Atlantis Rising (20 page)

Jon stood up, “Secure all docking
ports from the station. Release all umbilical cords and docking clamps. Make
our speed one-quarter; pick your heading as the lanes clear. Remember we have
fighters out there!” Atlantis is the only ship moving – what else would be in
the lanes to clear?

“All docking ports secure,
umbilical cords and docking clamps releasing now,” Helm said.

A low thump echoed through
Atlantis as the clamps and umbilical cords were released.

“Speed to one-quarter, time to
destination twenty seconds,” Helm said.

“Tactical bring up main holo
display,” Jon said as he stepped down to the planning table. Gilas and Atlantis
followed him.

“Tactical display transmitted to
planning table,” Tactical said.

A hologram of their surroundings
sprung to life above the table.

“Let’s see where we’re going,”
Jon said. “Bring up main display.”

The holo viewer on the wall
directly in front of his chair came to life and showed stars. It showed them
pass the inner markers.

“Plotting fold to sixth planet,”
Helm said. “Increasing to full speed, fold point in ten seconds.”

“Here we go,” Jon said.

“Indeed,” Gilas said. A grin was
splitting his face from ear to ear. “Thank you for this honor.”

“If it wasn’t for you, we
wouldn’t be here right now. It’s the least I can do,” Jon said as he smiled
back.

“Folding,” Helm said.

Atlantis
’ engines flared briefly, as she disappeared in a flash of light.
She reappeared in another flash of light next to the planet.

“Fold complete. All systems
green. Fold drive recharging,” Helm said.

“Establish an orbit around the
planet,” Jon said. “Engineering, get ready to deploy the first of the listening
stations.”

“Yes, Sir,” Engineering said.

“Sir,” Tactical said. “I’m
detecting two hyperspace events forming at planet five.”

“Never a dull moment,” Jon said.
“Condition red, all hands prepare for battle.”

‘Condition Red, all hands report
to battle stations. This is not a drill. Condition Red, all hands report to
battle stations. This is not a drill,’ Atlantis’ voice echoed through the ship.

The lights dimmed and took on a
dull red glow as Atlantis powered up her defensive and offensive systems.

“Sir, two Invaru cruisers have
just come out of hyperspace. They’re headed towards the station,” Tactical
said. “They’re changing course and are now headed in our direction.”

“Atlantis,” Jon said. “Jam their
transmissions.”

“I’m attempting to do so now,”
Atlantis said.

“Sir, Station Control is warning
us about the ships. They say they have their communications scrambled. However,
they can’t launch fighters to intercept them before they can jump out,”
Communications said.

“Send an acknowledgment to their
transmission. Let them know we will be engaging the enemy, shortly,” Jon said.

Gilas paled as he stared at Jon.

Several of Gilas’ crew also
turned to look at Jon.

ou’re what? You’re insane,” Gilas said.

“We’re going to engage and
destroy those two vessels,” Jon said. He watched as the cruisers began to take
pot-shots at them.

“Jon, the
Atlantis
can’t
take out two cruisers. Well, she might be able to. But, she’s going to take a
hell of a beating in the process,” Gilas said. “You’re going to get people hurt
for no reason.”

Jon whirled on Gilas’ hologram as
he spoke, “Listen, I know you think you’re helping, but all you’re doing is
scaring the crew. We have to engage them. If they report back about us, the
whole Invaru fleet will show up on our doorstep. Even if
Atlantis
is
destroyed in the process we have to do this,” Jon said.

“But,” Gilas said.

“ENOUGH!” Jon said in a stern
voice.

Gilas balked.

“Gilas you are more than welcome
to grab a shuttle and leave if you want, but make it fast,” Jon said. “I would
much rather you were where you are, but I can’t have this going on right now.”

“I,” Gilas stopped for a second.
“My crew and I will stay. Without us you won’t have any chance.”

“Good,” Jon said as he turned
back to the planning table. “Helm, all engines full ahead. Bring us in-between
them. Hold fire until we’re in optimal range, and then weapons free.”

Atlantis
’ engines flared to life and she leapt towards the two cruisers.
Bolts of energy bounced off her shields as she closed the gap. She slowly
rotated to fit between the two cruisers thereby presenting a smaller target for
their gunners.

Jon had the battle already
planned out in his mind, and already knew what the end result would be.

“Shields down to seventy five
percent,” Tactical said.

“Sir, I have an incoming
transmission from one of the cruisers,” Communications said.

Jon nodded.

‘Eutharan vessel, stand down and
prepare to be boarded. This is your only warning,’ a male voice said.

