Starstorm (Starstorm Saga) (7 page)

“I would.”

“Have it your way. I’ve got to hand it to Captain Doran, though. Our great leader truly has an eye for beauty. Have you been to the command deck yet? It’s bridge bunny heaven! All that is except our illustrious first officer. Don’t get me wrong, she’s got the looks on the outside, but on the inside she’s an ice cube—a real freezer unit, but you’ve already seen that first hand. Yeah, Jack, one day one day when I’m Captain, I will see to it that I too am surrounded by the most exquisite examples of feminine beauty…”

“Shut up, Red,” came the annoyed voice of Trey Knight. “We’ve got more important things to do than listen to you flap your big mouth and show us what a pompous jackass you are. We just got new orders. There’s a group of ships headed for Titan station. They don’t have ID signals and they’ve not responded to our communications. We’ve been ordered to intercept them. Beta flight’s been launched as well. They’ll be our back up. Now let’s come about. Stay in formation and prepare to hit your boosters We’re going in for a closer look!”

Kaydan spotted the human ships on the view screen.

“Commander! Multiple contacts on course for our ships!”

“What are they?” demanded Akdon.

“The computer is processing the data now.” The map on the screen was replaced by a detailed diagram of a Star Sword fighter. “They appear to be a squad of small fighter craft slightly smaller than our own fighters. Simple maneuvering engines, basic plasma weapons, no energy shield technology of any kind, and each seems to have only one pilot.”

“Did they launch from the moon?” asked Akdon.

“No Commander. They launched from the nearby ship and from the primitive base orbiting the moon. They are not capable of atmospheric flight.”

Akdon smirked.

“Toys. Not as simple as we originally expected but toys none the less. Order our two ships to close on the enemy squadrons but don’t attack them. I want to see if they’ll shoot first.”

The Star Swords were headed at their full speed toward the five Zidian ships.

“Knight to Saratoga come in,” said Trey.

“Go ahead, Commander,” replied Captain Doran.

“I have a good scanner lock on the contacts. They are definitely space craft, but their configuration doesn’t match any pirate ship I’ve ever seen.” Trey stared hard at the scanner image and suddenly a distant memory came to mind. He quickly keyed his mic. “All ships! Arm your plasma cannons! “Captain, remember that mystery ship I encountered years ago at the end of the first battle of Jupiter? I think these ships are the same type.”

“Are you certain, Commander?”

“Captain when one ship takes out your whole squadron in less than two minutes you never forget it!”

“Alright, Trey. I will inform command. I want you to continue towards those ships. We need as much information as we can get, and I want you to make absolutely certain of your ID. Use extreme caution, but do not fire unless fired upon. Understood? If there’s trouble head back this way. We’ll launch every fighter we’ve got to support you. Be advised that Titan base has also launched a squadron.”

“Roger, Captain.”
Not that opening fire will do any good. Not one shot got through last time…
Trey keyed his mic and signaled Jack and the others.

“Alright, guys, I don’t have time to explain, but there’s a pretty good chance that these ships we’re approaching are both hostile and lethal. Stay alert. We’re going to keep our distance. If they fire at us, then I want the whole squadron to break up into dispersal pattern sierra and head back to Saratoga at full speed!”

“Who are they, Trey?” asked Jack.

“I don’t know. I encountered one once during the Pirate Wars and lost my whole squadron. I never saw one again… until now. Command deemed the whole thing classified. Whatever these things are, they’re not from around here and they are far more advanced than we are.”

“We’ll handle them!” said Red. “They’re probably just a bunch of losers. We’ll blast them out of the stars.”

“Your overconfidence is going to get you killed, Red.”

“Jack’s right. This isn’t a game, Styler and it isn’t the time to show us your bravado. Those things are lethal. And unless I’m mistaken they are surrounded by some sort of shielding that makes them impervious to attack. Our plasma cannons didn’t so much as scratch them last time!

They continued closing on the contacts. When they were just outside of visual range Trey transmitted all of his scanner data back to the Saratoga and then keyed the mic.

