Aaen was sweating bullets, frantically wiping his face with his sleeve as his hands danced over the pilot control panels with the red alert blaring as the deputy shouted, “HARD TO PORT!” The ambient cabin temperature felt like multiple baking ovens had been preheated to 350 degrees, and the oven doors got left slightly open.
Aaen snapped on the pilot controls, frantically entering course corrections and executing sharp maneuvers with the maneuvering thrusters, “I SEE IT! I SEE IT!” the radiation pocket was so dense it appeared like a giant purple cotton ball in space in the middle of a dense orange expanse. A radiation alert echoed with the red alert. Another sharp maneuver sent the shuttle on an abrupt sharp, wide barrel roll over the purple hazard, and then the shuttle leveled-out.
“Slowing to one-quarter impulse. . .” a dark mass of unfamiliar shape appeared ahead, something wasn’t right.
“What the heck is that?” the deputy asked, looking to his left.
“Commander! Sir!”
“I see it.”
“It’s starting to register on sensors.” the deputy announced, “Radiation levels are causing some interference, but whatever it is—it’s massive!”
“I need more information than that, deputy!” The Commander snapped.
The dark mass was getting larger by the second as the nebula seemingly cleared.
“Commander, you need to see this.”
“It’s—huge!” Aaen felt out of breath at the sight.
“Is it a space station of some kind?” The Commander asked.
“Whatever it is, we’re closing on it quickly! It’s gotta be at least half-a-billion metric tons, according to these readings!”
A sensor alert sounded. “There’s the target!” the deputy pointed on his monitor screen, following the contact along his screen. “It’s going in from the opposite side! It appears to be docking with it!”
“Have we been detected?” The Commander asked.
Aaen skimmed over the readings on the pilot control panel. “Doesn’t look like it!” somehow, there was little comfort from that response, despite the sensor readings in front of him.
“Anywhere we could land, or dock?” The Commander asked the rest of the Force.
Aaen did a navigational scan, and then turned his head, “There’s a docking bay on our port bow.” One among who-knows-how-many! Aaen told himself. “If there’s nobody there, we might be able to get in that way.”
“Are there any life signs in that area of that thing?” The Commander asked the deputy. The deputy did a scan, and then looked up and left. “Nothing’s showing up on sensors. The radiation of this nebula might be interfering, though.”
Before any of the rest of the Force could say another word, The Commander sharply marched to the front of the cabin and stood over Aaen’s right shoulder, leaning forward and putting his weight on his left hand on the back of Aaen’s headrest. “Take us in. One-half-impulse.”
Aaen nodded and carried out the order. He brought the shuttle to port at a slight angle. The closer the shuttle was to the space station—he decided—the more he subconsciously worried about whether or not the shuttle had been detected, or if the pirates were playing some kind of game with them. No, he decided, that’s not like the pirates. If the pirates had detected them, the shuttle would have been obliterated by overwhelming weapon fire.
“Sir, I recommend we cut the Translight engines before we get too much closer to stay invisible on their sensors. We’re two-hundred-thousand kilometers out and closing fast.”
“Do it.”
A sensor alert sounded. The Commander turned sharply to the deputy, who was already turning to say report something to him, “Commander, they’ve got a high-power scan that’s approaching fast! If that beam hits the shuttle’s hull, we’re screwed!”
Aaen shut down the shuttle’s Translight engines in seconds. The faint mechanical hum of the nacelles stopped, as did the subtle vibrations in the deck plating. “We’re running impulse engines and thrusters. . . One-hundred-thousand kilometers. . . Fifty thousand. . . There’s the docking bay. Looks like they either left it open, or they’re waiting for someone to arrive.”
“Maddog?” the deputy asked the rest of the Force.
The Commander sharply interjected, “No way to know right now, deputy. Stay focused on your sensors.” he turned to the front of the cabin. “Aaen, take us in. Set us down in the docking port. Deputy! I want continuous scans for life signs! I want to know the second if they detect us.”
“Got it! Starting scans.”
The docking bay cast such a deep, dark, cold, massive shadow over the hull, Delta Force started silently wondering how many Galaxy-class ships could fit in here. . . That didn’t matter right now, Aaen told himself, setting the shuttle down with a mild thud, and then engaging the docking clamps. The deck rattled slightly as the docking clamps lowered, and then magnetically clung to the bay’s landing deck. A green indicator on the pilot controls gave Aaen something to relay to the rest of the Force.
