Nemesis 1: Revenge Is Best Served Hot (13 page)

The jump field flickered as another flash blew into the water fifty yards away and turned the water around him into vapor. The jump field solidified when the water disappeared and he slammed the button again. The shuttle disappeared as another beam blew through the spot the shuttle had just occupied. Grant was thankful he had his armor activated. He saw the walls of the shuttle were glowing red from the heat of the previous blaster strike. The shuttle emerged into normal space and he discovered the computer had shut down from the excessive heat. He slammed the emergency exit panel and the force field over the landing bay disappeared. The absolute zero of open space blew into the shuttle and the walls began to instantly cool. He watched as the various systems began rebooting and he waited for the Nemesis to appear. He looked out of the forward viewport and prayed for it to come. Please don’t let anything happen to her. He couldn’t go on without her, either.

• • •

Cinny strapped in to her combat chair and looked at Whippet, “Are you ready?”

“How do you want to do this?”

“I’ve set eight jump points around the planet. If things get bad, I’ll hit the jump drive and emerge at one of them. If it gets too hot, I’ll just run and let them chase me.”

Whippet nodded, “They’ll be on us faster than dark in space.”

“I know. Just concentrate your fire on one ship at a time. Spreading it out won’t do any damage.” Cinny looked at Whippet, “In three, two, one, NOW!”

The Nemesis emerged in normal space one mile away from a huge battleship and opened fire with its main blasters and a full spread of missiles. The huge ship activated its force field but it was too late. It hung in space and then a giant explosion ripped through its center blowing the ship apart. Cinny turned the ship hard right and flew in at high speed at another giant warship. She opened fire and saw numerous blips on her tactical display suddenly appear. She flew the ship in close to the vessel she was attacking and banked away as it suddenly exploded at the tail. The explosions continued and walked the entire length of the huge ship. She flew toward an open space between the ships rushing in on her as the stricken giant behind her went up in a brilliant blast.

“Cinny, there’s no way I can target a ship with your evasive maneuvers!”

“Tell it to them; Jumping now!”

A hundred battleships had jumped in on the Nemesis and were beginning to target the small ship with their main beams. A huge wave of white blaster fire moved in on the ship and it disappeared to another location outside their ranks. Cinny rushed in on another battleship and blew it apart just as the enemy fleet emerged into normal space surrounding her. She barely jumped away before the giant blasters blew them apart. From that moment forward, all Cinny could do was jump away as soon as she emerged into normal space. She glanced at the chronometer and saw that only ten seconds had passed. She had to hold out for five more.

The Planetary Defense Commander watched the chase taking place above the planet and knew it wouldn’t take long to corner and destroy that small ship. He watched another battleship explode and couldn’t comprehend how such a small ship had such powerful weapons.

“Sire, the Defense Satellites over the Kelpa Ocean report an electronic signature underwater.”

The Commander whipped around and saw the tiny blip, “How deep?”

“A hundred feet.”

“Do we have any assets there?”

“We do not!”

The Commander sent priority orders to three main battleships and they instantly appeared over the disturbance and opened fire. Three beams reached down into the water and vaporized it into steam. The Commander watched the beam strikes and his scanning Leader said, “I’ve just recorded a jump signature.”

“Scan the ocean! Tell me if you detect anything?”

After a few minutes the Leader shook his head, “No, sire, nothing is showing up on my panel.”

The Commander knew something had to have happened under the surface. He hit his panel, “Get me thirty attack craft underwater where that ship was detected. DO IT NOW!”

• • •

The Crocs opened their mouths and allowed the spider on their snout to climb in. The Spiders went to minimum size as the Crocs covered their eyes with a membrane and accelerated away from the shuttle. The Crocs were nowhere near their adult size…but they weren’t small. The youngest was thirty-eight feet long and its massive tail was moving at an incredible speed. The Crocs went to seventy miles per hour instantly and increased their speed to more than a hundred miles an hour in less than three minutes. The attack craft arrived and spread out searching for anything out of the ordinary.

• • •

The Defense Commander contacted the Leader of the attack craft, “Did you find anything?”

