The Terminal War: A Space Opera Novel (A Carson Mach Adventure) by A. C. Hadfield Page A

thrusting—”
    “Calm down,” Babcock said in a raised voice. He hadn’t spoken to somebody like that for over two decades, but it worked in silencing the stunned-looking young captain. “We’ll be there in fifteen seconds. Focus on the starboard frigate.”
    The Chester shook again. Smoke curled across the screen.
    “Ten seconds,” Sanchez said and placed his thumb over the fire button. On his console screen, the circular locking target fixed on a lactern frigate and glowed red.  
    “Thirty percent. I can’t believe I let you do this.” Steros gasped and turned to a member of the crew. “Prepare the life ships. Order all nonessential crew to board.”
    The Intrepid’s engines roared to their full strength and Lassea thrust left to sweep them below the frigate.  
    Both frigates were now visible on the main viewscreen. The locking target on Sanchez’s console screen switched to green. He immediately fired.  
    A low boom echoed from the top of the ship. The roof-mounted cannon spat out a bright bolt of condensed energy that streaked across space. A second later it slammed into the hull of the closest frigate.  
    The lactern ship’s reading dulled to a faint glow.  
    Babcock didn’t need to wait to see the results. He’d seen the Intrepid’s cannon in action before and knew it was one of the most powerful in the galaxy. A lactern ship was no match. Only a capital ship could withstand a couple of hits.
    “Nice work,” Steros said. “I’ll hold the other ship in position, and you take it out.”
    “Great idea,” Babcock replied. The easiest way to deal with the likes of Steros was feeding him ideas and letting him think he made the decisions. It seemed the young captain’s ego couldn’t manage any other way.  
    Lassea rolled her eyes from the holocontrols. She thrust to the right and headed below the second Axis ship. Sanchez grunted and locked on to the remaining active frigate.  
    “Shields at twenty percent,” Steros said. “Hurry the hell up.”
    An electronic alarm flashed from the scanning screen. The frigate had locked its lasers on the Intrepid . At this range, they would be useless against the deflector shield. Tulula already knew as much and didn’t even attempt to return fire in the opposite direction.  
    Two red lines speared across the darkness and failed to register a percentage point of damage on the shield. Babcock thought they’d have turned and fled after seeing what happened to their other ship, but then again, the frigate could have had the Axis equivalent of Steros at the helm.  
    Sanchez fired again.  
    Babcock gazed up at the main screen and watched the bolt zip through space and successfully strike.  
    All lights on the frigate blinked off. Babcock took a deep breath, turned to the comms screen, and wondered if the young captain had any idea how close his destroyer had come to being violently transformed into space junk.  
    Steros peered back. A genuine smile had replaced his previous look of terror. “Both enemies are barely registering a signal. Great teamwork, Babcock.”
    “Thanks. Next time, don’t go running off on us like that.”
    “I’ll bow to your experience. What’s the plan?”
    “Pick up any survivors from the orbital’s escape pods. The Fleet needs to know what they’re facing and where they might be heading.”
    “Excellent. You lead the way.”
    Babcock returned a smile but had deep internal concerns. If the Intrepid had been any further away, he would’ve been reporting a lost destroyer back to Commander Tralis. Probably the last thing his old friend wanted to hear after Babcock informed him that an Axis grand fleet had deployed if a survivor confirmed his suspicion.  
    Lassea didn’t need to wait for instructions and navigated the ship in a wide arc back toward the remnants of Orbital Hibock.  
    “Squid,” Babcock said into his smart-screen, “prepare a fighter drone to retrieve any manned escape pods.”
    Squid Three beeped