Battleship

USS SAMPSON

Oh God, thought Stone, realizing that he was seeing technology that simply did not exist anywhere on Earth, not that he knew of. It’s true. We’re in the middle of an alien invasion.

A young helmsman stumbled back from his post, eyes wide with terror. On some level, Stone couldn’t blame him. These were the best and the brightest that the Navy had to offer, and they believed themselves to have been trained to handle anything that was thrown at them. But how the hell do you handle something that is completely outside the realm of anyone’s experience?

But that was no excuse for deserting one’s post. “Back on the con, Behne!” said Stone.

Seaman Behne nodded, retaking his position.

“Hard ahead, full,” said Stone.

“Aye, sir,” said Behne with determination, dialing up the throttle.

The powerful engines of the Sampson drove the vessel forward. The alien ship crouched low in the water. Like a lion in the high weeds, thought Stone bleakly, but once again he didn’t allow any of that worry to show. “Steady, people. WEPS, all guns forward, maximum rate of fire.”

The 5-inch guns of the Sampson were unleashed upon the alien ship. There were no more attempts at communication—they would do all their talking with their weaponry. Stone reasoned that since their guns had been able to take out that weird-ass missile launcher, they should likewise be able to inflict some serious damage on the rest of the ship.

His reasoning turned out to be severely faulty.

The alien vessel shuddered under the assault, little bursts of light erupting everywhere that the Sampson’s guns made contact. But it didn’t seem to be doing any substantial damage—they had some manner of force field.

Stone’s mind was already racing. It must be a limited resource. Otherwise we’d never have been able to take out that launcher. Perhaps they have to deploy it in specific areas of the ship, selectively. Right now they must have all their shields concentrated on forward assault. If we deploy the other ships around, surround it…

That was when he saw another barrage of those same bizarre cylinder weapons being fired their way. They were arcing straight toward Stone’s ship. Dammit! They must have a secondary launcher!

“Kill tracks! Fire at will! All of it!”