Galaxy Bomb (The Transcended Book 4) by Anthony James

Author:Anthony James [James, Anthony]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2019-03-04T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Another fifteen minutes went by in cold, tense silence. The ES Devastator’s energy shield fell to 99.8%, which was significant in that it meant the external forces it was defending the ship against were greater than the Faor’s ability to replenish itself. It wasn’t as though a two-tonne power cylinder was anything like as massive as an Istoliar core on a Retaliator like the SC Gundar, but its potential was far greater.

“The shield is falling faster,” said Holverson. “I’d recommend we come up for air sometime in the next thirty minutes and let it regenerate.”

Keller was reluctant to leave the planet’s atmosphere, though she wasn’t sure why. Now that she was committed, backing off would seem like an admission of failure. The gauge dropped to 99.7%.

Plenty of time yet.

“We’re coming up on an area with three Antaron in a comparatively confined area,” said Meade. “Less than a thousand kilometres between each one.”

“It’s a shame we can’t observe them,” said Holverson. “If we knew what they were doing, we might find a way to counter it.”

Up until now, Keller had followed a course which didn’t come within two thousand kilometres of any Antaron – it was an arbitrary value that she’d pulled out of thin air. The planet was large enough that it wasn’t too much of an impediment, though that might change if it became apparent that the Scions were sticking close to their creations.

“Can I make an observation?” asked Venters.

“Go ahead.”

“These Antaron found the Estral from halfway across the universe. They also found Zircon, again from halfway across the universe. From what you say about your encounter with them in the SC Gundar, they were pretty good at chasing you through short-range transits.”

“I think what you’re suggesting is that if the Antaron were interested in us here on Trilux-3, we’d already have twenty-three of them latched onto our hull.”

“In a nutshell, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”

Keller crinkled her nose in thought. “The evidence suggests that the Antaron can act both independently and also under guidance. If they’re given a command, they follow it without deviation.”

“I think the Antaron on this planet are too busy doing whatever the hell it is they’re doing,” said Venters. “I think if we flew right over the top of one it wouldn’t move one little bit.”

“I’m almost convinced,” said Keller.

“If you bring us to within fifty klicks of one, I can try and obtain a clear image of it,” said Meade. “The sensors gather a lot of data, so we may only need a fleeting glimpse in order to learn something.”

“Let’s do it.”

A slight movement of the control bars was enough to turn the ES Devastator away from its original heading and in the direction of the nearest Antaron. Keller kept the speed steady until the distance counter showed a reading of forty-nine kilometres, at which point she brought the vessel to a halt.

“Get working on it, Lieutenant Meade.”

“Shouldn’t take long.”

Meade was an accomplished officer and she was as good as her word. The front sensor feed snapped briefly into focus.

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