Beyond Mars Crimson Fleet (5 page)

Captain
Jamel of the
Gladstone
was in total disbelief at the flight leader's report. As the
officer studied the large opening, Jamel concluded that either the
Martians aboard that ship were extremely desperate or just plain
insane.

"Jamel to
Ortega," the officer called the captain of the Earth cruiser
Louyang
, "We have stopped
pursuit. Repeat, we have stopped pursuit."

A second later, Ortega's voice questioned the
decision angrily, "Captain Jamel, what do you mean you have stopped
pursuit?"

"Just that, we have stopped pursuit! Those Martian
lunatics just flew into some old volcanic vent hole! They must have
just barely squeezed in!"

Ortega was furious. "I don't give a damn where
they've flown, follow them!"

Jamel's defiance hardened. "The hell I will! I'm not
going to risk it! There's no telling what's down there! If we try
to follow those crazy Martians…."

"Captain Jamel, that's a chance you'll just have to
take."

"Chance I have to take? If you’re so damn eager,
Ortega, why don't you do it?"

"Don't be absurd. If a destroyer can barely fit in
there, how could I possibly do it with my cruiser?" Ortega
justified his reluctance. "Besides, it's evident that their
objective is our base at Epson Planum. And if they succeed in
destroying it, I'll make quite sure that your name and this
conversation is prominently displayed in my report to Earth
Command!"

Jamel
gritted his teeth and glared angrily at the vent hole. A moment
later, however, he cut the communication's channel with the
Louyang
and issued new
orders, "Helm, make speed of twenty air knots and bring us down
into that cave! Mr. Kuto, order the fighters to continue pursuit of
the enemy vessel, immediately!"

Within a
minute, the three fighters broke their holding pattern and plunged
into the vent hole while reducing their speed. They were then
cautiously followed by the
Gladstone
.

As
the
Crazy Horse
descended further and further into the vent hole, Wakinyan had
the ship's forward floodlights switched on to reveal the features
of the cavern hidden within. Finally, the ship entered a large
chamber that was in reality an immense subterranean lake surrounded
by craggy walls of rock and the blackness of an eternal underground
night. Steam rose off the illuminated boiling water, filling the
chamber with an eerie vaporous haze. What was most disturbing,
however, was the color of the water that appeared in the
floodlights—it was blood red.

The scene
on the viewer had brought a complete halt to the activity on the
bridge of the
Crazy
Horse
. As each member watched, they were
all haunted by an uneasy feeling. Still the ship and crew continued
onward.

"It sure looks like hell itself, doesn't it,"
Randall leaned over to Wakinyan and quietly spoke. I just hope we
don't run into a cave wall or something."

"Relax, I've done this a dozen times in a shuttle,"
Wakinyan tried to comfort his friend.

"A destroyer is much bigger and less maneuverable
than a shuttle, or haven't you noticed?" Randall restlessly pointed
out.

"I've noticed. You remember anything about Mars'
volcanism from school?"

"Nope, I was too busy trying to lay every girl in
sight," James stated as a matter-of-fact.

"I'm glad you were so diligent in your studies,"
Wakinyan chuckled, knowing of Jim’s reputation with the ladies as
well as his half dozen girl friends.

But then Richard’s tone grew serious. "This lake is
the only place on Mars where water exists as a liquid. In this
area, the core is still very molten creating a gravitational field
nearly that of the Earth’s. That’s why the atmospheric pressure
here is dense enough to keep the water liquefied. It stretches for
at least several hundred miles in underground lakes and canals.
Much of it is still unexplored. Its red color comes from the iron
oxide in the rocks. The lake system was slowly formed after the
last major eruption many thousands of years ago."

"Like I really care," Randall replied. "What makes
it steam and boil like that?"

Richard glanced at his friend, "The magma chamber
located beneath the lake bed. Only a small amount of rock separates
the two."

"And if it didn't?" the lieutenant inquired.

"Then Mars would have the largest active volcanoes
in the solar system again."

"Let's make damn sure that doesn't happen!" James
showed his uneasiness.

"Amen to that," Richard agreed, realizing it was
time to get back to the business of war. "Mr. Edwards, commence
your run."

