Read Refusing Excalibur Online
Authors: Zachary Jones
Refusing Excalibur (3 page)
“But the risk…”
“Is the same risk our ancestors took whenever they carried that weapon into battle. Every Selan who’s ever worn that sword has come home.”
Though not always alive
, Victor thought. “I guess I’ll have to make sure I maintain that track record.”
, Victor thought. “I guess I’ll have to make sure I maintain that track record.”
“That’s the idea.” Emmet’s face softened. “I’d very much like my eldest son to survive this war. I’d hate to see my grandson grow up without his father.”
Victor pressed his lips together and nodded. “Thank you, Dad. I’ll do you proud.”
Emmet placed a hand on Victor’s shoulder. “You’ve already done that.”
Victor nodded.
“Come on,” said his father. “Let’s get cleaned up.”
***
Later, Victor lay naked in bed with his wife in their darkened bedroom, only a little light entering from outside.
Gina had draped herself facedown over Victor’s chest. She was the only thing covering him from the draft of cool lake air entering through the open window. The blankets had been tossed on the floor.
“You’re not asleep,” Gina said into Victor’s chest.
“I’m sorry if I woke you.” Victor ran his fingers through his wife's hair.
“I never went to sleep. You brood too much,” Gina said. “You’re thinking about that sword.”
“What makes you say that?” Victor asked.
Gina propped herself up on Victor’s chest to look in his eyes. The tips of her small breasts brushed against his flesh. “You’ve had that sword on your mind for as long as I’ve known you. And now that you have it, it’s worrying you.”
Victor sighed. Gina could always read him like a book. “I suppose. It’s a lot of responsibility carrying that variblade. My ancestors have been responsible for it over the last thousand years.”
“It’s just a fancy sword,” Gina said.
Victor shook his head. “It’s more than that, Gina. That variblade was made on
Earth
, before the gates collapsed and the First Civilization fell. It’s our family’s connection to humanity’s birthplace.”
Earth
, before the gates collapsed and the First Civilization fell. It’s our family’s connection to humanity’s birthplace.”
Gina sighed and rested her cheek on Victor’s chest. “My father was much the same way with an old clock. Talking about how it was a bridge to the lost homeworld. I thought it was a bunch of bullshit myself. Savannah is my homeworld, not some distant rock on the other side of the galaxy."
“Earth wasn’t always so distant. Not when the gates still functioned. Just hop on a ship and go through a gate, and you’re in the solar system. Imagine that. Every inhabited world in the galaxy almost next door to Earth," Victor said. "Hard not to think about that."
“And now that connection to Earth is keeping my husband awake. Can’t say that I’m all that enthused,” Gina said.
“It’s just…rather enormous when you think about it,” Victor said.
“It’s bullshit as far as I’m concerned.” She patted him on the ribs. “This is what matters. You, me, and that wonderful little boy we made together. A boy this stupid war is keeping you from.”
Victor rubbed his wife’s back, tracing her spine. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. You’re from a navy family, like me, after all,” Gina said. “But twelve years is a long time to be fighting, especially when we’re losing.”
“This war will end soon. I can feel it, Gina. Sooner or later, the Lysandrans will tire of us and take their fleet home. And then you and I can raise our son in peace.”
“Sounds good,” Gina said, yawning. “But you keep that variblade away from him.”
Chapter 2
Victor woke to the frantic ringing of his tablet.
“I thought I told you to silence that,” Gina said, irritated and groggy.
“I did.” A chill ran down Victor’s spine. Only an emergency would override his tablet’s Silence setting. He picked it up and looked at the screen. “Oh, my God!”
Gina shot up. “What?”
Victor turned to his wife. “It’s a scramble order. All crews are to report to their ships.” He leapt from bed and pulled on his clothes. “The Lysandrans are attacking through the Arcadia jump point!”
Gina got out of bed and helped Victor dress. When he finished, she handed him the family variblade. “You be careful, Victor.”
He hooked the variblade to his belt. “I can’t guarantee that.” Victor hugged his naked wife. “Get Alex to the shelter. This could get rough.”
She nodded. “I will. I love you.”
“I love you too,” Victor said.
He went to his son’s room, stopping just long enough to kiss the sleeping boy on the forehead, before running down the stairs. Reaching the main hall, he heard the sound of a turbine engine spooling up. He opened the front door and ran from the mansion.
