The three smaller ships continued their assault on the cruiser slowly chipping away at its shields. However, the larger more powerful cruiser continued firing and both Lentlian ships had suffered damage.
Commander Stelia continued swerving out from behind the Lentlian ships to fire on the cruiser before moving back behind them since her own shields were gone. However, after several times, the cruiser’s weapon’s crew knew what to expect and as she brought the ship out to attack, a plasma blast struck the ship. The ship shuttered as a large tear was ripped along its side and it spun out of control.
“Engines and stabilizers out,” shouted the commander to be heard over piercing alarms while she and Debra were thrown around in their seats.
“Reactors are losing containment,” yelled Debra.
“We have to eject,” shouted Commander Stelia as she started unbuckling her seat straps. Debra immediately followed suit. As soon as they were free, their feet were flung into the air and they had to hold onto their seats to keep from getting thrown into the ceiling. “Use the handholds,” cried the commander.
The handholds ran along the walls to the back of the control deck where the escape pod was located. The two women immediately started working their way back as the spinning ship tossed them from side to side. At last they reached the pod. It took Commanded Stelia several tries before she was able to grab the door release. Yanking it, the door slid open. “Inside,” she cried.
Debra swung her feet down into the doorway, her legs and body being banged into the door opening as she made her way inside. She grabbed the escape pod seat to steady herself as Commander Stelia made her way inside. Once inside, she pulled down the ejection lever and the pod door slammed down behind her. The pod shook as the separation bolts fired and both women were shoved towards the door as the escape pod accelerated away from the ship. They each held tightly to the handholds mounted to the walls to keep from tumbling as it took several minutes for the pod to stop spinning.
Commander Stelia grabbed the pod controls and began moving away from their ship. The pod shook as the ship exploded behind them sending debris in all directions. Without shields, the din of metal striking the escape pod filled the cabin.
The radio receiver began blinking. “Captain Krentl to Commander Stelia, come in,” he radioed, some anxiety in his voice.
“”This is Commander Stelia,” she answered while checking over the status of the pod’s system. “Looks like we’re okay. Sorry we can’t help you finish this.”
“We’ll take care of it. Krentl out.”
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Will could feel the ship continuing to take fire as he shot back at the soldiers. However they’d taken cover at a turn in the corridor blocking his way to the escape pod. He’d have to try getting to one of the other ones he’d seen. But first, he had to get out of the detention area.
With one hand he continued firing at the soldiers and with the other he began firing at the force field power unit along the wall where the soldiers were located. Using only one blaster it took longer, but at last the unit began glowing red. Will stopped firing and dived to the floor as it exploded. As chunks of metal flew over his head, he could hear screams coming from the corridor. He scrambled out of the opening and started running away from where the soldiers had been, not daring to look back, his heart pounding.
The nearest escape pod wasn’t too far away, but he’d have to pass through several long corridors to reach it. At each corner, he stopped and listened for any sign of movement. At the first two, he heard nothing and continued on. However, at the third he heard the sound of running feet and orders being given.
Drawing both blasters he waited with his back against the wall until the sound was close. Then he leapt out and began rapidly firing, shooting at anything that moved. The group of four soldiers he’d surprised didn’t even have time to draw their blasters before they lay on the floor unconscious. Will was breathing heavily as he continued on.
The escape pod was in the middle of a long corridor and Will began running as soon as he reached it. He was about halfway to the pod when three soldiers came running around the corner at the far end of the corridor. Diving to the floor, Will began firing. The soldiers were able to jump back without being hit.
Will lay there firing every time he saw something move. However, he knew he’d never get to escape pod doing that. Flipping both blasters to incinerate, he jumped to his feet and began firing continually at the corner the soldiers were hiding behind. The wall was blackened and sparks shot out where the blaster fire hit.
Will ran to the escape pod and while continuing to fire with one hand, he pulled the emergency release lever with the other. The door slid open and he jumped inside. As his head cleared the doorway, he hit the button which sealed the escape pod door. Not even bothering to strap himself in, he pulled to lever to eject the pod from the ship. Nothing happened.
