Angel in the Badlands: space opera sci fi romance (Sons of Amber Book 1) (6 page)

“Something’s wrong.” Angela sat up beside him, a worried look on her face.

“Yeah, the sensors are picking up something in orbit. I’m going up to check the sensor station. I’ll be able to tell more from there.”

“No, I mean, something is wrong at home. Mother Rachel passed along a message through my brother Sven that danger approaches. They’re scrambling the troops, preparing to defend the colony.”

Zeke scrambled to the hatch, heading the short distance down the corridor, Angela close on his heels. He sat at the pilot’s station and quickly scanned the sensor data.

“There’s a ship in orbit right above us. They just launched a shuttle. Based on trajectory through the atmosphere, it should be here in a half a standard, which gives us just enough time to fire up the engines and move this crate.” He realized he was shouting and moderated his tone. “Good thing the atmospheric engines weren’t damaged in the crash.”

“Can’t they just shoot at us from space?” Angela asked.

“Two problems with that. First, they can’t be certain the vague shape of a ship they’re seeing on their scanners is me, which is why they’re sending the shuttle down to confirm. And secondly—related to the first problem—is the fact that your atmosphere here contains a lot of reflective dust. Sensor readings from orbit are unreliable, which is probably why your ancestors chose this place to settle. Your unique atmosphere here—and that fact that few people are crazy enough to set up house beneath close binary suns—is probably a good part of what has kept you so well hidden all these years.”

“So then when they get down here, they’ll spot your ship and open fire?” she asked, a hint of panic in her tone, though she was managing to appear calm.

“If we’re lucky,” he replied, running through checks on all systems. “But there’s also the distinct possibility that they will notice your settlement and want to investigate. We need to stop that from happening. So far, your population is untouched by the jit virus. Do you know how rare that is?” He spared her a look as his voice rose to stress the importance of his words. “If they come down here and walk into your colony, your people will have no immunity. All your men will die, like every man on Espia. And many of your women will get sick and probably end up sterile. We need to avoid that at all costs. If that means going into a firefight with a half-junked ship to keep them off the ground long enough for the cavalry to arrive then that’s what I’ll have to do.”

“You don’t mean to fight them in this?” She looked horrified at the idea and he couldn’t blame her. The ship was a mess, but she still had enough left in her to make a decent showing—or so he fervently hoped.

“Do you guys have anything that can shoot a battleship out of the sky?” He finished his assessment of the weapons system, pleased to find it was still operational.

“Well…” She hesitated long enough to make him look up at her. “We could probably knock out the shuttle, but I’m not sure we have enough firepower to take on the mother ship.”

Zeke sat back and just looked at her for a moment. “Thank the Maker for that at least. I was thinking the colony was completely defenseless.”

“Not by a long shot.” Angela actually smiled for the first time since they woke up. “We train for defense of our home. We have a standing militia. And we have foolproof communications because every one of our soldiers is telepathic.”

Zeke thought fast. “That’s an amazing advantage for a ground battle, but we need to prevent the jits from making land because of the virus threat.”

“So what do you propose?”

“Weapons are online and fully loaded. Thankfully the bulk of that system was undamaged in the crash. I have atmospheric engines and about eighty percent of maneuvering thruster control. That should be enough to engage the shuttle in the upper atmosphere and destroy it before it can touch down. Friction in your exceptionally thick atmosphere should heat any debris enough on the way down to kill off any bugs.” Zeke ran through his preflight checks while devising their plan. “If we can prevent them from realizing the colony is there and stop any other landing craft they might send, for whatever reason, then our job will be to hold them off until the
Regulus
arrives.”

“I’ll let the colony know what we’re doing and they’ll be standing by,” Angela volunteered.

“Just tell them to lay low for now. I don’t want the jits to realize they’re there if we can prevent it.”

“Agreed,” she said quickly. “Now what can I do to help? I’ve had weapons training, just like everyone else in the colony.”

“Can you run the weapons console?” He felt like asking if she could hit the broad side of a barn, but his ship had very sophisticated targeting sensors that even a novice could operate.

