by Isaac Hooke
“Our thermals should be hidden now,” Lyra said, panting. “Issue an emergency dive on a trajectory perpendicular to our current course.”
“Issuing emergency course change,” Cub said. Several seconds later: “Alien ship is not pursuing.”
Lyra was very pale, and she began to shake. Badly.
Tane felt terrible as well. He shivered as the frigid Essence continued to rip through his being, feeling like a thousand daggers of ice shredding his insides. He could barely hold his head upright. Phosphenes dotted his vision, and he thought he was going to throw up.
Without warning Lyra released Tane’s inner core and crumpled. Jed, leaning forward, shot an arm out and caught her.
Tane slouched beside her as the terrible cold lifted.
“I couldn’t do it,” Lyra said with a whimper.
“Alien ship is altering course to pursue us again,” Cub said.
“I was too weak,” Lyra continued. She glanced at Tane. “Even with your help. And all the Chrysalium I wear. I thought I could do it. I really did. But healing her took too much out of me. I’m sorry.”
Tane’s stomach lurched as something struck the ship and the inertial dampeners momentarily struggled to compensate.
“We’ve just been hit by a grappling hook,” Cub said. “The dwellers are reeling us in.”
“What’s the ETA?” Jed said.
“We’ll dock in approximately two minutes,” Cub said.
Jed shifted. “Can you break free?”
The hull moaned loudly for several moments, then quietude descended once more. That quiet seemed disturbing somehow, probably because of the tension in the air.
“Negative,” Cub said. “Would you like me to continue trying? Keeping in mind that there is a distinct possibility we’ll burn out our engines.”
“No,” Lyra said weakly. “Let’s not burn them out, nor give the aliens a reason to open fire and disable us. We’ll need those engines for our second escape attempt.” She replaced her gloves. “Jed, I’m too exhausted to face our enemies.”
“I’ll keep them back when the time comes,” Jed said.
“I’ll help you,” Tane said, though he knew he wouldn’t be able to Siphon, not for at least another half hour. He patted his D18 instead.
Jed nodded at him. “When we dock, stay behind me.”
Lyra glanced at Sinive. “We have to get her suited up.”
Tane put his gloves back on and pressurized his own suit, and then he helped Jed and Lyra replace Sinive’s spacesuit. Sinive remained unresponsive the whole time, but at least her breathing had returned to normal, her chest rising and falling regularly.
When she was suited up, Jed placed Sinive into one of the seats and the clamps secured her. Then the others took the remaining seats and waited for the alien ship to swallow them.
Tane accessed the external cam to observe the battle. One of the pincer-shaped dweller ships was clearly out of the battle, hanging back with sparks emerging from damaged hull sections. The hook ship, which was reeling in Grizzly Cub, seemed unharmed, as did the other two dweller ships escorting it. Meanwhile, one of the TSN spacecraft was completely gone—either it had jumped out to fetch more reinforcements, or it had disintegrated. Two others bore a few impact craters on their hulls, but otherwise seemed fully engaged in the battle. The fourth continued to linger off to the side, as if acting merely as an observer. It was too small to appear as anything other than a dot on the display.
There was no sign of the human corvette the dwellers had commandeered.
“What happened to the Harbinger corvette?” Tane asked. “Is it destroyed?”
“It jumped,” Cub said.
“Evidently the aliens don’t want to risk having it fall into TSN hands,” Lyra said.
Tane nodded slowly. “Speaking of the TSN, what happens if they decide to shoot us down before the aliens grab us?”
“Then one moment we exist and the next we do not,” Lyra said simply.
“You may have noticed that one of the human ships was staying back,” Cub said. “Well it’s finally moving into action, and is pulling well away from the TSN line. Its public profile declares it as a Scimitar class warship.”
“It’s too small to be a Scimitar,” Jed said.
“Yes,” Cub said. “The profile is spoofed.”
Tane spotted the vessel on the video. It was headed directly for the hook ship.
“A strange strategy…” Jed said. Apparently he was viewing the feed as well. Or some tactical display Tane didn’t have access to. “Looks almost like they intend to ram.”
