The Burden of Command by D. J. Holmes

Author:D. J. Holmes [Holmes, D. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
Amazon: B0B1DHRZFB
Goodreads: 61110882
Published: 2022-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

When they first attacked the American colonies, the Flex-aor were the greatest threat Humanity had yet faced. Yet after their defeat and the appearance of the Karacknids, they quickly faded in the minds of the Empire’s early strategists. The events that would play out over the next several years after their rediscovery would prove the folly of this mistaken assumption.

-Excerpt from Empire Ascendant 3015 AD.

Python, 25th November 2508 AD.

Almost there, Jake thought to himself. His fingers were typing furiously on his command chair. It had taken weeks for them to get back to Imperial space, even longer than Jake had expected. Several system malfunctions had delayed them far longer than he had hoped. Since leaving the system they had encountered the Flex-aor freighter in, Jake had felt a growing tension building within him. He was certain the Flex-aor were planning some kind of attack. Being discovered must have caused them to move up their timetable. He had to bring a warning back to Earth and the rest of the Empire’s colonies. Soon, he promised himself. Python was approaching the Frigila system. The system was home to an independent colony. According to the information Jake had access to, there were barely more than forty thousand colonists living on the planet. Though their settlement wasn’t much larger than a small city, Jake was hoping there would be some ships in orbit, a freighter or two at least bringing supplies. As long as there was something, he could transmit his findings to them and order them to make straight for New Delhi. With the speed Python had been travelling at, even a freighter would get there faster than his broken command. And if they won’t listen to us, we’ll board their ship and take it ourselves, Jake had already decided. Whatever it took, he was getting his warning out.

“We’re getting a power fluctuation from the shift drive,” Lydia said hastily.

Jake sat up in his command chair. His fingers stopped their tapping. It was a warning he was becoming all too familiar with. “How bad is it?”

“The last fluctuation was six percent. Wait, here’s another one. Nine percent,” Lydia swung around in her command chair. “I suggest we exit shift space now.”

Jake glanced at the holo display and the map of the shift passage Python was travelling through. They were now less than thirty seconds from the end of the shift passage. He was sorely tempted to risk it. What harm could thirty more seconds do? He ground his teeth together. He knew the answer. If Python’s shift drive had a stronger fluctuation, it could burn out some of its nodes or even the drive itself. A distance that would have taken seconds to cover in shift space could end up taking days or weeks for Python to traverse in normal space. He shook his head. They were so close. The timer had already counted down to twenty-five seconds.

“Lieutenant?” Lydia said, requesting an order.

“Do it, take us out,” Jake snapped. Instantly, Lydia tapped a button to shut down Python’s shift drive.

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