The Honour of the Knights (First Edition) (37 page)

“
I don’t think those Imperial pilots knew what hit them,”
Dodds said.

“
I
’
m not sure anyone out there did
either, to tell the truth,” Enrique said. “Those fighters are still
supposed to be a military secret.”

“
Test run,” Chaz said, glancing back around at the fighters,
which still looked as fresh and new as the day they had completed
construction. There didn’t appear to be one dent or scratch on any
of them. Not even on the ATAF that Kelly had been piloting, having
been hit head-on by the suicidal Sphinx fighter pilot.

“
We should meet with Commodore Parks for debriefing and then
get you some medical attention, Kelly,” Estelle said.

Together, the
Knights
started out the cargo bay. But as they
approached, a number of security personnel, standing by the hold’s
exit, gathered themselves across the already-thin gap of the tall
doors, blocking the five pilots from exiting. At first, Dodds
thought their presence was to ensure the security of the bay and to
escort the ATAF pilots to Parks.
Estelle
attempted to pass. A halting hand was raised.

“
Something wrong?” she asked.

“
Sorry, but I can’t allow you to leave,”
Omar Wyatt,
Griffin
‘s
head of security, explained. “I have orders from Commodore
Parks that you are to remain here until further notice.” The man
stood ahead of the other members of his team who were each
brandishing a rifle.

“
But we must attend our debriefing,” Estelle
protested.

“
I have my orders,” Wyatt said. “Commodore
Parks feels that in the ship
’
s current state it would be best
for you all to remain here.”

“
Couldn
’
t you at least escort us to our
quarters, instead?” Dodds said.

“
There is a member of my team who requires
some medical attention,” Estelle interjected, nodding in
Kelly
’
s
direction, not waiting for the head of security to answer Dodds.
The man looked over at Kelly who, other than appearing to be a
little tired, displayed no signs of trauma or physical injury that
required any kind of urgent attention.

He shook
his head. “No, sorry. No-one is allowed in or out of the hold. And
all our medical teams are also busy dealing with those suffering
from more severe injuries.”

Estelle
fumed and was about to say something before Kelly stopped her,
shaking her head. Chaz did not seem in the least bit surprised by
what was happening. He swore, let out an audible sigh and then
stalked off from the rest of the group, settling down on the floor
and propping himself up against a rack of maintenance equipment.
Dodds watched him for a bit, but the big man did not acknowledge
him or the gathering of people by the exit. It was clear his
short-lived upbeat demeanour had now been pushed to the wayside and
he would only sink back into silence.

“
All crew, this is your captain
speaking,”
Park
s’ voice came over the ship
’
s PA. “We are ready to make the
return jump to Spirit. Please finalise jump
preparations.”

Estelle,
Kelly and Enrique wandered off to join Chaz, whilst Dodds made one
last-ditch attempt to leave the hold. “I need to take a leak,” he
threatened.

“
Then you
’
ll just have to go in your suit,”
Wyatt answered with a shrug.

* * *

Parks bid farewell to Mandeep and watched as
Grendel
’
s Mother
opened a jump point and exited the system, the swirling jump
point closing with the departure of the carrier.

“
Open a jump point to Spirit,” Parks said to Liu.

“
Yes, sir.” Liu punched the required data
into his console. Ahead of them the jump point formed and, as
before, when they had originally departed Spirit,
Griffin
started forward,
followed by
Ifrit
and
Leviathan
. This time, however, Meyers and Hawke allowed a greater
distance between their carriers and Parks
’
. If
Griffin
suffered a power failure,
they would have ample stopping distance.

Parks, sat in the captain
’
s chair, just behind the navigator
and comms officer at the front, was drawn from his deep thoughts by
the flicker of something out of the frontal viewport. Had something
happened around the jump point? Something that
wasn
’
t normal?
Just as he thought he had imagined it, it happened
again.

A streak of what appeared to be lightning coursed its way
right around the portal, closely following its rotation. In its
wake it left a jagged tear that ripped open, revealing the
colourful space behind it. The tear then appeared to heal itself,
leaving behind no evidence of the abnormality that had grabbed
Parks
’
attention.
He rose from his chair and wandered to the front of the
bridge.

“
What was that?” he asked.

“
Captain?” Liu asked.

“
That… thing around the jump point? It looked like
lightning.”

“
I’m sorry, sir, I must have missed it.” Liu tapped at his
console. “Systems are not reporting any issues.”

Parks
began to wonder if the injury to his head was preventing him from
thinking and seeing straight; though the stars were usually never
that big or that shape. He began to return to his seat, seeing that
the portal had returned to its normal state.

The
portal, however, did so for but only for a few seconds, before two
smaller streaks ripped through it just as the first, rupturing it
in the same way. Yet another and another appeared, tearing the pool
in a similar fashion, like a knife slashing a canvas. Pockets of
intense white light started to build in the region of the slashes,
giving the impression that the jump point was bleeding.

None of
it was sitting right with Parks and the sight was now grabbing the
attentions of most of the bridge crew, their concern for the
anomaly causing them to leave their systems unattended.

Liu
’
s
console began to whine.

