by Olson, Ry
Martin closed his eyes, forcing himself to calm down and think. Prowler’s doing everything he can, and it’s a hell of a lot better than you could do. Now get over it and think, dammit. “When we clear the next intercept, drop us into normal space. Wait for a pulse then jump. ” We need to know more about these things. To Martin it was surrealistic when they dropped into normal space for the blink of an eye. A pseudo-nuke detonated where they had been. Now ain’t that cute. Martin was getting angry. Time to be aggressive and show these pukes that they’re not dealing with some snot nosed amateur. Prowler had dodged six interceptors, but four more had shown up. “Now I’m getting pissed.”
“Prowler are these things pulsing at any kind of regular interval?” 2.33+/- .01 seconds, appeared on a display. Martin studied his sensor console, every time an interceptor pulsed he could see all the Koth ships in the sector. I bet these things only can see FTL fields, let’s find out. He spotted a light missile cruiser in a group of a dozen ships. Ok, you shits wanted to come join the party, so let’s give you a reeeaal close view of the entertainment. He thought with a snarl and pointed to the group of ships. “Jump us right on top of them for a pulse.” A second later his sensors showed him in a cluster of ships, they jumped back out a split second before two interceptors self destructed. All the ships in the group dropped to normal space. “BINGO! Drop us into normal space right in the middle of them as close as you can to a pulse.” Almost instantly they were in normal space and back out before it really even registered in Martin’s mind. Three pseudo-nukes detonated in the group of Koth ships. Didn’t think of that, did ya’, assholes? Ain’t reality a bitch! “Ok little fella, you know the routine. Make’em pay.” Pandemonium broke out among the Koth ships as Prowler jumped erratically in and out among them leaving behind a trail of exploding pseudo-nukes and frantic Koth warships.
There was a pause in the interceptor pulses as the Koth split up and all the larger ships vanished from the area. Martin keyed a quick sequence that sent a micro burst transmission over the Federation command channel of his sensor data for the last couple minutes. To Martin it seemed like everything froze in time for a split second. “That’s right jerk wads, now everyone knows about your new toys,” he hissed.
Over the next few seconds several dozen of the interceptors lit up on his display. “Oops, I think I pissed’em off.” Prowler gave him a disgusted look. “Sorry ‘bout that little fella.”
All hell broke loose as interceptors pulsed wildly, the neat intervals were replaced with a chaotic frenzy. We can’t keep this up . . . it’s a matter of probability now. “We have to find an exit, fella. Keep us alive while I think.” The interceptors track using FTL fields, if we didn’t have a field they couldn’t track us, but we’d be in normal space and a sitting duck if they spot us. I’d take my chances giving them the slip, in subspace we look so close, but in normal space we’re zigzagging millions of kilometers. To beat the interceptors you’d have to dump your FTL field fast, but how do you dump your field fast . . . and invisibly. His thoughts were interrupted when the Panther’s FTL field jittered, he mentally held his breath for a heartbeat as it settled down. A quick look at the display made his stomach churn, there were hundreds of interceptors in the area and the continuous self-destructing interceptors were totally trashing his sensor displays as Prowler zigged and danced with random course changes. “Oh God, this is bad.” Martin fretted, wishing he could help somehow.
. . .
An unbidden memory seeped into Martin’s mind. It was a class while he was in pilot training. The instructor was an older gentleman who was always enjoyable to listen to. As he said; “I’m a fountain of useless . . . but interesting information.” During one session he was lecturing on the technology of pseudo-nuclear weapons and their usage. He commented that in space that there was no back fill from a nuclear event as there was in atmosphere, where debris and the atmosphere itself would rush back into the void left at the event epicenter. Rather, in the vacuum of space all the energy flowed away from the epicenter until it simply dissipated. In fact a few nanoseconds after the nuclear event it was as if nothing had ever occurred at the epicenter as the energy sphere expanded outward.
“Son of a bitch!” Martin snapped back to reality wishing a silent thank-you to the long forgotten instructor. “Prowler, this is what I want you to do. First . . .”
. . .
