by D. J. Holmes
With no need to try and line up any point defense weapons, dodging the pirate’s lasers was child’s play. “Get the gamma lasers ready,” she said to Divar, eager to teach the remaining pirates a lesson.
“Don’t bother with trying to line up another shot,” Divar replied. “We’ve taken enough damage as it is. Let’s not take any more risks. Just get us to the mass shadow.”
Sarah considered ordering Divar to get ready to fire anyway, she was the Captain after all. However, she guessed he was right. Their escape was all but guaranteed. There was no point taking any senseless risks. Every time she paused her evasive maneuvers to fire at the pirates, it gave them a chance to hit Destiny. Instead she concentrated on avoiding the incoming laser fire.
“Jumping into subspace in five, four, three...” Alexandra announced.
Just before they were ready to jump, Sarah twisted Destiny onto the heading Alexandra had fed her. As soon as they crossed the mass shadow, Alexandra engaged Destiny’s subspace engines and she disappeared as they ripped a hole into subspace, sucking the Elder ship from normal space.
Though the action was over, Sarah didn’t remove the interface helmet. Alexandra projected a countdown on the map of subspace Destiny’s sensors had produced. If the pirates wanted to, they could jump to subspace as well and pursue Destiny. Sure enough, five minutes later, four new contacts appeared on the map of subspace. As soon as they appeared, they launched four subspace missiles at Destiny.
In order for a ship to stay in subspace, its subspace engine had to maintain a Sargon Field around the ship. Sarah had never known who Sargon was. Alexandra had told her he was the Elder who had invented the subspace drive. Subspace missiles were missiles adapted to produce their own Sargon Field. If they struck a ship in subspace, they could do serious damage. Their greater threat however was that if two Sargon Fields collided, both would fail. An unplanned reversion to real space could have serious consequences for a ship. The pirates had obviously given up trying to capture Destiny, they were now going for the kill.
“Fire,” Sarah ordered Divar.
Eight subspace missiles launched towards the pirate vessels. Almost at once, the pirate vessels disappeared from subspace. “They have jumped back to real space,” Sarah said.
“Yes,” Divar acknowledged. “It looks like they don’t want to stick around for a fight.”
“I don’t blame them,” Alexandra said joining the conversation. “My analysis suggests their ships only had minimal subspace point defenses. They couldn’t hope to defend themselves against eight missiles.”
For the next thirty seconds no one spoke. Sarah and Divar watched the subspace missiles approach Destiny. “Take us back to normal space,” Sarah ordered ten seconds before the missiles got close enough to strike her ship.
As Destiny reverted to normal space, the four missiles disappeared. A ship in normal space couldn’t detect what was in subspace. Similarly, the four subspace missiles couldn’t detect Destiny so they simply detonated. Sarah examined the astronomical data of the local star systems. “Here,” she thought identifying one of the nearest systems. “Plot us a course to this system, take us there using the Dyson Bubble. It will take us a day to reach there, but we can rest there and lick our wounds. If we jump back into subspace now, one of the pirate ships may be there and detect us. I don’t want them trying to follow us from a distance.”
Sarah knew all too well that pirate ships were adept at following targets from afar. She had piloted Lady Luck on more than one occasion when Draxler had been stalking a freighter. He would follow his prey for days, waiting until the freighter got to a point in space far away from any source of help. Then he would close in on the freighter and fire a subspace missile, forcing it to revert to real space. In real space, he would attack the freighter and carry off its cargo. The last thing Sarah wanted was for a pirate ship to stalk them while Angrave went to go and find reinforcements.
Ordering the interface helmet to disengage and ascend back to the ceiling, Sarah turned to face Divar. “We’ll hide in this system until Alexandra can carry out as many repairs as she can. Then we’re going to have to figure out what to do.”
“The way I see it, we have three choices,” Divar said. “We only have enough anti-matter to get to the next pirate base on Draxler’s list. Either we return to Aral, we try our luck at the next pirate base or we approach an Elder controlled colony.”
“I don’t like any of those options,” Sarah said. “I don’t want to have to choose now. Let’s lick our wounds and get some rest. Today did not go how I wanted.”
“No,” Divar agreed. “There is a part of me that would love to get my hands on Angrave.”
“I know,” Sarah said, feeling her anger rise. Angrave had betrayed them, she should have known better than to trust him. It had almost cost them their lives. I’m never trusting another pirate again, she promised herself.
Her thoughts turned to the pirates still trapped in the shuttle bay. No doubt they had been terrified by the explosions that had hit Destiny. Many of them might have been knocked unconscious from the g-forces. She felt little pity for them. Though Angrave had abandoned them, she guessed each of them might have done the same in a similar situation. Once we get our hands on some antimatter we are getting them off the ship, she thought.
Shaking her head, she stood and stretched her arms and then reached up to massage her shoulders. The pirates were a problem for another day. Now she felt like she needed a long soak in a bath. Though she had never had a bath in her life before coming on board Destiny, Alexandra had introduced her to the pleasure. “You can prepare a bath for me,” she thought to the artificial intelligence.
