The War of Pawns (The Human Chronicles -- Book Three) (9 page)

They were being followed! And their pursuers did not want their presence known.

Adam brought the lights up on the bridge as he pressed the alarm button. A rhythmic whooping echoed throughout the ship, not as abrasive as a general quarters alarm, but just as effective. Soon the entire crew was running for their stations.

Kaylor and Jym were the first to the bridge. Adam surrendered the pilot’s seat, and then told the two aliens what had happened.

“Sounds like they’re staying just out of range,” Kaylor said.
 
“They must be big in order to stay up with us. Jym, check the readout log and see if you can make a determination.”

“On it.” Jym brought up a recording of the contacts on his screen, and ran a gravity analysis of their wells. Since the singularities were created far ahead of the actual spaceships, a lot could be discerned from their intensity and harmonics.

“The signature is of a similar frequency as our own. Class Five. That can only mean Juireans.”

“And you said you saw two signatures?” Kaylor asked.

“At least two.”

Riyad then entered the bridge. “Contacts?”

“Yep, and they look like Juireans.”

“Time to see if our crew is up to the task, eh.”

“We’ll fight if we have to, but there are multiple contacts.”

Chris Mullis entered the bridge. Adam had put him in charge of the non-coverts, and their training on the ship’s weapon systems. “Everyone’s at their stations, for what good it does. None of us have had any real experience with how to fight a battle in space.”

“Nothing to it,” Riyad said with a smile. “Just like playing a video game back home.”

“If that’s true, then I guess we’re ready to kick some alien ass!”

Adam just smiled at the light banter. He knew everyone was nervous, and this was just their way of coping.

Sherri Valentine entered the bridge next, again looking sultry with her bedhead and flushed cheeks. Adam figured she hadn’t been sleeping much when the alarm sounded, but rather engaged in more strenuous activities with Billy. He really had to shake these thoughts from his head; they were beginning to interfere with his effectiveness as a leader.

Riyad brought her up to speed. “So what’s the plan, Stan?” she asked with a mischievous smile. Adam figured she was still on an endorphin-high, and slightly giddy. Her mood did not match the reality that Juirean spacecraft were closing in on them.

“First of all, we have to assess the risk. I know I saw two blips, but there may be more.”

“It could be the entire Juirean invasion force!” Jym said from his seat at the nav computer.

“If that was the case, I don’t think they’d be playing cat-and-mouse with us,” Adam responded. He watched the faces of the two aliens as they completely lost the reference to ‘cat and mouse.’ He just shook his head. He didn’t have time to explain.

“No matter how many there are, we’re going to have to deal with them. They can’t be allowed to follow us all the way to Earth. Besides, I don’t think that’s their plan. I’d rather confront with them on our terms, not theirs. So here’s what we’re going to do.”

He huddled everybody around Kaylor’s station. “Kaylor, I need you to stack the diffusion screens to the rear of the ship. Leave our forward sections uncovered if necessary.”

“That’s risky,” Jym chimed in.

“But necessary. I need the Juireans to fire on us—”

“What? Are you crazy?” Kaylor said, looking up at the smiling Human.

“Relax. It will be fine.” Adam put his hand on Kaylor’s shoulder. “I need you to slow down quite a bit, and quickly. We need to see how many ships are following us – and we need to let them
know
we see them. As soon as they start closing on us, then speed up again. Get them coming after us as fast as they can.”

“You’re losing me some regarding your ultimate plan,” Riyad said with a frown. “I’m usually a step or two ahead of you by now.” He flashed Adam a devious smile.

“Here’s how it’s going to go down. As soon as the Juireans fire on us, Kaylor takes two of the generators off-line. They’ll think we’re hit. Then as the Juireans rush in toward us, we initiate a strong back-well, and let them shoot right on by. I saw Tom Cruise do this in
Top Gun
.” Adam’s smile belayed the nerves building up in his gut.

He turned to Chris. “As they shoot past us, I need your guys to lay down a wide pattern of bolts. Hopefully, we’ll hit something. Then once we’re behind them, we shoot up their asses while they’re trying to regroup.”

No one spoke for a moment, until Sherri said, “I feel the need…”

And then all the Humans on the bridge sang out in chorus… “The need –
for speed
!”

To which the two aliens simply let their jaws drop open, looks of utter confusion plastered on their faces.

Chris relayed the plan to his gunner crews, to which many simply swallowed hard and turned back to their controls. This was going to get interesting.

And then Kaylor jerked back on the stick. Almost instantly, five strong contacts appeared at the edge of the view screen. Adam had Kaylor hold there for a moment, as they watched the Juireans react to their move. At first they slowed down, but as soon as they realized they had been spotted, the Juireans intensified their wells, and shot out after them.

Then Kaylor deepened his own well, and the chase was on!

“Oh, no!” Jym yelled from his station. All eyes whipped around to him.

“Two more contacts – straight ahead!”

Kaylor buried his head in his computer. “They have a different signature.” He looked up at Adam, his eyes wide. “They’re Klin.”

“Have the Juireans spotted them yet?”

