Atlantia Series 2: Retaliator (28 page)

A blaze of red plasma rocketed back from the remaining Veng’en fighters and flashed past Evelyn’s canopy as she dove down and hauled the Raython into a tight turn as the Scythe fighters flashed past overhead.

‘Reaper Two, fully engaged!’

The Raython whipped around the turn, the Veng’en fighters hurling themselves across the starfield around her in a confused circus as they tried to re–establish formations. A single craft zipped into view ahead and Evelyn locked onto it, tracking it for a split second before firing her cannons.

The bright blue shots flashed away and struck the Veng’en craft astern, blasting it into several pieces that tumbled in a cloud of escaped gases and burning fuel. Evelyn shouted out in glee as she pulled up to avoid the debris.

‘Splash one!’ she yelled.

‘Stay closer together!’
Ranger One’s pilot snapped at her.
‘You’re stronger as a pair.’

Evelyn yanked her control column to the left and saw the shuttle just ahead of her, Kordaz circling it and firing at Veng’en fighters as they rocketed past in chaos. She focused on another target and pulled into line astern before firing twice and pulling up immediately.

The shots smashed into the Veng’en craft and blew one side of its fuselage clean off as the rest of it vanished into an orange fireball that flared brightly and then was consumed by the cold vacuum.

‘Splash Two!’

Evelyn’s Raython was hurled sideways as a shot smashed into her fuselage and sent the fighter spinning out of control. Two Veng’en fighters rocketed past her, their cannons blazing as they overshot her tumbling Raython.

‘I’m hit!’ she shouted, a pulse of panic bolting through her body.

Alarms rang in the cockpit and a flashing warning light told her that her starboard engine was aflame and leaking both fuel and coolant. She reached up and yanked the fuel shut–off valve, then unclipped the throttle handles and pulled the one on the right fully back.

The Raython’s alarms were abruptly cut off as she fought for control, jamming her left rudder pedal fully down as she kept the port engine’s throttle wide open to regain momentum. Counter–thrusters on her Raython’s nose acted in place of the Raython’s atmospheric rudder, balancing out the thrust from the remaining engine.

‘I’m outnumbered here!’
Kordaz growled over the intercom.

Evelyn saw the shuttle jinking left and right as the cloud of Veng’en fighters swarmed around it, each trying to take a shot. Evelyn aimed her Raython at the nearest of the attacking fighters and opened fire, catching it a lucky strike on the nose and sending it cartwheeling away into space.

‘Splash three,’ she called.

‘Splash four,’ Kordaz mimicked her kill–calls as his Raython hammered a Veng’en fighter with multiple blasts and it exploded in a flickering blaze.

Evelyn heard a crackling in her earpiece and then a new voice broke through.

‘Renegade Flight, in–bound to engage!’

The two Raython interceptors flashed through the cloud of Veng’en fighters at attack speed, their own cannons blazing as they took down two more of the enemy craft.

‘We’re hit!’
Bra’hiv yelled.

Evelyn saw the shuttle’s hull trailing a dense cloud of vaporised gases and torn metal, its surface scorched where Veng’en blasts had hit it.

‘I’m on it,’ Evelyn replied.

She directed her Raython straight toward the shuttle, matching its velocity as she swung in alongside the damaged craft and then shut off her remaining engine. Evelyn re–routed the Raython’s power to its bow and stern thrusters and then began scanning the starfield around them.

Two Veng’en craft arced high above the shuttle, reforming their attack formation for mutual cover as they wheeled over and dove down toward the shuttle.

Evelyn swung the nose of the Raython up to point at them, her Raython vertical alongside the shuttle as it fled, and squeezed her trigger. A trail of plasma rounds sprayed up toward the diving Veng’en craft and scattered them, one of them catching a glancing blow and veering away toward the Veng’en cruiser.

Renegade Flight flashed past and blasted a Veng’en Scythe, their combined rounds obliterating the craft into a swiftly vanishing ball of flame. Evelyn barely had the chance to register the hit when her cockpit was suddenly illuminated by a brilliant light that forced her to squint as the photo–reactive shielding on her canopy was briefly overwhelmed.

The Sylph’s huge hull flared like a newborn star as its engine’s fusion cores exploded with tremendous violence, blasting her stern apart like a gigantic metal flower, the petals propelled into the black void ahead of a rapidly expanding cloud of debris. The Rankor’s cannons stopped firing upon the merchant ship as the Sylph’s hull broke into multiple pieces, all trailing flame, gas and debris as they crumbled.

