Sudden Collisions Part 3

Posted on 01 Jan 2017 @ 6:44am by Lieutenant Colonel Cassandra Blackburn

2,622 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Errand of Mercy
Location: Antler AWACs, Hadronus System
Timeline: ED5 1300

ON:

Lieutenant Roberts sat quietly in the rear cabin of the AWACs craft. He had never been in combat before, and felt that he should be doing something more. The smoke in the compartment had pretty much cleared, and he could feel the subtle changes in the artificial gravity as the pilot threw the craft through a series of evasive maneuvers. He had felt sure that his plan would work. It was crude - blasting through the interference with brute force broadbeam transmissions - but he was sure it should have worked.

He thought about going forward to the cockpit, but the Major had been clear that he was to stay were he was. She was clearly very angry with him as well. He felt a prang of disappointment in himself. Only a few moments had passed, but the ship seemed to slowly straighten out. He finally built up enough courage to get up and proceed to the cockpit, but as he did so he heard Major Blackburn scream his name out.

"Roberts, get up here!" She bellowed. He bounded forward but stopped suddenly when she appeared, struggling with the weight of an unconscious Sergeant Clarke. "Take his legs!" She said urgently. Roberts picked up the two dead weights and they struggled to sit Clarke into one of the cabin seats. He stood back and look, horrified, at the burns on Clarke's hands and face, before noticing the appalling open wound to the side of his chest. "Sort him out." Blackburn said, thrusting an medical kit into Roberts' hands and then wiping blood from her hands onto her trousers and turning to return to the cockpit. Roberts froze, pale. Blackburn glared at him. "Hey!" She shouted, tapping him twice hard on the head with her bloodied hands. "Plug his wounds!" Roberts looked at her briefly, then began to open the kit. Blackburn headed back up to the cockpit.

In the cockpit Lieutenant Smythe's hands were still flying over her console as she tried to shake their attackers. Blackburn slid into the seat next to her, the shattered remains of Clarke's console in front of her - it had exploded. She brushed off some of the debris with her arm and saw that what was left off the console was useless. "What do you need?" Blackburn said to the exasperated pilot.

"I think there's only one of them" Smythe replied hurriedly, not taking her eyes off the starfield in front of her. "I can't pick up any visual target and the damage to the sensor array means there are too many sensor ghosts to be sure. The ship's handling okay though. Try raise the Redemption - backup communications panel to your right."

Blackburn brought the panel online and opened the widest communication band she could. She glanced back at Smythe, who was desperately searching the starfield for the enemy. "What's our callsign?" She asked.

"Just use your personal one!" Smythe called back, clearly too busy to worry about such things. Blackburn grunted and hit the transmit button.

"Mayday, Mayday! This is Marine Sunray to any friendly unit! We are in heavy contact and require urgent assistance!" Blackburn shouted into the panel. She read the information flashing on it and turned to Smythe. "I think we're being jammed!"

"Of course we are." Said Smythe under her breath. "Keep trying. We might -- " She cut off as a sudden burst of energy erupted from space to her right. Smythe threw the craft hard in the opposite direction and as she fell back Blackburn saw bolts of light fly past just meters away from the cockpit windows. A fast, sleek ship streaked past after them just moments later.

"God damn it!" Shouted Smythe. "Try and keep eyes on them! I need to know where they are!" Blackburn searched in vain, but the enemy fighter had disappeared into the void. She shook her head at Smythe.

"Can we fire back?" Blackburn asked.

"We don't have any armament. Nothing effective anyway." Smythe said. "We need to get back to the ship or alert the CAP!"

At that moment Roberts stuck his head between them. Blackburn glanced angrily at him. "How's the Sergeant?" Asked Smythe.

"I think he's dead." Roberts replied, shakily. Blackburn felt a groundswell of anger building up. She had held the conviction since joining the Redemption that the entire mission would end in a bloodbath, and this was clearly the beginning.

"Well get back there and find a way to cut through the interference. That's what you do, isn't it? Electronic Warfare?" Blackburn said to him. He thought about replying, changed his mind and disappeared aft. Blackburn glanced at Smythe - the pilot kept flying, but her face was a frown set in stone.

