"Very good," Crisstof said, nodding. "I will send my captain the new course and be there as quickly as possible. Do not risk contacting me again unless it's an emergency." Both of them terminated their channels and the monitor went black.
"Good to know where we stand with him," Crusher said. "I'm somehow not surprised he wouldn't help you find me after seeing that."
"Crisstof would shit if he knew we'd used a backdoor to bypass all his carefully placed encryption and security protocols and have him on video colluding with Vulem," Jason laughed. "What is this guy a Chancellor of, by the way?"
"A cluster of planets that was absorbed into the Empire nearly a century ago," Annada said. "It's an honorary title when it comes to any actual power, but the planets were strategically important and the gesture has made their transition into the fold smoother. I would imagine after Vulem dies he will not be replaced."
"So he has no actual authority," Jason mused, tapping his chin. "He can't command your military, I would assume?"
"No."
"Does he have his own honor guard?" Jason asked. "A small group of ships from his homeworld that are mostly ceremonial that are in orbit over Avaris?"
"Yes," Annada nodded. "There are four cruisers, not very modern, that ferry him from Avaris to his homeworld."
"And if he redeployed them all to Kekisha someone would notice," Twingo said. "Your father's intelligence service would at the very least follow him."
"This is true," she confirmed. "He normally only leaves on one of the ships."
"So we'll be staring down the barrel of an outdated cruiser, two ConFed ships, and a modern battlecruiser with the captain's vengeful ex-girlfriend in command," Kage said, drawing a sharp look from Jason who was in turn drawing an equally unfriendly look from Annada.
"She's not all that vengeful," Jason said lamely. "I can almost guarantee she probably won't shoot us out of the sky ... most likely."
"That's okay, Captain," Kage said with a smile. "I've got a little surprise for her."
"How far out from Kekisha are we?" Doc asked.
"Another two days at our current speed," Kage said. "We're just now crossing into Avarian space."
"And where is the Defiant?" Jason asked.
"Six days behind us," Kage said.
"They're making good time," Jason said. "But we'll still have quite a while to get set up and wait for them."
"Do we know exactly what we're going to do when they show up?" Crusher asked.
"More or less," Jason said. "But we've got a few days to figure all that out."
****
The Kekisha System was mostly devoid of spacecraft traffic or artificial constructs. It was one of the main reasons they'd fed the location to Vulem: it was a plausible hideout while also being remote enough that he would feel the risk was low for a military interdiction. The Phoenix's countermeasures suite was more than adequate to keep them hidden from the system's few traffic control and identification systems.
"Begin a passive scan of surrounding space," Jason said. "I want to find a good hiding place to sit and watch the fireworks."
"There are five moons orbiting the planet," Doc said. "One looks like it suffered a serious meteor impact."
"Correct," Kalette said. "The second largest moon was struck so hard nearly one third of its mass was sheared away. The debris now follows along behind it in a long trail. It's a noted navigational hazard when approaching Kekisha."
"Damn, that is a hard hit," Jason whistled. "What's that moon's composition? It shouldn't have even survived a hit like that at all."
"Spectrometer shows it to be mostly iron ore," Kage said. "That's confirmed by the moon's orbital velocity and distance from the planet."
"So it's a moon trailing a cloud of iron chunks?" Jason asked. "That seems like a promising place to hide a ship."
"It also looks like a promising place to get a handful of hull punctures," Twingo said irritably. "You can't seriously be thinking about flying this ship into a field of high velocity iron chunks."
"I'm considering it," Jason said. "So find me a way to make it work if you don't want to be patching holes." Twingo let out an extended stream of swearing, but turned back to his station and began working out the problems. It was nearly an hour later when he turned and waved Jason over to his terminal.
"Hiding out in the tail debris is suicide," Twingo said. "That's completely out, at least if we want to remain hidden. There's so much flying around in there that we would have no choice but to keep the shields up."
"Which gives away our position," Jason said. "So what do you have?"
"There are lots of craters and impressions on the opposite side of that moon," Twingo said, bringing up a graphic that showed their latest high-resolution scan with various spots highlighted. "The highlighted areas are places we can descend into, put the engines in standby, and be fairly secure while still having the advantage of the moon's iron content hiding our signature."
"I get the feeling you're about to tell me there's another problem," Jason said.
"We ourselves will be completely blind down there unless you want to use the active sensors," Twingo said.
"Which will again completely defeat the purpose," Jason sighed. "Ideas, anyone?"
"I've been thinking about that already," Kage said. "Even if we went with your crazy plan and hid in the debris tail we'd still be mostly blind. But we can launch one of the Twins out of the interference, use its passive sensors, and then have it transmit that back to us on a com laser."
"That's not a bad idea," Twingo said as he thought about it. "The drone is too small to have its power signature stand out and the com laser will be more or less invisible unless someone knows exactly where to look and at what frequency."
"Let's begin making preparations around that plan then," Jason said. "Kage, you prep one of the Twins since you're the only one who can seem to make them understand what the hell you want. Twingo, you set up the com relay. Doc, plot me a course down to that moon that minimizes our exposure to the planet itself."
