Chapter 1

CRACK!

Jason’s head snapped back with the force of the impact. If he hadn’t been bound to the chair there was no doubt he would have hit the floor. His severely concussed brain was having difficulty focusing on what was happening around him.

“You will tell me what I want to know, yes?” The speaker had a voice that managed to sound both raspy and yet also like bubbles coming up through sludge. When Jason had still been somewhat coherent, the effect had mildly disgusted him.

“You’ve done too much damage. I told you to be careful,” another voice, this one reedy and thin, said from behind the chair the human was shackled to. Jason was vaguely aware of thin, bony fingers grasping his head from behind as his implants struggled to help him remain conscious. He wasn’t sure the little machines were doing him any favors. No fewer than four aliens had taken turns over the last two days pummeling him for information he honestly didn’t possess. Not that he’d have given it to them anyway. They were the worst of the worst, scum who preyed upon the weak and took advantage of their plight for simple monetary gain. But lately, the group had decided to up their game and began trafficking military grade weaponry into the hands of small time criminal elements throughout the sector. This had elevated the level of scrutiny on their operation and gained them the attention of Omega Force, a small mercenary unit that took a special interest in just such individuals.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go quite as planned, and Captain Jason Burke, Omega Force’s commander, managed to get himself captured during a routine information gathering trip. The group suspected him of being a ConFed agent and ghosted him off to a secure location before his crew knew he was missing. They’d tried the normal array of high-tech persuasion techniques to extract information out of him, but their unfamiliarity with human physiology had led them to becoming frustrated and resorting to much more low-tech methods. The beatings had begun in earnest twelve hours ago and were beginning to cause significant injury, even to someone so enhanced as Jason.

“If he dies I’d say that solves the problem,” Gravel Voice said with what could be considered a laugh.

“I don’t think so,” said the being with the thin voice. “If he dies, the ConFed will sent a team of agents to find him. Maybe even operators.”

“Humph,” Gravel Voice grunted, but not without a note of fear. Nobody in their right mind wanted to have the Confederation’s Special Operations Section coming after them. “Let’s give him some time to think about it.” A moment later the heavy door swung shut with a clang. A few more minutes and the motion-sensitive lights went out and plunged the cell into blackness, but not before Jason had already lost consciousness.

*****

Drip.

Drip.

The steady sound of something dripping onto the floor was the first thing Jason was aware of as he struggled to regain his senses. His implants had done an admirable job against the head trauma and, despite the excruciating pain, he felt much better than he had before he passed out. Barely. The liquid splattering noisily onto the ground turned out to be his own blood that was seeping from a dozen deep gashes in his face. Normally the tech in his body would have staunched the flow already, but the nanobots in his bloodstream were trying repair the underlying tissue and couldn’t do that working around blood clots, so they continued to let him bleed out for the time being.

He raised his head painfully and tried to look around. The room was pitch black so he switched spectrums in his ocular implants to infrared. A thin band of light showed through his partially open right eyelid; the left eye was still swelled completely shut. He switched back to the visible spectrum and allowed his head to sink forward to try and ease the pain. This didn’t go exactly like I’d planned it.

The door clanged open again and Gravel Voice and his wispy-toned friend sauntered back in. Jason raised his head and cracked his right eye open to look at them. They weren’t carrying any new implements of torture with them, so that was good.

“You’re a tough one, I’ll give you that,” Gravel Voice said. “But soon it won’t matter how tough you are. We’ll be leaving shortly and will have no further need for you. We’ll even try to make it look like an accident. I’m sure your ConFed friends will still bury what’s left of you with full honors.”

Jason had to work his mouth several times before he could speak. He had healed up enough to open his jaw, but it was going to hurt.

“You sure that’s a good idea, Corenntal?” Jason asked. Both beings started visibly as he used Gravel Voice’s real name. Up to that point he had played dumb during the entire interrogation. “I’ll tell you what,” he continued, pausing to let some drool and blood flow out of his mouth to clear it, “if you just set me outside and be on your way, this doesn’t have to be done the hard way.” The two laughed uproariously in their own bizarre ways.

“So you admit you know who we are, yet you still try to bluff your way out of this? You must have been hit very hard in the head indeed,” Wispy said, still chortling.

“I know who he is,” Jason said, nodding slightly towards Corenntal. “Nobody gives a shit about you.” Wispy was right, however. He was trying to bluff his way out of his current predicament. While they may have been petty thugs, they were at least smart enough to put him in a location with enough shielding to block his tracking signal. Corenntal stopped laughing and walked up to punch Jason in the solar plexus as hard as he could. Jason hunched forward against the restraints and struggled to get a breath in through his damaged airways.

“Don’t insult my brother,” Corenntal said ominously.

“Brother?” Jason said doubtfully through fits of gasping. He opened his mouth for another clever insult, but thought better of it. Besides, he wasn’t sure if this species even had mothers. “Last chance, bud. Walk away and this will just be a horrible misunderstanding.” This again elicited bouts of laughter from the two and even from the other thugs that were just beyond the door, listening in. Jason could count four distinct voices out there. The laughter was loud enough that he almost missed the subsonic hum that was building in intensity. By the time they stopped and began to take notice of the sound, it had grown into an all-too-familiar rumble that was shaking fixtures and could be felt through the floor.

“Too late,” Jason said with a grim smile.

“What—” Before Corenntal could finish his thought, there was a muted explosion somewhere in the building and the power failed completely, plunging the facility into darkness. “Get down there and find out what happened!” he yelled. Two of the hallway dwellers jogged off at his command, bumping into the walls and each other as they went.

BOOM!

A sizable section of the ceiling in the corridor outside of the room collapsed. The passageway was filled with choking dust and debris as Corenntal’s underlings tried to get a light source to see what had happened.

“I think I found an emergency light,” someone called down the adjacent corridor, just as there was a loud whump from where the ceiling had collapsed. As Corenntal and Wispy peered into the gloom, faintly illuminated by the weak light streaming through the hole, two crimson orbs ignited from within the dust cloud and the loud whine of weapons charging could be clearly heard.

An enormous battlesynth burst from the dust and debris with blinding speed, firing his arm-mounted plasma cannons down the corridor as he made short work of the guards in the passageway. A second dark shape dropped through the hole in the ceiling and strode directly towards the still-open door with heavy footfalls. Corenntal and Wispy were so fixated on the battlesynth they didn’t see it.

The emergency lighting kicked on just in time for the pair of criminals to see Crusher filling the entire doorway, his face a mask of unmitigated rage. When he looked down and saw Jason chained to the chair and beaten to a pulp, he leapt across the room with a deafening roar and smashed a closed fist into Wispy’s head. The alien was dead before he hit the far wall. Corenntal was struggling with a small blaster when Crusher grabbed his arm and twisted it around, breaking it in several places.

“Wait!” Jason struggled to get out, the dust clotting up all the blood and making it hard to breathe or talk. “He’s the one we’re after. Don’t kill him.” Crusher lifted Corenntal up by the neck until he was at eye level and let out a rumbling snarl as he seemed to debate on whether or not to do as his captain had asked.

“Lucky!” Crusher bellowed down the corridor. “Get in here!”

A moment later, the battlesynth shouldered in through the doorway. Between him and Crusher the small room now seemed even smaller as Jason fought down waves of vertigo.

“Captain,” Lucky said crisply. “Please do not move.” A whine and sizzle let Jason know that his friend was using a cutting laser to remove his restraints. When the arm chains let go he nearly pitched forward onto his face, and was only stopped by a gentle but firm metal hand on his shoulder to catch him. He could not feel or move his arms as they’d been cinched tightly behind him for days, and they now hung uselessly at his sides.

“I’m taking this sack of shit to the ship,” Crusher said. “I’ll be back to help you with him.” With a yank the Galvetic warrior hefted Corenntal off the floor and carried him back through the doorway by the neck. Corenntal was in so much pain from the shattered arm he barely made a whimper. “Phoenix, I’m coming up the beam with the primary objective. Stand by,” Crusher said into the com as he stomped back to their ingress point.

“We were quite worried about you, Captain,” Lucky offered in the silence. “It will not be long and then Doc can address your injuries.” Jason’s mouth had filled back up with blood so he just nodded. He was overwhelmed with relief that began when he saw Lucky’s eyes glowing through the debris of the hole that had been blasted through the compound. He had felt his ship, the Phoenix, approaching as her engines began to shake the compound, and he had been praying they would know where he was. Looking at how close their ingress was, he fervently hoped they had meant to breach that close and it wasn’t just dumb luck that kept them from collapsing the ceiling on him.

“We’re good to go,” Crusher said as he came back in. “I’ll carry him, you take point.”

“Affirmative,” Lucky said as he switched back to combat mode and moved towards the door.

“We can’t risk taking you up the transit beam with your injuries without securing you to a litter first, but we have to get moving … there are more of these clowns roaming the corridors,” Crusher said quietly as he knelt in front of Jason. “Doc is taking the ship and will meet us near one of the entrances.” Jason nodded that he understood and made an effort to stand, even as he heard the Phoenix throttle up and move off.

“Whoa! Not so fast,” Crusher stopped him. He reached and scooped Jason up as if he were a child and moved to follow Lucky out the door, carrying his captain. Jason felt utterly ridiculous, but he knew he couldn’t walk and they needed to move quickly. He marveled at Crusher’s strength as they moved quickly down the corridor to the left. The big warrior was moving like Jason’s two hundred and twenty pounds was nothing.

“Stand by,” Lucky called from up ahead. “Movement near the passage we need to take.”

“How many?” Crusher asked. Lucky ignored him and moved out into the open, weapons fully deployed.

“Engaging,” he said simply as his plasma cannons started barking; he advanced on the unprepared thugs who were milling about waiting for orders that would never come. Judging by the sounds coming from the adjacent corridor, the enemy didn’t put up much of a fight. “All clear,” Lucky called. Crusher moved around the corner quickly and crowded up close behind Lucky, using the battlesynth’s body to shield an unprotected and gravely injured Jason.

“Phoenix, let us know when you’re in position,” Crusher said into the com.

“We’re ready when you are, we’re standing off from the main hangar and can blow the doors when you give the word,” Twingo’s voice came back. The group hurried along, engaging the sporadic resistance they met on the way to their goal: the compound’s main hangar. Once they made it to the door that led into the large, open bay they stopped and Crusher nodded once to Lucky.

“Phoenix, blow the doors,” Lucky said. A split second later horrendous impacts shook the entire facility, and the sound of secondary explosions and wrenching metal could be heard through the door they crouched behind.

“You’re clear, ground team,” Twingo’s voice came through again. “There may be a few stragglers so be careful.” Lucky responded by punching through the alloy-clad door and ripping it from its frame. He then moved into the hangar on a search-and-destroy mission that would leave no one in their way to impede their egress. There were a few isolated shots and even a bit of returned fire before he called the all-clear.

Crusher raised carefully and, still cradling Jason to his chest, moved across the charred floor of the hangar at a dead run just as the Phoenix drifted down into a low hover and lowered her rear ramp. Lucky was running equally fast backwards while covering their retreat with his raised weapons. Once Lucky’s feet hit the ramp it began to rise. The last thing the sole remaining thug saw (who happened to be smart enough to play dead) was a pair of glowing red eyes before the ramp fully closed and the big gunship roared away.

*****

“Get him to the infirmary, NOW!” Doc ordered as soon as he saw Jason. Crusher didn’t hesitate as he leapt up onto the mezzanine from the cargo bay deck in an incredible display of power and agility and hurried as quickly as he dared to place Jason gently on the bed in the ship’s infirmary. The human drifted in and out of consciousness while Doc tried to stabilize his condition. Despite the great care taken by the ground assault team, the moving and jostling had exacerbated his already serious injuries. “Crusher, go help Twingo! I’ve got him,” Doc practically shouted. He knew the big warrior would “hover” if he didn’t give him something else useful to do.

“Who’s … Who’s driving if you’re … here?” Jason labored out as his good eye focused on Doc.

“Twingo, currently,” Doc said, looking at Jason sharply and making adjustments to the equipment.

“Oh … shit …”

“Be still, Captain,” Doc said as he worked, allowing his machines to put Jason under so he could begin to repair the damage the days of torture had caused. When the human finally fell completely unconscious and his body began to relax, Doc was able to really go to work and see just how bad the situation was.

Chapter 2

“How are you feeling?” Twingo asked, his ears drooping down a bit as he looked at his best friend still lying inert in the infirmary.

“Not bad, all things considered,” Jason croaked through a dry throat. They were the first words he’d spoken in two days, as Doc had kept him heavily sedated while he administered care. If it had just been a normal thrashing Jason would have been in his own bed and good as new in no time, but the gang that had captured him had inflicted severe head trauma and Doc wanted to be absolutely certain everything was fine before he let loose a swarm of nanobots into his bloodstream to begin the repairs to the rest of his body.

“Where are we?”

“We’re running at a leisurely twenty percent slip velocity on our way to drop off our package. It’s giving both you, and him, time to heal. We had a tough time keeping Crusher from killing him over the last couple of days. He’s still extremely angry about what happened to you,” Twingo said as he pulled up one of the stools to sit next to the bed.

“I’d imagine he’s angrier that I let myself get captured,” Jason said as he reached for the cup of water on the stand next to him.

“There is that,” Twingo admitted. “I wouldn’t expect to go on any more solo missions for a while if I were you. Honestly, I’d consider it a favor if you didn’t … while we were looking for you, he was an absolute horror to be around.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Jason said with a dry chuckle.

“So what happened?”

“It’s a little fuzzy thanks to the drugs they kept trying on me. Well, that and them constantly beating the shit out of me,” Jason began. “I remember following the scrawny one away from that auxiliary spaceport we identified. He took me right to Corenntal himself, which surprised me … apparently these guys are as amateurish as we were told.

“Anyway, they milled around the warehouse district right outside the port before a bunch of freight haulers pulled up and looked like they were getting ready to stage up near one of the landing pads. I went to get a closer look and I was hit with some sort of stunner. When I woke up, I was chained to that chair and the festivities began.”

“Amateur or not, they still captured you with relative ease,” Twingo said as he leaned back. “We’ve got to start being more careful and establish some hard operational rules before one of us gets killed.”

“A week ago I would have laughed in your face,” Jason said as he laid back on the pillow. “But I have to admit, you may have a point.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that,” Twingo said. “I was thinking—”

The soft snores from Jason indicated an end to the conversation. Twingo smiled slightly, tremendously relieved that the captain was on the mend. He left quietly to go inform the others that Jason had woken up and appeared to have suffered no permanent damage to his brain.

*****

Another full day after he had come back around, Doc cleared Jason to leave the infirmary. He was unbelievably stiff at first and the unusually high concentration of medical nanobots in his body was causing some interesting side-effects, but it was good to be up and about. The first thing he did was tackle the climb up the stairs to get to the command deck so he could sit in the pilot’s seat of the Phoenix again and re-establish that bond, running his hands over the controls. It was a very human thing to do, and for once the others didn’t laugh at his expense. He saw that they were still a little over five days away from their destination and that the ship was purring along at peak efficiency. He was impressed that Twingo had managed not only to sit constantly by his side in the infirmary, but had also kept the engines tuned during the long flight. He’d never actually tell him that, of course.

“So how’s our guest?” Jason said to no one in particular.

“Still breathing, thanks to these guys,” Crusher rumbled, folding his arms over his massive chest. Seeing the warning signs, Jason held up a hand to cut him off.

“I know you have some words for me,” he said quickly. “But can it wait until I’ve recovered a bit more? Or maybe we can just skip it altogether?”

“It can wait,” Crusher said ominously. Jason shuddered inwardly before turning to the others.

“So how did you guys end up finding me?”

“They had put you in a shielded location that blanked out your tracker’s signal,” Kage said from where he lounged in the copilot’s seat. “But they didn’t know that your neural implant tries to keep tabs on the ship, even if it needs to access outside networks to do it. I was able to track your query signature through the public band and see which node you were pinging first. It was intermittent since it only happened when they opened the hangar door, but it gave us a general location.”

“After that we circled the area with the ship until we found that hidden facility. Turns out it was a staging point for a lot of the arms they were running, so we waited until nightfall and picked a logical breaching point,” Doc finished.

“Yeah, that was a lucky shot,” Jason said. “Any closer and it would have been a body recovery and not a rescue. Thanks for that, by the way. It was an interesting experience being on the other end of it.”

“Don’t mention it,” Kage said distractedly.

“Well, it seems you have things well in hand up here,” Jason said as he climbed stiffly out of his seat. “I’m going to go enjoy some solid food.”

*****

It was some time later, during the nightshift, when Jason walked through the dim corridor and out into the cargo bay. He walked silently down the steps from the mezzanine to the cargo bay deck and looked over at the large, modular prison cell that was secured to the deck. Padding up to it, he gazed in through the hardened, transparent alloy barrier.

“I know you’re there,” Corenntal bubbled without opening his eyes. “You may be silent, but your stench can reach even through this box.”

“Nice to see confinement hasn’t noticeably improved your personality,” Jason said. “Consistency is a virtue, even when it means you’re an asshole to the very end.”

“Did you come here to gloat?” Corenntal asked as he seemed to ooze off the shelf that served as a bed before his limbs regained rigidity and he stood upright. His species’ unique system of support necessitated the specialized holding cell. It was a bizarre combination of segmented bone sections coupled with bladders he could fill or evacuate that would allow him to squeeze out between the widely spaced bars that were in the Phoenix’s brig.

Corenntal stood and his eyes seemed to extend up slightly on their stalks so he could look down on Jason. The human knew this was meant to be a sign of contempt and intimidate him, but the thick shielding negated that effect.

“That would imply I have some sort of emotional connection to your capture. Don’t flatter yourself … I could care less who you are. We were paid to snatch you and that’s that. It does help me sleep better to know that you’re an arms-smuggling sack of slime that deserves what’s coming to him,” Jason said calmly.

“Oh, but I think you do,” Corenntal chortled, a singularly disgusting sound. “We both know it was just dumb luck your crew arrived when they did, and we also know that you were very close to dying at our hands.” There was another bout of wet noises that Jason couldn’t identify before the grotesque being continued. “Imagine my surprise when you weren’t a ConFed agent, but just some bottom-feeding bounty hunter. I don’t know exactly who is paying for my delivery, but you better hope I don’t find my way out of wherever they stick me. I’m still most unhappy about the animal on your crew killing my brother.”

“You know … with all of the head trauma from our time together, you’d probably better just tell him yourself. It’s not likely I’ll remember and I’m sure he’d be fascinated by your point of view,” Jason said as he pushed himself off the transparent shield where he’d been leaning. “Be sure to use those exact words. Crusher prides himself on being completely reasonable when slimy pus-sacks make melodramatic threats and insults. Anyway … enjoy the rest of the flight.” Jason walked off and headed for the stairs without looking back. He wasn’t sure why he had come down to look in on his prisoner, but he had to admit Corenntal may have been more right than he’d realized. The capture and subsequent torture session had rattled his nerves pretty badly and it was just dumb luck that the crew had found him at all, much less in time. He shook his head to clear those unhelpful thoughts as he reached the crew hatch and made his way back to his quarters.

He sat on his rack, staring off into space for a moment before slipping his boots off and lying down. “Computer, dim the lights and set a wake up for five hours from now,” Jason said. “Oh … and drop the ambient temperature of the cargo bay fifteen degrees.” With a humorless half-smile, he drifted off to sleep.

*****

Crusher was walking through the common area on his way to the galley when he heard loud cheering coming from the lounge. He looked over and saw Jason sitting alone with a cooler of beer watching some sort of contest between brightly colored opponents wearing some sort of armor. He drifted over and stood in front of the couch Jason lounged on and watched for a moment in silence.

“What is this?” he asked finally.

“It’s a sport from Earth,” Jason answered. “It’s called football. I’m catching up on the season so far.” Crusher stared at the screen for a moment as a tight end came underneath on a crossing route and was demolished by a free safety just before he could secure the ball. At the horrendous impact, a huge cheer went up from the crowd and Crusher sat instantly on the couch, his eyes never leaving the screen. Without a word he reached over to Jason’s cooler and plucked a cold bottle, thumbing off the cap.

“Help yourself,” Jason said sourly.

“Thank you,” Crusher said absently. “Who are the combatants?”

“That’s not really the right term,” Jason corrected, “but this is the Jacksonville Jaguars against the Denver Broncos. Each team has an offense and a defense. The offense is trying to get the ball into the opposing end zone, the defense is trying to stop them. You’ll pick up the rest as it goes along.”

“I take it Jacksonville and Denver are the locations from which these units are based?” Crusher asked as he leaned back. The shifting of the couch caused Jason to wince as his still-healing ribs were jostled.

“Think teams and sport, not units and combat,” Jason corrected.

“What’s the difference?”

“No intentional bloodshed.”

“Ah,” Crusher said as the game continued. They watched in silence for most of the third quarter before they were interrupted.

“What’s this?” Twingo asked as he walked up from Engineering.

“Football,” Crusher answered for Jason. “Currently the Broncos of Denver are about to defeat the Jaguars of Jacksonville. It’s good, grab a beer and sit for a while.” Twingo came around the couch, grabbed one of Jason’s dwindling supply of beers, and flopped down on the other side of Jason with gusto. The sudden movement elicited a sharp grunt from the injured human that the others ignored.

It wasn’t long before the cheering, both from the display and the non-human spectators, caught the attention of others.

“What’s this?” Kage asked as he grabbed the last beer and hopped backwards into the large, padded chair off to the side. He didn’t get an answer as Denver’s quarterback threw a long bomb into the end zone for a sixty-four yard touchdown strike. Crusher cheered loudly while Twingo slapped Jason’s chest good-naturedly during his own celebration of the game’s end. Jason doubled over in agony and missed the point-after kick while he was bent over. He did, however, get a good view of his now-empty beer cooler. Sighing in resignation, he painfully hoisted himself off the couch and slowly made his way back to the quarters. He could hear them selecting the next game in the series and yelling at Lucky to bring them more beer as his door slid closed and he lay down flat on his rack.

Chapter 3

Six days after they yanked Corenntal out of his frontier compound the Phoenix slid into orbit over Kirialee, the seat of power of the Kirialan Sector and the origin of the contract on Corenntal’s gun-running operation. They loitered for the better part of the day in a holding orbit before being given clearance to land and were directed to an airport near one of the planet’s logistical hubs.

“An airport?” Jason asked in disbelief. “You sure you read that right? Why aren’t we being directed down to a spaceport?”

“I know what I read,” Kage answered indignantly. “It clearly says airport and the nav data they sent matches up.”

“OK … don’t get huffy. Can this airport even fit the Phoenix?”

“That’s a good question,” Kage admitted. “I’ll find out. They didn’t give us a specific landing pad so I can’t be sure.”

Jason left him alone and began their entry according to the navigational data provided by Kirialee’s landing control. The planet’s land mass was fairly uninteresting as far as it went, and was covered with the expected urban sprawl and industrial areas. The airport they were heading to turned out to be a military post, not a commercial facility, and looked like it based large atmospheric cargo aircraft. They were given exact planetary coordinates for their landing site and told to remain with the ship until contacted.

Jason touched down easily and leveled the ship on its landing gear. He left the grav-drive active to keep the full weight of the ship off the wheels since he wasn’t sure the tarmac would be thick or solid enough to bear the full weight of an interstellar ship. Although she wasn’t the biggest ship in the sky, the Phoenix most certainly weighed many times more than the lightly-built cargo aircraft Jason saw flitting about the base.

They waited for another forty-five minutes before a secure call came in over the com instructing them to secure the prisoner and move him to the tarmac and wait for Kirialee Security to sentence him.

“What do you think they meant by sentencing him?” Twingo asked from the engineering station. “Maybe just a translation glitch and they mean take him into custody?”

“I guess it means whatever they want it to mean, so long as we get paid,” Jason said, hopping out of the pilot’s seat. “Crusher, Lucky, Doc … you’re with me. Twingo and Kage, keep the engines running and be ready to get us the hell out of here if it goes south on us.”

“So, the usual,” Twingo said as he slid into the pilot’s seat, rubbing his hands together eagerly.

“More or less,” Jason agreed. “Although I think this should be one of the more uneventful handoffs since we’re dealing with a legit government this time.”

“I’ve heard that before,” Crusher muttered as he walked off the bridge after Lucky.

“Why is it so cold in here?” Doc asked, an involuntary shiver running through him as the stepped into the cargo bay.

“Hmm? Oh. I have no idea,” Jason said unconvincingly. “I’ll have Twingo check the environmental controls later. Let’s just get him moving.” As Doc moved to the cell anchored to the middle of the cargo bay deck, Crusher just looked at Jason and shook his head with a silent chuckle, not at all fooled by his horrible acting.

Given Corenntal’s body chemistry, the cooler temperatures had forced him to huddle miserably in the corner of his cell. He was still moving slowly and stiffly as Lucky walked in to grab him.

“This is barbaric!” Corenntal was barely able to get the words out. “I could have died in here at this temperature!”

“Pity,” Crusher deadpanned. “Now turn around.” When the prisoner spun Crusher yanked his arms around behind him, causing the shivering alien to yowl in pain. The big warrior slapped a set of stun shackles on him, wrists and ankles, before giving him a brisk shove towards the back of the cargo bay where Jason was already lowering the ramp.

“It’s warm outside, dirt bag,” Jason said. “You’ll enjoy it. At least until Kirialee Security shows up to collect your sorry ass.”

“Move!” Crusher barked as he marched the captive down the ramp and stopped him ten meters past the edge to stand on the tarmac. Jason stood on the edge of the ramp and Lucky covered them from the lip of the cargo bay. The low, subsonic hum of the Phoenix still under power drowned out most of the sounds of the bustling airbase.

They didn’t have to wait long before a black ground vehicle barreled around one of the buildings and came speeding straight for the parked gunship. Why is every governmental vehicle in the galaxy black? “Heads up guys, it’s show time,” Jason called out unnecessarily, causing both Lucky and Crusher looked at him in mild annoyance. Stating the obvious had been a nervous habit of Jason’s, but now it was more in the nature of a long-running joke between the three. The car slowed to a smooth stop and three officious-looking kireleans climbed out. Although not indigenous to the planet, they had colonized it over two millennia prior and now claimed it as their homeworld. Jason walked out to meet them.

“Gentlemen! Thank you for your punctuality. As you can see … one low-life arms smuggler in mint condition, just as we agreed. If you’d like to transfer him to—”

Jason was cut off by one of the kireleans pulling a sidearm and shooting Corenntal in the forehead at near point-blank range.

“—Or … you could just shoot him in the head. That’s cool too.” The shooter tossed a generic credit chit at Jason before he turned and walked back towards the waiting vehicle. Catching the chit with one hand, Jason turned it over and squeezed it once. Sure enough, their full fee, plus an additional twenty percent, flashed on the chit’s small display. Pocketing the small, black disk, he looked up in time to see the other two kireleans grab Corenntal’s body and toss it unceremoniously into the cargo boot of the vehicle before climbing into the passenger cabin and speeding off.

“What the hell?!” Crusher complained loudly. “We could have just shot him in the head. It would have saved us a trip all the way out to this planet.”

“Crusher,” Jason began, “we can’t assume to know the intricacies of every planet’s legal system we encounter—”

“Captain, Kirialee Ground Control has just informed me we have ten minutes to launch or we’ll be arrested and the Phoenix will be confiscated,” Kage broke in over the com. Crusher was just looking at him with one eyebrow raised expectantly.

“You were saying?”

“No accounting for manners I suppose,” Jason muttered. “Let’s get in the air. We’ve got the cash and the galaxy is short one more low-to mid-level criminal.”

The Phoenix climbed easily through the upper atmosphere and into their first transfer orbit as Ground Control handed them off to Orbital Departure Control. The layers of bureaucracy reminded Jason why he preferred frontier planets. Once the orbital controller felt they had spent enough time circling Kirialee to be suitably impressed with her authority, they were given clearance to push out towards the outer system

“So where to?” Kage asked.

“We’re on a loose schedule,” Jason said, “nothing really all that pressing to do. I could use a little more downtime to heal up, is there anything good around here?”

Kage tore into the navigational data for the local area with renewed interest at Jason’s mention of downtime.

“Oh! O’rethal Platform is just under two parsecs from our current location,” Kage said, practically buzzing in his seat. “We should go there!” Jason did the math in his head. Whatever had Kage so excited was around six lightyears away, just a short hop for the Phoenix.

“What is it?” he asked.

“It’s a casino, for lack of a better term,” Doc said, looking at Kage with concern. “O’rethal Platform is an enormous orbital resort that flies around a class one gas giant. I don’t think it’s a good idea to take our resident slicer, with a known gambling problem, into a high-tech casino, Captain.”

“It’s more than just a casino,” Kage protested too quickly and too loudly. “They have massage parlors and zero-g pools and bars. You and Crusher love bars, Captain.”

“You’re trying way too hard, Kage,” Jason said, trying not to laugh. “If we go there, what are the chances we’ll have to bail you out for cheating?”

“None,” the Veran replied quickly. “I probably won’t even gamble, to be honest.”

“Kage,” Twingo said in pained voice. “Remember … three to one ratio, three little truths with the lie tossed in. You can’t just start with a promise not to gamble. He’ll never believe that. Instead say you’re broke and can’t afford to gamble.” Jason gave his friend an icy stare while he explained to the overly clever code slicer how to play him.

“Regardless of your funds or intentions,” Jason began, still staring at Twingo, “the point remains. Your self-control in casinos has been somewhat lacking in the past. Am I going to be able to relax without having to pay a huge fee to get you out? Or plan a jailbreak of a secured detention area?”

“Hey! I don’t need to take this,” Kage said, trying a different tactic and going on the offensive. “You guys cause just as much trouble and I don’t see anybody else being interrogated.” Jason opened and closed his mouth. The little shit has a point.

“OK,” he conceded. “Plot me a course to O’rethal Platform, best economic speed. Let’s all agree to practice moderation … to the best of our abilities … and kick back for a few days.”

“Course plotted,” Kage said, trying to hide his smile. “Slip-drive is primed, you’re clear to engage.” Jason looked around and noticed that everyone else was smiling too. It’ll be good to relax and get off this damn ship for a few days. He reached down to his right and slapped the control that sent the gunship streaking through slip-space towards their destination.

