Chapter 8: Fight and Flight
Act III:
Future Beka lets the Past Maru get ahead of Andromeda before they both exit slipstream. That way, the Maru exits near Septentrional's asteroid belt and the Andromeda exits at the edge of the system. Since the two ships exited slipstream at the same time the Magog base wouldn't be able to sense that there wasn't one slipstream event, but two. This way, Andromeda wasn't detected entering the Sept. System, and can wait in the fringes of the planetless star system while the Maru Crew try to destroy the base.
Meanwhile on the Past Maru, the crew is on edge once again. Rev sends out an open hailing frequency into the asteroid belt and they get a reply. Dr. Mastiff's face appears on the screen, he smiles and thanks the Maru Crew for getting his research equipment to the Sept. System so quickly (in about three days). Beka responds, "yup, we got it right here in our cargo pod, as-well as some other cargo we picked up, I hope you don't mind."
Mastiff kindly responds, "oh no, I'm fine with extra cargo, but I am a little curious about a passenger you picked up in Sydney before you left."
Beka is unfazed, "you mean that android? We dropped her off when we stopped for repairs, she was a bit 'out there' if you know what I mean."
Dr. Mastiff nods and gets back to business. He sends them the coordinates and schematics of their asteroid base and explains to them that they will have to fly the Maru into the asteroid in order to drop off the cargo. Beka wonders if that lowers the risk of being damaged by space junk etc. Mastiff's expression hardens slightly, "yeah, space junk," he then terminates the com. link.
"Ya think he bought it?" asks Harper, calling in from the engine room. Beka's not sure if Dr. Mastiff believed their story about Rommie, Beka's not even sure if he knows about the Magog/Nietzschean attack. Rev is more concerned about having to fly inside the asteroid. The schematics Mastiff gave them show the base as a clump of corridors, labs and other rooms, all using artificial gravity. The docking area is a large, depressurized, zero-gravity area beside the base, the only way to get there is by travelling down a large, winding tunnel through the asteroid.
Rev points out that the docking area is spacious enough for the Maru to turn around in, so they wouldn't have to worry about having to back in or out through the tunnel, but Beka is only mildly comforted. The Maru flies around a large asteroid and is faced with the Magog Base Asteroid. It is much larger than Andromeda and very intimidating.
The base tells them to proceed and Beka slowly moves the Maru into the tunnel. It's pitch black inside so Beka turns on the Maru's running lights. They move the beams around the tunnel, there are no shield generators or internal defense lasers but there are many small, foreboding tunnels leading off from the main tunnel. Beka, Rev and Trance all look worried about the small passageways, but no one says a thing.
Eventually they reach the chamber, it is well lit, with floodlights sticking out of the right wall and an airlock at the end of a large retractable passageway sticking out of the ground. Beka spins the Maru on its axes so the lights are above the ship (instead of to the side), now the Maru's orientation was the same as the corridors etc. of the base. The Maru flies over to what is now the left side of the chamber and connects to the airlock. Large robotic docking clamps reach down from the 'ceiling' and grab the cargo pod. At the same time large clamps on the passageway flip over onto the Maru's hull, locking it in place.
Onboard the Maru, the sensors warn the crew about the clamps, but they already felt them attach to the hull. Dr. Mastiff opens a com. channel to the Maru; he grins darkly at the crew and tells them that there's been a change in plans. Mastiff knows that the Maru Crew has been in contact with people from the future, but he thinks they are onboard the Maru (as well as the past crew), planning to take over the base. Mastiff tells the crew that although the Abyss was planning on using them to eliminate the Andromeda before it escapes the Hephaistos black hole, the Abyss will settle for the Magog Weapon only. Mastiff tells them that he will kill them and take the weapon once the threat of the future people is gone.
"That's what your Nietzschean friends tried," says Beka fiddling with some controls.
"That was in open space where your future friends could save you with the Andromeda, even if they are onboard your little ship, there's no way they're getting you out of our asteroid," gloats Mastiff
True," says Beka, as she disconnects the cargo pod, "we're getting ourselves out of your asteroid."
