Fracture (First Colony Book 8), page 20
They continued moving away to a minimum safe distance. Boseman sent out a signal that they were set and ready. Jing and Brentworth readied the mobile missile launcher while Benton covered them.
As far as Boseman could tell, no alarms had been raised. It was quiet right then, but in a few moments, all hell was going to break loose.
Boseman waited until all twelve teams had checked in and then sent back his authorization.
The lightweight hornet missiles raced across the span of five kilometers to the next intake shaft. The target was the end of the shaft where the asteroid chunks first went inside. They aimed for the adjacent shaft, with each team doing the same to maximize the destruction they were about to cause.
The missiles raced toward their target with rigorous fury, and twelve seemingly simultaneous explosions occurred at the end of the intake shafts. Boseman detonated the explosive charges at the first main junction. Eleven more explosions occurred, and the shaft shuddered beneath their feet. Roughly a quarter of this spider's legs had been destroyed. The crusher still spat out asteroid chunks, which continued to pelt the industrial complex, only now instead of going inside the intake shafts, they were bouncing out of control to impact other parts of the complex.
“Time to go,” Boseman said.
They continued to the extraction points, and Boseman signaled for the combat shuttle to come pick them up. Six shuttles were deployed and would have to make two stops in order to extract the Spec Ops team.
“Contact!” Benton cried.
They all took cover and watched as Krake soldiers approached. Hulking figures three meters tall ran toward them.
Their extraction point had just become a hot zone.
The Krake response had been quick, and Boseman hadn’t counted on that. They’d picked this target because it appeared to be lightly defended. The other CDF teams checked in. Krake soldiers were closing in on them, too.
“Let’s draw them in. Wait for them to get closer,” Boseman said.
They aimed their weapons at the approaching soldiers.
“Now,” Boseman said.
Benton fired his plasma cannon, and a molten bolt of fury blazed into the Krake soldiers. They hadn’t staggered their approach, and seven of them were blown off into space in various conditions of melted fury and pain.
Boseman configured the nanorobotic ammunition to use explosive penetrating rounds and then fired his weapon. The heavy slugs pierced the Krake armor and exploded, leaving massive holes.
The element of surprise was used up as more Krake soldiers arrived. They approached cautiously, each taking shots with their own weapons.
“Jing, keep an eye on our six,” Boseman said.
The combat shuttle had picked up the other team and was heading toward them.
“Enemy contact, Captain,” Private Jing said.
Dammit, Boseman thought. They were pinned down, and the enemy was closing in all around them.
The combat shuttle arrived and opened fire, first taking out the primary group and then the secondary group. The shaft rocked beneath their feet with the impact of the combat shuttle’s weapons.
“Now’s our chance,” Boseman said as the combat shuttle swung around, presenting the loading ramp to them. They jumped and engaged their suit thrusters to clear the loading ramp.
“We’re all on board. Get us out of here,” Boseman ordered.
The loading ramp had just closed, and Boseman felt the shuttle lurch forward. He ran toward the cockpit.
“We’re taking fire,” the pilot said.
“Combat drones?” Boseman asked and peered at the shuttle’s main holoscreen.
“Negative. They have automated defense turrets. Captain, you can take the aux seat behind me. Things are going to get a little rough.”
Boseman sat down and auto-straps secured him in place. The tactical display showed multiple video feeds. Auto-turrets fired at them while the pilot executed evasive maneuvers. The pilot flew the combat shuttle as close to the industrial complex as he could, making it difficult for them to be targeted.
A comlink opened from another combat shuttle. “Krake ships inbound. Destroyer class vessels.”
Boseman’s stomach sank. “Alert the battle group. Use subspace comms.”
“Colonel, we’re getting reports of Krake automated defense turrets coming online,” Specialist Irina Sansky said.
Sean swung his gaze toward the tactical workstations. “What’s the status of the Spec Ops evac?”
