“My orders then are to proceed with the operation to break the back of the pirates and draw out more sorcerers?” I asked.
“Yes, but make sure you call me if they come at you in force. You have grown quite strong, but you are still a long way off from facing one elite sorcerer, never mind three necromancers,” he sent.
“Yes, Grandmaster,” I sent.
“You are doing a great job out there, Shadow. Do not worry, Dusty will be found, I am sure of it,” he sent. “Now go; stay alert but allow everyone a day or two to rest. We will send technicians to handle your repairs.”
“Grandmaster, I would prefer that we do it ourselves. We need the experience,” I sent.
“Understood, but I need your crew on alert for a sorcerer-based counter-attack and not tied up with the mundane jump engines,” he sent.
“Yes, Grandmaster,” I sent. He was right, but I was disappointed. I wanted my crew to be able to handle these kinds of repair in the field. Next time we have problems we might not be lucky enough to be within easy reach of help.
“They will arrive sometime tomorrow. I will have someone contact you before they gate in. Remember, let all of your crew, and especially yourself, take some time off. It is unpredictable when you may have another safe harbor like this,” he sent.
After that we wrapped up the conversation, and I returned to the dinner. When I walked in Flame and Bill were busy catching up, and Phoenix was putting on one of his famous clown routines.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Spectra, open a channel to station command,” I said.
“Sure, Shadow,” she replied.
“This is the Dust Dragon requesting permission to launch,” I said.
“You are clear for launch, Dust Dragon, good luck,” came the response.
“Flame, take us out,” I said.
While Flame piloted us out I reflected back over the past week. I had given everyone the week off, but there just was not much to do on a super-secret military repair base. Flame and I worked out a bit with the Aleeryon Navy, enjoyed meals with her brother, and spent some time alone together. I told her that when we got back I would talk with Vydor about a proper wedding, and she was overjoyed.
Spectra mainly stayed in her quarters reading, and Phoenix could always be found at one of the various eating establishments. He took great pleasure in being a celebrity and generally acted like a clown wherever he went.
At first Dusty’s absence did not seem to bother anyone, but as the days wore on without any word, we began to worry more. His empty station became an ever-present shadow on the bridge that each of us dealt with in his own way.
The techs from Alpha Academy declared our engines a complete loss the moment they laid eyes on them. That turned the repair into a complete refit. For mundanes this would have been a very long and expensive process, but some elite wizards from the Korshalemian Realm assisted in the removal and installation of the new engines. Using a combination of gates and telekinesis, they essentially removed the old drive in one step and put in a complete new engine in a second step. Once that was done, the techs just spent the rest of the week connecting it and testing it.
We had turned over all the recordings we had made during our stakeout of the enemy fleet, complete with the decryption keys, which made the Aleeryon intelligence team very excited. While there was not much of use in the conversations recorded, the decryption keys would help them intercept other messages. Soon they hoped to find out where the Scorpion Gang’s major bases were hidden. If they could find those, then they could send stealth bomber fleets in to eliminate them, which would drastically reduce their ability to wage war.
“We are clear of the station, Shadow,” said Flame.
“Take us out of the gravity well and let’s go find some trouble,” I said. There had not been a counter-attack from the pirates or sorcerers yet, and this worried everyone. It was believed that this could mean our enemies were amassing somewhere for a major assault. Because of this, the Aleeryon Navy was sending out scouts in every direction looking for any signs of trouble. We offered to take a region of space near the Filimathita mining systems, which included a major trade route. Massive ore haulers still flew these routes, since they had proven to be too large and too difficult a target for the typically light attack ships that made up most of the pirate harassment fleets. Based on the briefings we had received while docked, it seemed that the pirates, for the most part, saved their heavy attack craft for skirmishes with the Navy and now presumably with us. They were believed to have a very large light attack force, but a much smaller heavy assault force. This meant that over time the massive ore haulers could travel safely, as the amount of firepower needed to break through the layers of ore that filled their hulls was far more than even a full battle group of light attack cruisers could bring to bear.
“One minute until we jump,” called out Flame.
“Excellent. How are the engines handling?” I asked.
“They have about ten percent more power than the old ones and are a bit more touchy,” said Flame.
“By touchy, I assume you mean more responsive?” I asked with a chuckle.
“Yeah, touchy,” she said.
“Nice, a mid-mission upgrade,” said Phoenix. “I wonder what we can break next and get upgraded?”
Flame just shook her head in amusement and then said, “Jumping now.”
Once we cleared jump space I said, “Spectra, please start scanning the region we are entering. Flame, put us in low power mode until the engines are ready for our second jump.” It would be about four hours before we could jump again. I knew that the very fact that we were on the move would be detected by the sorcerers, and while I wanted to draw them out, I wanted it to be on my terms, not theirs.