The display of space in the area took Martin’s breath away. It was a kaleidoscope of lashing energy as dozens of interceptors detonated their pseudo-nukes as Prowler micro-jumped the ship in normal space in an area a few light seconds in diameter. “Now fella!” Martin commanded. Prowler lured an interceptor into the center of the ion storm where it detonated. A millisecond after the pseudo-nuke exploded they jumped to the exact position where the interceptor had been and cut power to the Panther’s FTL system, the field collapsed instantly. Prowler fired the thrusters at full power. Martin realized he was mentally holding his breath waiting for an interceptor or koth ship to appear. So far so good. He thought watching his displays and crossing his fingers, they could only fire their thrusters as long as the ion field was heavy enough to hide them. The thrusters went silent. “Stone cold fella,” Martin sighed. Now we wait. He thought. Their thruster burn had given them a better velocity than he had hoped for, but in subspace terms they were stationary. Several times the Koth ships looking for them came close, one within a thousand kilometers and the interceptors never stopped pulsing. Three hours later Martin did a double take on his displays, a Koth surveillance ship showed up. Martin closed eyes in exhausted frustration. “Good night, little fella.” He looked at Prowler with sad eyes. A second later Martin powered down the Panther entirely, only his container still had power. With that surveillance ship in the area I gotta’ become nothing, not even a warm rock. What the hell is going on? Why are the Koth so determined to take me out? I know they detected my report to Merced and triangulated back on me. That was stupid now that I think of it, I should have realized their attack fleet was between me and the Merced System. Tight beam or not they were right in the signal path. But why all of this interest in one ship, the damage was done on warning Merced. Martin laughed to himself. And you know they had a contingency plan if their attack fleet was detected, they always seem to have a contingency plan for everything. So why all of this interest on a ship who was a fly in the ointment, but is now out of the picture? It makes no sense. I need to sleep, and there is nothing I can do for the next few days except drive myself crazy. And if they find me and blow the crap out of me, I think I’d rather sleep through it. Martin thought about his situation then toggled a button with his tongue four times that released a sedative into his canister. Four days should be good. Was his last coherent thought as he drifted off.
. . .
Martin woke up with a rush and was confused for a moment by the total silence, he felt a surge of panic until he remembered that he had shut everything down. He mentally shook some cobwebs out and checked the time. Missed ninety six hours by four minutes. These med-tech guys are good. With some trepidation he tongued a button sequence to bring up the Panther’s basic power system. A minute later he powered up the passive sensor arrays.
Martin watched his display with detached interest. There were still Koth looking for him and once in a while an interceptor would pulse, but it was obvious they were losing interest. I just wish I knew where that damn surveillance ship was. He thought restlessly. Wait a minute, I can see every FTL field in the sector when the interceptor pulses. Unless the surveillance ship has dropped into normal space and dissipated their field I should be able to see them, if they’re still here. He waited patiently for the next pulse freezing the display. Twelve fighters and one of the ships that deploy the interceptors. We waited for the next pulse and verified his sightings. Martin slowly brought the Star Panther back online always keeping on eye on his sensors.
. . .
Martin sat slumped in the yacht’s command seat weary from tension an
d exhaustion. “I think we’ve broken free . . . they’ve finally pretty much given up, only a couple fighters and that one damned interceptor,” he sighed at Prowler. His eyes dissecting the sensor array displays as they coasted through normal space. He contemplated some instrument readouts for a few seconds. “I don’t want to do a thing unless we have to, fella. They probably decided that we’re dead, blown away by a nuke and these are just the normal ultra anal retentive Koth precautions.” He patted his leg and Prowler studied him for a moment before jumping from the co-pilot seat into his lap. “I hope our message got through to Merced Command.” He closed his eyes and rubbed his cheek on the top of Prowler’s head. “They almost got us that time.” He held Prowler a little tighter and glanced at the time display. It had been twelve hours since he had completed the power up. “What we need is a stealth FTL field.” He smiled at the thought. “Like you could hide something like that.” He shook his head still feeling a little after affect from the sedative. “I need to sleep little buddy. You have the Panther . . . keep us safe.” Prowler snuffled his neck and gently kneaded his leg with soft claws. Martin’s world faded with easy purring as he drifted into sleepy thought about what happened.
. . .
Martin awoke to Prowler’s gentle but insistent head butts under his chin. He blinked a couple times and smiled into Prowler’s big yellow eyes. “Ok little fella, what’s up?” He noted he had been asleep for three hours. “Damn.” Martin muttered with a stretch. A display was flashing on a side console. Martin winked at Prowler and turned to study what he wanted to show him. His mouth slowly fell open. He looked at Prowler. “Will this work?” Prowler blinked a couple times then jumped to the co-pilot’s seat and started his leisurely grooming. Martin scrolled the display up and down studying what Prowler had come up with. The math was beyond him, but the concept he understood. The FTL field wasn’t stealth by any means, but in one direction the shape of the field would trap the echo to the interceptor’s pulse. Mathematically at least, the Panther’s FTL would be invisible to a single interceptor and have very little signature to ships in that direction. It wasn’t that big a deal, Martin thought, just nobody ever needed one before. “Well, let’s do it.”
30: Return From the Dead
Charlie’s Place was a bustling country western bar when Martin appeared in the entrance. The din dropped noticeably at his jerky motion, then fell quiet as he moved into the room toward a table where Briton, Reese and a couple cyborgs he didn’t recognize were sitting. It was like watching a bad copy of a video with his stuttering motion and noticeable intermittent fades, his image was laced with interference lines.
“Well, look what the cat drug in.” Reese rumbled with a smile, the smile faded. “We all thought you was dead.”
“Damn near was.” Martin’s quiet voice was tinged with digital static. “I’m alive and well, but hell and gone from nowhere, as you can see.”
“Martin?” Maria asked, unsure of herself as she walked over. She started to reach for him.
“No gal.” Martin held up his hands in front of him. “Prowler’s barely managing to get enough data through for me to be there at all.” Tears started to well up in her eyes and it all he could do to keep from reaching out. “I’m ok, sweetie. Just a long way from home.” He gave her a sad smile.