The shockwave hit Evelyn a moment later, her Raython shuddering and vibrating as the impact of the blast sent it reeling once more. She fought for control, saw the Veng’en fighters likewise tumbling erratically through space, and then as she regained control she saw the Atlantia looming large before her as it emerged from the gloom.

‘…all fighters recover immediately, repeat: recover immediately!’

The sound of Lael’s voice in Evelyn’s ears sounded like music as it broke through the Veng’en’s jammers.

‘Atlantia, this is Reaper Two, roger that!’

A ripple of plasma fire burst from the Atlantia’s smaller guns, cutting into a pair of Veng’en craft that strayed too close to the huge frigate and smashing them into flaming fireballs that streaked like shooting stars across the void and vanished just as fast.

The remaining Veng’en Scythes wheeled away and fled toward their parent cruiser as Evelyn saw the shuttle dive toward the Atlantia’s stern, trailing debris.

‘All craft, Atlantia leap in sixty seconds!’

Lael’s call galavanised the pilots. Evelyn re–routed power to her remaining ion engine and arrested her headlong charge toward the Atlantia, guiding the Raython alongside the massive hull as she saw Kordaz guiding Andaim’s fighter in pursuit of the shuttle.

Renegade flight positioned themselves protectively to port and followed Evelyn as she flew her Raython astern of the Atlantia and saw the guide lights flashing in the open landing bay.

‘All craft, Atlantia leap in thirty seconds!’

Evelyn flew directly into the bay and extended her undercarriage at the same time as she activated the electro–magnets on their bases. The Raython jerked down onto the deck as behind her Renegade Flight touched down in a tight formation and the landing bay doors descended.

The doors had barely closed when Evelyn felt the Atlantia surge into motion, all of her gigantic ion engines going to full power at once as she accelerated toward leap speed.

The landing bay environmental lights switched from red to green as the atmosphere was reintroduced to the bay and the temperature stabilised once more. Evelyn opened her canopy, unbuckled herself from her seat and leaped down onto the deck as the shuttle, its stern enveloped in a haze of smouldering blue smoke, opened its rear ramp and Bra’hiv jogged out.

‘Is everyone okay?’ Evelyn called out across the bay above the whine of ion engines shutting down.

‘We’re fine,’ Bra’hiv replied, then turned to his Marines. ‘Get Andaim to the sick bay and then get Kordaz into the holding cells.’

‘Kordaz just saved your lives!’ Evelyn protested.

‘It’s not to punish him,’ Bra’hiv snapped. ‘It’s to protect him!’

Evelyn looked to where Kordaz was levering himself gingerly from his cockpit, ground crew staring at the Veng’en with a volatile mixture of fear and hate.

‘This isn’t over yet!’ Bra’hiv yelled at his Marines as they deployed from the shuttle. ‘Protect Kordaz.’

Evelyn turned to the nearest crew chief as he approached her damaged Raython, and grabbed his arm.

‘In the cockpit, there’s a Hunter bot,’ she said. The crew chief’s eyes widened and he made to shout something. ‘It’s fine, it’s dormant!’ Evelyn snapped. ‘Just get it contained in a magnetic chamber and send it to engineering, okay? They can study it there.’

The crew chief nodded nervously. ‘Yes ma’am.’

The general pointed at Evelyn. ‘You, come with me!’

***

‘All fighters are aboard, all hatches and bay doors sealed.’

‘Full power!’

Captain Idris Sansin felt the Atlantia surge forward as her engines engaged. The Sylph’s remains dominated the viewing screen ahead, her massive shattered hull entombed in a cloud of debris obscured the Veng’en cruiser from sight.

‘The Veng’en fighters are not yet aboard her,’ Mikhain reported, ‘but it’s only going to be a couple of minutes.’

‘That might just be enough,’ the captain replied. ‘Helm, plot our trajectory and lock in the leap coordinates. Bring our starboard batteries to bear on the Veng’en as we pass.’

‘Aye sir.’

‘Tactical, charge all batteries.’

‘Aye,’ Mikhain replied, ‘at eighty per cent and climbing.’

‘Fire as they come to bear,’ Idris ordered.

The Atlantia accelerated swiftly under full thrust, climbing over the massive flaming debris field left by the Sylph. The Veng’en cruiser emerged from the gloom, her fighters swarming toward their landing bays as she hurried to prepare to pursue the Atlantia. Her vast upper hull loomed below the Atlantia as the frigate rolled to bring her starboard guns to bear upon the cruiser’s exposed upper hull.

