During the mayhem, Trident’s second volley of torpedoes struck the belligerent’s forward section. For some reason they hadn’t fired the exotic defense weapon or used conventional point defense.
“Reading heavy outer-hull damage to target. Continued power fall off. They—they’re turning about, Commander, and accelerating away!
A subdued but triumphant cheer went up around the bridge.
“And us?” Aaron asked.
The XO looked sullen. “We’re adrift, engines are offline. We’re holding on auxiliary power and emergency backups.” He gulped. “Aaron . . . a quarter of the rear section is shredded and open to space, we’ve near been chopped into two pieces. The damage back there is catastrophic, there’s no power flow, reactor containment won’t hold.”
Aaron blinked. This was it . . . he knew it. That order no ship’s captain ever wanted to give. An order he never imagined he’d ever have to give.
“Abandon ship,” he wheezed.
No one moved. Apparently, no one seemed to think they’d ever have to abandon ship either! He took a deep breath. “Abandon ship! Everyone to the escape pods now!” This time his stubborn men and women reacted. “Vee, tell me you launched the beacons?”
“Aye, Aaron, I did,” Alvarez replied, as he hooked Aaron’s arm and called across the bridge. “I’ve got the Commander,” he said. “Get to your pods!”
Aaron strained around to see Miroslav, Lee and other bridge crew heading for designated pods. The smoke burned his eyes and lungs. An intense heat was filling the bridge.
The XO propped him up and moved one small step at a time as he guided him to one of the escape pods reserved for bridge crew. The remainder of Trident’s crew would get to shuttles. The immediacy of the situation didn’t grant bridge crew the luxury of running through the ship to board any. They had to use the more vulnerable escape pods.
Alvarez almost threw Aaron into the seat. He helped Aaron with the restraints and then he strapped himself in. He slapped the button to seal the pod from the ship and blast it away.
Minutes later Aaron’s head lolled to the side. His last glimpse was of a single final explosion, which scattered Trident—his home—across the void into a million pieces.
Chapter 2 – Patrick Rayne
Passenger Ship—Santiago
Orbiting Atlas Prime
25 years earlier (2450)
The announcement boomed overhead again, somehow sounding more impatient.
“All crew and families should by now be firmly strapped into maneuvering couches. The Santiago has been cleared for maneuvers and will shortly be under way to interstellar space. XO, report to the bridge.”
Patrick Rayne stepped quicker, stopping short of breaking out into a full run. He laughed at himself. He was walking as fast as a man could walk without running. It must be a funny thing to see. Nevertheless, the captain needed him on the bridge, and he couldn’t delay much longer.
He rounded the aft section of the corridor and into the cargo bay where a group of children no younger than eight years, but no older than sixteen stood encircling another two. The two in the center grappled with each other.
Patrick pushed through the encircling mob and spotted the belligerents. He wasn’t surprised. On the ground, an older boy hammered a younger one. He’d arrived just in time to see the younger one flip his opponent with an expert jiujutsu move and poise to take the advantage. But there was no time to allow the younger boy—his son—the satisfaction.
“Aaron!” Patrick stepped into the center.
He glared at his son who froze mid-punch and looked up. The older boy seemed about to take advantage of the sudden lull and reached to strike Aaron. Patrick yanked Aaron off the boy while swatting away the incoming punch.
He turned and yelled at the rest. “Get to your designated spaces now! We’re about to break orbit and you have to be strapped in.”
The young mob seemed disappointed they didn’t witness a full round and they stared wildly at each other.
“Move!”
This time the little delinquents shoved off in so many directions some of them collided with each other and he almost laughed.
He turned to Aaron. “Come—now.”
Patrick exited the cargo bay with Aaron in step beside him breathing hard. A trickle of blood running out the side of the boy’s mouth.
“Dad, are you mad at me?”
Patrick sighed. “Yes, son, but not about the fight. We’re about to accelerate and break orbit. You and the others could be killed when we do a hard acceleration towards the outer system.” The Fleet might have the latest greatest inertia compensators, but civilian liners had no choice to augment their compensators with acceleration couches. They also could not accelerate like warships.
“Well . . . I’m glad you’re not, but he started it,” Aaron said.
Patrick raised both eyebrows. “I see. Did you somehow miss he is twice your size? Tell me what happened.”
“He was making fun and picking on Josh and began shoving him around. I told him to stop, but he wouldn’t, and then he started shoving me.”
They reached their private quarters and he lifted Aaron onto the maneuvering couch and began strapping him in. He leaned in close to bring the straps around and paused.
“I am proud of you, you know that right,” he tussled the little miscreant’s scruffy dark-blond hair. “My only son. You did the right thing, defending someone or something else, even though you could get hurt.”
Patrick rubbed his son’s cheek with the back of his four fingers. A tear welled in his eye.
“You know how much I love you right, son?”
“Yes, daddy! And I love you too!”
“Sometimes, people do the wrong thing for the right reasons. That’s a little complicated for you now, so don’t worry about it. But you’ll understand someday. And remember, you can’t save everyone all the time, not even your friends. There might be some battles you just can’t win—no matter what you’ve given up to win them. When we’re finished accelerating, I want you to familiarize yourself with the concept of honor above loyalty. It’s a good code to live by.”
“Honor above loyalty.” Aaron repeated the phrase, as if to ensure he wouldn’t forget it.
Patrick finished clasping the restraints and turned to head for the bridge.
“I love you, dad.” Aaron reached out and hugged his father tightly before he could move.
“I love you too, son,” he said, returning the hug. He leaned back and clapped the little boy on the shoulder.
He turned and headed for the bridge. As he did so he glimpsed Aaron picking up his favorite book—“A Comprehensive History: Twenty-First Century Earth”.
Space travel had progressed leaps and bounds since the end of the twenty-first century. The primary innovators were the rich corporations and Space Navies. Neither shared their technological advancements with the general population. Navy warships had advanced sub-light and FTL propulsion systems, enhanced inertia compensators and state-of-the-art life support systems. Compared to Santiago, which would take a year to travel to the frontier from Sol, military ships could make the trip within three months. Additionally, Santiago’s passengers and crew had to be in acceleration couches for any hard burns during intra-system travel. The general populace didn’t migrate across the core simply for a change of scenery. The majority couldn’t afford the passage. What was it Anna said to him a year ago when they had discussed raising Aaron while serving aboard an old Border Worlds passenger-liner?