by Drew Wagar
He checked for a pulse, but he couldn’t feel one with her wrists and neck being slick with blood. He felt, slightly self-consciously, for broken ribs or damage to her spine. If she was breathing he couldn’t detect it. This was not the time for false modesty. He pressed his head against her chest, listening for a heart beat. It was there, slow, but strong enough for now.
He brushed the hair from her face. “Rebecca?”
She didn’t respond.
“She failed in her bid to sabotage my ship and safeguard the location of Raxxla; she was punished as a result. A clever ploy admittedly, it seems we were both taken in,” Zerz was standing behind him.
Jim stood to face him. He was shaking with rage, fists clenched, apoplectic.
He swung out, his fist coming with millimetres of Zerz’ jaw. Jim found himself flung backwards to lie beside Rebecca, his body tingling from head to foot as if he’d just touched a live power conduit.
“ Remember your kindergarten science, Jim?” Zerz said with amusement. “Newtonian Physics? I know it’s not in vogue at the moment, but that was a perfect demonstration of the Third Law – every action has an equal and opposite reaction… ”
“You’ll pay for this Zerz! Damn you!”
Zerz smiled at what both of them knew was an empty threat. He brought up the disrupter, “Now. You’ve seen her! Give me Raxxla!”
“She’s hurt! She needs help!”
“The quicker you complete the task, the quicker you can return to her. Her life is in your hands. My patience is at an end, Jim. Give me Raxxla, now!”
She tried to sacrifice herself for me, I can’t let her die for something that might not even be real! We’ll have to find another way to stop Zerz…
Jim cursed, glanced back at Rebecca’s unmoving body and then ran back into the Falchion. There was no other way to help her now. Zerz followed him to the lab.
Jim showed him the console, speaking as quickly as he could. “I’ve triangulated the technology trace locations you gave me, and matched up with reported gravitational anomalies. Here, here and here! There are loads of gaps, but you can get a track of some of it.”
“Enough to predict the location of Raxxla?”
“No, at least not precisely enough. Not on its own.”
Zerz frowned. “But you said you had found it!”
Jim nodded. “I have. There is one gravitational anomaly you hadn’t plotted. One that was too obvious, too close to home.”
“What do you mean?” Zerz demanded.
“An established anomaly, one so commonplace that nobody could possibly suspect it.”
“Where!” Zerz shouted.
“It’s the moon. It’s at Lave,” Jim said, resigned. “Raxxla is Lave’s moon.”
For a long moment Zerz simply stared at Jim in complete disbelief.
“You’re lying,” he finally said. “Lave’s moon is just an… ”
“Let me go, Zerz. You’ve got what you… ”
“EXPLAIN THIS!” Zerz roared. “I’m not letting you go until I understand!”
“It’s supposed to be from the Oort cloud,” Jim said hurriedly, “but it’s way too big, too regular! There is no way it should have been able to drop into the inner Lave system like it did, and if it had been out there all along it would have been discovered centuries ago. People see what they want to see.”
“Are you trying to tell me that Raxxla has been orbiting the seat of Galcop power for the last decade – AND NOBODY NOTICED?” Zerz was staggered beyond belief. “That’s not possible!”
“Crazy enough to be true,” Jim said, showing him the trace and alignment graphics on the console. “You know as well as I that Lave and all the other systems in that vicinity formed in a resource-poor region of space. No gas giants, no nebulae – single rocky planets, single star! There is no precedent for any other planetary body to have formed in that system, no way to account for it based on established planetary formation formula. It’s not possible!”
“But… ”
“ Nobody has ever seen an Oort cloud fragment of that size before anywhere. Its orbit is unstable, and no one can tell why, we keep having to adjust it with thrusters on the surface,” Jim continued. “Astrometrics failed to pick it up until it was very close in to system space. They couldn’t build anywhere except the equatorial belt, it’s too unstable! It still doesn’t register properly on scanners even now half of the time – and nobody has ever asked why!”