We clip to the outside of the Maru as its PDLs slice through the passageway clamped onto the ship. The engines fire up and the Maru tears the airlock away as it shoots foreword. Once the Maru is no longer under the cargo pod (which is still being held by the ceiling clamps) it flips end over end and faces the tunnel upside-down. The ship then flies through the floating debris from the destroyed passageway and plunges into the black tunnel.
The Maru's running lights flash on as the ship twists and turns through the tunnel as fast as it could fly. Suddenly Magog Swarm Ships start poring out of the smaller tunnels; most appear behind the Maru, but a few ships come out ahead of it. The Maru's PDLs and missiles blast them away and many more Swarm Ships end up crashing into the walls of the tunnel.
We clip to the mouth of the tunnel as the Maru shoots out, followed by a swarm of Magog ships. The Maru speeds away from the asteroid but the Magog ships match its speed.
On the Andromeda the sensors have detected the Maru and the swarm ships exiting the asteroid, They start flying towards the Maru to try and help it fend of the Magog, but it will take them a while to reach it.
Back on the Maru, Rev tells Beka that they are far enough away from the asteroid to not be affected by any radiation from the Magog laboratory if they destroy the base. Beka immediately pushes the remote activator of the bomb in the cargo pod.
We clip to the interior of the asteroid as Dr. Mastiff looks out a window at the cargo pod. The Old Judge from the Calembour Drift is there too and they are happy about getting the weapon to the Magog. Suddenly there is an explosion in the middle of the cargo pod. "No!" screams Mastiff as the entire pod blows up, filling the entire docking area with a fiery explosion. More explosions are heard as alarms go off. Then Dr. Mastiff and the Judge are consumed by another explosion.
Back on the Maru, Rev announces that the sensors are picking up massive explosions in the interior of the asteroid. "Yes!" says Beka, "looks like you were right, we could save the universe."
"Or, at least this small section of it," says Trance. The Andromeda has almost reached the Maru and is busy blasting the attacking Magog Swarm Ships when the Maru's sensors detect more explosions inside the asteroid.
"What the Hell?" says Beka as huge pieces of the asteroid start flying off into space. On Andromeda, the future people are also reading the explosions, but they recognize the energy signatures being emitted.
"Oh crap!" exclaims Captain Harper as almost the entire surface of the asteroid disintegrates, revealing a Magog Satellite Ship. It is twice the size of Andromeda and it looks like a large, round asteroid surrounded by a thick, uneven ring of metal.
The Maru swerves all over the place as Beka tries to avoid the pieces of the Satellite Ship's asteroid disguise. Also, there are huge amounts of Magog Swarm Ships scattered throughout the area behind the Maru, and its fancy maneuvering is allowing them to catch up. The Maru had almost reached Andromeda when in the cockpit, Rev reports that the sensors are detecting a strange energy buildup in the Satellite Ship.
Andromeda is also sensing the energy; she tells the future people that the Magog are preparing to fire a Point Singularity Bomb. Past Beka hails the Andromeda on the com. (they are close enough for real time communication) asking about the energy buildup. Captain Harper hurriedly explains that PSBs are like the singularities in the centers of black holes. Unlike Nova Bombs which blow up what they hit, PSBs suck what they hit into oblivion. Captain Harper tells the Maru to move away from Andromeda, the larger the target is, the easier it is to hit, and the larger the holes are.
Past Beka is still a bit confused but she breaks off her approach of Andromeda. Suddenly the Satellite Ship fires the PSB, on Andromeda's bridge Beka tries to dodge it, but she isn't fast enough. The Maru Crew watch in horror as the PSB blows right through Andromeda, leaving a giant hole through the center of the ship. On the Andromeda's bridge there are more explosions and everyone is thrown onto the ground.
"Not again," moans Rommie as Captain Harper helps her to her feet. Trance helps Beka up and they hail the Maru, telling them that none of them are hurt (except the Andromeda). Unfortunately Andromeda's shields, weapons, engines and slipstream drive are all off line, it's a sitting duck. Also, the bridge is cut off from the docking bays and Future Beka can't get to her Maru to help the past crew.
