Tethered Worlds: Blue Star Setting

by Gregory Faccone

  Vanquo's shield grew hotter under the impact of the re-powered dimensional beam. The plasma turned bright orange and then yellow. Sparks erupted off the two industrial "U" brackets.

  "Impossible!" Vanquo yelled. The brackets and plasma exploded in an expanding energetic circle. The beam slammed into the heavy armor. It crumpled as it met the blackness. "Drakking Sojourner!"

  Vanquo screamed as the entire massive suit was crushed into the last of the beam.

  Exhausted, the autobuss returned slowly to standard configuration. Jordahk's eyes rolled back in his head, but he forced himself to stay conscious, pain prickling along his body. His vision was a flaring light show. Khai towed him and what was left of his father's tattered suit into the opening ramp as they heard the thunder from above again.

  She looked white-faced as she pulled Jordahk up into the entry room. Sweat poured from her temples. She plopped down next to him, if one could plop in microgravity. Before them, Torious worked feverishly on Humberto, who stared up into a VAD showing the outer chamber.

  "You saw that?" Jordahk asked.

  Humberto barely turned toward Jordahk, gave the faintest smile, and raised the thumb of his motionless arm.

  Aristahl knelt next to him, also looking drawn.

  Humberto spoke weakly. "You were the one here 200 years ago."

  "Yes," Aristahl said.

  "This is your ship."

  "Yes."

  "You're the Son of the Khromas."

  Aristahl hesitated only long enough to blink slowly. "Yes."

  Humberto raised his hand from the elbow, and Aristahl grasped it. The injured man was fading despite Torious's efforts, and knew it.

  "Take care of my family."

  "I will. Starting with a corrective reviction ravelen for your wife."

  "And a certain Consortium member," Jordahk said, "has donated his considerable coin line to see they are financially secure."

  Humberto smiled faintly again. "You are good people. I understand now..." He laid his head back. "Why my grandfather was never the same. He cherished... those memories till his last day." His breathing became more labored, but he wasn't in pain. "Will Beuker be free?"

  Aristahl glanced toward Jordahk. "Someday."

  Humberto seemed satisfied, and died.

  There was no time for shock, no time to mourn.

  "I am sorry, Torious," Aristahl said. "Cool Khai down quickly, and get them to the bridge." He left with haste.

  Jordahk experienced this through a detached, distantly painful haze. His red arms were covered with blisters and blood. Khai was losing consciousness, but Torious was there quickly, the blue light device attaching all around her skull. Her normal complex ivory pattern began to return.

  The nurse bot was uncharacteristically quiet. Losing two patients in a short span may have been too much for him.

  The ship shook, emphasizing they were unpowered, including the grav weaves. The motion made Jordahk's back erupt in pain as it rubbed against the bulkhead.

  "It's dangerous taking yourself to the edge like that," Torious said to Khai. "You need time to develop your capacity."

  "There was need," she said.

  "You sound like Aristahl. You all skirt the edge of irreparable, thinking you're indestructible."

  Jordahk looked at Humberto's still body.

  Temporarily patched, they made their way to the bridge as the ship shook again. Jordahk stripped off the remnants of his suit and walked barefoot in tattered clothes. He steadied Khai while her boots gripped the deck. He took the physical brunt but was patched and pain-blocked enough to walk. Khai was woozy with brain trauma. Torious trundled behind them, his treads holding the deck.

  "You sure she'll be all right?" Jordahk asked.

  "This time," Torious answered. The sarcastic robot was definitely not himself.

  Were all of the Hesperus class like this? Even in the dim emergency lighting, the workmanship was obvious. The rails and decking were ceramic. The curved, metal bulkhead structures had within them swirls of noble metals like gold and silver in addition to the platinum group.

  The ceiling was a semicircle of subtly faceted crystal. It came to life suddenly, illuminating the corridor in soft light. The entire ship around him became an active thing, ready to be touched. The grav weaves came online, forcing him to bear weight on fatigued muscles.

  The crystal displayed the outside, which at the moment was the interior of the hibernation cavern.

