Atlas: Infinity Verge Trilogy: Book II (3 page)

The TP-D banked to avoid an asteroid. One of the EXO ships twisted on its axis and latched onto the hull of the larger vessel. This was the problem with the mass of EXO ships, most were designed not to destroy, but to infiltrate. The Board and Assault Courier was the preferred vessel of the EXO forces. Once attached, a Vulture-Back would employ its lasers to tear into the hull and form an impromptu airlock. Once the airlock was established, they unleashed their soldiers and boarded the vessel, but not before they sucked the air from the breached compartment. The soldiers - once aboard - were virtually unstoppable. The Vulture BAA-C presently on the hull didn’t get a chance to start its invasion.

Echo Shade was the Captain of the TP-D, call-sign
Justice
. She looked to her left and barked an order to Lieutenant Boulson, “LT get the hull defenses targeted on that vulture back!”

Lieutenant Boulson - to his credit - did not respond, but instead turned and began swiping his hands across the Transteel viewer’s haptic controls. Late in the thirtieth-century humankind discovered a means to transmit data through a transparent steel alloy. The Transteel viewer was designed as a durable titanium and aluminum screen capable of holding electrical impulses and holographic images.

Andrew Boulson, the Tactical Weapons Lieutenant aboard the
Justice
, deployed the hull rail turrets and targeted the EXO’s location. The rail gun - a high-powered magnetic rifle - fired kinetic rounds that pierced the alien ship’s hull. The Vulture BAA-C exploded and showered approaching EXO vessels with its debris.

“Nice work Lieutenant.” Captain Shade complemented the young officer. “Now, get the pulse lasers online and let’s take out the other glitches trying to rip into the
Justice
.” Echo grinned. Her team was performing well, but she realized that she missed Abel Cain. The human Captain was far more capable than she and had a wealth more experience.

Echo - on some level - understood the Fleet Admiral’s decision to revoke his commission, but she did not agree. Despite what had transpired in the schematics briefing that led to Abel’s departure, Echo was not against his ideas. If Fleet Admiral Clark had worked with Abel, the two could have made something unstoppable and might have put an end to the EXO threat. As it was, the EXOs were still expanding. Captain Shade turned back to her Transteel viewer at the forward prow of the ship. She watched as the tactical analysis displayed on screen showing the specifications for each ship and current trajectories. Beyond the information, she looked out through the canopy. This part of the asteroid belt was laden with large rocks, far more dangerous than the EXO Vultures. She lamented again at the decision to put the command center at the front of the ship.

She agreed with Abel. The Transteel viewer was the only protection against the vacuum of space. Abel had said it was pure folly and the command center should be near the center of the ship, or on the top and towards the aft. The Fleet Admiral disagreed. Human mentality always put the command station of the ship at the forefront. She did not understand it, whether arrogance or stupidity, it was still folly.

During her rumination, Echo noticed that the pulse lasers were online and beginning to target the EXO ships. “Fire at will LT,” she said, emphasizing L and T separately.

“Captain.” Andrew nodded shifting his hands for a firing order. The pulse lasers used automated targeting, controlled by the ship’’s rudimentary AI. The steady stream of laser power was not visible in space, but the Transteel viewer overlaid the lasers’ paths showing where and how effective they were striking the enemy ships. Echo had set the computer to give confirmation of enemy kills directly to her neural pathways via her nanites.

After a long discussion, she convinced The Remnant of the need for her to have nanites, especially since she was going to captain a destroyer in the Quintar Prime system as well as charting new systems. The Remnant, the order of Quintarrans who had vowed never to augment their physical or mental selves with technology, had argued with Echo for some time.

In the end, Echo won the argument, citing not only her Quintarran history but the fact that she was not wholly a part of the Remnant. She knew she might regret arguing against her membership in the Remnant, they were formidable allies, but even more so as an enemy. Echo argued she would need a competitive edge against the EXOs and she would need to be able to think as quickly as them. It had taken weeks to get the approval and even then it was a begrudging one.

