Lacuna: The Ashes of Humanity (27 page)

The edges of Summer's vision dulled, like black smoke filling in from the outside, and she became lightheaded. It had been how long since she breathed? Wheezing, frantic gasping didn't really count. It mostly just hurt. A distraction, another one, and one she definitely couldn't afford.

One quick check. No more asthma inhalers. Rowe grit her teeth. She'd felt this before. She was about to pass out.

Couldn't happen. She slammed her fist down on the core ejection button.

The roar of the evacuating reactor core was deafening inside the reactor room, but she could barely hear it. She lay on her back, trying to breathe, to keep her body anchored to the mortal coil as darkness crept in from the outsides of her vision like a thick mist covering a lake.
 

Darker…

Darker…

Darker.

Operations

TFR
Washington

Space above Eden

Captain Anderson, with a pain in his abdomen so raw and vivid it was physical, watched the bright lance pierce the heart of the
Beijing
, his fresh cup of coffee forgotten. He put it down on his console, staring wide-eyed at the magnified image of the
Beijing
, smoke pouring out of its superstructure.

"Status report on the colony?"

His Operations room was a hive of activity. All around him, his crew were coordinating strike craft, firing the ship's weapons, or performing any one of the hundreds of tasks that made a battleship function. The newer Pillars, the
Washington
and the
Madrid
, were more automated than their predecessors, but Humans were still a critical part of the ship's functions.

Nobody had any answers for him. The line of Toralii ships pouring out of the L2 Lagrange point told them in no uncertain terms they were doomed. The lead cruiser had sailed straight through their melee, firing on the
Beijing
as soon as it was in range. The
Madrid
,
Tehran
, and
Washington
had all poured fire into it, and one of the
Beijing
's Broadswords had partially flooded the hostile ship with some unspeakably evil flammable material. But despite the flames still burning on one side and the obvious physical damage to all sections of the
Seth'arak
, the Toralii cruiser continued to exist, disregarding their efforts with a contemptuous indifference to their firepower.

"How long until they can use their device again?"

"Four minutes, Captain," said Wolfe, his XO. The man had a short-cropped beard, neatly trimmed, and was known for being quite proud of it. "Based on current estimates of their capabilities."

"Let's make it three, then." He tapped on his command console, mumbling to himself as he repeated the keystrokes back to himself, then spoke up. "Wolfe, bring our railguns to bear on the target, maximum yield. Use the autoloader to load nuclear devices. Have our strike craft attack as well. Empty their nukes, missiles, guns, everything. Tell the
Tehran
and the
Madrid
to coordinate with us. I want that ship in flames."

"Aye aye, sir." Wolfe touched the headset he wore. "
Washington
to all assets, priority alert: engage target designated
Seth'arak
with everything you have. Target cannot be permitted to fire again."

The radar screen lit up as missiles, strike craft, and railgun projectiles leapt towards the target, raining hate down upon the ship that had attacked their people. The long-range optics showed the
Seth'arak
's hull shimmering with the force of multiple impacts, fire, smoke and radiation partially obscuring the target.

Such punishment would be crippling for any ship, but Anderson would not consider merely crippling sufficient. "Continue firing," he ordered, the ship humming from the force as their railguns spoke once again. "Keep going until we see their reactors ignite."

"Captain," said Lieutenant Cole, his radar operator, "the second Toralii cruiser is coming into effective range. Captain de Lugo requests permission to engage."

"Negative. Continue fire on the
Seth'arak
. They're the biggest threat to the colony at this point. We can deal with this second cruiser later."

The ship shook with a faint vibration. "The second cruiser is firing," said Wolfe. "They aren't making for the colony as the
Seth'arak
did."

It didn't matter if the second cruiser danced a jig in a bowler hat and tie. If the
Seth'arak
laid down another blast on the colony, the
Beijing
and all the rest of humanity were all doomed. "Divert extra power from reactors six through eight to the hull plating. Fortify the aft hull; if the
Seth'arak
is going to ignore us, then we're going to ignore their other ships." A glance at the command console showed that the
Tehran
and
Madrid
were engaging the
Seth'arak
with all their might.

"Two minutes, Captain."

More. They needed more. Anderson gripped his command console as though the force could make his railguns fire faster. The Toralii built their ships tough and their hulls thick, but they were made of matter, and matter had limits. Physics was a harsh mistress; she booked no betrayal, and she passed out her judgements with cold, indifferent logic.

He needed some of that judgement right at that moment.

"Captain," said Cole, "thermals are blind on the target due to the weapons fire, but our radar patterns are not returning a uniform pattern. It's possible that the hull is deforming."

"We're breaking them," Anderson said, a hint of satisfaction in his voice. He sipped his coffee then replaced it. "Good. Keep up the fine work, Lieutenant. Melt the missile tubes if you have to. Keep firing until there's nothing left but vapour."

Wolfe consulted one of his monitors for a moment. "Captain, the strike group are regrouping. They're rendezvousing with the strike groups from the
Madrid
and the
Washington
. Captain Harrison reports only two Broadswords survived the impact with the
Seth'arak
, but we have two dozen Wasps moving to engage the
Seth'arak
as well. SAR has been dispatched, but they're not hopeful of finding anyone."