  Its artificial ceiling drew closer. They were moving. He sensed activity. The ship was "breathing in" as much of the cavern air as it could pump. They rose until the ship broke through the top of the cavern. The remaining air dissipated as they moved through a dark tunnel.

  "What's going on out there?" Jordahk asked.

  "The Hesperus Aurora has locked us out," Max said. "Apparently, the Bitlord's reputation preceded us."

  He wondered whether the Aurora could stop Wixom if he was determined to compromise the ship. Then again, could Wixom stop Judicum if the latter was determined to take him out?

  "Torious?"

  "The Starmada frigate is attempting to block our way. It's hovering nearby. Aurora isn't close to full power."

  They took a lift plat. Its systems came to life sluggishly. The platform moved them upward while Jordahk clutched the ceramic rail and Khai.

  "What's the way out, Max?"

  "Looks like this horizontal tunnel leads to a large cavern, partially collapsed to seal it."

  "So we blow an exit from there."

  "Yeah, but it's still deep. Our friends above will detect us powering up and no doubt collapse it to keep us trapped."

  They reached the command level. The passage to the bridge had the same crystal ceiling. It showed them entering the large cavern. They reoriented to shoot their way out, and Jordahk felt the ship coming alive.

  It was straining to do so. Parts were not ready, or rather, not up to the job. Aristahl was attempting to bypass them. The right side of the ship was collecting energy, or trying.

  "Get in here, nurse," Barrister said.

  Torious zipped ahead, moving more like himself with gravity restored. When they finally got to the bridge, even in his battered state, Jordahk couldn't help but marvel at the design.

  At the top was a contoured command couch. The captain's. It was suspended within a raised console housing. Above the hard panels was an organized series of VADs. Surrounding it all was a subtle ghost image of the ship. In it Jordahk saw glowing veins of power feeding the right side.

  Forward and slightly lower were two officer's stations like the captains, and farther, on the lowest level, were three smaller stations. At the front of the bridge was an enormous display. It crunched 360 degrees of visuals into something just wider than one's peripheral vision, and it did so without distorting the objects displayed.

  Encircling the bridge were evenly spaced supports made of platinum inlaid with an organic, fractal pattern of gold.

  Aristahl sat back in the captains chair, moving his right arm as the ship began to unfold. Torious was already locking in next to him, the cooling blue instrument unfolding.

  "Oh Arh-Tahl," a feminine voice said, "it's so good to power up again. We knew you didn't forget us."

  "There is still much to do, Aurora, especially now that my grandson has come of age." He made a pushing motion with his arm, but the glowing veins of the ship did not respond accordingly. "The T-beam nacelle is sluggish."

  "Gasket's awakened and on his way there. I recommend you don't augment, but if you're determined, he'll do what he can. We had to fabricate so many parts without you. They're little better than scientum."

  "I will see you restored to full capacity after we withdraw."

  Things were not going well, yet Aristahl spoke with such confidence. Jordahk found himself envious of the ability and believing in an escape that looked more improbable by the moment.

  A pair of palm-sized control node stalks rose on either side of the command stati
on. They were striped with every metal from the platinum group. Aristahl gripped the right one and squinted.

  Jordahk felt activity in the part of his brain where mystic resided. He could sense that something just below the range of his hearing. It was like being near great power, as if a sun was passing by them. Glowing lines pushed outward toward the T-beam cannon on the ghostly ship display. Some traveled circuitous routes, others ended in a flare of light and discontinued.

  "Take it easy," came a friendly, slightly metallic voice over the comm. "I'm doing what I can out here. This isn't the reunion I envisioned."

  Like a bird of prey preparing for flight, the Hesperus Aurora began to unfold. It left behind the shape, and even the colors, of a vintage Beuker corvette. The nose extended. Two huge nacelles, on either side of the main fuselage pulled outward on streamlined outriggers.

  At the rear of the nacelles were giant engine clusters. The fronts each sported a weapon too large for a corvette. The port side housed some sort of monstrous hypergun. The starboard had a T-beam cannon more suited to planetary defense. The energy lines finally reached it, and it began to change.

