importantly, what are they doing?” he asked his bridge crew.
They all nodded and moved to their computer displays. With nothing but large visual units in front of them, they checked all the data coming in from the ship’s sensors.
“Sir, I have identified the ship with the most signal traffic. I think it might be their flagship,” said Dekarchos Ezekiel.
Kentarchos Anaxandros smiled at the speed and precision of his deck crew. They had been well chosen, each of them the best in their fields and drawn from the military and mercenary forces of a hundred nations in the Terran territories.
“Good work, put it on the main viewscreen. What do we know about her?”
There was a short pause before the silhouette of the vessel appeared on the display. It was massive, a vast warship that bristled with antenna and weapon mounts. The shape from the side was like that of a deep-sea predatory fish. The front was squashed and gave the impression of a snout. Scores of lights lit up the exterior of the vessel, probably as much for safety as intimidation.
Dekarchos Ezekiel examined the shape in detail but could make little headway in determining its class or origins. He looked over his shoulder towards the Kentarchos.
“Sir, the ship has the same power signature of the larger Mulac vessels. Its origins, however, remain uncertain. My best guess is that the ship is a command carrier or battleship for this force. Most of the comms traffic is between this vessel and the other ships. The hull is heavily shielded, so I am unable to scan any deeper without being detected.”
Anaxandros moved to the side, looking at the shape of the ship. It was definitely unfamiliar to him, and its shape and structure suggested military. The weapon turrets and ports were also unfamiliar to him.
“Sir, new signals. The transport ships are lowering their shields.”
“Really? Either they feel safe, or they are about to release something,” said the Kybernetes. “If we want to scan them, this might be our only chance.”
Anaxandros listened to his executive officer. It was of course correct that this was the perfect opportunity, but it was also a great risk. If they were detected, they would have to leave the area, leaving the Armada without intelligence.
What if they are preparing a trap or a weapon of some kind? The doubt built in his mind until he was convinced it was a danger to their own force.
He tapped the communications node near his ear and below his skin. A faint click told him it was activated. Rather than selecting individual crew using the computer, he simply thought of the entire ship, the system automatically placed him on the internal tannoy system.
“This is the Kentarchos, all crew prepare your stations for battle.”
He looked over to his bridge crew.
“On my command, I want a thorough scan of those ships. Do it fast and with minimal trace signatures. I want all stations ready for trouble. We might need to move fast.”
They all nodded, immediately understanding the risk they were about to take. The Kybernetes checked the status of each department on the ship before looking back up.
“Sir, all stations are ready. Shield generators powered and ready to activate, weapon system armed and engines on-line.”
Anaxandros took a deep breath.
“Do it!”
The command deck flashed with new light as a dozen displays brought up detailed information on the enemy ships. With their shields down, they were able to scan right inside each vessel. Dekarchos Ezekiel moved the image of the large warship to show dozens of small vessels exiting the transports.
“This isn’t right. I’m getting thousands and thousands of people on skiffs and barges preparing to leave the transports.”
“People? Refugees?” asked Anaxandros.
“No. The signals indicate small power sources from the people themselves.”
He brought up a detailed model and scan of a small craft. Inside were thirty-two people, each giving off unusual readings.
“This is strange, these are chemical readings, and they match firearms, weapons, they’re warriors!”
Anaxandros knew what he was looking at right in front of him.
“This isn’t a raiding force. We are looking at a full-scale invasion fleet,” he said.
An alert flashed on the main screen that quickly spread through the command deck. On the main viewscreen, the scanners brought up two vessels, and they were turning and moving towards the Odysseus.
“Sir, we’ve got a problem!” called out Dekarchos Ezekiel.
A quick glance revealed the danger. The two ships, both of at least cruiser size and configuration, were making fast progress towards Odysseus.
“Have they detected us?” asked Anaxandros.
“Weapons charging, they’re going to fire!” cried Ezekiel.
That’s it, now we’re in trouble!
“Battlestations!” shouted Anaxandros. “Get us out of here!”
As soon as he called out the alert, the ship bustled with activity. Officers and crew moved through their routines with speed and precision. The small vessel was agile, and they were already pointing away from the other ships. Anaxandros watched the energy field indicator run along the perimeter of the ship, and the shields were now at full strength and the engines powered up. A shrill whine built up inside the hull as the FTL drive spooled up to launch the ship through space. Nothing happened.
Anaxandros slammed his fist down on the side of the unit. The main display showed the enemy ships had already closed half the distance to them.
“What the hell is going on? Why are we still here?”
“Gravity well, they have an interdictor in their fleet,” called out one of the officers. He couldn’t see who it was, and right now he didn’t care.
“Secondary engines, evasive action! Get us away from the well…now!” he barked.
The conventional engines kicked in and pushed the ship forward at high speed. Compared to the movement of the ships in orbit, they were moving quickly. But in the vast distances of deep space, it would take millennia for them to reach even the nearest star at this speed. The enemy warships didn’t need to catch them, they just needed to line themselves up to use their forward weapons. Anaxandros watched in dread as two purple beams appeared from the front of both ships. They were powerful cutters and hit the Odysseus before they could take evasive action. The first struck aft and smashed into the engines. The shields absorbed over half of the energy, but it still wasn’t enough. One engine was cut completely off, and a dozen pipes and feed rods sheared off to leave a series of gashes in the hull. The second beam missed but then arced across to hack through the same section.
Anaxandros flew across the deck and crashed into the line of chairs and displays being used by the rest of the officers. Explosions wracked through the interior, and one explosion ripped out a chunk of the ceiling. Exposed pipes and cabling dropped down to strike one of the officers. Anaxandros lifted himself and turned back to see the carnage aboard his ship.
“Return fire, evasive action!” he called.
But it wasn’t necessary. The gunners were already working away, all of them working as a team to fire salvoes of plasma at the approaching ships. Multiple hits were scored, but their shields deflected most of them. One of them must have struck part of the manoeuvring system, as one of the two ships pulled away from the chase and started to spin uncontrollably. It wouldn’t stop her, but it would keep her out of the chase, at least for a few more minutes.
Ka’Veras left his post for a brief moment and helped Anaxandros to his seat. He then brought up the tactical operations display and continued sending specific orders to the gunners and engineering, while conferring with Dekarchos Ezekiel. Anaxandros might be in charge of the ship, but it was the role of the kybernetes to pass the orders of the commander through to the relevant parts of the ship. It took just seconds for him to seal the breached sections of the ship, increase their speed and direct their gunners against the single remaining pursuer.
“Good work. News on the FTL drive?” asked Dekarchos Ezekiel.
“Another three minutes until we are out of range of the gravity well.”
