Firestorm beyond the voi.., p.1
Firestorm: Beyond the Void: A Father/Son Sci-Fi Adventure, page 1
FIRESTORM: BEYOND THE VOID
FIRESTORM
BOOK 1
DANIEL YOUNG
CONTENTS
Preface
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
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Also by Daniel Young
PREFACE
Like many of my books, this one is an homage to a certain type of golden age space opera. Thrilling stories in which hard science isn't a concern and the planets of distant star systems are easily accessible and full of alien races and strange creatures. Retro technology sits right alongside playful new inventions.
In other words, this is old-fashioned adventure sci-fi. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it!
—Daniel Young
1
“Arm fusion rockets and gravimetric missile battery!” Captain Aaron Decosta ordered. “Bring second and third propulsion systems online to fall in with the rest of the fleet.”
“Aye, sir!” Lieutenant Keegan called back from the helm.
“Sir!” Corporal Hewitt interjected from behind. “Admiral Avery is calling all ships down the line to signal readiness for the assault.”
“Signal back, Corporal,” Aaron replied. “We’re ready whenever he is.”
The rest of the bridge staff worked over their stations in a state of high anxiety. Aaron remained standing perfectly still in the center of the bridge with all that tension buzzing around him.
He remained glacially calm on the outside, but he couldn’t stop his heart from racing. The coming battle lay before him and it didn’t look good at all.
His vessel, the Thunder-class gunboat Gargoyle, stood in line with hundreds of ships of the Interstellar Space Corps. The ISC attack force occupied one side of the farthest, remotest corner of the Anadeia Sector.
The rest of Anadeia enjoyed a peaceful, prosperous existence. A single planet disturbed what would have been a generation of harmony and mutual cooperation across countless worlds, outposts, moons, and species.
That planet stood directly in the ISC’s path, along with an equally impressive attack force belonging to the Iopra Armed Resistance Wing.
Their ragtag ships posed a stark contrast to the shiny, aesthetic quality of ISC vessels. The Iopra constructed their ships out of what looked like charred scraps of other wrecked ships.
That didn’t stop them from loading their vessels to the gills with as many guns as they could carry. Those guns would decide the coming battle, not how sleek or beautiful either side’s ships looked.
Aaron ran another mental assessment of the enemy position compared to the ISC force. The Iopra Wing had arranged its ranks in three blocks, each block consisting of two to three hundred ships.
The main block confronted the ISC head on. The other two blocks stood off to either side behind the main thrust block. That would complicate matters for the Gargoyle, but just then, Corporal Hewitt broke in on Aaron’s thoughts again.
“Incoming communication for you from Admiral Avery, Captain. It’s flagged as urgent.”
Aaron scowled at Hewitt over his shoulder. “What the hell does he want now? We’re seconds away from launching the assault.”
Hewitt made a face and his blue eyes twinkled. “You got me, sir. You know how fussy he is.”
Aaron gritted his teeth and tore himself away from looking at the enemy line. He didn’t want to take his eyes off the Iopra Wing standing ready to destroy him.
He had to turn away to approach Hewitt’s station. Aaron switched on the communique. Admiral Avery’s greying visage stared back at him from the screen. “Are you ready to go, Aaron? We’re all counting on you.”
“We’re ready to launch when you are, Admiral,” Aaron replied. “Just give us the word.”
“Run through your mission plan with me one more time. Just to put my mind at ease.”
Aaron bit back the urge to lose his patience. Now was not the time to run through his mission plan—again.
Admiral Avery read his mind. “This is a secure channel. The Iopra Wing can’t overhear you.”
“Our mission plan is to use the assault as cover, skim sideways around the Iopra position, and land on Iopra to drop off your diplomatic representative.” Aaron cut his description short. He wanted to get off this communique as quickly as possible. He had better things to do.
Admiral Avery’s quivering features made Aaron keep his tone neutral. Hewitt was right. Avery must easily be the most nervous man on the field right now. The Iopra Wing didn’t act nervous at all.
Avery nodded. “The whole war depends on the diplomatic mission. This representative is our last hope for ending this war.”
“I understand, sir,” Aaron replied. “We won’t let you down.”
“I guess there’s nothing left to do but launch the assault,” Avery quavered.
“No, sir,” Aaron replied.
Avery hesitated again. Not for the first time, Aaron wondered why ISC Command had put such a scared old man in charge of a war this important, but no one at ISC Command ever asked for Aaron’s opinions on those decisions.
Still, it sure was hard not to wonder. Anyone would be better than Avery.
He finally nodded to himself, turned away, muttered, “Stand by, Captain. We’ll be launching the assault momentarily,” and signed off.
Aaron turned back to the bridge window to find the whole bridge staff watching him. He pretended not to notice their expressions of amusement, questioning, and uncertainty.
He returned to his position at the center of the bridge and focused his attention on the enemy. He didn’t envy the rest of the ISC force fighting this battle under Avery’s command.
