by Dale Sale
“Processing,” the flat artificial voice said. “Particle interruption patterns consistent with asteroid transit shadows.”
Meza said, “Good, this might just work. Bloodhound cross reference transit shadows with radar returns for local objects. Isolate anomalous shadows that do not coincide with radar returns.”
“What are you trying to do, Commander? Corvus doesn’t show up on radar.” Tac asked, puzzled.
“Exactly! We are looking for what we can’t see, not what we can. Asteroids show up on our radar and we can see their shadows on the particle interruption plot. If Bloodhound can isolate a pattern that produces a particle interruption without a radar return.”
The Tac slapped his forehead. “Then we find Corvus by not seeing it. Genius!”
“I like to think so.”
Bloodhound said, “Scanning parameters are limited to five hundred kilometers due to ring density.”
Meza said, “Continue scanning. Alert us immediately if you get the scent.”
“Aye, order acknowledged.”
“Now we wait,” Meza said.
Drake and Pela were working at the port wing and the final thruster. They had already been at it for hours. They had two thrusters on each wing and one on the dorsal and ventral axis. Corvus had advised this would give them the best maneuverability.
Drake finished tightening the last bolt. “Damn, glad that job is finished.”
Pela said, “Aww, does the baby need a nap?”
“Well, baby definitely needs a shower,” he responded.
Pela said, “Stay downwind from me then when you peel that thing off.”
“Ha, as if you don’t sweat.”
“Sir, I will have you know, Matriarchs don’t sweat. They glisten.” She sniffed imperiously.
Drake snorted. “Whatever you want to believe.”
Gus powered over in a BUG. “You two done playing grab ass over here? I’ll give you a ride back to the hangar.”
Drake made a grab for Pela and she gracefully twisted and jetted over to the BUG. The custom fitted vac suits Faber had made for the crew accentuated her curves. She laughed at him. “Come on, cowboy, time to saddle up.”
Gus puffed the BUG slowly along the hull. He admired the hard work the crew had put in. He still wasn’t sure how to evade Grey, but the new thrusters would give them a better chance.
“Skipper, you need to get back aboard fast,” Lenore said over the comm. “Erebus has started moving on a deliberate course in our direction.”
“Is she coming in hot?” Gus asked.
“Negative, but it isn’t a standard search pattern either. They know something.” Lenore replied.
“Rodger, heading for the barn,” Gus said. “Hold on out there you two we need to hurry.”
The hangar lock door was open when they arrived, and it ran an emergency cycle. They all hit the deck running. Gus tossed Drake his helmet. “You two stow the BUG and let me know when it’s griped down.” He flew down the passageway to the Bridge almost crashing into HAM coming out of a hatch. “Make a hole! Gang way,” Gus yelled. HAM spun. “Tell Nyrkki to get those thrusters online,” he called to HAM.
As Gus shot into the Bridge, he stopped his flight by grabbing a handhold he said, “Sitrep?”
Nan was at the weapons console. “Weapons standing by.”
Zia at the helm. “CP thrusters powering up.”
Lenore watched the readouts of Operations. “Our pursuer is making steady progress in our general direction, but I do not believe they know exactly where we are.”
Gus paused and said, “So they have figured out a way to sniff us out, but it isn’t definitive.”
Pela entered the bridge. “Hangar is secure. Drake is headed to engineering.”
“Corvus, how you feeling, big fella?” Gus asked.
The ship answered, “Strong, Ready Fight”
“That’s the spirit, stand easy for now. Lenore, what is your assessment?”
“The enemy has begun spraying highly energized particles at certain asteroids,” she said. “These particles are of no danger to us. The carbonado hull plating will refract it harmlessly away. They are also actively using radar at high levels.”
Gus narrowed his eyes and said, “Meza, you sneaky devil. He is using our camouflage against us. If the particles flow around a rock and his radar confirms the target, he knows it is a normal asteroid. But if he paints us and the particles flow around us but no radar signature.”
Pela finished for him. “He will see us because we lack a radar image.”
