The Awakening (The Hyperscape Project Book 1) (23 page)

The bridge fell
silent as the transmission ended. A beep from a console broke the tense moment,
alerting the Second-in-Command to a change in the readings. “The hyperspace
window has collapsed, Sir.”

The First
Officer patiently awaited the Master’s orders as the small craft continued its
approach. “He could easily destroy us if he gets within range, Sir.”

The powerful
robotic body of the ship’s Master sat motionless in its chair. The nanite
enhanced organic brain inside its metal skull was busy deciphering Nick’s
strategy. After a moment of silence, the Master Mok’tu turned to his second in
command. “Yes, he could destroy us. Yet we can’t fire on his ship or we risk
losing the hyperspace technology we so desperately seek. And he knows that!”
Master 957 tapped his metal finger on the arm of his chair. “Scan that ship. I
need to know if he’s bluffing,” he commanded, his synthesized voice laced with
agitation.

The Master
Mok’tu accessed a screen on his command chair that displayed a standard text
communication form addressed to High Command. Mok’tu short code scrolled across
the messaging form. ‘
Master 957 to Command. Request following action.’
The Master Mok’tu’s wireless neural interface continued to type his message to
High Command. When it finished, he sent the transmission without ever lifting a
mechanoid finger.

“Sir, scans do
reveal high concentrations of Coronite on board the craft,” the First Officer
announced.

Pushing a button
on his console, the Master opened a com-channel to the incoming craft. “M-957
to pilot of hyperspace vessel. How do I know you will not attack us when you
are within range?”

“You don’t,”
Nick replied over the com-channel. “I guess you’re just going to have to decide
if this technology is worth the risk. I could
always
go over to see your
friends the Dragorans and make them the same offer. I bet your higher-ups would
be pretty pissed off if you lost this tech to the Dragorans. Or if you
destroyed the only vessel carrying it.”

M-957 stared at
the forward screen, confident in his superiority. “It won’t be long before we
develop hyperspace weapons for ourselves, so why would I take such a risk?
Besides, I don’t think you’re in much of a position to negotiate. You don’t
actually think I’m just going to let you leave?”

Nick was taking
a huge risk, playing a dangerous game. The Mok’tu could decide to blow him out
of the sky. But he was betting that the metal bastards would instead pursue the
acquirement of his technology at all costs. After all, it could take them a
long time to develop hyperspace tech on their own, if ever. No, the Mok’tu
wouldn’t dare destroy the module and him along with it.

“Hey, metal
head. The Dragorans understand the value of what I’m offering. I bet they’d be
willing to talk business. But the way I hear it, you’re the lead player in this
little war. So I came to you first. Am I wasting my time here? I wonder what
the Dragorans would do if they got their hands on this technology. Do you think
they would let you live long enough to come up with hyperspace weapons of your
own?  I doubt you would have time to develop much of anything before your
species was extinct! See, it doesn’t matter to me which one of you monsters
gets this weapon, as long as I have a deal. I don’t care if the Dragorans
destroy you or you destroy them. It’s all the same to me. So, the clock’s
ticking and I don’t have all day. Do we have a deal or not?”

On the Vontuk,
the First Officer’s display flashed a warning. He quickly relayed the
information to his Master. “Sir, another ship is approaching. It’s a Dragoran
Deadnought. It’s the Kohg,  coming into weapons range.”

M-957 was not
pleased.  “What? Where did it come from?”

“The Kohg’s
approach was masked by the planet. It’s coming in fast. They must have used a
gravitational slingshot. They’re firing weapons.”

The Master
Mok’tu sat back in his chair, confident the approaching ship was not much of a
threat. The Dragoran vessel was little more than a nuisance to him.  “I
have to admire their determination, but they’re no match for a Star-Killer.
It’s suicide.” 

Annoyed by the
Dragoran interference, he gave his orders. “If it’s death they want, let’s not
keep them waiting. Return fire.”

“Sir, the
Dragoran ship isn’t firing at
us
…it’s targeting the hyperspace vehicle!”

“Move us between
them. Protect that module!” The timbre in M-957’s voice let his crew know that
his confidence was clearly diminished. “The Dragorans don’t want the module to
fall into our hands. If they can’t have it for themselves, they’ll destroy it.”

