Ep.#8 - "Celestia: CV-02" (14 page)

The other guard already stood in the open, gazing at the corpses of their attackers in disbelief. “No way.” The guard crouched down in fear as the loading dock was suddenly flooded with light once again. Another shuttle slid into view from over his shoulder, its engines screeching as it came in to land on top of the dead attackers. This shuttle, however, had Earth Defense Force markings on her side.

Yanni also came out as two fighters streaked low overhead in pursuit of the fleeing shuttle. A dozen armed EDF troops dropped out of the sides of the shuttle, just aft of her door guns, as it touched down. They spread out in all directions as they moved to secure the area from further attack.

Four men approached confidently. They were dressed in heavy combat armor and carried assault weapons over their shoulders.

“Lieutenant O’Conner, EDF Marines!” one of the men introduced himself as he approached Yanni and the surviving Ark guard. “Which of you is Yanni?”

Yanni reluctantly pointed to himself, inadvertently allowing his weapon to point at the lieutenant in the process.

The lieutenant leaned to one side to avoid getting shot as he reached for Yanni’s weapon, grabbing it just over the magazine. “I take it combat isn’t your normal line of work.”

“No, sir,” Yanni muttered, still in shock from the gun battle.

“I’ve been told you’re in charge of these cores. Is that true?”

“Uh, yes, sir,” Yanni answered.

“Let’s get them loaded then, shall we?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You might want to answer your comm-set,” the lieutenant added. “I think someone is trying to call you.”

Yanni reached for his comm-set which had been knocked down around his neck during the preceding events, and pulled it up to his ear. “Yes, Reto. I’m here,” Yanni answered over the comm-set.

“Yanni, thank God. Are you all right?”

“Yes, I think so,” Yanni answered as he looked himself over.

“Is everything okay down there? Are the cores okay?”

Yanni looked over the first cart of cases, the one that had been in the line of fire. There were several nicks from flying debris and a lot of external scorching from the energy weapons fire, but he saw no external signs of damage. “They seem to be fine, sir.”

“Good work, Yanni. Good work. You stay with them, Yanni. Do not let those cores out of your sight!”

“No, sir, I won’t,” Yanni promised.

“Good luck, my boy.”

“Uh, thank you, sir.” Yanni looked down the hallway as several more workers came charging out to help load the cases onto the waiting EDF shuttle. Yanni cringed at the sound of a distant explosion. He turned to see a bright fireball rising up into the night sky from a distant crash site as the two EDF fighters pulled up and turned in opposite directions, having just shot down the fleeing, black shuttle.

“Make a hole,” someone yelled, causing Yanni to step aside.

A man wearing a military flight suit, safety harness, and flight helmet approached Yanni.

“Are these the data cores?” the man in the flight helmet asked.

“Yes, sir,” Yanni answered. “Where are you taking them?”

“Classified,” the crew chief answered. “Is this all of them?”

“No, there are seven more carts in the hallway,” Yanni told him, pointing inside.

“Keep them coming,” the crew chief told Yanni. “We need to get them loaded and get out of here, ASAP. There could be more Jung forces in the area.” The crew chief motioned to two of his crewmen, who then came up behind him to start loading the cases from the first cart. The two crewmen stepped up and grabbed the first case off the cart, one man on each end, and lifted it up with a jerk. The case beeped loudly, causing the crewmen to pause, looks of concern on their faces.

“Why is it beeping?” the crew chief asked Yanni.

“You have to handle them more gently,” Yanni told him.

“I thought they were packed in protective cases,” the crew chief asked.

“They are,” Yanni insisted. “That’s why it’s beeping. Those are thousand year-old data cores. We don’t know how abrupt handling might affect them.”

“Carefully,” the crew chief warned his men.

“Just move them smoothly, no jarring or shaking,” Yanni added.

“What else do we need to be worried about?” the crew chief asked.