Chapter 4

O’rethal Platform was everything Kage had promised. Jason was impressed as the station resolved itself in the optical sensors. It was a true marvel of engineering as well as being quite beautiful, a rarity for most orbital installations that normally bristled with thrusters, compensators, and afterthought additions. It reminded him of Pinnacle Station—the enormous commerce hub he had visited years ago when he had first boarded the Phoenix—simply because of the enormity of it. But O’rethal Platform looked like it was planned, designed, and built to look exactly like it did, rather than having haphazard additions slapped on at every change of ownership.

“Docking Control has us on their display,” Kage said. “They’re asking for length of stay and where we want to park.”

“Three days, at least, and get a hangar if they have one that can fit us,” Jason said as he let the computer fly the ship to the specified holding pattern, trailing behind the station as it orbited its host planet.

“Do we want rooms?” Kage asked. Jason had to think a moment on that one.

“Yeah, grab three double rooms,” he said. “If we’re on vacation I’d rather not sleep on the ship.” This elicited a few quiet cheers from the rest of the crew. Love her though they might, months and months on board the Phoenix made everyone a little stir crazy.

“Rooms are booked. Hangar space will be fifteen thousand credits for the three days,” Kage said as he negotiated with multiple parties on the station simultaneously.

“Kiss my ass, fifteen grand!” Jason exclaimed indignantly. “Are they going to wash and fuel her for that? She isn’t that big!”

“It’s the vertical stabilizers, Captain,” Twingo explained, pulling up the station’s specs on his own display. “She’s just tall enough that the main hangar deck won’t fit us. They’re trying to stick us down with the commercial and charter transports.”

“Fine,” Jason said. “External docking arm. I’m not paying out a quarter of our take on that last job for parking.”

They were given clearance to begin their approach, so Jason gave the computer the go-ahead to accelerate and begin maneuvering them around to line up with the docking arm they’d been assigned. It seemed to take forever as the instructions being fed to them by O’rethal Platform’s traffic management computer had them practically crawling by, relative to the station’s speed, before rotating and clearing them for final docking maneuvers.

Jason executed the preset sequence and watched as the Phoenix powered down her grav-drive and closed the distance to the docking section using maneuvering jets only. They were actually travelling sideways at the same speed as the station, some forty-three thousand kilometers per hour. For the last fifty meters even the standard maneuvering jets were shut off, and the Phoenix glided her nose past the extended docking arm and fired the compressed gas jets in the nose to halt their forward progress and line the arm up with the port airlock, one deck below the bridge. Mooring beams on the station grabbed the ship and slid it in until a slight bump was felt on the bridge and the dock established a hard-lock with the hatch on the gunship.

“Grab your shit, boys,” Jason said with a huge smile. “We’re officially off the clock.” Everyone hustled off the bridge to grab their bags that were already stacked up in the common area. Jason completed an orderly shutdown of all the primary flight systems, secured the main computer core, and activated all the usual security protocols they used when visiting a civilian locale. Those standards were a little more lax than normal since they didn’t want the ship accidentally killing someone who simply happened to wander into the wrong area. When they were in a hostile area, however, the protocols were a bit fiercer.

He ambled down the stairs to the main deck and saw his crew already crowding out towards the corridor that led to the port airlock. He grabbed his go-bag and squeezed in behind them.

“So nobody except Lucky is armed right now? Right?” Jason asked. The rules on the station were pretty strict, and quite explicit on the matter of personal weaponry. An uncomfortable silence met his question. “Crusher?”

He heard a heavy sigh and what could only be the sound of a large blade being drawn out of a sheath and the clatter as it hit the floor. Jason waited.

“That’s all I have,” Crusher protested. “I swear.”

“Pop the hatch, Twingo,” Jason said. There was a hum and clunk as the outer hatch released and swung inward. Everyone filed off the ship and waited on the gangway as Jason closed and locked the ship up. They walked down the large transparent tube and descended a short flight of stairs where their docking arm met up with another, larger tube that led into the station. Jason paused to look back and see the Phoenix hanging in space, affixed to the docking arm with her marker lights slowly blinking. He shuddered a bit before turning and catching up with his crew. The sight of the ship being held on by just a set of clamps always unnerved him for some reason.

“Welcome to O’rethal Platform!” a gregarious and ridiculously-dressed alien said as they emerged from the docking tube into a large reception area. “We look forward to catering to your every whim and desire. May I have your party’s name?”

“Crew of the light-freighter Lark,” Jason said pleasantly.

“Of course,” the clerk said with the absurd smile still plastered on his face. “I’ll need to see individual ident chips as well.” All of Omega Force provided real ConFed identification chips, all with fake names and planets of origin. “It looks like all is in order. How would you like your three rooms coded for access?”

“Everyone having access to all rooms is fine,” Jason said. “We’ll split up the arrangements later.”

“Very well,” the clerk said. Jason stared at him and figured he must either be animatronic or heavily drugged. Nobody was that cheerful doing a shit job like checking in spacers at the cheap docks. “Would you like help with your bags or can your service robot handle them?” Jason’s jaw dropped and Lucky swung sharply towards the little alien who was utterly oblivious to the insult.

“Yes … service robot,” Crusher said in a booming voice and clapping his hands twice. “Grab my bag and follow me to my room. And be sharp about it.” With a wild flourish he marched out of the reception area with his nose in the air, leaving his bag behind.

“I’ll send for a—”

“No, Captain,” Lucky said. “I will be happy to carry Crusher’s bag to his room.” The powerful battlesynth reached down and plucked up the bag and followed after the crew who were trying to get out of the area as fast as possible. Jason was bringing up the rear with his own luggage so he was able to see Lucky begin to squeeze and compress the bag as he walked. There were several sharp cracks and loud popping sounds and the bag went from the size of a large duffel to the size of a medium melon.

Crusher continued on, oblivious to the condition of his belongings, and stopped at the first door. He scanned in with his ident chip and stepped inside. “Service robot!” he called loudly. “Bring me my bag!” Lucky walked calmly to the open doorway and launched the near-solid ball of Crusher’s bag into the room with a savage overhand throw. The projectile took Crusher full in the chest and actually knocked him off his feet.

WHUMP!

“What the hell?!” Crusher yelled as he sat up. “Is this my bag?!” Jason did his best to ignore the noises coming from the room.

“So how are we splitting up?” he asked. “These rooms are actually divided into two bedrooms each, so it won’t be that bad.”

“I will stay in your room,” Lucky said.

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Jason protested. He had hoped Lucky would stay in one of the other rooms since he didn’t sleep anyway, and then he’d have the mini-suite to himself.

“Either myself or Crusher will stay with you, Captain. Which would you prefer?” When given that choice, the option was clear.

“Fine. But if I end up meeting someone of the compatible female persuasion you have to clear out,” Jason said.

“Past experience tells me this will not be an issue,” Lucky said. Jason decided not to respond.

“Twingo will stay with Crusher,” Doc said. “I’ll stay with Kage.” He looked over at the little Veran, who was hopping from foot to foot, in a meaningful way. The message was clear. Kage would not be out of Doc’s sight during the entire stay. Twingo looked in on a now-angry Crusher who was trying to reconstitute his bag so he could get it open.

“Great,” he muttered as he walked in. “Dinner in an hour and then we’ll disperse after that?” They all agreed and went to their separate rooms to get cleaned up and changed out of their drab spacers gear and into something more suited for the free-wheeling party atmosphere of O’rethal Platform.

*****

Jason was leaning against the railing just outside his room and sipping on a drink he had concocted from the mini-bar. The small suites were surprisingly luxurious, or at least seemed so after spending so long staring at the bulkheads of a combat vessel. He was already dressed and ready, but the others seemed to be taking their time. After a few more minutes a door opened and Crusher stepped out with his own drink in hand. Jason had to stare at him for a moment to take it all in; his sleeveless suit, while made of an expensive material, was rumpled so badly it looked like a homeless vagabond had been sleeping in it for months.

“Is it supposed to be—”

“No. It isn’t,” Crusher snapped. Jason was trying his best not to laugh in his friend’s face.

“You know that this is your—”

“Just drop it. He broke my shoe, too,” the big warrior said, holding his foot up. “Twingo had to run down to the shops and get me a new pair.”

“Why didn’t you just go down yourself? You were dressed when we came up here?” Jason asked.

“Eh,” Crusher shrugged. “I didn’t want to walk around down there in my uniform. Besides, he needs the exercise. He’s starting to get a little pudgy.”

Once they were all ready, they headed down to the level that boasted eleven restaurants that served nothing but the finest from across the sector. Once agreeing on one, they were quickly seated and began trying to decipher the menu that was projected on the table in front of each of them. Despite the ability to call up holographic images of the dishes, most of them had no idea what they would like.

“Doc,” Jason said, “order for me when she … he? … comes back. I have no idea what this stuff is.”

“The same goes for me,” Crusher said.

“Should I just order for everyone?” Doc asked, almost as a joke. The rest of the table unanimously agreed, so when the server returned Doc told her what each of the five crewmembers who ingested organic material would like. This garnered a strange look but the slim, androgynous alien hustled away to place their order.

“So gentlemen,” Jason said, raising his glass. “Here’s to another mission in the bag … and here’s to the crew of the Phoenix, thanks for coming to save my ass again.” They all cheered and raised their own glasses.

The food arrived and, to Doc’s credit, there were no complaints about any of the dishes. Afterwards they all sat back, enjoying the first decent meal they’d had in some time. Kage, however, was beginning to get fidgety. Twingo saw this and elbowed Jason with a slight grin.

“So what should we do next?” Jason asked with an exaggerated yawn. “They have some great holographic movies on the lower deck.”

“I heard they have a museum here with artifacts from one of the formerly habitable moons in this system. It sounds fascinating,” Twingo said, playing along.

“We could also go ask if we could tour the engineering sections of the station, I bet that would be interesting,” Crusher said with a straight face.

“Stop it! Stop it!” Kage said, gripping the edge of the table with all four hands. “You’re all screwing with me!” Even Doc was laughing as the little Veran looked like a child not getting his way.

“OK,” Jason said. “Are we all ready to go hit the floor?”

*****

“Holy shit!” Jason whispered as he walked out of the lift and saw the main casino floor of O’rethal Platform stretched out before him. It was on the side of the station facing the planet, and the entire outer bulkhead was transparent. The outwardly curving wall was two hundred and fifty feet high and offered a breathtaking view of the planet below. The floor was packed with games of chance and well-dressed aliens trying their luck.

Jason, Crusher, and Twingo split off after a few half-hearted attempts at gambling, and then found a small table in one of the bars that were butted up against the outer window. An attractive server, whose species’ name Jason couldn’t pronounce even after five tries, seemed to sense the trio had money to burn. She began bringing over increasingly exotic and expensive drinks as the night wore on.

Kage was killing it on the casino floor and, under Doc’s watchful eye, was bringing in enough money to warrant more than a few careful looks from security. Their attention was divided, however as Lucky surprised them all and began outpacing Kage’s earnings almost two to one. The battlesynth’s keen mind was eminently suited to dealing with multiple variables and calculating odds, so he seemed like a natural at any game he took a try at. He was so successful he’d actually gathered a bit of an entourage that followed him from game to game to see what he’d do next.

When Kage found out that his synthetic partner was putting him to shame, he didn’t seem to take it well. That was when Doc stepped in and decided it had been enough for the night and went to let the others know they were throwing in the towel. His concern was that in order to even the odds Kage might try and use his specialized neural implants to actively cheat some of the automated gaming tables. He’d done it before, so it was a risk worth noting.

The three gamblers said goodnight to the three drinkers and they went their separate ways for the evening.

Chapter 5

“Oh, God,” Jason moaned. “I think I’ve been poisoned.”

“I do not believe there are any toxins in your body that you did not put there yourself, Captain,” Lucky said from the small alcove where he was scanning local news sources.

“How did I get back here?”

“You arrived leaning heavily on an attractive ktwelan female who said she had been serving you at the bar,” Lucky answered. Ah, the cute little server.

“Not a bad night I guess,” Jason said with a smile, looking around the room in confusion. So where is she?

“She left when you started snoring,” Lucky answered his unasked question.

“How soon was that after we got here?”

“Seventy-eight seconds,” Lucky said, still not looking up. Damnit.

It was close to sixty minutes later when Jason emerged from the suite’s bathroom, having indulged in a real, and excessively long, water shower. He had cranked the water temperature up as high as he could stand it and let the steam and water jets take away some of the pain of the previous night’s excess. When he walked out he found his friend still engrossed in the media terminal.

“Anything interesting?”

“Captain, you need to see this,” Lucky said in a serious voice. Of course, he always had a serious tone of voice, so Jason didn’t think much of it at that particular moment. That changed when he walked over and saw the video that Lucky had looping.

“When was this?” Jason demanded, his hangover all but forgotten.

“Four days ago according to the time stamp,” Lucky said as he backed away so Jason could get a better look. Scrolling across the screen were the words, “Wealthy philanthropist apprehended on charges of inciting rebellion …” Accompanying the ticker was a crystal-clear video of the Diligent spinning out of control and venting atmosphere from her lower decks. As the feed continued, two ConFed corvettes closed and began to stabilize the big frigate’s spin, bringing it back to controlled flight over an unnamed planet.

“Begin collecting all the media feeds on this that you can,” Jason said, grabbing a shirt off his bed. “I’m going to go grab everyone else.”

*****

“Captain Kellea Colleren is also facing charges for her role in the deadly anti-government riots on Camderan-2, a planet currently applying for membership into the Confederation. She and her first officer were missing from Crisstof Dalton’s ship when it was apprehended by ConFed Fleet warships.”

The news broadcast was showing a picture of Kellea as well as her first officer, Bostco, although the latter wasn’t named. All the clips were more or less the same. The Diligent had been in orbit over Camderan-2 when it was attacked without warning by two ConFed battlecruisers. These were not the usual patrol ships. These were the big boys the Fleet only brought out when they wanted a serious show of force or to drop the hammer on someone who had majorly pissed the council off. Apparently a rash of bloody riots had broken out simultaneously all over the planet to protest the potential entry into the Confederation, and Crisstof was being pinned as the facilitator.

“So are we assuming this is a setup?” Doc asked as another video came up on the display. This one had a close-up shot of someone who looked strikingly like Crisstof himself, the biggest difference (besides his age) being the hair was streaked and not a solid silver/white.

“Crisstof Dalton’s First Son, Steader Dalton, expresses his shock and sadness at the charges leveled at his First Father.”

“… I just can’t believe the charges against him, at least not until I see the evidence for myself. But in any case, the victims of yesterday’s horrific violence have our deepest sympathies,” Steader was saying in a pre-recorded interview.

“I seriously doubt Crisstof was fomenting rebellion,” Twingo said with a shake of his head. “That’s the sort of thing he worries about us doing.”

“I’m inclined to agree,” Jason said. “But we don’t really know a lot about Crisstof to be honest. One thing I would hope is if he’s out kicking hornets nests like that he’d at least be smart enough not to use his flagship.”

“Are we going to bother doing anything?” Kage asked from where he sat on the bed. “No offense, Captain, but we’re not exactly in the fold anymore. I know you and Captain Colleren are close, but we haven’t heard from Crisstof for the better part of a year.” Kage was right. Although Jason and Kellea kept in loose contact with each other, Omega Force wasn’t really working with Dalton’s organization anymore. Jason had taken exception with Crisstof’s attitude and behavior when Earth had been attacked and, despite some half-hearted apologies, the rift had never fully been healed. When Jason made the decision to move out towards the frontier worlds, both parties fell out of contact.

“I think we should at least—” Jason’s com unit beeped from the bedside table, interrupting him. He grabbed it and punched in his security code to see what the alert was about. “The Phoenix just received a coded message,” he said with a frown. “The computer just alerted me that it’s flagged priority Alpha-1.” The priority flag indicated that whatever was coming in was an emergency. There were more than a few parties that could send them that type of message, but Jason had little doubt as to whom it was from this time.

“I take it we’re cutting our trip short?” Crusher asked.

“Hmm,” Jason hummed, tapping his finger against his chin as he thought. “Everybody hang loose here for a little bit and I’ll go check the message on the ship. We’ll decide what to do from there.”

*****

Twingo decided to go with Jason, so the pair walked quickly through the main guest receiving area and towards the external docking arms where the Phoenix was latched onto the station. Although he was trying to play it cool, inside Jason was deeply concerned about why the Diligent had been attacked and where Kellea actually was. He had serious doubts that she or Crisstof had anything to do with the incidents on Camderan-2, but he did have to wonder at the coincidence of them being there in the first place.

They made it to the Phoenix and quickly went about disabling the security systems so they could get into the gunship. With a final beep and a hiss, the outer hatch popped a fraction of an inch inward before swinging inward and allowing them access. Jason hurried in and went to an inconspicuous panel on the far wall and quickly tapped out a simple pattern on the seemingly-inactive control panel. Another double-beep let him know that the secondary security system had been deactivated. Due to the nature of the places they’d operated out of, not to mention the quality of character of some of their clientele, Twingo had equipped the ship with dual, redundant entry security systems on all the main airlocks. If someone managed to get through one of them and didn’t know of the other, they would be in for a nasty, likely fatal, surprise.

“Damn! Why is it so cold in here?” Jason asked as he walked through the dim main deck on his way to the stairs that led to the command deck.

“Minimal life support when she’s docked,” Twingo said, his breath fogging in the brisk air. “The cool air allows the moisture to condense and be removed more easily by the air handlers.” They hustled up to the com room that was on the aft, starboard side of the command deck and just behind the bridge.

Jason sat in one of the seats and began bringing the equipment online while Twingo stood at a control panel behind him and did the same.

“I’ll go up to the bridge and wake the main computer up,” he said as he slid by Jason.

“Thanks.”

A little over ten minutes later they were finally able to access the com buffer and see what the Phoenix had received while they were in the resort. The message had been bounced through six dummy accounts over public com networks before hitting the ship’s slip-space com node associated with their “clean” transponder codes. Jason and Twingo stared at the message for a moment, not completely understanding it.

I won’t make it home this cycle for the harvest celebration, got held up at work. It looks like I will be putting in some long hours before I can break away. Sometimes I’m not sure I could even if I tried. Hopefully we’ll see each other soon.

The message was terse and unsigned. “So?” Twingo asked. “Do you know what it means?”

“It’s definitely Kellea,” Jason answered. “The bit about the harvest celebration is something she told me about the area on her homeworld where her family lives. If you’re asking if we have a secret code prearranged that would explain the rest … no, we don’t. But just some simple deduction tells us that she’s trying to break away and that she doesn’t think she can. In other words, she’s trapped on Camderan-2 and the ConFed is actively looking for her.”

“Simple enough. Well … except for the part where she only narrowed it down to an entire planet. That’s a bit loose on the details, don’t you think?”

“We could reply to this message,” Jason said, thinking aloud. “But the ConFed isn’t that stupid. If we try to speak directly, chances are good they’ll see through this clumsy attempt at talking in code and either get to her first or be waiting for us. Although … if we replied to it once we were already there, we could get in and grab her before they had a chance to zero in on us. We could be off-world before they would have time to dispatch a team.”

“Vacation over?” Twingo asked.

“Vacation over,” Jason confirmed. “Get her fired up. I’ll go collect the other idiots and grab your stuff while I’m at it. We’ll check out, get our clearance, and be on our way.” Twingo was already heading to the bridge to begin the startup of the main reactor and the engines. Before Jason had even stepped back onto the docking arm the lights in the ship came up fully and the environmental systems were heating the air. He snuck a glance at the Phoenix as he jogged back down the gangway and could see her marker lights blinking and the long grav-drive emitters already beginning to glow blue.

It took him a few minutes to fast-walk back to the rooms, trying not to garner too much attention as he went. Thankfully the others were still just lounging around and hadn’t dispersed throughout the facility yet. “Pack it up,” he said without preamble. “We’re flying out of here within the hour.”

“We were expecting that,” Kage said as he sipped on something that had been sitting on a room service tray. “We’re already packed up and the front desk is expecting us. We’ll have our departure clearance as soon as we’re back on the ship.”

“Excellent. Good job,” Jason said as he looked around. Even his own bag, as well as Twingo’s, was lined up neatly on the bed in the room he had shared with Lucky. “If we’re ready, let’s get to it. Twingo is already on board getting the engines hot.”

“One day …” Crusher sighed.

“What’s that?” Doc asked as they filed out of the room.

“One day we’ll actually get to take a full vacation,” the warrior replied.

“Don’t count on it,” Jason said over his shoulder. “You should have read the fine print on your contract.”

Chapter 6

“O’rethal Platform Docking Control, this is the Ph—Lark,” Jason caught himself quickly. “We’re ready for you to release the clamps.” The station insisted on the antiquated tradition of verbal communication between pilot and controller to direct traffic to and from the docking complex. While the others found it annoyingly quaint, Jason found it refreshing.

“Copy, Lark. We are releasing the clamps. Please reverse thrust to a velocity of five meters per second. Once you clear two hundred meters, contact Departure Control to coordinate your exit vector. Thank you for staying at O’rethal Platform, we hope to see you again soon. Docking Control out.”

“Clamps are off,” Kage reported from the copilot’s seat. “We’re free navigating.”

“Copy that, I have the ship,” Jason answered and flicked his thumb over the hat switch that controlled the small docking thrusters. Puffs of compressed gas erupted from the nose as the Phoenix began to ease away from the station. He kept toggling the thrusters until they were at the prescribed velocity and then held steady as the gunship backed away from the complex at a relative crawl. “Go ahead and contact Departure Control and get us a vector out of here. Twingo, get the slip-drive prepped.”

“Already doing it,” Twingo answered from the engineering station to his right. Jason leaned back as Kage negotiated with Departure Control and began feeding the navigational data over to the pilot’s station. The Veran had also taken the extra step of entering their optimum mesh-out point along that vector so all Jason would have to do was accelerate away and engage the slip-drive. The nice thing about a good crew is that they make me look like I know what the hell I’m doing. Most of the time …

“Departure Control says we’re clear,” Kage said.

“You’re clear to bring up the main drive, Captain,” Twingo chimed in as Jason kicked the left pedal to bring the nose around. The Phoenix was inertially decoupled so she spun like a top on the Y-axis until her nose was pointed the opposite way and their course still was taking them away from the station. Once the nav panel let him know they were coming up on their exit vector intersect point, he reached over and engaged the main drive. The main drive was a gravimetric-type drive that was smooth and quiet, unlike the four big main engines—the thrust-type motors that were tucked up in two nacelles under each wing-root that could shake a person’s teeth out at full power.

Once they were free to accelerate out of the system, Jason smoothly advanced the throttle and the gunship surged along the new heading. “I want eighty percent slip velocity,” he said as they closed on the mesh-out point. “We’ll make a decision on increasing velocity once Twingo says it’s OK.” They flew along in silence for another few moments before the nav panel alerted him again.

“Here we go,” Kage said. “You’re clear to engage the slip-drive. Next stop, Camderan-2 and likely an ass-load of trouble.”

“Can’t argue your logic,” Jason said as he smacked the control to engage the skip-drive. With a whine and a shudder the Phoenix meshed out and disappeared from real-space.

*****

After ten hours of steady slip-space flight Twingo cleared the engines to throttle up to ninety-five percent, the hardest they pushed them unless it was a dire emergency. This put them a mere two and a half days from the Camderan system, practically next door by interstellar standards.

“So what are we flying into, Doc,” Jason said as they combined their evening meal with a preliminary intel brief.

“Camderan-2 … Tier-3 world petitioning for membership into the Confederation. It looks like they may have had the votes in their legislature to ratify the request,” Doc said as he read off his data pad. “Now this is interesting. They don’t have a centralized government; there are a handful of outlying nations and one highly industrialized superpower that seems to be calling the shots.

“This is a bit unorthodox. Normally the ConFed won’t consider membership until the world has a demonstrable ability to exist under a single, unified government. They’re not specific on what type of government that has to be, they just don’t want civil unrest interrupting whatever it is they find useful about that planet.”

“Why is this important?” Crusher asked impatiently.

“It may not be. But we have nearly two days before we arrive and a little bit of context helps if we’re going to operate on this world to get Captain Colleren and Commander Bostco out. Even though it’s a Tier-3 planet, there is a level of sophistication that could prove problematic for us,” Doc said. He was used to speaking to an unwilling audience during these initial briefs and had learned not to take offense to the yawns, rude comments, or simply being ignored. Actually, just being ignored was preferable.

“Anyway … According to what Kage was able to glean from local news reports, Crisstof is accused of helping these outlying players plan a series of attacks on populated areas and providing them with the military-grade hardware they used during same. It was a pretty bad attack, over four thousand civilians dead and a lot of damage to key infrastructure.”

“Not to mention the psychological impact on the populace,” Jason said as he pushed his tray away. “I’m assuming this attack was in response to the ConFed petition?”

“That’s the general consensus, but there hasn’t been any confirmation of that,” Doc said.

“Which leads us to another interesting question,” Twingo said. “What was the Diligent doing there in the first place?”

“I suppose that will be one of the first things we ask Kellea,” Jason said.

“Do you think she’ll tell us the truth?” Kage asked.

“I couldn’t say either way,” Jason admitted with a shrug. “Her first loyalty will be to Crisstof. I’d hope that since she’s dragging us into this, she would also have the decency to let us know everything that she knows.”

“Are you so certain the message was from Captain Colleren?” Lucky spoke up for the first time since they’d started.

“There was some specific information in the message that leads me to believe that it was her,” Jason said.

“Was it something that could have been coerced out of her?” the battlesynth pressed. Of them all, Lucky was the most pragmatic and least likely to trust that a situation was as it appeared on the surface.

“I guess it could have been, but that makes no sense,” Jason answered. “If they tortured a bit of trivial information out of her to put in that message, that means not only do they already have her, but they’ve set up an elaborate ruse to specifically capture us. There are easier, and cheaper, ways to accomplish that.”

“Yeah … just wait us out,” Kage interjected. “We’re bound to get ourselves killed or captured with no help needed from the ConFed.” This earned him a slap on the back of the head from Crusher. “Ow!”

“OK, Lucky,” Jason said. “Spit it out, there’s something you’re holding back.”

“I only hesitate to say this, because I know the unluckiness of it being true,” the battlesynth started. “What if this is an elaborate ruse, as you put it? Do you remember what Deetz said before he died? Something about what this ship was carrying?”

“I wouldn’t put too much stock into what that piece of shit said at any time,” Jason said, “much less when he was begging for his life. He’d have said anything to keep you away from him. We’ve had no indication there is anything unique about the Phoenix compared to any other DL7, and we’ve had her torn down to the frame. Hell, half the major components are new. No, my gut tells me this is what it appears, at least on the surface. Whether or not Crisstof’s hands are clean in the recent uprisings … I’m not willing to speculate on that. So for right now our priority is getting to Kellea and Bostco and getting them off Camderan-2.”

The rest of the flight was uneventful as they meshed into the Camderan system and began the long subluminal flight towards the second planet from the primary star: Camderan-2. Since they were still flying as the Lark, they were forced to make the normal approach any other micro-freighter would, and spend an additional twenty-two hours flying though the system.

Jason had engaged the autopilot and was restlessly pacing in front of the steeply raked canopy. At this distance the star, Camderan Prime, was just a brighter speck in the sky and the scenery was nothing but empty space. He stopped his pacing and stood staring out into space with his hands on his hips. The patience required for covert operations wasn’t something that came naturally to him; he’d much prefer a blazing flight across the system followed by a smash and grab topped off with a harrowing escape. But the sneaking in method proved to be much more reliable nine times out of ten.

“You’re wearing a hole in the deck plating,” Twingo said from his station. Jason bit down his sarcastic reply and actually gave his friend a lopsided smile as he walked back to the pilot’s seat.

“I guess I’m just getting the pre-op jitters early,” he said.

“We’ll get her out of there,” Twingo assured him. “When do you want to send a message to that account?”

“We’ll wait until we’re ten hours out,” Jason said after consulting his display a moment. “That’s just under a half-day for Camdaren-2, and by the time we’re cleared to make landfall the odds are good she’ll have received it.”

*****

Sorry to hear you won’t be able to make it home. I’ve been able to save some money this year, maybe I will book passage and come visit you. What is the weather like there?

“Seriously?” Kage asked as he read the outbound message. “Sorry, Captain, but that’s not all that sneaky. Any intel hack worth his pitiful salary will know this isn’t a letter between relatives just at a glance.”

“I’m not trying to fool an intel analyst,” Jason said as he sent the message. “I’m trying to keep their computers from flagging it to give to an analyst. I’m sure they’re monitoring all com traffic right now and sifting through for key words.”

“Maybe,” Kage said doubtfully. “But the computers aren’t that stupid either.”

“It only needs to fool them for a little bit, or at least confuse them.”

The pair walked out of the com room and headed back to the bridge. The Phoenix was on its twelfth lap of the planet as Landing Control ran their credentials through multiple databases. They were alarmed at first that their cover had been blown, but a quick chat with the other pilots on the open com channel let them know that every ship trying to land was going through the same rigmarole and none were happy about it. One light-freighter captain was openly hostile towards the ConFed while aggressively claiming his cargo was perishable and demanding to be allowed to make landfall immediately. Instead, he was boarded by a ConFed combat shuttle and had his ship ripped apart by an intel team.

“OK,” Jason said as the offending ship was ordered out of orbit by a ConFed light cruiser. “Let’s just stay off the com for now.”

“Did the scan find anything?” he asked Doc after a moment.

“Negative. There is no trace of the Diligent anywhere in the system. They must have moved her pretty quickly after the initial attack.”

“Not necessarily,” Lucky responded from his normal post behind and to the left of the pilot’s seat. “From the damage shown on the media feeds it is more likely they made field repairs and flew the ship to another location. More importantly, this also means Crisstof and the rest of the surviving crew are also not in this system.”

“We had no chance of rescuing him anyway,” Crusher said as he lounged in a seat at a forward station. “The ConFed brought in an insane amount of firepower for tracking down just one misplaced captain. Don’t you think?”

