Ep.#8 - "Celestia: CV-02" (12 page)

Tension filled the Lunar Rail Gun Array’s small control center as the specialists assigned to the facility checked and rechecked their systems to ensure proper operations of the ten massive rail guns positioned on the Earth’s moon. The top-secret facility had taken several years to complete and had only been operational for a few months, yet the staff had practiced for this very moment nearly every day since their arrival.

“Tracking array is realigned sir,” the tracking officer reported. “Estimated time to first contact based on course and speed is twelve minutes.”

“How long until the targets will be in range?” the weapons officer asked.

“Optimum range in fifteen, sir,” the tracking officer reported. “But we can fire as soon as we have confirmed tracks.”

“Very well,” the weapons officer noted. “Have all guns loaded and charged. I want full weapons capability the moment we receive orders to fire.”

“Yes, sir.”

The weapons officer touched his comm-set. “Load master, WEPS.”

“
WEPS, go for load master,
” the voice answered.

“How many rounds are we up to?”

“
Fifteen hundred balanced slugs, sir,
” the load master answered.

“Is that all?”

“
It takes time to manufacture them, sir, and two of our auto-miners are still down. We’ve got another three hundred slugs that haven’t been balanced yet, but I wouldn’t recommend firing them if we don’t have to. I can’t guarantee their accuracy, as they tend to make the rails wobble a bit during launch.
”

“Understood,” the weapons officer said. “We’ll just have to make every shot count.”

“
They will, sir,
” the load master promised over the comms. “
Our guns may be big and slow, but they are accurate. And a projectile the size of a bus slamming into a target at one hundred kilometers per second packs one hell of a wallop, sir. I suspect one or two hits will make the Jung rethink their strategy a bit.
”

“Let’s hope so.”

* * *

“Core, Hiller,” the young Data Ark technician answered after picking up the comm handset.

“
Yanni,
” the voice called over the comm-set. There was an unexpected sense of urgency in the caller’s voice that caught the technician off guard.

“Yes, yes, this is Yanni. Who is… Reto? Is that you?” he asked as he began to recognize the panicked voice on the other end.

“
Yes, Yanni, who else would call you on this line?
”

“What is it?” Yanni asked. “What’s wrong?”

“
Yanni, listen carefully,
” Reto began. “
I need you to take all of the data cores offline.
”

“What?”

“
Take them offline and pack them. Get them ready for transport as quickly as possible. Do you understand me, Yanni?
”

“Are you mad? The cores have never been taken offline, not in the two centuries since they were first found!”

“
Yanni! Listen to me! The transports will be there shortly. The data cores must be ready to move! Can you do this?
”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Yanni promised. “I will begin immediately.”

“
I need you to make sure the cores are properly handled, Yanni. You must stay with them wherever they go. Do you understand?
”

“Yes, of course, but please, Reto, can you tell me what is going on?”

There was a pause, after which Reto said, “
It’s the Jung, Yanni. They have come.
” The comm-set clicked off.

Yanni’s face turned pale.

“What is it, Yanni?” one of the technicians asked, seeing the face of his supervisor suddenly becoming that of a ghost.

Yanni replaced the handset and turned to the other technician. “Take the cores offline.”

“Which ones?” the technician asked, not believing what he was hearing.

“All of them.”

“What?”

“Do it!” Yanni ordered.

* * *

Chunks of the Reliant’s outer hull tore away as projectiles from the Jung rail guns slammed into her on either side as she passed between the third and fourth cruisers in the Jung line. All of the Reliant’s rail guns, both her minis and her quads, returned fire, sending their own projectiles into the hulls of the enemy on either side of her. Explosions rocked the enemy ships as the larger, explosive rounds fired by the Reliant’s massive quad rail guns buried into the enemy’s hulls and exploded.

The bridge of the Reliant shook violently as the assault continued. Alarms sounded from various stations as the crew of the Reliant struggled to keep things under control while their ship ran its first gauntlet. Captain Yahi watched in amazement as his crew, all of whom had never before been under fire, performed their jobs perfectly amid the chaos of battle. He watched the forward view screens, the center screen showing their forward view. The screens on either side of it showed close-up views of the ships they were attacking. The scene was gruesome, at least to a ship’s captain, as large sections were blown away from the enemy hulls by the Reliant’s explosive rounds. Although they were not close enough to see much detail, he could imagine Jung crewmen being sucked out into space through the gaping holes in the sides of their ships, struggling vainly for control only to die moments later among the debris that would litter the Sol system for eons to come.