The Commander looked at the deputy, “Any welcoming party?”
“Negative, sir. There’s a breathable atmosphere in the bay, though it’s a little chilly out there.”
“Alright!” The Commander called to the rest of the Force. “Lock-down the cabin. Everyone form up on me. Let’s finish this.” he added, darkly, raising his rifle and began sharply walking to the off-ramp. Aaen retrieved his rifle and regrouped with the rest of the Force. He was third to the off-loading door. The Commander entered the code into the door’s control panel to open the door. Seconds later, the door lowered and Delta Force stormed into the bay, rifles-up, panning every visible direction around the shuttle. The bay was very dark. The light from the shuttle offered some solace. The Delta’s nodded to each other, signaling none of them saw any pirates in the bay. The Commander gestured for Deltas’ to follow him. They followed in a single-file line deeper into the bay. . . The Commander’s gut told him the same thing Aaen’s gut was telling him. . . Delta Force was getting closer to their target—very close.
After tactfully navigating multiple dark corridors, they could tell the station was clearly on red alert. They narrowly missed multiple groups of heavily armed pirates on security patrols.
After approaching a large storage area, Delta Force could hear the faint echoes of two male speakers; one of which sounded eerily like their target.
Delta Force entered the storage area through a twin metal doorway that remained open despite their proximity. The storage area was mostly lit in the center of the room, though some light was getting into the adjacent short corridor, and just enough light showed them a latter to their right mounted on a wall. The latter led to a catwalk lining the central level of the storage area.
The Commander gestured for them to climb up. They were both quick and discrete.
“. . . I already told you I wasn’t followed.” the spy insisted. “I brought from Voyager what we agreed. Where. Is. My. Payment, Maddog?” he asked sharply.
Twenty seconds later, Deltas were on the catwalk and had formed a firing line aimed at the lit area of the storage area. Shuttles were held several levels overhead; all powered-down.
“I want to see the torpedoes, first, before I pay you. I want to make sure they’re functional. We talked about this: in order for this to work, The Union has to believe someone else attacked them. If that part of the plan doesn’t work, then phase-two is pointless.” Maddog said sharply. He stood at about six feet tall, Caucasian, and he had an angry look on his face. He wore a black beret with strange military-looking insignia on the front, and his garb was much sharper and ostentatious than those ‘minions’ surrounding him and carrying similar rifles as Delta Force.
Delta Force was shocked at the fact the spy was trying to supply torpedo technology to the pirates. This exchange could not be allowed to happen.
“Delta Force,” The Commander whispered on his communicator. “On my mark, stun the perimeter guards. Maddog’s mine,” he said sharply. Aaen noticed in his left peripheral, briefly, that The Commander was aiming a little higher than the rest of the Force.
Delta Force acquired their targets.
“Where are the torpedoes?” Maddog asked directly.
“In a safe place.”
The spy was getting on Maddog’s nerves. “WHERE?” he growled.
The pirate minions formed a larger circle around the two, bringing their rifles up slightly.
“Where I know they will be safe until I get my payment.” the spy replied bluntly, slowly reaching for something on the back of his belt.
“All Delta Force members, standby to fire. When the pirates are down, we move in on the spy, we detain the spy, get back to the shuttle, and then get outta here and back to Voyager and then back to Union space.” no one on Delta Force disagreed with that order. “On-my-mark: five. .four. .three. .”
“Fine. I’ll find them.” Maddog’s tone darkened, “You’re services are no-longer-required—“ he reached for the inside of his left uniform jacket. Aaen started wondering in the back of his mind whether or not their fire would be detected by the pirates, and set off an alarm—
“two—one. Fire!”
Multiple synchronous shots fired from the catwalk. The minions tumbled and crumbled almost like dominoes in a clockwise pattern. The Commander opened fire. The shot struck Maddog nearly squarely in the chest and he collapsed almost straight backward.
An alarm sounded, quickly filling the storage area. “Intruder-alert!” the alarm was a combination of red circular lights and a thundering echo that felt like it reverberated against Delta's sternums. The spy was in shock and looked around in a panic.
“MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!” The Commander shouted.
“Security to Storage bay Charlie, immediately!”
The sound of boots running could be heard through the adjacent corridor.
Delta Force slid down the ladder and snapped to surround the spy while staying mostly in the shadows surrounding the meeting site.
The Commander entered the light and pointed his rifle’s barrel between the spy’s eyes and said, “As Commander of Delta Force, I am hereby placing you under arrest for attempted sales of antimatter weapons to the Orion Pirates, and treason. Deltas! SECURE THE PRISONER!”
In seconds, the spy was surrounded, pummeled, bound at the wrists behind his back, and then abruptly lifted up and forced towards the adjacent corridor. The sound of boots was getting louder by the second. Delta Force began retracing their steps to the shuttle bay as two shots narrowly missed grazing the top of Aaen’s head, and The Commander.
“COVER!” Aaen commanded to the rest of the Force as they ducked and snapped, marching backward and returning fire.
Two pirates dropped to the deck in jagged stunned spasms as a small crowd of pirates continued rushing toward Delta Force. Aaen focused on keeping his head down and keeping his rifle pressed against the spy’s left ribcage to keep the spy from considering slowing them down.
Delta Force picked up their pace. After two minutes, and repeat close-call firefights, the shuttle was just ahead in the hangar bay. The hangar lights were activating, and the numerous shuttles hanging overhead were showing signs that they were being prepared to launch. Delta Force realized they didn’t have much time, and wouldn’t last ten seconds from the additional forces that were rushing into the hangar from the six or seven catwalks overhead. . . Aaen gasped at the size of the hangar, and the volume of shuttles and other spacecraft dropping from the ceiling.
The Commander opened the hatch to the shuttle; Delta force rushed inside. The Commander forcefully shoved the spy into a penal containment area behind the cabin and held his rifle to the spy’s face as he activated the hard metal seat’s restraints. The spy wasn’t going anywhere now. The Commander grinned, turning for the cabin. “Aaen, GET US OUTTA HERE!”
“Yes, sir! Deputy! I need shields up, NOW!”
Aaen was fast on the controls. Particle weapon fire began to rain from overhead. Several shots sparked against the hull, and the station’s bay’s deck plating. In seconds, the shuttle’s docking clamps rose into their compartments into the ventral hull, then Aaen fired the thrusters and the shuttle lifted off and speed forward on impulse.
“That station’s weapon systems are powering up! They’re looking for us and trying to get a weapon lock!” the deputy declared.
“Evasive maneuvers!” The Commander ordered. “Get us back to Voyager.”
“Aye! Accelerating to maximum impulse!”
“Shields are up and at full strength!” the deputy declared.
“Radiation pockets ahead!” said another Delta.
“I see them!” Aaen acknowledged. He ignored the navigational recommendations on the shuttle’s small monitor between the pilot seats and instead recalled their prior flight path and began retracing their steps.
“Incoming fighters, coming in hard-aft, they’re gaining on us and their weapons are hot! There’s gotta be at least fifty fighters following us! And more are coming! E-T-A: One minute! They’ll be in weapons range in forty-five seconds, Aaen!”
“Got it!” Aaen had to maneuver more sharply than before as multiple radiation pockets had shifted since they first passed through this area of the nebula. The radiation and red alert alarms were baring. Aaen’s arms, face, and the back of his neck started to tingle sharply from the shuttle’s dangerously close proximity to the hazards. Thirty seconds later, three pirate cruisers, another smaller hull with Union markings and burning hull breaches became visible. . . and then Voyager.
“There she is!” Aaen declared, pointing out the ship for a moment.
“Take us in! Standby to dock!” The Commander ordered.
Static filled the cabin speakers, “. . .ello? Commander, do you. .ead me? Come in!”
The Commander opened a channel, “Go ahead!”
“This is the captain! We’ve taken over main engineering and we have locked down the docking ports. We’ve been able to restore up to 25% shield strength, which the chief engineer thinks will be just enough to prevent more pirates from beaming aboard. We’ve locked out the bridge from being able to access the main computer. We have been able to incapacitate the pirates and free crew members on the lower decks. We see you on short-range sensors. The shuttle bay’s open and you are clear to dock. The pirates are putting up a fight on deck two.” Rifle fire could be heard over the communication channel on The Commander’s communicator. “We can’t get through their security blockades to get to the bridge!”
