“How can that be?” Lisa asked, her eyes showing a lack of sleep and her face showing her frustration. It had been a rough forty-eight hours as the reports had slowly come in. It was as if the New Horizon had vanished.
“It means they made at least two additional jumps after leaving Tau Ceti,” Jason surmised, not understanding why Commander Tellson would do such a thing. “Lisa, why don’t you go get some rest? I will let you know if we hear anything.” Jason could tell this was really taking a toll on her. She blamed herself for Katie stowing away on the ship, and now Jeremy was missing as well.
“I may have the answer,” Greg said, striding into the Command Center with an extremely worrisome look upon his face. “I just finished talking to General Greene. He had his people pick up several of those individuals that were rumored to be threatening the New Horizon mission several months ago.”
“Did they find out anything?” asked Jason, turning around to face Greg. He had been standing next to the com console listening as each ship reported in on their search results.
“It’s bad, Jason,” answered Greg, letting out a sharp breath. “Greene managed to get one of the people they picked up to talk. It seems there was a plan to hijack the New Horizon.”
“To hijack the ship!” Lisa cried, her eyes growing wide in shock. “Why?”
“It seems they wanted to set up a colony far away from Earth. Their leader was Major Maher.”
“Maher,” repeated Jason, shaking his head in disbelief. “He’s the executive officer on the New Horizon.”
“Yeah,” responded Greg, knowing his daughter was on board that ship somewhere. He didn’t know what Maher would do when he found her. “It seems the group had a lot of money behind them, and they managed to get a number of their people through the screening process. Several very large bribes were paid, and it looks as if a few people may have been killed to keep the plan a secret.”
Jason stepped over and put his arm around Lisa. He didn’t know what to say.
“But how could they take over the New Horizon?” asked Lisa, feeling disbelief at what she had just heard. “Surely most of the crew would have been loyal to Commander Tellson?”
“They had weapons,” Greg replied, his eyes focusing on Lisa and Jason. “Evidently they managed to ship a crate of armaments up to the New Horizon for Major Maher and his group to use in hijacking the ship.”
“Do we know where they were headed?” asked Jason, wondering if they could use a Federation warship to catch up to the New Horizon before it got out of range. The jump drives on the Federation ships were more efficient and had a longer range. If they knew where the New Horizon was heading, they just might be able to catch up with her.
“That’s the bad news,” Greg replied with a grimace splitting his face. “Our informant says that Major Maher had picked out two open star clusters farther in toward the center of the galaxy. He plans on going coreward about eight to ten thousand light years before finding a world to set up a colony on.”
“Toward Hocklyn controlled space,” Jason said in a stunned voice. “If they head in that direction, they could well stumble across a Hocklyn support ship or a conquered world.”
“That’s what General Greene is worried about,” responded Greg, nodding his head in agreement. “We don’t know how far the Hocklyns have expanded their empire, but the New Horizon’s eventual destination could well lie within Hocklyn controlled space.”
“Can they go that far?” asked Lisa, fearing for Jeremy, Kelsey, and Katie’s safety. “The New Horizon is a new ship; the first FTL capable ship Earth has ever built. Surely the ship isn’t capable of going on such a long journey.”
“That’s the problem,” Jason confessed in a troubled voice as he thought about the design of the ship. “Even though the New Horizon is Earth’s first starship, we based her on Federation science. I don’t know if the ship would be capable of going eight to ten thousand light years, but the New Horizon could manage at least a big part of that.”
“What are we going to do?” asked Greg, fearing for Katie’s safety. “We can’t let them make it to Hocklyn space.”
He also didn’t know how he was going to explain this most recent bad news to his wife. Elizabeth had been very distraught when he had told her about Katie stowing away on the New Horizon. This was going to be much worse.
“We won’t,” answered Jason determinedly, thinking about their options and what they could do. Turning around, he looked over at the com officer. “Contact the flight bay and have my shuttle prepped. I’m going to Ceres. I need to speak in private to Admiral Anlon.”
