October 10, 2019

Dark Echoes - Part 14

Confirmed! Target at two-clock-high, at a distance of one-thousand-kilometers!” Jones declared sharply, wide-eyed, pointing at the sensor icon.
Aaen faced the front of the bridge, “Lock torpedoes!”
Sandberg abruptly carried out the order, then roared, “TARGET ACQUIRED!” He hovered over the “FIRE” command button.
Fire torpedoes two and three!” Smith commanded.
AYE! TORPEDOES AWAY!” The torpedo launch alarm flooded through the bridge as Sandberg watched the warheads soar at the target in a nearly straight line.
“Evasive!” Smith commanded Wilson.
Aye, executing emergency evasive maneuver ‘Alpha-Two-One’!” Wilson declared.
Two seconds later, Sandberg turned left, pumped his fist sharply and declared, “IMPACT! Target’s defensive matrix, tractor beam, and Translight drive are down!”
The crew cheered.
“They’re still coming around!” Jones added sharply.
Another loud alarm sounded. Jones turned left and shouted, “INCOMING HIGH-YIELD WARHEADS from HARD STARBOARD! Bogey’s inbound!” The red triangular icon was drawing closer by the second, and its speed was increasing. “IMPACT IN FIVE SECONDS!”
The alarm sounded again, this time twice as fast, “ANOTHER BOGEY’S FIRED! INCOMING FROM PORT!”
Wilson!” Aaen commanded. Wilson understood the order and nodded sharply.
I’M ON IT!” He executed another series of sharp maneuvers.
We’re running out of main power! I’m going to have to switch us to secondary backup systems in five minutes if we keep this up!” Connors sharply declared to Smith.
Understood!” Smith turned to Aaen.
Two torpedoes have been dodged—there’s still one incoming!” Jones shouted.  Wilson clenched his jaws and growled under his breath, frantically maneuvering as sharply as thrusters would allow.
A thundering explosion knocked Odyssey on a sharp roll to port. The crew was thrown across the bridge in a violent stroke. The bridge lights flickered sharply, gradually dimming to near pitch-darkness. For ten seconds, the crew got their bearings and scaled back to their seats as the internal lights struggled to stay on. Wilson fired the starboard roll thrusters for nearly a full minute to bring Odyssey out of the rolling spin.
Connors lifted her hair back over her head as she examined her screen, looking at the tow, then biting her lower lip out of frustration. “Commander!. .We just lost the tow. The Valiant’s adrift. We’ve also lost our Translight drive,” she gasped out of frustration and fatigue.
“We’ve only got half of sublight capability, Captain,” Wilson reported.
“Main power’s struggling. We’ve got three minutes left before I have to switch to secondary backup power systems,” Connors interjected.
Aaen frustratingly gasped, “Understood,” Jones noted the smaller bogeys were hovering around the Valiant like a hawk getting ready to go for the kill on a mouse.
A sensor alert sounded. Smith looked at Jones as she declared, “Detecting a large anomaly at extreme-long-range, closing fast! The anomaly’s energy signature is distinctly different than the other two sensor contacts. . . The anomaly’s getting closer!” Jones declared.
“Could be a ship,” Smith suggested to Aaen. Aaen looked at Wilson and gave his next order, “Continue evasive maneuvers,” he turned around, “Connors, put everything we’ve got left into the stealth system,”
She nodded acknowledgment.
Jones noted new short-range sensor data: local space is somehow being distorted as the anomaly rapidly enters the area. The anomaly stopped three hundred meters above and five-hundred-thousand kilometers away from Odyssey’s port bow.
The front of the bridge filled with gasps of shock and expressions of terrified awe. Jones leaned back to see the large anomaly: it’s the massive 'mother ship' Odyssey encountered before! The 'mother ship' is actively scanning for Odyssey. The scan’s reverberating static hums flooded the bridge. The entire crew got goosebumps.
Connors noted the stealth field is struggling to hide Odyssey.
Another alarm, this time from Connor’s station. She abruptly declared, “The stealth field is failing on the aft quarter!”
“That mother ship is towing-in the Valiant!” Jones announced.
The crew members on the front of the bridge watched the Valiant consumed by the mother ship through a docking port on its ventral-forward quarter, like a massive stingray opening its mouth to ingest its prey.
Commander!” Connors called.
Smith approached her station, “What is it?” he asked directly.
“I’ve managed to break into that mother ship's central computer mainframe and access its classified command code database. I’ve downloaded the mother ships remote command override codes.”
Sandberg turned in his seat, “Captain, I suggest sending a few high-yield torpedo warheads aboard the mother ship and one of the smaller ships. We still have enough power to remotely detonate them if we wanted to. I think we could disable the larger ship and one of the smaller ships.”
Aaen looked at Smith. He nodded agreement.
Do it,” Aaen commanded sharply.
Connors worked on decoding the classified command codes. Wilson armed the high-yield torpedoes. Low mechanical grumbles filled the bridge for three seconds as the torpedoes were loaded in the queue.
“The distorted space is affecting the main power grids on our ship and the other three ships,” Jones reported. Aaen recognized this effect as familiar.
“Commander, I suggest we hack into the larger ship's main computer and ordering the ship to be shut down so we can recover the Valiant,” Connors said.
“I agree, sir,” Smith affirmed to Aaen.
Aaen nodded at Smith.
Whatever we do, we need to do it quickly!” Jones said, “With the weakened stealth field grid, they’re focusing their scans in our direction!”
“Adjusting power levels to compensate! Should by us a minute or so!” Connors said.
It’s working!” Jones announced. But for how long?
“The torpedoes are armed and programmed!” Sandberg declared.
We-need-to hurry!” Jones said.
Connors noted Odyssey’s stealth system is still struggling because of hull damage sustained.
Jones observed the smaller ships are now gradually bearing down on Odyssey.
We’re in!” Connors declared.
“Deploy torpedoes!” Aaen commanded. “Torpedo detonations at Jones’ command!”
“Aye!” Connors acknowledged. She phased the torpedoes to their destinations, then sent the main power shutdown command to the larger ship. Sandberg hovered over the remote detonation command.
Jones watched the sensor data for the larger ship: it was already beginning to shut down. Its external lights flickered into darkness.
NOW!”
Sandberg detonated the torpedoes. The crew watched multiple violent fireballs shoot from the second smaller ship as the targeted smaller ship drifted of its ‘x’ and ‘y’ axis’. The bridge crew cheered at the sight.
“The smaller ship is crippled beyond recovery! I’m detecting escape pods launching from it! Moderate damage to the larger ship!” Jones announced. The crew continued cheering. “the larger ship is adrift! I’ve located the Valiant! We’re gonna have to get a lot closer if we’re going to have a chance to recover it!”
With that, Aaen snapped, “Wilson, take us to extreme-close-range of the mother ship.”
He nodded acknowledgment.
“Connors, standby to remotely jettison the Valiant into space so we can recover it. Wilson, standby to take the ship to the best possible speed.”
“I doubt we’re going to have enough power for that, Captain!” Connors said directly. “We’ve got sixty seconds of main power left. I’ve started the secondary power backup system startup sequence so power to the ship isn’t interrupted,”
“Very good,” Aaen said.
But how long will we last on secondary backup power? Connors wondered in silence, her heart nearly beat out of her chest with anxiety as she watched the main power gauge continue to decline. 

*****

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