Valkyrie Rising (Warrior's Wings Book Two) by Evan Currie Page B

of gravity and other effects of space-time actually played holy havoc with magnetic containment, and no one had figured out a way to compensate, as yet.
    That meant that they couldn’t store anti-hydrogen pellets during a jump, nor could they run the fusion reactor, so the ships were forced to run on straight battery power during the initial few minutes after exiting jump space.
    “We have Atlantis onscreen, sir. Information is about seventeen hours old.”
    “Onscreen.”
    “Aye, sir.”
    At extreme long-range, the most they could make out with only a few seconds exposure was the soft blue of the planet along with the light of its moon peeking out from one side.
    “Looks quiet so far, at least.”
    It did at that, but Patrick knew that looks could be very deceiving at this range. “Do we have anything across the spectrum?”
    “No, sir. Radio and laser frequencies are quiet.”
    More news that was either good or bad, but without context there was no way to tell which. All they could do was wait for better data, but he wasn’t sure they could afford to be patient. Patrick opened a channel to the admiral.
    “Ma’am?”
    “I’m following, Captain. As soon as the squadron is spun up, take us in-system at best action speed.”
    “Aye, ma’am. Best action speed.”
    At best action speed, they’d reach planet in a little under a day, accounting for acceleration and deceleration, while maintaining combat-fit levels of crew health and welfare. It worked out to between three and five gravities acceleration, on average, but fluxed in order to allow for some breaks to keep the crew from being injured or just simply worn down to nothing by the time they arrived.
    Patrick set to work, getting his ship in readiness while monitoring the squadron’s preparations at the same time. It took them almost an hour to secure all stations and wind up enough power to continue, but shortly after that, they were underway and under military power as they tipped their bows sunward and drove in-system.
    *****
    Trying to sleep in four-gravity acceleration was akin to trying to run in molasses: it could be done, but it took a lot of effort and a surprising amount of practice. So when the alarm sounded, Nadine Brookes awoke far easier than she had nodded off and struggled from the straps of the acceleration couch as she pawed at the console near her for the com panel.
    “Bridge here.” A voice came back over the comm a moment later.
    “Brookes,” she growled, trying to mask the sleep in her voice. “Status.”
    “Accelerometers are showing gravitational anomalies, Admiral. I’ve brought the fleet to battle stations,” Patrick told her calmly. “They’re out there somewhere.”
    “Understood.” She painfully swung out of the couch and planted her feet solidly on the floor. “Do we have contact with the planet?”
    “Negative. Looks like a signals blackout, same as Hayden, ma’am.”
    “Damn it,” she swore. “Visuals?”
    “We’ve confirmed that the counterweight is still in orbit, ma’am.” His voice was mildly optimistic as he said that. “Still appears to be connected.”
    “Well, that’s good then,” she said.
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    If the counterweight was still tethered off, then the city was still there, as Atlantis used a floating facility for its tether. Partly this was a concession to the fact that there were no significant landmasses to build on, but it also served as a valuable safety measure in case of storm fronts. The city of Atlantis was quite capable of steering clear of most storms, even outrunning them in a pinch, and bringing the tether along with it.
    All of that did mean, however, that if the counterweight was still being flung around by the orbit of the planet, then it was certain that the aliens hadn’t unleashed one of their gravity valve assaults on the city, because the first thing such an attack would do would be to likely destroy the tether base.
    Nadine pulled a wet wipe cloth from a