The Jump Point

by Anthony James

  With any luck Timon would be in better form when he woke and they'll be able to leave the environs of this inhospitable world. It couldn't be soon enough for her liking.

  Mahra gently lifted the protesting zimonette from her lap and headed to see how Timon was getting on.

  Sind met her at the entrance to Pellis's cabin. He obviously had the same concerns and was eager to depart. He graced her with a little half-smile as they paused at the doorway before entering. He gave a slight upward movement of his eyebrows, palmed the door open, and gestured for her to enter in front of him.

  Pellis was just barely awake. His eyes had that half-asleep narrowed look that was a combination of sleep and sedative. Making a visible effort, he gave them each a wry smile.

  "Now, what are the both of you doing here? Isn't it enough that you already treat me like a big child without having to come and check whether I'm tucked in properly? Come on, enough you two. Let's get out of here. Time's a-wasting and I'd rather not be around Belshore much longer if I can help it."

  "Our thoughts exactly, Timon," answered Sind. "We were both thinking you'd had quite enough of the easy life lying around here in your bed and that it was high time you got up and did something useful."

  "Oh yes. Listen to him now would you, Mahra. A man lies dying in his bed and not a thought from his hard heart." He grinned, a little more easily this time.

  "Seriously Timon, how are you feeling?" asked Mahra.

  "Oh, I'll be right enough I suppose." He shrugged. "Give me a few hours and I'll be as good as new." Dismissing the subject entirely, his tone became crisper. "I suggest that both of you stop wasting time with this idle chit-chat and get to your stations anyway. I want to get us moving as soon as possible."

  He dismissed them with a wave of his hand and pulled himself upright. An expression of discomfort passed across his face.

  "Go on the both of you, to work. I'll join you shortly, after I've attended to nature's necessities. Come on. What are you waiting for? Can't you give a man a little privacy?"

  Mahra and Sind acceded, palming the door shut behind them. Mahra gave Sind an inquiring glance as they stood outside the door, but he shrugged in response. He was obviously satisfied with what he had seen and made his way forward along the corridor, leaving Mahra to make her own way to her station. She only stopped to collect Chutzpah on the way. If she left him out of a session in the pod, she'd hear about it for days.

  Mahra strapped herself into position, listening patiently for the signs that Timon was on line. They had lain at orbit too long for her liking, but they had to be sure that Timon was fit before they took off. She could have piloted the ship, but it was far better to trust that task to one who was totally familiar with it, particularly with a ship as well equipped as The Dark Falcon. No, she felt far more at home in her place in the pod. At last, Timon's voice came over the com and they got under way.

  There was a slim belt of circling debris on the outer perimeter of Belshore's space that required some tricky navigation. For those unfamiliar with the territory it would have presented a distinct hazard, but Timon and Sind had been this way many times before. As they neared the sphere of spinning junk, Chutzpah became agitated and hopped up and down on her shoulder. Mahra couldn't tell whether he was vocalising as well. The com covered her hearing with the noise of ongoing banter between Timon, Sind and Belshore approach control. She had used Chutzpah's senses as an indicator too many times before though, not to pay attention, so she scanned the surrounding fields carefully, as the tricky manoeuvres began.

  She saw the first ship even before the tell-tale indicator appeared on the holo overlaying her view.

  "Timon, company. Two seventy up."

  "Yes, I see it. Hold on Mahra, we're going," came Pellis's warning as The Dark Falcon swung into a tight arc away from the approaching ship.

  Timon reacted immediately not even waiting for any identification of the newcomer. Being in proximity to Belshore was enough. The Dark Falcon was built to take movement such as this, and the ship slid into the turn smoothly, accelerating. Pellis's presumptions proved to be founded because the other ship responded immediately with a new burst of speed.

  "Looks like it's on, Mahra," came Timon's voice over the com just as another indicator winked into existence flashing red, up and behind them, shortly followed by yet another.

  "Yep. Right, Timon. Three's a crowd. Up and behind."

