Chapter 6 - Encounter in Space
"Corpsman to the bridge!" Commander Latel Pakma called out. He knelt next to his captain and checked his pulse, watching his chest intently. He felt a flush of relief when he realized that the captain was still breathing and that his heartbeat was strong. Pakma gently turned the captain's head and took a quick look at the gash from his fall. It was long and bloody, but to Pakma it didn't look like the injury was life- threatening.
"How is he, sir?" one of the bridge crew asked.
"I think he'll be fine. Can we get someone up here to clean that up?" Pakma gestured at the spilled cup of tea that the captain had slipped in.
"Aye aye, sir," the crew member responded.
The corpsman arrived a moment later. He gave the captain a brief examination and called for a stretcher crew. A few moments later the stretcher crew appeared. "That's a pretty nasty shot to the head, sir," he said as they put the captain on the stretcher. "He definitely has a concussion. I think he'll be out of it for at least a day or two."
"Thank you," Pakma responded. He watched the corpsman and his crew ease the captain off the bridge, then turned to the communications console. "Comm, put me on ship wide, please."
"Ship wide, aye-aye. Ready, sir."
"Attention crew. This is First Officer Pakma. The captain has had an accident and he'll be in sickbay for a couple days. I am taking command and we'll continue our patrol route. Let's all hope for the captain's speedy recovery. Pakma out."
Pakma settled into the command chair and glanced around the bridge. Everything was running smoothly, the bridge crew performing their duties. He hoped that the remainder of the patrol would pass quietly: they'd already lost two days to assisting a merchant vessel and were significantly behind schedule. The captain had been hoping to make up the time by increasing their cruising speed: his injury would not help. "Navigation?"
"Sir?"
"Please verify our course."
"Aye aye, sir." The crewman at the navigation console worked briefly at his keyboard, then announced, "On screen, sir."
A holographic screen appeared to one side of Pakma. He studied it and confirmed that they were well on their assigned route and making good time. The sector they were patrolling was one of the more secure along Jurai's frontiers; it was normally very quiet.
"Mr. Pakma?" the communications officer called.
"Yes?"
"We're being hailed for clearance to pass."
"What vessel is it?" Pakma asked.
"Sir, the Ryu-Oh."
Pakma grunted in surprise. "Is the beacon confirmed?"
"Yes sir, flight beacon query confirms the ship is Ryu-Oh."
"Very well, give permission to pass and log it."
"Aye-aye, sir. Ryu-Oh, Ryu-Oh; this is Battler. You are cleared through this sector along the designated flight path. Over."
"Battler; Ryu-Oh. Acknowledged. Thank you. Out."
"Battler out."
"Give me Ryu-Oh on screen, please," Pakma ordered the sensor station.
"Aye aye," the sailor replied. In a moment, a holographic display appeared; the sleek, majestic form of Ayeka's ship filling it.
Pakma was immediately taken by the beauty of Ryu-Oh's graceful lines; the sweeping buttresses and flowing supports. After a moment, he called up a file image of Ryu-Oh and compared the two. He decided that while there was a strong resemblance and the basic features were the same, the details were different; better somehow. Perhaps more graceful. He knew that Ryu-Oh had been decommissioned for several years - and missing for many years before that. He'd clearly had a complete overhaul, and just as clearly it was performed by a master shipwright.
Pakma gestured and closed the screen, then settled into his command chair. It was very likely that Ryu-Oh was the only vessel they would encounter during his watch.
Fleer peered at the tactical display and smiled in satisfaction. The small monitoring units he had placed along the flight path he had been given had confirmed that Princess Ayeka was exactly on schedule. And, as predicted, she would pass perilously close to an asteroid field. He had his wings of fighters hidden in the field and preparing to close on Ryu-Oh from different directions.
"You know the plan," he said, transmitting to his ships. "Execute."
Aboard Ryu-Oh it was ship's night. While her guardians and Ryu-Oh maintained their course, Ayeka slept soundly in the room Tenchi had designed for her. And though they had been joined by many others, the two framed pictures were still on the shelf.
In the space nearby, four swarms of small ships emerged from hidden locations and arced in toward Ryu-Oh, their drive lights glowing fiercely; deadly fireflies in the velvet black of space. Ryo-Oh's systems detected the fighters before the first shot had been fired, but they couldn't assemble information fast enough. As the first shots began to impact on the hull and the dome of the life pod, alarm klaxons sounded and Ryu-Oh projected his three Light Hawk Wings.
Ayeka was shocked awake by the noise. She hit the deck running before she was really awake and grabbed a robe on her way to the bridge. When she arrived, Azaka and Kamidake were preparing damage assessments and struggling to make sense of the attack patterns. Ayeka could see many small ships making attack runs and splashes of power and showers of sparks erupting from the surface of the life pod. Ayeka cried out in surprise, then composed herself.
"Ryu-Oh," she said calmly. "Shift the Light Hawk Wings topside. I want the life pod protected at all costs." Ryu-Oh complied and the attacks from above were instantly much less effective, the wings shifting and wheeling to catch most of the incoming bolts of power.
"Azaka, Kamidake: fire at will!"
"Yes, ma'am!" her guardians replied. Gun batteries deployed from Ryu- Oh's hull and began firing rapidly, scoring on their attackers here and there. Occasionally they defeated a defensive shield and an attacker and his ship became a rapidly expanding cloud of incandescent gas and tumbling debris.
