“Jamming package activated,” Jared said.
“Squadron in position, sir,” Garval’s voice came on the link.
“Good,” Julius said. “Garval, engage the scouts.”
Julius followed the tactical marker that showed the position of the squadron on the screen. As the squadron exited the shroud, the marker changed color to indicate they were now in play. The fighters made a high-speed strafe against the Martian scout that was approaching the recruit ship, causing it to abort its docking maneuver and retreat.
Wolf Squadron then broke away into random directions, gracefully regrouping as it made a follow-up attack against the nearest destroyer. The accelerated protons and missiles fired in unison from the five fighters, striking the enemy ship.
Unfortunately, the fighters’ munitions would not be powerful enough to penetrate the destroyer’s shielding—it would be nothing more than a diversion. As if hearing his thoughts, Wolf Squadron broke away from the destroyer and refocused its attack on the remaining scout ships.
“Take us out of the shroud,” Julius ordered. “Flank speed toward the friendly.”
“Aye, Captain,” Jessen said.
On the main viewscreen, Julius could see the image of the recruit transport pass below them as they passed over it. Behind them, he could see the three destroyers hang in the distance. However, as expected, they made no move to assist the scouts. Their weapons were simply too powerful to use against the fighters without accidentally destroying whatever cargo the transport ship carried. The remaining scouts were only now beginning to compose themselves for a counterattack against Wolf Squadron.
“I have the transport in tow!” Jessen said.
“Good,” Julius said. “Adjust course toward the lead destroyer. Take us over her, no more than a kilometer distance.”
Jessen hesitated. “With the ship in tow, sir?”
“Carry out my orders, Jessen.”
“Aye, sir,” Jessen said with a sigh.
“Target A is firing,” Ramey said. “I show incoming missiles and cannons.”
On the screen, Julius could see the Martian destroyer sending out its ordinance toward them as they closed in.
“What missile types?” Julius said.
“Type FF-4s, sir. Remote guidance and control,” Ramey said.
“Rotate shields full forward, launch countermeasures. Bore through it, Jessen,” Julius said.
“Aye, sir,” Jessen said, his voice sounding tense.
The cannon fire came first, filling the forward view of the bridge. Blue energy beams streamed up in every direction, crisscrossing the space ahead as the Sea Wolf raced over the destroyer’s ventral hull.
The cannon fire struck the Sea Wolf’s shields, causing a cacophony of colorful explosions. The bridge shook from the impact. The modules automatically levitated up from the floors to avoid the buckling.
“Keep us close to her, Jessen,” Julius commanded.
Julius saw what was coming next: the outline of six missiles rising up from the destroyer’s launch ports. Targeting indicators appeared over the missiles. They flashed in red, outlining the missiles as they came into view.
“Six warheads, impact—now!” Ramey said.
There was a rumble and a flash. The viewscreen dimmed for a moment, and the sound of an explosion sounded off inside the bridge. Pieces of shrapnel flew from Julius’ right. He reflexively turned his head and tried to shield himself. A few of them scraped his cheek and he felt some blood. Somewhere behind him, he heard one of the crew swear.
“Are you okay?” Laina asked.
“Yes,” Julius said, touching his cheek and feeling the blood on his fingers. “It’s superficial. Damage report?”
“Superficial as well, sir,” Jessen said. “Minor internal systems damaged, all re-routed to backups. Shields holding at 80 percent. No hull damage.”
“Redistribute shield rotation evenly,” Julius said.
The view of the lead destroyer shrank as the Sea Wolf now sped away from it. Seemingly caught off guard, all three destroyers hesitated before they began to give chase.
“We’re clear of the gravity well,” Jessen said. “But we can’t make a stellar jump while towing the recruit ship.”
“How is the friendly holding up, Ramey?” Julius said.
“I show some damage, but it’s holding together.”
“Good. Keep firing on those destroyers to keep them at bay. Jessen, keep our course steady at flank speed.” Julius tapped a key on his module. “Garval, disengage the destroyer and engage the scouts.”
“Aye, sir,” Garval’s voice came back.
Julius rotated his command module around to face the rear. The three destroyers were forming up into a wedge formation. The enemy scouts formed up also, and with their greater speed, pursued ahead of the destroyers.
Wolf Squadron appeared out of their flank, unloading a volley of cannon fire at the scouts. The accelerated protons flew in the face of the scouts, half of it striking them. The scouts were slow to react and became surrounded by the smaller, more agile fighters before they had a chance to return fire.
Small explosions flashed within the dense swarm of fighters, signaling the start of the dogfight between Wolf Squadron and the Guardian scouts. As Julius anticipated, the battle between the small ships forced the enemy destroyers to slow down their own pursuit.
“I’ve almost got the recruits’ ship pulled into the cargo hold,” Jessen reported.