Angela scoffed and sat down in the co-pilot’s seat that was usually empty. “Every Hawkins was born knowing how to shoot,” she stated, laughing as she expertly shunted every screen but the weapons array away from her console. Zeke was impressed, but he did have one question.

“What’s a Hawkins?”

She laughed out loud at that, seeming to find his puzzlement extremely amusing.

“
I’m
a Hawkins, silly. It’s my family name. Angela Hawkins, at your service.” She sent him a rather sketchy salute and he had to laugh along with her. Apparently there was much more to his angelic healer than met the eye. “My father is General Hawkins. Head of our colony militia. My brother Sven is a company commander and my brother Bo is a platoon leader. Young Harald is still a brat, just beginning his training, but even he would be called to defend the rear if the colony came under attack. And I’m part of the healer’s guild that would support the fighters if any were injured in battle. We’ve never had to fight anything but the native creatures of this planet before, but they’ve given us good battles and much experience.”

Zeke was stunned by her revelations. There was a lot to learn about this little colony of humans. “You continue to amaze me.”

Angela only smiled, a martial light entering her eyes as she looked over the weapons array at her fingertips. “I recognize most of these, but what is this one?”

“Something new. A pulse cannon that works on ionized valox gas. Its yield is about ten times a cannon fueled with malrex. You know those, right? They’re pretty old tech.”

Angela was nodding. “We have five malrex pulse cannons mounted on sleds down in the tunnels. I know how to use them.”

“Good. This is basically the same, just a much bigger bang. And you have to wait between pulses for it to recharge, which is why the controls look different from what you’re used to.”

Zeke realized he was truly enjoying introducing Angela to the various features of his ship. She rechecked systems readiness while he worked at getting the engines started. She asked a few questions, demonstrating to him that she really did understand what she was looking at. She would do.

He was also learning that she was bright, and sharp as a tack. He liked her quick wit almost as much as he admired her supple body and giving, passionate nature.

He schooled his thoughts back to the task at hand. They had work to do after all, and though she was a gorgeous, helpful distraction, her safety and the safety of her people depended on him. That thought in mind, he settled down to formulate his next moves.

“I think we should fly up to meet the shuttle.”

“Is it safe?” Angela’s tone made clear her hesitation.

“Well, I wouldn’t trust the seals to hard vacuum, but it should be sound enough for atmospheric maneuvers.”

“Won’t the jits see us?”

“Actually, they’ve already pinged the hull twice, but our newly-bodged-together camo unit is still online and sending out false readings. The jits won’t be able to tell if we’re a ship or just another large rock formation unless they do a visual inspection. If we move now, we’ll get to them first.” He pushed on the yoke to lift the ship off the ground. “And then, with a little luck, you’ll blast that shuttle out of the sky.”

Angela was a little frightened at first when the ship lurched off the ground. She’d never been in a spacecraft before, and was unfamiliar with the sensations of its flight.

“Sorry for the bumpy ride.” Zeke must have noticed her discomfort. “This thing isn’t space worthy anymore, but she’s just fine for an atmospheric run. Don’t worry.”

“If you say so.” She put her faith in destiny and went back to studying the weapons array.

She felt confident that she could work the controls. The aiming was mostly done by computer, so all she had to do was decide when and with what to hit the enemy. She could do that. The colony was depending on her.

She had been in telepathic communication with her brother first, then her father. He wanted updating as events moved along, but he was far too busy scrambling his own troops at the moment to communicate with her. She had given him the gist of their plan and he had wished her well before focusing his attention on colony defense.

They would coordinate, if necessary, as the battle evolved, but Angela hoped that wouldn’t be necessary. If Zeke’s plan worked, she would destroy the shuttle, then deal with whatever else the mother ship had to offer as they went along.

She also kept her eye on the chrono. The cavalry, as Zeke had called it, was due to arrive shortly. If they could just hold out until the
Regulus
showed up…

She made that her goal. Surviving to the next minute, and then the next, counting down the time until help arrived. Surely they could keep the jits from landing and exposing the colony to the bioweapon for just long enough. Couldn’t they?

