the
threat-warning panel announce the launch of a missile from the shuttle…
Impossible, she thought. Why would he have waited
so long if his ship were armed?
Even more strange was that her targeting computer was
reporting the missile racing away from her ship on the same heading as
the shuttle and her fighter, in close pursuit. Glancing back up at her target
she was just in time to notice the shuttle drop into a deep dive when the
explosion of the missile temporarily blinded her. Trying to blink away the
stars that had appeared in her sight from the explosion she desperately tried
to determine what he had hit. It was only a few seconds later when her sight
finally cleared enough that she realised the horrifying truth and made a
desperate grab for the emergency ejector.
*****
Pulling up from the steep dive and ensuring that the engines
were at full thrust, Jon watched the ensuing spectacle on the aft scanners with
a degree of regret; although he recognised that, in the end, he had no choice…
The missile had hit exactly on target, one of the larger
asteroids in the field and caused the asteroid to disintegrate into thousands
of fist sized chunks spreading out in all directions at hundreds of kilometres
per hour. The effect was similar to a dozen shotgun blasts in multiple
directions. With the Eternal Light and her heavy armour travelling away
from the explosion the effects were minimal, with a few of the smaller, faster
fragments impacting on the hull. For the much smaller, lightly armoured
fighter, still travelling into the explosion the effect was much the same as
being hit by multiple shotgun blasts at point blank range. Catastrophic.
Jon watched quietly as the aft sensor reported the fighter
disintegrating in the hail of rocks before disappearing completely from the
sensors. With a deep sigh, and after determining that the ‘Light was at
a safe enough distance from the destroyed asteroid, Jon brought the ship to a
halt to catch his breath and wait for the field to stabilise before he could
safely leave the belt.
Jon had no desire to cause additional deaths. He had seen
enough killing and death to last a person a lifetime during the war. His issue
had not been with that ship or its pilot but those who had sent them to kill
him. He was sure that the fighter and pilot had been sent by the Syndicate to
kill him so they could take over the last independent company in the system
without a fight. It made him even more determined to put an end to this group
and their killing spree before it cost any more lives.
Finally deciding that the field was stable enough to attempt
to exit, he was preparing to power up the engines when the sensors reported
that it had detected a faint energy signature within the field. Deciding to
check out the signal first, Jon tentatively navigated the ‘Light among
the still unstable asteroids until he came to the source of the signal - the
escape pod of the enemy fighter seemed to have survived the explosion. The
ship’s sensors were designed to detect energy signatures not life signs, so he
had no idea if the pilot was still alive or, if so, how badly injured he might
be. Based on the weak energy signature it was obviously not going to be
detected by any other ships passing this remote portion of the system. Jon was
no murderer and had already regretted the necessary destruction of the other
ship, hence, opening the starboard cargo hold, he gently navigated the Eternal
Light to capture the escape pod before setting a course back to Transcendence ;
he was late for his appointment. The pod could wait until he got back to Terra
Nova where the medics could open the pod in case the pilot required medical
attention. Engaging the main engines, the battered but proud Eternal Light pulled away from the asteroid belt, bow pointing once again towards Transcendence .
Let’s hope that this trip goes better than the one last
time, Jon thought to
threat-warning panel announce the launch of a missile from the shuttle…
Impossible, she thought. Why would he have waited
so long if his ship were armed?
Even more strange was that her targeting computer was
reporting the missile racing away from her ship on the same heading as
the shuttle and her fighter, in close pursuit. Glancing back up at her target
she was just in time to notice the shuttle drop into a deep dive when the
explosion of the missile temporarily blinded her. Trying to blink away the
stars that had appeared in her sight from the explosion she desperately tried
to determine what he had hit. It was only a few seconds later when her sight
finally cleared enough that she realised the horrifying truth and made a
desperate grab for the emergency ejector.
*****
Pulling up from the steep dive and ensuring that the engines
were at full thrust, Jon watched the ensuing spectacle on the aft scanners with
a degree of regret; although he recognised that, in the end, he had no choice…
The missile had hit exactly on target, one of the larger
asteroids in the field and caused the asteroid to disintegrate into thousands
of fist sized chunks spreading out in all directions at hundreds of kilometres
per hour. The effect was similar to a dozen shotgun blasts in multiple
directions. With the Eternal Light and her heavy armour travelling away
from the explosion the effects were minimal, with a few of the smaller, faster
fragments impacting on the hull. For the much smaller, lightly armoured
fighter, still travelling into the explosion the effect was much the same as
being hit by multiple shotgun blasts at point blank range. Catastrophic.
Jon watched quietly as the aft sensor reported the fighter
disintegrating in the hail of rocks before disappearing completely from the
sensors. With a deep sigh, and after determining that the ‘Light was at
a safe enough distance from the destroyed asteroid, Jon brought the ship to a
halt to catch his breath and wait for the field to stabilise before he could
safely leave the belt.
Jon had no desire to cause additional deaths. He had seen
enough killing and death to last a person a lifetime during the war. His issue
had not been with that ship or its pilot but those who had sent them to kill
him. He was sure that the fighter and pilot had been sent by the Syndicate to
kill him so they could take over the last independent company in the system
without a fight. It made him even more determined to put an end to this group
and their killing spree before it cost any more lives.
Finally deciding that the field was stable enough to attempt
to exit, he was preparing to power up the engines when the sensors reported
that it had detected a faint energy signature within the field. Deciding to
check out the signal first, Jon tentatively navigated the ‘Light among
the still unstable asteroids until he came to the source of the signal - the
escape pod of the enemy fighter seemed to have survived the explosion. The
ship’s sensors were designed to detect energy signatures not life signs, so he
had no idea if the pilot was still alive or, if so, how badly injured he might
be. Based on the weak energy signature it was obviously not going to be
detected by any other ships passing this remote portion of the system. Jon was
no murderer and had already regretted the necessary destruction of the other
ship, hence, opening the starboard cargo hold, he gently navigated the Eternal
Light to capture the escape pod before setting a course back to Transcendence ;
he was late for his appointment. The pod could wait until he got back to Terra
Nova where the medics could open the pod in case the pilot required medical
attention. Engaging the main engines, the battered but proud Eternal Light pulled away from the asteroid belt, bow pointing once again towards Transcendence .
Let’s hope that this trip goes better than the one last
time, Jon thought to
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