Will quickly scanned the control panel and saw that the escape pod release mechanism had been locked out. His only chance was to use the manual override, but that was located outside in the corridor and only provided a ten second delay. With a blaster in each hand, he opened the door and sticking his arms out began blindly firing down both directions of the corridor. As he paused firing, he could hear the sound of voices and running feet.
He immediately started firing again and inched himself closer to the door until he was crouching beneath it. Once in position, he slowly raised his head to get a look at the corridor. There were now soldiers at both ends and they began firing as he came into sight. He pulled his arms in and quickly changed his blaster settings to incinerate and began firing again. This time when he poked his head out, there was no return fire as sparks were flying off the walls at both ends of the corridor.
He cautiously moved upward until the manual override release located above the door in the corridor was just within reach. Dropping one of his blasters, he yanked the lever and jumped back down into the pod. He had just enough time to get the interior door closed before the explosive bolts separated the pod from the cruiser.
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Will was thrown back onto the seat as the escape pod engines fired. It shot away from the cruiser as it was programmed to do. Shoving himself forward, he grabbed the control stick and turned the pod back towards the cruiser. He’d been just in time as a plasma blast passed just behind him.
He brought the pod down beneath the cruiser and began moving back towards its engines. He brought the pod to a stop right below them. He couldn’t be fired on, but the engines put out a lot of radiation and he could already see the pod’s radiation levels rising. He couldn’t stay there long.
Bringing up sensors, he saw two ships engaging the cruiser. He recognized them as light cruisers, but was surprised to see they weren’t Celentian. His mind raced wondering what had happened to Debra and Commander Stelia. However, he pushed those thoughts aside. He had work to do.
Knowing to get their help he’d have to let them know where he was, he flipped in the escape pod’s location beacon. Even though he knew the pod’s radio could only broadcast on emergency frequencies which the cruiser would also receive, he activated the radio. “Will Power,” he radioed and flipped the location beacon off and on several times.
Waiting until the ships were making an attack run, he fired up the pod’s thrusters and headed for the two massive nozzles at the back end of the cruiser. He hoped the attacking ships would realize what he was doing. Just as he neared the middle of the nozzles he turned the pod upward between them. The escape pod shook as he fought against the turbulence of the ships exhaust gases which swirled around the nozzles. The hot gases were also quickly pushing the exterior temperature of the pod towards critical limits.
As he cleared the nozzles, the temperature and radiation levels started returning to normal. Looking at the sensor display he saw the two ships nearing the aft end of the cruiser. Will turned the pod to port knowing that if the ships ignored him, he’d be quickly be vaporized by the cruiser. He breathed a sigh of relief as both ships broke off their attack and accelerated towards him. They reached him just as the cruiser began firing.
The ships moved deftly to deflect the incoming fire away from the pod without taking the full brunt of it. The cruiser adjusted its course and set out in pursuit of the escape pod. However, the time it took to change course allowed the pod to get out of its weapons range. The two ships swung back around and continued their attack on the cruiser. Watching on sensors, Will was impressed as the two smaller ships used their superior maneuverability to evade most of the cruiser’s fire while inflicting damage on it. Even so, the cruiser was gaining on the escape pod.
The combined damage caused by the two ships took a toll on the cruiser and its shields finally collapsed. A final flurry of blaster fire at the cruiser’s engines caused it to slow and the two ships zoomed away from it. One ship headed towards Will’s escape pod while the other headed in another direction.
The ship stopped not far from Will’s escape pod. “Prepare for docking,” came the radio message.
Will brought the pod over to the ship’s airlock and lined it up with the docking clamps. In a few minutes, a green light showing a positive lock came on and Will opened the door. He stepped out into a small control room where a husky man with wavy black hair and beard stood at attention. He wore a Lentlian captain’s uniform which Will recognized from his service on Lentlia during the Trelent War.