Zeke banked the ship sharply and the movement jarred her back to the moment. She had to focus. These weapons systems were slightly different—newer to be sure—than what she was used to, but she felt confident that she could do her part.

“I’m approaching the shuttle from below and aft of its rear thrusters. Get a hit on those and it’ll go fireball very nicely. What do you say?” Zeke asked, sparing her a glance.

She met his gaze with steady determination. “Just point me in the right direction and I’ll do my best.”

He held her gaze for a moment, as if wanting to take the measure of her resolve. She thought maybe she understood why he was questioning it and she sought to put his mind at ease.

“Look, I know you’re wondering if I can kill those jits in the shuttle. You’re probably thinking that because I’m a healer, I may lack the nerve to do what is necessary. And you’re right to wonder. For most healers, it would be difficult to pull the trigger, but I’m not most healers. I was born to a warrior family and after talking with you, I realize what’s on the line here. That one shuttle could kill every man I know. My father. My brothers. That shuttle doesn’t just contain a group of jit warriors, but a deadly contagion that could wipe out the life I’ve always known. If you’re wondering if I can kill them—and it—wonder no more. I’ll kill anyone and anything that threatens my family and my home.”

She thought she saw new respect enter Zeke’s gaze. He simply nodded and turned back to his instruments, but she felt vindicated. As if she’d just won a hard-to-come-by approval. It felt good and helped her focus like nothing else would have. They were gaining speed, traveling higher through the atmosphere. She had the shuttle on her scope now and wondered if they saw her as well.

The answer came as a beam weapon shot across their bow, narrowly missing them due mostly to Zeke’s highly creative maneuvering. The dogfight was on.

Although…a small cargo hauler against a shuttle wasn’t much of a dogfight. Both ships had their limitations maneuvering in atmosphere. Still, Zeke’s ship was armored and armed better than the usual ship of its class, as was the shuttle, based on the way they responded to attack.

Angela fired both pulse cannons and missiles at the shuttle, but it took her a few moments to adapt to both the strength of the shuttle’s shielding and the skill of its pilot. And the shuttle was armed as well, getting off a few shots which Zeke mostly dodged. A few connected, but the shields and armor held, as they were designed to.

Zeke led the shuttle subtly away from the colony as the fight continued. Time slowed as the two ships dove and dodged, shooting at each other when trajectories permitted. The shuttle pilot was good, but Zeke was better. Eventually he lined up the perfect shot and without hesitation, Angela took it.

The fireball was spectacular—and directly in front of them. Zeke tried to evade most of it, but the microfreighter ended up skimming through the top of the fire and debris cloud, giving the hull a flash fry for a moment before clearing the area. Angela watched on her scope as the shuttle was reduced to tiny, flaming shards that were burning up as they rocketed through the atmosphere. It was highly unlikely that even a microscopic virus would survive that kind of high-velocity, high-temperature trip through the atmosphere.

“Uh oh. Looks like mama bear wants to come out and play,” Zeke muttered. Angela shifted the focus of her board and realized the warship in orbit was starting to make a move.

“Can they go atmospheric in that thing?” she wanted to know.

“Unfortunately, yes. That isn’t your typical jit battleship, used to the luxuries of space docks and orbital stations. These guys are pirates. Scourge of the galaxy. They’ve modified their ships to be able to handle going planetside on a regular basis.” Zeke tapped a few commands into his console. “But wait a minute. What do we have here?”

Chapter Six

Angela tried to figure out what he was looking at, but she wasn’t familiar enough with the systems to be able to make them sing like Zeke did. She’d have to wait for him to explain.

“Praise the Lord and hallelujah! Looks like mama bear is turning to face an even bigger predator. Hot damn! The cavalry has arrived.” Zeke was grinning and as she finally figured out the display, she realized he had every reason to grin. A much bigger warship was taking on the battleship that was desperately trying to break orbit and maneuver away. Just not fast enough.

Before long, patterns emerged on the screen that indicated the two larger ships were firing on each other.