“But Lave… ”
“It’s only been there a few years, and the predictions are that it will break up in another decade or so. We’re not reading instability on the moon, we’re reading some kind of witchspace flux around the whole moon! It’s the rogue planet we’ve been looking for, travelling through space, half in and out of witchspace, only this time it’s got itself into orbit around a planet – right on our doorstep!”
“Raxxla,” Zerz whispered, lost in the moment. “How ironic that this all would be over Lave once more… ”
“Zerz, I’m going… ” Jim snapped, grabbing a portscan from the bulkhead.
Zerz pulled back and stood up, gesturing with the disrupter.
“She will be your undoing, Jim! Mark my words!” Zerz laughed as Jim fled.
Rebecca stirred, conscious only of a throbbing pain in her head, arms and sides. She was confused, trying to recall what had happened.
Something important, something I had to do?
She opened her eyes and tried to make sense of what she was seeing. All she could see was the ground. She seemed to be lying down.
Where am I? How did I get here? What happened before I got here? I can’t think, it’s so confusing! There is something important I should be doing! What is it?
She tried to move her arms, but they seemed curiously detached and sluggish. She managed to roll over on to her front, moving her arms underneath her to prop herself up. The pain increased in intensity. She cried out.
“Rebecca! No!”
Rebecca looked up without recognition. Somebody was there, someone who looked familiar.
I should know who he is? Why can’t I remember?
The memory tantalised her, frustratingly just out of reach.
Jim had sunk to his knees beside her, cradling her in his arms. Slowly she began to regain consciousness, her eyes widening in recall. “Jim? Zerz… Ow… Hurts!”
She winced, gasping from the pain.
“I know, try not to move. I don’t know how badly he hurt you.” Jim switched the portascan on and began to take a reading.
“I bet I’ve looked better,” she whispered. “It was a bit one-sided.”
“You’ll live,” he smiled, relieved at what the portascan showed. “Concussion, bruises and cuts for the most part.”
“I’m a survivor… ”
“Next time you decide to unilaterally sacrifice yourself for the greater good, you let me know beforehand!” he scolded.
“It seemed the right thing to do. He was going to kill me anyway, he needs you… ”
“I don’t think he had any intention of letting either of us go. We’ll discuss it later. Right now we’ve got to get out of here! Can you walk?”
“I don’t think so… ”
Jim heard footsteps at the top of the ramp. Zerz had returned.
Too late!
“How touching. You really are an incurable romantic, Jim. You gave me Raxxla in exchange for the life of this… ” Zerz gestured to Rebecca. “And she was prepared to sacrifice herself to save you. An honourable, if futile gesture. Fortunately I am free from such emotional burdens.”
“You’ve got what you want, Zerz!” Jim said, leaving Rebecca for the moment and advancing towards Zerz. “Leave us alone! We’re no threat to you now.”
“I regret that I must tie up some loose ends before I depart,” Zerz said, raising the disrupter towards them.
“You bastard!” Rebecca said, managing to sit up despite Jim’s protestations, her head spinning.
“So much for
your word of honour!” Jim yelled. “You said you wouldn’t kill her!”
“You are absolutely correct,” Zerz acknowledged. The disrupter hummed with readiness.
“No!” Rebecca shouted, realising what he meant. She struggled to get up. “Zerz! No!”
“But there are worse punishments than death,” Zerz whispered cruelly.
Rebecca had grabbed the knife from the floor. With quick reflexes she hurled it straight at Zerz. At the same instant he turned slightly, primed the disrupter and fired.
Jim was framed by a fierce glow of radiation. The knife ricocheted away from Zerz, deflected by his shield.
Jim crumpled to the ground. Rebecca screamed.
“ Enjoy your final moments together.” Zerz said, raising his voice above the sound of the hydraulic rams which were now closing the loading ramp of the Falchion. “I warned you, Jim!”
Chapter 8
Chapter 8
“Jim!”
