“Twitch, we’re coming in hot. Keep your eyes peeled for any hostiles behind or from the system. As soon as we’re aboard, get us into voidspace ASAP.”
“Destination, captain?” came Twitch’s reply.
“Mission here was a bust, but whatever else we owe a warning to Enoch and the Theocracy about what the Brothers of the Lion are planning. Get us onto the rabbit trail to Hatacks. There’s a system jump from there to Furi and from Furi to Hiped, the Theocracy main base which the Faithful call Haven. That’s our destination.”
“Aye, captain,” Twitch replied. “Cargo bay doors open and ready to receive you.”
Molon thought out the plan ahead. He reasoned that John’s voucher should be good anywhere in Theocracy space. They could provision and restock at Furi, picking up recruits to replace the full crew compliment, and could hopefully pick up temporary access codes from Furi’s government to get past the system security net at Hiped. Whether John agreed with Molon’s decision or not the doctor was along for the ride on this one, at least until after Molon got word to Enoch about the Brothers of the Lion and their weapon research. At least the Angelicum Host would have time to prepare, and hopefully Enoch could negotiate with the fanatical monks. What happened after that was anybody’s guess.
“John?” Molon asked, hoping he wouldn’t get too much resistance from the doctor about their next plans. “About our payday…”
But John was still locked somewhere deep within his own mind. The doctor stared blankly at the wall panel beside him, unaware of anything or anyone else around him. Molon doubted John was going to be fully himself again anytime soon.
Twenty-Three – Revenge
The jump point to Furi was on the opposite side of the Hatacks mainworld from the rabbit hole they had found to Ratuen, and from the jump point to Tede. This stretch of space was the most critical part of the run, so Molon had his senior officers on the bridge stations. They had been lucky to escape Revenge once, but if the cruiser was in the Hatacks system and poised to intercept them, there would be little hope of getting away a second time.
As the frame of normal space grew from the swirling, colorful chaos of voidspace and drew close on the view screen, the bridge crew was prepped and ready to make a dash for the Furi jump point. Should anything go wrong that might prevent them from reaching that jump point, plan B was to beeline for the jump point to Tede instead. Molon felt they had plans for the most likely contingencies. But as Star Wolf transitioned out of voidspace and into the Hatacks system, those plans vanished in an instant.
Alarm klaxons and warning lights flashed throughout the bridge. Navigation, weapons, and helm were scrambling for an updated sit-rep.
“What’s our status, Hoot?” Molon called to the senior sensors officer.
“Four Dawnstar VDE-equipped fighters just closed the door behind us. Another four are sitting at the jump point to Tede.”
“Voide, can you take them out?”
“Doubtful, captain. They are flying evasive. They are also pumping some kind of ECM transmitters. I can’t get missile or targeting locks. We could fly around in circles taking pot-shots, but with four of them, we aren’t accessing those jump points unless they break pattern and pursue us.”
“Well,” Molon said, “it’s a good thing we were heading for Furi.”
“You realize they are herding us, right?” Twitch responded.
“Really?” Molon said, his scowl showing his annoyance at his XO for emphasizing the reality he was trying not to dwell on. “Thanks for the heads up.”
“Don’t get snarky,” Twitch added. “I’m just saying if the Furi jump point is where they seem to be herding us, maybe we ought to go elsewhere.”
“Nowhere else to go, Twitch. Unless someone knows of another out, Furi is our best exit. We just need to be ready for whatever gauntlet we have to run to get there.”
“Voide,” Molon barked toward the weapons station. “If any of those fighters start following us, all bets are off. We go full offensive and light them up.”
“A girl can hope,” Voide replied.
“In the meantime, get your best people on trying to counteract those ECM transmitters. If it comes to a shooting match, I’d like to hit something.”
“On it,” Voide replied and began issuing commands through her security console to her teams elsewhere on the ship.
“Twitch, how long at max speed to reach the Furi jump point?”
