Jake barely noticed, his attention still on the fighter with the closed canopy. As the glass-steel of the fighter’s window fogged up, he tightened his fist.
“You’ve got it bad, don’t you,” whispered Maggie. “I can understand how you feel.”
“You’re a hologram,” Jake snapped, unleashing some of his anger on her since she was closest. “How would you know how it feels to have flesh and blood?”
Maggie’s eyes turned a dark green. She raised her left hand and wiped at her eyes. “Believe me,” she whispered. “I know.” Then her hologram flickered out.
During the next thirty minutes, Jake forced himself to run diagnostic tests on the Paladin’s sensors. For some reason, Maggie ran everything from automatic, refusing to appear in her hologram form.
At about the same time that the last of the diagnostics finished, the canopy on the escort fighter’s cockpit raised. Neither Major Maksim nor Casey was laughing. In fact, a red mark on the major’s left check looked suspiciously like a handprint.
Jake smiled, then glanced over at the copilot’s seat to make a comment to Maggie. She wasn’t there. With a shrug, he shut down the cat’s electronics and made for the access door.
I think I’ve done more than enough for the day.
Chapter 13 – Pirates
_____________________________________
During the wee hours of the morning shift a week after the captain’s dinner, Jake lay on his cot unable to sleep. He stared at the bunk above him, counting the number of springs in the dim light coming from the timer-clock on the room’s desk. It wasn’t so much the hum of the engines or the occasional snatches of conversations from the hallway outside his door that was keeping him awake. It was something much more insidious.
I miss Casey. She keeps avoiding me. Maybe I was a little rough on her after that cockpit incident with Maksim and her, but hey, was that my fault?
He gave a half-smile as he remembered the red handprint on the major’s face when Casey and the fighter pilot had climbed out of the cockpit. His smile disappeared as he thought about how much he missed the black-and-purple-haired Trecorian cat pilot.
I know it’s not like we were in a committed relationship or anything, but I kinda thought we had an understanding.
Counting the springs in the bunk above him again, he tried for sleep. It didn’t come. He sighed. Let’s face it. I want things back the way they were between us. One of us should apologize. I just wish she’d hurry up and do it.
A high-pitched wheeze sounded from the top cot as the end of a gray tentacle fell over the edge, dangling a hand’s breath from Jake’s face. His octopod friend wheezed another snore, and the tentacle withdrew out of sight.
Jake glanced at the room’s timer. Zero-four-thirty. Another hour and a half before Tilly and Jason will be up. This is ridiculous. I may as well go to the cargo hold and replace that leaking seal on the Paladin’s right footpad Tilley told me about. Can’t sleep anyway.
As quietly as he could, he slid off his cot and got dressed. Then he was out the door and headed to the Solaris’s cargo bay. The guard at the hatch waved him through with no questions. Jake wasn’t surprised. Captain Yardov had relaxed enough over the last week to allow the crews of both cats to work on their UHAAVs without supervision. Of course, the good captain hadn’t changed the rules about keeping the security programs on the cats’ tactical computers, but that mattered little to Jake since Maggie was unaffected.
Grabbing Tilley’s toolbox, he took out the largest torque wrench he could find and began trying to remove the first of four bolts holding the footpad’s seal in place. He was in the middle of bracing his knee against the bulkhead in an effort to get some leverage against the stubborn bolt when the hatch to the cargo bay opened.
In walked Casey. Giving him a stare that could mean anything, she walked past without saying a word.
Fine, Jake thought. Have it your way. If you don’t want to speak, it makes no difference to me. I’m not going to be the first one to talk.
He went back to work on the footpad, taking out some of his resentment on the handle of the torque wrench. When he gave the wrench a two-handed jerk, the handle slipped out of his grip. The knuckles of his right hand slammed into the side of the metal foot.
“Crap,” he muttered as he sucked blood from a skinned knuckle.
He heard a laugh from the direction of the Macron but refused to turn around. He did glance out the corner of his eye, hoping she wouldn’t notice. She didn’t. The Trecorian’s full attention seemed to be on her remote control pad as she pushed icons to start the boot up of the Macron’s tactical computer.
