Into the Black: Odyssey One (58 page)

If you believed in that sort of thing.

*****

“Captain! The ship…, the Odyssey is altering her stance.”

“Is she changing course?” Tianne asked, turning her attention to the ship’s section of the threat board.

“Not yet, Captain.”

“Then ignore her,” Tianne replied. “I don’t have time to worry about what some pet of Tanner’s is up to. Continue firing.”

“Aye Captain.”

Tianne eyed the screen for a time anyway, watching as the alien warship complete it’s maneuver and begin charging it’s weapons. The power curve for the ship was still distressingly low and she couldn’t quite imagine how anyone had managed to build effective weapons with so little apparent power.

For the moment, however, it wasn’t her concern.

Ahead of her still lay two Drasin warships, though one was badly damaged now and her own Cerekus was still on the hunt.

*****

“Fire sequence loaded!” Waters said, looking up at the main screen.

“Bow armaments coming around,” Daniels added. “We will be in firing position on the target in thirty seconds. Firing braking thrusters, now.”

Eric Weston looked back to the plot, eyeing the approach of what he knew had to be the ship belonging to the colonies. The massive vessel just kept getting bigger as it closed, but it was still almost a light minute behind them, despite their relative closing velocities.

Given their current vectors, however, the computer had their rendezvous listed as forty-three seconds. At that point, the Odyssey would have been officially out of this fight for quite some time, unless Eric ordered her main reactors to power.

“We are locked on, Captain.”

Time to decide that later.

“Initiate firing sequence,” he ordered, eyeing the board.

*****

“The Odyssey is firing again.”

Rael Tanner looked back to the plot, his own space in the pit was the only part of the Command that had more than minimal elbow room, as people had suddenly found reason to gather here and watch the drama unfold above them.

The first energy spike from the Odyssey was quickly identified as her main laser array, a pitiful trickle of power according to the computer, but as they’d seen earlier, a respectable force, just the same.

The computer couldn’t track the beam, not the way it did those from the Drasin or the Cerekus. The leaked energy from the underpowered beam was well below the systems sensor ability, however, it was able to detect minute fluctuations when the beam crossed paths with stray matter, in its path.

Space was, after all, not nearly so empty as most believed. There was always something out there, somewhere.

The following pulses were more potent, their energy scales quite respectable, even by the Colonies’ standards; however, only three of the blazing white charges were thrown into space this time, unlike the normal salvoes of six or more they had registered.

The computer also noted that they were fired sequentially, this time and the lasers were aimed at the single, healthy Drasin ship.

The final pulses of energy registered, were in between the other two, and was also an under-powered salvo, leaving Tanner to wonder just how badly the Odyssey was hurt.

*****

“All weapons away.”

“Good,” Weston nodded, eyeing the plot. “That’s it, we’re spent. No sense getting wasted in the crossfire, while we’re holding an empty gun. Flip the ship, Daniels.”

“Aye-Aye Captain.”

Without waiting for the results of their attack, the NAC Odyssey fired i’s thrusters once more, flipping it’s nose up and over in a graceful maneuver, taking it around to, once more, point in the opposite direction. Then it’s big main reactors fired again and she began to accelerate down the gravity well of the Red Giant star.

Behind them, their parting shots continued on, unperturbed by the ship’s change of course.

“Launch SAR shuttles,” Weston ordered. “I see we have three beacons from downed Archangels. I want them back.”

“Aye, Captain.”

*****

“All right, we’re going to rejoin the Odyssey,” Commander Michaels said as they watched the ship roll back. “Loop out and around that big mother though. I don’t feel like getting bug-zapped today.”

A few chuckles, mostly very weary ones were heard, but the flight got back under way again very quickly, as the fighters responded to their pilots’ desire to get back home.

Jennifer Samuels, Cardsharp, flexed her shoulder muscles gingerly, afraid in spite herself that she might somehow twitch the sensor needles imbedded in her neck, but unable to keep still any longer. Her shoulders felt so tightly corded that they were made of stone and her neck was on fire from the tension, so all she could think of was heat. As much of it as she could get, in whatever way it was available.

