Alpha One - Chris Burton [155]
“Admiral Shenke.” Hoskins emergency comm link to the Illustrious was answered immediately.
“Commander Hoskins. Welcome back. You timed that well.”
Hoskins interrupted “Sir, the entire Kryl fleet is just about to come through, you need to prepare.”
“The holes are about to be closed, permanently. We will go to battle stations.”
Shenke ordered the change of status, and stood by as he watched the jump ship patrols engage the Kryl Fighters which followed Hoskins through the hole. He prayed they would not get in the way of the subspace charge delivery.
The Blue Squadron flew over the first wormhole, and the lead ship prepared to unload its cargo. As the pilot crossed over the blue corona of the wormhole, he fired his tiger missile and accelerated away. His job done, he could return to base.
The missile was pulled into the hole, but fell short of entering and embedded itself in the gaseous plasma membrane surrounding it. The next eight missiles were delivered to the corona, but each one missed the center of the hole. On the other side, the Red squadron also delivered their payload. They each failed to deliver a missile directly into the hole. Just as the tenth pair of jump ships were about to deliver their missiles, two Kryl fighters intercepted and forced the remaining members of the Red and Blue squadrons to pull up and void their drop.
* * * *
The Red squadron was in disarray, but the Blue squadron was behind them. Steve Costello decided it was his time to deliver. He opened a comm link and assumed command. He pulled the Rapier round in a tight arc and set up his second run, followed closely by the remaining members of the Blue squadron and two from the Red squadron. Two of the Blue squadron pulled off and commenced battle with the Kryl fighters.
In position, Steve pushed back on the yoke and allowed his thoughts to control the jump ship and its passage across the wormholes. Accelerating all the time, he closed down deep within the corona itself and just when it looked as if his Rapier might be pulled in, he delivered his missile and accelerated up and away from the wormhole at maximum velocity.
Steve’s missile entered the center of the hole. The remaining blue squadron vessels delivered their cargo into the corona from their position high above where Steve delivered his. The payload was delivered and the charges could do their worst.
* * * *
Obeya and Jake were fighting to maintain control of the Rapier, which was in danger of spinning out of control. They had hit a gaseous cloud in the center of the wormhole, which briefly knocked out the NAVCOM and the directional stabilizers. Obeya manually corrected the stabilizers, but they required constant adjustment. Jake wrestled with the controls. He knew they were nearly through. He just needed to keep the ship away from the wormhole walls.
A shard of light suddenly appeared on the horizon and Jake instantly recognized it. The missile was fired into the center of the hole. He knew he must avoid it at all costs. The wormhole wall would be his solace. He pulled the ship close to the lining of the wormhole and allowed the momentum of the vortex to pull the Rapier along, compensating all the time and preventing the ship from pulling out into the middle of the hole. The missile passed them and exploded seconds later. The timing was critical. Jake accelerated at maximum thrust as he saw the explosion gathering force below him. This would be close. The walls of the wormhole began collapsing.
How long before we are free? he thought. He pulled the ship into the middle of the hole and closed his eyes.
The Rapier freed the wormhole seconds later. The blue wormhole was collapsing in on itself. The delivery of the subspace charges was a success, and the wormhole was sealing.
The Rapier touched down in the Halo 7’s main hangar bay.