The Voyage Home

by D. J. Holmes

  “Yes. It was unfortunate,” Rozella replied. “But this is a pirate station. Such things happen from time to time.”

  “Well I am afraid whoever attacked us took almost all the money we had. All I have left is this final platinum bar,” Sarah said as she reached into her flight suit and pulled out a bar. “I therefore have to cancel our anti-matter deal.”

  Rozella let out a disgusted hiss. “You fool,” she said. “You carried all your platinum around with you? You almost deserved to be robbed.”

  “We were afraid someone would break into our shuttle and steal our bars. As you just said, this is a pirate base,” Sarah replied defensively. “And we were hoping we could have bought all the anti-matter we needed from you during our first exchange. We didn’t know you would have to produce it.”

  “Well either way, what is done is done,” Rozella said dismissively. “I accept your apology and I respect that you wished to come and tell me that our deal has fallen through in person. That shows character. Yet do not think that you are getting your deposit back. You are the one who is breaking their end of the bargain.”

  “I understand,” Sarah said. “I am here to make another proposal. I wish to purchase all the information you have on the pirates that attacked me, along with any information you have on the whereabouts of my partner.”

  “You can’t be serious,” Rozella responded. As she spoke her upper lips curled up, revealing her two razor teeth. From the tone of her voice Sarah thought she was laughing. Yet her facial expression gave off a different impression. “You have already received your anti-matter. We will be doing no more business. Leave here now.”

  “No,” Sarah said.

  In response to Sarah’s reply Rozella’s upper lips dropped. Her forked tongue flicked out back and forth a number of times and then she peered closely into Sarah’s eyes. “You seem different from the woman I bartered with just a few hours ago.”

  “I know you are a soothsayer,” Sarah replied. “I have taken precautions this time. And I came here to bargain. I want information. My friend has been taken captive. I am not taking no for an answer. If you really own and run parts of this station, then you will know what happened to him. I am willing to trade you this platinum bar for the information I want.”

  “Ha,” Rozella said as her lips peeled up again. “You don’t know who you are dealing with. It would take far more credits than what that bar is worth to get me to betray those who attacked you. I may have power on this base, but I have competitors. If I help you, I will be entering into a war.”

  “If you don’t help me, it will cost you as well,” Sarah said. She proceeded with the argument she had been rehearsing since she left the shuttle. “When word gets out that one of your business partners was attacked and you could do nothing to help them, you will lose face. Worse, when the rest of the pirates hear that what was really stolen was your payment, your money, and they see you doing nothing to get it back, you will look weak. On the other hand. If you help me hunt down those who attacked me, you will look strong. Even better, if I catch up to them, you will have one less competitor to worry about.”

  “You think you and your Captain can take on an entire pirate gang. You are delusional,” Rozella said in a very quiet tone. Her lips had closed and she was staring at Sarah unblinkingly. “Worse, you are standing here thinking you can threaten me.”

  “I am not threatening you,” Sarah replied. “I am predicting how people will interpret what has happened today. Look at it this way,” she continued, trying another tact. “You think that if I go after this pirate gang they will kill me with ease. Then what do you have to lose? Give me the information, take my money and move on to the next business deal. If I die then you have one less problem to worry about.”

  “It is an intriguing offer,” Rozella said. “Even if it does come from such an arrogant mouth. There is still one problem. You are asking me to run the risk of your attackers seeking revenge against me.”

  “I know my Captain, I can promise you that if I catch up with them there won’t be anyone left to seek revenge,” Sarah said.

  “Bold words,” Rozella replied. “Yet they come from naive lips. You do not know what you are up against.”

  “Perhaps you are underestimating me,” Sarah said in return.

  “I think that unlikely,” Rozella said, in a tone that suggested humor.

  “Then consider this,” Sarah followed up, feeling that she was close to getting a deal. “If anyone asks, I will tell them Hangal sold me the information. Many pirates have already seen me with him after the attack. If word gets out that I know who attacked me, it will only seem natural for people to assume Hangal told me. If you need to, you can hide behind that cover story.”

  “Perhaps, perhaps,” Rozella said as her eyes drifted down to the platinum bar Sarah had sent on a table beside her. “You do make a good case. Maybe there isn’t as much risk in helping you as I thought. I still do not know though.”

  Sarah had to suppress a smile. She recognized what Rozella was doing now. She was bargaining. That meant she was willing to sell the information. “Maybe if I sweeten the deal,” she said. “I have nothing more to offer you now. But if I find my partner we will still need our anti-matter. I would be willing to agree a price of one point two million credits per cubic centimeter. How does that sound?”

  “Interesting,” Rozella responded. “I have already started the preparations to recommission my anti-matter processor. If you agree to one point three, we have a deal.”

  “Then we have a deal,” Sarah said, unable to hide her smile.

