Jess studied the Imperial ships as they started to form up. The massive battlecruiser was actually the closest of the enemy ships. It had started out facing away from the Wanderer, as if it had overshot. Every other ship had started in the same orientation, spread out beyond the battlecruiser in a scattershot pattern. The fleet gave the overwhelming impression of having performed an emergency exit from jump space.
Fire from the battlecruiser stopped that line of thought. Jess threw the Wanderer into motion but it wasn’t enough to evade everything thrown at her. The Wanderer’s shields took a pounding, but held. For the moment.
Jess shoved the Wanderer to one side, trying to avoid the next wave of fire. Once again the damaged thrusters slowed her movement, allowing shots to strike the shields. This couldn’t go on. The shields were already badly depleted, and the battlecruiser hadn’t managed to bring any of its heavier weapons into use yet.
Even with his thoughts accelerated panic threatened to overwhelm Jess. How could they stand against such a powerful ship? And others were turning now, would be joining the fight soon.
Then the answer struck Jess. He fought down embarrassment at having missed the obvious, even as he had the Wanderer claw its way through to jump space. There was no need to fight the fleet. They could just leave. Jess still worried for several seconds. If any part of the fleet carried a tar pit then the Wanderer would be dragged back into the battle.
Nothing happened. Jess let himself relax a little, then returned to his original question. How had the fleet found them?
* * *
Admiral Vorn stared at the display which now showed only empty space where the Wanderer had floated before. He was aware of the Starslayer’s officers moving quietly around him. Casting cautious glances his way, trying to measure his mood. Not that he would give anything away to them unless he chose to.
Inside, he was getting frustrated. This was threatening to turn into a massive game of cat and mouse. At that moment he would happily have given up the entire squadron of Banshees for a tar pit. That would put a stop to the Wanderer’s disappearing act.
He was a practical man, though. He didn’t have a tar pit, so he needed to find another solution. The problem was finding the fine line between incapacitating the Wanderer and badly damaging it, or even destroying it.
The biggest issue was the delay between the tracking device indicating they’d reached the Wanderer and getting the fleet out of jump space. Vorn had taken control of the exit himself, but even so they had ended up well past the Wanderer. Even the Starslayer’s powerful weapons had been firing at extreme range. The rest of the fleet had been even further from their target.
As the fleet formed up again Vorn realised there needed to be an automated reaction when they neared their target. Setting it up was beyond Vorn’s talents, but he was expressly forbidden from sharing knowledge of the device or even its existence.
Vorn’s frustration built as the fleet slowly reformed. If nothing changed then each time the Wanderer stopped the same problems would play out. He muttered a curse, far too quietly for anyone else to hear, then opened a channel to the chief engineer.
“I need you and one technician here right now. Someone good who you trust absolutely.”
The chief engineer started to protest all his men were completely trustworthy. Vorn cut him off. Of course they were all trustworthy, they wouldn’t be on the Starslayer otherwise, but there were different levels of trust. Vorn had no doubt the chief engineer understood that, despite what he had said, and would be choosing someone suitable already.
* * *
Jess let the Wanderer keep to a straight line through jump space. If the Imperial fleet could track them then what was the point in leaving a false trail?
“How did they find us?” Jess asked himself once again.
“Damn good question,” Dash replied.
Jess jumped slightly. He hadn’t realised he’d given voice to the question this time. In fact he’d forgotten that Dash and Sal were even there. He felt irritation flare.
“I suppose you’ve got the answer?” Jess asked. The edge to his voice could have cut through steel.
“No. I’ve never heard of anything like this.”
Dash had replied in a normal voice. Either he hadn’t noticed the barb in Jess’s words or he’d ignored it. Jess remembered how sharp Dash was. He must have noticed so he had ignored it. That annoyed Jess even more. Fighting down anger, he tried to focus on the immediate problem. How had the fleet tracked them down?
“Are we certain they did?” Sal asked. “Could it just have been unbelievably bad luck?”
“No way,” Dash said. “The odds against that are almost incalculable.”
“Could they have the ability to see other ships in jump space, then? The same as the Wanderer does? They could just have followed us.”
Dash shrugged. “It’s not impossible, I suppose. If the Wanderer can do it then other ships could. What’s the range, though? There was a long gap between us getting here and them arriving. If they were that far behind us the range would have to be massive. Jess, can the Wanderer scan over those kinds of distances?”
“Nowhere near,” Jess replied. “Do you think they could track us through jump space somehow? Is it possible ships leave a trail which can be followed?”
Dash shrugged again. “I don’t know. A couple of weeks ago I’d have said no way. Between the Wanderer and those stealth ships, I’m questioning everything I thought I knew. I can’t say it isn’t possible.”
They fell silent, thinking deeply. Finally Dash looked up.
“Jess,” he said. “Had we moved far from where we dropped into normal space?”
“No. We came out almost on top of the asteroid we needed to mine. We didn’t move more than a few hundred metres.”
“I thought so. Then they didn’t know where they had to leave jump space. Not until the last moment, at least.”
“How do you know?”
