Alpha One - Chris Burton [154]
A few minutes later, an unmanned Rapier 7 took off and jumped to SD velocity. It headed for a rendezvous with the Eagle and quickly made up for lost time.
On the Halo 7 command bridge, Jonathan Hoskins and his crew were ready. The ship’s diagnostics reported structural failings, but they were small and there was no choice. They must go, and Hoskins was ready.
“Take us forward, helm. Manual control, steady as she goes.”
“Aye, sir. Steady as she goes.”
The Halo 7 thrusters moved the Battle Cruiser forward. The ion drive engaged, and the ship accelerated to sub-light cruise velocity. They entered the fissure at 13.47 p.m.
Just two minutes later, a group of ten Kryl fighters followed the Halo 7 into the wormhole.
* * * *
“They are sending us a what?”
“A Rapier. Remotely. We will pull it in and board. It will be a tight cabin, but this gives us a chance. Can you get Carla and Joely suited up and get the hatch open? I’ll slow us down and pull her in. It should be only a couple of minutes. Thanks, Jake.”
The usual docking clamps were damaged by the removal of the wrecked Sabre earlier. They had no choice but to utilize the rarely-used cargo doors, which opened upwards and covered a third of the ship’s overall surface. The Eagle was designed originally as a payload carrier, but the majority were converted to carry troops or passengers. The main passenger compartment remained protected and pressurized while the cargo doors were open, but it was still standard protocol to suit up whenever the doors were open. Jake, already suited, pulled his helmet on and pressurized his suit.
The Rapier arrived promptly, and was lowered down carefully into the compartment where Jake attached four manual clamps to hold the jump ship in position just above his head. The usual Rapier access route was via the wings, both of which rested on top of the Cargo hatch. This was not the most desirable route but Jake needed to gain access and then, manually, open the hatch at the bottom of the cockpit. This was an escape hatch, but served its purpose for this exercise.
Jake clambered across the wing and accessed the cockpit. He opened the bottom hatch so Carla and Joely could enter the jump ship. Carla took Joely to the rear of the cramped cabin, where she pulled down reserve seating from the wall. Jake meanwhile set up the NAVCOM to direct the Rapier straight into the path of the wormhole. A suited-up Obeya joined Jake in the cockpit. Four minutes after Jake secured the Rapier, the docking clamps were remotely blown and the Rapier lifted off from the Eagle with Obeya at the controls.
* * * *
The Eagle was blown to oblivion by the auto-destruct Obeya triggered as they left the cockpit. Winterburn and his crew received the send-off they deserved, thought Jake.
The order to launch the Rapiers came at 14.00 hours precisely. The two squadrons, laden with their lethal subspace charge cargo, lifted off from the Illustrious. They headed out beyond the fleet in opposite directions in a wide arc, to allow each jump ship to build up sufficient speed and momentum to make their bomb drop. Steve was in the Blue squadron, whose job was to deliver their charges via the left hand side, pass across the smaller wormhole, and then deliver his charges to the middle blue wormhole. Each Rapier would make just one pass and deliver its payload via a bomb drop. As long as the majority fell within the exterior corona of the blue wormhole and one or more were delivered directly into the wormholes mouth, then the mission would be accomplished. Steve sat at the back of the squadron just behind the group leader as they accelerated away from the Illustrious. The jump ships commenced their circular run at maximum velocity. They would slow down as they reached the drop point. It was essential they reach velocity to prevent them being dragged into the wormhole as they delivered their cargo.
Just as each squadron lined up to make the pass over the wormholes, the Halo 7 exited the wormhole. They