Dreaming of Atmosphere (11 page)

13.

The day after Mal found the third bomb we had trouble once more. I’d mentioned before that there were several different ways to conduct combat in space. When a ship was underway, and travelling at great speeds, there was really only one way to try and take out another ship. When ships were entering the final stages of braking before reaching their destinations they were vulnerable to another type of combat – drone warfare. Why risk your ship when you can have a remote controlled craft do it for you.

The idea was that when you knew a ship was going to be at low speed and within the vicinity, you could leave a squadron of combat drones and program them to disable a target. They’re small, fast and extremely hard to shoot down with conventional ship weaponry. The best way to deal with a drone attack is to launch drones of your own and let them mete it out. The Dreaming ran into a cloud of these bastards, as they were lying in wait for us with minimal power. Going dark is a sure way to avoid being detected by ship sensors, as they will most often be classified as a navigational hazard and minute adjustments to our course can compensate for it. When a swarm of them powered up at close range and began an attack run, a ship-wide alert sounded.

I was second person to get to the command module, and Hergo was giving Crege a hand over on what he saw – which wasn’t much – before he dashed off in a hurry to get to his station below deck. Max was close behind me and busied ourselves hurriedly configuring our consoles for combat.

“Drones,” hissed Crege as he took the Dreaming through a neck bending series of turns, “Cowards weapon.”

“I’m here.” Came Fell as he crashed into his seat, barely managing to strap himself in before Crege took us through another bend.

“Status!” barked Max.

“Shields at full power, nine fast contacts dead ahead. Time to intercept forty seven seconds!”

“Crege! Give us five gee’s of acceleration and head north seventy five degrees!”

“Aye aye,
kitrak!
”

“All hands, brace for impact!”

I’m not on station! Help!
Came a frantic text from Zoe.

Where are you?

Mess deck!

I checked my console and pinged the closest person to her.

Artemis. I need you to unbuckle and go get Zoe, she’s in the mess hall. You have thirty seconds. Acknowledge.

onit luverboi

I blinked. Did I mention I was slow around women?

“Seth, deploy interceptors, on my mark!”

“Roger, drone controls online. Link up paired.”

“Deploy!” I activated the drone control link and the ship jettisoned several defensive drones we use just for this purpose.

Seth! Artemis has me!

Yeah just get into your cabin and lock yourself down in your bunk.

My overlay showed me several screens that contained visual and sensor data from the inteceptors. These drones were different to the ones that were attacking us. Offensive drones need stealth to be successful, and strong weapons. Defensive drones needed good sensors, and point defence weaponry. I initiated a wide defensive screen formation, giving overlapping fields of fire and making sure none of the offensive drones could pass by without coming into range of the interceptors.

What about my station?
Zoe was talking about the med lab.

Don’t worry about it, just secure yourself down. Hurry!

Z secured. We’re snuggling.

Thanks, Art.
What, I had a nickname for her now? I berated myself internally.

The drones passed the interceptors and sensors picked up several successful hits. My drones gave chase as the remaining drones made their attack run on the Dreaming.

“Six contacts survived! Weapons fire detected!” called Fel

The Dreaming shuddered and I could hear a staccato of loud pops as the drones opened fire.

“Shields down! Breach detected forward cargo hold deck.”

“Damage control teams to forward cargo. Breach detected.” Commanded Max over the PA.

“Interceptors engaging contacts!” I ordered my drones into a wedge formation and dove them into the dispersing cloud of attackers. At the last minute I split them into two groups to try and drive them apart. If any survived they’ll be forced to spread their attacks across different vectors and won’t be able to concentrate their fire on a single section.

“Detonations detected!  Four contacts survived!”

“Drone signatures detected at red three zero, sixty degrees south!”

“More of them?” asked Max through clenched teeth. G forces were taking their toll on our bodies. “How long til intercept?”

“Fifty nine seconds!”

One of my drone feeds went black as the enemy drones fought back. The initial drone swarm was a distraction to get our interceptors out of the way. Now the main attack was to begin.