“They should not be exposed to extreme temperatures, high humidity, sudden shock, electrical charges, electromagnetic fields…”

“What the hell are the cases for?” the crew chief wondered. “Don’t they protect them from any of that?”

“Like I said, those are thousand year-old data storage devices. If you’re not careful with them, the data you’re protecting could be lost forever.”

“Do you know how to care for them?” the crew chief asked.

“Yes, of course.”

“Then climb aboard!” the crew chief ordered.

“What?”

“You’re coming with us, pal.”

“Me? But I’m just the night Core Supervisor…” Yanni suddenly remembered his supervisor’s words.
I need you to make sure the cores are properly handled, Yanni. You must stay with them wherever they go.
The words echoed in his head over and over. He climbed aboard the shuttle as the two crewmen began loading the rest of the cases. He helped the men inside the shuttle as they stacked the cases carefully, securing them as they were loaded. Within minutes, all sixty-four cases were neatly arranged on the floor of the shuttle, stored on special loading pallets connected to the deck. Without ceremony, the two crewmen outside and the crew chief climbed back aboard and closed the hatch.

One of the other technicians pushed Yanni down into his seat. “Buckle up!”

Yanni looked around, taking note of the shoulder harnesses the other technicians were pulling from the walls of the shuttle to wrap around their torsos. He found his own harness, pulling it around either side of him and securing it in front of him as the shuttle’s engines spun back up to full power. As he tightened his harness, the shuttle leapt off the ground and began to accelerate slowly as it climbed. Yanni looked at the stacks of cases in the middle of the shuttle’s cargo deck. The indicator lights on the cases were all green, indicating that there were no conditions currently threatening the integrity of the cores.

Yanni glanced out the window of the shuttle at the Swiss Alps as they passed below him, growing smaller and smaller as they continued to climb. “Where are we going?” Yanni asked the technician sitting next to him.

The technician looked Yanni over, noticing the copious amounts of blood on both his clothing and his hands. He then looked at his crew chief. “Chief?”

“What the hell?” the crew chief said. “He’s going to know soon enough.”

Yanni looked at the man again.

“OAP,” the technician told Yanni.

“What? You mean in orbit?” Yanni asked, his eyes wide.

“Uh, yeah, that’s what the ‘O’ stands for.”

Yanni swallowed hard. He had never left Switzerland. He had never even flown in a plane before. Now he was going into space along with all of humanity’s pre-plague knowledge.

CHAPTER FIVE

“
Heat exchanger three is offline,
” the Reliant’s damage control officer reported over the comms. “
We’ve also got hull breaches in compartments one forty-seven through one fifty-three. Engineering reports main thrust port four is damaged, as well as the aft starboard maneuvering pod. If we take much more damage aft, we may have a hard time maneuvering when the time comes to turn and take them head-to-head again.
”

“Understood,” Captain Yahi answered as the bridge of the Reliant continued to shake from the constant pounding of the enemy rail gun fire. “Lieutenant Calloway, how long until the Volkov reaches attack range?”

“Thirty minutes, sir,” the lieutenant answered.

“Incoming message,” Ensign Donabee reported. “It’s from Fleet Command, sir, via laser comm. They’re ordering us to draw the Jung closer to Earth, within range of the LRGA.”

“Not going to be a problem, I suspect,” the captain mumbled. “Acknowledge the order.”

“Sir, won’t they come into the LRGA’s field of fire regardless?” Lieutenant Calloway wondered.

“From this angle, the moon is on the far side of the Earth,” Captain Yahi explained. “On their current trajectory, they could still change course and approach the Earth from the opposite side just before they came into range. Fleet just wants us to keep them on their current heading to ensure they’ll pass on the same side as those guns.” The captain turned to his helmsman. “Helm, cut the mains and coast.”

“Mains to zero thrust, aye,” Ensign Stewart answered.

“If we stop accelerating, and they continue their burn, they’ll close the gap and surround us,” Lieutenant Calloway warned.

