by Ryk Brown
“Neat,” Nikolas exclaimed as the chain he wore around his neck began to rise from his body.
“Good thing I had a light breakfast,” Erik said, looking a little uncomfortable.
Nathan reached for an emesis bag, handing it to Erik.
“How long until we’re picked up?” Abby asked Jessica.
“Shouldn’t be long,” Jessica assured her.
“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Erik said, trying to hold it together.
“Mom, Dad doesn’t look so good,” Nikolas warned, looking over his shoulder at his father.
“I’ve got them on sensors,” Jessica announced. “A jump flash. It’s the Seiiki, or at least I think it’s them.” She turned on the comms, waiting for a friendly voice and was quickly rewarded.
“Jump Sub, Seiiki. How do you copy?” Loki called over comms. “Hope you didn’t have to wait long.”
“What kept you?” Jessica joked.
“We had to run back to the rally point to make room for you. President Scott stuffed us to the ceiling with ‘aid’.”
Nathan smiled. “Just a few more minutes, Erik, and we’ll be back in near-normal gravity.”
“Hurry,” Erik whispered.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Captain Tobas and Commander Jarso stood on the Morsiko-Tavi’s bridge looking forward over the cargo pods stacked on the ship’s long, flat cargo deck. While she could carry up to twelve pods, stacked three pods high in four columns, on this trip, she carried only a single layer of four on her deck. The one nearest her superstructure was connected and pressurized, and contained the six Rakers that had escaped when the Avendahl fell. The other three pods contained additional propellant, since this journey was well beyond the ship’s normal range and Captain Tobas wanted to be sure he could get home again.
The Morsiko-Tavi’s windows did not turn opaque, like most ships. By design, hers merely filtered out extreme luminosity. The result was a subdued flash that filled the bridge whenever she jumped, but was not blinding to her crew.
“Jump complete,” the pilot reported after the jump flash subsided. “We are at the staging point, two light years outside of the Tau Ceti system.”
Captain Tobas looked at his watch. “You have about thirty minutes before you launch,” he told Commander Jarso. “You and your men best get to your ships.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about flying a mission against the Alliance,” Commander Jarso admitted.
“We do what we must for our own,” Captain Tobas said. “The Alliance does the same.”
“You served with the Alliance,” Commander Jarso said, wondering how Captain Tobas felt.
“I served in the Sol-Pentaurus Alliance, under Admiral Travon Dumar,” Captain Tobas corrected. “This is not that alliance.”
“I suppose you’re right,” the commander said, turning to exit.
“Good hunting, Commander.”
Commander Jarso nodded. He departed the bridge, wondering if the phrase had been appropriate, given the circumstances.
* * *
“It’s small, but it’ll get you through till you get back to the fleet,” Nathan told Abby and Erik. “The kids can have the next cabin. Marcus, Neli, and Dalen are all bunked on the other side of the ship, so you’ll have this side to yourselves for the entire trip. If you need anything, just ask Neli. She’ll take good care of you. Oh, and don’t eat anything that Marcus or Dalen cooks. Don’t ask how I know.”
“How long will it take us to get there?” Erik asked.
“Three days,” Nathan answered.
Erik scratched his head, sighing. “That far, huh?”
“Over a thousand light years,” Nathan said.
“I thought the Pentaurus sector was just under a thousand light years?” Abby questioned.
“You’re not going to the Pentaurus sector,” Nathan explained. “The fleet is two sectors away, out of immediate reach of the Dusahn, and it doesn’t stay in the same place for long.”
“How will we find it?” Erik asked.
“They’re holding position until we get back,” Nathan assured him. “And if they should have to move before then, Marcus knows how to find them.”
“Then, you’re not going back with us,” Abby surmised.
“No. We have another mission in the Sol sector to complete before we can return. We’ll see you in four or five days.”
“How soon do you want me to start work on the stealth emitters?” Abby asked. “I’m pretty sure I already have them figured out. I just need to do some more testing.”
“Get your family settled on the Mystic Empress, first. That’s more important at the moment.”
“Thanks,” Erik said.
“Reload is almost complete, Captain,” Dalen reported over Nathan’s comm-set. “We should be ready to depart in a few minutes.”
“Understood,” Nathan replied. He turned his attention back to Abby and Erik. “Thanks again…to both of you.”
Nathan turned and exited the cabin, making his way aft down the port corridor, stepping through the aft hatch onto the cargo bay port catwalk landing, and then headed down the ladder. “Safe journey,” he told Dalen, patting him on the shoulder as he passed.
“You too, Captain,” Dalen replied.
Nathan headed down the cargo ramp, onto the dusty, wind-blown tarmac in front of the Tannan evacuation facility, moving quickly inside to get out of the higher radiation levels.
“As I live and breathe,” Gil bellowed from inside. “If it isn’t Captain Kid, back from the dead.” There was an uncharacteristic smile on Gil’s face, one that Nathan didn’t remember ever seeing.
“Captain Roselle,” Nathan greeted, extending his hand.
“I’m pretty sure you’ve earned the right to call me Gil, kid,” Gil insisted as he vigorously shook Nathan’s hand. “It’s good to see you.”