Rebecca desperately crawled to his fallen body, struggling against wave after wave of dizziness that threatened to overwhelm her. “Oh God no! Jim!”
The Falchion’s manoeuvring thrusters fired, whipping up a furious gale inside the cavern. Dust blasted across the cavern floor, swirling violently past Rebecca, forcing her to shield her eyes. The Imperial Courier lifted gracefully up, its undercarriage retracting into the engine nacelles.
Jim was staring up at the roof of the cavern as the Courier’s outstretched flanks rolled past. He couldn’t move, a numbing sensation was growing in his chest. He realised that Zerz had put on the disrupter on a low power setting, he’d been spared the extreme discomfort the disrupter could have inflicted.
“Jim!”
Rebecca had managed to get to him. He saw her bruised and bloodied face looking down at him, her expression shocked and anguished, eyes brimming with tears. “Jim!”
“Rebecca… ”
“This is all my fault!”
“Reb… ”
“If I hadn’t… ”
“Listen to me!” he managed to croak out. “You’ve got to stop him, you’re the only one who can do it.”
“He’s a jerk. I screwed up his witchspace alignment good and proper right under his nose. He’s not going anywhere!”
Jim smiled, despite himself. “Another of your not-in-the-manual fixes?”
“Jim, don’t joke, not now!” Rebecca’s eyes were pleading and desperate. “I’ve got to get you to my ship… !”
The Falchion’s engines ignited, the whine of its ramjet engines terrifyingly noisy in the confined space. The ship moved gracefully away from them. The noise dissipating as quickly as it had arisen. The Falchion was gone.
“No time… Rebecca, you’ve got to stop him… ”
“No! I’m not leaving you,” Rebecca sobbed, huge choking sobs that caused her to gasp out words in the sudden silence. “Those things I said, that’s not what I meant… it was an act!… Promise me you forgive me… he was supposed to kill me! I’m sorry, oh Jim, I’m so sor… ” she dissolved into tears.
Jim could barely summon the strength to respond. The numbness was moving up his chest, into his arms and down into his legs. So many thoughts drifted through his head, alongside so many regrets.
Just like before – there is never time, never enough time!
“Rebecca, I know you saved me… ”
Darkness fell, whirling at the edge of his vision. He could hear Rebecca’s voice receding, as if at a great distance.
“Jim, please, don’t! Jim, stay with me! Stay with me! Don’t you dare die on me! Jim! JIM!”
Zerz immediately scanned the vicinity of the cavern as the Falchion switched to flight configuration. He’d expected to see two ships, instead only one appeared.
The ident computer recognised the single ship as a prototype, a Galcop Constrictor. It was moored a couple of kilometres from the cavern. It must have been how Jim had arrived.
Then where is the girl’s ship? Puzzling.
Zerz targeted his weapons on the ship. He knew the Constrictor’s capabilities, how it was immune to anything less than a high specification military laser. It would be interesting to see how it fared against the fully unleashed might of the new plasma accelerator as fitted to the forward gun mount of the Falchion.
The Imperial Courier angled towards Jim’s ship, coming into firing range. Zerz primed the gun, and waited for it to charge to full capacity. Zerz locked a missile onto the ship by force of habit.
The narrowband comms became active. It was the Constrictor.
You have adopted an aggressive posture against this ship. This unit is programmed to respond with lethal force. Stand down your weapons or be destroyed.
Zerz smiled. “Doctor Daystrom, I presume. Hello M5.”
M5 recognises Zerz Furvel. Chief of Galcop Security.
“M5. Please activate your self-destruct imperative.”
M5 confirms your authentication but does not recognise your authorisation, Chief Furvel. You have adopted an aggressive posture against this ship. This unit is programmed to respond with lethal force. Stand down your weapons or be destroyed.
Zerz sighed. “It was worth a try. Let’s see how your programming copes with overwhelming fire-power, M5!”
M5 engaging offensive mode. Terminating communications.
