by J. N. Chaney
A familiar voice answered almost immediately. “Sarkonian fleet, this is General Marcus Brigham. I am in pursuit of a fugitive ship passing through your system. The Union and Sarkonian Empire have agreed to work together to retrieve the runaway ship, so I suggest you suspend your aggression.”
This time, a woman’s voice answered. “General Brigham, this is High Commander Prynn Deschalla of the Sarkonian Empire. You have not been authorized to enter this system. I strongly advise you to return to your previous destination.”
“Perhaps I was unclear,” said the General. “I am pursuing a fugitive ship known as The Renegade Star. We already have an agreement with you—”
“That agreement only permits your ship to enter specific systems within the Sarkonian Empire’s territory. That does not include Sarkon. Your being here is inexcusable.”
“With all due respect, if you would simply let me continue my mission, I—”
“We must insist that you return, General! This is not up for debate or negotiation. If there is a fugitive in our system, we shall recover them, not you. That was the agreement we signed, if you’ll remember.”
“There’s no time for an argument,” said Brigham. “Either step aside or help me, but decide quickly. I don’t have all day to sit here and—”
A single Sarkonian ship, which the holo designated as The Panchello, fired a missile towards the bow of The Galactic Dawn, hitting its shield.
The com went dead, cutting off the moment the blast struck.
“Here we go,” I muttered.
Suddenly, a mass firefight ensued, with The Galactic Dawn returning shots toward the mounting fleet, striking several at once and disabling them.
The Sarkonian fleet retaliated together, bombarding the Union carrier with hundreds of missiles, each one colliding with the massive shield. It wouldn’t be long before they managed to penetrate The Galactic Dawn’s defenses, though they were sure to suffer heavy losses.
Strike ships exited from the ship, setting their sights on the Sarkonians in quick time. The two fleets engaged, creating an impromptu warzone.
“Now, Siggy!” I barked. “Open the tunnel while they’re killing each other.”
“Doing so now,” said the A.I.
A glowing rift formed ahead of us, splitting the darkness. I held the controls and pushed us forward, easing us into the center.
I was about to let myself relax when the cockpit jerked sideways and a warning light came on; we’d just been struck by a missile. The force of the inertial shift forced Abigail from her seat, slamming her into the console. I caught her arm before she could fall on the floor.
“Captain Hughes, stand down,” said a female’s voice over the com. It sounded vaguely familiar. “This is Commander Mercer Equestri. Surrender now or we will fire a second time.”
“Siggy, raise shields!” I snapped.
Our shields went up fast, just in time to take the following attack from the incoming vessel. Before I could say anything else, a woman’s face appeared on my holo. She had a scar across her face, and I recognized her immediately. “Stop where you are, Captain Hughes!”
“Shit, I didn’t think I’d ever see that woman again,” I muttered.
“What is she doing here?” asked Abigail, still in my arms.
I eased her back onto her seat. “If I only knew,” I said, shaking my head. “I thought we were clear of her.”
“Captain,” continued Mercer, who could neither see nor hear me. “If you think I’m letting you through this tunnel, you’re—"
I grabbed the controls. “Siggy, take us into the tunnel as fast as you can! Disregard safety protocols! Move!”
“As you wish, sir.”
I tabbed the console, unloading one of my mines behind us, and raising the shield once the bomb was clear. With the mine at our rear, I pressed the activation switch.
The explosion hit our shield, setting off several alarms throughout the ship, and sent us barreling forward, into the rift. We began to spin as we entered.
“Enemy vessel is charging weapons,” said Sigmond.
“Doesn’t matter!” I snapped, holding onto the control sticks, trying to level us out. We continued to turn as we fell into the green tunnel. “We’re in!”
The slipspace rift closed as we continued forward. The Star wavered, unsteadily, veering close to the tunnel wall. “Careful!” yelled Abigail.
“I know!” I shouted back, my hands all over the controls. Before I could actually level us, I felt the impact of the outer limits of the tunnel as we grazed the electrical field. I heard wrenching, tearing sounds coming from the hull, violently shaking the entirety of my ship. “Fuck!” I shouted, bracing myself for what I was sure to be a terrible rest of the day. “Hold on!”
Nineteen
“Hull breach detected. Applying seals to surrounding units.” Siggy’s voice sounded like a distant whisper as The Renegade Star continued to spin out of control inside the slipspace tunnel.
“Do something, Jace!” yelled Abigail, gripping her seat to keep herself from getting thrown again.
I pulled back on the controls and hit the stabilizers, slowing our spin. “Siggy, try to compensate for—”
Before I could finish, I saw a tear form in front of us, signaling the end of this tunnel. “Exiting slip tunnel,” announced Sigmond.
I pressed my hands on the console. “Already?!”
The tunnel light quickly faded as we left the opening and re-entered normal space. It closed quickly behind us and, much to my relief, everything went quiet and still. The chaos of the tunnel was suddenly gone.
“Siggy, what just happened? Did we make it?”
“You are correct, sir. According to the star chart that Doctor Hitchens provided, we have arrived at the next slip gap point.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, but knew I couldn’t slow down. “Chart a course for the next one, and hurry. We need to move as fast as we can. I’m sure I pissed off that Mercer gal somethin’ bad.”
