Pursue the Past: Samair in Argos: Book 1 (84 page)

              “Captain!” George said, startled.  “I’ve got ships coming out of hyperspace!”

              Verrikoth stood on the bridge of
Ganges,
Commander Tyler at his side.  They were looking at the sensor feeds of what was happening in the system as the flotilla dropped out of hyperspace.  “Well now, Commander,” the zheen pirate said in wonder.  “What do we have here?”

Chapter 27

             
Ganges
’s sensors vacuumed up every stray iota of data that they could as the flotilla arrived.  The ships were arrayed in a rough box formation, with the three cruisers in the middle, all side by side, with
Ganges
in the middle, with
Meghna
off to port and
Kerala
off to starboard.  Above and slightly back was the corvette,
Ravage
, flanked by the freighters
Ajax
and
Cierre
, and in mirroring position, below and slightly behind the cruisers were the other two modified freighters
Nocturne
and
Squire
.  It was an impressive sight, one whose like hadn’t truly been seen here in the Cluster since the time of the Republic.  All the ships were banging away with their active sensors, trying to determine exactly what was happening here in the Ulla-tran system, uncaring as to who saw or who might object.  But then, who would dare?  Verrikoth was certain there was no one in this system who could stand up to the firepower of this flotilla.  They would all bow and scrape at his feet, begging to be left alone, or to join in the fun.  He might even indulge a few of them.

              “Get me a fix on the ships moving around here,” Tyler ordered his bridge crew. 

              “Yess, pleaze,” Verrikoth said.  “Ssee if there are any familiar facez.”  His antennae bobbed up and down with amusement.  He crossed his arms over his thorax.

              “Commander?” the sensor watch specialist called out.  “I’ve got something.”

              Tyler turned and walked over to the sensor station.  All of the bridge consoles were U-shaped, all facing inward, with the captain’s chair in the center.  The young woman pointed to her display.  “Here, Commander.   That ship there.  The bulk freighter.”

              “Bulk freighter?” Tyler asked, his voice a whisper.

              “Yes, sir,” she replied.  “We’ve seen her before.  Back at Hecate, sir.  ID checks out as the
Grania Estelle.
”

              The smile on Tyler’s lips was pure malice, but his eyes glowed like a pair of stars.  “It seems the universe has decided to shower blessings on me.”

              Verrikoth looked over at him.  “What iz sso important about thiss particular sship?”

              “They brought in a load of gadolinium for our hyperdrive a few months ago,” Tyler told him, his voice strained.  “
Ganges
was laid up in the building slip in Hecate, waiting for that last shipment so we could get the drive on line.  They refused to turn over the gadolinium and wanted to gouge us, so the locals launched some of their fighters to try and persuade them.”

              “And they did not ssurrender?” Verrikoth asked, puzzled.  “A bulk freighter taking on a flight of sstarfighterz?”

              Tyler ground his teeth.  “Yes, Captain, they did.  They managed to hold them off with their own fighter support.”

              Verrikoth’s antennae straightened in surprise.  “They have their own sstarfighterz?”

              Tyler growled.  “One at least,” he admitted.

              “Sso a bulk freighter with minimal weaponz and one sstarfighter managed to destroy a flight of sshipss from Hecate and defeat this cruizzer?”  He buzzed with laughter.

              “They didn’t fight us off,” Tyler replied angrily.  “They shot down the fighters, recovered their own and then ran for the hyper limit.  By the time we were able to get this ship up and running, they were almost there.  We caught up to them but they ejected the cargo with a…” he ground his teeth again, “a bomb attached to it.  We could either chase them down and lose the shipment, or we could get the cargo and have to let them go.  I didn’t have the means to do both, so I went after the cargo.  But now I want that ship, Captain.  And you will let me have it.”

