Rise of the Altered Moon: Altered Moon Series: Book One (The Altered Moon Series 1) (28 page)

“Yes, Captain, as always,” she replied. “How may I help you?”

“Will you run an analysis on tomorrow’s mission?” he asked. “Plot escape jump points along the route, and prep a marker buoy with ship’s registry and complement to be launched if destruction is imminent.”

“Yes, Captain, as you wish.”

“Thank you, GABI, good night.” He rubbed his temples with the palm heels of his hands.

“Good night to you both.” She shimmered away.

CJ and Katy settled down on the couch in the captain’s quarters that they both now shared for the most part. Due to the not-so-generous size of the room, Katy stored most of her stuff in her quarters, which she fashioned into a work area for engineering and electrical tinkering. They joked about the initials of CQ fitting both the terms: captain’s quarters and close quarters, so their lovemaking was fittingly dubbed close quarters battle or CQB.

The joy of being together, combined with the excitement of the upcoming mission and the dread of an uncertain future, ended in a rush of desire and release that coursed through to the very core of their being. The act of lovemaking was so intense that it felt like the nerve endings of their bodies were connected. They had become one. The depth of their bond went beyond that of crewmates thrown together by fate; it had become that of soul mates bound together by love.

“Lights, off,” CJ said. The lights dimmed to off completely as CJ and Katy nestled together under the covers.

Katy’s breathing evened out and she relaxed against his body as she fell fast asleep. CJ couldn’t turn off the endless stream of ‘what ifs’ that flowed through his mind.
I’m putting my friends in danger. Do I have the right? Is this the right thing to do? What if someone gets killed? People have already been killed…and worse. It has to stop.
On and on the thoughts raced, unconcerned with his desire or need for sleep.

He focused on the shadowy patterns that shifted on the inside of his eyelids in an attempt to stave off the ceaseless chaos. He breathed in and out deeply and concentrated on each breath. He thought of nothing else but each breath, in, out, in, out, in…out…in…out…in…zzz.

*~*~*

Chapter Thirty-One

The next day found the
Altered Moon
lying in wait at the staging area for the mission as her crew made the final preparations and double-checked the gear. CJ walked the ship early to get himself ready for the day as well as to check the ship.
The
Altered Moon
is a fine ship
, he thought as he walked along an engineering catwalk.
I like the lines of the body and the pattern of the hull plating too. She’ll get us back, I know she will.
CJ finished his inspection and headed to the bridge by way of the squad bay.

Cal and Katy had transferred the last of the equipment they needed to access the navigation beacon over to the
Moonshadow
. Boss and GABI had just finished mounting a small extension arm with a data jack on the end to the hover drone so she could reach inside the beacon housing. The equipment had been calibrated, the gear was loaded, and the crew stood ready. It was time. Gina stepped through the hatch and joined the group. She and Boss moved off together and talked quietly.

Cal sensed that CJ and Katy would follow suit, waved and said, “I’ll be on the bridge, Captain. Good luck out there, guys.”

“Thanks, Cal,” Boss and Gina both said. They returned his wave as he stepped out of the room. CJ and Katy said their ‘see ya soon’s’ while Boss got out of his suspensor chair and strapped on Nelson’s custom built suspensor body frame. It wasn’t very comfortable or graceful, for that matter, but it gave him decent mobility for a short amount of time. That was enough to get over to
Moonshadow
and drive around for a while. Boss and Katy stepped into the shuttle bay with GABI’s drone hovering alongside them.

CJ gave them a wave and then swung the airlock door shut and sealed the pressure lock. He headed up to the bridge and took his place at the command station.

“Ready, Mr. Caltrop?” CJ asked as he sat down.

“Aye, Cap, all weapons are standing by.”

“Cat?” CJ spun around to look over at the science station.

“Aye, sir, sensors and shields are powered up,” she said. “Special tactics are at your command.”

“Ms. Riley?” CJ turned to face forward.

“Flight systems show green across the board, Captain.”

“Well then…let’s go hack the galaxy,” CJ said. “Gina, ahead one-half on the DME, please.”

“Aye, sir. Ahead one-half on the DME.”

