Frontiers Saga 12: Rise of the Alliance (27 page)

The shuttle came straight in, its engines screaming as it descended, landing only a few meters in front of them.

“Nobody move until I do,” Jessica tried to tell them above the noise of the shuttle’s engines. The thrust wash sent dust and debris flying in all directions, including directly in their faces. “Son of a bitch,” she cursed under her breath.

The shuttle finally touched down, smashing the low-lying brush beneath its hull. As its engines begin to wind down, the side hatch opened and the debarkation steps extended from the hull.

“What the hell?” Jessica cursed as she saw Sergeant Weatherly and three of his men come jumping down out of the shuttle, their weapons held ready across their chests. Flood lights on the side of the shuttle came to life, illuminating the area.

“Lieutenant Commander Nash!” Sergeant Weatherly yelled. “The captain needs to speak with you!”

Jessica rose from the bushes, climbing to her feet as she slung her weapon across her back. She could see Nathan climbing down the steps from the shuttle. “This better be fucking good,” she mumbled as she headed for the shuttle.

“Sorry to crash the party this way, Lieutenant Commander,” Nathan began, “but I need you to verify the identity of one of the Scout ship crewmembers.”

“Are you kidding me?” Jessica demanded as she continued toward Nathan, anger in her eyes. “You couldn’t find someone else to…”

“You always talk to your CO that way?” Captain Nash said as he came down the steps from the shuttle.

Jessica was silent for several seconds. The voice sounded familiar, but she couldn’t see his face due to the glare from the shuttle’s floodlights. The man moved closer, and his features became clearer. “Bobert?”

“I always hated that nickname,” the captain said. “How are you doing, little sister?”

“Oh, my God,” she exclaimed as she threw her arms around him. “I thought you were dead,” she said, her face buried in his chest.

“Nope, just sleeping. You know how hard it is to kill a Nash.”

“Good enough reason to interrupt your drill?” Nathan asked.

Jessica pulled her face away from her brother’s chest, wiping a tear from her eye. “You’re forgiven,” she said, “this time.” She sniffled again. “Just for the record, though, we were about twenty minutes from breaching their perimeter.”

“No, you weren’t,” Nathan insisted.

“How do you know?”

“Telles has been tracking you for the past hour,” Nathan told her. “How do you think we knew
right
where to find you?”

CHAPTER SEVEN

“Jump complete,” Mister Riley announced.

“Position verified,” Mister Navashee reported.

“Maneuvering to the first deployment point,” Mister Chiles announced from the helm.

“Captain,” Captain Poc, the CO of the third Scout ship
began, “I’m curious how your people were able to put together antimatter mines on such short notice?”

“We’ve managed to harvest over twenty antimatter cores from the Jung ships that have been destroyed within the Sol system.”

“Why do you think so many of them survived?” Captain Poc wondered.

“According to my chief engineer, the Jung antimatter cores are similar in design to our own,” Nathan explained. “Fully self-contained units, complete with their own power source for maintaining their antimatter containment fields even when separated from the reactor itself. When their ships come apart, the cores eject automatically, just like ours. We do it because antimatter is not an easy thing to create. The Jung take it one step further. They rig theirs with miniature sensor suites and detonators. If they sense a ship that is
not
transmitting a Jung ID code, they wait until the ship comes close enough, then deactivate their containment fields.”

“They become mines,” Captain Poc said. “How did you manage to avoid setting them off?”

“We retrieved the deactivation codes from the Jar-Keurog before she was lost.”

“Coming up on the first deployment point,” Mister Chiles announced.

“The first two mines are on the topside launch pads and ready for deployment,” Lieutenant Eckert reported.

“Very well,” Nathan said. “Deploy as planned, Lieutenant.”

“Aye, sir.”

“Topside cameras?” Nathan added. The image on the main view screen switched from the standard forward view to a camera on the forward section of the main drive, facing forward. The image zoomed in, centering on the starboard dorsal launch pad. On it sat a large, rectangular cargo container, with a thruster pack attached to each end, and transceiver array fixed to its middle.

