Resurgence

by Stephen A. Fender

  “Not at all. We’re not going to get out of this without weapons, and you’re the best gunner we have.”

  Thad smirked before sprinting off to the weapons control pod.

  On the command deck, Kristin and Alasdair strapped into the forward seats with Mia at the environmental and damage control computer. Her cat Thesril had perched herself on top of Mia’s terminal, watching the unfolding action with marked curiosity.

  Alasdair clicked on the maneuvering jets and watched as the output power increased steadily. “You’re not planning on actually engaging the Lady Calton, are you?”

  Kristin had both hands on the controls, eager to get off the ground. “I am.”

  “That’s daft. You know that, right? They outgun us by about a hundred to one.”

  Kristin cocked her head. “Maybe even more.”

  “Our best bet is to get as far away from this system as quickly as possible. We need to get this data back to Internal Security on Arbrer.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” Kristin said as she checked her instruments.

  “Don’t worry?” he mockingly repeated. “You don’t even know what I’ve learned. I have very important information.”

  “Do you think it’ll change my mind?”

  He closed his mouth and thought about it for a second. “Actually, I believe it would strengthen your resolve to go after them.”

  “Then tell me about it later.” With the maneuvering engines at full power, Kristin pulled back on the controls. The Cobalt Rose lifted, hovered just long enough to bring the main drive engines to full strength, then rocketed over the forest canopy.

  Alasdair immediately got a blip on the short-range sensors. “I’ve got a radar contact, bearing two-two-four mark seven. Distance, one-hundred kilometers.”

  “Is it the Lady Calton?”

  “Who else would it be?”

  Kristin banked the Rose as she gained altitude. “Thad, are you ready?”

  “As ready as I’ll ever be. These weapons are going to be pretty ineffective against a ship that size.”

  “You saying you’re not up for the challenge?” she taunted. Thad’s reply was to silence the channel.

  “Alasdair, route as much power as you can to the cannons, but leave me plenty to maneuver with.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  The Rose continued to climb into a thick cloudbank. As soon as it emerged on the other side, the Lady Calton was dead ahead. Her engines were burning like the fires of hades as she ascended towards space, a long tendril of smoke following behind.

  “Range?”

  “Fifteen kilometers and closing.”

  Kristin nodded. “She might be better armed, but we’re faster. Thad, target the exhaust housings.”

  There was no replay, just a shudder in the deck as high-powered rounds were expelled from the underside of the Cobalt Rose. The bright bolts lanced out, all making contact with the Lady Calton. Sparks and chunks of metal were shed by the much larger vessel, yet she continued to climb.

  “Thad, don’t let up!”

  But it was Quinn who responded over the intercom. “We’ve got an overheat in the cannon cooling system. It’s limiting the rate of fire.”

  Alasdair took over the channel as Kristin started dogging return fire from the Lady Calton. “Is there anything you can do?”

  “Not by myself and not from down here.”

  “What do you need?”

  “Mia, I need you to open the starboard secondary coolant valve for the thermal regulator, but first—and this is important—I need you to close off the main ventilation system.”

  Mia had her hands on the controls while she spoke to Quinn. “Why is that important?”

  “Because you’re about to flood the weapons control conduit with a super-cooled liquid that happens to be quite poisonous. I’d rather not die today if I can avoid it.”

  A well-placed blast from the Lady Calton ricocheted off the side of the Rose, pushing the vessel to port and tossing everyone in their seat. “Mierda!” Once she regained her senses, Mia went to work at the request. “Okay, ventilation sealed. I’m flooding the conduit.”

  Within seconds the rate of fire from the Cobalt Rose increased to a near steady stream of white-hot destruction. More and more debris was shed from the Lady Calton. After a full minute of fire, the port engine began to smoke.

  “We’re nearing the exosphere!” Alasdair called out. “As soon as she hits space she’ll be able to jump.”