The crew quickly went about their tasks in order to get the ship hidden and waiting. Even though the Defiant and her possible escorts were days away, the two Avarians on board couldn't say with any certainty how fast Vulem's cruiser might be so they were operating under the assumption that it could appear at any time.
Jason could feel the endgame approaching as he carefully flew the Phoenix down into the system towards the red moon that more resembled a comet at that distance. Though he had no especially fond feelings for Crisstof after the incident on Faulli, he still was having trouble wrapping his head around how deeply the old man seemed to be in on this. It also made him wonder what Kellea knew about what her boss was up to. She'd been close to him long before Jason had ever met her ... could she have fooled him as well as Crisstof seemed to?
Chapter 20
"We've got a slip-space signature," Kage said. "Tracking a single ship on an inbound vector."
"Let me know when you're able to get a positive ID on it," Jason said. They had been nestled down in a crater on Kekisha's red moon for the last five days and nerves were beginning to fray. Operating the Phoenix in low power mode also meant that gravity and climate control were at the bare minimums so that nobody except Lucky was comfortable.
The new arrival made a leisurely (or cautious) approach to the planet, making orbit over the green planet in just under ten hours before bombarding the surface with high-energy scans.
"They're definitely looking for someone," Kage said. "I'm building a profile for the ship but I can already tell you it doesn't match anything we have on file."
"Show me a visual representation," Annada said. She and Kalette had split the day and night watches between the two of them so there was always an Avarian on the bridge in case they were needed for any specific local information. Kage built a three-dimensional model from the sensor data and sent it to her display.
"That's one of Chancellor Vulem's ships," she confirmed. "I
can actually see that it is his flagship. The raised observation deck on the dorsal surface is the distinguishing feature."
"Tactical analysis?" Jason asked.
"Power signature is low for a ship that size, engines don't appear to be very efficient or powerful, and the weapons that we can detect are two pairs of antiquated ten-point-six micrometer wavelength lasers, fore and aft," Doc said as he read off his terminal. "The forward laser projectors are leaking quite badly."
"So it's an old ship that's not been very well maintained," Jason summarized. "Is it any threat to us?"
"Not from what I can tell," Doc said. "Unless they're packing some modern missiles in a weapons bay they don't really have any teeth."
"That is highly unlikely," Annada said. "All weaponry of that type is carefully controlled in the Empire. That ship was once a ship of the line; now it is simply a glorified courier."
They all watched Vulem's ship sweep around the planet, concentrating high-powered radar on places they thought a ship could hide. After sixteen hours straight scanning the surface all emissions from the old cruiser ceased and it began to move into a higher orbit. Jason watched through bloodshot eyes, trying to figure out what its next move would be. He glanced down at a status panel he'd pulled up to make sure the Defiant hadn't sent any messages to the ship. From what he could see, the com node on the battlecruiser was completely inactive.
"Kage," he said, a thought occurring to him. "I'm only watching Crisstof's personal com node. Use your downlink to see if any of the Defiant's com nodes have sent a message to the address we have for Velum."
Kage rubbed his eyes wearily and began his query. "Good call," he said after a moment. "Crisstof must not see a need for secrecy aboard his own ship at this point. An outbound message went to that node address about twenty minutes before the cruiser halted its scans."
"Crisstof must have told them not to waste any more time looking for us until he gets here with more modern sensors," Jason said. "Just a message and not an open two-way channel?"
"Just a message," Kage said. "Audio only, fifteen seconds long. I could retrieve it but I would have to go in and crack into that particular buffer."
"Don't bother," Jason said, looking at his display. "The Defiant will be here in less than an hour. Let's not tip our hand with an unnecessary move like that."
Just as Jason's countdown timer reached seven seconds Doc alerted them that another, much larger slip-space signature had been detected near the edge of the system. Jason noted the latency of their downlink and watched in real-time as the drone he had stationed above them "watched" the Defiant and two ConFed destroyers glide into the system. It was a juxtaposition that he still found disheartening. He almost hoped Kellea had been removed from command and that she wasn't actively participating in this debacle her boss had gotten himself into.
"Whoa!" Kage said. "High-power short range com blast coming from the Defiant, all standard frequencies."
"Put it on," Jason said.
"Captain Jason Burke," Crisstof said, his voice distorted until the computer attenuated the signal. "We know you are out here. I know you probably feel you are doing the right thing ... in your own twisted way. By now you can see that I'm operating under the authority of the ConFed Council. Surrender yourself, bring your ship aboard the Defiant, and we can find a way to fix this together." The message began to loop, Crisstof's haggard face looking especially bad when it was projected up on the main canopy.
"Cut it off," Jason said. "He's in deep. Really deep. Whatever he's been playing at he is in an absolute panic that it's going to blow up in his face at any moment."
"So are we ready for the dumb part of this plan?" Twingo asked.
"I suppose we are," Jason said. "Okay everybody, commence with the dumb part. Bring the Phoenix to full power, fire up the engines and the weapons, and when this shit bomb explodes let's try not to get any splattered on us."
Kage just shook his head at the expression.
Status lights all over the bridge began winking on as the reactor ramped up and the engines came out of standby. Power surged to the tactical systems and the targeting computer began tracking all the designated hostiles in the system.