“They’re under enemy fire. The alert squadron is en route. They’re ten minutes out, Colonel,” Lieutenant Jane Russo said.
Jade squadron appeared on the tactical plot on the main holoscreen. Talon-V Stinger class fighters were blazing a path toward the fleeing combat shuttles.
“Very well,” Sean replied.
This was only the beginning of the Krake response to their attack. The auto-turrets had been concealed within the complex. Sean had two destroyers in reserve at a midway point between the space gate and Trident Battle Group’s current position. The Vigilant, along with three other destroyers—the Dutchman, the Burroughs, and the Albany—were in position where Sean had expected the Krake response to be.
“Colonel, seven Krake destroyers are coming from the planet,” Lieutenant Russo said.
“On screen,” Sean said.
The Krake destroyers appeared on the main holoscreen. Active scans showed a staggered deployment. “Tactical, I want a firing solution on the three destroyers on point. Designate them priority alpha.”
“Yes, sir,” Lieutenant Russo said.
The CDF destroyers' combat AIs were patched into the Vigilant’s onboard systems. Gabriel, the Vigilant’s AI, would take the data from their computing core and transmit it to the rest of the battle group. This quickened their response times in an enemy engagement.
They hadn’t done any reconnaissance of the planet below. Instead, they'd focused on the Krake industrial complex and the nearby space gate activity. Sean expected that the Krake had shipbuilding facilities in this star system, but they hadn’t found them. It appeared they constructed their ships planet-side.
“I have a firing solution, Colonel,” Russo said.
“Fire,” Sean replied.
HADES Vs sped out the Vigilant’s missile tubes, along with those of the CDF destroyers. Sean authorized five more volleys before they’d evaluate the damage they’d done to the Krake fleet.
“Helm, keep the industrial complex between us and the enemy ships,” Sean said. Krake attack drones could fly around the industrial complex easily enough, but it would take them time.
“Third volley is away. No combat drones detected,” Russo said.
HADES V missiles closed the distance to the enemy ships, and they hadn’t returned fire yet.
The plot on the main holoscreen updated and showed that the first group of HADES Vs had detonated. Sean’s jaw tightened in grim satisfaction.
“Krake destroyers are staggering their approach. Their course indicates they’ve deduced our approximate position,” Lieutenant Russo said.
It was difficult not to remain in motion while ships operated in space, and a heavy cruiser was no different. The Krake might have figured out where their attack had come from, but there was still guesswork involved, and they hadn’t detected any scans from Krake ships.
“Understood,” Sean replied.
He glanced at the combat shuttles on the plot. They were still a few minutes out, but they were on an intercept course with the Vigilant.
“Ops, what’s the current status of the space gate operation?” Sean asked.
“They’ve retrieved four of the cubes. The other teams were delayed,” Lieutenant Davis Hoffman replied.
“Gabriel, how are we on time?” Sean asked.
“We’re behind schedule, Colonel. Recommend holding off the Krake response here for as long as we can to give the retrieval teams enough time to secure the minimal number of cubes required,” the Vigilant’s AI replied.
Sean’s gaze flicked to the tactical plot on his personal holoscreen. Another active scan pulse was about to happen. The tactical plot refreshed and showed that new Krake contacts had been detected. Two more Krake destroyers appeared on the plot. Their trajectory put them on an intercept course with the previous group of destroyers they’d already detected.
Sean frowned in thought. Why wouldn’t those ships be heading toward them?
“Krake attack drones detected,” Lieutenant Russo said.
The number of attack drones appeared on the main holoscreen, and the count quickly jumped past several hundred.
“Tactical, prepare missile-defense screen,” Sean said.
During their other encounters with the Krake, they’d learned that detonating a HADES V missile blinded the attack drone’s guidance systems momentarily, putting them into disarray. The missile-defense screen would coordinate the launches of HADES Vs, along with targeting the mag cannons of the Vigilant and the other CDF destroyers.
“Confirm, missile-defense screen protocol has designates in tubes seven and eight, Colonel,” Russo said.
