Assault on Ambrose Station: A Seth Donovan Novel (35 page)

You can do it. Just concentrate.

I did concentrate. I could see the constant stream of data that the nanites were feeding me. It was just data, though. I was no quantum physicist nor a doctor, I had no way of interpreting the results in a way that would make sense. X, y and z positioning, quantum density, molecular structure and composition, electron chirality. Individually, if I knew what I needed to know I could pull useful information from the feed, but holistically, it was just mumbo-jumbo. Frustration began to mount. Masters’ vitals continued to get weaker.

Turntable controls found, luverboi,
came a text from Artemis.

Not now. Get Tac to it.

My annoyance at the interruption sparked a memory. Once, after a particularly nasty argument with Cuts, I had been cooling off with Eric. He had said that although I didn’t need to get along with him to work, I still needed to recognise that he had a different perspective. He had said that even if I didn’t like him, I can at least find a common view that lets me see where he’s coming from.

I couldn’t see what the nanites saw, I certainly couldn’t understand the scientific data they were feeding me. But my NP Implant did. The same implant that drove the Softlight Holo Paradigm. I fed the data into the schematic of the cyber heart and used the hologram program to project a 3D image of the data before me.

It worked.

I highlighted the damaged, and was able to direct the nanites over to it. I could see the mechanical action of the valve, where the blood flow needed to go, how all the parts worked together. Carefully, I eased the nanites into the valve mechanism, eroding damaged sections so they did not interfere with the valve action. I rebuilt a section of the valve seal, converting nearby material into the required substance. With tiny tugs and jolts with the nanites, I restarted the heart’s actions and released control of the cybernetic augmentation.

I analysed the blood for toxins and was pleased to see that he was not poisoned. I used a synth skin spray to cover his wounds and wrapped them in bandages, then administered a dose of medical nanites to assist healing and fight infections.

I think he’s going to make it,
I reported,
the cyber heart is working, sending through updated diagnostics. I’ve programmed the chest tube to open every fifteen minutes, so his lung should be okay. I’ve given him a pack of medical nanites so they should be converting proteins to blood for him. He’s going to be out of it for a while though.

Zoe says the data is good, and that you’ve done well. How’s the battle going?

I brought up my overlay views of the rest of the squad. Kekkin had moved on to join up with Renthal and Harris, who were pinning down the two hangar entrances. All of the Ghantri outside on the platforms were dead, or too wounded to fight. Artemis was with Tac at a bank of consoles inside one of the buildings I had identified as possible control rooms. It looked like they had everything under control. I reported as much.

We should have the mag rail back under control in a few moments, we’ll extract and move out then. Once we break out onto the habitat, I’m going to set up a base camp and rest our wounded.

I could see from a few of the images that a few of the others had also been wounded. Kekkin had gone around to each and taken a blood sample that a medical scanner had cleared of toxins also. None of the injuries were life threatening, so I paid it no more mind. There would be time for dealing with minor wounds later.

I checked myself over. My M4 had taken a beating, my entire back was raw from shrapnel blasts and my knee actuator was registering damage. I also became aware of spider-web cracks in my helmet visor. My neck was a little tender, as if I was suffering from whiplash. Had I taken a round on the helmet? I could not recall. The others were reporting similar damage to their suits.

How’s the Dreaming going? Have we missed the show?

57
.

Crege pulled hard on the flight controls, spinning the ship end over end. With a practiced hand, he steadied the ship out and kicked in the thrusters at full power. The ship was now facing the oncoming threat and the sudden deceleration rapidly closed the gap between them.

“Drone launch detected!” cried Fel between clenched teeth.

The whole ship was shaking, shuddering as it fought to reduce speed.

“Manoeuvre complete!” called Crege, “Brace for gees!”

He changed the direction of the ship once more, angling the ship to starboard and down. He kicked in the manoeuvring thrusters, pushing the ship down and ahead. Everyone was pressed up on their webbing, as if they were hanging upside down.

“Charging beamer!”
called
Melafenaseance.

“How long until we’re in range?” asked Max.

“Forty seven seconds.”

“Any sign of the Spider?”

“Sensors unable to detect anything.” reported Fel.

“Not even that ghost reading we found the first time we spotter her?”

“Negative, no sign of the Astral Spider, Captain.”

“Shit. Let’s hope Garner hasn’t screwed us.”

“Might I point out, Captain,” said Mel, “That not detecting the Astral Spider is it’s purpose.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m just worried. If he doesn’t show, we’ve just let this bastard get close enough to shoot at us. There’s no way we’d be able to gain enough thrust to get away this time and they’d know it.”

“This is what Captain Garner would say
throwing the dice
.” he said

“I never was a gambling woman.”

“How very un-frontiersmanly of you.”

“Ha, I never said I was a frontiersman. I’m an Eridanian. Born and raised on the Acheras Orbital.”

“Sensors picking up power signatures on the Calliope,” reported Fel, “Looks like weapon batteries.”

