Broken Horizon Read online

  Luckily, there was no war between the Confederate States of Orion and the Galactic Union. However, this was not a popular decision. It was accepted that the Confederate warships that attacked President Eridanys’ ship during the Battle of Artemis were rogue warships. Warships that abandoned the Confederation and operated on their own twisted agenda. No one knew who was behind the attack. Although tensions were high, it hadn’t hit the boiling point of a war. Yet.

  An alliance was still occasionally discussed between the Galactic Union, Commonwealth of Perseus, and Blood Dynasty. There was even discussion of not only an alliance of military strength, but to become one united superpower. Kael Eridanys, President of the Galactic Union, was now hesitant about this new alliance.

  Sharon caressed Jacob’s chest.

  He stared at her.

  She was beautiful. Her red hair was longer now, draping over her exquisite figure. A blonde streak went down the right side of her wavy hair. How did he end up with her? There had been some trying times, but he was so happy that she was still with him. The crew of the corvette Rapture was still together on this ship. That made him happy.

  Sharon looked up and noticed Jacob staring at her. She smiled. He smiled back. Her green eyes were inviting.

  The entire crew of the Rapture were part of the heavy cruiser. He missed Rapture, but it wasn’t technically owned by them. Arnold was mad at his father who now owned Turner’s Salvage. Apparently he sold the salvage ship Demeter and was planning on selling Rapture and the rest of the salvage shop.

  It turned out that joining the Fleet was Elijah Shepherd’s idea. He was able to talk to important people because, after all, he was from another time. Elijah talked to Captain John Devereaux and enough people in high enough positions of the military that a ragtag group of mercenaries got the nod to join the Fleet. Since Elijah used to be part of the Galactic Union, he was easily integrated back into the military. Jacob, Trevor, Sharon, and Arnold had to work at it. They passed their classes and showed promise.

  Sharon cuddled up closer to Jacob.

  Elijah was mysterious. Elijah was from the year 131 After Cataclysm. Something happened; he woke up in the year 270 after being attacked by vampire forces. He witnessed the beginnings of the Vampire War, and now he was here. Why? Trevor Reynolds believed it had to be aliens, perhaps the same that abducted him. Trevor truly believed he was abducted by aliens who had starships of crystal.

  Sharon bit her lip.

  Jacob didn’t know if he believed Trevor’s abduction story, but he did know that strange things were out there in the universe. Teresa Day, mercenary captain of the Marauding Mad Cats, told him what actually happened to Jerry Turner. Black, slimy creatures called imps were able to jump into their victim’s mouths, burrow to the brain, and control their hosts. A side effect of this twisted symbiosis was that if the host was doing something that the imp did not approve of, the host would begin to bleed from the nose and mouth. Whoever wanted Exodus destroyed had access to these imps and infected Jerry Turner with one.

  Sharon grinned devilishly and winked.

  Jacob revealed the information about the imps to President Eridanys and Captain Devereaux. There was an investigation into the claims. The station on Cortes was raided. No traces of the imps that were supposed to be there were found. Could there still be people infected with imps in the military? Spies? Could there be anybody he knew? Were the vampires behind this?

  Sharon reached down under the covers and grasped Jacob. She started to move her hand up and down.

  He moaned.

  Perhaps now wasn’t time to think about imps and vampires.

  Perhaps it wasn’t the time for sex either.

  Captain John Devereaux looked toward the new arrivals. “About time you two showed up.”

  “Sorry, sir,” Jacob panted. “We. Uh. Were busy.”

  Trevor glanced at Devereaux and they shared a knowing look.

  Devereaux sighed. “You were supposed to be here ten minutes ago. I don’t care about your extra-curricular activities, but you are training to be part of our military. That requires discipline. There is time to unwind, but you have to be ready when your commanding officer tells you be ready.”

  Sharon looked to the ground. “I’m sorry, sir. It’s my fault.”

  Trevor glanced at Jacob and smirked. “Yeah, Jake, I don’t blame ya.”

  Jacob rolled his eyes. “We’re sorry, sir.”

  “It’s alright,” Devereaux said. “You aren’t the only ones that are late. Arnold is still not here.”

  Trevor grumbled, “Is he too hung over again?”

  “Keep it to yourself, HL,” Devereaux said.

