Endeavour (Atlantia Series Book 4) Page 31

  ‘Don’t launch any fighters!’ Mikhain almost shouted at Idris.

  Idris glanced at the tactical display and realised that despite being sub luminal for almost two minutes Arcadia had not launched a fighter screen. While in the instant he could not understand why Arcadia would not be protected by fighters he did not hesitate in responding to Mikhain’s request.

  ‘Belay the launch!’ he hollered to the tactical station.

  Another pair of Raythons had already rocketed off the launch bay, but the rest of the fighters held firm as Idris turned back to Mikhain. ‘What’s the reason for the hold?’

  ‘We’ve had some issues,’ Mikhain replied quickly, clearly aware of the limited time available to them before the Morla’syn arrived. ‘You’re not going to believe this, but right now I am not in command of Arcadia and nor are any of its crew.’

  Idris stepped forward to the grab rail. ‘Who the hell is in command?’

  Mikhain’s voice betrayed his disbelief at his own words as he replied. ‘The Word is in command of Arcadia and it’s here to help.’

  It was as if somebody had flipped a switch on Atlantia’s bridge and instantly killed all of the conversation. Every member of the command crew turned to stare in disbelief at Mikhain as his words sank in and registered on their faces.

  ‘Tell me that’s not true,’ Idris grasped. ‘Is my wife alive?’

  ‘Everybody is fine,’ Mikhain insisted. ‘The Word claims to have the ability to enable us to defeat the Morla’syn destroyer without firing a single shot.’

  ‘I don’t give a damn! If we sit here like this we’re nothing more than targets for them!’

  ‘Apparently, that’s what the Word has in mind.’

  ‘I don’t understand. This is insane!’

  Mikhain turned his head as he stood back from the camera and in his place Idris saw Evelyn and Emma appear, virtually identical in appearance.

  ‘The Word is not the word,’ Evelyn reported. ‘It’s a long story, but the intelligence behind this computer is that of Dr Ceyen Lazarus.’

  Idris blinked as he attempted to keep up with the flow of new information flooding to him from Arcadia.

  ‘The quantum physicist?’ he muttered as though he did not believe it. ‘He’s been dead for almost a century.’

  ‘Well as it turns out, there’s dead and then there’s not–quite–dead,’ Evelyn assured him. ‘Lazarus has got a plan, but for it to work we have to hand over control of both frigates.’

  The silence on Atlantia’s bridge was almost deafening and in a moment of bizarre reverie Idris realised he had never actually heard Atlantia’s bridge become so quiet. He glanced about him and saw every member of the crew watching him expectantly, trepidation writ large on their features. He turned back to Evelyn and shook his head.

  ‘I don’t know that I can do that,’ he replied.

  ‘Nor did we,’ Evelyn said, ‘that’s why we have plasma charges arranged around the Word’s computer terminal. One false move and Lazarus really will be dead again.’

  Idris felt swamped with the sudden shock decision he was required to make and he was still struggling with it when he saw Meyanna appear on the screen before him.

  ‘It’s okay,’ Meyanna assured him. ‘I don’t fully understand it myself but I truly believe that Evelyn’s faith in Lazarus is well–placed. Whatever the Word might be, it’s not quite what we have here. It cannot act without human interaction, through Emma’

  Idris turned away from the display screens as he fought against everything that he had learned to hate about the Word. It had proven itself the most cunning of opponents, the most dangerous creation in the history of humanity. Wiley, deceptive, hugely intelligent and devoted to destruction, it had taken the lives of billions of human beings in a single terrible act, and now he was being asked to place his faith in the creator of that same intelligence. Idris grasped at his hair as he paced up and down on the command platform and he barely heard Lael’s warning.

  ‘Super luminal contact, estimated time of arrival: thirty seconds! They’re almost here!’

  Idris glanced at the tactical display screen and saw the tell–tale space–time warp of the gravitational bow wave of the Morla’syn destroyer as it hurtled toward their position.

  ‘We have to make a decision now captain,’ Evelyn urged him.

  Idris gripped the command row from moment longer.

