Frontiers Saga 10: Liberation (33 page)

“Comms, message to Jung command. Message reads, ‘Time’s up. My turn.’”

“Find me a target, Mister Randeen,” Nathan stated calmly.

“Nearest target is a frigate, designated as contact one. She’s coming around the near side, counter orbit. Range: three hundred thirty-eight thousand and closing.”

“Message sent,” Naralena reported.

“Any response?”

“Were you expecting one?”

Nathan smiled. It wasn’t often that his comm officer displayed her sarcastic nature, and he knew she was doing so for his benefit.

“We’ve been swept,” Mister Navashee reported. “She sees us. Contact one is breaking her orbit and turning toward us.”

“Helm, come to port one hundred twenty degrees and maintain current speed.”

“Turning one-twenty to port and maintaining speed,” Mister Riley acknowledged as he started his turn.

“New jump. Put us abeam of that frigate, two light minutes out so she doesn’t have time to see where we’re coming from.”

“Aye, sir,” the navigator responded.

“We’ll be firing a full spread, Mister Randeen,” Nathan explained. “Missiles, then nukes, then plasma. Pound them with the quads as we pass under her, then hit them with the stern tubes from the other side just before we jump.”

“Isn’t that overkill for a frigate, sir?” Mister Randeen questioned.

“Let’s just say I’m sending another message to General Bacca.”

“Yes, sir,” Mister Randeen answered, his own smile forming.

“Turn complete,” Mister Chiles reported.

“Jump plotted and ready,” Mister Riley added.

“Jump.”

“Jumping in three……two……one……jump.”

Nathan closed his eyes again, opening them after the jump flash had subsided.

“Hard to starboard, Mister Chiles,”

“Hard to starboard, aye.”

“Plotting attack jump,” Mister Riley announced.

“I’ll need at least fifty kilometers at our current speed,” Mister Randeen told the Aurora’s navigator.

“You got it,” Mister Riley answered.

“Turn complete,” the helmsman answered.

“Jump plotted and ready.”

“Jump,” Nathan ordered.

“Jumping in three……two……one……jump.”

This time, Nathan’s eyes remained open, his gaze fixed on the view screen ahead of him and his concentration steadfast, the same as his resolve. The jump flash came and went, and he did not so much as blink.

“Jump complete,” Mister Riley reported.

“Contact one! Dead ahead! Fifty meters and closing!”

“Fire.” Nathan’s voice was calm, his emotions cold and even.

“Missiles away!” Mister Randeen reported.

Nathan looked up without tilting his head as the missiles streaked away across the top of the view screen, headed toward the distant target that they could not yet see.

“Firing tubes two and four!” Mister Randeen added. “Torpedoes away. Time on target is ten seconds.”

Nathan held up his right hand, telling his tactical officer to wait a moment.

“She’s firing point-defenses,” Mister Randeen reported as he waited for his captain’s order to fire.

Nathan watched the forward view screen for several seconds. Then he saw it, a small dot in the center, barely visible.

“One missile down,” Mister Randeen reported.

The dot grew rapidly in size until it took on an oblong shape and began to show wide, red stripes that wrapped around its long, dark-gray hull. What was only a small dot a moment ago now filled half the forward view screen and was getting larger.

“Two missiles down,” Mister Randeen reported.

Nathan extended one finger on his right hand and pointed forward.

“Firing plasma torpedoes,” Mister Randeen reported.

Nathan kept his eyes straight ahead as the two red bolts of plasma energy traversed the diminishing distance between the two ships in the blink of an eye. The bolts of energy struck the frigate’s starboard shields, causing them to glow an intense reddish orange.

“Direct hits,” Mister Randeen reported.

“Her shields are buckling,” Mister Navashee added.

Two blinding flashes of white light engulfed the frigate, blocking their view and flooding the bridge with brilliance. The frigate was now too big to fit in the view screen and was about to move over them.

“Her shields are gone!” Mister Navashee reported with controlled exuberance.

Two more yellow-orange explosions erupted against the frigate’s starboard side as the Aurora dove under her.

“Direct hits!” Mister Navashee reported, this time unable to control his excitement. “Multiple secondaries!”

“She’s firing her rail guns,” Mister Randeen reported.

The bridge began to shake. The frigate’s rail guns pounded at the Aurora’s topside as she passed under the target.

“Stand by to fire tubes five and six,” Nathan ordered.

“Five and six are ready,” Mister Randeen acknowledged.

“She’s breaking in two!” Mister Navashee announced.

