The Last Flight of the Argus (33 page)

Inquisitor Cer grabbed the toolbox.

“
After we’re done with this mission, I’ll get my chance with one of them, at least,” she said. She headed to the rear of the engine room and slammed the toolbox to the floor.

“
You’ve made yourself an enemy,” Maddox said and chuckled. “Well,
another
enemy.”

B’taav wearily eyed Maddox.

“
Easy, partner,” Maddox said. “Best get back to work. There’ll be plenty of time to settle scores afterwards.”

“
I suppose,” B’taav replied. “In the meantime, you should clean that stain on your right sleeve. You wouldn’t want anyone to get the wrong ideas.”

Maddox looked down and spotted the crimson stain on his sleeve. His eyes opened wide with surprise.

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

Even
though they barely talked from that point on, Inquisitor Cer and B’taav pushed themselves to their limits for the next two days. As impossible as it seemed at the start, all repairs were eventually completed and the exhausted duo headed for the ship’s cockpit. B’taav sat behind the navigator’s chair while Cer positioned herself behind the engineering station. Maddox stood by the door and out of the way.

B’taav ran his hands over the controls and hit various switches. After a few seconds several lights and monitors came to life.

“
Computer is on.”

“
Primary engines online,” Inquisitor Cer said. “Initiating slow burn.”

A low rumbling filled the ship. Other lights turned on as the ship came to life after a two hundred year sleep.

“
You did it,” Maddox said. “You got her working!”

“
We’re not there yet,” Cer replied. She pressed another series of buttons. “Going to fifty percent.”

B’taav nodded. “Fixes are holding. Vents are clear. There is no sign of leakage and fluid levels are proper.”

“
Moving to sixty percent.”

More rumbling filled the cabin.

“
Patchwork is still holding. Fluid levels remain good.”

“
Going to seventy five percent.”

The rumbling that filled the engine grew ragged. Despite this, B’taav grinned.

“
Everything is holding,” he yelled above the roar. “Go for one hundred percent.”

Inquisitor Cer pressed another button and the rumbling became overwhelming. Maddox clapped his hands against his ears and winced in pain. B’taav cocked his head to his side and gritted his teeth.

“
It’s still holding,” B’taav yelled. “OK, shut it down.”

Inquisitor Cer hit several buttons and the rumbling dropped to a tolerable level.

“
Back down to twenty percent,” Inquisitor Cer said. She faced Maddox. “We’ll keep the engine going for two more hours. If there’s any problem, we’ll find it. In the meantime, we need to fix the sound dampers. The ship will tear herself apart, or at the very least leave us all deaf, if we fly around like that.”

“
Agreed,” Maddox said.

“
They don’t make them like they used to,” B’taav said. “If everything holds, we’ll be ready to go in another three hours.”

Oscar
Theodor rushed down the immaculate upper deck of the
Dakota
along with the rest of the fighter pilots. They were called back to the
Dakota
by Lieutenant Lester Daniels and ordered to be in the ready room by 0805. That left Theodor less than five minutes after landing to remove his pressure suit and get there.

The Communication OP’s order was delivered without explanation, despite the fact that his fighter squad was still in the process of sweeping the asteroid field for signs of the survivors of the
Pilgrimage
. Theodor was angry they fell for the decoy ship trick twice. Whoever the pilots within that cargo craft were, they were clever. They had nearly decommissioned the
Dakota
and had managed, at least until now, to evade one of the Epsillon Empire’s finest flight squads. The boys in the other squads back home would never let them live that one down.

Theodor hurried his pace. He passed several companions and found he was the first to reach the main elevators. He pressed his access code into the elevator paneling and found the personnel of his squad surrounding him.

“
What do you suppose this is about?” Sandra Mortimer inquired.

Theodor shrugged.

“
I have no idea.”

“
It can’t be good,” Jill Harris, one of the rookies on the squad, said. “Lieutenant Daniels can’t be happy. We’re going to get disciplined.”

Theodor shook his head. Why was it that every rookie coming into the squad proved such a delightful mix of raw nerves combined with a boundless pessimism?

Was I like that?

“
There’s no use wasting energy on what might be,” Theodor said. “How about everyone take a moment to compose themselves?”

“
Sir, if I may?” Jill asked.

“
Yes?”

“
Don’t you find it unusual for Lieutenant Daniels to call us in when we were just beginning our search? It's like he doesn't think we can find them.”

It's unusual, all right,
Theodore thought. But there was more to this. The higher ups always showed some lack of understanding about their underlings. However, this level of incompetence he never thought possible. For most of this pursuit, the
Tango
squad was told to keep back and not advance too far ahead of the crippled
Dakota
. His squad was treated like a dog on a tight leash. If the craft they were pursuing should escape, the Tango squad members, and not their superiors, would be the ones blamed.

“
I don’t know, nor question, my superior officer’s orders,” Theodor responded while those thoughts rumbled through his head. “I do know that whatever his plans may be, we will serve at his discretion and without question. Everyone here understands this, right?”

The members of the flight squad nodded. Within moments, the elevator doors opened.

The
sound damper coils of the
Xendos
, it turned out, had disintegrated over time but proved surprisingly easy to fix.

After doing that job, B’taav and Cer ran a second major inspection of every component within the engines to make sure all the patchwork held and no leaks, tears, or burns were evident.

