Far From Home: The Complete Second Series (Far From Home 13-15) (21 page)

"What're you thinking about?" Greene asked her.

"I'm considering time travel."

Banks turned
around. "Excuse me Captain, but . . . what?"

Jessica smiled. "I've not lost my mind, if that's what you're thinking. I'm wondering if there will be a time dilation effect when you draw near to the pulsars. A delay."

"Perhaps," Chang said.

"Just humour me for a moment. Say, for instance, Cessqa watches us fly close. Will what she's seeing be moments behind where we actually are?" Jessica asked.

"It's plausible. I'd have to run it through the computer, see exactly what the effect would be on an observer, but in theory, it works."

"Do that now. Let me know," King said.

"So what's the plan?" Greene asked.

Jessica shrugged, as though it were nothing. "A simple matter of going back to the future, Del."

14.

With her sensors seriously degraded by the radiation in the Formation, the
Defiant
could barely detect what was in front of her, let alone the position of the pulsars themselves. However, with Chang's help, Banks was able to locate one of the more powerful pulsars.

"Change course to suit," King said. "Fast as you dare."

"Aye Captain," Banks said.

The
Defiant
turned, the mounds of thick grey nebula outside rushing to the left of the viewscreen as Banks changed vector to match their new coordinates.

"Any sign of the
Jandala
?" Greene asked.

Chang shook her head. "No
t certain. But I am detecting a very weak energy signal, in line with what I've monitored before from her. It could be the engine exhaust of the
Jandala
."

"Give Jackson that bearing," King ordered. She turned to the weapons officer. "Lieutenant, fire two warheads in that direction. Detonate after one hundred thousand kilometres."

She turned to Commander Greene. "See if that gets their attention."

"Locked in, Captain," Jackson said.

"Do it."

He fired the warheads. They disappeared from view in seconds, lost among the dense materials outside. "Detonation in five
. . . four . . . three . . . two . . .
one!
"

There were two bright
, simultaneous flashes as the warheads reached the parameters of their command lines.

"Any change in the position of the energy reading?" Jessica asked Chang.

The Commander's brow furrowed as she studied her readouts. "Yes. I believe they're turning to investigate."

"Fire one more, Jackson. Directly astern, one hundred thousand kilometres."

"Aye," Jackson said and fired another warhead. Within seconds he had blown it to smithereens.

Chang looked up. "They're increasing speed."

*

"This could be a trap," Gelvin said.

"More than likely," Cessqa agreed. "I'd be disappointed if it were not."

The
Jandala
broke through the region of charged plasma, just created by the explosion of the two warheads. A flash of light erupted directly ahead of them.

"Keep going," she ordered.

"This is meant to entice us in, make us come straight for them," Gelvin warned her, concern in his voice.

"And it's working brilliantly," Cessqa said. She shifted on her feet, ready for the first glimpse of the
Defiant
.

*

"Approaching the pulsar," Banks said.

"Chang, d'you have those numbers yet?" King asked.

The Commander nodded. "I'm putting it through to the helm now. I've allowed for some wiggle room when it comes to the point of no return."

Banks looked down. "Yeah I see it now."

"Thank you Commander. And you think we should be able to use a short Jump Drive burst?" Jessica asked.

"According to the computer, a short burst should be fine," Chang said. "Considering we're not in the thick of things. The nebula thins out close to the pulsars."

"There's a lot of conjecture," Greene said, worried. "We've got no guarantee this will work."

The pulsar loomed into view. The curtain of grey mist rolled back, and there it was
: a strobing ball of light, painful to look at because it was so bright.

"Applying the screen," Banks said. Immediately a dull filter overlaid the viewscreen, softening the effect of the pulsar's frantic flickering.

"That's better," King said. "Spool the Jump Drive. Get ready for a short burst, as far as the terminator."

"Aye," Banks said.

"
Jandala
approaching fast," Chang said.

King looked at Lieutenant Jackson. "Give them a few licks, Lieutenant."

"Yes Ma'am," Jackson said. He turned the
Defiant
's guns to aim at the
Jandala
, where it emerged from the dense cloud formations that gave the stellar anomaly its name. Quick bursts of fire flew at their
Jandala
's energy shield, sparkling in hot yellow explosions where the projectiles struck.

"Jump Drive ready," Banks said.

"Punch it," Jessica ordered.

The
Defiant
lurched forward and the pulsar seemed to go from being a dangerous light at a comfortable distance to a terrifying nightmare that filled the entire viewscreen. Banks wrestled with the
Defiant
to get her to turn away from it, to escape its clutches.

"Jump back," she ordered through gritted teeth. New alarms sounded as the
Defiant
's hull screamed from the exertion of both the pulsar and her own engines. But she did turn.

Banks threw her into Jump again. To the
Jandala
, she wouldn't have even Jumped away yet.

The Namarian ship just sat there in front of them, as if it didn't detect their presence. They were moments ahead of the game.

"FIRE!!!"
Jessica yelled.

15.

Cessqa looked disbelievingly as the
Defiant
appeared off their starboard bow, then watched as the more distant
Defiant
sped ahead, toward the pulsar.

"Bring us about!" she ordered Gelvin, but it was too late.