A few moments into the fight and Ayeka realized she was in trouble. As powerful as he was, Ryu-Oh was never designed to operate on his own. Tree ships were meant to operate as flagships for a battle group. Ideally, they would work with several other tree ships so that they could combine their power to create an enveloping circle of the defensive Light Hawk Wings. But Ayeka and Ryu-Oh were alone, and the battle was not going their way.
"Azaka!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Where is the nearest ship that can help us?"
"Ma'am, according to scans the nearest ship is the Battler, Captain Locano commanding."
"Send them a message requesting assistance," Ayeka commanded.
"Yes ma'am," Azaka responded.
"Battler, Battler; this is Ryu-Oh."
"Ryu-Oh, Battler; go ahead."
"Battler; we are under attack and need immediate assistance. Over."
The sailor manning the communications console turned in his chair to alert Pakma, only to find the commander was already standing at his shoulder. "Ryu-Oh; acknowledged. Stand by," Pakma said.
"Navigation, plot a course to Ryu-Oh. Helm, stand by."
"Aye aye, sir." The sailor at the navigation console worked for a few moments and said, "Course plotted and laid in, sir."
"Helm, kick her in the guts," Pakma said.
"Aye aye, sir. All ahead flank," the helmsman replied.
"Communications, reply to Ryu-Oh and give them our status. Weapons, get ready. Sound battle stations." Pakma strode back to the command chair and threw himself down and chewed pensively on a thumbnail as Battler came alive around him.
Fleer peered at the status display, straining to keep track of the formation of his ships and the battle damage assessment that was being displayed. He'd been studying their status and tactics since the battle began, trying to refine their attack plan, to take advantage of any weakness.
While he had known Ryu-Oh would deploy the Light Hawk Wings, he hadn't anticipated them being used to defend the life pod alone. That had neutralized the most of his attacks on the critical life pod and left him with a clear attack only on the well-defended hull.
Fleer squinted in concentration, quickly considering alternate attack schemes. Cueing a communications relay, he barked, "Section One: continue attacking the life pod. All other sections: attack the hull." He watched the displays in front of him as the ships moved to do his bidding and grunted in satisfaction.
"What's the plan?" asked his first officer.
"If we can keep the Light Hawk Wings on the life pod, we can disable Ryu-Oh's hull," he replied. "Once the life pod is isolated, it will be easy enough to capture Princess Ayeka."
"Capture? We were paid to destroy Ryu-Oh and kill her."
Fleer snorted. "Destroy something as valuable as Ryu-Oh? Don't be ridiculous!"
"Ah," the first officer said. "That's why we're using a tug." Fleer smiled. "And the princess?"
"Princesses, like tree ships, can be sold" Fleer replied. "Assuming," he continued, his smile wider and crueler, "that I don't keep her for myself."
Ayeka saw the change in tactics on her displays and immediately understood. She couldn't shift the Light Hawk Wings away from the life pod because there were still enough attackers there to destroy it. Meanwhile, despite their losses, those assaulting the hull would eventually break through the defenses.
"Message sent," Azaka stated. "Battler says they'll make maximum speed and should arrive in fifteen minutes."
"Thank you," Ayeka replied. "Kamidake: status."
"Princess Ayeka: the Battler is a patrol frigate. Battler and Ryu-Oh together don't have enough power to defeat the attackers. Even with assistance from Battler, Ryu-Oh's hull will be destroyed in twenty minutes. The integrity of the life pod will be violated five minutes after that. We recommend that you prepare to evacuate Ryu-Oh."
"How many crew aboard Battler?"
"Battler carries a crew of fifty-six," Azaka responded.
Ayeka paused for a moment, her gaze locked on the status screens displayed in front of her. "No..." she whispered.
"Ma'am?" Azaka asked.
"No," she said more firmly. "I will not lose Ryu-Oh again; I can not live with that pain. And I will not sacrifice fifty lives for mine. I will perish with you, my Ryu-Oh."
"Princess Ayeka, please reconsider," Kamidake said.
"No. My decision is made. Send a message to Battler that they should stop closing and preserve themselves. Prepare a burst transmission of Ryu- Oh's log and send it when ready."
"Yes, ma'am," Azaka replied.
"Commander!"
Pakma turned toward the communications console. "Yes?"
"Ryu-Oh has signaled and says their situation is hopeless and that we should stand off. They don't want to risk our crew as well."
"Damn it!" Pakma had been studying the status display with the weapons officer and they had reached the same conclusion. He had been hoping that Ryu-Oh might have a trick of two that would give them enough of an edge that they might all live through this; but it didn't seem likely now.
"Tell them to stand by!" Pakma turned back to the displays he had up. "Come on, Weps, there must be something," he said to the officer studying the displays next to him.
"Well, I was looking at the way they've shifted the bulk of their forces beneath Ryu-Oh. It's pretty clever, actually. Even though they're losing ships to the defenses, they're scoring a lot, too; which they're not doing topside."
"And..?"
"I was thinking that we could use that to our advantage. They are clumped together pretty well. A big blast would take most of them out and Ryu-Oh's hull would absorb it, protecting the life pod. It's too bad we don't have any of the big proximity mines. They'd do the trick."
"We don't have any proximity mines at all; big, small or in between. Anyway, those big ones are as big as our entire engineering space."
"You know," the weapons officer said. "If we close with these guys, we're dead meat. Once they're done with Ryu-Oh they'll just wipe us out."
Pakma sighed. "I know. But that's Ryu-Oh, which means it's First Princess Ayeka and who knows who else; Princess Sasami goes with her a lot. If they don't survive this, I sure don't want to survive it."
The weapons officer nodded. "You're right. Either way, we're out of luck."