Humph. She made fun of Maggie, but she’s the one who’s got to wait for her cat’s computer to cold start before she can get inside and do any work. If her tactical computer was anywhere near as good as Maggie, it would’ve figured out how to bypass security on its own. Now she’ll have to stand around with her thumb up her butt for twenty minutes until the Macron’s systems come online.
Jake had a fleeting wish that Casey and he were still on friendly terms. Deep down, he knew he missed talking to her.
If she wasn’t so stubborn, she’d come over here and apologize. If she’s waiting for me to be the first one to say I’m sorry, she’s going to be waiting a long time. He sucked on his knuckle again. I didn’t do anything wrong. He wasn’t so sure, but his doubts hadn’t grown to the point where he was going to admit he might be the one who was in the wrong.
Just as he was just about to put the torque wrench back on the footpad’s bolt and give it another try, an alarm blared out of an intercom mounted on the bulkhead of the cargo bay.
“All hands to your stations,” came Captain Yardov’s voice. “We’re under attack. Major Maksim, launch your fighters.”
Jake glanced around, spotting Casey near the Macron’s front-left leg. She looked almost as confused as he felt.
Their ongoing feud forgotten, she said, “It’s got to be pirates. We’re near the Ontarian nebula. Sensors can’t operate in that gas.”
Jake nodded. “I hear you. There could be a fleet in there and Yardov wouldn’t know it.”
Casey looked at the remote control pad in her hand and then at the cargo bay’s hatch as if trying to decide what to do. She turned back to Jake. “I don’t feel like getting locked up inside my quarters until whatever’s going on is over. They’re not about to let either of us on the bridge. I’d ride it out in my cat, but she’s still booting up. I can’t get in yet.” She glanced at the Paladin. “Maggie’s online, right? I mean, you’re not going back to your quarters, are you?”
An image of Tilley, Jason, and him being locked in their cabin popped in Jake’s mind. He had no more desire to be confined to quarters than Casey. He didn’t have to think about it long to make a decision. “Maggie! Open the door and lower the elevator. I’m coming in.”
Casey ran over and wrapped an arm around Jake’s waist. “You mean we’re coming in.”
The anti-grav unit on Casey’s belt activated, lifting both Jake and her in the air. Before the elevator platform could descend to the floor, the two of them were already at the level of the open access door. Once they floated inside, the anti-grav unit shut off and Casey hastily released her grip around Jake’s waist.
A life-sized hologram of Maggie dressed in a clean, camouflaged flight suit stood next to the copilot’s chair. For five long heartbeats, Maggie and Casey stared at each other as if having a war of wills. Finally, Maggie gave a tightlipped smile and nodded at the copilot’s seat. “All right then; as long as we understand each other. If you want to help, have a seat. You can handle the control for the plasma cannons.” Maggie’s full-sized hologram blinked out. She reappeared as a hand-high figure standing on the pilot’s control console.
When neither Casey nor Jake moved, Maggie stomped one of her thumbnail-sized feet on the dash. “Well? In case you didn’t hear, we’re under attack. Take a seat and get buckled in. I think things are going to get a little
rough.”
The cat shook as did everything else in the cargo bay. Both Casey and Jake were knocked to the cockpit’s floor.
Wasting no more time, Jake scrambled to his feet and dove into the pilot’s seat. He buckled in on the double, then glanced at the copilot’s station. Casey was already strapped in. She was in the process of charging the 30 megawatt plasma cannons mounted on either side of the Paladin’s cockpit, as well as the plasma rifle array underneath the windscreen.
How’s she even know how to operate our weapons? Jake wondered. He had a feeling a certain Trecorian lieutenant had been spending a lot of time on the tele-network, studying Paladin weapons systems.
Jake pointed at the copilot’s weapons controls. “Hey. Just remember we’re inside the freighter’s cargo bay. I don’t think the captain would appreciate it if we blew up his storage containers.”
