Frontiers Saga 12: Rise of the Alliance (44 page)

“Oh, and Mister Riley? Continue keeping an escape jump entered and ready at all times,” he encouraged.

“I always do, Captain.”

“Flight, Captain,” Nathan called over his comm-set.

“
Captain, Flight. Go for CAG
,” Major Prechitt answered.

“Major, Jung forces have boarded the Karuzara and are trying to capture and escape with a mini-jump drive. Ghatazhak forces are trying to stop them as well, but we need the last of our Falcons to guard the exits and prevent their escape.”

“
Understood, sir.
”

“Warn the Falcons that there are plenty of hostiles in the area,” Nathan added. “I cannot emphasize how important it is that NO Jung ships make it back out of the Karuzara asteroid alive. Is that clear, Major?”

“
Crystal clear, sir,
” the major answered.

Nathan tapped his comm-set to end the conversation. “Comms, reestablish contact with the Karuzara as soon as we jump back in. And try to raise the Celestia.”

“Aye, sir,” Naralena answered.

“Turn complete,” the helmsman reported.

“Jump plotted and ready,” Mister Riley added.

“I’ve got the Celestia on sensors, Captain,” Mister Navashee announced. “The entire front third of her bow is gone, sir. Just aft of her launch tube doors, just forward of her secondary bulkhead…It’s all gone.”

“Power? Life support?”

“She’s still got power, sir, but minimal. Her antimatter reactors are cold. I’m pretty sure she ejected her cores. It’s hard to tell with so much debris floating around her, but I’m not picking up any antimatter signatures.”

“They must be running on the backup fusion reactors,” Jessica said. “If they’ve got any power, they’ve got life support.”

“Can they maneuver?”

“Doubtful, sir,” Mister Navashee answered. “She’s in a slow tumble, bow up over stern. Probably from the force of the impact.” Mister Navashee looked at Nathan. “She’s basically adrift, Captain.”

“Those gunships, are they still going after her?”

Mister Navashee turned back to his sensor displays. “No, sir. They’ve all turned back to the Karuzara.”

“They no longer see the Celestia as a threat,” Jessica said.

“Or they finally ran out of gunships, and capturing a jump drive is more important to them,” Nathan speculated. “How much distance between the Celestia and the platform?”

“Twenty kilometers and increasing slowly,” Jessica replied.

“Mister Riley, put us between the platform and the Celestia, but as close to the Celestia as possible.”

“Aye, sir.”

“Comms, make ready all search and rescue parties, and warn medical to expect incoming casualties.”

Nathan tapped his comm-set. “Cheng, Captain.”

“
Go ahead, sir,
” Vladimir answered over Nathan’s comm-set.

“The Celestia has been hit. We think she ejected her cores about a minute ago. How far out will they be, and what happens if we accidentally run into them?”

“
Oh, bozhe moi,
” Vladimir exclaimed. “
The capsule’s propulsion system is designed to carry them rapidly away from the ship when ejected. If they were ejected normally, they will travel at least a few hundred kilometers within the first minute, and they will continue to accelerate until their propellant expires ten minutes later. By that time, they will be several hundred thousand kilometers away.
”

“And if we run into them?”

“
It is a very bad idea, Nathan. Trust me.
”

“Understood,” Nathan acknowledge, switching off his comm-set as he turned to his sensor operator. “Mister Navashee, I need you to locate those cores.”

Four combat jump shuttles sped through the Karuzara’s main transit tunnel headed for the main hangar at her core, Jung fighters pursuing them closely. Red and orange bolts of energy streaked back and forth as they exchanged fire, the Jung fighters from their wing-mounted cannons and the combat shuttles from the twin-barreled plasma turrets on their topsides. The Jung fighters attempted to get down below the constantly jinking combat jumpers, but the jumpers dipped down to only a meter or two above the floor of the massive tunnel.

Determined to get out of the jumpers’ firing solutions, the Jung fighters dove down to skim the bottom of the tunnel as well. Just as they did so, two of the jumpers pitched up and rolled over, giving them perfect angles on their six pursuers. The turrets of the two upper jumpers lit up, tearing apart the lead two fighters. The second two Jung fighters, each of which had been following their leaders quite closely, were unable to maneuver quickly enough and plowed straight into the fighters that were coming apart directly in front of them. The last two fighters pitched up quickly, climbing away from the tunnel floor but up into the firing solution of the lower two jumpers, who immediately opened fire, destroying them both.

