“Jump point is set,” Nance said.
“I see it,” Kim said. “Two minutes, people. If we don’t get smashed by the imbeciles piloting the Imperium capital ships.”
“Can we restart the shield?” Nance asked.
“I could try, but it wouldn’t come online in time to help us now,” Ben said.
“No, it can never be started with debris inside the sphere,” Professor Jones exclaimed. “To do so would be a repeat of the disaster we just shut down to avoid.”
“Good information to remember,” Ben said.
“There are fighters headed this way,” Nance said.
“Do they know our shield is down?” Kim asked, her raspy voice rising with the tension she obviously felt.
“No, there’s no way for them to know,” Ben said.
Kim dove out of their path anyway and circled around the bulk of a battle cruiser venting atmo. Ben could hardly fathom the destruction. He still felt the tension. They needed to get out of the Torrent system, but at the same time, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the carnage around them. Every feed from their external cameras showed unbelievable damage to the massive Imperium warships. Those same ships had become symbols of the Royal Imperium’s strength and dominance. But they were just vessels in a cold, unforgiving expanse above a cruel, filthy planet. The commanders who sought to control those ships were just people, and they were obviously just as prone to panic as anyone else.
The fact that there were thousands of Imperium military personnel wasn’t lost on Ben either. He hadn’t wanted to be destroyed or captured, and perhaps he did relish the idea of embarrassing the mighty Imperium Fleet. But he had never imagined so many lives being lost because of him. He wasn’t to blame, but somehow he still felt guilty. That guilt didn’t compare to the pain in his leg, or to the general sense of exhaustion that threatened to overwhelm him.
“One minute out,” Nance cried.
“We’re actually going to make it,” Jones said.
“Damn straight,” Kim said. “If it’s the last thing I do.”
“No,” Ben said. “Don’t say that. We just got you back. We’re going to make it and that includes you.”
Kim didn’t respond. She was too busy flying, but Ben could see the sweat soaking her hair and glistening on the unusually pale skin of her face. He knew she was worse off than he was, and he was barely functioning. The lack of gravity had helped ease the pain in his wounded leg, but not by much. His boot was saturated with blood, and he felt faint.
“Thirty seconds,” Nance said.
“Almost there,” Kim said.
“We’ve got more Imperium vessels headed this way,” Magnum said.
Ben looked at the radar and saw other ships breaking orbit to move toward them. Given time, they would cut off the Echo, but Ben knew his ship would be long gone before the Imperium vessels even got close.
“They’re mapping out trajectory,” Nance said.
“Tell me you have us on a short jump,” Ben said.
“Just an hour,” Nance replied. “Then we can jump again.”
“Copy that,” Kim said. “I’m anxious to leave this party forever.”
Ben didn’t know if Kim meant the Imperium forces in the Torrent system, or if she was giving up on life itself. He didn’t like to think of the latter, but she often confounded him. She was impulsive and wore her feelings on her sleeve. He hoped he would have plenty of time to help her see that she could have a great life with him on board the Echo.
“Ten seconds,” Nance said.
“Looks like we’re clear,” Magnum said.
Ben breathed a sigh of relief, then time seemed to stretch. A single second felt as if it were lingering, then everything snapped back to normal. The display screen showed the glowing fog of hyperspace.
“We made it,” Ben said. “Unbelievable.”
“Believe it,” Kim said. “I gotta lie down.”
“Let’s power up the art grav genny,” Ben said. “I’ll keep it low.”
The sense of gravity seemed to press down on them for a moment and then it, too, passed. Jones helped Ben to the sick bay, while Kim let Magnum carry her. She didn’t even resist.
“Here,” Jones said, handing Ben trauma scissors. “Cut off that pant leg. Magnum will help you with your boot.”
Ben was on a plastic chair, looking down at his leg while Magnum lay Kim on the exam table.
“I’m sick,” she said softly.
“I can see that,” Professor Jones said. “Tell me what happened.”
“I got shot,” Kim said. “A group of Scalpers tried to bushwhack me.”
Jones cut away Kim’s pants to get a look at the wounds on her thigh and hip.
“Hey, we hardly know each other,” Kim said, her voice barely a whisper.
“Is she going to be okay?” Ben asked.
“Looks like her wounds are infected. She needs antibiotics and a hydration line,” Jones said.
He turned and started searching the bins that lined the walls of the sick bay, eventually finding a bag of saline and an IV needle.
“She’s dehydrated,” Jones said. “I’ll get this going and we can get her on the mend. How’s his leg, Magnum?”
“It’s not deep but the skin is all inflamed,” the big man said. “She needs some antibacterial gel and flesh glue.”
“And rest,” Jones said. “You all need some rest. A long hyperspace jump with time for everyone to sleep would be best.”
The theoretical scientist got his wish. Nance brought them out of hyperspace just long enough to change course and jump again. The second jump was just under thirty-five hours long. Ben had no trouble spending the first ten asleep on his bunk. When he woke up, he was hungry and thirsty, but most of all, desperate to see Kim.
“Is she okay?” Ben asked, after hobbling to the door of his cabin.
