by Terry Mixon
Annette opened a directional channel at where Persephone would be and sent a message detailing where they’d spotted the recovery ship, its course, and speed. Princess Kelsey would adjust her approach to match.
The Marine Raider strike ship was the very epitome of stealthy. Given enough time, they could sneak up on the recovery ship before the enemy detected them.
If, of course, they had the time to do it. If there really was a flip point out here, the recovery ship might be almost on top of it.
Kelsey felt like a caged animal sitting in her command chair. She wanted to pace the bridge, but that wouldn’t project the right image.
The damned ship was right there in front of her, but she couldn’t rush the job. This had to be done exactly right or her mother would die.
Talbot laid a hand on her arm. “She’s going to be okay. I’ll do my absolute best to make certain of that.”
She sighed and tried to relax a little. “I know you will, but I can’t stop worrying. If any part of this goes wrong, we’re so screwed.
“I think it’s about time you headed down to get your marines suited up. We’ll launch the pinnaces in fifteen minutes. You should be able to sneak up on them with all the stealth materials built into the pinnaces’ hulls.”
“The marines are already loaded,” he said. “All I have to do is go down and get into my armor. Just keep breathing. We’ll save her.”
“Then you’d best be on your way. I’ll let you know as soon as we’re ready to launch and give you a final update on the situation.”
Talbot gave her arm another squeeze before heading for the hatch.
“Not to be a wet blanket, but you know it’s not going to be that easy, don’t you?” Angela asked.
Kelsey sighed and slowly nodded. “Nothing ever is. Especially around us, it seems. How long until we’re within range to launch the pinnaces?”
The marine checked her console. “We could launch in ten minutes, but I think we can probably slip in a little closer. That fifteen-minute time frame you mentioned is probably just about right.”
“Any sign of the flip point?”
“We’re not going to see it on passive scanners. We’ll just have to hope that we’re nowhere close to the damned thing. We can start scanning once we secure the recovery ship and make sure the prisoners are safe.”
“I’m worried,” Kelsey said. “Not just about this operation, but about what we’re going to find on the other side of that flip point. I have to be honest, these ghosts aren’t sounding like quality allies, if you know what I mean.”
She’d learned a little bit more from Jacob about the history of the clans. In one respect, they were just like the New Terran Empire. They were determined to overthrow the Rebel Empire and restore civilization. They meant to crush the AIs.
The problem was that they’d known for five hundred years that they were going to have to do this. There was a hardness to them. A grim resoluteness where the ends justified the means. At least that’s how it had sounded to her. She hoped she was wrong.
These people sounded fanatical. She wasn’t certain that they’d see much difference between the New Terran Empire and the Rebel Empire. They intended to rule and would fight to make that happen.
With any luck, she’d stop the recovery ship before it came anywhere close to the flip point. The clans would figure out something was up here when they came to collect their crops, but that was at least eight months away.
And it wasn’t as if the new prisoners really knew what had happened to them or how they’d gotten here. All Kelsey and her people needed to do was slip away undiscovered and make it home. They could come back and make contact with the clans in a more organized manner before things went to hell.
“The recovery ship is changing course,” Jack Thompson said. “They might have detected something.”
The course change was relatively minor, but since it was the first time the recovery ship had deviated, Kelsey was certain it meant something. If the recovery ship was close enough to the flip point to detect it with their crappy scanners, time was exceptionally short.
She checked the timer on her implants. Talbot had left the bridge twelve minutes ago. She opened a channel to him.
“You’re on. It looks as if they might’ve detected the flip point. Launch the pinnaces. Remember, I want everyone alive. Stunners only.”
“I’ll do the best I can, but no promises. If one of them does something epically stupid, like threaten the prisoners, I’m going to blow them away.”
She felt a slight jar as the pinnaces undocked from Persephone. They glided ahead of the strike ship and arrowed toward the target. By her best estimate, they’d be there in another fifteen minutes.
Kelsey prayed that was soon enough.
38
Raul was so focused on the flip point that the helm officer had to repeat herself before he grasped what he was hearing.
“Sir? I’m detecting a scanner anomaly behind us. It’s almost as if there’s a shadow of some kind.”
He pulled up the readings on his console and cursed. “I think you’re right. There’s a ship back there. It’s almost undetectable, but I think some of the gravitic waves coming off the flip point are screwing with their stealth.”
Raul wanted to redirect the scanners to the rear and boost their power, but he didn’t dare. That would give them away.
“We can only hope those are small craft,” he said after a moment. “If they can’t flip, we’ll still get away.”
“We’re only about five minutes from the flip point at this speed,” Wells said. “I’ll call the captain.”
“No. If that is an enemy ship coming to collect us, there’s nothing she can do. We’ll flip to the other system and see what we find. If a ship comes through after us, I suppose we’ll have to surrender.”
Of course, it wouldn’t be that simple. He couldn’t allow them to take him again. It was always conceivable they could break him and get the codes to access the manufacturing equipment. He couldn’t allow that, no matter what.
