Thumar

Captain Arnold impatiently drummed his fingers near the console on his hand rest. What’s taking so long? They should be finished now. We’re too close to Terelian space. This is neutral space; and it doesn’t take much to provoke them. I hope the new post has the shields operating.

Commander Morgan, his XO approached. “Sir, do you think it’s wise to put a secret listening post this close to Terelian space?”

“Intelligence has confirmed their alliance with the Keks. They’re bad news; the Voeleron war taught us that. For a race of reptilians, they’re crafty and intelligent,” the captain dryly remarked.

“Maybe we should deploy an ASO unit and a Ver class cruiser to the surface, just in case the base is discovered.”

After considering the delicate nature of the top secret mission, the captain replied, “Commander Morgan, deploy an Alliance Special Ops unit, with a Ver class cruiser, to the planet’s surface, and verify the engineer’s progress.”

“Aye, sir. Lieutenant, do we have any reports from the planet surface?

“No, sir.”

“Raise them. Something’s wrong. At least one Terelian patrol should have checked us out by now. They’re a suspicious lot.”

“Aye, sir.” He sent a coded request and waited for confirmation. “Life support is up, and the techs are finalizing the computer downloads.”

“Tell them to finish fast. We need to get the engineering crew shuttled up. If the Terelians even suspect why we’re here, they’ll be all over us. Are the long range scanners picking anything up?”

“No, sir, but the first moon is blocking our signal. They could be hiding on the dark side of the moon.”

“Deploy probes to close that gap, and notify lieutenant commander Phar to report to launch bay four.”

“Aye, sir. Probes launched, receiving incoming data in five minutes. The commander has been notified and his unit is en route now. They launch in ten minutes,” reported lieutenant Johnson.

The captain watched his scanners while Jack confidently orchestrated his crew.

“Commander Phar has launched; they’ll land in twenty minutes.”

The bridge crew watched the shuttle enter the atmosphere, a long fiery tail giving away their entry.”

“Anyone within the two moons’ orbits can’t miss that,” said an ensign.

Jack frowned. “That is what concerns me. I would have had them enter from the dark side of Eregor, if time was not of the essence.

Commander Morgan looked up from his console with a dark scowl. “Sir, the probes have picked up movement from the first moon’s dark side, they’re headed our way fast. Lieutenant, notify the ground crew to stand fast and get those shields operating, now.”

“Aye, sir.” Her fingers punched in the code red message, and she watched the console intently for the reply. “Shields are up. They’re taking cover.”

This is the third skirmish with the Terelian’s in the last month in neutral space. Now they’re in league with the Keks. Could it get any worse?

It did.

Lieutenant Johnson looked up from his console with dread. “Five Ging class cruisers

approaching from aft at attack speed. They’re taking a reverse pyramid formation; two, port and starboard; two, top and bottom side; and one, five thousand feet behind the primary group.”

Jack thought for a moment. Standard Ging class, if they’re standard, we’ve been in worse situations before. The Armstrong came out of space dock six months ago. The re-fit gave her new armor and the latest shield upgrades. We’re eight times their size with new dual phase missiles. We can outlast them long enough to take their attention away from the planet’s surface. We didn’t come here to fail at the last minute.

Jack quickly returned his attention to the upcoming skirmish. “Red alert, shields up full, charge phase cannons. Take evasive action. We need to take this fight away from Eregor.”

“Aye, sir,” said the helmswoman, obediently.

The Armstrong broke orbit and flew towards the second moon at one-quarter impulse. Eregor and the now-stranded base fell away from the view port. The inverted pyramid formation of Ging class light cruisers changed course to follow them. As they passed the planet, the bridge crew saw the rear Ging cruiser break off for Eregor’s surface, only to be met by the ASO ship rocketing out of the atmosphere.

They’re hiding something, I know it. We’ll have to come back with a fleet and scour this quadrant, Jack thought before returning to the matter at hand.

“Commander Morgan, are damage control teams and medical bays ready to receive casualties?” asked the captain.

“Aye sir, the cruisers are moving in fast, and they’re not standard Ging class cruisers, they have Kek insignia on their bows.”

Near the second moon, the Terelian ships caught up with them. Their formation stayed true as they surrounded The Armstrong.

“Their weapons are charged and firing, incoming, incoming, brace yourselves!” Jack raised the alarm.

The crew held onto anything solid within reach, before the first volley hit the Alliance war ship. She shook violently, and the crew rocked with the motion of the ship, staying upright. The shields dropped to eighty percent.

