Babylon 5 Red Fury Claudia Christian, Morgan Grant

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.Can you read us?” He shook his head a few seconds later.“Nothing, sir, just the same message on repeat.” Breck tapped his console and the message broadcast around the bridge.Under attack from an unknown vessel.We’re suffering heavy casualties.We are in desperate need of reinforcements! We can’t take this kind of damage for long.They’d been en route to Proxima III, ordered to protect transports delivering vital supplies to the colony, when the distress call had come through.The signal originated from deep within the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, a wasteland of floating space rock, far from jumpgates, space stations or shipping lanes.The big question on Ivanova’s mind was the same one troubling every member of Titans’ crew—what kind of an assailant had the power to overwhelm a White Star?“Have we isolated the location of the signal yet?” Ivanova asked.“The signal is coming from the other side of Pallas, one of the largest asteroids in the belt,” Breck said.“It’s over 600 kilometers in diameter.We’re going to have to navigate around dozens of smaller rocks to reach the White Star’s position.“-10-RED FURY“We don’t have time,” Ivanova said impatiently.“If there’s a fight going on, we need to be in it.Blast the smaller asteroids and drive right through the rubble.The shields can take it.And put out a call for reinforcements to White Stars 12 and 24.Tell them to divert from their journey to Proxima and get here on the double.If this is a trap, let’s make sure we’ve got our bases covered.We don’t want to end up like White Star 27.”“Two minutes to contact, sir,” Berensen said.Ivanova looked at the massive asteroid on the view screen.It was large, like a small moon without many surrounding rocks.She nodded approvingly.This was good, fewer places for an enemy to conceal themselves.“Activate battle stations.I want Star Furies ready to launch the second I give the order,” Ivanova commanded.“White Star 27 is Captain Hurley’s ship and he’s no pushover.Let’s be ready for anything.”Titans’ cannons sparked to life, a half dozen missile bay doors opened, shields hummed as they pushed asteroid rubble out of the ship’s path.Ivanova had the crew run through a rapid system check as they approached, ensuring everything was in perfect order.Every system on a destroyer relied on another.All it took in an armed conflict was for one link in the chain to break, one unexpected malfunction or failure, and the whole ship could be lost.When she first became captain of Titans, Ivanova had sensed the crew’s reluctance to carry out the endless drills she made them run.“We’re warriors,” she’d explained.“The war is over but each day we’re on patrol we don’t know what we’re going to face.A warrior keeps her weapons sharp and at the ready.This ship is our weapon.We’ll keep her in perfect working order and we’ll get better and faster at doing it.Do any of you want to die because of a malfunctioning missile port or a poorly serviced Star Fury?”“No, sir!” they’d replied as one.“Then carry out your drills efficiently and without complaint.Make-11-RED FURYme happy and in return I’ll do my best to keep you alive.”“We’re coming around the asteroid,” Breck said.“The signal is still transmitting.We should see White Star 27 any second.”“Slow to cruising speed two hundred clicks out,” Ivanova ordered.“I want visual confirmation before we go rushing in.”“There she is, sir,” Berensen said.The view screen filled with the sight of the hybrid human-Minbari vessel.She hung in space like a broken-winged bird—fire raging within her battered and charred body.It both angered and disturbed Susan to see it like this.A White Star was a thing of beauty and power, and more than that—the White Star fleet was the symbol of the Alliance’s strength, the big stick that allowed President Sheridan to walk softly.If one could be brought down with impunity it made the job of keeping the peace that much harder.“Try and establish contact again.I want to know what hit them,”Ivanova ordered.“Still no reply, sir,” Breck said after another attempt.“Just the same message.”“Life signs?” she asked her science officer, Lieutenant Catlyn Tsai.“Ten survivors.None of them moving,” Tsai said.And then aninstant later: “Sir! Scans reveal her engines are close to critical.Less than ten minutes before she blows.”Ivanova understood the urgency in her voice.No one wanted to be near a White Star when its gravimetric engine went nova.“Any potential threats on the scanners?” she asked Tsai.“No, sir,” Tsai said.“Attackers could be shielding themselvesbehind the asteroid but I’m bouncing signals off a dozen smaller rocks in the immediate vicinity and not picking up anything.Situation reads ‘all clear’, sir.”“We’ve got nine minutes.Let’s get in there and get the survivors out before she blows.”She tapped the panel on her console and patched a channel-12-RED FURYthrough to Lieutenant Commander Amelia Graydon, the leader ofWolf Squadron, her elite Star Fury unit.“Graydon, you’ve got five minutes to get on board that ship andclear out all ten survivors.Be ready for anything.”“Just another day at the office, sir,” Graydon said.Wolf Squadron was the best of the best, personally trained byher—still, Ivanova couldn’t shake the feeling something was going to go wrong.She wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of there but she had a duty to her allies aboard the White Star.“Split the scanners between the asteroid and a 500 click radiusaround Titans, ” she ordered.“Watch for any localized power surges.If a ship with enough power to generate its own jump point blips into sight, I want a hundred missiles up its butt before it knows what’s hit it.I don’t want any surprises.”And then all hell broke loose.The space before them rippled, a quivering black wave that drove fear into Susan Ivanova’s heart [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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