Flux Runners

by William Joseph Roberts

  “I've got it,” a male voice confirmed.

  “Captain Rackham,” Captain Wills continued. “What is it... that will happen should we deviate from the prescribed flight path? Is there some... sort of debris or some other hazard that does not show up on the charts? We have nothing showing on our sensors.”

  “Honestly Captain Wills, we aren't completely sure ourselves,” Doug answered. “We still have a lot of testing to carry out on this ship's systems. You'll have a better understanding very shortly. If you'd like a front-row seat with clear skies, please have your helmsman take up the point position when you lay in your course.”

  “Copy that, Captain Rackham. We'd be honored to take point... and continue on course. Glorious mouse... out,” Captain Wills proudly stated.

  “We'll be at the flux point in a few minutes, Cap,” Rachel said. “The Glorious Mouse is moving into position at the head of the convoy.”

  “Hail the other three ships and give them the rundown.”

  “You don't want to talk with them,” Wes asked.

  “No. I’m not too worried about the other ships and crew,” Doug said. “We'll need to keep a good eye on Max's people, though. They are here for more than to just work. If anything happens to them, it wouldn't be good.”

  “Copy that, Cap. Transmitting instructions,” Rachel said.

  “It's entirely too quiet on this ship. She just doesn't sound the same as the Betty.”

  “Right? I know what you mean,” Wes agreed. “I have full access to my database. Want me to turn on some music?”

  “Yeah.” Doug sighed as he stretched and relaxed into his chair. “That's what's missing. We need some tunes.”

  “Ah. Here's a classic.”

  The unmistakable guitar rift of Jimi Hendrix's’, All along the watchtower blared through the ships internal speaker systems.

  “That's much better,” Doug shouted, “but can you turn it down to a level that doesn't paralyze my brain's ability to think?”

  “Sure,” Wes said as he turned down the volume.

  “Coming up on the flux coordinates,” Rachel shouted

  “Alright.” Doug drew in a nervous breath. “Fingers crossed that Ethel's ass isn't too damn big for this. Initiate the flux drive.”

  “Gyro core engaged, spin detected on all axes,” Wes reported.

  A low, cyclic hum resonated throughout the ship's bulkheads.

  Rachel hummed along with the tone and swayed in her seat. “Veronica is singing her siren song before plunging us through the looking glass.”

  “Looking good, Cap,” Wes said. “Steady-state achieved, and the flux field is forming.”

  Rachel cycled through a series of screens, then adjusted a 3-D representation of the ships on the main viewscreen to show an overhead view. “There you are, you little thing. Time for you to grow up big and strong.” She pinched her fingers together over the display and moved her fingers outward. A glowing amber mesh that surrounded the ships on the display grew larger beneath her fingertips. She spread her fingers as if to zoom and changed the shape of the flux field, expanding it to encompass the entire convoy. Rachel grunted in a surprised, but frustrated tone.

  “What is it?” Doug asked.

  “Well, I've got everyone in the field, but I think I just found the limit,” Rachel said. “It won't let me make it any larger and it’s showing an instability region around the designated field area.

  “Instability warning?” Wes curiously said.

  “Just this weird instability in the field,” Rachel said. “I don't know how to describe it otherwise,” Rachel admitted. “It just looks all wibbly-wobbly.”

  “Maybe that's where you don't want to be if you're at the system limit,” Wes said. “Maybe it'll tear apart anything in that region?”

  “Just keep an eye on it,” Doug ordered. “Make sure the system recorders are on so we can go back and review the data later.”

  “Got it, Cap. Recorders on, ready or not, here we go,” Rachel happily said.

  The viewscreen switched to show the nose of the foundry ship, the Ethel. Just above and a few hundred meters ahead of the Ethel's bow cruised a tiny transport, the Glorious Mouse. Amid the black nothing of space, the small ship vanished as if it had been suddenly devoured by an invisible space beast.

  “Into the breach once again,” Doug muttered under his breath.

  Wes squee'd. “I don’t think that I'll ever get tired of watching this.”