“Good,” Julius said. “Get ready to warp us out of here as soon as they’re inside.”
“Sir!” Jared said. “I’m receiving word from one of the recruits—Reece. He said that we can’t keep the ship in the hold; it has a transponder that the Martian Guardians are using to track it.”
“I see,” Julius said. “Get the ship into the hold as quickly as possible. Then eject it once the recruits are out of it.”
“Yes, sir,” he said.
Julius looked back at the ships behind them. Wolf Squadron was still fairing well, and had not taken any losses. Their maneuverability would give them an edge over the larger scouts; however, the Guardian scouts had stronger weaponry and shields, so it was a matter of time before one of the fighters took a fatal hit.
The destroyers were steering clear of the dogfight by diving under the melee. He could order Wolf Squadron to lure the dogfight toward the destroyers, slowing them down further, but it would make the fight more difficult for them, and certainly incur losses. He watched as the destroyers cleared the dogfight and headed toward their position.
“Incoming fire,” Ramey said.
Julius watched the new targeting reticles appear, tracking a new volley of missiles from the three destroyers. He counted twenty missiles.
“Target missiles,” Julius said. “Divert energy to rear shields to compensate.”
“Aye, sir,” Ramey said.
Julius knew there were too many missiles to destroy before impact, especially from the rear where they had fewer cannons.
“Jessen, need more speed,” he said.
“Pushing it 10 percent over the line already, sir.”
“Push it to 15,” Julius said.
“Captain,” Jared interjected. “If we get too far ahead of them, I won’t be able to continue jamming their communications.”
“I know,” Julius said. “Do your best. Let me know when their signals slip through.”
“Aye,” Jared said.
“Sir, I’m not sure I will be able to hold onto the recruit ship if we get hit again,” Jessen said.
“Understood,” Julius said. “Try to keep them out of harm’s way at least.”
The outline of the missiles became sharper as they closed in. Their speed would not allow them to outrun the missiles, but it would allow them to target more of them before impact.
“Entering firing range now,” Ramey said.
“Fire at will,” Julius said.
A pair of bright beams o
f energy flashed behind them, streaming toward the missiles. Two of the missiles exploded from the impact. More cannon fire flashed out, striking another pair of missiles. Ramey frantically operated the weapons control, targeting missile after missile without stopping to look at the explosions.
Julius counted sixteen explosions before a pair managed to slip through and strike the Sea Wolf. The bridge shook hard as each missile struck. Ramey managed to destroy one more missile in between explosions, but another managed to hit them. The ship shook again hard.
Julius glanced at the shield indicators and damage status holograms. The shields buckled a moment, but held steady at 80 percent effectiveness. The display also showed damage to one of the rear cannons. Fortunately, everything else looked nominal and no causalities reported. Out of the twenty missiles fired at them, only three struck. Julius would have to commend Ramey later for such a good job.
“I’ve lost our lock on the recruit ship,” Jessen said.
Julius watched the small ship drift swiftly away behind them aimlessly. Their position put them in between any path of fire from the destroyers.
“Turn us around, Jessen. We need to get a lock them.”
“I’ll try, sir, but we’re going too fast,” Jessen said.
The Sea Wolf’s bridge appeared to vibrate hard from the stress of the sudden change in direction and speed. Julius turned his module around. His view shifted to their rear and he could see enemy fire lancing out toward the recruit ship. An alarm sounded from Jessen and Ramey’s modules.
“What is it?” Julius said.
“The port engine is overheating,” Jessen said. “The computer is going to shut it down.”
“Override it, Jessen.”
“I don’t know how much longer before it blows, sir,” Jessen said, his voice strained.
“Well, then, perhaps we’ll find out,” Julius said. “Override computer safety protocols and maintain speed. We’re going to grab the recruit ship.”
“Yes, sir,” Jessen said.
Julius watched as they closed in on the recruit ship. He turned his module around to observe the destroyers. Oddly, they continued their pursuit yet but did not fire.
“Ramey, are they readying another volley?”
Ramey shook his head. “No, sir. Their firing ports are still empty.”
“I have them, sir,” Jessen said. “I have the recruit ship in tow.”
“Good. Turn us around slowly, flank speed. Pull them into the cargo bay quickly.”
The Sea Wolf took a wide turn as it reversed its direction, towing the recruit ship behind it. Julius looked at the destroyers, but they still did not appear to be firing.
“They’re inside, sir,” Jessen reported after a moment.
“Good. Maintain course. Drop speed down to full.”
Julius could hear the sigh of relief come from Jessen at that order. Julius opened a channel to Garval.
“Garval, good job. Now get your people out of here. We’ll meet you at home base shortly.”
“Are you sure, sir?” Garval said.
“Yes, now go.”
