The first day, p.30
The First Day, page 30
part #1 of Vanguard Series
“Dillon, get me commander Hunter please,” DeLancy asked.
“Aye sir,” she replied. “Onscreen.”
“Captain, what happened?” Hunter asked.
“The WorldShip, it’s armed with some form of exotic energy weapon.” he paused. “It cut through us with ease.”
“Unbelievable,” Hunter remarked in amazement.
“Indeed, how’s Hakir?”
“She’s out of surgery and stable for now, we’ve just finished transferring the wounded to the station.”
“Good, and the status of the ship?”
“We’re getting there, sir,” he began. “We’ve established bridge control in engineering, the cloak should be back online within the next twenty minutes or so.”
“Engines?”
“Sub lights are fine, but the port warp engine has been damaged. e’ve bypassed it for now.” He paused. “So we can still go to warp, but at around half speed.”
“How soon can you return to Vanjellise?”
“Return?” he replied, somewhat puzzled. “Sir, we’re in no condition to go back to battle yet.”
“You’re not going back for battle.”
“Then what?” he asked.
“We were forced to retreat before the evac was complete.” DeLancy paused. “I had to leave Jennings and his rear-guard behind,” he added, the guilt in his voice obvious. “I need you to return under cloak for search and rescue.”
“We can be underway in the next five minutes,” Hunter replied.
“Thank you, Bill. Return to Vanjellise, best possible speed.”
“Understood, sir.”
Chapter 20
Inside the shattered out-runner, the fires were still raging and continued to spread. Around one of the still functioning consoles, O’Malley, Pax and Lieutenant Drieth, the head of damage control, stood.
“We need to get the fuel lines locked down; otherwise, we're pissing into the wind here,” O’Malley stated.
“I know,” replied Drieth. “But the fuel lines themselves have buckled and the seals have been fractured.” He paused. “And with internal sensors frazzled, we don’t know where exactly.”
“How long?”
“Hard to say. There’s a team backtracking the lines now.” He paused briefly as another explosion echoed through the inferno. “Soon as we find a section that’s undamaged, we can shut down the fuel flow.”
“Even with those lines closed, without the fire suppression system back online we're still fucked,” Pax added. O’Malley stared towards the raging green fires that blanketed the front quarter of the out-runner.
“What’s the structural integrity of the out-runner like?” he asked.
“Not even close to where it needs to be for what you’re thinking,” Drieth replied. “Those forcefields are the only thing preventing the out-runner from a catastrophic collapse.”
“So, no chance of venting the fires then?”
“Afraid not, sir,” Drieth replied. “We're working on the FS system, but the main water tanks have been cracked, and most of the rooms under water. Look.” He paused, tapping on the console and bringing up a schematic of the section in question. “This whole section is under water. The main pumps totally destroyed, and the emergency dump valves are not activating.”
“Why not?” O’Malley asked.
“Well, the circuitry for its located in this crawlspace.” He traced a line on the schematic with his finger. “Problem is, the crawlspace is now jammed up with wreckage and debris. We can't get anyone down there, not without breathing apparatus.”
“I could,” Pax added, and they both looked at her.
“That’s thirty metres underwater with no equip,” Drieth said.
“Yeah, shouldn't be a problem unless the circuitry it beyond repair.”
“You think you can do it? “O’Malley asked.
“Sure. Remember Amaronian, bigger lung capacity and all,” she said. “I can stay under for about ten minutes. Trust me, if it can be done. I'll get it done.”
“Sir, if she can get those emergency dump valves operational, I can redirect the flow into the suppression systems,” Drieth added.
“Ok, you two get on that. I'll continue here,” O’Malley said. As Pax and Drieth left, O’Malley spotted Siren aiding a wounded crewman.
“Jess!” he called out as loud as he could. She looked up and around her to see where the noise came from. “Jess!” he called again, waving his arm aloft. She spotted him and raised her arm in acknowledgement. She got the injured crewman onto a stretcher and headed over, leaving the drones to carry the injured to medical.
