Free Annihilation: Love Conquers All by Saxon Andrew, Derek Chiodo Page B

flame on a welder. The tighter it was pulled in, the hotter the flame. As the screen pulled close to the ship it became impenetrable. The only thing that could come through the screen untouched was another Coronado screen. Ships could actually dock without lowering their screens. The other design function was that the power cells could be discharged into an unbelievable energy beam. The intensity of the beam and its length were controlled by the weapons console.
     
    The ship could still be destroyed if enough energy was directed at it. But that would be difficult with a ship that could move as fast as this one was capable. When the screen was at full power much greater speeds could be achieved, because the random molecules of matter scattered throughout universal space would be absorbed by the screen, offering less resistance. Before the use of power cells, ordinary force fields directed the particles around a ship, which was like traveling through water. There weren’t many molecules in open space, but at extremely high speeds there were enough to offer stiff resistance. The power cells simply consumed those molecules, converted them to energy, stored the resulting power, and thereby eliminated the resistance.
     
    “What is that?” Kosiev asked.
     
    “Sir, it’s about the size of a cruiser, but it’s not moving or registering any power, at least none that I can pick up at this range.”
     
    “Can you determine what it’s made of?”
     
    “Yes sir. Most of it is high-strength alloy.”
     
    Kosiev raised his eyebrows and said, “Is it inside the limit?”
     
    “Yes it is, sir.”
     
    “Sound general quarters, all hands to battle stations. Ensign Smith, change course to intercept that object. Pull in the screen as we approach it. We’re going to take a look; take us in at one-third speed.” The alarm klaxon began wailing, the bridge lights went to full combat power, and sailors jumped from their beds and ran to their duty stations. Moscow was getting ready for war, and Kosiev was proud of the crew and their efficiency. In less than forty-five seconds all sections had reported in and all systems were manned. The bright Directorate ship changed course and flew toward the object on its sensors.
     
    On board the Cainth cruiser the navigator said, “We’ve been detected. The human ship has turned and is coming towards us.”
     
    “How did they see us?” the Cainth commander asked.
     
    “I don’t know. I didn’t detect any sensors, but somehow they see us. They’ve turned directly toward us and are picking up speed.”
     
    “Contact the Glod ship immediately and begin the operation.”
     
    On board the Glod ship the commander saw the coordinates of the Earth ship appear on his screen and heard the Cainth commander say, “Jump now. Jump now. We’ve been detected.”
     
    All of his bridge crew heard the message and grew excited at the upcoming attack. They were ready for action at battle stations and had been so for two rotations. “Enter the location and jump,” the commander ordered.
     
    “Sir, we have a star drive breaking normal space forty-five miles off our port side,” Mikado said.
     
    “Change course, take us away from that entry point,” Kosiev ordered, and Ensign Smith turned the ship and moved ninety degrees away from the star drive disturbance. Kosiev looked at his display and saw the distinctive silver-blue flash that a ship makes as it breaks into normal space. Moscow completed its turn and started picking up speed as it moved away from the entry point of the Glod cruiser.
     
    “What kind of ship is that?” Kosiev asked. “It has to be ten times our size!”
     
    “Sir, there’s nothing like that in our records,” Mikado answered. “I’ve even compared it to all the ships from all of the Cainth invasions and nothing matches.”
     
    Kosiev turned to Ensign Kelley, the communications officer, and said, “Get a message out to Earth station and tell them we’re