“Meaning?” Jason prompted.

“Meaning the seven warships in the system may be the least of our concerns,” the warrior continued. “They’ll also have a significant presence on the surface. That means intel spooks as well as operators.”

“That’s an unwelcome prospect,” Jason said. Omega Force had had run ins with the Confederation’s Special Operations Section before. They were tough, disciplined, and ruthless. If they were deployed in significant numbers they could be a real handful.

“Incoming message on our dummy account,” Kage announced. “Saving it off the buffer … closing the connection … resetting the transponder. That should buy us some time if they’re looking for where that message came from or its destination. I’m sending it to your station now.”

A visit would be most welcome! Wish you were here now, the temperature has been a perfect twenty-six point seven degrees for days.

“Kage,” Jason said as he re-read the message. “Tie in to the public information network and download all the weather data for the planet. Have the computer find someplace that has had an average temperature of twenty-six point seven over the last week or so. Give me the closest matches and run the background data on each location.”

“I’ve already been running it,” Kage said. “Like I said … that’s a stupid code.”

“You said simple.”

“I meant stupid,” the slicer said distractedly. “It’ll be a miracle if they’re not waiting on the landing pad. I’m routing the data request through that heavy hauler’s transponder, the one above and behind us, in case the message arouses any suspicion coupled with the data grab from the public net.”

It took the computer a minute to churn through the atmospheric data from thousands of sensor stations to compile a list and spit out a list of likely candidates. The list was mostly for locations in the southern hemisphere along the coastal region of the eastern continent. Once they had a list of matching cities, Kage began running through all the other pertinent data; demographics, recent crime levels, average salary and living conditions … anything that would give them a clue as to where Captain Colleren would have run to on a hostile planet with the ConFed fleet looking for her.

“There are a few possibilities,” Jason noted as he scanned the list. “But I suspect she’ll have picked the one that makes it the hardest for the ConFed to operate in. Kachamar City is basically a slum with undesirables from all over the planet being dumped there. Oddly enough, it’s also one of the most heavily recruited areas for Camderan-2’s security forces, specifically the infantry.”

“While that’s all fascinating—” Twingo began.

“It means that the place is loaded with tough characters with antisocial tendencies,” Crusher interrupted. “You realize that if we assume she’s picked that place, so will ConFed Intel.”

“I know,” Jason admitted. “But I’m not trying to outsmart them, I’m trying to think like she would. Kellea is a great ship’s captain, but ground operations are completely out of her realm. She’ll have made the obvious choice if she was stressed and hurried.” Crusher just grunted and looked out the canopy at the planet again.

“We may have an advantage,” Lucky said. “We were never officially a part of Crisstof Dalton’s organization. Assuming our communications have not been monitored, we could likely walk right by ConFed agents and not be recognized.”

“Maybe not recognized, but you’ll draw attention,” Doc disagreed. “A battlesynth, a Galvetic warrior, and an alien of unknown origin don’t just walk by unnoticed.”

“True,” Lucky conceded. “But it seems Kachamar City has its fair share of transients. I still think the three of us will be able to operate without undue notice.”

“Oh,” Kage complained loudly, “so it’s the usual? You three get to go out and play while the three of us wait on the ship?”

“OK, Kage,” Jason called his bluff. “You’re on the ground team. Crusher, take him down to the armory and get him geared up. It’ll likely be hand-to-hand, close quarters fighting, so make sure he has some edge weapons.”

“Sure thing, Captain,” Crusher stood with a wicked smile on his face. “Shall we, Kage?”

“I, uh—”

An insistent beeping from the com panel saved Kage for the moment as Landing Control granted the Phoenix clearance to begin their entry de-orbit and directed them to one of the main spaceports.

“Sending the projected flight path to your station,” Kage said, not looking up as he entered the commands. Crusher, smirking at his diminutive friend, sat back down and faced his seat forward to enjoy the atmospheric entry light show.

Even though the designated flight path didn’t go to their desired destination, the crew made no issue of it to Landing Control and prepared the ship for entry. To argue with the controller would be to invite suspicion and scrutiny. The trick was to get into the atmosphere where they would then be handed off to the planet’s air traffic control system. Then they would request a flight destination change from the ground controller. It was a common smuggler trick, but it was also used by the wealthy to get their private ships down to the surface quicker. It normally didn’t even garner a second look as the two separate control systems only talked to each other during the handoff of ships from orbit to atmospheric flight.

The Phoenix started to shudder and rock slightly as Jason slowed their forward velocity and dipped the nose into the upper atmosphere. Soon, visible plasma streamers could be seen breaking off the forward shields as the friction of their passage super-heated the air. Like nearly every other planet with busy spaceports, the entry lane would bring them down over a large ocean so the sonic booms and potential debris from a ship breaking up wouldn’t disturb (or destroy) a populated area. Only the big heavy cargo haulers were permitted to make a controlled descent with their gravity drives which brought them straight down, as opposed to hitting the atmosphere at speed like the smaller ships did.

As they slid into the lower atmosphere and onto the designated flight path, Kage contacted the ground controller to begin negotiating a course change to take them to the Kachamar City Aerodrome, a hybrid airport/spaceport that could easily accommodate the big gunship. Now how the hell do I find a spooked captain in hiding who doesn’t want to be found? Jason mused.

Chapter 7

“So how do we find her?” Kage asked as they approached Kachamar City.

“I think the trick is to let her know we’re here,” Crusher said. “Then let her try and make contact.”

“OK,” Kage said. “So how do we do that?”

“I’ve been giving it some thought,” Jason spoke up. “Twingo, take a look at this.” The engineer hopped out of his seat and came to look over Jason’s shoulder at one of his displays. He cocked one eyebrow up, an expression he had been mimicking from his human friend, and considered the idea.

“That’s going to put a lot of stress on the airframe, but not excessively so. Do you think she’ll recognize it?”

“I believe so,” Jason said. “She’s as familiar with the Phoenix as anyone.”

“This would be unmistakable to someone who knew what they were hearing. I’ll get the subroutine programmed,” Twingo said as he rushed back to his station. “It’ll be an executable on your main display; activate it and it will set the drives up in the proper configuration so you’ll just fly her like normal.”

“Care to explain what you two are going on about?” Doc asked.

“I don’t want to ruin the surprise,” Jason said with a grin. “This is going to be so fucking cool …”

*****

“Everybody strap in and prepare the ship for landing,” Jason said as they approached to within one hundred miles of Kachamar City.

“Strap in?” Crusher asked in alarm. “What the hell are you planning?”

“Just do it,” Jason said, “I don’t have time to argue about it.” He reached over and double-tapped the pulsing icon on his multi-function display that Twingo had sent over from the engineering station. Immediately the ship began to wallow in the air and a deep rumble filled the bridge as the main engines began to spool up.

“Oh shit …” Crusher murmured and grabbed his armrests.

BOOM!

The main engines lit off with an explosive roar and the Phoenix bucked slightly as the thrust fought against the grav-drive. Then Twingo’s program took over and the grav-drive reversed bias and actually tried to stop the ship while the mains tried to push her forward. The stalemate was carefully choreographed by the computer so the ship maintained forward velocity as the two drives fought each other.

“Here comes the rough part,” Jason said as the ship bounced its way down to fifteen thousand feet on its initial approach vector. He smoothly throttled up with a grimace, unsure as to what would actually happen. The mains ran to full power and millions of pounds of thrust poured out of the nozzles and hammered the city as the ship flew over. The grav-drive screamed as it tried to hold the Phoenix back. The ship’s attitude was being influenced by the drives, mostly at the aft, which caused stability issues that the repulsors were unable to overcome since most available power was diverted to the two primary flight systems. The result was the front of the ship bouncing up and down at a distance of thirty feet between the rise and fall.

“YOU CRAZY BASTARD!” Crusher roared as he was slammed against the restraints and then back into his seat over and over.

“THAT SHOULD DO IT!” Twingo screamed from his own seat. Even Lucky, who normally anchored down to the deck with the mag-locks built into his feet, had to grab onto one of the handles by the bridge entrance. Jason pulled the throttle back and cancelled the special drive program. Almost immediately the ride smoothed out as the grav-drive went back to propelling the ship and the mains could be heard spooling down.

“Holy shit,” he said when he was able to speak again. The com panel began squawking as Ground Control at the port wanted to know exactly what the hell the inbound micro-freighter was doing running a high-thrust plasma drive over the city at full power.

“What should I tell them?” Kage asked shakily.

“Tell them we had a drive malfunction that’s under control for the moment and that we’re requesting an immediate landing clearance so we can effect repairs,” Jason said as he steered back on course.

“I don’t think they believe us, but we’re being cleared to land directly on our pad anyway,” Kage reported. “Sending you the nav data now.”

“So … do you think she got the message?” Twingo asked as he began scrolling and prioritizing the list of warnings the computer had spit out during the violent maneuver.

“I think everyone got the message,” Jason said. “Hopefully Kellea will know what it means. The mains have a distinctive sound that should alert her since she’s already expecting us.”

“If we’re even in the right city,” Crusher said. “If you’re planning on doing that over every potential hiding spot I’m getting off this bucket right here and now.”

*****

Speaking of weather … there was a beautiful storm here earlier. The thunder was quite spectacular though it scared most of the people in the city. It’s been good getting back in touch. It makes me want to go grab a drink tonight and reminisce.

“Oh come on!” Kage exclaimed. “Seriously? You guys can’t actually suck this bad at this.”

“Look,” Jason said. “It gets the point across. We’re not spooks, we’re ship captains. Well … she’s a ship’s captain. Anyway, she just gave us a clue as to where we can meet up tonight.”

“She did? There has to be hundreds of bars near this spaceport,” Kage said.

“Kellea doesn’t drink. Look specifically for tea houses and list them by distance from our current location.”

“She doesn’t drink?” Twingo asked. “What the hell do you see in this woman anyway?”

“You really have to ask?” Kage said before Jason could answer. He then struck his best effeminate pose and ran all four of his hands over his body in his best imitation of an imagined seductress.

“I’m going to go throw up,” Crusher said as he walked off the bridge.

“Kage,” Jason said slowly. “That’s the third creepiest thing you’ve done around me. Please don’t ever do it again.”

“No promises,” Kage said as he hopped back into his seat and began his search.

*****

Jason, Crusher, and Lucky were dressed in their non-descript best as they ambled through the port’s passenger receiving area and tried to blend in with the other aliens milling about. They lucked out; there were four charter flights getting ready to depart so the area was crowded enough to allow them to move through the throng separately and meet up outside without drawing any undue attention.

The first tea house was well within walking distance so the trio decided to go on foot and get a better feel for the area they were operating in. As they had suspected and feared, there were a handful of agents milling about trying their best to blend in. They reached the first shop that took up the entire first floor of a three-story building that was a little over half a mile from the spaceport.

The term “tea shop,” when roughly translated and interpreted over a few dozen worlds and just as many languages, came to mean many different things. Less than half of them actually served any sort of tea. This one seemed to specialize in some sort of vaporized narcotic that was fogged into a large glass bowl and then inhaled. Jason stood transfixed as an assortment of aliens sucked in the viscous fumes. The fog seemed alive as it didn’t break up in the air and instead streamed up into the nose, snout, mouth, or proboscis of the patrons.

“Since she doesn’t drink I’m going to assume she also doesn’t partake in this foolishness,” Crusher said with disdain as he looked around at the near-catatonic customers. He was careful not to use Kellea’s name aloud now that they were in an area where anyone could be an intel agent.

“No, she doesn’t,” Jason said. He then approached the counter and flagged down the attendant, waving away the proffered glass globe. “I’m looking for the closest tea house.”

“Good sir, you are in—”

“A real tea house,” Jason corrected. “As in, someplace that serves a drink brewed by pouring boiling water over some sort of herbal mix.”

“There is one four blocks down and to the left,” the attendant said with disinterest. “There are much more entertaining options available here, however.”

“I’m sure,” Jason said flatly. “Thanks for the information.”

The next establishment was a much more likely candidate. There was dark paneling on the walls and well-dressed customers sipped out of ceramic cups and talked quietly. The strong herbal scent of the shop was slightly sweet and quite pleasant as Jason looked around. Lucky was standing outside as lookout since it would appear a little odd for a synth to be in a store that sold something he had no need for. A quick scan told Jason that Kellea was not in there, so he walked around and pretended to be interested in the artwork that was on the walls.

He made his way over to the self-serve station and looked over the public announcement board on the wall above it. His eyes were immediately drawn to a folded piece of shiny paper (at least it looked like paper) with “O” and “F” written in large block letters. It was written in English. He discreetly plucked the sheet from the board and walked back out of the shop. Crusher was watching the crowd to make sure nobody was paying them too much attention as they walked through.

“Clever,” Lucky said as he saw the scrap of paper. Jason nodded and leaned against the wall to read the rest of the message that was also in English.

Holed up. 138.2-844.8-823.2 … 727

“Planetary coordinates,” Jason mused. “I wonder what that last number means.” He pulled out his com and called Kage to get the coordinates converted into directions.

“I’m sending the directions to your com unit,” Kage said. “The coordinates are for the Sky View Lodge.”

“Sounds pleasant enough,” Crusher said.

“A quick local nexus search indicates that it’s a hive of criminal activity including narcotic distribution and prostitution,” Kage continued. “You guys watch your backs in there.”

“I guess the last number is the unit she’s staying in,” Jason said quietly. “Let’s get on the move … it’s getting dark and we’ve been standing here with our heads together for too long.”

As they strode deeper into Kachamar City proper, the night became darker and the scenery more bleak. Kage hadn’t been exaggerating. The city could only be described as a cross between a modern ruins and a horrific slum. Some blocks appeared to be completely abandoned while others were home only to the dregs of society. They weren’t just citizens of Camderan-2 either; apparently a lawless haven attracted undesirables from far and wide.

The streets were now completely dark with only a few sputtering streetlights and the glow from windows of buildings that still had power. The three members of Omega Force walked forcefully and without fear; they were the most dangerous predators stalking the night. A few walked out to observe the strangers, but one glance let them know that it would be unwise to interfere with the mismatched trio.

“Crusher,” Jason said under his breath.

“I see him,” Crusher answered just as quietly. Under a streetlamp was someone who didn’t belong. He looked too well fed, his cloths, while artfully disheveled, were far too clean, and his mannerisms were almost challenging. He had the alertness of someone on a mission. While at a casual glance he would appear to be just another hopeless and homeless vagrant, all the small details added up to someone who stuck out as clearly as if he’d been wearing a lighted sign, at least to someone trained to notice such details.

He was also, either coincidentally or not, sitting across and down a block from the building they were heading to. It was too late to escape the stranger’s notice, so the three walked by and ignored him as they moved towards the Sky View Lodge.

“May I help you?” the service bot said pleasantly as they entered. The robot had a thick chain anchoring it to the floor in case someone thought it might be worth a few credits to steal.

“Possibly,” Jason said to the machine. “I have a friend staying in unit seven twenty-seven. Could you point me to the most direct way to get there?”

“Should I page your friend?” the bot said, now going through a list of pre-programmed responses.

“No, we’ll just be walking up there,” Jason said in annoyance.

“While I would like nothing more than to assist you, I cannot allow you access to the domicile area until the paying guest verifies your identity.” Jason ground his teeth in annoyance. He had no intention of calling Kellea and putting her at risk.

“You know what? I’ve changed my mind,” he said pleasantly. “My friends and I would like to rent a unit for the night; we’re quite tired.”

“Captain, it’s just a machine … you don’t have to converse with it,” Crusher said in exasperation. “No offense,” he offered quickly to Lucky.

“None taken. I have nothing in common with this automated hindrance,” Lucky answered.

“Very good, sirs,” the machine said, ignoring the insults being tossed its way. “If you’ll verify your identity and payment, I will program your pass card.”

“Do you take ConFed credits?”

“There is an additional twenty percent upcharge for—”

“That’s fine, just run it,” Jason said, holding out his credit chit that was attached to one of his false identifications. “We’d like to be on the seventh floor if possible.” It was another five minutes before the bot produced a flat, narrow card that held the key code to their room as well passage into the building itself. Crusher snatched it out of the bot’s hand, none too gently, and stalked around the counter towards the locked security door that looked like it had seen more than a few blaster bolts and projectiles shot into it.

Once in the passageway beyond, they moved quickly to the nearest lift and rode it to the seventh floor. When they exited the lift, the stench that hit them almost bowled Jason over, and even Crusher scrunched up his muzzle in disgust. The corridor was lined with clutter, a few aliens in various states of intoxication, and a few open doors with loud, obnoxious music pumping out of them. After looking at each other in apprehension, they walked down the hallway towards unit seven twenty-seven. They were challenged at each open door by local toughs, but apparently their heart wasn’t in it as nobody actually came out to confront them.

—knock knock—

Jason gave the door a couple of soft taps and waited. He could feel more than hear someone standing at the door, so he backed up where he could be seen in the small closed-circuit camera pointing down from the top of the frame. After the rattle of locks, the door opened a crack and then swung open to reveal a dark room.

“Enter, quickly,” a harsh voice whispered. With some trepidation, Jason led his team into the dark room and spun as the door slammed shut. The lights came up and Kellea Colleren, looking like she’d been through each of the nine circles of Hell, stood looking back at them with slightly wild eyes. She launched herself across the room and grabbed Jason in a fierce embrace. “You came for me,” she almost sobbed before her rigid self-control reimposed itself.

She straightened and nodded to Crusher and Lucky. “Gentlemen,” she said, her voice still scratchy-sounding.

“Captain,” Crusher nodded respectfully. “Where is Commander Bostco?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “We were separated during the escape and have been unable to meet up. Honestly, it’s probably safer that we’re not together.”

“We’ll get a full debrief from you later,” Jason said. “But right now I think we need to get back to the Phoenix as fast as we can.” She nodded and moved to the door, stopping to grab a rough-hewn shawl that she draped over herself like a poncho. The garment had a hood as well that she pulled far over her head to hide her face.

“Let’s go,” Crusher said and opened the door to leave. The formed up around Kellea and marched back down the hall towards the lift they had come up on. Inevitably the egress couldn’t be as easy as the ingress.

“Hey! I was talking to you earlier!” a burly, squat alien came out of one of the open rooms ahead. He had a thick, powerful torso that indicated he probably came from a heavy-gravity world and was probably used to being able to bully whomever he wanted.

“What was it you wanted to say?” Crusher asked pleasantly even as he stepped in and delivered an open-palm strike to the alien’s chest that sent him flying backwards into the door frame. His head cracked hard against the metal of the frame and he slumped forward with his head rolling to the side. A group of shrill voices then began screeching in multiple languages as some malnourished and barely clothed females began hovering over the unconscious alien.

“I suppose now we will never know what he wanted,” Lucky said. Jason chuckled as he keyed open the lift and held the door for his companions to enter. During the ride down in the lurching car, Jason’s nerves began to tingle. This was the most exciting part, but also the most dangerous. Now that Kellea was with them, a wanted fugitive the ConFed was actively hunting, they would be in a world of trouble if they got caught. This was what he lived for.

They slowly opened the door leading to the lobby of the seedy lodge and looked in. The service bot didn’t bother to turn around to look at them as that wasn’t in its programming. But other than that, everything looked clear. Lucky led the way out followed by Jason, then Kellea and Crusher bringing up the rear. Kellea pulled her hood a little tighter around her head as they made for the main exit.

Out on the street things looked the same as they had when they entered, but the feel wasn’t right. There was a tension in the air that had the three trained fighters on edge. Even Lucky was moving his head around trying to pinpoint his uneasy feeling. Then Jason noticed something that wasn’t the same.

“Get back inside!” he hissed as he turned Kellea and pushed her towards the entrance. To their credit the other two members of his crew spun immediately and moved to the doorway as well.

“I saw it too,” Crusher said. “Our hyper-vigilant bum is missing.” Jason just nodded as they made their way into the building.

“It may be nothing, but it’s probably something,” he said as the brushed by the bot in the middle of its sales pitch and crashed through the security door. They rode the lift back up to the seventh floor and hustled out, bearing right to head towards the room that Jason had rented and in the opposite direction of the chaos they had created earlier. Thankfully the room was on the street side of the building.

“Shit!” Jason exclaimed as he looked down onto the street. His instincts proved correct as a team of six armed ConFed troops, plus their missing drifter, converged on the entrance of the Sky View Lodge. “We need to get to Kellea’s room. Now.” They moved at a near run down the hallway towards the opposite end of the building. Apparently Crusher’s random act of violence had cowed the other tenants into keeping their doors shut and their heads down.

“What’s going on?” Kellea asked calmly as they entered her room. She hadn’t seen the street view nor was she aware of the too-clean vagrant on the street.

“We passed someone on the street that looked like the typical homeless junkie you see in places like this, but he was far too clean, healthy, and alert. He’s also now leading a six-man fire team into the building,” Jason said.

“We can’t just hide here,” Crusher said. “The bot will give them our room number, and when we’re not there they’ll go door-to-door until someone tells them we came down here.”

“Agreed,” Jason said, looking around the room. “We’re not armed for shit and we’re outmanned. Time for Plan B.”

“Run away?” Lucky asked.

“Run away,” Jason confirmed. He went to look out the window and saw they were four levels above another roof that looked like it belonged to the service section of the building. An identical tower to the one they were in butted up against that. “The drop to the next roof is only four stories. Can you make that jump?”

“Not a chance,” Kellea said with a laugh. “I don’t have all the exotic upgrades that you do. The fall would kill me, or at least render me immobile.”

“Lucky?”

“I can carry Captain Colleren safely to the level below,” the battlesynth confirmed.

“Uh …” Kellea hesitated.

“Trust me, Captain,” Lucky said. “No harm will come to you.” Crusher looked out the window himself.

“Oh this is going to hurt,” he said. He began to paw around the window coverings to see how the pane opened so they could make their escape.

“Allow me,” Lucky said. He moved to the window and, using one of his lasers on low-output, cut two handholds into the thick synthetic sheet. Jason and Crusher moved forward to grab the pane by those cutouts as Lucky then began to cut the window out of the frame. As he completed his circuit the other two pulled the window loose with a pop and laid it quietly on the bed.

“Clever,” Kellea said admiringly. “I half-expected you to just jump through it.”

“Nah,” Crusher said with a wink as he took his place in the now-open window. “Too noisy.”

“Everyone … doors open and out into the hallway! This is a ConFed Police Action!” The amplified voice boomed up and down the hallway and guests could be heard coming out and grumbling.

“Time’s up,” Crusher said and he hopped out. A split second later a heavy thud was heard from below.

“You OK?” Jason whispered, knowing that Crusher could hear him even forty-seven feet up with his incredible hearing. The big warrior just gave a thumbs up and moved off to give Jason some room. “Here goes nothing,” the human said, butterflies in his stomach. He crouched into the window frame and then hopped out hard enough to give himself some forward momentum. He concentrated on keeping his knees bent and his body loose as the air streamed by. The second it took to traverse the distance felt like minutes before his boots impacted the rough surface of the roof.

He tightened his quadriceps to absorb the impact and rolled forward and to his right, coming up on his feet on the other side. Crusher caught him as he fell forward. He could feel his right ankle throbbing where it had hit first, but nothing appeared to be broken or seriously injured otherwise. He looked up to the window even as he could feel his medical nanobots going to work on the strained tendons. They weren’t as efficient as the type Doc injected into him in the med bay, but for emergencies they did the trick.

He could see Kellea clinging to Lucky as the battlesynth hurled himself out of the window with incredible force. Jason held his breath as they plummeted towards the roof before Lucky fired the repulsors in his feet to slow them to a gentle touchdown that was barely a bump.

“I forgot he could do that,” Kellea said as she tried to slow her breathing. They all looked up as the sounds of hammering could clearly be heard through the missing window.

“This way,” Jason said and took off at a run, ignoring the pain in his ankle. He led his team, and rescued captain, to the edge of the roof where there appeared to be a maintenance ladder.

Peering over the side, he could see it was more of a fire-escape-style of stairs than an actual ladder. This was fortunate since it was another three levels to the street. The four of them wasted no time slipping over the edge and rushing down the steps. When they were twelve feet off the ground they had to pull a pin and a ladder slid down to clang loudly on the alley below.

“We’re in between the buildings now,” Crusher said. “What do you want to do?”

“Lucky,” Jason said, moving to a door that led into the building next door to the Sky View Lodge. “Force this open as quietly as you can without destroying the door. They’ll know we went out the window so it won’t be long before they figure out which way we fled.” Lucky walked up and anchored his feet, then pushed on the door opposite the hinge side. With a screech of metal and a final snap, the door swung open to slam against the wall. They all rushed in and then eased the door shut. Luck was with them and it fit back in its frame and stayed in place.

Looking around, Jason realized they were in the rear area of a custom clothing store. Automated machines and bolts of different material littered the floor as well as racks of finished garments that looked like they’d fit a variety of species. Thankfully the shop didn’t run a night shift and the place was deserted.

“We probably set some alarms off by breaking in,” Jason said. “Let’s get moving. We’ll take the back exit and try to make it a few blocks over. Let’s hope they haven’t had time to start putting up checkpoints.” He pawed through the racks on their way to the door to see if there might be anything to disguise some of their group, but none of it was an appropriate size and all of it was so garishly colored it would likely draw more attention than it would be worth.

The rear of the building had a wide alley that led directly out to one of the main roads. Splitting up into pairs, Lucky and Kellea fell in behind Jason and Crusher so they weren’t so bunched up and obvious. As they walked out onto the street, a side street from the road the hotel was on, Jason could see more ConFed troops milling about and searching the area. They turned right and began walking away from the scene, feigning disinterest as some of the other residents of Kachamar City began to emerge and gawk at the spectacle.

*****

“We’re almost to the edge of the city,” Jason said under his breath. “After that it’s a straight shot back to the spaceport.”

“You think it’ll be that easy?” Crusher asked.

“Probably not,” Jason admitted before pulling out his com unit. “Kage, prep the Phoenix for flight. We’ve made our pickup and would like to leave in a hurry.” He pocketed the unit without waiting for a response.

“Trouble,” Crusher said. Jason looked up and saw two ConFed troops being led by a light-blue-skinned being dressed in casual clothes that could only be an agent of the ConFed Intelligence Service. The agent looked up and stared straight at the two of them as he continued his measured approach.

“He’s made us,” Jason said without moving his lips. He reached around like he was scratching his back and the agent’s reaction confirmed his identity as he tensed up, obviously thinking Jason might have been going for a weapon. Instead the human held up two fingers behind his back. Lucky grabbed Kellea when he saw this and left the street, disappearing into one of the shops. “And … now!”

Crusher and Jason broke off in the opposite direction and shot down an alley at a full sprint.

“HALT!” the agent shouted as three sets of footfalls pursued them. The pair ducked down as a stunner bolt whizzed by and splashed against a storage bin.

“Shit!” Jason said as he dove to the left down a connecting alley. This one was a dead end. “SHIT!” he shouted again.

“Follow me, I have an idea,” Crusher said. He wheeled around and began running back the way they’d come.

“This already seems like a stupid idea,” Jason said as he followed closely behind. Crusher ignored him as he listened carefully for the approaching troops. The intel agent had decided to lag behind once they’d lost contact with their quarry. The troops rounded the corner, weapons lowered slightly, just as Crusher accelerated to his full speed and dove into them. The impact was horrific as both soldiers went down hard and stayed down. Crusher, unable to slow his momentum, went flying out into the adjacent alley and hit the ground, sliding to a stop a mere ten feet in front of the agent. He rose slowly with his hands raised as the agent leveled an ugly-looking blaster at him.

“Who are you and why were you running away from the Sky View Lodge? Is this a local matter, or are you involved in something else?” the agent asked as he held his ground just out of the warrior’s reach. What the agent didn’t see, however, was that Jason had snagged a fallen soldier’s weapons and was standing just around the corner. He lowered himself to the ground and used his toes to push forward until he was just near the edge.

“Answer me!” the agent said sharply. Jason selected the stun setting and pushed the last few inches he needed before rolling over to his left and lining the agent up in his sights. The agent heard him and also brought his weapon to bear, his set to kill. He also fired the first shot, a wildly-aimed blast that went wide. Jason heard Crusher bellow in pain and squeezed his own shot off, taking the agent full in the face.

The agent didn’t convulse or flop about like some did when hit with a stunner. He just crumpled like a toy after someone flipped the switch off. Jason rose quickly and fired two more stun bolts into the now-stirring troops before moving to check on Crusher, expecting the worst.

“Where are you hit?” he asked, unable to see any visible wounds. Wordlessly, Crusher held up one of his “dreadlocks”, which in reality were highly sensitive sensory organs that could detect minute pressure changes and allow his kind to have a full sphere of awareness when in battle. The one in his friend’s hand had a singed end that still had a faint wisp of smoke curling off of it.

“It doesn’t look that bad,” Jason commented He’d seen Crusher suffer far more grievous injuries without as much as a whimper. He was now making a face like he’d just slammed his tongue in an airlock hatch, however.

“Let me shoot you in the most sensitive part of your body with his gun,” Crusher said, actually reaching for the agent’s weapon. This made Jason tighten up and squeeze his knees together involuntarily.

“No need for hostility,” he said quickly. “So what should we do about him,” he asked, gesturing towards the agent. “The troopers won’t remember shit, and probably didn’t know anything anyway, but this guy seemed to be after us specifically.”

“Kill him?” Crusher asked.

“I’d rather not,” Jason said. “Not because I have any particular affinity for ConFed agents, but when you kill one, fifty more seem to join the hunt for you. Remember that thing Doc was saying about multiple stunners being able to erase recent memory? Something about overloading the temporal cortex in most sentient species?” Crusher just gave him a strange look.

“You actually pay attention when he’s blathering on about that shit?”

“Not usually. But for some reason this stuck,” Jason said. “I think he said there was also an equally good chance it could totally blank both the memory and voluntary body functions.”

“Damn,” Crusher said. “You’d probably be doing him a favor just to kill him.”

“Well, at least this way he has better odds,” Jason said and fired two stun bolts into the agent’s head at a distance of less than five meters. The agent’s legs flailed around wildly for a moment and then he went still, the rising and falling of his chest telling them that at least his autonomic nervous system had survived the ordeal.

