The Exile: A Military Sci-Fi Series (Omega Taskforce Book 3) Read online

  “It’s a message from the Fleet Heavy Destroyer Falchion,” said Banks, peering down at her console screen. “They’re the lead ship in the current taskforce guarding the aperture.”

  “Let me guess, they’re warning us to steer clear?” said Sterling.

  Banks smiled. “Right first time,” she replied. “They’re being pretty insistent too, and not very polite.”

  Lieutenant Shade’s console then chimed an alert and Sterling turned his attention to his weapons officer.

  “The Falchion has turned toward us and locked weapons, Captain,” said Shade. Her tone and expression remained level. However, Sterling knew Shade’s tells well enough to see that the destroyer’s brazenness had riled her.

  “You’re right, that’s not very polite at all,” said Sterling, glancing back to Banks.

  “Should I turn away?” asked Ensign Keller, his voice betraying his unease at the fact one of their own ships had targeted them.

  “No, hold your course and keep it nice and steady, Ensign,” replied Sterling, assertively. “But be ready to put on a burst of speed when I give the order.”

  “Aye, Captain,” replied Keller, briskly.

  “Shall I charge weapons?” asked Shade, sounding eager to match the destroyer’s aggressive stance.

  “We do nothing to provoke them, Lieutenant,” replied Sterling, again maintaining an assertive, level tone. “They’re just posturing. The Falchion won’t shoot at us.”

  Banks’ console chimed another alert. “Another message from the Falchion, sir,” said the first officer, still focused on her screen. She then looked over to Sterling, eyebrow raised. “It’s Captain Anders and he’s demanding to speak to you.”

  “He’s demanding to speak to me?” replied Sterling, with a rising intonation. Banks merely smiled and nodded. Keller and Shade also shot astonished glances in the direction of the captain’s console, clearly eager to see how their captain would respond. “Well, you’d better put him on the viewscreen then,” Sterling finally answered, standing tall and pressing his hands behind his back. The viewscreen changed to show an inset image of the Falchion’s captain in the center. Captain Anders was a tall, thin man, with straw-like yellow hair, cut-razor close along the temples so that it looked like a bird’s nest had been placed on his head. The yellow stripe across Anders’ tunic denoted that the officer served in the Second Fleet, under Admiral Grayson. Their usual domain was D-sector, which had largely kept them out of front-line action in the more recent years of the war. Anders, however, was a veteran who had seen plenty of combat.

  “Captain Sterling, are your systems malfunctioning?” asked Anders, peering down his nose at Sterling.

  Sterling saw Banks wince out of the corner of his eye. The condescending and snooty manner in which the question had been asked was exactly the sort of attitude that got Sterling’s goat.

  “No, Captain Anders, our systems are working just fine, thank you for asking,” replied Sterling. He’d managed to force his lips into a thin smile, though the act of doing so was already causing his face to ache.

  “Then why are you still on course toward the aperture, Captain?” Anders hit back. “I issued clear instructions for you to steer away.”

  The captain of the Falchion had switched from condescending to downright disdainful. It was as if the officer were speaking to an insubordinate malcontent, rather than someone of equal rank.

  “If that was your question, Captain, then you should have just asked it the first time, rather than play games,” Sterling replied.

  Sterling’s veneer of politeness had already cracked. He now wished he’d allowed Shade to charge the weapons so that he could blast a warning shot across the destroyer’s bow. However, he had to remind himself of his own advice, which was to avoid provoking his fellow Fleet officer. Even so, it was clear that Sterling’s snarling response had already caused Captain Anders to bristle and puff out his chest like a strutting pigeon.

  “Very well, Captain, since you prefer that we speak plainly,” the officer began, clearly working up to deliver an ultimatum. “Turn away now or I am authorized to fire on your vessel. Our orders are clear. No-one is to enter the Void, not even the fabled ‘Void Recon Unit’.”

  The sneering manner in which Anders had said “Void Recon Unit” only served to rile Sterling up even further.

