Chapter 10 – The Flight to Reach
Deployment +170 Hours:55 Minutes:00 Seconds (First Lieutenant Banga Mission Clock)/
CMA Argo, Harvest Colony, nearby asteroid field
"Here goes!" Banga shouted as the Prometheus undocked itself from the Argo.
She purged away with diminutive micro-bursts from the chemical thrusters and was off.
"Bringing up telemetry now," said Selonke. "You should be okay. I'm using the Clarions as relays in case she falls out of range."
"Good job, Jeff. Let's see how good the Covenant can turn and burn."
Brad darted the Prometheus towards the northern pole of Harvest—the most likely spot to get the interlopers' attention The telemetry package displayed the fore view of the Prometheus in real time. Peering around the edge of the asteroid belt to the left was an epic-scale fusion reactor...the system's star, shining brilliantly just like this plan. Stray debris from the now-disrupted asteroid field left their niche and skittered here and there. The Prometheus cleared the asteroid belt and was closing fast to what was once Harvest—a beeline straight to it. A cosmic jury of a trillion stars surrounded the entirety, looking down on the whole scene in prudence.
"Prometheus detects two contacts off to port. Range: fifty-thousand kilometers and closing. They're biting," Brahm announced.
"The others?"
"Still no sign. Most likely on the other side of the planet."
"Well let's wake them up," Banga said to himself. He approached the zenith of the fiery sphere, rolled into a twelve gee bank, and put her in the exosphere at twenty-two kilometers per second.
"Three more contacts in pursuit, rounding the hemisphere!"
"Range?"
"Five-thousand kilometers."
"Just one more sucker," Brad told himself.
"New contact, dead ahead! Prometheus detects collision in ten!"
Banga boggled in his seat. "Pryor, arm that NOVA, now!!!"
Banga saw the Covenant craft come into view, dead ahead, slightly cocked to the left at about eleven' o'clock. Its bulbuous prow almost overshadowed the planet hovering just below. "I'm going to try and avoid it. Selonke, get us out of this asteroid field and make ready to jump on my mark. The timing has to be perfect!"
"Aye!"
Banga arranged the Prometheus' aft sensors on screen. Five Covenant ships in back and one in front. He clicked back over to the fore view. The Covenant ship was nearly nose to nose with her. Then, a pinpoint of blinding light winked on at the Covenant ship nose as it ground to a halt. The blue illumination was so bright that even after full attenuation from the optical AGC circuits aboard both the Prometheus and the Argo, Banga's face lit up in a pale-blue radiance as he wathed the screen. Just as quickly as the flash appeared, it struck the port side of the Prometheus as she flew by.
"Pulse lasers!" Holmes shouted. "Left aileron is gone! Coolant leak out the side!"
Banga tried to make sense of the transmission he received in the view screen. The ship was obviously listing out of control from the hit. There was no recovery. He couldn't make out anything from the frantic gyrations of the Prometheus. "Gimme the drones!" Banga ordered Brahm.
The feed from the Prometheus snapped off and was replaced by the video stream from Clarion II. He now had a panoramic view of the whole scene just above Harvest. They all took the bait. All six of them. They were still behind the Prometheus…and more importantly…behind Harvest. The Covenant broadcast one final message to the Prometheus as crimson-red blobs coalesced along their lateral lines, preparing to decimate the CMA lure. The Covenant's message was picked up by the Prometheus and the spy drones, which relayed it to the Argo—to the crew's ears.
Your destruction is the will of the Gods…and we are their instrument.
"Send them to hell!"
A new sun appeared behind Harvest. It grew larger at a frightening pace, spreading forth its corona of pure energy in all directions. It became a Titan. It engulfed the sweltering ghost-planet inside. Shockwave and light ray and gamma particle streaked past the rim, towards space, towards Brad—
now gone—
into the void.