“No, Sire. The water at this location is extremely turbulent and getting a signal is difficult. I’ve ordered more ships to surround the area twenty miles out and run scans.”

“You don’t see anything out of the ordinary?”

“I see turbulence extending from this location in all directions but our scans don’t report anything physical or electrical in it.”

The Commander looked away from his display, “I want the three battleships brought down from orbit and have them start scanning the ocean for any disturbance.” His communication officer nodded and turned to his panel. Nothing was showing up…but something just didn’t feel right. Was he able to interrupt what the intruder was attempting to do? He thought about what the Fleet Commander had said weeks before and he went into his private office. He contacted his mate and said, “Get your things packed.”

“Why?”

“You’re going to visit your sister.”

“I am not!”

“If you don’t do as I tell you, I will personally blast you into dust when I arrive home. I can’t replace my children easily but you can be replaced before the day is over.”

His Mate’s face turned white and she knew that she had made a mistake. She lowered her head, “I will have everything ready quickly. How will I transport our things?”

The Commander smiled; he really cared about his mate but she could be so stubborn. “I’ll send a commercial ship over to pick you up in three hours. Contact Gelt and Sendra to meet you there. Take our two young children with you. Be ready!” His Mate bowed and he ended the contact. His Scanning Leader appeared in his open door and he motioned him in.

“Sire, there is something unusual in the scans I’ve made.”

“What is that?”

“Immediately after the battleships opened fire on the ocean, twelve underwater disturbances radiated out from the blasts.” The Commander tilted his head, “The water was moving close to a hundred miles an hour but nothing appeared to be making them.”

“Could they have been caused by the pressure of the blasts?”

“I have no way of knowing. However, sixty miles out from the origination point, they disappeared.”

“Move eight more battleships over the ocean and I want it scanned down to the planet’s bedrock.” The Leader bowed and left the room. He thought about what the Leader said and looked at an aerial map of the ocean. He picked up his communicator and a face appeared on his monitor, “I want every attack ship in our inventory to go to the site of the disturbance in the ocean and form up five hundred miles out from the center of it. Have them close in and report anything out of the ordinary.”

“Yes Sire.”

The Commander sat back in his chair and waited. He made another contact and the commercial pilot arrived at his home in two hours instead of three. His mate was ready and she boarded the ship with her three children and lifted off the planet. The ship was allowed clearance through the warships surrounding the planet and it jumped away.

• • •

Cinny jumped and was immediately surrounded by fifty warships. She jumped again and was surrounded by eighty. The blasts hit the Nemesis’ force field and the small ship was rocked. Whippet yelled, “Get out of here?”

“Just six more seconds.”

Ana announced, “There are three battleships over the site where Grant jumped in. Delaying any longer serves no purpose.”

Cinny’s eyes went to slits and she hit the primary jump circuit. The Nemesis disappeared and remained in subspace a hundred thousand miles away. “Anything on what’s happening to Grant!?!”

“The warships are hitting the ocean with their main blasters.”

“Did you detect a jump signature?”

“I have not.”

Cinny put her face in her hands and Whippet came over and put his hand on her shoulder, “We wouldn’t be able to detect one from this far out with the disturbance being made by those blasters.”

“I need to go see if he’s safe.”

Whippet shook his head, “We should stay with the plan. If he’s safe, he’ll be waiting on us.”

“And if he’s not?”

“Then I hope you can see the benefit of staying with the plan.” Cinny looked in Whippet’s eyes and then nodded.

• • •

Biggy was cruising close to the ocean’s floor when he saw motion in the distance. He adjusted the membrane over his eyes and saw a long line of small craft moving through the water toward him. He said, “It appears you were right.”

Tricky jerked, “Hey! Not so loud!”

“Oops, I’m sorry. Using my vocal chords without opening my mouth is something I’m not accustomed to doing.”

“I don’t think they’ll see us.”

“It doesn’t appear they do at the moment.”

The line of ships moved closer and Tricky said, “We really don’t know much about your abilities, do we?”

“No, we don’t.”