She stopped and looked at him for a moment, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled an apology at the group for making a scene.
“It’s ok gal, I’ll be in better range in a few hours and come see you then.” He smiled at her sad face. “That be ok?”
She nodded in muted silence trying to smile through her pinched face. When he winked at her she had to turn and walk away feeling another tide of tears coming. Her shoulders shook slightly from her silent sobs as she left.
Reese studied the somber faces around him then gave Martin a soft smile. “The Koth may not be able to nail your hide to the wall, but she might if you keep messin’ round with her heart.”
Briton grew serious. “The Koth hit the Merced System six hours ago.”
Martin nodded. “I know, I talked to their Commander just before I contacted you. An Admiral Silverberg . . . seemed like a good sort. He wanted to thank me personally for the warning. Apparently the initial attack was pretty gory for both sides, now it’s just heavy sporadic battles as they feel each other out, more probing for intelligence than actual fighting. I guess my estimate was pretty damn close about the size of the attack fleet.” He glanced at the two other cyborgs at the table. “Mind if I steal Commander Briton and Reese for a while?”
They smiled and shrugged with mumbled, non-committal responses.
“Your office Sir, I’ll connect via vidphone . . . Prowler’s getting pissy about the hardlink interface.” He finished with a laugh.
. . .
Martin’s image was on a large display on the wall in Briton’s office. Briton was behind his desk, with Reese slouched in a chair in front of it. Admiral Chinn and a Commander from Intelligence that Martin recognized were looking on from vidphones. Some of the sensor data from Martin’s encounter with the subspace interceptors was running on a display next to Martin’s.
“These can’t be new technology . . . there’s just way too many of them.” The intelligence officer observed.
“That’s just what I was thinking while we were dodging them.” Martin muttered with a tight smile then laughed outright. “Especially the part about there being too many of them.”
“I just don’t understand the Koth mentality,” Chinn sighed. “These things change everything.”
Briton’s face pinched. “I agree, these mixed in with the probes and the killer ships, not to mention just the flat Koth numerical superiority, could drive us out of space in a matter of weeks.”
Martin studied the others. “I don’t think we were supposed to see the interceptors yet.”
He was answered by a collective, “What?”
“The Koth have been feeding us new technology for years.” Martin heaved a sigh. “Haven’t you noticed every time we start to make headway they throw something new at us.”
“I’d agree with you ‘cept for one thing,” Reese drawled. “We ain’t exactly found a way to beat their killer ships yet.”
“No Reese,” Briton leaned back in his chair, his face frowning in thought. “I think the gunfighters will cancel the threat of the killer ships, we just haven’t gotten a chance to test them yet in combat.”
“So . . . the interceptors were next on the agenda.” Chinn raised her eyebrows. “That would tend to validate Martin’s line of thought.”
“But why would they risk having them exposed by going after Martin with them.” Briton shook his head with a confused grimace.
“Oh, that’s an easy one,” the intelligence officer replied with a sly smile. “They never dreamed he would survive long enough to get a warning message out, let alone escape.”
“I hear that,” Reese scratched the top of head as he pondered. “But to my way of thinkin’ . . . why would they take the risk at all, over one pesky little ship way out in the middle of nowhere.”
“And that my friends,” the intelligence officer stated with a smile, “may be the most important question we face. They didn’t just use their interceptors; they had hundreds of ships out there searching. For one insignificant warship . . . I don’t think so.”
“They wanted you dead and gone.” Reese mumbled. “That’s a fact.”
“And were willing to do whatever it took to get it done.” Chinn continued, she felt a chill when she looked at Martin.
The room fell silent. “Just a single ship, way out in the middle of nowhere.” The intelligence officer muttered softly. “Why would you try so hard to knock out a sh . . . a spy ship?” He bolted upright in his chair. “A spy ship! Major they knew you were spying!”
“Well, sure, I guess.” Martin shrugged. “So what’s the point. They only attacked after I spilled the beans about the Merced attack.�
�
“So that ain’t what they was worried about,” Reese’s eyebrows knitted together. “No, they was worryin’ something else.”
“Something more important than the Merced attack?” Chinn sighed, her eyes beamed concern.
“An assault on Earth?” Martin’s eyes glazed in horror.
After several seconds of chilly silence Admiral Chinn shook her head. “No, I can’t believe that. Earth’s prime defenses will make Merced look like a sandbox fight, and they know it. The Koth won’t go for Earth until Merced has fallen. Their fleet would be trapped between two major human forces. It’s a consideration, but not for the moment.”
“But what could be of more importance to us than information about the Merced attack?” Briton asked the group in general.
Reese was lost in thought for a moment. “Who said it had to be important to us?”
Who said it had to be important to us? The question slashed through Martin’s thoughts. WHO SAID IT HAD TO BE IMPORTANT TO US!! The question turned into a screaming command that gnawed into his brain. He realized the others were staring at him.
“Martin, are you all right.” Chinn asked, her face a mask of concern.