“We put the cores into small cargo containers, connected everything up, then packed the containers with debris from the destroyed Jung ships in order to provide the correct amount of matter for the antimatter to react with.”

“A simple, effective solution,” Captain Poc admitted.

“And one that uses the Jung’s own detonators,” Nathan added. “Gotta love the irony in that one. Truth is, we’ve had a lot of experience with makeshift engineering over the past eleven months.”

“Launching the first mine,” Lieutenant Eckert announced.

All eyes watched the main view screen as the thrusters at each end of the cargo container fired briefly. With the artificial gravity on the launch pad set at only a fraction above zero, the cargo container rose easily off the deck, drifting higher with each passing second.

“First mine is away,” Lieutenant Eckert reported.

“Moving to second deployment point,” Mister Chiles announced.

The image on the main view screen zoomed back out, causing the cargo container to become a tiny dot floating above the forward section of the ship. The stars appeared to shift slowly upward as the ship pitched down slightly and started moving. Their only perception of forward motion was the cargo container itself as it moved toward the camera growing ever larger with each passing second. A half minute later, the container nearly filled the view screen as it passed overhead.

“How many mines are you laying?” Captain Nash wondered.

“We only had time to make eight of them,” Nathan explained, “so we’re laying them out in two rows of four, each of them one hundred kilometers apart.”

“That’s an awfully small net,” Captain Roselle commented, “even for a ship with a twenty kilometer beam.”

“We have her course and speed precisely calculated,” Nathan assured him. “We expect the energy spread per antimatter mine detonation to be enough to create an overlapping field of intense energy. We’re confident that the battle platform will fly right into our trap. The most challenging part will be the detonation. Too soon, and the intensity of the event may fade too rapidly to be effective. Too late, and the target is flying away from the event faster than the event’s energy field expands.”

“Coming up on the second deployment point,” Mister Chiles announced.

“It would have been better to do a test detonation of one of those mines, first,” Captain Poc suggested.

“We have a limited supply of the antimatter cores,” Nathan explained, “and it may require more than one attempt. Sometimes you just have to trust the math and make your play.”

* * *

Cameron sat quietly in her command chair at the center of the Celestia’s bridge, the lighting around her tinged with red.

“Twenty seconds to first jump point,” Mister Jakoby reported.

Lieutenant Delaveaga scanned the tactical console before him. “All plasma weapons
at full power, ready for triplets.”

“Pitch maneuver started,” Ensign Hunt reported from the helm.

“Jump one, in five seconds,” Mister Jakoby added.

“Final tracking data from the Falcons has been received,” Ensign Kono said. “Target’s course and speed remain unchanged.”

“Very well,” Cameron said.

“Jumping in three…”

“By the numbers, everyone,” Cameron added. It was an unnecessary statement, yet one she felt compelled to say.

“…Two…”

It was times like this, when her crew were executing a well-planned sequence of events, that she felt most useless. She loved being in command, as it had been her dream since long before she was accepted at the EDF Fleet Academy.

“…One…”

Yet, here she sat, in command of an interstellar warship, with nothing to do except listen.

“…Jumping.”

She had to constantly remind herself that in such situations, she was there not to deal with the expected, but rather, the unexpected.

“Jump one, complete,” the navigator reported.

“Position verified,” Ensign Kono confirmed.

“Firing all weapons in three…” Luis began from the tactical station behind her, “…two……one……firing.”

Cameron watched the main view screen as eighteen balls of red-orange plasma streaked over their heads, on their way to a target that was still several million kilometers away. As powerful as their plasma weapons were, she knew that at such distances, their effectiveness would be greatly reduced by the time they reached their target. Assuming that they were successful in forcing the target out of FTL to begin with.

“Weapons away,” Luis confirmed.

“Jump two in three……two……one……jumping.”

The blue-white jump flash washed over the Celestia’s bridge as the ship instantly jumped forward a predetermined distance, her nose continuing to rise at a rate that would put her nose on the target’s position relative to the Celestia’s new position.

“Jump two, complete,” Mister Jakoby reported.

“Position confirmed,” Ensign Kono added.

