by Drew Avera
"Tara, are you all right?"
Tara winced as she opened her eyes. She answered with a deep coughing attack as the dust in the air aggravated her asthma.
"Where's your inhaler?" Auden asked as she knelt next to her sister and patted down Tara's pockets in search of the lifesaving device.
"Here it is," her mother said as she knelt next to her children and prompted Tara to open her mouth, expelling the air from the device into her throat.
Tara coughed again but maintained her composure as she pulled off her restraints and climbed out of the seat. "Did we crash?"
"Crash?" Auden replied as she dusted off her suit and looked around the space. Emergency lights flashed, but the overhead lighting was still intact suggesting that primary power was still available. It was an indication that the power distribution system was still functioning, but the flight controls were still in question if the landing was too severe.
"Is everyone all right?" Kevin asked as he left the cabin behind. He held a cloth over his left eye, and Auden noted the crimson fluid dying the pale fabric.
"Are you? It looks like you're bleeding?" Auden asked.
"It just looks bad due to the location," he answered.
"I'll get the first aid kit," Sarah said as she grabbed it and opened it before dumping the contents onto the table. "Have a seat and don't fight me on this," she said with a smirk despite the worried expression in her eyes.
Kevin took a seat next to his wife and spoke, "Are you two all right?"
"I'm fine," Auden answered.
"Me too," Tara responded.
"See that? They're both fine. Now let's fix this open cut so we can get out of this mess," Sarah said as she pulled out a pack of alcohol pads and gloves.
"I'm sorry for the hard landing. Gravity here is greater than I anticipated, and I think we entered the atmosphere at the wrong angle," Kevin said as his wife began cleaning his wound. She dabbed alcohol pads over it, and he winced before continuing. "Once the diagnostic is done running, Auden, go look and see if there's any other damage to the drive."
"Yes, father," she replied, fixating on a point in the cabin instead of the blood streaking her father's face. It made her stomach turn and she refused to look as her mother cleaned the wound.
"What do you need me to do?" Tara asked.
"Internal damage inspection of the spacecraft. Ensure that the internal hull wasn't breached. Make sure we are still airtight and that the ship is good to go."
A moment later Tara disappeared into the cargo area, switching on a flashlight before closing the hatch behind her.
Auden took a step forward. "What are you not telling her?" Auden asked.
"Auden," Sarah said, with a hint of warning tinging her voice.
"It's all right, honey," Kevin said. "I'm just distracting her with some busywork to keep her mind occupied. We shouldn't have sustained any structural damage, but the engine might be worse off than before we entered the atmosphere. I just need her to hear some good news before the bad news."
Auden frowned. The whole situation was just to settle her sister's nerves. Her parents always did that, not putting any heavy burdens on Tara just to preserve her feelings. It was hard to maintain resentment though when she felt pressure to do what she was told. "Anything else you need me to do?"
Kevin shook his head, either refusing to speak or too distracted by his stinging wound to respond.
Auden shrugged and went to the cabin. Dust drifted in the air and settled around the console and deck. She brushed it away with her hand and read out the status monitor page. The second and third stage of the drive was now at twenty percent capacity and the fuel page showed a low-level state that she didn't expect. Perhaps there was a leak? "Do we have enough fuel to get off this rock?"
She moved to the nav console and punched in coordinates to a nearby system. The calculations showed that there was barely enough fuel to get them out of the current system, so if there was no way to refuel, then they would have to conserve fuel by avoiding FTL travel. It wasn't ideal, especially with the Consulate on their tail.
Still, if they could evade the Consulate long enough, then they wouldn’t have to use FTL to get to the next system.
"I guess that's the closest thing to good news that we have for the time being," she said under her breath as she collapsed into the pilot's chair. The weight of the past week wore her down and she felt relieved to have a moment to herself, even if it was the bridge of the ship that she’d spent the past several days confined to.
She shook the negativity out of her head and focused on the positive. They crashed on a habitable planet and the ship needed repair. All they had to do was fix it and leave.
It was as simple as that.
Auden scoffed at the thought. “Simple,” she muttered sardonically. "Just as long as it doesn't get worse from here."
Chapter Five
"Captain, it took some time, but I was able to detect the drive signature," Lieutenant Harrison said as he turned in his seat.
Captain Dickson rose and approached the console, crossing his arms over his chest as he peered down at the monitor. The small blip on the screen denoting the Interceptor pinged softly through the speaker mounted above the console. "How far out are they?"
"They dropped out of FTL in the Karnack system, sir. It will take us hours to backtrack, but if they're still there, we’ll find them."
Captain Dickson nodded and placed his hand on the Lieutenant’s shoulder. "Good work," he said. "Set a course for Karnack and notify me when we’re in the system."
"Where will you be, sir?" the lieutenant asked with skepticism in his voice.
Captain Dickson stopped at the door, and turned to face him, "I’ll be in my quarters dispatching a message to Admiral Hardak. He explicitly asked to be kept abreast of any developments. This information is a high priority. Lieutenant, you have the helm."
