Starship Revenant (The Galactic Wars Book 3) (17 page)

T
wo Decluvian fighters
streaked through the nebula. They raced along the length of the
Revenant
, then returned to their super-carrier.

No shots were fired. This was strictly an information gathering mission. But it wasn’t going to stay that way for long. As soon as they reported back that a UPDF destroyer was in the nebula, the Decluvians would unleash the full brunt of their assault. Zoey didn’t have to worry about burning up in the atmosphere anymore—the Decluvians were about to vaporize them.

It didn’t take long for klaxons to sound. The LRADDS display lit up. Two inbound nukes were approaching. They streaked across the star field, into the nebula.

The
Revenant’s
automated defenses weren’t online. The nukes rocketed through the haze, and the
Revenant’s
gun turrets did nothing. They should have identified and tracked the inbound threats. But running on emergency power, and with all systems shut down, the defenses sat lifeless.

The nebula wreaked havoc with the inbound missiles’ guidance system. One of the nukes narrowly missed the hull. But the other slammed into the starboard side, rocking the ship.

Zoey and the others were tossed about like ping pong balls in the CIC. Zoey crashed into the port bulkhead. She launched herself back across the CIC toward the command console. She flew through the air, and latched on to the control panel. She thumbed through the display screen and activated the gravity drive.

She crashed to the deck.

Mitch and Violet weren’t as prepared for the transition. There were grumbles and groans all around as they hit the deck.

The LRADDS display lit up again—4 more inbound nukes blasted toward the
Revenant
. The old destroyers were fortresses, but the
Revenant
wasn’t going to take many more direct hits.

Zoey diverted power to the starboard canons.

The Mark 25 turret guns lined the port and starboard sides of the
Revenant
. But it had been so long since they had been fired, there was no telling if they were going to work. Or if there was any ammunition left.

Zoey grumbled. “If this ship does have a consciousness, it better get its ass with the program, or we’re all going to die.” Zoey yelled at the
Revenant
. “You hear me, you big hunk of shit!”

A moment later, the Mark 25s came online and targeted the inbound nukes. Within seconds the staccato report of the cannons rumbled through the ship. The armor piercing rounds eviscerated the incoming targets.

The command console lit up, indicating the reactors were coming online. Zoey’s eyes went wide.

The ship switched from emergency lighting to standard illumination. The atmosphere processors restarted. Every essential system came back online.

Another alarm sounded—more inbound nukes. The LRADDS was dotted with flashing red triangles. All of them were streaking toward the
Revenant
.

“You know how to maneuver a star destroyer,” Zoey asked Violet.

“I’m familiar with multiple flight control systems.”

“Take the helm.”

Mitch’s face twisted up, wondering how Violet would know her way around a destroyer. “I thought you just knew how to fly junkers?”

“I may have omitted a few minor details about my background.”

“Minor details?”

“You didn’t know?” Zoey said.

“Know what?”

“She’s a ro— I mean, bio-synthetic humanoid.”

Violet gave Zoey a slight smile.

“No way.”

“Violet, get us out of this nebula. All ahead full.”

“Aye, sir.”

Zoey couldn’t help but smile. She kind of liked being in command of a starship. Even if it was just a misfit crew of three, and a ship that may, or may not, be possessed.

The Mark 25s lit up again, targeting the new round of threats. The ship rumbled with cannon fire. The star field was filled with brilliant explosions as the turret guns destroyed the incoming nukes.

Violet engaged the drives, and the old ship lumbered forward breaking out of its perilous orbit.

“So, how much like a real woman are you?” Mitch asked.

“Identical in every way.”

Mitch had a lascivious glint in his eyes. “Good to know.”

“Not in this lifetime, Mitch.”

“Never say never.”

“Mitch!” Zoey yelled. “I need you at navigation. Plot jump coordinates.”

“Aye, sir.” He dashed to the tactical console. “Where to?”

“Polaris 5. It’s a research outpost in the Axorus sector. There are physicians there.”

“What about Alpha Ceti 7?”

“We get 8-Ball taken care of, then we go after Slade.”

“Aye, sir.”

The
Revenant
emerged from the nebula. There were even more enemy ships than initially displayed on the sensors. At least two dozen super-carriers.

Thousands of fighters launched into space. They swarmed like wasps. Within moments, they’d be on top of the
Revenant
.

“Do you recognize those ships?” Zoey asked.

“Decluvians,” Violet said.

“Who the hell are they?”

“Trust me, you don’t want to know. We don’t want to stick around, and we sure as hell don’t want to get captured.”

“How are those jump coordinates coming?” Zoey asked.

“Just a few minutes.”

“By the looks of things, we don’t have a few minutes.”

The star field was ablaze with cannon fire. Thousands of tracer rounds streaked toward the
Revenant
. Zoey had no idea what kind of projectiles were hurtling through space at them. There were too many of them, and they were too small to target with the Mark 25s.