"No change from any of the ships," Kage said. "It looks like this moon's interference is still masking us, but they're closing the range quickly." Jason looked down at his master status indicator, an amalgamation by the main computer of individual statuses displayed as a single percentage. It was at eighty-three percent and rising.
"No problem," he said confidently. "They can't close the gap before we're fully combat capable."
"How will a single gunship, fully ready or not, make any difference to a fully armed battlecruiser?" Annada asked, the fear evident in her voice even as his own crew was displaying an oddly misplaced eagerness for the encounter. Jason just winked and smiled at her as the indicator climbed past ninety-five percent.
"Recall our little helper," Jason said, referring to the drone. "I'm taking us out. Everybody get in their seats and strap in." As everyone shrugged into their restraints—and Lucky anchored himself to the floor with a clank from his maglocks—Jason fed power to the main drive and brought the Phoenix up slowly out of the deep impact crater they'd been hiding in. "Go active," he said. The effect was almost instantaneous. When the gunship's active sensors began broadcasting all four ships in the system turned towards the red moon and began accelerating.
"It looks like they're committed," Kage said. "Ready when you are."
"Standby," Jason said, throttling up and swinging out and around to move away from the moon and their pursuers. "I'm going to get them moving out into the system first." He accelerated hard away from Kekisha, ignoring the com panel that was lit up like a fireworks display with incoming requests and watching his tactical panel to make sure the Defiant and her escorts had come about and were pursuing. When the larger ships had completed their turn and were accelerating he pushed the Phoenix just a little harder, opening the gap and reminding Crisstof that he couldn't catch up.
"Go ahead and let one of those channels through," he told Kage, taking a deep breath. "Make sure all the ships can see and hear us then get me a mesh-out point." A moment later Crisstof's livid face filled up the main display, projected onto the canopy.
"Have you lost your mind?" he hissed.
"You really want to open like that?" Jason asked calmly. "But since we're talking about it, I could ask you the same thing. Invading a neighboring superpower with a privately owned warship is bad, but bringing two ConFed destroyers along with you? Quite a pair you have, so to speak."
"I have already told you I am operating under the full authority—"
"And we both know that is utter bullshit," Jason said cutting him off. "If the ConFed council were to declare war on the Avarian Empire I would at least hope they'd bring a bigger task force. So what was the play, Crisstof? Destabilizing the Avarian government by kidnapping the daughter and ... what? Eliminate the Sovereign while he's distracted? Or did you plan a bloodless coup? What exactly did you and that idiot Vulem have cooked up?"
"I do not think this is the time or place for this discussion," Crisstof said, his face contorting as he made a herculean effort to appear calm. "Whatever rumors you may have heard—"
"Go ahead, Kage," Jason said. "Play the rumors for Mr. Dalton so he can know exactly where we're getting our information." Kage started a prerecorded montage of their com intercepts of Crisstof's con node and jumped it onto the channel. When it was over Crisstof's face was deathly pale and he had a noticeable tremble.
"Whether you have the netjere on that ship or not, I can't let you leave this system alive," he said, almost sadly. "I'm sorry, Jason." Crisstof killed the channel with a wave and Jason didn't have long to wait to find out what he meant.
"Three ... no, four XT-7s locked onto our engine signature," Kage said.
"We can't dodge or shoot down that many, Captain," Twingo warned.
"Let's get the hell out of here th
en," Jason said, engaging the slip-drive. The Phoenix shuddered as she jumped to slip-space and out of the Kekisha System. "See you over Avaris."
"So I guess Kellea is the sort to fire on an ex," Twingo said from his station.
"It would seem so," Jason said. The part of his plan that he hadn't shared with anyone hadn't happened. He’d assumed when he played his video evidence showing Crisstof conspiring with a foreign official that Kellea would step in before Crisstof had the chance to take any other action. The fact that not only did nobody seem to make a move on the Defiant's bridge but instead locked on six ship-killers bothered him greatly.
****
"You're sure about these access codes?" Jason asked Annada for the fifth time.
"Very sure, Captain," she said calmly. "These are codes known only to me and members of my father's inner circle."
"Well, here goes nothing," Jason replied as the counter on the canopy hit zero and the Phoenix tore into real-space on the outer edges of the Avaris System.
"We're being challenged," Kage said. "Transponder is answering with the code clearance—"
"Well?" Jason demanded after Kage fell silent for more than five seconds.
"We're in," Kage said, breathing out in relief. "Codes were accepted and we're now being given direct clearance all the way to the surface at our discretion."
"How far ahead of the Defiant are we?" Jason asked.
"Standby," Kage said. "They're over a full day behind us. I can't tell if the ConFed ships are still with them."
"I can't imagine the commanders of those ships would be dumb enough to actually fly into the Avarian Empire's capital star system," Jason said. "But, they haven't shown much in the way of good sense or intelligence so far. Go ahead and issue the emergency recall signal."
"Transmitting," Kage said.
"I really hope you're correct about that one," Jason said to Annada without looking over at her.
"You worry too much," she said sweetly, obviously feeling much better being back in her home system.
Omega Force 7: Redemption Page 23