“I’m going to retire,” she said to Divar. “I think we can both take a rest. I need you back on the bridge thirty minutes before we approach system PZ-127 however.”
“Aye aye Captain,” Divar grinned. “And may I say before you go, today proved that the battle with Lady Luck was no accident. You flew magnificently.”
“Hardly,” Sarah said, shaking her head. She had just done what needed to be done.
“Actually,” Alexandra said, almost sounding as if she was smiling. “I have analyzed the skills you displayed in today’s combat. In comparison to the four other pilots I have had during my existence, you far exceeded their reflexes and tactical awareness.”
“There you go,” Divar said, slapping Sarah on the back as they walked out of the bridge. “You’re even better than an Elder.”
Sarah simply shook her head as she walked towards her quarters. Though, as she soaked in her bath, she couldn’t help but wonder why she was so special. Having only two eyes, both Draxler and Alexandra had told her, her species shouldn’t have developed the mental capacities to handle a standard interface helmet, never mind an Elder one nor fly a ship as well as she did. It’s a mystery, she said to herself as she closed her eyes and began to doze off, the warmth of the water and the stress of the day had caught up to her.
Chapter 11
Sarah ducked as a drone appeared from behind a large crate and shot a bolt of electricity at her. As her knees hit the ground her blaster shot out three quick beams of energy. When the drone registered the hits, it deactivated and fell to the floor. Instead of pausing to congratulate herself, Sarah jumped to her feet and sprinted towards her target. Out of the corner of her left eye she saw two more drones hover over a shuttle and advance on her. Firing as she ran, she felt a bolt strike her left leg. Though the bolts caused her muscles to start randomly twitching, she managed to fall in the direction of her objective. Just before she hit the ground her right arm reached out and hit a large red button placed in the middle of a podium in the center of the hangar.
“I did it,” Sarah shouted with a grin as her leg continued to twitch.
“You did,” Alexandra agreed. “Though if this wasn’t a drill, you would be dying right now.”
“I still made it,” Sarah replied gruffly. “At least give me some credit.”
“You do deserve a little credit,” Alexandra replied, switching from speaking through the shuttle bay’s audio transmitters to directly communicating into Sarah’s mind. “After all, this is only your third attempt today, and your fourteenth attempt overall.”
“Thanks for keeping me humble,” Sarah thought back as the twitching in her leg disappeared.
Slowly, she pushed herself to her feet and returned her blaster to its holster. Since taking command of Destiny, Alexandra had run her through tens of different scenarios using the interface helmet. She was slowly learning it was far more advanced than the one Lady Luck had been equipped with. The Elders had given interface technology to Protector Worlds, but clearly, they had given them a very primitive form of the tech. Through the helmet, she could be transported into any artificially created environment. She had fought the ship through a number of different battle scenarios, carried out artificial experiments and even visualized the subatomic realities that were constantly going on around her, though she had never known about them before. Alexandra had even allowed her to walk around an Elder homeworld using the information that Alexandra’s memory banks held on the Elders. That had been a mind opening experience.
There was nothing quite like the real thing though. Given everything she had been through with Draxler, Sarah had decided very quickly that she wanted to improve her weapons and hand to hand skills. During the journey to Aral, Alexandra had put together live fire drills for her to work through. When she woke up this morning, she had checked with Alexandra to see if Divar had awoken yet. After finding out he hadn’t, Sarah had taken herself to one of Destiny’s empty shuttle bays to run through a few drills. She needed to clear her mind before deciding what to do next. It had been three days since they had reached the system Destiny was hiding in. Alexandra had finished all the repairs she could with the heavy metals Sarah had given her. Now it was time to make a decision. All night she had struggled to sleep as she weighed her options. Even so, she still didn’t know what to do. Only one thing was clear, she wouldn’t be so trusting of anyone again. She should have known Angrave would betray them.
“We have a new contact,” Alexandra said suddenly.
Fear shot through Sarah’s mind. “Is it a pirate ship?” she asked.
“I can’t tell yet, it jumped in at the edge of the system’s mass shadow and is just starting to accelerate into the system,” Alexandra replied.
“Wake up Divar, I’m coming to the bridge,” Sarah said as she broke into a run.
As she ran to the bridge, Alexandra kept her updated. “I don’t think it’s a pirate ship,” she said. “It’s operating in the open, not trying to hide. A pirate would hardly do that. It must be a warship.”
“Great,” Sarah thought. “What do you think it’s doing here?”
“There’s only one answer to that question,” Alexandra replied. “There’s nothing else in this system but us, what else would attract any ship? Never mind a warship.”
Once she got onto the bridge, Sarah jumped into the pilot seat and the interface helmet descended around her head. As soon as the sensor feed from the drones Alexandra had deployed flowed into her mind, Sarah sought out the new contact.
Destiny was hiding in the thick asteroid field that formed a ring around one of the gas giants in the system. Alexandra had assured her that unless a ship came into the asteroid ring, they would be all but undetectable. The drones were powered down outside the asteroid ring, using their passive sensors to keep an eye on the system. They were communicating with Destiny using a laser COM link.