  “I realize that the Second Fleet doesn’t see much action in D-sector, Captain,” Sterling replied, giving as good as he got. “But firing on your own side isn’t generally the done thing.” Moments later he kicked himself for rising to the bait.

  “From what I hear of your taskforce, Captain, you would know far more about that than I,” Anders hit back.

  There was an audible intake of breath from the station beside him. Sterling glanced left and saw that Banks was almost ready to leap at the viewscreen and punch her fist though the image of Captain Anders.

  “In any case, there is no need for threats, Captain,” Sterling replied, managing to rein in his own combative tendencies and speak more calmly. “We’re simply running some quick shakedown tests to calibrate our engines after the recent repairs.”

  “Calibrate your engines in the other direction, Captain Sterling,” Anders replied. Unlike Sterling, he had made no effort to take a more civil tone. “I will not warn you again.”

  The image of Captain Anders on the viewscreen vanished. Sterling allowed his stiff posture to relax, though his heart was thumping hard in his chest. Then he noticed that Ensign Keller had twisted his chair around to face him, awaiting further orders. The young officer still appeared to be full of doubt, but Sterling commended his relatively green pilot for holding his tongue.

  “Full power acceleration, Ensign,” Sterling said, feeling his hands again tighten around the sides of his console. “Keep going straight for the Aperture, no matter what that destroyer does.”

  “Aye, Captain,” Keller replied, with slightly less assuredness than before.

  “You think he’s bluffing?” asked Banks, casting Sterling a quizzical eye.

  “I think he’ll try to confirm the order to fire on us before he takes any action,” replied Sterling. “And I’m betting that Admiral Griffin will take her sweet time to answer his call.”

  Sterling then felt the kick of the engines push him toward the rear bulkhead before the inertial negation systems adjusted to compensate. The pulse of the engines through of the deck-plating quickly rose as the Invictus powered its way toward the aperture.

  “Power surge from the Falchion,” said Banks, raising her own voice above the beat of the engines. “Anders is definitely getting ready to fire.”

  “Hold your course, Ensign, and prepare to surge,” Sterling called out, heading off any doubt his helmsman may have had in that moment. He then turned to Lieutenant Shade. “Regenerative armor to maximum, and charge the weapons, just in case,” he said. Shade sprang into action almost before the breath carrying his words had exited Sterling’s lips. His weapons officer had clearly been eagerly awaiting the order to active their own defensive and offensive systems.

  “Thirty seconds to the perimeter of the aperture,” Banks called out. “If Anders is going to shoot at us then he’s leaving it to the last minute.”

  Sterling didn’t answer and continued to peer out through the viewscreen. Come on, Captain Anders, let’s see if you have to balls to do it… Sterling thought, almost willing his fellow officer to take the shot.

  “Ten seconds… I think we’re clear,” announced Banks. “Five seconds…”

  Sterling smiled then felt the universe collapse into nothing, so that only his disembodied thoughts remained. His mind dwelled on what had just happened. Sterling had called Falchion’s bluff, as he knew he would. However, his primary sensation wasn’t relief that his gamble had worked, but anger that it had done. Anders should have blown the Invictus to atoms. Sterling had disobeyed orders and made a run for the Void. For all Anders knew, Sterling and his crew could have been turned. By taking no acti
on, the officer may have allowed an advanced warship and battle-hardened crew to join the ranks of the enemy invasion armada. It was an act of cowardice, Sterling thought, as he waited for the surge to complete, and it was all because Captain Anders was not like him – not an Omega officer. If it had been the Invictus guarding the aperture and the Falchion trying to run, Sterling wouldn’t have hesitated. He’d have launched everything he had and reduced the Falchion to dust. That was the difference between himself and the other Fleet captains. And ultimately that was difference between winning and losing the war. Fleet will learn this to its cost in the days ahead, Sterling considered as his disembodied thoughts continued to fill the absence. Hopefully, the cost will not to be too high…

  Sterling and the Invictus exploded back into normal space on the other side of the aperture and a cacophony of strident alarms immediately blared out onto the bridge. Sterling was suddenly bathed in the crimson hue of the battle stations alert lights, and he quickly realized why. Ahead of him on the viewscreen were three Sa’Nerran Skirmishers and the Invictus was heading straight for them.

