by Ryk Brown
“Tell me you’re ready, Abby!” Cameron said.
“Hangar bay! Prepare for crash landing!” Mendez called over the comms. “All hands brace for collision!”
“I’m ready!” Abby promised.
“Hang on, people! We’re gonna have to take a few more shots to the nose!” Cameron announced.
“HA HA!” Josh screamed, his eyes widening. Nathan spun his head back to his left to look forward once more.
“She’s pitching down!” Loki yelled.
“Oh I’m in love with that woman!” Josh cheered.
Nathan watched as the Aurora pitched her nose back down until it once again was pointed in the same direction as her heading. Now they had a somewhat normal approach angle, although still somewhat fast.
“They’ve launched missiles!” Ensign Mendez reported. “Six inbound! All conventional! ETA thirty seconds!”
“Standby, Abby!”
Abigail moved her hand over the large round jump button that one of the technicians had permanently wired into her console, now that it was the official Jump Control station. She flipped open the cover and turned the key above the button, arming it. “Standing by,” she answered, her finger hovering over the button.
“Here we go!” Josh announced. He pulled his nose up hard and fired his landing thrusters. Designed to provide the lift needed for atmospheric flight, other than his mains they were the most powerful engine he had and therefore the most effective at quickly reducing their forward velocity. A quick glance to his right and Josh saw Tug doing the same thing with his old fighter as he too tried to make an emergency landing right next to them.
“Let’s hope she remembered to open the outer doors this time,” Josh mumbled.
As they slid in under the flight deck’s canopy, they pushed their nose back down and extended their landing gear. But there was not enough time for the harvester’s gear to fully extend before it hit the flight deck, and the gear folded back up against the harvester’s underside in twisted heaps.
Tug’s fighter fared better, its gear extending more rapidly and locking just in time to touch down yet still with considerable force. Having suffered far less damage than the harvester, Tug’s fighter was able to use its braking thrusters to come to a comfortable and controlled stop.
The harvester, however, was not so lucky. It slid across the flight deck into the outer airlock bay, sparks flying as it careened off the starboard wall and skidded back out toward the center of the bay, nearly colliding with Tug’s fighter.
“They’re down!” Mendez reported.
“Kill main viewer,” Cameron ordered. “Jump!”
A pale blue wave of light washed out from the Aurora’s shield emitters. In a split second, the bluish light grew into a glowing ball that encompassed the entire ship, before it suddenly turned white and fell back in upon her, erasing the ship from local existence, leaving nothing but an empty hole in space for the approaching missiles to cruise through.
“Jump completed,” Abby reported no more than a second later.
“Main viewer up,” Cameron ordered. “Kaylah, get a fix on our position, and then locate that warship. And let’s try to reduce our emissions as much as possible. The harder it is for them to spot us, the more time we’ll have to prepare for our next jump.”
“Already on it, sir,” Ensign Yosef reported.
“Abby, start plotting an escape jump, open space, anywhere outside of this system.
“Which direction?”
“Don’t really care.” Cameron turned to Mendez at tactical. “Did they make it?”
“Don’t know yet, sir. The outer doors just finished closing. The transfer airlock will be repressed in two minutes.”
“Very well. Good work everyone.”
“Commander?” Ensign Yosef called. “Okay, this is really weird.”
“What is it?” Cameron asked tentatively. Their history of unexpected occurrences had been nearly non-stop since they had departed Earth a week ago.
“I’ve found the warship.”
“Great. Where is it?”
“It’s still on the far side of the gas giant.”
“What?”
“Yes, sir. It’s right where it would’ve been before we first detected it.” Kaylah’s eyes suddenly widened and her mouth hung open. “Oh my God, and there’s us.”
“What?” Cameron repeated more emphatically.
“Okay,” Kaylah exclaimed, “this is going to take some getting used to.” She turned to face Cameron. “We’re thirty-eight light minutes out from Haven, sir. We’re seeing what was, what happened thirty-eight minutes ago. I’m seeing us still sitting in the rings.”
“Whoa,” Mendez said aloud.
