Wanderer's Escape

by Simon Goodson

  The first target was a chain of twenty bulk shuttles all loaded down with metal ores. Exceptionally slow and heavy they were sitting ducks as the Wanderer swooped in. The ship's lasers quickly shredded the shuttles minimal shields – shields designed to protect against impacts from stray rocks rather than high yield weaponry. Once the shields were down he vaporised each shuttle using the plasma cannons. Finally the Wanderer swooped through the glowing debris cloud slowly expanding from each shuttle, using force fields to channel and recover as many of the materials as possible.

  Next he needed to increase the amounts of rare metals available to the ship. Far more expensive than the ores the shuttles were carrying the rare metals were held in a section of the mining complex guarded by heavy weaponry. A huge force shield arced high above the storage bays. Massive tower like laser and plasma weapons studded the surface just outside of the shield. Anything approaching would be shredded by the hail of destruction. Even the Wanderer couldn't hold off that level of firepower for more than a few seconds.

  It didn't have to. The defences were designed for normal ships, those that had to drop into real space far away from something as massive as the mining complex. Ships that had to run the gauntlet of the tremendous volley of energy to get near the storage bays, not to mention bringing down the powerful shield.

  The Wanderer was no normal ship. Jess had it drop into jump space on a path that carried it through space above the storage bays but within the shield. Suddenly the complex had to face a ship that had not only avoided its defences but was now protected from them by its own shield. Jess immediately set to work on the storage bays. With no individual shields to deal with he moved straight to vaporising them with the plasma cannons. To an observer Jess would seem to be targeting bays at random. Sometimes taking out every one in an area, other times leaving individual bays or groups of bays. It was far from random. The Wanderer was scanning every bay for life signs and Jess was avoiding all those flagged. It was more than likely that many of those in the bays were prisoners, slaves. While Jess's anger at the pirates meant he would happily kill them and any of their pilots he had no intention of taking any poor slaves with them.

  Only a small proportion of the bays held life and there were far more valid targets than he could possibly use. After half a minute the ship had all the resources it needed. The force field remained up shielding the Wanderer from any retaliation. Jess continued the destruction, now using the lasers to target bays at longer distance while still using the plasma cannons on those nearby.

  Nearly a minute after the Wanderer had appeared within the shield it was finally dropped. Weapon towers immediately opened fire but they found only empty space – except one that vaporised a significant section of the station itself. Mind accelerated by his connection to the ship Jess had triggered a jump within milliseconds of the shield dropping. He left a huge swathe of destruction in his wake. At least sixty percent of the bays were destroyed or badly damaged, a huge fortune in materials was gone. Still secured to the floor of the living area Jess grinned fiercely as he directed the ship towards Glory Falls and started transforming it using the newly gathered materials.

  The first part of his plan involved catching the pirate fleet while it was still en-route to Glory Falls. The Wanderer had been analysing space surrounding the mining complex even while out of touch with Jess and had detected twenty ships in the pirate fleet. He wanted to remove some of the escort ships while they were still in jump space, while the other ships would be unable to communicate or detect them. Even for a ship as powerful as the Wanderer taking on twenty combat ships would be tricky. Especially if he needed to try to protect then rescue the prisoners in the containers.

  Matt had told Jess that all ships moved through jump space at a fixed rate. Thinking about the Wanderer's unique ability to change course in jump space Jess had wondered if it could use the same techniques to travel faster. The ship had confirmed that while difficult it was possible so the first set of changes to the Wanderer boosted its jump engines. Once completed Jess could sense them clawing at the fabric of jump space to drag the ship forwards faster. The jump engine capacity had been more than doubled but it would only reduce the travel time by around eight hours. Any further increases in engine power would provide smaller and smaller gains. The pirate ships had a head start of just over seven hours meaning Jess would have only an hour to deal with them before they reached Glory Falls. He hoped it would be enough.

