The 28th Gate: Volume 6

Episode 7-2

“Those are ships from Fleet Two!” Penjani cried. “The ones that left with Captain Kyrshaw and the Defiance!”

Even as she said it, the remains of Fleet Two began taking fire from a couple of retreating Maunhouser destroyers. Within moments three of the leading fighters were destroyed and the raider started taking hit after hit.

“Make sure the Celestial knows!” I told Penjani. “We have to get them support!”

I rolled the Endurance around and gunned the engines. We wouldn’t be able to take out the destroyer’s guns with one pass by ourselves, since I happened to be out of torpedoes, but I hoped we could distract them from the raider. “Hit them with whatever you can!”

“The Celestial is ordering interceptors in,” Penjani relayed. “And Fleet Three is moving to help as well.”

A moment later a portion of space behind the nearest Maunhouser destroyer blurred and then a ship appeared, angular and sleek. It opened fire an instant after it appeared, unleashing a barrage of missiles from a series of pods slung along each tucked wing, and then it vanished once again. It happened so quickly it took me a moment to realize what I’d just seen—Gloria and Alex had finally arrived with the Essta!

Between the Essta’s surprise attack and the entirety of Fleet Three moving in, the Maunhouser fleet quickly abandoned its harassment of the newly arrived ships and fled through the gate. The distance raider was left adrift but intact, and ships from Fleet Three were already moving to assist, so I figured we couldn’t do much there.

“What do you think?” I asked Penjani. “Are we in a condition to search for survivors from those fighters?”

She threw me a serious glance. “After the pounding we took from that cruiser, I wouldn’t let this ship launch if I were overseeing its repairs. But we’re already out, and I’m not willing to leave people adrift.”

I smiled as I turned back to the board.

“Besides,” she added with a smile, “the cargo bay is still open.”

With a bit of careful flying, I managed to collect three pilots before we sealed the hatch and repressurized the cargo area. And while Penjani took the controls, I hurried to check on them.

I was eager to hear how they’d fared, and what news they had about Kyrshaw. But I didn’t expect to find Jha Asani, the wing leader I’d flown with in Fleet Two around Selma III. And I certainly didn’t expect the story he had to tell. After I heard enough of it, though, we wasted no time in getting Asani back to the Celestial for Quatra to hear what had happened.

“The Maunhouser interception fleet was almost on us when Cap called for volunteers,” Asani told the small room of people who had gathered, including Quatra and Katherine. “We were all willing to follow him. For Captain Kyrshaw, the entirety of Fleet Two was ready to hold the line so the other Militia ships could escape. But he insisted most of Fleet Two had to remain and protect the Celestial. That’s why he only took the Defiance and three distance raiders as escort.

“When we met the interception fleet,” Asani continued, “our raiders cut through their fighters quickly, leaving just the pair of interceptor-destroyers and a modified cruiser they were using for fire support. With concentrated attacks, the raiders crippled the first destroyer and then damaged the second while the Defiance engaged the cruiser to protect us. Even so, we were taking casualties, and we lost one of the three raiders before we finished the second destroyer. By that point, I feared the Defiance wasn’t going to last much longer against the cruiser. It was too outgunned. So, the remaining two raiders joined the attack, and for a short time it looked like we might hold our own. But the cruiser was just too well armed. It was tearing through the armor on the raiders, and the Defiance was already badly damaged.

“By the time we lost the second raider, it was clear the Defiance would be next. That was when Cap made a call I’d never expected.” Asani sighed. “He ordered a general evacuation of the Defiance. Every man and woman were to abandon the ship in whatever they could find. But even after the escape pods and other support craft had launched, the Defiance continued firing on the cruiser, distracting its attention away from the fleeing crew. Along with the last raider, I brought the remaining fighters to sweep in and aid as we could, but the captain ordered us to pick up the escape pods instead. His last words to us were that he would hold the line.”

The man paused, tears standing in his eyes. “Then Cap set the Defiance on a collision course with the larger cruiser, aiming to take them both out. The cruiser must have realized what he was trying to do, ’cause they opened up with everything they had. But the Defiance was faster, and Cap was always one perg-hopper of a pilot.” Asani swept one fist across his eyes to brush away the tears. “The Cap drove his destroyer straight in, spinning and twirling like I’ve never seen a ship that size manage. And all the while he continued firing back, the Defiance’s guns unleashing volley after volley.”

He shook his head sadly. “But it wasn’t enough. Without a crew he couldn’t pilot and fire at the same time. As we watched his last stand, I’m sure everyone else left wished we were there with him. But I’d been part of his crew from the beginning. I should have been there with him. Following his last order was one of the hardest I’ve had to carry out. I just kept thinking that maybe if I’d been there to help, if I’d been there to manage the guns while he piloted, it might have made a difference. I don’t know. All I can tell you for sure is that he kept that cruiser busy while we collected the escape pods from the Defiance. And then we ran, just like he ordered. The last we saw of the Defiance, Cap had it rammed halfway through that cruiser’s engine section, and they were both drifting dead in space.”

“Wait,” Katherine said. “You mean the Defiance wasn’t destroyed?”

The other man shrugged. “Can’t know for sure. But there were pieces of the hull still intact, if that’s what you mean. Cap sure did a number on that cruiser.”

