Ghost Squadron Omnibus

by Sarah Noffke

Cheng blinked, looking up at Julianna. “It depends on the size of the tear, but yes, I think I’ll be prepared to close it by the time we get there, if I have time to concentrate now.”

  Eddie blew out a breath, suppressing a laugh. “I think that was the good doctor’s way of telling you to shut up, Commander.”

  Julianna rolled her eyes, pointing to the docking bay for deck 17. It had been cleared for their arrival. “That’s where we need to be. Can you get us there, Teach?”

  It was normally Pip’s job to take over the controls and automatically dock the ship, but the AI was still missing.

  “I’m on it,” Eddie stated, steering the Q-Ship into position.

  Deck 37, Onyx Station, Paladin System

  The geiger counter in Cheng’s hands beeped when the doors slid back to the main deck area. Julianna gave Eddie a questioning look, which he returned.

  The numbers on the handheld device spiked as they strode down the wide corridor.

  “Are you certain that our nanos protect us from radiation?” Eddie asked.

  “I am if we’re not exposed for long,” Julianna replied.

  Cheng and Penrae had both suited up in protective clothing and hoods. Eddie eyed the device in Cheng’s hand, which was beeping more frequently. “How long do we have?”

  “I’d say you have half an hour, if these radiation levels hold,” Cheng said, his voice muffled. “It shouldn’t take me long to close the tear, but I need to find it first.”

  “You have roughly ten minutes,” Penrae stated, eyeing her watch.

  The group turned a corner and everyone halted.

  “I don’t think that finding the tear is going to be a problem,” Julianna said, pulling out a pair of sunglasses to shield her eyes from the bright, radiant light spilling from a giant slit in the air.

  Between a laundry mat and a sundry shop, a gaping hole stood where a store had once been. The tear sat in the middle of the blank space, marking the spot of the theft.

  “They stole an entire shop?” Eddie asked.

  Penrae pulled up a map of Onyx Station on her pad, zooming in to find the spot where they stood. “Specifically, they stole a pet store.”

  She had said “they” like the culprits weren’t related to her, like the Saverus weren’t the race she belonged to.

  “Stay back,” Cheng warned, setting his toolbox on the ground and getting to work sealing the tear.

  “Why would they want to take a pet shop?” Julianna mused, studying the area around where the store had been. There were scorch marks on the neighboring shops, left behind in place of the middle one.

  Penrae blinked, her eyes distant in thought. “They are testing the device,” she said to herself.

  “Testing it? Why?” Eddie asked. “It obviously works.”

  “It works, but the parameters are still unknown,” Penrae reasoned. “The Elders were uncertain how to set the boundaries so that the Tangle Thief affected only a specific area.”

  “How to tell it to steal just one shop and not the whole station,” Julianna said, working it out as she spoke.

  “Is that hard to calibrate?” Eddie asked, yelling in Cheng’s direction.

  The scientist held a large, gun-like object, but instead of shooting anything, it appeared to be vacuuming up the tear, pulling the rip into the device as it steadily grew smaller.

  “It can be,” Cheng shouted over the loud humming noise. “If it’s one object, like when Knox and I transported ourselves, then it’s fine. However, to steal something this large would require setting the perimeters with incredible accuracy.”

  “They seem to have figured it out,” Julianna observed.

  “Which means they are one step closer to stealing Savern,” Penrae said, sounding crestfallen.

  “That might be, but I don’t think that’s why they chose this particular place,” Cheng said, the instrument in his arms violently shaking as the tear began to close.

  Julianna narrowed her eyes, noting the tension rising in Cheng’s voice as he tried to keep the device steady. “Doctor, do you need help with that?”

  Under his hood, sweat was pouring down his forehead, into his eyes. “I’m okay. Just another minute.” A loud, piercing scream ripped from the tear as it sealed up entirely, being entirely consumed by the instrument. Cheng dropped it on the ground as smoke wafted from the device.

  “Wow, that was a pretty impressive show,” Eddie stated, scanning the open area. Now that the tear had vanished, it could be studied more easily.

