The Soldier: Escape Vector

by Vaughn Heppner

  “I don’t understand this,” Halifax said in a high voice. “Such a thing should be impossible.”

  While hunched over, Cade kept adjusting the comm controls.

  Halifax glanced at him in astonishment. “This is incredible. I can almost understand what he’s saying,”

  Cade kept at it, making further adjustments. The static and distortions continued to fade away.

  “The cyborgs are readying—” The voice abruptly cut away.

  “Did you hear that?” Halifax asked shrilly. “He was talking about cyborgs. Could that mean we’ve jumped back in time to your era? You have to restore communications. We’ve got to know what’s happening.”

  Perspiration dotted Cade’s forehead. Could he go home, get back to his time? It had been a frightful war, but that was what he knew and understood. It was his era, his time, full of friends and—

  He manipulated the comm, but he couldn’t pick up the message again, dammit. He rose, thought about it, and went to the sensor scope. He sat and pressed his face against the rubber-lined scope. He made adjustments—a blip appeared in the sensor scope. It could be anything: a ship, an asteroid or even a planet or star. If it was a star, it had to be several light-years away. An Intersplit Field would unravel in the presence of a star’s near gravitational pull.

  Cade sat up with his eyes alight. The green Intersplit Field haze still surrounded the Descartes. It was otherwise the strange dark gray outside. There were still no visible stars but possibly tiny deep-purple splotches in lieu of stars. Was this the way home to his time? They needed more data.

  He told Halifax about the blip.

  “Surely the blip means we’re still in the Vellani Rift,” the doctor said. “I don’t know how to spot a vortex unless we’re on top of one, in one, really. If this is a new space-time continuum—”

  “Doctor! Please. Let’s stick to what we can prove. I don’t want to get my hopes up—I mean…”

  Halifax hiccupped in the way a small child might after a crying jag, and he spoke fast. “I recant my last statement. This can’t be the Vellani Rift. And I can prove it. Item: all the storms have ceased. Item: dark matter or particles are no longer pelting the Intersplit Field. Item: space has become gray instead of black. Conclusion: we’re no longer where we were just a few minutes ago.”

  Cade closed his eyes. He’d heard someone speaking about cyborgs. Did that mean he’d traveled back in time? Or was he wanting to go home so badly that would take anything and twist it to suit his desires? That was not how a soldier thought. A soldier faced the truth no matter how harsh.

  “Doctor, hysterics aren’t going to help us. I-I have an appointment with Director Titus. That is the key thing to remember. Thus, we will do what we must to reach Earth. That means exiting the Vellani Rift. You’re a scientist after a fashion. Use your head and start coming up with theories for leaving this place.”

  Halifax stared at him as if startled by the soldier’s words “Your trouble, Cade,” he said at last, “is that you lack imagination. You don’t understand what a different space-time continuum means.” The doctor shot up a hand, moving it sideways. “We’re off course. Way off. Do you understand that?”

  “I know conjecture when I hear it,” Cade said stubbornly. He was a soldier. Facts came first.

  “Oh, you do, do you? Then, answer me this, soldier-boy. Why did the person on the comm speak about cyborgs as if cyborgs were about to do something nasty? And, how did anyone talk to us while we’re traveling faster than light?”

  Despite his resolve to stay calm, Cade grew uneasy again. Was this a different dimension, a different time? Over a thousand years ago, he’d fought cyborg troopers. It had always been a hellish experience. Was the blip on the sensor scope under attack by cyborgs? If so, he might well find more Ultras there.

  “We’re changing course for the blip,” Cade said.

  “Oh no,” Halifax said, shaking his head. “I’m not heading for that place.”

  “We’re trapped in the rift. You’ve said so yourself, Doctor. That means we do what we must to get back on course. Unless you have an alternative plan, that is. I’m open to suggestions.”

  “This is my ship, Cade. I earned it fair and square.”

  “I don’t dispute that. What’s your alternative to my plan?”

  “I’m the captain. I do what I want.”

  “If it pleases the captain, it’s time to head for the blip.”

  “I already told you, it doesn’t please me.”

