“They are, sir. We’ve got as many men as we could spare crammed into those shuttles.”
Cole nodded, “Mister Ulstead and I will lead the rescue teams. Your job will be to carry out the plan and retrieve us when we’re done.”
Kip made a face. “Great! No pressure.”
“You’re an Imperial Naval Officer, you will persevere.” Cole answered confidently, then turned to leave.
Kip hesitated a moment, then said “Good luck, Colonel.”
Cole paused at the door and looked back. “Good luck to all of us, Lieutenant.”
* * *
In the Silverthorne’s empty sick bay, Esther stood watching the limp silhouette of her captain suspended in the fluid of the healing tank. The bioroid’s own wounds had long ago healed themselves, and the skin that had been a patchwork of black and blue from exposure to vacuum was already returning to a healthy pale pink.
The same could not be said of her captain, for although the nanomeds were hard at work, the damage had been substantial. He had not only been exposed to vacuum, but also suffered severe burns and radiation damage as well from his exposure to the plasma stream that severed the bridge section. Were he a standard human, and not a Noble, he would have been long dead already, but even his enhanced physique had limits and those had nearly been reached.
In her head, Esther could hear the whispers of fear and worry, as even without being connected to the navigation system a Squire retained a low level of empathic awareness of the beings around them. Her superhuman senses could also perceive the minute shifts in gravity that were running through the hull, shifts that were now happening in rapid succession.
“I believe they have started their final maneuvers,” she said. Esther had learned that even while people were unconscious, there were layers that were aware, and she worried her master might be concerned about what was happening aboard the ship. “I was told they are attempting a rescue, Tysen.” She continued. “They are following your lead- you should feel proud of that I think. You have been quite an inspiration to them.”
She paused, considering what else one could say in this situation. What would her master want to hear? Perhaps a confession, something to bring them closer. Something he would know in his subconscious, even if his conscious mind was still far away.
“Did I ever tell you why Sir Fawn gave me to you?” She asked. “He did it because I requested it. When I first saw you, I knew that you were the one I wanted to be with. It’s strange, but I couldn’t help feel we had a…connection. I still feel it now more than ever.”
She looked down, not sure if she should be saying it, but feeling inside that it was necessary to get it out. It was like there was a pressure inside her that needed to be released. Then she looked up again, feeling she had to finish.
“I hope we can get through this Tysen. I want to see more of the galaxy with you…if you will show it to me.”
* * *
Outside, a battle raged.
The single Cutter Silverthorne was dodging and weaving among the asteroids while fire from the larger pursuing pirate ships lit up space all around it. So far, it had managed to survive the barrage, and was doing its best to elude the hunters.
“They’ve got to be crazy! We outnumber them six to one!” Leederman exclaimed, watching the Cutter rake fire across Captain Hovarth’s ship the Helena before it disappeared again behind another asteroid.
“Crazy is easy to kill.” Betsey said gleefully, the thrill of the hunt in her voice. “I can live with crazy!”
Leederman shook his head, he didn’t like this, not one bit. “The Helena’s damaged. They’re falling back. The Cutter is using that dense cluster as cover.”
“I’m going after them. This one is mine.”
“I think we should link to Ping An…”
“Hey!” Betsey called back. “Ping-An said we should take care of them- so we are! Besides, the other ships are already moving. If we don’t get a shot in we’ll lose our prize claim.”
Leederman looked over at Justin, who just shrugged. “You go stop her.” His look seemed to say.
Sighing, Leederman continued to watch the battle and then frowned. “Something’s weird, they’re not using any missiles. Just firing their cannons.”
“Maybe their launchers are damaged,” Betsey said as she navigated the ship around a mid-sized rock. “Or they’re saving them for a close salvo.”
“Maybe…But why not fire earlier?”
“Leederman,” Betsey called back. “Shut up and plot me a course around in front of them.” Then she grinned toothily. “I’ve got a salvo with their name on it!”