“We’ll be there shortly, captain. Hold what you have. Delta Commander. Out.” he tapped his comm. badge, closing the line.
“The pirate ships’ are powering their weapon systems, Commander!”
“We’re docking!” Aaen declared, bringing the shuttle below the starboard nacelle pylon, up, and then straight through the faint blue shuttle bay atmosphere containment field. Pirates in the shuttle bay began opening fire on the shuttle. Aaen used the thrusters to ease the shuttle toward the bay floor as the Pirates’ fire shined the shields on impact.
“Shields are holding! Lowering shields for docking!”
The hull set down with a thud. The floor vibrating slightly with each particle bolt impact on the hull. “Docking clamps engaged!” Aaen emphatically declared, retrieving his rifle.
“LET’S GO!” The Commander ordered. Deck two was only one or two decks up from the shuttle bay. The Commander opened the door and snapped as a shot nearly struck him in the chest. He snapped and returned fire, the bolt struck the target on the upper level in the shoulder, sending them flying backward against a wall to land jaggedly and unconscious.
“GO!” The Commander ordered as Delta Force rushed into the shuttle bay, snapping and returning fire. Everyone was missing their target. The Commander Pulled another object from the front of his jacket, activated it, and then sharply flung it in the air. “EYES DOWN! EYES DOWN!” he shouted. Delta Force closed their eyes and ducked as a blinding explosion thundered through the shuttle bay. The sound of bodies collapsing throughout the shuttle bay filled the air.
“GO! GO! GO!” The Commander ordered, running to the shuttle bay entrance. The doors parted promptly. Deltas scrambled into the adjacent corridor with rifles-up. Six pirates were shot and collapsed against the walls as Delta Force sprinted through a series of Jeffries tubes throughout the bowels of the ship, emerging in-turn through an engineering access port. The Commander snapped left and fired two shots. Two less pirates to have to worry about for the moment. The Deltas took a knee and looked around, hearing weapon fire and metallic explosions. The rest of the bridge crew was trapped in decontamination. Deltas snapped, following The Commander, leaning against the adjacent wall to deck two as they approached the grouping armed officers dodging particle weapon fire from around the corner.
“Glad you guys could make it!” the captain said with a breath of relief. “We’ve set up a small barricade, but there are just too many of them!”
“There’s like. .twelve of them on deck two!” a male officer wearing a uniform with yellow shoulders added.
The Commander grabbed what Aaen assumed to be the last handheld explosive from the front of his jacket and activated it, then stepped away from cover and sharply tossed the explosive around the corner. The explosive ricocheted off the far wall and then bounced with several dings on the floor of deck two.
BANG.
Weapons fire was replaced by yelling.
“They’re blind! GO! GO! GO!” The Commander yelled.
The bridge crew members rushed down the staircase, shooting the pirates on their way down. Aaen was in the back of the line.
A shot came from the top of the spiral staircase, striking the first officer in the leg. The first officer collapsed as the deck two doctor yelled, “Officer down!”
Aaen and the deputy dragged the first officer into sickbay and then onto one of six bunks. The doctor began performing triage while Aaen collected the first officer’s rifle and returned to the fighting.
Particle fire was cautiously fired at the top of the staircase. Aaen had taken cover under a bunk below the staircase while the rest of the crew was taking cover throughout the galley. Aaen slowly crawled toward the staircase, stood up, and then tried to see past the top of the stairs. A pirate stood from cover and fired a shot straight down. As Aaen snapped, a bolt grazed his right shoulder. The graze burned and Aaen fell backward, firing a shot. The shot hit the pirate’s left shoulder, just above the heart. The pirate’s torso flung backward as it collapsed.
“ONE DOWN! WATCH IT, PEOPLE!” a female voice barked from the bridge. Aaen guessed she was somewhere near the bridge engineer’s computer station.
“Deltas! Crew! WE CAN’T STAY DOWN HERE FOREVER!” The Commander whispered.
“I say was just rush them!” Aaen replied.
“We’ll get shot if we do!” the ambassador added.
“We’ll get shot if we don’t!”
