Inherited War 1: Retribution (9 page)

15

Cole stared at the holo map of the system.  He watched the small scale representation of the ship they were on
, steadily advancing towards the glowing red line, encircling a small section of asteroids in the outer belt.  There was, what he assumed, a countdown clock hovering at the coordinates slowly counting down the remaining time until arrival.  His stomach clenched with anticipation.  His eyes darted around the bridge trying to watch everything at once.  The Admiral was leaning forward in the command chair with a maniac gleam in his eyes.  Licking his lips in anticipation.  Sky had shrunken as far as she could into her seat, in an attempt to stay as far away as possible from the Admiral.  Fear showed in her eyes.  An almost animal need to be anywhere but here.  The guards were locked at attention with their rifles pointed at the prisoners ready for violence at a moment’s notice.  The crew members ignored everything around them and concentrated on their screens, hoping that nothing happened but ready to react if anything unexpected did.

At fifteen minutes out they passed the outer most planets orbiting the red giant.  At one point it may have been a water world but the red sun didn’t have the energy needed to keep the planet warm.  Now it was a frozen blue and white ball of ice.  The colors were beautiful to behold.  Cole had never seen anything like it before.  No one else seemed to care but him.  He stared at the planet as
long as it was in range of the forward screens, in awe over the majesty. They soon made it past the planet and headed deeper in system.   The next orbital boundary they passed through was empty because the planet was on the far side of the sun.  That was seven minutes out from their objective.  “Five minutes out, slowing to quarter speed.”  Announced the helmsman.  The ships passage notably slowed on the holo map.

The
Admiral finally gained control over his anticipation and leaned back in the command chair showing a calmer façade.  “Move us into position to broadcast our message as soon as we are in range.  I want all sensors active and passive, up and running for this.  Be ready for evasive maneuvers if necessary.”

Cole barked a sharp laugh.  “Do you really think if this doesn’t work they are going to let us out of here alive? “ 

“Silence.”  The Admiral thundered.  “Guards if he speaks again hurt the doctor but keep her alive.”

             
Cole silently cursed himself.  He thought he had his damn mouth under control but that one just slipped out.  He faced forward again and affected an air of calmness trying to ignore everything around him by focusing on the rapidly approaching band of asteroids.  “Ten…five…two, one, full stop.  No contacts Sir, we appear to have stopped far enough out to avoid tripping the defense grid.  Preparing to transmit message on my mark…..mark.  Message away Sir.”  Nervous anticipation filled the bridge.  Silence reigned for one minute.  Five. 

             
“What the hell.” Growled the Admiral.  “If you were lying to me human your girl there is about to find out if her kind can survive vacuum. 

             
“That’s what I remember Admiral I don’t know what’s going on.  Try sending it again,” replied Cole.  “Maybe you did it wrong?”

             
“Guards teach the human scum a lesson in respect,” started the Admiral but the sensor tech interrupted with a shout.  “I have incoming Sir.  It appears to be a single ship bearing dead ahead, coming from inside the defense perimeter.  ETA in a few seconds. He is moving fast. All we are picking up is that it is a ship of some kind, but nothing on its weapon capabilities or armor.  No active scans from it yet or comm replies.”

             
“Activate full alert throughout the ship and bring all systems up to full power but do not, repeat do not, do anything until I have ordered it.  Do you understand me?”  Said the Admiral.

The bridge crew as one said. 
“Aye, aye Sir.”

T
hen the incoming ship arrived.  The forward screen that had been showing a view of space with a faint line of asteroids one moment, was now showing a ship took up almost the whole view.  It kind of reminded Cole of a minivan, with a boxy rear and a low sloped front.  Where the windshield would be on a van, was a highly reflective surface, almost chrome-like shiny.  The rest of the ship was matte black that blended well with the surrounding space.  The rear end moved up slightly, bringing the ship they were in into focus on the reflective windshield of the scout ship.  Of course, Cole thought, it couldn’t be a windshield considering they were in a vacuum, but damn if it didn’t look like one.  Then the ship started its scan.  A red line formed all the way around the bridge low to the ground and slowly moved up touching everything and didn’t stop until it got to the ceiling.  Then it repeated the process from left to right.  A faint humming had accompanied the whole process.