“Separation of drone signature. Reading ten contacts!” called Fel.

Shit,
I thought,
ten more drones!
Things were not looking good. I only had five more interceptors, and they were all tied up taking apart the four remaining drones from the initial assault. I had an idea.

“Crege, take us around and come in at green one two seven on the level!”

“Near our drones?”

“Yes!”

“What are you thinking, Seth?” asked Max.

“At the last minute I’ll disengage the interceptors and have them screen the Dreaming. The drones should all bunch up when they’re not dogfighting my interceptors, and they should even join the new swarm. I’ll charge the Beamer and see if we can score some cheap shots.”

“Do it!”

“Beamer charging. Won’t have time for a full charge shot, but doesn’t need to be max power to take these out.”

Crege swung the ship around and headed for the drone dogfight I had my interceptors in. Another enemy drone was taken out by me, but so was one of the interceptors. I had four more left to take three plus a new swarm of ten.

“Captain, one of the enemy contacts is operating with a different signature than the other drones. I believe it may be a ship, small but not a drone.” Said Fel.

“Prioritise attacks on the incoming drones, we’ll worry about the mystery ship once we deal with these bastards.”

“Aye, Captain!”

“
Calak
ahead!” called Crege, as we entered the first wave of drones. One more of the drones was destroyed by the interceptors before I ordered them to break away and form another screen. Crege swung us around and manage to clip one of the enemy drones, sending it tumbling out of control.

“Drones engaging! Beamer tracking under manual control!” I took control of the beamer and swept it in the direction of the oncoming swarm as the Dreaming corkscrewed into a tight turn. The G forces were immense. I hear Fel whimper behind me. When I saw the interceptors engage the drones, I fired the beamer and lanced it into the enemy swarm.

“Fel! Drone status?” I called, when there was no reply Max looked behind her.

“He’s out, I’m seeing spots. Crege, level us out, fast! We’re losing consciousness!”

Crege stopped his mad spin and straightened the ship out. My head stopped spinning and blood started flowing properly again. I heard Fel stirring. Max tapped some commands on her console and quickly reconfigured her station.

“Good shot! We took out five of the drones. Five left.” She reported.

“Interceptors engaging.”

“Weapons fire detected! All hands brace!”

Once more the ship was wracked with hits from the enemy drones.

“Hull breaches detected Deck 2, main spaces!” Max called.

Seth! Artemis is hurt! There’s air hissing through the bulkheads!

“Zoe has injured. She on the scene but there’s a hull breach near her.”

“Damage control teams! New priority, Deck 2 hull breach main living spaces! Engineering, seal all hatches to forward cargo once Hergo and Denno report they’re clear!”

“Aya aye, Captain!”

Stay calm, Zoe. Can you see a canister of polycrete foam? Should be near the fire extinguisher.

Yeah I already used it, the leaks have stopped, but Artemis is in bad shape. Shrapnel went into her and didn’t exit. She’s bleeding out.

A coldness seeped into my gut. If she dies…boom, the charges go off and we’re dead meat.

“I’m okay. Sorry, Captain.” Said Fel in a groggy voice.

“Systems are yours, Fel. No harm done.”

The enemy drones had scattered, and I couldn’t use the beamer again for a few minutes anyway. My interceptors were keeping up with the drones, however and starting to take them apart.

“Enemy contact moving to intercept. High G thrust! Time to intercept eleven seconds!” That was fast! They must have been pulling close to ten gee’s. That kind of acceleration is nearly fatal to living beings. Then my time in the military paid off.

“They’re boarding pods! Synthetic assault team!” I called.

“All hands brace for impact!”

Synthetics were common parlance for robots. They were used in all manner of tasks throughout the galaxy, from manual labour to security and military applications. They were cheap, didn’t complain about conditions, and could be used in hostile environments. They were not the smartest workers, however, and usually required some kind of supervision. These would be one of the several military synthetic models that were in circulation. I’d fought against them before and despite their lack of sophisticated tactics, where effective troops. No one likes to fight against a foe that never gives up, never surrenders and never retreats. They fight to the last, unless their controller recalls them.

