War of the Spheres Read online

  We ended up at the officer’s lounge. Captain Jessup spoke into his comm-link as he tapped an earpiece. “Collie! Commander Collins—get up here and find someone to pour me a drink!”

  The man appeared in less than two minutes. Behind him was a young lieutenant—junior grade.

  Jessup stretched out while he waited for a scotch, which Collins quickly had the lieutenant pour. It was plain to me then that Jessup was something of a tyrant. It wasn’t just me who was mistreated. His own officers were his servants.

  Sometimes it was like that on space-going warships. These vessels were often isolated on deep patrols for months, and their captains held ultimate power over their crews.

  The lieutenant flashed a questioning look which I ignored. Then he handed both of us a squeeze-tube with a shot in it, which we drank in tiny squirts. Collins watched us quietly. He hadn’t been invited to join us, but he didn’t seem to care.

  Jessup suddenly jabbed Collins with his index finger, then he pointed out the viewport.

  “Before I go find a nice young lady on this station to rub my shoulders,” he said, “I want you to arrange for me to get a look at that corvette over there. The one parked in that large bay next to the cannon turret.”

  “Yes sir,” Collins answered.

  I got the feeling he was trying not to roll his eyes at Jessup. Collins looked me over curiously for a moment, then withdrew.

  Meanwhile, the lieutenant playing steward for me looked like he smelled dog shit. I guess he must have noticed I was a mere chief, and maybe he figured I should be serving him. I couldn’t blame him for that, so I avoided his eye.

  Jessup gazed out of the viewport a moment longer. The captain seemed to relax a little.

  “You know, Gravy,” he said, startling me with the nickname, “when I was still a third class petty officer, I had plenty of good times on a sweet little ship just like that patrol boat out there…”

  “I’ll bet you did, sir.”

  “She was fast and pretty… I didn’t know what I had back then. Let me tell you something Gray, a young man can’t fully appreciate what he’s got. By the time he realizes it—the best times are gone.”

  This was going nowhere fast. I got the feeling Jessup planned to get drunk and tell me war stories. It was time to check out.

  “Thanks for the drink and the info, Captain Jessup. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got other people to bother.”

  He grunted in surprise. I shot out of the lounge and left him staring at the soles of my boots.

  After I left Jessup, I kept myself out of sight and avoided crewmen as much as possible. I had the idea I was going to lay low for a bit and then get to the bridge for a quick look around.

  I was mindful that time was passing, and I didn’t want to leave Jillian alone and so close to the engine for much longer. That strange device attracted danger.

  I peered into cabin doors and gear lockers for a diversion before I was surprised by Collins. He was right there outside the bridge when I arrived.

  “I figured you’d show up here sooner or later,” he said.

  “It’s good to see a professional officer on watch,” I told him. “Would you like to show me around the bridge?”

  “I have orders straight from the captain. If you can get through this door, I’ll have to insist on accompanying you.”

  Collins moved aside and made a ‘be my guest’ gesture at the red smartscreen pad by the access-way.

  Taking him at his word, I palmed the pad and went straight on in.

  In the bridge compartment, lighting was subdued, and large screens dominated all views forward, astern and at the flanks of the ship. Centrally placed, a broad, round disc sat upon a stubby base about knee-high.

  A skeleton crew manned Viper’s stations—and I noticed something right away. They were all young women. They turned from their work to stare over their shoulders at us as we intruded.

  Collins led me to a dark blonde who sat at the comms station. Her features were youthful, but her manner seemed assured and mature.

  Her name tag and rank insignia identified her as Lieutenant Alice Fletcher.

  “This is Chief Gray,” Collins said. “As you probably know he has a high clearance, and the captain has given him the run of the ship.”

  “The mysterious and infamous Chief Gray…” she said. “Welcome aboard Viper. What can we do for you?”

  “I’m investigating this ship and her crew.”

