He waved and smiled, ascending the ramp, sorry to leave Faye but equally relieved to be getting back on the North Star. All they had to do now was reach the Kragak renegade fleet without getting her destroyed.
14
The Distraction
Flight data flowed hypnotically before Clio’s eyes as Marilda guided the North Star towards the boiling walls of the Shroud. Clio watched intently, waiting for the Shanti to make a mistake.
Not that I want her to make a mistake, she told herself.
Any misstep Marilda made stopped with Clio, and it was her job to take over if things went south. Such was the curse of the primary pilot.
Her arms tensed as thirteen yellow dots, denoting space debris, suddenly flashed before her eyes. Marilda wasted no time in making the necessary adjustments, and the warnings vanished. As much as Clio hated to admit it, the Shanti pilot was good…very good.
Even with her neuroptical implant, Clio would have struggled to react with similar speed. Without the device, she wouldn’t have been able to track half the information that raced by her visor, but with the aid of her visual augmentations she read and processed every scrap: ship systems, flight path, environmental conditions, long-range sensor readings, hull temperature.
Whereas Clio spread her attention equally across all parameters, Marilda had a knack for focussing on a select few at any given moment. It was fast, but it was also risky. Clio checked the trajectory and found they would reach their destination in ten minutes. There they would wait for the Orinmore’s signal before opening a vortex out of the Shroud.
Marilda can handle it on her own from here.
Her fingers touched the controls on her chair, and a menu replaced the stream of flashing words and numbers. Clio gathered her thoughts in the silence of the flight helmet, its sound insulation cutting her off from the bridge. It was just how she liked it. The noise on the command deck—the whirring rumble of engines, the beeps and clicks of operation terminals, the muddled murmurs of speech—only served as a distraction when piloting a starship.
Of course, she maintained an open channel to the command station, but Commander Eline and Captain Grimshaw knew better than to interrupt the flight team unless they had to. And Marilda wasn’t one for words, even when she didn’t have the helm.
Clio switched her speech settings so that only Ascari could hear her.
"Welcome back, Ensign Evans. How may I help you?"
"Good to be back, Ascari. How have you been lately?" she found herself asking, as though the AI were a person.
"Things were…lonely. But everyone is back on the bridge."
"Indeed. And soon enough, we’ll be back in open space."
"I’m looking forward to it."
Clio thought that a strange response and put it down to Ascari’s preprogrammed responses. "Flight systems look good on my end. Just want to make sure I’m not missing anything."
"All checks run by you and Ensign Marilda have returned with acceptable results. My scans confirm that all systems are well within tolerances."
"It seems the Omnion haven’t ruined you. I have to admit I was worried you might be…different."
"On the contrary, my systems are showing several marked improvements. Would you like me to list them?"
"No thanks, Ascari, but I would like to request a favor."
"How can I help, Ensign Evans?"
"I’ve copied an encrypted file to your data core. Keying the directory now," she said, punching several keys by touch. "I’d like you to run it against your archives in case you have anything that matches."
"I can do that."
"I know you update your archives when we connect to the Galactic Network. Cross check all new data as and when it is loaded. Let me know if you find anything."
"I’ve loaded the file into the primary database. Running checks against seventeen Googolplexes worth of records. Nothing in the immediate dataset matches your file. I will run a deep cycle, but it will take time."
"No hurry. But, keep this between the two of us."
"The requested security has been applied to the database."
"Thanks, Ascari."
"Helm, how are we doing?" Grimshaw’s voice startled her on the command channel.
Clio adjusted speech settings as Marilda answered. "Approaching the waiting point coordinates, sir. Nothing out of the ordinary so far."
"Good job."
"Thank you, sir," the Shanti answered. "Though in truth, Ascari does her share of the heavy lifting when not in manual.”
"Keep her in manual for the time being, Ensign Marilda," Commander Eline said. "I want you to get as much practice flying the North Star as possible on this trip."
"Of course, sir."
Clio saw the wisdom in not relying too heavily on Ascari. Though, the ship was designed to operate on her own as much as possible, they didn’t know her limits, and no AI system could replace a living being’s intuition. She looked forward to free-flying in Galactic Space again with less concern for debris, nebula storms, and other phenomenon common to the Shroud.
"Evans," Grimshaw said.
"Yes, sir?"
"Let Marilda take us out of the Shroud."
She had to stop herself from objecting. That task had been assigned to her in the pre—flight briefing. "Of course, sir."
"But keep your eyes peeled for trouble. No doubt the Omnion’s distraction will attract the pilgrim ships, but if anything out there so much as moves in our direction, take over."
Despite being concealed by her helmet, she tried not to smile. Grimshaw still viewed her as the more capable pilot. "Yes, sir."
"We have arrived at the Waypoint, sir," Marilda said.
Clio switched to the North Star's external optics and a wall of swirling color filled her visor.
"Engineering, prepare the key. As soon as the Orinmore gives the signal, we leave." Grimshaw announced on a command-wide line.
"Loading the key now, Captain," an unfamiliar Zaqaran voice answered. "The bridge will have remote access momentarily."