“Unidentified ships, this is Star Sword one, identify yourselves.”

“Commander Akdon the enemy’s lead ship just signaled our fighters.”

“How long before we can communicate with them?”

“Our translation matrix is just starting to process their language. We’ll continue to monitor their transmissions. It appears to be a simple dialect. It should not take long to decipher.”

“Excellent.”

“Saratoga, we now have visual contact over,”

“Understood,” came the voice of Captain Doran. “Maintain your distance, make no provocative action, observe contacts only for now.”

“Copy that. All ships. Come about to course 315.”

As the squadron came about, Jack got his first glimpse of the strange space ships. From the look of them, they were definitely fighter interceptors. Their forward swept, blade-like wings made them look extremely menacing. Jack felt a cold chill go up his spine.

“Are they preparing to engage us?”

“Negative, Commander. Their weapons are fully armed, but they’re maintaining their distance.”

“Then let’s give them a reason to attack us. Destroy one of their ships!”

“Trey! Those ships have changed course. They’re headed right for us!”

“I see them, Jack! All ships take evasive action now!

The Star Sword squadron started its maneuver just as the Zidian ships made their pass with their laser cannons blazing. Two Star Swords exploded into burning balls of plasma fire.

“Saratoga, they just took out two of my wingmen!” cried Trey as the remains of his squadron scattered and attempted to flee.

Jack hit his boosters and brought his Star Sword into an arc. As he came about, his view from the cockpit was momentarily filled by the fiery explosion of another Star Sword. Suddenly blue laser blasts started flying past him from behind.

“Watch it Jack, you’ve got one on your tail!” came Red’s frantic voice.

Jack froze. It was as if his mind was screaming for him to react but for some reason his body would not respond. He knew what he needed to do, but he was frozen by terror.

“Jack he’s closing on you!” Red brought his own Star Sword about.

“Styler!” Came the voice Trey Knight “what do you think you’re doing!”

Red ignored him. As he finished coming about he was on a horizontal intercept course with the fighter on Jack’s tail. Red squeezed the triggers on his control sticks and a hail of plasma fire erupted from his guns. The blasts slammed into the port side of the alien craft. For a brief moment a shimmering sphere appeared around the enemy craft. While it was obviously protected by some sort of energy shield, the alien craft was knocked off course by the impact of the plasma bursts. Singe marks on the enemy fighter’s hull showed that at least some of the plasma fire penetrated the shield.

“Jack, come on! You’ve got to snap out of it! There’s another one coming our way!

All at once Jack managed regain control of himself. He through his Star Sword into evasive action just as another Zidian got on his tail. He dodged left and right narrowly missing each new burst of ion fire from the fighter behind him. The Zidian moved in closer. Jack heard another scream over the radio as another Star Sword was destroyed. He knew he didn’t have long. Red wouldn’t be able to come to his aid this time. He had his hands full with a pursuer of his own. The Zidian that Red had knocked off of Jack’s tail had returned with a vengeance. Just as the Zidian on his tail was about to move in for the kill, Trey’s Star Sword came sweeping in with guns blazing. He struck Jack’s pursuer in its lateral shields then altered his course slightly and did the same to Red’s pursuer. As before the bogies were knocked off course. Trey was surprised to see that his second target seemed to have taken damage to its port engine. It was leaving a trail of burning plasma fire behind it. The momentary shimmer of an energy sphere around the enemy ship had testified that it did indeed have shields, but for whatever reason they were not as strong as those of the craft that Trey had encountered in the Pirate Wars.

Our weapons are actually penetrating their shields! We might have a chance!

In all likelihood, Trey’s intervention would have cost him his life. It was fate, however, that at that very moment, the squadron from Titan base came roaring in.

“Styler, Thunder get out of here now! Head back to Saratoga There’s only five of them so if we all split up they can’t get us all!”

On the bridge of the Krusha, Akdon listened to the report of Squad Leader Brel over the Ansible.

“Commander, we have successfully destroyed seven enemy craft. The remaining ships are retreating. Shall we pursue and destroy them?”

