Homeworld (Odyssey One) (76 page)

They couldn’t be permitted to remain intact. That much was certain.

“We’ll stay on station here until the drones have eliminated the main world, then attempt to re-leash them,” he ordered. “If that works, we will attempt to acquire prisoners from what remains of the system for interrogation. Their technology must be studied, and we must learn if they have any other worlds.”

“Yes, Commander,” his tactical officer said.

His second, however, frowned. “What if we cannot re-leash the drones, Commander?”

“Then the singular abyss will be the final ending for them and this entire system.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

N.A.C.S.
Odyssey

“KEEP FIRING. FIRE the guns dry,” Eric ordered. “Buy the Earth’s orbital defenses everything we can.”

“Aye, Captain. Reloading now.”

The current magazines were almost empty, and when they were gone Eric knew that the transition guns were nothing but dead weight. There was no point holding anything back now. It was the end of the game, overtime, and the score wasn’t in their favor even though the bad guys had yet to make a real play.

Shouldn’t have spotted them so many points before we started.

“Incoming bandits, six low!” Winger announced. “Fighter screen is thin, sir. I can scan the cruisers now….”

“How many?”

“Four, sir.”

Eric blinked, mildly surprised that the number was so low.
We just might have a chance of getting out of this in once piece after all. Doesn’t matter for now, though.

“Tell Steph to cover our backside,” Eric growled. “We need to stay on course.”

“The Archangels are only loaded for light combat, sir,” Roberts reminded him. “We sent them out to handle the fighter screen, not the cruisers.”

Eric swore, but nodded. “Damn. Alright, have the Angels cover us from the screen and bring us around to engage the cruisers! Stand down the long guns!”

“Standing down the guns, sir.”

“Daniels, bring us around and shift power from the guns to the lasers.”

“Aye, Captain. Coming about.”

“Here come the fighters, Steph,” Cardsharp reported. “The screen is a little light. I can scan the cruisers now.”

“I see them. The
Odyssey
is coming about. Let’s give her some cover so she can take out the cruisers,” Steph replied.

“Right with ya, boss man,” Black Knight said. “Just lead the way.”

“Clear those fighters out!” Steph growled, tagging and haloing several of the enemy fighter craft that had stepped a little out of line and got too close to the
Odyssey
. “Angel Lead…Fox Three!”

“Angel Two, Fox Three!”

“Angel Four, Fox Three!”

“Angel Three, guns guns guns!”

The calls went out over the tactical network as they threw their fighters back into the thick of things, buying the
Odyssey
time to come around and bring her main weapons into play.

Steph pulled left, rolling over a sweeping laser, kicked his thrusters hard and slid under another as he locked on another fighter. “Angel Lead, guns guns guns!”

His fighter’s main gun shook the cockpit as it roared to life, heavy DPU slugs reaching out and tearing the enemy fighter to shreds.

“Watch out, boss, we’re penetrating the fighters screen!” Cardsharp called.

“I see them. Hanging, right!” Steph called, twisting back around the other direction. “Don’t let them past!”

“Too late, I’m punching through!” Cardsharp called. “I’ll haul ass around and hammer them from the six!”

“Roger that,” Steph responded, lining up another. “Angel Lead, guns guns guns!”

Jennifer “Cardsharp” Samuels felt a little claustrophobic as she punched through the fighter screen, the alien ships pressing in on either side as she angled her fighter to blow another of the alien ships away. She was saving her remaining missiles for when she could get a group of them a little too close together.

A glance down showed that the
Odyssey
had finished its turn and was bringing her forward lasers into play. The powerful main array of the
Odyssey
was such that, when properly turned, the Drasin fighters erupted like matchsticks in the night. As the beam swept across her path, Jennifer noted something wrong on her screens.

“Lead, Cardsharp, over.”

“Go for lead, Cardsharp,” Stephanos replied instantly.

“Scanners cleared up fast when the
Odyssey
dried those suckers, Steph. I’m getting a better read on the cruisers
behind the screen, and there looks to be more than we thought.”

“How many, Cardsharp? I still read six.”

Jennifer checked her screens again, scowling. “Are you sure? I read twice that number, Steph.”

“What!?” Steph blew. “No way, no how. I’ve got a clear scan on six.”

Jennifer twisted her head around, eyes widening. “The screen! They’re using jammers and ECM!”

“The fighter screen is breaking up, sir!”

“Captain!” Roberts twisted. “Report from the Angels, the fighters are spoofing our scanners. There’s at least
twelve
enemy cruisers inbound!”

Eric turned sharply. “What?”

Winger paled, going over her records and shaking her head. “Are they sure? I can’t scan more than six, Commander!”

“Confirm or deny, Lieutenant,” Eric ordered. “Full scans. Light them up.”

“Aye, sir.” Winger lit off her scanners, using up power at levels she normally preferred to avoid since the
Odyssey
needed more energy than her reactors could actually provide in a fight.

The big SPY-X scanners lit up space like the beam of God’s own flashlight, pouring enough radiation downrange to qualify as a health risk for unshielded personnel. It took a few seconds to bounce back, but once it did Winger had a much clearer look than before. She found herself just as puzzled.

“I still only read six, Captain…but I think the Archangel report may be right.”

“What? Why?”

“Because something is interfering with the scanners, sir,” she said candidly. “And if they’re bothering to interfere….”

“Then they’re hiding something.” Eric nodded. “Damn it.”

“We can’t take a dozen at close range, sir,” Roberts reminded him. “Six was honestly pushing things.”

“I’m aware, Commander. I’m all too damned aware.”

“I’ve got cruisers showing on the scanners. They’re coming through the fighter screen, Captain!” Winger announced.

“On screen.”

Against the black of space, the ships were barely perceptible in the visible spectrum, but the enhanced reality display provided by the
Odyssey
’s computers put that problem to rest. The alien cruisers appeared out of the black, aimed straight at the Confederate ship, and Eric imagined for a moment that he could see their laser ports glowing in anticipation of taking the
Odyssey
apart.

That was just imagination, of course. The lasers from the alien ships didn’t fluoresce in the visible spectrum, for one, but it was a chilling thought just the same. The computer was tracking six of them unbound, all within laser range.

“Adjust main laser to common Drasin material and fire when ready,” Eric ordered.

“Aye, Captain. Firing!”

The distant whine of discharging capacitors echoed in the background, the main laser reaching out across light-seconds of space. The computer recorded the hit mathematically before it could be confirmed visually. The Drasin’s ship blinked to yellow, signifying that it was likely incapacitated but remained a potential threat until confirmation was available.

Waters moved on to the next target.

“Captain! I’ve got them! Six more, hiding in the shadows of the first!” Winger announced. “No…wait…eight more…ten! Captain!”

Eric’s blood cooled. He’d let himself and his ship blunder right into the sort of trap that
he
was wont to lay. There was no running from this one.

“Enemy lasers!”

“Evasive!” he barked automatically, even as his mind locked in temporary panic. “Hard to port!”

“Port, aye, sir!”

The
Odyssey
listed in space, twisting to port as the first multi-terawatt laser burst scorched her side and ignited the metal armor in the process. The general deflection armor was like a mirror, but an imperfect one, and enough of the energy scorched through the open segments of the
Odyssey
to space.