Tethered Worlds: Blue Star Setting

by Gregory Faccone

  It brought to mind, once again, how Aristahl believed it was okay to risk, but with wisdom. Not foolishly. Then again, only a Sojourner would think being out here in a corvette versus all of this tonnage wasn't foolish.

  "Highearn recognized a Hesperus. You really got it." There was pride in his voice "I'm looking forward to that debrief, but right now I was expecting my father."

  "He's down at the staryard."

  Kord's response was delayed. "No doubt the one surrounded by mystic hulks."

  "Kord," the cruiser captain said, "the Polemarkh has just ordered a general retreat to behind the egress."

  "It's over? We lost?" Jordahk asked.

  "Captain Arceneaux, my son's right. I don't see much benefit in obeying orders that amount to surrender. But there are great possibilities for someone who rallies our troops to victory."

  "Drak," Arceneaux said. "We've come this far. I won't be robbed because we're an hour too late!"

  "That's the spirit," Kord said. "It looks like the main Perigeum firepower is staying concentrated toward the egress, but I notice they're sliding ships out closer to your battle, Jordakh." Kord the tactician was out and working. "Captain Arceneaux and I are going to encourage them to think twice about that."

  "Watch out for the First Cruiser. It's an Artemis."

  "An Artemis? A Hesperus, ancient drones and a mothballed mystic frigate. It's like a Sojourners' Crusade flashback."

  "Let's hope Janus thinks so," Arceneaux added.

  "Avere, Khai-aLael," Kord said. "Vittora will be pleased you're enjoying her pin."

  Jordahk didn't realize Khai was in the pickup. "She's insistent on keeping me alive."

  "Avere, Kord Wilkrest, father of Jordahk, " Khai said. Her tone was filled with respect.

  "Thanks for watching my son's back."

  A grin appeared on his father's face over the delayed visuals. Might his father be wondering how it was his son accumulated yet another beautiful woman willing to risk it all to protect him?

  "Rotating claw?" Capt. Arceneaux asked.

  "I like your thinking, Captain. We'll force them to pay attention. We've got to go, Jordahk. Watch yourself."

  The bridge was silent afterward. Max ran through numerous, far-fetched scenarios looking for ways to damage the command cruiser.

  "What a place for a family reunion," the AI said.

  Jordahk smiled at Khai. "My father will be more pleased when he hears about your antics at Beuker."

  A faint and rare smile crossed her face. Maybe even a blush. He felt inspired.

  "Max, try this plan out for feasibility." He manipulated icons with his hands in 3D space.

  "I'd say, 'it's so crazy it just might work,' if it wasn't such a cliché. And if you hadn't done so many crazy things up to now."

  "I'll take that as a 'go.'"

  "That is a lot on your shoulders, Jorh-Dahk. The kind of mystic interaction required for success is very taxing."

  "It'll be a lot more taxing for them."

  "Two Perigeum frigates, closing for another pass," Aurora said.

  "Keep our mystic frigate between us. Try to save the drones. Get us on course for the command cruiser. Khai, aim every beam in our flotilla onto the weapons cluster of the lead chaser."

  Space spun as the Aurora, two drones, and a mystic frigate with one T-Beam bolted in concert onto a daring course.

  Some would say crazy. Sojourners didn't like that word. I'm starting to understand why.

  Because the two frigates were chasing, their bows were almost constantly exposed to Jordahk's flotilla. Withering fire from multiple angles slammed into the target frigate. Even at so-called "regular" power, the Aurora hit like a much larger ship. The frigates didn't give up the chase, but they dropped back. The Aurora was also accumulating hits to its rear thruster clusters.

  "Can we attack something from the front?" Gasket said. A comm window showed him surrounded by conduits. "We're taking a beating back here."

  "We're about to," Jordahk said. "Pour it on, Aurora. As fast as our frigate will allow."

  A jolt of acceleration left even the drones behind for a moment. Poor Gasket lurched off-VAD while one of the conduits ruptured, spraying something that looked hot.

  "The main T-Beam just cut out," the grease monkey said from somewhere.

  "That sucks hydrogen. Max, can we still do this with just the hypergun?"

