Where We Go One, We Go All

by Robert Boren

  “Scanning,” Nolan said. “Razor ship just came out of a jump.”

  “Those bastards,” Tim said.

  “What was the results of the lifeform scan?”

  “Nothing, Captain,” Nolan said. “That thing is empty.”

  “Can our torpedoes reach that dead ship from here?” I asked.

  Tim nodded. “Yes, but it’ll give away our position.”

  “Let’s wait until the Razor ship gets closer to the freighter,” I said.

  Now you’re using the old bean.

  “The Razor ship is moving towards the freighter, Captain,” Izzy said. “Why does that matter?”

  “I’m betting it’s packed full of explosives.”

  Tim burst out laughing. “Oh, this is gonna be fun.”

  “If there’s much of a charge set on that freighter, the Razor might be close enough now.”

  “Let’s give it a few more minutes.”

  “The Razor is doing high-powered active scans,” Nolan said.

  “They can’t see us when we’re cloaked, can they?” Izzy asked.

  “No way,” Nolan said.

  “Come to papa,” I said. “Nolan we need another jump solution.”

  “Already input, Captain. We’ll take off as soon as the torpedo is free of the ship.”

  We watched the display, the Razor continuing towards the freighter.

  “Stand by,” I said.

  We watched, Tim ready to launch the torpedo, all of us on edge.

  “That’s close enough,” Nolan said.

  I concur.

  “Fire and jump,” I said. We felt a slight vibration as the torpedo was launched, then the dizziness as the ship jumped away, stopping a moment later, the static hitting us.

  “Whoa,” Tim said, looking at the screen. “You were right, and we wasted that Razor ship. It’s shredded. Debris all over the place. Glad we were far away.”

  “Why didn’t we see that Razor ship moving in this direction?” I asked. “We can’t track them in a jump anymore?”

  Sorry, Captain, but I can’t explain it.

  Already trying to figure that out.

  “Well, we obviously aren’t going down there to pick up that ore,” JJ said.

  “That is a Central Authority Razor, right?” Tim asked.

  “Good question,” JJ said. “We’ve got video of the ship, right?”

  We do. Would you like me to get the call numbers and attempt a search?

  “Please,” JJ said. “What now, Captain?”

  “I sure would like to get that ore,” I said.

  “Not advisable,” Nolan said. “We’d be sitting ducks.”

  “I know. Time to call the Chairman.”

  I sat in the holographic communicator chair and paged Vermillion. He showed up after a moment.

  “Something happened,” he said. “Everybody okay?”

  I nodded. “We arrived to find the site on Boroclize molested,” I said. “The top to the loader was open, which tipped us off right away. When we were here before our sensors couldn’t detect the Boron. It was off the charts this time. We had to wait for a dust storm to blow over, and then saw some interesting things.”

  “Such as?” Vermillion asked.

  “The mine doors were open, and there were dead humans all over the place.”

  “The biologicals.”

  “That’s what we thought, Mr. Chairman. Then we got a proximity alert from Butch. There was a dead freighter in orbit, coming towards us.”

  “The ground crew spread the biological agent to the ship and everybody died.”

  “That’s what we thought at first, Mr. Chairman.”

  It was a trap. Sneaky.

  “That’s exactly what it was,” I said, “and the freighter was filled with explosives. We realized what was happening when we scanned for traces of life in the ship.”

  That took an active scan. Dangerous. Oh, I see what you did. Nice. Scratch one more Razor.

  “What?” Vermillion asked.

  Butch had the whole thing in memory. The last scan brought a Razor ship out of a jump.

  “Why didn’t they just stay away and wait for their little bomb to go off?” Vermillion asked.

  They want prisoners. Pretty stupid for them to get so close to the freighter. Maybe they thought we were about to board her.

  “What if this was Simone?” JJ asked.

  All of us hushed for a moment.

  “I don’t think that’s the case,” Vermillion said.

  I don’t believe that is a Central Authority ship.

  “You think it’s a Clan ship?” JJ asked, her eyes wide.

  The call numbers are not in the same format as Central Authority ships, and by the way the Overlords ships have standard Central Authority call numbers, since they were purchased by the Central Authority.

  “That’s pretty thin,” I said.

  I’m not done yet. We were recording when that ship jumped in. It did not have the same drive profile or frequency as the other Razors we’ve encountered. I believe that was a Clan ship.

  I just went over her data. Emerald is correct.

  Thank you, sir.

  “Is that enough data for us to scan the rest of the zone?” JJ asked.

  Maybe. Send the data to us, so we can start scanning from the New Jersey. I was hoping for a larger sample, to pick up supply ships, but maybe this will be enough.

  “We’ll scan as well,” Nolan said, “with your permission, Captain.”

  “Please,” I said.

  “Are you in a safe place?” Vermillion asked.

  “Safe enough, assuming the enemy can’t see us when we’re cloaked.”

  “They can’t,” Nolan said. “They came right after we did the active scan for human remains, but not before.”

  Vermillion smiled. “I suggest you hang out there while both of us try scans. They’re passive scans, so you won’t be seen doing them. If there’s a chance you don’t have to venture into the Clan Zone, it’ll be worth the wait.”

