Zein: The Homecoming (6 page)

‘Soldiers, can I just remind you to keep your eyes on what is in front of you and cut unnecessary chatter,’ said the powerful voice of General Corder, cutting across the banal discussion.

Kabel smiled at the banter and joined in the fun with his co-pilot in the cockpit of the impressive Cobra. The co-pilot was Sean Lambert who was providing the support on manning the aft weapons console, which like the anti-ship guns on the
Elanda
was operated by thoughts. Sean was one of the humans who had supported Kabel during the last three months, refusing to accept the hyper-sleep option. He and Kabel had grown to respect and enjoy each other’s company and Kabel welcomed the light relief that broke the monotony of the journey.

‘Cobra Ten can you read me,’ said Kabel, searching through the hundred Cobra fix wing strike aircraft.

The unhurried and calm voice of Hechkle, who was supported by Bronstorm, came back in acknowledgment, ‘Kabel, I mean Lord Blackstone, we are ready, as you humans say it, to kick ass,’ in a monotone flat response.

‘Just make sure you look after my back, you Fathom reprobates and no shirking off for some sightseeing,’ said Kabel, jokingly.

‘Ready to launch Sir,’ said Lieutenant Michaels to General Corder.

‘Launch in squads of ten, Lieutenant.’ The soldier acknowledged the order and his hands ran over the array of lights in front of him. General Corder was tense but knew that this was what he had been trained for.

As the Cobras were catapulted out from their launch bays into the blackness he felt a surge of pride.
The first human to command a battle in space
, he thought. His chest poked out with pride before he admonished himself.
Focus
,
man, focus
. ‘Sir, there they are…,’ said Lieutenant Michaels, his voice petering out, as he and everyone else on the ship followed the approach of the marauding ships towards the flotilla at incredible speed. The ships were considerably smaller than the two escorting destroyers but the Cobras were dwarfed by their size.

‘Xonian scum,’ said one of the Zeinonian navigators. The puzzled General Corder asked how he knew they were Xonian ships. ‘You see the four wings each with four torpedo launchers.’ General Corder looked harder at the fancy “X” shape of the ships which attached to a black, gnarled and ribbed main body. He picked up the menacing torpedo launchers. He nodded his head. ‘Well, in our training they went through the ships in our databases that held records of all known space fighters and this type of ship was included in the lists and it is an Xonian ship called a Vening,’ said the experienced Zeinonian, Zachary
Harris of the Blackstone clan, recalled General Corder. ‘In Xonian language it means “Spitting Death”, nice hey?’ Those in the Command and Control Centre looked round at the frowning, tall Blackstone man.

‘Good job we named our fighters Cobras then; let’s get into a spitting contest,’ General Corder retorted. Suddenly, the nearest Vening opened fire on the destroyer to the port side with two torpedoes launched from each of the four wings. The eight missiles within a blink of a second crashed into the side of the destroyer. The Vening pulled away from its attack and was immediately replaced by a second enemy ship, which did the same. The flashes made those following the action flinch.

Kabel, tracked the explosions as he sped towards the ship. He knew that the plentiful stores they had of the precious ore, that fed the protective shield around all the ships, and extended more weakly to the Cobras, should protect them, but the extent of the firepower of these ships still caused him concern. If they were not careful they would rapidly exhaust the current zinithium loaded into the cell batteries, which would mean they would need to be replenished from reserves, an activity they could not afford at such an early stage in their quest. Who knew what faced them when they reached Zein?

‘Cobra ten and two, are you with me?’ Kabel queried. ‘Always,’ was the succinct reply from Hechkle; the other pilot a soldier from the British Royal Air Force also acknowledged. ‘Let’s get stuck in,’ said Kabel.

Kabel rocked the Cobra to the left as he followed the departing Vening. In the virtual controls wrapped round his head, his thought pulses picked out the homing beacon mark, which sent a powerful laser ray to track the exhaust pipe of the enemy ship. The tracking device locked onto the power source and he gave the silent
order to fire the pulse expulsion in the cone of the ship to release the deadly torpedo.

