Sol Shall Rise (The Pike Chronicles Book 1) (6 page)

“Helm, initiate countdown,” said Jon, perched above the rest of the bridge, sitting in the Captain’s chair. After two weeks of frantic preparation the Hermes could finally begin its mission. Happy to leave the Sol System, Jon’s eyes were fixed on the viewscreen. He wondered what jumping without a gate would be like. Going through a jump gate was practically instantaneous. You went in one end and came out the other. The fact that space had been folded to accommodate your jump across hundreds of light years didn’t matter. Would folding space with a starship be any different? He didn’t really understand how the whole thing worked, and he left the mechanics of it to the scientists. All he cared about was that it did work.

“Countdown initiated,” said Ensign Jack Richards. Young, cocky, and talented, Richards piloted the Hermes. In civilian life Richards had been quite a celebrity on Earth. A natural pilot, he had won every race that meant anything in competitive flying. Living life just as fast, he could regularly be spotted at the best parties, surrounded by beautiful women. That’s why nobody saw it coming when he enlisted. Jon didn’t know his reasons for enlisting. He never made them public. Jon didn’t care. If this kid was half as good a pilot as his reputation indicated Jon would be happy.

“Five.” The computer sounded off the countdown as the entire bridge crew stared at the viewscreen, holding their collective breaths.

“Four.” Beside Jon stood Tallos and Wolfe. While the Diakan’s face gave away no emotion, Wolfe’s displayed its usual tension. Like everyone else they were glued to the viewscreen.

“Three.” Jon stared at the stars, wondering when, if ever, he would see them again.

“Two.” The bridge fell quiet, as everyone stopped what they were doing.

“One.” Jon leaned forward, his hands gripping the arms of the Captain’s chair, holding his breath.

For a brief moment he experienced a feeling of light-headedness accompanied by a pasty sensation in the back of his throat, and then the stars on the viewscreen shifted.

“Jump complete,” said the computer.

“Report!” said Jon. The bridge exploded into a fury of activity.

“We have successfully jumped into the Glies system, fifty light years from Sol,” said Ensign Yao, the Navigation officer.

“Tactical?”

“Reading all clear. No contacts,” said Ensign Petrovic, the Tactical officer.

Special Envoy Tallos looked over at Jon. “Congratulations Captain. You have just made history.”

“Thank you Special Envoy,” said Jon. “Congratulations people. Excellent work,” Jon said to the bridge. Applause and cheers broke out, as everybody celebrated the success.

“Navigation, how long until we are ready for our next jump?” said Jon.

“Co-ordinates are locked, Sir. Jump system is at 76%. We are jump ready.”

“No point wasting time hanging around here. Helm, initiate countdown.”

“Countdown initiated,” said Richards.

The computer counted down in the same fashion as before. The crew seemed much more comfortable this time around, with many focused on their work, rather than staring at the viewscreen.

“Contact!” said Petrovic.

“Three,” said the computer.

Jon saw the starship on the screen. A Juttari battle cruiser.
Where did they come from?

“Two.”

“Reading weapons hot!”

“Sound general quarters!” said Jon. Red light bathed the bridge as general quarters sounded throughout the ship.

“One.”

“They’re firing missiles!”

The ship spewed a cluster of missiles at the Hermes. Everyone on the bridge braced for the inevitable impact.

And then it disappeared. No battle cruiser. No missiles. Just a different group of stars on the viewscreen.

“Jump complete.”

“Goddamnit. Where did that ship come from?” said Jon.

“Unknown, Sir. It just appeared without warning,” said Petrovic.

“Report!” said Wolfe.

“We have successfully jumped into the Valen system. Fifty light years from our last location in the Glies system. One hundred light years from the Sol system,” said Yao.

“Reading all clear. No contacts,” said Petrovic.

Even with the medication, Jon still sensed the creature’s desire for action, and he agreed with it.

“What is our jump status?” said Jon.

“50%. We are jump ready, Sir,” said the Yao.

“Tactical, load all missile tubes. Weapons hot,” said Jon.

“Aye, Sir. Loading all missile tubes. Weapons hot.”

“Navigation, can you plot a course back to our previous coordinates, altering slightly to land us behind the Juttari battlecruiser?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Plot coordinates and prepare for jump.”

Tallos stared at Jon. “Captain, we need more information before we engage that vessel. Victory is not certain without more intelligence.”

Jon looked at the Diakan and suppressed the urge to kick him off the bridge. “That ship fired on us. That is all the information I need.”

“Coordinates plotted. Ready for jump,” said Yao.

“Very well. Initiate countdown. Tactical, prepare to fire missiles the moment we land.”

“Yes, Sir.”

The jump sequence began and the computer counted down.

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One.”

“Jump complete.”

“Contact!”

“Fire missiles.”

“Missiles away.”

The viewscreen showed the Hermes missiles, eight in all, speeding towards the Juttari ship like tiny supersonic snakes.

“Juttari vessel deploying countermeasures,” said Petrovic.

The Juttari ship launched a cluster of drones which immediately dispersed in random directions away from the vessel. Their engines burned disproportionately to their size in an attempt to draw the missiles off target. They were also broadcasting the Juttari vessel’s signature, trying to fool the missiles’ targeting computers. At the same time the ship’s rail guns fired, establishing a point defense field to protect it against any missiles that got passed the drones.

“Fire another round of missiles. Lock energy weapons on enemy’s defensive systems.”

“Missiles away. Energy weapons locked,” said Tactical.