“Greetings, Captain Power,” he said with a crisp salute. “I am Captain Krentl.”
Will returned the salute. “Thank you for your help, Captain. That was some very impressive flying.”
He smiled. “Coming from you that is quite a compliment.”
Will faltered for a moment, almost afraid to ask the question, but he had to know. “Have you had any contact with Commander Stelia of Celentus?”
Captain Krentl nodded. “Yes, Captain Prustr is on her way to get her. The Commander’s ship was destroyed, but she was able to eject safely.”
“Do you know if she had a passenger?”
The Captain thought for a moment. “I think she did, well at least she said we when she contacted me after ejecting from her ship.”
“Come in Captain Krentl, this is Captain Prustr,” came a woman’s voice.
Captain Krentl walked over to the control panel and pressed a button. “This is Krentl, go ahead.”
“I’ve docked with Commander Stelia’s escape pod and have brought her and her passenger onboard. She says to tell Will she’s okay.”
Will broke into a wide smile.
The Captain looked over at Will and smiled. “Captain Power heard and seems quite pleased. Set course for Celentus.”
“Acknowledged.”
After ejecting the docked escape pod, Captain Krentl set course for Celentus. He too had served during the war and he and Will spent the trip talking about their experiences. It turned out that they’d fought in several battles together, but in different units.
Will enjoyed the discussion, but thoughts of Debra and what the two of them had been through were never far from his mind. He still didn’t understand why Gwen had been so insistent on trying to get him to confess. Plus, his being interrogated didn’t make any sense. Grandle could certainly make sure he was found guilty so why even bother with an interrogation. He was convinced something else was going on, but had no idea what it could be.
It was mid-afternoon in Celentus’ capital city as the two ships began their descent to the landing field. The scene was far different than when Will and Debra had left Celentus. The landing field packed with ships and people franticly trying to board them was gone. Instead, only a few ships were dotted around the field and a small group of people waited near the edge of the landing field.
As the Lentlian ships came into view two cars made their way onto the landing field. They stopped a short distance away from where the ships were to land. Once the ships’ engines shut down, the doors opened. Will followed by Captain Krentl exited one ship while Debra, Commander Stelia, and Captain Prustr exited the other. Will and Debra immediately rushed towards each other.
She wrapped her arms around him and held him for several minutes without saying a word. Will wiped a tear from her eye. Instead of his usual heroic quip, Will decided to share what was on his heart. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again,” he said in a soft voice.
“Me either,” she answered, holding him tighter.
The two Lentlian captains and Commander Stelia smiled at the sight of Will and Debra before walking towards King Raphul, Princess Cintrel, and Admiral Zelen who’d just exited one of the cars.
“Queen Fralina of Lentlia sends her greetings,” announced Captain Krentl as he and Captain Prustr bowed.
“Queen Fralina has always been a great friend of Celentus. She even agreed to one last service you might provide.”
The two captains looked at one another. “Of course, your Majesty.”
King Raphul smiled. “You are to remain here while your ships are repaired so that we might have an opportunity to properly express our gratitude for all you’ve done.”
Captain Krentl and Captain Prustr broke into wide smiles. “It would be an honor your Majesty.”
“Admiral Zelen and Commander Stelia shall escort you to the palace,” he revealed. “And this evening there shall be a banquet in your honor.”
Finally realizing that they were the only ones still standing by the ships, Will and Debra hurried over to the King’s group. They reached the King and Princess Cintrel just as the two Lentlian captains climbed into one of the cars with Commander Stelia and Admiral Zelen.
“Our apologies, your …” began Will.
The King chuckled and held up a hand. “Please think nothing of it. I’m just happy we were able to get the two of you back.”
“We’re very grateful, your Majesty,” declared Will, “especially considering how much you risked to rescue us.”
King Raphul looked from Will to Debra. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from the two of you, it’s that where doing the right thing is concerned, no risk is too great.”