  Higher and higher the two ships climbed, the stricken but deadly Lady Calton followed by the little itch it couldn’t scratch. The fading blue sky was now dotted with the lights of distant stars. Still the Lady Calton flew on, it’s port engine smoking profusely but still producing enough thrust to keep the cruiser-sized ship moving forward.

  Alasdair scrutinized the sensors screen, watching as the energy output of the Lady Calton began to spike. “She’s going to jump!”

  There was thud and pop from somewhere behind Kristin. The Rose rocked backward just as two trails of white smoke drew lines across the forward viewport on a path to the Lady Calton. She looked at Alasdair, who was as shocked as she was.

  The missiles converged on the target at the same time. The port engine of the Lady Calton exploded in a fiery mass of twisted metal and spark. When the fireball had extinguished itself, Alasdair noted that the energy output of the Lady Calton had significantly decreased. “She had to abort the jump, but she’s still got enough power to maneuver. That means most of her weapons are still online. We need to get out of here while we can.”

  But Kristin had other ideas. “We’re not going to leave. Thad, where did those missiles come from?”

  “They were always here. Why?”

  “You never mentioned them before.”

  Thad grunted. “Well, no one ever asked what our full weapon capabilities were.”

  Alasdair shook his head. “He’s right, you know?”

  “Is there anything else you’d like to tell me?” Kristin barked.

  There was a silence before Thad responded. “Not at this time.”

  Both Kristin and Alasdair looked at one another, knowing that there was more conversation to be had on that point, but had no chance to entertain it before the Lady Calton began firing on their position.

  “Hang on!” Kristin pulled the Rose into a tight turn, followed by an immediate roll. With laser fire all around the ship, Kristin snapped the Rose into a dive, then brought her back to bear on the Lady Calton with only a few dozen meters to spare. Not waiting for an order, Thad began pouring more concentrated cannon fire along the dorsal side of the Lady Calton as Kristin performed a high-speed pass. Thad’s aim had been impeccable. He managed to take out several weapon turrets and made numerous gaping holes before the Rose passed over the pirate’s starboard quarter.

  Kristin, fully intent on making another pass, brought the Rose into a sharp bank. As she lined up for her second run, the Lady Calton fired a missile of her own. But the Cobalt Rose was going too fast, and the distance was too small. Kristin pulled up on the controls as hard as she could, with Alasdair lending a hand from the copilot’s seat. Thesril, sensing the incoming danger, hissed before jumping from her perch and scurrying out of the cockpit.

  The incoming missile struck a glancing blow on the Rose’s ventral side, then exploded a dozen meters off her stern. The blast kicked the ship into a spin and all the lights on the control deck went out briefly before the emergency generators came online.

  “Quinn!” Mia called nervously into the communications system when the ship righted itself.

  The reply was long in coming. “I’m okay, just a little singed.”

  “Status?” Kristin asked.

  “Primary power is down,” Quinn groaned.

  “Weapons are down,” Thad added to the channel.

  Mia leaned back in her chair. “And life support is failing fast… if anyone cares.”

  “Maneuvering thrusters, too,” Alasdair said from
beside her. He looked out the forward window, and Kristin followed his gaze. Out in the void, the Lady Calton had the Cobalt Rose dead in her sights. Alasdair spent the moment of life he had left to look over to Kristin. “Thanks for bringing me along. It’s been… well, it hasn’t been fun. But you were right. It was better than anything I had back on Arbrer.”

  She smirked. “It’s not over yet.”

  He inclined his head toward the incoming pirate vessel. “Well, it’s about to be.”

  She turned and smiled, more warmly than he ever recalled. “A good first officer trusts his captain.”

  “That doesn’t seem to be an easy thing to do for either of us to do.” He turned towards her just as she unfastened her harness and moved towards him. “Regardless, you came back for me when no one else in the universe would have, Kristin. No one.”

  Resting her hands on the armrest of his chair, she moved in closer. “Captain.”

  “I do trust you,” he whispered, staring into her eyes. “Captain.”

  “Then maybe you should check out your short-range sensor readout.”

  “My what?”

