“I’m our best chance out there, you know it,” Jake said. “There are so many good commanders left on the ship to take care of any problems while I’m making sure we get what we need and get out.”
“Have you told anyone what we’re really after?” Stephanie asked.
“A data port and deep intelligence,” Jake said. “That’s all anyone needs to know. The Nafalli are going to use us as a distraction while they steal all the food and water they need.”
“I’ve seen the plan. You’ll be drawing a lot of attention at first. If there are Knights or frameworks down there, you could be in trouble.”
“We’ll definitely have a few minutes where we’ll be in trouble, but we can handle it. Besides, Samurai squadron is already taking care of the bigger problem. Stephanie, how many times did I leave the ship alone with gear that I bought off the shelf, modified or made from spare parts with half a plan. I came back every time.”
“You needed me to come get you a few times,” Stephanie said.
“Right, but this time I have experienced people with me, and we’re in heavy armour that makes a small mech look like a quaint antique. I’m not going alone, I’m not going with a squad, I’m going with cover from the best squadron in the fleet and forty eight heavily armed bad asses.”
“Just make sure all forty nine of you get back in one piece. If this is a simple supply depot, and the region is clear, don’t get cocky and start giving the Nafalli extra time to loot the station.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be sticking to the plan.” Jake said, sighing. “I can’t afford to get trapped or killed down there.”
“Or distracted,” Stephanie said. “What’s going on? What’s in your head?”
“Something happened while I was fighting Juun. It almost cost me the duel. I had this mental flash of Ayan finding her way back to Liam if I was gone too long or…” he shrugged, turning away from Stephanie. “I know, it doesn’t make sense. She explained everything about our break up to me, we’re in a good place.”
“That bloody redhead,” Stephanie said. “Listen, you can’t control what happens at home, and I’m sure she’s fine, busy building a fleet, doing whatever reluctant Queens do, but you can control your usefulness here.”
“I told you; I know,” Jake said.
“I’d be a crap First Officer if I didn’t tell you to get your head on straight. Ayan is fine, and I’m sure she’s waiting for you, distracting herself with all kinds of new tech and whatever those Lorander eggheads have to show her. When would she even have the time to get under someone else?”
“You’re right. I’m clearing my head right now,” Jake said, taking a deep breath, then exhaling and activating his helmet. The skull graphic was back, looking angry and eager at the same time. “I’m ready.”
“Go kick some ass and get us that data, Captain,” Stephanie said.
Seventeen
Precious Cargo
* * *
“What is going on in Cefa?” asked Tran under his breath. Their combat shuttle was about to merge with the transit ship.
“Focus,” Alice said a second ahead of Yawen. “We have to solve the crisis in front of us before anyone can address the source of the problem.”
“Aye, sorry, Ma’am,” Tran said.
The question wasn’t the problem, it was how easily Tran and Luu allowed themselves to get distracted.
Alice turned her attention back to the more urgent task ahead of them. Most of the transit vessel was filled spent air; carbon dioxide and the corpses that ran out of oxygen. That was something a group of marines or a rescue team could clear. What made it a mission of Special Operations was the sealed compartment in the rear of the ship, or rather, what command discovered there. Smaller, living people who were breathing just enough oxygen to survive.
The ships locked together and the combat shuttle started gently moving the transit ship to safety. That was job one, getting the ship out of the deceleration area. Alice took a scan of the rear compartment. A red notification on her comm told her that both Luu and Tran were running deep scans of the whole ship and she turned on them. “Did I order you to run a high powered scan?”
“No, what?” Luu asked, looking offended.
“You could set off a bomb made to detonate when exposed to a high energy scan, or interfere with damaged systems,” Alice said.
“But you were scanning…” Tran said, coming to his comrades’ defence.
“Yes, a low energy, focused scan of the area we’re about to enter. Not enough to set anything off,” Alice replied.
“More information is…” Luu started to explain.