Lieutenant Harrison climbed out of his seat and popped to attention. "Aye, sir," he said proudly. "I’ll set the course for Karnack now and I’ll notify you when we’re in the system."
Repeating the order was something that grated on Dickson’s nerves, but he knew it was to prevent accidents from those left in charge when the commanding officer was away. Better safe than sorry as many would say, though only employing those competent enough to carry out an order would be more effective. It was unfortunate that no one in the Consulate saw things the same way he saw them.
Dickson nodded quietly and left the bridge. He walked down the narrow passageway of the ship towards his quarters. He contemplated everything he knew about the Karnack system and what it might offer Kevin and his family. There was only one habitable planet in that system, and it was a desert world, a war-torn place with an economy that was in shambles. Decades after an uprising put it in the crosshairs of the Consulate, it had become the Empire's version of a landfill; not just in resources, but in people as well.
He shook his head in derision as he wondered what Kevin must have been thinking by taking his family there.
Dickson opened the door to his quarters and switched on the light. Mounted to the bulkhead was his comm unit and a direct line to Admiral Hardak’s office. The newly appointed Chief of Naval Affairs was shaking things up in the fleet. He saw the intent, but the methodology was disruptive and Captain Dickson wasn't fond of the admiral’s new, hands-on approach towards leadership.
Perhaps it was the changes taking place, but he doubted it. Unkind words swirled in the rumblings of the other fleet captains. He overheard more than once how the admiral made his way through the ranks by stepping over the people who worked for him and taken the glory for himself.
Never mind the fact that Hardak was the epitome of a micromanager.
That’s no way to lead a Navy, Will thought as he switched on the comm unit.
He centered himself in the room, allowing the camera on the comm unit to put him in the shot before starting the record function. He waited for the timer to count down and initiate
d the conversation. "Admiral Hardak, this is Captain Will Dickson of the CPC Destroyer. My nav officer tracked the drive signature of Commander Hoyt’s ship to the Karnack system. We are in route and expect to arrive in a few hours. I will let you know before landing on the planet but considering our fugitives are mainly non-combatants, I do not see a need for backup ships. It is my understanding that the inhabitants of the world are wary of the Consulate Navy's presence and I believe it's best to minimize our impact in the system. I trust that we will have the fugitives in custody within a day."
Captain Dickson ended the message, encrypted it, and sent it to headquarters.
As he sat at his desk, with the weight of the world on his shoulders, he wondered what Kevin must have done to be labeled a traitor. What information would a scout ship pilot come in contact with to be an asset to any of our enemies, he wondered?
Furthermore, how could his actions evade the notice of his superior officers, yet gain the attention of the Chief of Naval Affairs?
Will scratched at his chin, the two-day-old stubble itching at his face. He was unable to shake the feeling that something wasn't right. Something sinister was in the air and he wasn't sure what the admiral or Kevin had to do with it.
Regardless, he knew there had to be a connection there.
He swiveled back to face the monitor and switched to the database to examine the admiral's career history. What he found only posed more questions. Admiral Hardak had been commissioned within six months of Commander Hoyt, and it appeared that they were in the same flight school. Did they know one another back then, Dickson wondered?
It was odd that such a disparity between their ranks could form with only six months differentiating their time in service. Either Hardak was a war hero or Hoyt was the worst naval officer in the history of the Consulate.
Dickson met Hoyt when they were lieutenants. Both men had years of baggage and new lives forged through their mutual service. Kevin always seemed like an upstanding officer, though not one with the slightest interest in taking command. With a family at home, Will never questioned Kevin's motives. It seemed unlikely he would jeopardize his family for personal gain, especially considering how much he sacrificed his career just to be home with them.
"What is the connection?" Will asked out loud, letting the question linger.
"Perhaps that’s a question best asked when I find you, Kevin," he said before switching off the monitor and kicking off his boots. Hoyt didn’t seem the type to betray his oath of duty and Dickson wasn’t about to condemn a man based on hearsay.
Dickson glanced at the clock and noticed that he still had a few hours before they would enter the Karnack system. He thought that he might as well rest up because there was no way he was sending down a team to extract Kevin and his family without being a member of the recovery crew.
It was the least he could do to have a clear conscience when arresting someone he once called a friend.
Unless he was wrong about what kind of man Hoyt was all along.
Chapter Six
"There's nothing wrong with the hull," Tara said as her father and sister walked into the cargo bay. "I crawled through and inspected the inner and outer hull from inside the ship. We’re good to go."
"That's excellent news," Kevin said as he pulled her close and embraced her. "Now, all we have to do is see if we can fix the engine modules and get off this rock."
"Surprisingly, it looks like we can take care of the work with minimal tools," Auden said. She pointed to an image in the repair manual depicting a large access panel to access the drive from underneath the ship. “The modules are accessible from here.”
Kevin reached down and grasped the toolbox, lifting it with a groan before pressing the switch to open the cargo bay door. "Thankfully they designed these ships for this type of situation. I couldn't imagine being stranded on some planet within an antiquated ship and no means to execute repairs," he grumbled.
"Do you think this planet has any compatible drive modules for our ship?" Auden asked as she followed her father off the Interceptor. Tara followed behind them but kept quiet.