Time flowed like molasses. He expected the shadowy ship to attack at any moment. Yet, they didn’t.
“We’re inside the outer boundaries of the flip point,” Wells said.
“Are you certain that if we attempt to flip, we’ll succeed? Let me stress that if we fail, that ship—if it is one—will certainly attack.”
“As certain as I can be without trying, sir. I’ve given it a large margin of error since we haven’t thoroughly charted it yet.”
“Initiate the flip.”
He held his breath and then relaxed as they flipped into the new system. They’d made it!
“Possible hostile vessel detected,” the helm officer said. “It’s a big one, sitting just off the flip point.”
That was not what Raul wanted to hear. “Call Commander Giguere. What can you tell me about the ship?”
Wells stared at her console. “I’m not certain it’s a ship now that I’m getting a better look. It might be some kind of station. Like the guard fortresses at Dresden.”
Raul certainly hoped not. The recovery ship was completely unarmed. His options if they challenged him were to flee or surrender.
“We’re also picking up vessels moving inside the system,” Wells said. “Quite a few of them. It seems we’ve stumbled into an occupied area.”
“One controlled by the ghosts, or so it seems,” Raul said. “Have we gotten any reaction from that station?”
Wells shook her head. “Not yet. Perhaps it’s unmanned or abandoned.”
No one was that lucky. Raul was certain that they’d surprised the people on the station, but they’d respond shortly.
“Incoming signal from the station,” the junior officer said. “A demand for our identity and surrender in the name of something called the Clan Council. What should I do, sir?”
If only there was something they could do. These were the ghosts. The jig was up.
Then a plan of action occurr
ed to him. They might not survive doing it, but it would certainly screw things up for the New Terran Empire.
“Maximum acceleration directly toward the station,” he snapped. “Prepare to jettison the arms holding the Dresden orbital on my command. And open a response channel.”
When she nodded, he continued. “This is Commander Raul Castille of the New Terran Empire. We’ve found you now, and we’re going to exterminate you.”
He made a gesture to kill the channel. “Cut the Dresden orbital loose as soon as it’s on a collision course with that station.”
“Jettisoning arms in three…two…one…mark!” Wells said.
The ship jarred abruptly as it ejected its cargo arms. The helm officer must’ve begun slowing them down because the orbital was quickly receding ahead of them.
Commander Giguere came into the compartment. “What’s going on? What’s our status?”
Raul ignored her. “Are we still inside the flip point, Lieutenant Wells?”
“Barely, sir. The flip capacitors are still charging but should be online in less than thirty seconds.”
“Take us back as soon as you can.”
Raul turned to Veronica with a sad smile. “We found the ghosts. Or perhaps it would be better to say that they found us.”
“The station’s firing missiles,” Wells said. “They’re going to shred the orbital, but that’s not going to save them. The debris field is going to hit them like a shotgun blast.”
Veronica stared at him in horror. “What the hell have you done?”
“The best thing I could under the circumstances,” he said. “Made our enemies’ lives much more difficult.”
“Flipping in five seconds,” Wells said.
A fierce burst of light announced the destruction of the Dresden orbital. Nothing came close to the raw power of a failing fusion plant.
As Wells had said, the debris from the explosion would still slam into the station. There was no way to stop it.
He smiled coldly. He certainly hoped Princess Kelsey enjoyed the havoc he just unleashed upon her. With any luck at all, he’d ruined any chance she had of making allies of the Empire’s enemies.
Kelsey was still cursing the bastards’ timing when they reappeared. Talbot had been just about to board them when they’d vanished. Now they had another chance.
“Go fully active,” she ordered. “Open a channel to that ship.”
As soon as she was certain the transmission was going out, she began speaking. “This is Princess Kelsey Bandar. Surrender your ship at once.”
That’s when she noticed something was wrong with the recovery ship. Its arms were gone, and so was the Dresden orbital. Why the hell had they cut it loose?
The other ship failed to respond but began accelerating into the system.
“The pinnaces are going to latch on in about twenty seconds,” Angela said.
That would put an end to that fight. The escaped prisoners were no match for marines in combat armor. They’d be able to secure the ship in very short order.
Right then, the recovery ship cut acceleration.
Angela gestured toward the screen. “Incoming transmission.”
An image of the escaped destroyer commander appeared on the main monitor. The woman looked haggard.
“We surrender.”
That had to gall her, Kelsey suspected. The woman had done far too much surrendering to the New Terran Empire for her to be comfortable.
“My marines will be boarding you in moments,” Kelsey said sternly. “You will not resist them. Have any of the people you took hostage been harmed?”
“I’ll quibble terms with you, Princess Kelsey. We don’t have hostages. That implies that we we’re holding them in exchange for something from you. Those people were prisoners. And no, none of them have been harmed.”
Kelsey forced herself not to relax as relief flooded through her. Her mother was okay.
“Quibble as much as you like, Commander Giguere, so long as you don’t resist us.”
“I don’t see much point in resisting. The damage is already done. We found the ghosts on the other side of this flip point. Commander Castille made certain that they’re not going to be well disposed toward you.”
