Chapter 11: The Shira Maneuver

“We have good news, bad news, and more bad news,” Amelia reported through the comms. “We have checked out the prototype magnets. During the attack, one of the magnets got hit by shrapnel from the Itrean railgun. I don’t know if it will work or not. The good news is that the other two seem to be fine.”

“What is the status of communications?” Shiras asked.

“They are getting closer to patching up communications. You will have the short-range wave band, but that will be the best we can do.”

“It will suffice. Have you managed to position one of the magnets in the rear pressurization hatch?” Shira calmly asked her.

“Unfortunately, we can’t. They are too big to move them through the side entry hatchways for the cargo bay.”

“That is incorrect,” she told them. “You can move them into the rear entry hatch.”

“How?”

“You have plasma torches, do you not?”

“Yes, we do,” Amelia almost hesitantly responded.

“Then cut a large hole from the cargo bay directly into the rear passageway if you have to. It should prove sufficient.”

“There is a room that would be between the passageway ... but we can cut into both rooms. Captain, we can do this, but you will have to keep the trip stable for us. If we continue accelerating too fast, we can’t properly move these magnets or finish the repairs to communications. Doing this also bypasses any internal bulkheads that seal the atmosphere in case of a breach.”

“I know. You have approximately six minutes before we reach the asteroid belt. The scout ship will reach us in eight minutes. Time is of the essence.”

“Right! You heard her,” Amelia was yelling at her team. Get those plasma torches and start cutting now!”

Everyone was continuing to feel the g-forces being pressed to their bodies. He was practically leaning forward from where he stood to avoid being shoved backward. Shira had her hand at the top of the seat to even provide some stability in how she stood.

On the viewscreen, the planetoid of Picaro was in clear view. Unlike the rear side, which was utterly fractured, the front side was primarily intact and semi-spherical in shape. The Jian Seng was beginning to do a short-range orbit around this world. The two rear engines continued to glow a bright blue in maintaining the constant acceleration. It was not a race of who was the fastest but who could accelerate the quickest. Javier could feel the frustration in maintaining his standing, but the fact that Shira hadn’t sat down yet, compelled him to remain as he was.

“Is there no way we can slow down?” Javier asked.

“If we slow down, it will decrease the time the scout ship has to reach within firing range,” Shira stated. “We must allow the engineers time to conduct their repairs and complete their objectives.”

“Of course ... I guess we can’t outrun them on engines either. We need to be prepared in case the engineers can’t get this done in time.”

“Is there some way that we can lure the Shal’rein to board our ship?” Ramirez asked.

“What would that accomplish?” Shira asked him.

“I mean like ... we power down and just let them board us. It will take time for them to do it, and we can try to mount a defense onboard. Reinforcements will come and blow them away.”

“That is under the assumption that they don’t destroy us first. Think carefully about what you said. There are over forty-five Shal’rein crew and soldiers onboard that scout ship. Assuming they would board us, are you proposing that we try to fight against twice as many personnel that are well equipped for marine ship-to-ship assault operations? This in combination with the fact that their armor and equipment are superior to the crew of this ship that has already taken mass casualties.”

“Good point.”

“I have already seen Shal’rein clan soldiers fight,” Javier added. “I doubt we would have anything here that could even punch through their power armor alone. Suddenly, I have an opinion on the fact that they confiscated your firearm back on Aphadus.”

There was a brief moment that Shira turned her head toward him. She gave a very brief composed smile to him that quickly disappeared. It was the first time that he had seen her do it in a long time. She instead pulled out her stopwatch. She looked at the timer, and it displayed nine minutes.

“What if we hailed them?” Ramirez asked. “Tell them that we are good guys.”

“They will most likely ignore it,” Shira concluded. “Mercy is not a part of their way, and our communications array is only partially working.”

“Do we know if they can get the job done in time? Javier asked. “I don’t see how the engineers can cut through two bulkheads in such a short time span.”

“They can, sir,” Ramirez told him. “Those plasma torches work fast. I heard the ones we use are the same ones used on the shuttles during rapid boarding operations. They can cut through outer civilian ship hulls in like a few minutes. Less than that if it is interior bulkheads. What the rear interior is going to look after all this ... well ... we will have a new entry to the cargo bay now.”