  "Highlighting failing systems," Aurora said. "Hurry, Gasket."

  "I need more drones, honey."

  "You can release more, Aurora," Aristahl said. Despite the ministrations of Torious, his color continued to fade. "We are not going into battle, just blasting out of here, and out of this system."

  Jordahk tried to refocus his mind. "Pops, let me help you."

  "None of you are in any shape to help. Besides, only one shot will be necessary."

  One shot? One shot held together by sheer force of will. The ship isn't ready for this kind of augmentation.

  Jordahk watched the translucent T-beam cannon representation transform. It grew longer and bigger, supporting braces forming around the circumference. He realized it was like an enormous autobuss. Heat dispersion panels flared into existence along its exterior.

  Aristahl strained, and the glowing blue of the nurse's medical instrument brightened.

  "Please, Arh-Tahl," Torious pleaded, "haven't I had enough for one day?"

  Jordahk grabbed his head, squinting in sudden pain. He felt the universe pushing him into the T-beam cannon. Flashes of white erupted on the enhanced nacelle, traveling up the outriggers and causing more flashes on the main fuselage. Jordahk felt rumblings and sensed multiple blowouts.

  "I'm sorry, Arh-Tahl," Aurora said, "I've got too many substandard links."

  Aristahl's grip seemed to tighten on the control node, and, suddenly, numerous glowing lines crunched down into one. Sparks erupted off panels, and everything flickered. As if from a distance, Jordahk heard a dutiful voice over the comm doing what it could to keep the ship from tearing itself apart.

  The flickering main display showed the cavern illuminated by the light of a solar flare. The T-beam cannon's configuration was finalizing slowly, and the ship reoriented upward. The main display changed to show the space above the planetoid. They had to be getting the feed from Alb-Sone. So the stealth part of this operation was over.

  The Perigeum frigate hovered above the exit tunnel. It fired a volley of T-beams, puny in comparison to what Aristahl was building. They struck the tunnel wall, shattering a section and filling it with more debris.

  That's our way out! It's got to stay open a little longer.

  The frigate fired its hypergun. There was a flash at the impact, and half of the tunnel began to collapse.

  A series of targeting reticules converged on the frigate. Jordahk's brain was being squeezed. All the power of the Aurora was compressed, like the core of a superdense star. Then there was blessed release.

  The engines of their ship flared brightly to compensate for the recoil, much like a combat suit when its rifle was fired. An ultra-bright cone of pink teleforce burst up through space and rock without distinction. At close range, anything before it was vaporized, like the solidified debris that had sealed off the cavern. The farther up it went through the tunnel, the more rock it carried with it.

  The widening beam blasted to the surface. It flared into space with the diameter of the frigate, which it hit squarely. Shields melted away in luminescent rainbow waves. The Perigeum ship shuddered, thrust rings firing wildly to keep it oriented.

  The T-beam was gone, and so were its shields. Racing upward in the trajectory of the beam was a mountain's worth of boulders. They slammed into the unshielded hull, buckling it in multiple places. Its central thrust ring exploded, and plasma jetted erratically into space. The frigate yawed out of control and tumbled away, leaving a trail of parts.

  Jordahk experienced a trace of inertia as they rocketed upward in the path of the beam. The ship shuddered as larger chunks of debris smashed against their shields. It twisted and turned, dodging the largest chunks like the soaring bird it resembled. The shields, not at full power to begin with, depleted quickly. The ship rocked with impacts against its naked hull.

  The display filled with black as they roared into open space, the first space Hesperus Aurora had seen in two centuries.

  "Get those shields back up," Aristahl said. His voice was strained and airy. "Best speed to the hilltop..." Eyes closing, he sat back and was still.

  "Nurse!" Barrister said.

  "I'm working on it, platinum brain." But Torious's heart wasn't in his usual insult as Aristahl slipped into unconsciousness.

  Jordahk started to interpret the displays instinctively and noticed the law enforcement ship bearing down on them, weapons powered. The Aurora performed an evasive maneuver as pink T-beams reached across space. One hit, pushing hard against her. Subtle alarms highlighted broken systems.

