by GARY DARBY
“Why?” Teng asked.
“Are you just going to take my word that we went thirty light-years? Once we come out of the hyperfold, do the thumb thing again and you’ll see that those two twins have slid toward Deneb Cyan by about a quarter-thumb.”
“Wait,” Federov huffed. “You're kidding, right? That’s not really the way you’ve measured your velocity and distance?”
The pilot snorted in disgust. “Of course not,” he replied. “We’ve got navigational beacons floating all over the place to triangulate time, distance, and speed.”
Motioning with a hand to his right, the pilot said, “You can take a look at the readings and if you want to use the computer and run the equations to check, help yourself.”
He gave a little shrug with one shoulder. “Just easier and faster with the thumb, however. Stand by for transition to light speed.”
In an instant, the stars winked out, and the vu-screen showed the black curtain of n-space. The pilot busied himself at his station and then spoke over his shoulder, “From here on, don’t talk to me, it gets a little dicey aligning the folds just right, so keep quiet and don’t jostle my elbow.”
Teng kept his eyes glued on the vu-screen. For several minutes, nothing happened, the black curtain of n-space continued to show on the screen.
Then, the blankness turned into a bright shimmering, which seemed to become thinner and thinner, similar to a stretched rubber band before it snapped to a central dazzling point.
In an instant, stars reappeared on the vu-screen and the pilot sat back in his chair and let out a soft breath.
Glancing over to his right side console and gesturing at the star vista, he muttered, “It appears we made it.”
Federov stepped to the console and studied the various readings. He straightened and held his thumb up toward the vu-screen, sighting along it toward Deneb Cyan.
He glanced over at Teng, his eyes wide. “Pretty close to thirty light-years in just under a second.”
Scratching at his head, he mused aloud, “Kinda puts a whole new meaning to ‘let’s take a spin around the block,’ doesn’t it?”
Teng realized he had been holding his breath and let it out with a rush. He unlatched his c-bars, stood and walked over to Federov. “You’re sure?”
“Yes, I don’t think they could fake these readings. And he’s right; those stars wouldn’t have moved that much without us going at least that far.”
“Incredible,” Teng answered. “I—” he began when there was a series of loud beeps from the pilot’s board.
“What the—” the pilot sputtered and then snapped forward in his chair.
“What’s wrong?” Teng demanded.
The pilot didn’t respond though his fingers flew over the board. “We’ve got company,” he rasped out.
He motioned toward his sensor bank. “I’m reading dozens of ships in n-space, heading inbound. They’re not on a straight tangent for us, but pretty close.”
Federov whipped out his L-gun. “You led us straight into a Faction trap!”
“No, I didn’t, I swear!” the pilot replied. He studied his pilot board intently. “They must have spotted us; they’re coming out of n-space.”
His fingers slid over the sensor panel and said, “Take a look for yourself.”
The vu-screen had gone to long-range, high def. Teng strode forward to get a better look. “They’re not ours,” he observed. “And they don’t match the description of Mongan ships.”
Federov took one look at the sensor display and the vu-screen. “Punch us out of here, now!” he bawled to the Faction mercenary.
Teng spun around, “What—”
“Those are Sha’anay!” Federov snapped through tight lips. “And that has all the earmarks of an invasion fleet headed straight for Imperium space.”
Chapter Nineteen
Star date: 2443.097
Aboard the SlipShip in the Planemo Passage
Demanding loudly, Teng asked, “Are you positive?!”
“Absolutely,” Federov replied. “And, unless we want to get blasted to molecules, I suggest we bug out of here–now.”
Teng snapped at the pilot. “Do it!”
Teng and Federov sprang to their acceleration chairs and the pilot all but threw himself at his console. The SlipShip turned 180 degrees on its axis and in seconds had gone to hyperlight speed.
“Will you be able to get us back through the hyperfold loci?” Teng called out to the pilot.
The man didn’t answer but worked his controls feverishly. Teng started to speak again, but Federov reached over to stop him. “Don’t jostle his elbow, remember?”
Teng watched as the Faction pilot’s hands flew over his board. Seconds later, the familiar shimmering hyperfold curtain appeared followed by the brilliant burst of light and then ordinary space.
“Where are we?” Teng demanded.
The SlipShip did a quick arc to the right, and the pilot gestured with his head toward the vu-screen. “See for yourself.”
Teng took one look, and his mouth dropped. “Is that—”
“Yeah,” the man replied, “home sweet home. Got a little rushed back there, must’ve dropped a decimal point or something to come out so close to the rock.”
“Glad you didn’t drop two decimals,” Federov muttered, “or we might have materialized inside the planet’s core.”
Teng inquired of Federov, “Using the assumption that the Sha’anay might detect the complex, how soon do you think their first warship could be on-station?”
“Hard to say,” Federov answered. “I don’t know what their warp capabilities are. But do you honestly think they’d slow down long enough to take out something this puny?”
“I don’t know,” Teng answered. “But I can’t take the chance of letting this technology land in their hands. So, give me a best guess using your ship as a model.”
“Umm, five or so hours.”
Teng turned to the pilot and asked, “How soon until we’re in the bay and powered down?”
