by B. V. Larson
Engels continued. “As you see, General, Captain Gray is not under duress. View the attached vid to see I’m telling you the truth. I urge you to think of your people and about not throwing their lives away. Engels out.”
“Recording off,” said Lorton.
Engels stood. “Let’s make a newsvid, shall we? I always wanted to be journalist.”
“Really?” he asked.
“No—but this time it’s important.”
Engels retrieved a suit helmet and put it on, activating its vid and audio recording. She and Gray toured both ships for fifteen minutes, providing commentary on what they saw—repairs being made, wounded being treated, prisoners being held without mistreatment.
“Download this and attach it to our transmission, then send it to Aynor,” Engels said to Lorton, passing him the helmet.
The man had no sooner done so than the sensors board lit up with telltales and gave off the muted meep-meep of a sidespace detection alert. When Lorton fed the new data to the main tactical overlay, Engels couldn’t help herself.
“Holy shit…” Engels said. “We’re screwed.”
Chapter 40
Bayzos System, outskirts opposite Aynor.
“Warships,” Captain Gray said as she examined the two new contacts on Liberator’s main visiplate. “This certainly changes things.”
Engels’ eyes roved over the display. “Lorton, add a timespace curvature overlay to the map.”
“One moment... Added.”
Lines resembling a land surface topographical map appeared, with the central star, the planets and moons appearing as hilltops. The areas away from any mass showed as flat, the places where ships could enter and exit sidespace.
Fortunately, the contacts had arrived much nearer Aynor than Freiheit. For now, the rock was safe.
“Are they yours?” Engels asked.
“They’re Mutuality ships,” Gray said. “One destroyer, one light cruiser. It’s a recon in force, or a raid. Somebody found this place—found the Unmutuals, I mean. We’ve been here for decades, and it had to happen sometime, just by the odds.”
Engels shook her head. “That’s too much coincidence. If we were able to steal a courier and get away when you made off with Freiheit, maybe someone else did too. Or somebody got off a message drone undetected.”
Gray crossed her arms. “Doesn’t really matter. They’re here now and we’re blown. The light we’re seeing is more than an hour old. DeChang will already be evacuating on the fast transports.” She pointed. “There.”
A dozen small contacts rose from the surface of Aynor and curved away from the inbound Mutuality warships, aiming spinward and outward from the planet of Bayzos. “They’re heading for flatspace to transit to our preplanned fallback location,” said Gray.
“Just in time.” Missiles blossomed from the warships and sped toward Aynor. No… Engels realized the missiles were pursuing the freighters. “Shit. They’re toast.”
“Don’t count them out yet,” Gray said. “Our ships are fast, and have add-on defensive laser systems for just this kind of thing. Some will get away. Look how slowly the missiles are overtaking. It’s going to be a race.”
Engels pointed at something else. “Your attack ship squadron has no sidespace capability. They’re dead pilots flying if they don’t surrender to us. Lorton, set up a transmission. Ellen, tell them to head for docking with Freiheit and keep their weapons powered down. If I see any hostile intent, I’ll blow them out of space.”
“Understood.”
“Ready,” Lorton said. “You’re both in field of view.”
“Attack squadron, this is Captain Gray. I’m here with Captain Engels, as you can see. Dmitri, I know you’re lead bird, so listen to me. Two Mutuality warships just jumped in and they’re heading for Aynor. DeChang has already evacuated. Your only chance is to surrender to Straker’s people.”
“The Breakers,” said Engels.
“Straker’s Breakers…? Catchy.” Gray said. “Dmitri, I’m being well treated. These people are our opponents, not our enemies. Everyone’s against you and you have nowhere to go unless you join me in surrendering to Straker’s Breakers. Give up, unless you want to be killed or captured. It’s your choice. I hope you make the right one. If you agree, head for Freiheit, power down all weapons, and wait for further orders. Remember, that rock and its sidespace engines are your only ticket out of here.”
