The Edge Page 26

the ruptures but we've lost about twenty percent of the ship due to physical damage or loss of life support."

  "Any signs of what we hit?"

  "No physical evidence."

  "But?"

  The officer took a breath then pointed to where the gash ended towards the middle of the ship.

  "The way the metal is torn, I would swear whatever we hit is still right there."

  "What does Security think?"

  "We've sent Mechs there but it's badly torn up."

  Mak spoke into the Comm. "Security, Damage Control thinks there's something lodged in the X. Work with DC and find out what it is. Then get it the fuck off our ship."

  "Security aye sir."

  Where was the Engineering stations in this mess? He clambered over more debris. It made him feel good to do something physical. He could easily have called them from the command chair but he needed to move.

  "What's our status?" he asked the Engineering crew member. The stations here had been damaged more than the other stations. Only three seemed to be working and the crew member he was talking to seemed very young. And he was really scared. And hurt.

  "The Bridge Engineering Officer is dead, sir." He held his sides speaking quietly.

  Mak nodded. Stop that, he thought. "We're going to unseal. Help is on its way."

  The crew member looked relieved. "We lost ten, injured three more. Only me and Corl are left."

  "Understood. What about the ship?"

  "Damage throughout the X, sir."

  Mak realized he had relied on the senior staff to give him the information he needed. He was going to have to work at this one.

  "What does the Chief say about the engines?"

  "Jump Engines continue to be non-functional. Normal Space Engines are offline. The Chief is working on them. Well, the crews are working."

  "Did she have a time estimate?"

  "Hold on." He spoke urgently into his comm. "The Chief uh, wants to know what the, uhm, happened."

  "I'll speak with her, if that's okay with you." The young man smiled with relief.

  "Comm, connect me with the Chief Engineer."

  "Engineering here, Mak, what the hell is going on up there?" Thurber's voice was wild.

  "You've heard then?"

  "Must be hell up there if they put a pod jockey in charge."

  "Just temporarily until Brahms can work himself free or Suth recovers."

  "So, what's on your mind?"

  "How soon until the normal space engines are back on line?"

  "Good question. The best answer is about four hours to get one back on line. Maybe twenty four before we can get all of them back on. What the hell hit us?"

  "We hit it and don't know. How's the life support?"

  "It's running on emergency power. But we need that engine."

  "I'll let you get back to it."

  "Tell whoever the heck is driving up there to look where the hell they're going! Engineering out."

  "Brahms here," a voice said in his ear. "The S'reh'du is changing course."

  "Be right there."

  The big board said it all. The S'reh'du group had changed their course to intercept the X.

  "Comm's been burning up the wires trying to contact one of the ships," Brahms said. "They're not responding, We don't have the strength to take on a Dime and a Colossus."

  Mak refrained from nodding. But he did point towards a group heading towards them. He had assumed they were here to relieve the Bridge crew but they weren't heading towards the stations. They were Soldiers heading for the Command Console. Brahms turned to look as well.

  "What the hell?" he muttered. "Jones, what're you doing here?"

  "We heard a pod jockey had taken command and he ordered us into this mess."

  "You heard wrong," Brahms barked, his beard quivering in anger. "Get off the Bridge."

  Mak didn't know this Jones nor his retinue. But he did know they were armed and there were more of them than what was left of the Bridge security team who were urgently calling into their comms. The crew at the stations which had stayed focused through a disastrous collision, now looked on.

  "We have direct orders from Earth Central to take command of the Battle Group."

  Brahms barked out a laugh. "Cobra just had its ass kicked in case you hadn't noticed. Now, we're busy so clear the area."

  "This is an Earth Central matter now. We're here to take control of the situation."

  "And just what the hell do you think you're going to do?" snarled Brahms.

  "In the absence of the Warszawa, we're here to negotiate with the aliens."

  "These are the same aliens running the Kyrzal aren't they?" Brahms demanded.

  "They offered the Unity their services first. When the administration short sightedly refused, they went to the Kyrzal to show what they're capable of. We got the message."

  "We? The Unity refused from what you just said. And here's a heads up for you, your negotiations aren't going real sunny."

