Sal stared after Jess and Ali, a hollow feeling in her chest. For a moment everything had been good. Realising they were really going to cross the Quarantine Zone, and just how crazy an idea that was, had given everyone a buzz. Then Jess and Ali had ruined it.
They could have stayed. They could have kept the feeling going for longer. But no, they hadn’t. Instead, they had rushed off. No doubt to discuss how little they trusted her and Roberto, to make plans to get rid of them as soon as possible. A spike of fear shot through Sal. Could they be planning to dump her and Roberto as they crossed the Quarantine Zone? To throw them to the Empire? A few days before she would have sworn Jess would never do something like that to anyone, let alone her. Now she wasn’t so sure.
Could she and Roberto do anything if that was Jess’s plan? It seemed unlikely. He had complete control of the Wanderer, while she and Roberto didn’t even have a weapon. If Jess decided to turn on them they’d be helpless.
She needed to discuss it with Roberto, but she couldn’t. Certainly not with Teeko standing nearby, and probably not anywhere. She was starting to believe Jess was tracking everything she and Roberto did, listening to every conversation they had. What if she whispered her fears to Roberto and Jess heard? She might be giving him an idea that hadn’t occurred to him.
Sal slumped back onto the sofa, wrapping her arms tightly around her body. Dash leaned in, placing a hand on her arm and asking her what was wrong. She simply shook her head then dropped it to her chest, fighting to keep her tears on the inside.
How could things have gone so wrong? She’d felt so happy when she, Jess and Matt had first escaped in the Wanderer. She’d sworn she would never again be subject to the power of other people, forced to wait helplessly while they determined her fate. And yet here she was in exactly that situation.
What made it worse, made it intolerable, was the fact that Jess was the one with that power over her now. Jess, who shared her background, who knew the horror of living as a slave. Despite her best efforts the tears broke free, flooding down her cheeks.
* * *
Dash tried to comfort the sobbing Sal, while struggling to work out what had upset her so badly. Just a couple of minutes before she’d seemed fine. Everyone had been caught up in the buzz of what they planned to do. Even Jess’s hostility towards Dash had vanished.
Dash hadn’t been surprised when Jess and Ali disappeared into the flight deck. He’d suffered from pre-mission horniness himself more than enough times. In fact, he was feeling it now. A part of him had hoped Sal had the same feelings.
She didn’t. As soon as Jess and Ali left her body language changed. She withdrew, hugging herself. When Dash had asked what was wrong she shook her head, refusing to speak. Sobs started to wrack her body soon after.
Dash continued trying to comfort Sal. Was she scared of the coming conflict he asked. She shook her head, but wouldn’t tell him what was wrong. He sat, arms wrapped around Sal, with pain piercing his heart. He wanted to help, to take away whatever fear or pain was eating at her, but she wouldn’t let him in.
Part III
The Quarantine Zone
Chapter 26
Adrenaline threatened to flood Jess’s system. He had to use his implants to keep it under control. They were close to the Quarantine Zone now. Very close. They could hit the first tar pit at any time.
Jess sat in the pilot’s chair, with Dash and Ali in the seats behind. Sal sat behind them. All four were tightly strapped in. Teeko was wedged into his empty bath holding onto Ben.
“I just thought of something,” Jess said. “When we hit the tar pit should we just drop out, as a normal ship would, or should I keep the Wanderer in jump space as long as I can? That would shorten the distance we have to cover in real space, but would it make them suspicious of us?”
“Good question,” Dash replied. He thought for a moment before replying. “Go as far as you can, but act normal once you do drop out of jump space. That should make them think any problem is with their tar pit.”
Jess nodded. “All right! Ali, how about those troopers? What are they up to?”
“Not a lot,” she replied. “They’re still exploring, but they do it so slowly it’s easy to keep turning the rooms ahead of them into a maze.”
“Good. Do you think we should warn them to strap in?”
She chuckled. “Maybe. I doubt they would listen.”
