“Sorry, Matthew,” Lafayette replied. “The communication system was fried in the firefight. With main power the way it is, weapons are also offline. Once the power plant dies, we have ten hours of auxiliary power from the batteries where we can run the entire ship, then two hours emergency power where we’ll only have life support and thrusters, no engines.”
“And you couldn’t have just let me sleep?” Jennings demanded. “What’s the nearest habitable planet?”
Lafayette shook his head. “I’ve already changed course, but it might not make a difference,” he said.
“Why not?” he demanded.
“We’re headed for an asteroid belt in the Beta Durani system,” he explained. “We’ll hit the outskirts of Beta Durani just as main power goes according to Magellan. Minerva confirmed.”
“How far to the settlement?” Jennings asked.
“Ten hours.”
“What’s the problem then?” he demanded. “It sounds doable.”
No one spoke for a moment and a voice above them chimed on, “The settlement is a former mining facility on one of the larger asteroids of the Durani belt,” Minerva explained. “The Comet Corporation has removed its presence from the asteroid as it was felt that all tritanium that could be profitably removed had been successfully mined.”
“How long has it been abandoned?” Jennings asked, his voice laced with fatigue.
“2.4 Terran years,” Minerva reported.
“What’s the probability that it still has any staffing or life support in place?” he asked of Minerva.
“Staff reported as zero. Probability of life support less than three percent with known variables,” the computer reported.
Jennings nodded. “We’ve got no other choice then,” he said at last. “Squawk, I want you to do anything and everything you can to squeeze every last minute out of that power plant. Shut down anything that is non-essential. I don’t care of that means pulling every light bulb out of the wall.”
Squawk saluted and sprinted off to engineering with a new sense of purpose.
“Cajun, you’ve got the best relationship with Magellan,” Jennings continued. “Do anything and everything to shave a few parsecs off our travel distance.”
“Bien sur, mon capitaine,” he said as he stood and headed back to the conn.
“Fix, I want you to get all of our EVA suits prepped,” Jennings ordered. “Any tool, device or equipment we have that uses oxygen fuel tanks, I want pulled and jury-rigged to be a back-up O two supply, understood? A few minutes of breathable air could make the difference here.”
“Aye, Cap’n,” he agreed and started to head down to the cargo bay. “You know there’s something else,” Fix said as he stopped and looked back to Jennings. “The Gael might think that we are attempting to welch on our deal if we do nae show up at Barnard’s VI on time.”
“I’m well aware of that,” Jennings said quietly. “If we can’t get things turned around on the ship fast enough, they will start hunting us.”
Fix nodded. “That ship that attacked us did not belong to Santelli or Petrova,” he added.
“I’d considered that as well, and I think I have an idea as to who to ask about that,” Jennings said as he stood and walked over to the guest cabins.
3
Michelle Williams had not left her cabin since she had been first brought on board the Melody Tryst, but that had nothing to do with what the black man with the strange accent had told her. He had told her that she was safe, and that staying in the small dingy cabin would keep her so. She didn’t think this was true as the ship was rocked by explosions, and she didn’t believe it now.
The man who had told her he was there to rescue her, the one the others had called Jennings, had been lying to her. She was certain of that now. Michelle had been left with hours to ponder her plight, and she decided that her situation had actually gotten worse. The fear of being assaulted on a nightly basis by anyone who could afford it had terrified her, as had being on the ship with the slavers. The Brigandine was possessed of an entire crew that had only one thought on their minds once they had seen her. If her value had not been so significantly increased by her virginity still being intact, the crew would have taken it forcibly from her. They tried twice anyway, and only the bosun arriving in time to whip those responsible had spared her. The bosun had spit on her and called her a whore. The other men had called her a cocktease. And somehow, things were still worse. The men of this ship were not her rescuers. They were taking her to her doom.
So, when the man who the others had called the captain limped into the cabin and stopped to glance down at her prone form lying on the bed, he was not expecting her attack. He had stood over her appraisingly for a moment, perhaps trying to figure out whether or not she was awake, when she lashed out with legs, catching him in the shin. He cried out in pain as she reached for the lamp on the table beside the bed. Aiming for his head, she swung it as fiercely as she could, but she felt her arm stop as a powerful grip seized her about the wrist. There was a sudden twisting sensation, a sharp pain, and she felt the lamp fall out of her hand.
“Could you not fucking do that please?” the captain asked. “It’s been a rough day already.” There was a pause while her eyes frantically darted around the room looking for another weapon. “Are you okay?” Jennings asked suddenly.
“What?” she demanded, clearly taken aback.
“Are you hurt?” he asked again softly.
“No,” she growled.
Nodding, he gently pushed her back to a seated position on the bed.
