insufficient.
"Acknowledged, Washington . Good hunting, and we'll see you on the other side. Beijing out."
She closed the communication and turned to her navigator, Lieutenant Dao. "Mr. Dao, where are we in relation to the surface?"
"By the time we close the distance to Earth at best speed, we'll be over the Atlantic Ocean."
The Atlantic. Could they make Europe, or would they have to go west?
"Best place to make landfall that's got people?"
"We could land in the southern United States with only minor course corrections. It'd be a hell of a landing though, especially with the battle damage."
"We're already in Hell, Mr. Dao." The U.S. would have to do. It would have plenty of people. "Commence atmospheric re-entry protocol, and prepare to land the ship in Houston."
Dao twisted in his seat and gave her a confused look. "Captain, there is no atmospheric re-entry protocol for a ship of this size."
"Then make it up as you go along. Just control re-entry with the reactionless drives; the main source of heat will be friction from the air, so control our speed and we can minimise that. Try not to get us all killed."
"Aye aye, Captain. Making it up as we go along… mark."
The Beijing tilted and pointed down towards the surface of the planet. The Atlantic Ocean and the east coast of the United States filled the monitors of her forward facing cameras.
"Miss Rowe, report status on the jump drive."
No answer. Summer's eyes were fixed on monitors relaying information from their external cameras. Liao knew what she was looking at.
"Rowe, jump drive status."
Still no response.
"Rowe!"
She looked at Liao with absent eyes. "Sorry. What?"
"The jump drive?"
Rowe tapped at the keyboard on her console. "Well, it's fucked."
"I need something a little more specific than that. Can we jump out of here, or should we get out and push?"
"The emergency jump to the Earth-Moon L1 Lagrange point has caused fractures along the surface of the drive enclosure. The emergency cooling system does that. I warned you that it does."
"You did, but that's in the past. I want to know what the ship can do for me in the future."
"Well, I can probably squeeze one more jump out of her, two at most. Then we're going to need six weeks in Lunar drydock."
"There is no Lunar drydock anymore." That settled it. With only one jump left, they couldn't go to Belthas. The Alliance knew they were going there. "We need to go somewhere safe; somewhere the Toralii Alliance won't look." Earth loomed larger in her monitors. She needed to decide, but where?
The beautiful blue ocean filling her monitor reminded her of one place she had visited, where the Alliance would not look for them or anyone else. A place where they would be safe.
"Can you jump us to Velsharn?"
The planet stuck in her mind for its lush vegetation and pristine beaches. She had walked on them, seen the Telvan colony, met the Toralii who lived there and shook their hands.
A beautiful place destroyed by the Beijing 's missiles. Liao had been court-martialled over the incident and lost, a decision she largely agreed with. The deaths there had been her fault.
Dwelling on the past could not help them now. The planet was large and, despite being mostly water, was well within the Telvan borders. The Alliance would not dare to attack them there.
"Sure," said Summer, "Velsharn. I can make that happen, but it'll take time."
"Time. We don't have much of that." The Beijing began to shudder and shake as it caught the upper edges of Earth's roiling and darkened atmosphere. "We're going to be the last ship off Earth, so if the Toralii decide to attack someone, it'll be us. Make sure we're ready to go as soon as we can be. Inform the Madrid , Washington and the Tehran ."
Rowe had always been overconfident, arrogant even, but the doubt on her face made her true feelings clear.
She was afraid.
"Make it happen," Liao said, then let her get to work. "Tactical, dispatch every Broadsword and Falcon we
"Acknowledged, Washington . Good hunting, and we'll see you on the other side. Beijing out."
She closed the communication and turned to her navigator, Lieutenant Dao. "Mr. Dao, where are we in relation to the surface?"
"By the time we close the distance to Earth at best speed, we'll be over the Atlantic Ocean."
The Atlantic. Could they make Europe, or would they have to go west?
"Best place to make landfall that's got people?"
"We could land in the southern United States with only minor course corrections. It'd be a hell of a landing though, especially with the battle damage."
"We're already in Hell, Mr. Dao." The U.S. would have to do. It would have plenty of people. "Commence atmospheric re-entry protocol, and prepare to land the ship in Houston."
Dao twisted in his seat and gave her a confused look. "Captain, there is no atmospheric re-entry protocol for a ship of this size."
"Then make it up as you go along. Just control re-entry with the reactionless drives; the main source of heat will be friction from the air, so control our speed and we can minimise that. Try not to get us all killed."
"Aye aye, Captain. Making it up as we go along… mark."
The Beijing tilted and pointed down towards the surface of the planet. The Atlantic Ocean and the east coast of the United States filled the monitors of her forward facing cameras.
"Miss Rowe, report status on the jump drive."
No answer. Summer's eyes were fixed on monitors relaying information from their external cameras. Liao knew what she was looking at.
"Rowe, jump drive status."
Still no response.
"Rowe!"
She looked at Liao with absent eyes. "Sorry. What?"
"The jump drive?"
Rowe tapped at the keyboard on her console. "Well, it's fucked."
"I need something a little more specific than that. Can we jump out of here, or should we get out and push?"
"The emergency jump to the Earth-Moon L1 Lagrange point has caused fractures along the surface of the drive enclosure. The emergency cooling system does that. I warned you that it does."
"You did, but that's in the past. I want to know what the ship can do for me in the future."
"Well, I can probably squeeze one more jump out of her, two at most. Then we're going to need six weeks in Lunar drydock."
"There is no Lunar drydock anymore." That settled it. With only one jump left, they couldn't go to Belthas. The Alliance knew they were going there. "We need to go somewhere safe; somewhere the Toralii Alliance won't look." Earth loomed larger in her monitors. She needed to decide, but where?
The beautiful blue ocean filling her monitor reminded her of one place she had visited, where the Alliance would not look for them or anyone else. A place where they would be safe.
"Can you jump us to Velsharn?"
The planet stuck in her mind for its lush vegetation and pristine beaches. She had walked on them, seen the Telvan colony, met the Toralii who lived there and shook their hands.
A beautiful place destroyed by the Beijing 's missiles. Liao had been court-martialled over the incident and lost, a decision she largely agreed with. The deaths there had been her fault.
Dwelling on the past could not help them now. The planet was large and, despite being mostly water, was well within the Telvan borders. The Alliance would not dare to attack them there.
"Sure," said Summer, "Velsharn. I can make that happen, but it'll take time."
"Time. We don't have much of that." The Beijing began to shudder and shake as it caught the upper edges of Earth's roiling and darkened atmosphere. "We're going to be the last ship off Earth, so if the Toralii decide to attack someone, it'll be us. Make sure we're ready to go as soon as we can be. Inform the Madrid , Washington and the Tehran ."
Rowe had always been overconfident, arrogant even, but the doubt on her face made her true feelings clear.
She was afraid.
"Make it happen," Liao said, then let her get to work. "Tactical, dispatch every Broadsword and Falcon we
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