by Jay Toney
"I asked her to Cappy."
"Why Natty?"
"Kim was being mean to you for no reason. I don't like her anymore."
"I think Kim may have been jealous of our friendship with Jewel."
"I like Jewel. No one got angry when she was spending so much time with Kim."
"Your right, but I was envious of Jewel. Kim is very pretty."
"Do you want to make love to Kim?"
"I use to fantasize about making love to her, but now I am not so sure."
"I won't get mad if you do. I will still love you."
"I will always love you, Amber, Tanya, and our friend Jewel."
"Did someone say something about love?" Jewel asked.
Saved by the bell, or in this case the clock. The countdown reached zero, and Natasha brought the ship out of hyperspace, and into real space. We decelerated below light speed, proximity alarms started sounding, before we even visual information from our optical sensors.
Jane quickly raised the ships shields and Amber started running scans, trying to force data from our sensors. The ship was rocked by a series of explosions, prompting more warning lights to flash on. The main viewscreen was still incoherent with our sensor data still unavailable. More explosions rocked the ship, as Natty struggled to blindly perform evasive maneuvers, relying on telemetry data sent to her by Natasha .
"Captain, we've flown into a trap. We are completely surrounded by Alliance war ships."
"Natasha, how quickly can we reenter hyperspace?"
"It will take us 6 hours to reach the nearest outbound jump point."
"Natasha, I don't care about favorable vectors. How soon can we make a blind jump?"
"I can alter course and have us in range to jump in 30 minutes, but surviving an unknown jump is unheard of."
"Change our heading and get ready to jump. Set destination as Buenos Ares. Don't worry about plotting the course."
"In case we don't survive, I love you."
"I love you too Natasha."
"Natty, target the nearest vessels and fire our missiles."
"Doc, man the weapons console. Start shooting back."
"Jane divert power to weapons, shields, and propulsion."
"Natasha, go to max burn."
I sat in the pilots seat, taking manual control, freeing Natty to concentrate on missile trajectories. Natty fired a full salvo from both our forward and rear missile tubes. Amber engaged the incoming missiles with our ECM and PDC. As warheads closed to our range, the point defense cannons fired a mix of 30 and 40 mm rounds at the incoming missiles, destroying missile after missile.
Two of our missiles struck a frigate. Doc concentrated his fire on the damaged vessel. Natty fired two more missiles from our aft tubes at the frigate. She was rewarded by two more explosions as our missiles hit, followed by a larger explosion as the ship exploded.
A gun ship closed to within range, for a strafing run. It was a fatal mistake. Amber targeted the ship with our PDC, sending an unavoidable wall of 40 mm rounds its way. The gunship was shredded before it could fire on us.
I continued to evade the enemy ships. Rolling and weaving the ship as if it was a Marauder, and not a cruiser. I evaded as much enemy fire as possible, the shields deflecting or absorbing the rest. Jane rotated our shields, maximizing their strength in the direction of greatest fire power.
Four more of our missiles struck their targets, destroying a destroyer and giving us some relief from enemy fire. Two corvettes closed to fill the gap. Natty launched two more missiles and Doc concentrated his fire on them. One of the corvettes, probably captained by an inexperienced captain, closed to within range of our PDC, firing its weapons at us. Both Doc and Amber took advantage of the fools bravado, and concentrated their fire on the ship. Its shields quickly collapsed, and the hull was penetrated by thousands of rounds of 30 and 40mm projectiles.
Natty fired off six more missiles, two at a destroyer, and four at a closing cruiser.
"Primary shields are failing, they need time to recharge," Jane announced. "I'm switching to secondary shields."
"What secondary shields?"
"The way we have been bringing back damaged ships, Chief Mike though it may be a good idea to incorporate a secondary shield bank."
"And nobody thought to inform me?"
"It was part of our training, I thought you knew."
"How many more surprises are there like this?"
"I don't know, I am sure there are a few. What didn't he tell you about?"
"Practically the whole ship. He wanted to keep it a surprise."
"Surprise!"
"Natasha, how long till we can jump?"
"We are ready to jump. Are you sure you won't reconsider?"
"Engage the Hyperdrive."
****
"Captain, we must convey our apologies to the Lord Admiral himself. If we are lucky, he will be merciful taking our lives quickly."
"Apology accepted." The Lord Admiral stood above the mutilated corpse of the Fleet Admiral. "Captain, you live, only because you have come closer than anyone else to capturing the renegade, Roberts. Do not fail me again Fleet Admiral. The High Lord is not as forgiving as I am.
Chapter 16
We were in hyperspace, but in a pocket of our own space. I stared at the complex knot of intersecting currents, straining to bend its complexity to my own will. We had jumped into what could only be described as the knot from hell. No matter how hard I stared at the complex nexus, I couldn't fathom which path to take. If I chose wrong, we could be lost forever.
