Homeworld (Odyssey One) Read Free

“Yes, Captain. Temperature up, but within operating parameters.”
    Sun swore, something that was fast becoming a bad habit.
    If the heat shields were reporting elevated yet still operating temperatures, there was only one reason for the ship to have gotten as hot as it was. The massive electromagnetic interference they were plunging through was actually turning every ferromagnetic surface of the ship into an induction-based heating element.
    We’re a flying oven, in other words.
    “Ready to break out!” he called.
    “Captain, we’re not in optimal position for break out,” the helmsman told him.
    “Optimum position is on the other side of the star. We’ll be broiled alive before we get there,” Sun said, shaking his head. “We have no choice. Prepare for counter-mass pulse!”
    “Yes, Captain. All capacitors stand ready for full power pulse to the counter-mass generators.”
    “Predictive course plot to my screens.”
    “On your screens, Captain.”
    The displays directly accessible to his eyes lit up, showing their current course in the tight orbit of the star along with a prediction of where they’d go if he initiated break out at that specific moment.
    Sun licked his lips as he considered the timing, knowing that he wasn’t going to get a clean escape vector. To achieve that he’d have to stay in the inductive range of the corona for far too long when even just minutes might be enough to literally cook his crew where they sat.
    “Break on my command,” he ordered.
    The escape line would bring them within range of the second squadron’s potential strike zone, but if he timed it right they would be able to limit the engagement time. That really just left him with one question remaining.
    They’ve fired on us. That’s effectively an act of war. If I return fire, however, it will potentially escalate the situation. If I do not, there’s a much higher chance that we won’t survive this encounter.
    There wasn’t really much of a choice, in all honesty. So far these ships perfectly matched the stolen intelligence on the
Odyssey
mission, even the line items that most of the Block’s military capacity believed to be propaganda.
    “Tactical,” he called.
    “Yes, Captain?”
    “Arm aft tubes. Ready them to fire.”
    Behind the
Weifang
, the alien squadron was beginning to lose their overtake velocity. They were still gaining slowly, but time was now working in the
Weifang
’s favor. Sun looked at the numbers, glad to note that at least the alien ships wouldn’t be able to close in beyond long range. He didn’t want to be on the wrong side of laser cannons that size if they were fired within ten light-seconds.
    “Captain, we’re showing unusual interference across all our high band instrumentation…,” Shi spoke up, scowling at his displays.
    “That’s probably from the magnetic fields of the corona,” Sun offered.
    “No Captain,” Shi shook his head. “These are hardened systems. The interference has to be in the system, but I can’t seem to….”
    A building hum took that moment to increase beyond all sense, drowning out the officer’s words as a crackling sound joined in. Everyone looked around with growing nervousness, trying to identify the sound suddenly surrounding them.
    “What is it?” Sun asked, eyes slowly moving around the Command deck as he looked for whatever it was he was hearing.
    “Unknown. We’ve got interference across all high band instruments, internal and external,” Shi said, his voice pitched high enough to hear yet still sounding hushed as he too looked slowly around.
    “Enemy weapon?” Sun asked, remembering that the reports mentioned some kind of close-range weapon that the
Odyssey
listed as “unknown, extremely dangerous.” He would have thought they were well out of range of any “close-range” weapon.
    “Unknown,” Shi said again, sounding helpless and irritated by the fact.
    Sun didn’t blame him. The idea of something happening on his ship