first through hatchway and into the weightless corridor where her momentum carried her rapidly down the hall.
“How much longer until we can get outta here?” the captain asked.
“Two of them are on the transfer line now,” the commander answered. “But one of them is still in the engineering compartment.
“What the hell? Get him out of there!”
“Bravo Leader! You’ve got one still on board! Sit Rep!” the commander ordered. A moment passed before the XO repeated the hail. “Bravo Leader, Aurora! Do you copy!”
“Aurora! Ensign Nash! The lieutenant has probably switched off his comm-set!”
Nathan turned his head suddenly, realizing that it was Jessica out there. It wasn’t that he had any particular emotional attachment to her, at least not the he was consciously aware of. But he actually knew someone who was out there, putting their life on the line right now, and that sensation was new to him.
“Nash, Aurora! Explain!” the commander ordered
“He stayed behind! He’s manually stalling the overload! He’s trying to buy us a few more minutes! He probably went dark so we couldn’t talk him out of it!”
Commander Montero looked at the captain, who had a blank look in his eyes. This new crew might be fresh out of the academy and inexperienced, but they were not lacking in courage.
“Understood,” the commander transmitted solemnly. “ETA to Aurora?”
“Two minutes, Sir!”
“Copy.”
Jessica continued pulling herself along the cable, hand over hand, as she made her way back to the ship. She was nearly halfway there when she looked up and saw Enrique settling in on the Aurora’s landing apron next to the base of the transfer line.
“Shake a leg, Jess!” he called over the comm-set. “We ain’t got all day, you know!”
“Quit your bitchin’ I’m coming!”
Suddenly, Enrique’s eye widened as he noticed movement on the surface of the Jung ship.
“Jess! One of the turrets!”
“Captain!” the sensor officer called out. “The Jung ship, Sir! She’s got one of her gun turrets back online!”
“What? I thought she had no power?” the captain barked.
“I don’t know how sir, but she’s got a turret swinging over to take aim at the landing apron,” the sensor officer explained urgently. “More turrets coming online as well! Two, Three, Four…, they’re all coming to life!”
Rail gun rounds flew all around Jessica as she rapidly ascended the transfer line, pulling herself towards the ship as fast as her hands could move. Out of the corner of her visor she could see multiple flashes as more of the Jung cannons began to open fire on the Aurora, sending chunks of the hull flying in all directions.
“Oh shit!” she exclaimed.
A split second later, the Aurora’s cannons opened up on the Jung ship. Enrique watched in awe as the upper hull of the Jung ship was torn apart by the Aurora’s rail gun fire.
“Detach the line!” she called out to Enrique. “Let’s get the fuck outta here!”
Without hesitation, Enrique did as his partner asked. He reached down to the base of the transfer line where it connected to the deck. Opening up a small panel in the side of the connection collar, he pushed the button in and held it down.
At the far end of the cable, where it connected to the Jung ship, the line released its connection and began to float away freely.
“Transfer line disconnected!” he announced.
“Aurora, Nash! The line is free! Get us outta here!”
“Nash! Aurora! Are you secure!”
“I’m secure, damn it! Now go!”
“Aurora, Mendez! She’s still on the line, about fifty meters away!”
“Goddamn it! Just go!” she demanded. “I’ll make it!”
“Take us out,” the captain ordered. “But not too fast yet, we don’t want her slamming against the hull.”
Nathan started with the docking thrusters only, burning them for a few seconds as he tried to imagine Jessica, out there in the vacuum of space as she clung onto the transfer line while it swung her down toward the hull of the ship. He knew that no matter how slow he went, she was still going to hit hard.
“Commander!” Nathan yelled, suddenly having an idea. “Tell her to call out just before she impacts the hull! A couple meters, maybe!”
The commander didn’t bother to ask Nathan why, figuring it wouldn’t hurt.
“Good thinking, Nathan,” the captain said. He already knew what his helmsman was up to.
“Nash, Aurora! Call out a few meters before you hit the hull!”
Out on the landing apron, Enrique was protected against the motion of the ship by her inertial dampeners. But out on the end of the transfer line, Jessica was not. And it was all she could do to just hang on. With her legs wrapped tightly around the line to help keep her from sliding farther down it, there was no way she would be able to continue her ascent until after she hit the hull. That is, if she survived the impact.
As she dangled around on the line, spinning back and forth, she could see the impacts of the Jung rail gun fire on the hull of the ship. It was an ugly thing to witness, but the damage didn’t appear too serious. She was sure that the Jung were firing blindly out of desperation and not really aiming strategically.
As the Aurora continued to accelerate, she could tell that she was getting closer to the hull as her body weight on the line resulted in a lazy arc towards the ship. By her best guess, she was going to hit about fifty meters aft of the landing apron. But the apron itself was at least ten meters higher than the hull behind her, and it was an overhang to which there was no way up. Even if she did survive the impact, how was she going to get back into the ship? Even with the inertial dampeners, she doubted she could climb around on the outside of the ship during full acceleration.
As she spun around again, she was able to see something near the spot she thought she was going to land. Something round. A hatch!
“Aurora, Nash! Is that a hatch I see just aft of the landing apron?”
“Affirmative! We’re on it!”
Within seconds, the spec ops master chief was running through the corridors of the Aurora, on his way to the airlock just aft of the landing apron.
“Time to overload?” the captain asked.
“Unknown,” the commander said. “Based on the lieutenant’s original report, it should’ve already happened.”
“I guess whatever he’s doing is working,”
“Captain, we’re starting to show them our hind quarters. Without shields, if we take too many hits on the stern we might lose main propulsion,” the commander warned.
“Helm come slowly to starboard, try not to show them our ass too much.”
“Yes Sir.”
The ship started to roll to starboard slightly, as she started a slow right turn. Jessica’s descent arc started to slide to port slightly, which by her estimates would make her land even closer to the airlock hatch. Damn, Nathan. I underestimated you.
Inside the ship, the spec ops master chief arrived at the airlock and began depressurizing the chamber.
“Three meters!” Jessica called out over comms.
Without being ordered, Nathan pitched the tail of the ship down slightly to reduce Jessica’s rate of closure thereby lessening her impact velocity. It wasn’t much, but he desperately hoped it would help.
Jessica’s eyes widened as she rapidly fell towards the ship. But then, suddenly, her rate of closure changed, slowing considerably. She realized the ship was pitching her tail down, and she knew that Nathan was trying as best he could to give her a soft landing.
But it could’ve been softer, for she hit hard, knocking the air out of her lungs. She rebounded from the deck, floating back up slightly, but the ships acceleration forced her back down, striking a second time. As she rolled over onto her side, the hatch, located not more than a meter away, suddenly opened. I may have to give you another