“Aye, sir,” Garval said.
Julius watched the squadron systematically disengage the scouts and make a run for it. The scouts did not even try to stop them as the fighters jumped out.
“Are the recruits out of the ship yet?” Julius said.
“No, sir,” Jared said. “There seems to be a problem trying to get the cargo out of the ship.”
“Cargo? What cargo?” he said.
“I don’t know,” Jared said, shaking his head confused. “They say it’s important. But too heavy to move quickly.”
“I don’t care what they’re carrying, tell them to get the hell out, or we’ll eject the ship with them inside.”
“Wait,” Laina said. “We don’t want to lose the cargo.”
Julius turned his module to face Laina. “You know what this is about, then?”
“Uh… possibly,” Laina said.
“Is it worth a lot?” Julius said.
“Well…” Laina hesitated. “Yes… yes it is.”
“Sir,” Jared interrupted. “I can’t block them anymore; their communications are slipping through.”
Julius knew that the Martian Civic Guardians would likely call in for reinforcements at this point. The Guardians had probably not engaged a capital ship since the war. Julius sighed inwardly. He knew the attention they had garnered today would hurt them later.
“Jared, recruit ship status?” Julius asked.
“Nothing yet, sir,” Jared said. “They’re still trying to get the cargo out. Murdock is down there helping them.”
Julius opened a channel directly to Murdock. “Murdock, what is the delay?”
“It’s heavy,” Murdock’s voice came back.
“What is heavy, Murdock?”
“Not sure… looks like an old cannon,” he said.
Julius could hear the strained sound of grunting on the other end. “Cannon? Proton cannon?” Julius said.
“Uh… no. It’s older… much older.”
“Captain,” Jared interjected. “I’m detecting a new contact jumping in near the destroyers.”
“Identify!”
“It looks like a torpedo cruiser… Martian Confederacy markings,” Ramey said.
“A torpedo cruiser? Out here?” Julius said.
Julius looked at the image of the new ship as it materialized from warp. Martian torpedo cruisers resembled destroyers, except their underbellies were much wider and longer in order to accommodate the torpedo launcher. They had almost no other weaponry. Typically, support destroyers would need to escort them. However, their single weapon was an effective one.
“It’s readying a torpedo,” Ramey said.
Julius sighed. “Murdock, if you can’t get the cannon out, find the transponder and shut it down.”
“Okay,” Murdock said, strain apparent in his voice.
“They’re launching their payload,” Ramey said.
“Increase to flank speed. Stand by with countermeasures.”
A new target reticle appeared over the torpedo. New data appeared near the reticle, indicating its speed and closure rate. The Sea Wolf was outrunning it now, but Julius knew that it would be short-lived. Once the torpedo picked up momentum, little would stop it. His only move would be to engage the gravity amplifiers and make a stellar jump away from the battle.
However, the transponder on the rogue ship would allow the Martian ships to intercept them as soon as they reached their destination. And then they would not be able to make another jump out for another twenty minutes while the capacitors recharged.
The Martian commander was probably aware of their plight, which was why he would not call in the reinforcements until after they jumped. In this way, he could call them in directly to their destination jump point.
“I don’t remember us ever tangling with one of those,” Laina said. “Can’t we just shoot the torpedo down? Like we do missiles?”
“I haven’t seen one of these since the war,” Julius said. “Torpedoes have heavy shielding against cannons. You can’t shoot them down. We’ll have to jump out in order to evade it. Jessen, plot a jump course to home base. Stand by for stellar jump on my order.”
“Aye, sir,” Jessen said.
“Ramey, time to impact?” Julius said.
“Predictive plotting shows three minutes and thirty-five seconds before it is close enough for a direct kill hit,” Ramey said. “And three minutes and twenty seconds before it can be preemptively detonated.”
Julius opened the channel to Murdock.
“You have two minutes to kill the transponder, or you have to eject the ship.”
“Yes, Captain. Will advise,” Murdock said.
Julius watched the rear display of the incoming torpedo. The torpedo cruiser dropped its pursuit, but two of the destroyers and the scouts continued to follow. One of the destroyers
, Target A, seemed to come to a stop behind the others.
“Sir,” Jessen said. “I’m detecting a gravity field around Target A. It’s about to jump.”
That’s odd, Julius thought. Why would they be jumping out, unless…
“Jessen, scan ahead of us for gravity distortions!” Julius said.
Julius whirled his module to face forward. The holographic display showed a computer-generated overlay of the area ahead. In the overlay, a fuzzy outline began to take form.
“Affirmative, sir,” Jessen said. “The destroyer is about to warp two-hundred and thirty kilometers ahead of our current position.”
“Why would he do that?” Laina said.
“He’s trying to be cute,” Julius snarled. “He thinks he can surprise us and slow us down for the torpedo.”
