Ep.#5 - Balance (The Frontiers Saga - Part 2: Rogue Castes)

by Ryk Brown

  “We’re on a perfect intercept trajectory for Earth,” Deliza added from the auxiliary station behind Loki. “Entry point of twenty-eight point five degrees north, by seventy-seven point three degrees west. That puts it between one hundred and two hundred nautical miles off the coast of Florida.”

  “Same latitude as the Academy?”

  “That’s where Special Projects is located now,” Jessica said. “That’s where Abby should be.”

  “That’s not too far out, is it?” Nathan asked.

  “The jump sub should be able to navigate to within a few miles of the coast within a day or two, so it should be there when you need it,” Deliza assured them.

  “Assuming it works the way it’s supposed to,” Jessica commented.

  “It will,” Deliza insisted. “Jump sub is in release position. All systems show ready. We’re go to release. You guys ready?”

  “What do you think?” Josh chided.

  “Very well, initiating release.” Deliza pressed a button and the clamps securing the jump sub to the launch-and-recovery arm disengaged from the jump sub’s hard points. “Clamps are disengaged.”

  “Thrusting up and forward,” Josh announced. Tiny spurts of thrust fired in response to his manipulation of the Seiiki’s flight controls.

  The jump sub drifted slowly away from the cargo bay’s vid-cam. As it disappeared into the shadows, Deliza activated the aft floodlights, lighting the little sub up again.

  “Good sep rate, good trajectory,” Loki reported, keeping a close eye on the sensor display directly below the view screen containing the cargo bay vid-cam view. “Clear to translate to port.”

  “Sliding to port,” Josh announced, pushing the base of his flight control stick to the left. Again the Seiiki’s thrusters fired, only longer this time, causing the ship to move to the left of the jump sub’s course.

  “One minute to the jump point,” Deliza reported.

  “We’ll be clear in thirty seconds,” Loki assured her.

  Nathan watched as the cargo ramp came back up, closing up the bay and blocking their view of the jump sub.

  “Cargo bay is secure,” Marcus reported over comms. “Repressurizing.”

  “Jump point in thirty seconds,” Deliza announced.

  “We are clear,” Loki reported.

  Deliza looked back over her shoulder, feeling the tension from Nathan and Jessica. “Relax, guys. It’ll work.”

  “It better,” Jessica said. “That’s our ride back.”

  “Jumping in three……two……one…… Jump sub is away,” Deliza announced triumphantly. She turned to look at Nathan and Jessica. “Told you it would work.”

  “When I push this button and that sub squawks back at me, then I’ll celebrate,” Jessica said, holding up the jump sub’s tiny remote control unit.

  “It’ll take us about ten minutes to get back up to normal transit speed,” Loki warned.

  “We’d better get suited up,” Jessica said. “We don’t want them to pickup two more life signs than they find on board when the Seiiki lands,” Jessica reminded Nathan.

  “You mean, when the Mirai lands,” Nathan corrected, turning to head down the ladder.

  CHAPTER NINE

  “Tell me again why we didn’t take the jump sub down?” Nathan wondered as Marcus checked the exterior of Nathan’s space jumpsuit.

  “Logistics and potentials,” Jessica replied over his helmet comms. “Vancouver is a hell of a lot closer to Winnipeg than Cocoa Beach, and has the potential for low profile transportation.”

  “I don’t know,” Nathan argued.

  “Don’t be a wuss. You’ve space-jumped before, right?”

  “Yeah, in flight training. But never through a fiery plasma wake.”

  “I promise you, these suits can handle it,” Jessica assured him. “It’ll get toasty, but you’ll survive.”

  “How toasty?”

  “Let’s just say you’re going to lose a few pounds on the way down,” Jessica mused.

  “Jumping to Sol system in thirty seconds,” Loki announced.

  “You sure they won’t pick us up in these things?”

  “These rigs are as stealthy as it gets,” Jessica insisted. “The material does not give any sensor returns and they radiate no emissions of their own, other than comms, which we’ll shut down before we jump. The only way we can be detected is visually; hence, the plasma wake.”