‘She’s vulnerable,’ Mikhain announced. ‘Her landing bays are open!’

‘Fire now!’ Idris yelled. ‘Everything we’ve got into those open bays!’

The Atlantia’s huge plasma turrets thundered their salvos, the ship reverberating with the blasts, and Idris saw the enormous charges race toward the Veng’en cruiser’s hull and smash into open landing bays with tremendous explosions that shattered her superstructure around the vulnerable ports.

‘Direct hits astern and to her port hull!’ Mikhain shouted. ‘That’ll learn’em!’

Explosions ripped through the cruiser’s stern as the unprotected bays bore the brunt of the barrage, fires tearing through the damaged sections of the ship as enormous hull plating panels were blasted from their mounts to spin into space.

Veng’en fighters vanished inside the fireballs, obliterated as they tried to land, and the cruiser’s lights blinked erratically as power lines were severed and entire bulkheads vaporised by the immense force of the blasts.

‘We can finish her!’ Mikhain shouted. ‘Turn her about and…’

‘Belay that!’ Idris snapped.

The Executive Officer stared at the captain in dismay. ‘She’s vulnerable sir, we can finish her!’

‘She’s twice our size and her guns are still operational,’ Idris replied, keeping his voice level. ‘One good salvo from her at this range and we’d be finished. Maintain full power and leap as soon as we’re able, I don’t want her to get another broadside off.’

‘Aye sir,’ the helmsman replied.

The Atlantia sailed overhead the Veng’en cruiser, still heeled over ninety degrees on her side. Below, the Rankor rolled, struggling to bring her own main guns to bear and return the barrage. The cruiser vanished from sight as the Atlantia began building velocity and accelerated away.

‘Range increasing,’ Mikhain reported in a monotone voice, clearly distraught at having been denied the opportunity to defeat a major opponent in open battle. ‘We’ll be clear of their guns range by the time they can manoeuvre enough to make a shot.’

‘Divert all power to main engines,’ Idris ordered. ‘How long before we can leap?’

‘Three or four minutes sir,’ the helmsman replied. ‘Less once the power’s re–routed.’

The captain turned as the bridge doors opened and Bra’hiv marched in with Evelyn at his side.

‘About time,’ Idris said, hiding his relief at seeing them both alive. ‘How was your vacation?’

‘It was Dhalere,’ Bra’hiv reported, ‘she was infected. Evelyn was right, sir.’

‘We know,’ Idris replied. ‘What happened over there? Where is Andaim?’

Bra’hiv related what had passed aboard the Sylph, and the captain’s face fell further with every passing word.

‘Qayin is gone?’ he echoed, glancing at Evelyn.

‘Caught in a blast during our escape,’ Evelyn replied, her voice tight. ‘There was nothing we could have done.’

‘And this Veng’en, you have it in custody?’ he demanded.

‘He’s in the holding cells as we speak,’ Bra’hiv confirmed. ‘But he’s on our side, captain, if you can believe that.’

‘I don’t like having a Veng’en within light years of us,’ Mikhain uttered, ‘let alone aboard the same damned ship.’

‘Andaim needs medical help,’ Evelyn said, ‘he’s on his way down to the sick bay now. Where’s Meyanna?’

The captain sighed, his broad shoulders sinking even further as he replied.

‘Infected,’ he said, ‘and quarantined inside her own laboratory. She’s been unconscious for hours and nobody can go in there. If we don’t find a solution within a short while the entire laboratory will have to be cleansed using the microwave scanners.’

‘That’ll kill her,’ Bra’hiv said.

Idris nodded in responsebut his eyes were fixed upon Evelyn. The general turned also and looked at her, and he understood immediately.

‘You’re immune,’ Bra’hiv said. ‘You could go in there with her.’

Evelyn nodded.

‘Yes, but I’m not a doctor. I don’t know what I could do to help her.’

‘Anything is better than nothing,’ the captain said. ‘She’s dying, Evelyn. Before long we’ll lose my wife and the best physician we have aboard this ship. I don’t want her to become another Dhalere or Hevel.’

‘Nor do I,’ Evelyn replied, and then she hesitated. ‘But I know somebody else who could help her.’

‘Who?’

‘Kordaz,’ she replied. ‘The Veng’en in the holding cells.’

‘I don’t want that murderous scum anywhere near my wife and…’

‘All Veng’en are immune to the Infectors,’ Evelyn interrupted him. ‘Their saliva and blood contains bacteria that attack the Infectors and destroy them.’