These were no ordinary torpedoes. Inside with the nuclear device there was a powerful zinithium core that on detonation would quadruple the already significant payload. In Earth it would be the equivalent of five times the power of “Little Boy”, the name of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. This was just one torpedo. He had some pity for the enemy.

The torpedoes sped towards their destination. They smashed into the back of the ship and Kabel let out a small cheer. There was no explosion.
What the hell…

The torpedo just thumped into the ship and fell away. All around him the same thing was happening to the other fighters; something was deactivating the bombs before they hit, nullifying them. ‘Bogie on my tail can’t shake him, Mayday, Mayday.’ The cries came from one of the Russian pilots; Kabel saw that it was Cobra seventy-nine. Firing with increasing accuracy a Vening was on his tail keeping up with the frantic movements of the smaller aircraft. The shield could only protect the ships so far, with a sustained assault the Cobras were vulnerable.

‘Don’t panic, Cobra seventy-nine,’ said Kabel, momentarily turning to Sean after switching off his communications link. ‘Who is flying seventy-nine?’ Belenov, was the response. Kabel reconnected to the pilot and told him to go high as he moved in with a burst of concentrated firing to support the under-pressure Cobra fighter. It was too late for Cobra seventy-nine. The plane exploded.

Kabel heard anguished screams over his communication link as other pilots’ shared the same fate as Belenov. The Vening ships had turned on the offensive and although slower than the Cobras, their greater experience and the shock to the Cobra fighters that their weapons were useless saw six Cobras blown apart within seconds. Others relied
on their photon machine guns rather than their torpedoes to provide some element of protection.

‘Kabel, watch out,’ shouted Sean. The Vening in front of them had gone into a steep climb and now was coming in range to return fire. Two torpedoes were launched at them. Kabel flung the Cobra to the right and released photon flares to pull the torpedoes away from the ship. The manoeuvre worked. The weapons exploded away from the ship, which rocked with the sonic blasts. Sean turned his photon machine gun on the Vening and poured round after round into the ship. Kabel just focused on evading the gun sights of the intimidating enemy ship. Perspiration dripped from his brow.

On the
Elanda
they watched the dogfight with bated breath. Gemma’s stomach lurched left and right with worry as she saw the distinctive command Cobra fighter with its red tip cone come under increasing fire. The other Cobras were using their greater speed to stay out of the fatal grip of their attackers. Survival was now the overriding objective.

‘We’re next,’ said Tyson, as he sensed fierceness and hate emitting from the ships arrayed in front of them. Sure enough, four ships peeled off heading directly for the
Elanda
with the deadly torpedo launchers on each ship facing the defenders.

Ready
. He sent the command into all the minds of those controlling the anti-ship guns and opened fire. Bailey and Gemma followed him. Soon the air was crisscrossed with blue energy pulsating from the bores of the weapons with the fire pouring into the ships approaching them. Their ammunition was making little impact and the ships kept coming. The Venings launched four torpedoes each and they streaked across space smashing into the ship in an instant. The flash made all the gunners flinch and made the ship shake with the impact.

‘What’s the damage?’ General Corder asked, worriedly. He felt tense.
This was not going to plan
.

‘There is no damage, Sir, but we will need to replenish the Protective Barrier if they continue with this barrage,’ said the tall Blackstone operator.

The attacks on the
Elanda
increased. Kabel was confused why the powerful battleship’s weapons were having no effect. They had lost another couple of Cobras as the pilots lost confidence in their ability to hit back. They were flinging their ships all around space as they desperately tried to prevent the Venings obtaining a fix on them.

Tyson heard Kabel’s and the other pilots’ doubts. He focused his attention on the incoming spaceship, which was trying to get in as close as possible to launch its power draining load. He focused on the turret which stuck out from the body of the ship and then cautiously reached out, immersing his thoughts into the minds of the enemy. There were ten warriors to each ship, he counted. They were laughing and discussing the attack but he didn’t understand the language. He decided that he needed help so redirected and projected the thoughts to Zebulon, who still sat patiently in his wolf shape watching Tyson with growing unease.

What are they saying?

They are pointing out that they can destroy us at their leisure as our useless weapons have no impact
, Zebulon replied.

Any weaknesses you can identify?