  “Remind me not to listen to any more of Vlad’s harebrained ideas.”

  “Five seconds,” Loki warned.

  Marcus lowered his helmet visor, as did Dalen.

  “Three……two……one……jumping…”

  “…Jump complete,” Loki finished as the Seiiki’s cockpit windows cleared.

  Josh looked up, spotting a tiny blue dot ahead of them. “There she is.”

  “Activating transponder,” Loki announced. “We want to look as non-threatening as possible.” Loki called up the correct comms channel next. “Sol control, this is the Mirai. We have just jumped into your system at eight hundred thousand and fifty kilometers from Earth, stellar bearing of three two seven, eighteen degrees up relative. We are an armed, personal transport vessel and we mean you no harm. How do you copy?”

  Josh and Loki looked at one another.

  “How many seconds will it take?” Josh wondered.

  “A few.”

  After nearly a minute, a response came.

  “Mirai, Sol Control. State your intentions.”

  “Sol Control, Mirai. We are carrying Deliza Ta’Akar, heir to House Ta’Akar, president of Ranni Enterprises and diplomatic representative for the Karuzari rebellion. She is requesting an audience with President Scott.”

  Again, they waited. Thirty seconds later, four flashes of blue-white light appeared no more than a hundred meters away on all four sides of them.

  “Oh, shit!” Josh exclaimed, startled. “I hope that’s not their answer.”

  “What’s going on?” Jessica asked over comms.

  “Four Super Eagles just jumped in. Two on either side and two moving in behind us. They’re painting us,” Loki reported.

  “That’s okay,” Jessica assured them. “We were expecting this.”

  “Mirai, Eagle Four One Seven. Hold course and speed. Do not attempt to maneuver, or you will be fired upon. Do not power up shields or weapons, or you will be fired upon. Do not attempt any further communications with Sol Control, or you will be fired upon. Is that understood?”

  “Eagle Four One Seven, Mirai,” Loki replied calmly, “instructions received. We will comply.”

  “Mirai, Four One Seven, switch to local ship-to-ship laser comms, narrow beam.”

  Loki immediately reconfigured the ship’s communications as instructed. “Four One Seven, Mirai, on local ship-to-ship, laser, narrow beam. How do you copy?”

  “Copy you five by five, Mirai. Stand by for further instructions.”

  “Mirai, standing by.” Loki looked at Josh.

  “Is it my imagination, or do those Super Eagles look meaner than they used to?”

  * * *

  “To be honest, Mister President, I’m not so sure he wouldn’t use his forces against this administration,” Mister Dalton said.

  President Scott sat in his armchair by the fireplace in his office at the North American Union’s capital in Winnipeg. Sam Dalton was one of his top advisors. He was a brilliant man and was well respected throughout the core worlds of Earth. But he despised Michael Galiardi and, because of this, tended to see conspiracies involving the admiral around every corner. “Although I have no doubt the admiral would do whatever he felt was necessary to ensure the safety of the Earth and her allies in the Sol sector, I do not believe he would do as you suggest, Mister Dalton
. To do so would be a direct violation of his oath…”

  “Or the ultimate adherence to it,” Mister Dalton said, interrupting. “It depends on your point of view.”

  President Scott nodded his understanding of Mister Dalton’s point, continuing his reply. “…and, it would potentially weaken his support from his base, thus costing him the election.”

  “Assuming, he ever held an election,” Miri pointed out.

  “The people of Earth would never stand for a dictatorship,” President Scott insisted.

  “A dictatorship doesn’t care what its citizens think,” Mister Dalton pointed out. “And how would they stop him? He controls all the military.”

  “Admiral Galiardi will not stage a coup against this administration,” President Scott insisted. “Not unless we give him a justifiable reason to. One that convinces the public that a coup was necessary for their own safety.”