CONFIRMED ENEMY KILLS: 3

The message appeared in her mind, she had purposely chosen a basic AI for use aboard the
Justice
. The superstition of most Quintarrans kept them from working with anything more advanced that a simple computer. The basic AI was also much easier to control. Targeting, Tactics, Visualization, and some Navigation were all that the computer could handle. It was not connected to the ship’’s communications systems, other than the neural connection to Echo, which put the EFNF leadership at ease. EXOs spread their infection through communications systems. Having an AI connected to the comms could prove disastrous if the AI became infected. She knew having the computer linked to her nanites was a risk, but she was willing to take it. Having an advantage against the EXOs was worth it in her opinion.

Echo and the Fleet Admiral had agreed the basic computer was the best option for the
Justice
, especially since the TP-D was going to be waging a war against the EXOs. Any AI susceptible to the EXO virus could easily compromise their mission. Echo considered the number of confirmed kills, three was not many;
did that include the Vulture back on the hull?
She thought.

Echo turned to the defensive stations and addressed Ensign Skye Anderson. Anderson was a new addition to the crew, “Ensign give me a full defensive report.” The tone in her voice left no doubt as to how soon she wanted the report.

Anderson caught the intonation and moved her hands quickly over the Transteel viewer. She made a fist and collected the information on her view and with a motion threw the data to Captain Shade’s Transteel viewer. In the bottom corner of the viewer, a sub-section opened up. The miniature projection displayed the TP-D in full 3-D. The narrow ship with a pointed nose and large rear engines looked like a long spike. Echo imagined a stalactite in a cave or the tooth of a vicious predator. Several points flashed with yellow circles on the outer hull, indicating enemy contacts. Using two hands, Echo pinched each corner of the image and drew her hands apart, enlarging the image. The yellow circles displayed key weak points of the ship currently under direct assault.

“Flak!” she cursed, “Airman Gee, lock down those locations and target them with the rail guns,” She ordered the weapons specialist, and the only other Quintarran of two on board, not including her half-lineage.

Turning to Andrew Boulson she barked another command, “LT continue firing on the incoming EXO targets. Start picking them off with the anti-matter ordinance.”

Echo knew that the ordinance would be better used against a larger ship and would likely miss the Vulture BAA-Cs. She knew too that the detonations from anti-matter missiles could break apart the asteroids near them, but she was getting desperate.

Andrew Boulson began launching several missiles from the bay at the elusive EXO vessels. He continued to manage the pulse laser power outputs, but the computer handled target priority and the number of pulses. The anti-matter missiles launched from the various bays across the ship barreling towards the numerous enemy contacts. The Vulture BAA-Cs dodged the attack in a highly effective contrivance. Echo realized her mistake too late. She had written off the densely packed asteroid field as a secondary issue. Detonation of the anti-matter missiles sent shockwaves that scattered debris across the area as the larger asteroids broke apart.

“Ensign Kay! Give me full power to the aft thrusters,” She commanded.

“That is ill advised Captain,” Ensign Kay said. His Quintarran accent was thick with the stringent posture and demeanor indicative of his race. “Engineering is reporting a hull breach near the main reactor. Should we engage the full power of our aft engines, we will surely detonate the core.”

“Flak! Do it anyway!” the Captain yelled. “And Ensign do not question my orders follow them!”

The Quintarran blanched. Echo knew she had been too harsh with the officer, but she was channeling Abel in this particular moment.

“Those anti-matter missiles I just launched detonated several seconds ago and the debris alone will finish us!” Panic had settled into her. The crew could feel it.

Frantic worry began to show on her face as another flash on the Transteel view screen indicated another detonation. Large chunks of asteroids began to pelt the
Justice
. One of the larger asteroid pieces collided solidly with the Transteel and cracked the screen. A hiss of escaping atmosphere began whistling loudly through the command deck. The crew grabbed onto whatever they could and held on against the vacuum of space. A crate on the deck broke loose from the strap holding it down and collided with the view screen. Transteel shattered, exploding outward. The air whooshed out from the command deck. In her last moments, Echo knew she had failed them. Her last thought was of remorse as her world turned to black.

