by John Walker
He counted five people total, two women and three men. They were near the ramp to the ship and could easily board. If they were able to do so before he got close, they’d lock it up and he’d be done. If Trellan could distract them long enough for him to get close, he’d get out of there. Otherwise, the guards would overtake him.
“Just you,” the largest of the men spoke up, taking a step forward to greet him. “We just got an alert on the com about something going on.”
“It’s pretty bad,” Trellan said, trying to buy time as he continued walking. He knew the closer he’d get the more obvious it would become he was out of place. Covered in sweat, exhausted and unkempt, he his disguise was only meant to confuse enough for him to get into the place and find a way out. “Have you heard any racket?”
“Should we board the ship?” One of the women asked. “Maybe we can lock ourselves down until the situation is resolved.”
“Not a bad idea,” Trellan said. “But have you all been here the whole time? Has someone always been watching the ramp? Our suspect may have boarded when you weren’t looking.”
“Unlikely,” the big guy replied. “Look, I’m going to need to see some ID.”
Just then, the door behind them burst open and the real security personnel came in. “Get away from that man!” The lead soldier barked, pointing in their direction. Trellan was only a few paces from the civilian. He dashed forward and grabbed the man by the wrist while drawing his weapon.
Placing it to the side of his hostage’s head, Trellan started moving toward the ship again. “Drop your weapons or I’ll shoot him.”
“Put your gun down!” Station security ordered. “We won’t tell you again. This is going to get bad if you don’t comply.”
“Already looks pretty bad,” Trellan said. “Now, I need the civilians to step away from the ship or I’ll start shooting people. Believe me, this is not the sort of disaster you want on your hands. If I hurt a bunch of innocents because you don’t comply, then what’s your superior going to say? How do you think you’ll answer the hard questions?”
“I can’t let you take that ship.”
“Take our ship?” The other woman spoke up. “Are you kidding? Shoot him already!”
“Lira!” Trellan’s hostage cried out. “Have you noticed I’m right here?”
Trellan glanced over his shoulder and noted he was within twenty yards of the ramp. Luckily, the spacers were too stunned to take any action. They could’ve locked the thing down and he’d be dead in the water. Instead, they gawked at the spectacle, buying him a little more time to make his miracle.
“Listen,” Trellan muttered to the man he was holding. “I’m very sorry about this. Believe me, if there were another way, I wouldn’t be doing this…but I have to leave this place.”
“Just settle down, sir,” the hostage kept his hands raised as he spoke. “Please, we didn’t do anything to you. You should surrender to the security people. They’ll shoot you otherwise!”
“Put the gun down!” Security shouted again. “We are not going to keep warning you!”
“But you’re not going to shoot me either,” Trellan replied. “Not with the hostage in the way. Back off or he dies.”
“Whoa!” Trellan’s hostage cried out. “Come on, I don’t deserve this!”
“No, you don’t,” Trellan said. “Believe me, I know.” He approached the ramp and the sense of desperation increased in the security people. They knew the moment he boarded the vessel, he’d be difficult to dislodge and if he launched, they’d have to turn over his capture to someone else.
The rest of the crew tried to bar his way, standing in front of the ramp. “We’re not letting you on our ship!” The one called Lira spoke. “Give up already! This is ridiculous!”
“I’m going to shoot this guy in the head,” Trellan said. “And maybe I’ll get shot shortly after but I’ll tell you what, the next person who dies is you, Lira.” The comment made her gasp. “Yeah, I’m sure you’re not used to people telling you like it is but there you go. You will be the second person to go even if I’m next. Now back off!”
Someone pulled her aside and they gave him space to go up the ramp.
“What’re you doing?” Security shouted. “Stop him!”
“That’s your job!” Lira yelled back. “Don’t let him get away!”
Trellan backed up the ramp, pulling his hostage with him. “I doubt you want to come with me,” he said. “When we get to the top, you’ve got five seconds to get back down there. Understand?”
“Please, you can’t take our ship. This is our home, our livelihood! Sincerely…we’ll take you where you want to go, I swear it.”
“You and I both know you’re not able to be honest in this situation.” Security came close enough to see so Trellan took two shots, driving them back. He saw the panel to close the door. “Okay, get going. This is your last chance. Start shouting at them not to shoot or they might get trigger happy. Go!”
“But…please!”
“I said go!” Trellan booted the man in the rump, propelling him forward. The poor bastard stumbled and nearly fell, shouting as loud as he could for them to not fire at him. Someone grabbed him and dragged him out of the way, firing into the ship just as Trellan hit the button to seal it.
As the ramp went up, the shouts of his pursuers became muffled. He rushed to the cockpit and checked the controls, thanking the fates that they were getting ready to leave. The engine was primed and ready for take off. He kicked on the shields and engaged the thrusters, lifting off.
The radio lit up from tower control, demanding to know what he was doing. Trellan ignored it, directing the vessel at an angle before departing. He felt tempted to hit the burners for a swifter getaway but he knew the people down there might get incinerated in the process. They were likely already uncomfortable and he’d done enough damage for one day.