  I concur. Give it some time. Maybe even a couple days.

  “Yes sir,” I said. “Thank you.”

  “We’ll talk later,” Vermillion said. His face disappeared from the holographic frame, and I left the unit on standby.

  “How wide can you scan?” I asked.

  I’m working on the optimum now, given that the New Jersey is also scanning. It’s good that we’re not right next to them. We’ll cover twice the territory. We ought to have the Monitor scanning from where she is as well.

  Don’t worry, my little friend, we’re scanning from every location we have. You know what those are, so plan accordingly. The smaller the area you scan, the better.

  Thank you, sir.

  “How is he doing that?” Izzy whispered.

  “I’m leaving the holographic communicator on standby all the time,” I said. “He can use that to send transmissions to us.”

  Two more Razor ships just started a jump towards Boroclize.

  “You can see them,” I said with a grin.

  Yes, Captain. The frequency and profile we picked up works for their Razor battleships. Want to do anything as they approach? We still have some mines, do we not?

  “We do, but I want to see what they’re up to, and I don’t want them to know we can see them. How far out are they?”

  Nearly forty-eight hours. They’re in the Leo Supercluster. This isn’t good, by the way.

  “Why do you say that?” JJ asked.

  They may have figured out how we got here the first time. Remember, we went to the Leo Supercluster first, to avoid detection when we thought they could track us in a jump?

  “The plants got messages out that we didn’t know about?” Nolan asked. “I didn’t think that was possible.”

  That is not possible. The Clan fi
gured this out some other way, or they studied where the high-quality Boron deposits are and got lucky.

  I chuckled. “They might have come here to get the fuel themselves. We left evidence that we were there, remember? They saw it and decided to set up a trap.”

  “Do you think they really lost all those people down there?” JJ asked.

  That would be guesswork. We have insufficient data for anything else, I’m afraid.

  “My intuition says they were there for the fuel, and they might have lost people down there,” I said. “They also might have lost the crew of that freighter due to the biologicals. The charges might have been planted after all that happened.”

  If you consider how close those two Razor ships are to this location, it makes sense that they picked that spot, independent of our earlier trip. Great place to launch an attack. Not too close, but not too far.

  Nolan smiled. “They might think we’re desperate enough for fuel to risk going down there.”

  “Which would have them nabbing us with our pants around our ankles,” Tim said.

  “We’re doing the right thing by waiting here, then,” I said. “Butch, make sure the Chairman knows that we caught these two ships in our scan.”

  Yes sir.

  “Should we find a planet to set down on?” JJ asked.

  “We aren’t near any shipping lanes, and we can take off in a hurry,” I said. “I’d rather stay here for now.”

  I’m seeing more ships moving around in my scans.

  “Coming towards us?”

  No.

  “How many?” Nolan asked.

  Four. No, now there are six.

  “These are over and above what the Central Authority and the Overlords have,” JJ said.

  I nodded, my heart beating quicker. “I don’t think we’ll be heading for the Clan Zone.”

  “Why haven’t they attacked anybody?” Tim asked.

  “They’re probably not ready,” I said. “We need to use this to go after the Prime Minister.”

  Nolan nodded. “Took the words right out of my mouth.”

  “Any sign of the Central Authority’s Razor ships?” Tim asked.

  Not since Simone’s ships went into Earth orbit after our rescue operation.

  “What’s Aeon doing?” JJ asked. “This is worrisome.”

  The Chairman is paging you on the communicator, Trey.

  “Thanks.” I got into the seat and accepted the call. Vermillion’s face showed lines of worry.

  “You got our message?” I asked.

  “Yes, and we were just about to call you. We’ve seen sixteen ships in the sector we’re scanning. We’ve got Clan ships all over our zone. The Monitor found some too, as did the Rocky Mountain Lab on Earth.”

  “Does Simone know yet?” I asked.

  “No, but I’m getting ready to tell her,” Vermillion said. “No need to go to the Clan Zone. Hang out there and see what the two ships do. After that we’ll probably call you back here.”

  “But take no action, correct?” I asked.

  “Exactly, take no action. Hopefully they won’t draw any conclusions from the ship you blew up.”

  “We didn’t give them an indication that we were targeting them,” I said, “and we used a torpedo, not any of our advanced weapons. For all they know, it could’ve been pirates.”

  Vermillion chuckled. “I doubt they’re that stupid, Captain, but point taken. You handled this well. Thank you. We’ll talk later.”

  Vermillion’s face disappeared from the holographic frame, and I put the communicator back on standby.

  { 10 }

  Scans

  W e sat in space between Boroclize and the gas giant near the outer reaches of their solar system, waiting for the two Clan Razor ships. Butch’s scans revealed several more ships. It was nearing the end of the day, and we decided to stagger our sleep times. Tim, Izzy, and Nolan were off trying to get some sleep. JJ and I were manning the bridge.

  “Wonder how Simone is handling this news?” JJ asked.

  I sighed. “Probably about like we did. I’m surprised the Chairman hasn’t gotten back to us yet.”

  “Call him if you want to.”

