Alpha Capella

Alpha Capella - Fightback

Jetta looked back into his gray eyes, knowing that they'd be risking their lives for a gamble that might or might not pay off.

She turned to Okeke. It wasn't just their own lives at risk here. If the Major Tom was destroyed, Richter Station would be completely isolated.

"I agree with Ari, it's worth the risk. Let's give this a shot, shall we?"

She waited for Okeke's nod of agreement, before asking Myke, "So what do you need to get this happening?"

Two hours later, Major Tom was loaded—very carefully—with eight missiles, each containing a glass cylinder of Myke's "Munchers," and Jetta and Ari were readying for departure.

"Good luck! Get as many of the bastards as you can," said Okeke, and shook each of them by the hand.

"He doesn't think we're going to come back, does he?" Ari commented quietly to Jetta as they sat in the cockpit, attaching their helmets.

"Those fuckers aren't going to know what hit them!" said Jetta forcefully, dodging the question. "Ready?" she grinned suddenly.

Ari grinned back. "Let's go."

The doors slid open above their heads and Jetta eased the Major Tom gently up, and began ascending the long shaft to the surface. They came out into space without mishap and set course toward Alcyon.

"There must be a thousand ships," murmured Ari in awe, as they drew near, taking advantage of the space station debris to shield their approach. The sky was thick with shuttles streaming back and forth between the ships and the planet's surface. It was a daunting sight.

"I'm surprised they haven't seen us yet. Perhaps they haven't bothered to set a proper watch. Over-confident. After all, they haven't experienced any resistance so far!"

"Whatever the reason, we'll try and get as near as we can to the thickest cluster before we start firing. We want to take out as many as we can." If Myke's invention works, of course! Jetta didn't say that aloud.

The Major Tom was so close—perhaps only a thousand kilometres from the nearest ship—when one began to change direction toward them.

Ari held the shuttle on course, unwilling to lose even a fraction of momentum by changing tack. Jetta waited until the invader ship was almost facing in their direction before calling, "Fire one!" The first missile streamed toward the black ship, but there was no time to wait and watch for the outcome. "Fire two!"

Too far away to see what was happening with the naked eye, Ari studied the screen to see if they had made any impact, even as he followed Jetta's instructions. "Fire three!" There was no way to alter the direction of the missiles without altering the direction of the ship. However, the huge number of invader ships would work to their advantage. If the missile missed one, there were plenty of others behind for it to hit.

"Fire four!" Jetta's voice remained calm. "How are we going, Ari? Can you see any changes?"

"Not so far. Wait—I think we hit one. It's flickering on the screen."

"Excellent! Fire five!"

"Jetta? There's a missile heading our way." Ari's voice was even.

"Fire six!"

Ari held his breath as the missile flew toward them, displaying as a red dot on the screen. Closer... closer...

"Fire seven!"

"Ha! Missed us!" cried Ari, turning to grin at Jetta, as the red dot whipped past them.

But Jetta was not grinning back.

"Fuck!" she said. "We had a misfire. Number seven is stuck in the chute."

Ari shut his eyes for a moment to concentrate on the controls, trying to clear the chute as delicately as he could. "No good. It's jammed," he reported. "Shall I fire eight? It's in the other chute."

"Too late," said Jetta in a strange voice. "The glass must have broken. The chute is dissolving as we speak." Red warning lights lit up all over the console unit.

Inside their helmets, Jetta and Ari exchanged a last look. Ejecting was not an option. Who in their right mind would want to float aimlessly in space in a suit until they died? It could be days, weeks, or months before any Earth ships returned, if they ever did—there was no way of telling.

Jetta took a deep breath, then smiled. "Let's do it. Turn up the rebel bass!"

Ari didn't hesitate. He triggered the final missile and exploded the shuttle, sending thousands of small metal-eating fragments into the invading fleet.