Warborg - Star Panther (18 page)

“We’re clear of the drones.” Martin smiled in pent up relief. He performed a cursory check of his sensor displays, they showed nothing. He nodded in satisfaction. “I’m going to drop into normal space, reset our FTL systems for normal operation.”
The frigate settings work ok, but they sure aren’t as efficient as the normal system operation. They need more frequent regeneration and have a slower FTL relative translational velocity. Besides, that’s an ace up my sleeve I’d rather not show unless I have to.
He thought with a smile, dropping his ship into normal space. He gave the ship a once over while Prowler reset the FTL system and quietly generated the FTL field.

“Everything looks good . . . time to report in. You keep an eye peeled.” Martin winked at Prowler. Martin initiated a tight beam communication to the Merced system tagged for the Commanding Officer On Duty. A moment later he received an acknowledgment from Merced. He tapped out a sequence that would relay his sensor detection logs in reverse order, giving them the latest information first. “C’mon you guys, wake up.” He gave Prowler a dour look then keyed his transmit button. “Merced Command, Merced Command. This is Major Martin Morgan of the Star Panther. A Koth armada is en route to your location. I anticipate an attack by a fleet of over a thousand mixed Koth vessels on your system in one hundred to one hundred twenty hours from now. I repeat Merced Command, a Koth armada is en route to your location. I anticipate an attack by a fleet of over a thousand mixed Koth vessels in one hundred to one hundred twenty hours from now. I am sending what sensor data I have. I re . . .” Martin was interrupted by a hissing snarl from Prowler. “Oh shit, we have company!” Prowler jumped the ship before Martin could release the transmit button.

“Where in the hell did they come from?” Martin sputtered. Several dozen more koth ships materialized in space around him. “Mother fu . . .” He was forced to change course when two Koth strike fighters appeared right in front of them. “Damn, they’re gonna see that.” On cue three Koth light fighters jumped in right on top of him.
What’s the point of trying to intercept us, we’re not in normal space. Weapons don’t work in subspace.

Martin watched an unfamiliar Koth ship make six quick micro-jumps in the area of the Star Panther. A new FTL signature lit up at each of the jump points.
Now what?
As if to answer one of the new signatures gave a sudden pulse. Martin’s mouth fell open as every FTL field in the display glowed momentarily. Before what he had seen even fully registered Prowler changed the direction of their jump. A split second after they veered away from the fighters the source of the pulse micro-jumped right where the Star Panther would have been and self destructed with an immense subspace distortion. The three Koth light fighter’s FTL fields collapsed dropping them into normal space.

Subspace depth charges?
Martin’s mind howled in disbelief. “Some kinda’ subspace interceptors . . . keep us clear of them.”

Another interceptor pulsed and Prowler careened clear. The second interceptor barely had self destructed when a third pulsed. The Panther slew into a new heading. “Vary our velocity too!” Martin yelled just as another interceptor pulsed. Martin ‘felt’ the ship change course and decelerate. This time the three remaining interceptors jumped in unison, self destructing in a triangle at the same time. Martin’s heart skipped a beat when the Panther’s FTL field jittered for a split second, he knew only Prowler’s quick and absolute control of the system had kept the field intact. “That’s all six, now get us the hell outta’ here,” Martin spat, regaining his composure. A glance at his displays showed almost a hundred Koth had joined the fray, mostly fighters with a few larger vessels mixed in. In the mishmash of signatures twelve more interceptors appeared, one pulsed.

Martin closed his eyes, forcing himself to calm down and think.
Prowler’s doing everything he can, and it’s a hell of a lot better than you could do. Now get over it and think, dammit.
“When we clear the next intercept, drop us into normal space. Wait for a pulse then jump. ”
We need to know more about these things.
To Martin it was surrealistic when they dropped into normal space for the blink of an eye. A pseudo-nuke detonated where they had been.
Now ain’t that cute.
Martin was getting angry.
Time to be aggressive and show these pukes that they’re not dealing with some snot nosed amateur.
Prowler had dodged six interceptors, but four more had shown up. “Now I’m getting pissed.”