  The nose of the Ethel began to vanish as it passed through the flux point. The veil of the looking glass sluiced by in a fractional moment as they crossed over to the other side. A ball of plasma fire and debris hung just above the bow of the Ethel where the Glorious Mouse should have been. The massive underbelly of a red alien mining vessel raced upspin from their position in the direct path of emergence from the flux portal. The flaming debris of the Glorious Mouse tumbled and scattered in an upspin direction with the flight path of the Red.

  “The cat cruise liner is back!” Wes shouted. “They are engaged with three of the red mining vessels.”

  Cannon turrets flashed from the two closest red vessels. Chunks of the cruise liner exploded; sections of the ship’s hull vaporized instantaneously with impact. The third red vessel continued its upspin maneuver while it fired two volleys of missiles.

  “There's a power surge coming from the cat cruiser,” Wes announced.

  “Is there reactor going critical? Looks like they are taking a pounding out there.”

  “No, it looks like they are going to jump,” Wes reported.

  The image of the cruise liner abruptly blurred across the view screen through to the opposite side of one of the Reds. The alien starship split in two, the nose and tail sections drifted uncontrollably apart in opposite directions. The cruise liner reappeared from behind the Red, its nose a mangled disaster of twisted metal. The ship’s spine looked disjointed and broken as if the space frame had attempted to accordion itself. She listed lifelessly. Gouts of flame erupted from the otherwise, lifeless ship.

  Doug keyed the comms. “Willy! Cut the cables and set the Ethel adrift. Get high and turn the rumblers on the Red that grazed our nose. We'll take care of the other one. Days of Ore, Aurora Tetra, and Pollux, just get clear of this. You're too small to do any good. If you want to do anything, latch onto the Ethel and tow her out of the action.”

  “You got it, Cap,” Willy said over the comms.

  “Punch it, Cheezy,” Doug ordered. “Get us over to that other one as quick as you can. Wes, fire up everything we have.”

  “Oh, hell yes!” Wes eagerly tapped away at the console. “Aye aye captain! Point defenses and defensive countermeasures, online. Gauss capacitors charging. Holy shit Cap. Did you know that we have twelve twin rail turrets and a shit ton of missiles on this thing?”

  “What else would you expect from a heavy frigate,” Doug said.

  “Goddammit,” Trae shouted over the comms. “Andy, give me a Toro!”

  “What in the hell makes you think that this ship can handle a Toro,” Andy argued.

  “Oh hell, I see what you're thinking,” Willy added. “The Betty can handle the strain. Just do it!”

  “Is Willy right, Rachel?” Doug asked. “Can the Betty hold up to a Toro at that speed?”

  “Maybe,” Rachel said in a questioning tone.

  “All weapons online, Capacitors charged,” Trae reported.

  “This is insane,” Andy said. “In a shuttle or a fighter maybe, but in this hulk? No way, it's suicide to pull that maneuver.”

  “Just fucking do it!” Willy ordered. The sound of something snapping under a heavy fist crossed the distance of the transmission.

  “Fine,” Andy said. “What the fuck ever. It's not going to be my fault if we all die because the ship breaks apart.”

  “Here's a funny concept,” Doug added to the transmission. “Don't break my ship.”

  They watched on the viewscreen as the nose of the Betty pulled up hard, the main eng
ines fired at full power, causing the ship to tailslide as it accelerated upspin in chase of the Red vessel.

  “A ship that big should not be able to move like that,” Wes said with awe.

  “Are you kidding? The Betty can take it,” Rachel said proudly. “That only looked like ten G's or so at the tail of the ship.”

  The Betty's nose pointed at the remaining red vessel just as the landing thrusters fired, propelling the Betty into an orbiting maneuver around the massive alien vessel. Thrusters fired adjusting the ships angle of attack, keeping her nose pointed at the red vessel.

  “Oh my God we're going to die,” Andy cried.

  “Really,” Trae said, exasperated. “Just shut the hell up and hold her steady, man. We may not get another shot like this. Molecular density is approximated. I have a target lock,” Trae announced. “Fingers crossed boys and girls.”

  The Betty’s massive forward-mounted maser cannons rumbled to life, instantaneously burning a gash around the circumference of the Red ship as the Betty orbited it.

  Doug pounded his fist on the arm of the captain's chair. “Come on Cheezy! Get us into the fight!”