“Captain, shall we cancel the…”

“Fire five and six,” Nathan interrupted.

“Firing five and six,” his tactical officer answered. “Five and six away. Five seconds.”

“Helm, hard to starboard, forty-five degrees. Pitch down ten.

“Direct hits,” Mister Randeen announced.

“New jump, three light minutes, as soon as we finish our turn.”

“Target destroyed,” Mister Randeen reported.

“Contact!” Mister Navashee reported. “It’s the battleship, sir! She’s coming over the horizon counter orbit at full power. She’s locking her forward missile launchers on us.”

“Time to turn?” Nathan asked.

“Ten seconds,” Mister Chiles answered.

“More contacts!” Mister Navashee reported. “Eight inbound missiles! Impact in thirty seconds.”

“Jump plotted and ready,” Mister Riley reported.

“Message from Jung command, General Bacca,” Naralena announced. “Message reads, ‘
Poor choice, Captain. My turn.
’”

“The battleship is firing again.”

Nathan looked at his sensor operator out of the corner of his eye, barely turning his head. “At us?”

“No, sir! At the surface!”

“Target?”

“Two targets:” Mister Navashee reported, “mid-African continent and the east coast of South America!”

“Twenty seconds!” Mister Randeen reminded the captain.

“They’re nukes, sir,” Mister Navashee added, his tone subdued.

Nathan stood. “What?”

“Impact! Port Gentil!” Mister Navashee reported. “Oh my God.” He watched his display, then called out, “Second impact! Cape Town!” Mister Navashee turned to face the captain. “They’re both gone, sir.”

“Captain,” Mister Randeen urged. “The missiles!”

“Jump,” Nathan ordered.

“Jumping,” Mister Riley responded, eschewing the usual three second countdown.

Nathan turned forward as the jump flash washed over them.

“Jump complete.”

“That bastard,” Nathan muttered. “It’s like a game to him. He’s using them as pawns… millions and millions of pawns.”

* * *

“Jump complete!” Loki groaned as he was thrown forward by the Falcon’s sudden impact with the Earth’s atmosphere. He readjusted himself as the initial shock subsided. The sudden change in conditions was always drastic—from the calm, smooth ride in space to the jarring, bouncy ride in an atmosphere. This time, it was even more severe, as they had come in faster than usual.

“Range to crash site?”
Josh asked.

“Two hundred kilometers to starboard. We’re headed south right now.”

“Threat board?”

“The fighters are still there,” Loki said. “I count sixteen total: eight high, eight low. Still no shuttles to speak of.”

“Have they picked us up?”

“Not yet… Wait. The top eight are turning toward us. They’re accelerating.”

“That’s it; come to Papa,”
Josh mumbled.
“What about the eight low?”

“Four are climbing but holding position. The other four are still circling the search area at low altitude.”

“No problem,”
Josh said.
“We can blow right past them.”

“They’re definitely on an intercept course,” Loki said. “They’ll be in weapons range in thirty seconds.”

“You got the jump ready?”

“Plotted and locked in,” Loki answered. “Twenty seconds.”

“Turning toward them,”
Josh announced as he rolled the Falcon onto her right side and pulled the nose over to turn. A moment later, he snapped the ship level again.

“Ten seconds,” Loki said. “Jumping in three…”

“Wait!”
Josh interrupted.
“Not yet! Let them waste some missiles first!”

“Okay.” Loki looked at his threat display. “They’re firing! Four inbound! Ten seconds!”

“Pitching up,”
Josh said.
“Now you can jump.”

“Jumping!”

Josh watched as his visor become opaque to protect his eyes against the jump flash. A second later, his visor was clear again.

“Jump complete!” Loki announced.

“Dropping to the deck!”
Josh called as he put the Falcon into a steep dive and pulled his throttles back to minimal power. The ship’s nose went down sharply, diving toward the moonlit forest below.

“Five thousand meters!” Loki announced. “Three thousand…two thousand…one thousand.”

Josh slowly pulled the nose level, bringing his throttles up to ten percent as the Falcon leveled off just above the treetops.
“Skimming the treetops!”
he announced.

“Four bandits turning toward us!” Loki announced.

“Send the message!”
Josh reminded him.

“Nash, Falcon! In the blind! Deep down, eyes shut, ears up, saw wood! Do you copy?” Loki looked down at the threat board. “They’re moving in to fire!”

“Going to full power!”
Josh announced as he slammed the throttles all the way forward.

Loki was pushed back in his flight seat as he keyed his mic again. “Nash, Falcon! Do you copy?”