* * *
Far away from the desperate battle between ships, a group of three small shuttles slipped quietly down among the floating debris on a course for the far side of the refinement station.
“That Lieutenant is as good as his word.” Cole commented as he watched the data feeds of the battle. “He just might live long enough to pick us up later.”
“Yes, master.” Ashe replied. She sat in the co-pilot’s seat of the shuttle cockpit, which was separated from the rest of the ship. Her eyes closed and a look of intense focus on her face.
“Any luck reaching the dignitaries?”
“None,” she answered, then opened her eyes to peer at him. “It is very likely the dense rock is blocking our signals. We would need a relay or booster to reach them from the outside.”
Cole nodded. “Well, we can try again when we’re docked. Access the station’s own internal sensor system and locate them as soon as we dock with the colony. If it’s operational.”
“As you wish, master.” She said, and then after a brief pause she ventured. “Master, I am surprised you agreed to their terms. Will that not make accomplishing our mission difficult?”
“Not at all,” Cole replied. “In fact, we will be rescuing a great number of people the Grand Admiral would like to question.”
“So you plan to betray the Lieutenant, then?”
“Not at all. I will be as good as my word. I merely need to hold the dignitaries until the Grand Admiral’s fleet arrives, and that doesn’t involve retaking the ship.”
Ashe gave a slight smile, and shook her head. “Whatever you decide Master, I will be with you.”
“Thank you, Ashe. I appreciate your companionship.” Cole said as he tapped the controls. “Alright then, we’re about to dock. You and I will enter first and secure the docking port, then the men will follow us.” Then he looked at her. “Prepared?”
“Always, master.”
* * *
“You’re what?!?!”
Ping An, who’d been sitting in the pilot’s seat of her shuttle, reflexively jumped to her feet.
“See,” sent Leederman. “I toldja she’d be mad.”
“We’re chasing the Cutter. We’re just behind the rest of the fleet.” Explained Betsey. “We’ve almost got him cornered.”
“Oh no you’re not!” Yelled Ping An, horrified. “Leederman, give me a broadcast link to all ships in the group right now!”
“No problem, just give me a…Holy sh…”
A feeling of terror surged over the link and then everything went silent.
“Betsey?!?” Ping An sent frantically. “Leederman???”
Nothing.
“Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!” Ping An cursed, stomping around the assault shuttle cockpit.
“Is there a problem, dear?” Lady Whitcombe asked, looking up at her with mild curiosity.
“I’ve lost contact with my ships.” Ping An said sourly. “The stupid fools fell into some kind of trap.”
“Oh my. Now that is a problem.” The Lady answered, not sounding particularly concerned. “What do you intend to do about it?”
Ping An let out a deep breath. “I can handle it.” She turned away from the Lady and sent a link request to Vaela.
“Tech support. You shoot ‘em, we reboot ‘em.” Came the playful reply.
“It’s no time for jo
kes, kiddo.” Ping An sent back. “We’ve just lost our ships.”
“What?” Vaela squeaked in surprise. “Betsey?…Leederman?”
“I don’t know yet.” Ping An answered, not having time to sugarcoat things. “How’s the base security network coming?”
“I-I’ve almost got it online.” Vaela stammered, clearly shaken. “I’ll have a full internal map for you in a few moments.”
“That’s my girl. Let me know as soon as it’s up. When you’ve done that, work on the long-range communications. We’ll need to reach Michaels and get him to come pick us up.”
* * *
"It looks like mining the asteroids with our missiles worked, sir. Most of the pirate ships have been destroyed.”
Kip watched the readouts on the display carefully, hoping Helgi was right. They’d packed the ship’s stores of missiles and explosives into a few key asteroids and then lured the hunters into the kill zone. When they’d gone off, the ships had been engulfed in an inferno of nuclear fire and asteroid debris.
“What about the others?”
