by Ryk Brown
Nathan overheard the Corinari guard as he informed his partner at the bottom of the ramp over his comm-set that the captain was on his way down. The four main ramps that connected the different levels of the ship had also been turned into checkpoints on Lieutenant Commander Nash's orders. Not a single pair of boots hit one of those ramps without the guards at the top and bottom knowing about it.
Although most of the ship was either cramped or strategically used space, each deck had a wide main corridor that ran its length. The ramps allowed for movement of large equipment between decks, which had been necessary during her construction back at the Orbital Assembly Platform above the Earth. Nathan knew that soon those ramps would become heavily used once again, as much of their secondary systems and equipment were still stored in the cargo holds, as well as in the fighter bays on either side of the main hangar deck. They had been forced to depart from Earth before their build-out was complete, and Nathan was bound and determined to finish the job as best they could during their down time, assuming it continued long enough.
Lieutenant Commander Nash met him at the bottom of the ramp. “You wanted to see me, Captain?”
“Yes, I want you and Tug to get together with Abby. Do a little brainstorming and see if you can come up with ways to use the jump drive to our advantage against the Ta’Akar.”
“Sounds interesting.”
“I think it would be a good idea if you included Ensign Willard as well.”
“Sir?”
“There are ten FTL comm-drones stored on the Yamaro that I think we could make use of.”
“You wanna send the Takarans a message?” Jessica quipped.
Nathan grinned. “Yeah, something like that. Abby will fill you in.”
They rounded the corner and passed the guards at the entrance to the main hangar bay, entering the massive bay and heading out across its deck toward the captain’s shuttle. Nathan looked ahead and saw Josh and Ensign Kaylah Yosef looking a bit friendlier than he would have expected.
“Josh and Kaylah?” he asked Jessica as they continued walking. “When did that happen?”
“That’s a recent development,” Jessica told him. “I guess taking a blast in the shoulder to protect her made an impression.”
“I didn’t see any of that in the after action reports,” Nathan commented.
“Yeah, well, the details of what happened on the bridge are still kind of fuzzy.”
Ensign Yosef noticed the captain approaching and immediately straightened up, stepping back an appropriate distance from Josh, who seemed none too pleased about the sudden change in her behavior.
“Sir,” Ensign Yosef greeted as she snapped a salute.
“Ensign, how are you doing?” Nathan asked as he returned her salute.
“Fine, thank you, sir. We’ve finished repairing the damaged screen on the port auxiliary station on the bridge. The Corinairans are going to be tearing out the fried comm-stations and the two damaged starboard stations later today. Those should be replaced within a week or so.”
“Very good, Ensign. Carry on.” Nathan smiled at Jessica, noticing a slight blush on Ensign Yosef’s cheeks as she glanced at Josh.
“Sirs,” she said as she moved away to return to her duties.
“So, Josh,” Nathan said, “how’s the shoulder?”
“A little stiff, Captain, but healing up nicely, thanks.”
“Good. Are you ready to go?”
“Yes, sir,” Josh answered as he headed up the ramp.
“Lieutenant Commander,” Nathan said, bidding Jessica farewell as he headed up the ramp, followed by Sergeant Weatherly and his team of four Corinari guards.
Jessica tapped her comm-set. “Captain’s leaving.”
“Attention all hands,” the loudspeakers announced. “Aurora, departing.”
Nathan followed Josh up the ramp and into the shuttle. Josh, having never been aboard a Corinari passenger shuttle, was taken aback slightly as he entered the main cabin. The shuttle was one of the diplomatic ships used to ferry government officials between worlds within the Darvano system. It was a bit opulent for Captain Scott’s needs, but considering the amount of time he spent shuttling back and forth between the Aurora and Aitkenna, he didn’t mind the extra comfort.
“Nice,” Josh exclaimed as they entered the cabin, “very nice.”
The main passenger cabin was five rows deep, with two high-backed overstuffed seats on either side of the center aisle. The windows were larger than on most passenger shuttles, giving those inside a better view. Forward was the cockpit, and at the back of the cabin was a restroom and a steward’s station. The interior color scheme was deep and luxurious, and the cabin was so heavily insulated that once the main hatch was closed, you could barely hear the whine of the engines.
Nathan took his seat in the middle of the cabin, just as Sergeant Weatherly had originally requested on their first ride days earlier. With a pair of Corinari guards at either end of the cabin and the sergeant seated directly behind the captain, he was effectively surrounded by armed guards. The sergeant had even had the inboard seats at the forward and aft ends of the cabin removed, as well as the one next to his position just behind and to the left of the Captain, in order to make it easier for his men to maneuver while carrying weapons and wearing armor. This had lowered the seating capacity of the shuttle by five passengers, but as the shuttle had become dedicated to the captain’s personal needs, it had not been an issue.
To Nathan’s surprise, seated one row in front of him was Jalea. He had not seen her for several days as he had been quite busy negotiating the terms of the alliance.
“Going on a trip?” Nathan asked, noticing that she had a packed duffel bag in the seat next to her.
