Read Beyond Mars Crimson Fleet for Free Online Page A

MY SCREEN
AND ARE CLOSING FAST!"
    Without hesitation, Wakinyan issued new orders,
"Increase speed to fifty knots and recalculate! Weapons, prepare to
release missile decoys!"
    The navigator quickly punched in
the new speed and course, and was promptly greeted by the blinking
red bolded words “ Speed Too Great For
Turning Arc – Danger Of Collision !”
    “CAPTAIN, COMPUTER INDICATES
COLLISION inevitable AT THAT SPEED!” a now panicky Edwards screamed
out.
    “Navigator, increase speed to fifty knots and
recalculate!” Wakinyan forcefully repeated his previous order again
charged with his authority.
    Edwards was astonished. The crewman realized the
danger of even a minor miscalculation and turned his head to
Lieutenant Randall to appeal the command, but Randall wasn't about
to.
    "NAVIGATOR, RECALCULATE FOR FIFTY KNOTS!" James
angrily reaffirmed his captain's order.
    "SOUND COLLISION ALARM!" Wakinyan added.
    A claxon echoed throughout the ship, warning all of
the imminent peril.
    Edwards, scared and flustered,
hurriedly recalculated the Crazy
Horse’s speed and course. Silently he
prayed he had not made a mistake. "TURN ON MY MARK! FIVE, FOUR,
THREE, TWO, ONE, MARK!"
    "UP ANGLE TWO DEGRESS, COURSE ZERO-THREE-ONE, FIFTY
KNOTS AYE!" the crewman replied loudly.
    This time
as the Crazy Horse leaned into the turn, part of her hull and one of her conards
began to scrape a side of the cave wall. Massive sparks trailed the
ship’s metal from contact with the rocks as the destroyer’s hull
vibrated, screeched, and groaned. But once more the ship righted
itself and was in the middle of the corridor again. Meanwhile, even
though they were flying at a greatly reduced speed, the Earth
fighters had gradually closed.
    "Beta
Leader to Gladstone . Target is now within missile range, over!" the woman pilot
voiced mechanically.
    " Gladstone to
Beta Leader, you are cleared to fire! Repeat, you are cleared to
fire!"
    "Beta Leader to Beta Flight,
prepare to fire missiles!" Beta Leader then checked her console and
armed her missiles. "Beta Leader to Beta Flight, all weapon systems
now show green and have a lock! On my order  FIRE MISSILES!"
    Almost
simultaneously, the three fighters launched their deadly
projectiles at the Crazy
Horse .
    "CAPTAIN, FIGHTERS ARE STILL CLOSING!" the sensor
crewman exclaimed. "THREE MISSILES HAVE BEEN LAUNCHED! MISSILES
HAVE ARMED! MISSILES HAVE ACQUIRED!"
    "WEAPONS, STANDBY TO LAUNCH DECOYS! HELM, INCREASE
SPEED TO SEVENTY KNOTS! TIME TO THE NEXT TURN, MR. EDWARDS?"
    "WITH RECALCULATED SPEED, FORTY-FIVE SECONDS, SIR!"
Mr. Edwards replied.
    "LAUNCH DECOYS!" shouted Wakinyan.
    Swiftly,
several decoys were ejected from the Crazy
Horse as the ship sped away. For a lagging
moment, they hung in the air motionlessly, monitoring the radar
tracking signals from the inbound missiles. They then started
moving slowly upward, generating false reflections and a
holographic projection of several phantom ships. The images were so
enhanced by the darkness of the cavern that the deception would
have fooled even the most skeptical eye.
    As the missiles approached,
each of the projectiles' computers compared the electronic signals
and visual footprint of the holographic images to the ones stored
in their data banks. A match quickly was made to the electronic
deception. Within microseconds, the missiles locked on and pursued
the false quarries.
    A few moments later, each missile flew
through the mirages and impacted on a rocky wall. Chucks of stone
debris were cleaved from the strata of the granite structure and
blown right into the path of the advancing fighters. A small
boulder slammed into the lead craft, creating an explosion that
blew the other two off course and out of control. Both pilots each
fought desperately with their spacecraft trying to regain mastery,
but their lives swiftly ended in brilliant fiery collisions with
the cavern.
    The
bridge of the Crazy Horse remained hushed as all listened for the sensor
crewman's