Twin Stars 1: Ascension

by Robyn Paterson

  But the Captain just shook her head, clearly forcing the memories away. “There was nothing left when I returned. Tester Colony 80 was an empty shell, and everyone I knew was gone. I just couldn’t stay there any longer, so I hopped the first transport out and headed for the frontier.” She said. “The rest, I think you can guess.”

  Vaela nodded slowly. It was a tale not unlike her own, she reflected, she too had fallen on the wrong side of Imperial Law and been forced to flee. In her case, it was a group of student radicals who had used her talents for breaking into computer systems to gain access to university databases and try to expose corruption. She’d been in love; she’d been stupid; and when the whole thing came down around them, she’d been the one left to be caught. Now she understood why she felt such a kinship to this woman who sat across from her, she’d felt it almost from the moment they’d met. Both of them were victims of circumstance, who’d been betrayed by the people they believed in. It left them distant from others in some ways- alone.

  She wasn’t going to give up on Ping An so easily, Vaela decided.

  “You’ll do it, won’t you?” She asked, searching for the answer in Ping An’s face. “You’ll get through this.”

  Ping An looked at her curiously, then smiled. “Yeah, I will.”

  “Then I’ve made up my mind,” Vaela said with new determination. “I’m staying.”

  “Oh?” the lady pirate asked, clearly somewhat amused. “Feeling brave, are we?”

  “No, not at all.” Vaela answered, “I just want to be where the luckiest person in the fleet is.” She looked Ping An in the eye. “And that, is right here.”

  * * *

  “What’ve you got for us, Betsey?”

  The morphic woman pivoted around, looking up as Vaela and Ping An entered the bridge.

  “Everything’s quiet, Captain. We’re trailing about a hundred thousand km behind the rest of the fleet, ten kilometers off from the Stag Beetle. It’s been like this for hours, and there’s no sign of trouble yet.” She shrugged, “At this rate, we’ll get to the jump point without any trouble.”

  Ping An looked at the monitors and nodded- “Keep up the wishful thinking.”

  “Maybe they were damaged,” Vaela said, feeling a bit hopeful. “They could have given up, you know?”

  Ping An killed that idea with a curt shake of her head. “No, they’re coming back. Leederman, got anything?”

  When there was a pause instead of an answer, Ping An turned to look at her operations man- “Well?”

  Leederman seemed to Vaela like he was trying to decide what to say, and then finally he said- “Boss, I think there’s something going on out there.”

  “Show me.”

  Between the command station and where Leederman sat a holodisplay suddenly appeared showing icons representing the two ships in the middle. Then it expanded to also show the fleet ahead of them, and then zoomed out again until all the ships were just small blue dots with notations. At that point, a yellow dot appeared as well, far ahead of the fleet’s course and to the left about forty-five degrees.

  “I’ve been seeing that sensor contact there for the past couple hours. First it was here.” The yellow spot shifted to a location directly ahead of their course, but still far away. “Then it was here.” It moved to forty-five degrees to the right of their course. “Then over here to the left, where it is now. It’s way ahead of us, on the edge of our sensor range.”

  “I see,” Ping An looked at the display carefully. “Did you confirm it with the other ships?”

  Leederman shrugged. “I tried, but their sensors aren’t as good as ours. This system is made to track small objects like fighters and missiles at extreme range, but theirs are meant for larger things. By the time I told them where to refocus and find it, the target had moved.”

  “So, it’s small?” Vaela asked, not sure what all this meant.

  “Not small,” Ping An corrected. “Just far away.”

  “From the way it’s moving around, it’s gotta be the cruiser,” Leederman said. “But why would it just dance around in front of us like that? Why not just come right in?”

  “Could he be sizing us up?” Betsey offered.

  “Maybe…” Ping An said thoughtfully. “Leederman, get me Bella.”

  A moment later, the hawkish face of the new Squadron Leader appeared on a holo-window in front of Ping An. She looked tired to Vaela, like she’d just been woken up.

  “What is it, Zhang?” The woman asked, clearly not happy.

  “Bella, we need to regroup.” Ping An told her directly. “We’re going to add a few gees of speed and join you- there’s something going on.”

