Chapter 21: EAM System

“Ship, damage report!” I yelled.

“Sub-light engines and shields are offline. The main power is down to fifty per cent. There’s damage to several other systems,” replied Ship.

“Engage cloak and use thrusters to change course again!”

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

We waited as Ship turned slowly with just thrusters. On the tactical display, a beam of energy fired from the other vessel, barely missing us.

“Captain, we’re not moving fast enough,” said Jem.

“I know. Ship, what happened to our probes??” I said.

“The nearby probes are offline. Whatever drained our shields took them out,” replied Ship.

This had a bad day written all over it.

“Order a distant probe to display a dreadnought hologram. We need to distract our pursuer. Keep moving away,” I said.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

Our movement away from the vessel was glacial. It hadn’t fired again at us. Perhaps the cloaking worked?

I looked at Yuhi. She blinked.

“No life signs aboard that vessel,” she sent to me.

At once, the vessel turned towards the dreadnought probe.

“It’s taking the bait,” said Jem.

“Ship, move us out of the system,” I said.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“On thrusters??” asked Jem. “That’ll take forever.”

The vessel disappeared.

“It’s gone,” said Saria, pointing at the tactical display.

“I think it’s going after the probe. It also can’t detect us while we’re cloaked,” I said.

“That was close,” said Laine.

“Ship, what’s our status?” I asked.

“Main power is down to forty per cent, but stable. Life support is working. Sub-light engines and shields are offline. The aft sensor array is also offline.”

“Ship, can we make repairs while we drift along? Preferably while remaining cloaked,” I asked.

“I can fabricate replacement components, but I will require your help to install them.”

“Captain, looks like you’re going outside,” said Jem.

I grinned.

“Inform me when the components are ready,” I said.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

The vessel reappeared close to the dreadnought probe. It fired on the probe, and the beam went through the hologram. It missed the probe.

“It’s also fooled by our holograms,” said Saria.

“Ship, order the probe to cloak. No need to waste it,” I said.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

The image of the dreadnought probe disappeared. The vessel stopped firing.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t return to search for us,” said Jem.

“Agreed. I suggest as long as we remain cloaked, it won’t,” I said.

“What is that vessel?” asked Jem.

“Its hull seemed black,” said Cathy.

“The vessel used an energy weapon. It took out our shields and drained us down to about forty per cent,” said Laine.

“Worse, it teleported across the system to attack us,” I said.

“Captain, we came here to collect EAM debris from the orbital station. I suspect it came here to check on the orbital station,” said Saria.

“Crap!” said Jem. “And it sees us as the enemy?”

“Yes. It’s equipped with EAM, energy weapons, and the means to blink across the system to attack us,” said Saria.

“And one other thing. I suspect it’s full of killer androids,” I said.

“Double crap!!” said Jem.

“I hate to say this, but we need to leave the system,” I said.

“Agreed. We must get beyond the gravity well to jump to hyperspace,” said Jem.

“Which means we have to repair the sub-light engines,” I said.

“Without alerting that vessel to our location,” said Saria. “We can’t survive another attack.”

I shrugged.

“I need to have a talk with Ship,” I said.

“While you do that, we’ll prepare for incoming killer androids. I have prior experience with them,” said Jem.

“You think they’ll board Ship?” I asked.

“If they can teleport their vessel, it’s possible they can teleport killer androids aboard,” said Jem.

“How can we help?” asked Saria.

Saria, Laine, Cathy and Yuhi looked at us expectantly.

“Cathy and Yuhi go with Captain Brian. Laine and Saria will help me,” said Jem.

I left the main bridge. Cathy and Yuhi followed in my wake.

We arrived at the lounge where I often had discussions with Ship. Cathy and Yuhi sat down on a sofa, waiting for my directions. Thoughts of more killer androids with their own vessel terrified me. I hoped we’d seen the last of them.

“Ship, display a schematic of the work we need to do,” I said.

The wall display showed an external view of our vessel. It highlighted a damaged area near the rear in red.

“Captain, you’ll need to use the cargo airlock. Remove the indicated damaged components and bring them to the airlock. Then you must install their replacements,” said Ship.

“How soon will the replacement components be ready?”

“I’ll have them ready before you’ve removed the damaged ones, Captain.”

“Do you want us to suit up and help you outside?” asked Cathy.