Engels chewed her lip. “Straker’s gonna be seriously pissed. I wish we could contact him, but he’s…” she suddenly realized she was about to reveal secrets. “He’s EMCON.”
“Why?”
“Part of the secret weapon.”
“No, I mean, why will he be angry?”
“Because now we have to take a bunch of Unmutuals with us and you’ll know about our secret base and secret technology. I’m not sure Straker will let you leave.”
“Better than dying or being captured by the Mutuality,” said Gray. “Truth to tell, while I’m not going to betray DeChang, I’m not in love with the guy.” She lifted her eyebrow. “Not the way you are with Straker.”
Engels blushed. “You can tell?”
“You have that sparkle in your eye when you talk about him. Or sometimes that frustrated frown that means you care too much what he thinks. More than if he were merely your commander, I mean.”
Engels smiled. “Guilty as charged. But that’s not blinding me to his faults. I’ve known him for thirteen years.”
“And I’ve known DeChang for more than twenty. I don’t think I’ve misjudged him that badly.”
“What about Ramirez?”
“Less than five. She was captured in a raid on a Mutuality re-education camp.”
“So she could have been a hardcore criminal, not merely a political prisoner.”
Gray shrugged. “I never liked her, but she wasn’t my business.”
“Maybe she should have been.”
“Yeah, rub it in.”
Engels shrugged. “Sometimes the truth hurts.” She looked at the tactical display again. “Patch me through to Zaxby or Murdock.”
A moment later, the comlink activated, audio only. “Lieutenant Zaxby here. Is this important? I’m exceedingly busy at the moment.”
“This is Engels,” Carla said, fighting to keep a surge of irritation out of her voice. “How’re the repairs coming?”
“Better than I expected, Carla,” he said. “We should have the sidespace engines functional within a day. Mister Murdock is not completely incompetent, and my team of technicians has doubled the rate of improvement. We are not limited to two hands or two eyes, after all, and so can do the work of multiple humans.”
“Even with one brain?” she asked.
“We have large brains,” he assured her.
“And egos to match,” she added.
“Which seems appropriate, doesn’t it?” he asked. “How is my ship?”
“Your ship?”
“The Revenge. Has Captain Straker managed to avoid irreparably damaging it?”
“I thought you could repair anything.”
“Some things are beyond even my vast capabilities.”
“Such as humility?” she asked.
“Humility is of value to humans, not Ruxins. To return to the question: is Revenge undamaged?”
“I believe so. At least, he used it to good effect and took down the Carson. Zaxby… Captain Gray is here with me.”
“Hello, Captain Gray,” Zaxby said. “I do hope your captivity is not too stressful. Perhaps someday soon we may play chess again.”
“Maybe so.”
“I’m sorry, but I have little time for pleasantries and must return to my technical duties. Zaxby out.” Zaxby seemed to be humming before he cut off the comlink.
“You and Zaxby play chess?” asked Engels.
“He’s the only one around who can beat me,” Gray said. “Perhaps you’d like to play sometime?”
“Yes, in my copious free time.”
Gray shrugged. “It’s good for sidespace trips.” She glanced sidelong at Engels. “So Straker is captaining a Ruxin ship?”
“Nobody said that.”
“But it’s true, isn’t it?”
Engels shrugged.
Gray snapped her fingers. “It’s an Archer, isn’t it? That’s explains everything. I’ve read about them—but they’re obsolete. Old stuff.”
Engels glared helplessly at Gray. “Ellen, you can’t tell anyone. Not yet, in case people get captured, or are moles for the Mutuality. And it’s only obsolete if our enemies are on guard against it. We may not be able to use it against Fleet units, but ships like this one haven’t been seen in eighty years.” She gestured at the visiplate. “Our only chance of getting Freiheit out of here now is if Straker can destroy or drive off those ships.”
Gray rubbed her face with the palms of her hands. “I sure wish they’d shown up a few hours earlier. I’d have an intact ship, and we could be working together.”