“Damage control reports fire in lateral thruster fifteen!” Ensign Donabee reported urgently as he and three other technicians struggled to keep up with the flow of communications pouring into the bridge from all over the ship. “They’re venting the thruster’s propellant to space!”

“How long until we pass through?” the captain asked.

“Twenty seconds!” Ensign Stewart answered from the helm.

“Combat!” Captain Yahi called over his comm-set. “When we come out the other side, I want you to fire a full round of missiles into target number four! She appears to be taking the most damage at the moment!”

“
Aye, sir!
” the commander’s voice answered over the comm-set.

“Hull breach!” Ensign Donabee reported. “Deck four! Section one zero two!”

The Reliant’s deck plan flashed through the captain’s mind. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized it was a cargo bay that had been opened to space. The ship’s designers had been smart enough to keep all her critical systems and compartments well away from the outer hull whenever possible. They had no idea if the Jung ships were designed the same way, but he assumed they would be.

He watched the view screens as his fighters dove at the enemy ships, strafing any critical system they could recognize, as enemy guns stabbed at them in passing.

“Ten seconds!” Ensign Stewart reported.

“Flight, call those fighters off target number four and have them concentrate on target number three instead. We don’t want our fighters near that fourth ship when our missiles hit,” the captain ordered.

“Aye, sir!” Lieutenant Fudala acknowledged.

“Five seconds!” Ensign Stewart reported from the helm.

The captain could already feel the enemy rail gun fire lessening. As they passed through the line of Jung warships, they were moving too quickly for the enemy’s big rail guns to track them. He glanced at the starboard view screen, the one showing the fourth target, noticing that his fighters were moving away from the Jung cruiser as per his orders. “Combat, Captain. Stand by to fire missiles at target four!”

“We’re clear, sir!” Ensign Stewart reported with relief.

Captain Yahi watched as the images of the Jung ships on either screen slipped out of the camera frame, revealing the star field behind them. Pieces of his ship’s hull that had been blasted away by the Jung guns floated alongside them, partially obscuring the camera’s view. “Track target four, and put it on view screen three,” he ordered. As soon as the words left his lips, the starboard view screen changed and displayed a new image showing the aft end of the Jung cruiser, the fourth one in the line, as it fell away from them.

“Fire missiles!” the captain ordered.

“Missiles away!” Lieutenant Calloway reported a moment later.

“Hard to port, Mister Stewart!” the captain ordered. “Go to max burn! I want us a few kilometers off the starboard side of target one, same altitude relative to the ecliptic!”

“Hard to port, full burn, aye!” the helmsman acknowledged, more than happy to get some additional distance between their ship and those of their enemy.

Captain Yahi watched as the missiles streaked toward their target on view screen three. “Maintain visual track on target four,” he reminded them. “Cease fire on all guns. Retarget them onto target one and stand by.”

“Aye, sir,” the tactical officer answered. “Missile impact in five seconds.”

Captain Yahi watched as the missiles blurred into the image of the shrinking Jung cruiser. Their speed relative to the target was considerable, and in only seconds, they would be too far away from the enemy to see them with anything other than maximum magnification.

A bright flash filled the third view screen.

“Missile impact!” Lieutenant Calloway reported with excitement. “Multiple detonations!”

The captain continued watching, unmoved, as several more flashes lit up the view screen in rapid succession. Finally, the entire screen was whitened out for several seconds.

“Target four destroyed!” Lieutenant Calloway announced with pride. Cheers erupted from the bridge crew, knowing that they had just struck the first blow in the defense of Earth. More importantly, they now knew beyond doubt that their ships were capable of destroying those of their enemy.

It gave them hope.

* * *

Luis watched through the shuttle window as ground crews outside scurried about, urgently attending to the various cargo transports, personnel shuttles, and fighters as they all prepared for action. Tanker trucks were everywhere, as were ordnance loaders and pilot shuttles. It was amazing to watch, amazing that no one ran into each other.

