The Sunfire (36 page)

“It’s not the
Eternal Light
,” Jon replied almost
reverently.

“Of course it is,” Miranda insisted. “It’s identical.” Ever
since Miranda had first seen Jon’s personal shuttle she had been in love with
it. It was the most beautiful ship she had ever seen. Glowing white with its
sharp pointed bow, a smoothly elongated body, which flared out into a pair of
tapered wings designed for atmospheric flight before ending in a pair of
elevated aft tails. Miranda had almost been heartbroken at the thought of
having to destroy it, when she had been sent to kill Jon. Fortunately it was
one of the few missions she had failed to complete.

“It’s her twin sister, the
Endless Light
; the
Emperor’s personal shuttle.”

“Perfect. We’ll take it,” Miranda said delightedly, as it
was just large enough to fit everybody aboard, although it would be a tight
squeeze.

Jon shook his head and replied, “Not so fast. There is only
one person who has the authentication codes for that ship and he’s not
conscious to give them to us, not to say the least the ship is genetically
coded to him. Even if we could get on board, the ship’s computer would not
acknowledge anybody but him.”

“Well you said the Emperor gave you permission to fly the
Eternal
Light
, maybe he did likewise for this ship?”

Jon was about to reject the suggestion out of hand, when he
stopped, deep in thought. He had been Marcus’s chosen successor, even if he had
never wanted the role. It was obvious from what he had overheard Marcus had
planned on bequeathing everything to him, even his own daughter. Maybe, just
maybe…

Jon reached out towards the controls for the entrance,
stumbling back when the doors slid smoothly open.

He had not even touched the controls!

“See, I told you so,” Miranda said confidently.

“I didn’t do anything, somebody opened the ship from the
inside. Stay here,” he insisted, taking a hesitant step into the ship,
loosening the sword at his side, his eyes darting in all directions. The air
seemed musty, stale, as if it had not been disturbed in many years. A thin film
of dust seemed to cover everything. Jon quickly made his way through the
passenger cabin, taking a few moments to confirm the small bedroom and
adjoining washroom were empty before making his way towards the cockpit.

“There is nobody else aboard, Commander Radec,” the voice
seemed to come from all directions. Simultaneously. Surrounding him.

Jon stopped in his tracks, eyes darting everywhere. “If
there is nobody else on board, then where are you?” He queried in reply.
However, the voice seemed almost recognisable. It reminded him in some way of
Sofia’s, but was deeper, huskier with warm overtones. Suddenly Jon had a
sneaking suspicion and began to understand why Marcus did not allow anybody else
on board his personal shuttle.

“According to the ship’s internal sensors currently you are
the only person aboard. I am the voice interface for the ship, the
Endless
Light
.”

“And you are based on Marcus’s dead wife, Sofia’s mother?”

“My voice and personality imprint was based on that
individual. Yes.”

Marcus had a talking ship. With a voice and personality of
his long dead wife. Seriously. Jon had no idea how it was possible to top that.

“What is the status of the ship?” He inquired, very much
aware they needed to leave immediately.

“All systems are currently functioning within normal
operating parameters. The only system currently non-functional is the active
stealth system.”

“Stealth system?” Jon inquired hesitantly, afraid to ask.

“This is an experimental system, designed to absorb all
electromagnetic and visible wavelength radiation emitted during flight. It was
installed at the Aurelius’ shipyards in
—
”

Jon let the computer drone on, ignoring it. No wonder the
shuttle had been able to escape the
Imperial Star
without anybody
detecting it. The ship had a cloaking device. Jon re-evaluated his earlier
opinion. Marcus had a talking ship
with a cloaking device
. That was way
cooler and Jon was extremely jealous. It was obvious Marcus kept all the best
toys for himself.

“Commander my sensors are detecting external energy weapon’s
fire outside the hanger,” the computer interrupted his musings.

“Very well I think it’s time for us to leave. Can you
initiate the pre-flight check?”

“Affirmative.”

Jon left the ship to complete the pre-flight checks by
itself, which altogether seemed a very strange concept. Jon wondered if this
day could get even more strange. Hurrying to the entrance he called out to
Miranda, “The shuttle is ready to depart. I’ll finish the pre-flight checklist
with the ship. Let Gunny and Jason know and order them to fall back to the
shuttle. As soon as the pre-flight check is complete and you are all aboard it
will be time for us to go.”

Miranda just gave him a funny look for the way he phrased
the announcement, but nodded her head in understanding and disappeared off to
inform the crew.