“Tug has asked me to round up the all the Karuzari who have reported in on Corinair and take them to the asteroid base to begin preparations,” she explained. “The Corinairans have been kind enough to provide us with a transport for our needs.”
“How many Karuzari have reported in?” Nathan asked.
“A total of fifteen. I do not expect many more are on Corinair.”
“That’s still pretty good. You should be able to get your base spun up in short order, especially if the Corinairans help.”
“I do not expect the Karuzari will receive the same enthusiastic support that the Aurora has received.”
“I’ll see what I can do about that,” Nathan promised as he continued on to his seat.
The steward closed the main hatch and made his way down the aisle, checking that everyone was secure before moving to the back of the cabin and signaling the pilot that they were ready for departure.
The shuttle began to roll backward before turning slightly to maneuver itself into the center transfer airlock used by larger spacecraft. Josh watched out the window as the shuttle rolled into the airlock and the inner door descended. After a quick depressurization cycle, the outer door raised allowing the light reflected from the planet below to spill into the airlock, altering the colors inside the cabin.
Nathan paid little attention to the vista outside his window as the shuttle backed out onto the landing apron, having already made this trip more than a dozen times in the last few days. Instead, he began reviewing his notes from the last negotiating session on his data pad.
“Man, the pilot sure takes his time about it, doesn’t he?” Josh commented.
“Sometimes that’s a good thing, Josh,” Nathan told him.
“Yeah, good and boring.”
“So, you and Ensign Yosef, huh?” Nathan said, testing Josh’s reaction.
“Huh? Oh, yeah. She’s a nice one, she is.”
“Yes, she is,” Nathan agreed. “Isn’t she a few years older than you?”
“Could be. I don’t really know, to be honest,” Josh admitted.
“What, you don’t know how old you are?” Nathan wondered, his attention diverted from his data pad.
“Well, I know my twentieth birthday is coming up. But I was born
on Palee. We moved to Haven when I was four or five, I think. Haven’s years are all screwy because it orbits a gas giant instead of a star. After my mom passed, Marcus tried to do the math to figure out when each of my birthdays were, but I’m not so sure he got it right.”
Nathan was amused, having never considered such a conundrum. “Well, since we have all the navigational data for the Pentaurus cluster and the surrounding systems, including Palee, I’m sure if we asked Abby she could figure it out for you. Since you’re serving on an Earth ship, I guess we should figure out your birthday based on the Earth calendar.”
“Sounds good enough,” Josh agreed as the shuttle fired its thrusters and ascended off the Aurora’s landing apron and began to drift to starboard. “Jeez, is he gonna fly this slow the whole way down?”
“Patience, Josh. I’m sure Tug won’t take off until you get there.”
“I’m just dying to get in that thing. I’ve never flown anything into FTL.”
“Neither have I,” Nathan told him.
“Really?” Josh said, somewhat surprised. “But how the…”
“We jumped here, remember?”
“Yeah, I guess you did at that,” Josh realized as he sat back in his seat, watching the planet below as it slowly moved closer to them.
* * *
After a rather lengthy clearance process, Josh was finally allowed into the heavily guarded portion of the Aitkenna spaceport that was reserved for the Corinari combat air and space operations. Although the various interceptors and tactical shuttles operated by the Corinari were significantly inferior to those used by the Ta’Akar, they were still decades ahead of what Josh had flown back in the Haven system. Nothing he had flown had been armed, except for a few side arms stored in a locker on board.
Josh had to walk all the way across the compound, asking several Corinari technicians—most of whom spoke little to no Angla—where to find Tug and his Takaran interceptor. Finally, after wandering about in frustration, he was directed to a back corner where an unmarked maintenance hangar stood. Its main door open, Josh could see the forty-year-old interceptor standing in the middle of the hangar. Tug stood next to the spacecraft in a black Corinari flight suit speaking with Marcus. The relationship between the Corinari and the Karuzari was tenuous at best. Because of this, Tug had asked Marcus to personally oversee the maintenance on his interceptor while Tug continued to represent the Karuzari at the alliance negotiations.
“Man, they sure stuck you way back in a corner, didn’t they?” Josh commented as he walked in the front of the small hangar.
“Yeah, I get the feeling the Corinari are none too fond of you Karuzari types,” Marcus commented.
“Yes, there is still a great amount of distrust and suspicion yet to be overcome,” Tug agreed.
“She all good to go, Marcus?” Josh asked. Although Marcus was a gruff old guy, he had been taking care of spacecraft for as long as Josh had known him. The man had practically raised him after his mother had died, so he was one of the few men that Josh actually trusted. Even though Marcus always rode him, Josh was glad that Marcus had also ended up marooned on the Aurora after the events back on Haven.
“Good as new,” Marcus boasted. “The Corinairans may not be as advanced as the Ta’Akar, but they sure know their way around forty-year-old technology. Those boys can fix just about anything.”
“They have had to make do with a reduced production capacity for several decades now,” Tug explained. “They have been forced to keep what they have in good repair.”
“I know how that goes,” Marcus reminded Tug. “I’m from Haven, remember?”
“Of course,” Tug remembered, having lived there off and on for the last thirty years himself, until recent events had forced them all from their homes. “There is a flight suit in the locker on the back wall,” he told Josh. “It should fit you well enough.”