Pakma was staring hard into the tactical displays. Then, his expression became thoughtful and he started to slowly nod.
"Something?"
"Yeah," he replied. "Maybe..."
"Princess Ayeka," Azaka called. "Battler has responded and says that they're going to continue to close."
Ayeka immediately became angry. "Let me speak to them!"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Battler, this is Princess Ayeka aboard Ryu-Oh. What do you think you are doing?"
"Princess Ayeka, this is Commander Pakma commanding Battler. We're coming to assist you."
"Commander, I insist that you stand off and save yourselves. You may consider that a direct order from a member of the Jurai royal family. Do you understand me?"
"Princess, first of all I would try to help even if all I had was a pocket knife. And before you say anything, yes, I know that I have fifty- five people that I'm responsible for. We all feel the same way. If we didn't, we wouldn't be here."
Ayeka sighed sadly, "Commander, please. No matter what, I am not going to make it through this. Please, please do not let the lives of your crew be on my head."
"Princess, I think I may have a way out of this."
Fleer smiled with satisfaction. His change in tactics was proving to be as successful as he'd hoped. In a few short minutes they'd have disabled the Ryu-Oh's hull. After that, things would get interesting.
"Power up the engines," he ordered.
"What the hell?" he heard his first officer snarl.
"What?"
"There's a ship closing."
"Nothing's scheduled! What is it?" Fleer asked, a chill of fear chasing down his spine.
"Wait... It's a patrol frigate. 'Courser' class, I think."
"You think?"
"I'm not sure of the class, but it's definitely a patrol frigate."
"A patrol frigate can't help them now. Let's continue the attack and deal with him when he gets here."
"Agreed."
"And keep scanning for other ships. I don't like surprises and I don't want any more!"
"I understand, commander. I will wait for your signal. Ryu-Oh standing by."
Pakma looked at the people he'd assembled in the captain's ready room for this quick conference. "Does everyone understand their piece?" They all indicated they did. "Any last questions?" There were none.
"Right. I hate to sound trite, but that's First Princess Ayeka. We've all sworn an oath to defend Jurai and the royal family with our lives. Let's see if we can keep it from coming to that. Navigation?"
"Navigation, sir." came the voice over the intercom.
"How long until we get to Ryu-Oh?"
"Seven minutes, sir."
"Not a lot of time, folks. Let's get going."
He shook each of their hands as they left the ready room, then stepped out onto the bridge and sat in the command chair. He called up a navigation screen and displayed the time until they reached Ryu-Oh.
When the time reached five minutes, seventeen seconds he was called by the chief engineer. "Pakma."
"We're ready down here, Commander."
"Good. On my mark. Five, four, three, two, one, MARK!"
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a display change at the engineering station on the bridge. "Commander: runaway power plant!"
"You got that, engineering?"
"Hell yes! The warning panels look like the Startica Festival!"
"Get your guys out of there and stand by."
"Roger that! Engineering standing by."
Pakma keyed the connection to Ryu-Oh, "Ryu-Oh, Battler."
"Battler, Ryu-Oh," Ayeka responded.
"Ryu-Oh, four minutes thirty seconds at my mark. Three, two, one, MARK!"
"Battler, thank you. We will see you in a few minutes."
"Four minutes and twenty-three seconds by my count, Princess. Battler standing by."
"We're nearly there," Fleer said out loud. "What's going on with that frigate?"
"They're still closing, but they're not slowing. I'm not sure what they're trying to do."
"Are they making a firing pass?"
The first officer considered for a moment. "They could be, but what good would that do them? By the time they get turned around it will be all over here."
Fleer shook his head. "Keep an eye on them..."
"Engineering," came the reply from the intercom.
"Pakma here. Fifteen seconds. You ready?"
"Ready as we'll ever be. Let's do it," the chief engineer replied.
"Roger that. On my mark. Three, two, one, MARK!" There was a jolt. "Well?"
"Looks good from here!"
"Good! Get your people strapped down, it's going to get bumpy."
"Roger. Engineering out."
"Helm, get ready to give us that push on my mark."
"Aye aye, sir."
"Three, two, one, MARK!" Pakma wondered how many times he'd said that today.
The helmsman worked his console and peered at his displays. After a few seconds he turned to Pakma and said, "We have some distance, sir."
"Thank you, helm," Pakma replied. "Ryu-Oh, Battler."
"Battler, Ryu-Oh; go ahead," Pakma was impressed with how calm Ayeka sounded.
"Here we go, Princess. Thirty seconds. Execute on my mark..."
"What the hell!?"
That was the second time in a few minutes Fleer had heard that from his first officer. He liked it even less this time. "WHAT?"
The first officer worked his station furiously, trying to get information. "I'm... Battler has split, or dropped something. And it's hot."
"Damn! All units, this is Fleer! Break off attack and withdraw!"
Even as he waited for responses from his ships, Fleer could hear his first officer, "Contact in ten, nine, eight, seven..."
"Prepare to explode exterior wall unit."
Pakma's voice was counting down, "...two, one, MARK!"
"Now!" Ayeka said.
On command, the hull of Ryu-Oh was detonated and the life pod shot free, accelerated away by the force of the blast. The ships that had been attacking the life pod were destroyed, swept aside by the force of the blast and the Light Hawk Wings.
Ryu-Oh's hull exploded before a large, tight formation of attacking ships. An instant later, Battler shot through the formation and dove into the debris from the hull almost before anyone realized it was there.
Battler emerged from the flames and debris of Ryu-Oh's hull and rapidly closed on the life pod. As Battler neared, she matched Ryu-Oh's course and speed with light touches of her control thrusters and Ryu-Oh moved the Light Hawk Wings behind them both.