When they again ran the engines at full power, the sound and vibrations within the ship proved no more than a low murmur.

The
Xendos
was ready to fly.

The Independent and the Inquisitor left the ship’s cockpit and met up with the other passengers. They were huddled around the escape sled and in the process of packing up their meager belongings.

“
We’re lifting off in a half hour,” Cer said.

“
A half-hour it is,” Francis Lane said.

Maddox tagged along with Cer and B’taav as they headed back to the base’s storage room.

“
To get the
Argus’
central computer and Geist machine working, we’re going to need every power cell we can find, just in case,” B’taav said.

“
There could be some compatibility issues,” Inquisitor Cer said. “This place carried material for Phaecian, not Epsillon, spacecraft.”

“
We’ll have to improvise,” B’taav said. “We can get it to work.”

“
Good,” Maddox muttered. “How about we grab what we need and get the hell out of here?”

Oscar
Theodor was the first of the squad to enter the conference room. He was in for a surprise.

Seated around the table were members of the Blue Rogues, an elite anti-terrorist unit whose presence on board the
Dakota
was a whispered rumor since the ship’s arrival at
Titus
.

The Blue Rogues were dressed in dark leather suits. Half the twenty members were male and they all carried gold insignias indicating they were squad leaders. The Blue Rogues’ jobs usually involved insertion into hostile territory, identification of targets, hostage rescues, and, more often than not, threat elimination. Others, less charitably, referred to the later as assassinations.

Theodor swallowed. The
Dakota
was a very large craft, yet assuming each of the twenty squad leaders had a twenty person squad hidden away inside the ship…how had they avoided being detected this long?

But the biggest surprise proved to be the man sitting next to Lieutenant Lester Daniels. His suit was crisp in olive green, and the breast of his coat was filled with medals.

General Jurgens?
Theodore thought. The situation must be even more serious than anyone thought.

“
Fighter Squad
Tango 13
reporting,” Oscar Theodor said. He addressed both Lieutenant Daniels and General Jurgens.

“
At ease,” Lieutenant Daniels said. “As you’re undoubtedly aware, the gentleman to my right is General Anton Jurgens. You may also be aware that the men and women seated around this table are members of the Blue Rogues.”

The Blue Rogue squad leaders acknowledged the pilot’s presence with terse nods.

General Jurgens pointed to the large monitor immediately behind him. On it was a computer graphic that displayed the
Dakota
and her immediate surroundings.

“
We don’t have much time, so I’ll be brief,” General Jurgens said. “Since our abrupt departure from
Titus
, we've focused on pursuing a single craft. The craft had a considerable jump on us and has used guile to keep out of our reach.”

Among other things,
Theodor thought.

“
We also fear they are listening in on our communications.”

Several mouths hung open in shock at this revelation.

“
If true,” General Jurgens continued. “These people are not only fugitives, but they're also traitors to the Epsillon Empire.”

General Jurgens let that revelation sink in for a few seconds before continuing.

“
Since they may be using our equipment against us, we will change our procedures. Following your departure, we will use our sensor equipment very sparingly. We will also fly in formation, utilizing a phalanx of ships spread out in a broad area to canvas and, eventually, sweep our elusive prey into our grasp. All communications between individual fighter crafts are hereby shut down. You will only, and I repeat,
only
use communication between crafts in the event of an emergency. You will not talk to each other or to command. You will not update each other on your status.”

Theodor raised his hand.

“
Sir?”

“
Yes?”

“
What if we find them? Shouldn’t we—”

“
Let me repeat,” General Jurgens said, his voice brimming with anger. “There will be absolutely no communication unless I personally rescind the command.”

The pilots knew better than to argue with the General. Confusion and concern regarding these orders was evident in each and every one of their faces.

“
From this moment on, our method of communication will rely on a relatively old, and primitive, technology. Breadcrumbs.”

It took all his might for Theodor not to scream.
Breadcrumbs? As if we haven't been crippled enough in our search!

The screen on the far wall activated, showing a diagram of a small, rectangular device.

“
For those unfamiliar with them, a Breadcrumb is a battery powered mini-transmitter. It releases a continuous location blip and whatever information you choose to record on it. The device has enough power to last three months and its transmissions are limited to roughly fifty kilometers. When you have found the hostile craft and initiated pursuit, you will begin dropping these transmitters. One after the other every fifty kilometers. The fighter crafts behind you will have a very clear path to follow, and because the transmission signal extends in such a small area, there’s no way the craft you are pursuing will realize we’re coming, unless they double back. We don't anticipate this.”

Bewildered looks filled the pilots' faces. Oscar Theodor raised his hand once again.

“
Yes, Officer Theodor?”

“
Given the device’s narrow range, how many of them will we carry on each ship?”

“
One thousand five hundred of the Breadcrumbs fit into a single missile tube. At this moment, all the missile tubes in your fighter crafts are being filled with these devices.”

The bewildered looks turned downright hostile. Oscar Theodor noted the sour mood spreading like a thick fog. He worried his underlings might say something untoward.

“
Begging your pardon, sir,” Theodor continued. Though he tried his best to maintain a respectful tone, it was difficult to hide the bitterness from his voice. “Do you mean to send us after these hostiles unarmed?”