“We’d better get moving,” Crusher said as he policed the area for any physical evidence they might have inadvertently left. “I’m sure Lucky got Captain Colleren back to the ship already.”

“Let’s move,” Jason agreed and tossed the weapon back over near where the original owner still lay. The pair walked casually back out of the alleyway and turned back onto their original course that would lead them out of the city via one of the service roads and not the main streets, which were surely blocked off by now.

*****

Jason let out an explosive sigh of relief when his boots hit the ramp of the Phoenix. Even if they were discovered now, the odds were much more in his favor behind the controls of the powerful gunship. As he’d requested from Kage, the engines were running and emitting a low, steady hum as the ship sat primed for flight. He closed the ramp and the rear pressure doors and ran to the bridge with Crusher right behind him.

The rest of his crew, and Kellea, were already strapped in and ready. Four anxious faces looked at him as he climbed into the pilot’s seat. “Talk to me,” he said as he began verifying his ship’s status.

“We’re being asked to clear out,” Kage said. “The ConFed ships in orbit want to land some assault boats and need the landing area empty.”

“You’re shitting me?” Jason asked, elated. “So we just fly off, simple as that?”

“You wish,” Kage snorted. “We’re being diverted to the main spaceport outside of the capital for a search by ConFed Intelligence before we’re cleared to depart the planet. Our required flight plan just came through.”

“Hmm,” Jason said. “Still … at least we’ll be airborne. This is still more desirable than trying to tear out of here without clearance. I assume we’re still pinging as the Lark?”

“You assume correct,” Kage said. “We just got our clearance to lift off. Actually we were told, more or less, to get the hell out of the way.” Jason looked and confirmed his navigational data before feeding power to the drive and lifting the Phoenix smoothly off the landing pad. He retracted the gear and swung around for a gentle, sweeping climb into the holding pattern where they would stay until directed to fly on to the capital.

Jason looked over at Kellea as he accelerated the ship along their new flight path. The starship captain looked a bit shell shocked, extremely dirty, but none the worse for wear otherwise. In the mad dash to get to her, he hadn’t had a lot of time to reflect on what he might find out when he was finally able to debrief her. Seeing the Diligent spinning in space with heavy battle damage wasn’t something he’d ever expected.

“Captain! You’ll want to see this,” Doc broke him out of his reverie. “News broadcast from Camderan media sources.” Jason looked at the clock and saw he had a few hours to kill before they made any real decision on what their next course of action would be.

“Put it up,” he said. Doc turned and fed the video to the projection system that turned the front canopy into an enormous display.

“Confederation Agents attempted to apprehend the first officer from the warship, Diligent, that had been intercepted days ago. The ship is said to have been involved in the recent violent protests across the planet. The officer, whose name is officially being withheld at this time, was killed during the attempted arrest. The captain of that vessel, Kellea Colleren, is still at large …” The video cut to a scene outside of what appeared to be block housing in a northern part of the planet. A sheet was covering a body on the sidewalk. The bright orange hair of Commander Bostco could be seen as the wind rippled the thin cover.

“Oh!” Kellea choked back a sob.

“Kill the feed, Doc,” Jason said quietly. He was completely enraged. Bostco had been his friend and he had no doubt the ConFed hadn’t tried to arrest him, but had assassinated the easygoing officer in cold blood. Bostco was no warrior, and he wouldn’t have put up a fight when confronted by an armed party.

“Arrest my ass,” Crusher growled, giving voice to what everyone else was thinking. “What are we going to do, Captain?”

“We can’t help him now,” Jason said, the feeling of impotence in the face of such an obvious injustice fueling his rage. “First we get Captain Colleren off this planet safely, and then we start trying to piece together what the hell is going on.”

“These guys are playing for keeps right now,” Twingo said softly. His eyes were wet, but his voice was steady. “We can’t risk taking this ship into the capital. We might not get out and they’ll tear her apart if they even suspect we have anything to do with this.”

“Agreed,” Jason said. “This damn planet is completely blanketed … what options do we have for getting out of here? Preferably without having to fight our way out through a ConFed blockade.”

“Running the data now,” Kage said. “I’ll have to slice into the planet’s orbital control system to get current positions of all the ConFed warships buzzing around up there.”

“Just get it done.”

*****

They were getting close to the stretch of the flight where they would have to make their move. The Phoenix was pushing up the coast towards the more populated capital region and was about to get into a stretch of nearly-deserted swampland.

“Figure anything out?” Jason asked.

“No,” Kage answered, frowning. “We have good cloud cover at around thirty thousand feet, and the air traffic sensors don’t have very good coverage here, but the ConFed fleet has a stranglehold on this planet. Even if the Camderan flight controllers miss us, it’s doubtful the ships in orbit will.”

“We could try a ‘Drunken Twingo’,” Doc suggested. “The sensor coverage may be sparse enough to get away, and the distraction may move the picket ships out of formation.”

“It’s as good an idea as any,” Kage agreed. “We’ll need to execute it in the next five minutes for it to be effective.”

“Drunken Twingo?” Kellea asked.

“I’m formally requesting that this maneuver be renamed,” Twingo said irritably.

“Noted. Denied,” Jason said. “Doc, get ready with the countermeasures. Kage, arm two thermobaric warheads … high-yield.” Jason took control of the ship from the computer and prepared for the maneuver as soon Kage gave him the word.

“In three … two … one …“ Kage reached over and opened a channel on the com panel. “This is micro-freighter Lark declaring an in-flight emergency! We’ve lost main power and cannot maintain altitude! We’re losing stability control! Our position is …” He trailed off and then killed the channel. At the same instant, Jason pulled the throttle back and pushed the nose over while kicking the left rudder pedal. The Phoenix wallowed a moment in the air before listing to her port side and falling through the clouds in an apparently uncontrolled tumble.

The ship rolled over twice and shuddered as Jason allowed her to fall naturally through the sky a bit longer. When they passed through fifteen thousand feet, he pushed the throttle back up and powered out of the stall. He pointed the nose at an open stretch of heavily wooded swamp and held that course for a few more seconds.

“Now!” Kage barked.

Jason squeezed the trigger twice and sent two missiles streaking out of the weapons bay towards the ground. The instant the first missile detonated, Kage killed their transponder and Doc engaged the ship’s countermeasures suite to hide them from the sensors of both the ground control system and the orbiting ships. He slammed the throttle forward and sent the ship streaking over the impact site just as the second missile hit. The shock wave of the powerful warhead slammed into the belly of the ship, but caused minimal damage as the Phoenix shot away from the scene at high subsonic speed.

“Talk to me,” Jason said as he concentrated on his control inputs. The Phoenix was hugging the terrain and skimming over the treetops at a scant twenty meters. The computer was doing most of the work by keeping their altitude constant; he just had to make sure he didn’t fly into any obstacles.

“They’ve been trying to raise us on the com,” Kage said. “One of the ConFed cruisers confirmed the explosion under the clouds. They’re arguing now about who is going to dispatch a recovery team.”

“Glad it wasn’t a real emergency while they get into a jurisdictional pissing match,” Jason muttered. He was thankful for the delay, however, since the longer they argued, the longer he had to put some distance between them and the fake crash site. Their ruse wouldn’t even fool a cursory flyover since there was no debris and the damage was completely inconsistent with a ship impacting the ground. “Just keep me up on what those ships in orbit are doing,” he said.

It was another seven tense minutes of screaming along at ground level when Kage had an update. “The ConFed fleet commander is sending down two landers to inspect the crash. So are the Camderans. Two of the picket ships are moving out of their holding orbits to come in closer and use their sensors to scan the ground.”

“Is it big enough for us to slip through?” Jason asked.

“Slip is probably the wrong word, but we’ll be able to get up past the ships before they can try to pursue. I’ll let you know once they’ve repositioned and the landers are on their way down,” Kage answered.

Another five minutes crept by while Kage tried his best to gauge the ConFed’s position by listening over the com. “We’ve got a window. You’ll have to be in slip-space the instant we come up through the holding orbit though.”

“Slip-drive charging. Ten seconds until it’s online,” Twingo said, anticipating Jason’s next order.

“I’m feeding the most current nav data to you now, Captain,” Kage continued. “You’ll have to let her do the flying, I don’t think I can update your display fast enough to guarantee we won’t slam into one of the cargo ships up there.”

“No argument here,” Jason said and prepared to turn primary flight control back over to the Phoenix’s computer.

“Here we go,” Kage said tensely. “It’s going to be close … Engage now!” Jason switched over off manual flight and immediately the Phoenix pitched her nose up and the drive slammed to full power. Despite the compensators, they were still pressed back into their seats as the gunship shot up out of the clouds in a pure vertical climb.

Jason clenched up as the sky turned black and he could see they were heading straight towards a formation of gigantic civilian freighters loafing in a parking orbit. The Phoenix angled her flight path slightly to cross the path of a slow-flying cargo hauler right in front of its prow. They were through the formation almost the same instant Jason’s brain even recognized it was there. If he’d been flying manually there would have been no chance for them to avoid the larger ships.

“Slip-drive primed,” Twingo reported.

“Engaging,” Jason said, but when he went to hit the control that would send them streaking out of the system a hard impact jarred the ship and the slip-drive’s “READY” indicator winked out. They were still in real-space and the ConFed was moving to intercept.

“We’re hit!” Doc called out. “Plasma burst from the near cruiser.”

“Port emitter is depolarized!” Twingo shouted. “The drive is resetting! Try not to take any more hits.” Without another word he leapt from his seat and ran off the bridge towards Engineering.

“Countermeasures OFF!” Jason barked. “Full combat mode! Give me everything!” Kage and Doc worked in unison to switch from sneaking around mode to kick some ass mode. The bridge lights dimmed to a muted red and he could feel the power course through the ship as the shields and weapons came online.

The cruiser tried another shot to disable them but it splashed harmlessly against the shields as the Phoenix clawed her way up out of Camderan-2’s gravity well. Jason nudged the nose towards the irregularly-shaped moon that was slightly off the starboard side and kept the hammer down. He wanted to put some distance and obstacles between him and the ConFed fleet to give Twingo a chance to get the slip-drive back online.

“They’re moving to cut us off,” Doc said. “One of the destroyers in high-orbit is breaking away on a direct intercept course.” Jason looked down at his tactical display and saw the big red icon lumbering out of orbit towards them. It was picking up speed quickly, however, as its captain was pushing hard to get into weapons range and bracket them between it and the ships pursuing. “Looks like they’re also launching fighters.”

“Oh fuck me,” Jason ground out. “Can’t anything ever just be easy?” He angled back to port and adjusted his pitch to allow the Phoenix to gain a little more precious distance between them and their tormentors. “Is the nav computer keeping our slip vector updated?”

“Yes,” Kage said, his hands flying over his own panels. He was actively jamming and working other sorts of tech voodoo to confuse the inbound fighters. Jason sucked in a breath and let it out slowly as he let his neural implant fully integrate him into the ship. There was the usual split second of vertigo before he could “see” through the sensors and feel the Phoenix as if she were an extension of his own body.

He picked out the closest of the interceptors bearing down on them and prioritized them to the targeting system. He didn’t want to fire on a ConFed ship as that carried some serious ramifications, but he wanted to be captured even less.

Just when it seemed he would have no choice but open fire on at least three ConFed fighters, a new alert flashed in front of him via his neural link.

“Slip-Drive Ready.”

The message flashed in his field of vision twice before fading away. Jason looked down to confirm the slip-drive’s status on his indicators and then slapped the control to his right. His neural link was abruptly terminated and the Phoenix shuddered as she transitioned to slip-space.

“Set up our dummy jumps,” Jason said, blinking and shaking his head to clear the cobwebs caused by his link being cut so quickly. Normally he would ease himself out of the link. He knew he was in for one hell of a headache for the next few hours.

“Program set up and executed,” Kage confirmed. “We’re firing tachyon bursts at the first one to mask our vector if they’ve managed to track us.”

“That was a little closer than usual,” Twingo said as he walked back up on the bridge. “Glad the first shot was only meant to disable the drive. They could have turned us into a vapor cloud with the shields lowered like that.”

“Yeah,” Jason agreed. “Good job getting the slip-drive back.”

“I’d love to take credit for it but I more or less stood down there while it sorted itself out. Good job not getting us killed,” Twingo said as he slouched into his seat.

“It was hit or miss for a little bit there,” Jason said with a humorless laugh.

“So what now?” Doc asked.

“I’m guessing Captain Colleren would like to get cleaned up and changed. Then we can debrief her and figure out what the hell is going on,” Jason said, leaning back wearily into the pilot’s seat.

“So does this mean you’re offering more than just an escape?” Kellea asked.

“Do you really need to ask?” Crusher said as he walked by her.

Chapter 8

“We’d been moving between worlds in a seemingly random pattern,” Kellea said as she pushed the tray away. She’d just polished off her third helping from the galley. “Crisstof was extremely secretive about what we were doing, but that was nothing new. He’s often boarded the Diligent and had us fly him to some secret meeting or negotiation. He did seem somewhat out of sorts, but again … that was nothing new.

“Camderan-2 was the fifth planet we were visiting, and at each one Crisstof would have a pilot fly him to multiple locations on the surface. He had reboarded, but hadn’t given us our next destination yet. As we waited in orbit an entire ConFed task force dropped into real-space and made straight for the planet. We still didn’t think anything of it until they began to bear down on my ship in an attack formation. I ordered the Diligent to break for high-orbit and try to put the planet between them and us, but it was too late. The heavy cruisers opened fire before we could get the shields up or take evasive maneuvers … not that it would have helped at such a low altitude.” She paused to take a sip of water and steady her nerves.

“Most of the shots took us on the aft, port quadrant and opened three decks, including some engineering bays, to space. Two more shots and the core shut itself down to prevent a meltdown and the ship began to fall towards the planet. It took four ConFed ships with mooring beams to haul the Diligent back up to a stable orbit. During that time, Crisstof grabbed me and Bostco and shoved us into two escape pods and launched us first. He then fired the rest of the pods without waiting for the crew to get into them to hide us as we headed towards the surface.

“I watched the media feeds as Crisstof was led away in restraints and the rest of the crew was put into detention cells. Bostco and I were separated, so I reached out to you guys. Since you’re not a part of the organization it was just a knee-jerk reaction. The thought was that they wouldn’t be tracking communications to your ship. I never meant to put you in so much danger.”

“That’s OK,” Twingo assured her. “As many times as you’ve saved us, we owed you a few.” She smiled slightly at him and then stared back into her water glass.

“So, there’s no truth to the allegations against Crisstof?” Jason asked.

“No,” she said adamantly. “While I don’t know exactly what he had been doing down on the surface of those planets, I refuse to believe he’d abandon his core principles and cause so much bloodshed.”

“We can agree there,” Jason said. “Whatever is going on, I get the feeling he’s taking the fall to either cover someone’s ass or this is a distraction. The amount of ConFed firepower used to take the Diligent out tells us that someone on the Council is involved.”

“So what did cause the outbreak of violence on Camderan-2?” Doc asked.

“I have no idea,” Kellea said. “The planet was practically on lockdown when we made orbit. Huge demonstrations then turned incredibly violent in the blink of an eye. It doesn’t make a lot of sense. Camderan-2 had been stable with its current government for centuries and then, in the span of days, the ruling party of their largest nation lost complete control. Thousands of civilians and military were dead within the first week, hundreds more afterwards until the ConFed Fleet began providing support to quell the unrest.”

“None of this is making a lot of sense right now,” Twingo said. “Especially the convenient appearance of a ConFed task force just in time to save the day and arrest Crisstof. Most of the time those idiots can’t find their asses with both hands.”

“What does that even mean?” Kellea said, her nose wrinkled up in distaste.

“You know … I never really figured that out. It’s something the captain says to Kage all the time,” Twingo admitted. “Given the context, I’m assuming it’s an expression of incompetence.”

“More or less,” Jason answered with a shrug.

“That’s disgusting,” Kellea said.

“Anyway,” Jason continued, “It looks like we have our work cut out for us. Kage, start backtracking the Diligent’s past ports of call and see if there was any unusual civil unrest at any of those locations. While you’re at it, compile a list of other inexplicably violent demonstrations and then we can start trimming that down to something usable.”

“We have a problem,” Kage said, all four of his arms crossed. “I’m almost sure the Lark now has multiple warrants out for its capture or destruction. That was our last clean set of transponder codes.”

“Do we have a good source for more?” Jason asked Twingo.

“Not a reliable one,” the engineer said with his hands spread. “We can try some of our old contacts, but we’ve been relying on Crisstof to handle things like that for a while.”

“Do we have any codes we can fly that won’t get us shot down as soon as we enter a ConFed system?”

“There are two that only have local infractions against them,” Kage said. “It should be fine for the time being.”

“Good enough,” Jason said. “Let’s get to work.”

*****

The Phoenix was loafing along at just ten percent of her capable speed. Anything less than that and the slip-space fields became unstable and the universe would spit them back out into real-space. Jason was using the ether of that dimensional oddity to hide in since they really didn’t have a firm plan of action. Now that the crew had dispersed to go about their individual tasks, he walked down to Berthing to check on their new passenger.

Kellea Colleren was an accomplished officer and an exceptional ship’s captain, but the gritty and unpredictable world of small-unit ground operations had left her shaken and unsure of herself. When he knocked on the door he found her cleaned and changed, but with an all-too-familiar thousand-yard stare in her eyes. Now that the immediate danger had passed, she was crashing from a week-long adrenaline high.

“Not exactly what you expected it to be, is it?” he asked as he sat on a bunk across from the one she had claimed.

“I’m not sure I follow you,” she said, looking up.

“The unpredictability of being on the other side of legal,” he said with a half-smile.

“Ah,” she said noncommittally. She fell quiet for a moment before continuing. “How do you deal with it? I could barely breathe during our escape from Kachamar City. Is this really what your life is like? Just one big string of incidents like that?”

“Some are quite a bit worse,” Jason answered, his hand unconsciously touching his face where his injuries at the hands of Corenntal were still healing. “You become accustomed to it, but never comfortable or complacent.”

“I’ve been in combat before, but always on the bridge of a starship. That seems so sterile now after being in the middle of smuggling a fugitive out from under the ConFed’s nose … especially when the fugitive was me. I’m starting to regret all the times we’ve asked you guys to go into situations like that because we couldn’t. Or wouldn’t,” she said.

“Eh,” Jason scoffed. “We were already doing this when Crisstof found us. The six of us aren’t really suited for much else. Well, maybe Twingo could find honest work.”

“I remember when I first saw you and the crew,” Kellea smiled a genuine smile and even laughed a bit. “I was so smug thinking we didn’t need mercenary trash getting in our way, and I would find out what was happening in the Concordian Cluster without your help.” Jason laughed too.

“Yeah … we weren’t too fond of the stuck-up starship captain who looked at us like she wanted to scrape us off the bottom of her boot,” he said with a wink. There was a long pause in the conversation that began to become uncomfortable. “Well … I’ll let you get some rest. We’re going to stay in slip-space for the next twenty hours or so before we pick a destination.” He stood up to leave and she reached out and put a hand on his arm.

“Thank you,” she said. “The fact that you came for me means a lot.” Jason patted her hand.

“I can’t believe you ever thought we wouldn’t,” he said before walking out of the port berthing bay. He went back to his own quarters to get some rest. I have a feeling this is going to a rough mission …

Chapter 9

The members of Omega Force all stood on the bridge, some more patiently than others, as Kellea scrolled through the list of planets the Diligent had visited over the course of the last few months. Kage had also cross-referenced those with any unusual domestic disturbances that coincided with their visit either before or after.

“None of these stick out as unusual,” she said with frustration. “We went to all of these places and each stop was as uneventful as the last.” She was about to push herself away from the station when she stopped and stared at one of the names scrolling up the display. “Solamea?” she asked in confusion. “There was a violent civil uprising on Solamea?”

“Yeah,” Kage said from the copilot’s seat. “Why? There were demonstrations in a lot of places … why is that one special?”

“That would be the first time there has ever been any organized violence on that planet,” she answered, now skimming the associated file. “The indigenous species is completely pacifist. They have no concept of using violence to secure political objectives.”

“I’d say that makes them stand out as unique,” Jason said. He was anxious to get underway and start doing something useful instead of burning fuel hiding in slip-space. “How far away is it?”

“A little over six days’ flight,” Kage answered.

“Plot it. Let’s get moving,” Jason said as he swung up into the pilot’s seat. “What is the indigenous species called?”

“They’re called kelpens,” Kellea provided. “There are some peculiarities that you’ll need to be made aware of.”

“Such as?” Crusher asked.

“I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise,” she said with a half-smile.

*****

The anti-collision alarm was sounding loudly as Jason cursed and pushed the nose of the Phoenix over to dive under a fast transport that had flown in front of them with no warning. The increased angle of attack to their entry vector caused the shields to flare brighter as the gunship pushed her way down into Solamea’s atmosphere.

“What the hell!? I’ve landed on smuggler’s moons more organized than this,” Jason nearly shouted as he had to again adjust course to avoid a ship that was blindly climbing up from the surface on chemical rocket boosters.

“I told you,” Kellea said tensely, “there are no traffic control systems for orbit or approach. It’s a free-for-all and you just hope you get lucky on the way down. Good job missing that rocket booster, that was a kelpen ship; they’d have flown right into us.

“This is insane,” Jason muttered as he yanked the Phoenix hard to starboard and throttled up to send them streaking out of the high traffic area and into the less-populated airspace of the northern hemisphere. “So no spaceports either?”

“Nope,” Kage answered as he looked at his display. “The only launch facilities are equatorial sites for those kelpen rocket stacks like the one you just dodged. To be honest, it looks like we’ll be landing in a clear patch of dirt if we can find one.”

“Do you have our coordinates?”

“Coming up,” Kage answered. “There’s no centralized network so it took me a minute. I’m sending you the nav data now. This is the actual site of the reported incident, it’ll be up to you to find a place to put her down.” Jason just shook his head again and settled in for the two hour flight to their destination.

He swung them in a wide, sweeping turn around the settlement (it was so small it almost couldn’t be called a town), dipping the left wing down so everyone could get a good view. He almost couldn’t believe what he was seeing as he cycled the landing gear and made for an open patch of ground just off the main drag that looked like it was solid enough to support the Phoenix’s weight.

He touched down smoothly and began to incrementally pull power back from the grav-drive, watching a video feed from the belly of the ship as he did to see how far the landing gear was going to sink into the ground before she settled. After compressing the soil a mere eleven inches, the ship groaned slightly as her weight fully transferred from the drive field to the landing gear struts. After leveling them out, Jason placed the primary flight systems into standby and stood up to stretch out his back. The harrowing flight to the surface had tensed his shoulder muscles up and left his neck sore.

“This is your show,” he said to Kellea. “How do you want to do this?”

“This is a simple trip to look around and ask questions,” she said. “Who do you think is best suited for the ground team?”

“Crusher, Twingo, and Doc … you’re coming with us,” Jason said after a second’s thought. “Kage and Lucky, keep in com contact and keep the ship ready to fly.”

Once they were all kitted up with concealed weaponry and casual, civilian-style clothing, Jason led them through the cargo bay and down the ramp onto the surface of Solamea. As they emerged from the ship a few kelpens looked at them disinterestedly before going back to whatever they were doing. The kelpens were typical bipedal primes with skin that was a beautiful shade of sea foam green and a wide, rugged build that looked suited to the manual labor tasks Jason observed going on around him.

The town, such as it was, looked like it could have been out of eighteenth century Earth rather than a planet that was home to a space-faring culture. As they walked along the main street he could see little bits of mismatched technology here and there, but mostly he saw kelpens moving busily about doing tasks by hand that were done by machine in every other culture Jason had observed.

“OK,” Crusher said as they walked, “this is getting strange. Is the whole planet like this?”

“Yes,” Kellea said with a smile. “There’s something about the kelpen nature that they have an almost aggressive indifference to technological advancement. All these machines you see around you were likely traded to them by people like us, and when it breaks they’ll toss it aside and go back to doing the task the old fashioned way.”

“So are they less advanced or is it a cultural peculiarity?” Doc asked.

“Studies have shown them to have an equal aptitude to learning and using technology as most other species, they just have no interest in it. They don’t explore, they don’t research; they are perfectly content to live as they always have. Many mistake these traits for lower intelligence, but they’re shrewd traders and they’ve profited handsomely from their mineral mining rights,” Kellea explained as they walked slowly into what appeared to be the town square.

“What makes them all the more unique is that they don’t actually shun advancement, they just don’t pursue it.”

“That’s bizarre,” Twingo said as he looked around at the squat, rustic buildings.

“Perhaps,” Jason agreed, “but it does make it all the more unusual that these people would have taken up arms. There doesn’t even seem to be a central government to rebel against.”

They walked in silence for a bit longer before coming to a short, elderly kelpen who was struggling to put bags of seed into an open-air wheeled vehicle. The bags looked like they outweighed the little alien by at least two to one.

“Let me help you,” Crusher said in stilted Jenovian Standard and walked over to take the bag from him. The kelpen went from startled at the voice to nearly panicked as Crusher bore down on him. He flinched away as the big warrior reached out his clawed hands and easily lifted the bag up and set it into the back of the vehicle.

When he saw this, the kelpen smiled widely (at least it looked like a smile) and gestured at the other twelve bags laying on the ground. Nodding, Crusher moved over and tossed the seed bags like they weighed nothing until all thirteen were neatly stacked. The elderly kelpen put his right hand over his chest and bowed his head to Crusher in an apparent sign of gratitude before moving to get into the vehicle. Doc reached out and stopped him, pointing at the alien’s ear questioningly.

After a short game of one-sided charades, a look of understanding crossed the kelpen’s face and he fished around in his pocket for a moment before pulling out a translator earpiece that looked to be at least three generations behind the type they had on the Phoenix. He fiddled with it for another minute or so before slipping it over his ear and looking over at Doc.

“Can you understand me?” Doc asked in flawless Jenovian Standard. He doubted his native language would be loaded on the older device.

“Of course,” the kelpen said pleasantly. “Why didn’t you just say you wanted to talk?” Crusher just rolled his eyes.

“We’re looking into an incident that happened not far from here,” Doc continued. “There was a sudden and inexplicable violent protest and we’re trying to find out what may have sparked it.” As Doc spoke, the kelpen’s expression became steadily more stony until he was looking at the four of them with open hostility.

“Who are you with?” he demanded. “There’s been all manner of you outsiders coming here since then, and none of it has led to anything but more trouble.”

“We’re not with any government and we’re not with the ones who may have started the violence, if that’s what you’re asking,” Doc said placatingly. “We were hired by a private party to investigate and to try to prevent a repeat.”

“There’s going to be more?” The alien now looked alarmed, almost panicked. “Oh, no—”

Well … er, I don’t know that there is going to be—”

“When?!” the kelpen demanded in a desperate voice. “When will they come again?”

“Please, try and calm yourself,” Kellea said, shooting Doc an annoyed glare as she did. “As far as we know it isn’t going to happen again on Solamea. But we don’t want it to happen on anybody else’s planet either. So can you help us?” The alien calmed somewhat and then assumed a speculative expression, rubbing the top of his head while he did so.

“Well, I do have some recollection of that day. But it’s getting late and I need to get this seed into the germinators so I can plant in the coming days,” he said. “If I had some strong help I could probably free up some time to discuss it with you.” He was looking pointedly at Crusher as he finished. The little bastard’s a regular mercenary.

“We can help with that,” Doc assured him. They all piled onto top of the open-air vehicle and bounced along down the gravel-strewn roadway until it gave way to a heavily-rutted dirt lane.

Chapter 10

It was some hours of manual labor later when they gathered in a low-ceilinged room within the kelpen’s home. They’d learned his name was i’iteren, and he had lost his family during the recent uprising. While he seemed to have a simple turn of mind, Jason was forced to constantly revisit his opinion of the short alien as the conversation progressed. Towards the end Jason concluded that it wasn’t a lack of intelligence that made i’iteren seem simple, but his utter lack of curiosity about anything and everything going on around him outside of his immediate concerns. From what Kellea had told him this was a trait shared by his entire species.

“So you didn’t know any of the kelpens that were involved in the attack?” Kellea asked.

“I didn’t,” i’iteren answered.

“Did they seem like they could have been from a different part of Solamea?” she pressed. Another peculiarity of the kelpens was that they didn’t volunteer any more information than was required to answer the question. They weren’t being intentionally evasive, but it was infuriating when trying to get information out of them. So much so that Crusher had stomped out of the house almost immediately and took to ranging out and exploring the property. Jason soon wished he had followed him.

“Since they weren’t from here, I’d have to say that is a possibility,” the kelpen answered with a straight face. If he had been a member of the crew, Jason would have long ago strangled him.

“Do you know where they came from?” Jason asked. “Or at least from which direction they traveled?”

“They came from everywhere,” i’iteren said. “They just kept coming and coming from out of the forest. When my mate and child went to ask who they were, they turned violent and beat them to death before moving on. I was so scared I didn’t come out of the house until they’d left. They moved down through town and on to the larger city to the south.” Jason sat up a little straighter as this was the only bit of information that came freely from their host.

“And they never made any demands? Never made a declaration of intent?”

“None,” i’iteren said quietly. “They were silent until they reached town and then went crazy ransacking the place. Finally a ConFed ship heard about what was going on and opened fire on the city from orbit. Nearly everyone in the immediate area was killed.” Jason and Kellea exchanged a meaningful look as Twingo inhaled sharply.

“They just opened fire on a civilian target indiscriminately? I’m sure that’s not in any ConFed procedural manual,” he said in disgust.

“i’iteren,” Jason said, “we’d like to explore out beyond your farm in the forest where these kelpens came from. It’s getting dark so we’ll start in the morning. Would it be okay with you if we parked our ship in one of your fields? We’ll be gone by tomorrow afternoon.”

“It’s not one of the big thrust ships like the ones they use down south is it?” i’iteren asked suspiciously. “One of those would destroy my field.”

“It is not,” Jason said with a smile. “She’s a gravity-drive-type ship. You won’t even be able to tell she was there once we leave.”