A black ball of energy launched from the hook ship, courtesy of the vessel’s Dark Essence thrower. It moved at incredible speed, and the incoming human ship dove narrowly dove out of the way.
“It’s the Red Grizzly!” Lyra said.
Tane saw a white beam of light erupt from the Essence lance of a TSN vessel behind the Red Grizzly. The beam was also aimed at the incoming ship, and the Red Grizzly once again barely dodged. No doubt infrared lasers from both sides were pummeling the Rapier class vessel as well—the occasional blue, translucent half-domes that marked laser impacts with energy shields momentarily lit up along the outskirts of the Red Grizzly’s hull.
Cub said: “I’m receiving a broadcast message, all channels.”
“Let’s hear it,” Lyra said.
An authoritative voice came over the comm: “Unauthorized craft, move away from the enemy immediately or we will be forced to shoot you down.”
“Guess the TSN isn’t too happy with Nebb,” Tane commented.
The Red Grizzly shot past and Tane was jerked forward in his seat before the inertial dampeners kicked in.
“What was that?” Lyra said.
“The Red Grizzly just performed a high speed maneuver equivalent to threading the eye of a needle,” Cub said.
Jed lifted an eyebrow. “How so?”
“It flew between the Grizzly Cub and the hook ship,” the shuttle’s AI said. “Avoiding impact with either one of them. At the speeds and distances involved, the margin for error was extremely thin. The chances of even an AI pulling off such a maneuver are ridiculously small. It is… incredible.”
“Incredibly dangerous,” Jed commented.
“And that’s not all,” Cub said. “The Red Grizzly severed the alien grappling hook in the process, freeing us, while at the same time launching a grappling hook of their own. The Red Grizzly is carrying us away from the battle and reeling us in at the same time.”
Nebb’s voice came over the comm. “It’s howdy doody time boys and girls!”
“Nebb,” Lyra said. “You’re one crazy SOB.”
“Why thank you,” Nebb replied over the comm almost immediately. He was close enough for real-time. “You’re pretty hot yourself. What are you doing tonight?”
Lyra didn’t answer. Tane thought she rolled her eyes behind her faceplate.
“By the way, did you get my jump specialist?” Nebb said.
“We did,” Lyra told him.
“Much appreciated.” The humor had faded from Nebb’s voice. “How’s she doing?”
“Recovering well,” Lyra said.
“I owe you for that,” Nebb said.
“You’re paying me back just fine right now,” Lyra said. “Cub, how long until we dock?”
“ETA three minutes,” Cub replied.
“That’s a long time to be dragged in open space…” Jed said.
“Yes,” Lyra said. “But a shuttle is a small target. Especially given the widening distance between ourselves and the hook ship. The Red Grizzly is the endangered one.”
“Speaking of the hook ship,” Cub said. “The alien vessel is issuing emergency deceleration. As are its escorts: I believe the dwellers are attempting to change directions to pursue.”
“Not surprising,” Lyra said.
“They’ve gotta be pissed,” Tane said. “They almost had me, and now I’m slipping from their grasp.”
“W
e haven’t gotten away scot-free just yet,” Lyra said.
As it reeled in the shuttle, the Red Grizzly continued to take occasional fire from both dweller and human alike, though the aliens and TSN seemed to be focusing the brunt of their attacks upon one another.
When the shuttle finally docked, Tane waited for the hangar bay to pressurize, and then removed his suit helmet, attaching it to the provided loop on his utility belt. Then he carried Sinive aboard.
“Take her to sickbay,” Lyra instructed. She too had doffed her helmet and secured it to the belt of her spacesuit. “I want the medical robots keeping her under observation. Have them alert me if her condition worsens.”
“Will do,” Tane said, taking the leftmost passage beyond the airlock. Jed and Lyra took the right, heading for the cockpit.