  Cheng picked up the geiger counter and sighed, obviously relieved by the readout.

  “Dr. Sung, what did you mean about them picking this location to steal?” Penrae asked, her tone cautious.

  Cheng pulled off his hood and took a large gulp of air, looking relieved to not be confined any longer. “This was a pet shop, full of animals.”

  “Yes, that’s how pet stores work,” Eddie stated.

  “The Tangle Thief wasn’t designed to work on living creatures,” Cheng explained.

  “But you and Knox both used the device,” Julianna pointed out.

  Cheng nodded. “Yes, and when Knox and I used the Tangle Thief on ourselves, we experienced trauma, though it was relatively mild. To our benefit, the radiation leak was only experienced by the area that we left behind, so we didn’t suffer quite so much. I believe one body can be transported with minimal problems, but it is not advisable. However, moving more than one body is too complex, and my research suggests that attempting to do so could trigger a radiation effect on the items being teleported.”

  “So what are you saying?” Julianna asked.

  Cheng picked up another device to study its read out. “I’m saying that the Tangle Thief isn’t designed to transport living creatures, especially more than one.”

  “The Elders know that,” Penrae interrupted.

  “I realize that,” Cheng said, his eyes growing dark. He had spent the better part of a decade with the Saverus as their prisoner, and probably knew them better than he cared to. “They never took my professional opinion that it couldn’t—and shouldn’t—transport life.”

  Realization dawned on Julianna. “When they steal Savern, all the life on it will die.”

  “I’m not sure that’s a problem for the Elders,” Penrae stated. “They never spoke favorably of the races that populated our home planet. These invaders brought their own plants and animals, which quickly overwhelmed those native to Savern. What do the Elders care if everything dies as long as they get their planet back?”

  Eddie shook his head, disgust written on his face. “Destroy everything on a planet and not give a damn. I can’t wait to annihilate these guys.”

  Julianna considered pointing out how hypocritical that statement sounded, but decided otherwise. She turned her attention back to Cheng. “So do you think that the animals in this store are all dead?”

  Cheng swallowed, his expression reluctant. “Unless they did something to protect them, I’m afraid so.”

  “Protect them?” Eddie asked.

  Penrae lifted her hand to her mouth, or rather the hand to the mouth of the body she was using. She tapped her fingers absentmindedly against her lips, thinking. “Research was conducted to determine how to transport living matter without killing it, though I don’t know anything about the findings.”

  Julianna didn’t question the Saverus on this. Penrae had explained that all project components were compartmentalized so as to keep things as secret as possible, and Jules trusted her, not having a reason to suspect that she’d double-cross them now.

  “Do you know why the Saverus wanted to transport living creatures?” Eddie asked Penrae.

  Her expression dropped into one of defeat as she shook her head. “I was only assigned to track down the Tangle Thief.”

  “I still don’t understand why they’d want to use it on a pet store,” Julianna mused. “What are they trying to work out?”

  Eddie nodded, chewing on his lip as his gaze fell to the fl
oor. “Wait. Penrae, you said that the native plants and animals on Savern were wiped out.”

  “Well, mostly,” she qualified. “Some species live in protected habitats that have been isolated to try and prevent the foreign plants and animals from overrunning them.”

  “Which the Savern wouldn’t want to lose,” Julianna said, drawing out the words as she pieced everything together in her mind. She was certain that if Pip were there, he’d have come to the same conclusion eons ago.

  “Because if they are so in love with their home planet,” Eddie took up Julianna’s train of thought, “they’d want to restore it, back to the way it used to be before they were evicted from it.”

  “What if they are building Noah’s ark?” Julianna exclaimed, the idea firing off in her head like a gun.

  Penrae’s brow wrinkled. “Noah’s ark? What’s that?”

  “A vessel that can withstand a major trauma,” Cheng summarized, his face brightening with excitement.

  “Everything needed to repopulate a planet goes on the ark,” Julianna explained.

  “Like all the native plants and animals,” Penrae realized in a hush.

  “So they steal a planet, kill everything on it in the process, and then put it back to how it was, using the passengers aboard the ark,” Julianna summated, all the pieces fitting together perfectly.