With their pursuers now dispatched, the four combat jumpers continued without delay down the tunnel, diving through the massive holes blown into each airlock door along the way.

Ninety seconds later, the four shuttles were greeted with a barrage of energy weapons fire from two gunships that were waiting for them in the Karuzara’s main central hangar. The lead jumper took a direct hit, spiraling out of control and slamming into the far wall. The other three shuttles immediately split apart, hugging the walls of the massive bay, flying erratically to avoid fire from the gunships hovering over the main docking platform as they circled the cavern, turrets blazing.

One of the hovering gunships took direct hits from two of the jumpers, causing it to yaw sharply to port and descend rapidly. The bow of the gunship struck the docking platform, causing the ship to tumble over and swing around out of control. Two more energy shots slammed into the underside of the falling gunship, causing it to rollover. Now completely out of control, the gunship fell to the side, bounced off the wall of the cavern, then broke in two, the aft end exploding in a ball of fire then extinguished due to the vacuum as instantly as it had ignited.

The second gunship was forced to slide abruptly to its right to avoid its partner as it fell. It swung its nose around, seeking the location of the third combat jumper, only to find the jumper coming right at it.

The combat jumper fired as it tried to pull up and avoid colliding head-on with the second gunship. Its shots plowed into the front of the gunship, blowing apart sections of its forward hull. The jumper careened off the top of the gunship and went into a flat spin. The stunned gunship dove and yawed to port, barely missing the dock. Fortunately, it was not paying attention to the other two shuttles as its pilot fought for control. Dozens of energy bolts plowed into the side and tail of the yawing gunship, blowing it apart and sending its pieces flying out in all directions.

The pieces of the disintegrating gunship, propelled out with considerable force that had been imparted by the gunship’s wild flat spin, slammed into one of the shuttles as it attempted to land on the docking platform amid energy weapons fire from Jung troops hiding in the hatchways. Six Ghatazhak soldiers in full, pressurized combat gear leapt from the damaged combat shuttle as it was pulled down by the docking platform’s artificial gravity.

The Ghatazhak soldiers fired their weapons as they fell, striking Jung troops in three of the four nearest hatchways from which they were firing. They hit the dock and rolled to their sides, still firing, as the falling jumper they had been riding in crash-landed on the dock behind them. The jumper’s topside gun turret still intact, it too fired on the remaining hatchway, blowing it apart and killing the Jung troops just inside.

The other two jumpers quickly came to a hover two meters above the docking platform on either side of the crashed jumper. Twelve additional Ghatazhak soldiers, six from each combat jumper, leapt from the side doors and hit the deck running. The group nearest the fallen jumper went to retrieve the flight crew. Four of them took up protective positions as the other two quickly pulled the three injured crewmen from the wreckage and helped them to the safety of the waiting jumper that had landed only a few meters behind them. Two more Ghatazhak, each of them badly wounded in the initial exchange of gunfire with the Jung in the hatchways were also placed in the jumper by their comrades before it lifted off and headed out the other transit tunnel, the one normally used to exit the Karuzara asteroid.

As the remaining troops advanced on the hatchways and disappeared inside, two more jumpers entered the main central hangar from the entrance tunnel and came down quickly to land on the docking platform. Twelve more Ghatazhak piled out of the two jumpers, including Lieutenant Telles and Sergeant Jahal.

“Four on the hatches,” Lieutenant Telles ordered as he and Sergeant Jahal made their way quickly toward the hatches at the far end of the docking platform. “No one but Ghatazhak go in or out through here.” Telles stopped at the hatchways and turned to see the last two jumpers as they headed toward the exit tunnel. He tapped his helmet to activate his helmet comms. “All jumpers, Telles. Take up cover positions on both tunnels, and get the boxcars moving. I want this place crawling with Ghatazhak within minutes.”

“Capture!” Commander Eckert reported.