“Hey,” she said, wiping tears away from her face.
“You ok?” he asked.
“Yeah, I will be,” she replied, sniffing.
“Good, I need you to get what pilots you can together. We gotta get this shit moved,” he said, pointing at the few fighters and transports being moved to the landing strip.
“Ok, but it’s gonna be hell getting out the back way, especially for the transports,” she said.
“I know, I’ve got a couple of engineers working on reversing the APLS now that should give enough of a boost to get up. Another five, ten minutes and it should be good to go.” He paused. “As soon as it’s ready, I want to get this shit launched and over to the starboard out-runner.”
“Understood,” she replied.
Tori lay in medical, pain still surging across her left side, both from the injuries themselves and the nanites’ repair work. She lay watching Jenkins as she desperately operated on Gibbons, trying to save him. His legs had been sheared off at about thigh height. By what, she did not know, and to be honest didn't care. She was too busy working to repair the massive trauma and remove the countless splinters of metal embedded there. Jenkins was the top surgeon aboard; she was a genius with her hands completing the most complex procedures with a deft agility and precision. Watching her work was like watching the conduction of an orchestra Tori thought, laughing to herself at the loving name of 'butcher' that she'd been given by the marines and their keen appreciation of irony. She was suddenly distracted by a commotion beside her.
“Fuck sake, I said take it easy,” Burns said.
“Ah quit your bitchin, I didn't have to drag you down here,” Jerax retorted.
“You’re all fucking heart, you,” he said as Jerax helped him up onto the examination table. He lay down on his front, and it was clear what was wrong. Tori burst out laughing, a mistake she instantly regretted as she grasped her side in pain.
“Yeah, real fuckin' funny,” Burns grumbled. “I made it all the way through that shit down there without a fucking scratch. Five minutes back on board, and the pissing ship got me.”
“I'm, I'm sorry,, Burnsy” Tori apologised, shaking from a mixture of laughter and pain. “But you do realise you've got hazard markings sticking out of your ass?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Burns replied. “Jerax has already made a few cracks,” he added.
“Crack,” Jerax laughed. “A poor choice of words there,” he joked.
“What happened?” Tori asked.
“Plasma duct blew out, I got peppered in the ass and leg pushing this shitkicker out the way,” he said, pointing his thumb at Jerax.
“Want me to kiss it better?” he replied, puckering up his lips.
“You can kiss this” he said raising his middle finger.
“Aw you do care” Jerax grinned.
“Yeah, now why don’t you go get that face sorted.”
“It’s only a flesh wound.”
“That wasn’t the bit I meant.”
“Ahh blow it out your ass,” Jerax laughed walking off.
“What happened to you?” Burns asked looking at Tori.
“One minute I was landing, the next, bam,” she said. “Woke up with a chuck of metal running through me.”
“Nice, Vanguard got you too” Burns said looking at her wound.
“Yeah” she smiled “Do you know what did happen?” she asked.
“From what I’ve heard we got hit be some kind of superweapon, and took heavy damage.”
“How bad?”
“Blew a hole straight through the neck and port outrunner.” He paused. “We warped out a few seconds later.”
“Wait what about the last transport?” she asked.
“Rumour is they got left behind,” Burns stated.
Commander Hixxs was still working with the team that was cutting access into the ship’s AI mainframe. She looked around the devastated corridor, blackened by fire and strewn with the wreck of battle. Despite the ship’s ventilation, the stench of smoke and death lay thick in the air. Sparks flew around from the plasma saw as it cut slowly but steadily through the huge tri-tonium door that had sealed off the mainframe. As she continued to look away from the cutting, she saw something strange hanging from the ceiling. She took a couple of steps closer and stopped. An arm hung down still gripping a lever. Just above the elbow the rest of the arm and person attached to it had been melted away. The horror of what she was looking at suddenly struck her. The arm was hanging from the plasma valve. Whoever this poor soul was had closed the valve that had probably been responsible for saving the ship at the cost of being melted as the line ruptured above. She wondered how many others had suffered a similar grisly fate in this corridor. All that she could tell was that the arm had belonged to a human, a human woman, and judging by the ring she was married. She’d have to wait until medical teams collected it and Waters could perform a genetic test to find out the identity.