  “And it’s relocated to a place where it can never be found again, and the Saverus live happily ever after,” Penrae sneered venomously.

  “No way!” Eddie exclaimed with conviction. “This isn’t a fucking fairytale; those fuckers don’t get a storybook ending.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Q-Ship, Paladin System

  Still reeling from the strange revelation, no one said a word until the Q-Ship was speeding past a crater-strewn moon.

  “Fucking Saverus!” Eddie yelled, narrowing his eyes at the radar.

  Penrae’s head popped up to look out the window. A fleet of Q-Ships hovered ahead. “How do you know that’s the Saverus? Does the radar tell you?”

  “Not yet, but it will as soon as it updates,” Eddie stated, typing in a series of commands.

  “Then how do you know it’s them?” Penrae asked again.

  Eddie looked at Julianna casually. “How many crews besides Ghost Squadron have Q-Ships?”

  “Since it’s Hatch’s technology, and he’s fucking stingy with it, none,” his partner stated.

  “Oh,” Penrae said, sounding breathless.

  “Well, I was looking forward to using some of the new weapons, but I think we should beat these snake fuckers at their own game,” Julianna decided, cranking a dial to the left and hitting a switch.

  Penrae coughed discreetly from the back.

  Eddie cast her an apologetic look. “She didn’t mean you.”

  Around the Q-Ship, four others materialized like they’d just uncloaked.

  “Oh, wow,” Cheng said, pushing his glasses up on his nose.

  “Oh no. They have us surrounded.” Penrae’s tone was vibrating with fear.

  “That’s not the Saverus,” Cheng assured her. “Those are projections from this ship. Hatch told me the Q-Ships had this technology, but I didn’t expect it to be so realistic.”

  “It’s real enough to fool the radar so that it registers the images as actual ships,” Eddie replied.

  “I don’t know what the Saverus are playing at, but they're not the only ones who can use deception and confusion to get what they want,” Julianna stated, cruising past the hovering ships.

  “They were watching us, curious to see who would go to fix the tear,” Penrae stated, her mouth hanging wide open as they passed the impersonating ships.

  “Your kind are used to spying aren’t they?” Eddie asked.

  Penrae nodded. “It’s how we learn; the Elders think it’s also how we gain the advantage. We’re always lurking in some station, or mimicking a ship to monitor different air spaces.”

  “One of those Q-Ships, or whatever they’re called—”

  “ ‘Masquerades’,” Penrae supplied, cutting Cheng off.

  “Right, one of those Masquerades probably has part of the Tangle Thief on it,” Cheng reasoned.

  “Good point, doctor.” Eddie flipped a switch overhead, waiting until the green light flashed. “Foreign Q-Ships, this is Black Beard with Ghost Squadron. Do you read me?” Julianna looked at Eddie with silent disbelief. He flipped the switch and shrugged. “What? If they want to play a game, we might as well have fun. Help them keep up their pretenses.”

  “What exactly are you planning?” she asked.

  “Well, I thought I’d try the civilized approach.” Eddie lifted his hand, resting his finger on the comm switch.

  “Maybe you weren’t safe from that radiation, after all; I think it all went to your brain,” Julianna joked.

  Eddie flipped the switch again. “This is Black Beard. Do you copy? We aren’t able to make out your ship idents. Permission to—”

  Two red lasers streaked out from one of the imposters—not a type of firepower the Q-Ships possessed.

  The ship vibrated from the attack, but the shields remained intact.

  “You cold-blooded sons-of-bitches!” Eddie exclaimed.

  “Again, I am still here, guys,” Penrae said, her tone bordering on joking.

  “Right,” Julianna chirped. “We didn’t mean you. You’re a kind Saverus with a warm heart.”

  “And possibly even a soul,” Eddie added for good measure while firing cannons at the fleet.

  Both his rounds ricocheted off their targets, having no effect.

  The Saverus fired again, their shots flying straight through the projections.