Tane had to walk sideways through the tight passageway, because carrying Sinive in his arms widened his profile considerably, and the suit he wore wasn’t exactly skintight. For once Grizz didn’t play games with the breach seals blocking his path and opened them without Tane having to say a word; obviously the AI cared about Sinive’s well-being.
Tane deposited her in sickbay, placing her down on one of the bunks and removing her helmet so she could breathe the ship’s air. Her face was so very pale.
“Hang in there, my friend,” Tane said. He slid off one glove and rested a knuckle against her cheek. Her skin felt a little cold to the touch. He remembered Lyra’s words. She still has to fight.
Tane combed a stray strand of hair from her face. “You got this, girl. We’re all rooting for you.”
He relayed Lyra’s instructions to the spider-like medical robot, then hurried back through the passageways to the cockpit. Tane felt the deck shake ominously a few times along the way, and he almost threw on his helmet for fear of a hull breach.
When he finally reached the cockpit, he assumed his customary position beside Jed near the entrance. Lyra was sitting down beside Positron and Nebb. The feed from the Red Grizzly’s nose camera was projected on the bulkhead in front of them. Tane was glad he still had access to that feed, though at the moment all it showed was an empty starfield. No, not entirely empty. There was a planet, about the size of his thumbnail, hanging in the upper right. Though it was hard to tell because of its size, it looked like a barren, rocky world. Cloudless, and probably bereft of any life. He ran an ID on it, which told him the planet was rock planet IS-A-3. Remus.
“What’s the situation?” Tane asked.
“Not good,” Nebb replied. “Weapons are out across the board.”
“The TSN’s doing?” Tane said.
“No, the dwellers,” Nebb said. “They are closer to us, after all.”
“Alien ships are a bit tougher when you fight them with their shields intact,” Grizz said.
“Just a bit,” Nebb agreed. He glanced at Tane. “And get this: though they’ve taken out our weapons, strangely the aliens have left our engines intact, and allowed our shields time to regenerate. It’s almost like they’re toying with us. Or trying to decide what they want to do with us. They’re still pursuing, of course, but most of their fire is directed against the TSN. They do hit us with the occasional laser, mainly to remind us they’re still around. They haven’t shot their Essence thrower our way since that first attack, however.”
“Of course not,” Lyra said. “We’re carrying valuable cargo.”
Nebb gave Tane an appraising look. “What do they see in you anyway?”
“That’s what I’d like to know,” Tane said. “By the way, why did you decide to come back, in the end?”
“I don’t really know.” Nebb returned his attention to the tactical display screen only he could see. “Guess I’ve developed a conscience.”
“When a smuggler develops a conscience, you know the galaxy is going to end soon,” Grizz said.
“That’s right, AI,” Nebb said. “You just wish your were human again.”
“I will be once I purchase a few nice synthetic bodies in my retirement,” the Red Grizzly’s AI said. “Maybe I’ll get a few designed in your image.”
“Hey, I got a copyright on my rugged good looks,” Nebb said.
“Are we able to jump?” Tane asked.
“I replaced Bad Apple and Sour Grapes with two new temps while I was gone,” Nebb said. “I exhausted the first one getting here. The second I had manning the Essence lance until the dwellers shot the weapon to hell, and now I have him waiting in the jump chamber on my command.”
“We can’t jump, not this close to the enemy,” Lyra told Tane. “They’d disrupt it for sure, and exhaust our specialist.”
Nebb nodded. “The Volur is right, kid. I decided to get smart, and hold back on any jump attempts for now, given what happened the last time. We’ll bide our time, waiting for the right opportunity.”
“One of the TSN craft just pulled in front of the others,” Positron announced.
“Oh crap,” Nebb said. “Looks like they decided they don’t want the aliens to have you after all.”
Tane felt the hull shake. “What happened?”
“The Red Grizzly is taking heavy dragon fire from that ship,” Nebb said. “Starboard shields just went down!”
“Look at that,” Positron said.
Tane saw nothing on the nose cam, and realized Positron must have been referring to something happening on that elusive tactical display he couldn’t see.