After a few silent moments Smythe spoke. "They'll be coming around to finish us as soon as they can line up an attack run. Our shields are virtually gone. I'm going to head to that planetoid at red seven-zero mark two" Blackburn leaned over and saw a small, gray sphere in space. "Maybe loose them in the upper atmosphere. What does the database have on it?"

"Blackburn operated the small panel that still worked. "It's one of the moons of Hadronus II. Towards the better end of Class L atmosphere. Average gravity. Just plant life. We'll be able to breathe but the oxygen is thin."

"Not planning to land." Smythe replied."Just need to shake them."

Blackburn saw the moon grow larger as Smythe tilted her charge towards it, continually turning her head as she searched the space around them. Blackburn reflected in the silence between them. "How long...?" She asked tentatively.

"We were crewed together for three years." Smythe replied as a matter of fact. Blackburn did not reply.

Suddenly and violently, Blackburn was thrown forward hard into the console. Her eyes were blinded by smoke and the noise of screeching metal pierced and computer alarms her ears. She fought through the confusion and refocused her mind. As the smoke cleared she saw Smythe wrestling with the controls. "The port engine is gone!" Screamed Smythe. "I can't hold her on course!"

Blackburn looked out and saw a small fightercraft in front of them. It has slowed down after this latest attack and turned to face them, preparing for the coup de grace. She couldn't see any markings and didn't recognise the configuration.

"Thank you for trying, Rachel." Blackburn said to the pilot. Smythe smiled and nodded in reply. They both looked at their attacker, preparing for the worst. Suddenly, it spun around and accelerated away. Blackburn stared in confusion, until moments later two more craft raced passed them, spitting orange phaser blasts at the enemy.

"It's the CAP!" Yelled Smythe in pure joy.

"I thought we couldn't communicate with them?"

"They must have seen our original broadcast like the enemy did and came to investigate. Can you raise them on short range ship to ship?"

Blackburn shook her head as she operated the panel. "No, we're still jammed." She turned to see that Smythe's smile had turned into a deep frown.

"We have more of a problem. We've fallen into the Moon's gravity well and I can't pull us out of it. I'm going to have to put her down." Blackburn looked out of the window and saw the ongoing dog fight, now moving some distance away. She nodded at Smythe and turned aft, shouting at Roberts to secure for a hard landing.

Smythe was a competent pilot but her broken craft wasn't up to the job. They tore through the atmosphere of the moon, the shields buckling and the hull searing red in reentry. Blackburn pulled and tugged at the belt of her seat as they broke through the cloud cover to reveal a sparse tundra dotted with tall, pine like trees. Blackburn managed to secure her belt and looked at Smythe, who was hammering her console. She had an air of calmness and professionalism. Blackburn found herself impressed by the young pilot.

"We're coming in to fast and we're not generating enough lift. It's going to be a hard landing!" Said Smythe quickly.

"There!" Blackburn pointed out of the window. "Put her in that river!"

"Well, let's hope that's water. Brace yourself!" Smythe shouted, loud enough for Roberts to hear. Blackburn watched as Smythe managed to line them up with the fast approaching river. As it got closer she realised that the river appeared to be very fast moving but it was far too late to do anything about that. "Here we go!" Smythe cried. Blackburn buried her head into her chest and crossed her arms onto the belts.

The Antler slammed into the river hard, throwing Blackburn forward and digging the straps of the seat into her body. Smythe had tried to pull the nose up at the last second but it dug in deep, throwing a massive bow wave over the front of the craft, water crashing over the front windows. The g-force of the sudden deceleration was intense and she fought away the swelling feeling of unconsciousness as the craft settled into the water, floating down by the stern. Blackburn cleared her head and checked that she was injured - just cuts and bruises. She looked to her right at Smythe, who's head was down on her chest. Blackburn unbuckled herself and gently raised Smythe's head inside her helmet - she didn't need a tricorder to tell that Smythe's neck was broken. She found the pilot's dog tags and pulled one free, putting it in her pocket.

"Major!" She heard a panicked cry from the aft cabin. She managed to get herself free and worked her way back, finding Roberts stood knee deep in water.

"We're sinking!" He said, panicking.

"Yes, let's hope this isn't acidic." Blackburn said, pulling some equipment out of a roof locker. She threw a survival pack at Roberts. "We're going to have to swim for it." She fitted her equipment belt and pulled down her compression rifle. Roberts looked pale as she reached over to Clarke and tugged at his dog tags. She looked at him, realising that he was watching him. She stepped towards him and pulled the straps of the survival pack tight on him.