“You, as well,” Nathan replied. “You too, Commander,” Nathan said to Commander Ellison.
“Marty,” the commander insisted, shaking Nathan’s hand.
“I can’t thank either of you enough for the risks you’re taking. It’s a hell of a sacrifice you’re both making.”
“Our jobs are a dead end, kid. It’s time for a change. A big one,” Gil added with a chuckle.
“You on your way out?” Nathan asked.
“You bet,” Gil replied. “I understand you talked the good doctor and her family into joining the cause, as well. Nice work.”
“Thanks.”
“Gotta run, kid,” Gil said with enthusiasm. “Time to start my life of crime,” he joked as he turned to face the four Ghatazhak standing behind him, dressed in Alliance Marine armor. “Marines!” he bellowed. “Let’s move out!”
Nathan and Martin watched Gil and his squad of fake marines march out into the open, headed for the shuttle Gil and Marty had taken from the Benakh a few hours ago.
“I haven’t seen him this excited about something in a long time,” Martin commented.
“I’ve never seen him this excited,” Nathan said. “I take it you’re going to fly a gunship for us?”
“Yes, indeed.”
“Glad to have you with us, Marty,” Nathan said as they watched Gil’s shuttle lift off.
“Strike Team!” Master Sergeant Anwar’s voice called from further inside the hangar. “Time to mount up!”
“I guess it’s time to go to work,” Nathan said.
“Do criminals call it work?” Martin wondered as they turned and headed for the Ghatazhak troop shuttle waiting inside.
* * *
“I trust the ship is properly fueled, Chief?” Aiden asked his engineer as he, Kenji, Charnelle, and Sari returned to Cobra Three Eight Three.
“She’s good to go, Cap
tain,” Chief Benetti replied as she closed the access cover on the starboard propellant tank transfer fitting. “Are you going to run some more simulations?”
Aiden looked at Kenji. “We still have two hours before the pre-launch quals begin. We could do at least four or five more runs through the launch and docking sims.”
“What’s a few more hours without sleep,” Kenji agreed.
“We’ll evaluate you for two or three of them, but then we have to get to our own ship to get ready,” Charnelle said.
“You don’t have to stay,” Aiden insisted.
“It’s no trouble. Besides, I rather like watching you screw up,” she said with a grin as she headed up the access ladder toward the ventral access hatch.
Aiden glanced at Charnelle as she climbed the ladder, then back at Kenji. “I’m not that bad, am I?”
“Don’t listen to her,” Kenji told him. “She likes to mess with your head.”
Aiden watched as Kenji and Sari both headed up the ladder, as well.
“She does it because she likes you, Captain,” Chief Benetti commented. “Trust me, I’m a woman, I can tell.”
Aiden glared at her, grabbing hold of the ladder to start up.
“Captain, if you don’t mind, I’d like to run the crew through some drills in the engineering spaces. We’re still a little slow doing the emergency manual reactor shutdowns.”
“Very well, Chief,” Aiden agreed. “Just don’t get in our way up front,” he added as he started up the ladder.
“Yes, sir.”
Aiden stopped just short of the hatch above him, looking back at the chief. “She likes me?”
“Bet a week’s pay on it, sir.”
“Huh,” Aiden said, continuing up the ladder.
* * *
The cargo shuttle, loaded with two, two-squad strike teams of Ghatazhak, was the first to roll out of the evacuation base hangar on Tanna. Following it was the much smaller combat jump shuttle, carrying General Telles and three more Ghatazhak. Along with the four Ghatazhak who left previously with Captain Roselle and Commander Ellison, dressed as Alliance Marines, the total number of Ghatazhak taking part in the mission on Kohara was twenty-eight.
Finally, the last ship, the search and rescue shuttle that Commander Nash had taken from the ironically named, Tanna, rolled out of the hangar. Robert and Nathan were at the SAR shuttle’s controls, while Jessica, Vladimir, Deliza, Yanni, Josh, and Loki rode in the back.
One by one, the three shuttles lifted off the dusty tarmac, slowly climbing skyward. As each ship reached a safe altitude, they disappeared, one after the other, behind flashes of blue-white light.
Three screeching claps of thunder were heard, a split-second later, as the sound of their departure arrived. Once again, the evacuation facility was silent, abandoned to the winds and radiation of Tanna.
* * *
Commander Jarso led his men into the massive cargo pod, toward their waiting fighters. They had spent the last week as passengers aboard the Morsiko-Tavi while the ship jumped its way across the galaxy to its current position, two light years outside the Tau Ceti system.
The old flatbed cargo ship was not as spacious and clean as the Avendahl had been, nor was she as advanced. But her crew had been very accommodating, and the additional living quarters inside two of the class-one cargo pods had been quite spacious for the six of them and the medical team of three that the Aurora had sent along. It would not be as spacious on the way back, however, since the additional housing would be filled with at least twenty Ghatazhak.
Commander Jarso climbed up into his fighter, sliding down into the cockpit. He pulled on his flight helmet, securing it to his flight suit’s mating collar around his neck. As he activated the startup sequence on his fighter’s reactors, the lights inside the massive pod began to flash red, warning them of pending depressurization.
