Broken Sight by Steve Rzasa

Author:Steve Rzasa
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Enclave Publishing

Chapter 11

22 December 2604 – Saturday

Gran Escarpa Star System

Gran Escarpa

Brian peered out

“Ain’t much to tell,” Tyler said over the comm. He sounded frustrated. “Plants are fouling up the sensors pretty bad. Your ensign can’t get good clear readings.”

“Well, we can’t be of much more help up here.” Brian received a frown and nod from Lecours. “There’s little we can do but give general direction of lifeform locations—nothing specific.”

“Mm-hmm. Any word from orbit?”

“Don checked in. No news there either.”

“Hey, Captain?” Lecours was scowling over his sensor board. “Something funny on our starboard.”

“What is it?”

“I dunno. It could be some kind of distortion from the plant content or rare minerals. Almost reads as a power source . . . Wait, I lost it. Must’ve been a glitch.”

“Huh. Keep an eye on it.” Nothing about this felt right to Brian. “Tyler, did you get that?”

“Sure did. Aim to keep you apprised, Captain. Don’t expect—”

The transmission cut off in a shriek of static.

“What . . . ?” Brian looked around the cockpit. “What happened to the comm?”

“Sir, it’s . . . blast!” Lecours pounced on his console. A handful of his screens had gone fuzzy, and the holographic images turned to clouds of static. “Jamming! We’re being jammed, sir! Comms, sensors . . .”

“Get me Weskeag!” Brian grabbed the back of his seat.

“No can do, sir.” Lecours cursed again. “I can’t pinpoint a source—readings are fuzzed over . . .”

“Lecours.” Maxharraj’s voice was steady, in sharp contrast to his panic. “Did you see that? Looked like a flash of metal. Off to starboard.”

Lecours craned his neck. “No. Hang on. Let me try boosting the gain on the lateral scanner . . .”

He must have been successful. He cried out in alarm the same moment Brian saw a puff of smoke through the treetops. “Missile launch!”

“Tersllëk!” Maxharraj gave no warning for what was coming. She yanked hard on the control yoke.

Brian nearly toppled sideways as the barge heeled over to port.

A tremendous explosion rocked the craft.

Red lights flashed across the cockpit consoles. Alarms blared. Maxharraj slapped a panel to silence them.

“Somebody just shot at us!” Lecours said.

Maxharraj steadied the barge. “Damage report.”

“Man, I can’t believe . . .”

“I said damage report!” Maxharraj yelled. She twisted the barge into another stomach-churning maneuver.

Lecours took a deep breath. “Starboard wing got nicked, but not too bad. It’s still 80 percent stable.”

“That’ll have to do. Captain?”

“Put us down somewhere, fast,” Brian said. He pulled himself into his seat. “We’re a big fat target flying around up here.”

“No arguments there . . .”

Another flash. Then another. “Incoming!” Lecours howled.

“Hang on!” Maxharraj yanked the control yoke.

Brian heard someone in the cargo bay shout out in pain. He glanced at Lecours’ console. A pair of red flashing triangles appeared through a hail of static on one display. They raced in at a blinking blue circle.

“Countermeasures!” Maxharraj yelled.

Lecours slapped a panel.

Pink concentric rings swirled out from the blue circle—countermeasure flares. Brian couldn’t see them in real life but he had seen the brilliant bursts of light before.

“That worked!” Lecours grinned at him. “One of them’s—”

KRAAKOOM.

Lightning flashed. Brian cried out and shielded his eyes. The barge groaned underfoot. His world spun and twisted.

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