Seconds behind Battler was her discarded power plant, ejected after the chief engineer had bypassed every safety in the system. It was a large, heavy object, bursting with raw energy. It reached the center of the mass of ships and detonated and, for a few picoseconds, another sun shone in that region of space.
And the attackers ceased to exist.
The shock wave expanded rapidly in all directions, weakening as it moved. Fleer's ship was a distance away from the blast and safe from destruction, but the there was still enough power to toss them like a piece of flotsam on a storm. Alarm klaxons sounded, emergency power was activated, computer systems crashed and both the ship's gravity and inertia compensators went off line.
Fleer found himself floating at an odd angle, blood emerging in globules from his forehead to float gracefully away on the air currents. He looked around in the dim emergency light and saw his first officer nearby, his head twisted at an impossible angle.
"Damn," he said quietly.
The gravity came slowly on, lowering everyone to the deck. Fleer scrambled to his command chair and called up a tactical display. The display was erratic while the ship's computers and sensors tried to reboot and compensate for damage. Finally a clear view emerged and Fleer saw that his attack fleet was totally destroyed and that Ryu-Oh's life pod and the frigate that had shown up at the last minute were shooting away, the Light Hawk Wings clear evidence that Ryu-Oh lived.
Protected by the Light Hawk Wings, Battler was tossed wildly by the shock wave, but all her systems were working. The ride through the detonation of Ryu-Oh's hull had been rough; their shields had been weakened to the point of failure, but had held. They were on emergency power and had just enough for basic functions and operating the control thrusters. The Light Hawk Wings had saved them from certain destruction.
After the jolt had passed, Pakma unstrapped himself from his command chair. "Everybody all right?" he asked the bridge. Everyone seemed good.
"Ryu-Oh, Battler."
"Battler, Ryu-Oh; are you and your crew all right, commander?"
"We're all right for now, Princess. But it might be a good time to start sending out some sort of distress beacon. In a few hours it's going to start getting a little stuffy over here."
Pakma heard Ayeka laugh lightly. "I have plenty of room on Ryu-Oh, commander. Prepare to abandon your ship and we will wait for rescue together."
Thinking for a moment, Pakma replied, "I appreciate that, ma'am, but I can't leave Battler as long as she still has some function. But, I will move my wounded and anybody I don't absolutely need."
"Very well, commander. Ryu-Oh out."
"Commander Pakma to sickbay," came the call to the bridge several hours later.
Pakma keyed the intercom and replied, "On my way." He gave command of the ship to one of the junior officers and left. A few moments later, he entered the sickbay to be greeted by the ship's surgeon.
"Hi doc, what's up?"
"Hi commander. The skipper wanted to see you before he goes to Ryu- Oh."
"How is he?" Pakma asked.
The surgeon smiled, "Go see for yourself."
Pakma stepped through into the ward. It had been full of wounded after the battle, but they had been moved to Ryu-Oh. The captain was the last one in sickbay. He had a bandage on his head and his eyes were closed. Pakma cleared his throat. "You wanted to see me, sir?"
The captain's eyes opened and for a second they were unfocused. Then they snapped onto Pakma and regained their normal clarity. "Latel. You son of a bitch," he said quietly. "Now you've done it."
"Sir?" Pakma said, confused.
The captain sighed. "I've been hiding you from navy bureau for years. Now, with this stunt, they'll realize you're one of the best line officers in the fleet and I'm going to have to break in a new first officer."
Pakma smiled, "Yes sir."
"Don't smile at me," the captain said, returning his smile.
"How are you, sir?" Pakma asked.
"The doc says I'll be fine, not too many brains leaked out."
"What I said," the surgeon stepped over, "was that there weren't too many brains to leak out. I guess we'll need to check your hearing, too." He winked at Pakma.
"How long, doc?" Pakma asked.
"Just a couple days," the surgeon replied. "After that, he'll be back to chewing paint off bulkheads and terrorizing young sailors."
"Got that, Latel?" the captain asked. "And I want my ship back just the way I gave it to you. Now get out of here and get busy."
"Aye aye, sir," Pakma replied, turning to leave. "Thanks doc."
"Tenchi! Tenchi! Grandfather!"
Tenchi and Katsuhito paused in their practice as Sasami's frantic shouts reached them. She crested the stairs and raced across the temple clearing, out of breath and nearly in tears.
"Sasami!" Tenchi stepped forward and took her by the shoulders. "Are you all right? What's wrong?"
Sasami gasped for a moment, catching her breath. "Tenchi, grandfather, Ayeka's in trouble! We have to go rescue her."
"What?! What is it?" Tenchi cried.
Before Sasami could answer, Ryoko phased into sight with a pop. "Come on Tenchi." She grasped Tenchi and Sasami's hands. "Hold down the fort, old man," she said to Katsuhito. He nodded as the trio disappeared.
They reappeared on Ryo-Ohki's bridge. Washu and Mihoshi were already there. "Ryo-Ohki, let's go!" Ryoko ordered as soon as they were aboard. Ryo- Ohki "miya'd" in agreement and moments later they had escaped Earth's atmosphere and were tearing through space.
"What is it, Washu?" Tenchi asked. "What's happened to Ayeka?"
"Ayeka is all right for now, and so is Ryu-Oh. But, I'm afraid his hull had been completely destroyed. I'm sorry, Tenchi."
"That's not important, Washu, as long as Ayeka is all right."
"She is. Everyone make yourselves comfortable; it'll be a little while."