  "Got them. All right then. Let's go."

  Pellis threw The Dark Falcon into a tight upward arc in an attempt to shake the first ship and get over and behind the newcomers.

  A narrow beam of light pierced the darkness of their wake as he executed the move. As far as Mahra was concerned it was clearly no overture of friendly intention and her finger hovered over the fire pads waiting for an opportunity to respond in kind. The voices of Sind and Pellis filled her com, reeling off figures and trajectories and she tried to shut them out, concentrating on the markers in her view, now targets for her poised attention.

  Pellis rolled The Dark Falcon, taking her round to complete the arc, pointing the ship back in the direction they had just come from. As he did, a cloud of small metallic particles spewed from the rear to fill the void behind them. Mahra's finger hung poised, straining for the instant when the two ships behind would turn to follow. She almost fired as they turned — almost — but she knew the shots would be wasted. Each attacking ship split off and away in opposite directions, turning, one on each side to face her, well out of effective range.

  "Very clever, mates," she muttered to the two pursuers. "Timon, hard turn, back through the dust."

  "Got you," Pellis responded immediately, banking The Dark Falcon about to pass through the particle cloud he had released moments before. The two ships off to their side swept in to catch them in the interlocking pattern of their aims.

  Mahra found what she expected as they emerged from the dust. The first ship approached the area warily, its weapons person waiting for the moment when he or she might distinguish the signature of The Dark Falcon from the blur of images left by the metal haze sitting in her wake. The ship was almost upon them when they emerged and Mahra was ready. Her fingers stabbed down in rapid sequence, sending shot after shot volleying out to meet their foe before it had time to react. Most found their mark. Mahra was shocked as her shots were joined by other fire that lanced from the area behind them. The other two ships had fired regardless of their companion!

  They had ignored the cloud's obscuring shadow and fired anyway, hoping to meet their quarry regardless of the safety of the other ship in front. Mahra had only an instant to see her target rupture in a tumour of light and go spinning toward the waiting world of Belshore. Further impacts met The Dark Falcon and she was tossed heavily to the side with the force.

  "Down Timon, now!" she yelled into the com, knowing that they could not sustain such firepower for long and remain in one piece.

  Pellis obliged instantly, dropping the ship down and away from their obscuring cloud. The area glowed with incandescence as the small metal particles were caught in the beams playing across them.

  "Watch the back," Timon snapped as he thrust The Dark Falcon forward with a burst of acceleration.

  It took less than a second for the other two ships to realise that their quarry had left the camouflage and to leap forward in pursuit, one above and one below. They continued firing as they came, the occasional beam rocking The Dark Falcon as they tried to make good their escape. Mahra sent fire back toward them but with limited success. They were two and she was just one. She could not hope to match their combined firepower. Both ships were larger and more powerful than The Dark Falcon and each could easily take more damage than she could deliver by splitting her fire. As she assessed the odds, she continued her fire, looking for a solution.

  If she concentrated her fire on one of the pursuing ships, it would leave them open to the attention of the other. If she continued to split her fire, she had little hope of scoring enou
gh damage on either to have any effect. She started to panic as she was jolted to one side and a large gouge splashed across the outer skin by another beam finding its mark.

  "Hold Mahra, and be ready to front," came Timon's voice, snapping her away from the growing desperation in her mind.

  Mahra felt the ship begin to turn upward, bringing them closer to the higher ship's range, but away from the arc of fire of that below them. Timon was about to make them a sitting target. There was no way The Dark Falcon could survive through a sustained barrage from the rear, and her heart lurched as the impact of another shot caught them on the tail.

  Suddenly, The Dark Falcon came to a virtual stop in mid-space. As their velocity died, the ships tailing them shot past above and below. Just as rapidly, Timon accelerated. Mahra was ready and as they drew up behind the leading ship, it sat, perfectly framed, in her line of fire. At that moment, she understood what Timon had done and she let loose. The ship in front glowed and then erupted as Mahra's beams found their mark. One down — one to go.

