Frontiers Saga 10: Liberation (13 page)

“Not exactly,” Jessica admitted.

* * *

Jessica and Tony exited the outer doors of the bridge security airlock into the main corridor. “I’ve got to take care of a few things before we go,” she told him. “Maybe you want to go and say goodbye to Synda before we leave.”

“Yes, I’d like that. How long do I have?” Tony wondered.

“We’ve got about an hour before the Earth is at the correct point in its rotation for us to execute the insertion jump,” she told him, looking at her watch. “We’ll need about twenty minutes to gear up before we go, so don’t take too long.”

“Okay. Where should I go after I say goodbye to Synda?”

“I’ll meet you in medical,” Jessica told him. She turned to the security escort who was accompanying Tony as he moved about the ship. “Take him back down to surgical recovery. I’ll join up with you later.”

“Yes, sir,” the Corinari guard acknowledged.

Jessica watched as Tony and the security guard headed down the ramp, then turned around and stepped into the security office. The compartment had several desks around the perimeter, each with several large view screens used to monitor the thousands of cameras located both within and outside of the ship. “Who wanted to see me?” she asked as she entered the compartment. A technician at the far corner desk raised his hand. Jessica headed across the room toward him. “What’s up?”

“I thought you might want to see this,” he told her. “I’ve been reviewing all the footage from inside the Aurora, as well as the Celestia, starting from the moment we first rendezvoused with her.”

“How’d you get the Celestia’s files?” Jessica wondered. “They don’t even have a functioning security office.”

“Maybe not, but many of their cameras are working. In fact, they have been recording since they left Earth nearly three months ago. I just copied them over to our video storage system,” he explained. “Look at this.” The technician typed in a command and started the replay of a video clip on one of his screens.

Jessica leaned forward, studying the images on the screen.

“Watch what the subject does,” the technician told her.

Jessica continued watching. Her head suddenly jerked back slightly, and her eyes squinted in concern. “What the hell is that thing?” She leaned forward. “Can you pause and zoom in on that?”

The technician typed another command, then tapped the screen with his fingers.

“Is that what I think it is?” Jessica wondered.

“It’s either a transmitter or a transponder of some type. It doesn’t match anything in your tech database, and it certainly isn’t Corinairan or Takaran technology.”

“Son of a bitch,” Jessica mumbled.

“Shall I send a team to apprehend the subject?” the technician asked.

Jessica sighed. “No, not yet. Monitor only. I have a better idea. Tag that file for the captain and my eyes only, and send it to his ready room video queue. I’m going to go talk to him right now.”

“Yes, sir.”

“
Need to know
only on this, and no one else needs to know, understood?” Jessica ordered.

“Yes, sir.”

* * *

“The Falcon will be on lookout the entire time,” Nathan explained to Cameron over the vid-comm displayed on the view screen on his ready room wall. “If the Jung show up while we’re gone, the Falcon will jump to our engagement area to notify us. We’ll immediately disengage and jump back to defend you. Meanwhile, your fighters will provide point-defenses and intercept as needed until we return. If it appears that the Jung are going to take the ship, set the timer on the containment bottle charges, evac your crew via the jump shuttle, and get clear.”

“
There’s not enough room on the jump shuttle for everyone,
” Cameron reminded him.

“I’m recalling all but thirty of your crew,” Nathan told her. “It will be tight, but you’ll fit. As long as you reach us quickly enough, the extra people won’t overtax the shuttle’s life support systems.”

“
And if you’re no longer available?
”

“Either jump back to Tanna, or take your chances landing on Earth,” Nathan told her.

“
Understood.
What about the fighters?
” Cameron asked over the vid-comm. “
How are they going to get clear?
”

“If you’re about to abandon ship, I suspect there will not be any of my fighters left, Commander,” Major Prechitt stated.

“
Good point
,” Cameron agreed. “
What are your first targets?
”

“Our first jump is primarily to deliver Lieutenant Commander Nash and Tony to Earth. There is a damaged cruiser in orbit. She’s attached to that grouping of troop ships they hooked together to create a makeshift spaceport. That’s our first target.”

“
I would advise you not to take out that spaceport
,” Cameron warned them. “
It’s a stationary target right now. If you take out the only thing they have to defend, there’s not much reason for their ships to stay close to Earth and away from us.
”

“Good point,” Nathan agreed. “After Jess and Tony are away, we’ll take out the cruiser docked to her but leave the spaceport alone. After that, we’ll jump out to a turn waypoint, then jump back to you.”