From the command console, Zoey took control of the weapons system. She targeted several enemy ships, and launched a barrage of nukes. Might as well leave them with a parting gift.

The first round of enemy cannon fire impacted the hull. The ship shuddered and groaned. Alarms sounded. Multiple sections of the hull had been punctured. They flashed red on the command console.

Zoey sealed off the damaged compartments.

“Coordinates plotted. It’s going to take a few jumps to get there.”

“Engage the quantum drive!”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? The last time the ship made a quantum jump, it went missing for 25 years.”

“We’re going to go missing forever if we don’t.”

Mitch shrugged. “Here goes nothing.” He activated the slide space-drive.

The ship warbled and distorted, then vanished just before an ocean of cannon fire arrived.

M
ore Decluvian troops
were funneling onto the flight deck, towing heavy weaponry.

“What about the slide-space drive?” Walker asked.

Lu glanced over the flight controls. “It looks operational.”

“Jump us out of here.”

Lu’s eyes went wide. “From inside? That’s impossible.”

“No, it’s not. It’s been done.”

“Did anyone live afterwards?” Lu asked, incredulous.

Walker couldn’t answer that with any degree of certainty. He knew the
USS Scorpion
had jumped from inside a Saarkturian super-carrier. But he had no idea where, or if, they had emerged from slide-space.

“Just do it,” Walker commanded.

An RPG streaked across the flight deck and slammed into the transport. The ship quaked.

“Now,” Walker yelled.

“Where?”

“Anywhere!”

Lu dialed in some quick coordinates. He entered the coordinates from memory. He wasn’t sure if they were accurate. If he was right, it would put them in a remote location and they wouldn’t emerge inside a star, or a planet.

Another RPG impacted the hull, shuddering the ship.

“Hold on to your asses.” Lu activated the slide space drive. In a brilliant flash, the ship vanished from the flight deck.

30 minutes later, they emerged in an empty star field. Walker breathed a sigh of relief.

Bailey wobbled a little, still not totally used to coming in and out of slide-space. But something else was wrong. He lay on the ground, whimpering.

Walker knelt down beside him. “What’s the matter, boy?”

Bailey was excessively drooling, and he looked out of it. His body began to shake with a tremor.

Lu craned his neck to see what the commotion was about. He knew instantly what was wrong. “Did he bite anyone?”

Walker nodded.

“He’s been exposed to the lipophilic alkaloid toxin in our skin.” Lu said.

“What’s the treatment protocol for that?” Walker asked.

“There isn’t one. It’s fatal, depending on the dose.”

Walker’s heart sank. His eyes filled. His mouth went dry and he had a lump in his throat the size of VY Canis Majoris. He couldn’t just stand there and let Bailey go out like this.

Lu adjusted the temperature aboard the ship. “The toxin works faster in higher temperatures.” Soon it was just above freezing.

“It’s a neurotoxin, right?”

Lu nodded.

Walker scanned his memory, trying to remember his toxicology training. “Lipid soluble toxins act on sodium ion channels.”

“They bind to sodium channels, keeping the membrane permeable,” Lu said, following along with Walker.

“What does that mean?” Malik asked.

“The toxin blocks the ability of nerve cells to communicate with muscles. The peripheral nervous system will shut down. His heart and vital organs will fail.”

“Unless we can introduce a sodium channel blocker.” Lu’s big eyes got bigger. He leapt out of the pilot’s seat and dashed to a storage compartment. He pulled out a medical kit and rummaged through the case. He grabbed a pre-loaded injector. “Xetrodomax.”

“What is that?” Walker asked.

“It’s a very effective pain reliever. One of the mechanisms of action is sodium channel blocking. It’s worth a shot.” Lu handed Walker the injector.

Walker dialed in a scaled back dosage and injected Bailey. The only thing he could do now was sit back and wait. He sat on the deck beside Bailey, gently petting him. Bailey lay motionless, whimpering. His breath was slow and heavy.

“Hang in there, Sergeant. I’m not giving you permission to die. You hear me?” Walker wasn’t the kind of guy to shed a tear very often, but he had to dry his eyes more than once. Bailey meant the world to him.

The transport drifted through space without the use of its general thrusters. They could jump from location to location, but they weren’t going to be able to maneuver.

Lu looked over the navigation display and tried to figure out where they were. “We are a long, long way from anywhere.”

A massive quantum distortion rippled through the ship. The bulkheads bulged and warbled. A proximity alarm sounded.

Walker’s whole body tensed. He wondered if the Decluvians had found a way to track them through slide-space?

A massive ship roared overhead.

Walker watched it’s endless underbelly pass over the view port. He saw the turret cannons swivel and take aim at the transport, which was dwarfed in comparison.

It didn’t take him long to recognize the ship. It was an
Avenger
class destroyer. He stood with his mouth agape as he read the name and call numbers on the side of the ship. It was the
Revenant.

“
S
ir
, I’ve got an unknown ship in this sector,”

Mitch yelled from the tactical console in the CIC. “We practically jumped in on top of it. Weapons are locked and ready to fire.”