* * * *

Quintar IV - EFNF Alpha Base: Training Simulator

2973 ESD - Monday, April 19th 13:20 hours

Echo woke. She felt groggy and slightly disoriented. The training simulator had put them through the first mission as the crew of the
Justice
and she had failed miserably. She and Abel had managed to make it through the asteroid field in the smaller URSA GS-I and she was certain she could perform the same in the TP-D. It had come as a shock to her that she hadn’t. Echo had survived against all odds while fleeing from the EXOs onboard the
Kodiak
. Although she had survived it, she was beginning to think that was because of Abel and Zee. The thought of Zee pained her. She remembered his dark blue face and blue eyes as he spoke to her of her heritage. The memory was a good one, amid a series of bad ones. Zee had died saving her and Abel’s lives. Echo was eternally grateful to the Quintarran and missed him dearly. She looked around as other members of her crew were waking from the training simulator.

The True EFNF perfected a means of training pilots. The simulation projected them into a virtual reality. The VR, for all intents, acted as a pseudo-reality that was barely discernible from the real thing. The training simulator also put the pilots into a sleep cycle that was not all that restful. Due to their unique sleep patterns, the crew would train for a day and then rest the next. They had been training on the functionality and systems the TP-D was designed with for several weeks now. This had been their first combat simulation.

Fleet Admiral Andromeda Clark stormed into the simulator chamber. Echo could see the elder woman, her white hair a stark contrast to her muscle-toned figure and ageless face. Echo noted that the Fleet Admiral had found a rejuvenation treatment somewhere, granting her a more youthful look despite her age. A fury burned in Andromeda’s eyes as she laid them on Echo Shade.

The Fleet Admiral spoke slowly, but with supreme authority, “Missiles?” she said softly, emphasizing the latter vowel sound that made the word sound like mis-eye-els. “What were you thinking Echo?” she did not use Echo’s title showing how great her displeasure really was.

Echo stood - albeit weakly - and saluted the Fleet Admiral. Andromeda might be lax in her formality at present, but that did not excuse her subordinates. “Fleet Admiral on deck!” Echo called to her crew, signaling they should be standing at a salute regardless of their relative disorientation.

“Fleet Admiral Clark, ma’am,” Echo started. “I realize the mistake and understand the implications. I assure you it will be rectified.” She managed to choke.

Clark glowered, she had intended to dress down Echo, “See that it is Captain.”

The Fleet Admiral turned on her heel and left the squad to contemplate the simulation together. The click of her heels haunted Echo from the hall as Andromeda Clark marched steadily away. When the chamber door slammed, Echo winced. She turned to her crew, lowered her head and shook it at them apologetically. She noted that most of them were looking at her the same. Kay and Tee looked at her with impassive faces. The two Quintarrans recognized that their combined experience was no greater than hers. They understood that if it had not been simulated combat she would have led them all to their deaths.

Echo stepped to the Transteel view-screen in the back of the room and turned around to overlook her crew. Each of them wore white satin clothing that threatened to reveal more than was decent. While clothed in the training simulation clothing, they revealed more than they would have dared in public. Each also had a pair of nodes attached to their temples to allow the simulation to play out. Echo did not need them with her nanite implants. She watched as they removed the nodes and moved toward her. The room itself was spacious and sported no less than twelve pods. Each of the pods had an overhead cover; which, when closed, sealed the crew members in the simulation until its end. The pods were arranged in a circle around the center of the room.

Echo stood near the north wall away from the rest of the room and the pods. Here, the circular patterns of the room dissolved into a more square-like space. Embedded in the wall was a floor to ceiling Transteel view-screen. The room was exactly thirty meters across by thirty meters deep and held several rows of curved bench seating. Echo waited for the crew to enter and seat themselves before she engaged the Transteel. The screen took a moment calculating their combined experience in the simulation and then projecting an image of the simulation.