Vaughn Heppner - The Lost Starship

Lieutenant Noonan’s head snapped back against the upper rest of her chair. She lay there, panting.

The force of the acceleration caused Maddox to lose his breath. It was all he could do to blink.

For Ensign Keith Maker, this was obviously a delight. With five Gs of acceleration, the small man shouted with joy.

“We’re on a rocket ride tonight, my love!” Keith sang in an off-key voice. “From Orion to the Pleiades, we’ll shoot into the galaxy of star delight. Oh, fire the works, sweetie, plunge us into the whirlpool of moonbeam divine.”

At last, Maddox sucked down air. “Turn on the antigravity pods.”

Keith kept singing.

“Ensign Maker!” Maddox shouted.

“Yes, sir,” Keith said, glancing his way.

“This isn’t a strikefighter. We have antigravity dampeners. Use them.”

“Oh,” Keith said, “my mistake, mate, I mean, Captain, sir.”

“Check your records for the nearest tramlines,” Maddox told Valerie.

“Ah. Found it,” Keith said. He tapped a control. Immediately, the pressing Gs lessened to something more bearable.

“Oh no,” Valerie whispered.

“What’s wrong?” Maddox asked her.

“Sir,” she said. “The Nerva craft has launched a missile. It’s heading straight for our scout. He means to destroy us.”

As Geronimo kept accelerating, Maddox opened channels with the Nerva shuttle. “You know traffic control has seen that,” he said. “Your missile’s signature has become huge.”

“Ain’t that a shame,” the Nerva operator said. “And do you know what happens next?”

“The destroyer or the cruiser will target your missile and beam it down,” Maddox said.

“I call that step one,” the operator said.

Maddox understood then. Step two would be an investigation all the way around. The destroyer would act, boarding both ships as a matter of protocol. Those in the shuttle might already have assurances by Nerva that he would free them from captivity. What would happen to the mission, though, if he—Maddox—found himself impounded with the shuttle? No. He had to survive and escape now.

“Captain,” Valerie said. “The missile is bearing down on us. It’s accelerating at fifteen gravities, three times faster than we’re going.”

“I heard that,” the operator said.

“How much time until the missile reaches us?” Maddox asked.

“Give me a second,” Valerie said.

“You should have already computed it.”

“I know! I’m not used to running navigating, weapons and radar all at once.”

“You’d better start, Lieutenant.”

“I know!” she shouted. “Sir!”

The Nerva operator chuckled. “Time’s running out for you, Captain Maddox.”

“Thirty seconds,” Valerie said. “Thirty seconds to impact.”

“What’s the shuttle doing?” Maddox asked. “And why isn’t the destroyer knocking the missile down for us?”

“I’ll tell you what I’m doing,” the operator said. “I’m dropping back down to Earth. See you around—never.”

The comm clicked off.

“Twenty seconds to impact,” Valerie said. “Captain, why hasn’t the destroyer beamed the missile down? I don’t understand their delay.”

A terrible thought struck Maddox. Just how deep did Nerva’s bribery go? Could the Methuselah Man have corrupted a Star Watch destroyer crew near Earth orbit? Did the New Men back Octavian Nerva? Maybe the industrialist fronted for the New Men secret service.

Maddox had no doubt the brigadier had been monitoring the situation the entire time. Likely, the other side was burning agents to do what they did. Yet if the Lord High Admiral was correct, humanity would never have a chance at survival if they didn’t acquire the alien sentinel.

“I’ll show you how we used to take care of missiles,” Keith said. “Get ready, Lieutenant.” The pilot cut acceleration. Then, he rotated the scout so the cannons aimed at the missile.

“I see it,” Maddox whispered. He meant a visual contact. The missile’s long exhaust made it a bright object, and it headed straight for them.

“Engage the cannons,” Keith said.

Lieutenant Noonan shook her head. “The missile is using advanced ECM. I can’t get a targeting lock on it.”

“Switch the guns over to me, love,” Keith said.

She didn’t hesitate, but tapped a screen.

“Yes, you little crawly, come to poppa.” Ensign Maker tapped a control. Each time a cannon fired, the scout trembled slightly.

Maddox watched his screen for what seemed like an interminably long time until finally, a bloom appeared.

“Bingo,” Keith said. “The boggy is eliminated.”

Maddox studied his panel. He couldn’t believe it, but the ace was right.

“Good work, Ensign,” Valerie said. “I’m never going to doubt you again.”

“Thank you, thank you,” Keith said. “All donations to my party fund will be appreciated.” He began tapping the panel.

The scout rotated once again. “I’m going to use five dampened Gs, mates, we’re about to accelerate.”

“This is SWS Destroyer Saint Petersburg calling SWS Geronimo ,” a woman said. “Respond Geronimo .”

“Have you plotted our course yet, Lieutenant?” Maddox asked, ignoring the new message.

Valerie waited a beat before saying, “I’m working on it, Captain.”

“The sooner I have that the better,” he said.

“Yes, sir,” she said.

“Will the destroyer laser us if we don’t comply with their orders?” Keith asked.

“I plan to prolong the procedure,” Maddox said. “By the way, you have my congratulations on expert firing. That was well done.”

“Thank you, sir,” Keith said.

Maddox went back to his instruments, talking to the destroyer’s comm officer.

“I’m going to have to report you for firing weapons in Earth orbit without proper authorization,” the destroyer’s comm officer said.

“Do what you must,” Maddox said. He had no doubts now that someone had compromised the destroyer commander. The rot was definitely deeper than he expected.

“You will desist from accelerating,” the comm officer said. “My captain wants me to inform you, he will be shooting out your engines otherwise.”

“Tramline in three minutes,” Valerie said.

“Class three?” Maddox asked.

“Yes, sir,” she said, “although, it will be a roundabout way to our destination.”

“At least it will get us out of this mess,” he said.

“It will, at that, sir,” Valerie said.

“Do you copy my last message, Geronimo ?” the destroyer officer asked.

Maddox began an argument with her. As he started to work himself into a supposed rant, Lieutenant Noonan shouted: “Get ready for jump!”

The Laumer-Point was invisible to human eyes. Even so, an opening to a small wormhole appeared several kilometers from the accelerating Geronimo .

“This is SWS Saint Petersburg ,” the destroyer comm officer said. “We have our main laser locked onto you. You must immediately shut down the scout’s Laumer Drive or we won’t be responsible for your destruction when our beam takes out your engine.”

Keith’s fingers flew over his controls. “Expelling chaff and an emitter,” he said. “Get ready.” He tapped controls. Even with the dampeners, massive acceleration struck. The scout fairly leaped away.

At the same time, loud beeps emanated from Valerie’s panel. The destroyer had lock-on. A beam flashed, and it would have hit but for Keith’s fast actions in changing their estimated position.

“They’re retargeting!” Valerie shouted.

Another beam flashed. It stabbed into the chaff, annihilating the emitter.