Gravity Flux: Kestrel Class Saga Book 3

by Toby Neighbors

  Ben couldn’t stop smiling. “You’re awake.”

  “You have an astounding grasp of the obvious,” Kim said. “Where are we?”

  “Safe,” Ben said.

  Kim rolled her eyes. “I don’t think that adjective applies to us anymore.”

  “Maybe you’re right,” Ben said. “But we’re between systems. We’re nowhere. For now, at this very moment, we’re safe.”

  “Help me sit up,” Kim said. “My back is killing me. Hey! What happened to my clothes?”

  “Calm down,” Ben said. “Professor Jones took care of you. That wound on your hip got infected. You’ve been asleep for two days.”

  “Well, get out of here,” she said. “Let me get dressed. And take this thing out of my arm.”

  “First, let’s make sure you’re okay,” Ben said.

  “No! First you go get me some clothes. Better yet, send Nance. We’re not that close yet.”

  “How do you feel?” Ben asked, moving toward the door.

  “Weak,” Kim admitted. “I’m tired…and hungry.”

  “We’ll get you something to eat,” Ben said. “I’m really glad you’re awake.”

  Kim looked at him with confusion, then smiled a little. “Glad you’re awake too, Ben. Now get out.”

  He left the sick bay feeling as if he were floating on air. Kim was awake, which meant he had a second chance to do things right. A second chance to show her that he really did care about her more than anything.

  “Kim’s awake,” Ben said in a loud voice.

  “That’s great news,” Nance said.

  “How is she?” Magnum asked.

  “Weak and hungry,” Ben said. “But mad that we took her clothes. Nance, would you mind to grab something from her cabin and help her get dressed?”

  “Sure,” Nance said, getting up from her station. “We’re out of hyperspace and I’ve started a systems check.”

  “Good deal, I’m going to let Professor Jones know, and get Kim something to eat.”

  Ben wanted to skip, but his leg wasn’t nearly strong enough. Instead, he settled for a bouncy limp as he headed to the stairs. Jones was already at work, the aging academic spent hours and hours trying to solve the mystery of how to direct the portals his gravity flux rocket would create. It was all very advanced mathematics that Ben couldn’t help with.

  “Kim’s awake!” Ben declared when he saw the older man.

  “You don’t say,” Jones replied. “I should give her a look.”

  “Yeah, better let her get dressed first,” Ben said. “She’s going to want the IV out.”

  “Of course, of course,” Jones said. “I take it you’re preparing that for her?”

  “Yeah, just some crackers and a bit of ale,” Ben said.

  “Nothing too heavy,” the professor said. “Her stomach might not be ready for it.”

  They went down the stairs together and found Nance coming out of the sick bay.

  “She’s dressed,” Nance said. “And she’s got a lot of questions.”

  “I’ll do my best to answer them,” Jones said.

  Ben followed the other man inside. Kim was sitting up, her bare feet dangling from the bed. She looked at Ben and frowned.

  “Don’t say a damn word,” she threatened.

  Ben was taken back. Kim was wearing a sleeveless dress. It was tailored to fit her and Ben immediately felt a surge of desire for her. He had never seen her looking so feminine before.

  “It was all I had left after this butcher destroyed my clothes,” Kim said.

  “They were filthy,” Jones said. “Besides, you look lovely, my dear.”

  “I’m not your dear anything,” Kim said. “Ben, you just stay over there.”

  “What are you talking about?” Ben said. “I brought you some food.”

  “Just leave it,” she snapped. “Please, I don’t want you to see me like this.”

  Ben didn’t understand. “You look beautiful. I don’t think you’ve ever looked so—”

  “Stop!” she nearly shouted. Her voice was raw and obviously dried out. Her eyes were red and welling with tears.

  “Okay,” Ben said. “Okay, calm down. I’ll leave, okay. I’m sorry.”