  “I'm giving her all she's got, Cap,” Rachel giggled.

  The Veronica bobbed and weaved as they entered into firing range of the remaining alien ship.

  “Stay on the move, Cheezy. We're a lot smaller than that cruise liner was. That should make us more difficult to hit.”

  The Veronica sickeningly lurched nose down and left as something smashed into the hull.

  “Get us in close,” Doug shouted, “Don't let them have a chance to lock onto us.”

  Rachael maneuvered the Veronica high and toward the aft of the Red. She side slid the ship with a falling back roll and slipped into a close, parallel course with the alien vessel, racing along its hull. She rolled the ship to the left, presenting the best target to the starboard cannons.

  “Fire at Will,” Doug ordered.

  Wes giddily laughed, “Yo ho ho!” He tapped the controls of his console and pressed a big red button marked fire on the display. “Booyah!” Three of the ships twin 502mm rail turrets fired into the dull red belly of the alien ship. The port bank of dorsal cannons fired as Cheezy rolled the ship to deliver the second broadside.

  “Cap,” Willy yelled over the comms. “We took a missile up the tailpipe and the reactor casing is cracked. She's venting plasma. Had to shut her down before we lost containment. We're dead in the water and we still haven't taken this one out yet. I think we did manage to piss it off. They are lining us up to get us into their ore processor.”

  Umbilicals suddenly shot outward all around the Veronica.

  “Shit,” Rachel shouted as she pushed forward on the control yoke and kicked the rudder pedals hard to the left in a sudden attempt to avoid the mass of tentacles. The ship jerked and all forward momentum ceased. Wes slid from his seat, then quickly scrambled back into it, buckling his harness over his shoulders. “They got us, Cap!” The ship awkwardly rocked forward to the clang and clatter of tentacles passing the Veronica toward the nose of the alien vessel.

  “Cap! We're being pushed toward the Red's crusher. They're going to chew us up and spit us out.” Rachel tapped at the controls. “Thrusters aren't responding.”

  “It doesn't look like the reactor took any damage,” Wes said. “I don't understand why aren't we moving?”

  “We have plenty of power. We just aren't moving because those umbilicals are physically restraining us in place. They use those to maneuver asteroids into the maw of this thing. Do you really think our little ship will be a problem for them to hold?”

  “I need options people,” Doug shouted. “We're outgunned, backed into a corner and about to be devoured by a big red space beast.”

  “Cap,” Willy said over the radio. “We might have one shot left in the capacitors for the rumblers. Trae thinks he's got the frequency tuned in better than before. It'll either work or it'll blow every relay and waveguide on the ship.”

  “Show me the Betty,” Doug ordered.

  The viewscreen immediately switched over to reveal the Betty, being pulled into the maw of the massive red alien ship by the ships umbilical’s. From their angle, it looked as if a space Kraken was about to devour their home. Bright flashes of static discharge indicated that the Betty's maser cannons were firing. Molten slabs of the alien ship began to flake and float away into the vacuum as explosive gouts of flame and atmosphere burst forth from the hull of the alien ship.

  Cheers erupted across the comms. “We got the bastards Cap,” Willy said resignedly. “But we're dead in the water. I have no clue what it'll take to get her fixed back up.”

  “Life support and thrusters are out, too,” Andy added.

  “And well, there's that too,” Willy added.

  Trae snorted a laugh. “It'll be easier to list what still works. The rumblers shorted out systems all over the ship. Oh man, I'll have to rebuild all of those relays again.”

  “Hey Cap,” Wes interrupted. “What if we can get loose and get back to the flux point? Maybe we could shake them on the trip through?”

  “Oh, hell no,” Doug said. “Are you crazy? Do you really want that thing tearing through the Sol system? Besides, we'd have to get loose first.”

  “Hey Cap,” Rachel interrupted. “It looks like we're only a few dozen klicks away from another flux point. What if we can get them to that one?”

  “Well, we did tow the Ethel through the other flux point. That Red isn't much bigger than the Ethel.”

  “Yeah, but the Betty was towing with us,” Wes added.