Cameron smiled. “You’re right. That is going to take some getting used to.”
— 10 -
As soon as the inner transfer airlock door rose far enough, crewmen carrying portable fire extinguishers, rescue gear, and medical bags came ducking under, pouring into the bay. Most headed straight for the harvester, knowing that it contained their landing party.
Tug’s fighter, having landed without significant damage, had already pulled to one side and shutdown its engines. By the time the would-be rescuers reached him, his canopy was already open and his helmet removed.
The harvester however, was in much worse shape. Having slammed into the deck and into the wall before sliding back into the open, the poor little ship was fairly mangled and would obviously never fly again.
As rescuers ran towards the harvester, the hatch cracked open slightly. Vladimir pushed from the inside, trying to get the stuck hatch open as acrid smoke from burning circuits within the ship came seeping out of the hatchway. The rescuers quickly climbed onto the battered harvester and began prying at the hatch from the outside, but to no avail. Within seconds, another rescuer brought up a heavily powered-cutting tool and quickly sliced through the hinges of the hatch, freeing it from the harvester.
With the hatch now removed, the remaining gray smoke poured out of the harvester. Vladimir quickly tossed Tug’s youngest out of the ship like a doll, into the arms of his fellow crewmen below who rushed her away from the smoldering wreckage. Deliza was next, followed by Jalea, Nathan, and Vladimir.
Hacking and coughing, Nathan immediately called to Cameron on his comm-set. “Cam! What’s our status?”
“We’re safe for now, Nathan. At least for a couple of hours. Is everyone all right?”
“Cuts and bruises mostly,” Nathan answered as he turned around to look back at the busted up harvester lying crippled on the deck. “And maybe a bit of smoke inhalation,” he added with a cough. “But otherwise we’re good. Thanks for waiting for us.”
“No problem, Captain. And welcome back.”
“Thanks. We’ll see you shortly.”
“Copy,” Cameron answered, before adding, “And tell Josh he’s got a date.”
Nathan smiled as he watched Josh and his co-pilot Loki slide down off the top of the harvester onto the deck. They had been forced to climb out through emergency escape hatches directly above their seats, since the twisted wreckage made it impossible for them to pass through into the back cabin from the cockpit. As they walked toward him, Josh, who until this moment had always been covered up by helmet and faceplate, removed his helmet revealing a mound of shaggy blonde hair atop a boyish face that looked to be maybe eighteen years old at best. He was small and wiry, and looked like he was wearing his older brother’s flight suit as he flashed a ragged smile and extended his hand to Nathan.
“I’ll tell him,” Nathan laughed as he clicked off his mic. “Nice flying, mister,” Nathan said, shaking Josh’s hand.
“Thank you, Captain,” Josh answered, eagerly soaking up the praise.
“You, my friend, can call me Nathan.”
“Josh,” he returned. “And this is my co-pilot, Loki.”
“Pleasure, sir,” the slightly older co-pilot greeted as he shook Nathan’s hand.
“Where’d you
guys learn to fly like that?” Nathan asked.
Josh smiled. “VR games. Where else?”
Nathan laughed. “Where else, indeed.” Nathan turned to look toward Tug’s ship, as Josh and Loki headed into the hangar bay. Tug was already down on the deck, hugging his girls, with Jalea standing nearby. Vladimir was catching Jessica as she slid down off the fighter, giving her his customary bear-hug of a greeting. Nathan headed over to them. “You saved our ass,” Nathan told her as he neared.
“Hell, Tug did all the work, I was just along for the ride.”
Nathan wrapped his arms around her, feeling more affection for her at that moment than he expected. “We thought we’d lost you,” he whispered as he hugged her.
“I’m kind of hard to kill,” she bragged.
“Yeah, I’m starting to realize that,” Nathan agreed as he pulled away. “Come on, let’s go see how much Cam has banged up the ship while we were gone.”
“Oh Bozhe,” Vladimir declared, realizing he probably had a host of new problems to repair after the pounding the ship had just taken. “Please, do not say this.”