"Corpsman to the bridge!" Commander Latel Pakma called out. He knelt next to his captain and checked his pulse, watching his chest intently. He felt a flush of relief when he realized that the captain was still breathing and that his heartbeat was strong. Pakma gently turned the captain's head and took a quick look at the gash from his fall. It was long and bloody, but to Pakma it didn't look like the injury was life- threatening.
"How is he, sir?" one of the bridge crew asked.
"I think he'll be fine. Can we get someone up here to clean that up?" Pakma gestured at the spilled cup of tea that the captain had slipped in.
"Aye aye, sir," the crew member responded.
The corpsman arrived a moment later. He gave the captain a brief examination and called for a stretcher crew. A few moments later the stretcher crew appeared. "That's a pretty nasty shot to the head, sir," he said as they put the captain on the stretcher. "He definitely has a concussion. I think he'll be out of it for at least a day or two."
"Thank you," Pakma responded. He watched the corpsman and his crew ease the captain off the bridge, then turned to the communications console. "Comm, put me on ship wide, please."
"Ship wide, aye-aye. Ready, sir."
"Attention crew. This is First Officer Pakma. The captain has had an accident and he'll be in sickbay for a couple days. I am taking command and we'll continue our patrol route. Let's all hope for the captain's speedy recovery. Pakma out."
Pakma settled into the command chair and glanced around the bridge. Everything was running smoothly, the bridge crew performing their duties. He hoped that the remainder of the patrol would pass quietly: they'd already lost two days to assisting a merchant vessel and were significantly behind schedule. The captain had been hoping to make up the time by increasing their cruising speed: his injury would not help. "Navigation?"
"Sir?"
"Please verify our course."
"Aye aye, sir." The crewman at the navigation console worked briefly at his keyboard, then announced, "On screen, sir."
A holographic screen appeared to one side of Pakma. He studied it and confirmed that they were well on their assigned route and making good time. The sector they were patrolling was one of the more secure along Jurai's frontiers; it was normally very quiet.
"Mr. Pakma?" the communications officer called.
"Yes?"
"We're being hailed for clearance to pass."
"What vessel is it?" Pakma asked.
"Sir, the Ryu-Oh."
Pakma grunted in surprise. "Is the beacon confirmed?"
"Yes sir, flight beacon query confirms the ship is Ryu-Oh."
"Very well, give permission to pass and log it."
"Aye-aye, sir. Ryu-Oh, Ryu-Oh; this is Battler. You are cleared through this sector along the designated flight path. Over."
"Battler; Ryu-Oh. Acknowledged. Thank you. Out."
"Battler out."
"Give me Ryu-Oh on screen, please," Pakma ordered the sensor station.
"Aye aye," the sailor replied. In a moment, a holographic display appeared; the sleek, majestic form of Ayeka's ship filling it.
Pakma was immediately taken by the beauty of Ryu-Oh's graceful lines; the sweeping buttresses and flowing supports. After a moment, he called up a file image of Ryu-Oh and compared the two. He decided that while there was a strong resemblance and the basic features were the same, the details were different; better somehow. Perhaps more graceful. He knew that Ryu-Oh had been decommissioned for several years - and missing for many years before that. He'd clearly had a complete overhaul, and just as clearly it was performed by a master shipwright.
Pakma gestured and closed the screen, then settled into his command chair. It was very likely that Ryu-Oh was the only vessel they would encounter during his watch.
Fleer peered at the tactical display and smiled in satisfaction. The small monitoring units he had placed along the flight path he had been given had confirmed that Princess Ayeka was exactly on schedule. And, as predicted, she would pass perilously close to an asteroid field. He had his wings of fighters hidden in the field and preparing to close on Ryu-Oh from different directions.
"You know the plan," he said, transmitting to his ships. "Execute."
Aboard Ryu-Oh it was ship's night. While her guardians and Ryu-Oh maintained their course, Ayeka slept soundly in the room Tenchi had designed for her. And though they had been joined by many others, the two framed pictures were still on the shelf.
In the space nearby, four swarms of small ships emerged from hidden locations and arced in toward Ryu-Oh, their drive lights glowing fiercely; deadly fireflies in the velvet black of space. Ryo-Oh's systems detected the fighters before the first shot had been fired, but they couldn't assemble information fast enough. As the first shots began to impact on the hull and the dome of the life pod, alarm klaxons sounded and Ryu-Oh projected his three Light Hawk Wings.
Ayeka was shocked awake by the noise. She hit the deck running before she was really awake and grabbed a robe on her way to the bridge. When she arrived, Azaka and Kamidake were preparing damage assessments and struggling to make sense of the attack patterns. Ayeka could see many small ships making attack runs and splashes of power and showers of sparks erupting from the surface of the life pod. Ayeka cried out in surprise, then composed herself.
"Ryu-Oh," she said calmly. "Shift the Light Hawk Wings topside. I want the life pod protected at all costs." Ryu-Oh complied and the attacks from above were instantly much less effective, the wings shifting and wheeling to catch most of the incoming bolts of power.
"Azaka, Kamidake: fire at will!"
"Yes, ma'am!" her guardians replied. Gun batteries deployed from Ryu- Oh's hull and began firing rapidly, scoring on their attackers here and there. Occasionally they defeated a defensive shield and an attacker and his ship became a rapidly expanding cloud of incandescent gas and tumbling debris.