  The shock of rejection left Ben feeling numb. He thought of going down to begin working on Jones’s rocket, but decided he wasn’t in the right frame of mind. Instead he hobbled back up to the galley and fixed himself breakfast. He was sitting at the communal dining table when Jones came up the stairs. Ben’s mind simply couldn’t make sense of Kim’s emotional state. He wondered if perhaps something about her personality had changed during the coma. Perhaps it was possible that the fever had altered something in her brain and she didn’t love him anymore.

  “Don’t worry,” Jones said settling across the table from Ben. “She’ll be okay.”

  “I don’t know what happened,” Ben said.

  “I believe I do,” the older man said. “You’ve not seen her undressed before?”

  Ben felt his cheeks color with embarrassment. He and Kim were close. They had kissed plenty, but neither of them had pushed for more. Ben just assumed there would be plenty of time for that sort of thing later.

  “No,” Ben admitted.

  “Well then, that’s probably the issue,” Jones said. “People can be very sensitive about their bodies.”

  “Sure, I get it,” Ben said, even though he really didn’t get it.

  The idea of being seen without his clothes on wasn’t something he relished. But Kim looked good to him. The dress had accented her figure better than what she normally wore, and much better than any flight suit.

  “I believe she has some old scars that make her a little self-conscious,” Jones explained. “She didn’t like that I had taken her clothes off without her consent. But she’s resting now. She wanted me to tell you that she didn’t mean to be so angry.”

  “She really said that?” Ben said. “I don’t need you to lie on her account.”

  “No, I would not do that,” Jones said. “You know, I’ve been on many ships since losing my standing at the university. Most Confederate crews are hard, jaded people. They grind along, trying to survive, without much concern for anyone but themselves. You have a special thing here on this small, but marvelous old ship, Ben. You’ve built more than just a crew; you have a family.”

  The word was almost foreign to Ben. His own family had left him all alone on Torrent Four. It had been shaky even in the best of times. His parents lived in constant fear, and when they disappeared, Ben wasn’t surprised. For years he’d made his own way, restoring old gear and trading for food. He had spent time with people off and on over those years between losing his parents and finding the Echo. But never had he felt like he had a family.

  “I guess so,” Ben said, not sure what else to say.

  “You must protect it,” Jones said. “And learn to have a bit of grace with one another. Kim will be fine, you’ll see. Now, let’s get some work done, shall we?”

  Ben spent the next six hours down in the engineering bay laying out the various components for Jones’s experimental rocket. The task of building the rocket wasn’t hard. The difficulty lay in finding a way to power it so that it could have the result the older man needed to produce his temporary black hole.

  When he finally went back upstairs, Kim had moved from the sick bay to her private cabin across the atrium from Ben’s. Her door was open, and even though Ben worried what her reaction might be, he stopped in her doorway.

  Kim was sitting in one of her chairs with a small blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She looked at him, then waved him closer.

  “How are you feeling?” Ben asked, easing into a seat close to hers.

  “Better,” she said. “I’m sorry I freaked out earlier.”

  “Don’t be,” Ben said.

  “Come on, I saw your face. You looked like I just strangled your puppy.”

  “I was just surprised, that’s all,” Ben said, afraid to broach the s
ubject and make her angry again.

  Kim dropped her head into her hands. Her shoulders shook a little as she cried, and Ben felt a sense of panic rising up inside him. He didn’t want to make her cry, but he didn’t know how to help her. It was as if his very presence set her off.

  “Should I go?” Ben asked.

  “No,” she managed to say. “That’s the last thing I want.”

  “Tell me what you do want,” Ben said. “I’ll do anything.”

  “You already have,” she whispered. “Come here.”

  Ben moved to the deck in front of her chair. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tightly.

  “You came for me,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry I left.”

  “It’s my fault,” Ben said. “I was so stupid.”

  “No, I was stubborn,” she said. “I can’t believe you would give up the ship for me.”

  “I’d give anything for you, Kim,” Ben said, his heart racing. “I love you.”

  “I love you too,” Kim said, pulling back to look him in the eye. “I love you so damn much.”

