Star Alliance (24 page)

“Commander,” Mar Arden said. “I want best speed to Selebus.”

“First Ambassador, we still don’t have clearance,” Hoan Berend said.

“Noted. When the Nershals initiate communication, inform them we are investigating an emergency situation on Selebus,” Mar Arden said.

“That stall tactic will only work for so long,” Hoan Berend warned.

“We don’t have that much time,” Mar Arden said.

Hoan Berend began issuing orders to the crew. As expected, Nerva Space Command wasn’t happy with their abrupt withdrawal, but they had their hands full with the political unrest on the planet at the moment.

“Engage scanners,” Mar Arden said.

“What are we looking for?” Hoan Berend asked.

“Something we haven’t seen before. An unknown ship, probably something smaller,” Mar Arden said.

Hoan Berend frowned. “I’m going to need more to go on than that,” the commander said.

“Look for evidence of a smaller power output, something a more primitive species would use,” Mar Arden said. “And also scan for Cherubian drive signatures. I suspect there will be a gravity well for a wormhole detected soon.”

Hoan Berend nodded.

Mar Arden quickly recorded a message for Kandra Rene. He opened a specially crafted secure channel so not even the Boxans would be aware and sent the message.
 

*****

Kladomaor watched the main holodisplay. The Xiiginn ion missile sweep had taken out most of the beacons they had planted throughout the system. When the missiles detonated, an ion wave expanded, disrupting systems that kept things like stealth in place. The beacons had no protection against an ion wave, but a Boxan dreadnaught had shielding in place that would take more than an ion wave to disrupt. The effective range of the ion wave was limited in that the wave rapidly lost strength as it expanded. But the ion missiles were a good tactic at flushing out enemy ships in stealth.
 

The negative effect of this tactic came with their use in populated star systems. The ion wave was designed to disrupt the electrical systems of any target, and the Nershals had a fair number of mining platforms and scientific research facilities throughout the star system. The use of the ion missile sweep would cause significant impact to those platforms. Kladomaor hoped the Nershals working at those facilities were up to date on emergency procedures to reduce the potential risk for loss of life. The Xiiginns would deem the loss of those facilities acceptable, but given the state of their relations with the Nershals, Kladomaor didn’t think Nerva Space Command would agree. The Xiiginns’ blatant use of the ion missile sweep could be construed as a violation of their alliance with the Nershals, but even if the Nershals finally broke their alliance with the Xiiginns, the Boxan fleet couldn’t just conveniently show up to assist. Kladomaor had provided the rebel Nershals, like Udonzari, with a way to reach the Boxan fleet if Nerva Space Command required assistance in expunging the Xiiginns from this system, though he doubted they would use it.
 

Kladomaor glanced at the main holodisplay on the bridge. Another beacon went offline. The Xiiginns were systematically eliminating targets, but Kladomaor knew that for a few of those Xiiginn warships it was already too late. The Xiiginns had presumed the beacons had been deployed just to throw them off the Boxans’ trail, and that was part of his strategy, but the primary objective of the beacons was to entice the warships to approach. When they did, the passive suite of detonators would latch onto vulnerable parts of the warships, and, once activated, the Xiiginns would be in for a surprise.

He glanced at Ma’jasalax, who sat at a nearby console with her eyes closed. She had been that way for a while, and Kladomaor knew she was trying to locate the Athena. He had instructed his comms specialist to monitor for any type of communication from the Athena, but nothing had been sent. At least Kaylan understood the need for stealth, but it was frustrating to be in the dark, and it required them to be ready to assist at a moment’s notice. Things were probably going to heat up quite a bit before they could get away.
 

“Multiple ship signatures detected around Selebus. All are Nershal Space Command ships, Commander,” Triflan said. The Boxan frowned at his console. “There is a Xiiginn warship en route to Selebus, and it looks like it came directly from Nerva.”

“Mar Arden!” Kladomaor growled. “The game is almost up. Best speed to Selebus.”

He pulled up the Cherubian drive status, which had been on standby with power levels hovering on the borderline of detection.
 

Ma’jasalax sucked in a deep breath and opened her eyes.

“I hope you were able to find them because I think the Xiiginns have finally figured out that the Humans have a ship in this star system,” Kladomaor said.

Ma’jasalax glanced at the console. “They are almost to Selebus.”

With all the ships gathering around the planet-sized moon, there was little chance of either of them being able to escape undetected. Kladomaor shoved those thoughts aside. He couldn’t trade blows with a Xiiginn warship and survive for long, but if he could strike at the right moment, it might be enough to tether the Athena to their ship and jump from the system. Kladomaor authorized the use of their armament and saw the consoles around the bridge change colors to reflect this. The bridge crew remained focused. This is what they had trained for. The parameters of the Boxan mission may have changed, but they would all give their utmost in their war against the Xiiginns. Kladomaor hoped he had been clever enough to get them through this alive. The pieces were in place, and the endgame was fast approaching.
 

C
HAPTER
E
IGHTEEN

Z
ACK
’
S
MIND
RACED
into overdrive. The HUD overlay showed another ship approaching that was vastly larger than the Nershal battle cruisers.

“Is that big one the Xiiginn warship?” Zack asked.

Etanu switched through the console. “Yes. It looks like it came straight from Nerva. Have you figured out how to reach your ship yet?”

Zack frowned as he tried to think of what the implications would be if he did reach out to the Athena. “Are you able to contact your people’s ships? Can we send them a message?”

“It will alert the battle cruisers to our presence if they don’t already know, but we can send them a message,” Etanu said.

Zack opened the interface on his PDA and crafted a dataset of all the raw data about where they had been held. “Good. I want you to send this over to them. Do you know if there are Xiiginns serving aboard the cruisers?”