*****

“I’m dry!” Jonas called out to Jackson, empting his final
clip into the massing guards. Unfortunately the element of surprise was never
going to work twice, not with dead bodies strewn along the corridor like a
necropolis. Hence the second squad of guards sent to the hangar did not charge
headlong down the corridor, but held back at the junction and proceeded to
exchange weapons fire with the two marines.

In this scenario the two marines were significantly
disadvantaged, as they only had a limited number of clips for their assault
rifles, unlike their enemy who practically had an unlimited supply with their
near inexhaustible energy rifles. Additionally the usual advantage of the
assault rifles high rate of fire was offset by the distance to the enemy.

“That’s my last one,” Jackson yelled to be heard over the
weapons fire, tossing Jonas his last clip.

“Now this reminds me of Ophiuchi,” Jonas said to nobody in
particular, shifting the firing selector on the rifle to single shot, as they
needed to conserve their rapidly dwindling ammunition. “Trapped on a god
forsaken planet, in the middle of nowhere. Almost no ammunition left. Wondering
where the
hell is the Commander
, Jackson?” He called out, noticing the
firing had stopped from the other side of the corridor. Swearing, he glanced
around, noticing the motionless body of his friend on the other side of the
corridor.

Shouldering his rifle he dashed across the open corridor,
ducking low to avoid the occasional bolt of pulse rifle fire in their
direction. Coming to a stop at Jackson’s side, he carefully rolled him over and
swore. His friend’s eyes were wide open but lifeless. A quick glance to his
side confirmed the worst, as Jonas could see the burn marks where multiple
shots had impacted Jackson on his side, in the gaps between his tactical
armour. “Shit,” Jonas cursed softly, lowering the lifeless body back to the
floor.

Jonas ducked as another bolt of energy hit close by, barely
missing him. Unfortunately he was not so fortunate on the next bolt, which hit
him cleanly on the torso, spinning him around, so he came to lie on top his
friend.

*****

“Hold your fire,” the officer called a few moments later,
when he observed that the gunfire from the opposite end of the corridor had
ceased completely. Glancing around, he observed the carnage all around him. The
first squad to arrive had been completely massacred. Of his own squad fully
half of them were down, either dead or badly wounded. The accurate weapons fire
from the enemy had picked off his squad members one at a time. “Sergeant,
report,” he demanded.

“Looks like we finally got them all sir,” he replied. “But
we should proceed with caution in case it is a trap.”

“Very well take a few men and advance. I’ll remain here with
the wounded. Signal when it is safe.”

The sergeant just looked at the officer incredulously,
before finally nodding his head reluctantly. Signalling to a few of his men,
they started to advance cautiously, weapons at the ready. However, when they
reached the far end of the corridor, encountering no resistance and finding the
two fallen soldiers he motioned back towards the officer that it was safe to
approach.

“Looks like we got them all sir,” the sergeant reported.

The officer advanced and stared dumfounded at the two dead
soldiers. The first squad had consisted of a dozen men; in addition he had lost
almost half of his squad. “Two men?” He demanded in disbelief. “Two men caused
all this?” He motioned around them. A groan from one of the bodies of the enemy
soldiers caused him to take a step back in sudden fear. However, when it became
obvious that he was no threat, he used his foot to roll him onto his back. With
another whisper from the dying man on the floor the officer leaned closer to
try and make out what he was saying. “What did you say?” He demanded leaning
forward to try and make out the softly spoken words.

“I said
fuck you!”
Jonas whispered with his dying
breath. His eyes stared up sightlessly towards the ceiling.

The officer leaned back on the balls of his feet, rocking
thoughtfully to himself. He was just about to comment when he noticed that the
dead man’s hands seemed to be tightly fisted around something. Curious to find
out what he was holding the officer prised open the hand and two spherical
objects dropped to the floor at the officer’s feet. The officer only had time
to note the two pins that still remained in the dead man’s hands. Trying to
scream a warning, but it was too late.

With a bright flash of light and a thunderous explosion that
carried all the way back down the corridor, the last grenades Jonas had been
carrying exploded.

*****

The thick blast door separating the hangar bay from the rest
of the complex was enough to save the life of Gunny, Miranda and the remaining
Marines that were grouped around the entrance. Even then the massive explosion
was enough to cause the door to buckle inwards by several centimetres. The
force of the explosion caused several of them to dive away from the door as the
concussion wave expanded.