“Great,” Josh exclaimed as he headed toward the back of the hangar. “I can’t wait to hit FTL for the first time.”
Marcus waited until Josh was out of earshot before speaking. “You sure you want to let him fly this thing? He’s a bit of a wild stick, you know.”
“Yes, I am well aware of his unorthodox piloting style,” Tug assured Marcus.
“Don’t know that I’d rightly call it a ‘style’,” Marcus observed.
“Well, perhaps I can smooth out some of the rough edges,” Tug said as he started up the boarding ladder.
“Save yourself some time,” Marcus sneered. “Skip the smoothing and go straight for the cutting.”
Tug smiled at Marcus’s remarks as he climbed into the rear seat of the cockpit. It had been over thirty years since he had sat in the rear seat. That had been when he trained his last wingman back in his days with the Palee militia. “I will keep that strategy in mind,” he promised as he strapped himself into his flight seat.
Marcus turned around to see Josh coming toward him wearing a baggy black Corinari flight suit and carrying a flight helmet. “I do believe the previous owner of that suit stood a bit taller than you,” he teased. “Probably had more meat on him as well.”
“What are you talking about?” Josh said. “It fits fine. A little loose, maybe.”
“As long as it seals up properly it will serve its purpose,” Tug assured him.
Josh bounded up the boarding ladder, noticing that Tug had taken the back seat in the cockpit as he crested the top of the ladder. “I’m sitting first seat?” he asked, stunned.
“If you are to fly this ship, that is the seat to do it from.”
“Oh hell yes,” Josh stated excitedly.
“I will get us airborne first,” Tug warned. “For now, you become acclimated to the controls and the flight displays.”
“No problem.”
Tug looked to Marcus as he handed Tug his flight helmet. “How are you getting back to the ship?”
“I’ll be catching a ride up with the captain later,” he told him.
“Very well,” Tug said, extending his hand. “Thank you for looking after my ship, my friend. It was greatly appreciated.”
Marcus took Tug’s hand, shaking it for the first time since they had met in the galley over a week ago. “You’re welcome,” Tug answered, feeling guilty that he had called him a terrorist during that first meeting. “Just don’t let junior crash it.”
“I will make certain he does not,” Tug promised as he donned his helmet and sealed it against the collar of his flight suit.
Marcus picked up Josh’s helmet from beside the front seat and plopped it down over Josh’s head, sealing it up as well. “Do what the old guy tells you, kid,” he instructed. “I have a feeling he knows a bit more about flying than you do.”
“No worries, Pops,” Josh promised as he examined the displays on the console in front of him.
Marcus climbed down off the boarding ladder, released its brakes, and rolled it back away from the wedge-shaped spacecraft. After a second, the interceptor’s two reactor plants lit up and hummed to life, her engines turning over moments later. He eyeballed the floor of the hangar around the small ship, checking for any obstacles. When he was satisfied it was clear, he gave a thumbs up signal to Tug.
The interceptor’s engines began to increase their pitch slightly and the warning lights on her underside began to flash, telling anyone who might be around that the spacecraft was now under her own power and was about to roll out of the hangar.
Marcus grabbed the ear muffs that were hanging around his neck and put them on to protect his ears from the sound of the spacecraft’s engines as their pitch and volume continued to increase. He looked up at the cockpit of the interceptor as it began to roll slowly forward, the canopies automatically lowering as they left the hangar. Josh looked over at Marcus, a monstrous grin stretching from ear to ear. Marcus noticed that Tug had already closed his helmet visor and Josh had not, so Marcus gestured wildly at Josh to lower his own visor as well. Josh, oblivious to the true meaning of Marcus’s gestures simply waved
back at him. Marcus repeated the gesture and finally Josh got the hint and closed his own visor.
Marcus watched the interceptor roll out onto the tarmac as it headed out to the nearest launch point, the canopies finally coming down and locking into position as it rolled away.
“Dumb kid,” Marcus mumbled to himself as he turned and headed for the washroom.
Tug increased the thrust levels on the main turbines used while operating in the atmosphere, causing the interceptor to lift slowly off the ground. “While unloaded, this ship can take-off vertically using only five percent thrust,” he told Josh. “Fully loaded with maximum weapons and fuel, she needs at least twenty-five percent to get off the ground.”
“Got it,” Josh answered over the comms built into their flight helmets.
“The ships that you have flown all used separate engines for lift and forward propulsion, did they not?”
“Yeah, the harvester did. The shuttle had a separate engine for everything,” Josh commented.
“This ship has four basic flight systems,” Tug explained. “There is a single turbine system used for atmospheric flight. As the body is a flying wing, once at speed it generates its own lift. You will find it a bit different than flying a ship that uses powered lift systems to maintain altitude.”
“You use the same engine for lift as you do for forward thrust?”
“Yes. The turbine has a series of thrust ports along either side of the ship. Each thrust port is gimbaled and can move twenty degrees in all directions from its vertical centerline. It makes the ship quite maneuverable at speeds that are insufficient to provide adequate aerodynamic lift.”