The control module which was plugged into Twitch’s CID flashed furiously for a few seconds. Doubtless it was running hundreds of simulations and calculations simultaneously to arrive at the best option.
“Six and a half hours, current course,” Twitch answered a few seconds later as the flashing on the control module slowed. “If uninterrupted.”
“No joy on uninterrupted, boss,” Hoot announced. “I have Revenge pulling out of orbit around Hatacks mainworld and heading for the Furi jump point. Looks like they want to party.”
“We’re faster than they are,” Molon replied. “Can’t we outrun them?”
“Negative,” replied Twitch. “They have the angle on us. By my calculations, they will reach intercept range twenty minutes before we reach the jump point.”
“Options?” Molon asked.
“I just ran seventy-three theoretical approaches,” Twitch replied, her CID mounted control module once again flashing furiously. “We can’t overcome the relative positions. Best I can do is to get us ten minutes away from the Furi jump point when we pull into range of Revenge’s big guns.”
“That’s something,” Molon said.
“Won’t help,” Voide replied.
“Why not?” Molon answered. “We might find a way to slow them enough to make up ten minutes.”
“They could dump a whole grid of assault shuttles in between us and the jump point before we get near it. If they put the cruiser right in front of the entrance, they might even be close enough to use the tractor beams on us even without boarding shuttles.”
“Voide’s right,” Twitch acknowledged. “Whether they decide to blast us or board us, we can’t get past them before it happens.”
Molon pounded a fist on the arm of his captain’s chair, retaining the presence of mind to avoid the controls. It galled him to be herded, but there was little choice. They could just pick a direction and head to open space in the hopes of finding a rabbit hole to crawl in, but there would be no way to know where it would come out. No, as much as it irked him, forward through the trap was the only way. But he was not about to just meekly follow the path Russel had laid out for them. Molon had a few tricks up his sleeve yet.
“We have six hours to figure something out. Senior staff bring me your ideas in one hour, briefing room. Boom-Boom,” Molon said, turning to the engineering officer. “Tell Dub I want every engineer puzzling through how to get me enough speed to make up those ten minutes, and a few more, before that briefing.”
“Aye, sir,” Boom-Boom answered.
“The rest of you, call me if anything changes. I’ll be in my quarters working up contingencies. Twitch has the conn.”
*****
Necessity and purpose had pulled John out of his stupor. There would be time to figure out what exactly had happened after he left Ratuen, but for now his attention was needed aboard Star Wolf. He had checked and rechecked the sickbay supplies. Everything was as ready as it was going to get, but even with the security teams bringing in two extra beds and moving his desk and examination space to his quarters, four beds weren’t going to be enough if this encounter with Revenge went anything like the last one. John even had the crew convert the auxiliary space outside the elevator on this deck to set up four more beds. Those would be useless for intensive care, but could serve as a triage station or as a place for less critical cases. Beyond that, John could only hope Molon found a way to keep them out of any major battles. In the meantime, all there was to do was wait.
Even John’s personal quarters were overcrowded. He’d had
security install a set of bunks in his chambers for the two refugees from Ratuen. The guard’s condition was stabilized, but he had not yet regained consciousness. The old man was awake, but was just this side of catatonic. He would eat and sleep, but beyond that he met any attempts to engage him with an empty stare. It was almost like whoever he had once been, wasn’t there anymore.
John had hoped he might be able to save these two. That somehow his intercession would spare them any further torment from the man who had tortured John and killed Elena. Now, however, time was running out for all of them.
The door to the cramped sickbay opened and in walked Mel. He wasn’t sure whether to be excited or terrified at her visit. The earlier episodes of overwhelming, inexplicable emotion around her had not recurred recently, but then again he had made it a point to heed Molon’s advice and keep his distance as much as possible. This was the first time they had been alone together since they were aboard Hornet’s Nest.
“Hey, you,” John greeted her as casually as he could manage.
“Hello, John,” she answered.
