“Kaboom!” Benjaan said as the tenth nuclear device detonated on his screens.
They had been at this for the past two and a half hours. The team had taken forty-five minutes to work out the calculations and then figured out how to implement all that math. Approximately every twenty minutes, Tavu would Teleport a nuke ahead of the Rishi into the cluster.
It was precision work on everyone's part. It had to be for this to work and they were all getting tired from the constant stress. Benjaan and his staff had found a routine; working in three teams of four, they'd unload a missile from its rack in the weapons bay. Each team member would unscrew one corner of the missile's shielded control panel.
This gave Benjaan access to the rudimentary but heavily protected computer guidance system at the heart of each missile. He would manually input the codes that allowed them to bypass the safeties and set it for a timed detonation. The team would then replace the cover and maneuver the missile to a portion of the deck they had cleared for Tavu to work from. With three teams working, they always had a missile ready for Teleportation.
Astrometrics and Navigation were running and rerunning the calculations for the missile deployment. They had to consider numerous, fluctuating variables. There was the Rishi herself; her speed and location had to be predetermined for a specific point in time and space. They then had to account for the ongoing electromagnetic fields that were always changing due to the orbital cluster itself. Lastly, they had to calculate the actual orbits of the celestial bodies, along with smaller orbiting masses, to ensure their route wouldn’t run them straight into one of them.
Tavu, by far, had the hardest task of them all. She had to take all those calculations, intuitively translating them into a location she set in her mind. She then had to Teleport a tactical nuclear device at a precise time in order to arrive at an exact location a few thousand kilometers in front of the Rishi. It exerted an immense toll on the Power. The nukes were the largest, most complex device she had ever attempted to Teleport. The precise nature and time deadline for each Teleportation was pushing Tavu to the very limits of her skills and abilities. Draskol was by her side the entire time, doing his best to keep her focused, making sure she stayed hydrated and kept her strength up in between Teleportations.
They had a few misfires in the beginning. With so many variables in play, it surprised no one when the first few nukes they set off either didn’t appear where their projections said it would be, or detonated too late, by which point the Cluster had already ripped it off course. The most alarming one had been their first attempt. Tavu had collapsed right after Teleporting the missile off the Rishi’s weapons deck. She was out cold until the doc administered an unhealthy amount of stims to get her back on her feet. Tavu reported that the nuke had detonated while in Multi-Space, the dimensions she moved objects through, causing a feedback loop in her mind. Or at least, that was the best way she could describe it. They gave the calculations more room for error after that attempt.
After those first few misfires, they had fine-tuned their calculations enough that the nukes would detonate within their expected tolerances, tight as they were. Over the last hour, they had refined the complicated tasks involved, and the Rishi went from traveling in spurts to smoothly flying at full impulse through the Cluster.
Bowman kept an eye on the operation from the helm, while monitoring the thousand other demands a captain of a battleship had to navigate daily. He keyed in Toshi and Tanaka on a private line, not wanting to interrupt the bridge crew or Nvellan from their complicated mission.
“Do we know where the Interloper craft is currently?”
It took a moment before Tosh replied. Tanaka, being busy with recalculation requests by Benjaan’s team, didn't even acknowledge the captain's query.
“They’re still ahead of us, sir. They made headway when they first entered the Cluster but experienced some near misses since then. The Rishi’s now running at almost top speed in a relatively straight line. We’re gaining on them. Our sensors are benefitting from the small hole the nukes are blasting in the Cluster’s radiation and electromagnetic field, giving us small windows which we can glimpse them. We’ve lost the ship on sensors from time to time, as their course takes them on the other side of a moon, but we have a good read on their trajectory. They’re right where we expect them to be. We’re also getting intermittent updates from the drone that Draskol tasked to tail them, confirming our scans.”
“Thanks, Tosh.” Bowman said, closing the channel.
He felt about as useless as he ever had. He knew he did the right thing in giving Nvellan the con for this mission; there were just too many things that needed to be coordinated on the fly. He would have the bottlenecked his crew if they had to go through him first. He just wished there was something he could do to guarantee success.
You’re an idiot Carter, what happens when we get to the other side?
Bowman shook his head. Of course, he had work to do. They had been so focused on getting through the Cluster and catching the Interloper ship, no one had questioned how they were going to accomplish their next task.
He sent the tracking information with the Rishi and Interloper ship, and their projected courses, to a secondary screen so he could monitor their progress. Next, he pulled up multiple windows on the helm's main screen. Bowman started pulling up the Rishi’s weapons inventory and power output and consumption data. He needed to know what shape his ship would be in at the end of all this. The battering ram maneuver, as it was now being called, wasn’t as taxing on the Rishi’s shields as first feared, but it was still taking a toll.
Next the captain brought up crew manifests, searching for the marine detachment that was standard on any battleship, even a ship tasked with training maneuvers on the rim. He found what he was looking for and punched in a command. Bowman requested the marine C.O. to meet him in his ready room in thirty minutes to discuss the boarding of an enemy craft. He received an immediate reply from Corporal Mathers that he, and his second, would be there.