“How about you both stand down
and prepare to be boarded?” Jon said.

‘You’re joking right?’ the voice
said.

“Yeah,” Jon said as he smirked to
the chuckles of his crew. “But hey, you never know unless you try.”

‘I’m ordering you to stand down
and prepare to be boarded. This territory belongs to the Invaru Empire,’ the
male voice said.

“Yeah, yeah, blah, blah,” Jon
said. “Do your worst, wind-bag.”

“Sir, the communication has been
shut down,” Communications said.

“You know angering them might not
have been the best thing to do,” Gilas said.

“I did it on purpose,” Jon said.
“People don’t think clearly when they’re pissed off.”

Gilas arched an eyebrow.

The hail of incoming fire on the
Atlantis
increased, as they got closer. The shields were constantly glowing
from multiple impacts.

“Shields down to forty five
percent,” Tactical said. “Five seconds to target intercept.”

“Increase speed to one hundred
ten percent,” Jon said. “Divert auxiliary power to shields and weapons. Weapons
are loose, fire at will.”

Atlantis
’ engines hummed as Helm diverted extra power to them. The glow
from them brightened, as she leapt forward between the two cruisers.
Atlantis
’ shields flared briefly, as Tactical dumped more power into them.
The constant barrage of fire continued to pound on the shields as the
Atlantis
passed between the enemy cruisers.

Atlantis’ sensor drones pulled
back into the safety of the shields, and magnetically attached themselves to
the hull. Then all hell broke loose.

Atlantis
’ guns opened up on the two cruisers as she passed between them.
The main guns, with the added firepower from the point defense weapons, tore through
one of the cruiser’s shields and started impacting the hull. The other cruiser
fared much better, as
Atlantis
trained fewer weapons on it.

Then, just as suddenly as the
Atlantis
’ had started firing, she disappeared in a flash of light. This
caused the two ships to shift closer together. It was so sudden that neither of
the Invaru ships had time to stop firing. Friendly fire disabled the ship that
lost its shields as the other ship lost her shields to fire from its sister
ship.

Jon watched all this on the
planning table. The magnetic field of the planet hid
Atlantis
from the
enemy’s sensors. He paid attention as the lights of one cruiser dimmed, and
then went out. The other cruiser turned to escape and started picking up speed.

“Sir, the fleeing cruiser is
charging their jump drive, and are preparing to jump,” Tactical said.

“Shield status?” Jon asked.

“Fifteen percent and recharging,”
Tactical said.

“Bring us out of the planets
magnetic field and prepare to fold. I want a point, three thousand yards behind
the cruiser,” Jon said.

Gilas was speechless as he
watched the small battle happen. What he thought was impossible; Jon had pulled
off. Now he was happy he had allowed the upgrades to the
Titan
.

“Captain, I’m rerouting power to
the fold drive,” Atlantis said. “In twenty seconds we will be ready to fold
again.”

“Thank you,” Jon said. “Gilas,
this is what I was talking about when I was saying the AI units on these ships
are very useful.”

“Yes, I have been monitoring her
as she adjusted the systems during the battle,” Gilas said. “I’m very impressed
and I am glad I authorized the
Titan’s
AI to be woken.”

“Sir, they will be able to jump
in thirty seconds,” Tactical said.

“Then we have ten seconds. Make
them count,” Jon said.

A small hologram popped up in front
of the tactical officer as Atlantis spoke, “I have analyzed these ships, and I
believe their drive section is here.”

A small area on the cruiser
started to flash.

“Realigning targeting. Thank you,
Atlantis,” Tactical said.

“My pleasure,” Atlantis said.

“Folding now,” Helm said.

Atlantis
suddenly appeared behind the cruiser that was making a run for
it, and fired at almost the same instant. The forward batteries tore through
the cruiser’s hull as if it was made of paper held together by spit.

The cruiser faltered, and started
to tumble as explosions began erupting through her hull.

“Reading massive explosions
throughout the cruiser. Their main reactor is going critical,” Tactical said.

“Helm, bring us about, and put
some distance between us and them,” Jon said.

Atlantis
started slowly backing away. She did a one hundred and eighty
degree turn as her engines flared to life. Just as the
Atlantis
was far
enough away, the cruiser suddenly blew apart when its reactor went critical.

“Helm set a course for the other
cruiser,” Jon said.

“Too late, Sir. They’ve
overloaded their reactor,” Tactical said.

The cruiser exploded just as the
Tactical officer finished speaking.

“Why the hell …” Jon said with a
stunned expression on his face.