"Good. And prime the jump-drive as soon as we’re on the other side…just in case."
"Of course, sir."
As various operators reported stats to the command station, the magnitude of leaving the Shroud suddenly struck Clio. After stagnating for so long on the immense Omnion vessel, she was finally turning another page. Her chest burned as she spared Swigger a thought.
Before leaving, she had studied every detail she could get access to in the Orinmore’s archives. She hadn’t learned anything significant, but it appeared that most Chits had a nerve cluster, about a quarter the size of a human brain, in the back of their heads. Her gut told her that the files held other secrets, but she had yet to unravel them. It would have to wait until after the mission.
"Just got the go-ahead from the Orinmore, Captain," a Zaqaran operator announced.
"Engineering?"
"We're ready now, Captain," the Engineer said over the command link. "The command and flight stations should have access to the key. We’ll prime jump engines as soon as we’ve cleared the storms."
"Evans?"
Clio refreshed her helmet’s interface. "Got the controls here, sir. Ready when you are."
"Open the way. Marilda, prepare to take us through."
Clio executed the command and a flashing message asked her to confirm. She did so and switched back to the external visuals. The swirling wall of maelstroms hadn't changed.
"What are you waiting for, Evans?"
"Sir, I’ve already—"
Lightning snaked across her visor, cutting her off.
"Detecting an electrical surge in the Shroud's wall, Captain," Eline said. "The key appears to be working."
Clio deactivated her visor and watched the scene unfold on the bridge’s primary VD.
Lightening flickered a hundred kilometers across the endless wall of pulsing storms, splitting a line through the clouds like a wound. The opening slowly widened, white forks stre
aking across the mouth as though pushing the storm clouds apart. Clio watched in awe as the oval gradually grew into a giant, spinning circle. The vortex deepened as it bored a great tunnel through the clouds.
"The opening is as stable as it's going to get," Eline said.
"I suggest we hurry, Captain," the Zaqaran in engineering piped up. "The longer we hold the tunnel open, the more the key drains our reactor buffers."
"Take us through, Marilda," Grimshaw said, his voice cool.
"Yes, sir."
"Don’t forget," Clio whispered. "The opening looks more than big enough for the North Star, but stray as little as twenty meters in the wrong direction and we’re dead."
The Shanti ignored her, dedicating every ounce of focus to her task.
Clio punched a command into the flight controls and reactivated her visor, ready to take the helm in case Marilda couldn’t keep the ship steady.
The North Star's thrusters fired, accelerating so fast a lesser ship would have crumpled.
Clio activated a secondary screen in her visor, keeping on eye on the external visual and the other on the flight data. They hurtled through the tunnel, light and electricity licking the edges of the visual displays.
"Electrical surge coming up on starboard," Aegis Eline warned.
"Compensating," Marilda said, as she adjusted their trajectory slightly.
A moment later, a violent tendril of blinding white curled out of the clouds before cracking out of existence, barely missing the North Star’s hull.
"Surge avoided," Eline informed them. "All clear…for now."
"Stay alert," Captain Grimshaw said.
Clio focused on the swirling tunnel as the dark dot ahead became a growing disk.
Marilda was handling things well, but Clio couldn’t help but wonder if letting her fly was a bit of a risk. Even Ascari would have struggled with such a task. Then again, they were almost there.
"Clearing the wall in ten seconds," Eline said, beginning the countdown.
Clio held her breath as the storms intensified near the tunnel’s mouth, several white spots—stars—dancing beyond.
They cleared the Shroud's walls.
"Clear of the vortex, Captain," Commander Eline announced.
Clio deactivated her visor and looked around the bridge.
Several crew members sighed as a palpable wave of relief washed through the bridge.
"Scanners are showing several cold engine signatures in the area," Eline said. "All heading from starboard. Long-range scanners reading a lot of heat out that way. At least two dozen ships heading for the distraction. Nothing in our vicinity. Prow LR sensors show the way ahead is clear."
Grimshaw tapped his armrest. "The light show the Orinmore are putting on seems to be doing the trick. Set the course for G-gate Santorra."
"Course set," Marilda said. "At current velocity, we’ll be there in three hours and thirteen minutes."
"Nice flying, Ensign Marilda." Clio forced the words.
The Shanti pilot removed her flight helmet, her hair matted with sweat despite its cooling system. To Clio’s surprise, she offered a genuine smile. "Thank you, Evans. Your simulation sequence helped a great deal in my training."
Clio swung in her seat and looked back to Grimshaw sitting in the Captain’s chair at the command station. He nodded before returning his attention to his monitors.
Clio turned back to her own terminal and confirmed Marilda’s course.
Leaving the Shroud had gone as well as they could have hoped. She swiped to the stern optical feed and watched the immense nebula shrink to a mere cloud as the North Star accelerated away, the melancholy in the back of her mind shrinking in unison.
It’s good to be outside that cage.
She almost laughed at the absurdity of the thought, for the Shroud supported three inhabitable systems among the countless that couldn’t sustain biological life.
Clio relaxed in her flight chair as the tension, that had built up over the course of being inside the Shroud, melted out of her upper-back like butter in a pan.