Resting on the lawn in front of the house was his father’s personal sky hopper. His father stood just outside the cockpit, waving Victor over.
“I’ll drop you off at the
Osprey
on my way to Fleet HQ,” his father shouted over the whine of the turbines.
Osprey
on my way to Fleet HQ,” his father shouted over the whine of the turbines.
“That would be much appreciated, Da—sir!” Victor said.
“No need for military formality just yet, Victor,” Emmet said. He glanced at the variblade on Victor’s belt. “That suits you.”
“Thanks.”
Emmet held open the cockpit door. “You fly. I’ll be busy doing admiral stuff.”
Victor made a small smile and nodded. “Yes, sir.” He climbed up and strapped himself in. His father followed him and shut the door.
“Take off. I’ll buckle up in flight,” Emmet Selan said.
Victor nodded and grabbed the controls. He dialed up the sky hopper’s AG field generator, canceling out part of the aircraft’s mass, and then fired up the turbines. The small ship took off like a sparrow.
As soon as they were cruising at a safe altitude, Victor dialed down the AG field and put the bird into a shallow dive, gaining forward airspeed. He flew around the house and over Lake Valor.
When Victor opened up the throttle, the sky hopper’s acceleration pulled him back into his seat until the little aircraft was cruising just under Mach 1.
Beside him, his father spoke into his tablet, asking for updates from the fleet defending the jump point. From what Victor gathered, the concentrated firepower of the Savannah Republic Navy was destroying almost every Lysandran warship coming through the Arcadia jump point. Only a few small ships had breached the blockade, and they were being pursued by the fleet’s radar pickets.
Lake Valor whipped under the sky hopper and was soon replaced by grass on the other side. In the distance, the dark patch of Galen Military Spaceport appeared.
The skies above the spaceport swarmed with aircraft and starships. An air traffic controller's worst nightmare, having everything from tiny two-man sky hoppers to two-kilometer-long battleships crowding the air around the massive paved expanse of the spaceport.
One battleship was lifted away under turbines, its two spinal-mounted accelerator cannons making it look like a colossal double-barreled shotgun. Another battleship still floated in the air, docked nose-first to one of the tall spires standing like trees amid the flat land.
Victor’s destination would be well away from the battleship docking towers. He vectored the sky hopper for the area of unbroken tarmac where midsize warships landed directly on the ground.
Air traffic control gave him a strict flight path to avoid all the cruisers taking off, leading him on a serpentine course to his own cruiser, the RSS
Osprey
.
Osprey
.
His ship was perched on her landing struts, just high enough off the ground to keep the lower pair of her four main thrusters off the ground.
Victor came in low, slowed the sky hopper to a hover, and landed just a couple hundred meters from the cruiser.
“This is my stop, Dad,” Victor said, as he climbed down from the cockpit.
“Victor,” said his father, barely audible over the whine of the sky hopper’s idling engines.
“Yes, Dad?” Victor shouted.
“Good luck up there.”
Victor nodded and turned to run toward his ship. The sky hopper’s engines revved up as it took off behind him.
Two armsmen standing at the
Osprey
’s boarding ramp saluted him, and the leader, a chief petty officer, asked for his ID.
Osprey
’s boarding ramp saluted him, and the leader, a chief petty officer, asked for his ID.
He returned their salutes and showed his ID.
“Welcome aboard, Captain,” the female CPO said, wearing ballistic armor and carrying an assault rifle.
“Thanks, Chief. How many are we waiting for?” asked Victor.
“You’re one of the last, sir. Commander Dace already has the reactors warmed up,” she answered.
Victor nodded. “Good. We’re taking off as soon as the last of the crew boards.”
“Yes, sir.”
Victor ran up the ramp; the crew scurrying around stopped to salute him.
“Don’t stop to salute. Just get my bird in the air!” Victor shouted. He ran upstairs and climbed ladders until he reached his storage locker. He opened it and pulled out his pressure suit. He donned the bulky suit and jogged the rest of the way to the bridge, carrying his helmet in the crook of his left arm.
“Welcome aboard, Captain. I was worried that I’d have to leave without you,” Commander Dace said, a tall woman with the black hair and black eyes of most Savannans.