“I suppose there’s no issue then,” the kelpen said, suddenly disinterested. “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll be going to sleep now so I can get an early start tomorrow.” He stood and moved to go down into the basement of the dwelling without so much as a second glance at the four aliens he had left in his living room.

“Odd little guy,” Twingo murmured.

“Indeed,” Kellea agreed. “Why are you repositioning the Phoenix?”

“I’m not sleeping on the floor here,” Jason explained, ticking off reasons on his fingers as he did. “I don’t feel like walking all the way back into town, and I’d rather have her close by since we have no idea what we’re dealing with here on the surface and, apparently, in orbit.”

“Good points,” she said. “Now that I think about it, I’m not too crazy about staying the night here either.”

“Kage,” Jason was already saying into his com as he exited the home, “you and Lucky get the ship into the air and home in on my beacon. Land in the field to the north of the house you’ll see on your approach.”

“Copy, Captain.”

“Can he fly the ship?” Kellea asked as she walked up behind him, hugging her arms to her side to ward off the evening chill.

“Eh,” Jason said noncommittally. “He can fly it well enough to move it a few kilometers and land it in a wide open space.”

*****

The next morning, Jason, Crusher, Lucky, and Doc were standing at the bottom of the Phoenix’s ramp, their breath fogging in the cool morning air as they began to formulate a plan of attack.

“We’ll head up the south face of that hill,” Jason was pointing to a rise in the distance, “and see if there’s any sign of a group as large as i’iteren claims moved through there. Given the density of the underbrush I would think it’d be fairly obvious.”

“While that’s true,” Crusher said, “it also means it will hide things just as well. We could walk right by their trail and not even see it.”

“I realize that, but I’d rather take the high ground and move down from there than try a grid search with a handful of people,” Jason said, wanting to head off the impending argument with Crusher. “Besides, we do have a bit of help.” With that, he keyed his com unit. “Kage, launch the Twins.”

“Launching. I told them the first search sequence … hopefully they don’t get confused as to who has which quadrants.” There was a whirring sound from the top of the Phoenix and then two bangs as both of the Twins were launched out of their docking cradles. The pair of semi-intelligent, autonomous drones circled around the ship once, both putting “eyes” on the ground team before veering off and zipping in different directions to begin their multi-spectral scan of the surrounding land. Crusher rolled his eyes.

“Those two idiots are going to be more of a hindrance than a help,” he grumbled.

“I’ve tried to explain to you that they aren’t sentient,” Jason retorted. “You can’t just give them some vague instructions and wave your hand and expect them to understand what you mean. Garbage in, garbage out.”

“What the hell does that even mean?”

“It’s a programming term,” Jason said, refusing to explain further. In truth, he didn’t have any more luck giving instruction to the pair than Crusher did. Kage and, unsurprisingly, Lucky were the only two who could manage them without the aid of the Phoenix’s main computer. “Anyway … let’s get to it.” The lightly-armed group set off at a brisk walk towards the treeline that was sixty meters off the nose of the ship.

It didn’t take long before they had to kick and hack their way through the dense forest. Jason fervently hoped there was nothing poisonous that slithered, scampered, or crawled lurking in the foliage. He’d had Doc do an extensive search of the local databases on indigenous wildlife, but the fragmented nature of Solamea’s public network didn’t leave him filled with confidence. Every once in a while they would hear one of the Twins zip by overhead as it repositioned to the next part of its search grid.

It was nearly an hour later when Jason’s com beeped twice indicating an incoming message. He pulled it out and keyed on the display.

POSSIBLE BIOLOGICAL ENTITY. UNKNOWN SPECIES. 3.521 KILOMETERS FROM CURRENT POSITION. BEARING 38° FROM CURRENT HEADING. PROBABILITY OF OBJECTIVE: UNKNOWN. STATUS OF ENTITY: UNKNOWN.

“Number One may have found something,” he said, raising a hand to indicate a halt.

“What did it find?” Crusher asked.

“How should I know?”

“Ask it to send an image, Captain,” Lucky said. The tireless battlesynth was in front of Jason and acting as a trailbreaker. Jason made a face as he keyed his com. What are the chances it will actually give me what I want?

“Number One,” he said. “Provide a high-res image of the objective, visible wavelength only.” There was a double-chirp from the com and then nothing.

“Ha!” Crusher let out a sharp, barking laugh as he took a long pull on his water bottle. Just as Jason was about to put his com unit back in his pocket it chirped again and the screen lit up with an aerial photo of a clearing up ahead of them. On the ground was what looked like a bipedal being with its limbs splayed out at unnatural angles.

“Is that a kelpen?” Doc asked as Jason zoomed the image in.

“I don’t think so,” he answered. “It’s blue and bipedal, but the shade is too dark. It looks darker than even Twingo.”

“That could be what happens to them when they die,” Doc said. “Even you turned a little blue when Crusher was playing the breathing game with you.”

“You mean when he was strangling me while you all sat and laughed? Oddly enough, I don’t remember much of that,” Jason shot back. “Either way, it’s close. Let’s go take a look. Lucky, bear left thirty-eight degrees and let’s pick up the pace while we still have favorable light.”

Forty-five minutes later the group was standing around the object the drone had found. “Well,” Jason said, “it sort of looks like a kelpen.”

“Yeah,” Crusher snorted, “if that kelpen was made of soft plastic and then put in a thermal chamber.” The body in question did indeed look like a member of Solamea’s dominant species. But not only was the hue of the skin wrong, it also seemed malformed. The limbs had a blocky appearance to them and the appendages terminated in digitless hands and feet. “What do you think, Doc? A deformity?”

“Doc?” Jason pressed when the doctor didn’t answer. In fact, he seemed oblivious to the others’ presence as he stared hard at the body in front of him. “Doc!” Jason repeated.

“What? Oh, yes,” Doc said, straightening up and smoothing his clothes with the palms of his hands. Jason knew this was a nervous tick. What the hell has him so spooked? “I can’t say with any certainty yet what it is we’re looking at,” Doc said, avoiding eye contact. “We should get it to the ship where I can run a proper series of tests on it.”

“I am not carrying that thing back,” Crusher said and crossed his arms.

“Nobody is going to carry it all that way,” Jason said, cutting off Lucky from volunteering for yet another disgusting detail that no one else wanted. Instead, he pulled out his com unit and keyed open the appropriate channel. “Number One, relocate to my position and hover ten meters overhead.” After a double-chirp he thumbed off his com unit and waited.

“There is it,” Crusher said as he pointed down in the valley below them. Sure enough, one of the Twins was zipping along at treetop level on its way to their position. As it approached, its two engines rotated downward on their pylons and the drone slipped into a smooth, nearly silent hover directly overhead. Jason waved both his hands over his head to get its attention. Once he was sure he had been spotted and recognized, he pointed his index finger straight down and made a slow, clockwise circle to let it know he wanted it to descend slowly towards him.

To his surprise, the machine began to throttle back even more and sink towards him until it was six feet off the ground. “Stop!” Jason ordered now that it was close enough to hear his voice. “Deploy docking hook.” After a second a door opened up on the drone’s belly, and the hook it used to capture the docking cradle on the Phoenix lowered and locked.

“OK,” he said to Lucky. “Lift up the … body … so I can secure it to the hook.” Once Lucky lifted it into position Jason removed his belt, which was impregnated with smart-metal, and lashed the small body to the landing hook. The belt automatically cinched tight and held. Viewing the body up close, he could see that there was no sign of decomposition or scavenger feeding he would normally associate with a corpse lying in the forest. He walked around to the nose of the drone so it would pick him up on its optical sensors.

“Return to the ship at a speed no greater than ten kilometers per hour,” he instructed. “Lower to a hover of two meters altitude twenty meters behind the tail of the Phoenix and await further instruction. Execute.” At his last command the drone emitted another cheerful double-chirp and lifted in a smooth, controlled climb before heading back the way they had come.

“Do you seriously think that is going to work?” Crusher asked as they all watched the drone fly off.

“Sure,” Jason said confidently. “Why wouldn’t it?”

“So the thing that holds your pants up is going to secure a full grown … whatever that is … to a sharp hook attached to a machine of questionable intelligence during a eleven kilometer flight?” Crusher asked.

“Well … when you say it like that—”

“We should get going too,” Doc spoke up suddenly. Without waiting for a response, he walked back down the hill to the path they’d forged through the underbrush on their way up.

“I guess we’re leaving,” Jason said with a shrug and trudged off after the doctor.

*****

Crusher’s near-hysterical laughter was not helping Jason’s mood. Number One was sitting patiently in a hover as he’d ordered, but instead of a dark blue body, the only thing on the landing hook was a section of his belt. The smart-metal had obediently wrapped the section of webbing around the hook securely. He walked over and unwrapped the material and stuffed it into his pocket, still ignoring his friend.

“RTB,” he said to the done. At the “Return To Base” command, Number One lifted quickly up and over the gunship. There was a loud clang as the hook snagged the cradle, then the whirring of the actuators pulling it back into the ship and closing the hatch. He pulled out his com unit and sent the same command to Number Two, which was still buzzing around in its predetermined search pattern.

“So now what?” he asked nobody in particular. While Crusher had been laughing himself to near incapacitation, Lucky had been scanning the area around the ship.

“Captain,” he said, pointing to the north. “In the tree, fifteen meters up.” Sure enough, wedged in the crook of a tree far above the ground was a familiar dark blue shape. This only reignited Crusher’s mirth.

“This gets better and better!” he exclaimed as he walked up the ramp into the ship. “Hey, Twingo!” he shouted. “Come here! You have to see this!”

“Let’s go get that thing,” Jason said to Lucky. “As in right now.” He was already at a dead run towards the tree with the battlesynth in tow before Twingo could come out to see what the commotion was about.

“Do you think you can get up there with your repulsors and—”

Jason was interrupted by a sharp crack and he looked up in time to see the body come bouncing down out of the tree, hitting more than a few large branches before landing in a heap in front of them.

“Never mind.”

“Captain,” Crusher said as he walked up with the rest of the crew, “tell Twingo how you engineered the carry method for our objective.”

“This is the body of a sentient being, Crusher,” Kellea said hotly. “I think a little respect is in order.”

“With all respect, Captain,” Crusher said to her, “but whatever that thing is … it isn’t a body.”

“What do you mean?” Jason asked. Crusher tapped the side of his nose with a clawed forefinger.

“That thing has been sitting for weeks in the woods and there’s not a speck of decomposition, no bloating from out-gassing, no signs of scavengers feeding—not even insects—and it’s still flexible,” he said. “I can smell that it’s certainly organic, but I don’t think this thing was ever alive.”

“What do you think, Doc?” Jason asked.

“I won’t know until I get it into the med bay,” Doc said distractedly and grabbed at one of the ankles, intent on dragging it back to the ship himself.

“Allow me, Doc,” Lucky said and scooped the thing up effortlessly. He turned and made his way back to the Phoenix with the rest in tow. Kellea put a hand on Jason’s arm to hold him back. Once the others were out of earshot she turned to him.

“I think it’s time I called Steader Dalton,” she said.

“The son? Er, First Son,” Jason said. She nodded.

“He’s in charge of Crisstof’s operations while he’s incarcerated. He’ll need to know about what we’ve found, and be kept up on what we’re doing,” she said.

“We’ll talk to Kage about the best way to go about it,” Jason said as he continued on to the ship. “I don’t feel comfortable contacting him directly from the Phoenix.”

“Of course.”

Chapter 11

Jason decided to fly up towards the northern pole of Solamea before breaking for orbit to avoid the insane traffic around the equator. The flight over the planet was quite relaxing. Since the kelpens didn’t fully embrace technology or industry, the planet was unmarred by mining operations, factories, or the general malaise that seemed to hang in the air over most advanced worlds.

“I know they don’t develop their own tech, but why are the kelpens still using those old chemical rockets to get to orbit?” Jason asked Twingo. “They’re only slightly more advanced than the stuff we were using on Earth.”

“If you’re asking why nobody has given them interstellar travel capability, there are two answers,” Kellea said. “Of course you know that they have no interest in exploration or scientific discovery, but there’s also the fact that slip-space drives them insane.”

“Insane?” Twingo scoffed. “I’ll admit it’s boring as hell at times, but I’ve never fully gone insane.”

“That’s debatable,” Jason said.

“It’s not boredom or claustrophobia,” Kellea continues. “As soon as a slip-space field forms it seems to scramble their brains, for lack of a better term. They’re irrevocably turned into raving lunatics just a few seconds after meshing.” The pair fell silent for a moment.

“Is that a common thing?” Jason finally asked, thinking back to the cavalier attitude he’d had towards interstellar flight when he first found the gunship.

“This is the only known case,” Kellea said. “Scientists from all over the sector have studied it but nobody knows exactly why it happens.”

“This sounds like a made-up story,” Twingo accused, looking at Kellea suspiciously.

“It’s true nonetheless,” she said before walking off the bridge. Jason thought he detected a slight smile tugging the corner of her mouth as she did so. Twingo watched her back for a moment before turning to his terminal and accessing the local network, obviously seeking independent verification to the tale.

“So,” Jason said to Kage, who was so completely absorbed in his console he hadn’t heard a word of the conversation going on around him, “what do you think is the best way to handle Kellea’s request? I don’t want to call this Steader from our com node if we can help it.”

“You don’t trust him?” Kage asked without looking up.

“I don’t know him,” Jason corrected. “But beyond that I don’t trust the ConFed. They had agents and operatives crawling all over Camderan-2 looking for her and Bostco, and I have no doubt they’re monitoring communications to her known associates.”

“I could play the usual games with fragmenting the signal and bouncing it through multiple nodes, but with actual intel analysts looking for us and this Steader not being aware of our scheme … there’s significant risk to using that method,” Kage explained.

“Alternatives?”

“We need to get to a facility that has a common network repeater node. The sheer volume of traffic going through will mask most of what we’re doing,” Kage said. “They could eventually figure it out, but we’ll be long gone by then. Just make sure Captain Colleren doesn’t give up too much information when she talks to him.”

“Is there a major repeater node close to our position?” Jason asked as he thumbed through the navigational data on his display. He grabbed the controls and began the climb up out of the atmosphere, throttling up the main drive as the nose came up.

“We’ll be backtracking a bit, but there is a transfer station six-point-three lightyears away,” Kage said, hardly noticing the ship pushing her way up into space. “This is actually perfect, Captain. The station is almost completely automated. Deep space haulers dock, unload their cargo, and it’s transferred automatically to the receiving ship when it docks. They also have a ConFed class-three slip-space node. That will be out best bet.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Jason said. “Give the nav data to the computer and plot us a mesh-out point.” Kage quickly routed him the needed data and waypoints and the Phoenix was soon hurtling through slip-space away from Solamea.

Giving the instruments another thorough check, Jason slid out of his seat and went to inform Kellea of their plan. Upon his arrival at the main deck, he could see the normally transparent walls of the infirmary were an opaque white. When he went up to the door it didn’t open. He could have told the computer to override the lock, but he decided to leave Doc alone for the time being. With one last suspicious glance at the locked door, he walked back out to the common area.

“We’re on our way to an automated cargo transfer station,” he said as he approached the table where Kellea and Crusher were sitting. As usual, Lucky was standing off to the side. “There’s a com repeater there that Kage wants to use to access the network and get in touch with Steader Dalton. What can you tell me about him?”

“He’s Crisstof’s First Son, so he’s what you would expect,” Kellea said, putting her mug down. “Polished, urbane, reserved … he’s been groomed from an early age to take over the family empire, so to speak.”

“What is this First Son, First Father business?” Crusher asked.

“Crisstof’s people have possibly the most convoluted family structure you’ve ever heard of,” Kellea explained. “For example, Crisstof has twelve wives, and each of those wives probably has from five to ten husbands each. It’s a web that’s nearly impossible to figure out. Anyway, Steader is Crisstof’s first-born son that is actually from his genetic material. This moved Steader’s mother into the coveted First Wife position and solidified that pairing as the core of Crisstof’s family.

“Of course, the others are still actively scheming since you never know when Steader could meet with an untimely demise and open up the First Son slot to the first comer.”

“That sounds like a nightmare,” Jason said with a shake of his head. “But more to my point, you don’t have much direct interaction with the son?”

“Nothing past being present at the same social functions and him being present at some meetings with his father,” she admitted. “He’s far more interested in the political wrangling and managing the family fortune than he is riding around in a starship for months on end.”

“Since we are dealing with an unknown quantity in Steader Dalton, is it wise to make contact?” Lucky asked.

“No,” Jason admitted. “But we’re taking precautions. I also want to make sure that we agree to keep the conversation vague until we can figure out where he stands.”

“Agreed,” Kellea nodded. “So how long until we can make contact?”

“We’re not running too hard so we’ll reach the transfer station in just over twelve hours,” Jason said. “After that, I’m not sure how long Kage needs to work his magic.”

“Then I’m going to go and grab some rack time,” Kellea said, rising from the table. “Gentlemen,” she said with a nod and walked off towards Berthing. Jason watched her go before turning to his friends.

“Has Doc been locked up in the infirmary since we launched?” he asked.

“More or less,” Crusher said disinterestedly. “Why?”

“Just wondering,” Jason answered before heading back to the bridge.

*****

EMERGENCY LANDING CLEARANCE GRANTED. YOU ARE AUTHORIZED FOUR STANDARD HOURS TO MAKE REPAIRS BEFORE YOUR CLEARANCE IS REVOKED.

“Fairly straight forward,” Jason said as he guided the Phoenix (now flying as the Zephyr) towards one of the emergency maintenance hangars in the lower levels of the station. They needed to get Kage and Kellea within the station itself in order to get a signal out without putting the Phoenix at risk of being discovered. All ConFed Intelligence would be able to glean was a point of origin, but by that time they would be long gone.

“I should only need fifteen minutes to break in and grab a channel,” Kage said confidently. “If I can’t do it by then, I can’t do it at all.”

“I don’t want a gaggle of people roaming around the station,” Jason said. “Kage, Captain Colleren, and Lucky will go and try to make contact with Steader Dalton. Twingo … you, Crusher, and I will be outside in the hangar pretending to inspect something on the ship.” He received a chorus of affirmative responses in return as he flew the ship into the final approach lane. After a few more minutes the blinking navigational lights of the station could be made out.

“Does this station have a name?” he asked as he peered out the canopy at some of the mammoth freighters docked at various points along the station’s hull.

“Not officially,” Kage replied. “It’s just a depot that’s given a number designator. I’m sure the deep space haulers have a name for it, and it’s likely something utterly disgusting, knowing that lot.”

“They are a strange bunch,” Twingo agreed. “Must be something about being stuck on a ship for months on end.”

“I’ve gone up to two years without leaving the Diligent before,” Kellea said evenly.

“Well,” Twingo floundered, “by strange I meant that—”

“I’d leave it alone,” Crusher advised quietly. Kellea looked at the engineer with a single raised eyebrow, daring him to continue. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, Twingo slowly turned his seat back around and pretended to be engrossed in the engine output efficiency graph that was displayed on his terminal.

“We’re almost to the barrier,” Jason said. “Killing the drive and dropping the gear. Twingo, bring the repulsors online.” There was a split second of near silence on the bridge as the hum of the engines dropped away before the whine and clunks of the massive landing gear deploying could be heard. Using the docking thrusters, Jason made a few fine corrections and then began slowing their forward velocity until they passed through the atmospheric barrier and into the hangar at just over one meter per second forward speed. The computer automatically powered up the repulsors to compensate for the station’s gravity as Jason lowered them down to a soft landing.

After spinning the Phoenix around so her nose was pointing out into space, he turned to his crew. “Let’s be quick about this. If your signal is detected it won’t be difficult to figure out the Zephyr just happened to land here at the same time.”

The three members of the “com team” hustled down the ramp and quickly disappeared down one of the service corridors. Jason and Twingo also disembarked, the latter bringing along a repulsor sled. The short engineer hopped onto the device and lifted himself up under the port nacelle that housed main engines one and two and started popping open access panels. After a few moments of rummaging around inside and Twingo’s ever-present string of cursing, Jason couldn’t take anymore.

“You don’t have to be that convincing,” he said. “We just need it to look like we’re really doing maintenance.”

“Actually,” Twingo said between curse words and grunts, “you’ve managed to cause real damage with your flying. I’m not acting. I’m re-aligning the injection system for number two’s plasma intake manifold.” Jason decided to leave it alone and veered the conversation onto another course.

“Did you notice that Doc had the windows to the med bay blacked out?” he asked. “What do you think he’s doing in there?”

“I couldn’t even begin to guess. But he was acting a little strange since you brought back that … thing.”

“Yeah, this is shaping up to be a strange one,” Jason mumbled to no one in particular since Twingo had already buried himself back into the access hatch. With nothing better to do, he walked around the perimeter of his ship and inspected the hull and running gear. He paused and frowned at an especially nasty blaster burn along the forward transition where the hull blended into the starboard wing. Sighing in disgust, he moved along towards the nose cone that housed most of the delicate sensor hardware.

He was moving back around the port side of the ship when Kellea, Lucky, and Kage came back through the service hatch. From their relaxed manner and easy pace, Jason assumed they had been undetected. “How did it go?” he asked when they were within earshot.

“Surprisingly easy,” Kage reported. “I was able to bounce our request through the com node of a deep-space freighter that’s docked up above us. I didn’t even have to use the station’s com center.”

“And you were able to contact Steader Dalton?”

“Yes,” Kellea said. “Also surprisingly easy. I’ve only met him a few times, but I do know that he’s notoriously difficult to get in touch with in most cases. I sent the request through as Commander Bostco and he himself answered within minutes. The conversation was necessarily short, but informative.”

“Twingo! Button her back up,” Jason called up to his friend. “We’ll be leaving shortly.”

“All done up here,” Twingo yelled back. “Just closing the panels back up.”

Thirty minutes later the Phoenix was racing away from the transfer station towards her mesh-out point. Once again they were simply burning fuel in a long, lazy loop through the sector as they hadn’t a specific destination in mind. Jason was painfully aware that not only were they not making any money, they were risking a run in with a ConFed ship that might or might not be looking for a ship that matched the description of the gunship. But the strong ties and loyalty he had to Kellea, not to mention his friend Bostco, pushed him on to see how things would shake out.

“So what did we learn from Crisstof’s First Son?” Jason asked, leaning back in the pilot’s seat as the canopy darkened.

“Not as much as I’d have liked,” Kellea admitted, “but I can understand the need to be terse. I’m sure his communications are being monitored so, unsurprisingly, he spent much of his time encouraging me to turn myself in. But he did slide in a few bits of information.

“The ConFed is still actively hunting me, specifically their Special Operations Section including the Intel division. I also learned that Crisstof is being held on the planet Aracoria.”

“That’s not surprising,” Doc said. He had joined them once they had gotten back underway, but the med bay was still locked up tight. “Aracoria is home to more than a few ConFed Council members, most of them quite influential.”

“Is it a capital world?” Jason asked.

“No,” Kellea said. “It’s a terraformed planet that’s only been habitable for the last few centuries. But in that time it’s become home to many of the rich and powerful. The ConFed has one of their main battle fleets based there.”

“So a smash and grab is out of the question,” Crusher said.

“It always was,” Jason said with a snort. “There’s no way our little team is getting someone that high-profile out of a maximum security detention center. At least not without massive collateral damage and a guarantee of being hunted down by the ConFed Starfleet for the remainder of our short lives. Besides, just freeing Crisstof won’t accomplish much without knowing what’s happening behind the scenes.”

“I wasn’t actually serious about busting him out,” Crusher answered. “But it brings up an interesting question: what do we do now that we know where he’s being held?”

“I’ve been giving that a lot of thought,” Jason said.

“You have no idea how little comfort I find in that,” Crusher said with a sigh.

Chapter 12

“This is not one of your better ideas,” Doc said bluntly.

“You say that so much it’s lost all meaning,” Jason said. “Think about it for a minute … we have a chance to just walk right in and directly get information from Crisstof himself.”

“You’ll be flying the Phoenix right into the belly of the beast,” Kellea protested. “I can’t believe that someone in orbit won’t recognize this ship.”

“Besides that,” Twingo added, “how do you know Crisstof’s legal council will go along with this?”

“I don’t,” Jason admitted. “But I have various methods of persuasion at my disposal.” Crusher let out a humorless chuckle at that. Kellea stared at the warrior for a moment before making the connection.

“You’re just going to have Crusher scare him into submission?”

“I’m hoping that won’t be necessary and that he will agree to allow us to be involved in the … investigation,” Jason said. “But no, I had no plans to threaten him directly.”

“Then who?” Kage asked, seeming barely interested in the conversation.

“His family lives on Aracoria,” Jason said quickly, holding up his hands to cut off the chorus of protests. “Hang on! Of course we’re not actually going to hurt anyone. If he calls our bluff we’ll be blasting off from the planet pretty damn quickly.

“I think it’s our only real shot of getting in to see Crisstof, and I also think we aren’t going to get much further until we do. All we have are some vague eyewitness accounts and a thing that looks like a pickled kelpen. By the way, Doc, what exactly are you doing with that thing in there?” He threw the last question out as casually as he could manage.

“Nothing all that exciting,” Doc said evasively. “I haven’t learned anything useful, if that’s what you’re asking.” It wasn’t … but nice deflection. What are you up to in there?

“So enter in a new course for Aracoria?” Kage asked, finally looking up from his console. Jason looked around the bridge; despite the looks of consternation on more than one face, nobody offered up any further protest.

“Let’s hit it.”

*****

“Holy shit!” Jason said breathlessly as he got his first view of Aracoria. “You weren’t kidding about the money on this world.”

“It is quite the sight,” Kellea agreed. “But it also provides more than a few obstacles. The surveillance and security on this planet is second to none.”

“It’s not that good,” Kage sniffed in disdain.

Jason returned to looking out the forward canopy as the computer took over flying duties in the planet’s heavily-congested transfer orbits. Aracoria, while impressive on the daylight side, was positively stunning as they crossed the terminator and flew around the night side. The planet’s landmasses were so heavily populated they seemed to glow incandescently with practically no space left undeveloped. Even the oceans were dotted with bright lights that likely belonged to vast floating cities.

He had to remind that part of his brain that recoiled in horror at the ecological impact a population that dense would have that this planet was almost entirely artificial. After being terraformed and given an atmosphere, no expense was spared at importing the needed water and biological material to make it a vibrant place to live. What normally would have taken eons had been done in just a few centuries. Pollution was a secondary concern since the massive machines that had belched out the atmosphere had been refitted to constantly filter and process the air, and even the oceans were continuously scrubbed and strained.

“There’s no way this planet is self-sustaining,” he said as they were commanded into yet another holding orbit. The traffic handling around Aracoria was easily the most convoluted and confusing he had ever seen. Thankfully the computer was unfazed by the constant transfers and holds.

“No part of this planet could sustain itself naturally,” Kellea confirmed. “Even the atmosphere would turn toxic and asphyxiate the population should more than three air handlers ever go offline at once. Food and other consumables are shipped in at a constant rate to the stations orbiting the equator and then sent down the elevators to be distributed.”

“This seems like a colossal waste,” Jason mused. “I mean, why bother? There are so many sparsely-populated planets, why spend the money converting a dead planet into what amounts to the galaxy’s largest space station?”

“Like space stations, there are some legal advantages to not being based on a naturally life-bearing planet,” Doc said. “While your average criminal or corporate tax-dodger may tolerate life aboard a station with processed food and recycled air, the truly vile and corrupt prefer open skies and endless beaches.”

“That explains all the ConFed firepower clogging up the orbital lanes,” Twingo commented.

After another six hours of circling the planet, re-transmitting their credentials no fewer than eleven times, and agreeing to any searches of their vessel that might happen upon landing, the Phoenix finally dipped her nose and began atmospheric entry.

“Glad we’re not smuggling anything this trip,” Crusher remarked casually, drawing a look from Kellea.

“Truly,” Lucky agreed.

“Smuggling?” Kellea asked with scorn.

“We’ve smuggled cargo onto planets more than once for you and your boss when you didn’t want to get your hands dirty,” Jason said with more venom in his voice than he meant, so he softened his tone before continuing. “Just because we carry cargo we’d rather the authorities not know about doesn’t mean we’re involved in the narcotics trade.” Kellea looked suitably chagrined as she turned away from him.

“My apologies,” she said,

“Don’t mention it,” Jason said. “Did we get a landing spot at the spaceport closest to our target?”

“Not the closest one,” Kage answered. “But it’s not too far away. At least it’s on the same continent this time. Remember on Yara-6 we had to land so far away it was a six-hour shuttle flight to the drop-off?”

“That sucked,” Jason agreed. “Nothing like trying to drag an unwilling prisoner onto a commercial sub-orbital flight and keep him quiet for six hours.”

The crew fell silent for the remainder of the flight to the spaceport. Jason occasionally snuck glances at Kellea, and not just because she was easy on the eyes. If she were caught aboard the Phoenix during a random inspection, it would be game over for all of them.

In contrast to the gyrations they’d gone through to get clearance to enter Aracoria’s atmosphere, from the time they entered the traffic patter to when the Phoenix’s main gear kissed the ramp was surprisingly short.

“I need—” Jason trailed off as he looked the crew over. Who the hell am I taking? “OK. It’s Crusher, Doc, and myself. The rest of you keep your heads down. Kage, I want you constantly monitoring the area. At the first sign that someone is coming to check the ship out, get the hell out of here, we’ll meet up with you later.”

“I wish I could go with you,” Kellea said.

“I know. But you know the risk is far too great to take that chance,” Jason told her. “Don’t worry. We’ll be in and out before you know it.”

“I seriously doubt that,” she said with a half-smile. “I’ve seen you guys in action too many times to believe this is going to go as planned.”

*****

“Why is he along?” Crusher asked, gesturing at Doc after the shuttle had dropped them off in a residential area. “No offense, Doc.”

“None taken.”

“He’s the only one among us who is cultured enough to talk his way out of any potential situations. You’re here in case it doesn’t work,” Jason said. “I could really learn to love this place,” he continued. “The buildings remind me of home.”

“How so?” Crusher asked as he looked around.

“The residences aren’t cubes in a mile-high tower crammed into a megacity,” Jason said as he breathed in the slightly sweet air. “They’re stand-alone dwellings with a lawn and some room.”