A few moments into the fight and Ayeka realized she was in trouble. As powerful as he was, Ryu-Oh was never designed to operate on his own. Tree ships were meant to operate as flagships for a battle group. Ideally, they would work with several other tree ships so that they could combine their power to create an enveloping circle of the defensive Light Hawk Wings. But Ayeka and Ryu-Oh were alone, and the battle was not going their way.
"Azaka!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Where is the nearest ship that can help us?"
"Ma'am, according to scans the nearest ship is the Battler, Captain Locano commanding."
"Send them a message requesting assistance," Ayeka commanded.
"Yes ma'am," Azaka responded.
"Battler, Battler; this is Ryu-Oh."
"Ryu-Oh, Battler; go ahead."
"Battler; we are under attack and need immediate assistance. Over."
The sailor manning the communications console turned in his chair to alert Pakma, only to find the commander was already standing at his shoulder. "Ryu-Oh; acknowledged. Stand by," Pakma said.
"Navigation, plot a course to Ryu-Oh. Helm, stand by."
"Aye aye, sir." The sailor at the navigation console worked for a few moments and said, "Course plotted and laid in, sir."
"Helm, kick her in the guts," Pakma said.
"Aye aye, sir. All ahead flank," the helmsman replied.
"Communications, reply to Ryu-Oh and give them our status. Weapons, get ready. Sound battle stations." Pakma strode back to the command chair and threw himself down and chewed pensively on a thumbnail as Battler came alive around him.
Fleer peered at the status display, straining to keep track of the formation of his ships and the battle damage assessment that was being displayed. He'd been studying their status and tactics since the battle began, trying to refine their attack plan, to take advantage of any weakness.
While he had known Ryu-Oh would deploy the Light Hawk Wings, he hadn't anticipated them being used to defend the life pod alone. That had neutralized the most of his attacks on the critical life pod and left him with a clear attack only on the well-defended hull.
Fleer squinted in concentration, quickly considering alternate attack schemes. Cueing a communications relay, he barked, "Section One: continue attacking the life pod. All other sections: attack the hull." He watched the displays in front of him as the ships moved to do his bidding and grunted in satisfaction.
"What's the plan?" asked his first officer.
"If we can keep the Light Hawk Wings on the life pod, we can disable Ryu-Oh's hull," he replied. "Once the life pod is isolated, it will be easy enough to capture Princess Ayeka."
"Capture? We were paid to destroy Ryu-Oh and kill her."
Fleer snorted. "Destroy something as valuable as Ryu-Oh? Don't be ridiculous!"
"Ah," the first officer said. "That's why we're using a tug." Fleer smiled. "And the princess?"
"Princesses, like tree ships, can be sold" Fleer replied. "Assuming," he continued, his smile wider and crueler, "that I don't keep her for myself."
Ayeka saw the change in tactics on her displays and immediately understood. She couldn't shift the Light Hawk Wings away from the life pod because there were still enough attackers there to destroy it. Meanwhile, despite their losses, those assaulting the hull would eventually break through the defenses.
"Message sent," Azaka stated. "Battler says they'll make maximum speed and should arrive in fifteen minutes."
"Thank you," Ayeka replied. "Kamidake: status."
"Princess Ayeka: the Battler is a patrol frigate. Battler and Ryu-Oh together don't have enough power to defeat the attackers. Even with assistance from Battler, Ryu-Oh's hull will be destroyed in twenty minutes. The integrity of the life pod will be violated five minutes after that. We recommend that you prepare to evacuate Ryu-Oh."
"How many crew aboard Battler?"
"Battler carries a crew of fifty-six," Azaka responded.
Ayeka paused for a moment, her gaze locked on the status screens displayed in front of her. "No..." she whispered.
"Ma'am?" Azaka asked.
"No," she said more firmly. "I will not lose Ryu-Oh again; I can not live with that pain. And I will not sacrifice fifty lives for mine. I will perish with you, my Ryu-Oh."
"Princess Ayeka, please reconsider," Kamidake said.
"No. My decision is made. Send a message to Battler that they should stop closing and preserve themselves. Prepare a burst transmission of Ryu- Oh's log and send it when ready."
"Yes, ma'am," Azaka replied.
"Commander!"
Pakma turned toward the communications console. "Yes?"
"Ryu-Oh has signaled and says their situation is hopeless and that we should stand off. They don't want to risk our crew as well."
"Damn it!" Pakma had been studying the status display with the weapons officer and they had reached the same conclusion. He had been hoping that Ryu-Oh might have a trick of two that would give them enough of an edge that they might all live through this; but it didn't seem likely now.
"Tell them to stand by!" Pakma turned back to the displays he had up. "Come on, Weps, there must be something," he said to the officer studying the displays next to him.
"Well, I was looking at the way they've shifted the bulk of their forces beneath Ryu-Oh. It's pretty clever, actually. Even though they're losing ships to the defenses, they're scoring a lot, too; which they're not doing topside."
"And..?"
"I was thinking that we could use that to our advantage. They are clumped together pretty well. A big blast would take most of them out and Ryu-Oh's hull would absorb it, protecting the life pod. It's too bad we don't have any of the big proximity mines. They'd do the trick."
"We don't have any proximity mines at all; big, small or in between. Anyway, those big ones are as big as our entire engineering space."
"You know," the weapons officer said. "If we close with these guys, we're dead meat. Once they're done with Ryu-Oh they'll just wipe us out."
Pakma sighed. "I know. But that's Ryu-Oh, which means it's First Princess Ayeka and who knows who else; Princess Sasami goes with her a lot. If they don't survive this, I sure don't want to survive it."
The weapons officer nodded. "You're right. Either way, we're out of luck."