  "We're in no shape to fight that flux-jerk's ship," Jordahk said.

  A shape raced up behind it. Aurora's recognition highlighted on the display.

  Alb-Sone's scout flew over the enforcement ship too fast to take anything more than incidental fire. When it passed, it reoriented to face its bow back. Energy distortions highlighted the scout's simultaneous salvo of relatively small T-beams and hypergun. But they were all pinpoint strikes at the powered up launchers of the enforcement ship. They blew spectacularly, reinforcing the difference between law enforcement and warship.

  The scout flipped back and paralleled their course. The artisan's ship fell behind, struggling to regain control.

  Alb-Sone appeared on their display. Jordahk saw the relief on his face when he spotted Khai. "How's Arh-Tahl?"

  "He's been better," Torious said.

  "Let's be well out of here when he comes to."

  "Darkwine?" Pheron said. "How'd we get here? This connection's not in the navs."

  "I know, sir," his sub-ensign said. "This crazy sync season is making a bunch of strange connections temporarily possible."

  There was no mistaking Darkwine. A deep green world known for bitter herbs and bitter wine. It was surrounded by a dozen moons of different sizes and twice as many major asteroids, something Starmada cadets dreaded at examination time when they were forced to navigate sans AIs. The egress was inside their orbits.

  The system was unfinished on the civilian side. Most of the coin spent was for defense and accommodating Starmada squadrons. Such was the role of all Perigeum worlds bordering the Asterfraeo Territories Palisades.

  The border. The Palisades...

  "Smelting hell." Pheron sat up straight in the command chair. "Bring up the nav!" he ordered the ship AI.

  The large, trimensional VAD came to life with more ship indications than Darkwine should have. Much more. Hidden within the crazy orbits of moons and rocks were squadron after squadron of Starmada. The largest flotilla he had personally seen.

  "Damn."

  Was their faux of a Prime Orator really going through with it? He focused on the egress. Two colliers were moored to it by thick transfer cable. Readings showed they were filled with coolant, and yet the egress was radiating heat beyond the failure point. It must have been syncing without pause for days to ac
cumulate this many ships and reach such temperatures. And between each sync, the colliers must race in to cycle coolant.

  Now he understood why the egress shut down practically upon the last ship of Commander Moron's wing. If humankind's largest machine wasn't also one of its sturdiest, he would be pulling away for fear of explosion. As it was, six fusion reactors' worth of heat diffusion lines were burning bright white across its surface. Coolant umbilicals snapped as the colliers raced away from the egress at breakneck speeds. One looked on the verge of exploding itself. Emergency ports on the giant hexagon jetted superheated plasma into space.

  "It's firing up again, sir," his sub-ensign said.

  "Again?"

  The egress struggled on the edge. Temperatures spiked, and a flash was followed by an expanding wave of tinted distortion centered upon the machine. The hexagonal window was open to a faraway place, one filled with large ships.

  Shielding ruptured along the center of one of the colliers. Its thrust rings sprayed crazily before its hull ruptured, propelling the damaged ship sideways. Superheated coolant sprayed into space like an omnidirectional geyser creating an expanding cloud of crystals.

  "Receiving new fleetnet command," the ship AI said.

  The massive egress was unmoved by the commotion. It dwarfed every ship that passed through it, though the ship approaching was undoubtedly the largest warship in-system.

  "All ships stand by for the First Cruiser," came over the comm.

  A command override transmission appeared on the main display. The executive tones sounded, followed by the familiar face of Prime Orator Janus set within a gold border.

  "Captains and officers of the Perigeum Starmada, welcome to the new, amalgamated First Fleet. No doubt you've found your deployments over the last weeks puzzling. Now that we're all assembled, be informed, our target is the Palisades world Windermere. Our egress will not remain outside our control."

  "Space me to the Ajurian Realm..." the sub-ensign murmured.

  "Many of you felt your honor insulted," the prime orator continued, "by the barbaric rebuff of our egress envoy last year at Adams Rush. They greeted a First Cruiser set for peace with arms. Now they'll meet a First Cruiser rigged for war."