  “Well, hell, now they know they’ve got us outnumbered six to one,” Julianna grumbled, turning off the hologram technology and making the other ships around them disappear.

  “We can still take them,” Eddie said.

  “Not without suffering serious damage, and this Q-Ship doesn’t have all its weapons upgraded yet—only the cannons,” Julianna pointed out. “We can’t take too many of those laser attacks.”

  “Okay, fine,” Eddie acquiesced. “Let’s at least make them chase us.”

  Julianna agreed with a nod, activating the thrusters. She spun the Q-Ship in a full rotation, enjoying watching the pursuing ships try to echo her movements as she sped past and jinked to outmaneuver their shots.

  “A bunch of copycats is what they are,” Eddie said, sending another barrage of cannon fire after them. “Let’s watch them dance.”

  When Julianna had pulled the Q-Ship a good distance past the Saverus, she halted, letting them suddenly catch up. Then she threw up the cloak, disappearing at once.

  Dropping out of their position, she negotiated the Q-Ship easily, sneaking out of sight and cruising back to Ricky Bobby.

  Eddie laughed. “That shit will have them scratching their heads.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Hatch’s Lab, Ricky Bobby, Paladin System

  “No, no, no,” Hatch bellowed, shaking his head. “That’s impossible.”

  “It makes sense, though,” Jack reasoned, leaning against the DeLorean. Hatch cut his eyes at him, making the chief strategist rethink his decision. Jack straightened, clearing his throat.

  “Noah’s ark with native Savern flora and fauna?” Hatch asked, looking between Eddie and Julianna. “Nothing about that makes sense.”

  “Are you certain that there isn’t something the Savern could have engineered to protect animal and plant life while being transported using the Tangle Thief?” Julianna questioned.

  “I’m certain enough to stake the captain’s life on it,” Hatch said.

  Eddie laughed. “Hey now!”

  “I don’t know, Hatch,” Cheng argued. “We haven’t run every scenario or looked into all potential resources. It could be possible.”

  Hatch shot him a furious expression. “How?”

  “Well, I’m not sure, but I’m not ready to admit that there i
s no plausible way,” Cheng stated, pulling up his pad.

  “Knox and Cheng were lucky enough to use the Tangle Thief and not be harmed,” Hatch stated. “In most instances, more than just memory loss and cognitive malfunctioning would result from such an experience. If someone tried to transport a house of living beings, those inside would be nothing short of doomed.”

  Without looking up from the pad, Cheng said, “I realize that it’s not how we intended the device to be used, but it doesn’t mean the Saverus couldn’t have engineered a workaround.”

  Hatch huffed and turned his attention to the client sitting on the workstation behind him. Knox appeared to be waiting for the mechanic to rejoin him in tinkering with it.

  Jack watched the two work for a moment before saying, “While you’re trying to find ways to link this client with the other parts of the Tangle Thief, I’ll keep an eye out for reports on the missing pet shop.”

  “You do that.” Hatch didn’t sound at all interested, his attention focused on his work.

  Jack let out a weighted breath, combing his hands through his black hair. “I’m not going to lie; waiting for the Saverus to make the next move is a risky position for us to be in.”

  Eddie agreed with a nod. “Yeah, I don’t like sitting around.”

  “Do we have surveillance on Savern?” Julianna asked.

  “We do, but it’s not doing us a lot of good. That planet is huge,” Jack informed them. “It’s easily three times the size of Earth.”

  “Imagine the tear it will leave behind when the Saverus steal it,” Hatch said without looking up.

  Cheng bristled and turned for the exit, clearly wanting to retreat from the morbid conversation.

  “If,” Jack corrected. “If they steal Savern.”

  “Don’t listen to him, good doctor,” Eddie said, waving a hand in Hatch’s direction. “He’s just grumpy because Pip wrecked his car.”

  “That has nothing to do with this or my mood,” Hatch said, indeed sounding more irritated than usual. “You are all throwing out impossible assumptions which are distracting you from finding out exactly what the Saverus are up to, or what will happen if they are successful. The size of the tear that planet would leave behind would be enough to split the galaxy in half. Nothing will survive it.”