Kevin stepped off the ramp and ducked under the aft tail wing before making his way under the ship. He wasn't an overly tall man, but the craft was designed to have a low profile and that was made more evident as he crab-walked under the belly of the ship. "I hope so, otherwise we’re going to have to figure out how to fix the modules instead of simply replacing them. That’s not something I’ve ever done."
He grabbed an electric driver from the toolbox and made short work of the large fasteners holding the belly panel in place. They were grouped close together, with the larger ones fixed in the corners to reinforce the structure of the ship.
Auden offered her hands to collect the fasteners, but soon they were too full, and Kevin still had half the panel left to remove. "Place them in the lid of the toolbox for now," he instructed as he continued unscrewing the rest of them with the electric driver.
Once he removed the last screw, the panel was still held in place by a thick layer of form-in-place sealant. Kevin grabbed a flat bar and gingerly pulled down on the corner of the panel as he eased the bar between the ribbing and the panel to remove it from the belly of the ship.
"I'm glad I don't have to do this on a daily basis because this is such a pain," he groaned as one corner of the panel finally let loose enough for him to take hold of it with his hands. A chemical smell wafted from the area and the bond from the sealant popped as the panel was removed. The smell was inescapable, not a bad scent, but staunchly noticeable.
Kevin lowered the carbon fiber panel to the ground as he peered up at the drive.
"All right, what am I looking at?"
Tara illuminated her flashlight, allowing the beam to shine over the forward section of the drive. "The modules should be towards the front, shouldn't they?"
Auden thumbed through the illustrated pages and found an image of what they were looking at. "Each stage has its own module," she said as she read aloud. "They’re held in place by a series of band clamps. Can I see your flashlight?"
Tara handed her the tool, and Auden shined the beam of light further into the engine bay. "I think that's module two according to the image," she said.
"Let me see the manual," Kevin replied as he lifted it from her lap. He frowned as he tried to discern what he was looking at on the page against what the real engine bay looked like. Whoever drew the schematics and diagrams used just enough detail to resemble the actual item, but the lack of color-coding presented its own issues. "I think you might be right. Tara, hand me an extension to the driver," he said.
She reached into the toolbox, her fingers dancing over various tools until she found something that resembled what he was asking for. "Is this it?"
He glanced down before accepting it. "That's it." Kevin took it from her and installed the extension to the electric driver before focusing his attention on the band clamp near the top of the engine bay. "Any idea how heavy these modules are? I'm not looking forward to one of them falling and smashing me in the face."
Auden shook her head, not that he could see the response. "No clue."
The band clamps loosened with ease and Kevin made short work of the removal process. In less than an hour, he had both stages removed from the drive assembly and inspected the damaged stages. "These are a mangled mess," he said as he pointed out that shrapnel appeared to have bent the blades of the second and third stage modules. "If reverse thrust would've engaged, it would have sheared off everything in these modules and caused catastrophic damage to the rest of the engine. It was a good call pointing that out before we tried landing."
Tara smiled, as he turned to wink at her for noticing the warning in the tech manual.
"Now what?" Auden asked.
Kevin noted the part numbers listed on the two modules before turning his attention to her. "We just need to take this information to the nearest junkyard in the city, and pray that they have a suitable replacemen
t."
"And if they don't?" Auden asked.
Kevin tried to shrug nonchalantly. It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought about that same question as they approached this planet, but the fact they might not be able to repair the ship filled him with dread. He knew the answer, and it was not going to be an easy one to answer if they got to that point. "We’ll figure that out once we get to that point," he said as he tried to change the subject. "In the meantime, gather your things. We're heading into town."
Chapter Seven
The comm unit chimed, drawing Dickson's attention to the wall-mounted screen. He swiveled in his chair, shoving himself out of the padded seat and answered the call. "Captain Dickson. How can I help you?"
"Captain Dickson, Admiral Hardak here," the voice said, without the aid of a video link.
Dickson thought it odd that the video would be blank. Consulate policy was to have two forms of identification when sending data correspondence, but it seemed to Dickson that the admiral felt that he was above his own policy. Then again, who was Dickson to point out the violation to someone that high up the food chain?
"I received your message regarding the traitor, Commander Hoyt, and his trek into the Karnack sector. I'm dispatching my ship to help you in the pursuit of this criminal." He ended the sentence with a snarl, not unlike the one used by many Heshians when they were highly irritable.
"That’s not necessary, sir. As I stated in my previous message, I don't believe he will be difficult to coax into surrendering. My men and I are more than capable of arresting Commander Hoyt and his family."
There was a pause followed by the sound of something hard slamming against the surface. "This is not up for negotiation, Captain. I'm telling you that my ship is being dispatched to the Karnack sector, and I will be among the crew that will take Commander Hoyt into custody. What I need you to do is await orders to land so that both our teams can engage the target simultaneously. You and your crew will continue to orbit around Karnack and ensure that Commander Hoyt does not depart from that planet until my arrival. Do you understand?" A soggy, gurgling sound followed and Dickson could only imagine the admiral’s expression and the terror it would evoke if he had to face him.