A shower would do, she decided, but a soak was what the doctor was demanding.

Unfortunately, the Odyssey being what it was, she didn’t think that a soak was going to happen.

A shower then, a badly needed one.

God help those aliens, if they started anything before she got her shower.

*****

The Laser was a clean miss, Tianne noted absently as the results of the Odyssey’s final shot registered on her sensors.

Unsurprising, of course, firing with only one beam at distances greater than a few light seconds.

The follow-up strike from those energy bursts, however, didn’t. At first they seemed off course, but at the last moment, they spiralled across her sensors and slammed into the Drasin hard and fast, ripping it’s hull apart.

She had to admit, it was to good effect.

The salvo of projectiles was somewhat less effective, but some of them struck as well and by the time they had thinned out, the second Drasin was limping away.

“Continue firing on our primary target,” she ordered, eyeing the state of affairs and noting with some chagrin that her constant barrage of laser energy was taking almost twice as long to inflict equitable damage, as to the first ship.

It was dying, that was certain, but it was taking its time doing so and now it was grating on her sensibilities, that it should be so.

“Adjust all lasers to target the same point,” she ordered, noting that the Drasin wasn’t maneuvering anymore so a firing pattern would merely be wasteful. “And prepare a pursuit course for the escaping ship.”

“Yes Captain.”

The ‘Odyssey’ slid past them, launching small ships from its bays as it did. Its armor was scored in a dozen places that she could see on the screens and one of the big rotating drums, they used for some unknown purpose had a visible gash in it.

So they aren’t invulnerable,
she thought, eyeing the readings on the strange ship with a sceptical eye. There was something truly off about the power readings, but she couldn’t figure out what it was. It was just…, off.

She let the ship pass without comment and watched as two small craft paced alongside the Cerekus, following her back along their mother ship’s previous course.

What are they…
, Tianne thought, then cut off as one peeled away toward a beaming beacon.
Ah… Rescue craft.

Tianne nodded, and then put them out of her mind.

She had work to do.

*****

“Prepare a course to planetary intercept,” Weston ordered tiredly, the last ‘hurrah’ dying down on the Bridge as the sensors recorded their hits.

“Aye Captain,” Daniels replied.

“Waters, keep an eye on those two ships, let me know if their status changes,” he said looking over at Lamont. “Susan… How bad?”

“We vented about fifteen percent of our O2, when the habitat was blown,” she replied, “We’re okay on stores, but if the planet can spare us some, it would be helpful.”

Weston nodded, “I don’t think that they’ll mind.”

“No Sir,” a slight smile played on her lips. “I don’t suppose they will.”

“What else?”

“The language lab was badly damaged…”

“Language?” Weston’s voice sharpened, “Any casualties?”

“Doctor Palin and his assistant were sent to the medical bays with Carbon Dioxide poisoning, but they’re going to be okay. We’re doing a head count to see if anyone else was there,” Lamont told him.

Weston nodded, slumping back. “Very well. Tell the Chief… Just tell her good job.”

“Aye-Aye Captain.”

“Course prepared, Captain,” Daniels spoke up softly.

“Engage it then.” Weston ordered. “We have some people to pick up, some others to talk to, and some to mourn.”

“Aye-Aye Captain.”

Chapter 38

His boots clicked against the metal floor of the Odyssey’s hallways, behind him the chorus of similar footfalls announced their passage to anyone within hearing. Crewmen melted away from them as they walked, giving the worn-looking group free passage through the halls, a certain level of awe in the air, the way Stephanus knew that there always was after a battle.

He wasn’t certain that he and his deserved it, but they had it, just the same. The Odyssey itself had probably taken more total damage than the Archangels and had certainly inflicted far more than the small flight had been able to, but there was always that wall between them and the crew of any ship they served upon.

“Lieutenant Commander.”

Stephanus paused, noting that one figure had not melted away, to the sidelines. He smiled tiredly, nodding, “Captain.”

“Good to have you back aboard, Steph.” Weston told his younger friend. “You did good out there. You all did.”