“It would be considered horrifically decadent on some planets, but I do agree with you,” Doc said. “This wouldn’t be a bad place to retire.” They walked along the street, painfully aware of how badly they stuck out, and followed the directions Kage had given them to a two-story dwelling that looked like it was made from some sort of natural stone cut into blocks.

“Around the back,” Jason said as he looked around. They dipped off the street and hoped they weren’t being observed by either a sharp-eyed neighbor or electronic surveillance. They crept along the right side of the house and easily jumped the low wall into the backyard. While Crusher scanned the perimeter and Doc looked lost, Jason moved quickly to begin testing methods of entry. When the latch for the first door he came to depressed and allowed the door to swing inward, he simply stared at it dumbly for a moment before turning to Crusher. “They leave the backdoor unlocked? This really is like home,” he whispered. “OK, quietly now.”

The trio slipped into the home and closed the door silently behind them. They moved into the home until voices could be heard drifting from one of the front rooms. Jason drew his snub-nosed blaster and moved back a step to confer with his compatriots. “It sounds like the wife and two small children. How should we proceed?”

“I want to go on record as saying I’m completely revolted by this approach,” Doc said.

“I want to go on record as saying if Doc isn’t offering any solutions he should shut up,” Crusher said.

“I want you both to shut up and be serious,” Jason said through clenched teeth. “We don’t know if they have some sort of automated alarm that will go off if she screams, or any other nasty surprises.”

“I don’t think you going in and waving your weapon in their faces will necessarily shock them into inaction,” Doc said as he watched Jason flip the weapon’s selector to stun. “While I can’t believe I’m saying this, I think Crusher should go first and frighten them while you and I grab the children, as they’re almost certain to bolt.”

“Oh, great,” Crusher said, “so I get to go scare the small children again?”

“I don’t like it,” Jason disagreed. “You’d likely give the mother a heart attack, or whatever her equivalent is. I’ll go in first and then Crusher comes in when I signal.” To head off any further argument, Jason turned and moved decisively into the room that presumably held their target’s family.

“Who are you?!” the woman screamed in Jenovian Standard.

“Quiet!” Jason snapped and brought the blaster up level to her face. “Just do as you’re told and nothing happens to you or your children.”

“Oh Gods! Please! Take whatever you want!” Shit, this is going to spiral out of control fast.

“I said QUIET!” The woman ignored Jason completely as her panic attack kicked into high gear. The children were no better as they began to wail and cling to her. “Mother fu— Crusher! Now!”

A deafening roar shook the house as Crusher stomped into the room, all fangs and claws. Jason hadn’t expected quite such an energetic display, and almost dropped the blaster. But it did have the desired effect. All three beings were completely cowed and whimpered quietly while staring at Crusher with wide, terrified eyes.

“Are you fucking kidding me with that?” Jason said to him out the side of his mouth before addressing his hostages again. “Now, that’s better. As I said, I’m not here to harm you.” Even as he said it he knew it sounded absurd with a growling Galvetic warrior standing beside him. “We’re all just going to sit here and wait for your husband to come home.”

“What did he do?” she whispered.

“Nothing yet, it’s what I hope he’ll do that will determine what we do next,” Jason said. She looked like she wanted to say more, but just bowed her head deeply once and kept her mouth shut. “So … when do you expect him?”

“He will normally be home within the next three turns,” she said with a little more strength in her voice.

“Three hours? This is going to be awkward for a bit,” Jason muttered to Doc before turning back to the woman.

Chapter 13

“Here comes somebody,” Crusher rumbled at his place by the door. Jason rose from his seat and went to look at what his friend had seen. They’d been sitting there for a little over two hours before a boxy aircar came to a stop in front of the dwelling, hugging the road rather than descending from the sky. He didn’t bother to continue covering the family since they’d shown no inclination to do anything but cower. Thankfully, their fear had abated as the time dragged on. He didn’t like involving innocents and he detested needing to resort to scaring small children, but he was at a loss as to how to proceed without trying to get some information from Crisstof himself.

“Go ahead and get back in the other room,” Jason said as a single male of a species Jason had seen before, but had no previous interaction with, exited the vehicle and waved the driver on. “I’ll come up behind him when he enters the room.” Without a word Crusher slipped from the entryway and went back to stand watch over the family. Jason sank back into an alcove off the main hallway and waited.

“Hello, dear. I’ve returned,” the alien announced loudly as he entered his house and tossed his belongings on a low table near the door. “Dear?”

“In here,” a quiet voice called from the main living area. The male turned his head at the strain he could hear in his wife’s voice, but walked towards her unconcerned. Jason slipped silently out of the alcove and followed him. He had a good look at his face as it contorted in shock and fear at seeing Crusher standing over his family with his massive arms crossed over his chest, glaring at him.

“What is the meaning of this?!”

“You’ll find out shortly,” Jason said as he pressed the blaster into his head behind his ear. At least I think that’s his ear. “How you choose to proceed after we explain will determine what happens next.”

“Please,” the alien said with shocking calm, having fully recovered from his initial shock. “There’s no need for the threats and theatrics. I believe I’ve been expecting you, or at least my client has. I presume you’re here because of Crisstof Dalton?” Jason pulled the weapon away and circled around to face the lawyer.

“He told you to expect us?” he asked, clearly surprised.

“Not you specifically, but he told me to expect … something.”

“Explain,” Jason prodded. The lawyer coughed before continuing.

“He said that I may get a visit from a group of mercenaries that, while well intentioned, will likely do something rash and stupid.”

“That does sound like us, Captain,” Crusher said. One look from Jason silenced the big warrior.

“OK, so you were expecting someone,” he said. “That doesn’t change the situation.”

“Again,” the lawyer said in a pained voice. “We will get a lot more done if we could move past all this absurdity. Other than something as ridiculous as breaking my client out of detention, I’m prepared to help you in any way I can if it will help him. Let’s sit and talk about this as civilized beings.” Jason suddenly felt more than a little foolish standing in the lawyer’s home and waving a weapon about when he could have likely just knocked on the door and introduced himself.

“Very well,” he said. “What is your name?”

“Tellumn-Allute, but I go by Tellumn,” the lawyer answered with no hesitation and confirming one of the few pieces of information Jason had about the players involved in Crisstof’s case.

“Well then, Tellumn, lead the way,” Jason gestured with his free hand. They followed him through what must have been the kitchen/dining area and into a sitting room.

“So, Captain, was it?” Tellumn said. “What do you know of the case so far, and what help do you think you can be?”

“All we know is what has been in the press releases,” Jason said as he sat down. “Crisstof is accused of inciting violent riots on a handful of planets that resulted in a lot of deaths.”

“That’s essentially it, yes,” Tellumn said as he walked over to a large, framed picture. When he touched the frame the artwork dissolved and the frame revealed itself to actually be a huge touch panel interface for a computer. He began manipulating the display and bringing up images of various planets along with associated files that were stacked underneath.

“But,” he continued, “do you understand the severity of punishment due to these incidents occurring on Tier-2 and Teir-3 worlds?” Only Doc nodded his head in the affirmative. “Do you understand the tier rating system for planets?”

“We’re not complete rubes,” Jason said, bristling slightly. “Tier-1 worlds have advanced to the point where they have developed interstellar travel on their own and have begun to colonize other planets. Tier-2 planets, while having advanced civilizations, normally are sponsored by a Tier-1 world. Third tier worlds are only interacted with on a case-by-case basis due to the impact contact with more advanced civilizations have on the indigenous population. This usually means the Tier-3 world has an exploitable resource. Is that about right?”

“Yes,” Tellumn answered. “In addition to the top three classifications there are also Tier-4 planets that have intelligent life, but are off-limits for any reason. The ConFed is quite serious about making sure no outside influences are at play on the lesser developed worlds, and the punishments are incremented as such.”

“Whatever,” Crusher snorted. “You mean that the ConFed only wants one source of outside influence, the Council of Confederated Planets.”

“Again, yes,” Tellumn said with a shrug. “But I’d be careful about saying that out loud in public here on Aracoria. Anyway, it’s for these reasons that I’ve been unable to secure Crisstof’s release prior to his actual trial despite his standing. So what is it, exactly, you think I can do for you?”

“I’d like the chance to talk to him directly,” Jason said. He then sat back and let the lawyer mull his way through the problem and present them with options. As expected, the legal expert was fast-thinking and took off on his own without further prompting.

“There are obvious problems with just marching you in there for a visit,” Tellumn began, talking more to himself than to his audience. “There’s no way we could simply tell them you’re a business associate. They’d tie you up in interrogations for turns and then still not let you in.” The lawyer stood up and clasped his long-fingered hands behind his back and began a back-and-forth pacing. “Clearly I’d only be able to take one of you. Most likely you?” he asked, gesturing to Jason.

“Yes,” Jason answered.

“Not happening,” Crusher said flatly. “You are not walking into a ConFed stronghold in the custody of a stranger by yourself, Captain.”

“No choice, Crusher,” Jason said with finality. “If we can’t get some sort of direction from Crisstof we may as well hang it up now, we’ve run out of ideas.”

“I’ve got it!” Tellumn exclaimed, having completely ignored the side conversation while he’d been pacing. “You’re going to be my new assistant. The simple stories are the best because they don’t require too much creative thinking on the fly. You’re a species I’ve never encountered, and I’ve seen most of the prime species within the ConFed’s sphere of influence. This will help immensely as we can pass you off as some simpleton that’s merely along to carry my things and hand me data pads.”

“A role he’s more than qualified to play,” Crusher assured Tellumn.

“Excellent!”

“You know what you can go do—” Jason started to tell Crusher before Tellumn pressed on.

“We’ll need to dress you appropriately and then first thing in the morning we’ll be on our way. Fortune is with us since the visit has been scheduled for days so we’ll not likely arouse suspicion. Tell me … do you think you can help him?”

“Honestly? I don’t know,” Jason admitted. “This seems to be a bit out of our league, but it also seems that we’re all he has.”

“Too true,” Tellumn agreed. “While Steader has been helpful in his own way, I sense that he’s wanting to distance himself from his First Father’s legal troubles now that he’s in charge of Crisstof’s empire. One more question and then we can take our evening meal and retire for the night: were you able to find Captain Colleren? I know Commander Bostco was killed on Camderan-2.”

“No,” Jason said. “Honestly, we didn’t even attempt to look. Camderan-2 was locked down and we had no way to contact her so we felt it wasn’t worth the risk.”

“Pity. Crisstof has been more worried about her than he has his own fate I believe,” Tellumn said. “Well then, shall we?”

They all got up and followed their host to the dining area as the computer automatically reverted back to displaying works of art, this time different than when they had walked in.

Dinner was an exceedingly uncomfortable affair. The children looked at Crusher with varying degrees of terror any time he would move to eat, and the others fell into an awkward silence now that the rush and excitement of the initial confrontation was past. Jason would look up at catch Tellumn’s wife openly glaring at him, her fear now gone and replaced with a cold rage. That could be a problem.

They all rushed to finish their meals so they could escape the table and go to their sleeping quarters. As Tellumn led the members of Omega Force up to the second level of the dwelling to show them the guest rooms—of which there were only two—Jason reached out to stop him.

“I’d like to thank you for your understanding of this situation,” he told the lawyer.

“I’m being paid very well to represent someone I have enormous respect for,” Tellumn said tensely. “Don’t mistake my professionalism for forgiveness or acceptance of you invading my home and threatening my family.”

“Fair enough,” Jason said in a flat voice. “Just so we’re all clear, don’t mistake our calm demeanor for passiveness or weakened resolve. It would be … unfortunate … should someone in your household make a foolish decision during the course of this operation.” Tellumn stared at Jason, his eyes blinking rapidly.

“I believe we understand each other, Captain. These are your rooms. I will wake you in the morning.”

“What was that all about?” Doc asked once Tellumn had retreated back down the stairs.

“Just a hunch,” Jason said. “His wife had recovered from her shock and from the looks I was getting at dinner I’m certain she has every intention of calling the authorities once we’re all asleep.”

“Too bad I won’t be sleeping all night,” Crusher said. He then looked at Doc, “and neither will you.”

“Me?”

“The captain is the only mission-essential team member right now,” Crusher explained. “That means I’m taking first watch and will be waking you up in a few hours for your shift.” Doc grumbled loudly as he went into one of the guest rooms and flopped down on the bed. Jason was chuckling softly as he pulled his com unit out.

“Kage, you awake?” he asked quietly.

“Breathlessly awaiting word from you guys,” Kage answered. “How’s it going?”

“About like we expected.”

“That bad?”

“Keep scanning all of Aracoria’s law enforcement com channels,” Jason said, ignoring the barb. “One of our hosts may do something stupid and alert the authorities that we’re here. I’d like a head start if that happens.”

“You got it, Captain,” Kage said. “I’ll be scanning all night. Out.” Jason slipped the unit back into his pocket.

“I guess that’s about as secure as we’re going to get,” he said to Crusher as he handed the big warrior the blaster he’d been carrying. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Captain.”

*****

“How does he look?” Tellumn asked the others in the room as Jason walked out dressed in a fashionable, yet modest, business suit that was currently popular on Aracoria. Fashionable though it may have been, he had to admit it looked like a dress with a poncho over it. Crusher stood stoically for a few seconds before a snort slipped out, then a giggle, and soon he had erupted into full-force laughter while actually pointing at Jason as he did.

“He looks very striking,” Tellumn’s wife, Keetra, said forcefully. Apparently during the night Tellumn had talked to his wife as she seemed more disposed to being friendly to her “guests”.

“More importantly, he’ll fit in,” Doc said, looking Jason over with a critical eye. Jason knew Doc would be eminently more suited for this task, but he had to talk to Crisstof himself. Doc hadn’t had a lot of direct interaction with the man and there were some subtleties of body language the highly-educated geneticist might miss.

“Can we just get going with this?” he pleaded, wanting to be away from his still-laughing friend.

“The vehicle will be here shortly to pick us up,” Tellumn assured him. “You remember our plan?”

“Of course,” Jason said. “It’s not especially intricate. By the way, why aren’t you wearing one of these?”

“I’m over seventy-three cycles old,” the lawyer explained. “I would look utterly absurd in such a garment, just as you’d look ridiculous in clothes like I’m wearing.”

“Yeah, Captain,” Crusher said between chortles. “You don’t want to look ridiculous. Can we get a picture of this?” he asked Doc.

“Already did.”

“I’ll be downstairs,” Jason said and walked out of the room with his head held high and his skirt bunched in his hands so he didn’t trip on it.

The same aircar that had dropped Tellumn off the evening before arrived at precisely the designated time and sat humming in front of the home.

“Let’s be about our business,” the lawyer said in a no-nonsense tone before leading Jason down the walk. Good. He’s taking this as seriously as he needs to be.

The drive into the city where the ConFed detention facility was went quickly. As soon as they exited the residential area the aircar climbed up to a few thousand feet and entered a faster traffic lane. Looking down, Jason could hardly believe that the planet was basically an uninhabitable lump of rock that had been transformed into a veritable paradise by sheer force of will, technology, and an obscene amount of wealth.

“It’s something special, isn’t it?” Tellumn broke into his reverie. “Oh there are certainly more beautiful natural worlds, but when you think that this is basically an artificial construct on a planetary scale it boggles the mind. I still think about it and I’ve lived here for more than ten years.”

“So why do you live here? Just to take high-profile cases?”

“No. If you’ll remember I mentioned I’ve worked for Crisstof Dalton for some time,” Tellumn said quietly. “I’m his advocate here on Aracoria. I keep him apprised of decisions coming off of this world and, when needs be, interject on his behalf. It was actually just a stroke of luck that put him in this detention facility.”

“So you say,” Jason said, “but in my experience there’s no such thing as coincidence. Or luck.”

They flew on in silence until the vehicle slowed and began a spiraling descent towards a landing area that was surrounded by tall, stout fences and littered with armed guards. When they touched down, Tellumn climbed out first and turned, making a show of looking impatient as Jason clumsily gathered his files and other belongings and hurried out of the car as well. He looked sheepishly at the ground as Tellumn glared at him before turning and marching towards the sally port that looked to be the first layer of security to gain entry into the facility. They were no more than ten meters away from the car when it lifted off and sped away.

“New assistant, Tellumn?” one of the guards asked.

“Not for long if he doesn’t pick up the pace,” Tellumn shot back in convincing irritation. “Let’s move!” he snapped at Jason, who dutifully hung his head and shuffled faster after his “employer”.

The security checkpoint had an archway with a glossy black inner surface and two more armed guards on the other side of it. Tellumn stepped under it and waited as the black surface began to pulse a bright blue. A few seconds later the guards waved him through and motioned for Jason to take his place. This time the scan cycle ran twice and the guard looked questioningly at him.

“What species are you?” it demanded. Jason assumed a panicked expression and looked dumbly at Tellumn.

“We’re not sure,” the lawyer said smoothly. “He was orphaned on a fringe world. He’s part of a retraining program. Is there a problem?”

“He’s loaded with bio-enhancements and a highly sophisticated neural implant,” the guard said as he looked over the display. Damn! That’s one badass scanner.

“Yes, well he suffered from multiple degenerative conditions as a child as well as malnutrition and a host of nasty parasites,” Tellumn lied smoothly. “The implants basically keep him ambulatory and functional, although between you and me he’s a bit slow even with the neural implant.”

“Yeah, I can see what you mean,” the guard said, looking at Jason’s blank stare. “Well, it’s nothing that flags as dangerous so just sign him in and make sure he doesn’t wander off.”

“Of course, sir. Have a good day, all of you. Come on!” Tellumn exclaimed at Jason, who was still standing dumbly under the scanner and staring at the ceiling. At the spoken command he shuffled after Tellumn and didn’t give the guards a second glance as they made cruel jokes at his expense.

They walked through four more security checkpoints before being led into a well-appointed room with a table and two chairs on either side. Jason and Tellumn made a show of turning on data pads and spreading out hardcopy files before settling in to wait. They didn’t have to sit for too long before the far door clanged open and two burly guards led a bound Crisstof Dalton into the room. While the guards were removing his restraints he looked up and saw Jason. His only reaction was to roll his eyes before sitting in one of the chairs opposite the two.

“Hello Mr. Allute,” Crisstof said. Although he was gaunt and even more pale than usual, his voice was still strong and vibrant. “New assistant?”

“Indeed he is, Mr. Dalton,” Tellumn said. “He does adequately, although he’s quite thick-witted at times.”

“I can only imagine,” Crisstof said, looking Jason in the eye. “So, what news do you have for me?”

“Just more procedural documents for the preliminary hearings. If you’d look these over and annotate them as you see fit,” the lawyer said as he slid a stack of files across the table with a stylus on top of them. The two reviewed documents for the better part of two hours and more or less ignored Jason the entire time. Just as he was beginning to regret the risk he’d taken for what seemed to be a colossal waste of time, Crisstof slid him a thin stack of files to put away. He held onto them for a split second too long, prompting Jason to take a closer look at them.

There! In tiny letters between the lines of typed characters were three words.

Find. Diligent. Safe.

The words were written in English, a language both he and Kellea had taken a crash course in when Earth had been attacked by the A’arcooni fleet and Deetz. Afterwards it served as a good coded language since the odds were astronomically large that anyone else would know it. But the words on the page made no sense, surely Crisstof had to know the Diligent had been heavily damaged and then impounded. Finding it safe would be not only impossible, but pointless. One frigate against the ConFed Fleet? He slipped the sheets into the appropriate folder and mulled over the message some more. Either the old man wrote it down wrong or he’s going insane in this place.

“Well, I think that concludes our business, Mr. Dalton,” Tellumn’s voice snapped Jason’s attention back as Crisstof rose from his seat.

“Always a pleasure, Mr. Allute,” he said. As he rose he caught Jason’s eye. The question was there as plain as if he’d said it aloud. Jason looked down at the table and then bobbed his head twice in the affirmative. Yes, we found her … and she’s safe. For now. “And thank you as well,” Crisstof directed the words to him, his voice thick. “Maybe next time I’ll get to learn your name.” Jason just stared at him with a slack jaw and a blank expression as the guards put Crisstof’s restraints back on and led him out of the room.

“Clean this up,” Tellumn said sharply. “I’ll be in the corridor just outside.” Jason quickly gathered all the files and data pads and stuffed them into the attaché case he’d carried into the facility. He took a quick look around the room. Although he couldn’t see any obvious recording devices, he knew the entire meeting was likely captured from multiple angles and would be analyzed later. He just hoped his act had been convincing and nobody would suspect him and Crisstof of colluding.

“It’s about time,” Tellumn snapped as he exited the room. “This way. The transport will be here shortly.” The walk out of the facility was much quicker since they were able to bypass all but the last security checkpoint. Once the guards confirmed that they were neither taking nor leaving anything, they were free to walk out to the vehicle that was already sitting on the landing pad.

Once airborne, Tellumn settled back into his seat and closed his eyes, so Jason occupied himself by staring out over the landscape and pondering Crisstof’s cryptic message. Find. Diligent. Safe. Three distinct words spaced evenly apart. Crisstof knew enough about English syntax to realize that these would likely be read as a sentence despite the odd capitalization. He shook his head in disgust as the aircar descended into the residential area and glided the rest of the way to the Allute residence.

The pair climbed wearily out of the vehicle and trudged up to the house. The tension of the covert operation had exhausted them both, but the shock they would find inside would startle them both. As they approached the door a child’s scream could be clearly heard. With a curse Tellumn grabbed the handle and barged into his house, ready for anything.

“My turn! You said I was next!” his oldest child was yelling as the younger sibling, who was also squealing, was being “flown” around the room by an enormous Galvetic warrior. Crusher was even making engine sounds as he carried the child around the room over his head. Doc and Keetra were sitting in the kitchen trying to ignore the racket and looked up when the pair walked in.

“Your father is home!” Keetra practically screamed to get their attention. Crusher glanced over and then set the younger child down to the pair could greet Tellumn.

“Oh, hi, Captain,” Crusher said.

“Did you find out anything?” Doc asked. “Did you get to see him?”

“Yes, I saw him,” Jason confirmed. “Couldn’t really talk though. Let me change out of my pretty dress and we can get going. I’m going to put this in your office, Tellumn.”

“Of course, Jason. Thank you.” While the lawyer was distracted by his children and wife, Jason carried the case into the den/office and set it on the desk. He then reached in and slid out the page that Crisstof had written on from where he had placed it on top of the stack. He crumpled it up tightly and hid it in his closed hand.

“I’ll be back,” he said to everyone as he went upstairs to change back into his own clothes. He felt immensely better after putting his own clothes back on and, after stuffing the document into one of his cargo pockets, went back downstairs. “Tellumn, I can’t thank you enough for your understanding and your help. We’ll be leaving you now, I apologize for the intrusion.” The lawyer looked slightly crestfallen.

“I had thought we would discuss your impressions of your meeting here,” he said.

“You’ve earned our trust, but you seem like a man who likes to keep his affairs on the legal side of things,” Jason said. “This is something you probably don’t want to be a part of, but rest assured we will be leaving this planet and there will be nothing done that could possibly implicate you or put your family at risk.” Tellumn seemed to waffle as he looked simultaneously relieved they would be leaving and wildly curious about what he had found out.

“It may be for the best then, as you say, Captain,” he finally conceded. “I will do nothing that puts my family in danger.” Jason just nodded.

“You guys ready?” As they moved to the door Tellumn gathered his family to him and watched them leave without so much as a goodbye. “Let’s get a move on,” Jason said once they were outside. “I’d rather our new friend not get any second thoughts about letting us just walk away.”

“You think he’d turn us in?” Doc asked in surprise.

“Have you ever met a lawyer you could trust?” Crusher asked rhetorically.

“If not him, then his wife may certainly have a change of heart,” Jason said.

“She wouldn’t do that,” Doc said with a bit too much force. His companions just looked at him for a moment, and then knowingly at each other. Apparently Doc was doing more than making idle conversation while sitting with her. Maybe it’s a good thing we’re leaving as soon as we are, Jason chuckled to himself.

It took them about an hour of walking before they reached an area where they could call for a pickup from a shuttle. They rode back to the spaceport in silence as Crusher looked bored and his companions appeared to be deep in thought.

Chapter 14

“We’re cleared for departure, Captain,” Kage said as the Phoenix completed another lap around Aracoria while waiting for Orbital Control to clear them to break orbit.

“About damn time,” Jason grumbled as he ran the power up on the main drive and swung the gunship away from the planet. He made a direct line for their mesh-out point and allowed the computer to fly them to the coordinates Kage entered into the nav system. He sat back and waited the forty-five minutes or so it took them to traverse the system until they were well enough away from the Aracoria’s gravity well, and the heavy space traffic, before engaging the slip drive and sending them streaking away. He had no particular destination in mind, but experience told him that once they did something even remotely illegal, especially on a ConFed enclave, it was best to scoot first and think later.

“So are you going to keep me waiting or are you going to cough up what you found out?” Kellea asked. He opened his mouth to return fire with a sarcastic quip he had queued up in anticipation of her question, took one look at her face, and thought better of it.

“Let’s adjourn to the galley and we’ll go over what I found out, scant as it is,” he said.

“So you didn’t really get to talk to him that much, did you?” Twingo asked after Jason finished relaying his meeting with Crisstof.

“No. I simply couldn’t risk it, even with Tellumn appearing to be on board,” Jason answered. “We all know that room was being monitored from every angle and in every spectrum imaginable. All I would have accomplished was to get myself captured and Crisstof hooked up to an interrogation machine. Our main advantage right now is that they have no idea who we are or that we’re actively operating.”

“Oh, they may not know exactly who we are but they know that someone is working in the background,” Crusher disagreed. “Even with you scrambling that agent’s brains with a stunner, the escape from Camderan-2 was fairly high-visibility. Actually, now that I think about it, we really suck at covert ops.”

“I’ve been saying that for a while,” Kellea offered.

“Be that as it may,” Jason continued, “we still have no traceable ties to Crisstof’s organization. We’re still a wildcard. Now … how do we leverage that?”

“With the wealth of intel you gathered? There’s a universe of possibilities,” Twingo said sarcastically.

“Oh!” Jason said, ignoring him. “I can’t believe I forgot about this. Crisstof passed me this during the meet.” He reached into his cargo pocket and pulled out the wadded-up sheet. He carefully opened it up and smoothed it out before laying it on the table.

“How do you forget—” Kellea began. “Never mind. So that’s all he wrote? This doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

“I know,” Jason said. “Finding the remains of the Diligent isn’t likely a useful or practical course of action.”

“For those of us who can’t read Earthling gibberish, what does this say?” Kage asked.

“It says Find, Diligent, Safe,” Lucky answered, leaning in to look at the sheet. “Interesting. It is not written as a single sentence, but appears to be three separate words. Are you certain the message means to find the Diligent intact, Captain?”

“No,” Kellea said before Jason could answer. “It doesn’t. He means find the Diligent and his safe.”

“Come again?” Twingo asked.

“Crisstof has a hidden safe in his quarters,” she explained. “Only he and I know where it is or how to open it. It’s a type that won’t show up on a scan, so it’s probably still intact. He’s telling us there is information in there that we need to find.”

“While that’s far more plausible,” Jason said, “it doesn’t exactly solve our original problem of trying to find the Diligent. It was hauled away from Camderan-2 and for all we know it could have been sectioned and scrapped by now.”

“During an open investigation they’ll have moved her to a holding facility,” Kellea ground out in an angry tone. “The ship will be in much the same shape she was in immediately after the attack.” Jason realized too late that the captain was still very upset about losing her starship. Cavalier comments about it being chopped up were likely not appreciated. He opened his mouth to apologize and then thought better of it. It would only make things worse.

“OK,” he said. “We’ll operate under the premise the Diligent is still intact. So again … how do we find it. Kage? This is more your area.”

“Not this time, Captain,” Kage said. “During some of my … previous employments … I tried to track down impounded ships to recover hidden cargo after the crew got pinched. You wouldn’t believe how much effort the ConFed takes to make sure that can’t happen. Those were just small smugglers’ scows. A capital ship like the Diligent is not only going to be hidden, but also under heavy guard. The information simply doesn’t exist on networked computers.”

“Could I get you in close enough to make a hard connection?”

“Sure, in theory,” the Veran said. “But finding that exact machine, and getting to it, is probably harder than finding the ship itself.”

“I hate this part!” Crusher said, standing suddenly. “Tell me when it’s time to actually do something.” He turned and clomped off towards the armory without a look back.

“While I appreciate your enthusiasm,” Kellea said, “this problem won’t be solved by shooting your way in someplace and then destroying it to find what you want.”

“What do you suggest, Captain Colleren?” Lucky asked.

“It’s just Kellea now,” she said evenly. “I can hardly be a captain without a ship. But to answer your question—” she turned to look at Jason with an evil grin “—how much money does the Phoenix have in her treasury?”

*****

“I’d like it on record that I’m less than enthusiastic about this plan,” Jason said.

“Not nearly as much as me,” Crusher practically snarled.

“Quiet! Both of you!” Kellea snapped. Though they glared at her, the pair did shut their mouths. Jason looked around again, trying to look casual as he did so, and took in the public area they were in. They’d landed on TiDaala, a planet named for an electronics manufacturer, over eleven hours prior and had been waiting for Kellea’s political contact since. They had pulled nearly two hundred and fifty thousand credits out of the Phoenix’s treasury to bribe the official that she’d insisted was reliable and discreet when well paid. She also insisted on such a high amount because it had to be at least two and half times more than the bounty that was still out for her capture.

TiDaala was enjoying a resurgence the past few centuries as its namesake corporation became strapped for revenue and opened some of their more desirable locations for colonization. During its heyday, TiDaala provided electronic components and sub-assemblies to half the sector. But recently, automated orbital facilities began providing the same parts for a fraction of the cost, and the expense of trying to operate a planet-side factory and employ a host of biological workers pushed the company to find other sources of income. Now the tech company was in the business of regional governance on a handful of planets it used to operate strictly as production and logistical hubs.