Victor dropped into his seat next to Dace, resting his helmet on his lap. “Well, thank you for waiting, Commander. The chief guarding the ramp said you’ve got the reactors warmed up. I assume we’re ready for takeoff?”
“Yes, Captain. We should have the rest of the crew aboard in about five minutes,” Dace said.
“Good.” Victor looked to the control console at the head of the bridge. “Lieutenant Colletta, request takeoff clearance as soon as the boarding ramp closes.”
“Yes, Captain,” the
Osprey
’s pilot said.
Osprey
’s pilot said.
The tarmac grew increasingly empty as other starships lifted off and then streaked the sky above the spaceport with white contrails.
A few minutes later, Lieutenant Colletta reported they were clear to orbit.
“Take her up,” Victor said.
“Yes, Captain.” Lieutenant Colletta worked the controls. “Powering up the AG field, spinning up turbines.”
The ten-thousand-ton starship floated off the ground. Lieutenant Colletta then pitched the ship upward and climbed for space.
“Captain, we’ve established a connection with the fleet datalink,” the communications officer said.
“Thank you, Lieutenant.” Victor brought up the tactical display screen attached to his right armrest.
A frightening battle occurred a light hour away as the Republic Navy’s blockade saturated the Arcadia jump point with weapons fire tearing apart a constant stream of Lysandran warships.
“This is Admiral Selan to the
Osprey
,” Victor's father spoke over the datalink, now very much in admiral mode. “You’re to protect Savannah from any enemy ships that manage to run the blockade. You’ll be leading a five-ship squadron with the cruisers
Sabretooth
,
Vulture, Hammerhead
, and
Stallion
under your command.”
Osprey
,” Victor's father spoke over the datalink, now very much in admiral mode. “You’re to protect Savannah from any enemy ships that manage to run the blockade. You’ll be leading a five-ship squadron with the cruisers
Sabretooth
,
Vulture, Hammerhead
, and
Stallion
under your command.”
Victor nodded. The four other vessels were all Thresher-class cruisers, just like the
Osprey
. He also knew each vessel’s captain—Lyse of the
Sabretooth
, Markab of the
Vulture
, Jaron of the
Hammerhead
, and Hasan of the
Stallion
—were all experienced commerce raiders and veterans of the defense of Arcadia. “Roger that, Admiral Selan. Moving to intercept as soon as we’re outside the atmosphere.”
Osprey
. He also knew each vessel’s captain—Lyse of the
Sabretooth
, Markab of the
Vulture
, Jaron of the
Hammerhead
, and Hasan of the
Stallion
—were all experienced commerce raiders and veterans of the defense of Arcadia. “Roger that, Admiral Selan. Moving to intercept as soon as we’re outside the atmosphere.”
“Good hunting,
Osprey
.” Admiral Selan broke the connection.
Osprey
.” Admiral Selan broke the connection.
The
Osprey
continued to climb until Lieutenant Colletta announced, “We’ve cleared the atmosphere. Shutting down turbines. Activating main thrusters.”
Osprey
continued to climb until Lieutenant Colletta announced, “We’ve cleared the atmosphere. Shutting down turbines. Activating main thrusters.”
Savannah fell away from the
Osprey
as the cruiser’s acceleration multiplied. She was doing over ten standard gravities of acceleration, though none of the crew felt it inside the protection of the ship’s AG field.
Osprey
as the cruiser’s acceleration multiplied. She was doing over ten standard gravities of acceleration, though none of the crew felt it inside the protection of the ship’s AG field.
Thirty thousand kilometers above the planet’s surface, the skeletal remains of the gate that once led to the long-lost solar system loomed over the planet’s single continent. It orbited idly, while dozens of starships flew past it to reinforce the battle at the Arcadia jump point a billion kilometers away.
The space around the Arcadia jump point was alight with weapons fire. The energy spikes from kinetic weapons and nuclear detonation practically buzzed on the sensor display.
“God, that’s a hell of a fight,” Commander Dace said, leaning toward her screen.
Victor suppressed a shudder. All the intense fighting he saw now had occurred an hour ago. In the time it took the light to reach his ship, the battle could’ve already been lost. He pushed those thoughts from his mind and scanned the surrounding space. “Some of the Lysandrans have broken through.”
Commander Dace nodded. “The pickets are dealing with most of them. However”—she pointed at a group of hostiles—“no one seems to be moving against these guys.”
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