Merkiaari Wars: 01 - Hard Duty (35 page)

Sharn’s home was already abandoned when Shima had arrived, but at least she now knew where to look for her sib. When she had searched the house, she found the computer blinking a message.

Kachina Twelve… Kachina Twelve… Kachina Twelve…

The blinking message could only be for her. At least, Shima wanted to believe that Chailen had gone with Sharn’s family to the keep. She had to believe it. If Chailen was in the city alone, Shima would need exceptional good luck to find her. No. Chailen was sensible, more sensible than her older sib. She would have seen the need to evacuate with the others.

With a scrabble of claws, Shima made the turn into another street without tumbling into a sprawling heap. She had lost some speed there, but she soon made it up. Thank the Harmonies she had not lost her vision enhancer. Without it, she would not be able to run like this for fear of getting lost.

And she did need to run.

Merkiaari warriors had landed at the spaceport despite all the warriors could do to stop them. A single huge landing ship had settled there, ignoring the Shan flyers pecking at its shielded hull. The underground missile silos had been another matter entirely. It had not ignored those. As soon as the enemy ship was in range, a row of switches had been flipped deep within the mountain’s bones at Kachina Twelve. The switches closed, and missile after missile was launched from dozens of underground silos. The parks and open fields suddenly erupted with fire as the Merki computers tracked the missiles and found the launch sites. Barely half the missiles launched in time, and none struck their intended target. Every one of them died uselessly against Merki point defence laser clusters.

Shima had witnessed the launches and the results. Later, she saw the Murderers in the flesh, and that was the real reason for her speed. She still didn’t know why she had done it. She wasn’t a warrior. She was a scientist—a gardener for Harmony’s sake. Why had she felt the need to kill that particular Merki? Was there a reason to choose that one over another? She decided there wasn’t. The thought of her father trapped on the station had enraged her. Tahar was stuck up there waiting to die, while his Murderers were down here looking to kill everyone and everything he loved.

She had been so angry. She had watched the Murderers from hiding, and her vision tunnelled with her rage. She had spat trying to get the taste of Merki out of her mouth. Their reek was everywhere. She had gone deaf—her ears were flattened hard against her head. It was a holdover from the primitive past. A Shan’s ears would flatten as a way to protect them from an enemy’s shredding claws. She saw nothing but the Merki warrior standing in front of the others. The next moment, she was firing both beamers into his back. She didn’t remember drawing them or even aiming. One moment was tunnelled vision with her prey centred, the next he was falling, and she was running with a beamer in each paw. Merki warriors gave chase of course.

Now she was racing through the burning city on all fours trying to lose them, but they had some kind of device that could follow her at a distance. She would have to hide. Running, though absolutely correct according to instinct, was no good in this situation. She needed a place to lay low and attack from concealment. When night came, she would find a way out of the city.

* * *

Aboard ASN Canada

“Fire as your guns bear!” Colgan shouted over the noise of damage alarms.

“Multiple contacts,” Commander Groves sang out. “Contacts closing fast. Tentative assessment: Merki cap ship missiles.”

Colgan froze for an instant. “For God’s sake bring us around, helm!”

“I’m trying, sir. She’s sluggish as hell.”

“Drones have entered fold space,” Lieutenant Ricks reported. Out of ten launched, only two had survived long enough to make the jump to fold space.

Point defence missiles sleeted out in their hundreds to meet the incoming missiles. Proximity fuses closed, and detonations pocked the tactical display. Dozens detonated to kill a single missile, wasteful as hell, but cap ship missiles were beyond dangerous. Some of
Canada’s
counter missiles killed each other as the force they unleashed washed over nearby missiles on their way to kill their targets. Some lost lock or failed to detonate for one reason or another, but most did their jobs as designed. Most wasn’t good enough.

Canada’s
laser cannons left off their programmed fire mission, and swivelled under computer control to pick off targets that evaded her point defence missiles. It was an awesome sight, and a frightening one. When a ship’s computer aborted offensive fire in favour of defensive, that ship was in over its head. Lasers designed to penetrate the armoured hide of a Merki destroyer, flicked out and wiped away one missile after another. The energy in those beams was so huge, that the missiles were vaporised instantly, leaving the beams to stream onward into space for the milli-seconds it took the computer to take note of the kill. Priorities changed, and the mounts swivelled their cannon onto new targets.

“Where’s
Chakra
?” Colgan said as
Canada
finally responded to the helm and healed over. She took the single hit on her undamaged starboard shields and rolled drunkenly out of the nuclear fire boiling around her.

“Shields holding,” Ivanova cried. “Merkiaari cruiser bearing zero-two-seven by two-seven-five degrees. Target locked.
Firing!
”

Canada
spat her own missiles, and changed course heading away from the threat of return fire. Colgan studied his displays looking for something he could kill. He found one.

“Helm, new heading: one-two-eight by zero-one-five.”

“Aye, sir. Coming to new heading, one-two-eight by zero one-five.”

“
Chakra’s
burning, Skip,” Groves said from her place across the bridge at scan. “I can see escape pods jettisoning.”

“Christ,” Colgan hissed under his breath. “Where’s
Naktlon
?”

“She’s still on our tail, Skipper.”

Colgan nodded, thankful for small mercies. Tei’Varyk was covering
Canada’s
damaged rear while his people struggled to repair the shield generator for that quadrant.

“Concentrate all fire on the heavy cruiser,” he snapped and saw
Naktlon
was already doing that. Tei’Varyk and he thought alike.

Canada
went to maximum rate of fire on all energy batteries as she ran by the crippled cruiser. Ivanova used raking fire from her forward mounts, opening the Merki ship like a tin opener opens a can of soybeans, but she kept her starboard batteries concentrated on the ship’s drive section.