As we drifted quietly through space, I found myself wishing Dusty was back. His skill with stealth was second only to Grandmaster Vydor in our entire realm. I might outrank him, but there was no question of his innate ability with stealth, which, combined with his passion to excel at it, made him very formidable in that arena. My instincts told me he was hiding somewhere out there, and safe, but that did not stop me from worrying. With the entire Aleeryon Navy watching for him and all of Alpha Academy searching, I knew it was only a matter of time until he was found. The real problem was that, as long as he stayed hidden from the sorcerers, he would also be hidden from us. We could not rescue him until he wanted to be found.
Spectra interrupted my thoughts with, “Shadow, I am picking up an automated distress call.”
“Where? What is the situation?” I asked.
“Ore freighter, along the trade route we were headed to. It sounds like they are being pounded by a battleship,” she said.
“A single battleship?” I asked.
“Too far for our sensors to tell, but it is all the message says,” she said.
“Seems fairly odd,” I said.
“Odd? Who cares? They need help! The drives are charged enough to reach them,” said Flame.
“Yes, but we need to be careful … ” I started to say.
“Careful? They are under attack!” said Flame.
“Yes, Flame, but if we foolishly charge in we are likely to be destroyed, and that won’t be much help,” I said. I knew from my days in the navy that it was better to help a green crewman to understand than just to pull rank, but that had to be set against the real problem of time.
“It’s just one battleship,” started Flame.
“Battleships always travel with fleets,” said Spectra. She looked concerned. I suspected her experience traveling out here all those years had her as dubious as I was about this.
Flame started to say something, then paused, sighed, and said, “Ok, then, what are we going to do?”
“Flame, set the jump to come out a little shy of them, say, two hundred kilometers. Phoenix, get ready with the shields. If we are spotted we will need them. I plan to cloak us the instant we enter no
rmal space. If all goes well, we will be able to approach completely unnoticed,” I said. “That will give us time to figure out what we are facing and come up with a plan.”
Flame seemed relieved by my order. I wonder if she’d started to think we were not going to help the freighter. It was a reasonable concern, since I was not yet sure if we were. I could not shake a bad feeling about this situation.
“Everyone, be on guard. Something is not right at all about this setup, but I do not intend to walk away from what could be civilians in trouble. We need to proceed with caution and be alert. We have been in several fights as a team already; you all know what to do by now. I will cover for Dusty,” I said and paused a moment, then said, “Flame, jump when ready.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
As we came out of jump space I said, “Spectra, what are we facing?”
“Shadow, a single battleship is attacking the ore freighter,” she said.
That did not make sense. Ore freighters pack tremendous amounts of ore into their ship, leaving only a small living area near the center where they would often spend months, if not years, locked in until they reached their destination and unloaded. Some ore freighter captains even filled the airlocks with ore in order to maximize their profit from the trip. This meant their hulls were massively thick, which made them almost completely impervious to most attackers. The battleship could not possibly pack enough firepower to pound through all that mass. It would be just as fruitful to try to destroy a moon.
“Shadow, they are concentrating their fire on a small area, possibly an airlock or other access port,” said Spectra.
“I wonder if they are trying to board?” I asked.
“Possibly, but why?” asked Spectra.
That was a very valid question, but not one I had an answer to. “What are the markings on that battleship?” I asked.
“There are none,” said Spectra.
“I do not like this one bit,” I said.
“Well, then, let’s help them!” exclaimed Flame.
“Easy, Flame, they are fine for now,” I said.
“What do you mean? That battleship is pounding them,” said Flame.
“It would take a lot more power than that battleship can muster to actually threaten the freighter. That is why they can still travel in these parts. It takes too much firepower to stop them, making them too costly in ammo to attack,” I said. “Even if the pirates could somehow capture that freighter, they would lose months trying to get it to a port, and possibly years selling that much ore. Pirates look for quick wins, not long-drawn-out ventures like this.”
“So let me get this straight: an unmarked battleship is attacking a target it can’t possibly hurt, for no good reason?” asked Phoenix.
“Oh, I am sure there is a reason,” I said.
“You mean to catch us?” asked Flame.
“Right now it is the only thing that fits,” I said. Every fiber of my being screamed that this was a trap, but I did not want to simply leave the freighter to the mercies of whoever was behind this.
“Then what are we going to do?” asked Flame.
“I say we just leave and not give them the satisfaction of catching us,” said Spectra.
“But, what about the freighter? We cannot just leave them to whoever is attacking,” said Flame.
Spectra’s plan made good sense from a purely logical standpoint. It would further increase our mystical reputation if traps failed to attract our attention at all. We could become like smoke, impossible to pin down, but deadly when we did attack. Yet if we did not help, it was possible that the battleship had powerful friends waiting to assist, and if we were not present, they might destroy the civilian craft in anger. The real question I had to answer was: am I the kind of leader who values his crew more than doing the right thing? If we sprang this trap, it was very likely that we could be captured and killed; however, a civilian craft was being attacked right before our eyes. How could we just run from this? There had to be a way to help the ore freighter and yet not fall into this trap. Then again, there were lots of people all over the realm who needed help; we could not help them all. Right now, our mission must be paramount. Ultimately, our mission out here was to draw out the sorcerers, I reminded myself. We could not do that if we were running and hiding.