The Krake attack drone count on the main holoscreen climbed past three hundred, and Sean’s mouth formed a grim line. That was too many drones. At the rate the Krake were launching attack drones, their defenses, even with the updated protocols, would soon be overwhelmed.
“Ops, what’s the status of the combat shuttles retrieving the Spec Ops teams?” Sean asked.
“They’re still a few minutes out, Colonel,” Lieutenant Hoffman said.
That wasn’t good enough. “Emergency landing protocols authorized. They need to get here ASAP. Helm, ready the rendezvous coordinates with the Yorktown.”
Sean’s orders were confirmed, and then the tactical plot refreshed again on the main holoscreen. Their new defensive protocols were working. The numbers of attack drones detected had ground to a halt. The Krake must have fired everything they had at them, keeping nothing in reserve.
“Colonel, recommend beginning our withdrawal,” Lieutenant Russo said.
She was right and Sean knew it, but he wasn’t leaving the Spec Ops team. “Helm—” Sean began to say but was interrupted by an audible chime sounding as the number of attack drones skyrocketed to over four hundred. Sean’s mouth went dry, and the bridge crew seemed to hold its collective breath. The new group of attack drones had come from the Krake reinforcement ships.
“Colonel,” Lieutenant Russo said, her voice a bit higher than normal, “the new detection of attack drones is on a . . . Sir, they’re shooting at their own ships!”
Sean peered at the plot on the main holoscreen. It refreshed again, showing the new salvo of Krake attack drones on an intercept course with the first group of ships they'd detected.
Why would the Krake fire their weapons on one another? Scanners showed that more than half of the attack drones that had been heading toward the CDF had changed course, heading toward the two Krake destroyers.
“Colonel, combat shuttles are all aboard and accounted for,” Lieutenant Hoffman said.
They couldn’t afford to get caught up in whatever Krake conflict was going on here.
“Helm, get us out of here. Best speed,” Sean said.
The Vigilant and the accompanying CDF destroyers retreated from the Krake industrial complex. Roughly a third of the complex had been impacted by the attack, and Sean hoped it had been worth it.
“Comms, open a comlink to the Yorktown. Get me Major Brody.”
A few moments later, Major Brody appeared on Sean’s personal holoscreen.
“Colonel Quinn, the Krake space gate has been disabled and we have the cubes. We’re making our way to the rendezvous point, and engineering teams have already begun retrofitting the Krake space gate cubes to our existing gate.”
“Excellent! Convey my congratulations to the team,” Sean said and told Brody what had happened.
“They attacked each other! Are they pursuing you?” Brody asked.
“Negative. Our missile-defense screen took out the attack drones coming after us,” Sean replied.
“What do you think it means?”
“Well, for one thing, the Krake aren’t as unified as we’d thought.”
“And this other group just happened to show up when the attack began?”
Sean nodded. “We’ve stumbled onto something here.”
“Yeah, but now the Krake know we’re here. We need to leave. We’ll be ready to test the space gate in just a few hours,” Brody said.
“Excuse me, Colonel Quinn,” Specialist Sansky said. “We’ve received a data burst from the Krake.”
Sean frowned and Brody went silent. “Tactical, can you detect exactly where that message came from?”
“One moment, Colonel,” Russo said.
“Colonel, should I try to translate it?” Specialist Sansky asked.
“No. Standby,” Sean replied.
“It’s from the secondary Krake attack group, the ones that fired on their own ships,” Russo said.
“Gabriel,” Sean said, “I want you to seal off the Krake data in a closed system and cut it off from the rest of the ship's systems.”
“Done, Colonel,” Gabriel said. “Preliminary analysis indicates that there are several space gate coordinates in the data burst. I would need more time to do a full analysis.”
Sean rubbed his chin for a moment.
“Colonel, did I hear that correctly? You received some kind of communication from the Krake?” Brody asked.