Nathan stepped over to Tug, who still had his arms around his daughters. “Thanks, Tug. You saved our butts.”
“Respectfully, Captain,” Tug began as he shook Nathan’s hand. “It was not you I was trying to save,” he added, his gaze returning to his girls.
“Jalea,” Nathan called as they headed toward the hangar bay. “Will you escort Tug and his family to medical?”As soon as the inner transfer airlock door rose far enough, crewmen carrying portable fire extinguishers, rescue gear, and medical bags came ducking under, pouring into the bay. Most headed straight for the harvester, knowing that it contained their landing party.
Tug’s fighter, having landed without significant damage, had already pulled to one side and shutdown its engines. By the time the would-be rescuers reached him, his canopy was already open and his helmet removed.
The harvester, however, was in much worse shape. Having slammed into the deck and into the wall before sliding back into the open, the poor little ship was fairly mangled and would obviously never fly again.
As rescuers ran towards the harvester, the hatch cracked open slightly. Vladimir pushed from the inside, trying to get the stuck hatch open as acrid smoke from burning circuits within the ship came seeping out of the hatchway. The rescuers quickly climbed onto the battered harvester and began prying at the hatch from the outside, to no avail. Within seconds, another rescuer brought up a heavy powered-cutting tool and quickly sliced through the hinges of the hatch, freeing it from the harvester.
With the hatch now removed, the remaining gray smoke poured out of the harvester. Vladimir quickly tossed Tug’s youngest out of the ship like a doll, into the arms of his fellow crewmen below who rushed her away from the smoldering wreckage. Deliza was next, followed by Jalea, Nathan, and Vladimir.
Hacking and coughing, Nathan immediately called to Cameron on his comm-set. “Cam! What’s our status?”
“We’re safe for now, Nathan. At least for a couple of hours. Is everyone all right?”
“Cuts and bruises mostly,” Nathan answered as he turned around to look back at the busted up harvester lying crippled on the deck. “And maybe a bit of smoke inhalation,” he added with a cough. “But otherwise we’re good. Thanks for waiting for us.”
“No problem, Captain. And welcome back.”
“Thanks. We’ll see you shortly.”
“Copy,” Cameron answered, before adding, “And tell Josh he’s got a date.”
Nathan smiled as he watched Josh and his co-pilot Loki slide down off the top of the harvester onto the deck. They had been forced to climb out through emergency escape hatches directly above their seats, since the twisted wreckage made it impossible for them to pass through into the back cabin from the cockpit. As they walked toward him, Josh, who until this moment had always been covered up by helmet and faceplate, removed his helmet revealing a mound of shaggy blond hair atop a boyish face that looked to be maybe eighteen years old at best. He was small and wiry, and looked like he was wearing his older brother’s flight suit as he flashed a ragged smile and extended his hand to Nathan.
“I’ll tell him,” Nathan laughed as he clicked off his mic. “Nice flying, mister,” Nathan said, shaking Josh’s hand.
“Thank you, Captain,” Josh answered, eagerly soaking up the praise.
“You, my friend, can call me Nathan.”
“Josh,” he returned. “And this is my co-pilot, Loki.”
“Pleasure, sir,” the slightly older co-pilot greeted as he shook Nathan’s hand.
“Where’d you guys learn to fly like that?” Nathan asked.
Josh smiled. “VR games. Where else?”
Nathan laughed. “Where else, indeed.” Nathan turned to look toward Tug’s ship, as Josh and Loki headed into the hangar bay. Tug was already down on the deck, hugging his girls, with Jalea standing nearby. Vladimir was catching Jessica as she slid down off the fighter, giving her his customary bear-hug of a greeting. Nathan headed over to them. “You saved our ass,” Nathan told her as he neared.
“Hell, Tug did all the work. I was just along for the ride.”
Nathan wrapped his arms around her, feeling more affection for her at that moment than he expected. “We thought we’d lost you,” he whispered as he hugged her.
“I’m kind of hard to kill,” she bragged.
