“He’s right,” Ben said. “We have to do something.”
“The other ship is increasing speed,” Nance announced. “It will be within firing range in two minutes.”
“If their firing range is the same as ours,” Magnum said. “Sticking around is not a great idea.”
“The ship hasn’t finished scanning this side of the wormhole,” Jones said. “We can’t leave yet. And we should find out if there are survivors on that last pod. It’s probably the officers. Aren’t they the last one off the ship in times of distress?”
“Clearly, the professor reads too many books,” Kim said.
“How would we do it?” Ben asked. “We don’t have a tractor beam or anything like that.”
“You won’t need it,” Nance said. “I’ve got two survivors exiting the escape pod.”
“Kim,” Ben said.
“Oh, for pity’s sake,” she replied.
“Exactly,” Ben said. “Magnum. We better suit up and see if we can help them. I’m shutting down our gravity so they can get to the air lock.”
“Just be careful,” Kim said. “They aren’t worth risking your life for.”
“Get us close,” Ben said. “We’ll pick them up and get through the wormhole. How much time, Nance?”
“Supposing they don’t target us,” she replied, “they will catch us in nine minutes.”
“For the record, this is insane,” Kim said.
Ben didn’t respond. He and Magnum hurried down to the engineering bay. It took longer than normal with no gravity on the ship. Once they reached Ben’s storage compartment, they pulled on their hard-vacuum suits. It took a few extra seconds to check each other’s suits before kicking off for the air lock, but they knew getting outside the ship with an open seam in their suits would be deadly.
“We’re getting close,” Kim said.
“What are they doing?” Ben asked.
“One of them is hurt,” Nance said. “The other kicked off their escape pod in hopes of getting to the wormhole, but their angles are wrong.”
“How much time do we have?” Magnum asked.
“Six minutes,” Nance said.
“We’re cutting this too close,” Kim argued.
“Just get us to them,” Ben said. “Magnum and I will cast them a line and pull them in.”
“The alien ship is heading straight for us,” Kim said. “I don’t like this.”
“We have to try,” Ben said as he cycled the air lock.
When the door slid open, the ship was on its side in relation to the wormhole. Ben couldn’t see the alien ship, just the escape pod that was floating away, and the two humans in space suits drifting straight toward them.
“Perfect position,” Ben said.
“Of course it is,” Kim said. “This isn’t amateur hour.”
“Five minutes,” Nance warned them.
“Got it,” Magnum said just before he flung out a safety line to the two survivors.
Ben watched as one of the Imperium survivors caught the line. She had one arm around her injured companion, and the other grabbed the line and twisted it around her hand.
Magnum and Ben began pulling. There was seemingly no resistance in the zero-gravity, but they were still moving too slow for Ben’s liking.
“I’ll take the wounded one in first,” Ben said. “Then you come through.”
“Got it,” Magnum said.
The two survivors were moving fast as they approached the ship. Ben backed into the air lock and extended his hands to catch the injured survivor. Her partner pushed her toward Ben at the last moment, and it registered in his mind that whoever was in the other spacesuit was no stranger to operating in zero-gravity.
The injured survivor hit Ben hard, pushing him back into the air lock. He managed to get them both stopped before they slammed into the inner door and bounced back out of the air lock. He jerked the lever that closed the outer door and filled the small chamber with air. When the inner door opened, Ben pulled the Imperium survivor through and cycled the air lock again.
“Two minutes,” Nance said.
“Magnum and the other survivor are coming through,” Ben said, kicking off the floor and pulling the survivor up through the cargo bay toward the atrium railing. He caught the rail just as the air lock door opened.
“We’re in. Get us out of here,” Ben said.
“Now you tell me,” Kim replied, but she was already engaging the Echo’s main drive. Ben stayed the railing holding on with one hand and holding the injured woman with the other. He could see her face through the helmet. There was blood from a gash over her left eye. It floated in red drops inside the helmet until it touched her face or the interior of the visor.
“Enemy ship is sixty seconds out,” Nance said.
“Not for long,” Kim said.
“We need just a few more minutes,” Jones said.
“Sorry, Professor,” Ben said. “It’s time to go.”
“And what is going to keep them from following us,” said a woman with short hair and stern face as she floated up beside Ben. Her helmet was off and under one arm.
“Nothing,” Ben said. “Who are you?”
“Brigadier General Alicia Pershing,” she replied, looking around the bridge. “Is this your entire crew?”
Magnum floated up beside her. Ben noticed that he had pulled off his spacesuit and had a laser pistol held low next to his leg.