  The woman’s face took on a contemptuous look. “Getting cold feet, Zhang? If you mean he’s watching us, I know all about it from your man. Just stay there and stay ready, he’ll be coming soon.”

  “Bella…” Ping An said, and Vaela could hear an edge of concern in her voice. “This doesn’t feel right, you really need to…”

  “Enough!” The other woman said, cutting her off. “I don’t want to hear your whining. Stay where you are.”

  Then the window snapped shut.

  “Idiot!” The metal rail around the captain’s area rang as Ping An struck it in frustration, then she crossed her arms and stood there for a time with her head down, thinking. When she finally looked up, she had a look of determination on her face- “Leederman, get me Captain Andrews. It’s time we changed the plan.”

  * * *

  Captain Bella St. James was already en-route to her bridge when the link came.

  “Bella,” Captain Michaels appeared in an AR window in front of her. “We’ve got a contact between us and the stragglers. I’m bringing my ship around.”

  With a thought, Bella sent her ship to battle stations, and ordered it around to face the enemy. “Good,” she told Michaels as she began to climb a ladder down to the bridge located in the core of the ship. “Now he’s taken the bait, so let’s see what kind of show Ping An gives us.”

  “Bella,” Michaels cautioned. “She might not be able to do it.”

  “No loss,” Bella responded. “We’ll just try something else. That girl’s been trouble long enough, and it’s one less share of the supply base if she’s gone.”

  “Always thinking ahead,” Michaels said with a lecherous grin. “I like that in a woman.”

  “Later, lover.” She returned flirtatiously. “First, let’s get rid of this pest.”

  * * *

  Vaela Smith had never been so frightened in her twenty-one years.

  “Boss! She’s opening fire on the Stag Beetle!”

  The young woman pulled her legs up against her chest and wrapped her arms around them in the crash couch, watching wide-eyed as the crew quickly sprang into action. Ping An had chosen well, even Vaela could see that, and while tension filled the air of the bridge, there was also focus and professionalism. She had always thought that pirates were like she saw in the dramas- undisciplined and reckless, but had quickly learned that didn’t apply to reality.

  Reckless at times, perhaps, but in space a lack of discipline got you or someone else killed quickly, and wasn’t tolerated even among the pirates.

  “Andrews’ ship is tough and maneuverable, he’ll be okay.” Ping An told her bridge crew. “Tell me about the fleet.”

  On the main tactical graphic hanging before the command station, Vaela could see the small Belleflower and the even smaller Stag Beetle sitting next to the huge Imperial cruiser. Far beyond, on the other side of the cruiser, the rest of the pirate fleet had turned and was approaching, slowly.

  “They’ve come around, and are heading right for us- I just hope they get here in time.” Leederman said in worried tones. “We’ve already lost Gunrig groups four and seven.”

  “We’re in optimal firing position,” Betsey chimed in. “Just give me a go on the plasma cannons and racks.”

  To Vaela’s surprise, Ping An announced- “Do it. I want her attention
on us.”

  The ship began to vibrate from the weapons fire, and Vaela could see representations of the weapons on the main tactical display as they unloaded on the enemy cruiser.

  Until now, the cruiser has seemingly ignored the Belleflower, focusing on the other ship and smaller Gunrigs as the main threat. By attacking, the Belleflower had shown her fangs, and the cruiser began to respond in kind after a few seconds.

  “Incoming fire!” Leederman announced. “Point defences are active, but he’s only firing plasma cannons, no missiles.”

  Then the ship began to shudder as the first plasma bursts hit the Belleflower’s shields and detonated, releasing their destructive energy against the smaller ship’s limited defenses.

  “Well, we’ve got her attention,” Betsey called out. “Shields holding.”

  “Keep on her, Betsey.”

  Someone, maybe it was Leederman, let out a high pitched cry of alarm. Vaela looked up, worrying something terrible had happened.

  On the tactical display, on the other side of the fleet from where they were, space had suddenly become filled with tiny yellow spots that were converging quickly on the remaining pirate ships from behind.

  “My god!” Betsey exclaimed.

