Lacuna: Demons of the Void (9 page)

Resigned to Liao's instruction, he nodded. “... as you wish, Captain.” His face was hard, but accepting and he moved back to his station.

Liao turned her attention back to the Operations room. Once again her ‘Captain’s Voice’ saw action.

“Mister Ling.”

“Yes, Captain?”

She squeezed the man’s shoulder, articulating every word clearly and calmly despite the continued barrage of fire now hitting their stern. “Status. On. Missile. Tubes.”

“Crew still report they are ready to fire, Captain.”

Stepping over to his console, Liao jabbed a finger towards the man’s radar screen, to the swarm of incoming contacts.

“Then
light them up
. Nuke those sons of bitches back to the galaxy they came from.”

Ling gave a wild grin, seeming to agree with Liao’s notion. His fingers flew over his keyboard, and a moment later, he nodded. “Missiles away, Captain.”

Another tense silence filled the Operations room as the missiles streaked towards their targets. Strangely, the hostile impacts stopped. The Operations room became deafeningly quiet.

After a moment Ling spoke out. “I’ve lost communication with one of the missiles... might have been a dud.”

Liao doubted that.

Sheng called back to Liao. “...and another missile’s out.”

Jiang called from her console, “The energy barrages – they’re shooting down our missiles, Captain!”

“Good.” Liao’s face held a firm, triumphant visage. The rest of the Operations room looked at her like she might be crazy, but Liao felt a surge of energy run through her. “That means they’re
afraid
of them.”

Ling spoke up. “All missiles defeated, Captain.
抱歉
.”

She nodded. “Not your fault. It was worth a shot anyw-”

Jiang shouted over her. “Wait, no! One of them got through. I’m reading a detonation!”

Liao turned to face her, eyes wide. “Effect?”

“Got about half of them,” responded Ling, his voice triumphant. “They’re debris now. And the rest are turning around! They’re heading back to their mother ship, and it’s... the larger ship is withdrawing!”

A spontaneous cheer rang up from the Operations crew.

“
NO!
”

Liao slammed her fist into the console in front of her. “Helm – pursuit course! Head to the Lagrangian point! I want to cut them off! We can’t allow them to escape!”

“Uhh... aye, Captain! Course laid in!”

She whirled back to Ling, her face set in a dark frown. “How many missiles do we have loaded and ready to fire?”

“Four, Captain. Tubes one through six are still reloading...”

She knew the aliens could
not
be allowed to retreat. To do so would permit them to return their findings to whatever blasted rock they came from and report that the humans had attacked them. Earth had three ships: one combat ready, one still in drydock, and who knew what damage the aliens had done to the
Beijing.
Liao understood the situation clearly; if the ship jumped away and escaped, they would return in force.

The aliens had underestimated humanity once already. Liao anticipated they would not do so again.

She paused, taking a deep breath. There was no decision to make here. This was a matter of
action
.

“Four is enough; We’ll make do with what we have. If we fire now, will they reach the Lagrangian point before the mother ship?”

Jiang, as though anticipating this very question, spoke up instantly. “Yes, Captain, if we turn our bow to them and fire as soon as possible, the missiles should arrive before the hostile ship does. Since we’re already ballistic and moving at quite a fast pace, the missiles will go even faster.”

Summer’s warning echoed in her mind.
Hilariously unsafe...
well, Liao wasn’t laughing.

“Then execute the manoeuvre and fire everything that we have at the hostile mother ship, all four tubes. I want them blown to atoms before they reach the jump point.”

“Coming about, Captain.”

She nodded. Her father had always told her to finish what she started. It was a problem she’d had since childhood – she was excellent at beginning things but less skilled at finishing them. But this was one thing she had to finish... Humanity’s future depended on it.

“Fire when ready.”

Liao felt the ship turn, then watched as the four lights indicating missile launch status turned green. The missiles, magnetically propelled and with rockets for guidance, streaked towards the hostile ship. Liao tapped her finger on the metal of the console in front of her impatiently.

The seconds passed.

“Hostile ships have docked with the mother ship, Captain... and now it’s increasing speed.”

Liao‘s frown intensified. “How far away are they from the Lagrangian point?”

Despondent, Jiang shook her head. “They’re going to reach it before the missile strike.”

So it was all for nothing. Liao’s fists balled in anger. She refused to accept this outcome. It wasn’t fair to condemn humanity to extinction because of this incident, because of a single period in time where they had failed… where
she
had failed.

“Options.”

Dead silence. Nobody had any.

Jiang’s voice was quiet in the still air of the Operations room as she voiced her thoughts. “They may not jump straight away. Maybe their jump drive has a charge period like ours...”

“This is no time for guesses, Mister Jiang.”

More silence. Then a voice cut over the quiet of the Operations room; it was Lieutenant Ling, his voice charged with energy.

“Captain, I have an idea! Fire railguns!”

His shout came without warning, startling everyone in the area. All eyes were upon him as he tapped furiously on his keyboard.

Liao stepped over to his console.

“Mister Ling, explain yourself!”

The man twisted in his seat, grinning like a wild man. “We can’t hit them because they’re too manoeuvrable, but we know where they’re
going
... if we bombard the Lagrangian point, they can’t use it! They’d have to move into our line of fire to jump!”