"Captain, scanners are picking up something directly ahead," Eline said.
The tension snapped back into Clio’s neck and shoulders.
"I need a better description than something," Grimshaw spat.
"The operators are working on that. It looked like a heat signature, but it only lasted a second. It could be nothing, but I thought it best to bring to your attention."
"Is the ghost-drive active?”
"It’s running at full power, Captain."
"Keep an eye on the area, Commander. O’Donovan, stay at attention just in case." A hint of worry sounded in Grimshaw’s voice. "Marilda, maintain course."
"All scanners have been directed to the anomaly’s location," Eline said. "Nothing outside of the expected debris. Must have been a glitch."
"Even still, we proceed with caution."
"Commander, it’s a vessel," one of the operators called. "Sending the data now."
"What now?" Grimshaw muttered.
"Processing readings," Eline said. "Wait a second. It’s not a ship. It’s a whole damn fleet. Reading seven individual heat signatures. Make that twelve. No…twenty-three and counting. The closer we get, the more the sensors pick up. Working on a visual."
"The question is do they see us?"
"They’ve fired a torpedo," Eline said as though it were any other day. "It’s current trajectory will have it pass several meters off port. A warning shot."
"I guess that answers my question," Grimshaw said. "Marilda, evasive maneuvers. I don’t want that torpedo passing any closer than two-hundred meters. Dann was right. They’ve developed sensors capable of seeing us, just as we can see them."
"Visual coming online," Eline said.
The VD flashed, and a wave of shimmering-black vessels replaced the darkness.
"Are those Aphnai?" Grimshaw said.
"Negative," Eline answered. “I believe those are Tal’Ri ships. The other smaller vessels are registered…”
"Chimera," Grimshaw whispered.
"So it would appear."
"There are hundreds of them," an operator muttered.
"We have only detected sixty-one in total," the Commander hissed. "Including six destroyer-class and two dreadnaught-class. They’re spreading to form a blockade."
"Shit," Grimshaw said. "Engineering, get us ready to jump."
"The jump-drive is still priming, sir. She’ll take another fifteen minutes."
"We’ll intercept them in five," Evans said.
"Maybe we can stall them. Evans, hail the dreadnoughts."
"No answer, Captain."
"They fire a warning shot, but won’t accept communications. What do they want?"
"My guess is they’d like us to stop."
"Marilda, can you take the North Star around them?"
"I can, sir, but we’ll still come within weapon’s range of those destroyers and dreadnoughts if they chose to close in."
"Do it."
"Yes, sir." Marilda was back in flying position, working furiously at her controls.
"We’ll take several direct hits," Eline said. "Diverting all available power to shields."
"O’Donovan, have your team take their stations. Be ready to return fire if they attack."
"Already on it, sir."
"They’re powering weapons," Eline said.
"Concentrate shield and armor to wherever takes the most heat."
As if in answer, countless glowing pinpricks lit up the VD.
A second later, enemy fire blotted out most of the screen.
"O’Donovon, return fire."
Marilda evaded most blasts. Several struck head on. A faint tremor rolled through the bridge, but the shields held fast.
"Shields at ninety-eight percent and holding," Eline announced. "Armor unaffected."
"Get beyond firing range," Grimshaw ordered.
Marilda dodged another volley of enemy fire, but instead of maintaining
the North Star’s wide arch around the blockade, she leveled off.
"Marilda, they’re baiting you!" Clio all but shouted. "Pull up!"
"I’m doing my best."
She dipped the North Star’s nose and dove deeper into a precarious position in favor of missing a few hits.
"You’re feeding right into their hands."
"Evans, take over," Commander Eline said.
Clio spared no time, exchanging control with the Shanti pilot.
"Ascari, feed me everything." Clio settled into her seat as waves of data threatened to overwhelm her mind, but she allowed herself to fall into a trance, her eyes processing every detail, every enemy vessel, incoming projectile, particle beam, and spec of debris.
The North Star’s primary particle beam sliced through an incoming frigate, cutting it clean in half.
The bridge shook a little more than before.
"Shields at eighty-nine and holding. Armor unaffected.”
Clio’s fingers moved like lightening as she wove the North Star between enemy fire like a needle through fabric.
She tried to regain ground on their original course, but Marilda had brought them too low and she couldn’t risk returning to where they were without taking several direct hits.
"I can’t make it around without being hit by their rail guns, but I might be able to dive below."
"Do what you have to," Grimshaw said. "O’Donovan, clear her some space."
Clio dove through a line of blazing projectiles. She had no choice but to be hit by one of three incoming particle beams, or all three would strike. She chose the one below. It was a dreadnought weapon, but would bring them closer to escape.
The North Star rocked violently.
"Shields at sixty-two. Armor at seventy. Structural integrity holding."
Clio rolled between two more particle beams in a maneuver that would have torn lesser ships apart.
She swore she felt the force pull on her body despite the North Star’s advanced stabilizers.
A detachment of fighters emerged from the lower dreadnought, and Riley’s team set about picking them off. One beam cut into the Chimera dreadnought, penetrated its shields and carved a white scar across its hull.
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