  “There’s your missiles, Leederman.” Ping An said in a tone that clearly meant she’d expected this. “Stupid,” she muttered, and shook her head in disgust.

  “But…how?” Vaela asked, “Where did they come from? Another ship?”

  “No,” Ping An answered. “Just that cruiser. He was laying traps for us earlier. He left the missiles floating in space in our flight path, and then once we were in position he jumped in to distract us while he triggered them.”

  Vaela watched, fascinated, as the three groups of yellow dots converged on the other pirate ships and seemed to merge with them. There were still five ships in the main pirate battlegroup, and she could only imagine how many lives were now being lost across the emptiness of space. She would have been one of them if she’d transferred off, a thought that made her shiver again. Although, their current situation wasn’t much better.

  “I’ve got datastreams from the fleet,” Leederman announced. “Two ships are destroyed, the other three are badly damaged.” Then he added, as if saying it would make any difference- “We’re on our own, boss.”

  “Captain?” Betsey spun around, looking up at her.

  Vaela wondered if they were expecting their captain to run, maybe try to escape into hyperspace now that there was no fleet to protect. The opportunity must have looked pretty tempting, especially as the ship shook around them from hit after hit from the cruiser’s weapons.

  “Don’t worry, Betsey.” Ping An reassured the helmsman. “We’re still doing fine. Leederman, have the Gunrigs on point defense switch to attacking his plasma cannons. We don’t need to worry about missiles- if he had any left he’d have used them on us by now. This is actually almost a fair fight, if he didn’t outgun us five to one.”

  Vaela wasn’t sure if that last remark was meant to be gallows humour, but if it was she didn’t think it was very funny.

  Then Betsey let out a whoop! “There goes a weapons pod!” She cried, and a general cheer went up across the bridge.

  “Good, get us into that blind spot and keep us there.” Ping An told her, “We need to give Andrews more time.”

  “Huh?” Asked the morphic. “More time for what?”

  Ping An just smiled.

  Vaela could now see why Ping An had such a devout following among her people, she wasn’t just a leader- she was a showman. She liked to keep others guessing, because that way when she showed her hand it not only made the results look more impressive, but it made her look greater as well. She didn’t just want her crew’s loyalty; she wanted them to have stories to tell to others, to help spread her fame.

  She was building her own legend, one tale at a time.

  Then the young woman was thrust up into her restraints as the ship suddenly jerked downwards, her legs and arms being flung free by the sudden jerk.

  “Hull breaches!” She heard Leederman shout. “We’ve lost the port flight deck and missile rack number three. Crews responding.”

  Ping An, who the recovering Vaela realized should have been thrown across the bridge by the hit, was in fact still standing where she’d been on the command area in front of Vaela. She just had one hand on the railing now, and was gripping it tightly- so tightly Vaela thought she could see the metal had been crimped by her grip. She wasn’t sure, though, as the dim bridge light could be playing tricks on her eyes.

  “Hey!” Betsey suddenly exclaimed. “What the hell is Andrews doing? Is he trying to board that cruiser?”

  That brought all eyes to the tactical display, where the smaller Stag Beetle had indeed disappeared among the bulk of the imperial warship, leaving only a notation box showing its location.

  “Leederman, tell me when that ship attaches.” Ping An said, “Betsey, keep us alive until it does.”

  “But…But…” Betsey stammered. “Is he crazy? He’ll get slaughtered!”

  Ping An started to say something, but her voice was drowned out by another loud roar as an explosion tore through the Belleflower. The ship’s frame was carrying the sound vibrations, and unlike the other ones, this was anything but muted and distant. Sirens flared to life, and Vaela was almost sure she could hear screaming from somewhere nearby in the ship, but it may have been her imagination.

  “We’ve got hull breaches! Systems going down!” Leederman yelled. “Internal communications is down!”

  “Let the crews deal with it,” Ping An ordered. “Do we still have sensors?”

  Leederman nodded, doing his best to stay calm under his captain’s gaze.

  “And?”

  There was a delay, and then Leederman said- “They’re attached.”