  "I don't know, kid. When it comes to all this mystic enhancement stuff, there're too many X-factors."

  A sudden strangeness burgeoned in his compy.

  "Of course it can be done," Wixom said, "if you will it."

  Jordahk was unsure about how to react, except that he did not like it. Though it may, to some extent, be true. Perhaps it was just the way Wixom said it.

  "Final approach," Khai said. Her eyes met Jordahk's. "Are you ready?"

  Her look was deep and penetrating. He nodded and slapped his hand down on the left control stalk. The touch allowed him to feel the entire port side of the ship. He focused down into the hyper gun, which was loaded with a single trebuchet-sized boulder.

  They twisted and turned toward the command cruiser, approaching on the side guarded by the frigate. The escort was holding relative position too close to the cruiser and blocking some of its firepower. The two drones, Hesperus, and the mystic frigate weaved with complexity only an AI could pull off at such speeds. It was hard for the enemy to hit the same ship, and impossible to hit the same spot twice.

  They saved firepower for point-blank range. Jordahk concentrated on the hypergun.

  It's got to be stronger for this to work.

  He closed his eyes, reaching deep into the systems. He felt the white heat of the teslanium reactor feeding the gun. It was running hot as it also fed the thrust rings and thrusters. The gun could take more. Jordahk clenched his hand upon the control stalk.

  Suddenly, it felt like he was pulled into the ship through the stalk. His body wrenched. It was all he could do to keep from collapsing into molecules and being sucked through those platinum group metals. Alarms sounded on the bridge, though they seemed muffled.

  "Port grav impeller engaged," Aurora said. "Unexpected. Be careful, Jordahk. Too much power can damage both of us."

  Acceleration rails on the hyper gun extended, and the unit's diameter expanded. Jordahk squeezed his eyes shut tighter. All of the power coming out of the teslanium reactor was multiplied through this grav impeller. He didn't know how it worked, only that it was too taxing to maintain. He had to let it go.

  How did Pops do this?

  "Aurora, bring our stations together!" Khai said.

  The ship vibrated, and suddenly Khai-aLael's hand slapped down upon his. The strain lessened immediately. The left stalk was trying to suck his body in. The right stalk, where Khai's hand squeezed his, kept it at bay. Barely. Even combined, they were not ready for this kind of thing.

  "Final approach," Aurora said.

  "Execute the fire plan." Talking was a strain. "Max, tell me... when to let go."

  He could feel Khai there, but she had gone quiet with effort. Not unlike during the thresh.

  It's too much for her to bear.

  He wanted to widen his perspective, drive the attack run, but the grav impeller activation was taking too much out of him. He had to leave it to the AIs.

  He sensed the ships before him, then the clashing of chaotic energies. The mystic frigate was acting as their shield and taking a beating on the approach. The drones dove in and out, absorbing fire and confusing targeting. They and the mystic frigate fired single T-Beams into the Perigeum escort. It yawed with impact momentum at its bow.

  Max prompted Jordahk to release the built-up hypergun. Without warning, his ships darted, and a direct path to the command cruiser opened up. The might of the enhanced hypergun pounded it amidships. The Aurora bucked and shook as it flew through a shock wave of expanding shield plasma.

  Jordahk managed to open his eyes as they retreated from the command cruiser. It
rolled from the impact, amidships shields knocked out. But it was still whole.

  It's a command cruiser. What were you expecting, zetta-rookie?

  Suddenly, another ship followed in their wake.

  "It's transmitting war-era ally codes," Aurora said.

  "Fleetnet's designation is Charbon class trebuchet...from Demeter," Max said.

  Multiple drones swirled around the incoming ship, intercepting fire. One exploded, but the trebuchet continued. A hollow tube ran down its core. For a second, it filled with rocks then flashed white with the glare of the sun. A cone of destruction moved out before it.

  The Perigeum escort frigate, caught within, crumpled from a massive impact, and then went dark. The command cruiser caught two rocks where Jordahk's strike had wiped out its shields. Its central thrust rings exploded. The ship slid toward its other escort, which scrambled to get out of the way. The trebuchet followed Aurora through a path of chaos and debris.

  A man with intense eyes and an expressionless face appeared on a VAD. "Avere, ally, Hesperus. May victory be ours."