Kelsey had no idea what that meant, but she could figure it out later. “Where is he?”
“I believe he’s returned to the cabin he was using. No doubt he wants to surrender in his own way. Or maybe resist. I have no idea.”
Ice flooded through Kelsey. “You need to secure him right now. When he escaped from us, he killed almost all of his fellow prisoners. If he harms any of the people on your ship, I’m going to hold you personally responsible.”
The woman’s expression became stricken. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t.”
The screen went blank.
Angela turned toward her. “The pinnaces just locked onto the recovery ship’s hull. They’ll be inside very shortly. They’ll stop any shenanigans.”
Kelsey certainly hoped that was true. “If they ran into the clans on the other side of that flip point, there could be a hostile response coming back through that we can’t deal with. From what I’ve been able to gather, they sound like the kind of people that shoot first and don’t bother asking questions later.
“Launch an FTL probe through the flip point and signal Audacious to gather every one of our people. It’s very possible that we’re going to have a fight on our hands before too long.”
“Should they come out to join us?”
“No,” Kelsey said. “Have them start for the multiflip point with the freighter. If we can conceal its existence, or at least the fact that it has multiple destinations, we might be able to slip away. I’d rather not get into a shooting war with the clans.”
“I thought the multiflip point was too constrained to allow Audacious to pass through.”
“It is. Carl is going to have to jury-rig some kind of frequency modulator for the carrier’s flip drive. Otherwise, the clans are going to be able to bring enough ships to overwhelm us. Thankfully, his calculations indicate the freighter should be able to make the flip. Signal Commodore Anderson to get moving.
“As soon as we have the recovery ship secure, we need to get everyone off it and get moving too. Audacious will be able to beat us there as it is. We can’t afford to waste a single moment.”
39
Veronica raced out of the bridge as soon as she cut the com channel. If Castille did anything to the prisoners, they were screwed.
She found Armand Fuller guarding the corridor where they were holding the prisoners. He raised an eyebrow as she ran up.
“We’ve flipped twice,” he said. “Is something wrong?”
“You could say that. Where’s Castille?”
Her executive officer frowned. “On the bridge, I assume. Why?”
“I don’t have time to explain. Release the prisoners. We’re about to be boarded, and we’re surrendering. Make sure none of our people put up a fight.”
She ran toward the rear of the ship without waiting for a response. He was a solid officer. He’d do what she’d ordered him to.
Where else could Castille have gone? She didn’t believe for a moment that he’d gone back to his quarters. Still, she checked them all. Empty, as expected.
That really left only one place that he could’ve gone. Engineering.
Her blood ran cold as soon as she arrived in the engineering compartment. Graham was slumped over the console just inside the hatch. It looked as though he’d been stunned.
Moments later, she found Castille beside the fusion plant. Not the controls. The plant itself.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
He glanced at her and smiled. “What duty demands of me. I figured your engineer wouldn’t understand. You know what I’m talking about, though. I can’t allow them to capture me.”
She wished she’d picked up a weapon. He was bigger than she was and armed. “That doesn’t mean you have to kill everyone.”<
br />
Castille straightened. “I’m afraid it does. Trust me. It’s cleaner this way.”
Veronica nodded slowly. “I suppose you’re right.”
She took two steps toward him, making certain to move slowly so as not to alarm him.
It didn’t work. He raised the flechette pistol he’d held behind his back. “You can stop right there. You’re an exceptionally resourceful woman, so I can’t allow you to come any closer.”
Right at that moment, the sound of metal on metal echoed throughout the hull. Someone had just docked, and they hadn’t been gentle about it. The enemy was here.
“Well, I suppose we’ll have guests just in time to—”
Not waiting for him to finish what he was saying, Veronica snatched up a wrench that Graham must’ve left sitting next to the grav drive and hurled it at Castille.
He ducked, raised the flechette pistol, and opened fire.
Veronica was already moving, throwing herself against the fusion plant. A glance where he’d been standing showed a jury-rigged bomb composed of a plasma grenade.
She yanked it free just as he shot her leg. Intense pain lanced through her as it gave way. She landed hard, and the bomb tumbled from her grasp.
The plasma grenade shed the tape holding its activator spoon down as it rolled across the compartment and stopped at Castille’s feet. The pinging noise of the light metal hitting something in the engineering compartment when it flew free was ridiculously high pitched.
Castille cursed and dove for the grenade. He snatched it up and drew back to throw it toward her.
Veronica barely had time to cover her eyes before it went off in his hand.
The blast picked her up and hurled her across the engineering compartment. She slammed into the bulkhead and felt bones breaking.
Since she was still in agony, Veronica assumed the fusion plant had somehow survived the explosion. The tears in her eyes clouded her view of the engineering compartment, but it certainly looked as if the grav drives were wrecked and the flip drive was a smoking ruin.
The fusion plant wasn’t undamaged, either. The overhead lights flickered and went out as it shut down. Emergency lights sprang up, but they only dimly lit the interior of the engineering compartment.
