Euthara (44 page)

Deatra reached up and grabbed Jon's arm as she watched the Eutharan fighters close on the shuttles. Jon reached over and patted her hand as green blips appeared on the screen. There were no friendly fighters in range of the shuttles.

"Contact the shuttles and tell them they have hostiles closing on their present location," Jon said. Jon's heart began to race as he realized the shuttles would be on their own for a little while. "Tactical, how close are the nearest friendly fighters?"

"Jon-" Deatra said.

Jon raised his hand to forestall what Deatra was about to say as he waited for reply from Tactical. He could tell that she was nervous by the way she was gripping his arm, but right now he had more important things to take care of.

"Sir, our closest fighters are at least two minutes out," the tactical officer, said.

"How long until the enemy fighters intercept the shuttles?" Jon said.

"They will intercept the shuttles in one and a half minutes," the tactical officer, said.

"You're telling me those shuttles will be alone for half a minute?" Jon said.

"Yes Sir, we don't have any fighters closer than that."

"You tell our pilots to push their fighters to the limit."

The tactical officer relayed Jon's orders immediately without reply.

Jon watched on the display as his fighters sped up in an attempt to intercept the enemy fighters before they reached the shuttles. Even as he watched Jon knew it was a lost cause, the enemy fighters were too close.

"Are they in range for a visual?" Jon asked.

"Yes Sir," the tactical officer said.

When the main screen didn't switch to display the incoming shuttles, Jon frowned and looked over towards his tactical officer. "Well? Do you need an invitation to put it up on the main screen?" Jon's voice had an edge of annoyance as he spoke.

"Sorry Sir," the tactical officer said.

The Main screen flickered as it came to life and displayed the shuttles. One of the shuttles was a light shuttle of Eutharan design. The other shuttle was a combat shuttle from the
Atlantis
, it was transporting the Queen and Opellissa. It was one of the few shuttles that Brad and Mike's engineering teams had had time to modify with shields.

"Get me Opellissa," Jon said.

Opellissa's face appeared on a small overlay on the main screen in the upper right corner. Her demeanor was calm and showed little worry. She smiled as she spoke, "Hello dear, what can I do for you?"

Jon blushed a little bit as he looked around his bridge crew, but they didn't seem to react to the term of endearment. "Opellissa, there are six enemy fighters closing in on your location. Our fighters will not be able to reach you in time. You will probably be on your own for at least a half a minute," Jon said.

"We should be fine. I'm more worried about the Eutharan shuttle."

Jon frowned, he didn't understand why she would be worried about the light shuttle.

Seeing his distress and confusion she clarified what she meant. "The Queen is on the light shuttle."

Jon's eyes widened. "What did you just say?"

Opellissa sighed as she looked at Jon and said, "Mother can be very difficult at times and she refused to travel on the shuttle."

Jon threw his hands up, which made Deatra lose her grip on his arm. "You don't seem very alarmed by the fact that there are six enemy fighters closing in on you and your mother is in a light shuttle."

Deatra grabbed Jon's arm again as it fell back at his side and said, "Father wouldn't dare hurt mother."

Jon looked at Deatra as he spoke, "Are you so sure about that?"

Deatra looked at Opellissa as concern filled her face and she spoke, "He wouldn't dare."

"The King hasn't been acting in a rational manner lately," Jon said. "I think he would if he feels that she is a threat. I think both shuttles are a target. The Queen because he feels she's a threat and Opellissa because her death would mean my death. He could eliminate all of his opposition in one grand move."

Opellissa's face suddenly got very serious as she listened to Jon. She started barking orders to the crew of the shuttle to prepare for battle. The lights dimmed on the shuttle and took on a red hue as its defensive systems came online.

Jon spoke as Opellissa finished giving her commands to the crew of the shuttle. "I'm glad you decided to take this seriously."

"Well, you certainly got my attention. I wasn't too worried about us holding out long enough for our fighters to reach us. I figured we were the only target and mother's shuttle would be safe," Opellissa said. "But when you put it the way you just did. I can see that we're both the targets. We're going to maneuver into a protective stance and try to shield mother's shuttle. That should buy our fighters time to reach us."