The good ship and crew edged steadily and stealthily through the Halicos star system on their way to the navigational beacon for this quadrant. The Dark Matter Engine was an astonishing development, especially if it could reach star drive speeds some day in the future. The use of dark matter as a propulsion medium meant steady and low-cost star travel over long distances, but for now the limited speed made it seem like the
Altered Moon
was stuck in first gear on a cross-country trip in the family station wagon. The silver lining was, of course, that no one could pick them up on scans, so they could cruise straight to the nav beacon without being detected. Crossing the nav beacon’s perimeter alert system was another problem all together.

Even the
Altered Moon
, with all its stealth capabilities, couldn’t beat a system that detected any physical matter or energy particle passing through its security field. Alert and response was inevitable; the success of their mission rested purely on a matter of timing. Boss, Katy, and GABI would take
Moonshadow
through the security screen to link up with the beacon’s streamcast of navigational anomalies. GABI would disable the system’s security firewalls while Katy secured and linked in the datpad to run the data loop. A perfect day would end with all hands back aboard and the
Altered Moon
headed as far away and as fast as possible from the Halicos star system.

Gina pulled the
Moon
up as close as she dared to the nav beacon, but kept her distance to avoid triggering the perimeter before they were ready. “We’re in position, Captain,” she said, as she set the DMITS to station keeping.

“Very well, thank you, G,” CJ responded. “Cat, anything on scanners?”

“Negative, Captain, skies are clear.”

“Very good, deactivate the shields,” he said. He poked the S2S icon on the comms panel. “
Moonshadow
, you have a green light.”

“Roger that,
Moonshadow
is skids up,” Boss answered.

Boss Keltzer engaged the
Moonshadow
’s primary thrusters and piloted the small ship up and out of the
Altered Moon’s
shuttle bay. He got a good look at the
Moon
as he flew over her port wing. He always liked the powdery black-grey hue of the stealth hull plating. The ambient light of the surrounding cosmos seemed to be absorbed by the skin of the
Altered Moon
, which made it difficult to focus on it, even at this close distance. He left the moment behind as he headed
Moonshadow
toward the nav beacon. Already, they’d picked up the automated warning from the Marlacuer Star Guard not to approach the beacon at risk of apprehension or destruction. He flew in past the security field anyway.

The perimeter junctions began to flash a bright, constant pattern as the beacon began to emit the alert signal. The countdown had begun.

Boss reported that they were in position and ready to proceed with the mission. Katy was set and waited in the depressurized airlock in an EV suit with a thruster pack.

“Roger that. We’re on the way,” Katy said over the comms.

The video feed showed Katy and GABI float out of
Moonshadow
and over to the beacon’s emitter assembly.

“We’re at the beacon. I’m removing the outer access panel.”

CJ watched the video feed as Katy disengaged the eight locking bolts that held the panel in place. This was where Katy shined; her above normal hand-to-eye coordination and nimble dexterity combined with her intricate knowledge of engineering made her scary fast in mechanical operations.

“Outer panel is off,” she said after an incredibly short time.

“Damn, she’s fast! That only took—” Cal spoke out.

“Mind your weapons panel, Mr. Caltrop,” CJ calmly reminded him of the precarious situation they were currently in the middle of.

“Aye, sir. Sorry, Cap,” Cal focused back on his panels at the tactical station.

“Removing the stabilizer assembly,” Katy spun out the isolator bolts that held the frame, which in turn held the streamcast emitter in its bay on the beacon’s inner assembly.

“I’m extending the emitter,” she reported.

The emitter sat on a platform that allowed the unit to extend out of the beacon housing to be repaired or replaced. Katy triggered the platform mechanism and the unit slid silently out to where GABI could access the emitter’s internal security override port.

GABI hovered in to where the modified input jack could plug in to the override port. “Engaging security protocols. This will take several minutes,” she said over the comms.

Katy couldn’t help but be amazed at where she found herself. Here she was out in space while an artificially intelligent being in a hover drone attempted to hack into a secured navigation beacon. The velvety black shadow of the
Altered Moon
was barely visible against the star-filled background.
Moonshadow
’s comforting bulk stood close by like a shepherd that tended its flock.

Katy listened to the pulsing of the alert signal; the constant pattern drew her mind into a strange sensation of being suspended there without her EV suit on. The effect felt so real that it shook her out of the illusion and left her heart racing with the feeling that she’d almost fallen over a cliff. She chided herself for losing focus and pulled out the datpad to prepare it for installation.