  Cade stared fixedly at the doctor. Hope and something else nibbled at the edge of his mind. Could that something else be fear? This isn’t a different dimension, because if it is, I might never reach Earth and see if Raina is there. Yet…Tarragon had known something bad would happen to them. This can’t possibly be it. But if it is…

  “Recheck the Nion,” Cade said.

  “For what purpose?”

  “It sent us here. We need to know why.”

  Halifax’s eyes widened with astonishment. “You’re giving the Nion too much credit, as if it had the intelligence to do something to spite us.”

  Cade scowled. The nibble of fear in his mind—he needed to do something so he wouldn’t have time to worry about the growing possibility that they were somewhere other than normal time and space.

  Halifax worried his lower lip and peered out of the polarized window. He shivered, saying quietly, “This can’t be a different space-time continuum. That’s madness. Do you realize how much energy such a transference would take?”

  Cade shook his head, as he had no idea.

  Halifax closed his eyes and moaned softly. “I hate this. I really, really hate this. I knew I should have left you on Avalon IV. I knew doing a good deed would mean evil would bite me in the ass. You’re going to get me killed.” Halifax opened his eyes to stare accusingly at the soldier. “Have pity on me, Cade.”

  “Tell me what else we can do.”

  “Dammit it all to hell,” Halifax said with heat. “We’re lost in a gray universe. We’ll run out of deuterium before we figure this out. Very well, if you want me to die, go ahead and punch in the coordinates on the nav. I’ll do the rest.”

  Cade pointed at the Nion XT.

  Halifax leaned toward the Nion’s screen, sharply looking up at Cade afterward. “You smug bastard. You think you know me? You already punched in the sensor’s coordinates to the blip.”

  Cade said nothing.

  Muttering under his breath, Halifax manipulated the flight controls. The Descartes shifted direction, heading for the blip Cade had seen in the sensor scope.

  “I hope you know what you’re doing,” Halifax complained. “I hope we’re not heading straight into the maw of a cyborg chop-shop.” When Cade did not reply, the doctor added, “I hope we can leave the rift, or wherever this is, some day.”

  “Agreed,” Cade said. Get the facts. A soldier faces the truth, makes a choice and acts. “Before we can leave, we have to know what this place is. Now, let’s get ready. I’ll begin by double-checking the ship’s armaments.”

  Cade hurried for the chamber’s exit.

  Chapter Seven

  Several hours later, Cade returned to the piloting compartment to find Dr. Halifax slumped over the flight controls, fast asleep.

  If this were Battle Unit 175, the Commandant would have the doctor shot for dereliction of duty. Should he punch or slap the man, teach him a lesson?

  Cade stepped near, raising a hand, but hesitated and lowered the it again. Halifax wasn’t an Ultra, but a luxury-loving case officer, a former mercenary for Earth Intelligence. The test of this must have psychologically exhausted the doctor. Strict procedures weren’t as important as winning through. A good soldier used the right tool in the right place, and he kept the tool in good repair. If Halifax was exhausted—

  Cade scowled, tired of thinking about it and making excuses for the man. He turned to the polarized window. It was still dark gray outside… Wait. He squinted, seeing a point of g
ray minimally less dark than the surrounding space.

  He stepped to the sensor scope, sitting and peering into it, manipulating the controls. This was interesting. The point of lighter gray pulsed rhythmically. Could it be a neutron star spinning incredibly fast? Just how far was it from them?

  Cade adjusted the scope. According to the readings, it was several light-years away.

  He glanced up at the sleeping Halifax, wondering if he should wake and tell the man. Nah. This could wait. Besides, he needed more information.

  Through the scope, Cade continued to study the pulsating gray blip, but could glean no further information. He examined the surrounding territory, which was still darker gray.

  A knot formed in his gut, as it occurred to him that there were more possibilities than other dimensions or times. Maybe we’re dead. Maybe we crashed and this is the afterlife.

  Cade thought that through. If he were dead, would he still be in the ship with the doctor? Wouldn’t there be hellfire roasting him on one hand or angels singing on the other, depending on where he went?