Fortunately, as soon as the shooting started, the Gargoyle would break from the rest of the battle and Aaron, the ship, and the crew would be on their own.
Aaron would be a law unto himself. He would be able to do whatever he had to do to get the ship behind enemy lines and down onto the planet in one piece.
He started to go over the ship’s trajectory around the Iopra Wing’s battle line. The main block would launch first and engage the ISC. The ISC force looked about equally matched with that main block.
The two forces would lock and probably come to a standoff. That would lure the Iopra Wing into launching the two rear blocks. They would swoop in to reinforce the main block and hopefully swing the battle in Iopra’s favor.
Once the block on the left engaged, it would leave a clear path for the Gargoyle to break out of position and veer around the battle, and after that, nothing would stand between the ship and Iopra. No one would remain to stop the Gargoyle from running to the planet.
The silence built to the breaking point. No ship on the ISC side made a move. Any second now, Admiral Avery would give the word to launch, and then—
“Captain!” Hewitt barked. “We got a problem! The Aegeon is in trouble!”
Aaron spun around fast. “How can it be? We aren’t in battle yet!”
Hewitt scrambled over his instruments and shook his head. “The ship’s port engine just exploded! I don’t understand it! Everything was fine, and then—”
Aaron stormed over to Hewitt’s station. He got there just in time to see another engine on the Penelope go up in flames.
“What the hell is going on?!” Aaron snarled.
The two ships retreated out of line and the ISC vessels around them glided in to fill the gap. More explosions kept going off on both ships. They staggered to the rear with flames billowing from their hulls.
Aaron’s eye traced down the ISC line. Did the Iopra Wing sabotage the ISC flank somehow? Would another one of these ships go up next? Would it be the Gargoyle?
He went through a moment of blind confusion, trying to remember every repair and modification he and his crew had made to the Gargoyle in readiness for this mission. Did he miss something? Was someone on his crew an Iopra plant?
At that moment, the bridge door hissed open and a tall, middle-aged, athletically built woman in a pristine navy business suit strode onto the bridge like she owned the place. Dr. Marianne Dobbs looked down her slender nose at the bridge staff. “Report, Captain,” she snapped. “What’s the state of the force against us?”
Aaron chopped his hand through the air. “I’m sorry, Dr. Dobbs, but you can’t be on the bridge right now. I have to ask you to return to your quarters for the duration of the assault.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” she countered. “This is my mission. I’m the one who will carry our diplomatic message to Iopra. The planet is in the throes of a massive outbreak of Bovorian Plague and I’m the only one who has developed the cure. If I can stop the Plague, we can open diplomatic relations with Iopra and end the war.”
“I know all that,” Aaron returned as calmly as he could, “but this assault is not your mission. I’m in command here and you can’t be on the bridge right now. Your presence would distract me and the crew.”
“Admiral Avery is signaling again,
Aaron whipped around the other way to glare at Hewitt. “What—again?”
“I insist, Captain,” Dr. Dobbs interrupted. “I have to be present to make sure we get down on the planet in one piece.”
“That’s my job. Now I really have to ask you to leave.”
She turned her fierce green eyes on him in what she probably hoped was an intimidating glare. She’d styled her black hair in a helmet-like coiffure that gave her sharp features a distinctly menacing look.
Aaron couldn’t imagine why ISC Command had chosen this woman as a diplomat. He had the misfortune of dealing with her three times before now. He’d come to the conclusion that she was by far the least diplomatic person he’d ever encountered.
Maybe she threw a hissy fit about being the only one to develop a cure for Bovorian Plague. She probably told Command she wouldn’t offer the cure to Iopra if they didn’t send her on this mission.
Aaron wouldn’t have been the least bit surprised if that was how the conversation went, especially if Admiral Avery was the one she threatened with that ultimatum. She would rather see millions of innocent people die than miss her day in the limelight.
“This is my mission,” she repeated in a deadly undertone, “and I won’t allow you to derail it. This mission is too sensitive to trust to a grunt ship’s captain who is only good for doing what’s he’s told. I’ll stay here and make sure you carry out this mission the way I see fit. If you don’t…”
Aaron fought himself ever tighter under control. Was she actually trying to make him mad—now of all times?
“You won’t be able to carry out this mission at all if I don’t do my job,” he growled. “Whatever it is you have to say about this mission, you can say it when all our lives aren’t hanging in the balance. Your presence here is threatening all our lives and the mission itself. If you don’t leave the bridge immediately, I’ll have you forcibly removed.”
As if in answer to those words, the bridge door slid open behind her. Three uniformed security guards from the Gargoyle’s security team stepped onto the bridge. Aaron sent up a silent prayer of thanks to whichever one of his bridge staff had called the guards to come and get Dr. Dobbs the hell off the bridge.
“How dare you speak to me that way?” she snapped. “You leave me no choice but to report you to ISC Command for disciplinary action—”
Aaron waved to the security guards. He didn’t have time for this.
She kept ranting as they seized her by the arms and started towing her backward off the bridge.
