Counterstrike (Black Fleet Trilogy, Book 3) (6 page)

“Captain Wolfe, your presence is once again requested.”

“Shit.”

“Welcome back, Captain Wolfe.” Setsi was already seated in the same sterile room when Jackson walked in.

“Setsi,” he said with a polite nod. “Thank you for having me back.”

“I will admit to finding you quite fascinating,” Setsi said. “When Colonel Blake’s ship was in proximity to your own vessels we were able to access most of your computer records. I’ve been reviewing those that your own people keep pertaining to you and your exploits.” Jackson decided not to mention that forcibly hacking into a secure computer network was considered rude, to say the least.

“Tell me this, Captain … why fight so hard for a people that seem to feel your life is of a lesser value than their own simply by virtue of where you were born?”

“This sort of shortsightedness and bigotry has been part of the human experience, in one form or another, since we crawled out of our caves and discovered fire,” Jackson leaned back with an explosive exhale. “If the Phage win, Earth won’t be spared, so there will be little satisfaction for me by knowing I stood aside while those who participated in that foolishness burned. Had I allowed myself to be held back by what others assumed to be a handicap I would have never made it to space, never commanded my own ship … why should I let their unqualified opinions of me limit my dreams?”

“But you must still hate them on some level,” Setsi dug a little deeper.

“Yes,” Jackson admitted. “And on that same level I always will. But that doesn’t mean that I’m willing to stand by and let the entire species die for it.”

“Fascinating,” Setsi repeated. “Let’s move back to the present. What would you do if we gave you what you wanted? Would you show the Phage the same sort of compassion you’re willing to show your fellow humans?”

“I’m not going to lie to you and I think you already know the answer to your question,” Jackson stared into the other’s eyes. “If you give me the means, I will destroy the Phage. I will do the thing that you cannot bring yourself to do. Instead of skirmishes and meaningless holding actions I will take the fight to them and make sure that there isn’t another species that falls before them.”

“Your directness is shocking, Captain,” Setsi said. “Would you feel no remorse for your actions?”

“More than you’d ever know,” Jackson said. “But this is what I do, Setsi. My goal is not to return to a peaceful life without the Phage, I don’t even expect to survive the coming fight. My goal is to make sure that nobody else has to come after me and make the hard decisions that I wouldn’t.”

Setsi just stared at him, motionless, for several moments.

“We have decided to grant you your wish,” it said finally. “But it will not be easy and it may turn out to actually be impossible by this point.”

“I can’t imagine that,” Jackson said. “A whole fleet of those ships you have and—”

“We will not be providing direct military support,” Setsi raised its hand. “Your instincts regarding our motivations have been more accurate than you likely realize, but we are still not able to make that leap, give up all that we are, and actively participate in what amounts to extermination.”

“I see,” Jackson said, waiting to see just what the Vruahn were offering.

“What we can give you is knowledge,” Setsi said. “Colonel Blake believes he knows the location of the Phage core, the main neural center that controls them all, but this is imprecise. We are willing to turn over all the exact data we have on the core as well as how to defeat it. As I said, Captain … it will not be easy.”

“If there’s any possibility then we have to try,” Jackson said. “Will Colonel Blake and his squadron at least be permitted to aid us?”

“I will speak to Colonel Blake shortly,” Setsi evaded the question. “I must be honest, Captain … this was not a unanimous decision. There are many who do not wish for your success. We will need to act quickly before those voices are able to gain too many allies.”

“So why are you helping us?” Jackson asked.

“Trillions upon trillions of beings have suffered and died because of our arrogance,” Setsi said after another long pause. “While we justified our inaction we failed to see that it was also our responsibility to address the Phage simply because we were the only ones able to do so. Farewell, Captain. I do hope that you find some measure of peace in your own life before your task is concluded.”

Jackson left the chamber confused and contemplating what in the hell Setsi had meant about their ‘responsibility’ when he passed Colonel Blake by the airlock.

“Here to escort me the rest of the way, Colonel?” Jackson asked.

“Not exactly, Captain,” Blake fidgeted. “I’ve been ordered to speak face to face with Setsi.”

“I take it this is an unusual request?”

“It is,” Blake said.

“Interesting.” Jackson wasn’t sure why Blake seemed so apprehensive.

He continued to be troubled by the relationship the crew of the
Carl Sagan
had with the Vruahn. Setsi had more or less admitted that they’d been using humans as their personal attack dogs and Blake, despite having served in his current role for damn near a century, seemed to be almost fearful of his Vruahn handlers. Again … the attack dog analogy was becoming more and more apt.

The more he thought about it, the more Jackson was pretty sure he didn’t like the Vruahn. There was an arrogance and smugness he’d detected in Setsi about the arrangement they had with Blake and his crew that didn’t sit well with him. It certainly wasn’t a partnership born out of mutual need, and from what he could see the crew of human explorers were being tricked into doing the dirty work the Vruahn felt was far beneath them.

Jackson’s ruminations were harshly interrupted by a klaxon alarm accompanied by a flashing light. He knew that on any human vessel that meant trouble of some sort, so he turned back the way he’d come and raced for the flight deck. He’d only taken three steps before the lights in the corridor cut out and he felt the gut-wrenching sensation of freefall as artificial gravity failed.

“Computer!” Jackson barked as he caromed off the bulkhead, still trying to arrest his forward momentum. “Report!”

“Main power failure,” the computer intoned. “Backup systems initializing.”

“No shit,” Jackson muttered as he got a good grip on the edge of a hatchway. “Is Colonel Blake on his way back to this ship?”

“Affirmative, Captain Wolfe.”