“Here he comes,” Kellea said. Jason looked over and saw what looked like a dark blue/green octopus, except with only five appendages. Pentapus? He watched, fascinated, as the being used three legs for locomotion while keeping the other two tucked up near what he assumed was the head. It had no discernible sensory organs, but unerringly made its way directly to where they sat. This was one of the few aliens Jason had met that had a truly exotic appearance. Most of the species that could share each other’s environments while also feeling compelled to interact with each other seemed to be predominately bipedal vertebrates with bilateral symmetry.

“You’ve managed to cause quite a lot of trouble,” the alien said in a strange, buzzing voice that made Jason’s teeth itch.

“The sooner we get this done, the quicker we’ll be off-world,” Kellea said coldly. Apparently she had a low opinion of the info-merc despite her insistence that they use him. “Were you able to get the information I need?”

“Yes,” he said. “It wasn’t easy. Or safe. The package is being held under tight security, so I’m not sure of what use it will be to you.”

“That’s hardly any of your concern,” she told him. “Give me the information to verify.”

“Not this time,” he said. “We exchange payment for info and then I’m gone. I can’t wait around for you to verify something that’s impossible to prove.” She wordlessly held out a stack of five credit chips, each with fifty thousand credits loaded on them. He reached out and snatched them while depositing a generic-looking memory chip in the same hand with his other tentacle. “It’s been—”

“Now, Crusher,” Kellea said conversationally. At the order, the Galvetic warrior lunged at the alien with frightening speed and squeezed him tight. Shocked, the alien began to struggle mightily as Kellea pulled an evil-looking apparatus out from under her jacket and deployed a large-bore needle from its tip.

“What is the meaning of this?!” the creature wheezed.

“Just a little insurance,” she assured him. “I wouldn’t want you to have a change of heart, or whatever you have, and call the authorities after we leave. This—” she plunged the needle into the bulbous lump behind his head “—is a tracker with a neurotoxin capsule attached. If you’re good, in ten days’ time the toxin becomes inert and the capsule dissolves harmlessly. It’s also tamperproof … that ache you’re feeling is the device implanting sensory barbs.”

“This is outrageous!” the alien screamed as Crusher dropped him in a heap. The big warrior looked down at the fine sheen of whatever the alien had secreted all over his clothes and arms. He glared at Jason, thoroughly disgusted.

“I can’t take any chances,” Kellea was explaining. “Now, you’re making quite the scene. I’d move along if I were you.” The alien lurched up and raced off down the footpath, all five tentacles slapping the hard surface as he strained to put distance between him and them.

“Fucking gross,” Crusher was saying as he tried to scrape the mucus off his skin. Unfortunately for him, as it began to dry it became even more sticky and gelatinous. Jason noticed it was also accompanied by a horrific smell. He shuddered.

“Look at the bright side—” That was all he got out as Crusher lunged and caught him in a giant bear hug, ensuring maximum contact as he shifted him around. Jason could hear the foul substance squishing between them and he felt the bile rise in his throat.

“You were saying?” Crusher rumbled into his ear.

“You sick bastard.”

“If you two are done,” Kellea said, “we’d better made ourselves scarce. I’m not sure how long that ruse will keep him fooled.”

“We should have actually put a neurotoxin in him,” Crusher said as they set back off towards the public transport that would take them directly to the spaceport.

“Short notice,” she said. “This will work just as well. He’s a great source of intel, but he’s also an unbelievable coward. I don’t even know his real name, he doesn’t even use aliases, just a numbered message account.”

“Prudent, but then he stupidly meets us in public,” Jason said, forcing himself to ignore whatever now coated his chest and arms. It was completely drying out and he could feel it cracking as he walked. He shuddered once more before continuing. “How do we even know that wasn’t just some lackey?”

“It was him,” Kellea assured him. “Crisstof verified his true identity before we ever used him. It wasn’t important for me to know who he really was at the time, but I got the impression he was a chief adjunct to an under-councilman on the Fleet committee.”

“That’s a pretty specific impression,” Jason laughed. “Let’s pick up the pace. The sooner we get back, the sooner we can have Kage analyze that and get cleaned up.”

*****

“What in the hell happened to you two?” Twingo asked, scrunching up his nose in disgust as the trio walked up from the cargo bay.

“I wouldn’t push the issue with the big guy,” Jason warned. “Kage! Get your ass down here!”

“You bellowed?” Kage asked as he came down the stairs from the command deck towards the common area.

“Here,” Kellea told him, handing him the data chip. “Get to work on that. It should have the current location of the Diligent on it.”

“On it,” Kage said before bounding back up the steps. Jason looked longingly towards his own quarters, but instead settled for stripping off his overshirt before walking up towards the bridge himself.

“We’re airborne in ten, Twingo,” he called over his shoulder. “Get her prepped.”

“She’s already been through pre-flight, Captain. We’re ready to fly,” the engineer yelled back. “Your flight and engine management panels have already been prepped as well.”

“Good man. Thanks.”

Exactly ten and half minutes later the Phoenix was retracting her landing gear and pushing up out of the atmosphere of TiDaala. Jason would feel much safer once they meshed out of the system. The doubt of what they were attempting to do gnawed at his guts as he tried to justify losing a quarter million credits for nothing if this didn’t pan out. Kellea’s shifty contact was almost certain to go underground and, unfortunately, they hadn’t actually injected him with a tracker. It was, in fact, just a sterilized bit of polyceramic that Doc had rigged up into an injection gun. They had embedded it less than an inch into the fatty tissue that made up the hump Kellea stuck the needle into. If the info he was peddling had been bogus, he probably would have spoken up in order to have the device removed.

When the computer confirmed their speed and position, he engaged the slip-drive and watched as the canopy darkened. After monitoring the flight systems for a few more minutes, he gingerly climbed out of his seat. “I’m going to go get cleaned up,” he told Kage. “I want a report on that in thirty minutes.”

“I’ll be ready,” Kage said distractedly as data from the device scrolled across his displays.

*****

“RU933,” Kage said. “That’s the star we’re heading to.”

“What’s there?” Jason asked.

“Nothing. No habitable planets or moons, no interesting mineral deposits, nothing of any scientific value. There would be no reason anybody would ever deliberately go to this system.”

“Unless you were trying to hide something,” Crusher said.

“Exactly,” Kellea said, manipulating the display. She had already read through Kage’s brief before the crew had crowded into the small briefing room on the command deck. “This is officially designated as a scrap yard by the ConFed if someone were to actually bother to look it up, just one of hundreds. But, if our intel is accurate, it’s actually a high-security impound where ConFed Fleet Command buries its skeletons.”

“Such as?” Jason asked, his interest piqued.

“Mostly what you would expect,” she said. “The remnants of little known and likely illegal military action along with a handful of confiscated civilian vessels.”

“So we’re flying into one of the ConFed’s dirty little secrets,” Jason mused. “So we can expect heavy resistance.”

“If we do this right, there should be no resistance,” Kellea disagreed. “While I know you guys like the battering ram approach, the amount of fleet presence there would be too much. Even as fast as this ship is, we wouldn’t be able to get close enough to the formation the Diligent is parked in to get onboard and retrieve the safe contents, to say nothing about trying to get back out.”

“I’m listening,” Jason said with a growing sense of apprehension.

“Our intel source indicates that the Diligent is here,” Kage said, highlighting a portion of the map with a pulsing red circle. “There are seven large formations of ships and other objects stabilized into extremely high orbits over the largest planet, a Class 4 gas giant. It was probably selected for the enormous gravity well it produces as well as an inexplicably low radiation level.”

“Would we be able to mesh-in outside the system and dead-drift the Phoenix towards the formation?” Jason asked.

“There’s also this,” Kage said, and brought up another set of highlighted areas on the display. “Passive detection grid. It’ll detect magnetic anomalies as well as shielded power sources. We might be able to ghost in through the gaps here, but the main reactor would have to be completely cold.”

“That’s not an option,” Twingo said. “To run the powerplant completely cold means we won’t be able to get it started in time if we need the engines, weapons, or the ability not to slam full speed into the Diligent when we arrive.”

“Agreed,” Jason said. “There’s got to be a better way to do this. I’m assuming our countermeasure systems would be useless against this?”

“Quite useless,” Twingo said. “A passive grid this enormous isn’t easy to circumvent. Running active jammers might hide our exact position, but the very presence of the jamming will alert them that someone is there.”

“How long of a flight is it to RU933?”

“Seven days and some odd hours, Captain,” Kage said.

“OK, we don’t necessarily have to commit to a bad idea right now,” Jason said. “Let’s give it a couple days and see if we can come up with something that won’t get all of us killed. Or incarcerated, and then killed. Kage, go send the new course data to the nav system and command the speed increase.”

Chapter 15

Jason was on the bridge alone during “night hours” while the rest of the crew slept, sitting at one of the side stations and puzzling over a way to defeat the ConFed detection apparatus they’d erected around RU933. He’d come at the problem a few different ways, but the result was always the same: the Phoenix wouldn’t be able to get close enough to the Diligent to make the extraction without the defending ships being alerted and engaging them. If the intel was accurate, the defense force around the planet was light, but would still cause major problems for a single gunship trying to sneak in.

He toyed with the idea of trying to mesh-in beyond the boundary of the detection network, but a few computer simulations later he abandoned the idea. Attempting to come out of slip-space so close to such a large gravity well was borderline suicidal. The results could be anything as mundane as popping out near the planet’s core to the more exotic, like being extruded back into the universe in a stream of disassociated molecules. At least either would be painless, but not especially helpful.

“I see you have not made significant progress on the problem, Captain.” Jason didn’t jump, but his muscles clenched up in surprise at the voice.

“How the hell did you sneak up on me, Lucky?”

“It was not difficult. You are completely distracted by your simulations,” Lucky said. Jason looked up and the battlesynth was standing stock still, had no discernible facial expressions, yet he looked like he had more to say. The fact that he could now read the synth’s body language spoke to how far he, and Lucky himself, had come in recent years.

“There was more?” he asked.

“I may have a solution to the problem, but it is neither easy nor safe,” Lucky said after a moment of hesitation.

“Go on.”

“Your idea of drifting the ship through the grid is the right approach, but the wrong execution,” Lucky said. “The Phoenix will always end up being caught because it simply has too much mass. But, I don’t. And neither do you when you’re encased in your armor.” Jason swallowed hard at the implications, but pressed ahead.

“The fact you’re approaching me about this tells me you’ve already thought this out to the last, tiny detail,” Jason said. “You’ve done this before?”

“Many times,” Lucky affirmed. “I was once in a cadre of other battlesynths who took part in specialized raids. We would drift through open space for weeks at a time in order to execute an unexpected attack against orbital facilities or even other ships.”

“There were a group of you that did this?” Jason shuddered at the thought of being boarded by a group of soldiers like Lucky. There’d be no stopping them short of scuttling the ship.

“Yes. Ten individuals including myself.”

“How old are you, Lucky?”

“Eighty-four years. Is that relevant in some way?” Lucky asked.

“Just a passing curiosity,” Jason said. “We’re all still carrying around a lot of baggage from our previous lives. Anyway, go on.”

“Of course. You and I could depart the Phoenix approximately four hundred thousand kilometers away from the outer effective range of detection and drift in. Once passing though the boundary of the grid, we will use repulsors to slow our approach and make fine corrections and intercept the Diligent,” Lucky said as if it were perfectly reasonable. “Then, with the instructions provided by Captain Colleren, we will be able to extract the safe’s contents.” Jason’s head swam a moment at the scale of the operation. He knew the distance to Luna from Earth was only around three hundred and eighty thousand kilometers, which led him to another uncomfortable thought.

“Lucky, how long are we going to be drifting in space?”

“Approximately seventeen hours,” Lucky said. “We could increase our velocity, but you may not survive the deceleration.”

“Fair enough,” Jason said. Seventeen hours? That’s still close to twenty-five thousand KpH. This is going to suck. “Let’s run through a few simulations here so I can see what you’re talking about, and then we can set up the flight sequence for the Phoenix and let the others know what we’re attempting.”

*****

“Before you even start, I can already tell you’re planning on telling me I have to stay behind,” Crusher glowered at Jason over the galley table. “Not happening.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Crusher,” Jason deadpanned. “Lucky, give him the broad strokes.”

“We will be required to exit the Phoenix at a precise speed and location approximately four hundred thousand kilometers away from the detection grid and drift through open space for seventeen hours,” Lucky explained. “We then must locate the Diligent, decelerate at the correct rate and time, and intercept the ship as its orbit intersects our flight path.” Crusher just stared at Lucky for a long moment before turning back to Jason.

“Good luck, Captain. We’ll all be pulling for you.”

“So that’s it in a nutshell,” Jason said. “I’m relying on Lucky and Twingo to work out the math so that we don’t just fly into the planet. Then of course, we’ll need the details on the safe from Kellea.”

“Not necessary,” she said. “I’m going with you, and before you even open your mouth, this is not open for debate. My ship, my problem, and my mission. You need me for more than just information on the safe; gaining entry to the ship is an issue all its own.”

“I planned on making ingress through the gaping hole in the hull,” Jason said, regretting his words as soon as he said them. “But, you do have a point. There is the issue of how you’re going to accomplish the trip. Lucky is fine, I’ll be in my armor, but just an EVA suit will not be able to protect you for such a lengthy trip.”

“That’s where I can help, Captain,” Twingo said. “I can fabricate her a suit that will be able to handle the trip. It won’t be combat armor, but it’s better than the standard EVA suits we have onboard.”

“So that somewhat settles that,” Jason said. “Do you have time to do a proper job on it?”

“It should only take me a couple days and we have the raw material onboard the fabricators will need,” Twingo assured him.

“There’s a glaring hole in your plan here,” Kage said. “How are you getting back? Slowing down with repulsors is one thing, but you won’t have the power reserves or the thrust to get back on your own for pickup.”

“That’s a wrinkle we’re still working on,” Jason admitted. “But I did get an idea as I was going over the rest of the intel we got from Kellea’s contact. Kage, I want you to start running through the IDs on the other ships in formation with the Diligent. Try to find why each is there and then report back to me.”

“What am I looking for specifically?” Kage asked.

“Anything connected to organized crime or paramilitary units,” Jason answered. “It can’t be anything tied to the ConFed itself. Also, try to find one that’s tied to an ongoing legal matter.”

“This may take a bit,” Kage said dubiously. “I’d better get started now.”

“I’d say we all better get started,” Jason said as he watched Kage climb the stairs to the command deck. “Kellea and Twingo, you have a lot of work to do and not a lot of time. Lucky, I’ll need you helping me since Twingo will be tied up. Doc, you give them a hand to make sure her life-support systems are up to the task. Crusher, you’re going to help me in the armory later to get our load-out right. Any questions?” Nobody had any. “Good. Let’s get started.”

Jason left the table and walked down to the armory to begin prepping his armor for the lengthy trip through vacuum he had coming up. As expected, Crusher followed him down through the starboard engineering bay and into Armory. He stood leaning against the doorway as Jason keyed in a sequence on a control pad. With a hiss and a whir, his armor, hanging on the rack, slid out of the wall panel.

“You know,” Crusher said, “we’d probably maintain a better profit margin if you didn’t buy new armor every few weeks.”

“This is the third unit, and the first one shouldn’t count,” Jason shot back. “The damn thing almost got me killed.”

“Really? I thought it was your one-man assault on a fortified position that almost got you killed,” Crusher said, walking into the room.

“Were you here to help or throw insults?”

“I can do both,” Crusher answered. “But seriously, Captain, is this the best plan we can come up with? The odds of success aren’t all that great. Lucky is easily the best I’ve ever been around, but even he is pushing it on this. This was his idea, wasn’t it?”

“How could you tell?”

“Each of us, no matter how brave, always leaves ourselves an acceptable margin of error and a relief valve for when things go to shit,” Crusher said. “He doesn’t.”

“I disagree,” Jason said. “His calculation of acceptable risk is as precise as his aim, so he doesn’t need a wide margin..”

“You’re betting your life on that, you realize that don’t you?”

“I do. And I trust him implicitly, as I do you,” Jason said. “He wouldn’t have suggested it if he didn’t think he could pull it off while also keeping me alive. He’s more protective of this ship and crew than even you are, if we’re honest.”

“I’m not saying it’s a trust issue,” Crusher raised his hands up protest. “I’m just saying he’s not infallible and to trust your own instincts.” He turned and left before Jason could respond. After a moment of thought, Jason dismissed the conversation and began putting the armor through a series of self-test sequences.

*****

“There’s nothing that fits your search criteria within the formation the Diligent is parked in,” Kage told Jason after spending the better part of a day searching. “But, there are eight other groupings that orbit the planet. Each is a different distance from the planet and put together according to mass so the orbits remain stable without having to continually go out and drag them back into place.”

“And you’re telling me this because you think there’s a ship in another group that will help?” Jason asked.

“Yes,” Kage answered, turning to his display. “This one. It’s a confiscated smuggling vessel that is part of an open internal ConFed Fleet investigation into one of their admirals. This is real-deal Fleet, too … not just some local reserve flying the flag.”

“What are the charges against the admiral?”

“Apparently she’s been diverting weapons shipments into her own distribution network and subsidizing more than a couple little private wars all on her own,” Kage said, reading off a list of charges. “From what I can tell, she had no issue outfitting both sides of a conflict with top-of-the-line ConFed hardware. Seems she was supplementing her retirement more than making a political statement.”

“That’s an interesting coincidence,” Jason said with a snort. “Isn’t that exactly what Crisstof is accused of? What are the chances his flagship ends up in the same impound as the admiral’s?”

“Hmm, I didn’t make that connection,” Kage said. “Do you want me to pursue it?”

“No,” Jason said after a moment of thought. “I don’t want to risk your activity being detected on the net and I can’t really see a connection other than similar charges. Facilitating a war that was already going to happen isn’t exactly the same as being accused of starting an open insurrection. Just leave it alone for now.”

“You’re the boss,” Kage said. “What do you want me to do with this new information?”

“We need a way to get the Phoenix into the area to pick us up without tipping off what we’ve been doing,” Jason said. “So we need a legit target other than the Diligent, and we need to make sure they don’t bother to check the ship out afterwards. In fact, the admiral’s ship being in a different orbit really helps us out with that.”

“How so?”

“Pull up a chart of the system and I’ll show you,” Jason said while he turned to his own terminal and began pulling up the weapons load-out the Phoenix was currently carrying. “This is a long shot, but if we can pull it off it will give us an easy escape. Maybe.”

For the next two hours he and Kage narrowed the plan of attack using the information that was on the chip Kellea had paid so much for. Or more specifically, that Omega Force had paid so much for. Jason desperately hoped the intel was not only accurate but also up to date. Any significant changes in position of the key players and the timing would be completely off from the time the assault team exited the ship to when the Phoenix needed to be in position to pick them up.

*****

“This isn’t bad, Twingo,” Jason said as he walked around Kellea, now ensconced in a hybrid EVA suit that had far more substantial life-support systems and hard-plate protection on every surface that didn’t need to bend. “The joints are also reinforced?”

“Yes,” Twingo answered, making adjustments as Kellea stood motionlessly with her arms out. “The material will be stiff, but it will protect from nearly all micro meteor impacts.” Kellea’s muffled voice came unintelligibly from the suit’s helmet. “Computer, patch this suit’s com through ship’s intercom, Engineering only.”

“Confirmed.”

“Say that again, Captain,” Twingo said.

“I said, what if something manages to come through?” Kellea’s voice came over the intercom speakers in the room.

“That is a risk at the speed you’ll be travelling,” Twingo admitted. “I won’t lie to you, it could cause serious injury. However, the suit has the ability to reseal itself nearly instantaneously if breached. So while you’ll lose some mobility, you won’t die.”

“I suppose I should take some comfort from that,” she answered.

“Unfortunately we won’t be able to use shielding or an electrostatic field to deflect anything,” Jason said. “We’d be spotted instantly.”

“I understand the risks, Jason,” she said calmly. “I’m still going.”

“I wasn’t trying to dissuade you,” Jason said. “If you’re ready to start moving around in that thing, meet me in the cargo bay and we’ll start drilling on our exit procedure.”

“Can’t wait,” she said in a strained voice as she shuffled towards the door.

Once Jason had donned his combat armor he, Lucky, and Kellea rehearsed their departure in the cargo bay until Jason was satisfied that they could do it blindfolded and asleep. On the surface, it seemed fairly simple: open the ramp and step out. But the physics of stepping out of a ship travelling tens of thousands of kilometers an hour with the intent of hitting a target hundreds of thousands of kilometers away presented its own set of challenges.

Since Lucky had a sophisticated navigation system that didn’t rely on external com or other transmitted signals, he would take point. He would keep his arms straight out and the other two would grab on and let him guide their flight. When the time came to begin decelerating, Lucky would reverse positions and the others would then brace against his arms as he used the repulsors in his feet to begin braking. The looks everyone gave each other let Jason know what they thought about his chances of success. But, as he’d told Crusher, he trusted Lucky completely. If he said he could do it, that was good enough for Jason to take the chance.

“OK,” he said after the twenty-second run through. “That’s as good as we’re going to get. I want everyone rested and ready when we arrive in-system tomorrow.”

Twingo assisted Kellea out of her modified suit as Jason popped the seals on his armor and stepped out of it. Once it was back in its rack, he began fully charging the power system and making sure his life-support expendables were topped off. He was not at all looking forward to spending so much time in the thing. Seventeen hours just to get to the start of the operation. It would be mentally and physically exhausting and he began to worry that Kellea wasn’t up to the task. She was an outstanding commanding officer, but this would be far outside her comfort zone and skill set. But the decision had been made, and there wasn’t any walking her back from it at this point. Without a word to anyone, he made his way back to his quarters to clean up and get as much sleep as he could.

Chapter 16

“Position confirmed,” Doc reported. “We’re outside the heliopause of the RU933 star system.”

“Full passive countermeasures,” Jason ordered, and he switched the engines to low-output mode. They’d still be able to accelerate into the system and maneuver, but wouldn’t have the explosive acceleration they normally would. But, with the engine emitter output reduced so dramatically, it was also nearly impossible to detect the gunship unless you knew exactly where to look. “We have twelve hours until we need to get suited up,” he said to the assault team. Once he had throttled up to move them into the system, he engaged the first autopilot program that would guide the ship precisely along the required flight path for them to exit in the correct location and at the correct speed.

“Doc, take over,” Jason said, hopping out of his seat. “I’ll be down in the armory going over everything one more time.”

“I’ll go with you,” Crusher said, also getting out of his seat.

“Kage, begin gathering as much intel with the passive sensors as you can,” Jason said. “Keep updating me on the status as we get closer.”

Jason spent the better part of the twelve hours laying out all their equipment and going over it with a fine-toothed comb, trying to detect the slightest defect that could derail the operation, but mostly he was just trying to stay busy. The hours leading up to a complex, dangerous mission were the worst. Too much time to reflect on what could go wrong and let the anxiety build up.

Once he was satisfied that the equipment would perform as expected, he began to carefully pack it all up. Some of the gear would be stored in an armored case that would be strapped to his back. The rest of it, mostly his personal weaponry, would be affixed to hard points on his armor. Lastly, he ran the armor itself through one last diagnostic check before disconnecting the umbilical cables.

“Captain, we’re two hours from the jump point,” Doc finally reported over the intercom.

“Thanks, Doc,” he answered back. “Execute the course changes as programmed, we’re as ready as we’ll ever be.”

“Copy, we’ll be spinning the Phoenix in one hour and opening the cargo bay up shortly after,” Doc said. Kellea and Lucky walked into the armory moments after the intercom clicked off.

“Time to suit up?” she asked in a strained voice, the reality of what she was about to do finally sinking in.

“It is,” Jason said. “Let me give you a hand.” It took nearly forty-five minutes to get her into the modified suit. Once it was all sealed up and had passed the pressure checks, he allowed her to walk around the armory and try to settle it into place. The fit wasn’t perfect, but Twingo had managed to give her a suit that would be decently comfortable once she was in the micro-gravity of space while still protecting her from the countless hazards such as radiation and debris.

He walked over to his own armor and popped it open. It split apart so he could get himself into the lower section and reach his arms back into the unit. “Close,” he said, and the armor slowly moved up and around his upper body before closing in, sealing itself. The nanotech metal of the joints flowed around the gaps and seamlessly filled all the openings. He sucked in a deep breath and held it as the suit squeezed back against him, trying to establish a proper fit. Once the pressure normalized in the suit he felt the slight disorientation that went along with his neural implant making a hard connection to the armor’s processors. Once that passed he was able to control all suit functions without consciously thinking about it. Whatever he wanted to do, his implant told the armor what and how to accomplish it. Crusher was right about it being expensive, but in his mind it was worth the price, and much more, to have not only the protection, but the enhanced combat capability.

Once he stepped out of the rack and made a few exaggerated moves to make sure he had full range of motion, he nodded to Lucky. He deployed the helmet as the battlesynth grabbed the armored case of gear and strapped it tightly to Jason’s back. After that was done, Jason moved to the bench and grabbed his weapons, securing each to its designated place.

“Drive is shut down,” Doc called over the intercom. “The ship is coming about now. I’ll be opening the cargo bay in twenty minutes.”

“Copy that,” Jason said. “We’re heading out now.” He walked to the large blast doors that separated the armory from the cargo bay and hit the controls to open them. They milled about in the hold until Doc called down again that they were about to open the ramp. The lights dimmed steadily until the cargo bay was plunged into complete darkness. A moment later the red strobes at either side of the pressure doors blinked twice and then darkness fell once again.

Jason switched over to low-light mode in his helmet and was able to see that the pressure doors were sliding open and the ramp was already lowered, exposing the pitch black of open space beyond. The trio marched forward and shuffled down to the edge of the ramp and held fast until Doc gave them the word to take that last step.

“We’re releasing you in five seconds,” Doc said. “We’ll be observing com silence after this. We’ll be listening in case there’s an emergency call. Good luck, assault team. Phoenix out.”

A few seconds later Jason felt his stomach flip as if he were in freefall when Doc killed the artificial gravity on the ramp. They were now free-flying separate from the Phoenix, which was also racing along with them backwards at twenty-six thousand and eight hundred kilometers per hour. Just as suddenly, the ramp shot out from underneath them as the Phoenix throttled up and began to slow her flight. The three members of the assault team were now hurtling through space with no lifeline if something went wrong.

To stave off the vertigo he was feeling, Jason concentrated on Lucky as the battlesynth began to maneuver himself into position. He was pleased to see Kellea seemed completely at ease, making slow, deliberate movements as she guided herself on tiny ionic jets to grab Lucky’s outstretched left arm. Jason fired his own maneuvering jets and took his position on his friend’s right arm. Once he was locked on, he sent a command through the neural uplink to lock his gauntlets in position.

After the excitement of departing the Phoenix had subsided, he was faced with the reality of a near-seventeen hour flight through the void without even being able to talk to his companions. Their emissions-security protocol meant zero com transmissions, not even short range. So instead he focused on the planet. The massive gas ball appeared as a crescent since they were angling in from the dark side. It was fairly uninteresting as far as gas giants went, the atmosphere appearing as a solid, murky orange color with no discernible weather to speak of. Every once in a while he’d see a moon, or something, cross in front of it to break up the monotony.

He was simply bored by the third hour, had an itch he couldn’t scratch all through the fourth, and by the fifth he was berating himself for not having the foresight to rig up some sort of hardwired com loop between the three of them. He fell asleep for a bit sometime around hour nine and was jarred awake by Lucky shifting positions at hour fourteen. He quickly unlocked his gauntlets and waited as the battlesynth spun himself around so that his feet were facing towards their target. At least Jason hoped so, since he couldn’t see anything yet. He’d messed around with the optical sensors in his helmet and still couldn’t see the ship formation they were headed for.

*****

“They’re away,” Doc said as he watched the aft video feed. He’d just observed the assault team practically disappear off the ramp as the Phoenix slowed under minimal drive output. “Let’s get to our part. Start giving me the first set of coordinates, Kage.”

“They’re coming up on your nav panel now,” Kage said.

“Remember,” Twingo spoke up from the engineering station. “Try to keep throttle corrections to a minimum. The less we use the drive for maneuvering, the less chance we’ll be detected out here.”

“I’ll remember,” Doc promised. His nerves were a bit frayed as he throttled up the gunship and turned onto the course Kage had provided. It was easy to be critical of Jason’s decision-making from the sensor station, but now he was in command during a very delicate operation where one misstep could cause it to end in disaster.

“We’re clear of the outer edge of the detection grid,” Kage said. “Go ahead and kick her in the ass and let’s get to our first drop point.” Doc throttled up the drive even further as they flew along the perimeter of what they believed to be the edge of the detection net. Under the constant acceleration it didn’t take long to get to their first waypoint.

“I’m programming the missiles now,” Kage said. “They’ll wait for the final targeting data once we initiate the firing sequence. OK, we’re ready to deploy.” After a few moments of silence the Veran turned to him in annoyance. “Doc, we’re ready to deploy.”

“Oh, sorry,” Doc said and squeezed the trigger on the stick to give command authorization for weapons release.

“Snap out of it,” Kage admonished him. “You’ve been really loopy the last few days.”

“Yeah, I guess I have been a bit scattered,” Doc agreed vaguely. They deployed bundles of six missiles at each of their three stops. This completely depleted the Phoenix’s forward weapons bay, but if it worked it would be a small price to pay. At a designated time Kage would bring up the active sensor array and flood the system with tachyons. They would then have a real-time picture of everything in the system and would relay that data to the missiles. The eighteen weapons would ignite their engines and knock out eighteen of the listening posts surrounding the planet.

Twingo theorized that it was the overlapping coverage of the sensor stations that provided the high degree of accuracy, and if enough were knocked out it would create enormous gaps that they could exploit. With the passive array down, the Phoenix would be clear to engage her active countermeasures and wreak havoc in the formations on their way to pick up the assault team. The confusion would hopefully stun the minimal Fleet presence into inaction. Jason said a cushy, boring babysitting mission like this bred complacency in crews and commanders alike. Doc hoped he was right. While he was what could graciously be called a proficient pilot, he was no combat flyer. Any resistance that the gunship’s point defense couldn’t handle would be a major problem.