  Sterling stood tall and tapped his neural interface, opening the link to the entire crew.

  “All hands… battle stations…”

  Chapter 3

  The battle titan

  The flash from the Invictus’ plasma rail cannons lit up the Void and moments later the lead Sa’Nerran Skirmisher had been obliterated. Impacts from the debris of the enemy warship hammered into the hull of the ship as its momentum carried it through the wreckage. Sterling glanced down at his damage report screen and saw a dozen sections of their regenerative armor turn from green to dark amber. However, just as quickly as the damage had been sustained, their self-regenerating protective shell began to knit itself back together again.

  “Full-power turn, Ensign,” Sterling called out. “Get us behind that second ship before it has a chance to react.”

  “Aye sir,” Keller called out.

  The starfield on the viewscreen became a blur as the gifted pilot maneuvered the Marauder-class warship in pursuit of the second enemy vessel. Sterling was forced to put his weight forward and grip the sides of his console again to compensate for the delay in the inertial negation systems. It was like standing on a bus while it was taking a sharp corner and being forced to grip onto the handrails more tightly.

  “Torpedoes away!” Lieutenant Shade called over the weapons control console.

  Sterling saw the weapons race out from the aft launchers of the Invictus and pursue the third Sa’Nerran Skirmisher. Like Shade, he doubted that the torpedoes would reach their target before the alien ship’s point defense guns took them out. However, all they needed to do was distract the enemy warship and buy them enough time to deal with its companion. The second Skirmisher came into view ahead, though Keller’s alien counterpart was doing an admirable job of evading the Invictus’ guns.

  “I’m switching weapons to manual,” Shade announced, as three hard thuds reverberated through the deck from incoming plasma fire. “The Sa’Nerran jamming fields are blocking our targeting sensors.”

  “Direct hit broad on the port quarter,” Banks called out, as another thud shook the deck, forcing the first officer to steady herself against her console. “Regenerative armor failing. Minor hull breach.”

  Sterling silently cursed the alien gunner who’d managed to poke a hole in his vessel, then turned to Shade. “Lieutenant, we can’t hold this course for long,” he said, noting more sections of their armor turn dark amber or red. “Take them out, now.”

  “Standby…” Shade replied, her gaze laser-focused onto the manual targeting display. Sterling saw the glowing reticule dance across the viewscreen then land on the enemy warship’s engineering section. “Locked on… Firing!”

  The viewscreen briefly went white as the rail guns fired again, but the display compensated in time to show the plasma blasts tearing through the starboard beam of the Skirmisher. Crippled, the enemy vessel listed out of control, spewing fire and arcs of electricity into the Void.

  “Target neutralized, weapons resetting,” Shade called through gritted teeth. Combat was the only thing that made Opal Shade come alive and she was relishing every second of the encounter.

  “Coming about!” Keller shouted, turning the Invictus away from the stricken vessel.

  Sterling gripped hard to his console again, but the final Skirmisher had predicted the move and remained on their tail. Seconds later, more powerful impacts thudded through the deck. Sterling didn’t need his console to tell him that the damage was serious – he could feel it, as if the ship was an extension of his own body.

  “Hull breach, cargo bay,” said Banks.

  Sterling glanced at his console and saw that in its eagerness to score a hit, the Skirmisher had left itself in a bad position.

  “Zero safeties on the aft torpedoes,” Sterling called out. The damage assessment could wait – he had a fractional window in which to act, otherwise their chance was gone. “Fire - now, now, now!”

  Shade reacted instantly, disabling the safeties on their torpedoes and snap-shooting them from the aft launchers. The viewscreen switched to a view of the pursuing Skirmisher which, as Sterling had anticipated, had remained tight in on their tail. He cursed out loud as the first torpedo missed and snaked out into the darkness. The second one struck true and the Skirmisher detonated violently. The explosion was so close to the Invictus that the shockwave literally rattled Sterling’s teeth. More alarms wailed and the damage control readout on his console went momentarily haywire. Then the alarms all steadily began to fall silent and the shimmies and vibrations through the deck subsided.