“
And after that? What do you plan to hit next?
”

“I’m hoping that one attack will keep them thinking long enough for us to get you flying. However, we’ll reassess the situation after we return. This is going to be a fluid situation, at least until we get you off of Metis and back into space.”

“
Understood
,” Cameron agreed.

“How long until your plasma cannon is up?” Nathan asked.

“
Lieutenant Montgomery is making the connections to the weapon now; He’s tying it into the ship’s systems, so it can be operated from the tactical console. He expects the first test firing within the hour. If all goes well, it should be ready for full-power operations shortly thereafter.
”

“That’s good news,” Nathan said. “In order for us to drop Jess and Tony and attack that damaged cruiser without having to loiter for too long, we’ll have to jump in forty-eight minutes. Get all but your thirty most necessary people back to the Aurora before then. We’ll see you when we get back.”

“
Good hunting, sir,
” Cameron said. “
Celestia Actual out.
”

Nathan turned to Major Prechitt and Jessica as Cameron’s image from the Celestia’s ready room disappeared from the main view screen, replaced by the recording of the view from Captain Roberts’ ocean-front property on Earth. “It’s going to take some getting used to, hearing her say ‘Celestia Actual’.”

* * *

Eli rose, glaring at General Bacca who was standing on the other side of the desk. The general’s unflappable demeanor never ceased to amaze him. “I don’t suppose you’ve sent anyone to investigate why your gunships haven’t reported in.”

“The reason is clear,” General Bacca stated calmly. “Either the Aurora has rendezvoused with the Celestia and is protecting her, or the Celestia is not as unarmed as we have been led to believe.”

“If you had sent greater forces as I had suggested, the problem might have been resolved by now,” Eli grumbled.

“Or we might be missing more than two measly gunships,” the general responded, one eyebrow raised.

Eli looked sternly at the old general. “We have an old expression on Earth. It’s so old, I don’t even know how far back it goes. ‘Fortune favors the bold.’ You might want to try it sometime, General.”

“The Jung have many such expressions,” the general retorted. He then let loose a string of words in his native language.

“That almost sounds poetic,” Eli said. “Too bad I don’t speak Jung.”

“Loosely translated, it means, ‘Bold warriors seldom become wise generals.’”

“So I assume you intend to wait and see what the Aurora does next.”

“No, Governor. I suspect that the reason the Aurora is defending the Celestia is because the Celestia is both unable to defend herself, and she is currently unable to leave Metis.”

“Based on what?” Eli challenged. “A moment ago, you said it was possible that the Celestia was not as unarmed as you were led to believe.”

“Based on the belief that your father does not possess the training or fortitude to feed us false or otherwise misleading information.”

“How can you be so sure? My father can be quite stubborn when he puts his mind to a task.”

“Our interrogators are quite skilled at their jobs, Governor. If they believe he is telling the truth, so do I.”

“Admiral Galiardi slipped a deception past your interrogators, did he not? Isn’t that why you have a disabled cruiser sitting at your spaceport?”

“We had our doubts about that bit of intelligence. However, I believe it was at your urgings that we sent a cruiser to investigate the location given to us by the admiral, was it not, Governor?”

Eli saw the smile on General Bacca’s face and decided it was better not to press the issue. “If you are correct, and my father is telling the truth, wouldn’t now be the perfect time to attack with full forces?”

“Perhaps, but I don’t believe that full forces are necessary. Significant forces, yes, but not full forces. I believe proper tactics using limited forces to be more appropriate, given our current resources.”

“For a member of a military that believes in attacking with overwhelming forces, you are amazingly hesitant to do so, General.”

“Overwhelming forces make all battles winnable, Governor,” General Bacca said. “However, it is logistics that wins wars.”

* * *

Tony stood at the foot of Synda’s bed in the surgical recovery suite of the Aurora’s medical section. He studied her face as she lay peacefully sleeping. He thought about the millions of nanites that were swimming around in her body, rebuilding and repairing her damaged tissues. She looked weak to him… better than when she had first come out of surgery, but still not the feisty, independent young woman he had known back at the gym. He had known her for years, ever since she had first come to Winnipeg and enrolled at the same gym as him. She had been such a scrawny girl back then, but she had trained hard and grown strong over the years. It pained him greatly to see her this way, frail and weak once more. He wondered what would have happened had he gone looking for her after the invasion. Would they have headed north together? Might they be safe in the wilderness at this very moment, instead of being stranded on the last warship of Earth?