  He sat up and rapped a control panel. It felt real to his knuckles. It sounded real to his ears. He laughed nervously.

  “I’m alive,” he whispered. He considered that, nodded, sat back and smiled because he was still alive and allowing himself to indulge in superstitious notions. Get to work, Cade. Don’t be like the doctor and collapse because you’re mentally tired.

  He concentrated, considered options and went to the comm panel. He tested frequencies, searching for a signal. It should be impossible to contact anyone while traveling faster than light, but he’d done it earlier. He went up and down—

  “Are you out there?” a man asked. “Come in. Come in, if you can hear me.”

  Cade’s heart rate increased as his mouth dried out. Had an angel or devil contacted him? He clicked a switch. “Hello?” he said into a microphone.

  “Who is this?” a man asked.

  “Who is this?” Cade asked in return, staring to fear the answer.

  “I’m Captain Graven Tarvoke of the Free Trader Cyprian.”

  Okay, I’m not dead. Then it struck Cade what had just happened. The Descartes was traveling faster than light. How, then, could it send and receive radio signals? He had no theories as to how— Cade shook his head sharply. It doesn’t matter how. Just concentrate on what is.

  As calmly as he could, he pressed the transmit switch.

  “Where are you?”

  “No, no,” Tarvoke said. “I answered your question. Now, you answer mine. In that way, we maintain proper etiquette and balance.”

  The soldier raised his eyebrows. This was Dr. Halifax-type talking. “This is Marcus Cade…” He hesitated, deciding to say less rather than more. “I’m a passenger aboard a private vessel.”

  “You entered the rift then?” Tarvoke asked.

  From the flight panel, Dr. Halifax snorted and raised a sleepy red face. It took a moment before he peered in alarm at Cade and then at the comm.

  “Yes!” Cade said, speaking into the microphone, with hope welling up in him. “We’re in the rift—if you mean the Vellani Rift.”

  “Yes, yes,” Tarvoke said. “What other rift could I mean?”

  Cade did not reply, as he didn’t know what to say to that.

  “I can’t get a fix on your vessel,” Tarvoke said. “You haven’t broken through the barrier yet then, I take it.”

  “What barrier?” Cade asked as he traded glanced with a shrugging Halifax.

  “This is simply too much,” Tarvoke said. “It pains me to admit that it feels as if you’re attempting to take advantage of me. I spoke about balance, meaning the law of reciprocity. I ask a question. You answer. You ask a question. I answer. Instead, you appear to be avoiding answering and attempting to stack up as many answers from me as you can.”

  “What are you afraid of that you’re so distrustful of us?” asked Cade.

  “That’s a rude question, sir. I spoke about the law of reciprocity and you assume I’m a rogue?”

  Halifax jumped up, moving to the sensor scope, peering in it, making adjustments. He looked up and shook his head, no doubt indicating that he couldn’t spot the other ship.

  “I can’t answer your question about the barrier if I don’t know what it is,” Cade said into the microphone.

  “Oh. You have a point there,” Tarvoke said grudgingly. “Do you see…well, I call it a pulsating gray disc?”

  “I see it,” Cade said.

  “That’s the barrier. You’re outside…the system,” Tarvoke said, appearing to change what he’d planned to say. “To reach us, you’ll have to break through the barrier to enter the pulsating gray light, if you will.”

  Halifax motioned to Cade.

  “Just a moment, Captain,” Cade said.

  “Don’t break the connection,” Tarvoke warned. “It’s amazing your signals are reaching us. You might not be able to do it again if you cut the connection.”

  Halifax gestured more urgently.

  “I’m muting you,” Cade said, pressing a switch.

  “No—” Tarvoke said, but that was it. He’d been muted.

  “Problem?” asked Cade.

  “There are several,” Halifax said. “Firstly, we shouldn’t be able to communicate with him.”

  “Believe me, I know.”

  “My point is that our being able to communicate with Tarvoke is unnatural.”

  “Does that mean it’s supernatural?”

  Halifax shook his head. “You didn’t let me finish. It’s unnatural for our—realm, space-time continuum, whatever you want to call it. That means we have definitely shifted elsewhere.”