  “All enemy vessels destroyed,” Lieutenant Shade confirmed. “No more contacts on the scanner.”

  “Hull breaches secured,” Banks added, looking down at her console. “Regenerative armor holding.” Banks then sighed and flashed her eyes at Sterling. “We’ll need to hammer a few more dings out of the hull, but we’re okay. No critical systems were damaged.”

  Sterling nodded and pushed himself away from his console. “Stand down from battle stations,” he said, staring out at the burning remains of the three Sa’Nerran Skirmishers.

  The red alert lighting faded and the regular bridge lights switched back on. A melodious if chaotic howl then emanated from the direction of Banks’ console and Sterling glanced down to see Jinx the Beagle wagging her tail. The hound appeared to be peering at the wreckage of the alien warships on the viewscreen.

  “I think she approves of our victory,” said Banks, bending down to pet the dog.

  “You’re going to have to figure out a more appropriate station for Acting Ensign Jinx,” said Sterling, frowning at the Beagle. “I’d forgot the damned thing was still on the bridge.”

  “It’s a dog, not a thing, Captain,” Banks hit back, sounding suddenly defensive. Sterling glowered at his first officer and she straightened to attention, realizing her slip. “But, yes sir, I’ll make sure Jinx stays out of the way,” she added, in a more professional tone.

  “Captain, since we’re low on supplies, might it be worth analyzing the wreckage for anything salvageable?” Lieutenant Shade asked, appropriately steering the conversation away from canine matters and back to the mission. “At the very least, there might be some tech or metals that we can adapt and use to fabricate spare components.”

  Sterling considered this then nodded. “While I don’t relish the idea of eating salvaged Sa’Nerran meal trays, it’s worth a shot,” he replied to Shade. Then he glanced out through the viewscreen again, anxiously watching the pulsing beacons surrounding the aperture. “But before we commit to a salvage op, I want to be sure Fleet or the Sa’Nerra won’t catch us with our cargo bay doors down, so to speak.”

  Banks raised an eyebrow. “That’s a colorful metaphor,” she replied while beginning an analysis of the aperture that led back to G-sector. “So far, I’m only detecting our residual surge energy. There’s nothing to indicate that other Fleet
ships are following us through,” Banks added, while continuing to work through the readings.

  “Captain Anders will be speaking to Griffin or one of the other admirals in G-sector now,” said Sterling, picturing the scene of havoc they had just left behind. “The top brass are likely still deciding whether to risk coming after us or not.”

  Banks' console chimed another update and her scowl deepened. “Wait one… I’m detecting a surge,” Banks said, fingers flashing across her console to analyze the new readings.

  “From the aperture to G-sector, or one of the others?” Sterling asked. He wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of having to deal with any Fleet ships that had been sent after them. However, the alternative – more Sa’Nerran warships – wasn’t particularly appealing to him either.

  “It’s from an aperture at the far side of the sector,” Banks finally answered. “Correction, I’m picking up surge fields from four apertures, all of them vectoring into the Sa’Nerran half of the void.” There was then a brief pause, during which time Banks’ eyes grew wide. “Wow…” she said, taking a step back from the console and holding up her hands, as if the surface had suddenly become electrified.

  “Is that a good ‘wow’ or a bad ‘wow’?” Sterling asked, though, as always, he instinctively assumed the worst.

  “Take a look for yourself,” replied Banks, tapping a few quick commands into the console then peering up at the viewscreen.

  Sterling frowned and adjusted his gaze to the screen. “Wow…” he said, parroting his first officer. Surge flashes were popping off in space like a fourth-of-July fireworks display.

  “One hundred and fifty-eight, so far…” Banks said, switching her focus between her console and the viewscreen. “Two forty… three hundred… Hell, they just keep on coming.”