So, now is where we get to it, she thought darkly, but Jennings merely walked to the opposite wall of the small cabin and collapsed in a small chair against the wall.
“Sorry about the wrist,” he said. “But my mom happens to like my face the way it is, and I couldn’t have you rearranging it.”
Michelle did not reply.
“I assume by the nature of your welcoming that you have deduced that we are not in fact a rescue party as I had mentioned,” Jennings led.
“What are you then?” she demanded softly.
“Just working men who were offered a plum job and felt obliged to take it,” he said.
“Bounty hunters,” she spat.
“When the need calls for it,” he agreed. “Believe me, if we could get honest freight jobs to keep our bellies and the fuel tanks full, you and I wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“Why are you telling me this?” she demanded angrily.
“I just wanted you to know that there wasn’t anything personal in this,” he said. “We mean you no ill will, and as long as you are in my care, you will be treated kindly. You need not fear anything of the like you may have experienced with Mr. Santelli’s men or at the club on Strikeplain.”
She remained silent as a single tear rolled down her cheek.
“As long as you do not attack me or my people, we will continue to see to whatever needs you have, but you will have to remain here,” he said. “Any nonsense and we will lock you in here and the door will not open until the Gael are here to take custody.”
He started to stand up, but she whispered, “The Gael? It was the Gael who hired you? What the hell do they want with me?”
“I’d imagine it has something to do with the charges of terrorism that are pending,” Jennings pointed out, sitting back in the chair.
“I’ve never committed a terrorist act in my life,” she said.
“You’ve no affiliation with the Resistance?” he asked.
Shrugging her shoulders, she said, “Politically, I support them, I suppose. They’re the only ones who are fighting the Gael.”
“Fighting the Gael,” Jennings sneered. “They bomb public areas, killing civilians to get one Gael agent or one collaborator. Women. Children. Thousands of dead chalked up as collateral damage by the bloody Resistance- and you support them?”
“I’d expect to hear that from a Gael lackey,” Michelle fired back.
Michelle stared intently into the floor and did not respond.
That was fine with Jennings and he headed for the door. He stopped short though and turned around, adding, “Before you extol their virtues too much, you might want to ask yourself why the Resistance wants you dead.”
“What?” she demanded.
Jennings smiled slightly. “It might have been confusing with all the different people trying to kill us in Storm Haven- Santelli and Petrova both have issues with me and getting you would have been a nice bonus or vice-versa- but the attack that came at us once we hit space…” He paused and locked eyed with Michelle. “That was a Trenton-class stealth ship. Not too many were made before the war ended, and it is well beyond the reach of bounty hunters or criminal overlords to have one. Only the Resistance can both afford it and has access to contacts in the military that can get that kind of technology.”
“But why would they?” she asked aloud.
“That’s the question, isn’t it?” he said. “Bear this in mind too. If you accept that it was the Resistance who tried to kill us a short while ago, it seems safe to assume that is they who killed your friend and tried to kill you in your apartment before you were arrested.”
Again the look of surprise crossed her face, but she said nothing.
“The level of technology needed to get into a high-security building like that added with the fact they had broken in to kill you before the warrant and bounty for your arrest were issued,” he led on. “It points to a level of sophistication far greater than any bounty hunter or common criminal would have. The Resistance wants you dead, Ms. Williams. But I’m sure it’s for the greater good,” he added before he opened the cabin door, left, and then electronically locked it behind him.
Chapter 18
As Matthew Jennings left the crew and guest cabins on his way to the bridge, a great feeling of unease grabbed hold of him. He had felt it before when he had first read her file, but he had buried it deep under the logical need to provide for his ship and crew. Nothing about the situation with Michelle Williams made sense. She could have been a young recruit for the Resistance, he had supposed, but she would not be so bright-eyed and naïve about their methods. She also wouldn’t have been so surprised the Resistance was trying to kill her. It wouldn’t have been the first time that the Resistance had offed one of their own in order to protect the cause. And if she was really a terrorist, why didn’t she go to the Resistance once she was freed?
None of it made any sense to him, but Jennings was becoming more and more certain that the girl he was holding was no terrorist. If that was the case, why the hell would the Gael want her so badly, and why did the Resistance want her dead? There were so many unknown components, and Jennings hated operating in the dark. Silently, he cursed himself. The Gael had set him up perfectly. They had played on his dislike for the Resistance’s methods while simultaneously offering his ship and crew a kind of monetary salvation. The most annoying thing was that Michelle had been right to call him a Gael lackey. That was exactly what he had become by taking this mission.
“Damn,” he muttered under his breath as he headed down the corridor.
“What did she say?” Fix asked as he met Jennings on the way to the bridge.
“Nothing I shouldn’t have expected her to,” he answered as he stepped into the cockpit where Lafayette was arguing with Magellan in Acadian French.