“Let’s do this; can you match their speed?”

The Croc chuckled and Tricky flinched at the nose. “Sorry. They’re moving at fifty miles an hour. I could move that fast with no effort.”

“Are any of them behind the others?”

“Three are lagging.”

“When they pass, see if you can sneak up behind one and take a bit out of it. We need an idea about how powerful your jaws are.”

“You should come out of my mouth and cling to my head.”

“Good idea, open up.”

Tricky went to a foot long and climbed out of Biggy’s mouth. He went to a spot between his eyes and anchored his legs to the Croc’s hide. Biggy began rising toward the surface miles above him. He arrived a mile below the surface as the long line of small ships passed overhead. He rose into the turbulence produced by their engines and began accelerating toward one of them that was a hundred yards behind the others.

• • •

“Janruk, get your ship in line!”

“Sire, this sack of bulge should be used to make trashcans. I’m doing the best I can.”

Janruk hit his control panel with his hand and yelled, “COME ON!” He looked at his scanner but all he could see was the turbulence from the line of ships he was following. He shook his head and looked out of his cockpit to the right. He thought he saw something. He put his face closer to the glass and saw a huge…eye. His mouth flew open and then all he saw was teeth.

• • •

Biggy saw the pilot of the small vessel look at him and he decided he shouldn’t wait any longer. He turned and rushed toward the nose of the craft and bit into it. The front of the eight foot long craft disappeared. The back of the ship lost control and began whipping around in circles as it fell toward the ocean floor far below. Biggy accelerated away from the site of the attack and chewed on the large piece of metal in his mouth. It tasted…excellent. Tricky waited for Biggy to spit the metal out of his mouth and was surprised when he didn’t. He guessed you learned something new every day.

• • •

The Commander of the Attack Craft kept his eyes on his scanner and suddenly saw something appear behind his line of ships. He twisted the scanner’s controls and brought the object into focus and saw it was one of his ships that was spinning out of control toward the ocean floor far below. “STOP WHERE YOU ARE!” The line came to a halt and he brought the view in closer. It was hard to see but the front of the ship was missing. He contacted the Defense Commander, “Sire, one of my ships has been destroyed.”

The Commander stood up from is chair, “HOW!”

“I don’t know. The pilot was complaining about how his ship was not operating properly and a few moments later, I saw it spiraling out of control toward the ocean floor. It appears the front of it was missing.”

The Commander sat back down. “Did you detect an explosion?”

“No, Sire.”

The Commander thought for a few moments and almost ignored the event as equipment failure but then said, “I want the remains of that ship examined.”

“Sire, it’s approaching the ocean floor which is twenty miles below us.”

“I don’t care. I want it brought up and examined.”

“It will take some time to get the necessary ships here.”

“If I have to repeat myself, you won’t be the one doing it. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Sire.” The Leader shook his head and knew he should have sent the ship out for repairs. He pressed his communicator and sent the coordinates of the lost attack craft to his Support Leader and started the line moving again. They finally arrived at the original site of the disturbance and nothing had shown up on his search. He dismissed the ships and took his ship out of the water and flew back to the site where he had lost Janruk. This was not going to be easy. However, he was not going back to his base until it was done. He knew what awaited him if he did.

• • •

“Cinny, I have an unarmed commercial vessel leaving the planet.”

“What?”

“The warships are notifying each other that it has clearance to leave.”

Cinny looked at Whippet, “What do you think?”

“This is highly unusual. Commercial ships are normally grounded during combat operations and are not allowed to interfere with military activities.”

Cinny nodded, “Then there must be something important on that vessel.”

Whippet shrugged, “Something or someone.” Whippet watched the ship on the display, “I have to believe that it is going to another Raider planet.”

Cinny moved the Nemesis into subspace and waited. The small jump track appeared and she pressed the thruster control and followed it away from the planet they had just attacked. It arrived at another planet and Cinny edged into normal space. The planet’s surface had a massive city that covered most of the landmasses. She went back into subspace and locked he coordinates into the data banks. She hit the jump button and prayed Grant was waiting for her.