“Jonas. Jackson,” Gunny shouted, sprinting towards the door,
but it was no use as the door was now fused shut. “Help me,” Gunny called to
several of the other Marines grouped around the entrance, as he put his shoulder
against the door and started to push.

“Gunny, stop. It’s no use,” Miranda cried darting towards
the large Marine Sergeant. “Nobody could have survived that explosion.”

“No,” Gunny replied angrily. “You don’t know that. We need
to at least try.”

“Gunny, Patrick. They are gone. Leave it. They sacrificed
themselves so we could make it to the shuttle. We need to leave. Now. Don’t let
their sacrifice be in vain.”

“No!” Gunny shouted in anger, spinning around as he felt her
touch on his back, raising his fists in anger. “I promised them I would not
leave them behind.”

However, Miranda made no effort to move away from him, or
the fist drawn back, ready to strike. She did nothing to defend herself and
just stared at him with understanding and sympathy in her eyes. “I know you
did, but they are gone. Let it be. We need to all go. Jon has a shuttle prepped
and we must leave while we still can.”

Gunny stared at her for a moment longer, wavering, before he
lowered his fist in shame. He knew that it was just the urge to strike out, to
lash out in anger, at the helplessness of the situation, but still he was
ashamed of his actions. Nodding defeatedly, he motioned for the other marines
to fall back to the shuttle. One of them carried Marcus over his shoulder, the
other helped Sofia. With a final last, sad look at the buckled door Gunny
hurried after them, towards the waiting shuttle and rescue.

Planet Tartarus, Sigma Draconis System

“Is everybody on-board and firmly strapped in?” Jon asked as
Miranda re-entered the cockpit.

Miranda did not respond for a moment, before finally nodding
her head sadly and replying, “Everybody is on board.”

“Okay, the pre-flight check list is almost complete. We are
ready to get the hell off this rock,” Jon replied, wondering at her subdued
behaviour but deciding now was not the time to inquire about it.

“Commander Radec,” the voice of the ship interrupted his
thoughts. “Pre-flight has been aborted, as my sensors report that there is
insufficient take-off distance for a safe departure. Analysing
—
”

Jon looked up in surprise, wondering what the ship was
talking about, when he finally noticed the obvious. The external hangar bay
door was firmly closed.

“Shit,” he cursed.

“The ship talks?” Miranda asked intrigued, but hardly surprised.
Like Gunny, she considered after the events of the last few weeks nothing would
truly surprise her any more.

“Yeah, I’ll introduce you two later. First I need to go and
open the external hangar bay door, I had completely forgotten about it. Stay
here and finish the pre-flight, I’ll be back soon.”

However, before Jon could even get out of his seat, the
shuttles thrusters fired. Seeming to be under its own control, the ship hovered
and turned round so it was now pointing directly at the external hangar door.
“What the hell?” He exclaimed, but was interrupted by the ship.

“Analysis complete,” the ship reported, deploying and
activating the ships ventral rail guns. The next instant Jon watched
opened-mouthed as the guns opened fire, the dense rail guns rounds tearing
through the bay doors. The weapon systems on the shuttle were designed to
pierce heavily armoured ships up to several hundred meters away. The bay doors,
barely two hundred meters distant were instantly shredded as if they were made
of paper.

“Pre-flight checklist is now complete. The ship is ready for
departure, Commander. Do you wish me to continue to engage the automatic
pilot?”

Jon’s mouth had been open in disbelief and he snapped it shut.
He idly wondered if the ship’s actions had been precipitated by some of the
personality stamped into it from Sofia’s long dead mother. If so, Jon felt a
pang at never being able to meet such a woman, as she was surely a force to be
reckoned with. “No that's okay, I’ll pilot the ship manually, thanks.” Jon replied,
dazed.

“Very well Commander,” the ship replied after a significant
pause.

Jon wondered if it was possible for a ship to sulk. Seeing
no reason to stay a moment longer, Jon once again engaged the ship’s thrusters,
but this time bringing them quickly to full power as they slipped easily though
the remains of the bay doors.

The shuttle climbed quickly into the dusty yellow sky.

*****

Rapidly ascending, Jon could feel himself being pressed
firmly into his seat as the shuttle climbed quickly away from the planet’s
surface, the ship’s internal stabilisers unable to completely offset the
massive force of gravity pressing down on them. Now they were finally free of
the hangar bay, Jon’s eyes scanned the horizon, then cast one eye over the
ship’s external sensors.

“Miranda?” He asked.

“Yes?”

“I’m going to need your help. Keep an eye on our altitude
indicator and sensors for me?”

