by JN Chaney
“I bet you would,” I smirked. “Just don’t jump on anyone this time, if you can help it.”
He gave us an embarrassed smile. “I was only trying to help.”
“And you did,” said Abigail. “We’ll have to work on your form, though. You could have broken something.”
He nodded. “I’ll do whatever you ask.”
“Sounds like you’re really taking to this whole training thing,” I said, and I really did mean it. “Keep it up and you might actually learn how to fight.”
He smiled. “Thank you, Captain.”
* * *
We stepped out into the light of sun and saw the endless valley before us, a vibrant yellow field, interlaced with spots of green.
The Renegade Star had landed in the western part of the largest continent, twenty kilometers from the ocean. There was a freshwater river nearby, with two large lakes, ripe for drinking. According to the database, there had been a colony here, half a century ago, but no longer. Because of a border dispute between the Sarkonians and another group, the colony was uprooted and moved to a world called Hexios.
It seemed the Sarkonians had still yet to make use of this place, but it would do just fine for our purposes. The wildlife was mostly safe, with a larger population of smaller critters than not, and there were wild orchards of fruit trees, remnants from when the settlers had been here.
“What do you think?” asked Abigail, standing beside me as I scanned the horizon.
“It’s not a bad place,” I said. “Should be good until we send someone to pick them up.”
“About that,” she went on. “What’s your plan to get them rescued?”
“Siggy suggested an encrypted message to the Sarkonians, once we’re clear of their territory. Since they’re clearly working with the Union, they should have no problem rescuing them.”
She nodded, taking a deep breath of air. I imagined it must feel nice, not being cramped inside a ship the size of mine for once. “Does it make you miss the Church?” I asked.
“What do you mean?” she asked, turning to look at me.
“Wide open spaces, fresh air, your two feet on the ground. Seems like a better alternative to living on The Star.”
“I’m not complaining. Not at all. I’m sorry if I gave you the impression.”
“No, I didn’t think you were,” I assured her. “I was just wondering.”
“Were you?” she asked, giving me a warmer smile than I was used to seeing from her. “Interesting.”
The look on her face gave me pause, and I cleared my throat. “Okay, I’ve seen enough. Let’s head back.”
“Already?” she asked, a disappointed tone in her voice.
“What? Did you want to go frolicking in the grass? Do you need time to play in the mud?”
She laughed. “Do I strike you as the frolicking type?”
“I’m not answering that,” I said, walking back onto the ramp of the cargo bay.
I heard the footsteps running through the corridor on the second deck, growing louder by the second. “I wanna see!” demanded a tiny, eager voice. Lex darted into the cargo bay with her hands raised, looking like she was in a panic. “I wanna see the outside!”
“Whoa,” I said as she zipped past me, nearly running into my leg. I dodged her, and she continued unabated towards the ramp and into the field.
Abigail laughed when she saw her, putting her hands on her hips as the little girl sprung off the metal grate and into the mud, stomping her feet around. “It’s so pretty!”
“Great, now I’ll have mud to deal with,” I said, watching as she managed to get the wet dirt on her feet, knees, and hips, all within a matter of seconds.
Abigail laughed, and for a few seconds it looked almost natural on her.
I supposed it was nice to see the kid having fun for a change. After everything she’d been through, maybe it wasn’t so much to ask, just to play in the mud.
“Sir.” Sigmond’s voice popped into my ear, startling me.
“Something wrong, Siggy? Did the scans turn up anything?” I had asked him to continue searching the planet to look for anything Docker and Alphonse might find that could give them a means of escaping. I couldn’t have them accidentally stumbling on a lost shuttle or a communications device. They needed to stay here until we were long gone.
“Not quite, sir. On the contrary, the scans revealed very little,” he explained. “However, I am detecting another slipspace tunnel opening. It appears to be the same tunnel we used.”
“Did someone follow us here?” I asked.
“That is unclear for the moment.”
I looked back at Abigail and Lex. “Hey, you two! Get back in the ship!”
“Aw,” groaned Lex. “Already?”
“I said now!”
She frowned, but did as I told her, running back and into the cargo bay, leaving a trail of mud in her path.
Abigail came jogging behind her. “What’s going on?” she asked as she approached me.
“We have company,” I said.
“Union or Sarkonian?” she asked.
“Does it matter? Either way, we need to get out of here.”
She nodded, heading inside without another word.
I hit the control near the door, raising the lift. “Siggy, begin the ignition sequence.”
I watched the gate close, sealing me inside and killing the outside light. We just might need those hostages after all.
Fifteen
The Union ship emerged from the rift right as The Renegade Star was leaving the planet’s thermosphere.
As we did, the clarity of our long-range sensors improved and I was able to find the exact designation of the incoming vessel.
It was the UFS Galactic Dawn.
“Fuck,” I said as I watched the rift close behind the oversized death ship.
“What do we do?” asked Abigail. She’d followed me into the cockpit, refusing to stay in the lounge. I saw no point in arguing this time.
