The spider and the fly, p.48
The Spider and the Fly, page 48
For the moment, however, what mattered was destroying this city. And that was exactly what they were going to do.
***
“Those interceptors are headed right for us,” Jen said.
I know, Markus replied telepathically. You don’t need to talk, just act.
He caught her brief flash of annoyance through their shared link with the Phoenix, and he couldn’t help but smile. She was angry with herself for not picking everything up instantly. He’d always found that streak of competitive pride endearing, even when they were growing up together on the Nidus and battling for the Widow’s favor. Perfectionism had its downsides, of course, but she was already doing better at this in her first few minutes than he had after several hours. Putting her in the pilot’s seat had been the right choice.
“Tayla, order your fighters to keep their inteceptors off of us, and make sure you don’t get in too deep,” Markus said into the com. “Try and bait them away from the city if you can, anything to buy us more time.”
“Yes, I was paying attention at the briefing,”’ Grier replied tartly. “We’re heading in—stick behind the Blue Star as long as you can. It has the best point defense weapons of any ship in the fleet.”
“Yeah, I was paying attention too,” he quipped. “Good luck.”
On instinct, he reached out to shut off the com, but then he reminded himself that it wasn’t necessary. He was the ship now, for all intents and purposes, and all it took was a flicker of thought to manipulate the instruments however he wanted to. He similarly had to repress his urge to glance down to the tac-holo; all he needed to do was ask the Phoenix and it would paint a far more vivid picture in his mind than any hologram ever could. He could sense the friendly ships all around them; he could feel their hulls, their power signatures, and even the surface emotions of their crews—though the latter part he almost wished he could turn off. He had enough anxiety of his own right now without listening to the latent fears of a few hundred other people.
Just focus, Jen chided, a hint of amusement rippling across her thoughts. You’re the one who insisted this was a good idea.
It is a good idea, Markus insisted. The first wave is almost here—be ready.
The Convectorate fighters screamed in towards them, their small but surprisingly powerful pulse cannons spitting a haze of red fire across the ragtag Mire fleet. Most of the ships fired back, but few of them had the targeting hardware capable of hitting such maneuverable targets. The Blue Star, however, had been the personal yacht of some pirate or another at one point, and he’d equipped it to handle fighters of all varieties. The small point-defense turrets embedded across the hull retaliated in bright bursts, and three of the interceptors vaporized before they could spin away.
Do you feel it? Jen asked, her mental voice barely a whisper.
I feel a lot of things right now.
No, I mean her. Can you feel her?
Markus frowned and reached out past the hull of the Phoenix, past their pitiful little fleet, all the way to the Unifier…and then a dark, bitter chill worked its way down his spine.
The Widow, he murmured. I didn’t think she’d come herself. When was the last time she even left the Nidus?
I don’t know, but maybe she wanted to try and capture New Keledon’s Flies personally.
Or kill us, he said. Either way, it doesn’t matter. She can’t do anything to us from in there.
You hope, Jen said grimly. Anyway, the Golem’s fighters are engaging. Now seems like the best time to make our attack run.
Right. Go ahead—I’ll get the weapon ready.
He felt her mental nod as the Phoenix slipped out from the coattails of the Blue Star and then abruptly darted forward. His stomach wrenched as the inertial dampeners struggled to compensate, but fortunately the enemy fighters weren’t prepared for it either. The Phoenix surged straight through the buzzing swarm as Jen lined them up for a strafing run.
Up ahead, the Golem had already engaged. Its port batteries sprayed a stream of greenish energy bolts towards the Unifier as it lined up a long-range broadside. Few of the shots were actually connecting; Grier was still keeping her ship at the fringes of the battleship’s range. Fortunately, though, the ruse seemed to be working just as well as Markus had hoped. The Unifier’s mighty cannons were busy tracking the Golem and its Deskari bombers instead of the hapless little shuttle flitting in and out of the battlefield.
But with the Widow aboard, that would quickly change. She would recognize the threat for what it was, and soon it would be up to him to keep the shields intact.
I’m shifting everything to the forward shields, he told Jen. And the cannon is coming online…now.
Another tingle danced up and down his limbs as the ship’s psi-cannon siphoned the energy it needed from his mind. He’d managed to split his attention like this in earlier trials while they’d first been designing this shuttle, but back then he’d been firing at a stationary, unarmed shield generator, not a flying fortress that was trying to vaporize him. If he leaned too much on the weapon, then a single hit might cripple the Phoenix; if he focused too much on the shields, then we wouldn’t be able to breach the enemy’s defenses and this would all be for nothing.
You going to make it? Jen asked.
I’m ready, he told her. Take us in.
The engines rumbled as the ship dove hard towards their target. A mental alarm sounded in his head when one of the Unifier’s cannons disengaged from its assault on the Golem and attempted to track them, and a second later a flash of heat warmed his skin as a shot streaked just wide. Another blast followed almost immediately thereafter, and this one missed narrowly enough that Markus could have sworn he was standing at the mouth of a volcano.
Then the third shot struck home, and the volcano erupted in his face.