“Too much interference and debris sir, I can’t tell.” Helgi answered.
“Well, we’ll just have to hope they’re too crippled to fight.” Kip changed the display to show the refinement station. “Plot us a course for the far side of the base, Helgi.”
“Aye sir,” she answered, going to work.
Kip stared at the display, then checked his neural implant’s internal clock. They had a little less than an hour and a half before the fleet they’d seen was due to reach the system. Once they’d arrived…Kip didn’t even want to think about it.
All he could do was hope Colonel Cole’s rescue team could be done in time.
* * *
In one of the rocky corridors of the station, Colonel Cole led Ashe and a team of ten arrayed crewmen flying down a silent passage. Navigating this place blind was a nightmare- there were so many alcoves and dark places that an enemy could hide in. Cole’s spare array gave him the strongest defense field in the unit, so he was in the lead- weapons at the ready.
Ashe, who was running along behind the group, sent him an urgent link.
“Someone has engaged the internal security grid.”
“Block them so they don’t know we’re here.” He ordered.
“I have already done so.” She reported. “I have also used it to locate the dignitaries- they are three levels, two point four kilometres, away from our location. However, they have three groups of hostiles closing quickly on their position.”
“We need to move then.” Cole said, increasing the power to his array’s flight systems. Then he sent a link request to Ulstead.
“Aye Chief?” Came the reply.
Cole winced. “For the purposes of this mission, you will kindly refer to me as Colonel. Is that understood?”
“Sure, Chief.” The security man sent back. “No problem!”
Cole sighed, but he had bigger things to worry about at the moment. “Ulstead, as you’re in the better position, I want you and your robots to intercept the hostiles in corridor 65c.” He brought up an AR display map of the area synced with one Ulstead would be seeing. “I and my people will block the ones in corridor 67h, then we will regroup back to hit the middle group from both sides. After that, we will rescue the dignitaries and escort them back to the shuttles.”
“Sounds good, Chief! See you on the other side!”
As Ulstead closed the link, Cole heard Ashe’s voice.
“Master, I noticed you assigned Mister Ulstead’s team to face the larger group. He may not succeed against them.”
“Yes,” Cole sent back. “All the better for us. He only needs to hold them off, Ashe. We will take the prize while he shields us, and then we will deliver the dignitaries to the Grand Admiral when he arrives. Fitting, is it not?”
“As you say, my master.”
Then the group hit a vertical shaft and plunged down into the darkness.
* * *
The bridge of the Belleflower stank of burnt insulation and charred flesh.
Betsey pulled herself up into her seat with one arm, the other hanging limp at her side. Each breath was a new experience in pain, and she could feel a stinging sensation on the right side of her face she was afraid to touch. She started checking the readouts from her station.
When the explosions hit, she’d been thrown into the ceiling and then blacked out. When she’d come to, she’d had to push a support beam off her arm before she could get up. She couldn’t feel much from the arm, but she considered that a mercy.
Her work done, she turned and looked back at the rest of the bridge. One side was a mass of twisted metal where the hull had caved inward to cover half of the captain’s station. Justin was in there somewhere, but she knew instinctively that there’d be nothing worth looking for.
Leederman’s side looked mostly intact, but she saw no sign of the sardonic crewmen.
“Leederman?” She called out.
A short time later, a weak voice replied. “Yeah. I’m…here…”
Willing herself to her feet, Betsey limped over to Leederman’s station. She found him laying face down on the floor- he looked like a rag doll covered in blood.
“It’s okay, I got you.” She said, slowly turning him over.
He opened an eye and looked up at her, the other looked to have been swollen shut. “Man, Ping An’s gonna be pissed.”
“She’ll be more pissed if we don’t make it back.” Betsey told him, and started checking him over, his arms looked okay, but his legs…
“Leederman, can you move your legs?”
“Are they moving now?” He asked after a moment.
Betsey shook her head.