              The pirate stared at his flagship commander for a long moment.  Finally, his antennae twitched and he nodded.  “Very well, Commander Tyler,” he said slowly.  “You will get your payback.  But do not damage that sship too much.  It will be an exssellent addition to my flotilla.  It can carry sso much more ssuppliess and cargo than my merchant sshipss.”

              The human nodded in satisfaction.  “Thank you, Captain Verrikoth.  Communications: all ships.”  He waited for the comm worker to give him a thumbs up.  “All ships in Flotilla Alpha, accelerate to point one light speed.  Course is being fed to you by
Ganges
.  We are going after the bulk freighter.”

              But Verrikoth wasn’t finished.  He leaned in closer to the human, his voice pitched low.  “But do not misstake pragmatizm for weakness.  I let you go after thiss sship because it benefitss uss both.  You do not dictate termz to me.”  His words were punctuated by a subsonic thrum, causing the hairs on the back of Tyler’s neck stand up.  The human took an unconscious step back.  “Do you undersstand me, Commander?”

              Tyler swallowed hard, nodding.  “I do, Captain.”

              “Good.  Then, launch your attack.”

              “Captain, the group of ships is changing course,” George reported, his voice calm, though it was clear his nerves were stretched as tight as a drum skin.  “Vector on them indicates they’re heading in our direction.”

              “How long?” he asked, suddenly so very tired.

              “At present speed?  They’re accelerating like crazy,” George replied.  “They’ll be right on top of us in two hours.”

              “Time until we meet up with the shuttle?”

              “Two minutes.”

              The captain nodded.  “Then as soon as that shuttle is aboard, we’re out of here.  Helm, stand by to drop us straight down the Z-axis, perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic.  Best speed.”

              Stella got a concerned look on her face.  “Captain, I’m not a speed racer.  I’m a freighter.  My ability to make vector changes that drastic is extremely limited.”

              “Then divert power to your maneuvering thrusters, try to cushion your frame as we turn,” he told her.  “We stand exactly zero chance trying to fight off those ships.”  He stood and swept his gaze around the bridge, looking at his bridge crew.  The looks they were sending his way told him that they knew just what their chances were.  The cold stares were also telling him that his grip on their trust was tenuous and failing fast.  He grunted.  “All right.  Since you all seem hell-bent on blaming me for this latest turn of events, let’s have it out.  Stella, if the instant we saw
Emilia Walker
get shot up and captured, if we had poured on the speed, abandoned Ka’Xarian and his team and headed straight for the hyper limit for Seylonique, could we have gotten out before that group of ships arrived?”

              The holo of the AI flickered, as though she was nervous.  “Yes, Captain, we could have.  We’d have made it into hyperspace about five hours ago.  But we would have left Xar, his team, and the
Kara
to their fates.”

              “Stella,” the captain went on, making sure as his gaze swept over them, that he made eye contact with everyone, “If when we saw the
Emilia Walker
get hit and captured, if we had immediately gone to the fueling station, picked up Ka’Xarian and his team, and then followed the
Kara
to the hyper limit toward Seylonique could we have gotten out before that group arrived?”

              She flickered again, this time her nervousness showing on her artificial face.  “No, Captain.  We would still have been two hours from the limit when they arrived.  And based on the acceleration we’re showing from those ships now, the corvette should have just gotten into weapons’ range about six minutes before we jumped.  They might have been able to get us.”

              “Thank you, Stella,” he said, settling back into his chair.  “And since it doesn’t matter anyway, the looking back and what-if-ing ourselves, let’s all just focus on the job in front of us.  We get that team aboard and then we dive straight for the hyper limit.  We jump ten light years straight out, then recalculate for Seylonique, going around this system.”  The light in their eyes was starting to warm a bit.  It was still cold, but no longer frigid.  “Hopefully, it’ll be enough to keep the warships confused and they’ll lose us in the scramble.”