“Sir, a quick note before we continue,” said Sigmond.
“Go ahead, but make it quick,” I said.
“This S.G. Point contains, multiple additional tunnels. Four, to be precise.”
“Another intersection?” I asked. It was a surprise, considering how rare they were. No one knew exactly how tunnels formed or why so many ended and began near one another, but it was uncommon to find more than a few in one place. For us to encounter two different slip gap points, each with several tunnels, within the same few hours was highly unlikely.
“According to the atlas, our path is here,” said Sigmond, and a map formed on the holo, highlighting our next destination, the third tunnel from our location.
“Let’s keep going. We don’t have time to waste sitting here,” I said.
“Maybe we’ll get lucky and our pursuers will think we took another path,” said Abigail.
“We should expect the worst, although I like the optimism.” Without taking any time to recover from any of the damage we took in the last one, I had Siggy open another tunnel. We were on the run now, for better or worse. “How long before we get there?” I asked.
“Fourteen lightyears to the next S.G. Point, then we have two other connections,” said Sigmond. “Altogether, it will take us five hours to reach the end.”
“Not bad,” I said, taking the controls and maneuvering us into position. I was about to enter the tunnel when I stopped to consider an alternative. “Wait a second.”
“Something wrong?” asked Abigail.
“Siggy, how many mines do we have left?” I asked.
“Six,” he said.
“Not as much as I’d like, but it should do.”
“What are you rambling about?” asked Abigail.
“The mines, obviously,” I said.
It took her a second to realize what I was planning. “Wait a minute, Jace, you can’t just drop those in the middle of nowhere at an S.G. Point. What if a civilian ship hits them?”
; “We don’t have time for an argument. What do you think is more likely, anyway? A bunch of schoolkids comes out this way…or we’re followed by an army of pissed of Sarkonians? Did you see what I did to that Mercer woman’s ship? She’s coming after us with everything she’s got.”
“There’s still a chance you might not hit her, though,” said Abigail. “Think about the risks.”
“I’ll do what’s necessary to keep this crew alive.” I tabbed the console and began releasing several mines into the area, ordering them to disperse equally around the slip gap point. “If that means planting a few bombs in the middle of nowhere and not knowing who they’ll end up hitting, then so be it. It’s the best option on the table.”
The look on Abigail’s face told me she disapproved. Still, she didn’t argue, and that meant she understood.
A rift formed and we entered it, passing into the new tunnel and leaving the S.G. Point behind. Whatever soul was unfortunate enough to follow us, I hoped they deserved what they found.
* * *
The lounge was half-destroyed when I got there, all the chairs and stools turned on their side. The contents of the fridge were all over the floor, too, as well as the Union coffeemaker I’d acquired from that ship.
Piece of shit, I thought as I glared at it before continuing to the side corridor.
Lex was sitting on her bed, swinging her legs back and forth with a curious expression. She watched as Freddie and Hitchens tried to pick up the room, since it was littered with tossed clothes. “Everyone okay?” I asked, leaning on the door frame.
Hitchens, with a pile of Octavia’s shirts in his arms, waddled over to me. “Ah, Captain! I take it we’ve arrived safely? How fares the ship?”
“We’re a little beat up, but we’ll fly.”
Freddie waved at me before tossing a small pile on Lex’s head. She giggled and kicked a pair of pants at his face, smacking him in the forehead. “Hey!” he said, laughing. “You’re playing dirty!”
“Well, looks like you’re all fine,” I said, trying not to look amused. “Where’s Octavia?”
“She’s in the cargo bay, checking on our lab equipment. I believe there was some damage to the microscope and blood samples, but nothing we can’t replace,” explained Hitchens.
“I need to see about our Union guests, anyway,” I said.
“I wanna see her, too!” said Lex, jumping up from the bed and racing out of the room. She passed by me and I quickly jerked out of the way.
“Hey, slow down!” I called, but she was already gone.
“She’s just excited,” said Freddie.
“Better that than scared, I guess.”
He nodded. “How are we looking with the map? Are we close yet?”
“We’re a few hours from wherever it is we’re going.”
They both looked at one another. “Are you saying we’re nearing Earth?” asked Freddie.
“No, I’m saying the map is almost done,” I corrected. “Who the hell knows what we’ll find?”
“Whatever it is,” said Hitchens, “I only hope it leads us to the truth.”
I left the two of them behind and made my way to the cargo bay. We didn’t have much time before we arrived out of this tunnel, which meant whatever repairs we had to make would have to be done quickly.
Octavia was halfway through the hall when I found her, well on her way to the cargo bay. She had to move slowly, due to all the fallen junk in the middle of the floor. “You need some help?” I asked when I reached her.
“No, I believe I nearly have it,” she wheezed, stretching to reach a piece of metal that had broken free of the wall and kept her from progressing. She swooped it up after a moment and set it to the side, against the wall.
“Looks like we took a beating, but so far nothing’s seriously damaged,” I said.
“We’ll see. I haven’t seen the lab equipment yet.”
“I need to check on the prisoners, too,” I said, taking the back of her wheelchair and pushing. “Let’s see if we can speed this up.”