Casey activated the targeting computer. Crosshairs appeared on both the copilot and pilot’s windscreens. “This freighter’s unarmed. We’re being attacked. They’re liable to try boarding us. The cargo bay is the obvious point of entry.”
Maggie sat down cross-legged on the control console and pointed at the tactical hologram located between the pilot and copilot station. “She’s right. Take a look at that.”
Glancing at the tactical hologram, Jake saw a miniature version of the Solaris along with what appeared to be four small fighters. The miniature fighters were making a gun run on the freighter. As he watched, the hologram fighters began firing plasma beams at the freighter.
The Paladin shook again as stacks of containers broke loose from their cargo straps and fell to the deck. The cargo bay’s hatch opened. In ran five figures wearing black flight suits. With Major Maksim in the lead, the five Covians headed for their fighters. Jumping into their ships, the fighter pilots strapped in and lowered their cockpits.
The freighter’s rear ramp opened. Stars came into view through the magnetic field separating the inside of the cargo bay from the vacuum of space. In the distance, a cloud of purple gas took up half the horizon. Jake recognized it as the Ontarian nebula.
“Well,” Jake said. “I’ve got to give the Covians credit. They’re no cowards.”
As he spoke, the five fighters launched through the magnetic field, making a hard turn to the starboard once they were clear of the freighter.
Glancing at the Paladin’s tactical hologram, Jake noticed the five escort fighters make a beeline toward the four attackers. The attacking pirates, if that’s who they were, were in the process of making a third gun run on the freighter.
The hologram of the lead Covian fighter fired a salvo of missiles and plasma beams at the incoming ships. One of the pirate fighters disappeared in a flash of orange and purple light. The remaining three pirates broke off their attack run and made for the nebula. The five Covian escort fighters gave pursuit.
“That’s not good,” Jake said. “Maksim’s leaving our tail hanging in the wind.”
“He’s a glory hunter,” said Casey. “That’s another reason I don’t like him. Maybe Captain Yardov will call him back.”
Something inside Jake grew warm when he heard the beautiful Trecorian admit she didn’t like the Covian major. He had to force himself to keep his mind on the task at hand. He turned to his AI. She was still sitting on the console.
“Maggie, do you think you can hack into the freighter’s communication network? I’d like to hear what’s happening.”
Maggie’s eyes grew a bright blue as she laughed. “You must think I’ve been sitting down here for the last month and a half waiting for you to tell me what to do. I broke the freighter’s security network the second week I was here. I’ve got full access to communication, navigation, and flight controls if I so desire. With my nanosecond brain, I could—”
“Well, could you stop patting yourself on the back long enough to bring up any communications between Major A-hole and Captain Yardov?”
Maggie’s eyes grew a little dark and she pursed her lips.
The cockpit’s intercom crackled. Out came the voice of the freighter’s captain. “…ordering you back, Major. There could be—”
“Everything’s under control, Captain. We’ve got them on the run.”
Looking at the tactical hologram, Jake noticed one of the Covian’s ships line up behind one of the pirates’ fighters. For some reason, the Covian ship backed off. A different Covian fighter took its place. Jake recognized it as the escort fighter flown by Major Maksim. Missiles and plasma beams shot out. The pirate’s fighter exploded and disappeared from the hologram.
“Jerk,” said Casey. “Switching positions like that to take credit for the kill could allow the pirates to get away. If Maksim was a fighter pilot in the one-forty-seventh Mechanized Regiment, Colonel Darnell would have him court-martialed. We don’t put up with glory seekers in the one-forty-seventh.”
“You’ve got fighter pilots in a mech outfit?” Jake asked.
“Yeah, doesn’t everybody?”
Jake shook his head. “Not really. Spacecraft and UHAAVs are in separate outfits.”
“Well, you’re missing an opportunity. Maybe the Empire should—”
“Hello,” said Maggie. “We’re still under attack, in case you’ve forgotten. Maybe the two of you should discuss organizational charts another time.”
Jake’s face grew warm. Looking back at the tactical hologram, he noticed the three remaining pirates heading straight for the gas nebula and the five Covian fighters hot on their tails.