              “Entering boat bay now,” Jesma reported, easing the thrusters and spinning the craft.  She set the ship down heavily on the deck, but no one complained.  An instant later, the outer hatch slid open and Security and medical personnel were waiting there for the crew on the shuttle.  Stretchers were brought out and Captain Vosteros, Kay’grax and Sion were loaded up and carried off, the sick berth attendants running down the corridors to get them to sickbay.

              Tamara walked over to the shuttle.  She stepped inside through the main cargo hatch as it lowered to the deck.  Ka’Xarian was inside, along with most of his team.  Those that were injured were following the medicos down to sickbay, but there were still several of his engineers here to transfer the fuel to the ship’s tanks.  Without a word, she walked up to the zheen and put her arms around him.

              Ka’Xarian froze in alarm.  “What’s this?” he asked.

              “Just glad you’re all right, Xar,” Tamara said, her voice a low whisper.  “Scared you wouldn’t make it back.”

              “And leave you and the Chief at each other’s throats?” he asked, patting her back.  “Never.  Besides, I’m too handsome to die.”

              She chuckled, which came out almost as a sob.  Releasing him, she took a step back, but her hands were still on his shoulders.  “That you are, sir.  Just glad you’re back.”

              “What about me?” Lorcan asked, walking over.

              She wrinkled her nose at him.  “What about you?”

              “Don’t I get a hug?  I’m the one who did most of the development on the knock-knock box and delivered it,” he pointed out.

              Tamara nodded.  “Yes, of course.  Xar, hug this man.”

              The zheen clacked his mandibles in disgust.  “No thank you.  I’ve had to be around him for the last few days and he hasn’t bathed in two of those.”  They all three laughed. 

              “Well, we’ll have to fix up the shuttle later,” Tamara told Ka’Xarian.  “Captain’s bugging out of here pretty quick now that you and the fuel are on board.”

              “Bugging out?” Lorcan asked, chuckling.  “I can’t believe you just said that, Tamara.”

              “Go find something to do, Lorcan,” Xar said, as Tamara released his shoulders and took a step back.  “In fact, get to work securing the hoses for the fuel transfer.”  He patted the nearest tank on board the shuttle.  “We need to get all this transferred as soon as we can.”

              “Right,” the large man said.  He took the hose from the approaching tech and plugged it into the first storage tank on the shuttle.  Making sure the hose was locked down, he checked the status lights as they all turned from red to yellow to green.  Nodding, Lorcan twisted a control and the system began pumping the fuel out of the shuttle, through the hose to pipes that would lead to the main fuel bunkers aboard the
Grania Estelle
.  “Pumping initiated.  I’ll keep an eye on this, but it’s going to be about forty minutes for this tank, then about the same for the others.”

              The PA system gave a shrill drone for two seconds then the Captain’s voice came on.  “All hands, this is the Captain.  Prepare for emergency maneuvers and acceleration.  Make sure all loose items are secured and that you brace for this.  We may be going into combat shortly, I want everyone ready.”  There was a pause.  “As most of you know, a number of warships entered the system and it looks as though they’re moving to intercept us.  We’re going to try and evade.  Moxie, report to the bridge.  That is all.”             

              “Never a dull moment,” Ka’Xarian said, his antennae flattening in weariness. 

              “Nope,” she replied.  She turned and gave him a little bow, which he returned.  “Damn, it’s good to have you back, Xar.”

              “Thanks, Tamara.” His voice was tired, but the feeling came through.  “I am very glad to be back with all my little children.”

              She chuckled and hustled off, heading into the ship.  As she was running, a message popped up on her HUD.

              [Grab hold of something!]

              Tamara dove forward, grabbing a hold of a handle on the bulkhead, her fingers locking around the metal bar just one second before the kilometer long freighter lurched onto a new heading. 

              “Finally,” Goris Hana exclaimed as life support stabilized, and reports came in over the radios indicating that the station’s three fusion reactors were now stable and operating out of network control. The fat man stomped a foot in satisfaction, trying to relief a bit of the frustration that had pent up in his chest ever since the madness with this malware had begun.