Alice ignored her and turned to Yawen. “Get them in shape, we don’t have time for this.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Yawen replied.
“Pass me our smallest pod,” Alice ordered. She opened a channel on her comm. “Command, I’m picking up forty nine dead in the forward compartment, eight tender age children in the rear compartment, and one infant. Life readings are critical. I am not picking up any weapons. Please tell the Harbour Saint we’re coming.” She accepted the infant survival pod from Yawen. When it was empty it rolled up into a narrow tube, and she hoped her scant medical technician training was adequate. She had more than anyone there, a shortfall she’d have to address the moment she could make changes to her team.
“All right, everyone get ready to get a medical sleeve around a child and carry them back,” her mind was racing, trying to anticipate what they could be facing and to intuit what might have happened aboard that ship. They stepped into the airlock. It closed behind them and they waited for the pressure to equalize with the compartment beyond. “When the air from our life support system hits the rear compartment, these kids are going to start waking up if we’re lucky. They’ll be scared and confused. We have to get them into these sleeves so they are safe and won’t be able to slow us down as quick as we can.”
“Why is it lucky if they start waking up and fussing?” Beck asked. Her question seemed absolutely earnest.
Alice watched the indicator come close to equal pressure as she answered. “If they don’t start waking up when properly oxygenated air hits, then we’re too late. That’s why.”
“I was just asking.”
“You should have thought that one through yourself,” Yawen replied.
The airlock opened and Alice stepped through, moving as quickly as she dared between the seats and tables. “Quick and careful. The tactical computer has marked which child you’re responsible for, so get to them and put them in the safety sleeve.”
Knud was the first to get to his child, a toddler with short brown hair. He was already rolling his head from side to side. He spread the sleeve open so it looked like a stretcher with raised sides, gently and quickly moved him on top of it, and the sleeve closed around him. Sonic waves and pre-programmed warming patterns kept the small boy asleep as the emergency stretcher sleeve filled with highly oxygenated air. He was comfortable and safe, his vital stats showing immediate improvement on Alice’s tactical screen. According to initial readings, the boy would be fine, they got to him in time.
She arrived at her charge, with Yawen beside her. A young blonde girl was laying on the floor beside the infant that came up on Alice’s scan. It was a new born, only a day old, but it was barely breathing. Alice put her medical pod beside the baby and, with great care, unwrapped the child from the shirts she was wrapped in, then picked her up and put her inside. The pod closed around the infant and gently secured it inside with a soft, inner layer of swaddling material. Alice would have forgotten that there was anything else going on, except Yawen was hurrying to put the blonde girl - the oldest child there at twelve standard years, perhaps thirteen - inside the emergency stretcher sleeve.
The systems in the infant pod went to work, and the first status report was written in dire orange, with indicators that the baby was barely alive. It took a great deal of discipline for Alice to help Yawen get her charge’s legs into positio
n on the sleeve so it could close around her. Knud came to help her carry the stretcher sleeve with the girl inside. The regular sleep inducers didn’t work, and the blonde girl woke up, looking towards the infant pod right away. “Is she going to be okay? I tried to keep her warm.”
Alice picked the pod up and started for the airlock, watching the readouts on the baby’s health on her heads up display. The child’s overall health was improving, all her stats turning green, including her brain function. When the child cried, it was music to Alice’s ears. “Regan, check our scans of the shuttle for anyone trapped in a small compartment. We don’t want to leave anyone behind.”
“Nothing coming up, I’ll double check, one minute,” he replied.
While he double checked the transit ship, Alice checked on the queues aboard the Harbour Saint for medical care and saw that they were ninety three minutes behind. “Command,” she said, opening a channel. “We’re going directly to Haven Shore Medical. These kids were near freezing and almost out of breathable air, they require immediate care.”
“Lieutenant, this is Navnet Control. I understand that you’re handling a rescue with several tender age children involved, but the Harbour Saint is only a few minutes away from your location.”