“Which means he could still be alive,” I added.

Asani shook his head. “I hope not. I’m not sure I could stand the thought of Cap in the hands of Maunhouser.”

I turned to Quatra, who had remained silent during the tale, but the haunted look in her eyes said everything. There were only a few more questions for Asani from the others, and then Quatra left. But I followed her back to her office.

“We can still save him,” I said as soon as the door closed behind me. There were a few others sleeping in the space, but I didn’t care. And they were sleeping so soundly, they didn’t seem to care either.

Quatra just shook her head as she moved to the far corner of the room, not acknowledging my presence.

“We have to go back for him,” I persisted, following her.

“We can’t,” Quatra replied, turning away, but I could still hear the pain in her voice.

“If Kyrshaw’s alive, we have to go back!”

“Hunter, Nathaniel knew what he was doing when he made his choice. We can’t spare the resources now. There are too many other people to think about to risk their lives for one person, no matter how we might feel about him personally…” She still wouldn’t meet my gaze.

“Quatra, I know how you feel about him,” I said more gently this time, as I moved next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Let me take a ship to get him.”

But she just shook her head. “I wish I could,” she whispered. She finally glanced at me, and her eyes were glistening in the dim light. “I wish I could.”

I nodded and she turned away. She was right. He had made his own decision, and she was willing to honor his sacrifice and make one of her own to protect the refugees and others she’d become responsible for.

But I wasn’t.

I slipped out the door, moving carefully so as not to not wake the others in the room or belie my own feelings. Quatra might have been making the right decision as a leader. It didn’t make sense to risk more ships just for a chance to save one person.

But I didn’t care.

I wasn’t leaving Captain Kyrshaw behind.

I stormed through the corridors, pausing only long enough to collect my bag from Katherine’s quarters. She wasn’t there, though one of her bunkmates said she wasn’t on duty. That was fine. I had no intentions of telling Katherine—I figured she’d just try to talk me out of it.

I rushed to where the Essta had docked via another ARGB mounting point, and I started across the bridge when I met Gloria. She had that look on her face that told me we were about to have a fight.

“I heard Quatra said we can’t spare any ships to go after Kyrshaw.”

“Yeah,” I said, angling to push past her, but she stepped in front of me.

“So, you’re going to go after him yourself.”

It wasn’t a question, so I didn’t answer it.

“Hunter, do you realize how upset Quatra is going to be if you steal the Essta and go against her orders?”

“It’s still my ship,” I snapped. “And yes, I do. But I don’t care. I’m going after Kyrshaw. Now get out of my way.”

A knowing smile spread across the older woman’s lips. “I never said I was standing in your way.” She took a step to the side. “I just wanted to be sure you knew what you were doing. After all,” she added, “I’m coming with you.”

I gave her a smile and lead the way to the bridge. The main door slid open and I stepped through only to find Katherine already seated at the helm.

“What are you doing here?” I managed, already bracing for her attack.

She spun, equally surprised. “You can’t talk me out of this, Hunter,” she started, her voice full of passion. “Nathaniel is my friend, and I’m not willing to abandon him if there’s still a chance he’s alive.”

I was so surprised I couldn’t even find the words to answer. Instead, I turned on Gloria with an accusing glare.

She just shrugged. “Katherine made it here first. And just so you know, I already tried to talk her out of it. But I guess she talked me into it instead.”

Katherine c****d her head to the side. “Wait, you mean you didn’t come to stop me?”

I just shook my head with a wry grin. “No. I figured you’d try to stop me. So, I guess it’s the three of us now—unless Alex is trying to steal the ship too.”

Gloria grinned. “Alex is already working on the engines. Figured we’d want a bit more speed for this little jaunt of ours.”

I answered her broad grin. “Alright, then. I think it’s time to steal a ship.”

“I thought you said it was already your ship,” Gloria countered lightheartedly as she took over the helm from Katherine. “Wouldn’t that make stealing it a little redundant?”

I just shot her a glower as I settled into my chair.

Needless to say, Quatra was not pleased with our departure, a point she made abundantly clear through multiple scathing Q-com messages. I tried to answer the first one, but I think that just made matters worse. So, I ignored the others and hoped I’d be able to make her understand later.

It took us longer than I’d have liked to get back to the Selma II Gate, but it felt good to be running aboard the Essta again with the advantage of its stealth systems to slip through gates without the typical delays.

Once we were back in the Selma system, we started our search for where Kyrshaw had met the interception fleet. And when we found the remains of the battle, it was heartrending. Just as Asani had described, we found the Defiance adrift. And it wasn’t alone. Pieces of the two interceptor-destroyers remained, as did the damaged cruiser.

And Asani hadn’t exaggerated. The Defiance really had rammed it.

The two ships were adrift together, the forward third of the Defiance thrust into the middle rear of the larger cruiser, and chunks of the larger ship were missing, both fore and aft. The rear of the Defiance also showed a series of hull breaches where the guns from the cruiser had continued hitting it. But from what we could tell, both ships were now dead in space. And around both ships floated a cloud of debris—hull plates, armor shards, various pieces of detritus from the interior the of the ships, and the frozen remains of their crews.