“Can we work together now?”
Gray eyed Engels. “Yes. I’ll place myself under your command or I’ll revert to the status of prisoner of war.”
“No reservations?”
“No,” Gray said.
“What about your crew?” Engels asked.
“They’ll follow me.”
Engels held out her hand. “Deal. Lorton, get Chief Gurung in here.”
A moment later the Gurkha rushed in. “Yes, Captain?”
“How are the repairs coming on Carson?”
“Prime power is restored. The engines are undamaged. Life support is adequate. The forward spaces are radioactive, but crew can wear suits until that declines. There are a lot of minor problems, but she came through surprisingly well.”
“Captain Gray has given her parole. She and her people are to be treated as allies under my command until I say different or they do something out of line. You may now assist in repairs to all systems, including weapons, just like Carson was one of our ships.” Engels added bleakly, “Soon, we might need everything we have.”
“Oh?” Gurung turned to the main display and grinned. “I see we have company.”
“Mutuality fleet units. They’ll be on us within twenty hours unless Captain Straker makes them change their minds.”
“Excellent.” Gurung saluted and left.
“Is he always so happy to be attacked?” asked Gray.
“Good cheer seems to be his response to everything.”
Lorton said, “Incoming transmission from the attack ship squadron.”
“Put it up.”
A round-faced man with stubble on his chin appeared on the screen. The cockpit of a one-pilot attack ship was visible around him. He seemed quite unhappy. “Major Polzin here. Captain Engels, on Captain Gray’s advice, and with General DeChang’s permission, given the arrival of the Mutuality squadron, I will surrender to you. We have altered course and are on route to match vectors with Freiheit. Our weapons are powered down. See you soon. Polzin out.”
Engels nodded. “Transmit this. Thank you, Major Polzin. The situation has changed yet again. Captain Gray?” She gestured.
Gray spoke. “Dmitri, with the Mutuality warships here, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. We’re all allies now. Captains Engels and Straker are in charge and I report to them. You report to me. We may have to fight to get out of this system, so be ready. There should be time to catch a shower and some rack time once you arrive at Freiheit, as we estimate nineteen or twenty hours until the enemy comes within range. I’ll be waiting for you when you get here. Brief your people clearly: we’re now all on the same side, and Straker’s Breakers are in charge. Any trouble and heads will roll. Gray out.”
Engels nodded. “Thanks, Ellen.”
“Nothing like a common enemy to make everyone sing kumbaya.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“It’s a song. Like kids around a campfire. Don’t worry about it. You were raised in the Hundred Worlds. Apparently they retained only enough Old Earth culture to keep their fools quiet.”
Engels stared at Gray in mild astonishment. “I wouldn’t have thought you bought into all that negative Mutuality crap about the Hundred Worlds.”
“Oh, no doubt your people are better off than those in the Mutuality, but if you think the wage slaves of the Hundred Worlds are truly free, you need to expand your education. Every empire has users at the top, crushing those beneath them.” Gray cocked her head at Engels. “Otherwise, why aren’t you in sidespace right now, on course for home?”
“Straker thinks he can do more good here, and I don’t disagree. As long as we’re damaging the Hundred Worlds’ enemies, we consider ourselves on detached duty.”
“But you’re harming us, not the Mutuality, by taking Freiheit.”
“That’s all about Ramirez and the people of Freiheit. Besides, if we hadn’t shown up, you’d have lost Freiheit anyway, now that the Mutuality knows where you are.”
Gray sighed. “Everyone’s just trying to do the right thing here.”
“Yeah, me too,” agreed Engels. She chewed her lip and watched the slowly changing tactical situation. “Okay, next order of business: record a transmission for Straker.”
“Ready.”