“We are working as fast as we can, Captain,” Amelia called through on the comms. There was an intense sound of grinding and high energy being used that followed along with her voice.

“When you move the magnets, make sure that they are rigged so that they can be activated by console,” Javier said.

“One thing at a time, sir. I copy that. Captain, I have to warn that I was checking these things real quick, and they are supposed to be attached to a metal sling arm that supplies power to it. The magnets still have a separate power core on them, but they won’t last long.”

“Upon activation, how long will they operate?” Shira asked.

“About thirty seconds tops.”

“That isn’t long at all,” Javier noted.

“It won’t matter,” Shira said. “Understood.”

Javier turned his head as there was a banging sound coming from the passageway behind him. It sounded like a piece of metal banging into something else.

“First section is cut open,” Amelia said. “Cutting into the tertiary bridge room.”

Shira was looking at the clock. She then looked up at the viewscreen. It was getting evident as Picaro’s surface was starting to show more and more fracturing. They had almost wholly reached the beginning of the other side of the asteroid belt. Occasionally, the camera would switch to show the scout ship. It was getting closer. The ominous sign was that the enemy was ready to engage the Jian Seng. Like a predator, it was chasing its prey. Tensions were getting higher. It would be a matter of minutes before the Itrean ship would begin to open fire on them, and this time, the transport’s chances of survival were not a good one.

Javier could hear the heavy breathing of Marcelle. She had been quiet for some time in the conversations, but her anxiety was picking up more and more. She had been trying to keep it low, but it was apparent that she was starting to show signs of an outright panic attack. The responsibilities that she had in piloting the ship were going to come down to her abilities. The stress could be clearly seen.

“Three minutes till we reach the belt,” Ramirez said. “The portside railgun is online and ready to fire. I also have the autocannons good to go. I can try to help you out, Marcelle. I can try to shoot down some of the asteroids before we run into them.”

“Ummm...” Marcelle interrupted the conversation. She started to slap her hand on the flight control yoke. “I ... I ... I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t know ... I don’t...”

“Hey...” Javier quietly told her as he worked hard to walk up to her. He pressed his arm to her shoulder. “I know what you are going through, alright?”

“That is ... easy for you to say, sir,” Marcelle almost said in a whimper. “I ... I can’t fly this huge thing through a dense asteroid field ... I just passed my first real qualifications just a day ago.”

Her anxiety was at its peak for her. He could see it briefly in her eyes. She was so scared that a tear was running down her cheek. Shira had remained quiet to let Javier speak.

“You are our only pilot that is still standing, alright?” Javier said to her. He leaned his head up to hers. “I wouldn’t have put you in such a position as this. I saw you land this ship, and you did a good job at that. You didn’t even have any fear towards Shira when you saw her. I have seen some men get spooked once they see her. You didn’t have a problem at all.”

“This isn’t like anything...” Marcelle said. “I saw the movie ‘Belinda and the Meteors of Fate,’ and I ... I just saw it all. Everyone died in that movie.”

Javier was somewhat unfamiliar with that movie, but he recalled seeing a trailer for it on the UWAN. Supposedly it wasn’t exactly a good movie but one that seemed to gather attention on the romance genres for some reason.

“That is different,” Javier said. “This is real. We make up our own endings. If you feel that this is the end, then you make it that way, but if you feel that you are going to succeed, then you will.”

“You don’t understand, sir,” she said as she was shaking her head. “Everyone is counting on me ... If I crash, then I kill everyone on this ship. If ... I run into something too hard ... I ... I don’t ... I don’t.”

She was still maintaining her course, but Javier could see the first part of the trail of rocks showing up on the view screen. The visual sight was making her skin crawl. It was intimidating to look upon and daunting of a task. She felt as if she was being crushed by her own anxiety. These asteroids were enormous and looked like floating islands in space. While many were still moving along with the shattered Picaro world, a few of them spun slowly. The jagged edges on some look like it cleave anything along the way. This was the area that screamed danger. The speed the ship was traveling alone was putting the vessel in grave danger as well, but there was no choice either.