“Prowler are these things pulsing at any kind of regular interval?” 2.33+/- .01 seconds, appeared on a display. Martin studied his sensor console, every time an interceptor pulsed he could see all the Koth ships in the sector.
I bet these things only can see FTL fields, let’s find out.
He spotted a light missile cruiser in a group of a dozen ships.
Ok, you shits wanted to come join the party, so let’s give you a reeeaal close view of the entertainment.
He thought with a snarl and pointed to the group of ships. “Jump us right on top of them for a pulse.” A second later his sensors showed him in a cluster of ships, they jumped back out a split second before two interceptors self destructed. All the ships in the group dropped to normal space. “BINGO! Drop us into normal space right in the middle of them as close as you can to a pulse.” Almost instantly they were in normal space and back out before it really even registered in Martin’s mind. Three pseudo-nukes detonated in the group of Koth ships.
Didn’t think of that, did ya’, assholes? Ain’t reality a bitch!
“Ok little fella, you know the routine. Make’em pay.” Pandemonium broke out among the Koth ships as Prowler jumped erratically in and out among them leaving behind a trail of exploding pseudo-nukes and frantic Koth warships.

There was a pause in the interceptor pulses as the Koth split up and all the larger ships vanished from the area. Martin keyed a quick sequence that sent a micro burst transmission over the Federation command channel of his sensor data for the last couple minutes. To Martin it seemed like everything froze in time for a split second. “That’s right jerk wads, now everyone knows about your new toys,” he hissed.

Over the next few seconds several dozen of the interceptors lit up on his display. “Oops, I think I pissed’em off.” Prowler gave him a disgusted look. “Sorry ‘bout that little fella.”

All hell broke loose as interceptors pulsed wildly, the neat intervals were replaced with a chaotic frenzy.
We can’t keep this up . . . it’s a matter of probability now.
“We have to find an exit, fella. Keep us alive while I think.”
The interceptors track using FTL fields, if we didn’t have a field they couldn’t track us, but we’d be in normal space and a sitting duck if they spot us. I’d take my chances giving them the slip, in subspace we look so close, but in normal space we’re zigzagging millions of kilometers. To beat the interceptors you’d have to dump your FTL field fast, but how do you dump your field fast . . . and invisibly.
His thoughts were interrupted when the Panther’s FTL field jittered, he mentally held his breath for a heartbeat as it settled down. A quick look at the display made his stomach churn, there were hundreds of interceptors in the area and the continuous self-destructing interceptors were totally trashing his sensor displays as Prowler zigged and danced with random course changes. “Oh God, this is bad.” Martin fretted, wishing he could help somehow.

. . .

An unbidden memory seeped into Martin’s mind. It was a class while he was in pilot training. The instructor was an older gentleman who was always enjoyable to listen to. As he said; “I’m a fountain of useless . . . but interesting information.” During one session he was lecturing on the technology of pseudo-nuclear weapons and their usage. He commented that in space that there was no back fill from a nuclear event as there was in atmosphere, where debris and the atmosphere itself would rush back into the void left at the event epicenter. Rather, in the vacuum of space all the energy flowed away from the epicenter until it simply dissipated. In fact a few nanoseconds after the nuclear event it was as if nothing had ever occurred at the epicenter as the energy sphere expanded outward.

“Son of a bitch!” Martin snapped back to reality wishing a silent thank-you to the long forgotten instructor. “Prowler, this is what I want you to do. First . . .”

              . . .