“Well that sucks.” He coughed. “Betsey, check on the ship- don’t worry about me.”
“I did already, we were the farthest away from the blast. We lost one of the hanger pods, but most of the ship is okay.”
“Good,” he rasped, trying to sit up and failing. “We need to get back and pick up Ping-An.”
Betsey pushed him back down gently with her working arm. “I’ve called medical, they’ll be here soon. Just don’t move too much, okay?”
Leederman gave her a weak smile. “Hey. Where am I gonna go?”
* * *
“Captain Zhang! We are encountering resistance. A cloaked enemy has just attacked us!”
“What?” Ping An called up a map of Dragonov’s area. Sure enough, the security network showed nothing there but Dragon’s group arrayed in a circular defensive formation. She called up a visual datafeed- that area was completely blocked and nothing was available.
There was only one possibility- the Cutter had dropped off shuttles before it had lead their ships away. They were no longer alone.
“Just hold on, Dragon.” She told him, and linked to Vaela.
“I’ll have long range communications up soon.” The young cryptographer sent.
“No, it’s something else.” Ping An told her. “We’ve got company. Some soldiers have snuck onto the station and they’re not showing up on my security map.”
“What?” Vaela exclaimed. “But…that’s not possible…Unless…” There was a pause, then Vaela returned, sounding more confident. “Don’t worry Ping-An, I’ll find them! You can count on me!”
* * *
In a remote corridor of the station, Sir Fawn slowed his pace and then signaled for the group to stop.
“Someone is fighting, I can hear weaponsfire.”
“You never cease to amaze me, Fawn.” Veers commented. “How far away?”
“The benefits of so much reconstruction, I’m afraid.” Fawn turned and gestured behind them. “Perhaps in the last section.”
“Could it be the pirates fighting amongst themselves?” Veers offered.
“Perhaps,” considered the knight. “But I’d rather not find out. I think we should keep moving away from them until someone tries to contact us.”
Veers peered into the
long dripping tunnel behind them, as if trying to see the distant battle. “But, if it’s our men the best place to be will be right with them, won’t it?”
“If they are ours, then why have they not broken radio silence to reach us?”
The Admiral considered this. “Maybe they’re also hiding from the enemy.”
“Exactly.” Fawn pointed out. “In which case their force is small, and we will do well to let them do their work without us. No. I believe…” Then he spun to face ahead of them and dropped his hand to the hilt of his sword.
Something was approaching them, fast.
“What is it?” Veers whispered, drawing his pistol.
Fawn heard the rapid footsteps slow, and then from around a bend ahead in the corridor a slender olive skinned woman appeared wearing a standard-issue fleet smartsuit.
“Stay where you are!” Veers ordered, leveling his weapon at her. But, Fawn reached out and gently pushed the weapon down, motioning her to approach.
“Ashe, is it not?” He asked as she did.
The Squire bowed. “Yes, father.”
“A Squire!” Veers exclaimed, finally seeing the woman’s violet eyes and the choker collar she wore around her neck.
“I mean you no harm. I have been sent to guide you out.”
“I think it’s safe to say she’s one of ours,” Veers said, holstering his weapon. “What ship are you from, Squire?”
Fawn noticed she paused for the briefest of moments, then answered- “I am attached to the Crystal Leaf, sir.”
“The Leaf, eh?” Veers said cheerfully. “Good man, Tysen.” Then he motioned back the way she’d come. “Okay then, young lady. Lead us out.”
* * *
“Got it! You should be seeing them on your map now.”
Ping An called up the display, and found she again had access to the full security grid of the station.
“Vaela, I owe you a drink.”
She began calling up the data for section 65.
“Just one?”
“Get us through this, and you can drink ‘till you’re on the floor.” She accessed the visual logs, and found she was looking at feeds of a young crew-woman leading the dignitaries down a hallway and two groups of imperial soldiers in arrays fighting in close quarters with her men.
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