Nance was at her place on the bridge. “She’s resting,” Nance said in a way that made Ben feel like she wasn’t saying everything.
“But she’s going to be okay, right?”
“The professor is with her. The medicine we had was old,” Nance looked down. “She hasn’t woken up.”
“How long have I been sleeping?”
“Close to ten hours.”
“How long until we come out of hyperspace?” he said as he hopped across the atrium behind the bridge.
“Twenty-four hours,” Nance said.
Ben made his way to the small sick bay and opened the door. Kim was still lying on the exam table. Someone had removed her filthy clothes and put medical cushions under her body. She was covered with a thin sheet, her face pale in the dim light of the medical equipment. A bag of fluids hung over her.
In a reclining chair that occupied the far corner of the room, Forrest Remington Jones slept. The older man snored softly. Ben hobbled over to stand beside the exam table. Kim’s usual bravado and toughness were gone. She was completely vulnerable. A slight sheen of sweat glistened on her skin.
Ben took hold of her hand. It was limp, her skin hot to the touch. Tears welled up in his eyes. He didn’t know what was wrong, but it didn’t take a physician to see that Kim was suffering.
“She’s fighting it,” Jones said softly from his place in the corner. Ben hadn’t even noticed the older man had woken up.
“Fighting what?”
“There’s poison in her blood, Ben,” Jones said. “Maybe from the foul metal they shot her with.”
He rattled a small glass container that had seven bits of metal inside. They were jagged and full of sharp angles. Just the thought of them ripping through Kim’s flesh made Ben shudder.
“I got it all out,” Jones continued. “Fortunately for her, it wasn’t too deep. There was some foreign matter in the wounds too. It was impossible to tell what it was with the equipment here on the ship. But the fact that she was wounded on a planet filled with trash makes it surprising that she didn’t succumb to the symptoms sooner.”
“What are you saying
?” Ben asked. “Is she dying?”
“No,” Jones said. “But she could die. We have to face the reality that she might not be strong enough to overcome the sickness. The medicines here are basic, really, little more than first-aid pharmaceuticals.”
“We could take her to a facility with real doctors,” Ben said.
“True, but we’d all be arrested, probably the moment we opened the air lock,” Jones said. “I doubt the Royal Imperium would nurse her back to health. If they did, it would only be to have her alive for a public execution.”
“The bastards,” Ben said, unable to stop the tears that rolled down his cheeks.
“Yes,” Jones said. “Between nursing Kim, I’ve been reviewing data from the confrontation. I believe the Imperium lost three ships. We’ll be blamed, of course.”
“We didn’t do anything,” Ben said.
“I quite agree. The armada was too closely gathered. I’m assuming they were filming the attack and wanted as many of their ships as possible in the picture, so to speak. It’s a shame, really, so much death and destruction because of poor logistical planning. But the fact remains, we have officially become the most wanted people in the galaxy, if we weren’t before.”
“The Confederacy needs to find a place to hide us,” Ben said. “Kim needs time to heal.”
“True,” Jones said. “And we need time to work.”
“Work? Are you serious? That’s what drove Kim away in the first place.”
“She disagreed with our work?” Jones asked.
“She felt pushed aside,” Ben said. “I spent all my time working on designing the flux shield that I ignored her for days.”
“Hopefully, you’ll have a chance to rectify that mistake,” Jones said. “But it was your invention that saved the day ultimately. I only wish I’d had time to get more sensors on the hull of the ship. The data we collected is rudimentary at best.”
Ben looked down at Kim, feeling guilty for even talking about the work that had driven her away. He would gladly give it all up for her. What he wanted more than anything seemed to be moving farther away. His dream of getting the Echo flying and being with his friends while they flew to exotic worlds across the galaxy was suddenly out of reach. It was ironic that the Echo had once again carried them away from Torrent Four, only to be the most recognized and wanted vessel in the galaxy.
“I’ll stay with her,” Ben said. “You can get some rest.”
“I have everything I need right here,” Jones said. “You, on the other hand, need to keep your leg elevated. Let’s get you back to your cabin. I’ll send Magnum for some food. He’s quite helpful, you know. Doesn’t talk much, but then, I talk enough for the both of us.”
Ben didn’t want to leave, but he didn’t have the strength to fend off the insistent professor. Jones led Ben back to his cabin, and Magnum brought a plate of food and a mug of Chembrew ale. It was frothy and cool, with a comforting taste that helped Ben relax. He was tired by the time he finished his meal, and while he felt a strong urge to be with Kim, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 33
News of the armada’s failure reached the admiral general quickly, and left him speechless. The fact that the Kestrel class ship had escaped them was not just embarrassing, it also put his career on the line. Within minutes of receiving the news from a messenger drone that was launched within minutes of the armada’s collapse, a hologram of the crown prince appeared. He was a fat, pasty man with wide lips that reminded the admiral general of a frog.
The royal family insisted on unfettered contact. The hologram could appear at any time, day or night, no matter what the admiral general was doing. But while the royal family held the reins of power, they generally preferred to pursue other interests such as lavish balls and hedonistic retreats that cost billions of credits. The fact that Admiral General Volgate was being contacted after the worst military failure in the last decade was not a good sign.
