by Ryk Brown
The man turned away, putting his hands on his head as he tried to calm down. “You’re not leaving me any pleasant options. You know that, don’t you?”
Jessica decided to try a different tactic on the man. If nothing else, she would confuse him, make him question his own tactics. If she mentally danced around him long enough, they would send in someone else. The next person would probably try the sympathetic approach. If she was correct, and these people were part of a resistance organized by the EDF or some other command authority on Earth, they were only trying to get her to slip up and contradict what she had already said in her message.
“Look, I’ll throw you a bone,” Jessica said. “Just so you won’t look completely incompetent in front of your CO. My name is Nash, Jessica D., Ensign, SO-4, at least according to whatever EDF records you people still have. Actually, I’ve been impersonating a lieutenant commander for some time now, but that’s a long story.” She looked at him. “I’m betting you’re a sergeant at best, so watch your ass, mister.”
The interrogator looked at her, a puzzled expression on his face for a brief moment.
“And what is this message you claim to be carrying?” the man asked.
“Sorry,” Jessica told him, “EDF Command Authority’s ears only.”
“Didn’t anyone tell you? There is no more EDF.”
“Then whoever took their place.”
“How do you know that ain’t me?”
“Because you used the word ‘ain’t.’” She smiled again, pleased with herself.
The man turned around slowly and moved closer to Jessica. “Who is the message from?”
“I already told you.”
“Tell me again,” he asked as he continued slowly toward her.
“Aurora Actual.”
“How do I know you’re telling me the truth?”
“Beats the shit out of me,” she said.
The man moved in close, putting his hand around her throat and beginning to squeeze gently but with steadily increasing pressure. She knew he was only trying to intimidate her.
“What’s your captain’s name?”
“Scott.”
“Bullshit. The Aurora’s CO is Captain William Roberts.”
“Sorry, pal. Your info is out of date,” Jessica said, struggling to speak as the man continued to increase pressure on her throat.
“You’re lying,” the man whispered in a sinister tone, “and I’m going to choke the truth out of you.”
“Captain Roberts died from wounds sustained in action,” Jessica struggled to say as he continued to choke her with his left hand. “He passed command to Lieutenant Nathan Scott before he died.”
There was an urgent knocking at the darkened window along the side of the room.
“I think someone’s pulling on your leash, asshole,” Jessica managed to squeak out.
One of the men by the door stepped forward into the light. He was wearing standard EDF body armor, and the standard issue, close-quarters automatic weapon was attached to his breast plate. He was listening to his comm-set as he approached the man who still held a tight grip around Jessica’s throat. He whispered something in the interrogator’s ear, and the man released his hold on her.
Jessica gasped as the man stepped back away from her, disappearing with the other man into the shadows. “Guess he pulled pretty hard, huh?”
The door opened, and light spilled into the room from the hallway. A man appeared in the doorway, tall and slender. The man was in silhouette, and she was unable to see any facial features.
“You said your captain’s name is Nathan Scott,” the man said from the doorway, “Lieutenant Nathan Scott.” His voice sounded older, more mature, and his diction seemed perfect.
“Yeah, that’s him.”
The man paused for a moment. His head seemed to cock to one side, as if he were studying her. “I remember you,” the man said, still lit from behind. “You were at the party. You were with him.”
“What?” Now Jessica was confused.
“Then Nathan is alive?” The man stepped forward into the light.
Jessica’s eyes went wide as she saw his face. “Senator Scott?”
“That’s President Scott, now,” the interrogator’s voice corrected from the shadows.
“Fuck,” Jessica mumbled. “I didn’t see that one coming either.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Nathan glanced at Cameron on the bridge as he passed through on his way to his ready room. A simple tilt of his head signaled her to join him.
Cameron followed him into the ready room a moment later. “How did it go?”
“Better than I thought it would,” Nathan said.
Cameron’s eyebrow went up. “You don’t sound very happy, so it couldn’t have gone that well. What is it that he wants in return for the information?”
Nathan sat down behind his desk, leaning back as he looked at Cameron to answer. “He wants to join our alliance.”
“You’re kidding?”
“Nope.”
“You’re not going to agree to that, are you?”
“I already did.”
“Now I know you’re kidding.”
“What choice did I have? We need propellant. They have it. It’s on their world, and they can help us access it.”
“So, we’re going to sneak in, steal some fuel, and sneak out?” Cameron asked, the sarcasm obvious in her voice.
“We both know what we’re going to have to do to get that propellant.”
“And what happens later when the Jung come back to retake Tanna?”
“I made it quite clear to Garrett that I could not promise to protect his world and that the interests of Earth had to take priority at this time.”
“Nathan, you know as well as I do that, when the Jung come, you’ll order us in to defend Tanna. I would do the same thing.”