“Sir, we’re almost through here,” a crewman state. A few seconds later the DC team stopped cutting and stood back. A repair drone then moved into position and pulled the centre of the door away. As the smoke cleared Hixxs stepped through the hole, avoiding touching the molten edges. She was expecting the worst. Inside she was confronted with the holo-image of Vanguard, stood patiently waiting.
“Well, it’s about time.” She smiled.
“Vanguard, you’re okay.” She paused. “Some good news at last.”
“It’s good to see you too, sir.”
“But if you’re ok, why can't you connect to the rest of the ship?” she asked.
“Behind you, sir.” She gestured with her head. “The neural net transition interface has been severed.”
“Damn,” Hixxs said, eying the damage. “Probably caused by the buckling of this section. Is it fixable?” she asked.
“Hmm,” one of the damage control team said, surveying the damage. “We’ll have to take the core offline.” He paused. “But it'll take at least fourteen hours to fully replace the interface.”
“I want it done in half the time. Make this a priority repair we need the AI back online.”
“Understood, sir,” he replied, the fatigue evident in his voice.
“Maulk,” Hixxs said.
“Yes, sir.”
“I want all battle data downloaded onto a portable drive before you take the core offline.”
“Understood, sir.”
Frost walked into the ready room and slumped down onto the floor exhausted and disheartened. She unclipped her helmet, removed it and dropped it to the floor next to her rifle. She felt herself still trembling slightly as the adrenaline still coursed through her body. Her mind raced reliving that desperate flight; the marines who didn't make it, her friends she thought as a tear carved its way down her blackened and bloody face. She starred out into the room but saw nothing. Her mind was consumed with its own thoughts and not registering what she saw. But some voice inside her head willed her back, and she began to gather herself. It was then that she became aware of a voice beginning to call out.
“Alright, listen up,” Major Tyria said. “I need all available hands to report to damage control or medical. There’s still a lot to do.” He paused, looking at the dejected faces staring back. “I know you’re tired, shit we all are, but a lot of our friends got it worse today. We're still alive. There will be time to rest, but later. There’s a lot of good people still in trouble here.”
“You heard him, on your feet,” Frost said, picking up her helmet and rifle, and standing up, wiping the tear away as she did. She looked at Doix who smiled softly back, seeing the 'shiney' he knew this morning stood there almost completely changed.
“Get yourself down to medical and get that cut checked out first,” Doix said, pointing to his own left temple. She put her fingers up to her temple and felt the warm blood on her fingertips.
Chapter 21
Pax and Drieth entered the main water storage room. They stood on the catwalk with the water lapping around their boots.
“Okay, what do I have to do?” Pax asked, undoing her boots.
“The crawlspace is down there.” He pointed. “You'll need to open the emergency drain. Once you've done that, I can sort the rest from up here.”
“Is that it, thought this would be more difficult?” she said, taking off her flight suit.
“That’s best-case scenario. Worst case you'll have to repair the system, which might not be doable. I won't know till you get down there and we can see the damage,” he said, handing her a pair of goggles. “Once I can see the situation, I can talk you through any repairs you gotta make.”
“Okay,” she said, putting the goggles on. “Ooooh shit, that’s cold,” she said, climbing into the water down the ladder.
