Chapter 21 – When Your Time Comes (FINAL CHAPTER)
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“Captain, code red!” The Navigator’s eyes betrayed the fear that seized him. “Xenon ships jumping into sector – too many to number – oh, in the name of merciful Sol, there’s – there’s thousands of them. Capital ships, Fighters, and – oh save us dear Sol – it’s a legion, legions of Xenon fleets. We’re doomed, sir. We’re doomed!”
That same moment the Senator barged in and demanded what was wrong. After hearing of the unexpected appearance of a Xenon attack he immediately ordered for them to jump away.
“That’s not possible, sir,” the Captain said impatiently. “It won’t work.”
The Senator went into a fit like that of a child. “Well for Jupiter’s sake! What do you suppose we do? Hang around and wait to be barbequed by some human-hungry microchip-flying cold-blooded killers!”
“Sir, there’s nothing we can do.”
The Senator looked like he was about to burst. “Recall the teams on the unidentified object and let’s make a dash for the blue line as fast as possible.”
“Sir.” The Captain was clearly holding back from releasing his inner fury. “The Xenon have completely surrounded us and blocked every possible escape this time. And, quite frankly sir, those teams down on the unidentified object, as you call it, are our only chance now of saving us. If we recall them, we’ll never know if there was anything down on that ship that could possibly save us.”
The Senator took several steps forward to stress his authority, his posture being stretched skywards to the limit. “I don’t know who you think you are, George, but let me tell you something; I am ordering you to recall teams and get us out of here like your life depends on it – which it does, believe me.”
The Captain shoulders seemed to widen and his muscular body was clearly more intimidating than that of the Senator’s. “Now listen to me, Rolland, you are the Senator. You are in control of the people. But you are on my ship, and on my ship I take orders from no one. Are we clear?”
The Senator backed off slightly and lowered back to his normal posture. His breathing rate seemed to soften down and he turned his attention to the Navigator. “How many?”
“Thousands, sir.”
“Thousands,” he repeated to himself. “Well, Captain, you better know what’s best for you and everyone on your ship then.”
The two dismissed each other formally and the Senator left to return to his duties, though he really was watching the events that followed in secret from his office – to expect him to work under these conditions was hardly rational.
* * * * * * * * * *
”Listen Fender, if there was ever a time for hastiness to find a weapon or something to save our butts it would be now. Xenon ships – more than I am comfortable with telling – have been spotted jumping into sector and are closing in on us. If you don’t find anything on that ship, there’s no point coming back.” The Captain’s voice went momentarily quiet. ”They set us up – and we walked right into their trap. None of us even saw it coming. Over and out.”
“I did,” Robert said inaudibly to himself, replacing the pocket comm. back in his uniform. He turned to the other eagerly waiting pilots. “Okay boys, expect Xenon troops boarding any minute now. Shoot on sight. I’m going to attempt to get this device working.” His eyes glinted as it gazed once more at the giant equipment and generator.
“Are you sure you know what it is?” one of the pilots asked with uncertainty.
“I have a fair idea.”
* * * * * * * * * *
The Captain carefully replaced the mouthpiece for the comm. back in its holder. The whole crew that worked on the deck had gone completely silent and looked gravely at the Captain’s distressed look. He looked back at them but said nothing; he knew there was nothing he could say to match the circumstances. He laughed coldly, but not a laugh from joy or happiness; a laugh from a man who had fraying nerves from its overuse. Officer van Hauser stood near the Captain and cautiously rested his hand on the Captain’s shoulders.
“I realise how stressful this time must be for you, sir,” he said mildly. “Obviously we’ve never been in a situation quite as extreme as this, but just to let you know, I have – we have – full confidence in you and whatever decision you should choose to make.”
“That’s exactly what I fear,” the Captain replied back, trying to put a tone of emotionless on, but hardly achieving it. “Contact all fighters that are still guarding the ship. Tell them to fire at will at anything so much as a lead pipe gets close to my ship. We’re going to stand our ground until Banks and Fender find anything that can spare us. If he doesn’t, well, I don’t think I need to tell you what will happen to us then, Derek.”
