Free Left Behind (Ghosts Of War Book 4) by Angelo Benuzzi Page B

astronomers will see our little star shine for a while.»
    Babushkin set off the alarm and both member of the crew moved to the main engine section. At zero gravity, at the core of the ship, the two Russians slid into place the security keys.
    «Are you ready, Dmitry?»
    «I am… what the Hell is that?»
    He was looking at a small service screen, that was showing the simulation of the incoming enemy ships approach to the “Zel’dovich”. One the little ships just disappeared, then another.
    «They are still too far away to be deploying on our hull.»
    Mikhail drew away from the slot his key, then started to go back to the main deck.
    «Let’s see what’s going on. We can blast ourselves later, can’t we?»
    On the main screen, a minute later, they saw the most unexpected situation. One by one the enemy ship were destroyed by fast little missiles, almost too little to be spotted by the sensor array. It took just ten minutes to see the last of them blown to pieces.
    «Can you backtrack those missiles?»
    Babushkin looked at his young aide who was already at work at his desk.
    «Just a moment, I’m plotting a number of trajectories. Well, look at the screen number six. It looks like we have company.»
    And here it was. A long and sleek battle ship, silhouetted against the distant oval of Styx.
    «I’m running the identification program, it will take…»
    «Stop it. I know that ship. It’s the “Roma”. I can’t believe my own eyes, it disappeared with his whole crew at the end of the war.»
     

IV
    Sometimes legends came to life. Anuchin’s dreams of space-based adventures, back then when he was just a kid, often involved the discover of long-lost ships. Finding himself in such a situation was just incredible for him.
    «RSS “Zel’dovich”, this is EUSS “Roma”, do you copy?»
    It was the voice of an old man. Still strong, no matter the cracks and hisses from radio interferences.
    « RSS “Zel’dovich”, this is Commander Scatena from EUSS “Roma”, please answer.»
    It took a while for Mikhail to grab the mike. It was like to speak to an historical character.
    «Sir, I’m Mikhail Babushkin from “Zel’dovich”. I think you just saved us.»
    «Captain Babushkin, you’re not home free yet. Please keep your current direction and avoid to enter the combat zone at all costs.»
    «Sir, our sensors shows nothing except your own ship. Are there more Chinese vessels?»
    «Captain Babushkin, this is the belly of the beast. Your presence here started the last battle of my war. Scatena out.»
    Mikhail looked at the screens for a while, his mind lost between the memories of his own war service in the Russian fleet. Meanwhile Anuchin set off on-board alerts and resumed the normal propulsion.
    «What about our course? Should we maintain it as suggested?»
    Babushkin shook slowly his head.
    «No. For what I can see the European ship is going straight in the direction of Pluto. It looks like they already know where the enemy could be. Our presence here causes the Chinese to attack with their little fleet. Have you already tracked back the direction of the “Roma”?»
    «Yes, it was hidden in the shadow of Styx. I have performed some calculation about those missiles, too. The Europeans must have launched as soon as the Chinese ships leaved Charon in our direction.»
    «I see. They used us as bait. We’ve been tracked and set up.»
    «They know about the presence of the Chinese fleet. And they also know that there’s more than that. We have a lot of images of those little vessels, do you think that it may be useful to check it out?»
    Without an answer the Russian commander started to review the footage, like a man who already know what he will find.
    «Here it is. Look here, Dmitry. Tell me what do you see.»
    Anuchin look at the images for a long minute. Three of the Chinese ship had a feature in common, with the crew quarter exposed to space. In all of them the pilot was clearly visible, barely human shapes