Love, Encoded (Selected Evolution Series Book 1) Page 20

  Draken nodded. “In that case, I relieve myself of command and hand the responsibility of captaining the Umdya over to you, Mr Bannister.”

  Nick stared at him. “The Anaconians consider you their leader, Draken.”

  Draken’s ocean-blue eyes remained steady on Nick. “They do, and we both know your tactical skills have a far greater chance of seeing us through this coming encounter than any I might possess. The ship is yours, Captain Bannister.”

  Nick nodded. “Very well, I have the captaincy.” Relief crossed Draken’s features and a flash of guilty conspiracy shifted through his eyes. “Kane, secure Draken in his quarters and see he remains there.”

  “I beg your pardon!” Draken protested. His neck straightened, lifting his head to its full, imposing height. A ripple passed along his upper lip, sharp, white teeth gleamed in the overhead lighting.

  “With all due respect, Draken,” Nick replied calmly, “I’m not having you take off on some damn fool noble errand to give yourself up to the Denacons in the hopes of saving us. We need you as our leader when we reach Aquarii Prime.” He raked his gaze around the bridge. “Nobody else wants the job.”

  “That’s for sure,” Kane muttered.

  Nick crossed his arms over his chest and waited. Draken’s posture remained rigid for a moment then his head slumped on his pearly shoulders. “As you command,” he submitted.

  “See to it,” Nick ordered Kane then added, “That makes you my Chief Officer.”

  The transmorphic gave a terse nod of acknowledgement.

  “Is Theron Barclese secured?” Nick asked.

  “Yes. Paul McMasters’ security chief has taken custody of the criminal and assured me he would be dealt with appropriately.”

  An evil grin stretched Nick’s lips as he contemplated what Grant Cole would term ‘appropriate punishment’, especially as the crime involved a member of his family. Kane escorted Draken off the bridge and Nick turned to Adam.

  “Notify the crew of the change of command.”

  “Paul?” Sarah’s heart beat painfully against her ribs. Distress at having to leave like this tore through her chest like a beast ravaging a carcass.

  “I know.” Resignation and regret tinted her brother’s voice. “Grant received an update from Nick.”

  “You’ll look after finding the ejected portion of Anaconian ship?”

  Her brother’s strained laugh echoed from the speakers. “Always putting your responsibilities first. Yes, I’ll enlist the help of the EarthMother Consortium as you suggested.”

  “Thank you. I love you, take care.”

  “You too, possum. I look forward to hearing from you.”

  Dammit, I will not cry again. I don’t have the damn time.

  “Bye,” she managed to whisper past the sorrow closing her throat.

  A harsh gasp from her brother caught at her heartstrings then the connection severed. God, if she ever lost Nick or Adam her emotions would tear her apart.

  “I hate to intrude, Sarah, but I need you.” Tammy’s apologetic murmur reminded her of her immediate duties. She pulled her ragged emotions together then swung to her second in command.

  “I’m here. What’s our status?”

  “Primary engine ignition in five minutes.”

  “Right.” She raised her voice to be heard around the main engineering room. “Everyone to your stations and prepare for launch.” Then she muttered to Tammy, “And pray we did everything correctly otherwise there won’t be anyone left for the Denacons to kill.”

  “Hey! I’m offended by that remark.” Tammy sent her a grin. “Besides, prelim tests went well. You worry too much.”

  “It’ll be my fault if we blow up.”

  “If we blow up you won’t be around for guilt to eat you alive.”

  Sarah squelched the dark laugh that shot up her throat.

  “Cheer up, chicky-babe,” Tammy continued, “we’re about to go on the ride of our lives.”

  Live in the moment, Sarah. The excitement of what they were about to achieve began to sizzle through her soul. “Yeah, we are. Thanks, Tam.”

  “For what?”

  “Reminding me of what’s really about to happen.”

  Tammy shrugged. “My pleasure, besides it won’t be my fault if we blow up, you’re the Chief Engineer.”

  Genuine amusement twitched her lips. “Give me a countdown from ten.”

  “Very well, Commander.”

  “You watch too much sci-fi.”

  “Do not. Ten. Captain’s called for all moorings released. Six. Let’s light this candle. Engines commenced. ”

  A discreet hum filled the room. Sarah lifted her gaze to the control panels above her station. All ignition sequence lights indicated green.

  “We’re good,” Tammy said. “Three. Two. One.”

  Sarah scanned the engineering performance readouts. Excitement hammered at her determined calm. “The board looks good.”

  “We have lift off. All systems operating within acceptable parameters.”

  “Flight altitude?”

  “Fifty metres, rising steadily. Seventy. A hundred.” Tammy shot her a grin, her eyes sparkling with exultant triumph. “Cleared the tower.”

  “We don’t have a tower.”

  “Yeah, but I always wanted to say that.”

  Sarah returned her unrestrained enthusiasm. “Me too. Artificial gravity?”

  “Steady at Earth nominal average.”

  “Power output?”

  “Ninety per cent. Not bad considering . . .”

  “Yes. Next ship we build we’re placing a viewing port in engineering. I’d love to see Earth disappearing below us. Thermal skin?”