“What do you have in mind?” asked Lisa, wondering what Admiral Anlon could do. “Have you thought of a way to track the New Horizon and rescue Jeremy and Katie?”
“The WarStorm is scheduled to start her mission next week,” responded Jason, thinking about the powerful Monarch Two cruiser under Colonel Sheen’s command. “Her primary mission may have just changed.”
-
On board the New Horizon, Lieutenant Nelson was gazing with shock and worried concern at the work being done on the drive core of the ship. A group of technicians and engineers were greatly expanding the core and the cooling system.
“Why are you doing this?” demanded Nelson, looking over at Major Maher. He was well aware of the two armed guards standing directly behind him. “This could be extremely dangerous. You shouldn’t be trying to modify the drive core.”
“We’re going on a long trip,” Maher replied as he watched the work being done. “We can’t get there if it takes six hours or more for the drive core to cool back down after each jump. These modifications will allow the core to cool down in about three hours. That will greatly increase the amount of jumps we can do per day.”
“The core wasn’t built to be modified,” Nelson responded as he looked over the modifications being made. “You could seriously endanger the ship or the FTL drive.”
“I don’t think so,” replied Maher, turning to look at Nelson with a smug look upon his face. “I managed to sneak out the drive core design to some friends down on Earth. After a lot of study, they concluded that it wasn’t built quite as efficiently as everyone had thought. These changes will bring it up to speed. All you have to worry about is getting us where I want to go. If you don’t, or refuse to cooperate, you know what will happen to your little cadets.”
Nelson was silent for a moment. They had jumped three additional times since leaving the Tau Ceti system. Major Maher had picked out the destination for each jump and then had double-checked the coordinates after they had been transferred into the navigation computer. “Where are we going?”
“You will know in good time,” replied Maher, watching the engineers working on the core. As long as he had the cadets to threaten Nelson with, he figured the man would obey him.
“This ship wasn’t designed for a long journey,” continued Nelson, hoping to instill some doubt in Maher. He was worried that if they got too far from Earth, they would never be found.
“I just wanted to show you this,” spoke Maher, turning to face Nelson directly. “If my people’s calculations are correct, we can jump ten to twelve light years with each jump. I will give you the destination each time. Your job is to make sure we get there, and you know the penalty for failure.”
“I will do your navigation calculations,” responded Nelson, knowing at least for now he had no other choice. He couldn’t let any harm come to those cadets. “You just make sure those cadets are left alone.”
“Very well,” replied Maher, feeling satisfied with Nelson’s answer. “Guards, take Lieutenant Nelson back to his quarters.”
Maher watched as the guards ushered Nelson out of Engineering. Then, walking over to one of the engineers who was working on the drive core, he asked, “How much longer until the core is ready?” He was growing impatient to be on their way.
“Another four hours,” replied Ensign Treadwell, standing up and stretching. He had been working on a con
sole that controlled the drive core. “Some of these adjustments are very delicate.”
“I don’t care how delicate they are!” Maher roared in a loud voice, drawing the attention of most of the personnel working on the core. “I just want it done, and done right!”
“We can’t rush it,” Treadwell responded nervously, his eyes focused on the floor. He didn’t want to say or do anything to aggravate Maher. He had witnessed how failing to do as Maher ordered could result in a beating or worse. One of the engineering technicians had been shot earlier in the day for refusing to work on the drive core. “Some of these adjustments take time, particularly with the expanded cooling system we are installing. I can’t guarantee how long it will last. We are also using a lot of our spare parts up building this. If something goes wrong, we may not be able to repair it.”
“Just so it lasts long enough,” Maher warned, his eyes gazing piercingly at Treadwell. “If it fails, I will hold you personally responsible.”
Treadwell’s face turned pale as he nodded his head in understanding. “I will make sure it won’t fail,” he stammered.