“You’re a gentleman,” she remarked. “Just don’t expect anything from me. I’m married to my work.”
“What about Hitchens?” I asked with a light smirk.
“You should worry about your ship right now, Captain.”
When we entered the upper deck of the cargo bay, I glanced around, looking for Lex. “Where’s the kid?”
“She sped past me on the way. Maybe she’s down the stairs?”
“Someone needs to strap her in so she doesn’t keep running off,” I suggested.
“She has too much energy for such a small space, that’s all.” Octavia rolled over to the table with the microscope. Several vials had fallen to the floor, shattered and broken. She didn’t seem surprised or bothered by it.
I left her to handle her own business and ascended the stairs. I quickly noticed some damage to the retracting deck on the far side of the room. “Siggy, why didn’t you report that?” I asked.
“Report what, sir?” responded the A.I.
“The fucked-up deck. Are your sensors okay?”
“Apologies, sir. It seems some of my damage detection is malfunctioning for this portion of the ship. I will need to analyze my sensors to initiate repairs.”
“Great, so we need to fix something just so we can see what else needs to be fixed. Maybe we’ll get lucky out here and run into a repair station.”
“Highly unlikely,” responded Sigmond, not quite getting my sarcasm.
I ignored him, walking out into the middle of the bay, scanning for the kid. “Lex, where are—”
I stopped when I saw her, standing between a man’s arms, there beneath the upper catwalk, right outside the cell.
The wall was half-open, somehow, probably a result of the damage we’d taken in the tunnel.
“There you are,” said Alphonse, holding her. “I was wondering what took you so long.”
He had a gash on his forehead, with blood streaming down his cheek, and I spotted a body behind him. It could only be Docker.
“Alphonse, what did you do?” I asked.
“I took care of a problem,” he answered. “Docker was trying to hurt the girl, but I stopped him. Now, she’s safe.” He moved his arm off of her shoulder and she came running to me. “I need to sit down now, if you don’t mind.”
He stumbled backwards, into a crate, wavering for a second.
I looked at Lex. “Did the other one try to hurt you?”
She nodded. “Yeah, it was scary.”
“Hey, go upstairs, okay? Go wait with Octavia for me.”
She ran to the stairs and took off. I pulled out my pistol, just in case this whole thing was a trap, and edged my way over to the cell, trying to get a better look at Docker.
“He’s dead. I made certain,” said Alphonse. His eyes were swirling, like he was about to pass out.
“What happened to you?” I asked.
He smirked. “Took a hit from a pipe,” he answered. “Really, Captain, you should get your plumbing looked at. There’s far too many loose pipes around here.”
Then, he passed out.
* * *
“Holy shit,” said Abigail as she entered the cargo bay and saw the dead body.
“I know,” I said, crossing my arms.
Freddie was right behind her, an equal look of shock on his face. “What happened? Is he okay?”
“No, he’s not okay, Freddie. He’s dead.”
“How? And what’s with the other one?” He pointed to the second floor, where Alphonse was lying on a table.
“He’s fine, just unconscious,” said Octavia, sitting beside him.
I’d moved him, since Octavia couldn’t climb the stairs.
“What happened?” asked Freddie.
“Siggy, play the audio,” I said.
There was a short pause, followed by a light click, and then the recording played, beginning with a long stretch of silence, followed by some static and what could only be hard tur
bulence from our impact inside the slip tunnel.
A worried voice, unsteady and frantic, quivered as the loud tearing and banging continued. “What’s going on?!”
Another voice answered, much calmer and in control. “Perhaps we’re under attack.”
“Is it the Union?” asked the frightened voice, which was becoming clearer now. “Don’t they know we’re onboard?”
“If General Brigham attacked this ship, we would have been destroyed by now. It must be someone else.”
“Brigham wouldn’t do that, would he?”
“It doesn’t matter, Docker. Just don’t think about it.”
“What? Why would you say that?”
“The Union probably assumes we’re dead. Even if they found out we’re prisoners, they wouldn’t put any value on our lives…not compared to the mission.”
“You’re just saying that because you’ve been giving these people information. I’m not some traitor like you. They’ll come for me.”
“You’re being stupid. No one cares about you, aside from your family. We’re just pawns in all this.”
“And you’re a coward,” he countered.
“That’s funny, you calling me that. I seem to remember we both surrendered, back on our ship.”
“At least I tried to escape when I had the chance. You just sat in this room.”
“And you failed, I seem to recall. You can’t—” Another hard burst of turbulence interrupted him.
“I need to get out of here!” exclaimed Docker. He started banging on the wall. “Gods, let me out! Let me out!”
“Stop, you idiot!” said Alphonse. “There’s no point in yelling. You can’t get that door open from in here!”
“I have to!” he shouted. “I have to get out and talk to the General! He’ll help me!”
“General Brigham doesn’t care about you!” said Alphonse.
“Yes, he does! He’s a war hero!” he shouted. “All I have to do is…all I have to do is get that girl back!”
“Would you listen to yourself? You’re talking about escaping a locked room and getting off of a ship with no plan, despite the armed personnel and—”