  “Investigating? What are you looking for? A scapegoat for that patrol boat that got itself blasted out of orbit?”

  I shrugged. “I’m not interested in blaming people. I’m interested in any information that might help me succeed in my job.”

  “And your job is highly confidential, I understand?”

  “That’s right, Lt. Fletcher.”

  “Call me Allie.”

  “Right… Will do.”

  “So secretive…” she said, watching me. “How intriguing.”

  Suddenly, she tapped at her earpiece and turned back to her station. Her fingers danced over icons.

  Another pair of women had drifted toward us from other stations. Both were ensigns. They immediately did an about-face and went back to work. They were muttering to each other over some sort of navigational planning board.

  Before I could ask what was wrong, a voice erupted over the general comm channel.

  “Attention all hands: Code Yellow. Inducing light-gravity ship-wide. Code yellow for light-gravity shift on all decks in 6…5…4…3…2…1…”

  We had all scooted to safety during the count, and when it was over a feeling of weight descended over me. It was like being in an elevator that had slowed down to a stop after a long descent.

  A moment later, we were walking on the deck again. We had an operable weight of something like half of one standard G on Earth.

  I focused on the large view screens which depicted everything ahead and to the sides of Viper in actual distance. They offered breath-taking panoramas of dark space. Luna herself was only visible forward and downward off our belly.

  The starboard views were lit by bright, lunar light, reflected off the station’s mottled skin. Docking spindles branched away from the main trunk of its body. Short cannon towers with tightly closed clamshell doors pegged up at intervals along the silhouette of the central mass.

  Remembering that time was short, I approached the busy pair of women at the navigational board. They stopped working and turned to regard me as I neared.

  Both women were prettier than the norm. It was impossible not to notice that simple truth. It occurred to me that all three of these women were younger and more attractive than they ought to be by the odds. What’s more, one of them had luxurious hair that was way out of regs. Only her superior officer could approve that. The other had a prominent shape to her that couldn’t be hidden entirely by her spacer’s suit.

  Had Captain Jessup put his thumb on the scales when selecting his bridge crew? A clear pattern was beginning to emerge. He had a fast ship, a yes-man commander and a bevy of young attractive ladies he’d installed on his bridge. It appeared he considered Viper to be his own private kingdom.

  “Any chance you two might be able to pull up details about the spook that tricked you into a chase earlier?” I asked them.

  The ensign on the left had damn-the-regulations long hair. She didn’t speak, but she turned to look at her sidekick.

  The curvy one on the right looked a little nervous, but she nodded. “Sure… we can do that.”

  She tapped on the screen indicating a polyhedron labeled ‘unknown’. There were laser-thin lines tracing trajectories away from it and lists on drop down screens with compilations of data.

  “What’s this list about?” I asked.

  “An analysis of the target object by chromatography and density screenings,” Allie said, interrupting.

  I turned to her as she walked over and took over the discussion. Could Captain Jessup have ordered her to “handle
” me on the bridge? I told myself it didn’t matter, as long as I got the information I wanted.

  “When the files are replayed and physical laws are applied,” Allie explained, “the conclusion is always the same: This sensor reading can’t be real.”

  “Given physics, the object behaves in a way that’s impossible?” I offered.

  “That’s correct.”

  Rather than allaying my fears, I began to frown. These were aliens we were dealing with. The enemy could have a ship we couldn’t fathom—or they could be manipulating our sensors at a distance. Either way, I didn’t like the conclusion.

  “Is it possible for me to get a look at the raw files?” I asked. “I’d like to study the raider’s behavior.”

  “Of course,” Allie said. “I can bring up the file on the projection table.” She indicated the low round board in the middle of the bridge compartment.

  Instantly, holographic modeling extended from the surface of the table nearby to the overhead in a cloud of imagery.

  Cmdr. Collins joined me under the cloud as Lt. Fletcher worked on the projection. He watched the show with us, and he honestly looked interested.