The display of space in the area took Martin’s breath away. It was a kaleidoscope of lashing energy as dozens of interceptors detonated their pseudo-nukes as Prowler micro-jumped the ship in normal space in an area a few light seconds in diameter. “Now fella!” Martin commanded. Prowler lured an interceptor into the center of the ion storm where it detonated. A millisecond after the pseudo-nuke exploded they jumped to the exact position where the interceptor had been and cut power to the Panther’s FTL system, the field collapsed instantly. Prowler fired the thrusters at full power. Martin realized he was mentally holding his breath waiting for an interceptor or koth ship to appear.
So far so good.
He thought watching his displays and crossing his fingers, they could only fire their thrusters as long as the ion field was heavy enough to hide them. The thrusters went silent. “Stone cold fella,” Martin sighed.
Now we wait.
He thought. Their thruster burn had given them a better velocity than he had hoped for, but in subspace terms they were stationary. Several times the Koth ships looking for them came close, one within a thousand kilometers and the interceptors never stopped pulsing. Three hours later Martin did a double take on his displays, a Koth surveillance ship showed up. Martin closed eyes in exhausted frustration. “Good night, little fella.” He looked at Prowler with sad eyes. A second later Martin powered down the Panther entirely, only his container still had power.
With that surveillance ship in the area I gotta’ become nothing, not even a warm rock. What the hell is going on? Why are the Koth so determined to take me out? I know they detected my report to Merced and triangulated back on me. That was stupid now that I think of it, I should have realized their attack fleet was between me and the Merced System. Tight beam or not they were right in the signal path. But why all of this interest in one ship, the damage was done on warning Merced.
Martin laughed to himself.
And you know they had a contingency plan if their attack fleet was detected, they always seem to have a contingency plan for everything. So why all of this interest on a ship who was a fly in the ointment, but is now out of the picture? It makes no sense. I need to sleep, and there is nothing I can do for the next few days except drive myself crazy. And if they find me and blow the crap out of me, I think I’d rather sleep through it.
Martin thought about his situation then toggled a button with his tongue four times that released a sedative into his canister.
Four days should be good.
Was his last coherent thought as he drifted off.

. . .

Martin woke up with a rush and was confused for a moment by the total silence, he felt a surge of panic until he remembered that he had shut everything down. He mentally shook some cobwebs out and checked the time.
Missed ninety six hours by four minutes. These med-tech guys are good.
With some trepidation he tongued a button sequence to bring up the Panther’s basic power system. A minute later he powered up the passive sensor arrays.

Martin watched his display with detached interest. There were still Koth looking for him and once in a while an interceptor would pulse, but it was obvious they were losing interest.
I just wish I knew where that damn surveillance ship was.
He thought restlessly.
Wait a minute, I can see every FTL field in the sector when the interceptor pulses. Unless the surveillance ship has dropped into normal space and dissipated their field I should be able to see them, if they’re still here.
He waited patiently for the next pulse freezing the display.
Twelve fighters and one of the ships that deploy the interceptors.
We waited for the next pulse and verified his sightings. Martin slowly brought the Star Panther back online always keeping on eye on his sensors.

. . .

              Martin sat slumped in the yacht’s command seat weary from tension and exhaustion. “I think we’ve broken free . . . they’ve finally pretty much given up, only a couple fighters and that one damned interceptor,” he sighed at Prowler. His eyes dissecting the sensor array displays as they coasted through normal space. He contemplated some instrument readouts for a few seconds. “I don’t want to do a thing unless we have to, fella. They probably decided that we’re dead, blown away by a nuke and these are just the normal ultra anal retentive Koth precautions.” He patted his leg and Prowler studied him for a moment before jumping from the co-pilot seat into his lap. “I hope our message got through to Merced Command.” He closed his eyes and rubbed his cheek on the top of Prowler’s head. “They almost got us that time.” He held Prowler a little tighter and glanced at the time display. It had been twelve hours since he had completed the power up. “What we need is a stealth FTL field.” He smiled at the thought. “Like you could hide something like that.” He shook his head still feeling a little after affect from the sedative. “I need to sleep little buddy. You have the Panther . . . keep us safe.” Prowler snuffled his neck and gently kneaded his leg with soft claws. Martin’s world faded with easy purring as he drifted into sleepy thought about what happened.