Pakma was staring hard into the tactical displays. Then, his expression became thoughtful and he started to slowly nod.
"Something?"
"Yeah," he replied. "Maybe..."
"Princess Ayeka," Azaka called. "Battler has responded and says that they're going to continue to close."
Ayeka immediately became angry. "Let me speak to them!"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Battler, this is Princess Ayeka aboard Ryu-Oh. What do you think you are doing?"
"Princess Ayeka, this is Commander Pakma commanding Battler. We're coming to assist you."
"Commander, I insist that you stand off and save yourselves. You may consider that a direct order from a member of the Jurai royal family. Do you understand me?"
"Princess, first of all I would try to help even if all I had was a pocket knife. And before you say anything, yes, I know that I have fifty- five people that I'm responsible for. We all feel the same way. If we didn't, we wouldn't be here."
Ayeka sighed sadly, "Commander, please. No matter what, I am not going to make it through this. Please, please do not let the lives of your crew be on my head."
"Princess, I think I may have a way out of this."
Fleer smiled with satisfaction. His change in tactics was proving to be as successful as he'd hoped. In a few short minutes they'd have disabled the Ryu-Oh's hull. After that, things would get interesting.
"Power up the engines," he ordered.
"What the hell?" he heard his first officer snarl.
"What?"
"There's a ship closing."
"Nothing's scheduled! What is it?" Fleer asked, a chill of fear chasing down his spine.
"Wait... It's a patrol frigate. 'Courser' class, I think."
"You think?"
"I'm not sure of the class, but it's definitely a patrol frigate."
"A patrol frigate can't help them now. Let's continue the attack and deal with him when he gets here."
"Agreed."
"And keep scanning for other ships. I don't like surprises and I don't want any more!"
"I understand, commander. I will wait for your signal. Ryu-Oh standing by."
Pakma looked at the people he'd assembled in the captain's ready room for this quick conference. "Does everyone understand their piece?" They all indicated they did. "Any last questions?" There were none.
"Right. I hate to sound trite, but that's First Princess Ayeka. We've all sworn an oath to defend Jurai and the royal family with our lives. Let's see if we can keep it from coming to that. Navigation?"
"Navigation, sir." came the voice over the intercom.
"How long until we get to Ryu-Oh?"
"Seven minutes, sir."
"Not a lot of time, folks. Let's get going."
He shook each of their hands as they left the ready room, then stepped out onto the bridge and sat in the command chair. He called up a navigation screen and displayed the time until they reached Ryu-Oh.
When the time reached five minutes, seventeen seconds he was called by the chief engineer. "Pakma."
"We're ready down here, Commander."
"Good. On my mark. Five, four, three, two, one, MARK!"
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a display change at the engineering station on the bridge. "Commander: runaway power plant!"
"You got that, engineering?"
"Hell yes! The warning panels look like the Startica Festival!"
"Get your guys out of there and stand by."
"Roger that! Engineering standing by."
Pakma keyed the connection to Ryu-Oh, "Ryu-Oh, Battler."
"Battler, Ryu-Oh," Ayeka responded.
"Ryu-Oh, four minutes thirty seconds at my mark. Three, two, one, MARK!"
"Battler, thank you. We will see you in a few minutes."
"Four minutes and twenty-three seconds by my count, Princess. Battler standing by."
"We're nearly there," Fleer said out loud. "What's going on with that frigate?"
"They're still closing, but they're not slowing. I'm not sure what they're trying to do."
"Are they making a firing pass?"
The first officer considered for a moment. "They could be, but what good would that do them? By the time they get turned around it will be all over here."
Fleer shook his head. "Keep an eye on them..."
"Engineering," came the reply from the intercom.
"Pakma here. Fifteen seconds. You ready?"
"Ready as we'll ever be. Let's do it," the chief engineer replied.
"Roger that. On my mark. Three, two, one, MARK!" There was a jolt. "Well?"
"Looks good from here!"
"Good! Get your people strapped down, it's going to get bumpy."
"Roger. Engineering out."
"Helm, get ready to give us that push on my mark."
"Aye aye, sir."
"Three, two, one, MARK!" Pakma wondered how many times he'd said that today.
The helmsman worked his console and peered at his displays. After a few seconds he turned to Pakma and said, "We have some distance, sir."
"Thank you, helm," Pakma replied. "Ryu-Oh, Battler."
"Battler, Ryu-Oh; go ahead," Pakma was impressed with how calm Ayeka sounded.
"Here we go, Princess. Thirty seconds. Execute on my mark..."
"What the hell!?"
That was the second time in a few minutes Fleer had heard that from his first officer. He liked it even less this time. "WHAT?"
The first officer worked his station furiously, trying to get information. "I'm... Battler has split, or dropped something. And it's hot."
"Damn! All units, this is Fleer! Break off attack and withdraw!"
Even as he waited for responses from his ships, Fleer could hear his first officer, "Contact in ten, nine, eight, seven..."
"Prepare to explode exterior wall unit."
Pakma's voice was counting down, "...two, one, MARK!"
"Now!" Ayeka said.
On command, the hull of Ryu-Oh was detonated and the life pod shot free, accelerated away by the force of the blast. The ships that had been attacking the life pod were destroyed, swept aside by the force of the blast and the Light Hawk Wings.
Ryu-Oh's hull exploded before a large, tight formation of attacking ships. An instant later, Battler shot through the formation and dove into the debris from the hull almost before anyone realized it was there.
Battler emerged from the flames and debris of Ryu-Oh's hull and rapidly closed on the life pod. As Battler neared, she matched Ryu-Oh's course and speed with light touches of her control thrusters and Ryu-Oh moved the Light Hawk Wings behind them both.