“You would?”
“Of course I would. I’ve picked up a few bad habits from you.”
“Like being idealistic and foolhardy?”
“That would be two of them, yes,” Cameron said as she sat down across the desk from him.
“You know, there’s more to it than just the propellant,” Nathan said.
“I figured there had to be.”
“Tanna can offer us an industrial base to support our efforts against the Jung. That could turn out to be exactly what we need right now.”
“Yeah, I considered that possibility while you were dining with Garrett.” Cameron looked concerned. “What are we facing, anyway? What kind of forces do the Jung have in the 72 Herculis system?”
“Well, we got lucky in that they have no warships in the system to speak of. There are a couple of gunboats that run patrols, but they are out of the system most of the time.”
“Didn’t Josh and Loki run into a warship during their escape?”
“According to Loki’s report, it was on its way out of the system. Garrett said larger ships only come through once or twice per year.”
“So, we only have to deal with the fighters,” Cameron remarked.
“The asteroid base is small, only about fifty fighters and a dozen shuttles. According to Garrett, they also have several cargo shuttles and a couple of tankers that ferry propellant from the processing plants on Tanna to the fighter base. Apparently, because that asteroid is so small, it makes the perfect refueling station for visiting ships. They just slide right up to it, taking station about twenty meters away, and a boom swings out to them to connect and refuel. If we can capture that base, we should be able to get a pretty good load of propellant into our tanks.”
“Enough to fill them?”
“He wasn’t sure about the actual volume. From his description of the tank field, it
might be. It depends on how full they are when we capture them.”
“Any chance the Jung would blow the stores rather than allow them to be captured?”
“Garrett doesn’t think so. Apparently, the Jung do not believe the people of Tanna capable of any significant resistance, just general nuisance stuff.”
“Sounds easy enough,” Cameron said. She furrowed her brow. “But why do we need to attack the planet?”
“There may only be fifty fighters on that asteroid base, but there are at least a thousand of them on the surface of Tanna.”
“How well defended are the surface bases?”
“Well enough. Anti-aircraft emplacements, surface-to-air missile batteries, and a sufficient number of ground troops—several hundred at each base, and there are two such airbases on Tanna.”
“Short of nuking the sites, I don’t see how we’re going to manage.”
“Nuking is out,” Nathan said, shaking his head. “Both bases are in the middle of heavily populated areas. The collateral damage would be unacceptable.”
“We don’t have enough fighters to put precision ordnance on both targets and attack the asteroid base,” Cameron said.
“I was thinking we’d use ground forces on the surface fighter bases, maybe with a little close-air support from the combat shuttles that Major Waddell and Marcus put together.”
“Nathan, we only have fifty Corinari ground troops on board.”
“Garrett can add twice that number to their ranks.”
“That still leaves us outnumbered by, what, three to one?”
Nathan’s expression changed, the corner of his mouth twisting upward slightly as if he were afraid to say what he was thinking. “Not if we open our little present from Tug.”
Cameron fell silent, staring at Nathan. She wanted to say something but wasn’t sure what. She rubbed her hand across her face, then sighed. “We could be opening a very large can of worms, Nathan,” she finally said in a calm tone. “Are we sure we want to do that?”
“No,” Nathan admitted. A small smile formed on his face. “But it is nice to hear you say ‘we’ instead of ‘you.’”
* * *
“I’m finding this all a little hard to believe,” President Scott admitted. He sat opposite from Jessica at a small table that had been moved into the interrogation room. She had long since been untied and made more comfortable. “I mean, surviving for four months in an unfinished ship and managing to find your way back home over a thousand light years. It boggles the mind.”
“Nathan is a resourceful guy,” Jessica said, “an arrogant, reckless pain-in-the-ass much of the time, but overall, he’s turned out to be a pretty good leader.” Jessica picked up her glass of water and washed down the last of her food. “Just don’t tell him I said that.”
“I’m not surprised,” the president said. “I’ve always known Nathan was a natural leader. Since his first words, he has continually impressed me with his intelligence. His downfall has always been his general lack of effort, always taking the easy way out.”
“That trait seems to have reversed itself, sir,” Jessica said. She finished the last of her water and set the empty glass aside. “My companions? They’ve been released as well?”
“They’re in the adjoining interrogation rooms. They have also been unbound and are being fed and made comfortable. My security chief insists they remain isolated for the moment.”
“He’s probably right,” Jessica said.
“So the Aurora is completed and fully crewed,” the president said. “You don’t know how good it is to hear that.”
“Not only is she complete and crewed, but she has a few upgrades as well. We’ve got a full fighter wing on board, a platoon of Corinari ground forces, and a few energy weapons, but we’ve also got a couple of short-range jump ships—a shuttle and an interceptor, to be precise. In fact, a medium-range jump shuttle is probably done by now. The captain plans to send it back to the Pentaurus cluster to ask for help from our allies.”