“One of the dweller ships just pulled up along our starboard side, twenty thousand kilometers out,” Nebb said. “They’re physically shielding us with their vessel, and driving the TSN ship back.”
“Signaling ownership,” Lyra said.
“I’m not liking this,” Tane said.
“Take us on a course away from both ships,” Nebb said. “Let’s put some distance between us.”
“You got it,” Grizz said.
The distant planet shifted out of view on the video feed as the Red Grizzly made the necessary course correction.
A moment later the AI spoke again. “As soon as I turned to port, the hook ship behind us increased laser fire. They’re concentrating on the port side of our vessel. Several of the bolts missed, though a few made contact.”
“Warning shots?” Jed said.
“Steady as she goes…” Nebb said.
The deck shook.
“They released another round of laser pulses,” Grizz said. “This time all the beams contacted. We’ve got breaches all along our port side.”
“They’re giving us a hint…” Lyra said. “They don’t want us changing directions.”
Nebb sighed. “Take us back along our previous heading.”
“Done,” Grizz said.
The planet shifted into view on the video feed once more.
“They’ve stopped firing,” Grizz said.
Nebb nodded. “It’s almost like they approve of our destination. Like they’re herding us.”
“Toward Remus?” Tane said.
Nebb nodded. “Our current course will take us directly to the planet.”
Tane glanced at Lyra. “What’s on Remus?”
Lyra shook her head, saying nothing.
Nebb must have thought Tane was talking to him, because the smuggler said: “I originally planned to use its gravity to slingshot past for a speed boost.”
“It won’t be enough,” Lyra said. “But there’s something else that might be of use to us.”
“Something else?” Nebb said. He looked at her, seeming confused.
“I want you to scan for a thermal anomaly,” Lyra said. “I’m feeding Grizz the radiation signature as we speak.”
“I’ve received it,” the Red Grizzly’s AI said. “When we are in range of the planet, I will scan for the signature.”
“Once we’ve arrived,” Lyra said. “Tane, Jed and I will take the shuttle down to the surface to investigate the anomaly. In the meantime, I want you to stay in orbit, Nebb. Do your best to distract the aliens. I don’t want them to know we’ve la
unched a shuttle to the surface. Hide us with your thermal signature, if possible.”
“That might prove a bit difficult,” Nebb said. “The thermal energy from your reentry will be visible from high orbit. We’d have to place ourselves at exactly the right angle between the enemy ships and yourselves, and it just won’t be possible to cover all angles all the time, not with three alien ships out there.”
“Do your best,” Lyra said. “Expel debris. Decoys if you have them. Whatever it takes.”
“Wait, what’s going on?” Tane said. “What’s down there? What aren’t you telling me?”
She lowered her gaze. “What I did, I did for your protection. I did because I thought it was the right thing to do. But I realize now it was a mistake.”
“What are you talking about?” Tane said. Confused, he glanced at Jed, but the Bander also would not meet his eye.
She cleared her throat. “I haven’t told you the whole truth about yourself, Tane Ganeth. But I suppose it’s finally time you learned. You may not like what you hear, however.”
32
Tane simply stared at her. She hasn’t told me the whole truth? Why am I not surprised?
He clenched his fists in sudden anger. Beside him Jed shifted slightly; Tane knew the man was prepared to subdue him. The Bander didn’t have anything to worry about: Tane had no intention of attacking Lyra. He just needed an outlet for his rage, and squeezing his fingers proved the safest release at the moment.
“Come with me,” Lyra said. She slid past him into the passageway beyond. “Jed, stay.”
“Like a pet…” Nebb commented.
“Silence, Smuggler,” Jed told the man.
Tane followed Lyra down the tight corridor in his bulky spacesuit until he and the Volur were out of sight, and earshot, of the others.
“I’ve raised an Essence field around us,” Lyra said. “It will prevent the Red Grizzly’s AI from listening in and sharing what we say with Nebb.”
Tane simply scowled at her, waiting for her to talk.
“When I first met you,” Lyra said. “I told you my team and I happened to be in the vicinity when the police call came. That wasn’t entirely true.”