  HL. Honorary Lieutenant. The entire former crew of Rapture, except Elijah, were honorary lieutenants. They were bestowed this honor shortly after the Battle of Artemis. Rapture saved the lives of those who served on Agamemnon, including President Kael Eridanys. The honorary lieutenant title meant they were allowed to listen in on command staff meetings, attend ceremonies, and live in better quarters than most crew members. They technically were not part of the command staff, though. The honorary lieutenant thing was not unprecedented and had been done in the past, but usually not in one of the capital ships of the Fleet. Eventually, they would be promoted to actual acting lieutenants. There were rumors this was going to happen soon. It was not completely unprecedented to have officers that were in their early 20s, and there was no real opposition to the planned promotions.

  Arnold finally entered. “Sorry. I know. I know.”

  “This is the third time, HL,” Devereaux said. “Don’t do it again or you will be out of the program.”

  “I understand, sir.”

  Arnold didn’t look hung over or drunk. Jacob felt bad for him. Arnold had lost a friend and Jacob had the impression that Arnold wanted Sharon at one time as well. Arnold also did not like his dad taking Rapture. Jacob didn’t think Arnold actually wanted to be part of Empyrean. Arnold wanted to stay with Rapture. He turned to alcohol to ease the pain. Arnold used to be clean shaven, but his face was covered with stubble now. He had put on some pounds as well.

  Jacob glanced around the area. Lieutenant Jaxon Knight was sitting at a console nearby. Jaxon was a nice guy. He was cordial and accepting of the new recruits. Jacob would call Jaxon a friend.

  Jaxon Knight was thin and lanky. He was tall, about the same height as Trevor. Jaxon had short dark hair and was clean shaven. He usually wore a goofy grin above his broad chin.

  Jaxon wore a light-weight, thin headset. He was wearing a gray Galactic Union uniform. A patch with two chevrons rested on his shoulder which meant he was an actual lieutenant. Jacob’s uniform, in a shade of lighter gray, didn’t have any sort of rank insignia. Devereaux’s uniform was dark gray and had four chevrons on the shoulder. He wore a badge on his breast that displayed the same information in a different format, a blue circle with four small stars surrounding it.

  Sharon looked cute in her uniform. She had her long hair pulled back into a pony tail. She didn’t enjoy that look, but it adhered to the Fleet’s grooming standards. Long hair could not go past the shoulder unless it was in a pony tail. The standards of the Fleet were a lot more lax than Jacob expected. He still remained clean-shaven but light facial hair was acceptable. Devereaux had a full beard, but Jacob figured he got away with that because he was the captain.

  John Devereaux used to be the captain of the destroyer Freedom which was destroyed during the Battle of Artemis. He was now the captain of Empyrean, which launched six months ago. He lost his second in command, Commander Serafina Freeman, in the Battle of Artemis. He also lost a crewman on the bridge, Lieutenant Xan Draeden, and many more crew members of the Freedom. He then watched Freedom come apart in front of him. He deserved a great ship and he deserved a great crew. Jacob sometimes wondered what the crew of the Rapture was doing here.

  “Well, we can get started,” Devereaux said.

  Jaxon nodded and tapped a command into his console.

&nb
sp; “I’m glad you are all here, but please stop being late,” Devereaux said. “It’s not professional. You need to prove that you belong here. You have to–”

  Jaxon interrupted the captain, “Uh, sir.”

  “What is it?”

  “Detecting... Hyperspace fluctuations from our relay network. I’m reading fluctuations heading rimward. It’s... huge,” Jaxon said with a tinge of distress.

  “That’s from vampire space.” Devereaux looked toward the honorary lieutenants. He pondered something and then turned back toward the viewscreen. “Alright,” he said. “Assume Con-2 across the entire ship. Turner, get on the engineering console. Lawrence, get to nav. Reynolds, get to comms. Knight, I’m setting your console to weapons. Carpenter, you’re going to be my XO—Ember Skyrift isn’t available right now.”

  Jacob raised an eyebrow. “Sir? I usually—”

  “That’s my orders. Get ready for anything.”

  “Uh, alright. Do we have a squadron out there?” Jacob asked.

  Trevor nodded and tapped a command into his console. “Linking with the patrol squadron, putting it to speaker.”