“Major Maksim,” came Captain Yardov’s voice out of the cockpit’s intercom. “You will turn around now. This freighter is unarmed. If another group of pir—”
“Our sensors are clear,” said Maksim. “There’s nothing within half a light year. We’ll take care of these three and be back before you’ve got time to—”
The three pirates and their five pursuers disappeared into the outer edges of the nebula. As soon as they did Maksim’s words turned to static.
Apparently the Solaris’s captain still had his mike on because Jake heard Yardov say, “If I were twenty years younger, I’d show that—”
A voice that sounded like the scraggily haired woman from the dinner party said, “Captain, our long-range sensors are picking up something coming out of the nebula.”
“Is it the Covians coming back?” asked Yardov.
“I don’t think so, sir! It looks too large for a group of small escort fighters. And, sir, you’ve got a hot mike.”
Something sounding like a curse word came over the intercom, then static.
Glancing at the tactical hologram, Jake saw only the Solaris. The edge of the nebula was visible, but he saw no sign of any ships. “Maggie, what’s the first mate talking about. I don’t see anything.”
The hand-high hologram of Maggie shrugged. “I’m not detecting anything either. But then again, my sensors aren’t fully deployed and I’m stuck inside a thematically sealed cargo bay surrounded by a class two force field. I was lucky to get enough data to show you the fight between the pirates and your favorite major.”
Casey pointed at the tactical hologram. “Something’s happening. There’s a disturbance in the gas.”
As Jake took a closer look at the hologram, a dark shadow formed in the outer edges of the gas cloud.
Casey leaned forward. “That almost looks like a—”
The hand-high Maggie jumped to her feet. “It’s a Balorian assault craft. Yardov better get us out of here before they attack.”
Multiple streaks of green shot out from the pirate assault ship, heading straight for the freighter in the hologram.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Both Casey and Jake were bounced back and forth in their harnesses. Casey’s head smacked into the control stick on her armrest, leaving a bad welt.
“And that’s why cat pilots wear flight helmets,” said Maggie, sounding not at all sympathetic.
“Sit rep,” Jake said as he stared at the approaching assault ship in
the hologram.
“The freighter’s shield is down,” said Maggie. “It was only a class two force field to start with. If I was the pirates’ tactical computer, I’d fire a salvo of plasma beams to knock out the freighter’s hyper-drive. That is, assuming they want to capture the freighter and not destroy her outright.”
Green beams shot out from the hologram of the pirate ship and struck the upper and lower engines on the freighter.
Boom!
Jake was jerked against his flight harness and barely avoided hitting his head on his flight controls. “Helmets,” he said.
Orange beams came out of the corners of the cockpit and latched onto two flight helmets hanging from hooks on the back wall. The helmets floated into Casey and Jake’s hands. He wasted no time putting his helmet on. Just as he fastened the chinstrap in place, he was jerked against his flight harness again. His forehead slammed into his armrest, but the helmet took the brunt of the blow.
“The pirates have caught us in a tractor beam,” said Maggie. “Some of our freighter’s crew are trying to abandon ship in escape pods.”
Glancing back at the tactical hologram, Jake saw half a dozen white dots leaving the freighter. Green beams from the pirates’ assault ship licked out, blasting the escape pods into flaming pieces of shredded metal.
Jake looked up, catching Casey’s eyes.
She stared back at him.
“I’ve got a feeling they’re not interested in taking prisoners,” Jake told her. “They must want our cargo.”
Casey shrugged, seeming to accept her likely death with a calmness Jake wished he could emulate. “What do you want to do? The Paladin’s your cat.”
The miniature Maggie waved both of her arms and laughed. “Hey! What am I? Chopped pactar? It’s not just Jake’s cat. The Paladin’s our cat.” She looked at Jake with the brightest blue eyes Jake had ever seen. “So what are your orders, oh cat-pilot-extraordinaire?”
What indeed? Jake wondered. He took another look at the tactical hologram. The pirate’s assault ship was maneuvering behind the freighter. “I think Casey was right,” he said. “They’re going to board us. Are you picking up any communications between the pirates and the freighter’s bridge?”
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