Nothing could survive that massive wall of steel slamming into them at speed. He knew that, everyone knew that, but the SAR people needed to see for themselves. It wasn't just protocol; it was the right thing to do. "Tell the fighters to cover the Broadswords. Their missiles won't do much compared to the gunships nukes. Keep the big birds safe, let them hit hard."

"Aye aye, Captain."

He relayed the orders, and the Operations crew scurried about, speaking into their headsets as the command was passed from division to division, taking his simple command and making the entire ship work as one to complete it. The strike craft on his monitor formed up in a defensive sphere, surrounding their remaining Broadswords.

Anderson had not expected the
Seth'arak
to plough through the fighter brawl, taking as many of their fighters with them as enemy ones. Nobody had. That move was costing the Toralii now, though. The damage to the front of the alien ship was visible even at their great distances. While they had been able to ignore the Humans for some time, the remaining Broadswords fired their nuclear-tipped missiles, thin streaks of light flying towards the enemy ship.

The distances involved in space combat were often vast, but everyone was moving relative to each other. The magnetic launch tubes of the Broadsword bombers could accelerate the missiles to extraordinary speeds, enough to catch the speeding
Seth'arak
.

The missiles leapt towards their target, along with a swarm of autocannon fire, railgun slugs, and missiles launched from the
Washington
.

"One minute, Captain."

They didn't have one minute.

"Ram them," said Anderson. "Hit them at speed. Take those bastards down with us."

The
Tehran
had done the same thing to the
Seth'arak
in their first confrontation, and it had proven to be remarkably effective. If the ship had not been equipped with an experimental jump drive, it would have been destroyed.

No such get out of jail free cards would work for their enemies now, but they would get to fire again. The
Washington
accelerated, but his command console told him the simple, unavoidable truth. They could not possibly close the gap in the time allowed.

He knew that, rationally and logically, but the savage, primal part of his mind—the part that still thought he was a cave dweller who speared a zebra every morning to survive—would not permit the killer of his species to walk away. They would pay with their lives.

"Thirty seconds!" shouted Wolfe, as the
Seth'arak
loomed closer and closer.

It was going to be very close.

Command and Control Core

Toralii Cruiser
Seth'arak

["We can fire momentarily, Warbringer!"]

Smoke filled the control core, so thick and acidic it burned his eyes. Fires raged on multiple decks, and the hologram above him shimmered as though it would wink out at any moment. Purple alarm lights flashed in all corners of his vision, and the ship's gravity generators were offline. The contents of the room floated all around him, along with a not-insignificant amount of purple blood.

He had ignored the Humans for too long. The insects had stingers; individually weak, but collectively they had buckled the
Seth'arak
's hull and breached their defences.

His crew stood by him, though. He knew that they would. The
Seth'arak
was the pride of the Alliance space arm. They would follow him until their death.

Vican's voice cut over the wail of the complaining systems. ["Another wave of fire is incoming!"]

The ship rocked from the impacts, and as Avaran watched, it tilted on its axis. He swore, loudly and profusely. The worldshatter device was forward aiming; if the ship could not be steered, the ability to fire at the Humans would be lost.

["The inertial drive is offline!"] said Baelica. ["The ship is drifting!"]

["Repair it."] Avaran moved to where Baelica stood, clutching her console as though she might fly away from it at any moment. ["Or move to the backup system, I care not. I need to point the front of my ship at the target."]

They would not escape him this time.

["Warbringer,"] said Baelica, ["we should consider retreating. If we regain some control of our systems, the L1 jump point is not far. We can slingshot around the planet, effect repairs while shielded by Velsharn's mass, and then fire again on the way out. Our thermal capacity is already too high. If we fire again with all this damage, we may risk a cascade."]

["Toralii do not fear death, Airmaiden. Find your courage."]

["It is the
Kel-Voran
who mistake suicide for war, Warbringer. There is no shame in saving your vessel and the lives of your crew."]

["Poetic,"] said Avaran, holding Baelica's seat as the ship rocked from another wave of fire. His legs floated towards the shimmering, failing hologram in the ceiling. ["But we can neither attack, defend, nor escape without the ability to manoeuvre."]

Baelica spoke into her windwhisper device, then to Vican. ["The constructs are effecting repairs, but we have lost too many. We may not regain the ability to move in time before our current trajectory takes us into Velsharn's atmosphere."]

Avaran glanced up at the holographic image, a picture of Velsharn growing larger and larger as the ship, its movement ballistic, flew towards it, spinning slowly on its vertical axis.

["Time to impact?"]

["Quarter of a cycle."]

That would have to be good enough. Avaran ground his sharp teeth together. ["Then if our worldshatter device does not finish them, 200,000 tonnes of warship shall instead!"]

Baelica looked at him as though he was mad, but then a tremendous explosion threw her away from him and him from her. The ship lurched violently, and debris floated in the lack of gravity.

["The inertial drive is functional!"] shouted Vican, triumph soaked into every word. ["We have rudimentary flight control!"]