Chapter Nine
Flight Officer Alan Griggs frowned as he examined his screens. He hit refresh and scanned the numbers again.
They had not changed.
Officer Griggs was reluctant to make a fuss. After he had quit as a supervisor for theArgus, vowing to never work a commercial ship again, he had enlisted in the Navy. As an experienced and competent officer, he had risen quickly, and StarbaseCronuswas his second posting. He hoped for a command of his own, eventually, and you did not achieve command rank by raising false alarms.
So, he refreshed his screens once more.
The numbers remained as they were.
“Ah…XO Stevens,” he said, clearing his throat. “XO Stevens, we appear to have an anomaly, amber status.”
“You’d better be damn sure, Mister Griggs,” replied the XO. “Amber status means waking up the commander, and if we’re wasting her time, I’ll be sure to let her know who’s responsible.”
“See for yourself, sir,” said Griggs nervously. He rolled his chair back from his workstation to let the Executive Officer examine his screens.
“Hmm…” XO Stevens frowned. “All right, Mister Griggs.” The XO put his hand to his ear. “Commander Batric, there is a situation on the Flight Deck that requires your attention. Amber status, ma’am.” He waited.
“Flight Officer Griggs has brought the anomaly to my attention, ma’am,” continued XO Stevens promptly. “I have no reason to believe that it is a glitch.”
Flight Officer Griggs continued to monitor his screens nervously, with the XO lurking over his shoulder. Five minutes later, a slightly scruffy Commander Batric came on deck, and the flight crew jumped to attention.
“As you were,” the commander said, striding over to Griggs’ station. “Now, tell me what the hell we’re looking at.”
“Yes, ma’am,” replied Griggs. “It doesn’t make any sense. It’s like an electromagnetic shadow, but it’s moving.”
“Hmm,” said Batric, peering more closely at the screens. “I see what you’re saying. But what the hell is it?”
“I’m not sure, ma’am,” said Griggs. “At first, I thought perhaps a solar storm, but the speed it’s moving at is much too fast, and it’s heading…well, ma’am, it’s heading precisely for this station.”
“How is that…” muttered Commander Batric, tapping a few keys. Suddenly, her face turned gray.
“It’s not a storm, that’s a battleship!” she shouted, running to take her place at the command console. “Sound the red alert, and activate all defensive systems!”
A klaxon screamed out a whooping noise. “How is that possible?” cried Griggs.
“I’ve seen it before, during the Rebellion!” yelled Batric. “That’s Onin stealth technology, and that ship is on a collision course with this base!” She tapped her authorization codes rapidly into the terminal in front of her, and a moment later, a voice sounded throughout the ship.
This is an emergency. All occupants proceed to emergency launch pods immediately. This is not a drill. This is an emergency. All occupants proceed to emergency launch pods immediately.
“Can’t we shoot the ship down?” demanded the executive officer.
“That’s a ramming heading and speed, Stevens!” barked the commander. “Even if we blew every system on that ship, it would still hit us with the force of a planetoid.”
At that moment, their main screen was filled with the snarling face of the Pilgrim of Hate.
“Oh lord help us,” breathed Griggs.
“Attention, war criminals of the Galactic Alliance,” boomed the voice of Enoch Immanuel. “Let this be our final act of protest against the unlawful suppression of the Onin peoples. Although we may end our lives with this attack, know that the spirit of independence and longing for freedom of the Onin systems will never die.” Enoch paused then gave a feral smile. “We’ll see you all in hell.”
The main screen went blank.
“Battleship emerging from stealth mode,” called Griggs.
“Son of a bitch! It’s the damnJericho!” cried Batric. “All command personnel to the emergency pods, rightnow!”
***