I looked at them both.

“No. It may take longer, but I don’t want to risk another life outside. Besides, I need your help inside.”

“We can move components around on grav sleds,” said Cathy.

“Excellent. Yuhi, while I’m outside, I’ll communicate with you. I can’t use my communicator, because the vessel might detect us,” I said.

Yuhi blinked and nodded. I took that as agreement.

“Let’s get started then,” I said.

We left for the decontamination, where I suited up in a space suit. Then we moved to the cargo level and the nearest cargo bay. The airlock was larger for moving cargo in and out. I wondered how large the damaged components were.

While I walked, I called Ship. “Ship, disable the communicator on my suit. Yuhi will relay anything from me.”

“Confirmed. I’ve loaded the details of the damaged components into your suit. You’ll need a long tether and a toolkit.”

Cathy scurried off and fetched a tether and toolkit, both of which she attached to my suit.

Yuhi and Cathy stood to one side as I opened the inner door and stepped through. Then I closed the door behind me and decompressed the airlock.

The outer door opened, and I gazed at the blackness of space. It was a while since my last space walk, and it was just as awe-inspiring and terrifying as I recalled.

I walked to the edge and reached around to attach my tether. Drifting off into space was a death sentence. Also, the enemy was still out there searching for us!

I attached my tether and eased myself outside. Free of the artificial gravity, I floated. I soon found a handrail to hold on to.

The display in my suit provided directions, so I moved hand over hand along the handrail. I made sure my tether was clear of the airlock, then I called Yuhi.

“Yuhi, I’m clear of the outer door. You can close it now,” I sent to Yuhi.

“Acknowledged, Captain.”

Apart from my own breathing, there was no sound out here. The eeriness threatened to overwhelm me. As we drifted along in the blackness, I only had a suit and a tether to keep me alive.

I focused my eyes on the hull, rather than looking out around me. Zero gravity has no up or down. It’s easy to get queasy, so I focused my attention on the job.

Soon, I reached the damaged area. This whole section of the hull was burnt and buckled. This was the first direct hit Ship had suffered, as far as I recalled. I hoped the handrails were intact.

“Captain, Ship says the vessel teleported nearby. We’re going to roll using thrusters to keep you hidden. Hold on,” came Yuhi’s voice in my head.

I held on tightly to the handrail and hoped the enemy vessel wouldn’t detect us.

Meanwhile, on the main bridge, Jem watched the tactical display.

“Ship, we need to lure the vessel away from us. Can you uncloak a dreadnought probe?” asked Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

Moments later, a probe projected an image of a dreadnought further away in the system. At once, the enemy vessel reappeared close to the probe. It fired on the image of the dreadnought, which barely avoided destruction.

“Hmm, cloak the probe immediately, and direct it to take evasive maneuvers,” said Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

The vessel fired again, but missed.

“Hopefully that will buy us enough time to finish our repairs,” she said.

Saria nodded.

“Commodore, the vessel returned to the last location of a confirmed hit,” said Laine.

“You think it might return?” asked Jem.

“Yes, they’re learning about us. We must use our probes sparingly, or they’ll figure out they’re decoys,” said Saria.

“Understood. But if it returns, we have no choice,” said Jem.

My entire world moved! Inside, you don’t feel such changes, because the inertial dampeners masked it.

Outside, I held on for the ride. The angular rotation was modest, but Ship was huge. My legs swung out from a slight centrifugal force.

I knew I was close enough to the hull to be hidden by the cloaking device, and I wondered if my feet were visible.

“Captain, Ship says the roll is complete. You can continue,” said Yuhi in my mind.

“Thank you. I’m continuing,” I replied.

I moved along toward the damaged area. The display in my suit highlighted the components as I approached them. I moved until I was directly above.

I took a hyper-wrench from my toolkit and started working on a mounting assembly. It was difficult to operate the tool with one hand. I had to use my other hand and my elbow or knees to stabilize myself. I worked as quickly as I could.

We didn’t know when the enemy vessel might discover us. Failure wasn’t an option. I had to succeed, or we’d die in this system.

I’d removed the bolts securing the mounting assembly, but it remained in place. The buckled hull made removing it almost impossible. After minutes of struggle, I took a rest and discovered I was panting. When you aren’t getting the results you want, try something different.