  ‘Allow Arcadia’s Boarding Protocol access to Atlantia,’ he finally ordered Lael. ‘That will give her our bridge command and control, and by extension control to the Word. Order the four Raythons to land immediately.’

  Idris quickly stepped off the command platform and hurried across to Lael’s communications console, and he whispered in her ear.

  ‘Isolate the War Room from the Boarding Protocol. If this goes south I don’t want the Word accessing our entire ship – I want a way to fight back.’

  Idris whirled away from the communications console as he shouted orders across the deck.

  ‘Helm, all ahead one third, defensive battle formation for a head–on engagement!’

  ‘Aye, captain!’

  Atlantia surged forward as she crossed in front of Arcadia and began to turn about ready to face the onrushing Morla’syn destroyer. Idris intended to position the frigates in battle formation – both frigates travelling on parallel courses with the aim of bringing the Morla’syn destroyer between them and forcing it to engage them on both sides. The problem was, he knew, that they were not able to fire a single shot without then being vulnerable to accusations of an act of war by the Galactic Council. He had no idea how he was going to counter this when the helmsman suddenly called out to him from his position.

  ‘Helm is not responding, captain!’ he said with a hint of panic in his voice.

  Idris whirled to the display screen that showed Mikhain aboard Arcadia’s bridge, but even before he could speak the image of Mikhain disappeared and was replaced with a digital representation of a face that he knew well from his history books – Dr Ceyen Lazarus.

  Idris could not tell if Lazarus could actually see Atlantia’s bridge, but from his perspective in front of the screen it seemed as though the doctor was talking directly to him.

  ‘Captain Sansin, I now have control of Atlantia,’ he announced as though it was simply a matter of fact. ‘I shall position the frigates into battle formation as I have no doubt you intended.’

  ‘How can we win a battle without firing a single shot?’ Idris demanded.

  ‘You cannot,’ Lazarus replied mysteriously, almost as though he were enjoying the deception.

  Idris clenched his fists by his side and fought to retain control of his anger. ‘You’re playing with human lives. We cannot win this engagement and we could be destroyed entirely.’

  Lazarus raised a digital eyebrow but appeared unperturbed by the threat facing the two frigates.

  ‘I am playing with no lives,’ Lazarus insisted. ‘I am playing only with minds. We have prepared a single, unarmed Raython for launch. You will do the same, and prepare to cover them with all available weapons.’

  ‘What the hell for?’ Idris snapped. ‘How can two unarmed Raythons overpower a destroyer?’

  ‘How indeed?’ Lazarus murmured. ‘Launch the fighter, and be ready.’

  Idris stared blankly at the screen as he considered the Word’s remarkable suggestion. Idris was about to reply when Lael called out a warning from the communications console.

  ‘New contact, elevation four–zero, ten thousand cubits and closing.’

  On the main viewing panel a bright flare of light flashed into existence amid the dense star fields and then vanished as soon as it had arrived, and in its place loomed the massive Morla’syn destroyer. The huge craft maintained its trajectory as it closed in upon the frigates’ position, and Idris knew that the time for conversation was over.

  ‘This is it,’ he said simply.

  ***

  XLII

  ‘You want me to do
what?!’

  Teera Milan sat in the cockpit of her Raython and watched with some consternation as her weapons were unloaded from beneath the fighter. She had been recalled to land moments after launching, her fighter now repositioned on Atlantia’s launch catapults. The captain’s voice was clear over the intercom as he replied.

  ‘All weapons deactivated, shields down. I want you to approach the destroyer head–on.’

  Teera stared at her tactical display, which showed a holographic projection of the confrontation taking place outside Atlantia. The two frigates were flying line abreast, heading directly towards the destroyer and manoeuvring to position themselves either side of her. Teera knew that they would attempt to get either side of the destroyer, which for its own part would turn hard and broadside the approaching frigates while they were both unable to return maximum fire from their guns.

  ‘It’s a suicide mission,’ Teera replied. ‘There is absolutely no way I’ll get through a barrage from a destroyer that size. I’ll be vaporised before I even get close.’