“Think about how they appeared. They were spread out in their direction of travel, scattered along it. They came out of jump space unexpectedly. Even the battlecruiser was firing at extreme range.”
“Ah…” Jess said as things clicked into place in his mind. “If they’d had us on their scanners they’d at least know what our exit point was, and they’d have come out in formation there. The same goes for following a trail through jump space.”
“Possibly not,” Dash said. “We don’t know how short ranged such a device might be if it was possible.”
“OK. So that’s still one of the possibilities. At least we know they can’t actually see where we are. I’m sure they can’t scan real space while in jump space like the Wanderer can. At least not to any useful distance. Otherwise they’d have landed right on top of us.”
“This must be how they found us at Desolation,” Dash said. “I thought they’d just guessed well. If looks like they didn’t have to guess at all.”
“Could they have some way of tracking the Wanderer itself?” Jess asked.
“Again… I just don’t know. Not that I’ve ever heard of, but that’s meaning less by the minute.”
“What else could it be?”
“I don’t know. Maybe one of those stealth ships has been following us and leaving a trail behind.”
“Wouldn’t that have the same objection? The trail should have led right to us.”
“Not necessarily. If the stealth ship had to return to normal space, as it almost certainly did, then they wouldn’t want it too close to us. We might have detected it and that would have spoilt their plans.”
Jess nodded slowly. It made sense. Quiet fell again for several minutes. Jess realised his earlier anger at Dash, and at Sal, had largely dissipated. Working together on a problem had eased the tensions, for the moment at least. The anger was still there, just banked down.
After a while Jess stopped trying to think of how they had been followed. Instead, he started thinking through the limitations of the different a
pproaches they had already identified.
“We can narrow it down,” he said. Then he frowned. “At least I think we can. Unless the fleet is able to move faster in jump space than is usual.”
“I think that’s unlikely,” Dash said. “Some parts of that fleet are like nothing I’ve seen before, but most of the ships are bog standard Imperial design. If they could make ships of that type move faster through jump space I’m certain we’d have found out by now. I don’t see how knowing their speed helps, though.”
Jess smiled, pleased to have spotted something Dash had missed. He pulled up a display.
“Here, look. This is the path we’ve been following so far. I’ve already had the Wanderer pushing its jump engines so we move faster than normal. Then, if we do a turn through ninety degrees… like this… then the fleet following us can do one of two things.
“The first is to follow our path exactly. If they do that then we know how long it should take them. If they arrive earlier then we know they’ve done something like this…”
He drew another line. If the first two were the short edges of a right angle triangle then this was the hypotenuse.
“If they do that then the distance they have to cover is significantly lower, which means they’ll reach us sooner than they could have otherwise.”
“How does that help?” Sal asked.
“Because it tells us whether the fleet is somehow following where we have been or it knows where we are,” Dash said. “Clever. Very clever. How long until we know?”
“I’ve made the turn. If they follow the route we’ve taken, about forty minutes. If not then… somewhere over twenty-eight.”
“Can we spot them coming?” Dash asked.
“No. We can’t scan jump space from normal space. It’s not possible. Or the Wanderer can’t do it at least.”
Admitting the Wanderer might be unable to do what some other ships could was difficult for Jess. He’d got used to the idea the Wanderer was special, that only it could do things other ships were incapable of. The stealth ships had proven that to be wrong.
“We’d better be ready to jump at the first sign of trouble,” Dash said. “We can’t rely on them coming out of jump so far away next time. I can guarantee they’ll be working on that problem right now.”
Jess nodded. The advice was sound.
“Is this a good idea?” Sal asked. “Why not just stay ahead of them? The Wanderer could build up enough of a lead to stay safe.”
“Only in the short-term,” Dash replied. “If they can tell where we are, rather than just the route we took, then every time we took a sideways course, every time we had to double back, every time we took a pause we’d have to worry about how close they could be. We need to know what their capabilities are.”
“All right. Then let me help. I can control…”
As the sentence trailed off anger flooded her face. She’d remembered that Jess had destroyed her implants.
“I need to prepare,” Jess said, quickly closing his eyes and sinking his mind into the interface with the Wanderer.
Using the Wanderer’s sensors he watched Sal storm away, with Dash following quickly behind. Jess knew he’d pay for that later, but right at that moment later seemed far better than now.
* * *
Admiral Vorn watched as the engineer worked. Travis, his chief engineer, hovered nearby, both fascinated by the tracking device and terrified at having been told about it. It was dangerous knowledge, the kind that could see a man the wrong end of a firing squad.
The engineer seemed oblivious to the danger he was in. He was focused intently on his task. While Vorn couldn’t follow everything, he could tell the engineer was skilled. It presented him with a problem. Travis wouldn’t breathe a word of this to anyone. He knew the likely punishments if he did. The engineer, though, couldn’t be counted on to keep his mouth shut.
On the other hand, it was possible Vorn would need such help again. While he had no objection to having members of his crew killed when needed, the idea of wasting someone so talented rankled.
He continued to consider the problem as the engineer worked and the chief engineer started to fidget. Their privacy was assured. They were in Vorn’s private meeting room, just off the bridge. Several of his elite guards stood watch outside.