  At first the perspective depicted our wider position in current time. It had clearly been taken by a drone or a probe that had a broad view of Maraldi base and everything above it.

  In the center of the scene, Luna Station hung in frozen orbit nearly a hundred kilometers above Maraldi. The camera panned and zoomed in on the base itself, which looked like a dark metallic splotch on the Moon. As the view focused more tightly on the base, I could see the cannon towers that had saved our asses earlier stood around the base—a triad of turrets. They were dug into the basin of Maraldi Crater like three ticks.

  “I’m impressed.” I said. “This is superior holographic tech.”

  Collins shrugged. “It’s a standard issue military sensor array.”

  Again, I wondered how long I had been sleeping since my last deployment—I still couldn’t remember exactly when I’d last awakened…

  The view swept almost sickeningly back to Luna Station where Viper was docked. She was the largest operable warship in the vicinity. I leaned toward the image to examine the clean detail.

  “I’d really like to see when Viper first detected the raider and began pursuit.”

  “Sure—I can put that up,” Allie said.

  After another lurching perspective change, the table focused on open space. On the holographic screen, Viper first cruised near and to the topside of the transport that brought us here, but then began angling away on an odd tangent.

  As she drifted further away from our transport, jets flared to medium thrust and launched her after whatever mystery object she’d detected. Allie highlighted the raider with a bright orange polygon at the far edge of the table’s field of view.

  Apparently growing bored again, Cmdr. Collins moved back to the ladies and began a smiling talk of pleasantries.

  Suddenly, a red pulsing light began to flash on the control board. It beat silently, like an exposed heart.

  “What’s that about?” I asked Allie.

  She didn’t answer immediately but frowned in concern instead. “Commander? The bot has detected something.”

  Collins stopped flirting with the other women on the bridge and came over to check it out. Everyone was frowning.

  “Mind if we switch back to real time?” Collins asked me. “The computer is registering an anomaly on our sensors.”

  “Please do,” I said, waving for them to proceed and stepping back.

  On the screen, the playback was still showing Viper from earlier. The ship was just lighting up a hot burn on her pursuit mission—but we could always watch that later.

  Allie worked the boards, and the recorded imagery ended. The view flashed away to real time.

  Taking in the new scene in an instant, I didn’t like what I saw.

  “Damn it!” I yelled.

  The crew hadn’t seen it yet. They appeared to be startled by my outburst.

  There wasn’t any time for explanations. Using the null-G to my advantage, I leapt the whole distance to the viewport behind the comms-board in a hop and a half—stopping myself with both hands on the transparent plasteen viewport.

  Using my eyes, rather than drones and cameras, I looked outside the ship through the lightly frosted porthole. I didn’t trust computer-generated visions right now. Quite possibly, the aliens were able to fool our sensors. I thought it was likely they were doing so now.

  But that didn’t appear to be the case. What I’d seen on the display appeared to be an accurate depiction of reality in nearby space.

  Gazing out of Viper’s porthole, I saw Luna Station up close. Straight across the dockyard from my viewpoint there was only one ship in view—the corvette that had drawn Jessup’s attention earlier.

  There weren’t any welding arcs twinkling over there now. In fact, the corvette was bucking and bouncing with a single engine firing against mooring tethers. The bubble that sealed against hard vacuum was gone—and the workmen that had been crawling over the hull? They were either dead, or they’d fled for their lives when the ship started moving.

  Stabilizing briefly, the corvette’s forward pulse-cannons aligned themselves calmly. They then unloaded a series of blasts into the nearest defense tower.

  In response, the tower’s clamshells opened wide, and the cannon inside swiveled with wicked speed—but the ship was in too close. Maraldi’s defensive guns were clearly unable to target the ship as it was below their operating horizon.

  After another convulsion, the rogue ship leveled and let go another volley. Hitting something vital, the attack caused a small explosion underneath the damaged turret. Had the magazine gone up? That’s what it looked like to me.