The commander pressed a button on his console causing his canopy to slide forward, sealing him inside. He checked his life support system, noting that both his suit and the cockpit were at the proper temperature, pressure, and oxygen saturation.
“Raker Leader to all Rakers, count off.”
“Raker Two, secured and spinning up,” Ensign Viorol, the commander’s wingman reported.
“Raker Three, secured and spinning up,” Lieutenant Commander Giortone announced.
“Raker Four, secured and spinning up,” Ensign Baylor, the lieutenant commander’s wingman said, following suit.
“Raker Five, secured and spinning up,” Ensign Hebron said.
“Raker Six, buttoned up and running hot,” Ensign Dakus, Ensign Hebron’s wingman reported.
“Morsiko-Tavi, Raker One. Raker flight is ready for depress.”
“Understood, Raker Flight,” Mister Kellog, the cargo ship’s comms officer replied. “Depressurizing the Raker bay.”
Commander Jarso continued preparing for flight as the lights in the cargo pod changed to steady red, indicating depressurization of the bay was underway. He checked all systems, tested his flight instruments, and verified his weapons systems were all operational while waiting for his reactors to come to full power.
A few minutes later, the red lights suddenly reduced their intensity by fifty percent and the massive pod doors began to fold open, slowly turning into a ramp which extended the cargo pod’s deck out another eight meters into space.
“Raker Flight, bay door is opening. Be ready to launch as soon as we jump into the target system,” Mister Kellog warned. “Jumping in seven minutes, forty-seven seconds.”
“Understood,” Commander Jarso replied. “Seven minutes, gentlemen.”
* * *
Two officers and four armed guards burst through the door of the control center at the Cobra production plant on Kohara, moving quickly toward the nearby landing pad.
“Since when do they do security inspections at five thirty in the morning?” Lieutenant Commander Kessler complained as he and his men hurried across the yard. “And on launch day, of all days!” He looked back at his second. “Are you sure it was Roselle?”
“Gave his clearance codes and everything, Lieutenant.”
“Damn that man. I knew I shouldn’t have traded shifts with Ekholm.”
“It’s not like it’s the first time Captain Roselle has conducted a surprise inspection,” the lieutenant reminded his commander.
“You’d think the old fart would be sleeping this time of the morning. The sun won’t even be up for almost two hours.”
“These inspections never take more than thirty or forty minutes, sir,” the lieutenant assured him. “He’s just hoping to catch us with our guard down, so he can rack up a few points with the brass before retiring.”
“Roselle’s retiring?” the lieutenant commander asked, surprised.
“That’s what I heard.”
“About time,” Lieutenant Commander Kessler grumbled as he came to a stop a few meters from the landing pad.
The shuttle appeared in a blue-white flash that lit up the pre-dawn sky over the compound, followed a split-second later by a thunderous clap due to the sudden displacement of air caused by the shuttle’s arrival. The shuttle descended quickly as it passed over the outer fence. A minute later, it settled onto the landing pad and spun down its engines.
As the whine of the shuttle’s engines faded, its boarding hatch opened and two Alliance Marines in standard battle armor stepped out. The marines stepped to either side, taking up protective positions as Captain Roselle stepped out of the shuttle, followed by two more marines.
The captain and the two marines marched confidently toward the control center, with determined looks on their faces. “Are you the duty officer?” Captain Roselle barked at the lieutenant commander, obviously in a foul mood.
“Yes, sir!”
the lieutenant commander replied. “Lieutenant Commander Kessler, sir!”
“What the hell are you yelling for, Kessler?”
“Sorry, sir. Allow me to introduce Lieutenant Sauntor…”
“Yeah, yeah. This damned inspection wasn’t my idea, gentlemen. Came down from Fleet an hour ago; no idea why. So let’s just get this over with as quickly as possible,” Captain Roselle said as Commander Ellison came down out of the shuttle.
Lieutenant Commander Kessler exchanged glances with Lieutenant Sauntor when the commander appeared. “Commander,” he greeted.
“Commander Ellison will be taking command of the Benakh in a few weeks, when I retire, which means he’ll be doing these inspection tours. So I figured I’d wake his ass up, as well. Besides, two command officers can get it done twice as fast, and we can all get back to work, right?”
“Of course, sir,” the lieutenant commander agreed.
“How about you show me the control center and security command, and the lieutenant shows Commander Ellison the launch control tower.”
“The control tower, sir?” the lieutenant commander asked.
“You’re launching twenty-odd birds in a few hours, aren’t you?” Captain Roselle said. “Tower security had better be up to snuff. In fact, I suspect that is why Fleet woke my wrinkled, old ass up before dawn.”
“Of course, Captain,” Lieutenant Commander Kessler replied. He turned nervously to the lieutenant. “Lieutenant Sauntor, please show Commander Ellison the launch control tower, and make sure he has access to everything he needs to complete his inspection.”
“Yes, sir,” the lieutenant replied. “Commander, if you’ll follow me.”
“Excellent,” Captain Roselle said. “Let’s get this over with, shall we, Lieutenant Commander.”
“If you’ll follow me, sir.”