Sol Shall Rise (The Pike Chronicles Book 1) (9 page)

Jon twisted around in his chair. “On viewscreen.”

The viewscreen’s orientation changed and two starships appeared, steadily becoming larger as they approached. They were smaller than the Hermes, each about the size of a frigate. Definitely warships, they lacked any identifiable markings that might link them to a larger fleet. Jon wondered if they weren’t pirates.

“Reading weapons hot,” said Petrovic.

“Switch rail guns to point defense mode. Load all missile tubes,” said Jon.

“Point defense mode online. Missile tubes loaded,” said Wolfe.

“Helm, set course to intercept the bandits.”

“Aye, Sir. Setting course to intercept.”

“Captain, considering the damage we’ve sustained, shouldn’t we try to outrun them? We’re likely faster than they are,” said Tallos.

“We don’t know this region of space. They do. And they probably have friends nearby who may be able to cut off our escape. I’d rather fight two now than more later.”

“But Captain, that conclusion is far from certain.”

“We don’t have the luxury of certainty out here.”

The Hermes raced towards the oncoming warships. As it bridged the gap and came in range both attacking ships fired off a volley of missiles. Twelve in all they streaked toward the Hermes, glowing red like tiny sinister comets.

“Launch countermeasures,” said Jon.

“Countermeasure away,” said Petrovic.

“Target the lead ship. Fire missiles.”

“Missiles away.”

The lead ship launched its own countermeasures, but had no point defense capabilities. Its countermeasures were not nearly effective enough and four missiles continued toward their target. The Hermes missiles were designed to intelligently target critical systems, unless programmed differently, and all four plowed into the rear section of the ship, finding its reactors in short order. The resulting explosion lit up the void and concussive waves rocked the Hermes, but caused no serious damage.

Sporadic cheers broke out on the bridge. The mood was improving now that they could lash out at someone for the damage and loss of life suffered in the asteroid field. Jon felt the creature’s elation at the kill and he knew it was not just the creature’s feeling. They shared the emotion and were experiencing it together. Cringing at the thought, he shook it off and focused on the task at hand.

“Sir, second ship is firing energy weapons. They are targeting our engines.”

The second ship let loose a barrage of energy beams that scored direct hits on the Hermes. The concussions rocked the ship and the bridge crew braced themselves against the force of the impacts.

“Return fire, all weapon systems.”

The Hermes wheeled around to face its attacker releasing a salvo of missiles and energy weapon fire. The other ship launched countermeasures, but it was too close for its drones to have much effect. Beams of blue sliced through the weak armor plating producing ugly looking hull breaches.

Machinery and personnel alike were sucked through the gashes into the vacuum of space, creating a ghastly floating debris field. Within seconds the Hermes missiles plowed into the weakened ship and detonated. Multiple explosions ripped through the vessel, amputating large chunks of the ship’s hull. Then the reactor exploded, annihilating the rest of the alien ship.

More cheers broke out on the bridge and Jon almost joined in. It wasn’t the Juttari, but it was still two kills. The Hermes had proven herself again. She was certainly growing on him.

“Sir, Engineering is reporting damage to some of our propulsion systems. FTL is still operational, but our jump system has been damaged and is offline. Repair crews are on route but it will take some time to repair,” said Wolfe.

"How much time?”

“At least a day, Sir.”

“Sir, ship’s sensors are picking up a small vessel, likely a lifeboat from the destroyed ship,” said Petrovic.

“Sir, we could be in this region of space for a while. The survivors could provide some valuable intelligence,” said Wolfe.

“Agreed. Retrieve the lifeboat and bring it into hanger bay 1. Seal off the hanger bay and deploy a full security detail. Assume all occupants are hostile.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Underneath the Hermes a door opened and cluster of cylindrical drones were deployed. Firing jets the drones fanned out and raced toward the lifeboat. Bridging the gap in short order, the drones swarmed the lifeboat, hovering only a few feet from the vehicle’s hull. Once in position, the drones fastened themselves to the lifeboat and reversed their thrusters in unison, halting the lifeboat’s forward momentum. A brief tug of war ensued as the lifeboat tried in vain to break free from its captors. The robotic swarm then changed direction and forced its prey back to the Hermes.