“Crege, time to fly the funky!” cried Max, gripping her webbing tight, “Open up as soon as we’re in range, Mel!”

Fel groaned and took a deep breath, also griping his webbing.

Crege started to spin the ship in a wide corkscrew pattern, then used the manoeuvring thrusters to push the ship in random directions. The g-forces tossed the crew around like ragdolls in their seats, eliciting a few cries of alarm from Fel.

“Weapons fire detected!” yelled Mel.

Max could see a dazzling stream of hardlight shells ejecting from the oncoming frigate, and Crege doubled his efforts to evade. Although hardlight batteries packed more of a punch than beam weapons, they were easier to avoid due to their relatively low velocity. Crege was able to see the firing pattern and adjusted the trajectory of the Dreaming to compensate. At the range they were at, this was well within Crege’s ability to avoid.

“Beamer tracking! Solution valid! Firing!” shouted Mel. The piercing shriek of the beamer eclipsed the sounds of groaning hull and manoeuvring thrusters.

“Direct hit, port battery.” called Fel softly, struggling to find breath to speak.

“Good shot, Mel!” said Max, “Crege, take us into the next manoeuvre. With any luck, the Spider should be about to make its move.”

As Crege took the Dreaming out wide, the Calliope started to roll to port trying to get the starboard battery arcs to fire at the Dreaming. It started to spin laterally, turning starboard, facing the new direction the Dreaming was on. Max waited with baited breath. If the Spider had made her rendezvous, the Ghantri warship would now be presenting the main propulsion drives towards Garner’s gunners. If they had not, in moments the Calliope would have an optimal firing condition for their starboard battery.

“Where are those drones?” called Max.

“Twenty three seconds away.” replied Mel, “Launch Interceptors?”

“Yes, please! Any sign of the Spider?”

“Negative, Captain!” called Fel.

Fear gripped her heart with icy talons.

“Interceptors launched. Link is good. Engaging drones!”

“Weapons release detected!” called Fel.

“Shit!” cried Max.

“It’s the Spider!”

Max shouted out triumphantly, which Crege and Fel both mimicked.

“Detecting multiple strikes on the Calliope propulsion. Both missile and beam weapons targeting the ship.”

“Take us about, Crege!” she ordered, “Let’s join the Spider in taking apart this bastard.”

“Interceptors have destroyed seven drones, but we’ve lost one.” reported Mel.

“How many are we reading?”

“Seventeen remaining. They’ve split into several swarms.”

“Let’s get in close to the Astral Spider, let their Class 1 defences take care of them.”

“Incoming communications.” said Fel.

“Put it through.”

The voice of Captain Garner came out on the compartment’s speakers. “Dreaming of Atmosphere this is the Astral Spider. How you holding up, Captain Cooper?”

“Better now that I know you made it.”

“You wound me.”

“Thanks for showing up, I mean it.”

“We still have a hell of a fight ahead of us. Our prey still has manoeuvring thrusters to contend with but now we can move about her a lot faster. Nice work on the port battery, by the way.”

“Did you get our updated movements list? We can’t get the firing times down otherwise.”

“We did. As long as you can hit that turn just like you say, you’ll be good.”

“What’s next?”

“I’m going to unload as many of our missiles as we can, then focus on taking out those drones for you. I need you to take apart that frigate, or what’s left of it after my missile strike.”

“Why so many missiles?”

“The Calliope has a top-notch point defence system, I’ll need to saturate it in order to land any more blows. Your beamer is much stronger than my Class 1’s, so it makes sense that you keep hitting it.”

“Incoming fire!” called Mel.

The sounds of multiple thuds filled the command module as the drones did a pass on the ship.

“Damage report!”

“Shields gone. Hull breach on Deck 1.” reported Melafenaseance.

Max grabbed the PA mic. “Hergo, Denno! Deck 1 hull breach. Get on it!”

“Everything okay?” asked Garner

“Just a few more holes in my ship. Nothing new.”

“We’ll be in range of the drones in…twenty nine seconds.”

“How many drones can that ship field?”

“Our intel suggests they can control twenty four at a time, but have bays for up to sixty. If they’ve gotten their manufactories up and running they have probably already replaced the ones you destroyed back at the asteroid field.”

“Can you handle that many?”

There was a pause on the line.

“Garner?”

“My crew says yes. I believe them, thanks to your boy. He showed them a thing or two before he left.”

She smiled. “He does that, from time to time.”

“Good luck, Maxine.”

“You too, Dreaming of Atmosphere out.”

“The Astral Spider is targeting the drones.” said Fel, “They’ve already taken two out.”

“Let’s keep those Interceptors in motion, can’t waste the speed to pick them up anyway.” said Max.

“Beamer charged, ready to fire.”

“Crege! Ready for the next set of manoeuvres?”