“It would be a short day, sir,” said the Officer with a broad warm smile on his face.
Saria’s face expression was in dark contrast to that of Officer van Hauser’s. She was absolutely horrified at the situation they were facing and felt very unwell at the sight of the closing in Xenon fleets that far outnumbered even her worst nightmares of a Xenon attack. Her hands perspired until it was unbearably drenched with sweat, her body frozen stiff in her nightmare. Her mouth opened, but even if she intended to speak, no sound passed her soft gentle lips.
Already the terrifying explosions of high energy lasers penetrating the hull of piloted Thors could be felt moderately jolting the Savior from side to side, resulting in quite a number of frightened passengers – some of which still had no idea of any of the chaos outside their little bubble of tranquillity. Fighters of both Terran and Xenon origin were viciously attacking each other – some of which were shattering and splattering against the superior integrity of the Savior’s protective shield – but none of the Fighters were engaging the Savior; that responsibility was reserved for the ever-nearing Capital ships.
One of the Capital, a slightly smaller one compared to the rest, broke off from the rest of the fleet and subtly headed towards the C.L.I.M.A.X.’s entrance position. Officer Derek van Hausen spotted this and hurriedly reported his sightings to the Captain.
“If that particular ship isn’t stopped it could mean a lot of trouble for our friends on board.”
The Captain briefly nodded his head to accept the comment. “Focus fire power and send some fighters to take it out. Warn the pilots down on the ship as well that they might be expecting some unwanted arrivals in a few minutes.”
The Savior shook violently this time as the first Capital ship opened fire against it, impacting heavily on the already deteriorating shields. The Captain quickly switched all the Savior’s weapon and Jumpdrive energy to all shields, giving it possibly only a few more minutes of endurance. He frantically picked up the comm. again.
“Fender?”
”Yes sir?”
“I’m not one to giving other people the blame, but you better come up with a pretty neat solution or we will be a nice piece of toast for some hungry Xenon up here. We’re taking serious hits and I’m not sure how soon it will be before the shields disintegrate all together and we start taking hull damage. Do you understand me, pilot?”
“I understand, sir.”
* * * * * * * * * *
Robert knew exactly what he had to do, but wasn’t quite ready to share it with anyone yet. He marched briskly to the central controls of the deck he was still standing on and began busily fidgeting with switches and buttons and in a few seconds a large information panel flickered in front of him and using his pocket translator he quickly scanned as much of the information as possible. The other pilots glared at him peculiarly, not knowing his intentions fully or understanding his actions.
“What are you doing?” they asked suspiciously.
Robert ignored their question and diverted all his attention back to the control panel, the first beads of sweat streaming down his face and neck and disappearing into the collar of his uniform. They repeated their question to Robert but he ignored them again. Getting severely aggravated, one of the pilots demanded an answer right away.
“I can’t explain right now,” he finally said. “But it’s pretty darn important: you can bet your life on that – on second thought, you already have.”
* * * * * * * * * *
The Captain was looking more and more concerned, not for their own sake, but for the Capital ship nearing the entry point of the C.L.I.M.A.X. that still had not been destroyed. He demanded instant reaction of all ships to engage the hostile ship that was now not more than a few seconds away from being pulled into the safety of the C.L.I.M.A.X.’s shields by its tractor beam. Swarms of Terran fighters perseveringly assaulted the superior vessel, hardly making a scratch on the ship’s shields, but never giving up until it was safely engulfed by a bluish white shield of the almost indestructible C.L.I.M.A.X.
Officer hastily picked up the comm. to contact the crew on board the super-ship. He somehow managed to bring across the serious message in his most calm tone of voice.
“Put yourself on guard pilots, Xenon troops will be boarding the structure you’re on any minute now.” He put the comm. down and looked blankly at the Captain, his mouth twitching into a grin almost imperceptibly. “To be honest, I’d much rather be up here than down there.”