  “He spoke about the Vellani Rift, though,” Cade said.

  “That would indicate he came through the same way we did.”

  “Oh,” Cade said. “Yes. I suppose that makes sense.”

  “I know it does,” Halifax said. “The second point is that this Tarvoke is obviously trying to trick us in some fashion. Can’t you hear it in his voice?”

  “I admit he’s clearly distrustful of us.”

  “The likely reason is that he fears we’ll do to him what he plans to do to us.”

  “Spoken like a true case officer,” Cade said. “So where do you think we are?”

  “We’ve been through all that.”

  “Doctor, we need to be precise and logical if we’re ever going to get back to our…realm. The computer said we’d entered the Vellani Rift. While there, we went through a vortex. It’s possible the vortex shifted us elsewhere. My question is where is here? Tarvoke said we’re still in the Vellani Rift, but I no longer believe him. Does that mean you’re right about how he came here? Or are there many Vellani Rifts in many different realities or dimensions?”

  “Cade, listen to me—”

  “Strange events are taking place,” the soldier said stubbornly, refusing to let Halifax deter him. “I’m not a scientist nor do I pretend to be. I’m a soldier. The rift—the Nion said space-time distortions occur in the Vellani Rift. Bring that up on the nav. I want to read the exact warning.”

  “In your opinion, where is here?”

  Cade frowned thoughtfully. “The gray universe seems more… I’m not sure how to say it. That we can communicate while using the Intersplit causes me to wonder if we’re outside of space time completely.”

  “What? Why, that’s an incredible statement. That would mean—no, don’t unmute.”

  Cade had almost forgotten about Tarvoke. He ignored the doctor as he pressed a switch. “Hello, Captain Tarvoke, are you still there?”

  “Of course,” the man said.

  “Did you come from—?”

  Halifax waved wildly, shaking his head.

  “Did I what?” asked Tarvoke.

  “What star system are you in?” Cade said.

  “That wasn’t your original question,” Tarvoke said.

  “Never mind,” Cade said. “What star system are you in?”

&n
bsp; “It’s interesting you should realize that,” Tarvoke said. “Perhaps you haven’t been completely honest with me.”

  Cade thought about what he’d asked. Tarvoke had talked about a system earlier. He should concentrate on that. Behind the barrier was a star system. If true…he wasn’t sure if that was interesting and heartening or even more frightening. He had an appointment with Director Titus and a possible date with his wife.

  “In the interest of our mutual benefit, I’ll oblige you this once,” Tarvoke said. “This is the Corvine System, an unusual area of the galaxy, to be sure. It’s rich in some rather rare substances. I imagine that’s why you came.”

  “What substances?” Cade asked.

  “Now, now,” Tarvoke said. “I can’t believe you’re still trying to defraud me regarding the law of reciprocity. We went over that. This…this is something else, isn’t it? Hmm… I’m beginning to wonder if you’re here for a different reason. You aren’t lost perhaps, are you?”

  “Ah-ha,” Halifax said softly, perhaps so Tarvoke wouldn’t overhear. The doctor had been and was still peering in the sensor scope. “I’ve traced his transmission. He’s definitely in or just outside the pulsating gray light.”

  “What was that I heard?” Tarvoke asked. “Is someone else with you, Cade?”

  “You spoke about cyborgs before,” Cade said into the microphone.

  Halifax looked up sharply and shook his head, pleading with his eyes for Cade to say no more.

  Tarvoke seemed to have fallen silent at the question.

  “Are you still there, Captain?” asked Cade.

  “You’re a Scavenger, aren’t you?” Tarvoke said bitterly. “You’ve been on Coad before. You’ve clearly spoken to the Eagle-Dukes. Which one put you up to this? I hope you haven’t dealt with that vulgar Lord Magnus.”

  “Why do you ask such things?”

  This time, Tarvoke laughed bitterly. “You take me for a fool, is that it? I understand now. You’re attempting to ambush me. No, no, Cade—passenger of a supposedly private vessel—you made a mistake mentioning the cyborgs. Now, I know your game. I have a fix on your vessel, and I’m launching missiles as we speak.”