by Dale Olausen
“Probably, if they want to,” answered Coryn, suddenly very tired. “But it’s hardly worth their while to attack us for a single Stone. Expensive as they are, it’s still cheaper to buy them. Presumably they don’t know that this one hangs around Sarah’s neck.”
“I hope you’re right,” said Steph. “This ship is in no shape to face any more battles.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
The Camin made it to the orange sun’s planetary system without incident. A force of Ranger ships was supposed to arrive as a back-up, but Coryn knew that it could take days for them to catch up with the fleet little scoutship. He hoped that he was right about The Organization not being likely to pursue them over a single Witches’ Stone, but the truth was, he couldn’t be sure.
The fate of the Beth had him worried, too – the Camin’s long range sensors had detected its beacon on the planet, so it was probably still in one piece. He had sent a terse message from Kordea, updating the Beth on the essentials of the Camin’s mission, but there had been no acknowledgement of it. Perhaps Castilo was being very careful of attracting hostile attention. Or maybe the ship’s long range communications were out. Or, perhaps, Coryn thought with gritted teeth, the ship was in Organization hands. Worse yet, maybe it was only a smoking ruin; the beacon still operating, directing any searchers to the wreck.
He reminded himself of what he had told Max and Fiana—was it only days ago? Risking other people’s lives was always troubling, but the safety of millions was more important than that of the few, like it or not. And The Organization was threatening the way of life of a whole galaxy with their bland assumption that they had the right to make decisions for everybody. That thought brought him back to the present situation; he and Steph were not finished yet—not with Sarah’s body lying comatose in the Camin, waiting to be reunited with her mind, on the Planet of the Amartos.
“How’s it look, Steph,” Coryn asked the pilot. “Are you picking up anything besides the beacon from the Beth?”
“We’re still a long way off. All I get is the beacon”, Steph replied, with a shake of his head. “But something else isn’t right. I’m picking up slight gravitational anomalies in this system – I don’t recall them being there when we were here before. Maybe they mean nothing but extremely dark asteroids, or some peculiar effect of dark matter, due to this being so far out on the fringe of the galaxy. But….” He sighed.
“You don’t like it, at all,” Coryn finished for him.
“Recent omega-hops can also leave traces like that.” Steph sighed again.
“Maybe the Wanderer has left the system,” Coryn suggested hopefully. “Or the Rangers got here before we did.”
“Or maybe we’ve got more Organization ships about than we know what to do with,” Steph said.
“Shit. Sarah’s running out of time. And if the Beth needs us…we’re going to have to go with the dark asteroids, or the peculiarities of dark matter, since we don’t know anything for sure. Let’s head for the planet, but let’s also keep sharp eyes on the scanners. Not much else we can do.”
*****
The Camin was crossing the orbit of the fourth planet when trouble shifted from potential to actual. The ship was suddenly rocked by a nasty blast. The impact knocked Coryn out of his seat, and Steph knocked his forehead on a panel, the mishap resulting in a spurt of blood and curses.
“Damn it,” Steph dabbed at the blood while scanning the instrument panels. “It’s the blasted Wanderer. It must have gone to ground on that planet’s moon, probably was ready to do so the moment we hopped into the system. The Hounds knew that we would have to pass fairly close to the fourth planet on the way back from Kordea. They must have got word that we were coming back.
“That hit did us some bad damage. The Camin is not in shape for a battle – the defence shield didn’t hold. And the starboard engine’s out. We’re on half power, at best, and the hounds are closing in.
“That hit,” he added, “was either a fluke, or they were trying to disable us, rather than destroy us.”
Coryn turned to look at Sarah and the greencat. They were so close to giving Sarah the chance that she needed! So close to getting the animal back home! So close to thwarting The Organization’s plan to capture another amarto-sensitive! So close to getting out of this with all their lives!
