Countdown, John Walker [online e book reader txt] 📗

on a suicide run. If they only had one or two ships to contend with, maybe it would’ve been an option. It doesn’t matter, they’re desperate which often leads to poor decisions.

As the enemy capital ships started to move, Wilmarth gave the order to press them hard. That required all the Gold Empire ships to advance, to keep after them with maximum aggression. It was a dangerous game in Sasha’s opinion, but scans didn’t show any other enemy ships in the area. Which meant it might not matter.

The Broken Light lurched as they engaged full throttle. Sasha grabbed his seat to steady himself. “What the hell was that?”

“Front thrusters engaged at the same time,” Marston replied. “Seems to be a minor short up there. Probably came about when they got that thing off the ship and moved it down to the lab.” He sighed. “Engineering’s working on it, but the others are going to pull ahead of us for sure.”

“Okay.” Sasha contacted Wilmarth. “We’ve got a problem. We’ll be taking up the rear, I’m afraid, but it’ll be fixed as soon as possible.”

“Understood,” Wilmarth replied. “We’ll close ranks and take care of it. Thanks, Sasha. Good luck.”

At least he understands the dilemma. Sasha checked on the other ships in their force. The destroyers nearly reached their destination, but the fighters had their work cut out for them in the meantime. They were in a serious brawl with the enemy, a big enough fight that he didn’t know how they were holding their own. They’re badasses, that’s how.

Meanwhile, the Confed ships were moving about, essentially forcing the ervas ships to move a lot in order to keep them in range of their heavier weapons. Two of the remaining battleships faced the Gold Empire while the other took potshots at their other opponents. But it was a losing battle…one that would be over soon.

“Sir,” Daisy said, “we’ve got a strange reading from the satellites. The fighters are just about there but this power surge…it’s something else. I don’t know what to make of it.”

“Get that question out to the other tech officers,” Sasha replied, “make it fast.”

And here’s their trick. But how do we defend against something we don’t know anything about? Sasha tapped the comm to the research lab where their ervas guest remained with Harcourt. “I don’t recall your name, but we have a problem. The satellites are building up a massive power surge. What are they doing?”

“Oh dear,” Harcourt said. “Trenik? Any idea?”

“They are focusing their power to perform a beam attack,” Trenik replied. “I’ve never seen it operated in my lifetime but it’s an old system… and supposedly a potent one. I do not know if it will be able to reach us from here. I will perform a scan from my station and inform you momentarily.”

“Don’t you think that’s information you should’ve provided before the attack?” Sasha barked the question. “Jesus Christ, they would’ve been a bigger priority! Get us that data right now!” He muted the line, turning to Daisy. “That answers the question.” He reached out through the tactical comm to all other ships. “Evasive maneuvers! Now!”

“What is it?” Wilmarth asked, “what’s the matter?”

“Those satellites are about to launch an attack… and it might be particularly deadly.”

“How are we just learning about this now?” Wilmarth demanded. “Never mind. We’re moving.”

The order went out to all ships. The Broken Light climbed, using the bottom maneuvering thrusters since the front and back continued to compete. The various beams connected all the satellites as if charging them up before ten beams launched out toward the approaching fleet.

The Broken Light pulled well above the attack, but the others hadn’t been as quick to respond. At least one of the Gold Empire battleships took a direct hit, slicing through it as if it were no more than a floating chunk of rock. Sasha held his breath as the ship continued to move upward, much faster than the artificial gravity could keep up with.

Holy shit! We never do this! He hoped the Broken Light could survive the stress. They slowed, coming to a halt to look down on the carnage spread out over the field of operation. “Oh my God… ” Sasha clenched his fists. “Damage report… and find out how long it will take before they can do that again.”

I hope our pilots realize what just happened. They just became the only chance we’ve got of surviving this let alone winning. Get on it, people and make it fast. For the sake of everything, you gotta pull this off.

Chapter 12

Noah saw the flash of light come from well above them; some kind of beam attack bright enough to illuminate the entire bridge. It didn’t last long, maybe five seconds but when it was done, the comm lit up. Alarms blared all around them, messages requiring attention regarding other members of the fleet.

“What the hell was that?” Nina asked. “An attack?”

“The satellites,” Dorian replied. “Just a second before they went off, we got an order from the Gold Empire to perform evasive maneuvers. Lucky for us, we were already out of range. There’s no way they gave us enough time to get out of there.”

“They had no way of knowing,” Mac said. “However, I have analyzed the attack and can give you an accurate time frame before they will use the weapon again. We have six minutes. When that time runs out, they will charge again, and ten more beams will cut through us. The range is extraordinary, and our shields will not defend us against it.”

“Okay then…” Noah narrowed his eyes. “Can they aim them? Are we in jeopardy here?”

“They do have maneuvering thrusters,” Mac said, “and those ten are merely the ones in range. There are additional satellites. The good news is once the pilots start taking them out, they