The pain was unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. Even the neural chip Jen had implanted inside him with weeks ago felt tame by comparison. It was as if every nerve in his body had been triggered at once, and for a moment he thought this agony was the last thing he’d ever feel, that his body was already dissipating into subatomic particles doomed to drift forever in astral space…
And then the pain vanished. His senses returned, and the Phoenix didn’t seem to have suffered any damage.
Shields are holding, Jen said. But you better fire quickly—I can’t dodge this thing forever.
Markus swallowed and forced himself to breathe. Somehow he’d weathered the storm and held the shields together, but he wasn’t sure if he could do it again. They needed to strike fast and then get the hell out of here so he could take a minute to recover.
Just a few more seconds, he replied, shifting his concentration to the weapon system. He visualized the target area on the battleship as they swept in dangerously close to the engines, and the weapon thrummed in anticipation. Here we go. Three…two….firing!
A searing blast of blue-white energy lanced outward from their psi-cannon and splattered against the Unifier’s shields. Markus held his breath, waiting for something, anything, to happen…but the blast dissipated away as harmlessly as if he’d been firing his pulse pistol.
It wasn’t possible. The Phoenix had been their secret weapon, their one and only chance to save the people of New Keledon from total annihilation…and it had failed. He had failed.
And now all of them were going to die.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“I guess this area really was abandoned,” Thomas commented as he flicked on the lights for the city’s tactical defense hub. If they’d been planetside, the whole area would have been crawling with vermin and cobwebs, but thankfully on an otherwise lifeless asteroid that wasn’t much of a concern. The air was still musty, however, and most of the consoles still had a thin layer of dust covering them.
Selaris let out a long sigh as she ran her finger across one of the terminals. “Father sealed it off early last year when Tavore brought in a few hundred other Neyris fugitives. I remember him practicing the speech he’d prepared for the Council. He believed it would be a watershed event highlighting our limited resources. First we’d have to shut down the turrets, and then we’d move on to the extraneous shielding on the outer ring. The final step would be power rationing across the whole city.” Her face scrunched at the memory. “He hoped that with Markus’s help, we’d eventually be able to recruit enough Flies to make up the difference. I guess now it won’t matter.”
“All but one of the turrets is responding to my commands,” Thomas said as he sat down at the central console.
“That’s good, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll fire, and I don’t think we have time to bother with diagnostics. The first wave of fighters has to be getting close.”
Selaris pulled out her holopad and keyed for Thexyl. “We’ve reached the defense hub. Thomas thinks that some of the turrets will be able to fire.”
“Good,” the Kali replied. “Several bombers have broken through our blockade and will be in weapons range shortly. They seem to be escorting a pair of heavy assault transports.”
“So they are planning to board,” she whispered. Vale had mentioned that the Widow would probably try to capture the Flies here first, but Selaris hadn’t wanted to believe it. The thought of being dragged off to the Nidus and being reprogrammed…
“The Mire soldiers guarding the docks won’t be able to stop any Spiders,” Thexyl said gravely. “Focus your efforts on targeting those transports if you can.”
Selaris nodded. “We will. What about the Golem and the Phoenix?”
“They have engaged the enemy battleship, but so far they haven’t inflicted any significant damage. Most of our defensive fighters have already been destroyed, and several of the support ships have been disabled.”
“They’re getting torn apart,” Thomas murmured, his face even paler than normal. “We can’t have much time.”
“Then we better get started,” Selaris told him, taking a deep breath and ordering her nerves to settle. “You should be able to link with that generator.”
He didn’t look where she was pointing. He didn’t move at all. He just stood there in place, visibly trembling…
“Hey,” she said, stepping forward and putting her arm on his. “We’ll be all right. We just need to focus on doing our part, okay?”
Thomas licked nervously at his lips, and Selaris could feel his arms trembling in fear. But he did seem to settle a bit once she touched him, and she did her best to flash him her warmest smile.
“Right,” he managed. “I guess we should plug in.”
He turned and stepped over to the psionic linkage interface. Her father had always called it the “hotseat,” and just like the others down in the city’s central power core, the device was eerily reminiscent of a high-voltage electrocution device that primitive Keledonians had used to execute criminals. The chair was designed to hold its human batteries in place, clasping around their arms, legs, and even head. The setup looked outright draconian compared to the holos she’d seen of true Sarafan devices, but it got the job done.
Thomas stuttered awkwardly as the seat flipped on and began to drain power from him. “It’s working,” he rasped. “They’re coming online.”
Selaris nodded and began to fasten her restraints. Unlike the other psionic adepts here, she’d never actually had to plug herself in to any of the generators. Markus had been worried it might trigger a relapse, and so he’d only allowed her to recharge psionic capacitors every now and then. For a long time she’d wondered if that had made the other adepts bitter. Probably, but that was all the more reason for her to succeed here.
A low rumble echoed from somewhere above them. “What was that?” she asked.
“Their fighters are firing on the city,” Thomas said, his eyes flicking madly beneath his eyelids as he continued to dump energy into the generator. “The shields are holding so far, but those transports are getting close.”