Caught by
surprise when the Dragoran ship appeared, Nick felt like a sitting duck in the
tiny module. With some fancy flying, he managed to avoid the first salvo from
the Kohg, only to be grazed by the second. The energy that was released as the
pulse hit the right wingtip caused a cascading systems failure. His heart
dropped when all of the instruments in the module went dead. “No, no, no!” The
plasma pulse had knocked out the craft’s main power core.

The module
tumbled helplessly in space as Nick worked to regain system function. In mere
seconds the coldness of space started to creep into the tiny cockpit. “This
wasn’t part of the plan. Why is it my plans never seem to work?” he grumbled as
he scrambled to get vital systems back online. He wouldn’t last long without
life support.  He’d be a frozen Nicksicle in no time.  He could
already see his breath forming ice crystal clouds in front of his face.

Nick suddenly
noticed sunlight glinting off an object rounding the nearby planet. He
struggled to get a better look as his module tumbled, but he could only see the
object for about two seconds each time his ship rotated in that direction.
Whatever it was, it was approaching fast. He just hoped like hell it wasn’t
anything worse than what he was already facing.

Aboard the
Vontuk, M-957 received word from his First Officer. “Sir, another Dreadnought
is coming into range. It’s the Grok.”

M-957
straightened in his chair. “Ah, Captain D’rog. I see the rumors of your demise
were premature, after all. A situation I will soon remedy!” M-957 turned calmly
to his First Officer, the hydraulics in his machine body barely making a whir.
“Target the Grok and fire as soon as the ship is within range.”

“Yes, Sir.”

On board the Grok, Captain D’rog
leaned forward in his chair as his ship gained on the Kohg. “Target the Kohg
and open fire.”

“Sir?” Ensign
Klak was confused by the command to fire on one of their own ships and
momentarily hesitated to carry out the order.

D’rog sneered
angrily at the ensign.

After a muffled
pop, the ensign fell dead to the floor. Behind him, smoke wisped from the
barrel of the lieutenant’s pistol. The lieutenant stood silent, smiling
proudly.

“There may be a place
for you in my New Empire yet, Lieutenant.” D’rog turned back to the main view
screen. “With this hyperspace weapon at my command that fool of a Commodore
will soon yield to me. Or he will suffer the same fate as poor ensign Klak
here.” D’rog grinned, bearing his long, sharp reptilian teeth.

The lieutenant
stepped around the ensign’s body and proceeded to carry out the Captain’s last
order. “Firing, Sir.”

The Kohg was
caught between the massive fire power of the Mok’tu Star-Killer and a surprise
attack from one of its own Dreadnoughts. It was a losing battle.

Nick had been
watching from his crippled module until the massive Star-Killer obstructed his
view. If the Mok’tu hadn’t blocked the Dragorans attack, he’d probably be dead
already. But he had no reservations about the Mok’tu’s motives for keeping him
alive. They wanted his module, but without any power, he had no bargaining chip
left. They would simply take his ship and him right along with it. Unless…. He
would wait to blow the ship until he was within the enemy’s hangar. That way he
would do the most damage. With luck he’d start a chain reaction. But he’d
rather it didn’t get to that.

Doing his best
to hurry in the cramped space, Nick unlatched his restraints and tucked his
miniature flashlight between his teeth as he crawled under the instrument
panel. He had reserved the flashlight’s use for emergencies only and this
definitely classified as an emergency. Floating in the zero-G environment, he
checked the cells of the ship’s battery backup. Cutting the wires to each cell,
he shorted them against the craft’s frame, one at a time. Sparks flew from the
first few, but the next two were dead. After he finished eliminating the burnt
out ones, he rewired groups of battery cells in parallel and then wired the
parallel groups together in series. The voltage was right but at a reduced
capacity. He had no idea how long the battery power would last. “It’s like
replacing D batteries with double A, but it’s all I got,” he said to himself.

In truth, Nick
was beginning to feel like he wouldn’t make it out of this one alive. His
nerves were on edge even worse than before as he crawled out from under the
instrument panel and readied himself for what was to come.