“Well, that’s their…”
Jess stopped speaking as his mind was snapped into maximum speed. Jump space around the Wanderer suddenly felt sticky and heavy. The Wanderer was fighting hard to stay there. To Jess it felt like the ship was clinging to one crumbling handhold after another.
He managed to keep the Wanderer in jump space for nearly ten extra seconds. While a short period of time, it made a significant difference to the distance they had to cover in real space. Jess estimated it had taken them through more than twenty percent of the tar pit’s influence.
They crashed back into real space. Fighting dizziness, Jess forced himself to check space around the ship. What he saw just didn’t make sense.
“What the hell…?” he muttered.
As expected, the Empire’s forces were grouped together in a massively powerful formation. Dash’s estimations had been wrong, or out of date at least. The Wanderer had tagged three battleships, not just one, and seven battlecruisers. All the smaller classes had far more ships than Dash had suggested, too. The fleet dwarfed even the huge forces he had warned them of. Had he mislead them?
It wasn’t the size of the fleet which had Jess stunned, though, it was the fleet’s positioning. The entire fleet was formed up behind the Wanderer. The short additional period in jump space had been enough to carry the Wanderer well past the blockade.
“That’s… bloody crazy,” Dash muttered.
“What are they doing?” Jess demanded.
“How are they doing it would be a better question,” Dash replied. “The source of the tar pit should still be well in front of us, but I can’t see any ships out there.”
Jess studied space around them using the Wanderer’s sensors.
“It’s behind us,” he said. “With that fleet.”
“But that’s not possible,” Dash argued. “The tar pit should have forced us out into real space long before we reached the fleet.”
“Normally, yeah. They’ve done something to the tar pit. It’s… hard to describe. They seem to have distorted it so the generating ship is at the very edge, not in the centre.”
“Show me.”
Jess pulled up a display to show what he meant.
“Son of a bitch! I’ve never seen them pull that trick before.”
“But why are they doing it?” Ali asked. “Their positioning means any enemy ships would arrive right on top of the fleet.”
“Not if they were coming the other way,” Dash pointed out. “Then they’d have twice as far to cover. That’s why the formation is like that. They’re the last line of defence. Anything getting past them would be through the Quarantine Zone.”
“If they do the same at the other end, bunch at the end away from the Quarantine Zone, then we’re in trouble,” Jess said.
“It’s possible. Likely even. We’ll just have to deal with it… when we get there.”
The gap was barely perceptible, but Jess noticed it. What was it Dash nearly said? Was he going to say if rather than when? Or something else?
“So what do we do?” Ali asked. “Stick with the plan and run for it?”
“Damn right,” Dash replied. “As fast as we can.”
“Already on it,” Jess said. “We were moving about as fast as they’d expect from a ship this size. Now we’re blasting up to full speed. There shouldn’t be much in the fleet that can catch up with us, and whatever there is should be easy to deal with.”
“With luck we won’t have to fight,” Dash said.
They fell silent. Dash and Sal studying the displays to see how the Imperial fleet would react, Jess and Ali using t
heir implants to do the same. A minute passed in silence. Then two. Finally, Jess broke the silence.
“What the hell are they doing? They haven’t moved. They haven’t launched any fighters. They haven’t even tried to contact us.”
“I have absolutely no idea,” Dash admitted, a frown on his face. “This just doesn’t make any sense. They’re acting as if we aren’t here.”
“Or we don’t matter,” Sal said darkly. “Maybe they’re waiting for something worse.”
Jess felt a chill settle in his stomach at her words. Just what could the fleet be waiting for? And what could have the final layer of the Quarantine Zone so worked up?
“Well, if it is then we’ll find out soon enough,” Dash said. “I think it’s unlikely, though. They probably have orders to allow any ship which gets past them to travel further in. This layer ensures any ships can’t retreat with details of the blockade and the next layer will deal with any ships that press on. They’ll get a shock when they try that with us.”