“Locking down the retaining clamps,” Lieutenant Scalotti announced. “KKV is secure.”

“That warhead is safe, right?” Captain Nash asked.

“Yes, sir,” the lieutenant answered.

“Just checking,” the captain said. “Makes me nervous, jumping around with an antimatter warhead hanging under our belly.”

“Plotting return jump to the outer boundary of the engagement area,” Commander Eckert announced.

“Coming about,” Captain Nash said as he started a quick turn to port. “I didn’t think we were ever going to find the damned thing. They really need to put some sort of locating system on these things. Something that only we can trigger, you know?”

“Jump plotted and ready,” Eckert said.

“On course now.”

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

The Scout ship’s jump flash washed over the flight deck.

“Jump complete,” Commander Eckert reported.

“Holy crap!” Ensign Agari declared.

“What is it, Toosh?” Captain Nash asked.

“You’re not going to believe this,” Toosh exclaimed as he sent his sensor feed to the captain’s display screen.

“Holy crap is right,” Captain Nash said. “Wellsy! Raise the Aurora. Tell them we’ve recovered KKV One and are awaiting orders. And ask them what the fuck is going on over there.”

Energy weapons fire ricocheted off the bulkhead directly over Lieutenant Telles’s helmet, causing him to duck down slightly as he continued advancing down the corridor, firing continuously as he moved forward. The next shot bounced across the hall, hit the floor, and went upward into the torso of one of his men, knocking him backward. Two others helped him up, checking that his belly plates had deflected the energy as designed. The group moved quickly, firing and taking fire as they progressed toward their destination, the mini-jump drive assembly room.

“Rat Five, on deck,” the copilot’s voice announced, signaling Telles that at the moment, one of his combat jumpers was dropping six more of his men onto the docking platform in the main hangar bay.

Telles and his men stopped at the intersection. Telles peeked around the corner despite the energy weapons fire still streaming down the corridor toward them. He turned back toward his men. “Blast and charge,” he told them.

One of his men carrying a much larger weapon than the rest moved to the corner. Telles and Jahal pushed their weapons out around the corner and opened fire. A moment later, the trooper with the large weapon stepped into the intersection and launched a projectile down the corridor and into the hatchway that led to the jump drive assembly room. As he stepped back around the corner, the projectile flew through the hatchway and exploded in a brilliant white flash.

The lieutenant and his men charged forward around the corner, down the corridor, and through the hatchway. A brief exchange of energy weapons fire occurred, followed by an eerie silence. The large bay was motionless, littered with the bodies of dead Jung soldiers who moments ago were trying to kill them. The lieutenant looked around, but could find no sign of anything missing. There were several jump drives, each in a different stage of the assembly process, but nothing appeared out of place.

“
Telles, Dumar!
” the commander’s voice called from the lieutenant’s helmet comms.

“Go for Telles,” the lieutenant responded.

“The Jung have taken the Falcon bay. If they manage to launch in one of those ships…”

“On our way,” the lieutenant promised as he turned to head out the door. “Telles to all Ghatazhak teams. Converge on the Falcon bay. Main level, section fourteen, subsection twenty-eight.”

“Falcons have jumped in,” Mister Navashee reported. “They’re moving into position now.”

“How many?”

“Only three, sir.”

“Damn,” Nathan mumbled to himself. “Comms. Broadcast to all units. Update recognition codes. Anything comes out of that asteroid and isn’t squawking the correct codes gets taken out.”

“Aye, sir,” Naralena answered.

“Jump flash,” Mister Navashee reported.

“Message from Scout Three,” Naralena announced. “They have recovered KKV One, and are awaiting redeployment instructions.”

“Redeploy to position seven,” Nathan ordered.

“Target’s good side is coming back around,” Jessica warned. “Prepare for more incoming.”

“Are we still in position between the Celestia and the platform?” Nathan inquired.

“Aye, sir,” Mister Chiles acknowledged. “I’m matching her drift exactly, and yawing to try and keep her covered as she’s got a little bit of wobble to her as she tumbles.”

“Keep our belly toward the platform,” Mister Chiles.

“Aye, sir.”

“Drop our quads to our underside, Jess. Target their big guns.”

“Yes, sir.”