Another eight missiles raced toward the Juttari ship, which launched another cluster of drones in response. At the same time a salvo of missiles shot out of the Juttari ship heading straight for The Hermes.

“Juttari vessel is firing missiles!” said Petrovic.

“Launch countermeasures. Rail guns in point defense mode. Not one of those missiles is to touch the Hermes. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Sir!”

“Helm, bridge the distance between us and the enemy. Attack pattern epsilon.”

“Aye, sir.”

The Hermes shot forward, zigzagging through space towards the Juttari battlecruiser, like a giant hawk closing in for the kill.

“Fire energy weapons,” said Jon.

“Firing energy weapons.”

The view screen lit up as streaks of blue light painted their way across the blackness of space towards the enemy. Finding their marks the beams locked on and intensified, burning through the enemy’s armor plating. The Hermes weaved through space and the blue beams stayed glued to their targets making the Hermes look like a marionette playing on a tangle of blue strings. Orange flashes colored the darkness as the beams pierced the armor, destroying the enemy turrets.

“Direct hit,” said Petrovic.

“Fire missiles,” said Jon.

“Missiles away.”

The streaking missiles danced with the blue light and the new wave of drone decoys, but with her point defense system disabled the Juttari ship didn’t have much hope of fending them all off. Two missiles bypassed the drones and closed in for the kill. They locked onto the ship’s critical systems, certain of maiming, if not destroying the Juttari vessel. Then, a split second before impact, the Juttari vessel vanished into thin air, the Hermes missiles sprinting off harmlessly into the emptiness of space.

Jon stared at the viewscreen. Stunned. In sharp contrast to the excitement of battle just a moment earlier, the bridge was now enveloped by an uncertain silence.

“Tactical, scan surrounding area. Find that ship!” said Wolfe.

“Scanning, Sir. Reading all clear. No contacts.”

Jon’s stomach lurched as understanding started to dawn on him.

“They have a jump system,” said Jon.

“Agreed,” said Wolfe.

“Commander Wolfe, Chief St. Clair, report to my ready room. Maintain General Quarters. I want full combat readiness in case that ship shows up again.”

“Yes, Sir.” said Petrovic.

Jon got up and walked to his ready room, with Wolfe, and Kevin following. The door slid open and they all filed into Jon’s office. Jon turned and faced his two officers.

“How did that ship find us? Jump system or not, how did they know our exact location?” said Jon, barely concealing the anger in his voice.

“I think it is safe to conclude that we have a spy on board,” said Kevin, avoiding eye contact with Jon.

“Agreed,” said Wolfe. “There can’t be any doubt about that anymore.”

“So, how do we flush them out? Kevin?” said Jon.

“Our checkpoints haven’t uncovered anything suspicious. We haven’t found any sign of sabotage. Although I think after what just happened the spy will probably be a little more nervous. Surely they’ll know that we would figure it out now. So we monitor all communications on all frequencies and wait for them to make a mistake,” said Kevin.

“I want them found, do you understand me?” said Jon.

“Yes, Sir.”

“Now how about that ship? It’s still out there somewhere. How do we find them?”

“That’ll be tough, Sir. They could be anywhere within fifty light years,” said Wolfe.

“That’s assuming their jump system has the same capabilities as ours. For all we know they can only jump ten light years at a time.”

“That is possible, Sir, but with all the evidence of espionage I think it’s safe to assume that their system is built off our schematics.”

“You’re right. There has been a mole in place throughout this entire project. Which means they likely have detailed plans of the Hermes as well.”

“What if there isn’t a spy on board?” said Wolfe.

Jon saw his own confusion mirrored on Kevin’s face. “I don’t understand,” said Jon.

“Chief, I assume you have been monitoring all communication channels, correct?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“And you’ve found nothing out of the ordinary?”

“Correct again.”

“Then it’s safe to assume that if there’s a spy on board they’re not in communication with the Juttari ship.”

“True, but they could’ve communicated with the Juttari while we were still at the station.”

“Yes, that seems more probable,” said Jon.

“Perhaps. Sir, I believe that what is more likely is the Juttari have a copy of our jump path. While we have the flexibility to change, we do have a predetermined jump path based on where we think the lost colonies are,” said Wolfe.

“That’s logical. They only needed to know our first jump coordinates in order to ambush us. All they needed to know was when we jumped away from Sol, then they just follow and attack while we’re getting our bearings. I don’t think they expected us to jump so soon,” said Jon.

“Lucky for us,” said Kevin.

“Yes, lucky indeed. They had us with our pants down.”

“So do we change our jump path?” asked Wolfe.

“I think we have to. Otherwise they have too much of a tactical advantage. That said, if they have our jump path, we in effect have their jump path. We can turn the tables on them.”

“We become the hunter, rather than the hunted,” said Kevin. “I like it.” A broad smile spreading across his face.

“They’ll need to make some repairs before they can think of attacking us again. Once those repairs are finished, though, they would merely follow our jump path until they found us. Like us, they’ll have limitations as to how many consecutive jumps they can make. They would have to wait till their system recharged. That’s when we attack.”

“But how can we know when and where that will be?” said Wolfe.

“They have likely jumped away to a location not on the jump path. So we jump ahead and find a location where we can wait to ambush them. Say an asteroid field. I think we can safely assume that their next jump will be into the Valen system. They will likely have three more full jumps left before they’ll need to recharge their jump system. This is where we attack. Without jump capability they’ll be trapped. Thoughts?”

“I think it can work,” said Kevin.

“Agreed,” said Wolfe.

“Excellent. In the meantime we are going to need to plot an alternate jump path. Just in case.”