The ion storm swirled into the dark opening. It began disappearing, although that took longer than it had to come into existence.
We’re in a race, Kris thought. If this will even work.
“Give our declaration a final surge,” Kris said.
Artemis struggled to tap the board, but she made it. The engines whined, and the deck plates trembled.
Kris’s eyesight dimmed due to the Gs. Then, it happened. The small frigate was seconds away from coming to a full stop in space.
“Get ready,” Kris shouted. “Now, do it now. Cut the engine, and then cut all power everywhere. Go to silent running.”
Artemis tapped the board, and the horrible whine cut out. She continued to tap and the lights dimmed. All over the small frigate, heating, air-cycling and other systems shut down. The fusion engine went offline. Osprey would use battery power for a time, and only enough to keep them alive.
The frigate was a tiny mote in space, hotter than any nearby matter. It would no longer have the readings of a normal running spaceship, though, or a space station, and certainly not that of a planet.
Five minutes after the frigate ceased movement and shut down, the doomsday machine had a sharp energy spike. Kris knew that could only mean one thing. She kept passive sensors on. She wanted to record everything she could for future reference.
The comm light blinked then. Kris glanced at the screen. The Star Watch station was hailing the frigate. The line personnel must have changed their minds over there. Surely, they recognized the fifty-kilometer vessel for what it was. She had given them the video footage of Al Salam’s death. Was she honor bound to answer the call and tell them what to do?
No. Someone had to survive. That’s what a good Patrol officer did. They watched and recorded to tell others later what had happened.
The comm light continued to blink.
Soon, the doomsday machine’s orifice sparkled with a strange energy.
“No,” Artemis whispered.
On Osprey, they recorded with passive sensors as the terrible beam speared from the doomsday machine. Seconds later, the beam batted aside the Karachi 7 space station’s puny shield. The massive beam burned through the station’s weak hull armor. After that, the beam smashed the metal and crew down to its molecular components. A blob of molten metal and fired flesh existed where the space station had only seconds ago. Another second, and even the blob ceased to exist as the massive beam disintegrated everything down to its base atoms.
Just like that, the space station was gone. The light no longer blinked on Kris’s comm.
Finally, the monstrous beam stopped. Ponderously, the planet-killer sent out harsh sensor rays, no doubt seeking other life in the star system.
Kris held her breath. Would the alien sensors recognize them in the frigate? This was the moment of truth. In her piloting chair, Artemis wept silently, although she kept her eyes glued to her controls.
The giant planet-killer accelerated, heading deeper in-system.
Time passed aboard the Patrol frigate. Finally, the monster passed them.
“How long do we wait?” Artemis asked.
Kris wanted to see what the doomsday machine would do. They waited hours, half a day and then a full twenty-four hours. The big alien machine kept building velocity until it was moving fast. Finally, they saw the terrible planet-killer strike at Karachi 6, beaming the habitable domes on the airless surface.
Afterward, the commander witnessed something new. The fifty-kilometer vessel moved close to the planet as it decelerated harder than it had accelerated. It began feeding off the planetary debris, using a tractor beam to bring radioactive isotopes inside the ship.
“Why’s it doing that?” Artemis asked.
“I have an idea,” Kris said. “The vast expenditure of energy to power the beam must demanded prodigious replenishment. I bet it takes time to rebuild to maximum capacity.”
“Look, it’s moving again. Is it heading for Karachi 3?” That was an Earthlike world.
“It’s time we went to the Laumer-Point,” Kris said. “Once the thing has reached peak energy levels, it might head to Earth next. We can’t waste any more time,” Kris said. “Go.”
Artemis obeyed. The fusion engines came back online, as did normal ship systems. Soon, Osprey accelerated for the Laumer-Point.
In the meantime, the giant doomsday machine gained velocity as it continued in-system for Karachi 3.
“What a horrible thing for those on the planet,” Artemis said. “To know you’re doomed and there’s nothing—”
A red beam speared out of space ahead of them. It caused the cloaked star cruiser that had fired the fusion ray to appear on the main screen. Sight of the beam and enemy ship had caused the pilot to stop talking.
The beam struck Osprey’s weak shield, turning it a dark color.
“I’d forgotten about the star cruiser,” Kris said. “Put all power to the shield. I’ll try to hail them.”
The enemy didn’t reply. Instead, it poured the fusion beam against them until the shield collapsed. Instantly, the beam stabbed against the hull armor. That lasted an even shorter amount of time.
Soon, the beam smashed through bulkheads, tearing into living compartments, killing people, and digging into the ship. Finally, it reached the fusion engine.
“Abandon ship,” Kris shouted into the intercom. It was her last order as the commander of the Patrol frigate. Then she and Artemis sprinted out of the control room, racing to the nearest escape pod.
The corridor shuddered. Air howled and the entire ship shook as it began to tear apart under the brutal beam.
Artemis stumbled, falling onto the shivering deck plates. Kris hauled the pilot to her feet. Together, they staggered. Metal crashed behind them. The howling noises were deafening, making speech impossible. Fires burned and smoke poured into the corridor. Both the commander and the pilot coughed explosively.
At last, Kris staggered to an emergency hatch. She tried it, but it was stuck fast. Balling her hands into fists, she banged at it.
Heat billowed down the corridor due to the enemy beam. Clouds of matter raced at them.
Kris turned the handle and yanked open the hatch. She shoved Artemis down the tube and followed a second later.
Heat followed too, but the emergency procedures saved them for the moment. Kris and Artemis landed on acceleration couches in a tiny escape pod.
Each officer donned a mask. Then, Kris stabbed a switch. Violent acceleration hurled them from the disintegrating Osprey. The escape pod tumbled away into space as the frigate exploded, hurling debris in all directions.
The fusion beam from the star cruiser quit. The pieces from the former Patrol vessel were drifting junk now. No other escape pods made it out of the ship in time.
Kris and Artemis tumbled over and over in the pod. They stared at each other.
“I never thought it would end like this,” Artemis said.
“No,” Kris said.
Then, the tumbling stopped, throwing each of them against the straps holding them in place.
“What happened?” Artemis asked. “That isn’t natural.”
Kris pressed a switch, bringing up a small control board. She tapped it. That turned on a tiny screen.
Artemis stared wide-eyed. “I don’t know if this is good or bad.”
Kris didn’t know either. A tractor beam pulled them toward the star cruiser. The enemy had decided to save their lives. Why would the New Men do that?
The commander shuddered. Was this worse than death?
-29-
After a long and arduous journey there and back again, Starship Victory finally came through the Pluto Laumer-Point. The Adok starship had returned to the Solar System.
Maddox recovered from Jump Lag first. He used the time to study the Solar System. An initial analysis showed him the Earth was still intact. He slumped back against his chair. Until that moment, he hadn’t realized just how much he’d dreaded the doomsday machine beating them home.