“Sure,” she replied, confused. As the shuttle was still
climbing at a steep angle, she wondered why Jon was worried about their altitude.
Then suddenly, as if the shuttle had been shot out of the sky, its climb seemed
to come to a halt. Then with a sudden hole in her stomach, the surface of the
planet came back rapidly into view as the shuttle began to nose dive back
towards the surface at a frightening speed. “Jon,” she cried. “Altitude!”

It seemed it was only at the very last minute Jon managed to
bring the nose of the shuttle up and they shot across the surface of the
planet, at times seeming to only be skimming a few meters above the ground.

“I thought that we were heading for the
Sunfire
?”
Miranda asked, confused.

“We are, eventually,” Jon replied. “However we have a
slightly more immediate problem.” With that he pointed to the horizon slightly
off to starboard.

Squinting, Miranda could just make out several dark dots
hanging above the horizon. “What are they?” She asked.

“Fighters, and seeing that we didn’t bring any with us, I
think it’s a safe bet they belong to the Tyrell Corporation.”

“What are they doing here?”

“No idea, but I have no plans on hanging around to find
out,” Jon replied. Adjusting the course of the shuttle and now heading away
from them.

“Commander,” the ship’s computer interrupted the pair. “Now
that we are clear of the hangar, I have begun broadcasting an emergency
distress signal. I am requesting any Imperial Navy ships in the vicinity to
assist us.”

Jon did not have the time or the energy to get into a
political debate with the ship, in that the distress signal was about five
years too late, as the Imperial Fleet had long since been disbanded. Instead,
he focused on the ships scanner, which indicated the fighters had now changed
course and were in pursuit. Jon did not give them very good odds out in the
open. “I need you to find me a mountain range, valley, or canyon. Anything that
I can hide the ship in, and do it fast,” Jon instructed Miranda.

*****

“Captain.” The Communications Officer on the bridge of the
Sunfire
called out. “I’m receiving a distress signal.”

“Only one?” Paul replied sardonically. “Have you checked the
scanners recently? This system is littered with ships in distress.”

Indeed the system was starting to rapidly fill up with
debris, because so far they had fought past two Titan defence stations and at
least half a dozen enemy warships. While they had managed to overcome all, the
Sunfire
had taken a terrible beating, with one particle cannon,  the aft missile
battery, not to mention a dozen rail guns destroyed, and many other weapons
either critically short or now empty of ammunition.

“But Captain, this ship is broadcasting an
Imperial
distress signal. According to the ship’s database, the ships registry belongs
to the
Endless Light
. Sir, it’s the Emperor’s personal shuttle!”

Paul could only stare at the Officer in disbelief: no way
could it be a coincidence. Jon had actually gone and pulled it off. He had
rescued Marcus, and furthermore had escaped in his personal shuttle. “Can you
get a lock on that ship’s location?”

“Only an approximate position as the planet’s ionosphere is
extremely active with numerous electrical storms, which may be due to the
planets active volcanoes. It is causing terrible interference to our
communication systems.”

“Very well. Helm, lay-in a course to their last known
position, we’ll try and pick them up on sensors when we are in orbit above
their position. Try and get a message through the interference and let them
know we are on our way,” Paul replied to the Communications Officer.

“Captain,” The Operations Officer interrupted. “Looks like
we are not the only one to pick up that signal. Sensors are detecting a
destroyer class vessel already underway on an intercept vector. They have
already launched fighters.”

“Damn,” Paul said smacking his fist against the armrest in
frustration. “Is there any way we can reach their position before the
destroyer?” Jon would have to deal with the fighters on his own.

“Negative Captain. That destroyer is already in a low orbit.
If we were to accelerate to such a velocity as to catch it, we would not be
able to brake rapidly enough to make orbit.”

Paul just stared at the view-screen in frustration, knowing
that they could only obey the laws of physics. The faster they accelerated the
harder they would have to brake, and the internal dampeners on the ship could
only offset so much gravitational forces. It reached a point that while the
ship might survive such massive deceleration it would not matter, as none of
the crew would be alive by the time that the ship completed the manoeuvre. Paul
stared at the massive planet ahead of them; there was no way to break the laws
of physics. However, staring at the planet it did occur to him that while they
could not break the laws of physics, there was no reason why they could not
follow a completely a different set of rules.

“Lay in a course,” Paul ordered the helm Officer. “Flank
speed. Take us in.”

“Sir?” The Helm Officer queried the command. “We will not be
able to make stable orbit.”