  She leaned over to the side, flicking her finger toward the screen to the right of the copilot’s seat. “Short-range sensor readout. Over there.”

  He looked at her quizzically, then did as his captain had asked. What he saw both shocked and amazed him. “There’s an artificial gravity well forming. It’s… getting larger.”

  “It’s about to get a whole lot bigger.”

  The entire viewport lit up with a blinding white light as the artificial well achieved maximum sustainability. When the light died, Alasdair would have jumped from his chair, had he not been strapped in. “Oh. My. God.” There, just to port of the Cobalt Rose, was a sizeable Unified Sector Command warship. The overhead speaker on the Rose’s command deck crackled to life.

  “Lady Calton, this is Commander Mark Newman, Unified Sector Command cruiser Vanguard. You are ordered to stand down and surrender your vessel, or you will be fired upon.” The Lady Calton made no aggressive moves while all three vessels held station. Whatever the Lady Calton’s reply was, it was several tense moments before Newman spoke again. “Cobalt Rose, you are ordered to stand down your vessel. We are preparing to take you in.”

  Chapter 23

  The holding area onboard the Sector Command cruiser Vanguard was everything Alasdair thought it would be—cold, impersonal, and intimidating. There were no windows embedded into the smooth, silver walls, nor was there any artwork displayed. The dark blue benches lining the walls were comfortable, enough so that Mia had decided to nap on one with Quinn nearby. Thad was pacing the compartment, nervous at being stripped of all his weapons. In fact, they'd all been searched and then stripped of anything out of the ordinary, including Mia's bracelet.

  And there they'd sat for the last two hours, with only the occasional visit by a junior officer to see if they were hungry or needed a bathroom break.

  "We're going to prison," Quinn moaned in defeat. "We're all going to prison."

  Thad grunted his dissatisfaction. "Not me. Not without a fight."

  "What are you going to do, Thad?" Alasdair mocked. "Hurt their feelings? We're unarmed and outmanned about a thousand to one."

  "I've got two perfectly good hands," Thad countered.

  "Maybe stuff those in your pockets for the time being until we find out what's going on."

  "We know what's going on," Quinn said. "They took our prints before we were put in here. Remember, when they questioned us at length about what we’ve done over the past few days. They're running our records, confirming we stole the Cobalt Rose, and in the process blew up an impound yard and some angry ladies’ car."

  From another bench, Kristin chuckled. Angry lady. "Yeah. That was pretty fun."

  Alasdair approached her, arms folded, and sat beside her. "You're taking this pretty well, Captain."

  She leaned her head back, looking at him upside down. "You worry too much." She turned over and sat up beside him. "How's your arm?"

  "Better since the medics looked at it. Should be fine in a day or two." He rotated it a few times for effect. "And I don't worry too much."

  "Yes, you do. You need to relax a little more and—"

  "Trust my captain?"

  "Exactly."

  "And now look where we are, in the belly of the beast. We're going to jail, Kristin. Everything we hoped to get out of this is now down the drain."

  The door to the room opened, and a man of commanding presence walked in, flanked by two sullen looking security officers. "Captain Glasco, I'm Commander Newman, captain of the Vanguard. Would you and your people come with me please?"

  Quinn roused Mia, who groaned in annoyance before getting up.

  Following the commander, the crew of the Cobalt Rose was escorted through a series of corridors and lifts until they arrived at their destination.

  "Commander Newman," Quinn asked. "Can I just make one little request to be put in a cell by myself? I need peace and quiet. This has all been a little too much for my weak constitution."

  Newman pulled a computer card from his pocket. "I'm afraid you're under the wrong impression." He slipped it into a nearby reader, and the door slid open. The crew stepped into a large room with full, expansive windows that opened to the world below. Beside the Vanguard and holding station was the Lady Calton.

  "Quite an impressive accomplishment, Captain Glasco," a familiar voice sounded from the other side of the room.

  Half-surprised, Kristin smiled weakly. "It is at that, Robert."

  “Back to first names, are we?”

