Shadows of the Gods (2015) by Jay Allan

Author:Jay Allan [Allan, Jay]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Galactic Empire, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Space Opera, Science Fiction, Space Marine, Military, First Contact
Amazon: B016S6592I
Publisher: System 7 Publishing
Published: 2015-10-16T07:00:00+00:00

* * *

“I want those scanners up immediately, Lieutenant.” Captain Schwerin stared down from his chair, looking over his small bridge crew. “We need to know if there’s anything in this system. Now.” He knew riding his officers wasn’t really fair. The disruption a warp jump caused to a ship’s systems was well known, and it was highly random in its effects too. The same ship could make similar jumps, and recover its systems in a few seconds one time, and go through several minutes of extreme disruption the next. And there was exactly nothing even the best crew could do to alter that.

Except stay sharp. A razor sharp team could restore normal operations a bit quicker once the natural effect had passed. It wasn’t much, maybe ten seconds, perhaps fifteen. But when you were blasting into the teeth of an enemy fleet, even an instant could be the difference between life and death.

“Yes, sir.” The officer sounded sharp. “I think it’s coming back up now…”

Schwerin knew he was lucky to have Lieutenant Wagner. If the fleet hadn’t been stranded a year earlier, Schwerin had no doubt Wagner would have his own command by now. He’d even recommended his tactical officer to Admiral Compton for a promotion, one Compton agreed to approve…as soon as he had a command available to assign him. But ships had been dying as quickly as officers and crews, and Schwerin understood the constraints of diplomacy that forced the admiral’s hands.

“I want engineering ready to blast the engines and get us back to the warp gate on my order.” Right now, Tyr was still moving deeper into the system. She’d made the transit at about 40kps, practically a crawl in space travel…but she’d have to fire her thrusters to counteract that velocity, and then accelerate back toward the warp gate. And her engines were as inoperable as her scanning suite.

“Yes, Captain.” Then, an instant later: “Sir, scanners are rebooting. We’re starting to get data coming in. Looks like seven planets…fairly normal…” Wagner spun around, his gaze locking on Schwerin’s. “Enemy ships, Captain. Dozens of contacts…no, over a hundred.” He looked back at his instruments and then turned back, his face white as a sheet. “Over two hundred ships detected, sir…including at least ten Colossuses.”

Schwerin hadn’t know what to expect in X53, but this hadn’t been it. His tactical officer was describing a full scale battlefleet, one of enormous scale, more powerful than any they had faced save in X2. One that could destroy the entire fleet with ease. He hesitated, just for a few seconds, as he fought off the wave of numb shock. Then he jumped into activity.

“Engine room, I want 8g thrust…and I want it five minutes ago! Vector directly back toward the warp gate!”

“Working on it, sir,” came the harried response. The scanners had apparently come back online before the engines.

“Work harder,” Schwerin snapped. “We have to report back to Admiral Compton. Now!”

“Captain, the enemy fleet appears to be stationary, in a range from 5.

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