  ‘The destroyer’s guns will not be firing upon you, according to the Word,’ Idris assured her as he apparently recalled his own days flying Phantom fighters before he took his first command. ‘But if it does, jink, weave and dodge for all you’re worth and follow your instincts. Your target is the destroyer’s bridge.’

  Teera peered over the edge of the cockpit and saw the technicians loading aboard a canister that looked like a plasma torpedo but with its warhead removed.

  ‘How can I have a target if I don’t have any weapons?’

  ‘The Word has it all in hand.’

  ‘And when I’ve defied the laws of physics and cheated death repeatedly, what would you like to me today when I get there?’ Teera demanded.

  ‘Simply deploy that canister as you fly over the bridge and then get the hell out of there.’

  ‘Simply,’ Teera replied. ‘And there was me worrying that this might be complicated.’

  ‘We’ve got your back,’ Idris assured her. ‘Every single asset that we possess will be ready in support of your mission.’

  The technicians below Teera’s Raython closed her weapons bay and began falling back from the fighter as it sat on Atlantia’s launch catapult. All around other Raythons were being prepared for launch once more.

  Even before she had time to think about it the magnetic clamps on her Raython’s undercarriage bit deep and a crewman nearby signalled her to run her engines up to maximum power. Moments later she saw the launch bay doors open once more and the vibrating, shuddering Raython was suddenly launched at tremendous velocity towards the opening doors. The landing bays ceiling lights flashed by over Teera’s cockpit and then suddenly she was propelled out into deep space as she retracted the Raython’s undercarriage and saw the immense destroyer looming before her.

  ‘Reaper two, airborne, weapons cold.’

  *

  ‘This is insane.’

  Andaim’s voice was a harsh whisper as he and Evelyn strode onto Arcadia’s launch bay and saw the Special Forces gunship awaiting them.

  ‘Lazarus knows what he’s doing,’ Evelyn assured the CAG.

  ‘It’s a machine, not a man,’ Andaim insisted. ‘We can’t trust it to have our best interests at heart, it’s just not possible.’

  ‘Lazarus is wired into Arcadia and is now entirely reliant upon our survival to ensure its own,’ Evelyn replied. ‘If we die, Lazarus dies.’

  ‘That’s what they used to say about the Word on Ethera, that if it ever got out of control they could simply pull the plug or destroy it. Things didn’t turn out quite that way, did they?’

  ‘Have you got any better ideas?’ Evelyn demanded as she stopped and confronted the CAG. ‘If we don’t do what Lazarus says, our only other option is to engage the Morla’syn in open combat and we both know how that will end.’

  Andaim bit his lip momentarily before he replied. ‘Why you? Why does it want you to do this?’

  ‘Because it trusts me,’ Evelyn replied. ‘It would probably have sent Emma but she is not a qualified pilot and may not survive the mission. I can.’

  ‘I damned well hope so,’ Andaim muttered back. ‘If anything happens to you I swear I’ll fire that damned computer terminal out into space and have Atlantia’s guns blast it all at once.’

  Evelyn felt a smile curl upon her lips as she saw the anger radiating from Andaim’s face. She reached up to his cheek and kissed him once, quickly, almost as though she were embarrassed to do so.

  ‘I can look after myself,’ she replied. ‘But it’s good to know you’re on my wing.’

  Andaim managed a faint smile as he walked with her to the gunship. ‘I won’t be able to use any weapons, so all I can do is run interference for you if things go south.’

  ‘That’s all I’ll need,’ Evelyn replied, and threw the CAG a quick salute as she marched up the gunship’s ramp.

  Evelyn made her way to the cockpit and sat in the captain’s chair and strapped herself in. Alone aboard the vessel, she suddenly realised that she disliked flying solo: maybe she yearned for company more than she realised, after so many years of being alone.

  ‘Trojan One, aboard and starting engines.’

  ‘Copy Trojan,’ Mikhain replied from Arcadia’s bridge. ‘Launch at your discretion. Lazarus has the bridge.’

  *

  ‘Teera’s away,’ Lael called.

  ‘The destroyer is launching her fighter screen, multiple contacts!’