"Aye, Sir!" the navigator snapped briskly. Edwards
went back to monitoring his three navigational hologram screens
while glancing at his digital stopwatch display for timing. "Helm,
level the ship off and make heading of two-seven-five degrees,
speed twenty-four knots."

"Ship leveled, course two-seven-five, speed
twenty-four knots, aye," the helm's man acknowledged.

The
Crazy Horse
began to maneuver in the dark chamber.

"First leg on my mark, course two-nine-zero,
speed thirty-eight knots." the navigator commanded. "Five, four,
three, two, one, mark!"

"Course two-nine-zero, speed thirty-eight
knots, aye," the helm's man again acknowledged.

The
bridge of the
Crazy Horse
began to lean as the Martian ship shifted into the
turn. The big ship came about and straightened herself easily as it
journeyed through the cavern.

Once again the navigator guided the helm's man,
"We're in the lane and approaching the second turn. Decrease speed
to twenty-seven knots. Up angle two degrees. Come right to course
heading zero-three-one in thirty seconds."

Suddenly, the sensor crewman yelled out a warning to
Wakinyan, "CAPTAIN, THREE EARTH FIGHTERS HAVE APPEARED ON MY SCREEN
AND ARE CLOSING FAST!"

Without hesitation, Wakinyan issued new orders,
"Increase speed to fifty knots and recalculate! Weapons, prepare to
release missile decoys!"

The navigator quickly punched in
the new speed and course, and was promptly greeted by the blinking
red bolded words “
Speed Too Great For
Turning Arc – Danger Of Collision
!”

“CAPTAIN, COMPUTER INDICATES
COLLISION
inevitable
AT THAT SPEED!” a now panicky Edwards screamed
out.

“Navigator, increase speed to fifty knots and
recalculate!” Wakinyan forcefully repeated his previous order again
charged with his authority.

Edwards was astonished. The crewman realized the
danger of even a minor miscalculation and turned his head to
Lieutenant Randall to appeal the command, but Randall wasn't about
to.

"NAVIGATOR, RECALCULATE FOR FIFTY KNOTS!" James
angrily reaffirmed his captain's order.

"SOUND COLLISION ALARM!" Wakinyan added.

A claxon echoed throughout the ship, warning all of
the imminent peril.

Edwards, scared and flustered,
hurriedly recalculated the
Crazy
Horse’s
speed and course. Silently he
prayed he had not made a mistake. "TURN ON MY MARK! FIVE, FOUR,
THREE, TWO, ONE, MARK!"

"UP ANGLE TWO DEGRESS, COURSE ZERO-THREE-ONE, FIFTY
KNOTS AYE!" the crewman replied loudly.

This time
as the
Crazy Horse
leaned into the turn, part of her hull and one of her conards
began to scrape a side of the cave wall. Massive sparks trailed the
ship’s metal from contact with the rocks as the destroyer’s hull
vibrated, screeched, and groaned. But once more the ship righted
itself and was in the middle of the corridor again. Meanwhile, even
though they were flying at a greatly reduced speed, the Earth
fighters had gradually closed.

"Beta
Leader to
Gladstone
. Target is now within missile range, over!" the woman pilot
voiced mechanically.

"
Gladstone
to
Beta Leader, you are cleared to fire! Repeat, you are cleared to
fire!"

"Beta Leader to Beta Flight,
prepare to fire missiles!" Beta Leader then checked her console and
armed her missiles. "Beta Leader to Beta Flight, all weapon systems
now show green and have a lock! On my order

FIRE MISSILES!"

Almost
simultaneously, the three fighters launched their deadly
projectiles at the
Crazy
Horse
.

"CAPTAIN, FIGHTERS ARE STILL CLOSING!" the sensor
crewman exclaimed. "THREE MISSILES HAVE BEEN LAUNCHED! MISSILES
HAVE ARMED! MISSILES HAVE ACQUIRED!"

"WEAPONS, STANDBY TO LAUNCH DECOYS! HELM, INCREASE
SPEED TO SEVENTY KNOTS! TIME TO THE NEXT TURN, MR. EDWARDS?"

"WITH RECALCULATED SPEED, FORTY-FIVE SECONDS, SIR!"
Mr. Edwards replied.