Then it’s now or never, she thought to herself. Mentally crossing her fingers, she reached down and flicked on the hotseat. The effects were immediate and exactly as Markus had always described: it started as a faint tingle across her skin, and soon a warm current was coursing through her entire body, almost like she’d jumped into a steaming bathtub. But for once no strange images assaulted her mind, and she didn’t feel like she was on the verge of losing control.
On the contrary, for perhaps the first time in her life, Selaris knew this was exactly where she needed to be.
“Thexyl, can you hear me?” she asked.
“Yes, Your Highness,” he confirmed. “Five of the six turrets are online, and power readings are steady.”
“Then it’s time to show them we aren’t as defenseless as we look,” she told him. “Fire when ready.”
***
Admiral Mothaal’s eyes narrowed as he gazed out upon the asteroid-city and the bolts of blue-white energy now streaming out of it. “I thought the city’s defensive emplacements were supposed to be disabled.”
“They have plugged their Flies into the power grid,” the Widow said, her eyes closed. “Curious. I’d assumed they would attempt to flee.”
“Well, you assumed incorrectly, dreega,” Mothaal growled. “Our fighters and transports are no match for those guns.”
“Then pull them back,” Minister Drathir ordered, stepping forward so he could stand between the other two. He would have liked to simply scold the other man, but siding that openly with a human in relative public like this would have repercussions later. It would be best to diffuse the growing tension more subtly, if possible. “We can destroy those turrets ourselves, if we must. According to sensors, that other Ghallar transport isn’t going anywhere soon. Time is no longer a factor.”
The admiral grumbled under his breath but turned towards the tactical officer anyway. “Order the transports and interceptors to pull back. I suppose we’ll have to do this the hard way.”
“Yes, sir.”
Drathir glanced down and studied the tac-holo. Defensive turrets or not, the battle was going as well as he could have hoped. The Mire cruiser had yet to fully commit itself to a skirmish, but the majority of the enemy fighters and support ships had already been destroyed or disabled. Coveri and Vale were looping around for another pass, but their psionic weapon had proven incapable of piercing the Unifier’s shields. Soon enough, it seemed, the Mire would be gasping for its last breath.
“Do not underestimate them, Minister,” the Widow warned. “I suggest we ignore the cruiser and concentrate all batteries upon that shuttle when it draws within range again.”
“Your unsolicited tactical advice is duly noted,” Mothaal replied caustically. “I don’t care if your former agents are on that thing or not—that shuttle is a decoy, nothing more. That abomination of a cruiser, on the other hand, is proving to be more resilient. If we have to engage those turrets, I would prefer not to have to deal with the Golem creeping up into our flank.” He tilted back towards the tactical officer. “Is Razeck squadron ready to launch?”
“Yes, sir,” the man nodded. “All bombers report ready.”
“Good. Order them to launch once the transports are back. The interceptors will escort them.”
“Acknowledged.”
“Their point defense platforms have proven quite effective,” Drathir pointed out. “I’m not sure fighters will be sufficient.”
Mothaal smiled, and his tongue licked across his bottom fangs. “They don’t need to destroy it, Minister. They simply need to occupy its attention while we make our own attack run.”
“As you say,” Drathir murmured. He was no tactician, of course, but it seemed a rather egregious waste of pilots and munitions if those fighters were shredded before they even reached their targets. But Mothaal had a long-standing reputation as being both ruthless and effective, and as long as he got the job done few in the Defense Ministry would question his methods. Most of the pilots were Baalir-caste, after all, and hardly worth losing sleep over.
“The Mire shuttle is coming around for another pass, sir,” the tactical officer reported. “What are your orders?”
“Tell the gunners to fire if they get a clean shot, but don’t let it distract them from the cruiser,” Mothaal said. “Spin the engines to full power, and I want effective firing solutions on all enemy defensive emplacements.”
The admiral locked his claws together and leaned forward. “It’s time to end this insurrection once and for all.”
***
“Any updates on the last transport?” Jenavian asked into the com as she swung the Phoenix around behind the Golem.
“It won’t be ready in time,” Thexyl replied. “Selaris and Thomas have powered up the defensive turrets and driven the assault transports back, but it appears the Unifier is preparing for its own attack run. We will not be able to stop them.”
“They’ve also launched a fresh set of bombers, and we’re all out of Windrunners to hold them off,” Grier added. “There’s nothing else we can do.”
We didn’t even slow them down, Markus said into her thoughts. We didn’t even scratch the paint on their hull.
Jenavian ground her teeth together and directed a surge of annoyance at him through their mindlink. It’s not over yet. I have an idea. “Just hold your position and try to cover our escape. We’re going in for another run.”
Grier snorted. “You could always try flying straight into their engines. Maybe they skimped on their kinetic barriers.”
“Just hold on,” Jenavian repeated. “The same goes for you, Thexyl.”
“We aren’t going anywhere,” he said. “Good luck.”
What’s your idea? Markus asked. Their aft shielding is impenetrable, and blasting off a cannon or two won’t make enough of a difference.
I’m going to help power the gun, she told him as she lined them up for another strafing run. The two of us together will give it a bigger kick, right?
Yes, but if you’re not focused on flying, they’ll blow us apart before we even get there.