A look of sadness and shock filled lieutenant Sperry as she looked up from her console. She fought back tears before reporting. “We lost the entire hydro-bay, including the personnel.”

Flash-frozen plants and debris with floating bodies streamed out into space.

“Captain, they’re using highly modified weapons. Terelians do not have the capability for such fire power. This has to be new Kek mods, our shields are almost useless.” Jack reported this with alarm. “Switch all available power to aft shields,” he ordered. “Lieutenant Johnson, are the targets locked?”

“Aye, sir, locked and loaded.”

“Fire aft cannons.”

The phase cannons fired, and Lieutenant Johnson tracked the shots on his console. The explosions lit up the darkness of space as they found their mark. “Direct hit sir. They’re losing power.”

“Target the weapons.”

The cannons fired again, the enemy ship rolled to its port side and fell back. Debris and bodies shot into space from several large hull breaches. One gone and four remained.

Damn these Terelians. If we don’t find a way to defend this, we’re in big trouble. Jack’s thoughts darkened.

“What about the ship that broke off, is our base still there?” he asked.

Lieutenant Sperry reported with the efficiency and calm of a veteran bridge crew. “The ASOs have engaged and incapacitated their main drives. No reports of losses on our side or significant damage to their ship. The bogie never entered the atmosphere.”

Another volley hit The Armstrong as she lurched hard to port. Alarms went off and damage control teams reported extensive destruction to the port thrusters and shield generators.

Ensign Masterson looked up from his console in alarm. “Our shields and armor are barely holding. They’re down to fifty percent. Whole sections of decks four through six on our starboard side are missing. My cousin worked there, sir.” His eyes began turning red as tears welled.

“Get a hold of yourself Ensign; there will be time to mourn later,” Jack ordered.

Captain Arnold balled both fists as he pounded his armrest in anger. In a controlled rage, he gave his order. “Commander Morgan, shove some dual phase missiles down their throats!”

“Aye, sir. My pleasure.”

“Lieutenant, fire four port missiles on my mark.”

“They’re flying like fighters, sir, and not light cruisers. They’re difficult to target.”

“Lock on targets, Lieutenant, find a way!”

He momentarily struggled with their quick maneuvers. “Aye, sir. Missile tubes locked and loaded. Firing solutions acquired.”

“Target their hyperdrive, weapons, and bridge, lieutenant.” They want to take on an Alliance battle cruiser, here’s a reminder of our fire power you SOBs.

“Fire!” Jack Morgan ordered.

The view windows darkened as four blue flaming trails of plasma streaked toward the enemy. Four missiles hit their mark, and the crew covered their eyes as the second Terelian

cruiser blew up in a nuclear fireball. They wanted to cheer, but now was not the time.

“I need the status on our ASOs and Eregor. Are they out of danger?” Commander Morgan inquired.

With obvious relief, the ensign reported, “Both are safe, for the moment. The ASOs took out the cruiser, but report enough damage to their ship to take them out of the battle. They’ve landed and only suffered two minor injuries. They’re in med bay now and expect a full recovery.”

A momentary smile crossed Bob Arnold’s lips. Now he had to eliminate the remaining threat. Maybe now the admiralty would listen to him and assign a Fleet to this sector.

Jack was glued to his display when he saw one of the Ging cruisers try to break off for Eregor. Without looking up, he gave the next order. “Lieutenant, lock onto the bogie on our starboard port side. He’s trying to break for Eregor. Once you have him, fire at will, four missiles.”

“Aye, sir, locked, loaded and firing.”

The bridge crew watched as the four missiles’ exhaust flames hurled their payloads toward the Terelian cruiser. When they hit, the ship blew up into pieces, shooting debris and crew into open space with the escaping air, this time, the crew cheered, including the captain.

Jack broke the reverie after he scanned The Armstrong’s damage reports. The concern in his voice caught the captain’s attention. “We can’t take much more damage, Captain. Our shields are down to thirty percent, and the med bays are reporting heavy casualties.”

“We’ve done all we can to protect Eregor. The ASOs will have to hold the position if it comes to a ground fight. Hopefully their shields will last.” The captain shook his head in resignation. He hated leaving personnel behind, but now he had no choice. They had no answer for the new phase blasts that tore his ship apart.

“Lieutenant Commander Peters: Contact Eregor base and The Apache, she is the closest ship to our coordinates for a rescue. Plot a course for Thumar and charge the hyperdrive.” The captain gave his orders with a heavy heart.