“It takes courage to admit that you are scared,” Shira explained to her. “Every Shal’rein soldier that enters into a battle that says that they are ready to slay the enemy without hesitation is only telling half the truth. Even if the Shal’rein are virtually dominant in ground warfare, I have seen the courage of the Yutilian and Aksren clan soldiers in turn. You humans respond similarly and with ingenuity. You are capable of doing things you would not normally think you can and more. Some Shal’rein would sooner die than retreat. They are afraid of the loss of glory. What you are doing has no shame. We are trying to flee the enemy. I know that you are capable of that performance.”

“Yeah, Marcelle,” Ramirez added on the comms. “I mean ... it sucks being here. We don’t even have time to remove the dead. It fucking sucks, but I have to do it. If I can be in this room and help you out, then I will do it. If I can do it, then you can save our asses. I know you can fly this rust bucket.”

The pep talk was helping her. Even Javier could see that Shira was genuine in how she said it. Marcelle was at the peak of her panic attack, but she took deep breaths as well. Her tear fell from her cheek and went flying backward due to the g-forces. She was no longer whimpering but still holding on tight that she could fail.

“Everyone is counting on me ... it is too much...” she said.

“You can do this,” Javier said. “I know you can do this. Do you have a favorite drink?”

“M ... Martian Tenix Wine.”

“I will buy you entire crates of them when we get back home. Does that sound good?”

“Yeah ... yeah...”

“Count me in on that,” Ramirez added. “I will get you a whole bunch of your favorite shit for saving our lives.”

“Ramirez, switch the camera views so that we can easily track both the scout ship and everything that is ahead of us on the viewscreen,” Shira ordered.

“Got it,” he replied. While Marcelle was looking at the data and visual display from her console, the main view screen of the secondary bridge switched over to a split-screen. Both places of visual interest were shown, with the asteroid field coming more and more into view and the scout ship that was in hot pursuit on the other. Javier could feel his own heart pounding hard. While he was somewhat adjusted to this, the lingering fear of doom was slowly creeping up on everyone. There was one visual sight, however, that Javier clearly remembered. On the vast distance on the other side of the field was a tiny red dot that was artificially created and highlighted on the screen. This was the emergency beacon that was launched away from the debris field. While it wasn’t directly ahead of the Jian Seng, the beacon’s location was slowly inching its way forward as the vessel was doing its prolonged turn.

“Breathe in your nose and out your mouth,” Shira calmly told Marcelle. “Do it slowly and maintain it.”

“I ... can ... I can do this,” Marcelle said. She was doing as she was instructed.

“Your expertise will save this ship and crew. If we don’t do this, then our chances of survival are significantly less than what you are doing now. You are giving us a fighting chance, and you will be stronger than ever knew before.”

There was a banging sound that could be heard in the rear passageway. It was the other portion of the bulkhead that gave way.

“We have clear entry to the cargo bay,” Amelia called out on the comms. “We are moving the magnets to the rear airlock now.”

“Easier to take a ship apart, then build one,” Javier quietly noted.

“You have one minute before we reach the asteroid field,” Shira informed her as she was looking at her stopwatch. “Use the inertia of the ship to help move the magnets into place.”

“Roger that. Come on, move them now! Get that first one in the airlock,” Amelia screamed at her team.

Javier could hear a team effort being made. The good news was that weightlessness except for the rearward g-forces was the only assistance and impediment to the team. The magnets must have weighed a ton, but in space, it was a much easier task to complete. Regardless, the act of moving them to the rear compartment was the best action to make since the g-forces would only push them back during the moving process.

Marcelle was regaining her composure. She was doing exactly as Shira had told her to do. She was breathing in and out of her nose and mouth. The asteroid field was in full view. There were countless millions of them. The ship was going to be flying over one of the giant floating pieces that took up the size of a tiny moon. Like a giant dagger in space, it was beautiful and ominous for a sight. Despite the great density at first, there was still some spacing that allowed the ship to move around without the fear of collision, but how long that would remain would be in question.