The tactical officer took his cue from the battle clock and began his count. “Firing all weapons in three……two……one……firing.”

Again, the Celestia’s bridge was momentarily awash in brilliant red-orange light as the plasma charges left their weapons and streaked ahead toward the target that was now only slightly closer than it was before.

“Jump three in three……two……one……jumping.”

“Jump four, complete,” Mister Riley reported as the blue-white light from the Aurora’s jump flash disappeared from her bridge.

“Position confirmed,” Mister Navashee reported.

“Firing weapons in three……” Lieutenant Eckert began.

Captain Nash watched the Aurora’s bridge crew with fascination as they executed their plan.

“…Two…”

“Jump five is ready,” Mister Riley reported.

“…One…”

“Nose is coming onto the targeting point,” Mister Chiles announced. “On point… Now.”

“Firing,” Lieutenant Eckert said a split second later.

The bridge again filled with the red-orange light of the Aurora’s plasma weapons as they raced toward their unseen target. The captains of the three Scout ships stood in front of the comm station at the rear of the bridge, watching over Lieutenant Eckert’s shoulder as he expertly manipulated the ship’s weapons.

“Weapons away,” the lieutenant reported calmly.

“Jump five in three…” Mister Riley began.

“How many jumps are we performing?” Captain Poc wondered.

“…Two…”

“Eight, in this attack run,” the lieutenant answered.

“Why only eight?” Captain Nash inquired.

“…One…”

“Our plasma weapons have a limited range,” Nathan explained as his crew continued executing the attack plan.

“…Jumping…”

“That’s as many shots as we could comfortably fit into the time and distance available,” Nathan continued as the jump flash washed over them.

“Jump five, complete.”

“Our plasma weapons have a limited range, after which their effectiveness begins to diminish rapidly,” he explained.

“Position verified,” Mister Navashee reported.

“Firing weapons in three…”

“We might be able to squeeze in one or two more salvos…” Nathan said.

“…Two…”

“…but we’d probably be decreasing our targeting accuracy.”

“…One…”

“The key here is to put all the plasma charges onto a single section of their shields…”

“Firing,” Lieutenant Eckert reported.

“…all at the same time, in order to cause them to fail,” Nathan finished as the red-orange light washed over the bridge again.

“Weapons away,” Lieutenant Eckert announced.

“Jump six, in three……” Mister Riley began.

“Jump seven, complete,” Mister Jakoby reported from the Celestia’s navigation station.

“Position verified,” Ensign Kono announced.

“Firing weapons in three…” Luis began.

“How long until the antimatter mines go off?” Cameron wondered.

“…Two…”

“Twenty-eight seconds, sir,” Ensign Kono replied.

“…One…”

“Very well.”

“…Firing,” Luis announced, ending his count.

Cameron glanced at the battle clock at the top of the center console that separated the navigator from the helmsman, noting the time as the next round of plasma weapons streaked overhead in a red-orange flash.

“Weapons away,” Lieutenant Delaveaga reported.

“Jump eight, in three…”

“Time to detonation, fifteen seconds,” Ensign Kono reported.

“…Two…”

“We’re going to be cutting it close,” Cameron said, more to herself than to her crew.

“…One……jumping.”

The jump flash washed over the Celestia’s bridge as they again jumped forward just enough to launch the next round of plasma weapons at the same targeting point, one that was still a considerable distance ahead of the oncoming battle platform.

“Jump eight, complete,” Mister Jakoby reported.

“Position verified,” Ensign Kono confirmed.

“Firing all weapons in three…” Luis began.

“Ten seconds to detonation,” Ensign Kono added.

“…Two…”

“Jump nine, plotted, locked, and awaiting your order, Captain,” Mister Jakoby announced.

“…One…”

“Very well,” Cameron replied.

“Firing.”

Cameron turned toward her sensor operator to her left as the Celestia’s bridge again filled with red-orange light for an instant.

“Five seconds to detonation,” Ensign Kono reported. She continued to stare at her sensor displays as she counted. “Three……two……one……” There was silence that seemed to last an eternity.

“What the…” Luis started to say.