Mel’s sweet smile failed to cover the deep pool of emotion swirling in her eyes. John couldn’t help but feel that she might be just as fearful and unsure around him as he was around her.
“How are you feeling?” John asked, trying to build a layer of cordiality on top of the foundation of tension filling the air.
“Much better,” Mel replied. “But Molon wanted you to make certain there are no after-effects of the radiation still in my system before things get crazy.”
“Well,” John answered, patting the other end of the extra bunk he was sitting on, “since they moved out my examination station, why don’t you have a seat and I will check you out…um…medically I mean.”
Mel smiled and moved to the bunk as John grabbed a portable cellular scanner and calibrated it for Fei physiology. He set it to detect any residual effects of the radiation rounds.
“I, uh…” John started, fishing for the right words as he waved the medical scanner over Mel. “I wanted to thank you for your vote.”
“My vote?” Mel asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Regarding the mission, I mean. Without you I would never have gotten the chance to see for myself that Elena was not still alive on Ratuen.”
“You deserved closure, John. It was the right thing.”
“You think so?” John replied, shaking his head. “If I hadn’t dragged Star Wolf back to Ratuen, we wouldn’t all be about to die. So maybe not so right after all, I suppose.”
“Everyone dies, John,” Mel said, looking deeply into his eyes. “But to live in pain is much worse. I am sorry for your loss, but there is an old Fei proverb that says, ‘shared pain is reduced, shared joy is magnified’.”
John turned away and stared at the wall, blinking desperately against the tears threatening to well up in his eyes. Emotions were threatening to overwhelm him once again, but they weren’t coming from Mel. He wasn’t sure he had the capacity to rediscover what life meant without Elena.
“Honestly, Mel, even if we live through this, I am not sure I will ever know joy again.”
Mel placed her hand on his. Her powder blue skin was cool, but the emotions which flooded into him were warm and peaceful. His own torrent of anger, guilt, and sorrow subsided under Mel’s gentle touch.
“You will, John. It will just take time.”
He could not fathom why he believed her, but he did.
“Then I had better get started,” he answered with a smile as he finished the medical scans. “We have about five and a half hours left to live. The good news is, you will get to die in perfect health, Lieutenant.”
Mel smiled warmly, apparently unbothered by John’s dark attempt at humor. She stood and walked slowly out of the sickbay. John noticed his normally rock-steady hands trembling slightly. He labored to breathe. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears amid the silence of the empty sickbay. His tongue felt thick in his mouth.
These symptoms matched no physical ailment. He grasped his head in his hands and took hold of two handfuls of his golden hair. He wanted to pull it out by the roots. He wanted to scream. He wanted to sleep…He had no idea what he wanted.
Elena was gone, but she had been the love of his life. How could he feel anything for Mel this soon? Was this some effect of Mel’s psionics, or were these feelings from within himself?
John had no idea how to work his way through this tangle of emotions. The upside was, he was fairly certain they would all be dead in a few hours anyway, so he wouldn’t have to live with this emotional labyrinth for very long. That was some comfort, wasn’t it?
Twenty-Four – Spider’s Web
Molon’s lips drew back over his canines in a wolfish grin as he assessed the tactical and navigational displays which plotted the relative positions of Star Wolf and Revenge. They were going to make it!
Dub had found a way to overdrive the ion-fusion engines that were Star Wolf’s main propulsion in real space. The overdrive Dub had rigged was risky and potentially unstable, but would put them at the voidspace entry point to Furi twenty minutes ahead of Revenge. They might, at worst, have to dodge a few boarding shuttles, but no VDE-equipped fighters were anywhere to be seen ahead, and none had followed from where they entered Hatacks, so nothing stood between them and freedom other than open space and possibly a few evasive maneuvers.