“I can do this ... I can do this,” Marcelle said as she nodded her head. “Everyone! Get in your seats ... this is going to get bumpy!”

Shira and Javier obviously complied with such a request. They sat down on the chairs of the bridge as they began to wrap the Velcro straps around them to keep them secured. Shira had to readjust her shark-like tail in order to sit correctly. After she got strapped in, she tapped the chair’s console and activated the ship’s speakers.

“Attention everyone,” Shira called out. “We will be entering the asteroid belt with an enemy vessel in pursuit. All personnel that are not conducting repairs are to be strapped in. Expect high-g turns and additional hull breaches. Expect combat. Shira out.”

With that, she shut off the communications and comfortably placed her hands to her stomach like she was relaxed. It reminded him of how she was on the Garja.

The Jian Seng was continually speeding up more and more at a gradual rate. It was starting to leave the outer circular orbit and heading straight into the massive debris field. It was here that the first signs of entry had echoed on the ship. A small tiny rock slammed into the outer hull and broke apart. It echoed and almost shook Marcelle.

“Alright,” Ramirez said. “We are entering into the early vicinity of the debris field. Expect a lot of that.”

“What is the status of the hull?” Javier asked him.

“That was nothing that we just hit. The armor is rated to handle small rock collisions at 380 kilometers a second, and we are nowhere at our maximum speed yet. However, it wasn’t rated for this many collisions as well. I will be watching everything as well.”

“Captain,” Amelia called from the comms. “We got the first magnet loaded into the pressurization chamber of the hatch. It is ready to be deployed. I have it rigged to activate on Ramirez’s console. The other two are on standby and ready to be loaded up into the hatch.”

“I copy that,” Shira answered. “Make sure that the engineers are properly braced for rapid maneuvering.”

“We are all set here. Ramirez, the button is located on the far right and has a flashing blue indicator on it. I bypassed the safety protocols. Do not press that button until the Captain gives the go-ahead. Otherwise ... this thing will go crazy and go somewhere we don’t want it to.”

“I see it,” Ramirez noted.

Suddenly, a large number of tiny rocks could be heard as they began to hit the front bow of the hull. Like an intense rain shower, the sounds were light but picking up more and more. The rocks were splashing and disintegrating against the armor upon impact. It almost reminded Javier of the rainstorms back on Aphadus. It was obviously clear that they had entered the debris field. The tiny red dot could be seen from the viewscreen. Marcelle was doing her best trying to handle everything while maintaining her breathing.

“You are doing good,” Javier told her. “Just keep our course to that emergency beacon to the best of your abilities.”

“One minute before the Itrean scout ship reaches firing range,” Ramirez said.

Shira decided to take her headset off her fin-like ear as she temporarily turned it off. Javier could see it as he turned to look at her. Her gaze was on the viewscreen. Her one working eye was attuned to the scout ship. One of the tiny rocks bounced off the forward heavy sleek armor.

“Javier, do not look at me and look at them...,” Shira almost quietly told him. “Even in a battle such as this, it is always an opportunity to learn.”

For Javier, he could see that Shira was in her element, especially in how she said the last sentence. It was like she was in a theater watching a movie and knew what the outcome was going to be. She showed zero signs of fear and only a slight sense of curiosity. In some ways, it was an odd moment but a respectable one. Even his fear was mainly muted because of how composed she was. He decided to mute his microphone as he observed the scene.

“Right now, the Lesser Adjunct of that ship has a choice to make,” Shira explained. “Can you picture what is on her mind?”

“She is probably deciding if she is going to keep the pursuit or not,” Javier replied.

As they watched the screen, the scout ship’s rear engines cut out as the vectoring thrusters activated. The vessel was making a small course change. It was trying to remain in parallel away from the main density of the asteroid field.

“She is changing course...” he said.

“That is most obvious, but what else do you picture when you look at this?” Shira asked him.

“Their crew are just as pensive as we are.”