“
What
’
s that?” Parks said.

“
Sir, the jump point appears to be collapsing!” Liu said, his
hands darting across his console. “I would strongly suggest we pull
back.”

“
Bring us to a halt, Mr Liu! Cancel the
jump request!” Parks ordered as
Griffin
began to cross the
threshold.

Liu attempted to prevent the carrier
’
s further descent into the unstable
jump point, but his efforts served only to slow their advance
rather than stop it. Moments later, the frontal viewport was
swallowed by the swirling mass and
Griffin
hurtled forward.

Griffin
started to tumble, slow at
first before it started to build up speed. As the carrier began to
shudder Parks ordered his crew to brace themselves, before finding
his own seat. He held on tight to the arm rests, staring out at the
usual sight before him.

Whilst what the carrier now travelled through bore many of
the hallmarks of jump space, the familiar blue haze was nowhere to
be seen. Instead,
Griffin
appeared to be surrounded by what looked like
thick, blood-red clouds. Angry streaks of electricity danced and
crashed within them, as
Griffin
continued its journey into the unknown. The
intensity of the shuddering grew the further they seemed to
plunge.

Time
appeared to slow. Parks turned his head to look around the ship,
his surroundings somehow blurred. Everything appeared to be leaving
translucent, multicoloured trails behind them as they moved. It was
like he was drunk, stumbling down the neon jungle of one of
Shai-Jin’s tourist traps, the bright lights of the city blinding
and confusing his vision.

Just as
Parks thought that the already damaged carrier would be torn apart,
the shuddering came to an abrupt end and, just like the blue haze
of jump space, the thundering red clouds parted gracefully to give
way to normal space. Stars came rushing towards them. Time returned
to normal. The trails faded.

“
Everyone okay?” Parks asked after Liu
managed to bring the carrier under control, following a bout of
rapid tapping at his console
’
s controls. Parks did not hear the
answers as he looked out into the featureless void that lay all
around them. It was in stark contrast to the nebulas that had
played host to the conflict zone they had just departed, and Parks
walked to the front of his ship to take stock. There was not a
single thing he recognised: no Temper, no Spirit, no Aster, and
no
Ifrit
or
Leviathan
.

He
looked around at the bridge crew, who had been following his gaze
out the front of the ship. “Where the hell are we?”

XVI

—
A Grand Opportunity —

Friday, June 13
^th
2617

I
’
m sitting
in the rear cargo hold of
Griffin
,
waiting for someone to tell me when I can get my head seen
to, get a shower and get some food. We (that
’
s me and the usual guys) are
returning to Spirit after a failed operation. It was sprung on us
early this morning by Commodore Parks, and together with a bunch of
others from the United Naval Forces we engaged Imperial forces in
the Aster system. The mission was unsuccessful and we suffered
heavy losses, but at least we didn
’
t lose our lives, too; the
Imperials retreated when we managed to fight back.

I knocked my head against the canopy whilst in combat and
that really hurt, even with the helmet on. I think I blacked out
for a bit and I still feel a bit groggy and dizzy. Chaz and Enrique
seem to think I
’
m
suffering from a mild concussion, though I
’
m sure that I
wouldn
’
t be able
to think straight if I were.

Or at least that is what I
’
d be writing if I had my journal
with me
, Kelly thought to herself, waking
from her daydream and finding herself sat back on the floor of the
rear cargo hold.

* * *

“
What
’
s going on?” Enrique asked Dodds as
he returned from talking to one of the security team.

“
He doesn
’
t know,” Dodds said, settling back
down on the floor next to the others. “He assumes
it
’
s just a
result of the damage that
Griffin
sustained during the battle.”

“
I
’
ve never felt a ship shake like
that before.”

“
It
’
s probably nothing to be concerned
about,” Estelle muttered. Dodds guessed that since being ordered to
remain in the cargo hold, Estelle was feeling as though she had
once again been shot down in her prime. With that in mind the
others, with the exception of Kelly, were largely ignoring
her.

“
I just want to get out of here and get a shower,” Enrique
started again.

“
And some food,” Dodds added. “I
can
’
t
believe he wouldn
’
t even let me go out for a pi—”

“
Stop moaning you two!” Estelle snapped.
“We
’
ll get
out of here in good time, so stop your griping. At least there’s
nothing wrong with you. Oh, how are you feeling, Kelly?”

“
Better now. The dizziness has just about cleared,” Kelly
said, still rubbing the side of her head.

“
We
’
ll get you some attention as soon
as we get back to Spirit,” Estelle said.

“
What did you think of those Imperial pilots?” Enrique asked
Dodds.

“
They were good. I
don
’
t
think we would have stood much chance without the ATAFs, to tell
you the truth.” Both men turned to the innocent-looking
starfighters that sat along the walls of the cargo bay.

The crew that had helped taxi the craft around and assisted
the
Knights
in
departing their fighters were also sitting on the floor, looking
bored and frustrated. Some had wandered over to talk to the
Knights
, but the
security team had soon put a stop to their attempt at socialising,
fuelling Dodds’ suspicions that Parks wished to keep them apart
from the rest of the ship.