Spacers: Dead Ahead by Scott Bartlett

Author:Scott Bartlett [Bartlett, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mirth Publishing
Published: 2022-10-30T23:00:00+00:00

***

Aboard the New Jersey

Callosity System, Lament Region

Earth Year 2293

“Shield is down to forty percent, sir,” Guerrero said, her voice sounding choked. “Thirty-five,” she said mere moments later.

The Owl added her maser beam to the Lightfoot’s, stalling the forcefield’s collapse a little more, while the rest of the token force Thatcher had kept in place at the Callosity-Saudade jump gate fought to shoot down the onslaught of missiles the dreadnought had sent at the New Jersey, many of them equipped with laser warheads.

But nothing could stop the multiple laser batteries already hammering the cruiser’s shield, causing it to spasm worryingly. Yes, Kitt was making maximal use of the Jersey’s lateral thrusters, sending her jagging sideways, up, and down as unpredictably as possible, violently enough that each time he did it the inertial compensators couldn’t kick in fast enough to negate the jolt completely. It didn’t matter. The spread of beams from the Mjölnir’s laser hard points covered the space surrounding the Jersey with dreadful efficiency, and there was nowhere she could maneuver without her shield encountering a measure of their blistering energy.

Worse, Thatcher had not kept his best-trained crews close around the Jersey. He was used to assuming a certain level of performance from any spacers under his command, but that suddenly proved itself to be a dangerous assumption—maybe a lethal one.

The other Cluster powers, CoG chief among them, had been mocking Legion’s training standards for months. Until now, they’d barely registered as a factor for Thatcher—probably because before this, he’d mostly been working with Anvil, Verity, Celeste, and Red Sky warships. But this latest wave of recruits all seemed to suffer equally from the hasty training protocols. And it showed, in the most painful way possible.

How did I miss this? The signs had been there, he realized now. A ship out of position here. A combat transition that should have been tighter there. He’d written it all off as commanders sent on their first campaign. But he could see now it wasn’t just green commanders—it was every department on almost every ship that had accompanied Lucio Russo on the voyage to back Thatcher up at the bottom of Jow Region.

Now, they were all depending on those under-trained recruits to keep the fleet together against an enemy acting with an unfettered aggression the likes of which Thatcher had never encountered.

Moll had gone from fleeing Rubato System in shame to...this? Throwing his super-ship into the teeth of Thatcher’s warships? The move certainly seemed capable of destroying the Jersey, and had prompted dramatic action from the other Legion ships surrounding her. But what was Moll’s plan after the Jersey was destroyed? Did he think he would escape the wrath of the Legion crews who would immediately dedicate themselves to avenging their commander?

“Twenty-two percent, sir,” Guerrero said.

Then, something strange happened. The Mjölnir abruptly altered its course to head straight for the jump gate. And while she continued to spray the Jersey with weapons fire, it quickly became clear that the cruiser’s destruction was no longer her main priority—and probably never had been.

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