On the Maru, Past Beka is very unhappy, she doesn't want to have to fend off a swarm of Magog Ships on her own, she doesn't think she can do it. "Excuse me, aren't you forgetting us?" asks Past Harper from engineering.
"He's right," says Trance, "you're not alone, we're here with you."
"Beka Valentine may not be able to fend off a fleet of Magog, but I think the crew of the Eureka Maru can," says Rev.
"And the Satellite Ship?" asks Past Beka, "we would need a Nova Bomb to destroy that."
"Then it's a good thing we have one," says Future Harper, the Past Crew is amazed at how Andromeda is carrying such a dangerous weapon.
"Actually we have eight bombs on-board," says Rommie, "but our fire control's out, we can't launch any of them."
"Can't ya just eject one?" asks Past Harper.
Past Beka realizes what Harper's planning, the Andromeda will eject tone of the Nova Bombs and the Maru Crew will drag it to the Satellite Ship using the bucky cables. Rommie thinks she can set one of the bombs to not detonate until it hits the Satellite Ship (and not while the Maru's dragging it there), but she warns them that they will need very precise timing in order to get away from the Satellite Ship before it explodes. Future Beka reminds Rommie that the crew has her old lucky charm, Trance Gemini with them, Captain Harper adds the fact that the Maru Crew's captain is the best pilot in the Known Worlds, Beka Valentine. "Plus a genius engineer and the greatest Magog since the Anointed," concludes Gold Trance, (the Anointed was the first Wayist).
Past Beka finally swallows her fear and steers the Maru behind Andromeda, lining it up to where the Nova Bomb will be ejected. Rev prepares the bucky cables and Past Harper preps the engines for the imminent fast flying. Andromeda preps the bomb and starts the countdown to ejection (from 10). We see a shot of a cylindrical container sitting in a narrow passageway on Andromeda (the Nova Bomb). The tiny spherical object in the center of the container is beginning to glow when we clip to the bridge of the Maru as Purple Trance waits for the right moment to move.
When Andromeda reaches 3, Purple Trance yells, "now!" and Beka and Harper fire up the engines. We clip to behind the Maru as its engines flare bright blue and the little ship shoots foreword.
On Andromeda's bridge, the screen embodiment finishes the countdown and says, "ejecting Nova Bomb 4." Outside, the brilliant, glowing white bomb shoots out of Andromeda.
In the Maru's cockpit Purple Trance yells, "now!" again and Rev launches two bucky-cables. We clip to an external view of the bomb, as the Maru rockets closer its bucky-cables shoot foreword and grab it. The Maru flies over the bomb and after it passes the core the cables go taut and the glowing white ball is whisked away from Andromeda by the tiny salvage ship.
On the Maru, Past Beka congratulates Rev on his aiming. Purple Trance tells her to smash the Nova Bomb into the main corridor leading from the Magog-filled asteroid to the ring, located at the front of the Satellite Ship. "Then it's a good thing that the Magog are trigger-happy when using PSBs on big old warships," says Beka.
"Oh? And why is that?" asks Rev.
"They're facing in Andromeda's direction and our target is right in front of us," says Beka.
We look down from above the Maru's starboard side as the ship weaves between asteroids, debris and Magog Swarm Ships, dragging the shining bomb behind them. On Andromeda, the future people are watching the Maru fly closer and closer to the Magog Satellite Ship. "Do ya think they can do it?" Future Beka asks Captain Harper.
"Sure," he replies, "we're the ones in the crippled ship this time, no offence Rommie."
"None taken," she says, smiling at her captain.
We clip back to the cockpit, the Maru is nearing the Magog Satellite Ship and Past Beka is running over the final stages of the plan. Beka tells them that they all have a part to play, Rev has to disconnect the bucky-cables and release the bomb once Beka starts flipping the Maru around. At the same time, Harper has to give the engines every last little bit of energy he can so they can ride the explosion out of the Septentrional System. Finally, Trance has to choreograph the whole thing using her precognitive abilities.