The
Defiant
let loose everything she had, and at such close proximity, the result was devastating. The
Jandala
felt every hit as her shields buckled under the barrage of firepower. Gelvin tried in vain to get the
Jandala
out of range. The pointed ship turned, headed back for the cover of the nebula but the
Defiant
pursued. The humans' bombardment of them was unrelenting.

"Cessqa our shields are failing!" Gelvin said, disbelief in his voice.

If they were here I would crush their skulls with my bare hands!
Cessqa thought.
I would stamp their brains into the floor!

She contacted Risa below
decks. "Launch the hornets."

"Yes Cessqa. It will be done."

"Are we damaged?"

"Not yet. But our shield weakens. Almost to the point of total failure."

"Understood, Risa."

Cessqa monitored the holodisplay before her and watched as the hornets left the confines of the
Jandala
. The hornets were spherical creatures, their bodies formed to the exoskeleton of their own, thin hulls. Much like a woodlouse when it rolls into a defensive posture. The hornets had propulsion, weapons, sensor capabilities.

They swarmed from the
Jandala
and she gave them the necessary directional support, aiming directly for the
Defiant
.

*

The devices spilled out of openings along the
Jandala
's hull, like ball bearings, then formed into groups.

"I don't like the look of this
. . ." Greene said, standing to watch the viewscreen. As if on cue, the spheres headed straight for the
Defiant
and started to fire.

"All batteries, fire. Don't let any of them through."

"Aye Captain," Jackson said. The
Defiant
's artillery criss-crossed before them, cutting their path toward the beleaguered Union vessel. They exploded on impact, not built to withstand much in the way of enemy firepower. But it didn't stop a dozen or so from slipping through. They careened over the hull of the
Defiant
, strafing her with bursts of energy weapons that weakened the plating in multiple locations. It all happened so fast, Jackson barely had time to react.

"Hull plating is weakening considerably," Chang said, worried. "By taking smaller shots at us, but spread out all over the outside of the ship, the plating is having a hard time adapting."

Defiant
shook and shuddered around her. Jessica called over to Ensign Rayne.

"Get me Dollar!" she said as a pipe burst overhead, filling the bridge with steam. "Get him on the line!"

*

"Cessqa we must withdraw! Our defences weaken considerably. Any more, and
. . ."

Risa's voice trailed off. The implication of what was about to happen was enough. As
if to emphasise her point, the
Jandala
suffered a pounding from the
Defiant
's weapons.

I have underestimated them,
Cessqa thought.
They are warriors.

"Continue the assault," she told Risa. "Do what you can to keep the energy shielding from fracturing."

"But, the radiation . . ."

"You have your orders," Cessqa snapped. She closed the channel and focused her energies on the hornets.

*

Just as the woman tasked with keeping the
Jandala
together contacted Cessqa, Chief Gunn buzzed the bridge to speak with her own Captain.

"Yes Chief," Jessica said curtly. The hornets battered them from all sides, the guns struggling to keep up.

"They're tearing us apart, Captain,"
Gunn said.

"I know that. Chief, believe me, I'm working on it."

Bright flashes went off around them as the
Defiant
's batteries landed their targets, destroying one after the other in one swoop.

"Yes!" Jackson cried.

"Luck, Lieutenant," Greene said. "Concentrate. Don't get cocky."

"Yes sir."

Jessica gripped the sides of her chair. It felt like the
Defiant
would literally break apart around her. As if the drone's weapons would cut the great ship into little chunks.

Come on Dollar
.

*

Eisenhower slapped the back end of the
Dragonfly
. He saw Dollar raise a gloved hand in response from within the cockpit, then he got to the other side of the blast door. It slid down, sealed. The atmosphere bled from the hangar within seconds, before the great doors opened to reveal the crazy roiling colours of the Mobius Formation beyond.

"Good luck, kid," Eisenhower said under his breath as he watched the
Dragonfly
lift off of the hangar deck. It's engines glowed white hot. Dollar piloted it with ease through the opening.

*

He rounded the edge of the
Defiant
, throwing the
Dragonfly
into full thrust as he came up and over her topside. The hornets swarmed left to right, relentlessly attacking the
Defiant
.

"Okay baby, let's see what ya got," he said to himself more than anything.

The fighter roared beneath him. He closed in on the nearest group and let loose his cannons. Dollar grinned with satisfaction as they burst on impact.

"We’re monitoring your life signs,"
a voice from the
Defiant
said in his ear.

"Y
ep," he said flippantly. "Gotchya."

"If the radiation levels get too high, you need to return to the Defiant immediately,"
the voice continued.

Dollar swung the
Dragonfly
about, firing the cannons in a wide arc that destroyed an impressive number of hornets. "What're ya, my mother? Lemme work here!"

A small group of hornets made straight for him, their attention now on the tiny ship effectively destroying them than the larger one struggling to.

He took the
Dragonfly
down, full thrust, a deep dive that had the hornets veering off to follow. He grimaced from the effort as he pitched the
Dragonfly
back up, performing a barrel roll while firing at the same time.

The hornets blew one after the other,
Bang! Bang! Bang!
and he tore through the resultant fire and debris. It popped and fizzed off the
Dragonfly
's hull.

"Yeehaaaaa!" he cried, never more so in his element than when he was pulling crazy manoeuvres. "Come on!"