“I agree with Aaen!” the captain interjected.
“On your command, captain,” Aaen said directly.
“Everyone gather around Aaen!” the captain commanded. In seconds, a crouched crowd formed around him.
“GO!” the captain ordered.
Aaen rushed up the staircase rifle-up. Five seconds later, Aaen was the top of the staircase and aimed across the bridge a black helmet. Aaen rushed forward in a tactical stance and fired. A shot from his right struck the wall behind him as the pirate Aaen was aiming at broke from cover and tried to take aim. Aaen fired as the pirate’s rifle bolt barely missed the right side of Aaen’s head. The pirate collapsed, crumbling head-first down the staircase to the brig. The deputy followed Aaen and laid down covering fire, hitting the pirate on Aaen’s right. Aaen ducked and snapped for cover.
A third pirate broke from cover at the front of the bridge and fired. Another male crew member crumbled unconscious at the top of the staircase as The Commander rushed the shooter, grabbed their rifle, forced it away from him, then drew his sidearm, pointed at the pirates gut and fired. The pirate recoiled and collapsed.
The rest of the bridge crew rushed through the remaining areas of the bridge, checking high and low for any other intruders.
“Clear!” resounded from every area of the bridge. The captain was the last to the bridge, quickly taking back their chair.
“Main computer! Unlock bridge computer stations and restore bridge control functions—“ the captain stated their command authorization codes. Seconds later, the computer chimed acknowledgment as the computer stations returned to normal.
The bridge crew members that weren’t stunned resumed their stations as the viewscreen showed the three pirate ships bearing down on Voyager.
“Get these pirates to the brig!” The Commander ordered. All but Aaen and the deputy immediately carried out this order.
A sensor alert sounded. “Captain! The Orion ships are powering their weapons! They’re targeting us!”
Red alert sounded. The bridge lights turned red. “Shields to full power! Arm weapons! Get a tractor beam on Freedom!”
“Aye! Tractor beam locked on!”
The tactical screens changed with each development.
“Come hard about! Get us outta here, helm!”
“Aye!”
The hull shuddered. The crew braced in place. “Shields are holding!” said right-wing, “but they’re packing a lot of heavy weapons on those ships! If they all start firing—“ another shudder; then another, “the shield’s won’t hold!”
“Reverse course out of here! Take us back through the bottleneck! Tactical! Lock weapons on target!”
“Cannons charged!. . Torpedoes loaded! Weapons locked-on!”
“FIRE!”
The main viewscreen lit up with red directed lightning and bright glowing projectile flurries.
The hull shuddered several more times; the bridge lights sputtered and dimmed erratically.
“Urgh! Shields are down to twelve percent!”
“We need more speed!” the chief engineer yelled over the speakers in a panic.
“How fast can we go?” the captain asked, climbing back into the center seat.
“I can do Translight three! But those gravitational eddies from the black hole could tear us apart!” said right-wing.
There was no time to think—“DO IT!” the captain commanded.
Seconds later, the stars became brisk streaks of light. “. . .Shoot! They’re in pursuit!”
Multiple alarms roared throughout the ship, and a new meter on the tactical screen showed the hull stress was climbing—fast!
The main computer droned a warning about the hull stress. The captain snapped, “Right-wing!”
“Compensating with thrusters!”
Voyager and Freedom were passing over the top of the edge of the event horizon. The pirates were closing in. Fireball-like icons shot from the three pirate ships. Most of the torpedoes were sucked into the black hole, two hit the Freedom, the other two struck the aft section of Voyager’s shielding; the first torpedo lit the shields up violently; the second torpedo moved more slowly, striking the hull connecting the saucer section and the stardrive section, narrowly missing the primary impulse drive.
The hull rocked violently as shards of jagged metallic debris flung into space. The hull tilted slightly to starboard. The metallic debris drifted sharply to starboard.
“Hull integrity down to sixty percent! Another impact like that and the ship might blow apart!” declared the sensors officer.
“More speed!”
“Not enough power!”
“Engineering to bridge! The Translight core’s stress is climbing rapidly! I can’t give you more power until we clear the black hole’s event horizon!”
“Acknowledged!” the captain replied, “Evasive maneuvers!”
“Aye!”
“—We’ll clear the bottleneck in ten seconds!”