             
The light disappeared as fast as it had shown up and silence descended on the bridge.  No one moved or spoke.  The ship continued to hover in the void while it did whatever it had to do before allowing them to continue on.  Then suddenly Cole found himself surrounded in what appeared to be some kind of energy field.  It had a definitely liquid motion and look to it, but was not wet.  It danced across his skin and caressed every inch of his body.  It started to swirl faster and faster, and then in a flash it disappeared, leaving Cole panting and tingling all over.  He took a deep shuddering breath and said.  “Well I think they got what they wanted.  I feel used.”

             
The craft on the screen turned a one eighty and slowly began to move forward towards the asteroid belt.  “Match speed and follow that ship.”  The Admiral ordered.  “Keep on its tail and be ready for evasive maneuvers.”

Cole looked back at the
Admiral and said.  “Have any of your ships made it this far before?”

             
The Admiral grunted and replied.  “No, this is a first.  They usually get blown up before any kind of contact is made.”  He turned his head towards the sensor tech.  “I want full readings on everything you can get from that ship and anything else we come close to.  If you miss anything it will be your ass that pays the price.”  Within a few moments they had crossed over the red line marking the extreme range of the defense grid.  Everyone held their breaths, waiting for what was to come.  After a time of absolutely nothing happening, just about everyone on the bridge brought the pucker factor down a few notches and relaxed.  Not totally relaxed, but not quite as wound up.  The scout ship moved at a steady pace, Cole couldn’t tell how fast it was going but it appeared to be moving fairly slow.

“It doesn’t seem they think that highly of your ship
Admiral.  I don’t think they think you can keep up.”    Damn it he did it again, fortunately the Admiral wasn’t paying that close of attention.  He was focused on the readout in front of him.

“
Sir, we are close enough to see scanning results from the ships in parking orbit around the yards.  I have twenty and counting Sir.  Ranging from I would say small scout and patrol ships to one ship as large as a freighter maybe twice the size anything the Sector Navies have in service, Sir.”

“Yes, yes that’s fine
.  As soon as our escort leaves we will head immediately to the largest ship.  I would like to try there first.  That will be a very formidable weapon indeed.  Can you get it on long range visible? I would really love to see my new flag ship.”  He asked.

“Aye
Sir, one moment while I reorient the view.” He replied.

The view on the main screen rotated about ten degrees to the right and jumped forward in a massive zoom.  It stopped when it had a massive ship taking almost the whole screen.  It
, like the guide boat, was all black and blended well against the empty sky which made it hard from here to get a good look at its shape and size.  Just at that moment a very large asteroid moved between the ship and the background of empty space making the ship stand out in sharp relief against the dusty brown of the asteroid.  If Cole had thought the ship he was on was cool, this massive ship hovering in the void was perfection.  It was hard to tell all its lines from here, but it was long and sleek looking.  It was slim from top to bottom and sloped out to a narrow edge on the sides.  It had no totally flat surfaces at all which Cole assumed made it harder to get a direct hit from all but directly on top of or below it.  The back of the ship curved gently up and down giving space to the engine exhaust ports.  If Cole hadn't suddenly remembered the second part of his missing dream at that moment, he would have cried. The ship was so beautiful and perfect.  But he did remember and he suddenly shouted.  “No you can’t go to that ship first Admiral.  Its defenses are active and if you go any were near it, it will blow us out of the sky.  We need to find the command ship.”  He said suddenly and for no reason calling it a command ship and not a commando ship.

The
Admiral looked sharply at Cole.  Cole could see the Admiral mulling over what he had said trying to decide if he had lied or not.  “I will make that choice when the time comes, for now bring the guide ship back on the main screen and continue as ordered.”  The view zoomed out and moved back left until it had the ship back on the center of the screen.  “Sensor, can you tell me where it looks like we are going?”  The Admiral asked.

“
Sir, we are heading for a medium size ship, roughly ten percent larger than this one, Sir.  Unknown if it is a command ship though.  It has the profile of an attack craft.  I can bring it up on screen for you Admiral.”  The sensor station replied. 

