E-Space Chronicles by Michael Sweeney

Prologue

Brilliant crimson flashed through the void of space. The intense beam of energy seared as it slammed into the defensive barrier protecting the ship. The charged shield crackled with a rainbow of color as Sakharov radiation fled into the emptiness.

Another attack, a blue bundle of energy barely missed the target. The target returned fire, blue energy bolts leaping from cannons along a tapered cylindrical hull. Spires crackled as the shields bled off excess energy, vainly trying to avoid overload.

More attacking volleys descended, lighting up the surrounding space like a star fire. The defender retreated, turning away, exposing a backside which tapered into several fins.

The attacking ships continued to fire mercilessly on the retreating vessel. Beam after beam of intense blue light shot out, glancing the shielded backside of the running ship.

The defender attempted to break away to the side. The three attacking ships formed up, half circling the defender. Assuming a herding action, the attackers pushed the defender closer inward, toward the systems sun.

The attackers fired again with the blue beams, glancing down the side of the defender. The ships side lit up like the sun, showing a crest insignia of a silver bird griping a spear. Below the insignia, the ships name, A.I.S. Kasimar.

The retreating ship fired through a rear gun. Amber blobs of energy exploded outward, smashing into the middle attacker. The blasted ship's forward shield generator overloaded as the unabsorbed energy vaporized part the unprotected hull. The middle ship shuddered as another blob of iridescent energy glanced the underside. Its forward speed decrease as it shot a return fire of blue energy beams. The beams made a direct hit on the top of the fleeing Kasimar.

The top shield exploded in a profusion of Sakharov radiation. The
attacking ship to the left fired again with a red beam. The beam glanced the battered top, overloading the shield generator. The circuits to the shield generator fused, leaving a gap on the vessels top.
The attacker to the right reached out with a blue energy beam. The beam hit the unprotected top and the upper hull boiled away. The damaged area exploded up and out from decompression, releasing its horded atmosphere and exposing its inwards to space.

The Kasimar spun on its axis to move the damaged area from attack. The middle attacker, having slowed to considerable distance, dove down and made one final stab of red hate. The red beam of energy glanced the rotating topside burning away more of the hull.

"Admiral Lorens decks 1c through 3b have lost integrity!" the lieutenant at damage control yelled over the blaring sirens.

"Are those damn plasma cannons ready yet?" the man in the center of the bridge bellowed. The red emergency lights danced across his face.

"Yes, Admiral!" a voice shouted from behind at weapons.

"Then fire, damn you! Now!" Admiral Lorens shouted.

The large main view screen was covered with smoky soot. the screen showed the rear of the ship, with the three ships bearing down on her. Suddenly the screen light up as a amber blob obscured the view. The blob bobbed away from the ship and moved slowly away. The attacking ships, however, were moving quite fast and ran into the the blob. The blob of energy glanced the left attacker. Rainbow radiation slid off the defensive shield.

"Gods, why can't we shoot straight!" the Admiral cursed. The right attack rained down blue beams on the Kasimar's shields. "Evasive action! Get those cannons loaded again! Why can't we fire our other rear weapons?!"

"Admiral, the proton cannons circuitry has fused!!" a voice from behind him shouted.

"Damn those engineers!" the Admiral cursed and spat.

"Admiral, we are getting too close to the Alpha Proxima star! Our shields will not be able to withstand the suns energy!"

"Maintain safe distance! Angle the ship so that the lower half faces the sun. Helm plot a course to take us out and around the star." Lorens ordered. The first officer ran forward. The ship pitched to the side as another attackers shot rang home.

"Admiral, we can use the star as a shield while we escape. We'll need the time to get outside the stars max Gravity well. After we pass the Proxima star it'll take a few minutes to get to minimum safe distance for jump." the first officer rattled off.

The helm officer spun halfway in his seat and yelled at the first officer, "We'll never make it! The engines won't last!"

"Get a hold of yourself man!" the admiral snapped at the helm man. "Damn it, we're not finished yet!"

The helm officer turned back around, sweat pouring down his neck and gripped the console with white knuckles. The first officer stared at the admiral, begging orders.

"Prepare to fire a volley from the forward proton cannon into the stars nucleus."

"Yes admiral."

The first officer scurried off to execute the orders. Another volley of enemy fire struck the ship hull, shaking the bridge.

"Damage control, report!" the Admiral commanded.

"Admiral, the jump vanes have been damaged! Engineering says that its not too serious, but suggests extra distance from gravity well." a voice from damage control exclaimed.

"Time till we pass Proxima halfway point, to far side?!" the Admiral requested.

"Sixty seconds at my mark! Mark!" helm reported.

"Damn this'll be close!" Lorens rasped. "Weapons, prepare forward guns!

Engineering, I need a boost in propulsion coming up! Take energy from everything, even life support!" the specified officers confirmed the order.

"Helm, time?!"

"Forty seconds, sir!"

"Engineering, where's that power?" the Admiral shouted.

The answer was drown out as the damage control consoles erupted into flames.