  Elijah Shepherd’s voice came across the speakers. “This is Beta Squadron. What’s going on?”

  Jacob hesitantly replied, “We have, well, it looks like a vampire invasion force approaching Union space.”

  “That’s not good,” Elijah replied. “I’ll let the boys know. Alpha Squadron is out here with us. We may need to get more birds out here.”

  “Noted,” Devereaux said. “Get more fighters out there, Reynolds.”

  “Linking with the hangars,” Trevor said.

  “When will the vampires be here?” Jacob asked.

  Sharon looked toward the viewscreen. “Now.”

  Jaxon sighed. “Detecting three Cerberus-class cruisers.”

  “They aren’t accepting links,” Trevor said. “They are powering their forward beam weaponry and launching fighters.”

  “Alpha and Beta Squadron, defend our shields,” Jacob said. “Get the weapons ready to go, Knight. Weapons free! Assume Con-1 across the entire ship!”

  “Aye aye,” Jaxon said.

  Elijah yelled over the speakers, “We need more birds if we’re gonna take these bogeys on!”

  “We’re launching more, hang on!” Trevor said.

  “We’re completely outgunned,” Arnold said. “I’m going to full burn. Fighters, keep up the best you can.”

  “You got it, big guy,” Elijah said. “Beta Squadron! Weapons free! Keep up with Empy! Keep those bastards off her!”

  A blast knocked the crew about. Jacob struggled to keep standing. Lights flickered.

  “What was that?” Jacob asked.

  “The beam cut straight through our shields. I’m detecting heavy damage,” Sharon announced.

  “Turn her around,” Jacob commanded. “We have to fight.”

  Arnold nodded. “Yes sir!”

  “Lieutenant Knight,” Jacob said. “Unleash everything we have. Prepare the coil cannons.”

  Jaxon nodded.

  The ship shook again from weapon fire.

  “Coil slugs are loaded,” Jaxon Knight said. “I’m aiming... aiming...” He hovered his hand over his console. “Just a little more....”

  Jaxon slammed his hand on his console.

  Jacob and Devereaux glanced at one another.

  A sensor contact on Trevor’s screen disappeared. “We got one!” Trevor exclaimed.

  “Shields are down on our fore hull,” Sharon said.

  “Shepherd, protect our generators!” Jacob yelled.

  “We’re on it, sir! We’re—”

  Shepherd was interrupted by silence.

  Trevor frantically tapped on his console. “I lost link status with his fighter!”

  Arnold yelled, “Shit! I can’t dodge this! I miss Rapture!”

  The whole room shook with intensity.

  “Oh god, that was bad,” Sharon said. “Huge damage across the ship.”

  “I lost three of our coil cannons, I have one left,” Jaxon said.

  “Use it!” Jacob yelled.

  Another sensor contact disappeared.

  The vampire force was formidable. Empyrean managed to defeat all of the vampire cruisers except one. The battle continued to rage on. The heavy cruiser was pushed to its limits. The duel between the final Cerberus-class and the Empyrean continued on for several minutes. However, the Blood Dynasty cruiser did seem to be winning the battle.

  “We’re heavily damaged,” Arnold said. “Hull breaches are everywhere.”

  “The reactor and hyper-drives are still operational but we won’t be able to jump for a very long time,” Sharon said.

  “How’s our fighters?” Jacob asked.

  Trevor replied, “Ugh. I lost contact with most of them. It’s a mess out there.”

  “Our last coil cannon is barely functioning. I think I can fire... one more slug,” Knight said.

  “Well,” Devereaux said. “Let’s see if we can make that one count.”

  Sharon looked over some readings on her console and shook her head. “The hull is starting to buckle!”

  “We won’t be able to keep this up much longer, damage control teams are overwhelmed,” Trevor said.

  Jaxon Knight sighed in defeat. “That last coil cannon slug missed, I’m sorry, guys.”

  “We’re dead in the water,” Arnold said.

  “The vampire cruiser is powering its forward beam weapon,” Trevor said.

  “Get on the link with that cruiser,” Jacob said. “Surrender to them.”

  “No! You can’t surrender to these animals,” Devereaux said.

  “If there’s even a chance to live, I will take it,” Jacob said. “I can’t have this crew perish if I had a chance to save them.”