“Can’t be helped. We need to protect our main drive if we’re going to get out of the way of those guns at the last moment,” the captain explained. “Mister Stewart, pitch us up ninety degrees so all our guns can get clear firing lines.”

“Pitching up ninety, aye.”

The captain watched the main view screen as the stars began to slide from top to bottom as the Reliant pitched her nose upward in relation to her flight path. He could feel the concussion of numerous rail gun rounds as they struck the Reliant’s hull. Coming closer and closer, they made their way from the aft end of the ship to her topside as the massive ship pitched upward.

“Combat, Captain. Concentrate our rail guns on each ship’s forward guns. If we can take them out, they’ll be forced to coast so they can rotate and bring more guns into play. That might keep them from gaining on us for a while.”

“Aye, sir,”
the commander answered over the comm-set. “
Targeting their forward guns.
”

“Tactical, how long until we’re in range of the Lunar Rail Gun Array?” the captain asked.

“Ten minutes, sir.”

“Damage control, Captain,” the captain called over the comm-set.

“
Damage control. Go ahead, sir,
” the damage control officer responded.

“Can we take ten more minutes of this?”

“
At our current angle, doubtful. Too many critical systems exposed. Even if we do, we probably won’t have any working guns left by then. However, since they won’t have an angle on our propulsion systems, we should be able to make a run for it when the time comes.
”

“Understood,” Captain Yahi answered. “Keep us together as long as you can.”

“
Yes, sir.
”

“It’s working, sir!” Lieutenant Legasse reported from the sensor station. “Three of the Jung ships have stopped accelerating and are pitching over to bring more guns on us.”

“Three of them?” the captain asked.

The lieutenant watched his display for several more seconds before answering. “Yes, sir, only three of them. Targets one and six are still accelerating. In fact, they’re accelerating faster than before.”

“Damn,” Captain Yahi cursed under his breath. “Combat, Captain. Targets one and six are accelerating. They’re going to try to attack us from either side. When they do, you’ll need to disengage the other three contacts at least temporarily and concentrate our fire on those two targets. Keep the other three busy with missiles if you have to, but try to take out as many gun emplacements as possible on targets one and six as they come alongside.”

“Yes, sir,”
Commander Denker answered over the comm-set.
“Sir, recommend we pitch over another ninety, so we’re flying backwards. That will allow us to bring more rail guns to bear on targets one and six as they pass. It will also make us a smaller target for the other three cruisers.”

“What about our missiles?”

“Our forward missile batteries can zero in on the trailing targets. We’ll let the other two get closer, then go to full burn and decelerate just as we get into range of the LRGA. That will bring them in close enough to sneak some missiles past their point-defenses. We might even get lucky with a few nukes at that range.”

“Good idea, Commander,” Captain Yahi agreed. “Helm, bring our bow onto targets two, four, and five.”

“Aye, captain, pitching and rolling,” Ensign Stewart answered.

Captain Yahi again felt the concussion of enemy rail gun fire shift, walking farther forward as the Reliant rotated and rolled. Within a minute, the UES Reliant was flying backwards, her forward guns constantly firing at the Jung cruisers chasing her toward Earth. The captain could hear the chatter of his bridge staff as they communicated with rest of the ship. He could hear the chatter of damage control parties and firefighting teams as they reported to the damage control officer about their struggles to keep the ship alive and fighting, even as the enemy ships tried to destroy them. It occurred to him that he had no idea how many of his crew had been injured thus far. He knew they had lost twenty-eight pilots, but he had obtained no casualty count for the ship itself. He eased his mind, if only temporarily, with the thought that, because his chief in damage control had not felt it necessary to report, it had not yet risen to high numbers, at least not enough that it might impact the ship’s overall combat readiness.

“Targets one and six will come alongside in three minutes,” Lieutenant Legasse reported. “Estimate they’ll have firing solutions in one minute.”

“Time to LRGA range?” Captain Yahi asked his tactical officer.