  “Heat levels within tolerances.”

  Awe at their accomplishment burned through her belly and vibrated through her chest like a direct shot of divine ambrosia. Half a minute later the internal comms icon on Sarah’s panel flashed.

  “Sarah, I need you to prepare to deploy the decoy shuttle and initiate the reflector array,” Nick said. “We’re nearing atmospheric edge and if the Denacons haven’t already acquired us on their sensors, they soon will.”

  “As you wish, Captain.”

  Adrenaline raced through her system, a fine tremor vibrated through her hands.

  “You’ll be fine,” Tammy encouraged. “You fly that little Swift like it’s part of you. I’ll keep an eye on the reflector array, you just concentrate on taking that shuttle as far away from us as you can.”

  Sarah pushed her concerns and fears down into a dark mental box. They could manifest themselves later when she had the luxury of time to have a panic attack. She actuated the stick remote for Aqua Astra Five and ran through the shuttle’s control manoeuvres in her mind.

  Ship wide comms beeped and Nick announced, “We’ve cleared Earth’s atmosphere and entered space.”

  A cheer reverberated through engineering.

  And no doubt the rest of the ship.

  She engaged the tactical screen that would reflect her movements of the shuttle and slipped a direct-line-of-communication earwig into her ear. “Bridge, remote online.”

  “Acknowledged,” Kane replied. “Launch Aqua Astra Five and engage reflector array on my mark.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “Now who’s watched too much sci-fi,” Tammy mumbled then added more clearly, “Past moon orbit.”

  “The Denacons have acquired us, Miss Rasmussen,” Kane informed. “Launch at your discretion.”

  In other words, now would be a good time.

  She engaged the remote control. “Shuttle responding to launch order. Cleared launch bay doors.” The shuttle flew through space like a juvenile humpback beside her huge mother. Then she began to slip
sideways towards the Umdya. Sarah’s heart gave her a metaphorical slap upside the face. She narrowed her concentration and eased the little vessel away from the hull.

  “Engage the reflector,” Kane ordered.

  “Reflector engaged,” Tammy replied a second later.

  “Status?”

  “Fully operational. The shuttle’s too close to the ship as yet to verify if the readings are reflecting.”

  “Right. Bridge, I’m initiating decoy manoeuvres.” She veered the shuttle on a diagonal course away from the Umdya then grimaced at her not terribly graceful flight path.

  It doesn’t have to be graceful, just believable.

  “Telemetry?” she asked Tammy.

  “Excellent. Course, speed, defence condition, all are ghosting from the Umdya onto shuttle five.”

  “We have them, Captain!” Karln reported from his station on the bridge of the Djakaal. “Confirmed, the Anaconians have left the planet. The ship is not the same configuration as the Anaconian Arkship, but it is Anaconian and the Draken is on board.” He frowned at the unusual transit of the vessel as shown on his tactical display. “Their course is . . . erratic.”

  “Perhaps they are attempting to mimic a vulnerability with their ship,” Helran mused. “Draw us into a trap.”

  “It won’t work,” Karln growled.

  “Indeed not. All engines ahead two-thirds.”

  “Order confirmed, Captain, all engines ahead two-thirds.”

  “Well done, Miss Rasmussen,” Kane’s calm approval helped steady Sarah’s nerves. “The Denacons are in pursuit of our decoy. Keep your velocity at maximum. I suggest you alter your heading towards Mars; there are several of the larger asteroids in that direction, you’ll be able to utilise them for concealment if you make it that far.”

  Thanks for the vote of confidence.

  A small image of the Denacon ship appeared on her screen, closing awfully fast on her shuttle.

  “Damn, they’ve got a good turn of speed.”

  She powered the little craft past Mars and noted with a sinking heart that the Denacons continued to gain.

  “Ensure the repulsive nature of the protection field on the shuttle is not engaged, Sarah,” Nick’s reassuring tone tickled the inside of her ear and bolstered her spirits. “We don’t want to give them a heads up of what the Umdya is capable of.”

  “Acknowledged, Captain, repulse reaction is disengaged.”

  The enemy advanced on her small craft then a ping from her console indicated a weapon strike. She jerked the control lever left and down then reversed the power too hard on the port thruster. The shuttle lurched into a tumbling spin.

  “Steady,” Kane murmured.

  A series of pings annoyed the dickens out of her as she attempted to right her craft’s course, the violent impacts from the Denacon weapons impeding her attempts to regain control.

  “I wish they’d bugger off,” she muttered. “Bridge, I’m sorry, I can’t evade their fire. Shuttle five won’t be able to endure much more of this.”

  “Acknowledged,” Kane said. “We’ve managed to achieve an adequate lead on them. Continue to do what you can.”

  A moment later the shuttle exploded and a mild sense of loss flitted through Sarah’s mind.

  “Disengage reflector array,” Kane ordered.

  “Reflector array disengaged,” Tammy responded.

  “Well, that’s that,” Sarah sighed and sank back in her chair. “With a bit of luck we’ll be able to slip away before they realise that wasn’t us. We don’t have any probes to use as alternate decoys and we’ll need the remaining shuttles to evacuate if things go south.”