“Shall I alter course, sir?” Jessen said.
“No. Maintain course,” Julius said. “Ramey, prepare to fire a full volley of missiles and cannons at that position. Fire the moment they appear.”
“With pleasure sir,” Ramey said.
“Is that really necessary?” Laina said.
Julius circled his module halfway to face Laina. “Necessary?” Julius repeated.
“You know the Confed isn’t as bad as the UEP,” Laina said. “We shouldn’t upset them.”
“Really?” Julius scoffed, turning his module away to face ahead. “The same corporate trash owns them and their government.”
“Julius, one day we will have to divide up the plunder and live our lives somewhere,” Laina said, “and I think we both know it won’t be a UEP world.”
“Wishful thinking, Laina,” Julius said. “And we don’t have time to talk about this.”
“Fine!” Laina growled.
“Very well!” Julius said. “Ramey, shoot some warning shots at their projected position now. That should be enough to deter their jump.”
“As you wish, sir,” Ramey said, disappointment evident in his voice.
The space ahead of them showed the computer overlay of the destroyer’s expected position. The overlay grew larger with each passing second as they closed in.
Julius watched in anticipation, knowing that Ramey would be firing any second. A few more seconds passed with nothing happening. Julius was about to repeat the order to Ramey when the flickers ahead signaled the release of a volley of cannon fire.
The burst of accelerated protons shot forward from the Sea Wolf toward the destroyer’s jump position. The lances of energy converged toward the empty space ahead. Julius could detect the hint of an outline of the destroyer materializing. As it began to fizzle into appearance, it quickly dematerialized, replaced by the empty space again. Undoubtedly, the support ships warned the destroyer as it was about to complete its jump, and it aborted at the last second. He knew Ramey deliberately hesitated, hoping the cannon fire would catch it quick enough to scratch it.
“They aborted their stellar jump, sir,” Ramey said, somewhat smugly.
“Obviously, Lieutenant,” Julius said, a clear air of authority in his voice. “Hesitate like that again and I will see to it that you are moved into a non-combat position with not so much as a porthole view of any action. Understood?”
Ramey squirmed in his chair, his gaze lowering with a frown. “Yes, sir.”
There was a beep on Julius’ module. He acknowledged the signal.
“Captain,” Murdock’s voice spoke. “I think we shut that transponder off. We should be able to jump now.”
“Think? Are you certain of it or not?”
“Well, we couldn’t find the transponder. So, we surrounded the ship with an EMP field, not so much as a diode can light up on it. It must be dead.”
“Very well,” Julius said.
“One minute till torpedo impact, sir,” Ramey said.
“Jessen, initiate stellar jump,” Julius said.
“Aye, sir,” Jessen said.
Julius could hear the low rumble from the gravity generators. A moment later, he felt a strange sensation over his skin-- like electricity tickling him all over. The experience gave him a brief flashback to his dream with the nano-cloud. It reminded him of the electrical effect he felt when its presence was near him. He felt his hairs stand on end at the memory, not knowing whether it was from the jump or his imagination.
“Beam convergence initiated,” Jessen said, his voice sounding somewhat warbled.
Julius looked around and could see the lighting on the bridge blur and then darken. He knew the gravity amplifiers were now converged to their destination in the asteroids. The gravity beams would now pull their destination across time and space to the Sea Wolf.
His vision now darkened completely and he could see nothing. For an instant, he felt almost out of body as the ship traversed across the galaxy, thousands of parsecs, without the slightest passage in time.
The darkness brightened and the bridge came into plain view. The rumble of the reactors subsided. The only sounds he could hear were the breathing of the bridge crew and an occasional beep from instrumentation.
“Stellar jump complete.” Jessen’s voice broke the silence.
“Situation report,” Julius said.
Ramey looked down at his module’s instruments before speaking.
“No enemy contacts,” Ramey said. “I am showing Wolf Squadron loitering off our port bow.”
“Main systems are intact,” Jessen reported. “But I do show some damage to the port engine, sir. We pushed the engines too hard for too long.”
“What about the starboard engine?” Julius said.
“It checks fine. But we won’t be able to get past half speed on one engine.”
“Shouldn’t be necessary,” Julius said. “Not a whole lot of high-speed maneuvering we could do in here anyway.”
Julius waited, watching the bridge holographic displays to detect any hint of their pursuers. After several minutes passed, he gave the order to stand down from battle alert, and then ordered Wolf Squadron to land.
“Cheated death again it seems,” Laina said to no one in particular.
Julius stood up from his module and headed to the elevator.
“Where you going?” Laina said as she followed him.
“To the landing bay. I want to see what it is we went through so much trouble to protect.”
“I’m going with you,” Laina said, stepping into the elevator with him.