* * * * * * * * * *
Robert could hear the screams of innocent men and gunshots echoing through the empty passages of the abandoned ship. He saw the fear in the eyes of the pilots in his squad and tried to offer them a sympathetic look, his heart sinking down low into his feet.
“They’ll be round any minute now. Set yourselves up in the passage; shoot down anything that tries to come out way. I have another duty to fulfil.”
“What’s that?” one of them asked.
Robert’s eyes glinted with authority. “I said: set yourselves up in the passage.”
By now the other pilots had given up asking Robert questions and speedily took up strategic points all along the passageway to the deck and peeled their eyes for anything that dared up to show on the same level. Robert contacted the Captain with the comm.. He sighed deeply.
“Look, Captain, here’s the deal.”
There was a moment of silence on the other end. ”I’m listening.”
“The ship we’re on is actually one big great fat weapon – called the C.L.I.M.A.X. – that has only one purpose: sending a giant signal or wave to tamper with AGI’s programming. To pacify it, sir.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this before, pilot?”
“I’m sorry, sir, but right now I really need you to listen. We’re running out of time. The weapon is only supposed to work at its normal capacity. It only has an eighty percent chance of succeeding. But here’s the problem; it only fires once. So I’m going to overload it so that I can be sure it will work.”
“I see,” the Captain said half understandingly.
“Sir, it’s going to be a big bang; the whole thing will blow up, but at least AGI will be dead forever, I hope.”
“So there’s a chance that this thing won’t even work?”
Robert gazed down at the ground. “There’s that, sir.”
“But you’ll die,” the Captain said reluctantly. “You know that, right?”
“I know that, sir, but my people mean more to me. I have to try.”
Saria had overheard the entire conversation over the comm. and rushed to the Captain’s side and grabbed the comm..
“Bob! Are you crazy? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Gunshots could be heard coming from the passage and the desperate shouts of dying pilots was intensified. Sgt. Banks could be heard over the comm. reporting major casualties on his team.
“Saria.” Robert’s voice had now saddened. “I love you –”
“I love you too, but you don’t need to go and kill yourself! For Sol’s sake, are you insane Bob?”
“Saria, please, listen to me. This thing fires only once. I need to overload it or there’s only an eighty percent chance of us finally defeating the AGI.”
The gunshots could be heard drawing nearer and the pilots that were only meters outside the deck were being ambushed and shot down by Xenon troops. Robert knew he had to hurry.
“Eighty percent is still a lot!” she screamed desperately.
“I can’t take that chance. Say goodbye to Harold for me. I love you, Saria. I love you. And Captain, get that ship as far as way from this thing as possible. You don’t want to be close to thing when it blows.”
”What about the other pilots on board the ship?” the Captain demanded.
“Chances are, they’re already dead, sir.” Robert switched off his comm. completely.
His fingers worked like a flawless band of Elite Soldiers, individually typing in the necessary commands. The ship’s onboard system seemed reluctant to allow him to overcharge the weapon but finally it gave in and Robert could hear the deep whirring and humming of the generator charging beyond its normal capacity. Xenon soldiers shot from around the corner and bullets were exchanged between them and Robert, none hitting their target. The noise of the generator was almost intolerable now. Robert kept running away from the generator so as to detract the Xenon’s attention from it. They fell for his trick and hastily followed him through aisles of jumbles of equipment and stacks of monitors and control panels. Bullets skidded past Robert by only fractions and he dodged them by jumping from side to side. The noise grew even louder; Robert had to cover his ears with his hands just to avoid bursting his eardrums. Robert threw one last glance back at the troops – the last one he would ever give – and laughed triumphantly at the enclosing soldiers. A blinding flash of light; then a sudden and lasting flash of darkness.
-- The End --
Thank you to all my readers that have faithfully followed my story to the end. Much appreciated.
