Vaughn Heppner - The Lost Starship

“What?” the lieutenant asked. “That’s incredible. You can’t be serious.”

“You must have monitored an orbital firing two missiles,” Maddox said.

Lieutenant Noonan nodded.

“The missiles struck a Star Watch shuttle on the ground,” Maddox said. “The personnel tortured criminals to find her,” he said, jerking a thumb at Dana. “The New Men were on the Saint Petersburg . What that means is that we have to win this little game of cat and mouse with the destroyer. I’m betting the New Man on the surface has found my clearance code in the flitter. That means they can mask themselves from the orbitals just as we’re doing. That’s good news for them and us.”

“I don’t see how it’s good for us,” Valerie said.

“Don’t you see?” Maddox asked. “The Saint Petersburg will likely send another shuttle down to pick up the New Man. That will allow us time to flee.”

“Even if that’s true,” Valerie said, “don’t you think the monitor’s crew knows something here is wrong?”

“Forget about them for now,” Maddox said. “They’re far away at the chthonian planet. Do you have a fix on the Saint Petersburg ?”

“Yes,” Valerie said.

“Are we cloaked?” Maddox asked.

“No, sir,” Valerie said. “The cloak isn’t any good in an atmosphere. The destroyer must know where we are.”

“Compared to us,” Dana said, speaking up, “the destroyer has the high ground. They’ll just shoot us down.”

“Yes,” Maddox said, sarcastically. “You make a brilliant point. But I want you to concentrate on the space-beacon hacking. Let us handle this end.”

“She’s Doctor Dana Rich?” Valerie asked.

“Correct,” Maddox said.

“I’m glad to make your acquaintance,” Valerie said. “I’m—”

“Stow the welcoming committee routine,” Maddox shouted. “Fixate on the destroyer and how to outmaneuver it.”

“Do you charm everyone, mister?” Dana asked him.

Maddox glowered at her. Doctor Rich turned back to the instrument panel.

The scout rose rapidly as the planetary surface receded. Soon the jungle trees merged back into a vast green carpet. It was impossible to tell the mountain peaks: the abode to human bacterium living on the spore-infested nodes of existence.

The thought once again caused Maddox to feel the intense relief from escaping the jungle world and its ruthless germs. No doubt, once this was all over, Star Watch Intelligence would demand a detailed report on life on Loki Prime. If people wanted criminals to suffer for their crimes, the judicial arm had picked the perfect planet for it.

“Sir,” Valerie said. “A destroyer shuttle is dropping to the surface.”

“This is it,” Maddox said. “My guess is the destroyer will wait to pick up the New Man and my flitter. It’s our chance to make a run into space away from the Saint Petersburg .”

“What if you’re wrong?” Dana asked. “Why don’t they have the shuttle pick up the New Man and wait in orbit? The destroyer can hunt us down and come back for it later.”

“No,” Maddox said. “Lieutenant Noonan made an excellent point a few minute ago. It’s possible the SWS monitor at the Class 1 tramline entrance will have detected the shuttles. If not, the Star Watch commander out there is sure to detect the missiles or beams.”

“What beams?” Dana asked.

“The ones the destroyer will use on us to obliterate our scout. If Saint Petersburg shows its attacking someone on Loki Prime, the monitor will have to investigate. That means the destroyer will have to flee the system. Despite their superiority at tactics, even a New Man-captained destroyer can’t beat an SWS monitor. What that means is the destroyer will first have to pick up the shuttle before it chases us, because if they want to escape the star system, they won’t have time later to come back to pick up the shuttle and the stranded New Man.”

“Sounding confident about a thing doesn’t make it true,” Dana said. “You’re guessing, and you could be wrong.”

“Fair enough,” Maddox said. “I’ve noted your displeasure with my decision.” He turned to Valerie. “Show me the destroyer’s position relative to us.”

The lieutenant put it on her screen. The destroyer paced them overhead. Saint Petersburg had come down to Low Loki Orbit.

“Let’s open it up,” Maddox told Ensign Maker. “We need velocity.”

“The atmosphere will make it difficult for us, Captain,” Keith said.

“I know,” Maddox said. “It’s going to get hot in here. Unfortunately, I don’t see any other way to do this.”

“Aye-aye, Captain,” Keith said, who began to tap his panel.

The minutes passed as Ensign Maker increased velocity. They reached Mach 10, 11, 12. Soon, they flew at Mach 18. It wouldn’t take much longer to reach escape velocity. The ship’s air-conditioning systems already hummed. The vessel shook as air turbulence struck it.

“Captain, a missile is heading down at us from the Saint Petersburg . Correction,” Valerie said, “two missiles.”

“Slave the combat equipment to me, love,” Keith said. “I know exactly what to do.”

Valerie glanced at Maddox.

“Do it,” the captain said.

“We don’t want to launch chaff right away,” Keith said. “This is a heat-seeking missile, but I expect radar lock-on from the Saint Petersburg . They should be able to guide the missile to us. We’ll make them think we’re doing something different than what we’re really going to do.”

“What are we doing?” Valerie asked.

“Putting your life into my hands,” Keith said. “It isn’t misplaced.”

Several minutes passed.

“The missiles are closing fast,” Valerie shouted. “They’re Talos Seven class, variant E-3.”

“This is perfect,” Keith said. He slapped a control. “Grab your seats ladies, and gentlemen, sir.”

Maddox watched the lieutenant’s screen. Chaff flittered out from the rear of the scout. Then, Geronimo swiveled, turning one hundred and eighty degrees so they faced the approaching missiles. The ship began to buck and wave as it flew backward.

“Couldn’t do this without the antigravity pods,” Keith muttered. “Hang on, love.”

Despite the missiles’ speed, they swerved around the chaff. It seemed as if the ace had used the silvery particles as a make-shift shield.

Clever , Maddox thought.

“Now I have you,” Keith muttered. He pressed the trigger controls. Shells sped at the two bogeys. One Talos Seven variant E-3 missile disintegrated in midair. A second later, the other exploded, making a black cloud in the air.

“This will get rough!” Keith shouted.

The scout swiveled again, facing forward, and the missile’s air concussion struck the craft. The control room tipped to the side as the scout descended.

“Come on, lass, dance for your daddy-boy.” The ace’s fingers roved over his controls as everything shook.

Maddox had to clench his jaws to stop his teeth from rattling against each other.

Incredibly, Geronimo straightened and the shaking stopped. The scout soon rose to its former height.

Ensign Maker slapped his chest, hooting with delight. “I own you, you crawly mothers. I’m the king of the hill.”

Silently, Maddox agreed with the pilot’s assessment. The man knew his trade.

As Geronimo continued its way around the world, Doctor Rich worked feverishly at her controls. “I never thought I’d get to do this again,” she said in a voice choked with emotion.

The control room was meant for three. With four, it was crowded. So Maddox stood near the hatch, grabbing it during the violent maneuvering. “It’s time,” he said. “Lieutenant, hail Archangel .”