The tension on the bridge was high. The unspoken problem was obvious to all: even if the Steadfast and Gambier Two got to the portal, the Vehn ships could follow them through. How could they defend both themselves and the colony ship with a nearly depleted weapons system?
“They're gaining on us,” Argus said. The jagged shapes of the Vehn ships twisted and turned on the tactical display. “Estimating eight minutes before we’re within range of their Urzhai guns.”
Conrad's heart raced. “Keep going,” he said, as much for himself as for his ship and Gambier Two. There was nothing left to them but speed now.
They were closing the gap. Gambier Two was growing larger and more detailed in the tactical display. “Two's looking good,” Conrad observed. “Not much damage—”
Before he could finish his sentence the Steadfast shook violently.
“We’re hit,” Argus reported. “They blew off our port thrusters. We're slowing down!”
“Did any fire hit the colony ship?” Conrad demanded.
“Not yet.”
“They'll be in range of our guns in less than four minutes,” Argus said.
Of course, that meant that they would also be in range of all of the Vehn’s weapons just as quickly.
The welcoming dark shape of the portal beckoned. Yet what lay beyond but more death and destruction? Even if they made it through, the Vehn ships would follow.
“How long before Gambier Two hits the portal?” he asked.
“Six minutes,” Argus said.
Practically a lifetime.
Conrad took a long, ragged breath. There was only one thing they could do now.
He thumbed open the comms switch on his chair, opening the line to the entire ship.
“This is the captain speaking,” he said. “It wasn’t so long ago when the High Council dumped me on all of you. Seems about time to apologize for that—and to say that I got the better end of the deal.” He paused, searching for the right words, and decided that it was better to make it quick. “We know why we’re here. I have no doubts that you will all perform to your utmost. It's been a privilege being your captain,” he finished.
He turned his attention to the tactical display once again. “Helm, turn us around,” he ordered. “Hold us steady. Keep us between Gambier Two and the Vehn. We’re not backing down—not a single millimeter, do you understand?”
“Yessir,” came the taut, determined answer.
“Argus, tell me we’ve got something left,” he said.
The Kazhad grunted. “We’ve got something left,” he said.
Conrad had to smile darkly at the first officer's gallows humor. “You know what to do with it,” he said.
Now they waited, every crewman holding his or her breath.
The Vehn ships approached like dark birds of prey. One edged out ahead of the other, its gunports open.
A salvo of burning bright blasts rocketed towards the Steadfast. The helmsman was as good as his word, flying the Steadfast into the fire, dodging each individual blast with fluid speed.
The ship rattled despite the inertial dampers. Conrad took a shaky, uneven breath. He swore that he could feel the ship starting to come apart at the seams.
A blast slammed into the top of the Steadfast.
“We just lost the shield generators,” Argus reported.
The Steadfast was now naked and vulnerable.
“Gambier Two?” Conrad demanded.
“A hundred kilometers from the portal,” Argus said. “They’re about to—”
The Steadfast convulsed. Conrad braced himself as the ship began to buckle under the force of the Vehn attack. “Steady,” he called out. “Take us closer—close enough that they can’t use those Urzhai guns without blowing themselves up!”
The blasts stopped suddenly as helm took the ship closer to the Vehn. Argus made a sound of uncertainty behind the captain’s chair.
“Closer,” Conrad ordered through gritted teeth. The Steadfast flew even closer to its pursuers, the ship leaking plasma as it streaked through the darkness. The Vehn ships veered towards the injured ship, their umbilicals beginning to emerge.
Wait. Almost ...
“Now—fly us to the portal,” Conrad said. “But keep us close enough to keep ‘em from using the Urzhais. Argus, this is the best shot I can give you.”
The Kazhad acknowledged his words with a soft bellow. Conrad stared at the tactical display without blinking, his eyes aching as he waited to see if the gambit would work. With standard close-range guns alone, the Steadfast stood a better chance of surviving for a few minutes more—so long as the Vehn didn’t manage to penetrate their hulls with their umbilicals.
The Vehn ships converged on the Steadfast, two knife-shapes aiming at the heart of the damaged ships.
“Helm,” Argus said. “In three.”
Three.
Two.
One.
With a roar, Argus unleashed the last of the Steadfast’s weapons, the tactical display brightening for a millisecond as the neutron guns fired on the Vehn.
The brilliance faded to reveal two battered ships, their armored hulls blackened; on one ship, the open gunports lit up and then darkened.
They’d neutered one ship. But the other one continued to move towards them at a dangerously quick clip, its guns already firing.
“We can't take much more, even from neutron guns,” Argus warned, as the Vehn ship opened fire.
Every soul onboard the Steadfast could feel it now, the way the ship groaned and shuddered under the unending attack. At such close quarters, evasive maneuvers only went so far.
The ship lurched. Conrad steadied himself against the chair, his heart hammering.
“To the portal,” he rasped.
It was a long shot, and Conrad knew it, even given his relative inexperience in the captain’s chair. There was nothing on the other side of the portal but more space and darkness. No reinforcements, no planets, no hiding places.
Still: he had to try.