Alice saw that two of their rescues, both toddlers, still had vital readouts in the orange range. From what she understood of the emergency systems they were using, that meant they could get worse at any moment, getting better without real medical care was unlikely. The regulations told her that putting them in stasis if they had to wait more than an hour for care was advisable, but she should avoid it if she could. Emergency stasis could be harmful to children. She opened the cockpit door. “We’re headed to Haven Shore Medical, you’ll have a Navnet course in a moment,” she told the pilot, who nodded after a moment.
“Private Fritz Regan has finished clearing the transport and we’ve moved it away from the arrival zone,” the co-pilot said. “We’ll head for Haven Shore as soon as we get a course from Navnet.”
Alice unmuted the channel she had open with Navnet Control. “Send my helm a course for Haven Shore Medical, that’s an order.”
The Navnet Control operator cleared her throat and replied; “Yes, Ma’am. Your helm should have a course now.”
The pilot nodded. “On our way.”
Eighteen
Minh-Chu led Carnie and Hot Chow through their sector, running high powered scans as they went. There were four other groups of fighters making quick work of gathering details about the combat area around Obyn, the planet where they’d find the supply depot. “I’m picking up a few caches. Other than anti-meteor batteries and a few emergency thrusters they’re undefended,” Hot Chow said. “Why would they leave millions of tons of supplies in outer orbit like this?”
Hot Chow was a long distance freighter captain who hauled product and rare materials across sectors, so Minh-Chu could see why he wouldn’t see the logic of a large fleet’s stockpiling strategy. “My guess? I bet they have such a stockpile here that they leave supplies in orbit like bundles, ready for a ship to pick up so heavy lifters don’t have to run things to them every time they get an order,” Carnie said.
Minh-Chu took a moment to glance at the ice covered planet of Obyn in the distance. It caught the starlight and glittered blue and white. “If we take a deeper look when we get back to the Revenge, I bet we’ll find out that each one of those caches matches the supply requirements of ships in their fleet,” Minh-Chu said.
“Maybe they’ve gotten cocky, don’t expect any trouble so they overdo it with the efficiency?” Hot Chow asked.
“That could be true, but look at this,” Minh-Chu said, highlighting a spot on his scan results. “Looks like they leave empty crates behind when they pick up full ones.”
“Okay, so a ship comes in. They eject their empty containers - the big ones that don’t fit in a recycler - then they pick up fresh supplies and move on,” Carnie said.
“We’re going to start seeing a pattern, guys,” Sticky said as she led her trio through another search pattern. “I’ve got five sets of empties. Means at least five ships have come through here recently. The base hasn’t had time to restock these caches.”
“We’ve scanned three,” Hot Chow said.
“Let’s say it takes an hour to restock a cache after it’s been picked,” Carnie said.
“I don’t like where you’re going with this, Noah,” Sticky said.
“Call signs only,” Minh-Chu said. “Just because you two stay up talking doesn’t mean you can get cozy on comms.”
“Sorry, Ronin,” Sticky said.
“Anyway; if it takes an hour to restock a cache, and there are eight caches that haven’t been restocked…” Carnie said.
“We get it, a lot of ships come through here,” Hot Chow said. “At least seven or eight an hour and that’s just here.”
“Everyone pull back and go dark,” Minh-Chu said. “We have five signals coming up from the surface. Heavy lifters, no life signs.” He watched his tactical display and was pleased to see everyone in range of the lifters shut their systems down and start drifting. It wasn’t a perfect way to cloak their ships, but unless active scanners swept over them, they wouldn’t be picked up. Passive scanners or lower quality systems would pick them up as debris. All they could do is hope that shutting down and hiding in plain sight would work. They had to be there, they had to map the combat area before the real mission began. Being discovered was an acceptable outcome but delaying that would allow them to quietly gather more information.
The heavy lifters slowed beside a dozen large discarded containers, came to a stop, detached from the full containers they carried then waited several seconds. A light on top of each lifter turned red then green before they started moving again, picking up the empty containers. Minh-Chu smiled to himself. When the lifters started entering the atmosphere, Minh-Chu reactivated his fighter’s systems. “I think we found a better way to get our people on the ground,” he said.
