STARGAMES by Ron Collins

Author:Ron Collins [Collins, Ron]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
Publisher: Skyfox Publishing
Published: 2022-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

Vengeance, Mercury orbit

Local Date: Undefined

Local Time: Undefined

Bleating klaxons grated the air inside the lift tube. The acrid scent of electrical fires grew as Deidra stared into the blackened depths of the cavernous shuttle bay.

Across its expanse, a bank of emergency lights flicked and flashed to cast gauzy clouds of light in the haze of the area.

The place was in chaos.

By directive, any operation made into UG territory required Vengeance’s crew keep its bay fully equipped and on alert to complete attack sorties with minimal preparation. Without the artificial grav system in operation anything not tied down — tools, people, and even spacecraft that were being prepped for launch — was now floating or flying or spinning in the midspace of the bay. A data panel crashed into the wall near the lift-tube opening. A sweater or shirt rippled with an unsettlingly macabre waveform that traveled up and down its fabric as it glided by. Loose components of plasma projectile systems clanged against the wall to their left.

To the right, a rack of rockets was strapped to the floor.

Her eyes adjusted, and Deidra saw the area strewn with other bits of smoldering equipment, and crew members already working to get them tethered. Between klaxon blares a cacophony of voices echoed in the area.

The control center loomed over the bay, a dark tower in a dark room. Its central office, built high to give it a full 360-degree view, flickered with the hauntingly spare blue and green aura of light from the few pieces of equipment that still worked within it.

They’d been hit hard.

Down the way, a row of XB-class fighter craft remained in a line, two of them with pilots in their cockpits had already been prepping for flight.

She grabbed the security escort.

“I’m taking one of those. Go tell the controller we need to get into the lock.”

The air lock. The term seemed to finally land in the officer’s mind. Deidra was going to take Allie Feder into space. Remove her from Vengeance to protect her in the now likely case that this attack would destroy the ship. It was a dangerous step — one that could leave them stranded if Vengeance was, indeed, lost. The loading bay’s launch operations happened through a series of launch sections, each consisting of a series of air locks.

Deidra was going to use one now.

“Understood,” the officer said, pushing himself toward the control tower.

Her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting. Ahead, Deidra saw the shape of a fighter.

Universe Three engineers had modified the XB class so often that it barely qualified anymore, but she wasn’t here to argue specifics. It was a two-seater, disengaged from the loading bay floor, and floating peacefully in the zero-g environment. Two support technicians twisted in open space nearby, probably in process of preparing it for launch. It was more hopped up than she was prepared for. But beggars can’t be choosers.

In the dim light, Deidra saw both cockpits loomed open, waiting for their pilots.

“Come on,” she said to Feder, then pushed off the side of the lift tube to fly toward the spacecraft.

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