Vorn also kept an eye on the tracking device. The fleet had finally entered jump space, and for the moment the Wanderer was sticking to a straight path. Vorn wasn’t fooled. He knew the ship he chased would make a turn, an effort to throw off pursuit, at some point.
The task he’d set the engineer was simple enough. The additional requirements he’d added were not. The simple part was hooking the device’s output into the main ship’s controls. When they drew close to their target the Starslayer would drop out of jump space almost on top of its prey. An unusual request, but easy enough.
The tricky part was disguising the existence of the device, making it impossible to guess what was really going on. The engineer had added several complex and interacting systems. When the tracking device triggered a return to real space any investigation would lead back to the dummy systems. In fact, they simply took a command from the hidden layer that interfaced with the device and then worked to hide that fact.
“That’s it,” the engineer said, standing up with a groan. He suddenly remembered where he was, and who he was speaking to. “Sir!” he added with a sharp salute.
“Good. Show me how it works.”
It was surprisingly simple. Vorn’s appreciation for the engineer’s skills went up several more notches. That left him with the difficult choice to make. Clearing all traces of what the engineer had worked on, Vorn signalled for his guards to enter.
Travis stiffened immediately. Even the engineer began to realise the danger he was in. His eyes grew wide and a sheen of sweat appeared on his face.
Vorn didn’t waste any time.
“Take him,” he said, pointing to the engineer who now looked ready to be sick. “Protocol Delta Juliet.”
“Sir!” the guards snapped out together, adding a sharp salute. Two of them grabbed the terrified engineer and dragged him towards the door. Travis relaxed slightly as the guards moved away. He felt the immediate danger was over, for himself, at least.
Vorn watched the engineer’s departure with interest. Would he panic? Would he try to fight? To get away? He wouldn’t live more than a few seconds if he tried any of those. Not that he thought he’d live much longer anyway. Vorn knew better. The code Delta Juliet meant he wanted the engineer on his personal team. That required some initiation.
First, the guards would encourage the impression that the engineer was on his way to die. Then they would stick him in a cell with only water and almost no light for a couple of days. If he survived those two experiences well enough, then they would reveal the opportunity he had been given. The harsh treatment wouldn’t stop, though. At that point he would be subjected to a long, and often painful, process to reinforce the need for absolute loyalty and discretion.
Then, and only then, would he be trusted to leave the care of the guards and return to duties. Though he’d never fully leave the guards behind. At least two would be with him wherever he went for the rest of his life. A life that would end suddenly if he spoke of anything he shouldn’t.
“I trust the work was satisfactory,” Travis asked, unable to stand the silence.
Vorn turned to face Travis slowly, face neutral. Travis couldn’t hide a tremble as he met Vorn’s eyes. He quickly looked down. Vorn let the silence stretch out for a few seconds more before speaking.
“It was adequate. You may go.”
“Thank you, Sir. I won’t speak of this to anyone of course. It never happened.”
“Then you’d better shut up and go,” Vorn said, an edge in his voice now.
“Yes, Sir!”
Travis threw a sharp salute which was spoilt by the fact he started moving before it was complete. As he scuttled out of the room Vorn was almost te
mpted to smile. Vorn’s head snapped around at the chirp of an alarm. He ignored the details of the alarm, it was a cover. The alarm was actually telling him the Wanderer had shifted direction.
Vorn quickly found the Wanderer had made a significant course change. This time he did smile. The game of cat and mouse was properly underway now, and this time the mouse was in for a shock. He opened a channel to the bridge.
“Captain, bring us out of jump space. Form up the fleet and wait for a new course.”
Chapter 22
“Papa-Two, come to an immediate halt and await further instructions.”
Clay jerked at the message then quickly brought his fighter’s speed relative to the Purple Cloud to zero.
“Purple Cloud, this is Papa-Two. What’s the hold-up?”
Having finally torn himself away from the empty spot in space where Leo had died, Clay was returning to the Purple Cloud. All the remaining hostile ships had been eliminated. The rest of the fighters would fly cover as the corvette closed in on the pirate base.
Clay had chosen to return to the main ship. The thought of battle left him cold inside. In that state he’d be no use. People would end up getting killed because of him.
“What’s the problem?” he asked again.
“Papa Two, the commandant general has asked to view the records of your recent fight.”
Clay cursed, though not until he’d muted the channel. The shadowy power of the political officers left him nervous enough at the best of times. The commandant generals were far worse. They formed part of the Empire’s reaction to the Taint. All military fleets had one, as did ships like the Cloud which were operating on their own.
The commandant generals were based in a secure area of a ship, sealed off from everyone else. From there they could monitor everything that happened within and around the fleet. Their one and only duty was to validate that the ship they travelled on, and the fleet with it, was free from the Taint. Free from any possibility of being Tainted. When the fleet met other Imperial ships, or returned to Imperial installations, the commandant generals words would mean the difference between life and death.
Wanderer's Odyssey - Books 1 to 3: The Epic Space Opera Series Begins Page 63