  “Bring over your credit chip. I can transfer what information I have onto its databanks,” Rozella said as she pulled out her own credit chip. “It was the Tuscan Fleet that attacked you. They are an alliance of pirate Captains that work together to raid colonies and attack convoys. They don’t own any of the station but they use it to resupply several of their ships. Three of their ships left the asteroid an hour after you were ambushed. You are in luck though, I happen to know their next target. It is a freighter convoy that is forming up in orbit around a Tier One world. If you are fast, you may be able to catch them.”

  “Thank you,” Sarah said as she pulled away her credit chip and looked at the information displayed on it. There was too much for her to look at now, but she did see the coordinates Rozella was talking about. “There is just one more thing I need,” she continued. “Can you make sure I am allowed through the check points throughout the station?”

  “I will send a message to the other pirate groups. You should be free to return to your shuttle unharmed,” Rozella said. “I would hate for you to have to come back here and apologize for another failed deal so soon,” she added as her lips curled up into what Sarah was beginning to believe was a smile.

  “Thank you,” Sarah said. As she turned to leave she couldn’t help grinning. If you’re out there Divar, I’m coming for you, she thought. Just hold on.

  Chapter 17

  Divar sat sulking on the bridge of the pirate ship. He had never felt more depressed. His back and legs ached where he had been whipped and kicked. His mind was beginning to play tricks on him because of the sleep deprivation the pirates had put him through. His stomach was constantly screaming at him, protesting the fact he hadn’t been fed in two days. Yet none of these things were the cause of his despair.

  With his free hand he felt around the metallic collar that encased his neck. He was a slave again. The pirates hadn’t been content with just taking all the platinum he had, they had delighted in making his life a misery. For the past five days, he had been forced to do everything the pirates asked. He had been cleaning up after them, bringing them food, acting as a footstool and being forced to sleep in the coldest and dirtiest parts of the ship. The pirates had been using him as a commodity in their regular gambling sessions and whoever won him for the day, tried their hardest to outdo the misery his previous owners had subjected him to. And now, just as he had been forced to
do tens of times while enslaved to Draxler, he was going to have to watch them murder innocent civilians.

  Despite his depression, and the sinking feeling that his life wouldn’t last much longer, there was something different about being a slave this time. He had hope. As slender as he admitted it was, he knew Sarah was out there. If she could, he was sure she and Destiny would be hunting the pirates.

  For now though, he had to watch the pirates do the hunting. His current owner was the Captain of the pirate ship he was on. The three-legged creature was using him as a cup bearer. In one hand he held a large chalice the pirate had captured somewhere. Despite his stomach grumbling, as he looked within the cup, Divar felt no desire to sneak a sip.

  There were numerous live creepy crawlies floating around in the thick stew. The pirate Captain seemed to think the concoction was a delicacy as she was waiting to drink it in celebration once they had captured their prey. That was why Divar was on the bridge. He was to wait until the right time to bring the chalice forward.

  Suddenly, the ship swerved and Divar toppled over. Desperately he tried to keep the chalice upright but he couldn’t stop some of it from spilling. As a number of creatures tried to scuttle past him, he jumped out of their way. He had no idea if they could harm him. Only when he had regained his balance did he realize that the jolt meant something unexpected was going on. Looking around, he saw the that the pirates were frantically working at their command stations.

  “What was that?” the Captain almost screamed.

  “Cutlass was just hit by unknown laser beams, I’ve begun precautionary evasive maneuvers,” the ship’s pilot reported.

  When the main holo-projector in the center of the bridge showed the image of a ship Divar let out a low growl of triumph. It was Destiny.

  The pirates around him didn’t react with the same enthusiasm. Almost as one, they began to swear and curse. Their gleeful lust for battle had turned to fear.

  *

  Knowing the pirate’s destination, Sarah had used Destiny’s superior speed to get ahead of her prey. For several hours, she had been waiting a light hour away from the planet of Lileaon.

  Lileaon was a Tier One colony. It was home to over two billion sentients. From Alexandra’s data banks, Sarah knew the planet had been brought into the Elder Empire two and a half thousand years ago. Since then, it had stagnated. The Elders had not deemed the indigenous species worth their time. Rather than trying to develop their economy and industries so that the colony could advance to a Tier Two or even Tier Three colony; the Elders had given the planet the rudimentary technologies they gave to all lesser species, and then left them largely to their own devices. There was a small Elder enclave who made sure that the population didn’t try to revolt, or develop any banned technologies. However, as far as Sarah could tell, the enclave consisted of no more than twenty Elders. They certainly didn’t have the capabilities to threaten the pirates that were approaching the colony, much less Destiny.

  “I’m detecting five pirate ships cruising into the system,” Alexandra said.

  “I see them,” Sarah replied.

  She was sitting with the interface helmet on, peering out into space through Destiny’s passive sensors, and the five pirate ships were unmistakable. They were trying to stealthily make their way into the system to confront the freighter convoy that was forming up in orbit above Lileaon. One thing Lileaon was good at was producing a number of foodstuffs considered delicacies by other species. The freighters in orbit all seemed to be of the same design. Sarah guessed they were from a single planet that had put in a large order of foodstuffs. The pirates had certainly chosen a good target. If the freighters were full of cargo, they would be able to capture them and sell them on for a hefty profit.