  Seemingly oblivious to the fate of its two companions, the remaining ship turned and began inching toward them. Timon turned nose down to face the lingering threat. Rapidly, the two ships accelerated toward each other, each blazing with the fury of their active weaponry. The Dark Falcon was by far the more agile of the two and Timon used it to great advantage. Mahra continued to pour fire at their opponent as Timon, letting out one long whoop over the com, started a dive that seemed destined to take them on a path to suicide, nose down into a maelstrom of searing fire.

  Mahra's fingers pounded the pads sending forth all that The Dark Falcon could muster. She felt the ship shudder as it sustained hit after hit, but Timon was good at what he did, and he ducked and wove as if The Dark Falcon was an extension of himself, mapping a path through the lancing beams.

  Mahra concentrated her efforts on one small section of the approaching ship, targeting a point on the aggressor's hull just above where the drives should lie. It was total concentration for her as The Dark Falcon bobbed in and out of the threatening beams. Her perspective changed from instant to instant. The buffeting they were receiving threw her aim off.

  Timon had set his course straight for the nose of their opponent, only moving from it to take subtle evasive action. Mahra's eyes grew wider as the ships sped toward each other, convinced that at any instant The Dark Falcon would fall to the opposing weaponry.

  Finally, just as it seemed as if they were about to collide, her efforts bore fruit. The Dark Falcon's weaponry speared through the other ship's drive section and it blossomed into a ball of fire and debris.

  They swept through the growing cloud, the ship shaken by the force of the blast, as huge chunks of twisted metal spun past them trailed by streamers of burning gas.

  Mahra was unconvinced that it was finished. She scanned her displays over and over, checking for any remaining signs of craft, but her field of view was clear. She remained poised for action, the adrenaline still coursing through her system.

  "Good shooting, Mez Kaitan. Well done."

  "Timon Pellis, you are a complete madman," Mahra responded in disbelief. "What was that last little run meant to prove?"

  "Ah well, you know. Sometimes you just have to grab the situation with both hands. I think that's enough for one day though. Let's get the hell out of here."

  She rubbed the back of her neck and shook her head as she felt The Dark Falcon pull away from the now-dead ships' fragments. Keeping one eye on the displays, she listened in as Timon and Sind ran through the damage checks. She still couldn't quite believe how close it had been. They had been big ships, all three, and they packed quite a bit of weaponry. Somebody wanted them out of the picture pretty badly. On balance, they should not have been able to get past two ships of that size let alone three, but they had, and that was good enough for her.

  She remained strapped in her couch and scanned the surrounding displays until they were well out of Belshore space. As she did so, she thought about how Chutzpah had prompted her; how he'd done so more than once, and she began to wonder how.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Mahra met them in the rec room when she was finally satisfied that they were out of further danger. Timon and Sind seemed content that The Dark Falcon was going to make it without emergency repairs, even though the ship had taken a fair beating during their encounter.

  They assembled with the customary mugs of kahveh, looking a little sheepish, a raised eyebrow from Pellis being the only comment for several minutes. Finally, Timon cleared his throat.

  "Well, just a little warm, wouldn't you say? Some damned fine piloting though, even if I do say so myself." He grinned.

  "Humph," answered Sind. "And if it hadn't been for the suggestion of Mahra here, where would we have been then?"

  "Point granted, Jay my friend. Credit where credit is due. That was a fine tactical display there, Mahra. Good shooting too. Got us out of a sticky situation even if it took my skill to put it into place, eh?"

  Mahra dipped her head in acknowledgement and Timon smiled at her.

  "Well, one thing's for sure now. They're on to us on Belshore. We seem to have drawn attention to ourselves. We'll need to keep a low profile for the next couple of months. A pity really, just when it seemed we were getting so close."

  "So, what now?" asked Jayeer.

