“Great idea!” Sal followed on her heels.
In moments Jess was sat alone, a slightly bemused smile on his face. He found his thoughts following Ali. Images of her in the shower, water running down her body, flashed through his mind leaving him both exhilarated and terrified.
Suddenly the ship threw an override confirmation at him. It had picked up on his daydreaming. Only the privacy protocol he’d put in place had prevented him getting an immediate view of Ali in the shower. For a moment he considered giving the command, a surge of hormones pushing him towards it. Would it really be so wrong? She’d never know!
Except she would. How could he meet her eyes? For that matter meeting her eyes after his daydream of her in the shower wasn’t going to be easy. Dismissing the override he forced his mind onto the message he’d send to the pirate ships not about to jump back home.
* * *
Somehow Sal and Ali were done and coming back down the stairs just over four minutes after he’d last spoken to the governor. Ali came down the stairs first and Jess’s jaw nearly dislocated. She was wearing a large white towelling robe with her long blond hair still damp. She looked amazing and he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“You must have something I don’t dear,” said Sal.
Jess felt himself turn bright red and struggled to think of something, anything, to say. He was saved by an incoming call from the station. Tuning the camera to only show himself this time he accepted the call. It was the governor again and she wasted no time.
“Captain. We have discussed your… suggestion… and we accept. Anyone that surrenders will be tried fairly and when, not if, they are found guilty they will not be mistreated. Which is far more than they offered our people.
“However… anyone refusing to surrender, resisting our attempts to board, attacking us or resisting us, will be executed on the spot. And before you say it yes, we will ensure you have a video feed of all boarding actions so you don’t have to worry about us deciding that standing still, or still being alive, constitute resistance.”
“Thank you. In that case I am happy to offer my assistance for the next twenty-five minutes. I’d suggest you launch your recovery craft now. I’ll ensure nothing happens to them.”
“Some argued against trusting you.” She spoke softly now. “They said sending out our guards and using most of our shuttles gave you the perfect chance for revenge. In one action you could wipe out our ability to defend ourselves at all. Some even thought you’d be being reasonable in doing so.
“I think they are wrong, though. They’re making the mistake of judging you by the pirates’ standards. And, it shames me to say, by our own standards. This is a tough universe. It makes the people in it tough, when dealing with strangers especially. We owe you so much already and have repaid you with nothing but pain and trouble. So I offer you some advice, small repayment as it is. We are not unusual. Misguided, yes. Wrong, yes. But not unusual. Expect others to act as we have. Not all but many, most even, will do. Despite our worst efforts you’ve made a difference here. A big difference. I think you’ll do the same wherever you end up. Just be careful. Remember what happened here and be suspicious.
“Anyway… the shuttles have launched. We can tackle the fighters easily. The two big ships though… we need the crew off of those. They should have escape pods. We’ll pick them up. Anyone left on board we’ll kill on sight.”
Jess considered for a moment, then glanced at Sal and Ali. Both nodded. He checked the status of the fleeing Freighter and its two heavyweight escorts just in time to see them jump.
“That seems reasonable. I’ll send the message now.”
Jess cut the call, then quickly sent out the message to the remaining pirate ships. He warned that any attempts to flee or to fire weapons at the approaching shuttles would lead to the offending ship being destroyed.
He received an immediate reply from one of the damaged fighters. Sent out to all ships in the area, it told him to clear off in particularly graphic terms. It also stated that the ship would keep fighting until it was destroyed.
With a thought Jess sent the Wanderer into jump space for the brief moment it took to emerge near the fighter which had replied. Steeling himself, he opened fire with lasers and the plasma cannon. The minimal level of shields they’d managed to get working collapsed instantly and with its damaged thrusters it stood no chance of evading the plasma bolts. One moment there was a fighter, the next an expanding cloud of debris.
“Anyone else want to turn down my offer?” Jess sent to the remaining ships.
Assurances that they’d surrender poured in from most of the remaining fighters. He hadn’t expected any response from the three he’d disabled with the ion cannons as most of their systems would be fried, but one had apparently patched something together that let them send out their surrender.
One corvette responded, agreeing to the terms, but the other replied saying they were unable to. It was the corvette that was heavily damaged when its sister ship had blown apart. They claimed their escape pods had been badly damaged, and using them would be near on suicidal.
The governor had received the message too and contacted Jess. She suggested clearing one of the station’s larger shuttles of personnel and sending it in on automatic. It was too small to have a jump drive and wouldn’t be a threat. Jess passed on the idea to the corvette’s crew and they quickly agreed.
The boarding actions met mixed results. The crew from the badly damaged corvette all left on the shuttle, at least those still alive did. The station personnel who boarded said they weren’t surprised; the ship was in a terrible state. Luckily several engineers were amongst the party and they managed to bring the engines back under control and into a safe state.
The other corvette’s crew were less honest. Most left on the escape pods but a number holed up in the ship with weapons. With no shields remaining Jess was able to scan the ship accurately and warned the station personnel of the waiting ambushes. Seven waited at various defensible locations. Three were killed by precision strikes from the Wanderer’s weapons. The other four had to be beaten the hard way, though with Jess’s warning the cost to those from the station was kept down to three injuries – two minor, one major but not life threatening. All four remaining defenders were killed.