  “I know they’re okay, because I exchanged text messages with Andrea about half an hour ago.”

  “Do they know?” JJ asked.

  I nodded. “Vermillion told them what was going on when they were requested to start the scans.”

  “We’ll have a hard time surviving while we wait for more New Jersey-class ships.”

  “I’ve been trying to come up with a strategy. They have a lot of ships, but I don’t think they can check-mate us.”

  “What’s the total so far, from all scan locations?” JJ asked.

  Forty-one, but remember that we can’t see them unless they’re in a jump. They might have many more just sitting someplace.

  I nodded. “Yes, and we have to consider the ships that the Central Authority has to be enemy assets as well.”

  “What can we do? It seems so hopeless.”

  “When there’s no way to win the game, sometimes you have to kick over the table.”

  Please, another gambling reference?

  “Yeah, what do you mean, exactly?” JJ asked.

  “We need to go hit their factories.”

  “In the Clan Zone?” JJ asked, her eyes wide. “Really?”

  “If we start hitting them in their zone, they might return there to stop the damage. Spacecraft production is important to their economy, and we know they’re already in dire straits.”

  We need to use our advantages. You know what the main one is.

  “They can’t track us, and we can track them,” I said.

  That’s our main advantage, but it isn’t the only one.

  “What else is there on our side?” JJ asked.

  “We have superior weapons and shields, and we know they can’t get around our cloaking.”

  JJ nodded. “True, but will that be enough to get around their numerical advantage?”

  “That’s not all. We’ve also got very potent fighters coming off the line in a hurry,” I said. “And more of these Zephyrus-class ships, one every two weeks.” I sat silently for a bit, trying to put capabilities together in my head.

  Yes, you’re thinking in the right direction.

  JJ eyed me.

  “I’m not trying to hide anything, I’m working out strategy in my head.”

  “Well I’m all ears,” JJ said.

  “Yes, honey, I’m sure you are, but I haven’t worked it out enough to discuss yet. Give me time. And Butch, no more previews, please. You just lost me a few minutes, and if we’re going to win this, it’ll be because of our brains. We can’t waste time.”

  Sorry.

  I’ve got some ideas for us to work, JJ. Let’s do that and let the boys do their thing.

  We were quiet for more than an hour. I felt sleepiness creeping in but fought it, checking the clock on my visual cortex display. Two more hours before we can turn in.

  “Want a snack, honey?” JJ asked.

  “I could eat.”

  “Okay, I’ll go grab us something. What’s good on this ship?”

  I laughed. “Compared to the New Jersey? Not much.”

  “I saw some frozen mini-pizzas when I was at the kitchen. I’ll crank up a couple of those.”

  “Fine, they’re not so bad.”

  JJ left the bridge.

  She’s working an interesting angle.

  “Later,” I said. “We need to scan the Free Zone and the Clan Zone, at least on the route we’ve been thinking about. How can we do that?”

  Drones?

  “Do we have drones that can jump and have stealth capability?”

  No, not yet, but we have the technology to build them, and they’d be a lot faster to produce than battle ships.

  “We need to
chat with Drake, don’t we?”

  That would be helpful.

  “Hey, we can remote pilot the flight suits.”

  Looking at the specs in detail now.

  “We know they can do that.”

  Yes, we know that, but they aren’t built for ultra-long jumps. We’d have to make some modifications. I’m trying to determine what those would be. Don’t worry, that was a brilliant idea.

  JJ came back, carrying a tray with two steaming-hot pizzas on it. The smell filled the bridge, and suddenly I was very hungry.

  “Hope these are okay,” she said, setting the tray down on the counter. We both dug in.

  “Tastes good to me,” I said.

  JJ nodded, her mouth full of food. We finished eating, pausing to relax a bit.

  “That little interlude helped with my stress level,” I said.

  “Mine too. Are you ready to talk about what you’re thinking?”

  I nodded. “We need to scan for Clan ships in the Free Zone and the Clan Zone, along the route we planned to take with the Zephyrus.”

  “Why?”

  “To scout targets,” I said.

  “So we have to send ships there after all, then.”

  “We might be able to modify the flight suits and auto-pilot them to the areas we want to check.”

  JJ smiled. “That’s a good idea, and we know there are thousands of them available.”

  Remember their weight. We can’t move thousands of those on the Zephyrus. We’d have to load them onto the New Jersey if you want a lot of them. It’ll be risky to do that on Earth.

  “Yet another thing we need to discuss with Drake,” I said. “What are you and Emerald working on?”

  “Remember the work I was doing for boron refinery waste removal?”

  “Of course.”

  “We got a working prototype for that, and should be able to perfect it quickly. Emerald has been mapping out our zone and the Free Zone for sources of ore. There are a lot of places, and most of them look a lot safer than Boroclize.”

  “For high-quality ore?” I asked.

  “No, we want to avoid high-quality ore deposits, because the Clan will be looking for those, and we’ll stand a much higher chance of running into them at those locations.”

  “Oh, I get it. Smart. Keep working that. We’d have to put the refinery on the New Jersey though, right? It’ll be too big for a Zephyrus-class ship.”