“Yes,” Ben said.
“They’re extending their grappling arms,” Nance said.
Ben looked at the big display screens and saw Kim flip the ship around. They were making a run for the wormhole at full speed. He was too far from his console to check the rear cameras and see what the alien ship was doing.
“Nance, get us a jump point,” Ben said.
“I can’t,” she replied. “I have no idea where we are.”
“Not on this side of the wormhole,” he replied. “Here, take your friend.”
Ben shoved the injured woman toward the general. He decided that he didn’t like soldiers. They were too judgmental, in his opinion. He slung himself toward his console and caught the back of his seat.
“Bringing the art grav genny back online,” Ben said.
“Do it,” Magnum said.
Ben turned the gravity on at just ten percent of normal. He felt the familiar push of the artificial gravity suddenly giving them weight again. After dropping into his chair, he held his hand over the button to activate the flux shield.
“Yeah, baby,” Kim said as the ship shot through the wormhole. “We made it. What’d I tell you?”
Ben watched in wonder as the red swirling light flashed on the display screen, and the moment regular space appeared he engaged the shield.
“They’re probably right behind us,” the general snapped.
Ben glanced over his shoulder to see Magnum carrying the injured survivor to the sick bay while Pershing marched up behind him. It made his back tingle to have a high-ranking Imperium officer right behind him. He couldn’t shake the feeling that she might slip a knife between his ribs at any second.
He shook off his fear and brought up the rear camera feed on his console. They had traveled far enough to be able to see the part of the red ring that lit the edges of the wormhole. Ben wanted to ask the professor what it was, but he didn’t think it was the right time.
“Shields coming online,” Nance said.
“What kind of shielding does this vessel have?” Pershing asked.
“It is a grav—” the professor began.
“It’s none of your business,” Ben said loudly, cutting the older man off. “Nance, how’s that jump point coming?”
Before she could answer, the alien ship appeared. Its extendable drilling arms were still reaching out for the Echo.
“We need more speed,” Pershing said.
“We’re topped out,” Kim said.
“Then we’re finished,” the general declared, putting her helmet back on.
Ben ignored h
er and checked the flux shield. It was up and spinning. The first grappling line reached it and was immediately caught in the gravity stream. The drilling portion was crushed flat and then ripped free of the extendable arm. Two more followed in quick succession.
Ben felt a wave of relief as the alien ship suddenly altered course.
“They’re breaking off,” Nance announced.
“I still want us out of this system,” Ben said.
“I have a jump point calculated,” Nance said.
“On my way,” Kim said.
“You’re leaving the system?” Pershing said. “You would leave the royal family’s home world undefended?”
“They’re not my family,” Ben said. “The people I care about are right here on this ship.”
“Don’t you have any honor?” Pershing snarled. “You destroyed the Imperium Fleet and opened a portal for a new enemy to exploit, and yet you’ll just run away?”
Ben turned in his seat. “You may find this hard to believe, but attacking your Fleet was never our idea. We defended ourselves.”
“This ship was part of a Confederate battle that destroyed the Bannyan Station and an Imperium battle cruiser.”
“That’s true, but we never intended for any of that happen. We were supposed to be bait, that’s all. Just a diversion to draw out the two ships from that station,” Ben said.
“Likely story,” Pershing said. “It’s not surprising that you’re nothing more than criminals.”
“We’re the people who just saved your ass,” Kim said loudly. “And it’s not too late to shove you out the air lock, lady.”
“My first priority is to take care of the people on this ship,” Ben said. “You want to fight the Confederacy or aliens or whatever? I don’t care. Just leave us out of it.”
“It’s a bit late for that,” Pershing said.
“Approaching jump point,” Nance announced.
Ben glanced at the display. It showed the alien ship chasing after them and Imperium transport vessel. The truth was, he didn’t like leaving a mess for someone else to clean up, but he had done all he could for the moment.
“Don’t do it,” Pershing said.
“Sorry,” Ben said. “Kim, take us out of here.”
The Modulus Echo hit her jump point and disappeared.
Author’s Note
What a ride. I’ve loved every second of bringing this incredible story to you. I honestly started writing Kestrel Class with just the idea of Ben building the Echo on Torrent Four, but like most great books, the characters came to life in my mind and made their own choices. I can’t wait to see what they do next. Look for book four soon and in the meantime leave Gravity Flux a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Thanks!
— Toby Neighbors, Aug 1, 2019
Gravity Flux: Kestrel Class Saga Book 3 Page 24