  “Captain?”

  “Yes, Karln.”

  “There appears to be something odd about the wreckage.”

  “And that is?”

  “There’s not as much as I expected.”

  The cold hand of foreboding clutched Helran’s mind and he eyed his First Officer. “Explain.”

  “The telemetry we received indicated a ship of far greater mass. Also, the biological matter present in the debris seems inappropriate.”

  “Inappropriate?”

  “Yes, Captain, as though it were decayed.”

  Helran narrowed his eyes. So it had been a ruse. Clever. I wonder where the Draken learned that. “Use the probes’ scans to identify any alloy or polymer form within the confines of this solar system. Remove those with a mass less than that of the object just destroyed.”

  He tapped his middle finger in an agitated tattoo on the arm of his chair. The Draken had become more cunning during his time on the planet and as a consequence he’d underestimated him. He ground his teeth together. It wouldn’t happen again.

  “Well?” he demanded.

  “Collating data now, sir,” Karln replied.

  “Is there any evidence of a tachyon dispersion cloud?”

  “No, sir.”

  “So, they haven’t used their time drive. Why is that, do you think?”

  “I can only conclude it is not functional.” Karln stabbed a long finger a few times at his instrument interface. “I believe I have them, Captain.”

  “You are certain?”

  “Yes, sir. I traced a residual communications path from the object we destroyed back to this object.”

  “Send the co-ordinates to navigation. Engines ahead full,” Helran growled. “Engage the sub-space slip.”

  “Sir?” Karln’s horrified objection did not move him. “Within the gravitational influence of the sun?”

  “Do it!”

  They wouldn’t get away from him this time. He would not let another planet fall victim to the Draken.

  “The Umdya’s not as fast as we’d hoped, is she?” Disappointment underlay the fiery determination in Tammy’s voice to not give in.

  “She’s as fast as we’d hoped, but apparently and unfortunately not as fast as the Denacon ship,” Sarah replied.

  “Maybe we’ll loose them in the Oort cloud.”

  “We can only hope.”

  “What if—oh hell!” Tammy gasped. “Defence shielding just went live, repulsive armour engaged.”

  “Everybody brace for impact!” Sarah yelled.

  A massive explosion pummelled her ears and the entire ship lurched sideways. At least she hoped it was the entire ship, if it was just this room they were in serious trouble. She clung to her seat and rode out the violent jostling.

  “Those bastards got here quick,” Tammy muttered disgustedly.

  Sarah ran a hurried scan over the instrument panel. A few sub-system lights blinked a cautionary tale, but nothing major. She patted her console and murmured, “That’s my girl. Don’t let those bullies faze you.”

  “What in Fucanol’s Sacs was that?” Helran roared, climbing back into his captain’s chair after being thrown to the floor by something colliding violently with his ship.

  “The torpedo failed to detonate, Captain and somehow they’ve rigged their shields to repel solid incoming objects in the direction from which they came.”

  They’ve done what? How the—“Defuse the polymetric detonation sensors on the particle torpedoes and transfer to manual.”

  “It won’t be as accurate, Captain.”

  “Do it!”

  Nick hauled himself back to his feet and grabbed the support rail behind the captain’s chair, swearing volubly under his breath.

  “Miss Rasmussen’s shields appear to work remarkably well, Captain,” Kane observed with quiet approval. “I don’t expect they saw that one coming. Their shields had trouble deflecting the energy surge.”

  Nick flicked a glance at his First Officer where he clung to his station like a limpet. Yes, he could—and would—kiss Sarah, from one end of her
to the other.

  “Hail them,” he ordered.

  A moment passed. “No response, Captain. Except for—”

  The ship bucked and slewed sideways. A volley of brutal impacts punched into them. Sparks flew from terminals. Stressed coolant pipes vented air.

  “Damage?”

  “We’re in good order, Captain.”

  Another blast shook the Umdya and rattled his back teeth.

  If you discount being shaken to death. Right now I don’t appreciate Draken’s pacifist beliefs.

  “Bloody hell! This sucks.”

  Sarah quite agreed with Tammy’s assessment as they both held white-knuckled grips on their chairs and rode out another barrage of strikes.

  “We need to do something,” she said.

  “Yeah, but what?”

  For a long moment they stared at each, almost seeing the thoughts in the other’s eyes, then as one their gazes slid to the compartment that housed the collection of salvaged tachyon parts. They looked back at each other.

  “Do you reckon we could—” Sarah began.

  “Rig some of the tachyon drive parts to the main engines and—”

  “Execute a jump through time and space.”

  “Without blowing ourselves up.”

  “Yeah. Especially that last part.”

  Tammy bit her lower lip. “It’s not our best idea.”

  A harsh laugh erupted from Sarah’s chest. “If we weren’t in such dire straits I wouldn’t even give it head room.”

  A strange mix of alarm and daring sparkled in Tammy’s wide eyes. “You know that old astronaut’s saying?”

  “The one that says ‘There is no problem so bad that you can’t make it worse’?”