Jess couldn’t help with the fighters. They were small, with crews of two or three. Two damaged ships surrendered peacefully, while on the other a fierce gunfight broke out. From radio chatter and the video feeds Jess thought two of the station’s people were killed and several more wounded before they cleared out all the pirates.
The disabled ship that had restored communications surrendered without a fight, as did one of the others once the demand to surrender had been fed in over the emergency channel. The final disabled ship made no reply of any kind. As the station’s personnel boarded cautiously they found out why. The ship’s life support had been knocked out. In such a small ship the air hadn’t lasted. One of the crew was found with a nearly depleted emergency oxygen cylinder.
The other two crew were dead, not from suffocation but from being shot. A fight had clearly broken out over the oxygen bottle. Jess watched the video feed as the survivor was disarmed, restrained and dragged out of the ship. With a sigh he cut the video feed and sat back. He felt absolutely exhausted. He still had some tasks to take care of, though. He called up the governor again.
“Captain. Once again, thank you. Are you sure there is nothing we can offer to repay you?”
“There is one thing Governor. We need up to date navigation charts. Can you supply them?”
“Yes, of course. It’s the least we could do. We’ll send over the official charts but I’m afraid they have large gaps. Many areas are designated interdicted. The Empire keeps a tight rein on who has access to data on those areas. Others are blank because the Empire enforces strict limits in places on the routes that can be travelled. The rest of the data isn’t complete either, many stations are not sanctioned by the
Empire. There are strict rules against including those in the data.”
The ship confirmed it had received a data squirt. After confirming it free of any viruses or other toxic payloads, Jess looked at it. As the governor had warned, it had large gaps in it.
“However, you might find this of interest.”
The governor was smiling now. Another data squirt came in.
“It’s not official, in fact possession of it means life imprisonment, but as I keep saying we owe you. This is the best we’ve been able to cobble together from a large number of sources. There’s still a lot of gaps but it covers many areas the official charts don’t. Just don’t get caught with it… or if you do don’t mention my name.”
Jess studied the new charts. As she said it filled in many gaps, as well as adding additional information in other areas. He had no idea how reliable it was but it provided hope, if nothing else.
Acknowledging how useful this would be he found himself smiling back at the governor.
“Thank you,” he said. “And goodbye…”
With that he shoved the Wanderer into jump space, setting a course for Stone Snake mining complex. The faraway systems on the new charts beckoned, but first they had several pieces of unfinished business to take care of.
Chapter 17
Jess sat at the table with the other two, enjoying a spicy chicken dish that Ali had called up from the food machine. Both women were dressed now. Jess couldn’t decide if he was disappointed or relieved. The sight of Ali in the robe had led to an avalanche of emotions he had trouble coping with. Uncomfortably aware that he’d been wearing the same clothes for a good two days he’d taken the chance to take a shower and get changed himself.
They discussed their plans while they ate. The ones for dealing with the freighter and corvettes stayed the same. Longer term they wanted to get well away from the area around Stone Snake.
That left the nasty problem of the pirate base. All three wanted to inflict heavy damage but knew it would make the pirates even more determined in their pursuit. Then Jess hit on an idea which allowed them to do serious damage and prevent the pirates coming looking for them. It was a risky plan but all three decided to go with it.
* * *
Ali and Sal spent much of the forty hour journey asleep, recovering from their ordeal. They were both up for a few hours in the middle of the journey and cornered Jess in the pilot’s chair.
“We need to talk to you,” Sal said firmly. “This is important.”
Unsettled, Jess just nodded, studying them both for any clue as to what they wanted to talk about.
“You’ve been caught out twice now by being drugged. It’s an easy way to get at you. You have to eat and drink. You need some defences. Can the ship, or that stuff in your head, monitor all food and drink? Check it for drugs or even poisons and deal with them, or at least warn you to stop eating?”
Jess considered for a while, communing with the ship.
“Yes… I think so. It can’t recognise every drug, though it will spot a lot, but it can also be set to monitor my body for signs an agent of some form is affecting me.”
“Good. You should do it now, then.”
“But it’s going to be tricky telling it not to scan food you give me. I know I’m safe with you. If I start doubting that I don’t think I could keep going. I can’t doubt everyone.”
Ali leaned forwards. “Jess you mustn’t trust us, not over that. Someone could get to us first. Look at when we first met. If someone does get to us you’ll be our only hope of being rescued.”
“I don’t like it. It’s still me saying I don’t trust you fully. I do trust you. I have to trust you. Please… don’t betray me like Matt did. I need you. Both of you.”
“Glad to hear it. We aren’t going anywhere Jess, but you must protect yourself because that’s the only protection we get.”
He studied both women. They’d clearly made their minds up. Jess decided arguing with them would be pointless.
“All right, but I still don’t like it.”
“Amazing! He can listen to sense!” Ali said to Sal, and grinned.