  Kristin smiled as the older man, formally dressed but with his hands in his pockets, stepped towards her. “I’m working on it. Thank you for sending help so quickly.”

  “Thank you for calling, though I would have preferred a little more notice before you put your plan into action. Seems your trust in me was not so misplaced after all.”

  She shook her head. “We’ll have to see about that, but this is a good start.”

  "Governor Riddle," Alasdair said as he stepped up to the dignitary and offered a salute. "Sir, it's good to see you."

  "And you as well, son. You’ve done a fine job." He shook Alasdair's outstretched hand, then turned to the rest of the team. "And, of course, the rest of your crew: Mia Varela. Thaddaeus Mason. And of course, Mr. Quinn Stone." He then turned back to Kristin. "I'm glad you're alright."

  "A little worse for wear, but we managed to get you the data you needed."

  He placed his hands gently on her shoulders. "My dear, you've done so much more than that." He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "All of you have. I'm so very proud of you."

  “I can do without the kiss,” Thad grumbled.

  "Sir," Alasdair began cautiously. "I assume you've done a thorough search of the Lady Calton and rounded up any survivors?"

  "Quite correct, Alasdair. What few there were."

  "How many did we kill?" Thad asked.

  "Thad," Kristin admonished.

  The governor smiled. "It's alright, Captain. As it was, it appears none of them died due to the damage your improvised attack caused." Thad huffed, but Riddle continued. "A number of them, including Cin Trahl, took their own lives before we even boarded the ship. As for the survivors down in the brig, we rescued seventeen merchant crewman."

  Kristin was shocked. "But Trahl’s people? Suicide?"

  Riddle nodded. "Some kind of exotic poison. And dammed if we can tell how Trahl managed to stay as young as he looked, either. We've got people looking into both of those things right now."

  "And Trumbul's body?" Alasdair asked.

  The governor moved toward him. "We didn't find it, and I can't say I'm happy about that at all, considering the report you gave the officers when you were brought onboard the Vanguard."

  In their time spent in isolation, Alasdair had told Kristin all about Trumbul, about the traitorous act that had condemned her brother to de
ath, and about how he'd shot the man dead-center before escaping the Lady Calton.

  Riddle reached into his pocket and withdrew a small pistol. Alasdair recognized it as the one he'd taken from Devin before shooting him with it. "The power selector is set to stun, not kill. In fact, it's jammed in that position, so I doubt it got that way by chance or accident. That might be important for you to know." After handing the weapon to Alasdair, Governor Riddle stepped to a nearby viewport and examined the Lady Calton. "We noted that several escape pods on the ship were missing, but it's anyone guess how long ago they launched. The Lady Calton is quite old."

  “Any treasure onboard?” Mia asked.

  “That depends on what you consider valuable, Miss Varela. I’m sure there’s information in the ship’s computer logs or libraries that might be worth something, but no other precious commodities, if that’s what you’re after.”

  Kristin looked at Alasdair, who wore a mixture of anger and frustration on his face, and said “But Sector Command is here, and we know there is more to this than just this isolated act. They'll look into the matter from here on out, right?" he asked.

  Riddle smiled across space at the Lady Calton. "I'm afraid not. With the Lady Calton captured and her crew dead or detained, they consider the entire matter closed." He shifted his attention to Kristin’s reflection beside his own. "Order in this sector has been restored. All that's left now if for the local authorities to clean up the loose ends."

  "That means you'll be sending someone to investigate how this all started, right?"

  "Perhaps. I wonder, did Cin Trahl tell any of you what happened to the actual Captain of the Lady Calton?"

  Kristin looked at her people, who said nothing. "No."

  "That's a shame. If Cin Trahl could manipulate himself into staying young for this long, it's likely that Garett Rothschild has, too. And, until he's proven deceased, there's still a large bounty on Rothschild.” He then turned to face the crew. “I'd hate to see that reward sitting uncollected any longer, to say nothing about the full pardons you'd each receive. Ones that I believe would extend to the corners of known space."