We clip to panorama view (long shot) of the Maru as it reaches the Magog Satellite Ship. It flies above the ring, through a rain of laser shots, eventually turning and diving towards the main corridor leading to the asteroid. We clip to the cockpit as Beka tells Trance to tell her when to pull up. Trance nods absentmindedly as she stares at the ground, a look of intense concentration on her face.
We switch to a view of the Maru from the surface of the corridor and see the ship coming almost straight towards us. We clip back to the cockpit, Trance continues to stare at the ground for a moment. Suddenly her head snaps up and she screams, "Beka!" who pulls back on both steering handles as hard as she can. We clip to the corridor view of the Maru; it is heading towards the spot right ahead of us but breaks and flips around at the last second, its engines barely missing the hull of the Satellite Ship.
Back in the cockpit, Purple Trance yells, "Harper!" in the engine room he pulls down on a huge lever and sparks fly out of the engines. We clip back to the outside sot as the Maru's engines blaze white and the ship accelerates away from the corridor.
"Rev!" shouts Trance in the Maru's cockpit, across from her, Rev pushes the bucky-cable-release button. Outside, as the Maru disappears out of the top of the screen the bucky-cables remain in sight, slowly floating upwards (since they are no longer attached to the Maru). The Nova Bomb (which is glowing the same tone of white as the Maru's engines) shoots into sight from behind the salvage ship. The bomb smashes into the corridor and they blow up in an explosion of white energy.
We switch to a view of the Maru as it arches away from the surface of the asteroid. The white explosion is still growing below the Maru (as far as the crew are concerned the explosion is above them the Maru is upside-down in relation to the Satellite Ship) and is being joined by fiery orange and yellow explosions from the rest of the ring and asteroid. Suddenly the series of explosions causes the entire Satellite Ship to detonate in a brilliant flash.
The three-dimensional wave of energy propels the Eureka Maru ahead of it. The little ship is using the cushion of hot plasma being ejected by the engines to surf along the explosion, flying just ahead of total annihilation. Onboard the Maru, Beka is grinning with the exhilaration of what her miraculous little ship is doing. Rev and Trance are staring wondrously out the window as the Maru shoots by debris, asteroids and Magog Swarm Ships, all of which are being engulfed by the wave of energy meters behind the Maru's engines.
Harper calls in from the engine room, "this makes surfing on 20 foot waves of water look like nothing!" he exclaims (Harper loves surfing). Beka smiles and steers the Maru along the wave of energy so they are lined up with Andromeda.
"All right guys," she says, "it's time for our final stunt of the day."
Onboard Andromeda the future people are staring at the Maru as it careens towards them, just ahead of the orange, yellow and white shock wave. "I told you they'd do it!" says Captain Harper, grinning at the others. Future Beka hails her past self, Past Beka appears on the right screen, beaming at the fact that she's surfing on energy. Past Beka tells the future people that the Maru's going to grab them with its bucky-cables and pull them into slipstream before the explosion engulfs them.
The future people warn them of the dangers but they know there's no way to convince Past Beka to leave them to die. Future Beka eventually stops arguing and smiles, "ah whatever, you guys can do it."
"Yeah," says Captain Harper, "and you were worried about dying."
"Easy for you to say," jokes Past Harper over the Maru's intercom., Past Beka chuckles and angles the Maru for the final approach.
"We just wanted to tell you how great you guys have been before we return to our time," says Gold Trance.
Past Beka looks mildly confused so Rommie speaks up, "good luck." She then terminates the com. link before Past Beka can ask them what Gold Trance meant by 'before we return to our time'.
Back on the Maru, Past Beka shrugs and tells Rev to prepare the bucky-cables, Past Harper stands by to divert power from the engines to the slipstream drive. Purple Trance gets ready to give the others the signal. "Ready… and… now!" she yells. Across from her, Rev fires the bucky-cables, in the engine room, Harper flips the switch diverting the power and in the pilot's chair, Beka opens the slip portal.
We cut to the exterior of the Maru as multiple bucky-cables shoot out and latch onto Andromeda's hull. Beside Andromeda the Maru's slip portal opens and the Maru flies into it, with Andromeda close behind. The portal closes just before the energy wave rips through the spot where Andromeda had been seconds ago.