“The Invaru don’t care to be captured,”
Gilas said. “My apologies for my earlier outburst, Captain, I’m very
impressed.”

“Thank you,” Jon said smiling.
“Helm take us home, I think the ‘shakedown’ is finished.”

Jon sat at his desk going over
reports for the past week. The crew started the foundries with minimal
problems, and the mining ships were already bringing in the needed resources. A
few of the mining posts needed some updates but they weren’t critical to their
operations.

Brad and the engineers from the
Titan
had started laying the foundation for a battleship in one of the free
berths. Time to completion was two months but it would be state of the art and
have several new systems that Mike had been developing with his staff. The
specifications were from an outdated battleship schematic, which Engineering
updated in a few key areas. They had added two extra reactors in addition to
the main reactor and two secondary reactors.

A combined effort of both crews
updated the main reactor and it produced twenty percent more power output with secondary
control systems. The secondary reactors had the same upgrades and produced over
forty percent more power output.

The engineers had removed extra
cargo storage and turned the combined bays into a hangar with room for two
squadrons of fighters. That would mean this new class of battleship could
support four squadrons total. A large advantage in any battle it may happen to
fight.

The ship also had secondary
shield systems, to take advantage of the extra power. This, effectively,
doubled its shield strength. A secondary bridge set up like the
Atlantis
was also present, as well as support for a marine ground force of over three
hundred personnel. If you combined that with the pilots and crew, the ship
would need over five hundred personnel to run smoothly.

The foundries were also cranking
out the fighters and ground assault vehicles for the new ship. Not to mention
the fighters needed for the station itself. Jon shook his head as he looked at
the numbers. Where in the hell would he get all these people? He was going to
have to do something to gather the support needed to man the station and the
new ship being built.

Jon sat back and looked out the
observation window at
Atlantis
. He kept asking himself where they could
get people, and the answer was always the same, Earth. Jon sighed as he thought
about going back to Earth. He didn’t really want to go back to just leave
again. He wanted to go back, smash the Invaru, and stay to protect Earth.
However, to do that he would need a fleet, and to have a fleet he needed
people. It was a vicious circle from which there seemed no escape.

Jon’s doorbell chimed to let him
know someone was seeking entrance.

“Ghost, unlock my door please,”
Jon said.

Jon’s door slid open to reveal
Gilas and Carex deep in conversation.

“Yes, render assistance,” Gilas
said. “We haven’t gotten any orders back from command.”

“But, Sir, we can’t do that
without approval. To render assistance and move on is one thing. To render
assistance, and stay put, and to continue to render assistance, is another,”
Carex said.

“Semantics, this is a war time
decision,” Gilas said. “I’m sure they will tell us to continue what we’re
doing.”

“We still need approval to render
assistance,” Carex said.

“How about we send off a request
for approval and then render assistance until we get word back? Would that
satisfy you?” Gilas said.

He noticed the door was open now
and stepped through.

“Hello, Jon,” he said. “How are
you this morning?”

“Who needs assistance?” Jon
asked. “I’ll see what I can do to help.”

“See what I mean,” Gilas said
looking at Carex. “Always ready to help, and always thinking about themselves
last. That is kind of refreshing in today’s day and age.”

Carex smiled and nodded, “Yes it
is.”

“We don’t have much but take what
you need. I can send the
Atlantis
if you need additional support,” Jon
said.

“Of course there is someone who
needs assistance … you do,” Gilas said.

“Huh?” Jon replied.

“You’re planning on going back to
Earth, aren’t you,” Gilas said as he sat down.

“Was I that obvious?” Jon said.

“Yes, the times we have talked,
all you could talk about is needing more people. I know that Earth has those
people. So I guessed you would be going back to try to free some of your own
people,” Gilas said.

“Yeah, I was planning a small
trip after we got the
Titan’s
AI online,” Jon said.

That was going to happen in just
a few hours.

“See, you will need the
Titan
,
“Gilas said.

“No,” Jon said. “I want to get in
and out as fast as we can, not give them more targets.”

“Then you will need our help to
man the
Atlantis
,” Gilas said. “I’ll leave enough crew here for the
Titan
just in case she is needed for station defense. Carex can command her
while I’m gone.”

“If you’re going to be insistent
about this,” Jon said.

“I am,” Gilas said, interrupting.

“Then I want you here in command
of the
Titan
and I’ll leave Bill as commander of the station. Carex can
be my second on the
Atlantis
,” Jon continued. “Carla is still in
training for command and I would like you to help her and Bill out.”