In the hanger bay a security detail led by Chief St. Clair awaited the vessel’s arrival. Not taking any chances, St. Clair deployed two Hercules Class battle mechs. The giant war machines stood at opposite ends of the hanger bay. Standing ten feet tall, the mechanical beasts were a sight to behold. Shaped like a human, they had two giant arms and legs, but looked like someone forgot the head. Instead, a small mound was perched on the shoulders, hiding an array of sensors.

The pilot sat in the cockpit, behind the heavily armored chest, controlling the battle mech’s every move. The powerful arms had access to a formidable array of weaponry and currently deployed a pair of wicked looking Gatling guns. If necessary, the mech could swap out the Gatling guns for missile launchers and energy weapons.

For defense it had its own built in counter measures and could even switch its Gatling guns to point defense mode. Heavy ballistic armor protected it from most projectiles that managed to get through its defensive systems.

Engineered for multi-theater warfare, the mech could project force on land, in the air, or in space. A mech was a one man army, so the two mechs deployed on the hanger bay were insurance against anything on board the captured lifeboat.

Complementing the mechs was a squad of Marines and the Diakan security advisor, Kinos, wearing full combat suits. Much smaller than the mechs, the combat suits were essentially powered exoskeletons surrounded by heavy armor plating. Like the mechs, the combat suits were self-contained with their own life support systems, and could keep their occupants alive in the most hostile conditions, including space.

Once inside the combat suit the Marine would move normally, but would be augmented with superior speed and strength. Each suit had its own power source and AI, and all suits and mechs were interlinked over their own military grade network. The strength of the combat suits allowed each Marine to carry huge, vicious looking weapons, which in this case were predominantly energy weapons. Kevin was the exception, carrying his own personal Gatling gun. He didn’t know what to expect in the lifeboat, but he sure as hell was going to be ready for it.

The drones entered the hanger bay with the lifeboat in tow. They set the vessel down on a pad and metal arms came up from the floor and secured it in place. Multiple mechanical whines were heard as the Marines pointed their weapons at the lifeboat. Several tense minutes passed with no activity, and then with no warning the vessel’s hatch slid open and a small ramp dropped to the ground.

“Hold your fire,” said Kevin, placing the doorway between his cross-hairs. He wondered what type of monstrosity would climb out of that door.

What he saw next stunned him. The first thing to emerge from the open hatch was a woman. A human woman.

She wore a brown jumpsuit, and looked like she was in her mid-thirties. Her eyes were wide and a horrified look spread across her face as she surveyed the military machinery surrounding her. She held her arms up, palms open to show she was unarmed, all the while shaking her head no, presumably pleading for the soldiers not to shoot her.

There was more movement behind her and the Marines shifted their weapons from the woman back to the doorway, making the woman wave her arms frantically, yelling something unintelligible.

“Hold your fire,” Kevin repeated.

A small hand emerged from the doorway and gripped the side of the vessel. Slowly, furtively, a small face peeked out from behind the wall at the Marines. There was a high pitched scream and the face disappeared.

The woman faced the doorway, arms still up, and now spoke calmly to the person inside. With a bit of coaxing from the woman the little face emerged again and finally walked out of the vessel.

A little girl.

Kevin couldn’t believe his eyes. The woman and girl were both unarmed and didn’t seem to pose a threat, but he still needed to clear the vessel. He gestured to the woman to take the girl and move off to the side. The woman hesitated and the Diakan charged at her and the girl, energy weapon at the ready. The woman screamed and fell backward, arms squeezed around the girl.

“Kinos, stand down,” Kevin shouted.

The Diakan had reached the woman and pointed his energy weapon at her head. He was motioning for her to move to the far wall. The woman was still screaming but seemed to understand and rushed the girl to the wall.

“Kinos, back your ass up!”

The Diakan slowly moved backwards, his weapon still pointing at the woman’s head. Kevin then ordered two Marines to clear the lifeboat. The Marines rushed to the vessel and flanked the doorway. One Marine entered the vessel while the other covered him. After a brief search the Marine came back out and signaled that the vessel was clear. Kevin looked back at the woman and the girl and opened a comm link with Jon.

“Sir, are you seeing what I’m seeing?” said Kevin.

Jon had watched the entire scene unfold on the bridge, and was practically speechless himself.