“Exactly,” she pointed her finger at the screen. Right now, the crew is warning their Lesser Adjunct to veer off. Just as we see on this ship. A war is being waged in that ship’s Captain, not only with her crew but her own mind.”

As they watched, the scout ship was slowly heading in a different direction. At the speed that the Jian Seng was doing, this was making up for how close the scout ship had initially gained. Each second that went by was priceless. There was even a genuine moment that the scout ship had almost completely broken its pursuit.

The rocks were splashing against the hull like a hailstorm. At times, it would be very marginal, and other times it would be torrential. The Jian Seng had passed the lower enormous rock. Additional massive pieces of asteroids could be seen all over the viewscreen. The speed and course were making some look like they were harmless, with others being an ominous landmark. It was difficult at first. Tiny rocks that were showing up ahead might have been just small rocks, but others would creep up slowly, ready to become a dangerous hazard at any moment.

“They’re hesitating...,” Javier said.

“Exactly,” Shira said. “On many Shal’rein clan vessels, it is the commander that operates the railgun. Like a part of their arm, they are the ones that feel the glory course through their veins as they pull the trigger to kill their sworn enemies. This Lesser Adjunct is unsatisfied with her kill of the Chacal Naranja. It was just an unarmed freighter that couldn’t fight back. The moment that they attacked us, that commander felt that surge go through her. The Jian Seng to her is a more worthy opponent. She has almost slain her, and now it is getting away. What does that tell you?”

“That she is frustrated,” he answered.

“Yes. All she has to do is give up and leave. She has done enough damage on her voyage. Even the crew is telling her this. She should listen to them. Not only would it more likely spare us, but it would spare hers as well, but she can’t. Her prey is escaping. She must have the glory of the kill. Like the predator, she swam and sank her fangs into us, but we got away. She smells blood and is infuriated. She can’t retreat ... not now and not ever. She is ready. She realizes that we are serious, that we are the fools for making such a daring move as this. Then she realizes that she is the fool for calling our bluff that she wouldn’t do such a thing as this.”

The scout ship’s vectoring thrusters began to activate as it turned directly towards the Jian Seng. Its rear thrusters started to glow blue again as it reengaged its pursuit course. The hope that the Shal’rein warship would give up had been dashed. Javier had wished that wasn’t the case. Now a warship would try to blow him and everybody into atoms while Marcelle was playing a game of dodging asteroids.

“Such a shame...” Shira coldly said as she put her headset back on. “The Lesser Adjunct is a fool. She has let her target gain distance from her act of hesitation. She is unwise in her attempt to destroy us. I can pity her crew. What a waste...”

It was said so ominously that it almost surprised Javier. There was even a very slight hint of anger in her voice as well, possibly annoyance. Even Marcelle very briefly turned her head to Shira before resuming her eye on her console. On the one hand, it gave everyone a slight sense of confidence at the same time.

There was no turning back now. The asteroid field was there as Javier put his headset back on. Both he and Shira turned them back on as they resumed being part of the ship’s command structure. He could look into the vast wilderness of rocks. Top, bottom, sides, forward and back, it was a mess to be inside of. The shower of stones had become background noise now that even Javier had turned off in his head. Ignoring it was a partial dilemma, though. Sometimes, there would be occasional heavy thumps that reverberated in the front interior.

Shira looked at her digital stopwatch before she looked at the viewscreen. There were six minutes and ten seconds remaining on it before help would arrive.

“Status on the hull?” Javier asked.

“Front armor plating is down to 90%,” Ramirez answered.

“How long before we clear the asteroid belt on our present course?”

“If we maintain this course ... about seven to eight minutes.”

“Time before the scout ship reaches firing range?” Shira asked.

“Two minutes.”

Six minutes. It was a simple difference between life and death that Javier was all too aware of. If it weren’t for Shira’s plan, six minutes might as well been a death sentence. Less than six minutes was all that was needed to turn the Jian Seng into a burning hulk. The amount of damage it received earlier was in far less of a time period. The asteroids were not helping either. Even if the armor could handle some of the beatings, it was proving to be too much. Second, by second, it was being eroded. He could only hope that some areas of the Picaro debris field were less dense to slow down this degradation. It was quite possible that they wouldn’t make it anyway, but they couldn’t slow down either.

