War Fleet: Resistance, стр. 40
The weapons modules that Chang had acquired had started to charge their weapons. But if this worked, not a shot would be fired on this battlefield.
He scrolled back up the code. He only needed to make a modification, and he could short-circuit everything. Cut off all systems for thirty seconds, then relaunch. If he timed it right, the weapons modules wouldn’t open their valves fast enough. Their firepower would instead redirect inside the module, overheating them in seconds and frying any living crew within. Meanwhile, the intense current in the yokes would power off.
But he had to time it right, and he had to act now.
Chang typed in a quick hack to the code. Olsen had picked up on what Redrock was doing. He rushed across the CIC.
“Shit, shit, shit,” he said to himself.
He had less than a second before Redrock got fried by the automated punishment mechanism. He pressed two keys on the keyboard.
The ship jerked, and a massive mechanical roar sounded.
In a moment, the entire room went black.
45
Olsen had always wondered if there was an afterlife, but he wasn’t sure if this one was heaven, hell, or purgatory. Nor did he expect it to begin in pitch blackness. And if he was dead, his entire crew had joined him there. He couldn’t see them, but he could hear their heavy breathing and confused murmurs. He could also smell the sweat and relief of tension in the room.
But this wasn’t the afterlife. Somehow, they’d survived.
“What the hell happened to the power?” he said, turning on his wristwatch display to let out a little light. He directed it at Chang, so he could make out his outline. The engineer was hunched over the computer, his head in his hands.
“I found a back channel,” Chang said. “If you’ve not done it already, I recommend you all take your hands off those yokes. The power will switch back on, and I don’t know when.”
Olsen spun around, his light dancing in the dark until it faced where he’d been running when the lights went out.
Redrock lay slumped forward over his station.
Olsen leaped forward and reached him just as Kota did. They quickly dragged him out of the chair and clear of the yoke.
“Redrock!” Kota said urgently. “Redrock, can you hear me?”
Redrock opened his eyes until they were just slits. “Hey, babes.”
Olsen let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.
Kota looked like she might cry. “What have I told you about calling me that on duty?” She was smiling through misty eyes.
“Your hair isn’t on fire,” Olsen said. “That’s a good sign.”
Redrock sat up under his own power. “Fingers aren’t burned off, either.” He shrugged, looked himself over. “All joking aside, why the hell aren’t I fried?”
“You can thank Chang for that.”
“Well, thanks, Chang,” Redrock said.
Chang blinked back at Redrock. “We’ve not been blown apart by a supernova, sir,” he said. “So thank you.”
“Everyone else all right?” Olsen glanced around, taking in everyone in the CIC.
“All accounted for,” Novak said.
“Rob, find where Redrock managed to send that warhead. And please tell me it’s not about to fall into that star anyways, after all that.”
As he spoke, Olsen continued to scan the room with the miniscule light coming from his wrist. “Well done, everyone.”
Before he could say another word, an electronically generated sound crescendoed, and the lights pulsed back on. With it came an intense zapping sound, so sudden it caused Olsen to recoil as if he’d been shocked himself.
Olsen shielded his eyes, his vision now adjusted to darkness. But soon he could see through the blurry lights, and he turned his head up to the screen. Half of the display showed the view from the warhead camera display from before, but now the glare from the sun filled the panorama from the right-hand edge. The other half of the screen showed the weapons modules, glowing patches of orange and blue painted in broad strokes upon their metalwork.
“Chang, why aren’t they firing on us?”
“I powered down every single module, sir,” he replied. “They ended up releasing the payload of the weapons internally, destroying everything inside.”
“Will they be usable?”
“Highly unlikely, sir, but we should be able to procure whichever modules we choose.”
“And what about the Extractor? Did the hangar module we landed on survive?”
Chang turned to his screen and typed in some commands. “It seems so, sir.”
“Rob, have you found that warhead?”
“Affirmative, sir. It’s in an unstable orbit, but one that will be maintainable for several months.”
Olsen took a deep breath. Somehow, against all odds, they’d made it through. “Chang, Rob, work on getting the hangar module with the Extractor back. Then Redrock, I want you to go out with Santiago and get hold of the warhead. Then we’re getting the hell out of here and back to the URSA Providence shipyard station.”
As everyone scurried around to carry out their orders, Olsen finally had a moment to collect his thoughts. His shoulders sagged. He suddenly felt so exhausted he could barely stand up. He’d lost his ship. He’d lost more than a few crew. But he’d managed to stop a catastrophe that could have altered the course of human history.
Novak slipped up beside him. For several seconds, neither of them spoke. Finally Olsen asked, “Well, Commander, what do you think of your first mission with us?”
Novak gave him a sideways glance. “I haven’t completed my report yet.”
Olsen snorted. “I can’t wait to read it.”
She looked back forward toward the viewscreen and the bright star burning in the center of it. The corners of her mouth upturned the slightest bit. “It won’t be all bad, sir.”
Epilogue
Fleet Admiral Liz Brownstone entered the conference room of