  The next stage involved further changes to the ship's defences and weapons, and corresponding increases in the hull size to mount them, the thrusters to maintain manoeuvrability and the engines to provide sufficient power. Once completed the ship would pack an even more powerful punch.

  Then there was nothing left to do but wait. The ship had finished patching up his body. He felt sore and his skin still tingled but he was in good shape overall.

  Once again with things weighing on his mind he ended up sitting in the pilot's chair. He sat and stewed over Matt's betrayal, thinking back to try to spot any indication of Matt's intentions. There was nothing, which made things worse. If he couldn't spot Matt's betrayal coming could he spot the signs in anyone else? Would he rescue Ali and Sal just for one or both of them to betray him?

  Then the thought of his two captive friends had him worrying for them. For their safety in the battle to come. Worrying whether he could save all the prisoners in the containers. Whether if some perished the people of Glory Falls would hold him responsible. Whether they'd agree to free Sal and Ali.

  After two hours of seemingly endless worrying the ship started to nudge Jess with warnings about his health. He was badly in need of food and sleep and his body needed a chance to recover from its ordeal. Mechanically he made his way back to the food machine, accepting a large bowl of soup that was delivered without his asking. Once he started to eat he realised how hungry he actually was and ended up wolfing the soup down, then following it up with a large chunk of cake. Whilst eating it occurred to him that the one entity he did trust completely was the ship. He'd accepted its food without question. Accepted its suggestions. Even let it throw him into jump space with nothing to protect him. Through his link he felt he knew it well enough to be completely confident in trusting it. He might not always understand it but he had no doubt that his safety was its first concern.

  Once again the ship warned that he needed sleep but he felt far too keyed up, had far too many worries in his head. There was no way he'd get to sleep. The ship offered an option. It could use his implants to send him to sleep – letting him get a good long rest and waking him if anything happened, or once they neared the fleet they were chasing. Jess knew he needed to be fresh and awake when the confrontation came. He curled up on a sofa under a blanket and told the ship to go ahead. A comfortable, warm feeling washed through him, nothing like when Matt had drugged him. He felt himself slowly slipping towards sleep but knew that he could interrupt the process at any time. That knowledge allowed him to relax and let sleep take him.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The ship woke Jess as the pirate fleet started to appear on long range scans. He felt far better for his sleep. He was calmer and able to view the situation with a clearer head. He soon realised his plan wasn't going to work. If he took out most or all of the combat escort then the freighter would be unlikely to still launch the containers containing the prisoners. If it didn't turn tail and head back to the mining complex it would still be a tough nut to crack. Jess doubted it would be possible to intimidate those on board and destroying the freighter would take the prisoners with it. He needed an alternate plan.

  The Wanderer's speed meant it could pass by the fleet and reach Glory Falls a little over ten minutes before the fleet did. As a new plan formed he threw a new set of instructions to the ship to change its configuration. First he changed the shiny silver hull to matt black. Then he added baffles to help hide its heat signature and large heat storage systems so the ship could run completely cold for a time. Th
en he set to work reviewing the ships records of Glory Falls, identifying the best position for the Wanderer in his new plan. It wasn't perfect, but it might just work.

  The Wanderer eased into real space a few minutes out from Glory Falls. Jess had chosen the area for its proximity to the station and the fact it was covered by patchy scanning at best. The ship made barely a ripple in the surface of real space as it appeared and it was running fully dark. No sensors that could detect the jump space distortion were aimed so close to the station. Why would they be, when no ship could possibly emerge that close.

  No heat or light escaped the Wanderer's hull. The heat storage systems would let them run cold for around thirty minutes, as long as the ship stayed mostly dormant. Any significant manoeuvring would soon generate more heat than could be stored, probably within a couple of minutes. That was fine by Jess. He didn't intend to go anywhere just yet.

  Watching the station go about its normal business while the pirate fleet bore down on them seemed strange to Jess, but of course the station had no idea of the threat that was about to materialise on their doorstep. He fought down the temptation to warn them – it would change nothing other than risking his attempts to free Sal and Ali.