“Good luck,” he said, handing her a small pouch with tools in it. Pax took a big gasp of air and then dived under. She quickly and effortlessly swam down to the crawlspace and entered. She forced her way through the first blockage with ease, but the next one was a very tight squeeze. She wriggled and pulled herself halfway through before she felt the sharp metal catch on her back, digging in and slicing her open. She tried to go forwards, but couldn’t. She was stuck. She wiggled and writhed trying to free herself. Managing to force an arm through, she stretched out grasped the nearest thing to pull herself through. As she heaved herself through, part of the blockage shifted, making the narrow gap much wider. Typical, she thought. She turned and became aware that what she had pulled herself through with was the leg of a drowned crewman. She shuddered to herself and let go. Continuing on to the access panel, she grabbed the large handle and pulled it down. Nothing. Huh, figures, she thought then pulled open the panel and activated the camera on her goggles.
“Ok,” she heard Drieth say over her comm. “Let’s see.” He paused, taking stock of what he saw. “Looks like an easy fix,” he said. “First remove the primary control crystal, then cross connect the ODN line to the aux panel, then try activating it again.” He paused, watching on the display as she followed his instructions. She pulled the handle and again nothing happened. “Ok, pull out the auxiliary control circuit and let me see it.” Drieth looked at the control circuit on the display. “Shit, the connector’s fried. We'll need to bridge the gap with something that'll conduct the charge but not react to the water.” He paused, his mind quickly thinking of and discarding ideas of how to bridge the circuit. Pax thought for a moment, then it came to her. She opened her mouth and removed her tongue piercing. She held it out for Drieth to see. He looked for a moment. “That might do it,” he said. “Replace the connector with it, then reinsert the circuit.” She replaced the circuit and pulled the handle again. This time lights blinked on the board, and she heard a dull whirling noise. She closed the panel and made her way back to the surface. At the control console, Drieth now went to work. “Activating emergency drain,” he began. “Accessing flow control, redirecting to diffusion matrix now,” he added, as behind him the sound of seldom used machinery clunked to life. Visibly the water level began to drop almost instantly. A few seconds later Pax surfaced with a loud gasp.
“Good job,” Drieth said, stretching out his hand and helping her up out of the water. She didn't reply as she stood there shivering, still trying to catch her breath.
“Cost...me... my favourite tongue bar,” she gasped, slowing with each breath.
“I’ll get you a new one,” he said with a grin.
“I hope so. That water’s freezing,” she stuttered slightly as she quickly got back into her flight suit.
“O’Malley, copy. Over,” Drieth said, activating his comm.
“Tell me you have good news, Drieth” he replied.
“Indeed, I do. We've got the situation sorted now. The water is mixing with the suppression agent as we speak. Less than twenty seconds and the system should automatically activate.” Drieth had barely finished speaking when the fire suppression system began to spray a foam like substance onto the fires.
“Good work, we've got a chance now,” O’Malley said, as behind him several fighters began launching. He watched as the steady stream of craft exited the rear of the out-runner and began banking around heading either over the top or beneath the ship towards the undamaged starboard out-runner. O’Malley now turned back to the task of saving what of the out-runner he could from the all-consuming fires that were still spreading despite the FSsystem’s activation and desperate efforts of the crew. Fuel lines, he thought to himself, that’s now the key. As soon as they are shut off, they would have a real chance. Until then the highly combustible HNDO compound (Hydrogen Nitrate Deuterium Oxide) would keep the fires going.
Frost entered medical and was stunned by the scene that confronted her. There was blood almost everywhere, red, green, blue, yellow all mixing as they ran to the drains built into the floor. The noise was terrible; the screams and crying of the wounded, while doctors and medics shouted orders. She looked around at the horrific casualties. Some were no longer recognisable as the people they’d once been. A medic came over to her and quickly began checking her wound.
“Looks worse than it is, Lieutenant,” she said in a calm voice. She then took a nano-plaster out of her kit. She applied it to Frost's wound, sealing it with a nanite foam that quickly began to solidify into what looked like a silver scab. “There, that'll take care of that.” She smiled at Frost and moved onto the next patient.
