Never Surrender (Science Fiction Romance)

Chapter 1

The Abyss cut through the planet's atmosphere, concealed and silent, arcing past tall towers as it headed straight for the navigation's preset coordinates. It aimed straight for the silver latticed rooftop of the Pinnacle Tower like a bird of prey dropping down to scoop its mark.

From afar, metallic and glass structures soared above the clouds and gleamed like polished gems within the Citadel, the epicenter of Ecliptis. The sleek towers were just one way to show off the capital world of the United Planets of Tilion. The Pinnacle Tower in particular stood out like a jewel meshed with crisscrossed garden terraces throughout its spiral form, like a vertical urban forest.

Lenk stood behind the helm and watched the main screen with its cams pointed towards the city center and their destination. He never had a reason to come to the capital until now. Like the Abyss crew, he preferred to stay as far away from Tilion worlds as possible. There was no reason to stay longer than they needed to and it would be better for him and his crew to get out as quick as they could.

"We're approaching the pickup point, boss." Tolly said.

"Everything's reading clear on the sensors." Hugo sat at the navigation controls. "I know it's been awhile, but this is not the Ecliptis I remember. This used to be the busiest planet around, and the Citadel was always swarming with traffic. It looks like we picked a good day for a visit. It's clear all the way to..."

The sudden blare of the proximity alarm cut off the rest of Hugo's words. A red light began to flash on the bridge. Hugo quickly pulled up several holo screens while Tolly's fingers flew over the console on the helm, trying to maneuver the ship through the mass of tall towers.

"You can't even fly straight on a clear day, huh?" Francis commented from the back of the bridge on the weapons station. "It's no wonder the military kicked you out of flight school."

"I didn't hit anything, boss. Honest." Tolly ignored Francis' dig and glanced back at Lenk.

"Whatever that was, it took our cloaking field down to ninety-five percent." Hugo announced. "Ninety-four, ninety-three. Whatever it is, it's still on us."

"Find out what it is." Lenk told him as he stayed standing behind Tolly's seat and watched the screens, searching for any clues from the cam feeds.

Hugo shook his head. "There should be nothing. The sensors are all clear. There's nothing around us except for the towers and we're not detecting any threats coming from them."

"Something's hitting us. Find it."

This was to be a quick little side gig. Drop in, pick up a package from prearranged coordinates and jump away. It wasn't their usual gig. Smuggling didn't offer enough of a thrill. They preferred to roam deep space in search of adventure and profit, usually raiding and liberating treasures from cargo ships.

The Abyss was an ideal ship for smuggling, its prohibited cloaking fields came in handy for eluding detection by authorities and planet security. But at the moment, being cloaked didn't seem to prevent its hull from being hammered by something.

The lights continued to flash as the alarm blared each time they were hit. They didn't feel an impact but whatever was still hitting them slowly chipped away at their cloak.

"Cloaking is down to eighty-five percent." Hugo warned. "If this keeps up, we'll be exposed before we can finish the pickup and get out of here."

"Could it be another cloaked ship? Maybe we have competition for the package." Francis said.

"Could be." Lenk shrugged.

Tolly focused his full attention at the helm as he maneuvered the ship through the Citadel, flitting and slicing between towers, trying to lose an invisible enemy that had its target on them.