Dark Echoes - Part 8

Hayes closed the comm channel with a subtle signal from Smith. Odyssey’s crew pressed against their computer stations to stay upright as the hull shuddered around them.

“Commander Wilson, see what you can do to maneuver us out of that thing’s grasp!” Smith Commanded.

“Hull stress is climbing rapidly! If we don’t do something fast, the dorsal hull’s gonna buckle!” Jones shouted.

“Confirmed!” Connors added with a shocked look. “Cannons are offline!”

Aaen turned around in his chair at Sandberg, noting the look on Jones’ face, “Standby torpedoes! Lock onto that towing cable!”

Sandberg already had the torpedo queue open and armed a full spread. The towing cable was HUGE! He noted.

Odyssey swerved sharply from starboard to port, back and forth, but the data on Wilson’s screen didn’t change. He couldn’t help but stare at a large red warning pop-up that made his stomach churn and his spine tingle with a cold chill, “I can’t break us free!” he declared disappointingly at the top of his lungs.

The layers of hull and circuitry overhead were crackling and groaning under the incredible and increasing pressure from the four docking cable claws; their physical impression was becoming more pronounced by the second! The bridge crew noticed.

“TARGET ACQUIRED!” Sandburg shouted over the increasingly loud metallic groaning sound filling the bridge, his hand hovering over the command to fire the high-explosive volley.

Aaen struggled back into his seat against the force of inertia—realizing some of the inertia cancellers had been compromised! “FIRE!”

“TORPEDOES AWAY!”

Another alarm sounded with red alert as six nearly blindingly bright white torpedoes fired in perfect duet sequence from their respective silos, finding their targets with near-lightning speed and precision and detonating instantly on impact. The viewscreen whited out as the crew looked forward from under their arm. Aaen looked slightly left, “EMERGENCY EVASIVE! GET US OUTTA HERE, COMMANDER!” the tow separated violently as the fiery spherical explosion was still expanding. He realized Sandberg put the torpedoes on high-yield!

“AYE!” Odyssey swerved hard and sharply, if not unsteady, to port like a car skidding around a wide corner in a Hollywood action movie as Wilson slammed the command for maximum translight. The stars blurred sharply out of sight in seconds.

“Are they following us?” Aaen asked Jones.

Let’s hope not, Smith silently agreed, gasping to catch his breath as he pushed himself upright against his station.

“AFFIRMATIVE!” Jones declared in a panic, also trying to catch her breath. “AND GAINING RAPIDLY FROM OUR SEVEN AND FIVE O’CLOCK, HARD AFT!”

Aaen looked over his shoulder, “ANYWHERE NEARBY WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO LOSE ‘EM?”

“I’M LOOKING!” She looked at the passive sensor data pouring onto her screen and realized she was going to have to work fast.

Another alarm sounded. Sandberg sat upright with a shocked look on his face at what he was seeing on his screen, “THE TWO SMALLER SHIPS ARE IN PURSUIT! THEY’RE TRYING TO ESTABLISH A WEAPONS LOCK ON US!”

“CONTINUE EVASIVE MANEUVERS!” Aaen commanded forward. Jones conducted a scan with both short and long-range sensors . . . THERE! She thought, pointing to her screen.

*****

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