He cocked his head and looked up at the afternoon sky. Already, dozens of ships were leaving the spaceport in orderly fashion. Large transports rose slowly and made their way forward down the aerial exit corridors. Personnel shuttles rose more quickly as they pulled away at various angles, each heading to their appropriate destinations. Fighters rose from the deck, pitched their noses up, and blasted straight into the sky on their way to orbit in order to rendezvous with orbital tankers and top off their fuel tanks before breaking orbit to position themselves between the Earth and her approaching enemy.

The shuttle’s flight tech swung the hatch closed and activated the locking mechanism. He tapped his headset. “Hatch is secure, sir! We’re ready back here.”

“Finally,” Kyle said.

The shuttle’s engines came to life. A low rumble at first, the pitch and intensity rose as she brought her air-breathing turbines to full power and lifted off the tarmac.

Luis watched through his window as the shuttle rose quickly, pivoted to port, then rolled slightly toward her port side before pitching up and accelerating skyward. She, too, was headed for orbit, but not for the orbital tankers. They were headed for the Orbital Assembly Platform where they would meet up with their new home, the Defender-class warship Intrepid. He only wondered how long their new home would survive.

Luis and his friends were pushed back into their seats as the shuttle accelerated up and away from the spaceport.

“There’s no turning back now!” Tilly exclaimed. “We’re headed for the shit for sure!”

Devyn slipped her hand under Luis’s, taking a firm hold. Luis looked over at her and saw that her eyes were closed. She looked afraid, unsure. He couldn’t blame her. He took hold of her hand and held it tightly. “We’ll be okay, Devyn.”

* * *

Lee Thornton weaved his way through the crowded hospital emergency department. The department was doubly staffed at the moment, with extra personnel being called in due to the public panic that had already begun to sweep across the globe. He had been on duty for most of the day which, until an hour ago, had been a relatively calm shift.

As he approached the ambulance bay doors at the end of the hall, he could see that the sun was already high in the sky. He should have been at home with his family, sitting down to eat lunch together. Instead, he was trying to find a quiet spot from which to tell his wife he could not come home when she needed him most.

The ambulance bay doors burst open as a team of medics urgently rolled their patient into the corridor from outside. Doctor Thornton spun to his right, rolling away from the oncoming crew, slipping through the doors as they swung back in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, it wasn’t much quieter outside at the ambulance dock. Radios blared from the ambulance cabs, and backup alarms sounded as new rigs arrived carrying patients who had been injured or had become ill during the initial wave of panic. As the doctor pulled his phone from his pocket and pressed the speed dial button, he wondered how much busier the emergency department would become if the Jung really did attack his world.

“
Where are you?
” his wife’s voice called from his phone as he raised it to his ear. He realized she must have been waiting for his call.

“I’m still at the hospital, Miri,” he told her as he plugged his other ear with his free hand to hear better over the noise of the ambulances and their crews.

“
Haven’t they found you yet?
”

“If you mean the protection agents, then yeah, they found me.”

“
Then why haven’t you left?
”

“I can’t leave, Miri,” the young doctor said. “They need me here.”

“
We need you here,
” Miri told him.

“I know, Miri. I know. But you and the kids are safe. They’ll get you to your father. You’ll be safe there.”

“
What about you?
”

“I’m fine,” he told her. “Two of the agents have agreed to stay here with me until I can leave.”

“
And when will that be?
”

Lee sighed. “I don’t know, Miri.”

“
I need to know you’re safe, Lee.
”

The young doctor looked back toward the ambulance bay doors. Two men in plain, black suits stood there, watching him. “I’m safe,” he insisted. “I’ve got two agents following me around. Besides, it’s not like they’re going to attack hospitals.” The phone went silent for several seconds. “Miri?”

“
Call me when you can,
” she told him.

“I will.”

“
Promise me.
”

“I promise.”

“
I love you,
” Miri told him.

“I love you, too,” Lee answered. “Kiss the kids and tell them I love them.”

“Doctor Thornton!” a voice called urgently from the ambulance bay doors. “We need you inside!”