“Fifteen minutes.”
“Make it faster and get me in communication with the IntrepidX,” Teng ordered. He turned to Federov. “How soon can you set sail?”
“Take about a half hour to get everyone back aboard,” Federov replied. “We can shove off right after that.”
“I want all the compu hardware and software brought on board as well,” Teng instructed. “How much additional time to do that?”
Federov got a faraway look in his eyes as he did a quick mental calculation. “About three hours, at least,” he answered. “Maybe a bit more.”
“That’s cutting it pretty close if your hyperspeed assumptions are accurate,” Teng replied tautly.
Drawing in a breath, he ordered, “Make it so, but see if you can make it less than that.”
Just then, a voice over the communicator said, “This is the IntrepidX.”
Crisply, Federov replied, “This is the captain, put the exec on.”
Seconds later, another voice answered, “Sir, this is Commander Jeth.”
“Make all preparations to get underway," Federov directed.
"Get a message to Lieutenant Grayson down below that she is stop decrypting the files and that I want all of the compu hardware and software up shipped to the IntrepidX. Tell her to have it done within two hours. Is that clear?”
“Aye, aye, sir,” Jeth replied.
Federov glanced over at Teng, who called out, “Commander Jeth, this is Rhee, can you patch me through to Jin-Sang?”
“Stand by, sir,” she replied.
Moments later came, “Lieutenant Jin-Sang, sir.”
“Lieutenant,” Teng asked, “how fast can you set demo charges throughout the complex?"
“Depends on how much damage you want, Mr. Rhee,” Jin-Sang replied.
“I don’t want enough left to make a good jig-saw puzzle,” Teng answered.
“In that case,” the marine officer replied, “I recommend that the IntrepidX d
estroy the surface dome and the hangar bay doors, and we’ll use a pint-sized neutronium charge to destroy the remainder.”
“How much time do you need,” Teng asked, “to place the bomb and set the detonation sequence?”
“We’ll have to bring it down from the ship,” Jing-Sang replied, “unseal it, enter the timing codes and set the activation key.”
He paused and then said, “Should have it ready to go bang in under an hour.”
“Then do so,” Teng directed. “We may have a Sha’anay task force headed our way and they could be in range within a few hours. I’m going to operate on the assumption that they are hostile, and I don’t want the complex captured.
“Transfer your prisoners to the Intrepid’s brig and I want your marines to help the Navy’s landing party transfer all of the equipment that’s slated for shuttle up to the ship.
“I want that facility destroyed one hour after I give the word. Understood?”
“Yes, sir, understood,” Jin-Sang acknowledged.
“We’re inbound,” Teng went on, “and after we’ve pressurized the hangar, I want two marines inside the SlipShip control room guarding our pilot.
“I want him bound and placed in an acceleration chair. He is not to touch the controls or anything else in the control room. Is that clear?”
“Perfectly, sir.”
“Good, in the meantime, move out sharply. If the Sha’anay do show up, I want us long gone by then.”
“Roger that, sir!”
He turned to Federov, who was staring with raised eyebrows. “I was going to evacuate and blow it anyway,” he explained.
“I have no doubt that the Faction got off a call for help. However, I was counting on their response to be in a day or two instead of the hours that we’re now facing.”
He wrinkled his brow and let out a sigh. “The Sha’anay have only speeded things up. Who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky, and the two of them will meet on a collision course; the Sha’anay get slowed down, and the Faction gets sliced and diced.”
Minutes later, the SlipShip had grounded, and the marine guard was in place in the control room. After debarking from the ship, Federov glanced back at the gleaming ship and shook his head in wonderment.
“Thirty light-years in less than a second. Sweet Sagittarius, I’m still trying to wrap my head around that.”
“Me too,” Teng responded. “Look, just in case, who in your crew could take a crash course in piloting this ship?”
Without missing a beat, Federov replied, “Me. I would love to get my hands on that hyperfold matrix program and put it into the InrepidX. We’d run rings around the Mongans, the Faction, and for good measure, the Sha’anay, too.”
“I’m sure you would,” Teng responded, “but you can’t give up your command, so who else?”
“Spoilsport,” Federov answered. “Let’s make it Jeth and Kelli, they’re both hotshot pilots, or they wouldn’t be on my crew.”
“Have them report to the SlipShip,” Teng ordered. “For now, have them map out the controls for the nucleonic and hyperlight drives, we’ll worry about the hyperfold stuff later.”
“Course and destination?” Federov asked.
Hesitating for a second, Teng replied, “How long would it take us to get back to Alpha Epsilon?”
“For the IntrepidX at full speed, about two days,” Federov replied.
He hooked a thumb toward the SlipShip. “If she has a standard h-drive, and we have to fly her the whole way, add another two days or so. Is that our destination?”
Teng drew in a breath. “For now, yes, but that might change.”
“Well, for what it’s worth,” Federov replied, “I hope you don’t change your mind. The Imperium Navy could sure use that technology if we’re going to be fighting on two fronts.”
Teng faced Federov fully. “I understand, captain, but there are other things in play here that might force me to go in another direction.”