Despite Dash’s words a worried silence soon fell across them all. Jess spent more and more time scanning space ahead of them for any signs of danger or ships exiting jump space.
The minutes slipped by without any response from the fleet and no other dangers presented themselves. Jess almost wished they would. The thought of a good clean fight with an enemy they could see seemed a much better option than all the waiting.
An alert drew Jess’s attention to a region of jump space. He had the ship’s weapons aimed and ready to fire almost immediately. It took him slightly longer to realise there wasn’t a threat. The ship was telling him there was a small area of jump space that was stable. Not enough for the Wanderer to break free of the tar pit yet, but a good indicator that they were nearly clear of its effect. And still there had been no response from the fleet behind them.
The Wanderer flagged several more clear patches of jump space over the next few minutes. Finally it detected a much larger area. Without hesitating, Jess used that to throw the Wanderer into jump space. The first handful of seconds were painfully rough as the Wanderer constantly scrabbled to avoid being dumped back out. Then things smoothed out and they were flying cleanly.
Jess slumped back in his chair, pushing sweat soaked hair away from his eyes. After all the excitement, all the worry, getting away from the fleet felt like an anti-climax.
“We made it,” he said.
Dash laughed. “Don’t sound so down about it. Trust me, things won’t stay that easy.”
“How long to the next layer?”
“The time between layers varied. Somewhere between half an hour and a few hours I seem to remember.”
“Then we can relax for… shit!”
Jess wrestled with the Wanderer as it fought to remain in jump space. Another tar pit? Already?
This time the Wanderer returned to real space far sooner. Jess simply hadn’t been prepared for hitting another tar pit so soon. He managed to hold on for just three seconds, and every moment was a desperate struggle.
The crash back to real space was even harder this time. Jess immediately detected ships far closer to the Wanderer than he’d like. He started the Wanderer on a tumbling series of evasions even as he took in the situation around them. Once again all the Imperial forces were drawn up at the edge of the area affected by the tar pit, and once again it was the edge from which the Wanderer had approached. The Wanderer had passed them in jump space, but only just this time. It was still in weapons range of many of the larger ships, and the fighters would have a chance to swarm her.
With his mind accelerated by his implants the next few seconds seemed like long minutes to Jess. He wanted to get as far as possible before the Imperial ships reacted, but he didn’t dare risk flying too straight a course. Dash had been right about the battleships. Up close they were far scarier even than the battlecruiser. Jess was sure they could easily swat the Wanderer out of existence with a single lucky shot.
Jess planned for being attacked within a second or two. He thought they might get seven or eight seconds if the Imperial forces were slow to react, surprised by the Wanderer emerging beyond their fleet rather than within it. He hoped to get fifteen seconds before the defenders opened fire, enough time to begin moving beyond reach of some of the more distant ships, but it seemed unlikely.
The first few seconds dragged past without a reaction. Nothing fired, nothing moved. Several more seconds dragged past without a reaction. Jess felt more and more tense with every passing second. Each was an agonising wait for him, but he didn’t dare let his thoughts slow down. When the attack came the difference between life and death might be measured in hundredths or thousandths of a second.
At twelve seconds he couldn’t believe they hadn’t been shot at yet. He knew the devastating response from the Imperial fleet must be due at any moment. At thirteen seconds he started to consider the possibility they’d reach fifteen seconds before being attacked. At fourteen he began to think that just maybe they would.
At fifteen seconds the ships able to target the Wanderer started to reduce. Far too many still could, but fewer than before and the number was dropping all the time. Jess started to look ahead. If none of the larger ships moved then forty-three seconds should see the Wanderer clear of all their weaponry. Even if they got moving it would only add another couple of seconds until the Wanderer got clear, though those seconds could easily be the difference between life and death.
Twenty seconds. Still no ship had moved and none had opened fire.
“This doesn’t make sense,” Dash said.
To Jess the words seemed to take minutes, not seconds, but still there was no reaction from the immense fleet.