“I think I can get us into orbit before the hounds catch us,” Steph said, looking determined. “It would buy us some time, if I can keep the planet between us and their ship. Stannis, the old space dog in charge of Tactical Training, used to call it playing orbital tag. It’s a matter of matching speed and manoeuvres. Did you ever study under Stannis, or did you wash out before you had the pleasure?”
The pilot’s face broke into a wicked grin.
Coryn shook his head, but Steph’s change of attitude gave him an injection of hope. Maybe the pilot did have a miracle or two still behind that bloody forehead!
Steph entered some commands into the Camin’s computer.
“It’s pretty simple, really,” he tried to explain. “When the distance between us and that ship is the same as pi times the distance between us and the planet, we break off into a circular orbit. The Hounds will have to do the same – they’ll have too much momentum to alter course and try to cut in front of us as we finish the first orbit. Besides, even if they could cut in front of us, we’d see them right away and be in the perfect firing position to take them out with our bow-chaser laser cannon. Stannis used to get rhapsodic describing how such things were done in the ancient ocean-going days; he said that they called it ‘having the weather gauge on’ the opponent’s ship. Some of the trainees thought he was right bonkers, but Jaime and I—Jaime’s the guy who figured out the Firedragon—we ate up all that stuff.”
“The main problem that I see with your plan,” Coryn said, his eyebrows high, “and it’s actually a rather large problem, is that the Camin doesn’t have a bow-chaser laser cannon. Or any laser cannons.”
Steph shrugged and smiled. “Yeah, but the Hounds don’t know that.”
The Camin’s computer slipped the ship into orbit at the precise moment required. As Steph had predicted, The Organization ship did the same.
“Where are they?” Coryn asked, eyeing the viso-screen.
“Behind the planet,” Steph replied. “If we keep the planet between us and them, they can’t do us any harm.”
Tense, Coryn took a stroll back to where Sarah lay, with her guardian cat. He looked at her face, shook his head, and ran a hand over the greencat’s furry neck. Suddenly, the ship’s engines - or what was left of them - came to life. He felt a lurch, stumbled slightly, and then made his way back to his seat beside Steph.
“They must have made a move to go upstairs,” Steph explained. “Our computer caught it and responded in kind. If they climb and we don’t, we would eventually lose the planet between us and them, and they could come at us from above. Same thing if they go down and we stay up. We’d lose the planet block and they could attack from below.”
“How long can we go on playing tag like this?” Coryn asked.
“That depends on whether they want to kill us or capture us,” Steph replied.
“The Hounds want the amarto on board”, said Coryn. “And if they know that Sarah’s with us, and they well may, if they managed to intercept the message we sent from Kordea to the Beth, they want her. She’s the real prize, to them, so, yes, I think they’d want us alive, rather than to shoot us out of space.”
“Makes sense,” Steph agreed. “They could have taken us out with that first shot, back near the fourth planet.
“It’ll take them days, maybe weeks to catch up with us,” he continued. “Of course, one or the other of us might run out of fuel first. Or our Ranger ships might get here. Which is what I’m hoping for.”
Coryn looked back at Sarah and the greencat. Sarah made him uncomfortable. Her expression was even more vacant now than it had been when they had left Kordea. Life was ebbing out of her. Th
e cat lay quietly on the floor, beside her couch.
“They’d want the cat, too, if they figured out its role in this,” Coryn said with a sigh.
“They’d probably dissect it,” Steph added brusquely.
The cat raised its head at the words. It stared directly at the pilot.
“No offence, kitty,” Steph threw his hands up in mock surrender. “You might be getting off easy, compared to the party they’d throw for the rest of us.”
*****
The orbital tag game went on for hours. The Organization ship would try a manoeuvre; the Camin would respond with an identical manoeuvre. Since the Wanderer was moving first, the slight lag in response time meant that it was gaining on the Camin, but ever so slowly. Steph was confident that the Ranger ships would reach the system long before The Organization ship caught up with them.
However, they were not to have the luxury of playing a waiting game. The greencat began to show impatience. It got up onto its feet, from its usual position near Sarah, and began to pace, as if in parody of Coryn’s tendency to do the same.