An almighty crash sounded throughout the ship as the boarding pod collided with ours. Boarding pods are nothing more than an engine with a small compartment attached to the front. Magnetic clamps secure the pod to enemy ships, and plasma cutters sheer through the hull plating granting access to the ship.

“Hull breach detected Deck 2 main living spaces!”

“Seth, pass drone control to Fel. Crege, get out I’ll pilot. You two go deal with our boarders.”

“Yes, ma’am!” I called as I bounded out of my seat and punched open a locker near the hatch to the command module. I reached inside and retrieved a sword and a T-43 blaster. The T-43 wasn’t as accurate at the PX-2, my weapon of choice, but it packs a heavier punch. It also chews through batteries faster. I grabbed a brace of batteries and stuffed them into my pockets while securing the T-43 into my leg holster. I debated a quick stop at my cabin to grab my ablative coat, but Crege flew down the ladder well to Deck 2 without waiting to see if I was following and thought better of it.

Deck 2 was a mess. A high pitched whistling sound and a stiff breeze told us there was air escaping, and the mess deck was a shambles. The mess deck was a circular affair, with several passages spreading fore and after from the mess deck that lead into the cabins. The port side bulkhead was ablaze with plasma and molten metal as the boarding pod was almost done with the cutting. Crege and I kicked over a table and hastily made some cover. We glanced at each other just before the bulkhead went crashing down, mentally checking ourselves for the coming fight. As the first synthetic stepped through the opening, we opened fire.

Our efforts were met with bright flashes of shield hits and Crege swore. Our barrage of shots managed to overload the first synthetic’s shield and the next few bolts smashed it into scrap metal. The rest of the robots poured in while we were taking down the sacrificial synthetic. The enemy was humanoid in shape, smaller than a normal human, but in place of legs were four spindly appendages that were used to navigate terrain. They hand two arms, one ending in an energy weapon, the other a grasping hand with an opposable digit. They had triangular heads, three camera mounts but no audio speakers.

The synthetics quickly spread out across the mess deck. Some went for cover while the five attempted to push us back. We concentrated fire on the one after the other, taking several shots to drop each shield. All up I countered a dozen of the robots, including the first one we’d taken down. We dropped three of the oncoming quintet but two broke into our ranks and we were forced to drop back and use our swords. The others in cover started to hop over their barricades and advance. Crege and I quickly fell back to the ladder well to the lower decks. If we could lure them away from the command module that should buy us some time.

We almost started down the ladder well when we saw Denno or Hergo coming up it.

“Down!” I called. “Are you armed?”

“Thudgunz!” came the hissing reply. Good, they’d rushed to the armoury before coming up. They must have been on their way to the mess deck to help Zoe when the impact had been called. Thudguns were the energy equivalent of a black powder shotgun. They fired short, wide bursts of gravitational energy. The effect is quite dramatic, literally pounding the crap out of whatever gets hit with the shock wave. The perfect weapon for repelling boarders. 

“Fall back, we’re coming down. When we’re clear let them have it!”

The Argen backed down the ladder well and moved behind a supply crate. The two synthetics that rushed us leapt over the overturned tables we’d used as cover and we quickly moved to engage them in melee. I ducked inside a synthetic’s shield bubble and smashed my blade down on its weapon arm, tearing it free of the body. Crege’s
lurzak
flashed a brilliant blast of electrical energy and dispatched his foe in one savage chop. I ducked under my synthetic’s feeble attempt to grab me and I kicked it towards Crege who spun and smashed him blade into the robot’s torso. The burst of energy caused the synthetic to nearly explode. We quickly hit the deck as blaster shots peppered around us. I peered over the table and saw several more synthetics exit the drop pod and join the others, who began to advance in earnest now that we were not firing at them. We dashed down the ladder well and ran to where the two Argen were crouched down. When three of the synthetics were on the ladder, the two Argen let loose with their Thudguns. The effect was gratifying. Bits of synthetic were raining down all over the ladder well and the cargo hold below.