The eruption when it happened was catastrophic.

“
Evasive,
” Colgan snapped as the Merki ship disintegrated, and chunks of its hull flew outward.

A section of drive shielding slammed into
Canada
, but her shields held and she continued her turn.
Naktlon
miraculously escaped damage as he swept through the wave front of shrapnel.
Canada’s
scan fuzzed and the display flickered, as her computer fought to penetrate clouds of metal and ice particles. Data denoting headings and vectors of enemy ships, constantly changed colour, flickering indecisively between the red of certainty and the amber of estimated values.

“What’s left?”

Commander Groves studied the battlespace her station was displaying, and then looked up from the plot grimly. “
Naktlon
, bearing one-eight-zero.
Hoth
, bearing two-zero-five.
Hekja
, bearing two-zero-five.”

The bridge crew fell silent.

“Three ships?” Colgan said in shock. “Three heavies… what about light units?”

“
Chakra
was the last one, Skipper.”

“Word just reached us from the elders, sir,” Ricks said. “They’ve ordered evacuation of the towns and cities.”

Colgan paled. “My God. We can’t stop them.”

Silence greeted his shock statement. Colgan studied his displays and saw three Shan heavy cruisers and
Canada
. They were all that stood in the way of the remnants of a Merkiaari squadron. That the Merki hadn’t sent a fleet made no real difference, or that the Shan had destroyed most of their heavy stuff. There was still more than enough firepower to take out the entire system. Four heavy cruisers, or what would be a heavy cruiser in the Alliance—who knew or cared what the Merki called them? All four had battle damage, but nothing severe. Screening them were the light units—three fast attack frigates, and two badly damaged destroyers.

“Send to all remaining Shan ships,” Colgan said.

“Ready, sir,” Ricks said switching his position to use the Shan equipment installed next to his station.

“The elders have ordered evacuation of the population to more secure areas. I suggest we concentrate our ships, and attempt to break for the inner belt. If successful, we can strike as opportunity permits.”

Ricks listened intently for a reply. “
Naktlon
on screen.”

“Tei’Colgan,” Tei’Varyk said wearily. “I have spoken with the others. We will join forces and attack as soon as the Murderers are in range. I advise you to return to pick up James and the others. If you’re quick, you might escape.”

“Don’t do this, Tei,” Colgan pleaded. “Don’t throw your life away. My people will
come!
”

Tei’Varyk’s ears struggled erect, but then flattened again in distress. “Not soon enough to save us. Leave us to our fate, Tei’Colgan. Warn your people that the Murderers will come for them next. Good bye my friend. May you live in harmony.”

The screen cleared to show a tactical schematic of the system. Merki ships burned red as they advanced cautiously toward the Shan homeworld, and three blue blips manoeuvred to engage.
Naktlon
moved away from where he had been covering
Canada
, and left her to voyage on alone.

Colgan glanced unhappily at Commander Groves. She nodded her agreement with Tei’Varyk. “Charge the jump drive,” he ordered and winced at the looks of shock he received.

“We can’t leave them,” Lieutenant Ricks blurted. “For God’s sake, you know what they’ll do to these people. We can’t
let
it happen!”

“As you were, Lieutenant,” Groves snapped.

Ricks surged to his feet, and slammed a fist down on his consol. “No! I say we stay and fight. We’re Fleet. Fleet fights Merki!” He stared at the others, demanding they agree, but no one did. They looked guiltily down or away, not willing to meet his accusing eyes.

“Helm,” Colgan said reluctantly. “Set course for the third planet. We have the contact team to retrieve.”

“Aye, sir. ETA, two-niner minutes at max speed.”

“Very good.” Colgan turned to Ricks. “Contact Professor Wilder, and tell him to come back up as soon as we’re in range. He can dock on the fly.”

Ricks sat slumped at his station in dejected silence, and stared at Colgan with accusing eyes.

“You heard me, Lieutenant,” he said angrily.

“Aye, sir,” Ricks said, sitting straighter and turning back to his controls.

Colgan looked around at his crew, but none would look him in the eye. Didn’t they realise he had to leave, even though he might want to stay? He did want to, but
Canada
would be destroyed to no purpose. If he could be certain that his ship’s sacrifice would save the Shan, he wouldn’t hesitate, but he knew it wouldn’t.

“Continue on course,” Colgan said and stared bitterly at nothing.

* * *

Aboard Naktlon, Shan system

Tei’Varyk glared at the tactical situation on the main viewer as the Murderers advanced. His people were silent, having made peace with the fact they were about to die. The fleet was gone, all except
Hekja
,
Hoth
, and his own
Naktlon
. Fifty orbits of work gone in a single cycle, and only three ships remained to save the Shan.

They had been so close to gaining the stars, but the Humans had come too late. One orbit earlier, just
one
orbit
might have made the difference. He sighed into the silence, and watched
Hekja
and
Hoth
attempt the impossible. They had all agreed it was the only chance that two damaged heavy fangs had to disable the murderer’s ships, but it was a slim chance only. If it worked,
Naktlon
would move in with every weapon firing at maximum. If it did not,
Naktlon
would move in with every weapon firing at maximum.

There were no choices left.

“
Hoth
and
Hekja
engage,” Tarjei said into the silence.

“I hear,” Tei’Varyk said. “We will go in with all weapons firing at maximum. Torpedoes, missiles, particle cannon, beamers—everything.”

“I hear,” Kajika whispered.

“Are you sorry you chose to follow me?”

Kajika’s ears flattened. “
Never.
You are my Tei.”

Tei’Varyk inclined his head, and Kajika bowed in return. He turned back to the screen in time to see
Hoth
and
Hekja
accomplish their part of the plan.