  "First things first, Jay. Back to New Helvetica. Get rid of our suspect load and then .... " Timon shrugged. "Play it by ear a little bit, I suppose. We have to get ourselves out of the picture for a while. I don't know where yet, but something will come along. It can't be New Helvetica. Too close to the centre of operations, and if our little reception party was anything to go by, we may as well light a marker beacon for the opposition."

  Mahra didn't think she could offer anything constructive, so as Timon and Sind sat and thought, she occupied herself with an analysis of events.

  "Timon, that deceleration of yours was a pretty smart little move. Do you want to tell me about it?" she asked.

  "What? Oh that. Sometimes I forget about the capabilities of The Dark Falcon. I just fly her, you know. Jayeer here is probably better equipped to fill you in on the details. Jay?"

  "Yes ... I suppose ... " Jayeer began hesitantly. Pellis nodded and Sind continued. "The Dark Falcon has more than a little bit in advance of your normal ship's rigging. I'm sure you've noticed by now. From your position, the weaponry is fairly standard, but the battle pod itself gives you more speed, warning, and accuracy. She has not been designed for offence, but for speed and agility. But sometimes, in a tight situation, she has to be able to look after herself. The reverse drive, when you talk about that deceleration, is another of those features. It's just a little more than your normal manoeuvring drives. There are a few more non-standard features as well."

  "Such as?"

  "Well as you saw, we have some reasonable defensive countermeasures installed. The metallic dust cloud is just one such. Confuses the hell out of tracking and range guidance systems. These days, that one has become more standard. There are some additional ones though. I suppose the main one is the backup drive, for all the good it does us. I've already mentioned that drive to you before."

  "So, what do you mean, 'for all the good it does us,' Jayeer?"

  "Well, the thing is, anybody who has used it except for one or two, has been unable to report back on the results. It's a jump drive."

  "But I thought — "

  "Yes, I know," he interrupted, holding up one hand to stop her protest. "Totally the province of the Sirona. Research in that area has not been particularly public. There would probably be an outcry if it were. In theory, there should be no problem with the drive principles and we really do believe it works. The problem is, that in the testing phases, unless we were extremely lucky, the ship made the jump without any problem, we just didn't know where it jumped to. We lost a few ships and a few good people that way. A couple of times we were lucky enough to have the jump's end-point appeared
in known territory. That gave us enough confidence that the drive actually worked. And, put that together with the fact that the Sirona seem to have been doing it for years ... " He shrugged.

  "You sound like you're talking from first-hand experience, Jayeer."

  "Well, yes, I had some personal involvement in the early programs, as did Timon, but that was as far as it went. They've come a long way since those times. So, we have the drive but, and it's a big but, we're not quite sure if we can use it."

  "I see." Mahra nodded thoughtfully. "Anything else?"

  "One or two things. The external skin for instance. That is a special alloy. It's blast and beam resistant and makes the ship exceedingly difficult to track. I'm sure there are more, but I suspect they will come out in time if the situation arises."

  "Uh-huh. So, all this is Council funded?"

  "Of course. Even without knowing what you know, do we look like we have the kind of resources to put even a small part of that in place?"

  "No, I guess not."

  "No, you guess right," said Pellis and laughed. "That'd be the day. Well, if you two have finished your technical discussions we can get on with things." He waited for Mahra to nod. "I've been doing some thinking and I think I know how we're going to handle this when we get back to New Helvetica."

  "So, what is the plan, Timon?" she asked.

  "All in good time. All in good time. In the meantime, we have to lie low for a while and I think we can do that by using a few of your skills. Whatever we come up with, it has to be non-CoCee. The risks are too great right now. The way we first met has given me an idea. And it just might work at that. I don't think we'll leave it to the off chance of hanging around bars though. When we get into port we're going to register The Dark Falcon for hire. That way we'll have more of a choice. I think New Helvetica is as good a place as any for the sort of thing we're after. With a bit of luck, we'll find something in the couple of days it takes to get The Dark Falcon back in shape and for Jay and myself to do what needs doing with the Belshore stuff. I'll get clearance for what I'm planning at the same time."