  When the fleet dropped out of jump space it exactly matched the formation it had jumped in. The freighter supported by fourteen fighters and five much larger combat craft. The Wanderer estimated that the five were roughly comparable with an Imperial Corvette, though the weapons systems registered as being more powerful.

  The freighter blasted out its demands almost the moment it reached real space. Within a few minutes the containers loaded with prisoners had been launched – thirty of them, all on different paths. The countdown had started. Despite the gravity of the situation excitement flooded Jess's veins, he smiled fiercely as the pieces moved into position. So far so good.

  The response from the station was quick to follow. The governor appeared, looking pale, pleading for their people to be recovered quickly and assuring that their two prisoners would be put on a shuttle as soon as possible. She estimated it would take five minutes which worried Jess, he really needed it to be longer for his plan to work fully. There was nothing he could do though, except wait. Wait and watch the containers with limited air and warmth spreading out from the freighter. He quickly shut off the feeds from inside the containers – the images of terrified prisoners sitting huddled together in the dim light was too distracting, especially those containing young children. They brought back too many painful memories too, memories of the many times he too had been huddled into a ship or container with no idea where they were going, or whether they'd survive.

  Tensely he studied the displays for any hint of movement from the pirate fleet, any hint that they would follow some of the containers. There were none. Jess had to admit that so far Matt had called it correctly, much as he hated to do so. The station appeared to be caving in to the pirate demands and the lack of movement suggested the pirates would renege on their side of the deal, simply leaving the prisoners to die once they had Sal and Ali.

  Jess's driving aim was to rescue his friends. Once they were safe, if he could manage that, then he would try to help the prisoners in the containers – but he knew there was a good chance most of those prisoners, if not all, would be dead within the next half hour. Hardening his heart he studied the station displays – waiting for the right moment to start the rescue.

  As the minutes passed Jess found himself becoming more and more tense. Stomach knotted, wishing for something to happen at the same time as hoping desperately that more time would tick away. Sensing his state the ship offered several options that should reduce his tension without affecting his edge. Gratefully he chose one and felt his body immediately relax. It didn't even occur to him how happily he accepted the ship's interference in his mind and body, he was too focused on the coming fight.

  The promised five minutes came and went without a shuttle leaving the station. Almost immediately the governor sent out another message. Apologising for the delay, insisting it wouldn't be much longer. Just a minute or two. Jess let out a sigh of relief. A delay of between three and five minutes would be ideal for his plan. Any longer and there was the risk of the station realising some containers would be difficult or impossible for the fleet to recover and refusing to release Sal and Ali.

  It turned out to be another two minutes and nine seconds. Not ideal but much better than he'd feared. Now timing became critical. He watched the shuttle swing away from the station and begin it's journey towards the waiting freighter. He couldn't risk scanning it but the shuttle was small – could probably carry no more than ten or twelve people. So Sal, Ali and between one and eleven others. He could deal with that when he had to. His instincts told him there would be just a pilot – anyone on the shuttle risked becoming a new hostage or being enslaved. Probably someone with lots of family in the containers. Most likely someone older.

  When the shuttle had been travelling for ninety seconds he fired the Wanderer back to life. Engines ramped up to full power, weapons and shields too. Energy was once again dumped out into space. Within seconds the Wanderer was streaking towards the shuttle. Jess triggered the weapons.

  Lasers lashed out collapsing the shuttle's shields, but aimed precisely so they then passed within inches of the hull causing no damage. Ion cannons targeted the shuttle as a whole knocking its systems off line. Lasers then flicked out precisely to carve up the engines. Within seconds the shuttle was dead, drifting on its last course.

