Chapter 14: An Imperfect Battle

"They are firing on us!" exclaimed Leah.

A moment later the beam from the X-ray cannon struck the shields of the ship. The convex shield glowed briefly from the hit.

Jason reported, "Shields holding. One percent power drain."

"It's a burst form an X-ray cannon." Lisa said, "22 Giga-Joule output."

"They try that every time," Rainer said.

"Target phasers on one of their spy crafts," Jim said.

"I have a lock," Jennifer said with an excited voice.

"Fire."

The invisible beam of the phaser reached out to the closest spy vessel. It struck dead center, and the ship exploded in a plasma burst that sent out a shock wave that wreaked havoc on the 4 remaining ships. Each of them were jostled violently.

"Inbound torpedoes... I count 7, no make that 8," Leah said.

Lisa added, "Standard capacitor war heads."

"Disrupter banks, fire on the mother ship," Jim said.

The visual spectrum disrupter fire reached out its eerie greenish white glow. Four separate beams struck in four different places on the 1000-foot saucer shaped ship. They passed through it like the proverbial 'knife though butter'. The first beam struck the main engine compartment, turning the ships anti-grav generator into Swiss cheese, and disabling all the ship's propulsion. The second beam struck the bridge, the explosive decompression sucked the twelve grays on duty out the resulting hole. The third beam found its way into the medical research section of the ship. The three being med crew had a leg removed here, a head there, and a left half torso otherwise. The disrupter beam did its job without prejudice. The fourth beam found its way into the torpedo bay. It sliced through a robotic loading arm, causing one torpedo's charging warhead, to slam into the internal hull. It detonated, and even at half charge the warhead devastated the interior of the weapons bay. The resulting explosion blew a hole fully 230 feet in diameter out into the deeps of space. The mother ship went spiraling out of control, with visible plasma fires clearly burning in what was left of the weapons bay.

Leah reported, "Hyper wave comm is being transmitted by one of the spy ships."

Jim was watching the mother ship burn and spin away as he spoke.

"I didn't think disrupters could do that."

"Must have hit the torpedo bay," Jennifer said, a bit awed.

"Damnit, I wanted that ship intact."

The first of two torpedoes struck the Enterprise even as Jim swore. The explosion vibrated the shield, making an audible 'thud' as it discharged harmlessly.

"Shields down ten percent," Jason reported.

"Target those torpedoes with disrupter fire," Jim said.

Jennifer did just that, and three of them erupted, even as they were disassembling at the molecular level.

Two more torpedoes struck the Enterprise with additional thuds.

Jason reported, "Shields down to 80%."

Jennifer frustratedly said, "It's too close for me to lock on!"

The last torpedo struck the shield, directly in front of the bridge. The sound was much the same, though the view was bright enough to polarize the viewplate.

Jason said, "Shields at 75%."

"Jennifer, target the disrupters on the next spy class ship," Jim said.

"Got it, Love."

"Fire," Jim ordered.

Two beams flashed out, striking the rear of the ship, and taking out the engines. The ship veered, and started to tumble from the escaping gas.

"Torpedoes... fire one each, anti-matter, at the two remaining ships," Jim barked.

Two independently targeted torpedoes streaked out of the Enterprise, seeking their quarry. Both ships saw the incoming torpedoes. Having identified the warhead type, they goosed it trying to escape. The first one zigged when he should have zagged. The plasma bubble of annihilation resulting from the contact, was huge. The last ship managed to get on a strait course hoping to outrun the torpedo. Its captain had figured out the maneuver of firing on the weapon, and tried his own version. His x-ray beam crackled on the armored hull of the torpedo as it closed. It was a lost cause, the torpedo continued to gain speed, and the gap narrowed even more. In final desperation the Gray captain fired a torpedo at the torpedo. Oddly enough, it was a hit. But the anti-matter explosion was too close. The ship was subjected to a massive burst of EMP energy. The result was that the bodies of every member of the silver-based crew absorbed an instantly lethal electrical charge. The ship was still intact, but was now crewless.

Leah said, "As best I can tell, they're all dead on that one, Dad."

"What about the rest?"

"Ship number two has two life signs on board," Lisa said.

A bright flash came from the direction of the mother ship. Its remaining crew scuttled the craft, rather then risk it being captured.

Lisa said, "Ship two is showing an energy buildup."

"I just lost a life sign on that ship two," Leah said.

Lisa said, "Power build up has ceased. It's dropping now."

"Admiral, get a crew together. Take that Gray into custody."

"You got it, Mr. President."

He left the room to go do that.

"Jason, get your tractor beam on that other ship. I want it."

Jason, "I have to get closer first, but I'll get it, Dad."

Gray Home World

The AI system reported to the Gray leader, "Sir, we have a video feed from one of our spy ships in the Centauri B sector."

Leader, "What do they say?"

AI, "You need to view this one yourself, Sir."

The Gray leader watched the battle from the moment the Centauri warship demanded the mother ship surrender. He was shocked to see his ships dispatched with such ease. This really was a new ball game. The worst part was that his son was transmitting the message.