Our thrusters eased when we were clear of the planet’s gravity, and I aimed the ship toward a nearby moon. “We wait,” I finally answered, trying to kill our momentum and bring us to a dead still. “As long as the cloak stays up, we should be good. We just can’t move too much. A ship that size is bound to be able to see us. We need to keep our distance.”
“Is that the only tunnel out of this system?”
“As far as I know,” I said.
“That is affirmative, Abigail Pryar,” answered Sigmond, confirming my statement.
“Just Abigail, Sigmond,” she corrected.
“Yes, Abigail,” he acknowledged.
“Save the small talk, both of you. We need to find a way out of this. Better yet, we need to see how these bastards are tracking us."
“Do you think our hostages have some sort of transmitters on them?” asked Abigail.
I turned my head to look at her. It was the first time that thought had ever entered my brain, and I felt like a total idiot for it. “Can you go and ask them?”
“Now?” she asked. “Aren’t we in the middle of something?”
“Seems like the best time, don’t you think? If they have a transmitter, we need to get rid of it before we make another jump.”
“I shall supervise the pat-down,” said Sigmond. “I already scanned the soldiers, but perhaps further analysis will prove beneficial.”
“Don’t you need to help Jace?” asked Abigail.
“I can perform both services simultaneously.”
I nodded. “He’s a multitasker.”
“Fine, I’m going,” she said, getting up. “Try not to get us killed, Captain, if you don’t mind.”
I waited for her to leave. “No promises,” I muttered, staring at the massive Union carrier on my holo display.
* * *
The Galactic Dawn had arrived out of the slip tunnel and gone nowhere. If I hadn’t known any better, I might have thought it was abandoned.
If only I could be so l
ucky, I thought, trying to imagine a scenario, during slipspace travel, where the entire crew of thirty-thousand could have evacuated the ship. Too bad that would never happen, given the dangers involved. For example, veering off course in the middle of a tunnel could result in a ship hitting the surrounding walls, which nearly always resulted in disintegration of whatever matter it came into contact with.
No, there were people on that vessel. Tens of thousands, all following the orders of a man named General Marcus Brigham. He’d been tasked with hunting me and my crew down, all so the Union could dissect the little pale-faced girl sitting in my lounge.
Assholes, the lot of them, coming for a kid like her. I’d kill every last one, if I had to, before I let them touch her.
Special bonus if it meant saving my own ass in the process.
My eyes lingered on the holo image of the ship, wondering what the man in charge was thinking. Had he taken this assignment because he believed in the Union? Did he think kidnapping and dissecting a little girl was the righteous thing to do?
“Sir, we’re receiving a transmission,” said Sigmond, almost like an answer to my thoughts.
“Let’s hear it,” I said, leaning forward with my arms on my knees.
The speaker clicked a few times, followed by a moment of silence, and then…
“This is General Marcus Brigham with the UFS Galactic Dawn hailing Captain Jace Hughes of The Renegade Star. Respond.”
The sound of my own name gave me pause. It was strange hearing the old man speak it, almost unsettling.
“Again, this is General Brigham, speaking directly to Jace Hughes,” continued the voice. “Captain, it is in your best interest to turn yourself in, along with the stolen cargo in your possession. I assure you, if you cooperate with me, I can ease your sentencing. You have an hour to respond to this request, after which I will have little choice but to use force. This doesn’t have to be difficult, Captain Hughes.”
I smirked. “Difficult, he says. That’s a polite way of saying he doesn’t want to chase or fight me, just for me to give up now and save him the trouble. Great deal.”
“Sir,” began Sigmond. “You may be interested to know that the signal from the UFS Galactic Dawn is being sent to a specific section of the system.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“The transmission, sir. It is being sent directly to our present location.”
“That can’t be right. Are you sure they’re not just sending it to one area at a time? They could be doing it to see when we respond, which would narrow down the search.”
“No, sir,” he answered. “The transmission is targeting our exact position. That is, within one hundred kilometers.”
“Shit…” I felt my stomach turn. “The only way they can do that is if they know where we are, but the only way that’s possible is if they can track us, but that would mean…”
And then it hit me, like a bag of shit from the sky. I suddenly knew why, no matter how far we moved, no matter how many tunnels we took, the Union always stayed a step behind us, never slowing down. It all made so much sense that I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it before.
“The cloak,” I finally said. “This whole time, they’ve been using our fucking cloak!”
* * *
I had Sigmond remain on standby while I took off through the ship, passing Hitchens and Freddie in the lounge as I ran to the cargo bay. If anyone could tell me what I wanted to know, it would be the two guests we had stowed away in our makeshift cell.
“Open the wall!” I called as I entered the upper level of the bay.
Abigail was still here, rifle in hand. “I already shook them down, but they didn’t have any transmitters.”
“I’m not here for that,” I said, climbing down the stairs. I ran over to the cell wall as it began to slide up.
“Then, what? Did you figure something else out?” she asked.
I pulled out my pistol. “Stand back.”
Alphonse and Docker were inside, their backs against the wall. They cringed when the light from the carbo bay hit them, like a couple of otherworldly fiends. “Is there something we can do for you, Captain?” asked Alphonse, his hand over his eyes.