“You have heard the news, I’m sure,” Crown Prince Godfred said in a condescending tone.
“We have,” Volgate replied as he rose from his desk chair where he had fallen upon hearing of the armada’s collapse.
“What, pray tell, is happening to our fleet, Admiral General?”
“We’re looking into that right this moment, Your Highness,” Volgate said, hoping that implying how others were involved might dilute his own culpability in the military blunder.
“I am hearing rumors, Admiral General, disturbing stories that I have been assured are not true. Yet the rumors persist and seem to multiply like gremlins. What is going on? Have you lost control of the military?”
Volgate knew the biggest fear of the royal family was that the military might one day rise up in revolt. There were even rumors that the royal family secretly funded the rebellion just to keep the Imperium military occupied.
“No, sire,” Volgate said, trying to keep his disdain for the entitled crown prince from his voice. “Everything is under control. What happened in the Torrent system was a training exercise gone wrong. Nothing more, I assure you. The royal family need not worry.”
“Rumors,” Prince Godfred said, not hiding his own disdain in the slightest, “training exercises gone wrong, I’m beginning to think that perhaps new leadership is needed.”
“I serve at your pleasure,” Volgate said, bowing slightly to the hologram of the fat man. “Everything that can and should be done is, in fact, being done, my lord. We are on top of this matter.”
“And what of the rebellion’s lies that they are destroying our warships?”
“Nothing more than lies, sire. We have begun debunking their treasonous claims already.”
“Assurances and promises are all well and good,” the prince said. “But what is needed are results. Get them, or we’ll find someone who can. We’re watching, Admiral General. Do not think that we are unaware.”
“Of course not, my lord,” Volgate said.
“To displease us would be costly. Very costly indeed.”
The hologram vanished, and Volgate dropped onto the edge of his desk. He simply couldn’t fathom what was happening. The Kestrel class ship had not only slipped through their fingers, but somehow managed to destroy four battle cruisers in the process. Several more needed repairs. They were all in the process of limping back to the Celeste system. Volgate began to think of what needed to be done and who to hold accountable.
The commanders of the ships that suffered damage would have to be removed at once. That was the easiest decision to make. What would be more difficult was finding the rebel ship and discovering how it had managed to escape an entire armada of Imperial capital warships. Volgate had been content to merely destroy the Kestrel class vessel, but it was clear that a reckoning on a larger scale was needed. Something dramatic, and very public.
Admiral Minsk had been careless, and his death on the Fortitude made Volgate angry. He should have to face the admiral general’s wrath. In Volgate’s mind, the incompetent admiral had gotten off easy. He walked to his desk and touched the screen that controlled his office’s resources, from the climate controls to the communications system. He brought up his assistant’s icon and started speaking.
“Where is Brigadier General Pershing?” Volgate asked angrily.
“You sent her to the Torrent system on the RIF Deception,” came the quick reply.
“I know that,” Volgate snarled. “Why aren’t they here?”
“I can’t say, sir. Perhaps they stayed in the system to help with the rescue efforts.”
“Oh, don’t think for a second that Alicia Pershing cares about anyone but herself. She has control of the video evidence captured in orbit above Torrent Four. I want that information, ASAP—the very moment she drops out of hyperspace—is that clear?”
“Yes, Admiral General, sir.”
Volgate disconnected the intercom call and dropped back into his desk chair. It hadn’t occurred to him before, but Pershing seemed distant. Not just becaus
e she was out of the system, but for a while she had seemed standoffish. Perhaps she wanted to see Volgate fail. Perhaps, he thought, she was willing to go so far as to prepare the rebel ship to somehow escape his trap. She was an ambitious woman, anyone could see that, but Volgate hadn’t recognized just how dangerous she could be.
Of course, his feelings about the brigadier general could just be paranoia. There was only one way to know for certain. She controlled the video evidence of what happened in the Torrent system. If it leaked, he would know who was to blame. And if that were to happen, he would make General Pershing pay in blood.
Chapter 34
Ben woke up in a panic. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been asleep, but his body ached from lying still for an extended period of time. He rolled from his back onto his side, careful to keep from bumping his wounded leg into anything. His cabin was dark. He touched an old-fashioned light switch that clicked as it came on. There was something endearing about the old fixtures on the Echo—they seemed solid and durable to Ben. He liked the feeling it gave him to flick the switch that activated the lighting system.
His room was empty, and despite the way he felt, Ben forced himself up. He pulled off his clothing and took a fast shower. Then he got dressed. His boot was still wet with his own blood, so he left it off and went out of his room in the thick, syntha-wool socks he’d purchased on the Confederate space station in the Bannyan system.
Magnum was on the bridge when he came out. The big man nodded, but didn’t speak. Ben went straight to the sick bay and found things much the same as when he’d left. The professor was even in the corner snoring softly. Ben went quietly to Kim’s side. The lighting was dim, but even so, Ben could tell that Kim looked better. She had a little more color on her cheeks and her eyes didn’t look as dark. The sweat was gone too, and when Ben touched her hand it was cool.
Gravity Flux: Kestrel Class Saga Book 3 Page 15