“Aye, sir.” The commander’s eyes showed sadness as he complied.

Every member of the bridge crew exchanged mournful looks, knowing they were leaving their comrades to a questionable future.

Eregor base confirmed the order, and The Apache was on her way.

Just as lieutenant commander Peters was about to engage the hyperdrive, two phase blasts hit The Armstrong, one aft of the bridge and another port side, at mid-ship.

Everything blew apart, consoles ripped out of the floor, ceiling supports punched holes into the deck with wire bundles hanging, sparking and crackling, as they swung in slow arcs.

Wiping blood from his eyes, commander Morgan tried to sit up, one idea pounding through his head, get us out of here. He noticed a section of his control panel was imbedded into the deck, inches from his chest. Any closer and he would be dead.

Not everyone had been so lucky. Bodies lay tangled in debris across the deck. Bob Arnold, Jack noted in relief, was still breathing. He couldn’t tell with the young navigator, lieutenant Sperry, lying two feet away. Jack’s ribs burned with pain, he must have bruised them. Breathing was short, his body screamed in agony as he crawled over to his captain.

Captain Arnold turned his head, determination filled his cloudy gaze as he weakly grasped Jack’s arm. “Commander, get us out of here!” he managed, before losing consciousness.

Jack slowly moved to the secondary command panels. They survived with the last inputs that an injured, unconscious lieutenant commander Peters, put in before the last blast hit.

Ensign Masterson limped over to his side, holding his broken arm. “Are you alright, sir?” he

asked between labored breaths, looking around at the carnage.

“I’m alive, Mark, how about you?”

“About the same, sir.”

Jack noticed the obvious pain he was in and reached for the emergency medical kit, pulling out the pain shot. “Start by taking this and sit down.”

The hiss was audible as air shot the medicine into the Ensign’s neck. He sat for a moment to let it take effect. Dealing with manageable pain now, he asked how he could help.

“Contact Thumar’s space docks and apprise them of our situation. Let them know we’ll need a full fire control and medical teams waiting for us.”

“Aye, sir.” He punched in the code red signal on a secure channel. He didn’t have to wait long; the emergency call was returned. “They’ll be waiting for us at the edge of their space. There’s more bogies stalking us, what do we do?”

“Take them out as we leave.”

They both heard some movement and painfully turned around to see lieutenant Sperry crawling over to them. She was in bad shape.

“I can help if you get me into that chair.”

Both men barely lifted her into the seat. She screamed as Jack noticed the piece of metal lodged in her right thigh. She fought through tears of pain to compose herself. Jack injected her with a pain shot.

“I’ve got the weapons console, sir.” Her breathing was labored, the shot was kicking in.

All three of them were in constant pain, fighting off the receptors sending signals to their brains. Training, and the instinct to survive, drove them to continue.

Pounding was heard at the bridge doors. “This is the med team. The doors are jammed!”

Jack looked at the debris blocking the door. “Blast it out with a medium charge and stand clear.” The order was meant for the three of them, too.

The door landed two feet away from Jack, and the remainder of the debris was cleared. Large muscular security forces pulled pieces of the wreckage off of downed crew members. A doctor attended to the three of them.

“Give us shots to deal with the pain and tend to our wounds, quickly. Then get to the captain, he’s alive and unconscious.” Jack ordered.

Jack winced and turned to Mark. “There are two wounded ships out there. If we cut and run, they’ll close in for the kill.” He turned to Alice and continued. “Set up a full aft missile spread. When they get close enough, I’ll give you your mark.”

She smiled a wicked grin, “Aye, sir.”

“Ensign, one half impulse to our jump point, Lieutenant Sperry, lock missile pattern, full spread.”

“Aye, sir.”

“Half-impulse, Ensign.”

“Aye, sir,” he smiled as he looked at his screen. “They took the bait, and their weapons are charged and ready.”

“Full impulse; let’s get some distance between us. Are you ready Alice?”

“Aye, sir.”

“One thousand yards to jump point.” Ensign Masterson reported.

Jack watched the cracked console glass and gave both orders. “Fire missiles and engage hyperdrive.”

“Missiles launched.”

The aft cameras showed over fifteen flame trails streaking toward their targets.

“Hyperdrive engaged.”

The last thing commander Morgan saw before entering the artificial worm hole was one cruiser blowing up and the last one spinning to starboard with sizable hull breaches.

The AS Armstrong barely limped into hyperspace. The remaining Terelian ships were on fire. Debris, from those destroyed, was falling into orbit around Eregor and her second moon.