  Doug clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “Let's do it. We've got a brand new, military spec frigate that hasn't even been broken in yet. Take all nonessential systems offline, even life support. Funnel everything that we have into the engines.”

  “Have you ever been fishing and had a catfish snag your bait?” Doug asked.

  Rachel wrinkled her nose in confusion. “Um... No. The only place I've ever seen a real fish is on a plate.”

  “Me either Cap,” Wes said.

  “When you get a catfish on the line, they become masters of leverage and maneuvering. If we kick over max thrust and roll the ship to an odd angle, tangential with the umbilical’s holding us we might be able to break free. Disengage the safeties with a full forward Woodward shift.”

  “Why not? Not like we have anything to lose at this point.” Rachel disengaged the artificial feedback actuators from the control yoke. “Strap your asses in and hold on.”

  Wes pulled his harness straps as tight as they would go.

  The ship leapt forward less than a second after Rachel slammed all six throttle levers to the full forward stop.

  “Disengaging all automated safeties. I hope y'all are ready because this is gonna hurt!” She slid the control yoke fully forward to the detent stop. The Veronica sickeningly lurched forward, then jerked to a halt like a dog on the end of its chain. The large alien ship fired its forward thrusters in an attempt to counter the Veronica's pull but began to creep forward.

  “Alright, here we go,” Doug cheered. “When I tell you, I want you to nose her over and flip a complete one-eighty. If we can get the Red leading ass first into the hole, we might have a chance. At a thousand meters out from the event horizon, I want you to go full burn to slow us down. As soon as the Red crosses the line, kill the flux drive.”

  “Oh, this is gonna be good,” Rachel said with a laugh. She eagerly checked her systems and prepared for the maneuver. “Gotcha Cap. I'm ready.”

  “What the hell? Are you sure we won't be sucked through the flux with the Red?”

  “No, but I don't have any better plans. Do you Wes? I'm all ears if either of you has any ideas.” His tone was sarcastic and final.

  The ship creaked and groaned from the strain.

  “Come on girl, hold together. I know you can do it,” Doug mumbled to himself.

  “Woo hoo!” Wes gasped with terrified excitement. “We'r
e moving and really picking up speed. Twenty thousand kilometers per hour and climbing.”

  A relay control cover panel from overhead the auxiliary port station popped and buckled outward under the strain.

  “Hold together baby.” Doug crossed himself and said a quick prayer.

  “Thirty thousand KPH and climbing,” Wes reported.

  “Core temp is going critical,” Rachel announced. Warning alarms sounded with a low whup whup whup. “She's in the red on most systems and overheating. I don't know how much longer they can maintain this output.”

  “We have coolant leaks in engineering,” Wes reported. “Initiating emergency containment. Forty thousand KPH and still climbing.”

  “She'll hold together. Just keep it full bore! We've got this!”

  The high-pitched warble of the flux warning resounded over the ship’s creaks and groans.

  “Flux warning dead ahead,” Wes reported. “One hundred klicks off our bow. Fifty thousand KPH and climbing.”

  “Now Cheezy! Now,” Doug yelled. “Flip that hog on its back!”

  “Engaging full thrusters! Flux drive is hot to trot!” Cheezy chopped the throttles, rolled the yoke and arched her back as she pulled with all of her might, nearly touching the yoke to her chest. She held the yoke collective back then slammed the throttles to full power. The ship lurched and pulled a hard nose up roll. Every section of plating, conduit, covers, and bulkheads onboard rattled from the sudden G load that twisted the Veronica's space frame. The force of the turn crushed each of them deep into their respective seats.

  Rachel let out a half-screamed shout like a berserker battle cry. “Woodard field is fluctuating, but it's holding! Any more G's and we'll all pass out.”

  “Hold what you have!” Doug's grip on the command chair arm slipped and he collapsed over the left arm. Pain shot through his side as he was pressed deeper into the seat. “Get that ship where we want her!”

  “I can't feel my legs,” Wes cried out.

  “Just hold! It's going to work!”

  Rachel growled, shouting out in pain and began panting. “My fucking leg just broke! Cap? The bone isn't supposed to be on the outside, is it?”

  “Oh God, oh God, oh God, I don’t want to die,” Wes cried.