“It appears that way. We need time to do a thorough analysis of it though.”
“I’m sure we can do that once we get back home,” Brody replied.
Sean shook his head. “Hold off on testing the space gate. I’m going to send you secondary rendezvous coordinates and we’ll meet up there.”
“But Colonel—” Brody began and stopped himself.
“You have your orders, Major,” Sean said. “Vigilant, out.”
Sean closed the comlink. “Tactical, is there any sign of the Krake coming after us?”
“Negative, Colonel. We stopped using active scans when we began our withdrawal.”
Sean nodded. “Without their space gate, we have some breathing room. Helm, update course rendezvous coordinates to bravo. We're going farther out in the system.”
“Yes, Colonel. Updated our course and have sent the new coordinates to the rest of the battle group,” Lieutenant Edwards replied.
The Krake were fighting among themselves, and at least some of them wanted to help the CDF.
“Colonel, our last scans indicated that almost all of the Krake ships were destroyed,” Russo said.
“Understood, Lieutenant. Ops, set Condition Two,” Sean said.
He opened the comlink to the secondary bridge on the Vigilant. “Major Shelton, I assume you’ve been following along?”
“Yes, Colonel,” Major Shelton said.
“Excellent. Report to the bridge. We need to figure out what the hell just happened,” Sean said.
They needed to go over all the data they'd collected and do a thorough analysis of the Krake message.
25
Noah was in his lab at Sanctuary. A few days had passed since his release from the medical center. He didn’t need to follow up with Ashley because she was tapped into his biochip, which sent her regular updates regarding his health. It had been part of his agreement for release from the hospital. Since then, Kara had been watching him like a hawk, as if he was going to suddenly disappear. To Noah, it had only been a few days with patchy memory loss, but for his wife, it had been over ten months of constant worry. Noah kept having to remind himself of that, but he was getting tired of everyone telling him what to do and being hypersensitive to the slightest mishap. Physically, he was fine, but his mind needed time to heal, and he wasn't going to get that sitting at home.
He wasn't at his main laboratory at Sanctuary. He was out along the outskirts of the city in a mobile lab he’d set up before he’d been injured. He glanced around at all the equipment and checked the logs. Dash had been in there from time to time, doing his own work. Noah hadn't seen Dash yet. The young man was working out of New Haven, but they'd had a chat via video comlink. Dash promised to come back to Sanctuary as soon as he could, but he was needed with everything that had been going on with the Ovarrow. Noah envied him. It was as if the world had kept going on just fine without him, and he didn’t like how it made him feel—insignificant. There was so much more for him to see and do.
Despite the bit of isolation at his mobile lab, he did have a window to the outside. It was currently open, and a breeze was blowing in. Echoes of soothing wind chimes sounded as the breeze increased. The solitude was peaceful. It was quite a bit of work for him to be around a lot of people, and it felt almost overwhelming. Because of this, he'd taken to long periods of being alone. He couldn’t escape Kara and he didn’t want to, but she was being overprotective.
A live video feed came to prominence on the main holoscreen, and Noah glanced at it.
“Think of the devil, and she will appear,” Noah said quietly, and then berated himself for being too harsh. Kara wasn’t the devil. She was his angel.
Kara had found his little hiding spot, and he readied himself for what was sure to be an unpleasant conversation. He closed down the work he’d been doing and went to the door. It opened before he could get there, and his wife’s cornflower-blue eyes narrowed suspiciously at him. She glanced behind him at the blank holoscreens for a moment.
“So, you shut down your work before I got here. How nice,” Kara said.
Noah sighed. “I was just getting some fresh air, and I thought I'd come to check these things out.”
Kara nodded, then walked into the work area. "How many of these things do you have?"
Noah eyed her for a moment. "You should know. You have access to all of them."
Kara crossed her arms in front of her chest, but she looked oddly vulnerable at the same time, as if her shoulders had narrowed and she was hugging herself. “Why do you keep trying to shut me out?”
