into service.”
“It’s a bitter price for victory,” whispered Taylor.
Huber just about heard the Major and looked up to see he was genuinely sorrowful for the losses of many he had never met.
“Indeed, Major, but we came here for a fight. We will mourn our losses, but we must now look to the future. I want you and Colonel Chandra to join us on the bridge, and keep a dozen marines with you. Have the rest of your Battalion run sweeps of the vessel. I want to know for certain we are not carrying anymore unwanted guests.”
“Not all here are marines, Sir,” replied Chandra.
“You are now,” replied Taylor with a smile.
She turned to Lieutenant Grey.
“I want you to take the upper ten decks. Send runners to find Jones, Ota and Jackson that they are sweep the remaining sectors, thoroughly.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
The former Staff Sergeant shouted out his commands as if he were trying to deafen the Colonel before turning and barking further orders to his Company. They rushed on to carry out their new duties.
“We need to get communications back online ASAP, Sir.”
“Agreed, Colonel, we’re already doing all that we can. The jamming they ran is a God damn nightmare.”
“Yes, Sir,” Taylor replied with the voice of experience.
Huber nodded and sighed at the same time.
“I know you are no stranger to this, Taylor. All the experts we have back home have been working round the clock on a way to block their jamming signal, but quite frankly, we still aren’t sure how it works.”
Within seconds of him speaking, the ship’s comms officer turned around and broke the news they were back in contact with the fleet. Huber leapt into action.
“Alright, send word to Command that we have located and secured the area surrounding the space gateway. We have sustained damage and losses in doing so and will maintain positions to allow time to repair and refit.”
The three hundred and sixty degree display of their surroundings fired back up to life, and he stood open mouthed as he experienced the results of their battle. Two of the ships they had lost were now floating hulks. The other two had been blown into multiple parts and were now nothing more than debris. Half of the remaining ships in the fleet showed major battle damage.
“There must be survivors out there. Send out any shuttles and transports we have and get the rest of the fleet to do the same.”
“But, Sir, we can’t spare the personnel. We’re having trouble enough handling the repairs,” replied Vega.
“I don’t give a damn. There are personnel out there who may have precious little time left.”
Huber turned back to their operations table where Chandra and Taylor awaited him. Taylor already liked the fleet’s leader, but he prayed Huber would be able to maintain his control over the fleet in the face of such devastation. He tapped a few buttons on the table display, and it turned to the gateway.
“Just look at it, a marvel of technology, and yet used for such evil.”
“It must be destroyed,” replied Taylor.
“I wouldn’t be so hasty to burn all our bridges. That gate could be humanity’s great leap out into the universe, which it has so desperately pursued.”
“You surely can’t want to go through it?” asked Taylor in shock.
“You’re damn right I do. Sure we could destroy it and forget this all happened, but if they could build the gate once, they’ll do it again.”
“But that could buy us decades or even centuries of time.”
“Living in fear that they will one day come back, no thanks. We’ve started a job, so let’s finish it.”
Taylor could understand her position, but he knew what it would mean — the deaths of hundreds of thousands or even millions in a more bloody war than the last.
“Right now we can’t do anything,” replied Huber. “But I want to know we have that gateway secure. Clearly it has landing bays, and it must be crewed. I want you, Colonel, to organise an assault to capture the gateway. You have two hours to complete your sweeps of the Washington, and then you will carry out these orders.”
“Sir, the gate could open up anytime, and God knows what’s on the other side. We should destroy it now when we still have a chance,” pleaded Taylor.
“We all have our orders, Major. There is to be no attempt made to sabotage the gateway unless such orders are received to do so.”
The room went silent for a moment before Taylor finally remembered his brief moments aboard the enemy craft during the battle. He leaned in close so that only Huber and Chandra could hear.
“During the boarding action, I got a glimpse aboard one of the enemy vessels, and it is likely still there now, embedded in the hull of the Washington. They had a precise and accurate layout of this vessel and a well-planned path directly to the bridge here. I fully believe they intended to gain control of this ship and turn its guns on the rest of the fleet.”
“What? How could they have such information?” asked Chandra.
Huber shook his head in astonishment.
“The plans of the Washington were carefully guarded from the moment the conversion began,” said Huber.
“We have no idea how their technology work,” replied Chandra. “Maybe they have some kind of surveying equipment which mapped out the ship as we arrived.”
“Maybe, or maybe someone is providing the enemy with information,” replied Taylor.
“What?” Huber asked. “Why? Who would do such a thing?”
“It’s a serious allegation,” mused Chandra.
“I don’t know why and wouldn’t like to imagine we had people working with the enemy, but it’s happened in all other wars.”
“Right now, we have no proof or even leads to go on. This isn’t over, but let’s look to the task at hand. Good luck to you.”
Taylor and Chandra sat opposite each other aboard Rains’ Eagle HV as they cautiously approached the space gateway with another eight such craft.
“You really think this thing can fold space?” Eddie asked.
Neither of them answered him for a moment. They stared at each other, trying to make sense of the other’s perspective. Both were curious about the gateway, but they had vastly differing perspectives on what they believed should be done with it. It was the first time they had ever come to a disagreement about the way forward, but there was no ill feeling.
“Guys? What’s the deal?” continued Rains.
“You know as much as us, Eddie!” Taylor answered.
“I doubt that,” he muttered in response.
Chandra looked sympathetically towards Taylor. She could completely understand his desire to end it all there and then, but she also knew they had a responsibility to the future of humanity.
“I don’t want to go on fighting, you know,” she said quietly.
Taylor barely heard what she said, but the few words he caught and the look on her face tallied up.
“I know. Who knows what the right answer is here? When we look back on this in years to come with hindsight, then we’ll know,” he replied.
“Those bastards came close to bringing humanity to extinction. If we let off now and let them come back stronger, do you really believe we could survive? Maybe we’d never see another war in our lifetime, but in another fifty, hundred or two hundred years, that would be the end. Could you go home and back to your old life, knowing we have forsaken the next generations?”
Taylor shook his head. He no longer knew what was the right course of action, but at least he was among friends. He simply smiled in response, and he thought deeper about their conundrum.
We’re still speculating without all the facts, he thought.
“How come they ain’t shooting at us?” asked Rains.
