Dark Echoes - Part 21

Four bright white torpedo warheads shot from the torpedo launchers simultaneously in sequence, exploding onto the dreadnought’s port-ventral hull with surgical precision as Wilson adjusted the helm controls to veer Odyssey to port, rolling slightly and quickly accelerating the ship to full sublight. Multiple directed bolts of lightning narrowly missed scathing Odyssey’s hull as Sandberg selected new targets on the dreadnought.

“The Valiant is coming along their starboard quarter hard on an attack run!” Jones declared.

Smith nodded, “Hold our course, Helm! Sandberg: maintain firing pattern! Find a way to get through their defensive grid!”

“Aye!” The target is a dreadnought! Sandberg thought, amid a hull shudder.

“DANG close call!” Jones declared sharply. “They’re trying to get a weapon lock through the stealth field!”

“Wilson, keep the ship steady!” Smith commanded amid a flurry of precise evasive maneuvers already underway.

“Trying! Keep the stealth system online, Connors!”

“You got it!” Easier said than done. Even a near-miss made the power levels jump around on her screen—it was like sitting in your car, feeling the jolt of a stiff breeze from a lane full of fast cars passing by on a busy road, except the dashboard readings seemingly randomized with each jolt. Connors had to adjust the power settings with each jolt.

Wilson started a barrel roll over the target’s dorsal hull as Sandberg fired another overpowered volley of pulsating particle fire—each bolt pummeled its target with unmistakable precision, the impact from the explosions caused the bridge to shudder sharply. The crew braced for stability; Sandberg immediately reloaded for another volley and fired. Odyssey only had a few more torpedoes left—the tactical scans of the target suggested the damage to its defensive matrix were optimistically infinitesimal. Worse, its defensive matrix was regenerating rapidly. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and recharged the weapons amid another sharp series of evasive maneuvers. The Valiant had fired a thundering, booming volley of torpedoes and particle fire along the dreadnought’s bow, barrel-rolling under the target’s ventral side.

What’s it gonna take? Sandberg asked himself doubtfully, but kept to himself, bracing against another abrupt hull shudder. Another close call. This one was twice as close as before.

Jones announced the Valiant took a direct hit to their dorsal matrix by three directed lightning bolts. The impact lit up Valiant’s dorsal shield matrix so brightly the effect was like reflecting sunlight off a small mirror from a distance on a clear day—Valiant was knocked off course; their helmsman was already working on correcting for the impact. Lucky shot, Sandberg thought sharply, clenching his jaws in revenge as Odyssey came about abruptly, the target was quickly centered in the viewscreen, firing another particle volley—the target’s dorsal defensive matrix flickered abruptly—quickly followed by another four-warhead volley. . . He wiped his forehead again, realizing they only had one more volley left.

The hull shuddered multiple times in rapid succession as the viewscreen strobed with the blinding flares of countless bolts of directed red-orange lightning, each shot missing the hull by a few feet.

“Wilson, keep us at least then-thousand-kilometers from the dreadnought, or they’re going to find us!” Jones shouted sharply to Wilson.

“Got it!”

“Connors! The away team?” Smith asked over the loud booms of numerous near-misses.

“Valiant reports they’re drawing the dreadnought’s fire!” Hayes declared.

“Almost!” There was a good lock, but their defensive matrix was still too strong to get them back, she gasped, bracing with the rest of the crew against another hull shudder. Maybe one more volley would be enough? She wondered silently. 

*****

Steve H. of Portland, OR told Jordan Foutin, "You are the next Tom Clancy. You really are a gifted writer."

Make sure to check out our official website, like and follow the official StormTeam Simulations Facebook page and @StormteamS, and @JordanFoutin for the latest! 

Make sure to buy your copy of STORMTEAM, available on Amazon.com in Kindle eBook, softcover, and audiobook! Also available at these fine retailers:

Smashwords.com (Remember to like and share!)

Apple iBooks

Barnesandnoble.com 

Scribd.com 

Kobo.com

Blio.com 

Thank you, and happy reading!