“No, let them go,” ordered Akdon. “Return to your cruiser. The fleet will soon be making its last hyperspace jump. We’ll rendezvous in orbit around the eighth planet. Akdon out. Well Kaydan, it looks as if these aliens shouldn’t be too much of a problem. What do you make of them?”

“Well sir, it appears that their weapons are more effective than we thought.”

“Yes, I noticed that too, but why?”

“It appears that the energy being emitted from their sun is having an effect on our energy shields. The closer to their sun we get, the weaker our force fields will be. Their sun is also affecting our scanners. I can’t read anything in the inner most parts of the star system.”

Chapter Six

A
fter returning to the Saratoga, Jack’s squadron joined all the other squadrons that had been launched from the carrier. As it turned out, however, the alien ships disappeared just as quickly as they had appeared. When he finally returned onboard, Jack settled into his bunk for some much needed rest. Unfortunately, he was unable to sleep for he was tormented by what had happened.

I can’t believe I just froze up! How could I have just locked up like that? I’m nothing but a coward!

After returning to the ship, Trey had instructed Red to join him for the debriefing, but had ordered Jack to go to his quarters and rest. More than anything, Jack felt as though he had failed Red and Trey.

I almost got them both killed.

About an hour later the door slid open and Red entered the darkened room. Though he was wide awake, Jack feigned sleep. He was too ashamed to face his friend. Red glanced at Jack through the darkness, genuine concern written on his face. He said nothing, but undressed and then floated into his own bunk. Within a few minutes he was snoring away.

Sleep still refused to come to Jack. His mind drifted from his own failure to the enemy that they had faced.

Who are these aliens? What do they want? Can they be beat? Why are they doing this? Will my friends and I survive?

Jack got out of his bunk and free floated about the cabin in the darkness trying to relax—until he inadvertently floated into a wall banging his head.

I need a drink.
He put on his uniform and his magnetic boots and went to the rec-center.

The ships was now operating on war status, so the rec-room was almost entirely empty. Jack got himself a drink and then went across the room and looked out of the view ports at the stars and into space.

“Can’t sleep?” asked a voice from behind him. He turned to see Commander Kelley. His face reddened in shame and he turned away from her.

“No,” replied Jack. “Too much on my mind.”

“I heard what happened. I’m glad you’re alright.”

“I almost got my friends killed,” said Jack. “I’m not cut out to be a fighter pilot.”

“Ridiculous,” said April. “You were under fire for the first time. Commander Knight reports that you handled yourself remarkably well after the initial shock. You’re only human, Jack.”

“Trey and Red didn’t freeze.”

“Trey is a combat vet who has flown dozens of combat missions, and your friend Styler is just too arrogant and self-assured to be afraid. Besides, you aren’t the only one who froze. Have you noticed that all the other rookies in your squadron are dead?”

Jack knew that several of his comrades had died in the encounter with the aliens, but he hadn’t realized until then that most of them were rookies like himself. At last he brought himself to look April in the face.

“Next time you’ll be more prepared,” she said.

Jack nodded.

He’s not like most of the other pilots. He doesn’t have their arrogance. What he needs is more self-confidence.

When Jack turned to look out of the view ports again, April took the opportunity to admire him close up—though she hoped he wouldn’t notice her staring.
 

He’s so young and handsome. What am I doing? If Miranda saw this I’d never live it down. And yet… I wonder if he has a girlfriend back on Earth… 

Suddenly, Jack turned back to face her.

“So is there anything new about these things that attacked us?”

April nodded. “As a matter of fact, our unmanned monitoring station around Neptune reported that an entire fleet of ships has moved into orbit. The scanners went silent after that.

“So it’s a full scale invasion?”

“It looks that way.”

They were briefly startled when the ship shook all of a sudden. A quick glance out of the viewports revealed that a large military shuttle had docked at one of the exterior air locks.

“I believe in you, Jack. You won’t let us down. Just have some faith in yourself.” April then took a deep breath. Ever so casually she asked, “So do you have anyone special back home?”

Jack shook his head.

“No. No one,” he said quietly.