Free Lacuna: Demons of the Void by David Adams

past them, into the Lagrangian point, and jump back to Earth! The aliens will probably…”
    “…follow us straight to Earth again, Mister Sheng. Or report their findings to their people, including their assessment of our significantly improved tactical situation. That’s not a good outcome for us, no matter which way you spin it.”
    Resigned to Liao's instruction, he nodded. “... as you wish, Captain.” His face was hard, but accepting and he moved back to his station.
    Liao turned her attention back to the Operations room. Once again her ‘Captain’s Voice’ saw action.
    “Mister Ling.”
    “Yes, Captain?”
    She squeezed the man’s shoulder, articulating every word clearly and calmly despite the continued barrage of fire now hitting their stern. “Status. On. Missile. Tubes.”
    “Crew still report they are ready to fire, Captain.”
    Stepping over to his console, Liao jabbed a finger towards the man’s radar screen, to the swarm of incoming contacts.
    “Then light them up . Nuke those sons of bitches back to the galaxy they came from.”
    Ling gave a wild grin, seeming to agree with Liao’s notion. His fingers flew over his keyboard, and a moment later, he nodded. “Missiles away, Captain.”
    Another tense silence filled the Operations room as the missiles streaked towards their targets. Strangely, the hostile impacts stopped. The Operations room became deafeningly quiet.
    After a moment Ling spoke out. “I’ve lost communication with one of the missiles... might have been a dud.”
    Liao doubted that.
    Sheng called back to Liao. “...and another missile’s out.”
    Jiang called from her console, “The energy barrages – they’re shooting down our missiles, Captain!”
    “Good.” Liao’s face held a firm, triumphant visage. The rest of the Operations room looked at her like she might be crazy, but Liao felt a surge of energy run through her. “That means they’re afraid of them.”
    Ling spoke up. “All missiles defeated, Captain. 抱歉 .”
    She nodded. “Not your fault. It was worth a shot anyw-”
    Jiang shouted over her. “Wait, no! One of them got through. I’m reading a detonation!”
    Liao turned to face her, eyes wide. “Effect?”
    “Got about half of them,” responded Ling, his voice triumphant. “They’re debris now. And the rest are turning around! They’re heading back to their mother ship, and it’s... the larger ship is withdrawing!”
    A spontaneous cheer rang up from the Operations crew.
    “ NO! ”
    Liao slammed her fist into the console in front of her. “Helm – pursuit course! Head to the Lagrangian point! I want to cut them off! We can’t allow them to escape!”
    “Uhh... aye, Captain! Course laid in!”
    She whirled back to Ling, her face set in a dark frown. “How many missiles do we have loaded and ready to fire?”
    “Four, Captain. Tubes one through six are still reloading...”
    She knew the aliens could not be allowed to retreat. To do so would permit them to return their findings to whatever blasted rock they came from and report that the humans had attacked them. Earth had three ships: one combat ready, one still in drydock, and who knew what damage the aliens had done to the Beijing. Liao understood the situation clearly; if the ship jumped away and escaped, they would return in force.
    The aliens had underestimated humanity once already. Liao anticipated they would not do so again.
    She paused, taking a deep breath. There was no decision to make here. This was a matter of action .
    “Four is enough; We’ll make do with what we have. If we fire now, will they reach the Lagrangian point before the mother ship?”
    Jiang, as though anticipating this very question, spoke up instantly. “Yes, Captain, if we turn our bow to them and fire as soon as possible, the missiles should arrive before the hostile ship does. Since we’re already ballistic and moving at quite a fast pace, the missiles will go even faster.”
    Summer’s warning echoed