Maher nodded and then turning, left Engineering. Ensign Bates could oversee the rest. Bates had already loaded his computer program into the engineering system so no one could activate the ship’s FTL drive without first inputting Maher’s own password.
-
Jeremy and Kevin were sitting in their quarters watching the vid screen. At least they were allowed to access the ship’s entertainment library. The library contained thousands of movies and other forms of entertainment to watch. Their door suddenly sliding open caused both of them to take notice.
“Hello, daddy’s boy,” Matt Barr spoke from where he was standing just outside the door. He stepped inside and tossed two loosely wrapped sandwiches and two bottles of water onto one of the bunks. Behind him, Ensign Rafferty watched with a smirk on his face. “There are your rations for the day. Enjoy.”
“Why did you side with them, Matt?” Kevin asked, his eyes focusing on Barr. “These people are killers. Do you really want to be a part of what they’re doing?”
“Yeah, so they are,” commented Barr with little concern. “Certain individuals on the New Horizon had to be removed. For your information, I have been a part of this plan from the very beginning.”
“What plan?” demanded Kevin, wanting to understand what was going on.
“It’s quite simple really, freckles,” Barr spoke contemptuously “We’re taking the New Horizon and leaving this section of the galaxy. Earth can have this section of space; we’re going on a long trip and will be setting up our own colony away from all of Earth’s prejudices and misguided government policies.”
Kevin became silent; he didn’t know what else to say. If Maher succeeded, they might never see Earth again.
Jeremy had been quiet, not wanting to provoke Barr. However, he couldn’t help asking. “What about the command crew and Commander Tellson, what happened to them?”
“They won’t be a problem,” Rafferty said, running his finger across his throat. “You just need to worry about yourself and when it will be your turn.”
“What do you mean, our turn?” Kevin demanded, his eyes widening at the implication of what had happened to the command crew.
“It’s simple,” replied Barr coldly, his eyes focusing on Jeremy. “Major Maher promised that I would be the one to get rid of you. You’re probably safe, Walters, but daddy’s boy here is all mine. As soon as Major Maher feels the admiral can’t come after us then I get the pleasure of disposing of daddy’s boy here. Maybe I’ll just shoot you, or perhaps I will place you in one of the airlocks and slowly bleed out all of the air. Either way, I’ll make sure you suffer.”
“Let’s go check on the girls,” Rafferty commented with a leer on his face. “Kelsey and Amanda are waiting.”
“Stay away from them,” warned Jeremy, standing up, his hand closing in a fist.
“Screw you, Jeremy,” Barr laughed as he stepped back outside the door. “The girls are ours now, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Barr reached forward and shut the door.
“Do you think Angela and Kelsey are in trouble?” Kevin asked worriedly, looking over at Jeremy.
“I hope not,” replied Jeremy, feeling anger running through him. He felt so helpless locked here in these quarters. He hadn’t liked the look on either Rafferty or Barr’s faces. “The girls can handle themselves for now.” Jeremy sat back down on his bunk, thinking about Kelsey and Angela. He just hoped he was right, and the girls would be okay.
-
Jason had reached Ceres and was on his way to the admiral’s office. Admiral Anlon’s office was deep inside the asteroid and heavily shielded. In case of a Hocklyn attack, it and the area around it were nearly impervious to nuclear bombardment. This area deep inside of Ceres contained the defense headquarters for the Federation survivors.
Reaching the admiral’s office, a marine guard opened the door, allowing Jason to enter. Stepping inside, Jason saw that Admiral Anlon was talking to several fleet officers who were sitting in front of his desk.
“Admiral Strong, I’m glad you could join us. We were just making plans to increase the size of our search radius. Commander Krill has suggested we expand the radius to fifty light years.”
“That’s about as far as we can expand it, I’m afraid,” Commander Krill spoke, turning his head toward Jason. “Any larger than that and it will involve too many stars to search. It could take years.”