“Looks like a Decluvian troop transport,” Violet said.

“Introduce them to the Mark 25s,” Zoey commanded.

“Aye, sir,” Mitch said. He was about to unleash the hot fury of the cannons on the transport.

Walker’s voice crackled over the comm link. “ “This is Lieutenant Commander Kurt Walker to the
USS Revenant
, do you copy?”

Zoey’s eyes widened. “Stand down! Do not fire!”

Mitch’s Finger hovered precariously over the button controlling the Mark 25s.

“Commander Walker, I must say this is a pleasant surprise.”

“Bryant, is that you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What the hell are you doing aboard the
Revenant
?”

“It’s a long story,” Zoey said. “I’ll tell you all about it. You are cleared for landing on flight deck 1.”

“That’s going to be a bit of a problem. We have no thruster control.”

“Well, I guess we’ll have to land for you.” Zoey addressed Violet. “Maneuver in front of them and line the flight deck up with their trajectory. Match their speed, then slowly reduce. I’ll deactivate the artificial gravity on the flight deck until they’re inside. It may be a bit of a bumpy landing, but it will get them on board.”

Violet moved the
Revenant
in position, drifting through space at the same speed. She aligned the flight deck with the transport. It slowly glided into the bay. Violet watched on a video monitor and tried to bring the elevation of the deck up to match the Decluvian ship.

Zoe activated the artificial gravity, and the transport crashed a few feet to the deck. The
Revenant
rumbled, the sound echoing through the corridors. It was like dropping 250 tons of steel.

Walker and the others were a little rattled, but none the worse for wear. He peeled himself off the deck and scooped Bailey into his arms. He marched to the back of the transport and lowered the loading ramp. He marched down the inclination to the flight deck.

Zoey was there to greet him. Her eyes bulged at the sight of Lu—she had never seen a Decluvian before. Her body tensed as Malik and Saaja descended the ramp.

“Relax, they’re with me,” Walker said.

“This should be interesting,” Zoey said.

“We can exchange stories later. I need to get him to the med center,” Walker said, nodding to Bailey.

Zoey led them through the maze of corridors to the med facility. She ran a battery of diagnostics on Bailey. By that time, he was already starting to perk up.

“Blood work looks normal,” Zoey said. “Vitals are good. Either the shot you gave him worked, or this is one tough animal. Where did you find him?”

“Thantos 6.”

“That’s a shit hole,” Violet said.

“Tell me about it.”

“With the amount of poisonous creatures on that rock, I wouldn’t be surprised if this little guy has one hell of an immunity to neurotoxins.”

Walker raised an eyebrow at her, wondering how she knew about Thantos 6.

“I have access to vast amounts of planetary data,” Violet said, casually.

Walker sensed that something was different about Violet, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Bailey sat up and let out a weak bark. He looked up at Walker with big eyes that just demanded some affection.

Walker’s eyes were filled with relief. He pet Bailey and scratched his chin. “You’re going to be okay, Sergeant.” His eyes gleamed and a rare smile curled up on his lips.

Bailey barked again.

“It’s blind luck we found you,” Zoey said. “We were on our way to Polaris 5. I’ve got a casualty in quantum stasis that needs a real doctor.”

Mitch’s voice crackled over the comm system from the CIC. “I’m picking up another ship at the edge of sensor range.”

Zoey’s eyes filled with dread. “What kind of ship?”

“Looks like a UPDF Skylark.”

“Can you establish communication?”

“I’ve got a message coming through from Captain Slade,” Mitch said, perplexed. “Isn’t that who you’ve been looking for?”

Zoey grinned. “Yes, it is. Put her through.”

Walker had even more reason to smile.

Slade’s voice filtered through the comm system, bringing great comfort to both Walker and Zoey.

It wasn’t long before the Skylark hobbled to the
Revenant
and landed on the flight deck. Slade emerged with Logan and the squad of Marines.

Her eyes went wide at the sight of Walker, but she restrained her enthusiasm.

Walker and Zoey greeted her with a salute.

Slade returned the gesture. “Permission to come aboard?”

“Permission granted, sir,” Zoey said, grinning from ear to ear.

Slade’s big eyes met Walker’s. The energy between them was palpable. She wanted to fling her arms around him and crash into his lips and let him know how happy she was that he was alive. But a captain just doesn’t do those things on the flight deck.

She contained her emotions and spoke dryly. “I thought you were dead.”

“Nobody’s found a way to kill me yet,” Walker said, holding back a smile.

“That’s good,” she said, her eyes sparkling. “Keep it that way.”

Slade glanced around the flight deck in awe. She was well aware of the stories surrounding the
Revenant
.

“She may not be the
Scorpion
, but she’s better than nothing,” Zoey said. “Though, she does have a few minor quirks.”

Slade lifted a curious eyebrow. They all had a lot of catching up to do. And an invasion to stop.