"Nathaniel, thank the gods we made it."
"Yeah Doc, out of the frying pan into the fire."
"Perhaps I can help."
"How did the early explorers navigate hyperspace?"
"They didn't. They used their ships to make short jumps with a jump drive, spending years, and sometimes generations to map out coordinates that could be safely followed, from system to system. Many of these early explorers failed, and were lost forever. The few that succeeded, gave us our early maps to the stars. Along the way, we met several alien species, some friendly and some not so friendly. Most of the information we have today came from trading with those aliens."
"Unfortunately that won't help with our situation."
"I cannot see into hyperspace the way that you, Amber, and Natasha does, but I may still be able to help. Describe to me what you see."
I told Doc about the complex series of different currents, vast rivers with different currents in several different colors, intersecting, joining, and branching off. Ahead of us, they formed into a massive, complex nexus of intersecting currents. I couldn't begin to guess which path to take, or where we would eventually exit. The further we got ourselves into the nexus, the fewer choices we would be able to take, most becoming very rapid. If I chose the wrong path, we could be lost forever.
"The answer is simple Nathaniel. Don't go into the nexus of currents, instead make a path around the periphery heading in the direction of travel you want."
"Doc, you're a genius. You should have been a seer."
"I don't envy you that gift Nathaniel."
"Natasha, display a holographic image of the hyperspace currents. I plotted a series of rapid changes, having to look between the viewscreen and the holographic image. The course I plotted took us around the periphery of the tangled nexus. I rotated the image as I plotted a course, making several rapid course changes. Most of the course changes were far to rapid for me to make. The course I plotted, exited on a rapid current that would take us to Buenos Ares.
/> "Natasha, can you follow this course?"
It was a few minutes before Natasha answered. "It is very complex, but I can."
I maneuvered the ship into a fast moving current that would take us to the nexus of currents ahead. The currents grabbed hold of the ship and we accelerated rapidly towards the mass of converging streams and currents. "Natasha, you've got the controls."
Natasha followed my plotted course. The ship groaned as we shifted into faster currents. The ships artificial gravity and inertia dampers struggled to compensate for the rapid course and speed changes. Everyone strapped into their seats as the ship shook violently, throwing loose objects about the bridge. At some point I blacked out.
When I woke, we were in a much calmer current, nearly at our destination. Everyone else was slowly regaining consciousness, after our battered flight through hyperspace.
****
"Fleet Admiral, do you have a plot on their course?"
"Yes Lord Admiral. They made a blind jump into empty space. Surely they are dead."
"Send a part of our fleet after them on their last known trajectory. We need to make sure this is the last time anyone will ever see Captain Roberts alive."
"Yes Lord Admiral. It will be done."
"What is the closest system to his vector?"
"The Sarania System Lord Admiral. There is no way he could have made that system on his escape vector."
"Nevertheless, we must make sure. Deploy half of our fleet there."
"Lord Admiral, we will sustain heavy losses there."
"Are you questioning my orders?"
"No my Lord. I will see to it immediately."
"Very good."
****
"Doc, if I somehow live through this headache, I will name that maneuver the Doc Cheat."
"No thanks Nathaniel. I don't want to be remembered by anything so painful. I am going to sick bay, we probably have numerous injured to deal with, myself included."
When we reached our destination, Natasha took us out of hyperspace. Familiar stars became visible, our sensors began feeding us data. Natasha plotted a course that would take us home.
"Captain, we are receiving a hail from Red," Tanya reported.
"Put it on screen."
"Nathaniel, for gods sake turn off your transponder. Do not respond to any communications, other than by line of sight. I will explain later."
"Natasha, silence our transponder."
"Amber go to passive scans only. Switch off our running lights, lets go as dark as we can."
"Natty, minimize our drive emissions."
"Tanya, give me ship wide comms."
"All hands, this is the Captain. We have an unknown situation ahead, as we head to San Paulos. We will be running dark until we know more. Further details will be provided through your department heads as they come available."
Natty, started our deceleration early, decelerating at a much slower speed than was accustom for a vessel of our size and class. It was 14 hours, before we were next contacted. Three salvage tugs came from the base to intercept us. Chief Mikes voice boomed over our ships comm system. "Attention Potemkin, this is a rescue mission. Shut down your drives. We will be towing your vessel to safe mooring point, where we will unload your survivors. Beware you have a dangerous reactor leak."
"Natty, shut down our drives."
I didn't know what the chief was talking about. Our reactor was fully functional, and not leaking. The three tugs locked onto our ship with magnetic clamps, and started moving our ship towards the station. We were not taken to a mooring location, near the repair section, but into a waiting hangar. Two of the tugs detached and took off before the hangar doors could close. The third landed beside our ship.