“Marcelle!” Ramirez called out on the comms. “Big one heading our way!”

“I see it!” Marcelle yelled out in response. “Hang on!”

With that, the Jian Seng’s four side-mounted thrusters activated. It momentarily jarred the ship up before it twisted and fired down. Within ten seconds, a large boulder bigger than a house flew by, missing the military transport. A massive shift of g-forces in the interior could have quickly sent somebody careening into the floor or the ceiling. If Marcelle hadn’t done her maneuver, they would have clearly collided into it.

“Maintain your course,” Shira ordered her. “Ramirez, search for the highest density of iron or titanium deposits along our current flight path.”

“Checking...” he replied.

The scout ship was closing second by second. Javier could see the serrated claws on the front side of the ship. It looked like it was ready to rip the vessel apart just by its ligaments alone.

“Increase speed and engage beyond maximum cruise limits,” Shira ordered. “This will increase their time to intercept us.”

“Aye,” Marcelle said.

“That’s not going to help us,” Ramirez commented. “Forward armor is down to 88% and falling.”

The Jian Seng’s rear engines became even brighter. The g-forces in the interior were becoming heavy. With the exception of Shira that was using her strength to hold her stopwatch, many of the personnel were feeling the pressures being exerted on their bodies. It was uncomfortable but still viable to operate effectively.

“Found it,” Ramirez said. “Marcelle, alter your course one degree up and 0.5 degrees starboard. Picking up huge concentrations of titanium in a debris cluster ahead. We should reach it in thirty seconds.”

“Alright,” Marcelle replied as she once again turned the flight yoke. Javier once again felt the cabin shift around from the turn. He could see where he was talking about. This area seemed like a gray cloud of dirt at first. It was in a partially open area in space.

The scout ship was making tiny adjustments in its own flight plan. Vectoring thrusters were firing a little bit as it was making alterations to stay on the rear of the Jian Seng. Its rear thrusters grew even brighter as they increased their own speed. It was evident that these Shal’rein were determined to reach the beleaguered transport.

Javier was counting down each second as the transport was getting closer and closer to it. The gray cloud started to disperse in color as they were getting close enough to see through onto the other side.

“Now listen...” Shira said. “When I give the order, Amelia, deploy the magnet. After that, Ramirez, I will give the order for you to activate it.”

“Roger, Aye,” both of them replied almost at the same time.

“Scout ship is going to reach us in one minute.”

“Can’t we launch now?” Javier asked.

“If we do, then it might give a hint for the scout ship. If the magnet powers up too soon, then they might track it and destroy it before it reaches them. This must be timed correctly.”

“Thirty-five seconds,” Ramirez said.

The Jian Seng entered through the center of the titanium deposit cloud. A different sound could be heard as the rocks continued to splash against the hull, but it was marginal. The scout ship was zeroing in.

“Deploy!” Shira called out.

“Launching!” Amelia announced.

Suddenly a sound from the rear of the vessel could be heard. Away from the vicinity, the strapped-in engineers pressed the button as the rear airlock hatch opened. The explosive decompression was immediate as the first magnet was sent hurdling into space. Air rushed out, taking the metallic sphere with it. It gave a small red light but nothing else to give a hint of its deployment. Like a floating mine, it lurked, ready to be activated. It would take less than ten seconds before it was completely clear of the Jian Seng’s magnetic profile. The scout ship was just about to enter the gray cloud.

“Activate it, Ramirez!” Shira called out.

Ramirez pressed the blue button on his console as Javier watched what happened next. The tiny sphere in space emitted a massive amount of energy. A sizeable magnetic eruption occurred as titanium, and small amounts of iron began to rush forward to it. Within the first second, the sphere was the size of a large table, but each speck of dirt added more and more to it. The titanium deposits gathered in greater and greater strength. In less than two seconds, the table-sized object was gaining in mass. It was the size of a shed, and within another few seconds, it was almost the size of a small house. It had become an oversized boulder, and the nearby closing scout ship was next along the line.