Zia said, “I’m impressed. That’s some real outside the box thinking.”
“A worthy adversary,” Lenore said.
Gus said, “Corvus, bring the ship into the shadow of that large asteroid.” Gus highlighted it on the screen with a pointer. “Keep it between us and Erebus.”
“Hide,” the ship began to maneuver.
Gus looked around the Bridge. “Suggestions?”
Zia said, “Stay hidden and let them cruise by, then sneak back down their own drive trail.”
“Launch a drone swarm and slag em hard,” Pela said with a snarl.
Lenore said, “Perhaps we could make our way to Matria and allow Ms. Patrick to fight for us in court.”
Gus said, “Those are all valid, although some are a little more drastic than others.”
Nan had been quiet. Gus looked at her. “Okay, Gunner, I know that look. Spill it.”
Nan said, “Gus, how do you feel about playing some pool?”
Grey was pacing on the bridge of Erebus. “This is the craziest idea I’ve ever heard of! You are going to find them because they are invisible?”
Meza was at a console with the Tac Officer. “Yes, Captain, we are eliminating possible targets by confirming them as common asteroids. Any target left is our quarry.”
“There are thousands of asteroids here. How are you ever going to narrow that down? I, err, we can’t stay out here forever,” Grey said, tripping on his words.
“Bloodhound, the CiC bot will be able to process the information quickly. It has already got us on a probable course, Sir,” the Tac said.
“Well, hurry up! I will be in my cabin.”
Meza said, “Finally some quiet.”
The Tactical Officer looked around as the bridge crew softly chuckled.
Gus looked at the forward screen filled by a nearby asteroid. “So, we’ve got our shots planned out?”
Pela replied at the weapons station. “Yeah, I ran the numbers several times with Lenore and Corvus. We’ve picked out two asteroids that are particularly crumbly. It feels good to be doing the shooting instead of being the target.”
Gus keyed the comm on his command chair. “Nyrkki, are you and Drake ready?” He switched the screen to show his two crewmen in vac suits near the dorsal railgun they had gotten from Faber. Its six hundred millimeter bore could fire a 500-kilogram iron sabot/basalt slug with a depleted uranium penetrator tip at a velocity of 5000 meters/second. They were loading a slug into the gun and had a second in a rack at the ready.
Nyrkki’s voice rumbled back. “I don’t how you let Faber install this giant railgun and not provide an autoloader?”
Gus laughed. “That’s what you two are for. I realize that hanging on the outside of the ship and hand loading a second shot is unconventional, but I trust you can adapt and overcome.”
Drake asked, “How powerful is this thing?”
Nyrkki said, “I ran the numbers, It will hit the target with 5.9 billion megajoules of kinetic energy, equals out to a 1500 kiloton nuke.”
Drake whistled softly. “Holy shit! I’m glad in space no one can hear your cannon go off. The pressure wave alone would turn us into jelly.”
“That’s why we have to be in the shelter couches when it goes off. The ship is going to jump pretty hard when it lets go. That whole equal and opposite reaction thing.” Nyrkki gestured to two acceleration couches inside a shielded bubble. “It will take one minute and fift
een seconds for the hull to recharge for the second shot. During that time, Corvus will be lining up for the other target. We need to get this thing reloaded and ourselves back to shelter fast.”
Drake snapped his fingers. “Oh, that explains why the railgun is pointing aft. The whole thing will give us a kick in the pants and that’s the way the ship was built to take the highest acceleration.”
“Plus, you can shoot it at anyone chasing you,” Gus added. “Now do you see why I wanted it?”
Drake said, “Teach me your ways, oh wise master.” His voice dripped sarcasm.
Pela jumped into the exchange. “If you are done screwing around, we’ve got work to do.”
“Yes, mother,” he said with a smirk. “The first shot is all loaded.” He slapped the breach lever and spun the wheel tight.
The two suited figures entered their shelter and sealed the hatch.
Gus said, “Nan, do you want to take the first shot? It was your idea.”
“I think I will, I would love to see the look on Grey’s face,” she said. Pela reluctantly moved aside so Nan could take a seat in the acceleration couch at the station. The rest of the crew strapped into their couches.