“I have no intention for us to make a stable orbit. Take the
ship into the thermosphere and the friction of the thin atmosphere will help us
bleed off velocity and brake in time.”

“You want us to do
what
?” The Helm Officer asked
aghast. “Sir, the
Sunfire
is a starship, she is not rated for
atmospheric re-entry. She’ll be torn to pieces.”

“The
Sunfire
is an Imperial Navy warship,
Lieutenant.
A ship-of-the-line,” Paul snapped back frostily. “She is made of stronger
stuff than you realise. The bow armour will shield us, mostly, from the thermal
temperatures caused by entering the upper atmosphere. I gave you an order. Now
take the ship into the thermosphere.”

The Helm Officer nodded and turned back to his console. Paul
could feel the bow thrusters firing as the ship rapidly reduced velocity, and
the planet on the view-screen suddenly seemed to grow in size as the ship
started to descend into the planet’s upper atmosphere.

Tapping the control on his chair to activate the ship’s
internal communications, he broadcast a warning to the rest of the crew. “Brace
yourself for
—
” Paul never before thought that he was going
to utter the following word on a starship, “Turbulence.”

*****

Miranda closed her eyes as another ridge of the canyon
seemed to suddenly appear in front of the shuttle. However, with Jon’s deft
touch of the controls, the shuttle rose a few meters, skimming across the top
of the ridge before diving back down into the valley.

Considering the geological nature of the planet, Miranda
doubted a river had formed this valley. She guessed it far more likely they
were flying along the edge of a tectonic plate, where the crust was being pushed
under another plate, being absorbed back into the planet’s mantle.

As always, Jon’s decision to dive the shuttle into the
canyon was equal parts genius and insanity
—
although at
which point it crossed the line from one to the other, Miranda was unsure. For
the shuttle, designed for atmospheric flight, with its large flight control
surfaces was far more stable at lower speeds within the canyon than the
fighters in pursuit. Miranda did not even need to glance at the rear scanners
to know they were directly behind them. The fighters must be flying barely
above their stall speed, the little air passing over their much small flight
control surfaces making them incredibly unstable. A fact she could attest to as
two of them had already slammed into the side of the canyon, some kilometres
behind. However, two more were still close behind, while the remaining fighters
were buzzing above the canyon, just waiting for the shuttle to reappear.

One side of the canyon suddenly disappeared into a pile of
rocks and dust so close that Miranda felt that she could reach out and touch
them. She could feel the rail-gun rounds from one of the fighters passing just
above the shuttle to impact into the side of the canyon wall.

With a swift jerk on the controls, Jon pushed the
Endless
Light
deeper into the ravine, away from the stream of gunfire. The cliffs
around them seemed to get even higher, and even closer.

“Agh,” Miranda could not help it. The screech slipping out
of her mouth.

Jon only laughed, rotating the shuttle by ninety degrees to
squeeze through a particularly narrow section of the canyon.

“By the great Maker, Jon,” Miranda growled, keeping her eyes
firmly shut. “If I turn around and find you smiling, if we make it out of here
alive I am going to find a pistol and shoot you. Dead.” She did not need to
open her eyes or look at Jon to picture the expression on his face. His eyes
gleaming in excitement, face glistening, a smirk resting on his lips. The only
time he ever seemed to show any excitement was when somebody was trying to kill
him. He had tried to explain it to her once, when they had been back on
Terra
Nova
but Miranda could never understand it. In these situations she was
trying to hold back her terror, not enjoying herself. Meanwhile the shuttle
rocked sharply as another massive explosion detonated behind them. “They are
using missiles now? In here?” She asked incredulously.

“Nope,” Jon replied. “Looks like one of the fighters behind
us didn’t make that last turn. Losing situational awareness, focusing too much
on the target and not the surroundings,” Jon made a
tut
,
tut
noise with his tongue. “Amateurs.” Jon had a strong opinion about other pilots,
having once been the Commander of the Praetorian Guards, the Emperor’s personal
elite fighter squadron.

Meanwhile Miranda was thinking Jon was finally living up to
his overblown reputation as being the greatest pilot in this galaxy or the
next. As with barely centimetres to spare on either side of the ship the
Endless
Light
seemed to glide through the canyon like a great condor in flight.

“So any plans on what to do when we reach the end of this
canyon?” She asked conversationally.

“Not particularly,” Jon replied. “Why?”

“Well according to the scanners we have about eight
kilometres more to go before it ends in a sheer cliff face, one kilometre in
height. So you might want to come up with a plan, quickly.”