Alpha One - Chris Burton [100]
Yoshi anticipated such a move, and launched his nuclear attack more accurately because of the close proximity of the respective forces. The mass nuclear attack was unexpected and devastating. Rose’s ship took the full force of the aftershock which followed. Suddenly Rose’s world went black.
* * * *
He knew he was hurt. He could not get up, but remained conscious. The command bridge was reduced to a mass of smoldering workstations. Even with auxiliary power, the backup lighting was poor and with dust yet to settle and with several workstations still ablaze, there was still a great deal of confusion.
A medic lifted Rose into his chair and advised him that his leg was badly broken, but he was lucky. Rose only half-heard the medic as he strained to hear a conversation in the background. The ship powered back up and the secondary command bridge was already in operation.
The medic administered painkillers to Rose. Two orderlies lifted the Admiral to a hover stretcher and moved towards the exit to take him to the medical center.
“Stop,” said Rose. “Take me to the secondary command bridge.” The orderlies redirected the stretcher so that it headed, under their guidance, to the new command center two stories below. Rose didn’t have time to feel the pain, and the painkillers and shock helped to keep the pain at bay for now. He arrived at the command center two minutes later and immediately requested a status update.
Rose knew the new bridge crew, but they were not his number one team. The lead commander took a seat next to him and updated the Admiral on the Sentinels’ latest nuclear attack.
“The Sentinels destroyed about twenty of our ships and knocked out about fifteen others. They fared little better though, and their main fleet has broken up. We have commenced a one-to-one attack strategy, and we are trying to locate their new command ship. It is possible that Yoshi’s adopted vessel was destroyed in the blast. We will know more shortly.”
“What about the old flagship?”
“Destroyed in the last attack, sir, along with twenty-five jump ships and over one thousand troopers. This was a deadly attack, sir.”
“Who is in command of the fleet?”
“I am, sir. The senior commanders were all killed or badly injured. You are lucky to be alive.”
“Thank you Commander. I may be lucky, but I don’t feel lucky. I am assuming command. Get a medic up here to fix my leg, and launch ten squadrons of jump ships. We need to find Yoshi and put this battle to bed once and for all.”
The Commander started to protest but realized Rose was in no mood to compromise. “Aye, sir. Jump ships launching. Don’t worry, we will find Yoshi. This latest attack has backfired on them, sir.”
Chapter Forty-Four
The New Year
Winter finally hit Britain. A cold front swept across from Siberia, and the United Kingdom was in the midst of the worst snowfall and the lowest temperatures for ten years. Not that cold weather was unusual at this time of the year; in stark contrast to the other ten months of the year, January and February were usually cold with frequent frosts and snowfall. Temperatures frequently dropped below minus ten degrees Celsius, and each year the cold snap served as a reminder of the United Kingdom’s formerly cold climate. Today it was cold. Snow fell overnight laying a fresh blanket over the hardened layer of snow from last week.
The snowy white landscape surrounding the Academy looked different as Jake walked to the Academy. There was no sign of either Steve or Carla. Steve’s absence didn’t surprise him; he probably lay in bed, awaiting an alarm call—which would never come, as he had forgotten to set the alarm.
Carla’s absence was a cause for concern. She called Jake on Saturday evening from Australia to advise she would return home in the morning, and that she would catch up with him before college. She