"LAUNCH DECOYS!" shouted Wakinyan.

Swiftly,
several decoys were ejected from the
Crazy
Horse
as the ship sped away. For a lagging
moment, they hung in the air motionlessly, monitoring the radar
tracking signals from the inbound missiles. They then started
moving slowly upward, generating false reflections and a
holographic projection of several phantom ships. The images were so
enhanced by the darkness of the cavern that the deception would
have fooled even the most skeptical eye.

As the missiles approached,
each of the projectiles' computers compared the electronic signals
and visual footprint of the holographic images to the ones stored
in their data banks. A match quickly was made to the electronic
deception. Within microseconds, the missiles locked on and pursued
the false quarries.

A few moments later, each missile flew
through the mirages and impacted on a rocky wall. Chucks of stone
debris were cleaved from the strata of the granite structure and
blown right into the path of the advancing fighters. A small
boulder slammed into the lead craft, creating an explosion that
blew the other two off course and out of control. Both pilots each
fought desperately with their spacecraft trying to regain mastery,
but their lives swiftly ended in brilliant fiery collisions with
the cavern.

The
bridge of the
Crazy Horse
remained hushed as all listened for the sensor
crewman's decree.

"MISSILES HAVE REACHED DECOYS! MISSILES HAVE
DETONATED!" he pronounced, staring at his monitors. After a small
pause, the crewman smiled and turned to Wakinyan, "All three
fighters have been destroyed, Sir!"

"I'm going to get stinking drunk after all this is
over with," Randall said relieved.

Wakinyan leaned back in his command seat, "Save a
bottle and a seat for me. Thank the stars we nailed them without
starting an eruption."

Suddenly,
the bridge of the
Crazy Horse
vibrated to a deep rumbling that engulfed the
entire ship. For a long minute it continued—and then quickly
ceased. A second tremor followed closely behind the first, but was
much more powerful. Finally, it too ended leaving no doubt as to
what was happening.

"Then
again, I could be wrong," Wakinyan admitted his folly. "SMITTY,
INCREASE SPEED TO ONE HUNDRED KNOTS AND GET US THE HELL OUT OF
HERE! MR. EDWARDS, PLOT ALL COURSE CHANGES TO THAT SPEED! SMITTY,
USE ALL DOCKING THRUSTERS TO
Support
MANEUVERING!"

Randall grabbed Richard by his arm. "At that speed,
there's no way we can make it through the tunnel!" the lieutenant
protested quietly.

"We're going to damn well try! Or would you prefer
to be caught in a volcanic blast and lava flow?" Wakinyan softly,
but seriously asked.

Suddenly, the sensor's crewman alerted Wakinyan to a
new danger, "CAPTAIN, THAT EARTH DESTROYER IS BEHIND US AGAIN!"

From out
of the heated mist, the
Gladstone
appeared and began firing its pulse weapons in
short bursts. Even though the stern of the
Crazy Horse
took several hits, the
damage was minimal. The
Crazy Horse
was quick to return the fire with its secondary
laser weapons.

Different warning alarms
sounded through the Martian ship's bridge as it rocked from more
hits. Emergency lighting flickered on and off with each accurately
placed energy bolt.

Randall was beside himself with anger, "What the
hell is wrong with those morons? Don't they know that this volcano
is about to erupt?"

Wakinyan spun and looked at his friend with a
glowing mischievous smile. "Maybe they don't know! Maybe we should
tell them!" his voice chuckled along with a spiteful twinkle in his
eyes.

Randall's jaw dropped as he lightly shook his head,
"Oh my God, no!" The lieutenant knew the situation was about to go
ballistic.

"Mr. Edwards, how many more turns do we have and
their time?" Wakinyan quizzed his navigator.

"Just two, Sir! The first one in one minute and
fifteen seconds! The second one in three minutes and forty-three
seconds!"

Unexpectedly, another giant tremor resounded in a
lengthy drum roll that quivered the entire ship. Many eyes within
the Martian crew winced in worrisome alarm as many loose objects
fell or flew to the deck in defeat of the inertia canceling system,
which could not adjust as quickly to the frequency of the huge
drumbeats.