“Nothing. No movement. No firing. Why not?” Jess played his words through the Wanderer. He didn’t want the distraction of trying to speak at a speed the others could understand.
Jess, I’m scared!
Even the message from Ali seemed to come in slowly, over many seconds. Ali’s implants allowed her to think more quickly than normal, but they were no match for Jess’s. The churn of emotions she was feeling came through, too. Fear, worry, confusion. Even a touch of anger. A desire for something, anything to break the tension. An echo of all the emotions Jess was feeling.
I don’t understand what’s happening, he sent back. I’m keeping the Wanderer pulling evasive manoeuvres and I’m ramped up as fast as I can go. If we get clear without them opening fire then we can work out why. For the moment I just want to get clear.
Is there anything I can do to help?
Actually, yes. Check on the Imperial troopers. If they somehow work out that we’re distracted they might try something.
All right.
Jess relaxed slightly. He hadn’t realised he was worrying about the troopers until he spoke with Ali. He still couldn’t believe the fleet was taking no action. It was feeling more and more like a trap. Yet the Wanderer was edging closer and closer to safety. It had been nearly thirty seconds since the Wanderer broke into normal space close to the fleet. Unless it started to move, the Wanderer would be clear in another thirteen seconds. Even now a significant portion of the fleet was too far distant to be a danger, and the Wanderer was outdistancing the weapons on more of the fleet with every heartbeat.
Jess realised the danger of that thinking. The battleships would have the longest range, and so would remain a danger for almost all of those thirteen seconds. A single volley from just one of the battleships would be enough to destroy the Wanderer. They weren’t safe until they were completely clear.
Even then, would they really be safe? There could be stealth fighters out there, closing in and waiting for the Wanderer’s evasive manoeuvres to finish. Jess knew first hand just how much of a punch those ships packed.
And maybe the real threat was something else. Something he hadn’t encountered before. Or something like the mass of tiny objects that had been scattered near Daspal — one of the Empire’s weapons development systems. Jess hadn’t dared
take the Wanderer out through that field so he still had no idea what it was or how much damage it could do to the Wanderer. He scoured space ahead, trying to spot any hint of danger. Finding nothing just put him more on edge, convinced him he was missing something deadly.
You don’t need to worry about the troopers, Ali sent. They have their hands full just trying to survive your flying.
Jess could sense her amusement through the link. She sent a burst of video showing the troopers flying around on short lengths of cables they had managed to attach to the floor. She was right, there was nothing to worry about there.
Thirty seconds. Still no reaction. Still no sign of a trap closing. Thirty-two… thirty-four… thirty-six… thirty-eight. Jess started to be convinced that whatever was going to happen wouldn’t involve the fleet. Even the battleships would struggle to score a clean hit at this range, with the Wanderer making such aggressive course changes. Forty seconds. Forty-one. Forty-two. Forty-three.
Forty-four. They should be safe from the fleet. Jess didn’t let up on the manoeuvres. The others remained quiet, staring at the displays in puzzlement. The seconds kept ticking away for Dash and Sal, while for Jess they crawled past slowly. When they reached a minute he eased back on the manoeuvres, allowing the Wanderer to pull away from the fleet more quickly.
Jess allowed his mind to slow towards a more normal speed as he slumped in the pilot’s seat fighting fatigue. Fighting would have been less tiring than the constant waiting.
“I don’t understand,” he said. “Why didn’t they attack?”
“I don’t know,” Dash said. “But it’s damn odd. I can understand the first layer’s ships not chasing us, but we were well within range of a large chunk of this fleet and they just sat there.”
“Could they be damaged?” Sal asked. “Or disabled?”
“I don’t think so,” Jess said. “They were reading as being fully operational. There was comm traffic between them, too, though the Wanderer couldn’t break the encryption.”
Wanderer's Odyssey - Books 1 to 3: The Epic Space Opera Series Begins Page 67
