Chapter 22: Damaged Visitors

James was bringing Tina's lips to his when a voice I did not recognize started shouting. "Oh God! Oh God! James! James! We have a visitor! We have a visitor!"

James paused and looked over at Bethany. She mouthed a name and he nodded. "Give me a report," he called out.

"We have a jump point opening," the voice cried nervously. "The instruments say it's on a direct line with the Ursus system. One of the notes said that the last ship to arrive from that system was Nassau."

James set Tina down. I could see a small moue of disappointment cross her face, but he was concentrating on the voice. "Do we have an identification of class? Or any communications?"

"Nothing," another voice called. "The point hasn't finished opening."

"Damn!" James said. "Battle damage for sure. Candi, Randi, you can run faster than the twins, get to command to help Tracy and Monique. Donna, I'm sure you want to jump Jacques bones after his wonderful song earlier, but..."

"I know, Shawna and I need to get to the medical bay. We'll be ready," she called out.

There was a shriek of fear and panic. "Three more points opening. They are opening fast and initial scans say they are Sa'arm ships!"

"Distance?" James called as all activity in the room halted.

"Almost right on top of the other point. James! The computer says they are in launch range of Ishtar. They are coming in right at the hyper limit and our orbit puts us well within attack range!" the voice called.

"Shit!" James said. "Playtime's over! Brad, Debby, Amanda, let's run to the laser pod. Linus, Tyson, we need to get the pods up. Terrence, you and Timothy get to command, and get the orbitals up."

Bethany pushed me towards the door. "Meiko, Janice, Tina go! I'll get this cleared up and take care of the babies."

We joined the exodus from the room. Streams of citizens and their concubines dashed through the tunnels. James was far ahead of us, but we caught up with Lisa and Christine as we hurried to the laser pod.

As we arrived and waited for the door to cycle, Randi spoke up. "The first ship is through. It's a Patrician, but it's a wreck."

"Amanda, laser two with me; Brad, Xavier, laser one," James called. "Randi, how bad is it?"

"I'm still refining the scan, but..." Randi started.

"Ishtar control, please come in," a calm voice called out.

"Oops," Candi said. "I put the call on the overhead. James, it's for you."

"This is Ishtar, identify yourself please," James called out as I stepped into the laser pod's airlock.

"Captain Jennifer Gates of the Cancun. We need repair, and cover while we get to your docks."

"We're working to get our defenses up," James said. "Can you stay alive until we start shooting?"

"Ivan, full power to the engines now," Captain Jennifer called out. "Sure, our shields are gone, and we're out of ammunition, but we can stay out of range until you take out the ships."

"Do you have any casualties?" James asked as the airlock cycled. I burst inside with Tina and Janice to find James disrobed and struggling into the armored underpants.

"Several, but all are stable. One of our concubines was an emergency room nurse and has managed to keep everyone alive. We do have a couple with severe burns. I've been told they need to be in a medical pod within four hours," Jennifer replied calmly.

I joined my sister concubines in helping James fight his way into the armor. We had all of the undergarments in place and were helping him with the torso plate when Tiffany spoke.

"There's no way that ship is still functional! James, we aren't scanning a Patrician class corvette. That's a collection of armor plating that's stayed in close formation!" she called out.

"I can assure you that Cancun is still functional," Jennifer said. "We just don't have any weapons left to fight with."

"I still say it's impossible," Tiffany muttered. "The other points are open. Scans indicate that we have three Vacuna class scouts."

"Can we use our orbital defenses?" James asked.

"We can if they..." Terrence started saying. There was a short pause. "Damn! James, they appear to know where they are. Two have diverted from Cancun and are now heading straight at us."

"Use our defenses," James said as he started the seal check. Linus arrived, as the check was finishing. He nodded to James and rushed over to the laser control.

"We're trying," Timothy replied. "But we didn't set them up to deal with scouts. The ships are too quick for us to lock on with any of the missile platforms. I've tried three of our dead-fire clusters, but no hits."

"What about the one after the Cancun," James asked as he accepted the helmet and started walking to the passage to the laser. Tina grabbed Janice and me and pulled us down into the chair he had just left.

"Waiting for it to settle down and start an attack run on Cancun," Terrence said. "That one won't escape."

James nodded, he was about to head into the passage to the laser when Linus turned. "Wait!" he shouted at my master.

James turned as Linus stood. "Tyson and I have worked with the AI and made some adjustments to the lasers. The seals are a bit more durable and they now spray a counteragent to the acid when above ground. It won't protect you, but we should be able to get four shots from the laser before it fails. However, the best way is for you to only take two shots and then drop back down. I can try to patch any leaks while you switch with Amanda and then she'll take the final two shots."

"Last time the instruments degraded quickly," James reminded him. "Will Amanda be able to target anything?"

"She should," Linus said as he turned back to this control station. "That was one area we improved. The connection between your armor and the gun has been hardened. Your suit will likely fail before the display goes out."

James nodded and put the helmet on. Janice dashed over to conduct a final seal check and then slapped him on the back as he disappeared into the gun chamber. I shivered slightly, remembering the blackened mess that was his armor after the last time he had been on the laser cannons.

Tina shivered as well, but we sat quietly as James walked through the passage. The overhead speaker was silent. Linus was holding his right hand over his ear. His left hand danced over the control panel. Finally, he nodded.

"Right. James, Cancun is making a sweeping turn. They will cut inside the orbit of Clarke and then cut in front of us before slowing down. Terrence is sure he can take out the scout that's after her. The problem will be the other two scouts. One has cut towards Isis and it looks like its going to use the a gravity-well slingshot to try to get through our defenses," Linus said.

Linus removed his right hand from his ear and began adjusting the controls. "The other one is coming straight in, so we are going to ... wait ... Tiffany, I'm seeing three more jump points opening."

I whirled to look at the entry to the gun chamber. Amanda was suited up and standing just outside. Meanwhile Linus was moving his hands quickly, touching buttons and dials on his control panel.

"James, I'm going to have to send you up now. You have to get that first scout with your first two shots. Brad will get the one playing with the gravity well, and then Amanda and Xavier will have to get the latecomers," Linus reported. "I'm turning your display on now. Try to set your aim as the gun rises, we're going to need every shot. Tam, call for someone else to get here with their armor. We might need to take a desperation shot if Terrence's defenses miss that sixth scout."

We heard no reply. Janice ran over and threw her arms around Tina and me. We huddled in a group, listening to the faint whisper the gun made as it rose into Ishtar's poisonous atmosphere.