"Gods, what next?! Get those flames out!"

Jumping toward the fire, the first officer grabbed a wall mount extinguisher. As the extinguisher expelled foaming agent the ship shook< again. Suddenly, paneling behind the engaged first officer exploded in a rupture of electronics falling like a wave of electricity over the standing man. The communications officer screamed as she watched her superior in a convulsing death. Like a marionette with is strings cut the dead man fell to the decking.

The Admiral prayed to the gods that the mans soul would be safe. It was all he could do.

"Admiral, the plasma cannon is ready again!" the shaken weapons called out.

"Twenty seconds to mark." helm reported.

"Fire the cannon! Helm, give me a count down! Weapons prepare to fire forward proton cannon on my command!" the Admiral barked. On the view screen, an amber blob collided with the left attacker, once again energy light up empty space.

"Thirteen, twelve, eleven, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five..."

"Weapons, fire!" the Admiral gripped his chair. "Engineering, give her that power!"

The Kasimar's forward proton cannons spat out blue streaks toward the heart of the star. The ship then leapt forward as the stars surface exploded in flares. Radiation and energy poured into the Kasimar's previous position. The lead attacker, the right of middle, smashed into the wave of energy, unable to stop. The ships defensive shield overloaded instantly and the energy vaporized half the ship. Secondary explosions shown like bright fury.

The left ship swerved away, absorbing only a partial blast. The hull ran like candle wax under the heat and energy. However, the damage was not severe and the ship continued pursuit. The middle attacking ship, lagging behind the fray continued to push ahead though, losing more and more ground. The last ship, now the only attacker within distance to fire, unleashed several volleys of red energy beam. The attacking fire only glanced the Kasimar shields.

Damn! That got her! I'm not an Admiral for nothing!" Lorens shouted. He punched several buttons on his char.

"Engineering, get ready for jump!" He turned his head toward tactical. "Tact! Give me a reading?! What is condition of pursuing ships?" The tactical officer stammered,

"Uh, Admiral the Tact sensors aren't functioning."

"What are you saying, man? What is it?!" the admiral turned his chair right to the officer. His eyes widened as they fell upon the first officer.

"The Tact computer has been damaged," the tact officer licked his lips and barely looked down. "The excess voltage caused the computer to freeze
the sensor scan! It didn't go passive when we fired. The stars explosion
overloaded the circuits!" the tactical officer looked at the Admiral with pleading eyes. The Admiral merely stared at him.

"Navigational sensors man! Check them! Reroute!" the tact officer played his fingers across his board.

"The connections have been destroyed! I can't reroute nav sensors!"

The Admiral turned sharply forward to helm.

"Helm, give me a reading from nav sensor array!"

Hurried thoughts ran through the Admirals head. If the nav sensors were okay he could reconfigure them to give him tactical information.

"The nav is working fine, Admiral! I bear a reading of four minutes till minimum safe distance." the helms man suddenly yelped. The Admiral almost jumped out of his seat.

"Admiral! That's the same reading I had two minutes ago!" He turned in his seat and stared at the older man. "The Nav has froze!"

The bridge was suddenly very cold. Lorens could feel the sweat as it trickled down his face. It might as well have been ice, In all his years, a nav had never frozen. A frozen nav meant limited jump capacity. That was if the tact was working.

"That's not possible! Check it again!" The helmsman did a hurried recheck. It was the same. Battle damage had claimed its most devastating victim. The starship was now virtually blind.

The Admiral stood and quickly strode over to tactical. He stood over
the tact officer and held on to the tact board. The ship shuddered as
several attacking shots struck the outer hull.
"How serious is the damage to the tact sensors?" the Admiral shouted into the other mans ear.

While it was often the case that tact sensors, precise tools, would fail or fuse, nav did not, could not. In the event of a failure of a tact, the nav would be rerouted into the tact computer. This gave a less detailed reading. However, the reverse was not true. It was not even considered. The nav was considered untouchable. The helmsman yelled from his post.

"Admiral, I don't understand this! Nav backups are not responding! The damage is total!"

"Admiral, the tact sensors have fused. However the damage is not total. I think I can nurse the computer to give us what we need. Frankly though, I'm surprised that they haven't gone altogether!" the tact officer tersely reported.

The Admiral raised his eyebrows. "Don't worry man, that's the old Lorens luck at work! See if you can get those sensors working. We need 'em!"

The ship lurched violently. The helmsman fell from his chair. Lorens hung onto the tact board.

"What was that?" He called out.

"Admiral! Insystem propulsion has failed!" engineering called out. "We have no forward propulsion!"

Lorens glanced at the main view screen. The two attacking ships were< still coming.

"Gods! Not now! Not here!" He shouted.

"Admiral, we don't have much longer! The emergency generators are not going to last!" engineering called out again. The Admiral stood up straight and brushed off his uniform.

"Engineering, prepare for jump." he calmly ordered.

The chief engineer almost screamed. The intercom shot complaining sparks in unison.

"Are you insane?!? We can't! We don't have the power!"