  Idris spotted the new contacts as they blasted into flight from the Morla’syn destroyer’s launch bays, a cloud of fighters swarming in pairs as they left the cover of their mothership and accelerated toward Atlantia.

  ‘I hope you know what you’re doing,’ Idris growled at Lazarus, the face still dominating one of Atlantia display screens. ‘It’s likely the Morla’syn will take control of the gunship and then blast us into oblivion anyway.’

  ‘It is almost inevitable,’ Lazarus replied. ‘That is why we must continue with the mission. Attempt to make contact with the Morla’syn as planned.’

  ‘The Morla’syn captain is opening a channel with us,’ Lael called as she manipulated her controls.

  ‘On screen,’ Idris ordered.

  A display screen flickered into life and the face of the Morla’syn captain appeared once more. The captain wasted no time with idle discussion as he pointed out of the screen at Idris.

  ‘You are outgunned, Captain Sansin,’ the Morla’syn announced. ‘I will accept nothing less than complete surrender, effective immediately.’

  Idris glanced at the Word, which was remaining silent and allowing Idris to appear in complete command of Atlantia. ‘There will be no surrender and we do not recognise your claims as being representative of the Galactic Council. It is our intention to travel to the council and state our case before them. If you make any attempt to prevent us from doing so we will defend ourselves.’

  ‘Then we will return fire,’ came the Morla’syn captain’s reply. ‘And we will be forced to destroy you.’

  ‘Then perhaps we can come to a new arrangement?’ Idris suggested.

  ‘What kind of arrangement?’

  ‘The kind where you get the soldiers and their vessel that you wanted, and we leave this area in opposite directions.’

  The Morla’syn captain’s eyes narrowed as he peered at Idris. ‘You have them aboard your ship still?’

  ‘We captured the eight man team aboard Endeavour and they confessed to their actions while on a covert mission in Morla’syn space,’ Idris confirmed. ‘Our people got off the wreck using the soldier’s gunship, which we now possess. If it is justice for your people that you require, then we will make an exchange: our soldiers, in return for us being allowed safe passage.’

  The Morla’syn captain watched Idris for a long moment. ‘The orders of the Galactic Council were clear – all humanity is to be destroyed where it is found.’

  ‘You can’t have it both ways,’ Idris replied
. ‘Either you’re taking captives or you’re destroying us. Which is it?’

  ‘If the council learned that we had failed in our duty they would…’

  ‘You and I both know that the council’s decision is immoral and an over–reaction,’ Idris snapped. ‘Take the soldiers and their gunship and leave us be, and you will have completed your mission and the council will be none the wiser. Oppose us, and no matter how superior your vessel there is always the chance we might prevail…’

  The Morla’syn captain considered Idris’s words for a long time, and then he nodded. ‘Very well, captain. Justice is what we seek.’

  ‘Good,’ Idris said. ‘Pull your fighters back as a gesture of goodwill, and we will launch the gunship with the troops aboard and a small escort of two Raythons.’

  The Morla’syn captain glanced over his shoulder and emitted a series of guttural commands. Lael’s voice reached Idris’s ear a moment later.

  ‘The Morla’syn fighters are retreating, captain,’ she whispered.

  Idris remained silent and still as the Morla’syn captain glared at him from the display screen. ‘Your race is untrustworthy and cunning. If there is any hint of deception, captain, I will not hesitate to order the destruction of your frigates.’

  ‘There is no deception,’ Idris assured him. ‘The gunship will launch now, along with its escort.’

  Idris looked at his tactical display and saw the gunship emerge from Arcadia’s launch bay, a single Raython already alongside it and Teera’s moving between the two frigates to join them.

  ‘Are the soldiers aboard?’ the Morla’syn captain demanded.

  ‘All eight of them,’ Idris confirmed. ‘Two are injured, however.’

  ‘Our sensors cannot see the bodies,’ the Morla’syn complained.

  ‘The gunship is a Special Forces type and has powerful natural shielding,’ Idris explained. ‘Our sensors also can detect nothing aboard the gunship, but I have instructed her pilot to disable all shields and weapons. She will do you no harm.’