Seconds behind Battler was her discarded power plant, ejected after the chief engineer had bypassed every safety in the system. It was a large, heavy object, bursting with raw energy. It reached the center of the mass of ships and detonated and, for a few picoseconds, another sun shone in that region of space.
And the attackers ceased to exist.
The shock wave expanded rapidly in all directions, weakening as it moved. Fleer's ship was a distance away from the blast and safe from destruction, but the there was still enough power to toss them like a piece of flotsam on a storm. Alarm klaxons sounded, emergency power was activated, computer systems crashed and both the ship's gravity and inertia compensators went off line.
Fleer found himself floating at an odd angle, blood emerging in globules from his forehead to float gracefully away on the air currents. He looked around in the dim emergency light and saw his first officer nearby, his head twisted at an impossible angle.
"Damn," he said quietly.
The gravity came slowly on, lowering everyone to the deck. Fleer scrambled to his command chair and called up a tactical display. The display was erratic while the ship's computers and sensors tried to reboot and compensate for damage. Finally a clear view emerged and Fleer saw that his attack fleet was totally destroyed and that Ryu-Oh's life pod and the frigate that had shown up at the last minute were shooting away, the Light Hawk Wings clear evidence that Ryu-Oh lived.
Protected by the Light Hawk Wings, Battler was tossed wildly by the shock wave, but all her systems were working. The ride through the detonation of Ryu-Oh's hull had been rough; their shields had been weakened to the point of failure, but had held. They were on emergency power and had just enough for basic functions and operating the control thrusters. The Light Hawk Wings had saved them from certain destruction.
After the jolt had passed, Pakma unstrapped himself from his command chair. "Everybody all right?" he asked the bridge. Everyone seemed good.
"Ryu-Oh, Battler."
"Battler, Ryu-Oh; are you and your crew all right, commander?"
"We're all right for now, Princess. But it might be a good time to start sending out some sort of distress beacon. In a few hours it's going to start getting a little stuffy over here."
Pakma heard Ayeka laugh lightly. "I have plenty of room on Ryu-Oh, commander. Prepare to abandon your ship and we will wait for rescue together."
Thinking for a moment, Pakma replied, "I appreciate that, ma'am, but I can't leave Battler as long as she still has some function. But, I will move my wounded and anybody I don't absolutely need."
"Very well, commander. Ryu-Oh out."
"Commander Pakma to sickbay," came the call to the bridge several hours later.
Pakma keyed the intercom and replied, "On my way." He gave command of the ship to one of the junior officers and left. A few moments later, he entered the sickbay to be greeted by the ship's surgeon.
"Hi doc, what's up?"
"Hi commander. The skipper wanted to see you before he goes to Ryu- Oh."
"How is he?" Pakma asked.
The surgeon smiled, "Go see for yourself."
Pakma stepped through into the ward. It had been full of wounded after the battle, but they had been moved to Ryu-Oh. The captain was the last one in sickbay. He had a bandage on his head and his eyes were closed. Pakma cleared his throat. "You wanted to see me, sir?"
The captain's eyes opened and for a second they were unfocused. Then they snapped onto Pakma and regained their normal clarity. "Latel. You son of a bitch," he said quietly. "Now you've done it."
"Sir?" Pakma said, confused.
The captain sighed. "I've been hiding you from navy bureau for years. Now, with this stunt, they'll realize you're one of the best line officers in the fleet and I'm going to have to break in a new first officer."
Pakma smiled, "Yes sir."
"Don't smile at me," the captain said, returning his smile.
"How are you, sir?" Pakma asked.
"The doc says I'll be fine, not too many brains leaked out."
"What I said," the surgeon stepped over, "was that there weren't too many brains to leak out. I guess we'll need to check your hearing, too." He winked at Pakma.
"How long, doc?" Pakma asked.
"Just a couple days," the surgeon replied. "After that, he'll be back to chewing paint off bulkheads and terrorizing young sailors."
"Got that, Latel?" the captain asked. "And I want my ship back just the way I gave it to you. Now get out of here and get busy."
"Aye aye, sir," Pakma replied, turning to leave. "Thanks doc."
"Tenchi! Tenchi! Grandfather!"
Tenchi and Katsuhito paused in their practice as Sasami's frantic shouts reached them. She crested the stairs and raced across the temple clearing, out of breath and nearly in tears.
"Sasami!" Tenchi stepped forward and took her by the shoulders. "Are you all right? What's wrong?"
Sasami gasped for a moment, catching her breath. "Tenchi, grandfather, Ayeka's in trouble! We have to go rescue her."
"What?! What is it?" Tenchi cried.
Before Sasami could answer, Ryoko phased into sight with a pop. "Come on Tenchi." She grasped Tenchi and Sasami's hands. "Hold down the fort, old man," she said to Katsuhito. He nodded as the trio disappeared.
They reappeared on Ryo-Ohki's bridge. Washu and Mihoshi were already there. "Ryo-Ohki, let's go!" Ryoko ordered as soon as they were aboard. Ryo- Ohki "miya'd" in agreement and moments later they had escaped Earth's atmosphere and were tearing through space.
"What is it, Washu?" Tenchi asked. "What's happened to Ayeka?"
"Ayeka is all right for now, and so is Ryu-Oh. But, I'm afraid his hull had been completely destroyed. I'm sorry, Tenchi."
"That's not important, Washu, as long as Ayeka is all right."
"She is. Everyone make yourselves comfortable; it'll be a little while."