“Corvus, let us know when you are lined up for the shot. Then execute the next maneuver,” Gus said.
“Aye, Skipper.”
The crew could feel the thrusters gently pulsing and watched a crosshair on the view screen drift over a dot superimposed on the target. “Shoot, shoot, shoot”
The ship gave a tremendous shudder as the railgun discharged. The force knocked the breath out of them, and a countdown timer began to run on the screen.
Gus yelled, “All right folks, let’s get ready for the next shot.”
A smaller picture showed Nyrkki and Drake moving to reload. The rest of the screen showed the target. They could all feel the ship maneuvering for the next shot. The timer read fifty-five seconds.
Lenore said, “Projectile is tracking to target. Impact in ten seconds.” Another timer appeared on the screen.
On Erebus, CiC keyed the squawk box to the bridge. “Bridge, CiC, we just picked up an electric discharge off the port bow.”
Meza looked at his screen. “Replay it on my display.” It appeared as a faint flash in the black.
“Holy shit!” a crewman in the helm chair exclaimed. “That asteroid just exploded.”
Meza yelled, “On main screen.”
The automated collision alarm began screaming throughout the ship. The asteroid had split into a dozen ship-killer-sized chunks that were headed at them.
“Evasive action!” Meza yelled. “All hands brace for collision.”
Drake raised the railgun breach as Nyrkki began to roll the next round into position. “Can we hurry, please?”
“Damn carriage is jammed from the pulse. Get over here and lend a hand.” Nyrkki was climbing on top of the rock and leg pressing for all he was worth to move the load.
Just as the load slid into the breach, the ship maneuvered and he slipped. “Oh, shit!” Nyrkki cried.
Drake slammed home the breach and spun the wheel. He looked up just in time to see his buddy spinning away. “Hang on, I’m coming,” Drake commed.
Drake clipped in a jackline and launched. He grabbed the frog tongue off his belt and carefully aimed at Nyrkki, “Stop waving around so I can get a clear shot!”
“This is exactly why I stay inside the ship,” Nyrkki replied.
Drake shot the device and a long thin line snaked out until the sticky end slapped onto Nyrkki’s leg. Drake gave a tremendous yank on the jackline to send both of them sailing back to the ship.
“Will you two stop playing! The counters only got thirty seconds left,” Gus said urgently. He was desperately trying to keep from sounding panicked.
The entire crew started to breathe again when they saw the shelter hatch spin shut with both men inside.
Nan had shifted from the weapons couch. “You want the next shot, Pela?”
Pela was still in shock at seeing Drake and Nyrkki sailing off into the Void. She shook her head to clear it. “Uh, hell yes!” She slid into the webs and strapped in.
Lenore said, “Next shot in ten seconds, all hands brace.”
The collision alarm still sounded on Erebus. Grey exploded onto the Bridge. “Meza, what the hell have you done now?” His jaw dropped at the sight of a giant chunk of rock filling the forward screen.
“I’m a little busy right now, Captain!” Meza said. He had shoved the helmsman away and was fighting the controls to avoid a collision.
He steadied the ship as the last rock missed them. “Okay, that wasn’t fun.” He turned to Grey. “Johansson just made an asteroid to explode like a break in a pool hall.”
Grey said, “Did he nuke it?”
Meza shook his head. “There weren’t any signs of a nuke. Still don’t know what he did.”
The collision alarm began to scream again. “Bridge, CiC, we’ve got another one!” The screen showed another asteroid splinter and head their way.
Grey shouted, “Meza, get us the hell out of here.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Gus, Nan and Drake were already in the wardroom nursing coffee bulbs when Pela drifted in and snagged a chair. “This is getting old! I’m tired of being chased. I want to shoot something again.”
It hadn’t taken Erebus long to get back on their wake. Corvus had been hiding in the shadows of various asteroids and moonlets for three days already, and the strain was showing on the entire crew. Tempers were growing short.