She kicked and hollered as they dragged her into the elevator. The third guard had to step forward, and it took all three guards’ combined strength to restrain her.
“You won’t get away with this!” she roared. “I’ll report you! I’ll get you thrown out of the Corps! You’re the worst ship captain I’ve ever flown with! You’re going to get all of us killed!”
The elevator doors closed and cut off the sound of her voice. The silence sounded eerie in her absence.
A beep on the navigation controls snapped Aaron out of his trance. He turned around and heaved a massive sigh. “That’s the last thing we need right now.”
“The Aegeon fire is under control, sir,” Hewitt reported. “The Aegeon is withdrawing from the line, and emergency crews are moving in on the Penelope.”
Aaron trained his attention back to the front line. He couldn’t allow anything else to distract him from what he knew he needed to do. Not even the Aegeon and the Penelope mysteriously exploding mere seconds before the assault was as important as this.
“The security detail is reporting that Dr. Dobbs is under lockdown in her quarters for the duration of the assault,” Hewitt added in an undertone.
“Good,” Aaron replied. “Charge our proton armor.”
“Proton armor charged!” Hewitt replied. “Battery and rocket launchers standing by to fire on your command.”
At that moment, a signal came through the captain’s controls and Aaron stepped onto his station. “There’s the order! Launch the assault—full propulsion, Lieutenant! Let’s go!”
2
The Gargoyle streaked forward, and the rest of the Interstellar Space Corps joined in as the assault launched across the solar system. The Iopra Armed Resistance Wing reacted just as fast, and the two forces collided in a hail of gunfire.
Deafening explosions hammered the Gargoyle’s outer hull as Iopra concussions rained on the ship’s proton armor. The ship’s onboard torpedo batteries rotated in all directions, targeting Iopra vessels on all sides.
The Iopra Wing enveloped the Gargoyle as the ship plunged into the thickest part of the battle. ISC vessels surrounded the Gargoyle, and they all fought together to penetrate the Iopra position.
The Iopra Wing held firm. The Gargoyle made it halfway into the main block before the gunfire became too thick.
“The Iopra Wing is driving us back!” Lieutenant Keegan hollered over his shoulder. “They see us trying to penetrate!”
“Call the 17th Battalion!” Aaron ordered. “Bring them around to the center to help us punch through.”
“The 17th is pinned down!” Hewitt reported. “Colonel Macon is calling on the 110th to reinforce the 17th.”
“Spectacular,” Aaron growled and then raised his voice. “Find me an opening—any vulnerability! We have to break through the main block.”
Hewitt bent over his controls and then shook his head. “The main block is too strong. I don’t see any—”
Aaron checked his own controls and then pointed at the bridge window. “Right there! Divert forty degrees to port, Lieutenant!”
“Aye, sir!” Keegan replied. “Where am I going?”
“I’m sending you an altered course. Follow that and—”
A devastating smash struck the Gargoyle from starboard. “Our armor is wavering!” Hewitt reported. “The Iopra electromagnetic concussions are interfering with proton frequencies.”
“I don’t care about that!” Aaron countered. “Get us through there, Lieutenant! Gun it!”
“Aye, sir!” Keegan choked, and hit the throttle.
The Gargoyle sprinted forward under covering fire from three other ISC gunboats. They all closed ranks around the Gargoyle and aimed their guns outward to take the brunt of the Iopra fire.
Blinding light flashed all over the battle. Aaron couldn’t see where he was going, but a second later, the Gargoyle rocketed through a gap between two Iopra battleships.
He got a clear view of the planet Iopra floating in space. It looked beautiful and downright serene like this.
The next instant, the lefthand block of the Iopra Armed Resistance Wing bombed into the battle from the side. The other flanking block closed on the right, and they surrounded the ISC in a dragnet no one could escape.
Pounding gunfire plastered the Gargoyle, and the impact hurled the ship backward. “We’re behind the line again!” Hewitt reported. “Right and left blocks are driving the ISC back!”
“Fall back!” Aaron ordered. “Get behind the line—farther behind the line!”
“I don’t think I can, sir,” Keegan called back. “We’re caught between the Iopra Wing and the ISC guns.”
Aaron checked the position of both forces, but at that moment, another punishing blast caught the Gargoyle across the nose.
The blow sent the ship reeling. Hewitt had to hold onto his console to steady himself. Anyone else who had been standing up at the time would have been thrown off their feet.
The ship cartwheeled out of control for a second and all the controls went haywire. Keegan fought the helm and got the ship facing the right way up at last.
Aaron adjusted his readings to check the ship’s location. That last strike had thrown the Gargoyle to one side of the main ISC position.
The ISC remained locked in deadly combat against all three blocks of the Iopra Wing. The battle didn’t look favorable to the ISC at all.
The Gargoyle had come to rest to the left of the main battle. The ship had landed in the most perfect position imaginable to skirt the battle and make a break for the planet.
“Full propulsion, Lieutenant!” Aaron ordered. “Execute diversion pattern D8!”