GREAT! Aaen thought, taking a brief sigh of relief. Numerous other bridge crew members did the same.
“I can give you Translight nine as soon as soon as we’re clear!”
“As-SOON-AS-WE’RE CLEAR!” the captain commanded.
“ACKNOWLEDGED!”
“We’re almost out of this!” declared the sensors officer.
“If we can get to Translight nine as soon as we clear the bottleneck, we’ll be in Union space in ten minutes!”
The icons on the tactical screen were inching closer and closer to the raging edge of the black hole; the radiation levels rapidly climbed as Voyager and Freedom neared the nebula.
“The pirates are gaining on us! They’ll be in weapons range in less than fifteen seconds!” Right-wing declared, struggling to stay upright amid the violent gravitational turbulence.
“. . .CLEAR!”
“TRANSLIGHT NINE! NOW!”
“Speed increase: translight-factor-nine. All hands, brace for translight speed. Translight engines have been activated.” the main computer droned.
“INCOMING WEAPON FIRE FROM THE PIRATE SHIPS!”
In seconds, the stars passed over the viewscreen faster and sharper; the turbulence increased proportionately.
“E-T-A to Union space?” the captain shouted over the raging alarms.
The Right-wing sensor officer was struggling to stay upright as they glared while reading the data on their screen, “. . .Eight—minutes!”
Aaen snapped turning to left-wing tactical. “Aft torpedoes!” Aaen shouted.
“Enemy weapons will impact in ten seconds! We-have-NO-AFT-SHIELDS, CAPTAIN!. .A FULL SPREAD OF TORPEDOES ARMED AND LOADED IN THE AFT LAUNCHER!”
“FIVE-SECONDS TO IMPACT!”
“—FIRE ALL!”
Five nearly blindingly bright red fiery darts shot almost at their targets. In what seemed like an instant, a series of massive, blinding flaming shockwaves appeared in the center of the viewscreen.
“ENEMY WEAPONS DESTROYED! THEY’RE ARMING FOR ANOTHER LAUNCH! WE’RE STILL JUST INSIDE THEIR WEAPON RANGE!”
“CAN WE GO FASTER?”
“WE CAN IF I DIVERT CANNON POWER TO THE TRANSLIGHT ENGINES! BUT WE’VE LEAKED A LOT OF TRANSLIGHT ENGINE COOLANT! WE WON’T BE ABLE TO SUSTAIN MAXIMUM TRANSLIGHT FOR MORE THAN A MINUTE!—MAYBE TWO!”
“DO IT!”
Seconds later, the Right-wing speed control officer looked sharply at the command platform. “READY!”
”MAXIMUM TRANSLIGHT!”
“. . .Warning: speed increase to translight nine-point-nine-nine-seven-five. This velocity is not recommended due to translight core stress increase. Recommend sl—“ the main computer droned as the captain interjected—
“COMPUTER! DISREGARD WARNING!”
The computer acknowledged the order with a brief series of chirping sounds.
“WE’LL BE IN UNION SPACE IN THREE MINUTES AT THIS SPEED!”
“LONG-RANGE! SIGNAL THE FLEET TO MEET US AT THE BORDER! SEND THEM OUR PROJECTED COORDINATES!”
“AYE!”
The sensor officer scanned for the information, wrote it down on a PADD, and then virtually tossed it to the long-range communications officer who snapped to send it to Spacefleet Command.
“THE PIRATES ARE FIRING!”
“WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO OUT-RUN THE TORPEDOES!—“
“NO! THEY’RE TARGETING THE FREEDOM!” the rest of the bridge crew snapped in surprise at this announcement. “WE’RE NO LONGER IN THE PIRATES’ WEAPONS RANGE!”
“ONE-MINUTE TO UNION SPACE!”
“Warning: hull stress reaching maximum tolerance. Recommend slowing to cruising speed.”
“COMPUTER! DISCONTINUE FURTHER AUDIO WARNINGS ABOUT THE TRANSLIGHT CORE AND HULL STRESS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!”
“Understood.” the computer replied with more brief chirping sounds.
A sensor alert sounded. “WE’RE APPROACHING THE UNION BORDER!. . . DETECTING MULTIPLE SHIPS CONVERGING ON OUR PROJECTED FLIGHT PATH! THEY’RE OURS!”