  Jess flew the Wanderer close in to the shuttle, then caused it to reach out with powerful fields whilst breaking hard at the same time. As the ship reached the shuttle the closing speed was greatly reduced. The ship's fields grabbed the shuttle and dragged it in to nestle securely against the hull, safely within the ship's shields. Anyone within the shuttle would have been shaken up badly but Jess hoped they'd have nothing worse than a few bruises. He couldn't worry about that now. It was time for the trickiest part of his plan.

  Jess forced the ship into jump space, a rougher than normal transition because of the shuttles bulk sticking out from the Wanderer's usual clean lines. Almost immediately he dropped back into real space – right in the middle of the pirate fleet. A fleet which was only just responding to the Wanderer's sudden appearance and capture of the shuttle.

  Jess expected the fleet to go after the containers, to destroy them, in retaliation for the loss of their prize. Both the message transmitted to the station and Matt's words made it clear that was the price of any resistance. Now Jess had to stop them.

  The fighters were his first target. Fast and agile he had to take them down before they scattered too widely. His first pass took him tearing through them, weapons firing in all directions. He managed to collapse the shields of three and disable them with the Ion Cannons. Two more were ripped apart by laser fire. The plasma cannons badly damaged one more but several others evaded the slow moving plasma bolts. Jess launched six of the agile fast attack missiles. All six found their targets, having been launched at near point blank range. Four tore the targeted ships apart, the other two inflicted significant damage, leaving the struck fighters reeling and struggling to regain control.

  In a single pass he had disabled three fighters, destroyed six and badly damaged another three. That left two fully operational fighters and the five corvette grade ships to deal with. The two fighters were already streaking away in opposite directions, and the corvettes were moving too. Two were closing on the freighter to defend it while the other three turned towards the Wanderer. The two active fighters would be able to start destroying containers within a minute or so. On their current course the three corvette's would be able to do the same within a couple of minutes – their longer ranged weaponry making up for their relative lack of speed.

  Jess pulled the Wanderer around in a tight circle and blasted towards the three Corvettes, jerking the ship through evasive manoeuvres as he closed. The sheer mass of firepower from the three s
hips meant the Wanderer took multiple hits. The newly reinforced shields were holding but weakening fast. Hooked into the ship Jess felt as if his skin was being flayed by sand. In response he was lashing out with every weapon he had. Lasers, ion cannons and plasma cannons all focused on the closest of the Corvettes. Despite starting at full power the corvette's forward shields flickered and died as the range shortened, the weaponry Jess could bring to focus was massively more powerful than the last time he'd faced a corvette. The Wanderer's shields were close to buckling too but Jess persisted. He chose a near collision course with the corvette he'd been pounding. As the separation between the two ships rapidly reduced the corvette started to turn away, but it was much too late. With only a handful of seconds till impact Jess launched two of the heavyweight missiles and threw the Wanderer into jump space.

  The two missiles struck the corvette before it had any chance to launch defences, the explosions ripped the ship apart and triggered far more massive explosions as the engines were destroyed. The explosion was so intense it bled over into jump space. Due to the nature of that medium the Wanderer was already clear of the area before the blast occurred, moving far faster in jump space than in real space. Even so it was badly rocked by the blast.

  Dropping back in to real space a short distance later Jess saw that the explosion had crippled one of the other Corvettes and shredded the shields on the final ship that had come after him. Once again pulling the Wanderer into a tight turn he lined up on that final ship. The Wanderer's shields had recovered partly and had to endure far less punishment than before. With more time Jess targeted critical systems, taking out the main thrusters and sensors. Leaving the corvette stranded and partly blinded.

  Checking the larger picture he cursed. Both fighters were approaching containers. Neither was significantly closer to the Wanderer than the other, but one fighter would be able to attack four containers in quick succession where the other could only target two. For most people the decision would have been clear – take out the first fighter. Thoughts accelerated massively Jess was able to analyse the feeds from each of the containers. The four containers held thirty-five people, the other two only held twenty – but nineteen of those were children. There were only two children amongst the thirty-five in the other set of containers.