"Admiral, we don't know if we're at safe distance yet!" the helmsman screeched.

"Tactical, I want you to pulse the tact sensors! Don't push 'em! Just enough to give us a bearing." Lorens coolly commanded. The ship shuddered again. The tact officer danced over his board in an effort to comply.

"I think it'll work! This will take some time!" he calmly stood and manipulated the hardware. The ship whined under the hail of attacking fire.

In the background, the sound of explosions could be heard. Damage control shouted out hull breaches. Sweat poured down the Lorens face and back. It mingled with the blood on the floor. The Tact officer shouted in triumph. He had a bearing. He called out the numbers to helm. The helmsman fed the computer.

"Admiral, we're barely inside the safe zone! But with the star acting up after we fired into it, we can't be sure!" the helmsman cried out.

"Damn it all! Gods!" the Admiral cursed. He glanced at the view screen. Enemy ships loomed closer. They were definitely gaining on the crippled Kasimar. And they were still firing.

"Fire the rear plasma cannons!"

The weapons officer responded and obeyed. An amber blob floated away from the Kasimar. It scarcely touched the lead attacker. The enemy ship's shield light up and overloaded, spewing energy into the inky void.

"Good! You bastards!" Lorens shouted.

The attacker did not pause in its pursuit. Instead it spit back blue venom. The Kasimar rattled under the assault. Several more shield generators overloaded. Sparks flew across the bridge.

"Gods, who are they?" the Admiral muttered.

The woman officer at communications suddenly spoke up. Lorens spun to look at her. "Admiral, we are being hailed. The lead attacking ship, sir." Lorens frowned and wiped his brow. He stepped over to his chair and sat heavily.

"Helm, tell me we can jump."

"No, sir, we can't! Engineering hasn't got the power! We're not even in min safe jump distance! We can't!" the helmsman exclaimed.

"It'll tear I know it!!"

"Pull yourself together man." Lorens barked. The helmsman slumped forward in a gasping sob.

"This is it, we're gonna die!" he whimpered.

"Shut up and do as I order!" the Admiral leaned forward. "We're not licked yet!"

As much as the Admiral tried to sound confident, he did not feel it. Even the best commanders do not rescue blind cripples from deep space warfare. He weighed his options. He was the Admiral of the Amalgam Star Armada. He could not surrender.

But a damaged Jump Drive was not something to risk your life on. Not if you wanted to keep it. The least that could happen would be a bumpy ride. On the order of being dragged form a supersonic jet over a large mountain range. The worst that could happen was unthinkable. That which theoreticians call a Tear. A Tear in the fabric of space. Not a pleasant though. Not even the scientist knew what that might do.

"Admiral, the attackers are still hailing us. Audio only." Comm called out.

"On speakers."

The speakers crackled, to life as deck to deck comm was silenced. A stream of pulses and static streamed through .

"My gods, what is it?" the comm officer whispered.

Admiral Lorens stood and shouted at the screen.

"Who are you, by gods! Why do you attack us! You are in Amalgam space and this is a..." he was abruptly interrupted.

"Surrender your crippled ship and prepare to be boarded. If you do not surrender you will be destroyed." the voice fell through the speakers will vile intent.

"I don't think so." Admiral Lorens sat in his command chair. The helmsman jumped up from his seat.

"What are you doing? Surrender! I don't want to die for your stupid pride. We've lost!"

Suddenly, the Admiral's face contorted with rage. He stood and slammed his fist into the helmsmans face. The helmsman fell like paper. The Admiral leaned over the helm and began pushing buttons.

"Weapons, fire everything!" the view screen light up as energy leapt
toward the attackers. "Jettison the log buoy. And stand by for jump."

"Aye, Admiral." the tact officer stood and saluted.

"Aye, Admiral." the weapons officer stood and saluted.

"Aye, aye, Admiral." the comm officer stood and saluted. A tear trickled down Lorens cheek. The Log buoy shot out and away, fleeing impending doom. Lorens breathed in to make the order.

"Jump."

Deep space sensors> Proxima Sector via Narcel
To: Amalgam Military headquarters, Protarus.
At 11:32 hours the star Alpha Proxima went super nova. The explosion
was on the second magnitude level.
Records indicate Alpha Proxima was a large white star W-class. It was
not know why Alpha Proxima has exploded as its record indicated its previous
stability. Further data in being reviewed. Stand by.


Amalgam Scientific Corp> Kilroy
To: Amalgam Military Headquarters, Protarus
After reviewing the preliminary data concerning the explosion of the
star Alpha Proxima, the conclusion has been reach that it was not a natural
occurrence. Speculation has been made as to the reasons. these include:
1. Detonation of a large Matter/AntiMatter reactor in close proximity.
2. A tearing of space due to an imbalanced Gravity Jump Drive, coupled
with unsafe Jump distance.
3. A Ksssad spatial generation failure.
Due to the size of the required M/A reactor and the proximity also
required, this probable cause can be dismissed.
This concludes our findings.