

    
“What?”

    
“Back off! She’s here for a reason. Let her
tell us why,” Elliot said.

    
Nadine embraced him tightly. He returned
the embrace and then drew away to look at her.

    
“I thought you said we were never going to
see each other again?”

    
“I thought so, but I guess I didn’t know
myself as well as I thought. Thanks for all the help.”