Nan floated Pela a bulb. “I agree, I’m used to slugging it out, not running silent. I would have sworn that Grey would give up after we used him like an eight ball.”
Nyrkki and Zia entered a minute apart causing Drake to remark, “Why don’t you two just give up trying to convince everyone you aren’t an item?”
Zia blushed. “Is it that obvious?” She uncoiled Ophelia’s tail from her arm and pushed the chittering possum toward the ceiling.
Gus laughed. “Ha, I saw it the moment you locked on to his silver eyes. Not to mention all the strange noises coming from the Machine Shop.”
Nan shot a slug of coffee at Gus from her bulb. “Be nice!”
He deftly caught it in his mouth, then swallowed. “This is as nice as I get.”
Lenore sailed in, bounced off the overhead with a flip turn, and landed in the last open seat. HAM rolled in after her on his magna-skates and stuck a spin in his usual position near the bulkhead. Ophelia hissed at the little bot.
Gus admired Lenore’s move. Damn, she really is impressive!
Lenore gave Gus a look. “What is he up to now?” she asked the table.
Zia pleaded, clutching her hands and batting her eyes, “Help me, Ms. Lenore, that mean old man is picking on me again.”
“You, my little Sicilian devil, are more than capable of defending yourself from teasing,” Lenore replied. “Besides, don’t you have a Silver Knight to defend your honor?”
The table burst out laughing.
Gus wiped a tear from his eye. “Okay, anybody got any ideas how we get rid of Grey for good. We’ve already embarrassed him three times.”
“I’ve seen them doing Crazy Ivans to check their blind spot.” Sheridan added. “They almost caught the drone we have tailing them. The longer we stay here, the better they get at hunting us. I didn’t think Grey was that smart!”
Nan said, “He isn’t. It must be Meza, the guy he took Erebus from. He’s no Academy stooge. Old mustang, came up through the ranks the hard way.”
Pela snorted. “Let’s just knock them out again and hit the jets.”
“We can’t fire on a Governance cruiser unprovoked. That will put a bounty on our heads.” Gus frowned. “We won’t be able to show our faces around Iz or Ix.”
Nyrkki scratched his short, pure white beard. “What if they didn’t know it was us?”
“Oh, what new wonder have you forged for us, our Hephaistos?” Gus asked, joking
.
Nyrkki couldn’t tell if that was a compliment or a joke. “I can rig a limpet mine. When they fire their primary drive, it will disable the engine and look like an accident.”
Lenore cocked her head. “Wouldn’t a mine need to be extremely close to the drive to achieve that effect?”
“Well, yes.”
Drake asked. “You’re killing me, man, since I’m the vac jockey here, HOW CLOSE?”
“Inside the drive cone.”
HAM said, “Oh dear!”
HAM and Lenore entered the hangar bay.
Lenore spoke, “Corvus, are you listening?”
“Always” A small holo avatar of the ship winked into view.
“What are our thoughts on the humans’ actions so far?”
“No Closer to Talos,”
“Yes, we seem to be making no progress in our goal,” HAM agreed.
Lenore said, “True, but this Captain Grey is particularly a problem.”
“Not Our Problem,”
HAM said, “But it is our fault that the crew is being pursued. We do have responsibility.”
“Besides, we must have humans aboard to activate the Gate,” Lenore said.
“You Sweet on Skipper,”
Lenore waved her hand. “I am concerned for the entire crew.”
HAM laughed and twirled. “Ha, I see you side-eye every time a woman talks to him.”
“I will not engage in this topic,” Lenore said. “What is the consensus on the likelihood of their latest plan succeeding?”
“I Like, Ugly Ship Need Hit Hard,”
HAM said, “But their plan won’t stop Captain Grey. He will still be after us as soon as he can repair his ship.”
Lenore paused, considering a thousand scenarios in a flash. “We need to make Grey lose face with his Fleet superiors so that he can no longer pursue us. HAM I will need you to adjust Mr. Ratuainen’s device to the specifications I am sending you. I will accompany the Captain on the mission.”
HAM said, “For purely professional reasons, I am sure.”