  "That is specifically due to your recklessness. You are relieved of command." He handed Brahms a secure pad. Mak read over his shoulder. It was succinct and plain. The command of the X was to be placed in the hands of Jones. The signature was from Earth Central.

  "This ship reports to the Unity," Brahms growled.

  "Not any more," said Jones.

  "We report to the Unity,"

  "We report to Earth Central. You report to Earth Central."

  Brahms shoulders slumped. He wasn't going to win this one. "Well, whatever you're going to do, you'd better do it quick." He paused. "Sir."

  "Remove that from the Bridge." He pointed at Brenn. "And you, pod jock, should report to your station."

  Mak turned to Brahms. A burly Soldier came and stood next to him. Medical staff were rushing in to evacuate the injured. More Soldiers waited in the hallway. Belatedly, he realized his command to unseal the Bridge had allowed the coup to take place. They probably had somebody on the inside who was supposed to unseal it but he had either failed or been incapacitated.

  He turned away from the Soldiers and handed the comms over to Brahms. This was out of his hands now.

  The Soldier accompanied him as far as the Bridge entrance. He caught sight of Diego's face. There were Soldiers in the Squad Ops room. Diego was livid.

  Debris almost blocked the corridor out of the Bridge. Crews struggled to clear wreckage and repair damage. Mak wouldn't have believed anything short of a planet could hurt the X. He made his way towards a lift. He should report to his pod. See if it was fit to fly. His fingers traced the scar along his cheek. His head throbbed as if the X was still in Jump Space. The collision had layered more bruises on top of his body. The adrenaline rush was definitely wearing off.

  The lift opened. He punched in his destination. It refused indicating that section of the ship was damaged and off limits. He typed in his security codes hoping they had enough clearance. The lift gave him one final chance to cancel out. He didn't take it. He knew exactly where to go. Midships level. Close to where he'd sent Security and the repair teams to look for something nobody could see. The lift made frequent stops for crews to get on and off. Everyone looked grim. And a little scared. Most hauled equipment and spoke urgently into their comms. Each time the lift doors opened, he witnessed the terrible damage the X had sustained. As he approached his destination, it got worse. A lot worse. The lift went from running smoothly to jerkig suddenly and sometimes having to be coaxed to move again. Everybody in the lift was too busy to pay any attention to him.

  He turned his comm to a secure channel. "Th'han'dra," he said.

  "Mak, are you taking Blue Box?"

  "Negative, you still have lead."

  "Joy," she said dryly. "We're still sleeping." Meaning they were still in the bay. "Rumor has it you've become captain."

  "The rumor mill is running behind." He filled her in on what was happening as far as he knew. He could almost hear her thought processes.

  "I don't think Earth Centra
l is acting alone," she said.

  "They must be if they're acting against the Unity."

  "Not necessarily. There are factions on D'ha'ren as well that believe the Unity is not in D'ha'ren's best interest. The Earth Central group could have partnered up with D'ha'ren's factions."

  "I suppose. But what about the Hellborne."

  "Hellborne has committed itself to Earth. Not the Unity. It'll be unclear where their loyalties will lie if Earth splinters into opposing parties."

  "What's happening with the Kyrzal?"

  "They appear to have halted. The group you sent to intercept have also halted in defensive posture. The S'reh'du is also at a standstill. We don't appear to be trying to attack these blobs. All the squads have been recalled."

  "I'm going to see what the hell we hit."

  "Send a postcard."

  He clicked off the comm as the door opened up onto a scene of sheer chaos. The noise and the smell tried to force him back into the lift. Bad air burned his lungs. Flashes either from fires flaring up or welders punctuated the darkness. The crew bellowed instructions at the top of their lungs to each other. Most of the floor and the ceiling had been stripped of plating. The sheets had been used to patch holes in the bulkheads. Someone grabbed him by the shoulder.

  "You need this lift?" the man shouted. A jagged cut ran down his face, blood mixing with sweat and grime.

  "Take it," Mak shouted back.

  The man looked back and waved his hand. A group bearing stretchers moved forward.

  "Here," The man took the breathing mask off one of the injured as he went by and handed it to Mak.

  "Thanks." Mak donned the mask which was thick with sweat and grime. It was also sticky. He stomped down on his imagination.

  "Passenger huh?" The man said looking at him. "I thought these lift stations were supposed to be