Behind him, he heard the shuffling as the ‘Angels nodded and muttered their thanks, but he could hear that their heart wasn’t in it. Apparently, Weston heard the same thing and nodded to them briefly, “you all go get some rest. I need to speak with your Commander, for a minute.”

“Yes Sir,” they muttered, exhausted mentally and physically and shuffled past.

“Hard one?” Eric asked as he and Stephanus followed, albeit at a slower pace.

“About the same as any other,” Steph shrugged. “Felt like a rush while we were out there, but we’re all coming down now.”

Eric nodded, “SAR shuttles picked up ‘Angel’s two, three, and five. They’re okay.”

“That’s good news, Sir,” Stephanus said, relief in his voice.

Eric nodded, “once we’re in Orbit, I’m taking a shuttle down to the surface.”

“Sir?” Steph paused, frowning.

“It should be safe enough,” Eric said calmly, without stopping and Stephanus had to jog, to catch up. “Brinks informs me that most of the fighting is dying down and they’re just mopping up now.”

“I’ll detail two of the ’Angels to escort you.”

“That’s not necessary.”

Stephanus shook his head, “you’ll take them or you’ll take the entire squad. Your choice.”

Eric chuckled softly, shaking his head, “sometimes I wonder who’s really in charge of this heap.”

“You are,” Steph grinned. “And none of the rest of us want to take your place if you get your dumb ass killed, so bear with us, alright?”

They chuckled softly, the tension making the weak joke seem all the funnier, then Weston nodded. “All right. Two. No more.”

Steph nodded once, and looked up. “What about the bandits?”

“One of them is down, the other is running for the Heliopause,” Weston replied. “We’re running a plot on it and it might make it.”

Stephanus winced, “damn.”

“Out of our hands now,” Eric shrugged. “Nothing to do about it.”

Steph nodded. “All right. I’ll go break the bad news to the pilots… Hey, Raze?”

Weston paused in the middle of turning away glancing back as he heard the more common version of his call sign. “Yeah?”

“You were right about Cardsharp.”

Weston shot him a puzzled look, “Who?”

Stephen smiled, “Samuels. She got pinned with her sign during the poker game.”

“You still play that, huh?” Weston asked with a fond smile, though it was more a statement than a question.

“Of course.”

“Good. And I’m glad that she worked out,” Weston nodded seriously. “I’ve got some work to do… I’ll see you later.”

“Sir,” Stephanus stiffened and saluted.

Eric shook his head, and returned the salute before turning and leaving.

Stephen watched him go for a moment, face blank, and then he turned and followed his team into their bunk rooms.

They were spread over practically every available surface of the common room, none of them, apparently in the mood for actual sleep and all of them interested in what the Captain had to say. He looked them over briefly, smiling as he shook his head.

“I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news.”

They groaned and chuckled.

“We’re boned,” someone said under their breath and the chuckles increased.

“The Captain wants me to tell you did a good job and that there’s a shuttle coming home with three of our own on it, alive and kicking,” Steph said, smirking. “That’s the good news.”

They laughed, though there was a hint of appreciation in it.

“What’s the bad news?”

“His illustrious pampered backside has decided to visit the planet, in person, when we arrive in Orbit,” Steph grimaced.

The pilots groaned, straightening up and nodding seriously, “when do we go out.”

“We don’t,” Steph replied. “I’ll take two volunteers for the escort run. The rest of you will get some rest.”

“I’m in,” Jennifer Samuels said instantly, though only a few seconds ahead of the rest.

Steph nodded, smiling, “good. Cardsharp and Centurion. The rest of you fall out, shower, and hit your bunks.”

The pilots groaned, but started to move.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Steph said as they paused. He surveyed them again and smiled. “In case you hadn’t figured it out, you did good out there. Now get your butts out of my sight.”

*****

“Captain.”

“Commander,” Weston greeted his first, as he stepped onto the Bridge.

Roberts got up from the Central chair, leaving it to Weston, as the Captain crossed the floor, “We’ll be entering planetary Orbit in three minutes.”

Eric nodded, “excellent. Have the rest of Brinks’ reports finished uploading?”