“Take us through,” he said to the helmsman. “Plot the most likely trajectory for the lead Vehn ship, and turn us around as soon as we're on the other side. They'll be blind for half a second while they pass through. Before they have a chance to figure it out I want us directly in their path.”
Only the physical body of the Steadfast would lie between the Vehn and the escaping colonists now.
A heavy silence fell over the bridge crew as they prepared to carry out Conrad's orders—perhaps the final orders that any of them would hear.
The wide, dark mouth of the portal loomed ahead, growing larger with each passing second.
“Gambier Two is entering the portal in fifteen seconds,” Argus reported.
“We're coming close up behind,” the helmsman said. “In sixty seconds...”
A fresh burst of fire from the Vehn ship burned into the Steadfast's hulls.
“They're gaining on us,” Argus said, alarmed. “They'll be on our port side in thirty seconds—”
Conrad cursed. “Faster,” he ordered. “We’ve got to get ahead of them.” If the Vehn came alongside the ship, there was no chance that they would crash into the Steadfast on the other side of the portal as he had planned.
The ship jolted once. Twice.
“Umbilicals,” the ops officer reported. “Two attempts. Both failed.”
“Helm,” Conrad half-shouted. “Get us through. Now.”
The Steadfast rumbled and shook. The portal grew closer, its yawning jaws open—
“All hands, brace for impact,” Conrad said into the comms system, breathless. He didn’t know if they were far enough ahead of the Vehn, if their gambit even had a chance. He closed his eyes—
And the darkness took them.
His eyes opened. He was inside the portal, swimming through a strange dark space, time and the universe slowed and transformed. Reality within the ship seemed to be nothing more complex or insubstantial as rippling water.
I’m here again,
he thought, the realization shaking him to his core. Not since he and Argus had come back through the portal at Alpha Aurigae had this happened.
He moved, his heartbeat booming in his ears, slow and muffled. It took all his will and strength to move, to hold his place in the rippling reality. He sensed that he didn't have long, and that the pressure on him to exit the darkness was becoming gradually irresistible.
Conrad strained to look at the frozen tactical display. The colony ship was missing, having passed through the portal seconds before. It was only the Steadfast—and the Vehn ship, nearly flanking them, its alien umbilicals stretching towards them like tentacles.
Too late. Frustration flashed through his chest. The Vehn ship was too close to collide with the Steadfast on the other side.
The pressure to re-enter normal space was approaching unbearable, like the need to take a breath after being underwater.
Conrad fought it with every last bit of his willpower. No...not yet...
The pressure only increased.
No!
The rage was burning now, bright as fire, rising up through his gut and chest. The heat bloomed in his mind, threatening to grow beyond his control.
The colony ships. Thousands of lives. The grief and fury overcame him, trapped as he was in the slow-moving amber of the portal.
I couldn’t do a thing to save them.
He cursed himself as much as he cursed the Vehn.
All my own damn fault.
He swept his hand forward towards the manual controls of the Steadfast. He could touch the controls but he could do nothing with them. In the black and white universe of the portal it was almost as if he was trapped and drowning. At the same time, the pressure of normal space smothered his mind like a heavy, invisible hand.
The fury erupted, overwhelming. Suddenly, the Steadfast accelerated, space distorting around it like the ripple of waves in the wake of a ship on the water.
This hasn’t happened before—what is this?
The poisonous rage was taking over. It felt like fire, burning through his mind and body, changing the very universe around him.
Conrad opened his mouth to scream.
The overwhelming darkness fell at last, hard and final, a tsunami of nothingness drowning out all consciousness.
Chapter 4
“You must keep your anger under control,” Rose said to him, two bright spots of color rising on her pale cheeks. “Conrad ... are you sure this is such a good idea?”
Conrad smoothed a hand down the front of his uniform. “No,” he said. “It’s probably the worst idea I’ve had in months. But that’s the point. I’ve got to go in there now and speak my mind while I’m still pissed off. Before I come to my senses and try and be all ... political about it.”
“I wish you would try being diplomatic once in a while,” she said.
“That’s your job,” he said.
“And you’re not making it any easier,” she muttered. She bit at her nails, an old nervous habit. She leaned back in her chair. They had only five more minutes in the privacy of her office before Conrad was due to address the entire High Council.
“What happened at Gambier, Conrad?” she asked softly. “I’m not talking about the Vehn or the colony ships. I’m talking about you.”
He stiffened. “I’m not sure,” he said slowly. “I was in the portal. And then I was out, and the Vehn were gone.”
She bit her nails some more before she pulled herself together. A steely, no-nonsense mask fell over her features as she stood up, hiding any hint of her doubt or worries. To Conrad, it was vaguely reassuring to see her like this; it wasn’t like Rose to be nervous about something as simple and regular as a Council meeting.
“Ah, Rosie,” he said, softening just slightly. “I’ll be alright. What do you think they’re gonna do—hang, draw, and quarter me?”
“That’ll make this whole marriage business slightly more challenging,” she said. “But I wouldn’t put it past them, considering the way you tend to mouth off around anyone with the actual authority to put you in your place.”
“I’m counting on you to keep me all in one piece,” he said. “I know you will. You’re my Rose.”