While the hangar was being pressurized, a boarding gantry was positioned by our airlock. Amber, Jewel, and I left the bridge, and headed to the airlock, to see what was happening. Chief Mike, and Red were at the Airlock hatch waiting, when it was opened. We were ushered back inside, and the hatch closed behind them.
"Sorry Nathaniel, we need to talk in private," Red said. He and the chief led us to the officers galley, instead of the conference room. "I could use a cold brew, and I'm sure you can use one too." Red poured two pitchers of beer and gathered five mugs. Amber helped him carry them to a table. He poured the cold beer into the mugs and passed them around before seating himself.
"No one can know you are aboard this station. The wreckage from the Potemkin is moored in the repair section, with radiation warnings, to keep the curious away. I'm afraid you will have to keep your crew aboard your ship."
"Red, they haven't had any leave for awhile, and we just barely escaped an Alliance trap. If I keep them aboard, there will be all kinds of morale problems."
"Red, Sally's girls can be trusted to keep quiet. If we can't send our crew there, how about bringing Sally's girls here. I'm sure Sally won't mind the extra business, and the girls can use the extra credits too."
"That's a great idea Amber. I'll get my people on it right away. I have more bad news for you. Most of your people are going to have to double up in there cabins. We will be moving more people aboard, mostly repair crew, and trained gunners from my ships. If any of your crew have a preference of roommates, they need to make arrangements now."
"Most of my crew have been in worse conditions. Even sharing a cabin with another person is luxury compared to what they use to have. I don't think there will be any problems. With the additional people we can work out different shifts, so most of the crew won't notice any difference."
"Chief Mike and his wife will need to move into one of the officer staterooms."
"He can have mine. I don't have any use for it anyhow," Amber volunteered.
Red emptied his mug, in one big gulp, and refilled it. "That's about as much information as I can tell you right now. I'll be giving you more information as you need it."
I took a few swallows of the golden brew before asking, "Red, you have told me what you need me to do, but you haven't told me why?"
"I thought you might have figured that part out yourself. The Alliance is moving into this sector, stealing resources, such as your gold. The system governors don't have the guts to fight back, and want to prevent another war. Even our governor is feeling the pressure. It won't be long before he surrenders to the Alliance. He is already in the process of negotiating a treaty with them. One thing every treaty has in common, is you. You have been a thorn in their side, interfering with their conquest. Now they want you dead. They have put a bounty on your head large enough to buy your own planet, or a seat in their senate. The gold you are carrying under your plates is only a fraction of what they are offering. I would consider turning you in myself, if it wasn't for your being married to my sister, making you family."
"Nathaniel, I will be seeing to your repairs, and resupplying your missiles and ammunition. While I am having your ship repaired and resupplied, I will be smuggling people on board in the guise of repairmen. I have also acquired eight more Marauders and two more transport shuttles. We will have to sneak them aboard during the late night shift."
"I hope you have some pilots. I only have three people capable of flying the Marauders, and three more in training."
"Most of my men are certified to fly transport and cargo shuttles. We will have to pool our sources from them and train them further."
"I have a simulation set up for Marauder training in the holographic simulator. If there not busy, they can start their training now. I need pilots as soon as possible."
"I'll start assessing your damage, and assigning repair crews. If it's alright, I would like to move in to the c
abin tonight, with my wife."
"I think you will be a very welcome asset aboard this ship. If there is anything I can do to help, just name it."
"Thank you Nathaniel."
Amber and I went to see Tanya, and Natty. They were in their cabin playing with Natty's dolls. Even though it was still early afternoon, they were dressed for bed. Natty was wearing pajamas, and Natasha a nighty and robe. I watched them for a moment, having mother, daughter fun, giggling as they played together. I hated to disturb their fun.
"Tanya."
"Nathaniel, Amber, I wasn't expecting the two of you. You startled me."
"I am afraid I have some unexpected work for the two of you. We are taking on more crew, and will have to juggle cabin assignments, doubling up some cabins."
"How many people?"
"I don't know. We will have to shuffle cabin assignments as we go, maybe several times until everyone is situated and has their job and shift assignments. We will also have to redo the entire shift schedule, so the crewmen feel as little impact from this as possible."
"I will get to work on it."
"Chief Mike and his wife were already promised Amber's cabin. They will be moving in tonight. He can help sorting the job skills, and identifying any personality problems. He might be able to help you determine how many people will be joining our crew. Jewel is giving up her stateroom, and moving in with us, to help free up needed space."
"We still have some empty cabins, and some of the crew have already doubled up with partners of their choice. Natty and I will make it work."
"Thank you Tanya."
My personal comm chimed for attention. "Captain, you and Amber have another visitor. She is waiting in the conference room."
Amber and I hurried to the conference room. I wondered who it could be. I didn't need another problem just yet. I had the feeling this was going to be the biggest of all. Karma worked that way with me. I cheated death, on our last trip home, now it was time to pay for it.