Etanu shook his head. “Not many. The exchange program was for Nershals to serve on Xiiginn ships. What’s in the message?”

“I had thought Udonzari would be reaching out to those ships, but he might be busy at the moment. It’s all the information I have about the facility that held us—the different species, the location, everything. I’m hoping they’ll stall the Xiiginn warship so we can find the Athena,” Zack said.

Etanu nodded and opened another interface. A flurry of alien symbols went by too fast for Zack’s interpreter to process.

“Message sent. I included my personal identification,” Etanu said.

“One day you’re going to have to tell me where your family fits in the Nershal hierarchy,” Zack said, but quickly refocused on the task at hand. “I have the Athena’s communication protocols ready.”
 

“Send them over,” Etanu said.

Zack took one more look at the collection he’d put together, which consisted of the comms protocols used by NASA. He just hoped someone on the Athena would be checking the comms station on the bridge.

There was a flash of light, and the slip fighter lurched to the side. Etanu’s hands flew to the controls. Alarms flashed on the fighter’s HUD. Etanu changed their course to head directly for the Nershal battle cruiser.

“What was that?” Zack asked.

“We’re taking fire. It looks like some of the Xiiginns borrowed a few slip fighters to use against us,” Etanu said.

The Nershal flipped a switch, and the controls in front of Zack lit up. A HUD appeared directly in front of him.

“You’re a gunner now. I need you to control the rear cannons,” Etanu said.

Zack grabbed the two sticks and saw four slip fighters behind them. Etanu pulled up, and the slip fighters disappeared from view. Zack waited for the fighters to appear again and squeezed the trigger. Bolts rapidly fired, but the fighters dodged out of the way. Zack instinctively moved the sticks, and his combat screen moved to follow. Etanu banked to the side and quickly went back again, causing one of the slip fighters to plunge into a stream of bolts coming from their rear cannons. The fighter was destroyed instantly, and pieces of that fighter peppered the other fighters. Zack frowned in concentration as he tried to hit another one, but they were frustratingly quick. Whoever was flying those ships wouldn’t fall for the same trick twice.

Etanu flipped their fighter over, and Zack’s world went upside down. The Nershal fired the forward cannons, taking the slip fighters by surprise. Zack couldn’t tell if they had taken any damage, but they did scatter. Etanu flipped back around and sped quickly away. Another alarm blared on the main HUD.

“They’ve fired missiles,” Etanu said, “and they’re locked on us.”

“Can you outrun them?” Zack asked.

“Impossible. You have to take them out,” Etanu said.

Zack tried to line up the sights, but the missiles were so small. He fired the rear cannons and didn’t even come close. Blazing bolts belched from the rear cannons, sweeping the area behind them, but the missiles executed evasive maneuvers. The sticks felt slippery in his sweaty palms.
 

The missiles raced toward them.
 

“I can’t hit them,” Zack said, his voice rising in panic. “Etanu!”

The Nershal hit one of the controls, and the cockpit blasted away from the fighter. The missiles closed in, and their slip fighter was blown to pieces, but they rocketed away, safely beyond the broken remains of their craft.
 

Zack’s brows knitted together. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t get the targets to line up,” he said.

“Don’t be,” Etanu said. “Taking out missiles without any training was too much to ask.”

The lights and HUDs in the cockpit went out. They could see out of the canopy above them, but that was it. Etanu tried to get the power back on.
 

“What happened to the power?” Zack asked.

“We must have taken damage. I can’t get it back on,” Etanu said.

Zack glanced around the small cockpit and didn’t see helmets. “Are there any helmets? What if the canopy breaks?”

Etanu looked over at him, his eyes straying to Zack’s neck. “Where is the neckpiece that goes with your suit?”

Zack’s mouth went dry. “What neckpiece?” he asked, his hands rising instinctively to his neck.

“This one,” Etanu said, and pointed to a gray metallic collar around his own neck.

“I don’t have one of those. Please tell me that’s not the helmet,” Zack said.

Etanu turned away and began checking the different storage panels in the cockpit.

“Etanu,” Zack said. “Does that collar somehow become a helmet?”

Etanu frowned. “You asked me not to tell you,” the Nershal said.

“That was sarcasm.”

“Oh, well then, yes it is. Why didn’t you put on all the clothes I gave you?” Etanu asked.

Zack clenched his jaw. “It was bulky. I didn’t know the collar was needed. It’s not like we had a lot of time to get into it. Is there another one on the ship or some type of emergency helmet I could use?” he asked.

“That’s what I’m checking for, but it appears all the spares are gone,” Etanu said.

Zack’s stomach clenched. He was going to die because he didn’t put on some stupid collar. “How much air do we have?”

“Normally we would have plenty, but without power there’s nothing to scrub the atmosphere. It won’t last long,” Etanu said.

“What about those other fighters?” Zack asked.

“Without power to the pod, they might believe they’ve destroyed us because their scanners won’t be able to detect us,” Etanu said.

The Nershal continued to pull open panels and check the components inside. They didn’t know how bad the damage to their escape pod was, and Zack didn’t have much hope of figuring out how to turn the power back on. He glanced down at his PDA and used his implants to communicate with the AI.

::Start broadcasting on any frequency the Athena could be monitoring,:: Zack said.

::Acknowledged, but I should warn you that the range is severely limited,:: the AI replied.

::Understood. Do what you can,:: Zack replied and said a silent prayer for the others to find them. He didn’t know how he could get to the Athena without a spacesuit, but hopefully between them and Kladomaor they could come up with something.

*****

Kaylan was on the bridge while the Athena closed in on Selebus. She’d searched for the place where Zack was being held and found it a smoking ruin. She’d told the others.