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Authors: Mark Terence Chapman
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massive blast overloaded Adventurer’s shields and knocked out many of the external sensors.
“Repair crews to starboard side, decks three, four and five, Blue and Red sections! We have multiple hull breaches.” He shook his head. “Damn, he’s good!”
I didn’t even see those shots coming.
Kalen spoke firmly. “The battle isn’t over yet, Hal. You’re doing fine so far. Better than I could. Keep doing what you’re doing and that raider’ll lose his appetite for battle eventually.”
“I wish I was as confident.” He paused to fire off another barrage, twisting and turning all the while. “But I’m certainly not giving up. I—”
A tremendous hand swatted Adventurer and all went dark.
CHAPTER FOUR
“Got ‘er!”
“Excellent work, Simmons.” The Unity ship’s energy readings dropped to near-zero on the general’s console. “Move in—cautiously, just in case—and let us finish this. You know what to do.”
“ Yes sir. My pleasure.” Simmons smiled to herself at the thought of what she had just accomplished. I can’t believe we took out a Unity ship that big. Damn, I’m good!
She chuckled. I’ll have to remind the general of that when it comes time to divvy up the spoils of this planet.
Red emergency lights snapped on all over the bridge.
“Jesus! What the hell just happened?” Hal checked the panoply of sensors at his disposal. He grimaced. “Most sensors are out. Whatever hit us, hit hard. Weapons are offline, shields are offline—we’re running on emergency power, barely enough for life support, partial gravity and instrumentation. Nothing more.” He swallowed the bitter knowledge of his failure. “We’re defenseless, Captain.”
Hal took a deep breath and let it out. “I’m sorry folks,” he announced to the crew on the bridge. “I let you down.”
Kalen shook his head and spoke firmly. “Not at all, Hal. You did superbly under the circumstances. You just didn’t have enough time to really master the interface. It’s my fault. I should have started you on the weapon systems sooner.”
Hal appreciated the words, but it didn’t change the circumstances. It would be only a matter of seconds before the pirates blew them out of the sky. And with all his skill and knowledge, there wasn’t a damn thing Hal could do about it.
H e watched the pirate on one of the few working sensors on that side of the ship. The enemy vessel slowly, cautiously approached Adventurer .
Why so wary?
Of course. They’re making sure we aren’t playing dead . I guess they’re worried we might be about to strike back. He snorted. I wish.
But w hy don’t they just get it over with? They could have fired at any time. Are they toying with us?
He puzzled over the mystery for several long seconds.
The pirate ship continued to close with Adventurer , now matching speed.
Hal ’s eyes lit up with realization. Stupid!
“ They’re going to board! They’re hoping to capture the ship more or less intact.” He toggled the intercom. “Security! Prepare to repel boarders!”
He called back to Kalen. “ What’s the procedure for defending against boarders?”
“I — We don’t have such a procedure. As far as I know, it’s never happened to a Unity ship before.”
“Terrific. Well, we’d better come up with a response in a hurry.”
“I’ll go help Brute prepare.” Kalen leapt from his seat and sprinted for the doorway, awkwardly in the reduced gravity, to meet with Chief of Security Arouk’Brout’Voul.
“Good. ” Hal spoke into the intercom. “Engineering, how are we coming on restoring power and engines?”
Senior Engineer Talbot replied. “The engines are a mess. Multiple systems are shorted out. It’ll be hours before we can go anywhere. I can get you some power in a few minutes, but not enough for weapons. Maybe some minimal shielding, but that’s about it.”
“I’ll take what you can give me, Jerry.”
“Yes sir.”
All right. What can I do with
“Repair crews to starboard side, decks three, four and five, Blue and Red sections! We have multiple hull breaches.” He shook his head. “Damn, he’s good!”
I didn’t even see those shots coming.
Kalen spoke firmly. “The battle isn’t over yet, Hal. You’re doing fine so far. Better than I could. Keep doing what you’re doing and that raider’ll lose his appetite for battle eventually.”
“I wish I was as confident.” He paused to fire off another barrage, twisting and turning all the while. “But I’m certainly not giving up. I—”
A tremendous hand swatted Adventurer and all went dark.
CHAPTER FOUR
“Got ‘er!”
“Excellent work, Simmons.” The Unity ship’s energy readings dropped to near-zero on the general’s console. “Move in—cautiously, just in case—and let us finish this. You know what to do.”
“ Yes sir. My pleasure.” Simmons smiled to herself at the thought of what she had just accomplished. I can’t believe we took out a Unity ship that big. Damn, I’m good!
She chuckled. I’ll have to remind the general of that when it comes time to divvy up the spoils of this planet.
Red emergency lights snapped on all over the bridge.
“Jesus! What the hell just happened?” Hal checked the panoply of sensors at his disposal. He grimaced. “Most sensors are out. Whatever hit us, hit hard. Weapons are offline, shields are offline—we’re running on emergency power, barely enough for life support, partial gravity and instrumentation. Nothing more.” He swallowed the bitter knowledge of his failure. “We’re defenseless, Captain.”
Hal took a deep breath and let it out. “I’m sorry folks,” he announced to the crew on the bridge. “I let you down.”
Kalen shook his head and spoke firmly. “Not at all, Hal. You did superbly under the circumstances. You just didn’t have enough time to really master the interface. It’s my fault. I should have started you on the weapon systems sooner.”
Hal appreciated the words, but it didn’t change the circumstances. It would be only a matter of seconds before the pirates blew them out of the sky. And with all his skill and knowledge, there wasn’t a damn thing Hal could do about it.
H e watched the pirate on one of the few working sensors on that side of the ship. The enemy vessel slowly, cautiously approached Adventurer .
Why so wary?
Of course. They’re making sure we aren’t playing dead . I guess they’re worried we might be about to strike back. He snorted. I wish.
But w hy don’t they just get it over with? They could have fired at any time. Are they toying with us?
He puzzled over the mystery for several long seconds.
The pirate ship continued to close with Adventurer , now matching speed.
Hal ’s eyes lit up with realization. Stupid!
“ They’re going to board! They’re hoping to capture the ship more or less intact.” He toggled the intercom. “Security! Prepare to repel boarders!”
He called back to Kalen. “ What’s the procedure for defending against boarders?”
“I — We don’t have such a procedure. As far as I know, it’s never happened to a Unity ship before.”
“Terrific. Well, we’d better come up with a response in a hurry.”
“I’ll go help Brute prepare.” Kalen leapt from his seat and sprinted for the doorway, awkwardly in the reduced gravity, to meet with Chief of Security Arouk’Brout’Voul.
“Good. ” Hal spoke into the intercom. “Engineering, how are we coming on restoring power and engines?”
Senior Engineer Talbot replied. “The engines are a mess. Multiple systems are shorted out. It’ll be hours before we can go anywhere. I can get you some power in a few minutes, but not enough for weapons. Maybe some minimal shielding, but that’s about it.”
“I’ll take what you can give me, Jerry.”
“Yes sir.”
All right. What can I do with
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