M-957 sat in his
command chair, stunned for a moment by the Grok’s assault on the other Dragoran
vessel. “D’rog must want this weapon for himself. That would explain why his
ship disappeared and was presumed destroyed. He’s turned renegade.” M-957 was
almost amused by the realization. He would have grinned if his metal face was
capable of such an unnecessary expression.

Nick was working
on regaining the module’s attitude control when he realized the close proximity
of the Star-Killer. As the module came around to its original vector, the
Mok’tu’s massive ship filled his view. Nick couldn’t see a single star in any
direction. The Star-Killer appeared to go on forever. “Damn, that’s big,” he
said, in sheer awe of the giant vessel.

The Kohg finally
succumbed to the brutal pounding of the two attacking vessels and erupted in a
cascade of fireballs down its length. The ships fiery hull slid through the
blackness of space, its own weight carrying it forward. The listing vessel
drifted further off its course as the Grok overtook it.

M-957 had been
waiting for the Grok to come into range. The Dragoran ship had no more chance
of destroying a Star-Killer class vessel than the Kohg. Captain D’rog had been
a crafty opponent in the past, a real thorn in M-957’s side. Like a Scuddle
Wasp, he would strike and retreat, avoiding the crushing blow of the more
powerful Star-Killer. But there was no escaping this time. D’rog had grown
careless. His desire for power would be his undoing.

The two enemy
ships opened fire on each other. The shields of the Mok’tu vessel had no
problem fending off the Grok’s plasma cannons, but the Grok showed signs of
weakening within minutes. 

With the two
enemy vessels engaged in battle, Nick knew this might be his only chance of
survival. He reached a shaky hand over to the hyperspace generator switch,
flipped up the protective switch cover and turned on the generator. He cranked
the amplitude up to maximum and held his breath. In front of him, a hyperspace
window formed within mere feet of the Star-Killer’s hull. Nick punched the
throttle and streaked toward the hole, aiming for the safety of hyperspace.

The immense
distortion of normal space-time so close to the side of the massive Mok’tu
vessel warped the ship’s hull. The center of the ship bulged outward toward the
hole. The internal stresses were more than the metal structure could bear, and
the hull buckled. Mok’tu soldiers spewed into space from ruptured sections of
the ship. Small explosions accompanied the fractures forming in the hull. The
resulting debris was sucked through the window and into hyperspace. Nick raced
to close the gap and escape. Debris swirled in around him as he plunged into
the red hued underworld.

A Mok’tu soldier
floating in the nearby debris pushed off the twisted metal heap it clung to.
The calculated move launched the metal soldier through the eerie red vacuum of
hyperspace and directly toward the module. The soldier was upon Nick before he
knew it. The Mok’tu’s powerful metal hand clamped onto the wing of the module.

“Shit! I forgot
you metal heads can survive in a vacuum!” Nick was frozen with fear for a
moment as he waited for his brain to come up with a plan. There had to be
something he could do. But what?

The Mok’tu
peered at Nick through the canopy, one of its legs broken and twisted from the
disaster it had just survived. Just as Nick feared, the soldier grabbed the
wing with its other hand and started to pull itself toward the cockpit of the
craft. All the while, it kept the visual receptors in its metal skull trained
on Nick. Nick was quickly running out of time. He had made it into hyperspace,
but he was nowhere near safe. He looked around nervously. There had to be
something he could do. He scanned the cockpit for something of use, but there
was nothing. His brain was going into panic mode as the monster dragged itself
closer and closer. The corner of Nick’s mouth suddenly curled upward as he
surveyed the space ahead of him. He turned back to the Mok’tu with a growing
grin, only to be startled by the Mok’tu face pressed up against the glass. It
was right outside the cockpit now.

 “Ah,
crap!” Nick swallowed hard as the Mok’tu’s right hand balled up into a fist. It
reared back, preparing to drive a hole into the canopy with one powerful blow.
Just as the Mok’tu moved to strike, Nick throttled up to maximum and glanced
off a large piece of nearby debris. His precisely aimed impact ripped the
Mok’tu from the module, leaving its mangled body embedded in the floating,
twisted debris. One metal arm still held onto the module, spewing sparks and
fluid from its severed end. It was all that remained of the killing machine.