  One of the doors opened and a man in a suit entered the room rather urgently. “Excuse me, Mister President, but we’ve just received word that a ship, the Mirai, carrying Deliza Ta’Akar, has just jumped into the system. Miss Ta’Akar is requesting an audience with you, sir.”

  Miri felt her pulse quicken.

  “She will no doubt be making a public plea for support in the Pentaurus Sector,” Mister Dalton surmised. “The Alliance council has agreed that we cannot afford to send any ships at this time, not with the threat of a renewed war with the Jung here in our sector.”

  “We might be able to give her something,” the president said. “Small arms, consumables, propellant. A rebellion needs more than just ships, after all.”

  “It would at least be a gesture,” Miri said. “It might even help us maintain relations with the Pentaurus sector, after all of this is over. I think you should give her a chance to make her plea…in public. Perhaps a state lunch?”

  “Security would require time to quarantine and process both ship and crew,” Mister Dalton reminded them. “There are procedures to follow in such cases.”

  “Of course,” the president agreed. “Allow them to land,” he instructed the gentleman who had delivered the message.

  “But here, in Winnipeg,” Mister Dalton insisted. “Not at Port Terra. We should not give Galiardi any control over this meeting.”

  “Agreed.”

  * * *

  “Mirai, Eagle Four One Seven, you are cleared to approach Earth. Are you familiar with Earth’s approved standard approach orbits?”

  “Eagle Four One Seven, Mirai, affirmative,” Loki replied. “However, we were hoping for a straight-in approach to Winnipeg, west to east. We’re low on propellant and we’d prefer not to land on fumes.”

  “Not bad,” Josh said, congratulating Loki for a believable lie.

  After a moment, their escort responded. “Mirai, Four One Seven, maintain current heading. Decrease speed to minimum reentry speed.”

  “Ask them if we can jump down into the atmosphere,” Josh suggested.

  Loki looked at him, confused. “We need the reentry to cover…”

  “…I know, I know. But you gotta sell a lie to make it work. Trust me.”

  “Eagle Four One Seven, Mirai, any chance we can jump past the reentry? It’s been a long trip, and…”

  “Negative,” their escort replied, cutting him off. “Do not attempt to power up your jump drive, or you will be fired upon.”

  “Understood,” Loki replied. He turned to Josh. “I’m not sure that helped.”

  “For a lie to work, you’ve got to surround it with what they expect,” Josh insisted.

  “Well, you would know.”

  “We’re cleared straight down to Winnipeg, west to east, just like we planned,” Loki reported over Nathan’s helmet comms. “Are you guys ready back there?”

  “No,” Nathan admitted, “but let’s do it anyway.” Nathan rose to his feet, feeling the full weight of the Ghatazhak space-jump rig for the first time. “Whoa. How are we supposed to manage all this on Earth?”

  “Half of it will be gone by the time we land,” Jessica reminded him.

  “And the gravity in here is only at half-a-G right now,” Marcus added.

  Nathan and Jessica moved to the back of the Seiiki’s cargo bay, stepping up to the sharply-angled cargo ramp. As he approached the nearly vertical ramp, he felt the pull of its separate gravity field on him. He put one foot against the ramp, then leaned forward and put both hands on it, as well. “Ready,” he reported.

  “Ready,” Jessica echoed.

  Marcus touched the control panel on the wall next to the ramp, dialing down the cargo bay’s gravity to one quarter normal, while he increased that of the ramp to one half normal. “Go ahead,” he instructed, activating his mag-boots to hold him down as he dialed back the cargo bay’s artificial gravity to zero.

  Nathan and Jessica both placed their other feet on the ramp and then stood up, their bodies nearly perpendicular to Marcus’s.

  “Now this ain’t something you see every day,” Marcus commented.

  “Thirty seconds to atmospheric interface,” Loki warned.

  Nathan and Jessica walked up the steeply-angled ramp, moving as close to the ceiling as possible in preparation for their deployment.

  “Loading the pop-open sequence into the ramp motor controller,” Marcus announced. “Craziest thing I ever heard of, and I’ve seen a lot of crazy, believe me.”