I raised my pistol and pointed it squarely at Docker’s forehead. “You can tell me how the fuck Brigham is tracking my cloak!” I looked at Alphonse. “Untie this idiot.”
He slowly moved closer to Docker and undid the knot around his mouth.
Docker shook his head, once he could talk. “I-I don’t know anything.”
“Liar,” I said, feeling an itch in my trigger finger. “Tell me the truth or I’ll start firing. You think I give two shits about keeping you alive, Docker? You tried to escape and hurt my crew. If you don’t start giving me information, you’re worthless to me.”
Docker crouched, hiding behind his arms. “I really don’t know! Don’t shoot me, please!”
Alphonse stood there, watching the two of us. “They’re here, aren’t they?” he asked.
“What?” I said.
“The Union,” he explained. “They finally showed up, didn’t they?”
I had to give him credit. He was quick to piece things together. Smarter than Docker, at least. “They have, and the only way any of us survive, yourselves included, is if I figure out how they found us.”
“What makes you think we know?” he asked.
“Maybe you don’t, but something tells me you don’t want to die in this cell.”
He slowly nodded. “All they want is the girl, right? Why not just turn her over? Isn’t that the safer move?”
“Why would I ever consider doing that? You think I’m that heartless?”
He shrugged. “You’re a Renegade, right? Isn’t that part of your job description? You work for money, not people.”
“Being a Renegade isn’t just about money,” I said.
“Oh? Then, what’s it about?”
“Whatever you want it to be, and right now it’s about staying alive and out of a Union prison cell, and protecting the people on this ship. So, one of you had better start telling me exactly how Brigham is tracking me. If it’s really my cloak, then I want to know.”
The ensign stared at me with a strange expression, like he was deciding something. Maybe it was whether or not I’d kill him if he didn’t give me what I wanted to know. Maybe he just wondered if I’d really sacrifice my ship just to save a little kid.
“I’m just an ensign,” he finally said. “I don’t know everything, but I’ll tell you what I can. You asked about the cloak and the answer is yes. That’s what they’re using to track you. If you stop using it, they won’t have a beacon to follow anymore.”
“I knew it,” I said, looking back at Docker. “You lied to me, little prick.”
“He didn’t know about it,” said Alphonse. “He was telling the truth.”
“It’s true!” said Docker.
“How can an ensign know more than you, Docker?” I asked. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“I’m a command officer. The information is compartmentalized. He doesn’t know because he doesn’t have to,” explained Alphonse.
I moved my gun over to Alphonse. “In that case, tell me what you know about the cloak, and make it quick.”
“You bought that cloak off a black-market trader, right?”
“Sure,” I said, picturing the recently deceased Fratley.
“And when you purchased it, where did the merchant say they found it?”
“Union territory, but I don’t know the specifics,” I said.
“Well, let me fill in the gaps,” said Alphonse. “Modern cloaking technology was first developed in the Union’s thirty-second research center, also known as T.R.U.S.T.” He looked behind me at Abigail. “Your friend back there knows all about that place. It’s where she stole the girl.”
Abigail walked up beside me. “Watch yourself,” she cautioned.
“Sorry,” he said, sounding genuine. “As I was sayi
ng, T.R.U.S.T. developed cloaking technology, and since then, only Union vessels have been allowed to use it. The Sarkonians managed to get their hands on some parts a few decades ago, so they have a handful of ships outfitted with it, but those have all been modified with a custom frequency by the Sarkonian government. Most of them are also outdated, since those people don’t really innovate so much as steal and modify.”
“Get to the point,” I said with my gun still on him.
“This ship, your Renegade Star, is outfitted with a fairly advanced cloak. That should tell you it didn’t come from the Sarkonians.”
“I already know it’s from a Union ship,” I said.
“Good,” he responded. “So, knowing that, what conclusions can you draw?”
I didn’t like this game, him leading me along, and me trying to piece together the clues. I couldn’t deny his subtle pokes, however, as I was now beginning to understand. “You’re saying that because my cloak came from the Union, they can track me.”
“Very good, Captain!” he exclaimed, genuine excitement in his voice. “You’ve figured it out. Yes, the cloak in your possession was once part of a Union ship, as you said, which means it can be tracked. That’s how General Brigham has been following you, ever since you started running.”
“If that’s true, why didn’t the Union come after me before? I’ve been using this cloak for months.”
He chuckled. “What use would there be in that? What would they have to gain?”
“It’s stolen tech. Why wouldn’t they want it back?”
“Captain, there are bigger things at play here than the theft and reacquisition of a single cloak. Had you never adopted the nun and child, I can assure you none of this would have happened.”
“How do I make it so they can’t track us?”
He shrugged. “I’m sorry, but I’m not an engineer. I really don’t know except to suggest you keep from using it.”
“That’s too bad, because I’m not surrendering, which means the only way you survive any of this is if I get away. You’d better think of something if you want to make it out of here alive.”
“As much as I value self-preservation, I’m afraid I really have no idea. Trust me, Captain, I don’t have any loyalty to the Union. I just work for them.”
