"Tachyonic shields forming!” Ardin reported, relief obvious in his voice as the familiar blue energies cushioned the Destiny. The tunnel was just a few seconds away. Another volley struck them from behind. Avienne was grateful the shields and titanium shells protecting the engines seemed to be holding.
The Mirial fleet was composed of old and mismatched vessels, some of them trading vessels outfitted with crude weapons. They might not have been much to look at, but they certainly seemed efficient. The government fleet was losing ships rapidly, their soldiers either drunk or inexperienced at real combat, and few had broken off to pursue the Destiny. Still, they would hardly be alone entering the tunnel.
“At least ten of those government ships are raising their tachyonic shields as well,” Avienne reported. Blue light flickered around them as they rode the high energy tachyon particles. She made a quick inventory of the weapons she could see on the ships. There were basic energy weapons, which could do a lot of damage, but her main worry was the plasma weapons. One hit from those and the whole tunnel would collapse, with them in it. Well-trained Solariers wouldn’t fire that weapon in here. She hoped the Three Fates would intervene if the enemy’s training failed.
“Our sensors are down, so we’ll need sight,” Cailan said from the engineering station. No one had mentioned Travan since the last hails had gone unanswered. “Try to keep your eyes away from the tachyon flow as much as possible, and the second your eyes or stomach do anything odd, report for immediate treatment. If any of you would like to leave the bridge, I will not hold it against you.”
Everyone ignored the last statement. Lang muttered something under his breath about not being paid enough for this.
“It’s beautiful,” the Berganda whispered, staring straight at the tunnel. The blue lights stroked and highlighted her green skin.
“Seizures,” Avienne said, keeping her own eyes to her console.
“Not human,” Josmere replied. Avienne saw that Layela was also staring at the tunnel, the blue in her unblinking eyes lit with the reflection of the tachyons. It was a disturbing dance of colour. Avienne forced herself to look back at her controls.
“We’re already gaining on the Meltor. Must be an older model,” Avienne added. She searched the data banks for specs to determine how best to disable her without knocking her on the walls of the tunnel or taking down her tachyonic shields. The best way to stop her, of course, would be to negotiate, but that was hardly her area of expertise. She’d let Cailan handle that, and keep searching for alternatives, just in case.
“We’ve got company!” Avienne cried. Shots ripped through the back of the Destiny. The tachyon shields held.
“Are they mad?” Lang screamed.
The comm unit flared to life, and a sharp, crisp voice intoned, “This is the civilian freighter Meltor. We are unarmed and carry only civilians. Please cease fire!”
“Mirial ships are engaging them behind us,” Avienne reported, glad for the smaller ships to keep the enemy busy. They had to concentrate on the large vessel before them.
“Contact the Meltor,” Cailan said calmly. Avienne hit a command in her console and frowned when nothing happened. Quickly, her slender hands gliding over the console, she punched in several commands, shaking her head and cursing.
“We are a freighter, with over two hundred souls on board,” the voice intoned again with the slightest edge of panic.
“Avienne?” Cailan asked. Ardin looked back at his sister.
“No good,” she reported. Her fingers moved more frantically, as if repetition could make the commands work. “Our outgoing communications are down.”
Cailan sat back down at the engineering console. Behind them, the war raged on. Destiny acted as a shield — the only thing protecting the unarmed civilian ship. Still, several volleys flew by the larger ship and barely missed the Meltor.
“Please take your confrontation outside the tunnel,” the voice was growing shriller with each new communication.
Avienne wished she could contact them, if only to tell them to shut up and let her concentrate.
“Captain!” Ardin screamed from the controls, and Avienne looked up just in time to see an explosion of blue light. Destiny’s starboard engine started its collapse, sending them into the side of the tunnel. Destiny groaned and buckled right, the port engine still firing full. Blue sparks surrounded them as the tachyon particles went flying, breaking free of their carefully created artificial route.
“Pull her back, Ardin,” Cailan said, madly fighting with the engineering controls. Ardin managed to pull her off the wall for a few moments, but a shot to Destiny’s side sent her flying back. Avienne kept a close eye on the tachyonic shields.
Meltor’s emergency signals continued, the ship’s course affected by flying particles, the freighter obviously fighting to keep control.
“I’ve almost got the secondary manual controls up, Ardin,” Cailan calmly called out. Seconds later, the engine kicked back in and the Destiny regained the safer middle of the tunnel.
“We’ve lost contact with most of the ship,” Avienne said. She wondered how many of her crewmates, her family, were dead or dying in Destiny’s catacombs.
***
Dunkat was growing impatient. It was bad enough that Noro had provided him, Colonel of Solarian Defence, with only 210 ships, but to man them only with new recruits added insult to injury.
“A simple training exercise, isn’t that what this pet project of yours is, Dunkat?”
Arrogant. They were all too arrogant, he thought as the Destiny regained its composure before him, no longer bouncing like a fish out of water on the wall of the tunnel. She was a tough old ship, but he had had enough. If he could not have her, he needed to stop her.
A pity. More analysis of the ship’s technology could have lead to interesting discoveries, but stopping the rebirth of the First Star was more important than anything else.
“Prepare to fire plasma cannons.” Dunkat gave the order, and the young soldier eagerly punched in the command.
There was one advantage to the young recruits: they didn’t know when to question his dangerous moves.
He hoped they at least knew how to aim.
***
“Destiny,” Kipso’s voice boomed over the Meltor’s panicked shrieks. “Destroy the freighter now, while it’s in sight.”
Layela’s eyes met Josmere’s surprised look. “What are they talking about?”
Cailan turned to her for an instant, frowning and looking just as puzzled, when Avienne’s toneless voice ripped through the bridge. “Their lead ship is charging its plasma weapons.”
Layela looked speculatively at Avienne. Avienne shrugged and said, “If they fire in here and hit the wall, the whole tunnel will collapse.”
“Oh.”
“Avienne, do we have enough shields to take the hit?”
The redhead was already shaking her head before the captain finished speaking. “Our tachyonic shields will fail if I draw any more power to tactical.”
Cailan nodded. “Ardin, avoid that blast. We’ll have to take our chances where best they lie. Everyone, strap in!”
“Firing! Twenty-four degrees on our starboard side!”
“Moving!” Ardin pulled at levers and hit buttons. The slow-loading plasma cannon took a few seconds to fire, giving Destiny almost enough time to get out of the way. Almost.
“Compensating!” Avienne screamed, diverting whatever was left of tactical shields to the starboard engines. The shot ricocheted off the energy shield, right into the wall of the tunnel. For a second, nothing happened. The tunnel appeared to have swallowed the blast.
Then, the whole tunnel shuddered around them as freed tachyons smashed into the failing shields. All of them covered their ears in pain as the tachyon wails broke through — all but the Berganda, who could hear much deeper and finer songs.
Even the Meltor’s pleas grew silent. Every soul in the tunnel quickly came to the same realization.
The tunnel was collapsing fast, and precious little time remained to escape a slow and cruel death.