  Jordahk was still trying to find his orientation, but from somewhere, words formed in response. "Avere, ally, Demeter trebuchet. I will it so."

  The man's eyes reacted. He nodded, and the comm closed.

  "That sounded a little presumptuous," Max link-said.

  "I know," Jordahk sub-whispered. "Just seemed like the thing to say."

  He could feel Wixom's amusement again. He blinked, suddenly conscious that Khai wasn't moving. She was flushed, and trickles of sweat poured from her temples. Jordahk patted her face. Even her tremendous reserves for interfacing with mystic had their limits.

  "Khai. Khai-aLael! Are you with me?" Fear spiked, but he squelched it, choosing instead to think upon solutions. "Aurora, don't you have protocols for this?"

  "I'm drawing away the heat even as we speak, but I can't prevent you from hurting yourselves."

  Her eyes fluttered then opened with returning clarity. "Were we successful?"

  "I think so, with a little help."

  "The command cruiser and surviving escorts are limping back to their main line," Max said.

  "Your father was successful in cutting off further reinforcements to this area," Aurora added.

  Jordahk focused on the Artemis. "Someone's not going to be happy."

  A TIME OF SOJOURNERS

  By Sparber Quintile, Historian (22??-2450?)

  A Law Unto Themselves

  (excerpt from the series)

  The Khromas were beyond the control of any planetary government, even Numen's. The burgeoning Cohortium, in desperate need of support, accepted with grace whatever help offered. After the evacuation of Numen, the Khromas became more elusive, and eventually a law unto themselves.

  Some have said, in more flowery language, that they were anchored only to the stars. But this historian sees even that as too limiting, for in the end they sojourned all of space and beyond by means not yet understood. They communicated over distances impossible by common reckoning.* Despite this, some academics still scoff at the gravitic understanding of the universe to which most Sojourners subscribed.

  The desire of the Khromas was not to rule, though few doubt they could have carved out an empire to rival the Perigeum. When one of their order went astray, only the others were able to rein him in. Though this increased fear of Sojourners in general, the Khromas were largely untouched. They remained figures of legend, like the ancient gods of Greece and Rome, their weaknesses and strengths becoming a part of their accepted character.

  In retrospect, it is clear the Khromas never intended to stay once Numen fell. They expended great energies ensuring the establishment of the newborn Asterfraeo. Afterward, this historian believes they passed through the TransVex to a place beyond our reach. Some have called it the Ajurian Realm. Whatever or wherever it is, those who sought it have never returned.

  * Editor's Note: Since publication of "A Time of Sojourners," mystic technology usage has declined steadily. Despite imprimatur claims, the mystic technology base has narrowed. If anything, the wondrous feats described by Sparber Quintile, attributed to the Khromas, have become more opaque since their supposed retreat.

  An alliance between Adams Rush, Patram, and Demeter. Mason had not expected an opportunity to build such bridges, but this Vallum Corps hitch started unusually and continued past strange.

  Senior Captain Thaddeus was honor-bound to obey the Polemarkh. Patram was a founding pillar of the Vallum Corps. Thaddeus felt that weight and wouldn't be the one to besmirch their reputation after two centuries. But he was doing everything within the letter of the law to delay his wing from getting behind the egress. Patram wasn't accustomed to losing, and never short on bravery.

  "Our lines have consolidated," Thaddeus said. He looked defeated, but not from battle. "I can't hold off much longer." He shook his head despondently. "I'm going to have to commit my wing to the Polemarkh's... unwise plan."

  Thaddeus demonstrated a generosity of spirit Mason would not. The order to retreat behind the egress had given them a breather from the Perigeum fleet, but it also ceded valuable territory. With the arrival of Kord Wilkrest and Arceneaux's heavy squadron, the enemy had decided to push straight through to the planet.

  "The reinforcements kept the P-Stars from expanding," Mason said. "But that's all they'll be able to do before we're under fire again." Had Mason allowed himself to get caught up believing for victory in a battle that never stopped being hopeless?

  "What're you going to do?" Thaddeus asked. "Savalis made his choice."