  Chapter 37

  The video from Torrent Four was delivered straight to the admiral general’s office. Admiral General Volgate had given strict instructions that it was not to be broadcast or messaged in any form. Instead, a ship was sent out to collect the beacon, and the files were copied onto a single data drive.

  The admiral general sat at his desk, watching the footage on his private screen. He had seen at least ten times, but each viewing, despite the angle, showed the same exact thing. It was terrifying on a level the commander-in-chief could scarcely comprehend. But the facts were undeniable. The armada had thrown the Royal Imperium’s strongest weapons straight at the small Kestrel class ship, but the Modulus Echo had shrugged them off effortlessly.

  Finally, after hours of thought, he had come to a conclusion. There was a new threat, one that had to be addressed. So far, the rebel ship responsible for embarrassing the Fleet was the only vessel to display the new shielding technology, but that didn’t mean they were the only ones that possessed it. That meant catching the ship, as soon as possible, was their highest priority.

  He touched the control for his assistant.

  “You buzzed, Admiral General, sir?”

  “I want an emergency recall,” Volgate. “All ships not engaged with the rebellion are to return to the Celeste system, forthwith.”

  “To confirm, sir,” the assistant said, “you want a general recall of all ships not engaged with rebel forces to the Royal Imperium Fleet headquarters.”

  “That is correct.”

  “I’ll issue that order now, sir,” the assistant said.

  The line went silent, and Volgate leaned back in his chair. He was determined not to get caught off guard again. It was time to rally his forces and eradicate the new threat before it had time to spread.

  He went to the small bar and poured himself a very stiff drink over ice. He was swirling the beverage when the direct line from the royal family flickered to life. Admiral General Volgate was suddenly face to face with three members of the Imperium’s royal family.

  “Admiral General,” Crown Prince Godfred said in his sneering tone. “You have news from the Torrent system.”

  It wasn’t a question, just a pointed statement. Volgate knew it would do him no good to deny that he had collected the footage from the spy ship. It angered him that someone had alerted the royal family, but he wasn’t surprised either. He had been expecting the sudden call from the lavish palaces on Gershwin all day.

  “I do,” Volgate said calmly, before taking a sip of his drink.

  “Tell me it isn’t as bad as the rumors we’ve heard,” Godfred said.

  “I wish I could that, sire. But the rumors are true. In fact, we lost four capital ships in the system before it was all said and done.”

  “Four ships?” asked the queen mother, a greedy and vindictive old woman who didn’t like Volgate to begin with. “You can’t be serious.”

  “A rebel ship did this?” King Xercxus asked. He was a weak man, with large bloodshot eyes. His wife, the real power behind the royal family, stood behind him, her face cold and impassive.

  “No,” Volgate said. “The fault lies with Admiral Minsk and the commanders of the ships themselves.”

  “Our commanders?” Godfred asked. “Are you saying your own handpicked officers are the problem?”

  “I’m saying the strategy the late Admiral Minsk drew up was flawed. I’m saying the other ship commanders panicked. I’m saying it was a disaster on a colossal scale, and we’ve no one to blame but ourselves.”

  “Careful, Admiral,” the queen said, her voice almost shrill. “You are dangerously close to treason.”

  “I meant no offense, your highness,” Volgate said. “Only that the threat is not worth your concern. The rebellion isn’t behind this fiasco, it was a result of our own doing. Admiral Minsk, in his fervor to bring the rebel ship in, deployed out ships in a dangerous configuration. There was no room to maneuver without damaging friendly vessels.”

  “Did you bring in this Kestrel class ship?” Godfred asked. “I believe it’s called the Modulus Echo. The rebels are hailing her a hero. Public perception is a fickle thing, Admiral General. We need a win.”

  “I agree,” Volgate said. “Unfortunately, due to the accident above Torrent Four, the rebel ship managed to escape. It won’t happen again.”

  “No,” the queen snapped. “It won’t or you will be held to account.”