  “Don’t forget to hookup, Marcus,” Nathan reminded him.

  “Don’t you worry,” Marcus assured him as he reached down and clipped the safety hook on his belt to the bulkhead in front of him.

  “Fifteen seconds,” Loki reported.

  “If either of you are so inclined, now would be a good time to start praying,” Marcus advised.

  The Seiiki shook slightly.

  “Atmospheric interface,” Loki announced.

  “It’s your thing, isn’t it,” Josh said. “Reporting the obvious?”

  “Thirty seconds to simulated failure point,” Loki said. “Be ready, it’s going to get bumpy.”

  Josh looked out the window to his left. The Super Eagles were still flying close on either side of them. A quick glance at the sensor display confirmed that the two Super Eagles in the kill-slot behind them were still there, as well.

  “Alright Dalen, do your thing,” Loki instructed.

  “First time I ever tried to make something fail on purpose,” Dalen replied.

  “I’m showing a fluctuation in our ventral thermal shields,” Loki reported.

  Josh looked at him. “Seriously?”

  “Just playing the part,” Loki insisted. “It’s getting worse.” He keyed the Seiiki’s comms. “Eagle Four One Seven, Mirai, we’re showing a fluctuation in our ventral thermal shields. It’s probably nothing, but you might want to have your trailers move off a bit, just to be…” Loki stopped mid-sentence as the Seiiki began to shake violently. “Four One Seven! Our ventral thermal shield is down! Repeat, our shield is down! We’re losing exterior hull integrity, ventral side, aft!”

  “Eagle Leader to trailers! Move off! Move off! But maintain weapons lock!”

  “Eagle Four One Five, moving below and away, maintaining lock.”

  “Four One Six, breaking off! Unable to maintain lock! The Mirai’s hull is burning off! She’s leaving a big plasma wake behind her!”

  “Say when,” Marcus urged.

  “Not yet,” Loki warned, his eyes on the sensor display. He waited for the two trailing Super Eagles to move away, then gave the command. “Now!”

  “Good Luck,” Marcus bid them. He grabbed the rail with his left hand and then pressed the activation button with his right, immediately grabbing the right rail afterward.

  Nathan and Jessica both bent over on their hands an
d knees. A split-second later, the cargo ramp dropped open a full two meters in a single second, causing a sudden decompression of the cargo bay that sucked them both out the back of the ship into the fiery plasma wake behind the Seiiki.

  “Jumpers away!” Marcus reported. He carefully wrestled his right hand free and pressed the button to reverse the ramp’s action. A few seconds later, the ramp was closed and the bay began to repressurize. “Like I said, not something you see every day.”

  “Mirai, Four One Seven, do you wish to declare an emergency?”

  “Give us a minute,” Loki begged. “We’re working the problem.”

  “Mirai, Four One Six, you’re losing a lot of hull coating aft of your heat exchangers. Can you pitch down slightly to let your nose take some of the heat instead?”

  “We’ll give it a try, Four One Six,” Loki replied. He nodded at Josh to comply.

  “He probably thinks he’s soooo clever,” Josh said as he pushed the Seiiki’s nose down slightly.

  “Say the word,” Dalen reminded Loki.

  “Give it a few more seconds, just to make sure they’re well clear of us,” Loki instructed.

  “We’re taking some real damage to the hull, you know,” Marcus pointed out.

  “Right now, you’re the only one at risk, Marcus,” Loki replied.

  “Yeah, that’s why I’m worried.”

  “Mirai, state your intentions. Can you make it to Winnipeg?”

  “Okay, Dalen. Bring it back online, but only at twenty percent power, then bring it up a little at a time.”

  “You got it,” Dalen replied.

  Loki watched the shield status display as the ventral thermal shielding powered back up and the shaking became less violent. “Eagle Four One Seven, Mirai, we’ve got partial power to our ventral thermal shield restored. I think we can make it down. Yes…It’s working. It’s coming back up. I think we’re alright.”