Bowman checked again on the tracking screen and saw that Toshi had updated his screen to show a timer with the projected time left until the Rishi would exit the cluster. There was one for when the Interloper would do the same. Both clocks were relatively in sync now, the Rishi finally catching up to the Interloper. As Bowman watched, the clock labeled “Rishi” accelerated, showing they would exit the cluster before the enemy ship.
Bowman saw a text pop up in his chat window. It was one that all his senior staff had access to, but seldom used, as he preferred the face-to-face approach to command. It was from Toshi, letting him know that their best guess was that if the two craft stayed on the current course and speed, the Rishi would exit the Cluster a good five hours before the Interloper. Toshi also added that he would make sure the captain's tracking screen stayed updated with ongoing projections in real time.
Damn, we’re gonna set some speed run records with this one. I wonder if the higher ups will let it go public?
Knowing that Toshi had his back, and that the ship's current mission was in expert hands with Nvellan and his team, Bowman set to planning the capture of the Interloper ship. Hopefully, they would get some answers, at long last.
__________
“What do you mean ‘we lost them’?” Zirenna asked tiredly.
She was as beat up from this Cluster as the rest of her crew. She had lost track of time since they started the transit through the god forsaken anomaly. Her ship had a dozen critical failures, and her crew had injuries ranging from bumps and bruises to broken limbs. The ship's doc even had her chief mechanic strapped to a gurney in a medically induced coma with severe head injuries, after she had returned to her station against direct orders.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Now Ikora was telling her they could no longer track the ship chasing them. The Rishi may be right on top of them for all they knew.
“The aft shields buckled on that last set of corkscrew turns we went through,” Ikora said. “Our sensor array got bombarded with the electromagnetic waves, taking it offline. It’s no longer functioning and now we can’t see the Rishi.”
Not that the sensors were doing much good, anyway.
They were communicating on a private channel, not wanting to risk getting out of their crash chairs. Yaziri was still taking them through a series of loops and inversions as she navigated the cluster. They passed through the center twenty minutes ago, and the radiation and electromagnetic forces had dissipated somewhat. But they were still within the Cluster; even at lower levels, those forces could rip her ship apart if they strayed.
“Were we able to restore those shields?” Zirenna asked her first mate.
“Barely,” Ikora said. “We rerouted power, but those links won’t hold much longer, not at this speed, Zirenna.”
Ikora wanted to ask her commander, her friend, if it was worth the risk. Shouldn’t they slow down? But she had been briefed, as had the rest of the command crew, as to the nature of their mission, and she knew they had to push on.
“Yaziri. How much longer until we’re out of the cluster?” Zirenna asked her pilot.
There was a pause, and Zirenna's stomach did a flip, along with the ship. She felt like she needed to empty its contents on the deck, but she had done that hours ago, and now there was nothing left to bring up. She was still dry heaving when Yaziri responded.
“We still have two hours at this pace. We’re through the worst of it. I was about to inform you that the last set of corkscrews should be the last of the terrible ones. The heaviest concentration is on the outward side of the Cluster. From here until the exit, it's a comparatively gentle spiral that brings us out on the other side. We have a few narrow spots, and it looks like there will be one more radiation pocket before we’re through. But I shouldn’t have to invert the ship anymore.”
“Thank the Faceless gods for small mercies,” Ikora said under her breath.
“Indeed.” Zirenna said, and Ikora realized she had kept her channel with the captain open.
“Yaziri. Are we able to move about then? I’ve got a badly wounded ship and crew to look after.”
The pilot double checked her screens, giving the captain a curt nod as she kept her focus on the controls.
“It should be relatively safe. I’d recommend keeping battle readiness, however.”
“Understood.” Zirenna said, even as she was reaching over to toggle the ship wide communication.
“This is the captain. We aren’t out of the cluster yet, but you may move about, effecting repairs and treating the wounded. Keep at the ready, as the situation can change. Coordinate through Ikora for repair priorities.”
Zirenna toggled off the comm and unstrapped herself. She stood and had to take a moment, holding on to her armrest until her vision cleared. Her back definitely had fared for the worst during the last few hours. She really needed to see the doc. As the pain subsided, she slowly made her way to her first mate's station.
Ikora was rising from her own command chair, stretching slowly, assessing for any damage she may have unknowingly taken during the thick of it. She reached out to steady her friend as Zirenna stumbled into her.
“Thanks,” the captain said, taking a moment to get her legs under her. “I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything that grueling.”
“What about that time during the academy, when you thought you knew your celestial navigation but got us marooned in the Endless Desert for almost a month with no supplies?”
Zirenna looked at her friend and appeared to contemplate what she had said.
“Hands down this was far more terrifying and physically demanding. By the Black Suns, how does something like an Orbital Cluster come into existence, anyway? Those forces should’ve ripped those planets apart eons ago.”
The two friends took a moment to relish the fact that they had passed another ordeal still intact. A distinct ding on Ikora’s console let her know someone was trying to reach her. She looked at Zirenna who gave her arm a squeeze as she turned to head back to her own chair.
