The Unreachable Stars: Book #11 of The Human Chronicles Saga (18 page)

“Forty-two minutes, eight seconds, although the trajectory point-of-no-return will be reached in twenty-nine.”

“So we have to keep the Juireans away for half an hour.”

Riyad heard Panur’s estimate. “We’re going to have to engage,” he stated flatly.

“No getting around it,” Adam concurred. “I’ll have to stay back just to keep the bulk of the fleet away. It’s up to you, ol’ buddy.”

“And for that, I thank you. Maybe this encounter will make me as famous as Adam Cain.”

“Highly doubtful, but worth a try.”

“They still outnumber us two to one,” Regina added from the pilot seat.

“Which will make our victory all that much more glorious. Forgive me, my friend,” he said to Adam, “but I will have to concentrate from here on out. Good luck on your end.”

“Same here. Give ‘em hell.”

Trimen had stationed himself at the weapons console, with Regina piloting and Riyad taking the observation seat behind the control stations. The
Crescent Star
was a one-of-a-kind vessel, built by half-a-dozen defense contractors to serve as Riyad’s showcase and demonstration model for what the Human military-industrial complex was capable of constructing. Throughout his presentations and strategy meetings, he would take eager aliens on mock defensive runs and target practice. Though the stated purpose of his seminars was to prepare the natives for a defense against Sol-Kor attack, the secondary goal was to steer military contracts to Human contractors. So the
Crescent Star
was one mean machine. Nonetheless, going up against eighteen Juirean warships was a little beyond her specs.

The six pirate marauders accompanying him would be of little use. They were mostly aging derelicts from a more prosperous and ruthless time in the Fringe. Three of them Riyad recognized as being part of the pirate fleet when he was in command, over twenty years ago. He also came to learn that two of the captains had served with him—granted as low-ranking rookies at the time—but nevertheless they had survived all these years to assume command of their own vessels. The rest of the crews were mostly inexperienced deserters from other navies or renegades who could only find work within the ranks of the notorious Fringe Pirates.

Now Riyad commanded his squadron to line up on him so as to provide a smaller attack profile for the incoming warships. But even as they began to close on the Juireans, Riyad noticed that the main cluster of enemy ships weren’t changing course to meet them. Only eight broke off to engage, their position within the system forming an effective blockade between Riyad’s force and the ships heading in-system.

Confronting eight battlecruisers would be a hard enough task as it was, yet his main concern was now the other ten, and their clear shot to the black hole.

“Attention, everyone,” he called into the comm microphone. “We can’t spend a lot time dealing with these first eight battlecruisers, so only concentrate on their engines. Stop them in their tracks. After that, every ship that makes it through the blockade, head for the main force. Now…
fire at will.
”

A cacophony of voices came over the comm. “Which of the attackers is
will
?” was the gist of their queries.  

“Just shoot the damn Juireans!”

And the battle was joined.

The pirate ships were much more maneuverable than the larger Juirean ships, yet that was about all. The battlecruisers had more weapons, more shields, and greater thrust. Two of the pirates unloaded a barrage of plasma bolts at one of the cruisers, impacting the starboard shields only to be quickly absorbed. Then, as the pirates changed course and sped away, powerful bolts were released by the Juirean. One of the pirates got in the clear. The other didn’t.

“They can’t go head-to-head with those bastards,” Regina said between gritted teeth.

“No they can’t. Listen up everyone: shift all shield power to portside and then drop in near the rear of the battlecruisers. Target only their engines.”

Another voice came over the intercom, sounding almost embarrassed. “Which port might that be, General Tarazi? We are unfamiliar with any ports in this region in order to discern a direction.”

“What the hell are you talking—” Then Riyad realized that his reference to portside had been translated as
harbor side
. And yes, there were no harbors nearby to get their proper bearings.

“To your left side! Shift power to your left side shields.”

“Yes, that would make more sense.”

Regina glanced over her shoulder at an exasperated Riyad Tarazi. “Aliens…what can I say?”

Riyad just shook his head.

Now the battle was progressing a little smoother. Even though the Juireans unloaded on the marauders with torrents of plasma bolts, the pirates were able to sustain shield integrity long enough for them to get in close to the cruisers for more pinpoint targeting.

Shield screens were not continuous energy blankets surrounding a starship. They were rectangular areas of intense alternating current, designed to absorb the balance of negatively charged electrons and positively charged ions within a plasma bolt. But there were gaps between these invisible panels, and the pirates managed to get a few bolts between them. Two of the eight battlecruisers lost well integrity as their engines were struck. In a normal battle, the attackers would continue to target the stricken vessels until they exploded or surrendered. In this case, the pirates simply ignored them and moved on to the others.

Now it was Riyad’s turn to join the battle. Regina brought the
Crescent Star
into an attack profile on a huge Class-Three. “Trimen, ready the Starfire missiles.”

“I see the controls. What shall be their trajectory?”

“Already programmed in. All you have to do is launch.”

“And they will guide themselves?”