“Derek, SITREP,” she began. “Two Mutuality warships just transited in near Aynor. DeChang has evacuated. Carson survived the float mine with some capability. Captain Gray has surrendered to me and, in light of the situation, has chosen to ally with us under my command. We’re repairing Carson as fast as we can. The Unmutual attack squadron is also joining us. Zaxby says repairs to Freiheit are proceeding apace and they should have sidespace capability again within a day. I’m including an encrypted databurst update with this transmission. You should be able to load that, and confirm everything using passive sensors. I presume you’ll head for the enemy ships. I suggest you go first to Bayzos and use its moons and surrounding debris to hide in and update your sensor readings, then try to take out the light cruiser first. If you can do that, we may be able to beat the destroyer with the forces we have, even if you can’t. Engels out.”
“Buffered,” Lorton said.
“Attach a tactical data log of the last six hours and aim the transmission in a cone toward where he expects to intercept the attack squadron. Set it on endless repeat.”
“Aye aye, ma’am.” Lorton worked his board.
“What’s that?” asked Gray, pointing at a tiny icon.
“Shuttle,” said Engels. “I let it escape from Freiheit, as I couldn’t really stop it without destroying it. Ramirez might be aboard. The woman I talked with sounded like her, but claimed to be someone named Nassimi and said she has civilians with her, which to me was just a veiled way of saying ‘hostages.’ So I let them go.”
“I don’t know any Nassimi. Should we warn them what’s going on? A shuttle’s sensors won’t tell them much.”
Engels thought about it for a moment. “No. They’re headed for Aynor but it will take them days. None of our ships are nearby and I don’t want to divert anyone. Best case, we drive off the Mutuality ships and can decide what to do then. Most likely outcome, we get away and they get captured by the Mutuality. At least they’ll be alive.”
Gray nodded. “I agree. We can’t save everyone. It’ll be remarkable if we don’t all end up back in labor camps.” She stood. “Now that we’re allies, I need to get to work.”
“Good idea,” Engels replied, “You go help get Carson shipshape. I’ll stand watch here and bite my nails. With Straker out of comlink…”
“It’s lonely at the top.” Gray saluted with an ironic flip. “Permission to carry on?”
“Carry on, Captain Gray.”
* * *
Straker wiped his hands uselessly on his suit. Everything on the Revenge’s bridge felt like one big sweat locker and smelled like seaweed rotting on a beach. The warmer water from the vents fought the chill from underspace, resulting in fogs, mists, and ice in the upper cor
ners of the room.
Inside his suit, his heater was losing its own battle, making his skin hot and sweaty while his bones seemed to chill. An intermittent lethargy stole over him, and he wished he had stims. Next time he would bring some.
Fortunately, the trip beneath normal space was finally ending. He watched the ship’s predicted location, and her intended point of emergence, overlap.
“Emerge,” Straker ordered.
“Emerging.”
Straker immediately felt warmer, and shut off his suit heater.
The point of emergence was off the attack squadron’s axis of travel and ten minutes ahead, a place outside of the little ships’ sensor range and arc. Their best detectors were LIDAR, based on a scanning laser focused ahead, for targeting and collision avoidance.
“Where are they?” he asked, not seeing a confirming icon. “Did they deviate?”
“I have readings,” said the Ruxin at sensors. “Updating plot.”
A new icon flashed, showing the attack squadron had turned and accelerated, and was now out of easy intercept range. “Dammit! We’ll have to chase them hard.”
“Incoming transmission from Liberator,” said the communications officer.
“Comlink it,” Straker replied.
“This is not realtime, sir. We are more than twenty light-minutes from Liberator.”
“Of course. Play it.”
“There is data attached…”
“Well, process it then!” Straker ordered.
“Aye aye, sir.”
Engels’ recorded vid played. By the time he’d listened to it, the tactical data came up so he could see clearly what she was talking about. As a ground-pounder, he didn’t yet have an instinctive mind for space warfare.
“All right, let the attack squadron go. Sensors, update this data with as much realtime passive data as you can, especially about these two Mutuality warships.”