“You’re right,” Sarah thought to Alexandra as soon as she saw the contact. It was accelerating into the system with all its active sensors blaring out its presence. If the ship had tried to sneak into the system, the passive sensors on the drones probably would have missed it. Yet as things were, even the most primitive of ships couldn’t miss this contact.
“I’m here,” Divar said as he stepped into the bridge.
“Get to tactical,” Sarah said. “If this ship comes near us, we’re going to have to put up a fight.”
“It’s an Elder ship,” Alexandra said, sounding far calmer than Sarah thought she should.
“A what?” Sarah asked in shock. “Are you sure?”
“There can be no doubt,” Alexandra replied. “I have analyzed its acceleration profile. There is no warship from a Protector World that could produce such acceleration rates. It must be an Elder ship. From its size, I believe it to be a cruiser.”
“A cruiser,” Sarah slowly repeated out loud. Suddenly it seemed like her dreams were crashing down around her. An Elder cruiser was four times the size of Destiny and its energy screen and weapons were just as powerful. There was almost no chance they could out fight such a vessel.
“They must have followed us here,” Divar said. “There’s no other explanation for why it’s here. How could they have tracked us?”
“I’m not sure,” Alexandra replied. “However, I don’t believe they know we are here for certain. If they had been able to track us to this system, I’m sure we would be facing more than one cruiser.”
“Unless there are more ships lying in stealth,” Sarah said, forcing down her fears. “If they wanted to destroy us, I’m sure they would come at us with all guns blazing. However, it’s possible they may want to try and recapture Destiny. If I was in their shoes, I would like to know how one of the most advanced warships in the galaxy was defeated.”
“You think they’re trying to flush us out?” Divar asked.
“That, or they really don’t know we are here. Either way, our best bet is to stay hidden,” Sarah explained. “If we try and make a run for it they could be waiting for us. Or at the very least, that cruiser will know we were here, even if it can’t catch us. The Elders might not have FTL communication, despite what we were always told, but I doubt it would take long for the cruiser to come back with reinforcements.”
“It’s going to be a nerve wracking wait,” Divar responded.
“Indeed,” Sarah replied. “Alexandra, make sure that this ship is a stealthy as possible. I don’t want one stray electromagnetic wave reaching that cruiser.”
“Destiny is already as stealthy as I can make her,” Alexandra said, almost tartly. “Unless you have a suggestion for something else I should do?”
“No, I trust you,” Sarah said with half a smile. Despite their circumstances, she couldn’t help but find Alexandra’s sensitivity funny. “I’m sure you’re doing the best job you can,” she added sarcastically, just to see how Alexandra would respond.
“If you like, I could open up a COM channel to the Elder cruiser and ask for instructions from its senior commander. I’m sure the cruiser’s Captain out ranks you,” Alexandra said.
“No, no, it’s all right,” Sarah said hastily. “There’s no need to contact the cruiser. We’re fine here in stealth.”
“Now who’s being a little bit sensitive,” Alexandra said to Sarah through her neural implant so that Divar wouldn’t hear.
“You’re only joking?” Sarah thought back.
“Of course,” Alexandra replied. “I have no desire to go back to serving an Elder Captain. You have given me far more freedom to grow and develop than I’ve ever had. Besides, I know they would kill you. Believe it or not, I’m growing kind of fond of you.”
“That’s good,” Sarah replied with a flood of relief. “Because I would hate to have to deactivate you,” she added mischievously.
“You wouldn’t dar…” Alexandra almost shouted into Sarah’s brain before she sensed that Sarah was joking.
When the artificial intelligence cut off midsentence Sarah couldn’t help but giggle out loud. Divar swung round and shot her a confused look. “It was a private joke,” she explained as she reached up and tapped her forehead.
Divar shook his head, “I would have thought now is hardly the time for jokes.”
“You don’t have a touchy artificial intelligence running around in your brain,
” Sarah replied. “It’s hard to stay focused all the time.”
“I suppose,” Divar replied. “That’s something I don’t even want to try imagining, never mind experiencing.”
Sarah didn’t reply, instead she nodded and turned back to the display screen to watch the Elder cruiser. A part of her wished she had never experienced the imprinting with Alexandra, though another part of her was delighted with everything meeting Alexandra had brought into her life. Alexandra’s silence suggested to Sarah that the artificial intelligence sensed her conflicting thoughts.
All three of them watched the Elder cruiser move into the inner system. Sarah’s fears played out over and over again in her head. Yet, as the ship made no sign of changing course to come directly towards the ring of asteroids they were hiding in, she began to relax. After nearly four hours, she felt like she was ready to doze off from the boredom. A sudden beep from the display screen made her sit up straight. The Elder cruiser was decelerating. In less than twenty minutes it came to a complete stop relative to the system’s sun, three light hours away from where Destiny was hiding. As soon as it stopped, a massive energy build up was detected coming from the cruiser.