“How long will that take?” the president wondered.
“I’m not sure, Mister President. A week or so just to get the message back. I have no idea how long it might take for help to actually arrive. It could be months.”
“We may not have months,” the president said. “Our operatives tell us the Jung are expecting reinforcements in the near future.”
“Where are they coming from, sir?”
“We suspect from the Centauri system,” President Scott told her. “That system is due to receive a battle platform.”
“Battle platform?” Jessica wondered, unfamiliar with the classification.
“An enormous ship, slow and not very maneuverable, but it is heavily armed and armored. Think of it like a fortress in space, but one that can be moved between systems, even if slowly. Apparently, once the Jung have successfully taken control of a system, they move in one of these platforms to hold it. Eventually, one will be stationed here as well.”
“Any idea how many ships are coming this way?”
“We don’t even know when they are due to arrive. Presumably, once the battle platform arrives in the Centauri system, the ships there will be sent here as reinforcements. Needless to say, every ship that is added to those already here, the more difficult it will be to regain control of our world. There are already four heavy cruisers in the system. When reinforcements do arrive, we suspect that number will double, if not triple.”
“We did a recon of the Centauri system on our way home,” Jessica told him, her tone serious, “about three weeks back now. A very large, unknown class ship was already there.”
“That was probably the battle platform,” the president said, “which means we only have about six months until reinforcements arrive.”
“The Aurora can probably handle four ships, but eight or twelve might be pushing our luck.”
“If the Aurora can handle four heavy cruisers, why has she not done so already?” the president asked.
“We had a run-in with a black hole on the way back from the Pentaurus cluster. Sucked up most of our propellant.”
“Then how did you make it home?”
“The jump drive doesn’t use any propellant,” Jessica explained. “All you need is forward momentum and electrical energy. We just kept our course changes to a minimum. Right now, we’re using gravity assist maneuvers to change course whenever possible. Battle requires a lot of maneuvering. Until we get some propellant, we can’t do much more than coast in a straight line. If the Aurora tried to engage those ships now, she’d run dry in minutes.”
“What is Nathan planning to do? Where will he get propellant?”
“Right now, they’re making contact with a local resistance cell one of our recon teams met in the 72 Herculis system.”
“Never heard of it.”
“It’s on the outer edges of the core, about forty-seven light years from Earth. The Jung have a small base there. We’re not sure why. The captain is betting that the locals know of a Jung fuel depot somewhere—preferably one not too heavily defended.”
He frowned. “That seems a long shot at best.”
She shrugged. “Yeah, well, your son is big on long shots. Plus, I think he doesn’t want to risk making a bad decision about his next move until he gets more intel about the current situation.”
“That doesn’t sound like Nathan,” the president said.
“He’s matured a bit over the last five months,” Jessica said. “That’s why I’m here, to get intel from you.”
“You’re here because we lured you here,” President Scott said, a smile forming.
“The Celestia, right? Why she’s so important to you?”
“Precisely.”
“Why is that ship so important?” Jessica wondered. “She c
an’t be battle-ready yet.”
“You’re correct; she is not,” the president confirmed, “but she is carrying all of the data storage cores from the Data Ark. Those must be recovered and protected. If they were to fall into the hands of the Jung…”
“Yeah, I get it,” Jessica interrupted. She looked at the president. “You know, Nathan has his mind set on finding her and making her battle-ready.”
“Is that even possible?”
“We’ve got some pretty advanced fabricators on board, a gift from the Takarans. So it’s not as far-fetched as you might think. Mostly, we just lack raw materials and trained manpower. If she is already space worthy and has all her reactors, at the very least, we could make her into an armed staging platform. It mostly just depends on where she is right now.”
“She’s on Metis,” the president explained. “At least, if everything went according to Galiardi’s plan, she should be by now.”
“Metis? Where the hell is that?”
“It’s one of Jupiter’s moons. Apparently it is very small and very close to Jupiter.”
“And you say it’s on Metis? As in, on the surface?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t know the Explorer class ships could land.”
“Technically, they can’t—at least, that’s what I’m told. Apparently, there is so little gravity on that moon that a ship even as large as the Celestia can easily settle onto the surface safely. The way my advisors explained it, it would be almost impossible for the Jung to detect her.”
“That presents a few new wrinkles,” Jessica admitted.
“Nevertheless, it is imperative that those cores are secured. If you must scuttle the Celestia, so be it. Those data cores, however, must be recovered. The future of our people may depend on the information contained on those cores.”
“I have a scheduled comm window coming up in a few days,” Jessica told him. “We could transmit the Celestia’s position to them then.”
“Too risky,” the president objected. “If the Jung were to intercept the message…”