Jackson only grunted a response, now able to get his bearings and begin moving up the corridor again. A soft glow of emergency lighting came up along the edges of the deck to at least let him see where the hell he was going. He was still heading to the flight deck, but he had absolutely zero working knowledge of the exotic energy transmission system employed by the Vruahn. He’d at least be moral support for the colonel once he made his way back over.

It was only a few minutes after Jackson had gotten himself settled down into what he now internally referred to as the copilot’s seat when Colonel Blake, executing a precise flip to orient his feet towards the front of the flight deck, shot in and quickly took his seat.

“Impressive,” Jackson nodded his appreciation of Blake’s zero g aerobatics. “So do you know what’s happened?”

“I do,” Blake said grimly. “The Phage executed a three-pronged, simultaneous strike on three Vruahn power production facilities, one of which provides power to our ships. I don’t know the extent of the damage, but from what I can infer the planets themselves may have been lost.”

“Damn,” Jackson let out a low whistle. “So how long before our backup power takes over?”

“I’m not sure,” Blake admitted. “I’ve never had to switch over to it. In the meantime the computer will begin negotiating with other feeder sites to get main power back online as soon as possible. The cruiser has just detached from us so we’re free floating right now.”

“Not a pleasant proposition,” Jackson frowned. “Why would they cut us loose and leave this ship adrift with no engines or maneuvering?”

“Four Phage ships just entered the system,” Blake said tightly. “They look to be generally Alpha-like in configuration but with completely different power signatures.”

“So they’re not the variety built to kill humans,” Jackson nodded. “Have the Phage ever made such an overt move against the Vruahn before?”

“Not since they were discovered over three hundred years ago,” Blake shook his head. “Setsi seemed genuinely shocked at the news.”

For the next thirty minutes the pair tensely watched the monitors, while the computer displayed data from the two other Vruahn ships in the system of the Phage ships deploying out from the point where they emerged into the system.

“What are the combat capabilities of the two Vruahn ships that still have power?” Jackson asked.

“Zero,” Blake said. “I told you, they’re completely pacifist. We’re the only thing in this system that isn’t Phage that has a chance of fighting back.”

Jackson bit back the retort he had about how high and mighty ideals were fine … until you were staring down the barrel of a gun with nothing to defend yourself but sanctimony and self-righteousness.

The Phage ships seemed intent on trying to cut off the two Vruahn cruisers, deploying into a picket line that was moving to cut off their retreat. Jackson wasn’t entirely sure of the scale he was seeing on the display, but it looked like the Vruahn ships, though mobile, weren’t at full power themselves. They were struggling to stay ahead of their tormenters and he surmised their FTL drives must have also been offline since they hadn’t hopped out yet.

“One of the Vruahn ships is flagging,” Jackson pointed out. “Do you know which one that is?”

“I know it isn’t Setsi’s ship, but nothing more precise than that. We don’t have too much interaction with their regular fleet,” Blake said. “The Phage see it too.” Sure enough, two of the Phage ships peeled off from the formation and went to pounce on the stricken cruiser that was now trying to turn in and catch a gravity assist from the sixth planet in the system, a Class I gas giant with striations similar to Jupiter.

It was a desperate move that was destined to fail. The two Phage ships put on a burst of acceleration that put them directly behind the fleeing ship in less than an hour. On the rudimentary telemetry link all they could decipher was that the Vruahn ship was no more. Jackson could make out from the accompanying data that the Phage had utilized a more intense form of the directed plasma weapon he’d been up against when they encountered that first Alpha.

“That second cruiser is in deep shit if we can’t get this ship up and running,” Jackson said.

“You want to pit us against four Phage heavies?” Blake cocked an eyebrow at him.

“
Want
might be too strong a term,” Jackson said. “But we’re the only warship here and apparently the only beings with any compunction to fight.”

“True,” Blake said quietly.

What Jackson didn’t tell the colonel was that they’d yet to receive the promised help from Setsi. If the cruiser was destroyed with the alien still aboard, Jackson feared that their agreement might not be honored without another protracted negotiation with some other Vruahn. Or not at all. The Terran fleet was massing near New Sierra and they were waiting on him to bring back something that would allow them to kick the Phage right in the teeth. He wouldn’t go back empty-handed.

After another hour of watching the Phage formation redeploy to try and box in the last cruiser, there were some promising flickers from the other terminals on the flight deck. With one last
thump
that could be felt through the deck plates the lights came back up fully and Jackson could literally feel the power course through the ship. All of the other displays flashed to life and the thrum of the engine coming back online vibrated the backs of their seats.

“We’re in business,” Blake said. “We’re receiving power from a secondary generation site. We’ll be at full capacity in another twenty minutes. Propulsion and weapons energizing now. How do you want to do this?”

“This is your ship.” Jackson was taken aback by the question. “I haven’t the first clue as to her capabilities.”

“You’re far more qualified at long odds like this,” Blake argued. “I can pilot the ship, but I’d feel more comfortable with you handling tactics.”

“Fair enough,” Jackson acquiesced, more interested in getting moving than in arguing the point further. “Target the closest Phage ship. Hit it with a full power active scan to get its attention. We need to break up that formation. From what I saw at Nuovo Patria I think we have the speed advantage. That’s going to be important.”

“Active scans coming up now,” Blake said.

“Phage fleet is already responding,” Jackson said in awe. “Even your sensors are instantaneous?”

“For all practical purposes, yes,” Blake said. “At least at distances as short as within a star system.”

“This advantage alone would be a game changer for us,” Jackson shook his head. “Too bad the Vruahn aren’t interested in a technological exchange. Keep focusing on that closest target and leave the engine in standby. Let’s wait to see what the rest do before we tip our hand that we have teeth and legs again.”

“Yes, sir,” Blake said without a trace of irony. “Switching weapons back to standby as well.”