“Not as I see it, Sir. Also, they have two off-world antigravity fighters in the area. So, it’s possible that they could shoot down our missile.”
“Have all of the jump shuttles and C-17s cleared the blast zone?”
“Yes Sir.”
Stone Byrd took a deep breath, silently said a quick prayer to a God he didn’t really believe in, and said, “Fire one TEPNOS missile at the Impegi.”
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Nox felt at home behind the controls of his fighter. Despite having his weapons systems offline, and the Impegi crew escaping with the most valuable cargo, he knew there was still a victory to be found. The battle would be over soon, and he could get a full inventory of the remaining cargo aboard the disgraced interstellar ship. He knew there was no way that those little jump shuttles could carry away but so many resources.
Manpugna announced that he had just shot down one of the shuttles.
Even more precious cargo. No doubt, whatever is in that shuttle would be priceless. Why else would they have risked so much to recover it?
Nox piloted his craft toward the debris field that was once an escaping shuttle.
I will kill the survivors, if there are any, and then personally take inventory of the cargo. I wonder if Dale Matthews was on that shuttle. Stop thinking about him, it can’t be him. He would be an old man now.
Visions of off-world technologies, equipment and gadgets that would soon be at his fingertips danced in his mind.
This could be a game changer. This cargo could shift the balance of power for centuries to come.
Nox’s fantasies of finding a rare and precious cargo evaporated, when a familiar voice came through his COMM, “General, you have an incoming missile. We assume nuclear. Thirty seconds to impact.”
“Target?” Nox asked, as sense of overwhelming dread washed over him.
“Crash Site Four,” Popov reported.
Nox quickly turned the fighter toward the wreckage, while glancing at his display. Manpugna was out of position, too far away. Nox scanned the sky and his display panel. He spotted the missile arching down toward his prize. Instinctively, Nox lined up his weapons system and fired. Nothing happened.
Damn. I forgot my weapons are offline. The only way to stop that missile from destroying everything is to knock it out of the sky with my fighter.
Intuitively, Nox turned the fighter toward the incoming missile and pushed the antimatter reactor to maximum thrust. Nox had no doubt his fighter could outrun even the quickest American missile. What he didn’t know, was what would happen upon impact. Seconds later, when Nox was absolutely certain that his AG fighter was on an irreversible intercept course with the missile; certain that his craft would slam into the missile that threatened his prize, he pulled the lever that would eject him from the cockpit, and into the dreary gray sky.
A second later, Nox was jetted into the atmosphere, and his parachute engaged, a human invention, he was glad that he had added to his craft decades ago. Large Gray’s don’t experience fear and anxiety quite like humans, but those would be the emotions closest to what Nox was feeling as his favorite fighter collided with the incoming missile.
What if the nuclear warhead detonates? Will my armor fail? Will it destroy the cargo ship? The answer is most certainly yes on both accounts.
The flash and explosion were deafening. Nox hurdled toward the ground, his parachute tangled and on fire. He tried to engage his personal energy shield. Failed. Failed. Failed. For a second, it crossed Nox’s mind that the nuclear warhead did not detonate, but only for a second, as the frozen tundra raced up to meet him.
CHAPTER FIFTY
Snap opened his eyes. His head was pounding, and there was a spider web of cracks spreading across his vizor, impeding his vision. The shuttle was half buried in ice and snow, the fuselage ripped to pieces, leaving him exposed to the wind. Snap looked over at Furier; she lay still, slumped over the ship’s controls. Snap release his harness and reached over to gently push her with his left hand. It was obvious that they would have been killed, if not for their advanced body armor.
Furier’s arm twitched. She was alive. But for how long? Snap shifted closer to her and began to free her from the harness and tangled metal. Furier jerked awake and instinctively grabbed Snap by his shoulder.
“Whoa. Easy there. We are alive. For now,” Snap said encouragingly, trying to calm her down.
“The crew. Did the crew make it?” Furier asked frantically.
Snap had not even thought of the other passengers that were in the back of the shuttle. Snap and Furier turned around to see that all the passengers were a mangled mess of blood and gore, smashed between the heavy cargo containers.
“Shit,” Snap said. “Good thing we had on this armor, otherwise, that could have been us.”
“Maybe, but also, maybe, they would have survived if we had not overloaded the ship with cargo,” Furier said in an accusing tone.
“I’m sorry for the loss of your crew,” Snap mumbled, as he finished freeing himself from the cockpit.
Snap climbed out of the shuttle and helped Furier to the ground.
“I’m surprised that fighter did not finish us off from the sky, or land to capture us. They just left,” Furier said, as she surveyed the sky for enemy craft.
“Who knows why they left. But we need to get away from here before they return to finish the job,” Snap said, scanning the horizon for any signs of enemy movements. “I’m going to see if Command can hear me.”
“Won’t that give away our position?” Furier asked.
“Pretty sure they know our position; they just shot us down. Besides, we have to let Command know we are alive.”
“Slade to Command. Can you hear me?” Snap asked into his broken helmet.
“This is General Byrd. What is your situation?” The voice cackled over the broken COMM system.
“My shuttle craft was shot down by a Russian AG fighter. There is one other survivor besides me, a Vitahician officer. We need an extraction plan. There are two Russian AG fighters in the area, I’m sure they will return soon.”
General Byrd responded, “Major Slade, there is only one AG fighter remaining, the other was destroyed. The remaining Russian fighter has diverted, it is unlikely he will return to your position anytime soon.”
“Roger that, General. Do we have an extraction plan?”
“We can have an AG fighter to your position in a few hours. Until then, you need to hunker down.”
“We can’t stay here. This place will be crawling with Russians in a few hours,” Snap said.
“It’s hard to tell from our position, but it looks like there is an abandoned Cold War research outpost about 10 miles from your position. I’m sending GPS coordinates to you now. Consider that the extraction point.”
“Roger that.”
“Command out.”
Furier had heard most of the conversation, but Snap filled her in on the parts she had missed. They took the emergency supply pack from the decimated shuttle and began walking east. The 10-mile hike would have been nearly impossible but for the exoskeleton armor they were wearing. Despite being damaged, the advanced armor still protected them from the weather and assisted with traversing rough terrain. In a short time, they arrived at the designated location.