“Qu’est-ce que pensez-vous vous faire? Idiot!” he yelled at the computer.
Jennings sat in the pilot’s chair and swung to face Fix as Lafayette continued to fight with Magellan. “She said she doesn’t know why the Resistance is trying to kill her or why the Gael want her in the first place,” he said.
“Believe her?” Fix grunted.
Jennings sighed. “I do,” he said.
“Did you tell her that we’re turning her in?” Lafayette asked after a final curse at the computer.
Jennings smiled. “She figured that out for herself,” he said.
“Did you tell her we’re all gonna die?” Fix mumbled.
Shaking his head, Jennings replied, “I didn’t want to ruin her day.”
The three shared a sad laugh and Jennings turned back around to stare at the starlines through the viewscreen. “Time to Beta Durani?” he asked.
“4.6 minutes, captain,” Minerva reported calmly.
“Squawk, time to main power plant fail?” Jennings called into the intercom.
“5 minute minutes now!” came the reply.
“Twenty-four seconds. Twenty-four seconds is all we were able to shave,” Jennings whispered.
“Twenty-four seconds is a lot of time at light speed,” Lafayette pointed out.
He had a point, Jennings supposed, but he did not acknowledge it. He simply stared out into space, ignoring Lafayette reporting that they had entered the Beta Durani system outskirts. It seemed like only a breath later, that the starlines shrank back to stars and the ship came to a shuddering near-stop. Klaxons blazed in his ears as red lights flashed all around him. The cabin lights dimmed and all non-essential instrument panels went out simultaneously. A quick series of commands killed the alarm and the red warning lights.
“Time to target,” Jennings barely whispered. The universe suddenly seamed very quiet.
“Calculated at nine hours and thirty-five minutes,” Lafayette reported.
“Minerva, confirm,” Jennings ordered.
There was no response.
“No main power, no main Minerva,” a frazzled voice called behind them as Squawk came in and jumped into the engineer’s seat. “All possible modifications have been modified,” he reported.
“Very well,” Jennings said. “If anyone would care to say a prayer, now would be a good time.”
“You took the words right out of my mouth,” Michelle Williams said.
Jennings whirled around in surprise to see Michelle holding a small plasma rifle on all of them. With an exasperated sigh, he looked at Squawk and said, “Let me guess. You disabled all the door locks as part of your power saving modifications.”
“Non-essential,” Squawk replied.
“We’re going to need to have a talk about what constitutes an essential program,” Jennings muttered in reply.
“Well, Ms. Williams, you certainly seem to have gotten the drop on us, so to speak,” he continued. “What is your next move?”
“You take me somewhere else and let me go,” she said.
“Not possible,” Fix muttered.
“I could kill all of you,” she replied.
“So you could,” Jennings agreed. “But that doesn’t change the impossibility of taking you somewhere else right now.”
“You would die rather than let me go?” she demanded.
“How to put this delicately,” Jennings mused. “Well, our ship was badly damaged in the fight against the Resistance ship we previously discussed- damaged to the point we lost main
power. Hence, the ease of your escape and your ability to access a normally locked weapons locker. Without main power, we have no light speed, we have no communications, we have no weapons. The only things we do have are ten hours of auxiliary solar stored power and two hours of emergency battery power. We are hoping that is enough to get us to an abandoned mining facility in the asteroid belt in the Beta Durani system. If we’re lucky, we’ll make it. If we’re really lucky, there will still be life support there. If not…” He let his voice trail off.
“You’re telling me that we’re all about to die anyway?” she demanded incredulously.
“That about sums it up,” Fix agreed.
“So, as I said, you can continue to hold the gun on all four of us, but it will be a trifle difficult to save all of our lives if you do,” Jennings pointed out.
“Maybe that’s better,” she spat. “I don’t know what the Gael want with me, but it’s not going to be good. That’s one thing I am certain of.”
“Probably true,” he agreed. Jennings looked around at his crew and said, “Very well. If you hand over the gun now and allow me to try to save all of our lives, then I will take you as far away from the Gael as I can.”
“Capitaine?” Lafayette stuttered out, completely surprised.
“Marquis, you know as well as I do that handing her over to the Gael is a death sentence for her,” he said. “She dies here with us or with them as it stands now. Were I in her situation, I would choose to die before those bastards got their hands on me. So, either we all die, or we all live and go our separate ways. I’ll choose the latter, thank you.”
“But she’s a terrorist,” he hissed.
Jennings shook his head. “No, I don’t believe she is,” he said.
“Capitaine,” Lafayette continued to protest.
“Marquis, this is my ship and you’re part of my crew,” Jennings said coldly. “You will obey my orders. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir,” Lafayette replied, although he was clearly unconvinced.
111 Souls (Infinite Universe) Page 16