“That’s not the problem, I’m afraid,” Jason spoke, his eyes focusing on Admiral Anlon. He had not yet told the admiral what General Greene had found out down on Earth. “The New Horizon has been hijacked and is currently on its way core ward toward Hocklyn controlled space.”
All three of the Federation officers looked at Jason, stunned by his announcement. “Hijacked, on its way toward Hocklyn space?” Admiral Anlon stammered, his face turning pale. “How do you know all of this?”
Jason sat down in one of the empty chairs in front of the admiral’s desk and began explaining where he had gotten his information. Admiral Anlon asked several questions, as did the other two fleet officers. Jason tried to answer them as best as he could.
“If I understand you correctly, Admiral, a terrorist group managed to infiltrate the crew of the New Horizon, then hijack it at Tau Ceti and are even now jumping toward Hocklyn controlled space?” asked Commander Krill.
“That’s correct,” Jason replied with a heavy sigh. “It was very well orchestrated, and they managed to sneak their people through all of our security screenings. We only learned recently that several of the screeners have met mysterious deaths over the last few months. There were also some very hefty deposits made into their bank accounts just before they died.”
Anlon leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes in disbelief. This could ruin everything. Then, opening his eyes, he gazed back at Jason. “We have three Federation people on board the New Horizon. What do you think the hijackers have done to the crew?” He didn’t need to add that one of those three Federation people was his daughter.
“They will need the majority of the crew to help operate the ship,” Jason replied. He had already thought about this. “They will need the scientists to help evaluate whatever planet they eventually find to settle on.” Jason then hesitated for a moment, this was the part he didn’t like and knew that Admiral Anlon wouldn’t want to hear. “They will also undoubtedly save all the women crewmembers for breeding purposes when they reach their new world.”
Admiral Anlon let out a sharp breath. He slowly shook his head. If anyone of them touched his daughter, he would make sure they suffered for it. “What can we do? This is a big galaxy to search for one spaceship.”
Jason looked at the other three officers. “We put some failsafes on board the New Horizon in case something went wrong. One of those failsafes is an FTL communicator that is only known to the two Federation officers on board the New Horizon. It’s my hop
e that, at some point in time, they will try to contact us.”
Admiral Anlon nodded. He had forgotten about that. “The only problem is that the FTL communicator only has a range of several hundred light years, once they’re past that point they won’t be able to contact us.”
“That’s why we need to send the WarStorm after them,” Jason said, gazing intently at Admiral Anlon. “We know the general direction they’re heading. If the WarStorm was to follow, there is a chance they might be able to pick up that transmission.”
Admiral Anlon reached out and pressed a com button on his desk. “Get me Admiral Barnes on New Tellus right now. I have a new mission for the WarStorm.” Admiral Anlon was glad that one of their recent technological advances allowed them to communicate almost instantaneously with New Tellus. A series of FTL signal boosting satellites had been placed in a direct line between Ceres and New Tellus.
“We won’t just be sending the WarStorm,” Admiral Anlon commented as he reached an important decision. “We will be sending a fleet!”
-
Colonel Sheen was listening to her new orders with shock. Admiral Barnes had requested her presence on board the shipyard for an emergency meeting. She could scarcely believe what she was hearing.
“How could terrorists hijack the New Horizon?” she asked still trying to fathom how this could possibly have occurred. It sounded like a nightmare.
“We’re not completely sure yet, but Admiral Anlon’s daughter is on board as well as Admiral Strong’s son,” Admiral Barnes replied in a serious and concerned tone. Her eyes took on a grave look. “From what Admiral Strong’s people have been able to find out, the New Horizon is heading toward Hocklyn space.”
“Can they reach it?” asked Amanda, feeling doubtful that a ship built by Earth could make it that far. Particularly since this was their first working starship.
“Possibly,” Admiral Barnes replied. “Since the ship is partially of Federation design and is based on Federation science, it does have the potential to make it to the outskirts of what we believe is Hocklyn controlled space.”
Moon Wreck: Fleet Academy (The Slaver Wars) Page 21