“Still sleeping?” Jessica whispered as she entered the room.

“Like I said, they keep her pretty much knocked out most of the time.” Tony sighed. “I was hoping to say goodbye to her before we left.”

“Probably for the best,” Jessica said. “She’d only be worrying about you instead of focusing on getting well.” Jessica paused for a moment, looking off to one side. “Just a moment,” she said as she tapped her comm-set. “Go for Nash.” She listened intently for a moment before speaking again. “Understood. Nash out.”

“Something important?” Tony asked.

“No, just routine security stuff.”

Tony looked back at Synda for a moment. “Do you believe that every decision we make along the way brings us to where we are?”

“What?”

“It’s something my father used to say.” He turned back toward Jessica. “He believed that every decision, no matter how remote it might seem, had to have happened in order for you to get to where you are at any moment in your life.”

“Is this like the butterfly wings making a tsunami on the other side of the world?” Jessica asked.

“Huh?”

“Never mind. I don’t know. I never really think about that kind of stuff. I’m more of a ‘minute by minute’ kind of girl.”

“Really? I can’t help but think of such things. What if I had never met Synda? What if I had never hooked up with Mack? What if you had never come across Synda’s hideout?”

“See, that’s why I don’t think about that stuff,” Jessica said. “It can drive you nuts. At the very least, it can get in the way of making snap decisions. I prefer to do what feels right at the time.”

“I think I do the same,” Tony explained. “I just think about it a lot afterward; that’s all.”

“Well stop it.” Jessica looked at her watch. “It’s time to go, anyway. We jump in thirty-five minutes, and we still have to suit up.”

Tony looked at Synda’s face one more time before he left. His eyes suddenly squinted together, and his head perked up as he realized what Jessica had said. “Suit up?”

* * *

“We’ll break the horizon and be on the Earth side of Jupiter in eleven minutes,” Ensign Schenker reported.

“If we don’t test it now, it will be another four hours before we get another opportunity,” Cameron told the lieutenant.

“I’m not entirely sure the targeting system will work properly,” Lieutenant Montgomery stated, “not without proper calibration.”

“Can it be aimed manually?” Luis asked from the tactical console. “It has a gun camera, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, of course…”

“Then I can point it at something and shoot.”

“The chances of hitting something with any level of precision using such methods is astronomical at best,” the lieutenant protested.

“We’re not going to be shooting at tiny targets, sir, just big ol’ honkin’ warships.”

Lieutenant Montgomery looked confused. “Honkin’?” He turned to Commander Taylor. “Commander…”

“Can it be manually aimed?”

“Yes, of course it can,” the lieutenant answered.

“Then point it out into space on a trajectory that will keep it hidden from Earth and fire a few test shots,” she ordered, “and do so in less than ten minutes, Lieutenant.”

“Yes, sir,” Lieutenant Montgomery answered. He turned to the sensor operator. “Ensign Schenker, is there anything along the Commander’s requested firing angle that we could use as a target? Some debris, perhaps?”

“There’s plenty of debris from those two gunships still floating around. Give me a minute.”

Lieutenant Montgomery turned back to Commander Taylor. “A target will give us a better idea of how much the calibration of the targeting system might be off. We will not have time to make the adjustments and test fire again before we reach the Earth side of Jupiter, but I should be able to calculate the deviation and make the necessary adjustments during our Earth-side transit.”

“I have a target for you, Lieutenant,” Ensign Schenker reported. “It’s about the size of a small shuttle. Feeding the track to tactical now.”

Luis looked down at his tactical console as the track appeared on his tactical display. “Assigning target,” Luis reported.

“The weapon’s targeting computer will read the target’s speed and course data and adjust its aim accordingly,” the lieutenant explained.

“We have a target lock,” Luis reported. “Weapon is tracking the target. Weapon’s power is set at one percent.”

“You’re clear to fire when ready, Ensign,” Cameron said.

“Firing the weapon.” Luis pressed the button on his touch screen. The perimeter of the button flashed red, indicating that it had been activated. He looked up just in time to see a bolt of red plasma energy streak away from the aft, top edge of the view screen as it raced toward its target at nearly the speed of light.