“Seven minutes, sir,” Lieutenant Calloway answered.

“Combat, Captain,” Captain Yahi called over the comm-set.

“
Go ahead, sir,
” Commander Denker answered.

“As soon as our side guns get a firing solution on targets one and six, open fire. Target their point-defense systems.”

“
Yes, sir,
” the commander answered.

* * *

“We have good tracks on six contacts,” the Lunar Rail Gun Array’s tracking officer reported, “five hostiles and one friendly. They’ll be in firing range in six minutes.”

“That
one
would be the Reliant,” the weapons officer answered as he examined the tracking display. “Let’s concentrate our fire on either side of center. Overlapping conical patterns on all guns. Try to keep our fire out of the center for the first minute. That will give the Reliant a chance to break off and get the hell out of our firing solution.”

“And if she doesn’t, sir?” the tracking officer wondered.

“Then she’s going to get pounded just like the rest of them,” the weapons officer said coldly.

“Sir?”

“Can’t be helped. Her captain knows what he’s flying into, Lieutenant. If he can get out of the way, he will. But those enemy ships are headed our way, and if we don’t take them out before they get here, we’re all fucked, not just that one ship.”

The lieutenant swallowed hard, thinking about the men and women on the Reliant. If they failed to get out of the way in time, it was doubtful any of them would survive. The LRGA’s ten rail guns were designed to fire massive projectiles at incredible velocities. The projectiles would fragment into thousands of smaller, yet still significantly sized, projectiles farther downrange on their way to the target area. They would blanket the area with enough kinetic energy to turn a ship, or even ships, into dust in minutes. It was a frightening thought. All the lieutenant could bring himself to say was, “Yes, sir.”

* * *

“Taking fire from targets one and six!” Lieutenant Calloway reported as he held onto the tactical station to keep from falling.

Captain Yahi held on tight. The Reliant shook even more violently as hundreds of projectiles pounded away at either side of his ship. “Now! Full burn!” he ordered.

“Full burn, aye!” Ensign Stewart answered as he activated the main engines and brought the throttles up swiftly.

The Reliant continued to coast backwards toward Earth as her eight massive engines on her aft end began to glow a soft amber. The glow quickly grew in intensity until the glare was white-hot and massive, obscuring her entire back end from view. The two Jung cruisers on either side of the Reliant began to slip past her as she started to decelerate sharply, drawing closer to the other three pursuing vessels.

“Mains at full thrust!” Ensign Stewart reported.

Captain Yahi could feel the ship shake under the stress of her engines as they burned at full power, slowing the massive ship at a surprising rate. “Combat, fire all missiles on targets one and six!” the captain called over the comm-set. “Send as many multi-warhead nukes as you can at them, Commander!” There was no response from Commander Denker in combat. Captain Yahi was unconcerned, as he knew that his executive officer was busy carrying out his orders at the moment, and there was no time to spare. Within seconds, the targets on either side would slip far enough away that their point-defense systems would have plenty of time to intercept and destroy the Reliant’s missile barrage.

“Missiles away!” Lieutenant Calloway announced from the tactical station. “Eight missiles to each side! Impact in three seconds!”

“Starboard camera! Main view screen!” the captain ordered. The main view screen switched just as the Reliant’s missiles struck the enemy ship slipping past her on her starboard side. The target’s point-defenses managed to take out four of the Reliant’s incoming missiles, but the other four got past, one of which carried sixteen miniature nuclear warheads that had begun to spread out just moments after the missile had left its launch rails. Four of the tiny warheads missed their target, having spread so far apart that they sailed right over the cruiser. The other twelve were a different story and reported as such in brilliant flashes of white light.

“Direct hits!” Lieutenant Calloway shouted.

“Port target?” the captain wondered.

“Three missiles struck target six, sir. None of them nukes. She was farther away than target one. She’s taken damage, but she’s still in the fight.”

“Damn. Combat, fire four more nukes into target one!”