"Where's Rachel?" He asked.

"She's gone. Do exactly as I say and you'll be fine." She said, showing a rare moment of what was almost compassion. He nodded as she fitted her own pack. "Now, get your re-breather."

"I don't have it." He said, apologetically.

She frowned, turned and waded back up to the cockpit. The water was higher on the windows now. She reached into Smythe's top pocket in her flight suit and pulled out a small tube - her emergency re-breather. She forced her way through the water back to the aft compartment and threw it at Roberts. She pushed her rifle onto her back and tightened the strap to make sure it was secure. The water was getting up to their waists now. She drew her side arm and pointed it at the after door of the craft. "Stand back." She said to Roberts.

"What are you doing?" He cried.

"We can't open the door out against the external water pressure. I'm going to shoot out the lock mechanisms so it'll open inwards. The water will rush in. Wait until it's fully in the compartment then get out. Get to the surface and get to any land you can. Are you ready?"

Roberts steadied himself against a bulkhead. "Uh, yeah, will this work?"

"No idea. Put your re-breather in." Blackburn opened out her re-breather and put it in her mouth. She raised her sidearm at the door and fired, pushing the beam downwards across the locks. As she did so the door suddenly gave in under the pressure behind it, and as it slewed open tonnes of water crashed into the compartment. She was thrown back against a bulkhead, feeling the pressure of the water tearing at her. Her sidearm was ripped from her hand and was gone. As the pressure slackened she managed to see Roberts moving in front of her - she went after him and using all of her strength forced her way out into the river as the spacecraft sank behind her. She found herself disorientated - the water burned her eyes and she couldn't see. She felt her equipment tugging at her, dragging her down. The gravity was worse then she thought. She reached down and unclipped her equipment belt, letting it slip down, but it got caught on the strap of her rifle.

She managed to pull out her knife from the belt and cut the strap, letting both rifle and belt sink to the bottom. She kicked her legs, feeling herself moving upwards for what felt like an eternity. Eventually, she erupted into the air. She gasped, fighting for breath, but the oxygen was thin and she was struggling to breathe. It was dusk on the moon and it was getting dark. She turned and saw the aft part of the Antler sinking.

"Roberts!" She spluttered, splashing about. The current was very strong and she could feel herself being dragged downstream. "Roberts!" She shouted again, thrashing against the force of the water to try and see him. She caught a glance of reflective material a few meters to her side - the survival pack. Knife in hand, she swam over to it and found Roberts face down in the water. Using as much strength as she could muster she pulled him onto his back and held onto him, kicking hard. After a few minutes, a bend in the river pushed them towards the shore. She felt the riverbed under her feet and pulled Roberts onto the shingle. She turned to him and saw with horror that one of the straps of the survival pack was tight against his neck. She cut the strap loose with the knife, but he was semi conscious. His eyes fluttered back and as they did so she saw they were filled with fear.

At that moment the fusion generator of the Antler exploded underwater, sending a giant flume into the darkening sky and raining debris down around them. She laid on Roberts to protect him with her body, as the debris set fire to nearby trees. The poor oxygen levels meant the fires burnt badly, but the flames were enough to provide a flickering light.

Roberts had stopped breathing. "No, no no no!" Blackburn said to him. She pulled the pack around and discovered a large tear in it - it was mostly empty and the first aid kit was missing. She pulled his damp tunic open and started pumping his chest. "Come on kid!" She shouted, but nothing happened. She kept going for what felt like a lifetime, before through fatigue her arms finally gave out and she stopped.

She got to her feet, exploding in anger. "You stupid boy!" She screamed at Robert's lifeless body. She stomped about the shingle, now only dimly lit by the nearby fire, seething. She ran her hands through her hair, before sitting on a nearby rock. The tears came now. "You stupid boy" She sobbed, looking at him. Eventually she calmed down and felt very tired. She approached him again and pulled his dog tag off, covering his face with his tunic. She tried to wash her face in the water, but it tasted sulfuric so she stopped. She looked upwards at the star field above her, as the enormity of her situation dawned on her.

She felt very alone.

OFF

## Apologies for the length of this post, I got a bit carried away...

Major Cassandra Blackburn
Detachment Commander
Starship Redemption

 

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