The Line of the Sol Empress

Chapter 16.1

In the darkest of times, true friends bring light.

- Writings of the Sol Empress, Words of Faith

[Celeste]

Sai announced. "Sir, we are being hailed."

Moon wrinkled his forehead. "By who?"

"It is the enemy starship, sir, named the Talon. It is coming around the asteroid, ten-point-two kilometers astern."

Celeste threw off her seat restraints and stood up. "I'll take it." She glanced into Moon's supporting eyes, who nodded in approval. "Okay, Sai. Put it through. View tight on me only and filter out any noise the little ones make. I don't want them to know that the babies and Claire survived."

Diego's face appeared on the display screen. His usual immaculately trimmed beard contrasted with disheveled hair. He smiled, shaking his head. "Priestess Celeste Ciel, you are a woman hard to kill. I must say that I am impressed. Too bad about the young Empress heirs, but they were never meant to be."

Celeste narrowed her eyes to slits. "What do you want, Diego?"

"Just to say goodbye." Diego motioned, and the transmission ended.

Celeste hitched her breath. That was ominous.

She caught Moon's eyes. He shook his head. "I don't like this. Sai, take the fusion thrusters to full output. How long until we can bootstrap the quantum drive?"

"At least ten minutes, sir. The coils are still charging."

"Tactical view, Moon ordered."

A holographic image appeared, showing the relative positions of the Phoenix Star, the Talon, and nearby space objects. Colored text next to the ships relayed telemetry data. Then, blinking red triangles emerged from the enemy ship.

Sai spoke in a plain voice that defied the seriousness of the situation. "Three missiles fired, sir. One of them appears to be a quantum field disrupter. Estimated time to impact, five-minutes-and-forty-five-seconds."

Moon huffed, clenching his fist. He muttered, "Someday, we will go on the offensive." He took a deep breath and pulled his lips tight. "Okay, Sai. Bring the laser to bear on those missiles and ramp up the thrusters as much as you can. That will buy us some more time."

"Sir, that will exceed the ability of the grav system to compensate for the acceleration."

"Understood. Just keep it below four-gee in here." He turned to Celeste and Claire. "Everyone sit down and buckle-up again. It's gonna get rough."

One-by-one, Celeste fastened the babies into their restraint seats with Claire's assistance. Hope renewed her protest, letting out a high pitch cry while Faith whimpered and Gabriel squirmed, kicking his legs

Claire jumped into the chair to Moon's left and fastened the restraining straps. Her breath became raspy, and the color drained from her face.

Celeste noticed her distress. Standing, she put a hand on her shoulder. "We have come through worse situations than this. And we will again."

Moon raised an eyebrow. "Celeste, did you just say the equivalent of no worries?"

Celeste shot him a narrow-eyed look. "No. It is not the same." She squatted down and placed her hands on two baby girls. "We have Faith and Hope, both literally and figuratively. Ignore Moon's comments, Claire."

Kissing the forehead of each baby, Celeste cooed, "Be strong, little ones. We will get to you all soon." Then she secured herself in her own chair.

A deep hum rose as the fusion thrusters increased power output. The acceleration pushed each of them into the chair padding. The babies furled their brows and let out a chorus of whimpers at the uncomfortable feeling.