  “It’s better to die in battle than live under the control of the vampires,” Devereaux said. “Better to die on your feet than live on your knees.”

  “Trevor?”

  “I’m linked with them,” Trevor said. “They accept our surrender.”

  “You will never win your wars by surrendering,” Devereaux said.

  “I know, sir,” Jacob said.

  “Wait, I’m detecting a power surge...” Trevor said. “Oh, so those are the terms of the surrender.”

  The room shook with intensity. Jacob and Devereaux struggled to stand. The vampire cruiser had fired its unique beam weaponry, dealing a devastating blow to the heavy cruiser.

  Elijah walked into the room. “Dammit guys, I thought you had it.”

  The lights of the room brightened and the room stopped shaking.

  Jacob sighed. “We’ll get it eventually.”

  Devereaux smiled. “Probably.”

  Jaxon apologized, “I’m sorry, if I had hit that last coil cannon shot...”

  “Sometimes you have to get lucky,” Devereaux said. “Thanks for helping out on the exercise, Lieutenant.”

  “My pleasure. I always loved this scenario, we called it ‘Up Shit Creek’ in the Academy,” Jaxon replied. “It’s impossible.”

  “Not impossible. You passed the ‘Driving the Stake’ scenario before,” Devereaux said.

  “Like you said, sir, sometimes you have to get lucky.” Jaxon said.

  “So we just have to get lucky?” Sharon asked.

  “Oh we all know you already get lucky.” Trevor smiled.

  “Shut up, Trevor,” Sharon said. “Seriously sir, we have all passed our courses. We have performed adequately. When can we actually earn our ranks? We’ve ran this scenario five times already. Each time we are destroyed by the last cruiser. If we actually win will we get the spot in the crew?”

  Devereaux shook his head. “No, it’s not necessarily the only thing holding you back. It will take further time due to your ages but Command is extremely grateful for your efforts to save the President. Those ranks will be earned soon.”

  “The scenario is impossible,” Arnold stated.

  “You guys can do i
t,” Elijah said. “This is pretty neat though, I hope I did alright pretending I was actually in my Peregrine.”

  “You did, Lieutenant Commander,” Devereaux said. “Very convincing.”

  Although Jacob, Sharon, Trevor, and Arnold were all honorary lieutenants, Shepherd became an actual lieutenant and then later, lieutenant commander. He had been in the military once before, after all.

  “We had training bridges back in my day, too, but they weren’t nearly so real,” Elijah said. “Do the vampires care that the scenario is still about killing vamps? With all the peace stuff, you’d think they wouldn’t like the idea of training our command staff with this sort of thing.”

  “‘Driving the Stake’ is a classic,” Devereaux said. “The vampires can deal with it. In my opinion, they aren’t worth trusting anyways.”

  Trevor nodded. “I hear that, Captain.”

  “You all did fine,” Devereaux said. “ I have no real suggestions. That’s all for today from me. Meet Commander Skyrift on the bridge at 1200 hours. You are dismissed.”

  Devereaux made his way out of the training bridge.

  Jaxon Knight stood up from his console. “Sorry, guys, we tried! Coil cannon shots are so hard to aim. If I had hit that, the scenario would be complete.”

  “It’s not a big deal, Jax,” Sharon said. “It’s not meant to be winnable.”

  Arnold walked up to Elijah. “Hey man, how you like squadron leading? Those new Peregrines up to snuff?”

  “Yeah. They’re still just as sexy,” Elijah replied. “Squadron leading is my true calling. I don’t want to be part of the command staff on the bridge. I want to be out in the thick of it.”

  “Well, I was thinking... Here, let’s take a walk.”

  “Alright.”

  They both exited the training bridge. The walls in the corridor were sleek and well-maintained. A gentle curve went around the corridor. Occasional panels displayed information about the status of the heavy cruiser.

  The actual bridge was relatively close to this training bridge. Both bridges were deep in the forward section of the cruiser. Ancient seafaring warships of old usually had a bridge on top of the ship and an operations room inside the ship. This practice was outdated in the modern era of starships. The bridge and operations room were combined into one central command center that kept the old title of bridge. This bridge was far away from the hull to minimize any damage taken during battle.