“I want a damage report as soon as possible, Ikora, and I think we’re gonna need a miracle to escape the Rishi when we get out of the cluster.”
“Yaziri, slow down to quarter impulse. Let’s give the engineers time to make repairs. We did our best, but without knowing where the Rishi is, and with the state of the ship, slowing things down is the better course of action right now.”
“Absolutely, Zirenna.” Yaziri said.
“You did a good job, Yaziri. No other pilot could have flown through a Cluster at those speeds. Hopefully, you’ve given us the edge we needed.”
Yaziri nodded her gratitude and went back to work, but Zirenna could see her sit up a little straighter. She’d have to put a commendation in her file for that original bit of flying.
___________
“They’ve slowed down, sir,” the ensign sitting at Sensors said. “Down to one quarter impulse.”
“Thank you, ensign,” Bowman said, sitting back in his own command chair with a fresh espresso in hand.
They had exited the far side of the cluster an hour earlier and he had relieved his senior staff to get some food and wash up. He needed them back on the bridge shortly to help him capture the Interloper ship. Bowman had taken his own advice and, after asking Nvellan if he could man the con for another twenty minutes, had gone to his ready room for a fresh uniform. He had splashed some water on his face, and threw back two quick shots of espresso before making the third that he now sipped on.
Bowman had returned to the command deck with a shot of espresso for Nvellan, who knew better than to refuse the captain's generosity, especially when it came to his coffee. He made of show of sipping on the harsh brew, but didn’t dare let the liquid pass his lips.
Bowman asked Nvellan to let the galley know to have platters of sandwiches sent to the bridge for the crew who remained on watch. He also ordered pots of the ship’s coffee, which to the rest of the crew was more desirable than the captain's personal roast. Finally, Bowman relieved Nvellan to go look after himself and settled into his command chair, typing in a few commands and returning his control boards back to his own preferences.
Captain Bowman took a moment to finish appreciating his espresso, then put his cup aside and got back to work. He looked up the new projected timeline of the Interloper ship exiting the cluster and saw that they had five more hours before needing to spring his plan into action. The slowing speed of the Interloper ship gave him more time to get ready, and affect any repairs that the Rishi needed.
He pondered why the sudden change in speed, when the Interloper captain had risked the ship and crew in that hell-bent dash through the cluster. It was obvious after a moment’s consideration. They were a damaged ship and in the easiest part of the transit. They would have no idea where the Rishi was and so the captain would have their speed reduced to effect repairs and prepare for the Rishi when they met. At least that is what he would have done.
Bowman saw Toshi and Tanaka returning to the bridge. Both had on fresh uniforms and were finishing sandwiches.
“Gentleman, could I see you for a moment?”
The pair angled their way to the captain's chair in the middle of the bridge.
“Sir?”
“What do you both make of this?” Bowman asked, swiveling his screen so his men could see the new projected course and speed of the Interloper ship.
Both men studied the screen for just a moment before Tanaka spoke.
“My guess would be that they are taking the time to repair their ship. Who knows what damage they took? I’d imagine they’re pretty beat up. That was insane what they did in there. I’ve never heard of anything like it.”
“Until we became an Orbital battering ram,” Toshi interrupted.
“Truth.” Tanaka said, acknowledging his friend. “I think their captain gambled and lost and knows it. Now they’re gonna play it safe, repair what they can and try to be ready for any ambush that may come their way when they exit the cluster.”
“Toshi?” Bowman asked, looking for confirmation.
“I agree with that assessment. I’d hazard a guess that they've lost sensors at some point and are running blind. If it was me running that ship, I’d slow down and fix a few critical systems when it was safe to do so.”
“Safe being a relative statement, considering they are still in the Cluster.” Tanaka said.
“That’s what I was thinking myself, gentleman,” Bowman said. “Tosh, your timer puts them at five hours before exiting the cluster. Let’s put that time to good use and set a better ambush than we did on their way into the Cluster. I really want this ship taken intact and her crew alive.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Tanaka, I want the crew shifts adjusted. Let’s get a fresh shift to their stations in about two hours.”
“Understood, sir. I’ll arrange it.”
“That is all, gentleman. Thank you. I’m going to go see if the cook has any roast beef and gravy sandwiches for me. Tosh, you have the bridge until I return. Call me immediately if anything changes.”
“Aye, I have the bridge,” Toshi said. “Sir. Nvellan made sure the cook delivered a plate of sandwiches to your ready room.”
Bowman smiled at the men and hastened to his ready room, already tasting the sandwiches. The cook knew how to make the perfect roast beef sandwich, putting an extra slice of bread in the middle that was soaked with gravy.
Tanaka and Toshi watched the captain go, then smiled at each other. They knew how much the captain enjoyed his sandwiches. Toshi sat down in the command chair, comfortable enough with the captains preferred layout to leave it as it was. Tanaka nodded to his friend and made his way to his own station to get to work adjusting those schedules.
“Damn it,” Tanaka said under his breath as he approached his team at the Tracking station. “I could go for another sandwich.”