“Yes, I am,” said Jon.

“What do you want me to do with them?” asked Kevin.

“Take them to sick bay. I’ll meet you there. I want the Doctor to check them out to make sure they aren’t Chaanisar. Keep them under guard. And be careful, if they are Chaanisar a combat suit may not be enough protection.”

“Yes, Sir. Leave it to me.”

Kevin walked up to Kinos, who was still pointing his weapon at the woman’s head. “The next time you pull a stunt like that I will lock you up for the rest of the mission. Am I understood?”

“Yes Security Chief, you are understood.”

Kevin glared at the Diakan for a few seconds and then ordered three of his Marines to accompany him. He couldn’t understand what the woman was saying, but he did his best to make her understand his intentions. She seemed to be a quick study and used nods and hand signals to tell Kevin that they would follow.

The four Marines escorted them out of the hangar bay and through a long corridor to the sick bay. Walking behind the two Kevin studied them closely looking for anything remotely resembling a threat. The woman had her arm around the little girl’s shoulders and held her close, trying to comfort her. The little girl had not stopped trembling since she emerged from the lifeboat and buried her face deep in the woman’s side. From the looks of things Kevin assumed that the woman was the girl’s mother. A DNA test would let them know for sure. At least that question would be answered, Kevin wasn’t so sure about the rest. What were humans doing out here anyway?

Engineering was a frantic mix of shouting and clanging as crews scrambled to make repairs. The air reeked of charred wiring and dry chemical fire extinguisher. Adjacent to one of the main reactors, Chief Engineer Singh stooped over the main jump system array with Diakan Engineering Advisor Boufos watching.

“The primary relay has been damaged,” said Boufos.

Chief Engineer Singh stopped working for a moment, struggling to contain his composure. The Diakan had been following him around since they left the station and interfering with his work. He had been able to ignore it up until now, but with the stress of battle and emergency repairs he was now getting very close to the boiling point. Everything was a mess. Fires. Hull breaches. Downed systems. The last thing he needed right now was a Diakan questioning his every move.

“Thank you Mr. Boufos, I can see that. If you wouldn’t mind it would be helpful if you could assist with some of the other repairs that are needed,” said Singh.

“I possess a superior understanding of this ship’s propulsion system, especially the jump system. Assigning me to other duties would not be an efficient use of my skill set.”

Singh took a deep breath. “Since the jump system will be down for some time, we need to ensure that the FTL systems are all functioning properly. Please run a full diagnostic on them.”

“It is not optimal to have me run diagnostic tests, Chief Engineer.”

“Optimal or not, that is what I want you to do. And last I checked I am still the Chief Engineer, which means I make the decisions, not you.”

“As you wish, Chief Engineer.”

The Diakan walked away and Singh went back to work. There was extensive damage to the primary relay. He now realized it would take longer to repair than his original estimate. The Captain was not going to be happy.

He opened a comm link with Commander Wolfe.

“Yes Rajneesh,” answered Wolfe.

The sound of her voice calmed his nerves. Secretly he was happy that she came on this mission, although he wouldn’t let her know that. There were too many complications with their relationship. Too much volatility. And it had a habit of interfering with his work. He did love her, but they were too different.

“I’ve been working on repairing the jump system and the damage is more extensive than I originally thought. At first it looked like it was only the superluminal emitters that needed repair, but after further investigation I’ve found that the primary relay has also been extensively damaged. It is going to take longer to repair than my original estimate.”

“How much longer?”

“Three, maybe four days.”

“Are you sure? We really need that jump system online?”

Was he sure? How many times would his abilities be questioned today? He was the Chief Engineer. Some people would think he knew what he was talking about. “I will do my best to speed up the repairs, but this type of work takes time, Commander.”

“We don’t have time. Surely there must be a faster way to get this done.”

“The damage is just too extensive.”

“I don’t need excuses, Rajneesh. I need results.”

“This is precise work, Commander. It is not something that can be rushed.”

“I will let the Captain know. Just try and speed things up.”

“Singh out.”

Singh closed the comm link. How did she do it? How was it that with one word she could soothe him and then with another have him ready to explode? He didn’t understand it. He didn’t want to understand it. He had work to do. Fuming, he returned to his repairs.