“I was just about to say that,” Hot Chow said.
“Oh, God, I wish I was going with them,” Carnie said.
“They’re going to need a pilot who has experience stealing Order of Eden craft. Thanks for volunteering,” Minh-Chu said. “Don’t worry, I’ll be going with you.”
“What will I be doing?” Hot Chow asked.
“Driving the bus,” Minh-Chu replied. “Time to report back. Looks like the Nafalli won’t have to touch the ground to get the supplies they need. They won’t really need our help either. Sticky, you keep running your scans on the area, make sure you pay close attention to any of those automated lifters. We need to try to guess which containers they’ll be picking up next.”
“Aye, no problem, Ronin,” Sticky said.
“Fury here,” announced one of the other group leaders. “We have a wormhole exit forming. We are getting behind cover.”
Minh-Chu watched his tactical display as the wormhole event appeared and Fury led his two pilots behind a group of asteroids. They littered the outer orbit of Obyn, along with excavators and raw ore movers that had been shut down. “I see you, good job.”
He started slowly guiding Carnie and Hot Chow back towards the asteroid belt where the Revenge hid. He was out of line of sight from the wormhole emergence point, the planet between them, so he wasn’t worried about being scanned. “I get the feeling we’re about to see why there aren’t any outer orbital defences.”
An Order battlecruiser emerged with an escort of four destroyers. “Holy crap,” Hot Chow said through laser link.
“Now, let’s see if it picks up its thirty tons of supplies, then takes off,” Carnie said.
Minh-Chu’s heart sank as it turned away from the nearest supply cache, the four destroyers each taking a direction that would lead them into a patrol around the planet. Fury and his group were under cover and powered down. There was no sign that they were spotted. “Everyone find cover now. Stop any active scanning. Do not let yourselves
get scanned by those ships.”
“Oh, this sucks,” Sticky said. “We’re parked inside some empty containers. No other way.”
“Okay, go silent. I’ll say a little prayer,” Minh-Chu said. He switched to laser link with his wingmen. “Burn, burn, burn,” he told them. “We’re in the open. One of those destroyers will see us if we don’t get under cover and cool down in under a minute.”
“Fifty four seconds,” Hot Chow said.
They fired their thrusters for as long as they could, a little over twenty seconds, then started to decelerate towards the nearest section of the asteroid belt. Minh-Chu watched the scanning radius of the new group of Order of Eden ships expand as the destroyers spread out. They were an older design, but that didn’t matter. The scanning capabilities were good enough to catch anything if it was in the open while they were doing active sweeps. This was not a fight they were prepared for.
Minh-Chu found the asteroid they could hide behind, it had a long break near the middle they could descend into. He marked it and they made a quick manoeuver of settling inside. The bump of his clamps touching solid rock was a welcome feeling. He shut all his systems down and used his vacsuit’s monitoring system to watch Hot Chow and Carnie do the same. Scanning signals passed over the asteroid, not penetrating all the way through to them.
The long wait began. All his fighters were running silent, that meant no communications. The only signals he could see were the ones that made it through the heavy iron asteroid he’d parked in, or the ones reflecting off of other stony faces around him. That was almost nothing. His passive tactical receiver system used the scanning energy from the Order of Eden ships to determine their positions and movements, but other than that, there was nothing to do but wait nervously, hoping none of his Wing were discovered.
Twenty one minutes passed, and the destroyers finally fell into formation with their battlecruiser, the Promise, they opened a wormhole and were gone. Minh-Chu tried to find the direction of the wormhole but didn’t have enough data. He powered his fighter up. Carnie and Hot Chow followed his lead. “I bet every ship coming to pick up supplies does a patrol of orbital space before leaving,” Carnie said.
Spinward Fringe Broadcast 11 Page 10