The moment he cleared the area though, he kicked the burners on and broke atmosphere in a few seconds. Ships hailed him, demanding answers to his swift departure. It wouldn’t take them long to figure out he’d stolen the ship and wasn’t simply a defiant spacer wanting to get moving.
Trellan plotted a course for an out of the way system where he could provide an update to intelligence. From there, he’d be able to hop over to one of the old pirate hangouts and take some downtime while trying to find the Orion’s Light again. He had to fight frustration about starting over from scratch, especially when he’d been so close.
Fighters on his radar cast aside concerns as he focused on evasion. The navigation computer didn’t want him to go to his destination, warning it was in the middle of nowhere. He had to initiate an override, which took almost a full minute. Plenty of time for fighters to get close enough to engage.
As they drew nearer, he picked up the com, hoping to buy some time.
“Star Skimmer, this is the Novalat Police,” the voice crackled in his ear. “You are instructed to power down your engine and surrender immediately or we will blow you out of the sky.”
“You’d rather destroy the ship than give it back to its owners, huh?” Trellan asked. “Seems a little wasteful to me, don’t you think? What guarantees do I get if I surrender? How will I be treated?”
“That shouldn’t really matter to you right now since you’re facing death,” came the reply. “Power down immediately. We will not give you a third warning.”
“I’d like to negotiate.” Trellan looked at the course and he had less than twenty seconds. “Will you feed me? I had to steal the ship because I’m starving.”
“That’s it.” Pulse blasts flew past the ship and he initiated an array of evasion maneuvers, doing his best to keep ahead of them. Unfortunately, the merchant ship wasn’t meant for combat and he was lucky to keep it flying straight let alone avoiding incoming attacks.
The shields flared twice and he knew he wouldn’t get a third. The computer chimed, letting him know it was ready. Slapping the panel, he engaged the jump drive and
held his breath. I hope you people had decent equipment. The shouts of the security people rang over the com as he winked out.
Trellan escaped.
Chapter 4
Two hours into their trip toward the planet, Kale received an update from the engineering team. They would be ready to make the transition for their crystal at the beginning of the next shift, nearly three and a half hours away. Right around the same time, they’d arrive at the mysterious planet and have some options in the event the jump drive was too severely damaged.
Kale had Wena engage a ship wide com, leaning toward the mic to address the crew. He’d been rehearsing some of what he intended to say since he promised Eirkan he’d talk to them all. As he opened his mouth to speak, most of the prepared speech disappeared and he had to improvise.
“This is Anthar Ru’Xin. I know you’ve all been operating with little information about our current situation. I’d like to offer you some now. First, our departure from the research facility proved to be both a success and a failure. The ploy to use waste from the pulse drive damaged our jump capability. We are currently stranded in this section of space.
“Before you begin to worry, however, please note that engineering is working on repairing the damage. They will begin the process in around four hours. Until then, we are speeding toward a planet in this system which appears to be habitable. A buoy is orbiting the world and we plan to ensure it is online to send a request for help.
“As we approach our problem from multiple angles, I need you all to stay focused on your tasks and do the best job you can do. We’ve come this far together and I fully intend to get you home. Please direct any questions to your section heads. I’ll be hosting a briefing for them shortly. Thank you.”
Athan glanced over his shoulder, “well done, sir.”
“Thank you,” Kale replied with a smirk. “I’m glad you approve. Deva, do you have anything to report?”
“Not really, sir. I believe when we arrive, I’ll be able to pull a lot more data from the planet. Engineering has repaired all minor damage throughout the ship. There are no more outstanding work orders for assistance at this time. Medical reports people are returning to their posts or quarters. All in all, if not for the jump drive we’d be at near one hundred percent.”
Kale nodded and returned to his own computer, reading through the reports she mentioned. As he finished, he turned his attention to the view screen and the planet ahead of them. He wanted to know more but as they approached, he knew in the back of his mind he would not be sending anyone down there. The risk was too great.
And without the support of the alliance behind him, he wasn’t taking any unnecessary chances. It would probably break Deva’s heart but maybe she could be part of the next visit they made. Until then though, their sole focus had to be getting the jump drive back and fixing the buoy. Their lives depended on one or the other.
His eyes began to burn and he realized he needed to take the advice of the medical team. Even if it was a short nap. Still, he didn’t have time. The briefing he promised would probably eat up a third of the shift. Then they’d be switching out the crystal and he couldn’t be sleeping then.
Looks like I’ll be taking a couple stimulants after all. The thought didn’t make Kale happy. While they certainly kept him awake, they’d always left him with head aches in the past. Today would likely be no different. He leaned back in his chair and tried not to relax too much. On his way to meet the section heads, he’d visit medical.
***
Fully outfitted and ready to go, the Behemoth made their departure from port, heading toward deep space for a jump. They didn’t have a destination as of yet, but Clea, Olly and Paul Baily were working on it. As they congregated in one of the tech labs, their computers ran through dozens of options for where the Crystal Font might’ve jumped to.