“No
, I can wait until we arrive. Focus on your scanning. Only notify me of anything you deem urgent.”  He leaned back in his chair and turned to his guards.  “Give the orders to make the docking arm ready for disembarkation.   I want a team in full combat armor ready to go in as soon as we attach to whatever ship we are going to take first.  Also issue a full combat load of ammunition to the team as well.  Go make it happen.”

“Well
, it seems our journey together has come to an end.  I just want you to know human, once you unlock the controls to those ships your time in this galaxy will come to an end, and the Doctor will get to amuse me for perhaps a bit longer before she leaves us as well.  I have come back from the brink of ruin and will soon dominate every planet in this galaxy and you helped me achieve that.  For all that and more I thank you. I promise if you are needed more to make this operation go smoothly and as fast as possible, I will grant you a quick death.  If, on the other hand, you drag this out longer than necessary, I will make what the good Doctor went through seem like a pleasant day of relaxing in comparison.  Do I make myself clear?”

“Perfectly clear, but have you considered that I may always be needed to make the ships work?  Anything is possible
and I would be surprised if things won’t go exactly as you want them to.  I could be a big help and all of that if the incentive was right.”  Cole was lying his ass off, trying to put some doubt into the Admirals mind.  “Hell, you could kill me and a split second later if they detect no living humans on board this ship, they could wipe you off the galactic map too.  Again anything is possible and I wouldn’t be very cooperative if I though Dr. Sky was in any kind of danger. I might even wish bad things to happen to you if that was the case.  Oh well, I guess that’s why you get the big bucks anyway, to make the big decisions.”  Cole turned back to the main viewer and pretended to watch the guide ship as if he was bored.  The truth was it was all just a bluff to keep the Admiral off balance and make him question himself on the future disposition of Cole and Sky.  He hoped it was working.

Silence reigned again on the bridge as they drew closer to, what had to be
, the commando ship.  The guide ship finally began to slow and came to a complete stop.  After a few seconds the rear exhaust ports started to cool down and go dark.  It appeared they had arrived at their destination.

“The guide boat brought us here for a reason
Admiral. I strongly recommend we take the command ship first and see if we can bring down the bigger ships auto defenses.  Think about it, if I was lying, I’d die right here along with everyone else.  I can honestly tell you I don’t want that happening.  I am very happy being alive and wish to stay that way.  You trusted me on sending the message, trust me on this.”  With that said, Cole turned away from the Admiral.

Minutes passed before the
Admiral finally spoke.  “Grrr… damn it. Okay helm go forward towards the ship in front of us.  Find an entry port we can attach to and extend the docking arm.  Make sure you get a good seal.”  He hit his comm button.  “Guards, is the boarding party ready to go?”

“Affirmative
Sir, Alpha One ready to deploy.”  Came the call from the Alpha team.

“Beta standing by to assist
, Sir.”  Came the call from Beta team.

“Good
, get ready to move once the docking arm reads it has a good seal.  I am on my way down to the airlock now and am bringing the prisoners with me.  Beta will watch the prisoners while Alpha takes the ship.  Admiral out.”  The Admiral turned towards the two guards left on the bridge.  “Get these two up and moving to the port airlock.  Take them out at any sign of resistance but incapacitate only, no killing.  I am going on ahead, don’t be far behind.”  The guards moved forward to secure Cole and Sky while the Admiral got up and went out the door heading to the elevator.  After a few moments of rough handling, they finally had Cole and Sky secured and moving out rapidly to the elevator down to the airlock.  As the door closed Cole heard the helm reporting to the Admiral.  “In position and extending arm Sir.”  The door closed and cut off the rest of what he had said.  Cole didn’t care.  This was his time and his moment to do what only he could.  The Admiral was going to be severely disappointed and short a team or two of troopers when he got that door open.  Cole found he could live with that knowledge very easily.   He got as close to Sky as he could while they rode the lift down to the airlock deck trying to comfort her as much as he could without talking.  She never even looked at him.  She hung her head in defeat.  She was assuming that this was the end for them.  She was wrong.  This was the beginning.  And it was going to be a bloody one.