  An expanding ball of gas and shrapnel was flung away from the mess.

  In a desperate attempt to respond, the defensive turret unleashed a broad stream of deadly shells well over the head of the traitorous corvette. It was a weak counter at best. A moment later, the gun was silenced.

  My comm-link alerted me about incoming contact from Jillian.

  I answered it immediately. “Jillian?”

  “You… bastard!” she spat in a husky voice.

  “Jillian, are you alright?” I asked.

  “No… I’m not.”

  My heart raced as I probed for more information. “Are you hurt…?”

  “Why in the hell am I waking up nude and alone on a dirty cot inside a construction bay? And what are all the explosions in the distance?”

  A surge of relief swept over me. The attack had awakened her, but at least she wasn’t in the middle of it, dying.

  I watched as the one-sided battle continued in space outside the porthole. The corvette had blown the top off the cannon tower. A big, twisted ball of scrap bounced away into space, spinning.

  “Listen Jillian, there’s no time to explain. Lives are being lost as we speak. The enemy is moving on us right now.”

  “What—where are you?”

  “Never mind that. Stay with the engine and keep that gun close. Contact Emily and tell her to get her ship ready to launch. We can’t afford to let Niederman hold us back any longer—our time is up.”

  The corvette lit up her steering jets. She began to spiral around the last mooring tether. I knew what I had to do before she could break free.

  Collins and the ladies had gathered to watch the destruction outside with gaping mouths. I bounded out the door and raced below decks as fast as I could. I shoved several crewmen aside on the way to the gunnery deck.

  “Collins,” I said on my comm-link. “You have to fire on that vessel. You have to destroy it.”

  “Not without Captain Jessup giving me the order.”

  “Let me talk to him,” I demanded.

  Cmdr. Collins tried to contact Jessup, without success.

  “The captain is not responding, and I will not fire Viper’s guns without orders,” he said.

&nb
sp; On the gunnery decks, I glanced out using the viewports. The corvette was escaping, and I realized there wasn’t time for the chain of command. Even if we did get into contact with Jessup, he was bound to argue with me. Right now, he was probably drunk, or getting a massage—or both.

  A fateful decision was made, and I jumped into action. Functioning with machine-like efficiency, I bounded across the deck to the weapons control station. There was no one there other than a single petty officer. I knocked him aside, and his head slammed into a steel bulkhead. He slumped on the deck after that.

  The Gunnery Ops chair was empty at the moment. I landed there and pounded the dark board to life. Using override codes Control had provided me for this kind of thing, I bypassed the workstation security. Then I routed a drone-screen to the main controls in front of me.

  Cmdr. Collins was on the ball. He must have figured out where I was headed—or maybe he’d traced my comm-link. In any case, he arrived on the gunnery deck before I could go further. He drew his pistol.

  “Stand down, Chief Gray!” he ordered as he ran up to me.

  Barely looking at him, I swatted his gun out of his hand before he could line it up with my head. His lips drew back in pain—I might have broken a finger, but that was just too damned bad.

  Before he could retrieve his gun, which had twirled away across the ops center, I cued up a fat missile from the destroyer’s arsenal. I tapped off all the safeguards, locked the targeting system onto the only other ship in the vicinity, and hit the launch approval bubble on the touchscreen.

  I could have tried a cleaner weapon in the interests of damage control, but I wasn’t terribly familiar with Viper’s armament. In the heat of the moment, I’d decided to be thorough.

  The stolen corvette was still struggling to escape her final bonds. The missile launched with a flare of brilliant blue exhaust. At this extremely close range, the strike was almost instantaneous.

  I squinted as an impressive explosion blossomed in spooky silence on every view screen. The whole station shuddered in response. We felt an echo of that disruption, transmitted to my body through all the metal and pressurized chambers. Probably, everyone aboard the space station had felt it as well.

  Once the burning gas had rolled away, I got a better look at my work.