“I am thinking we need to spring this trap and find out who is behind it,” I said.
“Don’t we already know that it’s the Scorpion Gang and their sorcerer puppeteers?” asked Phoenix.
“That ship is unmarked. Pirates never fly unmarked ships. They want everyone to know who they are; they want people to be afraid of their very name,” I said. “Now the question we need to answer is: what is their plan?”
They talked for a while about this, and I resisted the urge to help them. I wanted to see what they came up with. After a bit of discussion about the situation, Phoenix got them on the right track when he said, “Well, the last time we faced a battleship, Shadow and I boarded it and destroyed it from the inside.”
“So, if I were them, I would be waiting in the engine room for you two,” commented Flame.
“But not just anyone, I would make sure we had sorcerers in the engine room,” added Spectra.
“Yes, of course!” exclaimed Phoenix. “We board, and then they jump out and kill us.”
“I don’t like that plan,” said Flame.
“Then we need a better one. Suggestions?” I asked.
“How about skipping the boarding and blowing them up with the Dust Dragon?” asked Flame.
“Too risky,” said Spectra. “We could definitely win the fight, but it would take a long time to cut them down, and they could get help in that time.”
“Let’s not forget, if they have sorcerers on board, then they could gate to the Dust Dragon just as easily as we can get to them,” I said.
“Oh, that would not be good,” said Flame.
“We need to make the first move, and it needs to be decisive,” said Spectra.
“You have something in mind?” I asked.
“Yes, you and Phoenix gate into the ship somewhere other than the engine room, and create a distraction. Once you have their attention, I gate some antimatter torpedoes directly into their engine core,” she said.
“Ok, that is definitely direct and decisive,” I said. I was very impressed by her plan. My biggest problem with it was that I had not thought of it. It was brilliant.
“But then we would not know who set the trap,” said Flame.
“It is too dangerous to sit around and let them find us,” said Spectra.
“She has a point,” said Phoenix.
“Yes, but it also leaves us open for a counter-attack here on the Dust Dragon,” I said. “If we were to do this, Phoenix, you would need to stay behind and get shields up to hinder any boarding attempt. Flame would take your place on the attack,” I said.
“That still leaves us not knowing who this is,” said Flame.
“True,” I said. I thought about that for a bit. She was right. We needed to know who set the trap. Grandmaster Vydor suspected a third player in this game to control our realm, and this battleship could be one of theirs, if they exist.
“Shadow, can’t you sneak around like Dusty?” asked Flame.
“Yes, but I am nowhere near as good as he is,” I said.
“Do you need to be?” asked Spectra.
“Probably not,” I said. I thought about it for a bit, and then said, “Okay, here is what I think we should do. I will sneak over there and get what information I can, then Flame joins me, and we create Spectra’s distraction while Phoenix keeps the Dust Dragon safe. She then sends over the torpedoes, and Flame and I bail out.”
I looked over my team and wondered how they would fare if I died during the boarding. My navy training was screaming at me that the leader needed to stay behind. They lacked the experience and skills to carry on without me, but without Dusty, I was the only one that
could accomplish the mission. I sighed and then said, “Look, if something should happen to me, get out of here and call Alpha Academy for help. Do not try to rescue me or get vengeance, just get out.”
“But, Shadow…” started Flame.
“No buts. Get out of here and get help. If I am taken, then we are outmatched,” I said. I knew this was hard on them, but we were at war. War would require them to become hard, and that was the worst part of this mission: teaching them to be hard. “All right then, I would rather not wait until they discover us. I will head over now and stay in touch with our telepathic network. The rest of you, prepare for the boarding. I plan to take an hour at most to see what I can learn, then we will attack.” I knew Flame would want to argue more, so I simply turned to my left and stepped into jump space.
Chapter Thirty
“Here, drink this, Dusty,” Shea said.
“Thanks,” I said. I was sore from all the fighting and running the night before, and sleeping on the rocky ground just made everything hurt that did not hurt already. I wondered if it would have been smarter not to sleep at all. As it was, I was sure I was worse off than before I slept. We had run through the night and found a place to camp after the sunrise. Once the camp was ready, Craig told me to get some rest while he kept watch.
As I swallowed the drink I felt strange. I was not sure what was going on, but I felt an odd power pass through me, and everywhere it touched pain went away. My head cleared up, and I felt as if I had slept soundly for many hours in a fine room. “Whoa, what was in that?” I asked.
“Ginseng, spider silk, and garlic mainly,” she said.
“What?” I asked as I looked at the empty bottle that I had just drunk from.
“Isn’t that how you make a healing potion where you come from?” she asked with a very puzzled expression.
“Healing potion? I have never heard of such a thing,” I said. “I thought you were giving me water.”
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