“The kitty’s getting restless,” Steph said, looking alarmed. “Coryn, Hounds are one thing, but an assertive green cougar pacing behind me is quite another.”
“I think I understand its problem,” Coryn said, with a shake of his head. “It’s thinking what I’m thinking. It’s no good, Steph. I’ve had my eyes on Sarah. She won’t last much longer. The cat senses that too, probably better than we can. We can’t afford to wait for the Rangers. We have to get her down on the planet, somehow.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Steph replied, groaning. “If she dies up here, we’ll have failed in the mission. Not good for our records,” he added, trying to grin.
“Besides, I’ve gotten kind of fond of her,” Coryn said, sounding wistful.
“You alyens; always keen on the women,” Steph said with a mock-sad shake of his head.
“Let’s see,” he continued. “Maybe I can recall more of Stannis’ lessons. How about this one? We don’t respond to their next orbital manoeuvre. Just remain in this orbit – we’d be like a ship dead in the water, Stannis would say. Hounds’ll think we’re out of fuel. That actually is not far from the truth – having only one good engine hasn’t helped our fuel efficiency.”
“I’m listening.” Coryn nodded.
“They’ll catch up with us, and come nice and close. When they drop their shields to board us, we hit them with small arms. They’ll be too close to us to use their big weapons. It’ll help even out the odds, and give us the advantage of surprise.”
“What small arms might you be talking about?” Coryn asked sceptically.
“The Camin’s got deflector beams up front. They’re not really weapons - they’re used to clear debris ahead of the ship during high speed operations in normal space. You don’t want to be hitting anything, even small dust particles, at half the speed of light. The Camin’s deflectors are powerful – they have to be, since the ship is so fast. They’d never penetrate a defence shield, but they ought to do the trick if there’s no shield.
“And you can use them as weapons?”
Steph shrugged. “I’ve operated them manually, zapping micro-asteroids and stuff like that. It kills time on a dull trip. I’m a pretty good shot. Once their shields are down, I’ll go for their weapons and engines. It just might work.”
He played with the controls a bit, showing Coryn how they worked. The Agent watched his motions carefully.
“It sounds like a plan. I just hope that The Organization ship captain hasn’t got a Stannis in his background. Let’s do it.”
Shortly, the Wanderer attempted another manoeuvre, firing its engines to gain a higher orbit. Steph was ready, and fired the Camin’s remaining engine; then cut it off to sputter, as if the ship were running out of fuel. The Organization ship responded by waiting for the Camin to come around one more orbit, then dropping down to its level, and drawing close.
The Wanderer hailed the Camin. An attractive female officer, apparently in her early thirties, appeared on the Camin’s screen.
“This is Sub-Commander Talia Beiler of The Neotsarian Forces. We have you out-gunned and out-numbered, Camin 001. You are also out of fuel. Cease resistance, power down any weapons systems, and prepare to be boarded.”
Coryn flicked on the ship-to-ship to reply:
“This is Coryn Leigh of the Camin 001. We will follow directions, but under protest. We are not at war, and this is neutral space. This ship is under civilian control. I represent important mining interests, and you are interfering with a significant prospecting expedition. You are perpetrating an act of piracy.”
“Duly noted,” Talia Beiler replied drily. “But Mr. Coryn Leigh, you are not just any civilian. Your extraordinary talents are well known, as are your ‘mining interests’.”
Coryn flicked off the ship-to-ship communicator, and snarled.
Steph slowly manoeuvred the deflector beam emitters to target the Wanderer. His action drew no response from the other ship. Its shields began to power down. The two men in the Camin held their breath.
But before the Wanderer had fully dropped its shields, Coryn observed the signal of another ship coming up fast, from the planet’s surface. He looked to Steph in alarm.
“Damn. It’s got to be the Beth. What lousy timing.”
The Wanderer powered up its shields again. The Beth hailed both ships. Coryn turned the ship-to-ship back on. With a sinking heart, he saw the figure of a middle-aged military officer, dressed in Organization grey.
