Countdown by John Walker (feel good fiction books txt) 📗

the jamming device in place?” Sasha asked. Is it ready to deploy?”

“Yes, sir,” Daisy said. “I’ll initiate it from here the moment we enter hyperspace.”

Sasha turned to Marston. “Get us out of here. Now.”

“On it, sir.”

A low hum emanated from all around them, as if the air itself began to vibrate. That was new, something Sasha hadn’t experienced before. He didn’t like the sound of it, especially with all the variables introduced from damage. Between the device stuck to the hull, the offline generator, and low engine efficiency, he had a bad feeling about their chances for escape.

Sasha closed his eyes. Heavenly father, this is probably a bad time to talk. I’ve been quietly praying without any specific words, but right now, we really need You to have our backs. You might know what’s coming next, You might not. All I can say for sure is we have to get back to our people. Not only our lives but many others stand on the threshold.

Marston started the countdown from ten.

“Sir,” Daisy called, “the enemy ship is persistent. I don’t know how they’re doing it, but they’re giving chase. This will be close…they’re closing to within firing range.”

Yeah, this is what I’m talking about, Lord. We could really use a little good luck right now. Or some of Your favor. Either way, our fate is in Your hands. We need six seconds… that’s it. Please.

“Five…” Marston verbalized the countdown.

“Enemy weapons—” Daisy spoke but she was drowned out by Marston.

“Four…”

This is far closer to the wire than I like to be. Sasha held his breath.

“Three…”

“Enemy is within extreme range!” Daisy shouted. “They can open fire at any second!”

“Two…” Marston remained calm. Sasha had to give him credit. He felt his heart beating in his chest hard enough that he thought it might hop out and head to sickbay without him. “One…”

“They’re firing!” Daisy shouted.

Space warbled around them. The ship shook. The odd vibration sound went away as they hurled forward into hyperspace and away from their attackers. When no explosion took place, when they didn’t die, Sasha finally let his breath out, slumping back in his chair. He rubbed his forehead. The headache that had been creeping up finally settled in.

“Did you jam their device?” Sasha asked. “Are we clear?”

“Engineering reports…” Daisy held up her finger. “One moment… they’re scanning…”

Do take your time. Sasha shook his head. Comes down to this moment and here we are… scanning.

“Yes! It’s down! No signal!” Daisy clapped. “We made it!”

Marston let out a woot, clapping his hands over his head.

“Alright, alright,” Sasha said. “Let’s calm down and focus. We’ve got a lot of work to do before we arrive at our destination. Get Engineering working, Daisy. I need a casualty and damage report ASAP. Marston, get some relief. You’ve earned it. We’re almost through this, folks. Let’s make the most of our time.”

And thank you, Lord. Even if you don’t exist, today… I’m feeling your presence.

Chapter 7

Noah worked through the myriad of reports waiting in his office. Nina took command on the bridge, but the real goal was to get her acclimated. Dorian showed her the ropes. She knew their systems well enough. It was just a matter of working through a few nuances. He had confidence in her.

They’d been waiting around for hours. Engineering worked the entire time, switching off in shifts to ensure they were ready for battle. The MerCon vessels started a ferry service, bringing in new personnel and equipment. They’d been on standby since Erris took over their military and so they jumped into action swiftly.

Alexander hadn’t reached out in a while. He’d been on Alden’s dreadnaught, working through various plans of what they needed to defend. The idea was to determine how much of their force needed to be allocated to holding their resources and how much they could throw at the ervas homeworld.

Conflict arose from the fact that neither side wanted to commit too much of their force to the attack. It had to be a joint operation. If it was doomed to fail, then one side or the other would be in a desperate situation… one that could lead to being conquered. Their truce remained shaky… which wasn’t entirely surprising.

Eliza acted as a representative for MerCon, offering to mediate between the two. She wanted her organization to be the glue that bound them together. If that happened, they’d have considerable power over the galaxy. Noah figured she’d probably get what she wanted too. Probably without much difficulty.

“Captain.” Nina’s voice came through the first officer’s line. It felt jarring hearing her instead of Jack. “Marshal Northam is on the line. He states it’s urgent.”

“Put him through, Commander.” Noah made a point of using her new rank. He wanted to normalize it with her. They didn’t have a lot of time for her to find her confidence so the faster they could do it in common parlance, the better.

“Noah?” Alexander called out, “can you hear me okay?”

“Loud and clear, sir. What’s going on?”

“First, the quick thing. I got your request to boost Larson’s rank. I’ve approved it. Her record’s solid. I think she’ll do well. I have no problem giving that to her now and letting her keep it. Might be solid incentive to do a fabulous job on your next mission… which I’m afraid is coming fast.”

“Thank you, I’ll let her know.”

“On to the less fun part. Alden just received word from a battleship he assigned to a sector near ervas space. They figured it might be a target. Sure enough, five enemy battleships turned up. They did a number on them by sacrificing destroyers and it’s likely that all five have at least been crippled.”

“That’s good news,” Noah said, “except for the destroyer part.”

“Yes, and no,” Alexander replied.