“Yeah, I’m starting to realize that,” Nathan agreed as he pulled away. “Come on. Let’s go see how much Cam has banged up the ship while we were gone.”
“Oh Bozhe,” Vladimir declared, realizing he probably had a host of new problems to repair after the pounding the ship had just taken. “Please, do not say this.”
Nathan stepped over to Tug, who still had his arms around his daughters. “Thanks, Tug. You saved our butts.”
“Respectfully, Captain,” Tug began as he shook Nathan’s hand. “It was not you I was trying to save,” he added, his gaze returning to his girls.
“Jalea,” Nathan called as they headed toward the hangar bay. “Will you escort Tug and his family to medical?”
“Captain on the bridge!” the marine at the doorway announced as Nathan entered, appearing more confident than ever before.
“Report, Commander?”
“We’re down to eight rail gun turrets, and we had a few more chunks taken out of our hull. But as we took them head on, main propulsion and power are both fully operational, as is the jump drive.”
“I’ll bet our underside isn’t pretty. Nice move, by the way.”
“Thanks.”
“Where are we?”
“Thirty-eight light minutes from Haven, on a course headed out of the system at quarter light. As best we can tell, the enemy ship has not yet detected our new position. Theoretically, it should take at least another twenty minutes before we will appear on their sensors.”
“But we can’t be sure of that,” Nathan pointed out.
“Sir?” Cameron asked, a bit confused.
“We don’t really know their sensor capabilities.”
“But the speed of light is constant, regardless-”
“Yes, of course. But let’s just assume that they have much better detection capabilities. Better to err on the side of caution at this point.”
Cameron was shocked. It was the first time she had ever seen Nathan take the safe route. “Yes, sir.”
“Abby, how soon can we jump again?”
“We’re at ninety percent capacity, Captain. And I already have a jump plotted that would take us back to the point where we originally entered this system. We can jump at any time. Up to nine light years if necessary.”
“Very well.”
“Captain,” Jessica interrupted. “The Ta’Akar are obviously actively pursuing us. If Tug’s right about this Caius guy-”
“Ready room, Jess,” Nathan ordered, pointing toward the back of the bridge. “Cam, join us?”
Jessica immediately re
alized that although she had been relatively free to disagree with Nathan on Haven, on board, decorum dictated otherwise.
“Who’s Caius?” Cameron asked as she followed Nathan and Jessica into the captain’s ready room. “And who are the Ta’Akar, for that matter?”
“The Takarans,” Nathan told her. “Apparently we were mispronouncing their name.”
“And Caius?”
“I’m pretty sure he’s some kind of leader. A dictator, or a king, maybe?” Jessica explained. “If what Tug was saying is true, then the Ta’Akar will stop at nothing to find us and capture our jump drive.”
“Who is Tug?” Cameron asked, feeling more and more out-of-the-loop with each passing moment.
“The farmer we bought the molo from,” Nathan answered.
“I’m pretty sure he’s more than a farmer,” Jessica added.
“Apparently he was a fighter pilot at some point,” Nathan explained to Cameron as he sat down. “Damaged in battle, drifted, ended up stranded on Haven and became a farmer.”
“Oh, I think there’s more to him than he’s lettin’ on,” Jessica insisted. “I was in his kitchen, just after they captured him and killed his wife.”
“What?” Cameron was getting more lost by the minute. “What the hell happened down there?”
Jessica continued, ignoring Cameron’s remarks. “I heard them talking about how they would be decorated for capturing him alive. ‘By Caius himself,’” she explained. “Now tell me, how would the capture of a simple fighter jock warrant a personal commendation by their exalted leader?"
“You think he’s somebody important?”
“I think he’s at least somebody they want captured or killed, that’s for damned sure. And that leads me to my next question,” she added. “Was there a reason Tug was the guy we ended up doing business with?”
Nathan looked at her. The thought had crossed his mind more than once over the past few hours. But until now it was nothing more than an unsubstantiated suspicion. He reached over and hit his comm-button. “Comm, call medical. Have them send Jalea and Tug up here, ASAP.”