Jon looked over at Deatra, her face was white with shock. He wrapped his arm around her to try to comfort her. He couldn't imagine what she was going through. First her father, betraying her people, to an unknown extent. Now, the sister she just reconnected with and her mother were in immediate danger.

"It'll be okay," Jon said. "I promise."

Deatra looked at Jon, tears were just starting to fill her eyes. She felt as if her world, the only one she had known all her life, was falling apart around her. "Are you sure?" Deatra said. If there is one thing she knew about Jon, it was his uncanny ability to get out of sticky situations. She just hoped that he would able to pull everyone through this alive.

Jon reached up and wiped a tear from Deatra's face as it fell from her eye and smiled to reassure her as he spoke, "Of course."

"I don't know what I'll do if I lose either one of them," Deatra said.

Jon stared at Deatra and thought, 'Die, if we lose Opellissa.', as he gave her a reassuring hug. He turned his attention back to the main screen as the two shuttles picked up speed. He briefly looked over at the central planning table and watched the six red blips close in on the shuttles.

Tension filled the bridge as all eyes watched the central planning table. The ADF fighters were still over a minute out from the shuttles. The enemy fighters were just starting to approach attack range.

"Enemy fighters will intercept shuttles in thirty seconds," the tactical officer, said. "They will be an attack range and ten seconds."

"COM, get me the King, NOW," Jon yelled.

"Aye Sir," the COM officer said.

Jon watched as the enemy fighters close to attack range. It was almost surreal to him that the King would attack his own wife and daughter. This whole situation just added to the strangeness that was happening on Euthara.

"Enemy fighters are arming weapons," the tactical officer said.

"Sir, the King is unavailable right now. They're asking if you'd like to leave a message for him," the COM officer.

Jon's face reddened as anger threatened to erupt. He was really getting tired of playing games with the King. The constant jabbing between them was getting old and people getting hurt was starting to weigh on him heavily. It might not bother the King but it bothered him deeply to watch people get hurt for no other reason than one man's pride.

Jon glanced at Deatra as he spoke, "Tell them I have a message. The message is, 'I'm coming for you.'."

Both shuttles dipped downward as they dodged the incoming fire from the six enemy fighters. Opellissa's shuttle took the brunt of the incoming fire as it tried to protect the lighter Eutharan shuttle. Shock waves covered the surface of the shields as the incoming fire peppered Opellissa's shuttle. It reminded Jon of somebody tossing pebbles into a lake as he watched the ripples on the surface of the shields.

The top of the combat shuttle opened and a Gatling gun popped up into view and targeted the nearest enemy fighter. A hail of gun fire from the combat shuttle tore into one of the fighters as it passed over top of the shuttles. Smoke began to stream from the damaged fighter as it started to spin out of control and plummet to the ground below.

Jon smiled as a cheer went up on the bridge and Deatra squeezed his arm in hope.

The combat shuttle rose slightly and did a small barrel roll over the lighter shuttle as it continued to try to protect it from attack. Once the combat shuttle was on the other side the Gatling gun came to life again and chose another target. However, the enemy fighters were now prepared and took evasive action as they began their next attack run.

The combat shuttles shields once again rippled as it came under fire from the enemy fighters. This time some of the incoming fire managed to get through, the heavy armor absorbing most of the damage. However, the combat shuttle still took some damage and dipped slightly.

Time seemed to almost freeze as the lighter shuttle took damage when the combat shuttle dipped. On the main screen everyone on the bridge of the
Atlantis
watched in horror as a white plume of smoke erupted behind the lighter shuttle.

"Sir, I'm picking up a distress call from the Queen's shuttle," the COM officer said.

"Put it on the speaker," Jon said.

Deatra almost fell as the room began to spin. Jon caught her and maneuvered her over to the command chair and sat her down. "Are you okay?" Jon said.

Deatra could only give him a nod as the reality of the situation slammed home to her.