Kaylor looked back at this screen. “No. They’re still out of their sensor range.”

Adam thought for just a brief moment.
This may actually help
. “Keep going,” he ordered.

Just then, two of the pursuing Juireans let loose with a barrage of bolts, two each. “Hold steady, Kaylor, do
not
take evasive action.”

“They’re going to hit us!”

“That’s the plan. Steady!”

The bolts closed on them, and soon the ship rumbled from their impact on the rear diffusion screens. The first two layers ruptured, as three of the bolts struck aft. But the others held.

“Now! Take two of the generators off-line.”

Kaylor obeyed, and the ship began to slow noticeably, allowing the distance between the Juireans and themselves to close rapidly. As the Juireans drew closer, everyone on the bridge waited for the next round of bolts to lash out. But none came forth.

“They think they’ve got us,” Chris commented, more to himself than to the others.

Adam leaned down next to Kaylor’s ear, and very calmly said, “Okay, dissolve the forward well, and engage the strongest back-well you can manage. Do it…now.”

The entire ship began to vibrate, as the internal gravity wells fought against the sudden shift in inertia. The ship didn’t actually reverse course, but rather it slowed at an incredible rate. As planned, the five Juirean ships shot past them at incredible speed, with their own ship slipping very close to two of the Juireans in the process.

Two strong jerks were felt throughout the battlecruiser, as the gunners let loose a barrage of 10 bolts on each side of the ship, the maximum that could be fired broadside at a time. All the people on the bridge looked up at the larger tac screen on the forward bulkhead, just as the graphic showed where four of the bolts had struck home.

They all let out a cheer as they saw one of the ships suddenly drop out of the pattern and drift off to the right. The other ship that had been hit continued on with its companions, although the strength of its well could be seen dropping off rapidly.

They were now behind the Juireans, and Chris shouted into a comm link, “Fire at will!”

The ship began to rock as more bolts shot out from the great battleship’s myriad of gun turrets. These first bolts were absorbed by the Juirean screens, but the secret to ship-to-ship combat came with repeated hits in the same location. The bolts continued to trail off from Adam’s ship.

On the screen, the Juireans could be seen making wide arcing turns to double back and engage Adam’s battleship. But just as they were in their turns, their own screens began to detect the two Klin ships ahead of them. Confused, the four remaining Juirean ships hesitated in their turns, and two of them returned to their original course, heading for the Klin.

But before they knew it, the Klin were within their ranks, and strafing the Juireans with bolts of intense energy. Adam watched the dance on the tac screen, thankful for any help he could get – when suddenly the entire tac screen washed out.

“What happened?” Chris asked.

“Nukes!” Jym yelled. “Both the Klin ships have exploded! Nuclear explosions – very intense! Impact approaching!”

Adam’s heart leapt into his throat. Then as the polarizing filter kicked in, the tac screen cleared up. Filling the entire screen was the blue and yellow wave of an approaching nuclear explosion. It was only seconds away.

Adam dove for Kaylor’s controls and shoved him out of the chair. Then grabbing the controls for the gravity wells, forward and aft, he cranked them both up to max. Instantly, the ship felt as if it was being torn in half, as an intense, rumbling vibration coursed throughout the ship. Next, he cranked up the internal wells as high as they would go. These were much smaller than the drive wells, but still the effect with immediate and dramatic.

Everyone throughout the ship was thrown to the deck, pulled down by the increased gravity, and feeling as if an elephant had suddenly stepped on their entire body. Screams were forced out of collapsing lungs, and through his bloodshot eyes, Adam could see Kaylor and Jym lapse into unconsciousness on the floor beside him.

And then the wave hit them. Through the affects of vertigo, it was as if the ship was tumbling over and over, as lights flickered and bulkheads strained. Darkness came upon the bridge, and even the battery backups fought to maintain their charge as the electronic magnetic pulse swept throughout the ship. The tumbling sensation and crushing gravity continued for what felt like an eternity, and the cries from those on the bridge echoed off the metal bulkheads.

And then the tumbling stopped, and the groaning of the metal bulkheads began to taper off.

But still the incapacitating weight pressed down upon their bodies.

Through the pain, Adam forced himself to crawl the meter or so to Kaylor’s now-empty pilot’s seat. He fought against the invisible force to lift an arm up to the seat, and then to pull himself up even more. With screams of his own forced out from his lungs, Adam’s hand reached the top of the control console, and found a gravity control. He cranked it down, and felt the ship suddenly surge to the rear. The wrong control! He felt again and found another. As he turned this one, he felt the weight begin to lift from his body. A split second later, he had the gravity for the bridge back to normal, and he felt the air return to lungs. He could at least breathe again.

Even though his entire body cried out in pain, he lifted himself onto Kaylor’s seat and turned down the gravity in the other four sections of the ship, as well as dissolving the forward and aft wells.

The ship was dead in space – but at least they were still alive.

As the Humans began to slowly lift themselves up off the cold metal deck, groans of pain spilling involuntarily out of their mouths, Adam looked over to see Kaylor and Jym prone of the floor, blood flowing from both their ears and noses.