The Constrictor launched itself from the ground and headed towards him. Zerz turned the Falchion to intercept. Military laser fire splashed across the Falchion’s forward shields.
Zerz thumbed the trigger.
With a scream of power the plasma accelerator struck out, impaling the incoming Constrictor. With inhumanly quick reactions, the Constrictor turned aside, but not before the stream of plasma penetrated the shields and tore into the hull of the beleaguered vessel.
Trailing smoke and debris, the Constrictor began to roll out of control, spiralling down towards the surface of the planet. Zerz watched it fall, until it dropped out of sight in the shadow of a crater. There was a flicker of flame within the crater, swiftly extinguished.
Target Lost.
So much for M5 and the Constrictor…
Zerz rescanned the area, there was still no sign of another ship. The scanner crackled, the screen clouding with static for a moment, before clearing again. Zerz frowned, switching the scanner settings.
Gravimetric interference?
The scanners washed out, the whole area was flooded with moderate levels of radiation. He smiled and shook his head. He didn’t have time to locate and destroy a hidden ship.
A cloaking device. Clever girl.
He could not delay. Raxxla awaited. If the young woman’s ship was operational she might conceivably still try to pursue him. Time was still of the essence.
Perhaps I should have broken my word this once…
The Falchion angled up and headed away from Oresrati, accelerating away from the planet, clearing a way to make a witchspace jump.
Rebecca lay next to Jim’s body, trembling uncontrollably and weeping all the while. She was on the verge of unconsciousness herself. Nearby lay the Raxxla file. It had fallen out of Jim’s jacket when he’d fallen. It was half open, as if mocking her.
Death was something she had encountered many times before; countless space travellers were either victims of others’ attacks or subject to destruction under the weapons of her own ship. Somehow those just didn’t feel as real. You fought the marauder, locked on, and mercilessly pummelled them into submission. All you saw was the flash of an explosion, debris tumbling, the occasional cargo canister; a message on your console…
5.0 Cr, Right on Commander!
It was as if it were a game.
Then there was nothing, just space. You moved on. Just another day in the cockpit.
Death had never been so personal for her. She suddenly realised that every pirate she had lasered to oblivion, every trader she had been too late to save; every one of them had a story, family and friends. Each was a person in their own right, with thoughts, feel
ings, ambitions, traits both good and bad. Some were twisted, some were desperate, but all had a history. How many had come to an abrupt unexpected or premature end with the sudden realisation that time had run out?
This was her epiphany, her day of realisation. Even the death of her family had not been so stark. She was suddenly, truly, aware of other people around her. Now she realised their significance. It was a lesson she’d been forced to learn in the most brutal of ways. A lesson forced on her in a few brief seconds.
It had come too late.
Death has been my companion all this time, yet only now it has really caught up with me…
Jim was gone, snuffed out just as effectively as the abrupt death of an disintegrating trade-ship. There was no escape pod this time.
How long she had been there she couldn’t recall. Everything seemed pointless now, she could summon no will to move. She was numb, cold and shivering. She knew it was shock, both mental and physical, combined with blood loss. Maybe she was dying herself. Certainly she wasn’t sure she could make it back to her ship.
He was supposed to kill me, not you!
Rebecca had known from the moment Zerz’ shield confounded her disrupter that she was in trouble. Seeing Jim at the same time had thrown her into complete confusion. A myriad of emotions had washed over her; delight, joy, shame, anger, fear.
She had to find an opportunity to sabotage Zerz’ ship. She knew Jim would give away the location of Raxxla in an attempt to save her. She was convinced Zerz would kill her once Raxxla was revealed and would have no qualms about torturing her to force Jim to reveal Raxxla. She was dead whatever she did.
As such she was determined to save Jim.
Without her as leverage, Zerz needed Jim alive permanently. The only way out she could see was to perform her act, get Zerz at least partly onside, and find a way to disable the vessel before Jim found Raxxla. She hoped her coded message would be understood in time. Jim would have to strike a deal for his own safety, but at least he’d be alive.