A strong but slightly frantic voice came over the speakers on the bridge. 'Euthara command, Euthara command. This is Queen's Yacht shuttle Alpha-Zero-One. Please cease firing. We have the Queen aboard.'

Jon gritted his teeth in frustration as there was nothing he could do but watch. "How long until our fighters reach their position?"

"Estimated time is about twenty seconds," said the tactical officer.

Opellissa's voice rose above the chatter on the speaker. "Atlantis, we've been hit and are losing power. We’re trying to reroute secondary power but I don't know how long we can hold out. Shields are down thirty percent and we have light buckling on the main hull."

Jon looked up at Opellissa's face. He had to make a decision and Deatra and her sister might not like it. "Opellissa, I want you to get your ass out of there."

The five remaining enemy fighters were already circling for another attack run as Opellissa froze and stared at Jon. "What-"

"You heard me. You are to disengage and make your way back to the Atlantis. That's an order," Jon said. Jon turned slightly to look at Deatra who was staring at him with a pale face. His tone left little room for debate but that didn't stop Opellissa.

"Jon, that's my mother, our mother. I can't leave her. I have to try and protect her," Opellissa said.

Jon's face got stern as he turned his attention back to Opellissa. "Your father is counting on that. That's the only reason he chose this time to attack. He's hoping you’ll stay there and fight to the very end. He's hoping you'll die up there protecting your mother and if you die, I die. Then everything we've done here is for naught. All the people who have sacrificed their lives up to this point for the hope of a better world will have done so for nothing."

Deatra stood up and walked up beside Jon as she spoke, "As much as I hate to admit it. I think Jon is correct about the situation."

Opellissa's gaze switched to her sister as disbelief crossed her face. "I can't believe you said that. You really expect me to leave our mother out here to die?"

"As much as I don't want you to," Deatra said. Her voice was unsteady as she spoke her eyes threatening to spill tears. "Yes, I do. We have to think of the larger picture now, it's not just our lives and the lives of three other people. What Jon says is true, if you die, we all die and everything we've tried to do here will be for nothing."

"Sir-" the tactical officer, said.

"Not now," Jon said. He raised his hand to ward off the interruption of the current conversation. "Look Opellissa, I don't like this anymore than you do and if there was any other option, I would choose it. I'm sorry, I really am."

"SIR-" the tactical officer said. This time he had more urgency in his voice.

"What, what, what," Jon said. The tone of his voice showing his annoyance with the officer hadn't made them cringe.

"I really think you should look at the main screen," the tactical officer, said. "Four fighters showed up from nowhere."

Opellissa looked down at her instruments as she spoke, "Yes! I have them on my scope now."

Jon turned his attention to the tactical display in the center of the room. Four new blips in yellow were now displayed and were closing at a high rate of speed on the shuttles position. From the look of their position and their rate of descent towards the shuttles. They had to come from an orbital insertion.

"Are they friendly?" Jon said.

Jon got his answer a second after he asked the question, as the blips turned green. The four fighters would intercept the shuttles in seconds. The arrival time would be about ten seconds before any of his fighters were able to reach the shuttles.

"Yes Sir," the tactical officer, said. "We've just received word they are from the Desmodi."

"Pipe the COM chatter from those fighters here," Jon said.

"Patching them through, Sir," the COM officer said.

' All right boys this is it. Pick your targets and take them out,' Terri's voice said over the channel.

Jon's jaw dropped as he realized he was listening to his sister's voice. The last he'd heard, she was still laid up and dealing with Ga'sahde business. Deatra squeezed Jon's arm as hope was once again within grasp. The bridge crew finally realizing who they were listening to, gave a small cheer.

"They're breaking off," Opellissa said.

The chatter from the Queen's shuttle slowed and stopped as the five hostile fighters turn their attention to the incoming fighters. The plume of white smoke wasn't as thick and they seemed to have gotten their systems back under control.

"COM, will the Queen's shuttle make it to the
Atlantis
?" Jon said.

The COM officer spoke quickly into the headset on her head before replying, "Yes Sir, they report that they have the situation under control and should be able to make it to the Atlantis under their own power."