“Aye, sir!”
Commander Denker answered over the comm-set, jubilation in his voice. The Reliant was about to register her second kill.
“Firing four nukes at target one.”

“Target one has lost all power and maneuvering, sir!” Lieutenant Legasse reported from the sensor station. “She’s drifting into the LRGA’s firing solution!”

“Target six is rotating!” Lieutenant Calloway reported from the tactical station. “She’s turning around to decelerate!”

“She’s trying to stay with us,” the captain mumbled. “She wants to pound us.”

“Missiles away,” Lieutenant Calloway reported. “Impact in five seconds.”

Captain Yahi watched the main view screen, which still showed the view from the Reliant’s starboard camera. Four detonations flashed, obscuring all view of the drifting enemy cruiser. When the flashes subsided, there was nothing but chunks of debris spreading out in different directions as they continued to drift toward the LRGA’s field of fire.

“Range on targets two, four, and five is closing rapidly!” Lieutenant Calloway reported.

“Time to LRGA range?” the captain asked.

“Three minutes,” Lieutenant Calloway answered.

“Maintain your course and burn,” the captain ordered, “but slip down in altitude relative to the targets. Take your time, son. Don’t make it look intentional. Then, on my command, pitch our nose down and to starboard, so we’ll descend relative to the LRGA’s firing solution. If we wait until the last second, those ships won’t have time to get out of the way before they run into the LRGA’s field of fire.”

* * *

“Targets will be in range in three minutes!” the LRGA’s tracking officer reported.

“It will take two minutes for our rounds to reach them,” the weapons officer stated. “All guns stand by to commence firing in one minute.”

“Aye, sir,” the range officer acknowledge. “All guns standing by to fire.”

The weapons officer took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He had been assigned to the Lunar Rail Gun Array for two months—just after she had become operational. While they had already fired the guns several times during training exercises, he had expected to get far more practice before actually using them in combat, especially at their maximum range for accurate targeting. Those approaching targets were still so far out that it took time for the sensors to return a targeting image from them. That meant they had to aim their weapons based on where they expected the targets to be several minutes later, when their projectiles would be in the vicinity of their targets. It was for this reason they chose to fire their rounds in a conical pattern in order to maximize their chances of a successful hit. Unfortunately, it also increased their chances of striking the Reliant. He kept telling himself that the Reliant’s captain knew this and would do what he could to get out of the way of friendly fire. What they were seeing on their tracking displays was thirty seconds old, and for all he knew, the Reliant had already moved out of the way. At least he hoped so.

He looked at the time display on the wall as it counted down the last two seconds to the time he had already chosen to fire. “All guns,” he said and then paused, “fire!”

The ten massive rail guns on the surface of the moon began firing, the vibrations from their rails causing lunar dust to vibrate and bounce, floating up several inches from the surface before settling back down and being bounced up again. Blue flashes traveled up each gun’s rails in a split second as the rails propelled the projectiles into space. Within seconds, a few dozen rounds had been launched. All of those rounds would break apart in another minute, spreading out into a field of a thousand smaller projectiles, each with enough kinetic energy to pass completely through the hull of any ship unlucky enough to find itself in the path of destruction.

Deep within the Earth’s moon, inside the LRGA’s fire-control center, the weapons officer couldn’t help but smile, knowing that at least one, if not several, of the Jung ships would be obliterated in less than two minutes. If they were lucky, all of them might fall into their trap. Great pains had been taken to keep the presence of the LRGA a secret, disguising the project as a tracking station designed to provide earlier, more accurate warning of an incursion into their system. The deception had been so successful that most personnel had arrived on the moon still expecting to be working at a tracking station. He had thought he was on his way to join up with the Volkov on patrol, when he found himself on the moon in command of guns that he previously had not known existed. The running joke at the time had been that an assignment to the lunar tracking station was punishment for low scores at the academy. Now, his command to fire might very well be the one that saved the Earth.