He changed the subject by saying, “Anything from Lieutenant Grayson on those files that they’ve decrypted that mention armaments for this ship?”
“Unless they came up with something during our little joyride, no,” Federov responded.
“Lots of data on ship schematics, power conversion formulas, warp distortion fields, navigational plots for hyperfold locales; everything related to the SlipShip design and hyperfold theory. But so far nothing about weapons.”
Federov shook his head and frowned. “However, she did mention that they’ve come across a whole section of files with an encryption sequence that is quite a bit more complicated than they’ve ever seen; may take a while to crack.”
“If ever,” Teng muttered.
“Pardon?” Federov asked.
“The Faction uses an incredibly sophisticated technology to encode their communications and their computer files. Frankly, if that’s what they’ve done here, your guys might be top-notch, but they won’t be good enough. Trust me on this, I know.”
“So, once we boost out, do I keep my guys on it?” Federov asked.
Teng nodded in response. “Yes. On those encrypts that they make headway, keep them at it, but the ones they can’t, have them identify those particular files, and I’ll try and get them to SOG for decrypt.”
“Try?” Federov asked sharply.
Teng ignored his question and strode away from the ship. They were halfway across the hangar and well out of earshot of anyone nearby when Teng stopped and turned to Federov.
“What are the chances of my getting an n-space communication link established this far out?”
“You want to warn the Imperium of the Sha’anay?”
“That, among other things,” Teng replied.
“Straight to the receiver or relay?”
“Straight.”
“Pretty chancy,” Federov admitted. “We might be able to punch it through but you’re better off using an interstellar relay station.”
“I don’t want to do that,” Teng answered. “Even encrypted, there’s just a chance the message might fall into the wrong hands.”
Teng glanced back at the SlipShip. Several hangar spotlights shone on the gleaming vessel, causing the ship to shine as if covered in polished silver.
“Captain,” Teng began, “I’ll be honest with you, for most of my career I’ve worked in places where you spend a good portion of the time always watching your back, never quite sure who you could count on or should.
“I don’t know you, you don’t know me, but Admiral Stannick trusts both of us or she wouldn’t have put us together on this mission. But that she trusts you is good enough for me.”
He waved at the hyperfold ship and let his eyes take in its unique ovoid lines from bow to stern. “I came Out Here looking for one thing and found something completely different, and now I’ve got to make a critical decision on what to do with it.
“However, with the state of the Imperium and in particular the High Council, that’s not an easy decision. A month ago, I would’ve flown that ship straight to Luna and had no qualms turning it over to representatives from the High Council.
“Now, I have serious reservations that that is the right course of action. I do know that we can’t let it fall into Faction hands again or the Sha’anay for that matter.
“I told you to head for Epsilon because we need to get away from here and head somewhere, and that’s where my instincts tell me to go because that’s where Cait Stannick is. But I need to contact her first.”
He then muttered, “Only, I’m afraid that she might not be able to reply.”
Federov shook his head at Teng. “She should be able to as she’s not as limited in available power as we are.”
“That’s not what I was talking about,” Teng replied. “She may not even be in command at this time. For all I know, she’s joined General Rosberg in confinement on Earth.”
“What?!” Federov stammered.
Teng took a deep breath and explained. “The admiral told me that because o
f what happened to the fleet in the Helix, there was a very distinct possibility that she would be relieved of command.
“And, through guilt by association, meaning General Rosberg, she could wind up in the same place as he, an Imperium Guard prison cell.”
“I don’t believe it,” Federov stated. “The High Council wouldn’t—”
“Believe it,” Teng replied bluntly.
“The dynamics of Imperium government are changing even as we speak, and that applies in particular to the council. The dual threat posed by the Mongans and the Sha’anay have fundamentally altered the fabric of our institutional bodies of governance.
“Don’t be surprised if the council suspends the Grand Charter and its attendant rights in the name of security to meet that threat.”
He turned to Federov. “My point is, if I send that message to Admiral Stannick and she’s not on the receiving end, then, shortly afterward, you’re going to get some very explicit orders.
“Which, most likely, will direct you to arrest me, place me in the brig, and turn me over to the appropriate Imperium authorities. They’ll also want a full report on what I, or rather, what we’ve been doing Out Here.”
He fixed Federov with hard eyes. “Captain, do with me as you must, all I ask is one thing from you.”
Federov’s countenance had grown more worried and set the longer Teng spoke. To Teng’s last remark, he replied gruffly, “Go on.”
“My family,” Teng began, “was massacred on Science Station 83 by the Faction when I was a child.
“Cait Stannick, a young naval officer then, was part of the force that rescued me and some other survivors from the Faction.
“Since then, I’ve devoted my life to stamping out the Gadions wherever and whenever I can find them.
“In some ways, I’ve done a pretty good job of it, in others, well, it’s no secret the Faction is still growing and still killing innocent people.”
Teng stopped to let the emotion die down so that he could continue. “Captain, I’m convinced that this technology, if it gets into the wrong hands, be it Faction, or Mongan, or Sha’anay is going to lead to more innocents being killed.
“And—I—can’t—let—that—happen.