“Deep down, eyes shut, ears up, saw wood!”
Jessica’s voice called over the comms. Loki could hear the tension in her voice and the sound of her weapon firing in rapid succession. He looked at the threat display. “They’re firing! Five seconds! Pitch up!”

“Pitching up!”
Josh replied as he pulled the nose up gently.

“Jumping!” Loki’s visor went opaque momentarily, obscuring his vision for a second. “Jump complete!” he announced as the ship suddenly stopped bouncing.

Josh pulled back on his throttles.
“Worked like a charm,”
he bragged.

“Did you hear the weapons fire in the background?” Loki said. “She’s in a firefight.”

“Who isn’t?”
Josh said.

* * *

“Mister Navashee!” Nathan called, anger in his voice. “Do we have a clear jump line to the battleship?”

“Yes, sir,” Mister Navashee answered from the sensor station.

“Helm, come about to port. Put us on course for that battleship.”

“Coming to port, aye,” Mister Chiles answered from the helm.

“Captain, recommend engaging the cruiser first, sir,” Mister Randeen said. “She’s already damaged from our previous encounter, and she’s currently too far from the battleship to receive fire support. If she moves closer, not only will we be unable to attack her, but she’ll be able to provide fire support for the battleship as well.”

Nathan took a deep breath, realizing that his emotions had gotten the better of him. “You’re right, Mister Randeen.” Nathan stepped forward and bent over, looking at the navigation display on the center console between his helmsman and navigator. “New course,” he said, pointing at the display. “We want to jump here, directly astern of the cruiser and one light minute out. Then we’ll turn and accelerate so we’re going just a little faster than the target. That way, we won’t blow past her faster than we can shoot. Then we jump in directly behind her, as close as you can and still translate down enough to pass under her, and start our attack run.”

“We’ll receive a pounding as we pass,” Mister Randeen reminded his captain.

“We’ll roll over before we pass under them, show them our belly. We should survive the pass, and that will give us time to recharge the plasma torpedoes so we can fire another spread at her stern.”

“So I’ll be flipping us over as we pass?” the helmsman wondered. “That means we’ll need more space between us.”

“Yaw, Mister Chiles, not pitch,” Nathan said. “Spin us laterally.”

“She pitches over much faster than she yaws, sir,” Mister Chiles reminded him.

“That’s why we’re going to jump in stern first. We’ll launch nukes, pitch over quick, and fire plasma torpedoes, making them hit a split second apart just like before. Then we spin laterally as we slide under, bringing all four forward tubes, nukes and plasma onto the cruiser’s stern.” Nathan looked at his helmsman. “Piece of cake, right?”

“Yes, sir,” Mister Chiles answered, smiling. “Changing course.”

“We may not get the plasma torpedo cannons completely recharged in time,” Mister Randeen warned.

“Calculate the time needed and the transition speed to get you that time. I want to put a pair of plasma torpedoes and nukes in both her back and front ends, all on the first pass. Then we’ll finish her off with a round of missiles before we jump away.”

“You want us to try to take out a Jung cruiser with a single pass?” Mister Randeen asked, surprise in his voice.

“Not try, Mister Randeen, do,” Nathan said. “I want to put the fear of God in the crew of that battleship.”

“Plotting jump,” Mister Riley announced.

“Jump flash!” Mister Navashee reported. “The Falcon’s back!”

“She’s hailing us, sir,” Naralena reported.

Nathan pointed to his comm-set, then to the overhead speakers. Naralena understood, putting the call through to the captain’s comm-set as well as to the overhead speakers so that everyone on the bridge could hear. “Falcon, go for Actual.”

“
She got the message, sir,
” Loki’s voice announced over the loudspeaker. “
I don’t know how well she’ll be able to hide though. We heard weapons fire over the comms. I’m pretty sure she was in a firefight at the time.
”

“How hot was the area this time?” Nathan asked.

“
Sixteen fighters, eight flying high cover and another eight low. We jumped in farther out and drew the top eight off, then micro-jumped in below the other eight. We barely got away as the second eight were firing on us.
”

“Damn it,” Nathan swore to himself. He tapped his comm-set again. “Any chance you can give her some air cover?”

“
Sure, but you told us not to put our ship at risk. I’m pretty sure we’ve nearly stepped over that line already, sir.
”

Nathan thought for a moment before continuing. “Loki, I’m authorizing you to assess the situation and determine the risk. If you believe you can help her out without losing the ship, go ahead.”