“This is Commander Javron, in control of the Beth 117,” he said tersely. “Sub-Commander Beiler, I want you to board that ship, retrieve the amarto that they have, and take the crew prisoner. Ensure that the girl is not hurt. I will provide cover fire from this ship, if required.”
He continued: “Camin 001, make no attempts to resist. In addition to yourselves, I have the crew of the Beth.”
“Understood,” Coryn said, biting his lip. “I repeat; we do this under protest.”
He flicked off the ship-to-ship.
“They can’t have Sarah,” he said to Steph. “This is end times. Only one way out now.”
Steph nodded. His fingers danced over the keyboard on his computer console. Coryn spoke the words that he had hoped to never have to utter.
“This is Agent Coryn Leigh, in command of the Camin 001. Initiate self-destruct sequence – Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Infinity.”
“This is Pilot Steph Clennan, piloting the Camin 001. Initiate self-destruct sequence – Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eternity.”
They sat back down in their seats to await the boarding party. A verbal command was all it would take now for the ship to blow itself apart. It would probably take The Organization ship with it. The Beth would be safe as long as it kept to her current position. Coryn noted that Javron was making sure to remain at a distance. He’s not a rash man, Coryn thought. He doesn’t like surprises.
They watched the screens as the Wanderer again powered down her shields. Then they were down—and Coryn and Steph gasped in unison! The Beth fired on the Wanderer!
They watched transfixed as two laser beams hit The Organization ship’s engine pod in quick succession. A return blast came from the Wanderer, hitting the Beth, but was mostly absorbed by its shields. Some of the energy reverberated towards the Camin, rocking the scoutship and spilling Steph out of his seat. He hit his head in the same place he had before – and gazed woozily up at Coryn.
Coryn jumped into the vacant pilot’s chair. He grabbed the deflector beam controls and aimed the emitters at the Wanderer’s laser cannon, which was now aimed at the Beth, pouring intense, deadly energy at her. The Beth was holding still – all the power the Explorer ship could muster, must have been going to hold her shields intact! Or else, two laser shots were all the offensive ammo the Explorer ship contained! Coryn pressed the firing button and held it down.
The Wanderer’s unprotected laser cannon sheared off the ship with a
satisfying burst of energy. A brief blast of what looked like steam followed. Some of the ship’s atmosphere! The outer hull must have breached! The leak stopped – the emergency seals must have closed up. But they were thin and shields would never close around them. One little shot properly directed, and the Wanderer was done for.
There was another general ship-to-ship hail. Steph had recovered himself and flicked on the screen.
“Organization ship, stand down or we will fire on that breach in your outer hull.”
It was the familiar face of Dav Castilo. Coryn and Steph’s faces broke into broad grins.
The face of Sub-Commander Tania Beiler came on. “Where is Javron?” she shouted.
“He’s a prisoner,” Castilo said. “I repeat, stand down or we will fire.”
“Understood, but under protest,” she snarled.
Coryn broke into howls of laughter. Steph had to speak first.
“Castilo, you old space dog,” he yelled. “Am I glad to see you. How in the hell…?”
Castilo grinned back.
“We had a run-in with Javron down on the planet. It took some doing, but we managed to persuade him to co-operate with us.” He brought a laser pistol into view. “He’s actually quite a good actor, when properly motivated.”
Coryn had finally managed to quell his mirth.
“Castilo, you and your Explorers are magnificent. If you ever need a job, I am sure the Agency or the military would be interested.”
Dav laughed. “No thanks, an Explorer crew could never handle the discipline.
“That was some pretty nice shooting on your part, too,” he added. “Give Steph my congratulations.”
“That was Coryn’s shooting,” Steph broke in. “Not bad for an Agent. Mind you, I taught him everything he knows about deflector beams.”
“Spoken like a humble spaceship pilot”, Coryn parried. “But seriously Dav, it’s good to know that you and your crew made it through. You all did, did you…?”