“Warrior was hatched ready,
kitrak!
”

Max’s eyes flew to Crege’s pilot display, trying to take in the situation. The Calliope was trying to roll about its lateral axis to turn the remaining hardlight battery to the new threat posed by the Astral Spider. The Dreaming had turned wide, lining up for another strike at the warship’s port side. The port battery, now silent, was a mass of sparks and glowing debris. She could see brilliant, strobing laser beams reaching out from the Astral Spider. The crimson lines occasionally ended in tiny explosions of superheated metal as it struck down another drone.

“Receiving targeting information from the Astral Spider,” reported Fel, “feeding it to the fire control AI.”

The Dreaming’s sensors, enhanced by data provided by the Protectorate warship, began to populate with many new targets – the sub-systems of the Ghantri warship.

“Garner’s done his homework.” said Max over Crege’s shoulder.

“Warrior see’s prey now.”

“Take us in nice and shallow, want to give Mel a good clear shot at that first sensor dome…target two-bravo-lima.”

As Crege tugged on the controls, the gee-forces pressed Max back into her seat and she turned to her own console. The bright flashes of the Astral Spider were still lighting the command module with their crimson notes.

“Four seconds to optimal firing range.” said Mel.

“Weapons release detected! The Calliope is firing on the Astral Spider.” called Fel’negr.

“Focus on the Calliope, Garner will handle it! We need to give that bastard something to think about before Garner launches that salvo!”

“Aye, aye, Captain!”

“Beamer tracking! Solution valid! Beamer firing!” yelled Melafenaseance.

The high-pitched wail of the beamer once more drowned out the noise of the engines. Max stole a glance at Crege’s displays again and saw the frigate flash by as the Dreaming made her pass. The orange light of the beamer raking across its sides lighted the hull. She could have sworn she saw the hull tear open in places.

“How effective was that strike?” she called over her shoulder.

“Unknown,” reported the Votus, “too much interference.”

“Brace for high gee!” called Crege with glee.

Fel’negr let out a groan as the ship barrel rolled away from the engine wash of the frigate and spiralled down in a wide arc. Despite the gravity pushing against her, Max managed to keep watching the display and something caught her eye.

“Fel! Bring up the optical sensor readings from sensors three through five.”

The g-forces abated enough for Fel to reach for his controls.  “Sending it now. What are we looking for?”

“I’m not sure. I saw something when we pulled away. There! Those bulbous plates.”

She tagged the images and flicked them back to Fel’s console. He peered at them with squinting eyes.

“What is that?”

“Mel, can you make out what these are?”

The Votus leaned over to look at Maxine’s console display. Max became aware of his scent – a musky, almost cinnamon aroma. It was not at all unpleasant.

“Ghantri modifications, I’m sure.” he said.

“I’m sending it to Garner, see if he can make anything of it.”

“He doesn’t look like he’s going to have the time,” said Fel, “He looks fairly busy right now…”

“Never you mind Garner’s crew, they’ll find the time. You get me that damage report from our last shot.”

“Scanning now, Captain.”

“Crege, get us onto the next firing run. I don’t want to give them a moment to lick their wounds.”

Despite her words, she glanced at Crege’s display once more, seeking out the Astral Spider. Due to the spinning of the Dreaming, it was hard to make out the condition of the Protectorate corvette. All she could see was the rapid firing Class 1 point defences spewing forth from her. She checked her contacts list and spatial sensors, noting that the number of drones had been reduced significantly.

“
Calak
is rolling again!” reported Crege, “We’ll be within starboard firing arcs in eleven seconds.”

She grabbed the PA mic. “All hands, brace for high gee manoeuvres.”

“New contacts detected!” reported Fel, “More drones leaving the ship.”

“Where are they headed?”

“The Astral Spider.”

Crege suddenly sent the Dreaming into another spiralling corkscrew dive.

“Weapons…release…detected!” struggled Fel as he nearly sank into his crash webbing.

Crege’s display suddenly lit up with bright white light as several rounds from the battery flashed by.

“Close…fire…” said Max between clenched teeth.

Fel started to whimper quietly as Crege drove the g-forces higher still. The roar of the manoeuvring thrusters were hurting Max’s ears and she gripped the arms of her chair. A loud
clang!
echoed through the steel of the hull and Max’s head was nearly shaken off her neck by a violent jerk that sent everyone flailing in their seat. The heavy gravity sudden abated and a deathly silence overcame the command module.

“What just happened!” called Max. Her ears were ringing.

“We’ve been hit!” reported Crege, “Lost controls. We’re
fedang
in space!”

“Why haven’t the Ghantri finished us?”

“They’ve ceased firing, Captain.” said Melafenaseance.

“Why? Fel!” she turned about, and realised that Fel was still unconscious. A red smear of blood could be seen on his console. She swore and unbuckled her crash webbing, reaching for the Orlii. She checked his vitals, and breathed a sigh of relief when he began to stir. A trickle of blood ran down the side of his face from a cut above his right eyebrow.