  “Alright then- that’s what I’ve been waiting for.” Vaela watched as Ping An stepped away from the railing and stood again in the middle of the command area, despite the danger. “Open a channel to the captain of that cruiser, and tell him we’ve just attached a suicide ship to his hull. I’m demanding their immediate surrender.”

  The crew all turned to look at her, dumbfounded.

  “Didn’t you hear me?”

  “Uhh…” Said Leederman, still in shock. “Yeah…Okay!” Then he went to work.

  Ping An turned as he did it, looking down at Vaela. “You okay?”

  “Ahh…” Vaela said, still trying to get herself together. “F-fine. But…” Vaela said, looking at her in wonder. “Will it work? Will they really surrender?”

  “Well, we’ll soon find out.”

  It was Betsey who brought it to their attention before Vaela had noticed it. “They’ve stopped firing!” The helmsman declared and Vaela realized it was true; the distant pounding sensation of the plasma impacts was gone.

  There was a long pause, as everyone stared at their monitors- waiting, hoping. Then, as Vaela watched the giant cylinder that had dominated their lives for the last day suddenly disappeared from the tactical display altogether.

  “They’re gone,” she murmured to herself in disbelief. Then all around her the crew began to cheer.

  “I figured they would. Imperial ships don’t surrender as a matter of policy.” Ping An told her, watching her crew celebrate being alive.

  “But,” Vaela asked, not wanting to have false hope. “Won’t they just come back?”

  “No,” Ping An assured her. “You can take off those crash straps. They’ll head for the nearest spacedock in another system where they can try and remove the Stag Beetle from their hull.” She smiled at her friend. “They’re gone for good.”

  Then she refocused on her crew, bringing them back under control with a few choice words. “Leederman, send out recovery teams to get Captain Andrews’ lifepods, they should have ejected before the cruiser jumped. Betsey, plot us a course for the Evergreen Supply Depot and get us moving once the life pods are aboard.”

/>   This got the affirmative from both the bridge officers, and then Leederman called for her attention. “Boss, I’ve got the Squadron Leader wanting a link.”

  “Oh really?” Ping An said with a smirk. “I’ll take it in private…” The she paused and grinned. “No, on second thought- open it here on the bridge.”

  “Zhang? What happened?” Bella asked as her face appeared in a display window just in front of the command section. She wasn’t on her bridge, and it looked to Vaela like she was in a smaller room or a hallway.

  “Hello, Squadron Leader.” Ping An said cordially. “You okay?”

  Bella cursed. “I am. No thanks to you. My ship has been damaged, I need you to bring yours here. I’m taking command.”

  That got a few snickers from the bridge crew, but Ping An silenced them with a look. “Really? I’m sorry to hear that Bella, but I’m afraid I’m a little busy right now. I’ve got an appointment with the local supply depot. Catch up with us when you’re done your repairs.”

  “What?” The other captain’s eyes suddenly opened in surprise, as though she’d never considered such a thing was possible. “But…You…you…” She stammered, her arrogance changing to a pleading tone. “You need us! You can’t take that base by yourselves! You need our ships…our men!”

  Ping An just sighed and shook her head. “Wrong on both counts, Squadron Leader.” Then she added, “See you at the base”, and cut the link.

  Vaela couldn’t help but share Ping An’s grin. “You enjoyed that,” she said.

  “Me?” Ping An touched her breast with mock innocence. “Not at all.”

  “But…” Asked Vaela, thinking about a moment. “What if she’s right? How will we take the base with just one ship? It’s not like they’ll just open up for us.”

  Ping An just laughed. “Ahh Vaela, you hit it right on the head.” She told the surprised girl. “That’s exactly what they’ll do.”

  * * *

  Vaela was in her element. After two weeks of being aboard ship with little to do but wander around sipping coffee and trying not to get in anyone’s way, she was at last doing something she was good at- system breaking.

  She had broken apart the codes of her family home when she was barely able to walk, and by the time she was in school she had controlled not only the apartment, but the whole building in which she lived. She had come to realize that she simply perceived Linkspace and datastreams on a different level than others did- to her it was like looking at the building blocks of reality, a reality she could reach out and rearrange at will.