  Not this time you won’t, Sarah thought. “Open fire,” she ordered when the lead pirate ship came into range.

  From Destiny’s forward-facing laser cannons, gamma laser beams reached out and struck their target. The pirate ship had its energy screen up so they didn’t cause any serious damage. Yet Sarah knew they had to have seriously depleted its defenses.

  As soon as she saw the hits, Sarah threw Destiny into a series of evasive maneuvers to avoid any return fire. When no return shots materialized, she concluded they must have taken the pirates by surprise. It wouldn’t last for long though. She knew she needed to act fast. Destiny was still damaged from her fight with the Elder frigate. They hadn’t had enough heavy metals to repair the ship and buy the anti-matter they needed. She was also fighting at a disadvantage, she couldn’t destroy the pirate ships, Divar was likely to be on one. That meant she couldn’t use Destiny’s hypervelocity missiles or particle lance, though it was damaged anyway. As a result, she was only left with one tactic. She had to get among the pirate vessels.

  With a thought, she upped Destiny’s acceleration to maximum. If the pirates weren’t going to return fire, she was going to get as close to them as she could. For several seconds, she charged right towards the lead pirate ship. Only when the first x-ray laser beam struck Destiny’s energy screen did she begin evasive maneuvers. With all her ability she threw Destiny around while making her way closer and closer to the pirate ships. As soon as the capacitors for the gamma lasers were recharged, she lined up another opportunity for Alexandra to fire. They didn’t work as well together as she did with Divar, but they had been drilling ever since they had left Elaijar.

  “Lead pirate ship’s energy screen is down,” Alexandra reported after three of her five gamma beams hit the pirate ship that was vainly trying to evade them.

  “Target their engines and weapons,” Sarah ordered. As she spoke she cursed inwardly as she saw the rear three pirate ships launch hypervelocity missiles. They were rapidly accelerating towards Destiny. A quick mental calculation told Sarah that she would get a chance to fire off one more round of laser beams before the missile’s reached her. “Feed me the targeting data for the lasers and then take over the point defenses,” she said. “I’ll handle the first pirate ship, you take out those hypervelocity missiles.”

  “Yes Captain,” Alexandra replied.

  Forgetting about the missiles for the present, Sarah focused on the lead pirate ship. Less than a second after speaking to Alexandra, targeting data began to feed into her mind. Alexandra overlaid the estimated position of this pirate ship’s weapons and engines onto the image of the pirate ship Destiny’s scanners were giving her.

  She locked on to the pirate ship’s engines. Pausing, she waited until the pirate ship fired its laser cannons at her. One grazed Destiny’s energy shield, but she managed to dodge the rest. Banking Destiny to bring her out of the roll she was in, Sarah paused her evasive maneuvers to line up the lead pirate ship. With a thought, she fired three laser beams at its engines. Two missed, but the third struck the pirate ship, causing a minor explosion. Immediately, it slowed and its evasive maneuvers all but disappeared. With the remaining two laser cannons, Sarah destroyed both of the pirate’s laser cannons. Mentally, she marked the trajectory and roll of the stricken ship. If its reactors were still operational, it would be able to fire its hypervelocity missiles. At such a close range though their missile tubes would have to line up almost directly towards Destiny. Sarah didn’t intend to fly into their field of fire.

  Two laser beams striking Destiny’s energy screen brought Sarah’s attention back to the wider battle. A quick check told her their energy screen was down to seventy percent efficiency. The hyper velocity missiles were already entering range of Destiny’s point defenses. Carefully, she began a series of slow turning evasive maneuvers. They wouldn’t stop the pirates from being able to hit Destiny with their laser cannons, but hopefully would still make her difficult to target. More importantly, her maneuvers allowed Alexandra to get as a clear shot at the incoming missiles as she could without Sarah bringing Destiny to a stop. Laser beams, anti-missile missiles and, as the hypervelocity missiles got closer, autocannon rounds reached out from Destiny to swat the pirate missiles
out of existence. The eight missiles were reduced to five, and then two. When the last two were just four seconds away from striking Destiny, Alexandra took them out simultaneously.

  “Great shot,” Sarah shouted as she punched her fist into the air.

  Even as she spoke, she threw Destiny into a range of complicated evasive maneuvers. As soon as Alexandra informed her that she was ready to fire, she lined up Destiny’s laser cannons on the next pirate ship. Six gamma beams reached out, four of them striking the dodging ship.

  “The pirates are splitting up,” Alexandra reported.

  Sarah wanted to swear as she saw what Alexandra was talking about. The remaining four pirate ships were trying to flee. They had split into three groups and were turning onto completely diverging courses. With her mind, Sarah projected their courses onto her view of space. It was obvious that at least one of the pirate ships would get away.

  “There’s nothing we can do,” she thought to Alexandra. “We just have to disable as many of them as we can and hope we get the one that has Divar.” Putting action to words, she dove after the second pirate vessel. In a matter of seconds, she lined up Destiny’s laser cannons.