“Flattery will get you everywhere,” she said finally, standing up as an aide gestured to them from the door. “Try to remember that when you’re in front of the rest of the Council.”
“If they were anything like you, Rosie, I’d consider it.”
“Captain,” said Councillor Deschamps. “You understand why you’re here.” There was a barely hidden glee behind the glassy blue eyes of the tall, gaunt politician.
Conrad kept his voice and gaze carefully neutral. “Yes, sir. I requested this hearing. This is in regard to the recent events at Colony Gambier.”
“‘Events’ is an understatement at best.” The man looked down at Conrad from his seat at the center of the twelve-member council with a reptilian smile. Conrad got the distinct impression that the man had been waiting for this moment for quite some time.
He’s French, Conrad observed distantly. Gambier had been a Francophone colony, which explained why Deschamps was leading the inquisition. It also clued him in as to the line of questioning he could expect.
They're out for blood today.
He straightened up. “Councillors, I requested this hearing because I wanted to bring to the High Council’s attention the damage that the Vehn are doing to our colonies—and the fact that they are armed with weapons that we’ve never seen them use before. They’ve adopted technologies from other alien races. That suggests—”
“Captain Redeker,” Deschamps said, his voice sharp. “This is a High Council hearing. You are not in charge here. We determine the agenda. You answer to us. Is that understood?”
Conrad bit back the retort on the tip of his tongue. “Yes, sir.”
“We’ve all reviewed your written report,” said Deschamps. “It's certainly...colorful. The major question that remains on all our minds has nothing to do with the Vehn. They’ve always been a menace, we all know that. But the problem with your report is that you have not been entirely forthcoming about the conclusion of your little adventure.”
Conrad lifted his head, waiting. Deschamps paused, as if trying to unnerve him.
“My report is complete, sir,” he said. “I left nothing out.”
Deschamps tapped a pen in impatience. “No lies, no prevarication, mon capitaine.” He leaned forward. “You’re telling me that you entered the portal at Colony Gambier, and magically”—he snapped his fingers—“the Vehn disappeared? And you skipped three portal jumps and weeks of sublight travel to end up orbiting around Mars?”
Conrad pressed his lips into a tight, thin line. “It’s what happened. Sir.”
Deschamps folded his arms. “And moreover—you left the surviving colony ship without guard. Without any capacity for defense.”
“That’s not what I intended—”
“Yes,” Deschamps interrupted. “Intent seems to be glaringly absent from your report, Captain Redeker. You had no intent of abandoning Gambier Two—and no intent of violating the laws of physics.” He smiled sourly at this. “Either you are some kind of magician or you are lying.”
Conrad could feel Rose’s gaze boring into him, willing him to stay patient.
“Sir, is this a disciplinary hearing?”
“No. This hearing is exactly what you requested, Captain. We are investigating the events surrounding the departure of three colony ships from Colony Gambier. And if disciplinary action is merited, then, well, that’s simply an efficient use of time.”
Conrad looked at Deschamps, channeling Rose’s impassive mask.
“And while we are all very thankful that one of the colony’s ships escaped, the fact remains that the other two ships did not. You, Captain, failed in your mission.”
At this, Conrad clenched his jaw. This was a different accusation altogether.
“Your directive was very simple. Protect the colonies
on the frontier from Vehn attacks. And you failed.”
“That is patently unfair, Councillor,” Rose’s voice cut in. Conrad glanced at her. Her eyes were bright and angry.
Ah, Rose, stay outta this ...
“The Steadfast saved Gambier Two. And, as for the others—no one ship can be expected to successfully defend every border colony out in deep space. It’s why I’ve been campaigning for more funding and greater numbers of Corps ships—”
“Councillor Christiansen, you will not turn this into your personal crusade. You are clearly compromised due to your history with Captain Redeker. I won’t ask that you officially recuse yourself from this matter altogether, but I’m asking you to restrain yourself for the duration of this hearing.”
Her expression fierce, Conrad knew that Rose was about to say something she’d regret. He cut in before she could speak.
“You’re right, sir,” Conrad said.
Deschamps turned his attention back to him. Conrad got the sense that the man was surprised by this admission.
“I did fail in defending Colony Gambier. I should have ... done more. I won’t deny that, Councillor.” He paused.
The burning memory of ordering the Steadfast to fire on the defenseless civilians flashed through his mind. It was a bitter memory, and one that had haunted him every night since the Steadfast returned safely to Sanctuary.
He wondered if he’d have the dreams for the rest of his life.
He cleared his throat. “I take full responsibility for the loss of Gambier One and Three. And I accept whatever disciplinary action the Council wishes to impose on me.”
The old commodore was waiting outside the High Council assembly room, her arms crossed, leaning casually against a wood-paneled wall. She was dressed in civilian clothes—nothing to give away her rank or status.
“Conrad,” she said.
“Commodore Garrity,” he said absently, still lost in his thoughts. “You attended the hearing.”
“‘Course I did. Come with me,” she said to him, walking towards the wide doors that lead out to the streets of Dublin.
Sanctuary's Gambit: The Darkspace Saga Book 2 Page 3