They keep mentioning the “transmitter”, which I think is disarming the explosive devices before they hit.

Tyson searched the exterior of the spaceship and he couldn’t see anything. Four more torpedoes were launched from two other Venings and the
Elanda
rocked again, causing, for the first time, sparks from the Protective
Barrier, which could be seen glinting in the starlight. The barrier was weakening. The Venings turned away readying for another attack.

‘There!’ he shouted aloud to no one in particular. As the enemy ships turned away he saw a red pulsing light on the underbelly of the ship which was relatively small but noticeable. Tyson instinctively knew that this was the disabling transmitter. ‘Patch me into all communications, I have a solution,’ he ordered. In the Command and Control Centre, General Corder frowned. He was not used to receiving orders, but they needed help so reluctantly he gave the requested direction to patch Tyson in to the communications.

‘Attention everybody, there is a red light on the underbelly of the ships. It is a very small target but direct all your fire on to that area,’ said Tyson.

‘On it,’ said Kabel, pulling his Cobra into a vertical climb and looping behind the previously attacking Vening. He dropped the Cobra at an angle so he could see the red light. Yes he saw it and set his guns onto the belly of the Vening firing off streams of powerful pulses from the Cobra’s’ photon machine guns. The Vening began to manoeuvre itself violently to escape the intensive firing. Sean joined his co-pilot in firing at the underbelly. There was a force-field but the concentrated fire power eventually told and blasted the light to pieces; immediately Kabel ordered the Cobra’s torpedoes loose. The torpedoes sped upward into the desperately manoeuvring ship and on impact they tore the ship apart.

Tyson heard the panic stricken alien guttural voices in the ship and the scream of death and his lips curled up in satisfaction. He sensed panic begin to ripple through the enemy and could not stop licking his lips in delight, as if he tasted the fear. Zebulon looked up at him, keeping his
thoughts hidden. If Tyson had seen that look he would be concerned; it was not a look of admiration but of fear.

Tyson turned his guns onto the incoming enemy ship, aiming for the underbelly, swiftly joined by Gemma, Belina and Bailey. The light went out and a Cobra following the ship let loose its pay load and the enemy ship exploded. Tyson felt the buzz of the battle and the magic inside him feed off the adrenalin.

Zebulon made sure his thoughts were protected by his deep magics before he allowed his concerns to surface.
The magics are turning the boy into a rogue warrior
; Zebulon thought, sensing that the human’s body could or would not control the magic within the vibrant body.
If he goes too far, it is not Zylar we should fear. I will need to watch him closely
.

Tyson was now in the zone and deadly. He was relentless and once he had blown the transmitter of two enemy ships he let his agile mind send photon blast after photon blast to blow each of the ships to smithereens. Within minutes the enemy were on the run. The Cobras followed until Kabel gave the order to desist and keep within the protection of the
Elanda
. He was concerned that the crews needed more training and he didn’t want them to overstretch their luck. Only two of the Venings survived and they retreated away from the flotilla until they disappeared off the radar.

Cheers rang out across the decks. Tyson stared glumly at the enemy-free space. He felt cheated, he had felt the huge spike in his power coursing through his body as the adrenalin from the fight and the anguished screams of the defeated echoed through him. He uncoupled from the turret and exited, followed by a thoughtful Zebulon who padded along behind him. Along the deck the other gunners were congratulating each other and their spirits were high. Bailey hugged his sister and then caught Tyson emerging from his turret. He began to smile a greeting to his friend and then
it froze on his face as he saw the Changeling’s demeanour behind him. Zebulon was walking slowly behind Tyson with his tail between his legs and his ears pinned back to his head. Bailey was aware that Zebulon exhibited the mannerisms of the animal he was transformed to and these mannerisms pointed to a high level of stress. His alarm bells were ringing and his eyes drifted to Tyson’s and what he saw chilled him to the bone.

So much anger and scorn
.

At this point he was happy that he had the training sessions with Kabel to work on blocking his mind to Tyson’s incursions. Fortunately, Tyson was looking for Amelia and didn’t see Bailey’s expression. Zebulon looked at Bailey and the message was loud and clear…they needed to keep an eye on Tyson.