Another alarm sounded. “CAPTAIN! I HAVE TO SHUT THE TRANSLIGHT ENGINES DOWN OR WE’LL BLOW UP IN TWENTY SECONDS!”
“MORE SHIPS ARE COMING IN! THEY’RE PIRATES!”
“OKAY! SLOW TO FULL IMPULSE!”
“Crossing the border INTO-UNION-SPACE in ten seconds!”
The stars became still as a large grouping of ships appeared in the distance on the viewscreen. The crew felt gradually pulled forward as artificial gravity adjusted for the change in their velocity.
“The pirates are still in pursuit!”
The fleet, whose ships were comparable in size to Voyager, quickly accelerated toward Voyager, quickly passing with break-neck speed.
“The lead ship is signaling us to maintain our position!”
“All-stop!”
The fleet became visible aft, approaching five or six darkly-colored ships approaching rapidly, Aaen guessed. The fleet seemingly disbursed, adjusting their formation as they exchanged cannon and torpedo fire with the pirate ships for several minutes. The pirate ships’ weapon fire visibly rocked the hull of five of the ships in the fleet; their shields shined on the impact of the incoming weapons. The fleet abruptly returned fire. One of the larger pirate ships, likely a cruiser, Aaen guessed, was struck on a pylon by a cannon beam and explosively lost its starboard translight nacelle; a rapidly following full spread of five torpedoes pummeled its hull. The cruiser drifted away as its external lights flickered erratically.
“The pirates crossed into Union space,”
“Left-wing, standby weapons,” the captain commanded.
“All weapons standing by,”
The remaining pirate ships took heavy damage in seconds, quickly returning fire. The shields of two ships of the fleet blinked out as two, three torpedo flurries struck their hulls. The ships slowed with burning hull breaches on the dorsal side of their saucer section and continued firing cannon at the remaining targets.
“Fire!”
Five red darts shot into space in a near-straight line toward their targets.
After multiple explosive weapon impacts, another sensor alert sounded, “The pirates are changing course!. .They’ve lost translight capability, their shields, and their life support systems are fluctuating. They’re limping away on impulse back to the Orion Triangle!”
The bridge crew cheered with closed fists thrown into the air, exchanging double-handed high-fives.
“Main computer! Stand-down red alert!”
After more chirping sounds, the bridge lights turned white.
“The pirate ships have left Union space!” announced left wing.
The long-range communication officer’s screen flashed thrice. The officer quickly scanned the data and turned to face the rest of the bridge, “The fleet is signaling all-clear!”
“The pirate ships are no longer in sensor range! They’re gone!”
“Think they’ll make it back to the Triangle?” Aaen asked the rest of the bridge crew.
“Count on it!” the bridge engineer replied almost without missing a beat.
“Signal the fleet: thank them for their assistance, long-range.” The captain turned to Right-wing. “Set a course for starbase one. . . .” the captain took a breath and then ordered, “Full impulse.”
In about an hour, Voyager would dock comfortably in its docking bay. The crew would offload for debriefing by someone whose uniform had gold shoulder boards, the pirates would undoubtedly be arrested and sent to some secretive military base somewhere. The crew undoubtedly would be sent home for a little shore leave before receiving their next assignments. Aaen wondered if maybe some or all of the crew would be promoted after this mission? That much was anyone’s guess, he told himself. That, and the entire crew were all undoubtedly really hopeful for a promotion. Aaen’s thoughts shifted slightly: there was no telling where The Commander and Delta Force would be assigned next, though he questioned whether or not anyone on this ship would be in the know, or even continue to be a part of Delta Force after Voyager docked. Would that really matter? Aaen asked himself. . . He quickly dismissed that curiosity. He had gut feeling—a good one, this time—that something very different was coming. This feeling quickly and gradually followed with a feeling of eagerness to find out what might be coming next.
As Starbase one became visible in the main viewscreen, the docking bay doors opened as Voyager entered the docking bay. The docking procedures were completed promptly. The crew offloaded, still exchanging celebratory gestures. . . Aaen and the rest of the crew were glad to be back. Even so, as Aaen returned home on a transport shuttle, something told him he should especially look forward to his next assignment.
*****
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