  “The rebellion is like a cancer,” the queen mother said. “It must be cut out, no matter how deep it infects us. Make sure your loyalty is in the right place, Martin. No political connection will save you from high treason.”

  “Of course, Your Highness,” Volgate said with a slight bow. “I am your humble servant, always.”

  The hologram flickered, then vanished. The admiral general was left with an image of the royal family in his mind. They were paranoid and depraved, but for once in their miserable lives they weren’t wrong. He had no political capital left that would save him from another blunder like the one on Torrent Four. He needed a new plan, one that would strike at the heart of the rebels. One that would penetrate their seemingly impenetrable shields.

  He took a long sip of his drink, the alcohol cold and hot at the same time. It slipped over his tongue, which was already numb from his first drink, and scalded its way down his throat. The heat flushed the skin of his neck and cheeks as it spread through his body. It made him feel light, and loose, as if he could do anything. His fear vanished, and in its place a plan began to form. The admiral general grinned wickedly, then took another sip of his drink.

  Chapter 38

  Ben spent the entire evening with Kim. She didn’t have much energy, but they were both happy to be close. They talked until Kim simply couldn’t keep her eyes open. After she fell asleep, Ben rested too, but he couldn’t sleep long.

  Knowing that things were on the right track with Kim filled Ben with an energy that had to be worked out. His mind spun with new ideas. After sleeping a few hours, he woke up and went back down to the engineering bay.

  The propulsion system of the rocket was simple enough. It wasn’t a missile and didn’t need a fancy guidance system, or anything more than enough thrust to send it out toward the target area. Professor Jones had been concerned with the weapon’s power. It would create a gravity vortex that might sweep the Echo up if she got too close. But in space, once an object was set in motion, it would continue moving until it was acted on by an outside force. So Ben filled the rear of his makeshift rocket with fuel he had collected from the salvage yards. There was plenty of old solid rocket fuel to be found. It wasn’t very effective in atmosphere. Some Scalpers collected it to use for building fires. It ignited easily and could be shaped to fit a rocket’s thrust chamber.

  According to Jones’s theory, gravity could be activated, almost like a fire being sparked to life. And just like a fire, the
black hole that he foresaw the ability to create would need just the right materials to consume. Stars were created using the same model. Gravity, once activated, began to pull in matter, compacting it and creating heat. With enough matter, spontaneous combustion would create a fusion reaction on a huge scale, with the star burning through the collected matter to form a balance of sorts.

  Jones’s rocket would be set up in two stages and fired in rapid succession. The first stage would be a simple, outward blast to disperse a cloud of ionized matter. That was what the plutonium was for. It would be blown apart and then the rocket’s second stage would trigger what Jones called a gravity event. The gravity would draw in the matter that had just been dispersed, feeding the young black hole with just enough power to form a stable wormhole. Of course, it might do nothing at all, but if the professor was right, it would allow ships to travel great distances in an instant.

  Ben didn’t worry about the outcome of the rocket, that was the professor’s concern. Ben focused instead on building a device that would carry out the older man’s plan. After assembling the small propulsion section of the rocket, including welding fins onto the tubing Ben had salvaged, he went to check on Kim. She was still sleeping. He was grateful that she was getting the rest she needed, but he felt a little guilty working on the professor’s project. His laser focus on the gravity research had driven Kim away on Torrent Four and Ben didn’t want to make the same mistake again.

  He found Magnum on the bridge and volunteered to take a shift. The big man looked tired, and Ben knew that he and Nance had picked up the slack while Ben was recouping from his injury.

  “You should be resting,” Magnum said.

  “I’ve been resting. I’m fine, really. Everything with the rocket is on track. I can keep an eye on things here.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Of course,” Ben said. “You know, I never thanked you for getting us out of the jam we were in on Torrent Four.”

  “Forget it,” Magnum said, looking away.

  “I won’t,” Ben said. “You’re a vital part of this crew, you know. None of this would have been possible without you.”