“The problem,” Clea began, “is that they could’ve made multiple jumps by now. However, an emergency hop tends to only be a system away…like a slightly longer micro jump. We could start in those systems nearby and look for any sign of them. Chances are good such signatures have dissipated though.”
Olly hummed. “What if we went to a central location?” He brought up a star map and pointed at a system adjacent to the research facility. “If we go here, we can systematically grab data from all the buoys. If the enemy didn’t take theirs out, it might even have course data.”
Clea shook her head. “It won’t. Standard procedure when fleeing an engagement is ensuring no data is transmitted. Otherwise, the enemy could’ve just followed them and considering they thought they had the research we were trying to protect, I guarantee they would’ve.”
“Fair point…but at least we’d get the buoy data from other points.”
Paul spoke up. “I’ve got a question. When the Crystal Font left the system, we thought they exploded. I read the report. Now we know they didn’t so what could’ve caused that impression? What could they have done to make us think they blew up?”
Clea smiled, grateful for the young man’s insight. “Good question, Mister Baily. There are several things that come to mind. They likely wanted to buy themselves some space. They could’ve jettisoned explosive cargo…bomb ordinance for example.”
“What else makes such a spectacular explosion?” Olly asked. “I think detonating one of our pulse bombs so close to the ship would be too risky. They’re designed to take out installations and would easily chew through shields. Lord knows the enemy was hammering them too. It would’ve practically been suicide.”
“I’m running a simulation,” Paul said. “Typically, we recycle pulse waste but it takes a while for the stuff to be usable. It’s pretty volatile for several days. Could they have used that to make their escape? Dumped a whole bunch and jumped out on that? Would’ve definitely distracted the enemy.”
Clea felt skeptical but couldn’t outright deny the idea. “It seems unlikely only because no one could predict what the stuff would do. It could interfere with coordinates and that’s the most subtle problem. Still, if they did that there may still be traces today after all this time. Of course, we’d have to use long range scans to do any of the work.”
“Because the enemy might still be there,” Olly said.
Clea nodded. “An adjacent system would give us an opportunity to get the most detailed scan possible. However, confirming they did something crazy doesn’t necessarily get us closer to finding them.” She brought up the communication Siva shared with them. “This came through the main buoy of our home world. Let’s tap into the network and see what we can come up with.”
They put their heads down for some time, each attacking the problem from a different angle. Clea knew they needed to get something from the buoy before they reached their destination. Gray would expect a destination when they were in a position to jump. But the vastness of space made the prospect intimidating.
Hundreds of thousands of messages went through the various buoys on a daily basis. The cache was dumped every hour and a half. The good news was Siva’s people made a backup of all the activity in the time immediately before and for thirty minutes after The Crystal Font’s message came in. Clea brought up the data and looked at time stamps.
Everything followed a strict sequence, being routed and delivered by a triply redundant software package. They were broken up into multiple categories. In system messages came from no farther than the space station on the border near the furthest planet out. Out of system messages could come from anywhere but they did have a range limit.
Clea wasn’t sure what specific parameter was used but a third category came from distant places. These were messages that likely had to bounce from buoy to buoy to make it back to the planet. They could be only a few days old or pushing months. Her heart hammered as she checked the backup logs.
This has what buoy the message came from. Clea checked but her shoulder slumped. The last buoy the message touched was an adjacent system where several colony worlds operated. If the Cr
ystal Font was there, they would’ve already received help. Furthermore, they couldn’t follow the message because the buoy may well have already purged the message.
Still, there’s a chance there. Even if the message has been deleted, we know it came from that place. “Olly,” Clea said, “bring up all buoys adjacent to this one…here.” She tapped her tablet and brought up the system over’s buoy. “Show me the network from that point spanning outward.
“I’m on it but…” Olly paused to work. “I’m not sure how it’s going to help. These messages could’ve come from anywhere. How can we narrow down the one they came from?”
“Oh!” Paul spoke up. “Check it out. There has to be buoys that don’t get as much traffic. Those might not have purged the data yet. Right?”
“A distinct possibility,” Clea said. “Definitely an option for us to check. We also know they aren’t in a high traffic area or else they would’ve already received help. Finally, they must be in some system with a buoy to have sent that message at all. They may have been there this whole time stuck too…and it could’ve taken so long for their initial message to reach us.”
“I just wish they had been able to say more,” Paul said. “Like some coordinates would’ve been nice.”
“Too easy,” Olly replied. “Anyway, we’ve got this.”
Durant Vi’Puren stepped into the room, carrying his tablet. His white lab coat fluttered around him as he took a seat at the head of the table and launched into an update without so much as acknowledging them. “I’ve done some analysis of the message we received from the Font. The interference should help us locate them.”
“How so?” Clea asked.
“Initially, I thought the static was simply degraded quality, bits lost in the digital transfer. But when I took a closer look, I found that I could clean up the message sufficiently to remove all the potential noise. When I isolated that, I discovered a steady, rhythmic wave…some kind of energy reading.” Durant grinned. “And my favorite part is I have no idea what could generate it.”