The fuel cost of Dub’s rigged-up overburn was tremendous. They would expend nearly all their reserves to beat the cruiser to the jump point. It would be enough, though. The voidspace drives had their own separate, self-contained fission-fusion reactors and drew no fuel from the main ship systems. They would only need enough ion-fusion fuel to power the real space drives enough during their voidspace transition in order to keep minimal ship systems functioning. That was miniscule compared to the fuel used in real space propulsion. The Furi system had several gas giants they could skim for raw ion-fusion materials, and Star Wolf’s internal fuel refining systems would produce plenty of ion-fusion fuel during the next voidspace jump to Hiped.
Dub had laid out all these facts to him in the briefing, but Molon still had a nervous knot in his stomach. He had never before dipped this deeply into his fuel reserves. In space anything could happen, and when it came to critical supplies, it was much better to have them and not need them, than to need them and not have them. This time, however, given the alternative, pushing the limits was by far the better choice. Gambling against some random, catastrophic, unforeseen system failure gave way better odds than going one-on-one against a Provisional Imperium cruiser. Still, Molon wanted to be prepared for anything. He even had Dub relieve Boom-Boom at the bridge engineering station.
Thus far, Revenge had not even launched shuttles. Surely Revenge’s officers would know Star Wolf had made up time and distance on them. Shuttles or fighters might be able to block Star Wolf long enough to draw Revenge into weapons range. Yet they had not deployed either. While that meant Star Wolf wouldn’t have to fly evasively to gain the entry point to voidspace, it also meant that this time Revenge was no longer interested in capture. They were flying full bore on an intercept course, with the only offensive option on the table being their big guns. Fortunately, Revenge wasn’t equipped with a spinal mount, or they would already be within range. Even without a spinal mount, however, the guns on Revenge wouldn't even need to warm up in order to blast Star Wolf into scrap.
The fact remained that Star Wolf would be at the entry point and into voidspace before Revenge’s guns could reach them. Unless that cruiser had some prototype weapon that could hit them from this distance, Star Wolf would get away. Molon’s luck was never this good. Something was deeply wrong.
“We are drawing close to the entry point, captain,” Twitch announced. “Voidspace entry in six minutes.”
This was not possible. Russel was no ship commander, but he wasn’t an idiot either. Molon had missed something, but he couldn’t put his finger on what.
“Gre
at news, Twitch,” he said, choosing encouragement rather than sowing his own seeds of doubt among the crew. Maybe they really had just caught a break for a change. “Thanks to Dub for rigging our engines to get us here ahead of Revenge.”
“Don’t thank me just yet, Cap,” Dub replied. “Honestly I’m amazed this rig hasn’t blown up yet.”
Molon glanced to his right toward the engineering station where a yellow warning light flashed ominously. Dub’s mechanical hands were flying furiously over the engineering panel, but the look on his malmorphed face and the sweat pouring down Dub’s face caused Molon’s stomach to draw up in a knot.
“We miscalculate on the fuel, Dub?” Molon guessed, trying to keep a calm in his voice that he didn’t feel in his chest.
“I wish,” Dub replied. “Still have fuel but we’re losing speed.”
“Losing speed?” Molon said. “Why?”
“Dunno,” Dub replied, not looking up from his mechanical glove hands flying around the engineering station controls. “Something is interfering with the engines and dragging our speed down fast. It’s not a mechanical issue. It’s like something outside has latched onto us.”
Was that it? Was Revenge equipped with some kind of extreme-range tractor beam? All Molon knew about the technology said it wasn’t possible, but then again, prior to the discovery of voidspace, galaxy-spanning travel wasn’t possible either. He gripped the arms of his captain’s chair with an intensity intended to drain all the anxiety out of his voice. He wasn’t sure it completely worked.
“Dub, figure it out fast. We’re still five minutes from the entry point and Revenge will be in gun range in twenty minutes.”
“Nineteen,” Hoot interjected.
Molon repressed a snarl.
“Nineteen then,” Molon corrected. “If that cruiser gets into weapons range, one minute one way or the other won’t make much difference.”
“I have an answer, Cap,” Dub said. “But it doesn’t make sense.”
“What is it, Dub?” Molon asked.
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