“Correct, my friend. Now…release!”

Most combat operations in space were between units firing incredibly hot balls of roiling plasma at each other. But the problem with this tactic was that all plasma bolts were ballistic in nature, and unable to alter course once fired. This issue was overcome by the fact that plasma batteries could be recharged quickly, so massive spreads of these deadly balls of fire could be sent toward an enemy, making evasion more difficult.

But now six missiles shot out from the
Crescent Star
. To an outside observer, the gravity-assisted, forty-foot-long tubes exited the ship and headed in the exact opposite direction from of the Juirean ships. But then they swept around, locking on targets and engaging their small gravity drives.

The Juireans saw the launch, and from experience knew what they were up against. Steering wells were intensified and the ship began to make radical evasive moves, as radical as the ship’s bulk would allow.

But the missiles kept coming, correcting their own course with every change the Juirean made.

Moments before impacting the shields of the Juirean Class-Three, the gravity drives shut down, as did all other electronics aboard the missiles. In less than the blink of an eye, the deadly projectiles passed through the electric haze of the shields as if they weren’t there and impacted the shiny hull of the Juirean warship. Without any electrical energy to absorb, the shields were completely useless, and the first of six missiles split the metal of the ship’s exterior and disappeared inside. A breath later, the Class-Three battlecruiser exploded.

The Juirean screening units were now down to three. Riyad’s force numbered five.

Three of the five were now harassing a Juirean ship that had broken away from the others.

A brilliant flash invaded the pilothouse of the
Crescent Star
, blinding the three- person crew momentarily before the polarizer could take effect.

“What the hell was that?” Regina asked. She shielded her eyes in the direction of the forward viewport and squinted at her command screen. “The damn Juirean just detonated a frickin’ nuke!” she shouted, answering her own question.

“A desperate act of defense,” Trimen commented.

“And we just lost three of our pirate ships,” Riyad added. His defenders were now down to just two, the
Crescent Star
and one pirate vessel.

“Reggie, get us past those other two Juireans,” he commanded. “We’re running out of time to stop the main force.”

“What about the other pirate ship?”

“Screw him. We’re going to have to do this on our own.”

“Let us hope others of the Juirean fleet do not elect to detonate nuclear weapons as well,” Trimen commented.

“I second that, my friend,” Riyad said. “But I don’t think anyone in the main fleet is going to do that. They need that cluster of ships intact to influence the path of the black hole. How we doing, Reggie?”

She appeared to relax noticeably. “Past the range of the two remaining Juireans. Even if they blow now, we’d be safe. The main cluster is a minute out.”

“Trimen, I’m going to need you to do a wide dispersal of the weapon labeled
Cloud
. It’s written in English, but the control is the third item in the first row on the weapon’s inventory screen. I’ll give you the word as we make our run. Maintain dispersal until I say when.”

“The third item in the first row, that I understood. I am still confused as to what
word
I will be expecting, as well as why the word
when
would be the signal to cease dispersal?”

“The word will be
now
, and the
when
is when I tell you stop the dispersal.”

“That is much clearer. Thank you.” From the tone of his reply, Riyad knew Trimen was still confused. It didn’t matter, Riyad had backup controls on the arms of his chair.

“We’re beginning our run. Trimen, transfer shields to port—I mean to the left side. Prepare for dispersement.”

“May I ask what we are dispersing?”

“You’ll see. Ready…
now
! Release!”

Trimen touched the screen where indicated, even though he had no idea what he was doing. Riyad watched him out the corner of his eye, as the alien studied his screen for any sign that something was happening. His screen was clear, or at least his screen as currently configured.

Regina looked back at Riyad and smiled. It had taken the oversexed redhead several minutes after Trimen’s arrival and introduction before she could concentrate on her job once again. The dude was a hunk, even if he was an alien. It was like that with all Formilians, male and female. But now Regina was all business, and Riyad returned the smile, exposing teeth almost as brilliant as the nuclear explosion.

“My friend Trimen, you may stop the dispersement now.”

“As you order, yet I see that nothing has happened.”

“Not yet, but it will. Please observe the extreme magnification view of the Juirean warships.”

The ships of the cluster appeared to be in close proximity of each, yet in reality they were separated by approximately a thousand miles of space between them. And as the
Crescent Star
swept past the outer row of ships, the Juireans unleashed a series of deadly plasma bolts at the Human starship. Regina angled the ship away from the bolts, avoiding them with ease.

That’s when Trimen noticed a series of tiny light rays beginning to erupt from the surface of the first Juirean ship they’d passed on their run. The lights grew in intensity and number as more and more of them connected. Then the hull of the warship exploded, the air pressure inside escaping with the force of a bomb.

Then the next ship along the line suffered the same catastrophic fate, followed by three others. All told, half of the Juirean cluster force was now gone.

“May I inquire as to what secret weapon you employed? The results are beyond compare,” Trimen said, in awe of the two Humans, who were grinning at him like a couple of Cheshire Cats.