Jess shook his head, but couldn’t help smiling back. He linked into the ship fully and started to set up the monitoring, and widened the protection from food and drink to any form of administration in case he was jabbed with a needle or dosed in a way he couldn’t yet imagine.
“It’s done,” he said tiredly.
“Good,” said Sal. “Maybe now you can accept a drink without trying to read my soul!”
“I didn’t do that, did I?”
“Relax Jess. No you didn’t. Well, you were a little hesitant, and I don’t blame you for that.”
Later, as the two women headed for bed again, Sal threw a parting comment over her shoulder about not spying on the sleeping Ali. As Jess spluttered his denials both women disappeared up the stairs laughing at his discomfort. Jess realised he missed Matt. Despite the terrible betrayal he missed having the older man to balance things out. Now he was alone with two women who at times seemed decades ahead of him in self confidence and knowledge of the world.
* * *
During the flight Jess reconfigured the Wanderer again. The outside was returned to its original bright silver surface. Damaged shield generators were repaired and new weaponry was created for the battle in jump space. The engines were tweaked to provide more power and the thrusters were upgraded to make the already agile ship even more manoeuvrable. He had the ship manufacture thirty additional torpedoes, knowing they’d need serious firepower to damage the pirate base.
Once the pirate ships registered on the scanners the tension in the ship rose sharply. Jess took the pilot’s seat. Sal and Ali took the two seats behind. No one spoke as they closed in on the fleeing ships. Time seemed to drag out for Jess but finally they drew close enough to use the new weaponry.
“We’re close enough. Any last minute cold feet?”
Neither of the others spoke for a moment, then Ali rested her hand on his shoulder.
“No. Let’s get it over with.”
Jess nodded, then reached out to the ship and fired the newly built weapons. No laser beam could exist in jump space, nor could plasma or ion bolts. Missiles could be fired but they’d have no way to reach their target and would be out of phase with the destination ship even if they did.
The weapon he fired was something very different, a variation on jump technology. A focused beam, several metres across, shot out from the Wanderer lancing through the centre of the closest corvette. The beam didn’t inflict any direct damage, but everything it touched was ripped back into real space. The rest of the ship was left with a gaping hole torn though its centre for the few milliseconds before it imploded. The beam had dumped parts of the thrusters and engines into real space. What was left went into immediate meltdown. It was all over far too fast for anyone on board the corvette to know anything about it.
The section of the ship ripped back into real space fared no better. The abrupt transition wasn’t cushioned by jump engines as normally happened when exiting jump space. The section hit real space at a significant proportion of light speed and was torn apart within seconds. Anyone somehow surviving the abrupt return and the destruction would then be exposed to hard vacuum.
If, by some miraculous chance, someone was already suited up despite being in the middle of the ship and survived the translation then they would find themselves drifting in real space, far from any planets or stars and with no hope of ever being found. They’d certainly have no hope of being rescued in the hour or two before their oxygen ran out.
Grimly Jess lined the Wanderer up on the other corvette and repeated the process. The corvette went the way of its sister ship, both the parts in jump and real space ripped apart in milliseconds. The freighter would be a tougher target. It was much larger and the damage the beam could do might not be enough to cripple it. Jess wanted a clean kill from within jump space. So far the freighter wouldn’t even know its escort ship
s had been destroyed, he wanted to destroy it before it realised anything was up. He brought the Wanderer alongside, positioning her carefully. Once he was satisfied he triggered the weapon once more.
His positioning was perfect. The weapon sliced a hole through at least six of the freighter’s engines. The explosion was massive, easily engulfing the whole of the freighter and billowing out towards the Wanderer. Only Jess’s machine-fast reactions saved them. He threw the ship down and to the side. The explosion smashed into the Wanderer, shaking it but doing no major damage.
Once he was sure they were clear, Jess settled back in his chair. Sweat was pouring down his face. No one spoke for some time, each lost in their private thoughts. While he still felt what they’d done was necessary, Jess dwelt on the lives he’d just ended, feeling hollow inside. He’d given them no chance to defend themselves, no chance to surrender. No chance to even know they were in danger.
He didn’t have long to dwell on it. All too soon they arrived at Stone Snake mining complex.
* * *
Jess brought the Wanderer out of jump space at point blank range. The first the station knew of the attack was the impact of weapons fire. Once again Jess aimed to keep casualties amongst the slaves to a minimum. It wasn’t difficult. The complex was an incredibly target rich environment.
He’d brought the ship out in a processing area. Massive automated machines processed the raw ores from the mining operation, refining them and moving them into immense storage areas. It was the heart of the mining operation and Jess intended to rip that heart out. They couldn’t kill the station but they could certainly inflict some heavy losses, maybe enough for the leaders to be pulled down and replaced. Almost certainly by more of the same, but at least those responsible for the attack on Glory Falls would be gone.
First he hit the mining machinery. As well as firing the on board weapons at their maximum rate he launched fifteen of the torpedoes into the complex machines. Huge chunks simply vanished in the explosions, causing cascading collapses which spread through the machinery.
Wanderer's Odyssey - Books 1 to 3: The Epic Space Opera Series Begins Page 13