"Right," Sugi said softly, his hands trembling a little as his fingers hovered over the panel.
Brett thought about saying a few last words to the crew, telling them that he had been proud to serve with them in case his plan didn't work out the way he wanted. Instead he kept his words to himself, figuring that it was bad luck to make such a speech.
"Helm," he said, "initiate breakaway maneuver. Turn to new course 180 mark 90."
Mandall swallowed audibly and then punched in the new course. The maneuvering thrusters fired, turning the ship in space. There was no sign that they had been detected from this.
"On course," Mandall told him when the thrusters were finished doing their work.
"Okay," Brett said. "Sounding acceleration alarm." He pushed the button and let the alarm go through its course. When it was finished he looked at Mandall once again. "Full power to the engines," he told her. "Point two-five G."
"Point two-five," she repeated, sliding the computerized dial all the way to the end.
The fusion engines lit a second later, expelling a stream of plasma out the back of the ship and pushing her away from the drifting torpedo. Everyone on board was pushed forcibly downward in his or her seats as gravity returned and the ship began to pick up momentum.
"Active fire control systems coming on line from the Seattle," Sugi reported.
"All jamming systems active, right now!" Brett ordered. "Don't let them get a lock on us or we're dead!"
"Coming on line," Sugi said, his voice breaking just a bit. Nevertheless, he did his job, instructing the powerful transmitters to send a haze of conflicting radar and infrared data out towards the Seattle.
"Torpedo room," Brett said into the intercom. "How's that torp looking?"
"We're still locked on it," was the report. "All systems on line."
"Copy that. Let's pray to God that thing closes and puts that ship out of action. Keep a close eye on it."
"I'm getting laser fire from the Seattle," Sugi reported, watching as the tell-tale flashes came from the target's weapons. "They're firing at us, all weapons. Unknown how close they're coming."
"You'll know when they get too close," Brett said. "Trust me, there will be no mistaking it."
The minutes passed with agonizing slowness. Mermaid picked up speed second by second, moving further and further away from the torpedo she had launched, although the Seattle continued to close on them. Every ten to fifteen seconds the four main lasers of the Seattle would fire one by one, trying desperately to make a hit on the fleeing Owl but unable to make the beam and the ship intersect because of the confusing jamming. Some of the beams passed within a half a kilometer of the ship. Everyone knew it was only a matter of time before an impact occurred, either because the Seattle had burned through the jamming or because of blind luck.
"Torpedo range?" Brett asked Hamilton via the intercom.
"22,000 kilometers and closing," was the report. "Just over four and a half minutes to detonation."
"Sugi, any signs that they know the weapon is out there?"
"Nothing yet, Brett," he answered. "All of the fire control systems seemed to be focused on us."
More weapons flashed, sending more laser energy shooting through space. Mermaid's distance from the torpedo continued to grow as her momentum picked up. But the Seattle just kept getting closer and closer and the powerful active systems kept getting more intense. And on the bridge of the ship there was nothing to do but wait. Wait and see if the lasers would find them, wait and see if the Seattle would detect the torpedo and destroy it.
Brett turned on the intercom once again. "All laser teams, get ready to engage. If that torpedo doesn't work we're going to have to slug it out with them."
This thought did not do much to encourage anyone. The weapons lasers on the hull of the Mermaid were enough to take out a crippled ship or to maybe knock out an attack craft, but it would be next to impossible to destroy a huge anti-stealth destroyer with them. Nevertheless, the gun crews manned their terminals and began to sight in on the rapidly approaching target. The lasers themselves were charged up and readied for action.
"Ten thousand kilometers and closing," Hamilton reported. "Two minutes to detonation."
"It looks like they're picking up the torp," Sugi said suddenly. "Two of the fire control radars are shifting target."
"Jamming systems just went active on the torpedo," came Hamilton's voice a second later. "They've got it."
"Hopefully that'll detract their attention from us," Brett said. "Hammy, light up the engine on the torpedo. They know its there now, might as well push it a little faster."
"Lighting it up," he responded.
On the view screen they watched as the huge thermal plume of the torpedo's rocket engine made itself known. It began to close the range even faster. All over the Seattle itself, anti-missile lasers began to fire, sending more flashes of energy onto the display.
"Eight thousand kilometers and closing," Hamilton said. "Detonation in 94 seconds."
"Come on, baby," Brett mumbled, his hands clenched nervously. "Just slip in a little closer."
Suddenly there was a violent jolt, making the entire ship shudder. On the master panel alarms began to blare.
"We've been hit!" Mandall yelled. "We have a hull breach in engineering!"
"Shit," Brett said, flipping on the intercom. "Engineering, report immediately!"
There was no answer at first and Brett had to hail two more times. Finally the voice of Mike Bellingraph, sounding frantic and scared, came on. "We've got a hull rupture in engine room number two," he said. "The engine has been hit as well. Performing an emergency shutdown now. The doors are shut and some of my people are trapped in there!"
"I copy," Brett responded. "Get the engine shut down. Hopefully the crew was able to activate their suits. They'll be okay for now."
"Understood," he said.
"Is engine number one still online?"
"So far, but that blast came awfully close to the main propellant tanks. You'd better check them."
"Checking now," Brett said, looking at Mandall. "How we looking there, helm?"
"I'm showing no loss of pressure," she reported.
"Propellant tanks seem fine," Brett told him. "Get that engine shut down and see if we can salvage it. Report back as soon as you know something."
"Right," Bellingraph said. "I'm on it."
Brett took a deep breath, feeling like things were moving just a little too fast for him to keep up. "Sugi," he said, "how are our jammers doing? Are they still active?"
"Still active," he confirmed. "They're still firing at us. That must've been a lucky hit instead of a burn through."
"Good," he said. "Hammy? You still there?"
"Still here," came his voice. "Torp is now 3200 kilometers out. Engine is still burning. Impact in 36 seconds."
The seconds ticked off one by one. On the display, the symbol representing the torpedo and the larger symbol representing the Seattle continued to close. Frantic flashes of light flared every second or so from the Seattle's position as the laser weapons pulsed out more energy, trying desperately to destroy both the onrushing weapon and the ship that had fired it. Just six seconds before the impact time, another one of the anti-ship lasers got through, striking the aft section of the ship a glancing blow. There was no shudder of impact this time, just another blaring of alarms from the panel.
"Another hit," Bellingraph reported. "Starboard exhaust port has been damaged. Unknown how severe just yet."
Brett simply nodded, his eyes still glued to the display. If the torpedo didn't detonate in the next four or five seconds, it wouldn't really matter how bad the damage to the ship was. The two symbols closed to within a half a centimeter and then there was a sudden flash before they could merge.