A sensor beeped out an alert on the bridge of the
Altered Moon
. “Picking up metastable hydrogen, Captain,” Cat reported. “We’ve got company. Three Predator class MT&T security ships on an intercept course…ETA twenty minutes.”

“Why would MT&T show up,” CJ wondered, “and why so fast?”

“They must have been waiting…had the beacon staked out,” Cal said.

“Which meant my brilliantly sneaky plan wasn’t so sneaky after all,” CJ said somberly. He poked the S2S icon. “Boss, three Predators in the system and on the way here. We’re going to go say hello. Complete the mission, get those two back on board, and take evasive maneuvers. Prep for emergency landing procedures and stand by for danger close rendezvous.”

“Understood…good hunting, Captain,” Boss replied.

“Roger that,” CJ answered. “Katy…I’ll be back to get ya.”

“Stalker,” she joked, but her voice expressed her true sentiment.

“Ditto kiddo.” CJ closed the channel. He had Gina use the DME to close the distance to the three Predators and bring the
Moon
up behind the center ship.

“Cal, on my signal, put two heaters right up her ass end,” CJ told him. “Load up a goose and freezer in the aft tubes and a goose and a heater in the bow tubes. Cat, keep a sensor lock on both of the other ships as they veer away.”

“Aye, Captain, forward tubes loaded and ready. Magazine is set and standing by,” Cal answered.

“Targets acquired and tracking is locked in, Captain,” Cat responded.

“Gina when that ship goes, I want you to bring us up over the top of her and rotate ninety degrees to starboard,” CJ said.

“Understood, Captain.”

“Steady…power up…
now
, Cal,
fire
!” CJ called out.

Cal fired the two thermofusion missiles that flew straight, true, and hit the main ISE port, igniting a fireball that melted the back half of the MT&T security ship. Gina brought the ISE up to full thrust to pitch the
Moon
up and over the still-burning vessel. She spun the
Moon
ninety degrees to the right as they came into position over the other ship.

“Cal, now, fire all tubes!” CJ ordered.

“All missiles away!”

One of the EMP missiles hit its target and the Predator lost all power on its port side. The cryofusion missile followed in its wake, missed its mark, but struck the MT&T ship on the tip of the wing. The ship wasn’t incapacitated for long and would be back in the fight if they didn’t finish it off immediately. The third security ship spun in its trajectory and used high-speed pulse weapons and countermeasures to destroy the incoming missiles. The Predator opened fire on the area of the missile’s launch without waiting for weapon’s lock and caught CJ and the crew by surprise.

The barrage of cannon fire and incoming missiles forced CJ into action. “Gina, evasive alpha nine! Cal, open fire all weapons! Cat, auxiliary power to helm and launch countermeasures!”

The crew acknowledged and expediently carried out his orders, as the plasma blasts hammered the ventral shielding and the concussions shook the
Moon
violently. The countermeasures and Cal’s cannon fire blasted the Predator’s missiles to pieces. The
Moon
shuddered again as unexpected fire struck their aft port quarter.

“It’s the other ship, Cap,” Cal reported.

The crippled Predator managed to come about and lock on to the
Altered Moon
and peppered them with cannon fire.

“Gina, Freaky Zeke,” CJ called out. “Cal, spiral target lock and fire cannons! Now!”

Gina rotated and dropped the
Altered Moon
until the two ships were bow to bow with their bellies to each other. She throttled the engines to full forward as Cal targeted the Predator’s forward shields with cannon fire.

Gina used a combination of thruster fire and main engine burn to head the
Altered Moon
directly at the attacking ship. The thruster burns put the
Moon
into a high-speed wide barrel roll so it was difficult for the opponent to get a target lock. Cal plastered the front of the Predator with cannon fire as the
Moon
spiraled in for the kill. Almost too close for comfort, CJ gave the order to fire a heater missile and to veer off the approach.

The combined cannon fire and the missile strike ripped the hull plating away from the command section of the Predator and blew a sizable hole through the inner hull. The ship pitched forward and began to roll to port as exposed power systems sparked and flammable materials flared and exploded.

“Captain,” Boss’ voice came over the comms, “the package has been delivered.”

“Acknowledged. Proceed to rendezvous and stand by!” CJ was relieved only somewhat. “Now all we have to do is live,” CJ half joked to himself.

The pursuing Predator locked on to the
Altered Moon
and fired on them with plasma blasts.