  Indeed, the two Demeter trebuchets had left the line and were linking up with the ragtag mystic flotilla centering on the Hesperus.

  "What's the holdup, captain?" Garwood said in an appearing comm. "The Polemarkh wants to consolidate our position and begin negotiation shielded by the egress. I hope you're not getting ideas from those Demeter rogues. They'll be lucky if they're even allowed representatives in the Cohortium after this."

  We'd be lucky to have them, if they'd still have us...

  "I don't think the Perigeum's here to negotiate, sir."

  "Our position in front of Windermere prevents their firing on us from space. Even Janus wouldn't risk that. And he can't get a safe firing angle while we're behind the egress."

  "They'll close the range. You can't stop them from behind cover." They had a good working relationship, at least before the Polemarkh started caring again about what happened in space. It was crumbling.

  Mason weighed the fate of Windermere, his life, the life of his men, and his career. He had hoped to command a mystic hull of his own one day. The Hesperus caught his eye on the nav VAD. The little mystic flotilla, now with two Charbon trebuchets, was still in the fight.

  Mason slumped. In the end, all anyone could really do was delay the inevitable. Windermere would fall. It was no time for heroics. Or was it? Only heroics could save them. That kid. The Iron Commander believed in him. As if to emphasize that thought, the hodgepodge mystic force turned his way. Mason took it as a sign, and sat up straighter.

  "I'm going to respectfully refuse your battle plan, sir," Mason said. "I'm ordering our forces back into formation."

  "You're relieved captain. You'll spend half a century in the stockade."

  "Maybe, sir. If we survive." He closed the comm. "All ships, this is Captain Mason Steede. I'm retaking field command. Disregard previous orders. Double wall formation on me."

  Thaddeus, what will you do?

  "Patram wings, cease retreat," Thaddeus said over fleetnet. "Assume wall formation until command structure clarifies." A private comm VAD reopened. "That's the best I can do, Mason, until there's more change." An alarm sounded on both of their bridges. A new mystic ship was entering the fray. "What's that?"

  The ship came from the mystic staryard. It showed no signs of slowing down on a course that would take it right past them.

  "I think it's the change you wanted."

  "Attention Perige
um Starmada, Prime Orator Janus. This is Kord Wilkrest. My wife Vittora and I represent the Cohortium transitional government. I'm here with Senior Captain Arceneaux of the Frulieste Defense Agency, representing the Vallum Corps."

  "What the hell's this?" Janus said. The open transmission from the newly arrived heavy squadron wasn't just for him but for everyone to see. "I guess they had to try. This ought to be good."

  "Withdraw your fleet now or face escalating repercussions. Word has gone out across the Palisades. Even now, Vallum Corps..."

  Janus tuned the man out, his eyes drawn instead to the beautiful, long-limbed woman with braided auburn hair behind him. Why was he so enraptured? He had seen many beautiful women before. But there was something in her stance behind her husband, as if her presence alone could protect him.

  "Wilkrest? Sybaris, where have I heard that name before?"

  "Kord Wilkrest: Representative, Adams Rush Assembly. Targeted by the Legion during the Egress Incident. A leader in the movement against annexation. May have ties to mystic and the space battle that led to the destruction of our egress. He's on the Archiver watchlist."

  "And the woman?"

  Sybaris turned to him, eyes narrowing strangely. "Vittora Wilkrest: Native of Patram. High combat competence. There's nothing else here, but a query to our spy network and the Archivers may supply more."

  "Yes." The woman guarded with such obvious fire, one so lacking in Sybaris. "Yes, let's do that." He had a sudden, strong desire to have that fire at his side, and his wheels began turning.

  "Any change in your plan, Prime Orator?"

  "No."

  Sybaris examined the trimensional nav. "Then I believe we've caught as many 'fish' as we're going to get."

  "I was hoping for more. So, they're not all complete grimes. Who didn't go for it?"

  "There's been a bit of a rebellion in their command structure," Flag Admiral Buisart said. "Judging from comm traffic and squadron groupings, I'd say the full Adams Rush and Patram contingents disobeyed their Polemarkh."

  "Adams Rush again? I don't care for that coincidence. Fire it."

  Buisart almost rolled his eyes. "But, Sir, if I may—"