He returned to his console. “They’re pulling into the point, but... Sensors show impacts – it’s working. They’re moving. They’re pulling away!”

It was those few extra seconds that they needed. Jiang gave a triumphant cry. “Missile impacts! Direct hits – four detonations!”

Ling, despite the situation, gave a triumphant laugh. “I’m reading a massive debris field! They’ve been blown to bits!”

Liao let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. A momentary wave of light-headedness washed over her. How many seconds had she held it? Minutes? … It didn’t matter.

“Mister Jiang, Mister Ling, confirm that ship is wreckage. I want an Engineering team to pick up
every damn piece
of that boat, and I want it stowed in the cargo hold.
Everything
. Save as much as you can from as much as you can.”

Liao clicked her tongue. “If you can find their computer core, or their jump drive, then the drinks at the mess hall are going to be on me.”

“Aye aye, Captain. We’ll begin recovery operations immediately. We’ll get everyone we have on the job.”

“Good. When you have as much as you can get, make your best speed back to the lunar colony.”

She spun about on her heel, striding for the exit. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be in Engineering, supervising the salvage. Lieutenant Jiang, talk to Commander Sheng if you need anything. … Well done, everyone.”

*****

Sheng's Office

TFR
Beijing

Deep Space

An hour later

Lieutenant Jiang saw that the door to Sheng's office was ajar. She stepped up to the door, her clipboard in her hand, but stopped when she heard his voice.

“... that's correct, miss Bose. The hostile ship was destroyed. We're just salvaging what we can now.”

There was a prolonged silence followed by Sheng speaking again. “No, they're definitely destroyed. It doesn't matter – the move was reckless and I feel she should be relieved of command for this, but... I could find no examples of her
directly
contravening any Task Force Resolution directives. I plan, however, to address them with her at the post-action debriefing and I'll be petitioning the senior staff to support me relieving her. I already know several members in her senior staff who'll support me, and-”

Jiang pushed on the door which groaned slightly as it swung open. Stepping inside, she handed the clipboard to Sheng. “The after action report, sir.”

Sheng, appearing surprised as though not expecting to be overheard, recovered quickly and took it, glanced at the paper then back up at her. “... Thank you, Lieutenant. That will be all.”

Jiang turned to leave, then stopped, her hand resting on the door's handle. “... Who were you speaking to, sir?”

Sheng regarded her with a stare, his hands folding in front of him on the table, saying nothing.

*****

Brig

TFR
Beijing

Deep Space

Fifteen minutes later

Liao could not believe what Jiang had told her. The message came through just as she was entering Engineering... that she had spotted her XO surreptitiously conversing, without explicit authority, with the press. A quick call to the ship's marines had Sheng detained while she took care of business in Engineering, then with her anger barely kept in check she stormed to the ship's brig.

When she got there, Melissa opened the door to Sheng's cell and, without saying a word, punched him square in the face, knocking the man down. Blood splattered onto the bare metal of the deck. Coughing, Commander Gaulung Sheng wiped his face with his sleeve, his voice incredulous.

“
什么他妈的
?!”

“
Don’t
. Don’t you fucking
dare
speak to me you piece of
shit
.” She leaned forward, fists balled in rage, as though she might strike him again. “I make a decision you don't like, on
my
ship, and you run squealing to the press...? I
should have you shot for this!”

“So that’s how you run your command, is it?” Sheng’s voice dripped with venom. “Just line up the objectors and shoot ‘em? Is that how it goes?”

Liao pulled back her fist. Then, changing her mind, lowered it. “I’ll tell you how it goes. You’re
gone
from this mission. We’re returning to the lunar drydock. The very second we arrive – assuming I don’t change my mind between here and there and simply toss you out an airlock – I’m turning you over to the military police. Your career is
over
.”

Sheng shrugged, slowly pulling himself to his feet. He stared down the shorter woman, his face a determined mask. “It doesn’t matter. Getting rid of me won’t change what happened. You made the wrong choice today, and worse, you blamed me and wouldn’t let me do
my
job. My job is to advise you, to keep you on track, to follow the damn mission-”

“Your job is to follow my fucking
orders
!”

“That’s
not
how it works, and you know it!” Sheng jabbed an accusatory finger straight at her. “Or you would, if you hadn’t gotten this command by sheer
luck
. You haven’t served your time as an XO. You were
given
this command, this precious, important command, because you’re a filthy whore who’ll spread herself for the tall, handsome French Negro to advance her career!”

The allegation struck her like a kick to the teeth. “You think James- Captain Grégoire- and I-…?”

“Isn’t it true?”

“
No!
” Liao leaned forward, snarling. “Where the hell did you hear that?! If I find out who’s got a big mouth they’ll be joining you in this cell for attempting to undermine the authority of the Capta-”

“Captain?!
HAH
. This was meant to be
my
command!” Sheng snarled now, his visage distorted with rage. “
I
was supposed to be the
Beijing’s
Captain, but at the last minute, the committee decided on you.
You!
A
woman –
someone who had never been trusted with command, who had no experience, a... a
navigator
! They gave the keys to the most powerful warship mankind can build to a fucking
glorified bus driver
!”

Melissa’s fists balled. “My relationship with James is
none
of your fucking …”

Liao paused, took a deep breath and forced herself to remain calm. After a brief moment to compose herself, she straightened her uniform, not looking at Sheng.