“We’re all clear,” Kage said. “I don’t see any evidence we’ve been detected. No active scans on the hull, no engine flares near the planet. Let’s get above the ecliptic and wait it out there. I’d like to use the optical sensors and gather a bit more intel.”

“Alright,” Doc agreed. “We’ll park one million kilometers above the pole with the optics trained on the planet.”

“That should do it,” Kage agreed. Doc followed the indicators on the nav panel and flew the Phoenix up and over the planet far out of detection range. Nothing left now but the long wait.

*****

Jason could just make out the shape of … something … directly in front of him as Lucky continued to brake. He continually looked over to make sure Kellea was doing okay during the maneuvers. While his armor absorbed a lot of the strain on his arms, her rig did so considerably less effectively. It looked like her lighter weight helped as her body position didn’t indicate she was in duress.

Now that they were inside the detection grid, Lucky was really giving it hell as he tried to bring their velocity down to something manageable. Jason could now clearly see the outline of the damaged frigate and, despite this being the plan, was simply amazed that they were anywhere close. He was also a bit alarmed at their rate of closure. He knew from his jump training that if his brain could discern an object rushing at him it was quite close indeed.

Suddenly they were upon the Diligent and moving far too fast towards the aft section. Lucky shook Jason off his arm and turned to grab Kellea with both hands and cradle her to his chest while he fired his repulsors at full power, leaving Jason to fend for himself. Managing to get his body turned around, Jason magnetized his feet and fired his own jets at maximum thrust. Although powerful enough to lift him off the ground on a standard gravity planet, they were woefully inadequate to shed off the speed he was carrying.

He slammed into the hull of the Diligent far faster than he would have preferred, but not fast enough to damage his armor. His internal organs seemed to be an entirely different story, however. He bounced back off before he could get his feet anchored under him and had a monetary bout of panic while he flailed about in space. Forcing himself to be calm, he used his maneuvering jets to correct his body position and descended slowly and smoothly to the side of the hull again, this time feeling the satisfying clunk of his feet locking onto the ship. In the micro-gravity of the planet, his vestibular system had no idea what was going on, his eyes told him the hull was the “ground,” and his brain let his eyes know that the “ground” was the side of the ship.

Shaking off the disorientation, he slowly made his way towards where Lucky and Kellea were anchored down. He waved his right hand in the air and was relieved to see her wave back; she’d managed to survive the violent descent unscathed thanks to Lucky’s quick and decisive action. She waved for them to follow her and set off towards the aft of the ship, moving along the hull as if she were born in a vacuum. Jason was mildly annoyed at her proficiency; despite his top-rate equipment, he still struggled at the finer points of EVA.

They moved quickly across the rear section of the ship and came around to where the nozzles of the main engines could be seen rising up from the hull (at least from their perspective). The mammoth engines could fit the Phoenix inside one of them, but Jason could now see that the hull didn’t actually meet up against the body of the motor. As they closed in on the outermost engine he could clearly see a gap big enough for them to easily fit into. As he suspected, Kellea paused long enough to get her feet anchored on the inside of the gap before disappearing from view. Lucky waved him forward and he also slid into the gap.

In his low-light optical mode he could see the engine was actually suspended by six pylons inside the ship and not anchored to the outer hull itself. He followed Kellea down a maintenance catwalk towards a large, curved hatch near where the plasma conduits connected to the injector housings on the engine. She grabbed a large T-handle on the bulkhead next to the hatch and tried to give it a turn. When it didn’t budge after two attempts, she motioned Jason forward and indicated which way he should turn it. Grabbing a hold and twisting slowly clockwise, he could feel it begin to spin as he commanded the armor to provide incremental assistance until it spun one hundred and eighty degrees and stopped with a solid thunk.

The hatch had recessed and slid aside slightly, allowing Kellea to get her shoulder in and shove the hatch back all the way. The two members of Omega Force followed her in and Lucky slid the door closed behind them.

“We’re now clear to use short range com,” Jason said. “Hull integrity should be good through this section so no chance of anybody overhearing.”

“Thank you for grabbing me, Lucky,” Kellea said. “I would not have survived otherwise.”

“My pleasure, Captain Colleren,” Lucky said. “I apologize for setting you adrift, Captain,” he said to Jason. “I did not have much time to act.”

“As usual, you did the right thing, Lucky,” Jason assured him. “She’s the more important of the pair of us and I can survive a bit more of a bump than she can, and good job getting us here. I really didn’t expect this to work.”

“You did not?” Lucky sounded surprised and even a little hurt.

“Well, fifty-fifty,” Jason replied, waving his hand in the air to indicate his indecision. “So, where to?”

“Crisstof’s private quarters,” Kellea said. “We’ll have to—” She stumbled to a stop as the door leading out of the maintenance airlock whisked open on its own. She just stared at it, dumbfounded.

“Is emergency power still active?” Jason asked.

“No,” Kellea said. “If it were, the lights would be on and the airlock would have opened with almost no effort.”

“Speaking of that,” Jason said, “you’ve got a rather glaring security issue on this ship. What’s to stop a boarding party from marching down that same walkway?”

“When main power is on there is a powerful force field that covers the outer opening; it even keeps the engine bay pressurized with atmosphere,” she said. “The engines need to be isolated from the hull so the vibrations don’t tear the ship apart. Not only that, but if you were to walk in there while the engine was actually running you’d be dead before you made it to the hatch, fried to a crisp in your fancy armor.”

“Thanks for that visual,” Jason said, unslinging a big plasma rifle. “Let’s stay alert. If the door subsystem has power they may have anti-intrusion systems also active.”

“Thank you for reminding me to stay alert during a combat operation, Captain,” Lucky said as he moved off to follow Kellea. Jason could see her shoulders shaking as she at least had the decency not to transmit her laughter. He’s like a giant, metal Twingo. He bit down his response and followed after the pair, not completely certain he was enjoying Lucky’s recently emergent sense of humor.

The team moved quickly through the ship, discovering along the way that the power had only been restored to certain doors and not all. Jason was certain that if they went down to Engineering they would see a powerpack spliced into relay junctions so the ConFed intel guys could move freely through the sections of the ship they thought were pertinent to the investigation. Whoever had designed the Diligent, however, was thoughtful enough to provide a mechanical disconnect for each door in an access panel in the bulkhead. Simply open the panel, yank the handle, and then slide the door back into the bulkhead. This was far preferable to having Lucky tear it apart or blast it with a plasma rifle. Though she had to be aware that she would never command the ship again, running through the corridors wantonly damaging everything seemed disrespectful given that Kellea was standing right next to them.

It took a little over forty minutes to reach Crisstof’s quarters since there were no operating lifts and they had to force open most doors. Dalton’s quarters were wrecked. The intel division had tossed the place looking for anything they could use to incriminate him, and had left it looking like a thermobaric warhead had been detonated inside.

“Oh,” Kellea said sadly as she looked around. She stepped carefully around overturned furniture and smashed display cases. “Some of these were priceless pieces.”

“If they jacked the place up this badly it’s a good bet they didn’t know where the safe was,” Jason said. “Or that it even exists.”

“Oh I can guarantee they didn’t find it,” she said as she moved around the end of Crisstof’s desk. “Bring the power pack.” Lucky helped Jason detach the case he’d been carrying on his back and opened it up. There was an explosive release of gas and the lid flew open as the case spit some of its contents across the room. They floated and bounced off of walls as Jason and Lucky scrambled to retrieve them.

“I didn’t think of that,” Jason admitted. With the Diligent likely having no atmosphere, he should have thought to put a pressure relief on the case. He grabbed the power pack as it careened off a padded chair and tossed it over to Kellea. She extended the lead to the unit and plugged it to a thin connector that simply looked like a gap in the paneling of Crisstof’s office.

Once she verified that the unit was supplying power, she moved over to the large window that overlooked the flight deck of the frigate and began tapping on its surface in what appeared to be a random pattern. She stepped back, waited, and was soon rewarded with a holographic interface displayed in the transparent alloy. She stepped forward and entered another sequence of commands. When she was finished the display disappeared and the room was once again plunged into darkness.

Just when Jason was about to comment on the lack of anything happening, an entire section of the bulkhead on the opposite side of the room began to lower into the floor, exposing a tall, shallow safe. He could almost see her smirk though the helmet visor as she walked across the room and began the procedure to open the actual safe itself.

POP!

Apparently the safe was sealed as well as their travel case, as documents and data chips went flying out of the safe when the door blew open. Lucky was able to simultaneously track all projectiles so it was a small task to retrieve everything and load up the same case they’d brought the power pack over in.

“This is an auxiliary flight data recorder,” Kellea said as she disconnected a small cube from a cable within the safe. “This may be useful since it will have a record of all com traffic and ship status leading up to main power failing.”

“So do we think that whatever he wanted us to find is on one of these data chips?” Jason asked.

“That’s all that is in here, so it better be,” Kellea said. “I would say it’s a safe bet that it is. He likely knew the risk we were taking in coming here, so it would have to be something important.”

“Let’s hope so,” Jason said. “Are we ready to leave? We need to be up on the flight deck within the next hour or so for our pickup.”

“We’re finished here,” Kellea said as she closed and secured the case. “Let’s get on the move.”

*****

“What the hell is that?!” Twingo asked, staring in disbelief at a hulking shape in orbit around the gas giant they were sitting above.

“The computer says it’s a ship, not a space station,” Doc said. “But it’s one of the biggest ships I’ve ever seen. The fact we can detect it visually from here is incredible.”

“We haven’t been here long enough to get a good picture of it, but it does seem like a ship,” Kage said. “It’s the wrong configuration for a station.”

“How so?” Crusher asked.

“The drive section, although at the center of the ship, is the wrong type for a space station,” Kage explained. “Whatever it is, it’s maneuvering. Orbital platforms have station-keeping propulsion, not massive engines. Luckily we’re not seeing any reaction from it or the defender ships in the area. Either they got in clean or they didn’t make it at all.”

“Nice,” Twingo said to him disgustedly. “Way to jinx them. While we’re discussing it though, why are there only two corvettes patrolling this system? Where are the cruisers?”

“Let’s not go asking for trouble,” Crusher rumbled. “It’s almost time for the pickup. Let’s count our blessings. Without the captain here I’d rather avoid any ship-to-ship combat. No offense, Doc.”

“None taken,” Doc said. “I’m in full agreement with you.”

“We’re within our timeframe,” Kage said. “We can initiate the launch sequence at any time.” Doc stared at the display a moment longer before moving back to the pilot’s seat.

“Get back to your stations,” he said. “We’re launching in five minutes. Kage, prep the sensors and let’s see what we’re dealing with.”

“Copy that. Active array coming online, waiting to transmit on your command.”

“Stand by,” Doc said. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to calm himself. “Go active, full power.”

“Going active,” Kage confirmed. Tachyon particles flooded the system, breaking the laws of physics as they bounced off every object nearly simultaneously and giving the Phoenix a clear view of everything in the area. “Mapping all derelict formations, mapping detection satellites, verifying ship positions. We’re ready to fire.”

“Fire,” Doc said as he squeezed the trigger on the stick.

“All missiles have ignited their engines,” Kage confirmed. “Birds are flying hot and clean. We still have no movement from the defending ships and the behemoth is still flying its normal orbit.”

“Countermeasures to full active,” Doc ordered as he flipped the drive to full output mode. “Let’s go hit the admiral’s ship and grab our people.” He engaged the drive and sent the Phoenix streaking towards the small smuggler’s launch that was on the opposite side of the planet from the Diligent. “All combat systems active.”

“You’ve got everything,” Kage confirmed. “Fly the indicators to the target, I’ll tell you when to fire. We’re going to overfly it so just pull the trigger when I say. The two corvettes are completely out of position, we’re good to go.”

Doc concentrated on keeping the ship on course as they plummeted towards the formation that contained the smuggler’s scow. The fantastic power of the Phoenix allowed her to ignore the influence of the gas giant and fly a direct line to the target. A larger, less powerful ship would be required to respect the planet’s gravity well and pursue the formation around its orbital path.

“Get ready, Doc!” Kage said. “In three, two, one … FIRE!” Doc let loose with a full salvo from the forward plasma cannons, the most powerful energy weapon they carried, and barely registered an explosion ahead of them before they were by it and flying down below the orbital plane. “Direct hit!” Kage exclaimed. “New nav data coming your way. All missiles have destroyed their targets and the passive grid is down. Corvettes are mobilizing and heading towards the ship we just destroyed.”

“Go passive!” Doc said. “No more emissions. Let’s hide in the confusion and sneak around to the Diligent. What is the big ship doing?”

“Nothing I could detect before shutting down the sensors,” Kage said. “We’ll be coming up on the Diligent in thirteen minutes. You’ll have to maneuver onto the flight deck using the optical sensors only.”

“I can handle it,” Doc said, still exhilarated by the action he’d just taken. “Do you think they’ll be there?”

“They’ll be there,” Crusher said confidently.

*****

Damn! I guess it’s started. Jason’s armor had enough sensor capability to detect the blinding broadcast of the Phoenix’s active array suddenly coming online as well as the confusion of the passive detection grid collapsing. The three were now standing on the flight deck of the Diligent and were once again observing com silence. No point in coming this far and screwing it all up by someone detecting a radio emission from somewhere it shouldn’t be.

They had waited another hour until, without warning, the Phoenix loomed out of the blackness and descended to ten meters over the flight deck. Once the belly hatch opened and the transit beam descended, the trio made their way quickly over and, one by one, jumped into the beam to ride it up into the cargo bay. Jason was the last to ascend, and only by actually shoving a surprised Lucky into the beam.

“We’re on our way out of the system, Captain,” Doc said over the intercom. “We’ll be dead drifting for a bit and meshing out near the eighth planet.”

“Very good, Doc,” Jason replied. “Proceed. I’ll be up there shortly.”

Chapter 17

“Do you think we made it out without being detected?” Kage asked as the Phoenix tore through slip-space.

“You would know more than I would at this point,” Jason said. “We were standing in total darkness on the top of a derelict ship. From what Twingo told me it seems in the confusion nobody ever got a good scan of the ship. It’s likely they’re not even sure it was only one ship that hit them.” They were quiet for a moment, listening to the hum of the engines and the muted conversations taking place in the aft rooms of the command deck. “Did you complete the analysis of that ship you found orbiting the planet?” Jason asked.

“I completed my part,” Kage said. “I’ll need Twingo to look over the results and tell me what they mean. We have a rough shape and sensor readings of engine power output and the like. He said he’d get to it once he finished helping Kellea extract and organize the data you guys brought back.”

“Sounds good,” Jason said, stifling a yawn. “I’m going to go grab some sleep. Wake me up if anything interesting happens.”

“You got it.”

Jason poked his head into the com room where Twingo and Kellea were engrossed at the two forward terminals poring over what looked to be an astronomical amount of information, so he slipped back out without a word and continued on to his quarters. On the way to his stateroom, he saw the infirmary glass was still blacked out. He made a mental note to corner Doc about what he was doing in there, but he was just fatigued enough to care less at the moment. He flopped back on his bunk and was asleep before the computer even dimmed the lights down for him.

*****

“Jason. Wake up.”

The voice was coming directly from above his head. Jason snapped his eyes open and saw Kellea staring back down at him. A slow smile spread over his face.

“Not a chance,” she said with humor in her voice. “You need to see something.”

“This better be good,” he grumbled as he swung his legs out of his rack and followed her out of the room. The ship was at “night hours” and the lights were dimmed to a barely perceptible glow, just enough to keep one from tripping over obstacles. They went up to the command deck and slipped into the com room where Twingo was still sitting at one of the terminals, his black eyes rimmed in red, a testament to how long he’d been staring at the displays.

“So, what’s up?” Jason asked as Kellea hit the control to close the door behind her.

“This appears to be far more significant that just trying to set up a wealthy businessman,” Kellea said. “But I’ll let Crisstof tell you in his own words. Twingo, go ahead.” Twingo nodded and keyed up a video that looked like it was taken from the terminal at Crisstof’s desk. Jason could clearly see the office and the lit flight deck of the Diligent behind him.

“Hello, Kellea,” Crisstof’s recorded self began. “This recording was hidden in a few strategic places that only you know about, so if you’re watching it I’m certain things are not going well for me. And for some inexplicable reason I’m certain that Omega Force is involved in this somehow. So, hello Captain Burke, I wish our reunion were under better circumstances.

“I’ll cut right to the point. I recently became aware that the ConFed was going to be making a serious push in expanding its influence and usurping the authority of regional governments. This is, of course, nothing new. The ConFed has continually played these games along the periphery while consolidating its power base in the core worlds, but this appears to be something new. This will be the first time they’ve taken direct action against independent worlds in an attempt to strong-arm them into conceding their right to govern themselves.

“The plan targets Tier-2 and Tier-3 worlds that are themselves protectorates of other, more powerful Tier-1 independent planets. These symbiotic relationships are often so strong that the loss of the lesser planets would force the others to the table to negotiate with the ConFed. In order for the trade they depend on to resume, they’d have to come crawling and likely accept membership into the Confederation as a term. ConFed Fleet Command will ensure these agreements are binding.

“To destabilize the local governments, the ConFed is first using a propaganda campaign on each world to foment resentment and put the local officials on the defensive. When it appears that they’ve been successful in whipping up the population, they move into phase two: armed insurrection. This is the important part, Kellea … they aren’t just arming locals and hoping for the best. They’re guaranteeing bloody results by deploying cloned drones of each species to carry out the attacks and, hopefully, get the locals involved along with them. Let that sink in for a moment …

“This has been in the works for decades and now appears to have hit the operational stage. Even as I speak, we’ve already investigated three such attacks. An unexplainable number of well-armed locals flood the streets of a capital, wreak havoc, and the ConFed Fleet steps in during the aftermath to offer assurances, infer the Tier-1 host world can’t protect them, and clean up the evidence.

“The cloned drones themselves are absolute marvels of technology. The term clone may be a bit of a misnomer; they’re fully manufactured individuals, complete with their own unique DNA. Even if a drone were captured, it would simply look like an undocumented citizen. The ConFed is counting on being able to capture the bodies of the drones that get killed in the violence in order to keep suspicion at a minimum and on the fringes of conspiracy theory.

“We’ve known for years that the Council wasn’t content to operate the fleet in exchange for protection taxes, they’ve always had aspirations of a unified quadrant under the Confederated flag, and have been continually nudging here and there to accomplish that through economic pressure or more overt operations like Omega Force saw in the Concordian Cluster. Now they have the means to start really leaning on the holdouts and quickly bring other systems into the fold, and the best part is that it will even seem like the will of the people.

“Attached to this recording is all the data I’ve been able to compile complete with known targets, likely targets, and dossiers on known key players. Good luck, Kellea; you’ll be on your own with this. You obviously can’t approach the ConFed and no other Tier-1 worlds will want to touch this, even if they believed you.”

Jason sat staring at the blank screen for a moment after Crisstof signed off his recording. In the reflection of the monitor he could see his companions were also lost inside their own thoughts.

“So it’s finally happening,” Jason said. “The ConFed has been a paper tiger for as long as I’ve been able to look back, using their fleet to run a protection racket on other systems but never really interfering other than to secure its own interests. Now they’re really going to try and break out and take over.”

“On the surface, this plan seems ridiculous,” Twingo said. “But that may be why it’s so dangerous, and why it will likely work. If enough planets begin to fall, others will beg to be ruled by the ConFed if only to be protected from what’s happened on other worlds. The fact that the threat springs up internally is far more terrifying than any outside attack.”

“Indeed,” Kellea commented. “An outside attack usually galvanizes the populace and makes exerting influence that much more difficult.” As she was talking, the files attached to the message were slowly scrolling across the monitors.

“Wait!” Jason said. “Run that back.” Twingo began reversing the data flow until a dossier came up on the screen. “Stop!”

“What is it?” Kellea asked.

“You recognize her, Twingo?” Jason asked, tapping the picture on the monitor. Twingo squinted at it a moment before an expression of disbelief crossed his face.

“What?” Kellea demanded impatiently.

“Dr. Jevara Da’Chelic,” Jason read the name off the dossier header. “This is certainly a blast from the past. We’ve tried to kill this woman before.”

“What!?”

“When we first gained possession of this ship we—” Jason trailed off. “Holy shit,” he said in sudden understanding.

“Yeah,” Twingo agreed. “We attacked a facility where she was working. A genetics research facility.”

“And we attacked it at the request of Doc,” Jason finished. “Open her file.”

“This isn’t making a lot of sense,” Kellea said.

“Known relations,” Jason was reading, ignoring her. “Brother: Dr. Jorvren Ma’Fredich. That lying son of a bitch.”

“Now wait a minute, Jason—”

“Computer, where is Doc right now?” Jason demanded.

“Doc is in the medical bay.”

“Now I’m really confused,” Kellea said, trying to regain control of the conversation. Jason was already exiting the com room and moving swiftly to the still-blacked out infirmary. When he arrived, the doors refused to open.

“Why won’t the doors open, Computer?”

“The doors have been locked on the authority of the ship’s medical officer. Stated reason: biological pathogen risk.”

“Bullshit,” Jason snapped. “Open the doors NOW! My command authority.” The doors whisked open and Jason stomped inside in time to see Doc start and jump out of his seat near a computer terminal. He could read his captain’s face and immediately put his hands up and stepped back.

“Look, Captain,” he stammered, “I can explain—”

“Shut up,” Jason snarled. He reached over to the sheet that was covering the deformed kelpen body on the bed and gave it a yank. The “body” was in various states of disassembly; most notably the brain had been neatly dissected and laid out on a tray near the head. “You will follow me out to the galley,” he said calmly, “where you will sit down and answer my questions. If you give me any trouble, I will physically drag you out there. If you really resist I will have the ship disable you and call Crusher. If you lie to me … things won’t go well.” Jason turned and left the infirmary, confident that Doc would be on his heels.

*****

“So … tell me again what happened to your sister,” Jason said when he, Doc, Twingo, and Kellea were all seated.

“You already know what happened,” Doc said in confusion.

“Ah, see, I thought she had been sold into slavery,” Jason said, tapping commands into a tablet. “So you’ll forgive my confusion at seeing this.” He turned the tablet around and allowed Doc to see his sister’s dossier, including the section citing known relations.

“Wh… Where did you get that?” Doc asked, his normally vibrant blue skin turning a more sickly greenish color around his cheeks and forehead.

“Does it matter?” Jason asked. “Since you’re not denying this is legitimate, which I know it is anyway, we’ll start with why you lied to Twingo and me right from the start.”

“I technically didn’t lie,” Doc said. “I simply said she had been coerced and finally succumbed. You assumed I meant she was sold as a sex slave, or worse. The worst I did was not correct you.”

“That’s sophistry,” Kellea said. “A lie of omission is still a lie.” Doc gave her a decidedly unfriendly look before continuing.

“I had no idea what was going to happen to us,” Doc said. “It was only dumb luck and the element of surprise that we survived The Vault anyway. After that, I couldn’t let the opportunity to use this ship to try and stop Jevara and her cohorts slip by me. There’s no way I could have guessed this arrangement would have become so permanent.”

“That can almost be forgiven,” Twingo said, “but you didn’t come to us afterward. That can’t.”

“Where do you fit into this, Doc?” Jason asked. “She apparently wasn’t being held prisoner by Bondrass, but you were. Why? And how does a two-bit crime boss get mixed into a ConFed scheme for galactic domination to begin with?” Doc sighed before going on.

“I know you’re being sarcastic, but there is some truth in it,” he said. “Bondrass, and others in the syndicate, were approached by agents representing a faction within the Council. During the early days of research and development of the drones, they were responsible for hiding the operation and laundering the funds it took to run it. That way it stayed well hidden from overzealous auditors and investigators.

“I signed on willingly at first, answering the call to participate in a research program that promised to take huge steps in eliminating congenital defects in a host of species by treating the parents before they reproduced rather than treating the newborn or manipulating the embryo. It was really groundbreaking work.”

“How noble,” Jason said skeptically.

“However,” Doc continued, ignoring him, “I soon learned that the real purpose of the program was to manipulate stock genetic material to produce variations and, eventually, countless unique individuals from the same base DNA. My sister, Jevara, was already working on the program in a different capacity. I went to her first and told her I suspected the purpose of our research had nothing to do with medical advancement and she laughed in my face and called me naive. She already knew exactly what the outcome was supposed to be, and had taken a substantial monetary reward to not only accept it, but actively strive for it.

“I was appalled and tried to leave, but she warned Bondrass before I could disappear. I was grabbed and taken to him and she continued on with her work. Bondrass promised her that he wouldn’t simply toss me out an airlock, so he made me a source of entertainment as he tried to get me to enhance his fighters, extend his life, and a litany of other insults. He kept me on a loose leash because, in addition to him being able to easily track me down, he told me what he’d do to Jevara if I tried to escape. That pretty much takes us up to when I met you two.”

“So what changed?” Jason asked. “If I remember correctly, it was you who initially approached Twingo about hijacking the gunship and stealing that cargo ship.”

“Jevara came to see me on Pinnacle Station the day before I was to ship out with Deetz on this ship,” Doc continued. “She told me that while she could probably spare my life, she wasn’t going to. It was actually the first I learned that I wasn’t meant to survive my time at The Vault. She’d become a believer, even a zealot, and was convinced that total subjugation of the quadrant by the ConFed was the most logical course of action to bring everyone peace and prosperity. I was too great a risk to that to be left alive. When you met me, I was a shattered man. My only family had signed off on my death sentence at the hands of a sadistic thug with no more emotion than if she’d stepped on a bug.”

“This is all fascinating background, Doc,” Jason said, trying to maintain the anger he’d had when he first barged into the infirmary. “But you knew what that thing was when we found it on Solamea. You could have come to me then and explained everything.”

“I could have,” Doc agreed. “But what would you have wanted to do? You’re intelligent and brave, Jason, but you’re far too rash. I was delaying explaining things to you because if I could find a way to nullify these drones there would be no need for you to go in, guns blazing, into yet another hopeless situation. This will not be solved with plasma cannons and missiles.”

“Humor me,” Jason said. “What was your master plan? And for the record, I’m the captain … you don’t get to save me from myself or withhold information from me for my own good. You tell me everything you know and advise me on the best course of action. You’ve put us all at risk with your dishonesty. Had you told me everything we could have probably avoided the mission to the Diligent. If you can’t handle that, well … I’ve always said you’re free to leave any time you want.”

“That was a mistake on my part,” Doc admitted, bowing his head slightly. “As for my plan … I knew there was no way these drones would be turned loose without some way to deactivate them. An emergency kill-switch, if you will. I surmised that it was likely hardwired into the brain, and I was correct. It’s a small, almost microscopic receiver that shuts down the autonomic nervous system when the correct code is transmitted by the handlers. It also destroys itself after the host body dies, leaving no evidence behind.”

“So how does that thing in your med bay still have one?” Twingo asked.

“It was never fully formed,” Doc said. “It never came online, so the receiver is still dormant. I’m not sure why it was even dropped onto Solamea with the others.”

“We can thank ConFed incompetence for that, most likely,” Kellea said.

“So tell us about the ship,” Twingo said.

“What ship?

“Yea, what ship?” Jason said, parroting Doc.

“Crisstof had files on hand regarding that enormous ship we saw on the Diligent op. The profiles match exactly, it’s definitely the same vessel,” Twingo said.

“I’m not aware of any ship, much less why it was in orbit around that planet,” Doc said. Twingo eyed him skeptically. “I’m serious, Twingo. I’ve been with you for the last few years! Even when I was involved, I barely knew anything, how would I know about a single, specific ship?”

“He has a point,” Jason said. “Just tell us what the ship is.”

“The short answer? It’s a factory,” Twingo said. “It’s a complete production facility for the drones.”

“Fascinating,” Doc said. “I wonder if our attack on the research facility, along with getting the members of the syndicate to turn on each other, had anything to do with the decision to build it.”

“While I’d love to think so, the idea makes sense on a lot of levels,” Jason said. “There’s hardly anything more secure for illicit activity than a ship with a slip-drive.”

“There’s the wrinkle, Captain,” Twingo said. “It’s either one, or the other. It can’t produce clones and operate its slip-drive simultaneously. The energy requirement for the process must be simply enormous. They must do a run, move the ship, do another run, and so on. It explains why it didn’t even attempt to mesh-out when we attacked that detection grid.”

“It’s still quite a strategic advantage to be able to move your production facilities,” Jason said. “Hell, the thing will likely start churning out soldiers if the ConFed pulls off this plan. Once they’re in charge they’d have an endless supply of ground troops to keep the individual planets in line. Couple that with the psychological impact of those soldiers being the same species as the subjugated population on each world … potent.”

“I had never even considered that possibility,” Doc said quietly after a moment.

“That certainly puts this into perspective,” Kellea said. “Before this was more about getting Crisstof, and in extension myself, cleared of these charges.”

“It also highlights another problem,” Jason said. “When it was just rescuing Kellea we were fine, and when it was just finding the evidence to help Crisstof we were fine, but we’re looking at a ConFed operation to basically take over the entire galaxy.”

“What do you mean?” Twingo asked.

“I mean that we may be a little unqualified to save the quadrant, to say nothing of being massively outgunned,” Jason said.

“It may be time to approach Steader Dalton now that we have something a lot more solid to go on,” Kellea said. “He has the full resources of Crisstof’s empire at his disposal and he has political contacts that may be useful.”

“Possibly,” Jason said, “but what he may also have is perspective. My first instinct is to simply expose this plan to all the independent systems that would be affected, but that could backfire. The ConFed Fleet is still the most powerful military force in the quadrant. If some of the more touchy species decided to go to war over this, things could get bloody on a massive scale, and quickly.”

“That is a salient point, Captain,” Doc said. “The worst thing we could do right now is to make things even more volatile.”

“This isn’t over between us,” Jason said, pointing a finger at Doc as he got out of his seat. “But we don’t have the luxury of time to deal with it and I can’t afford to be a man down. Get back to work on that thing in there and learn everything you can. The destruct code for the biodrones would be helpful.”

“I’ll return to work immediately,” Doc said, practically running out of the galley.

“Biodrones?” Twingo said. “Wow! They should ask you to write the sales brochure!”

“Bite me,” Jason said. “Kellea, keep going through the data we grabbed from the safe and then determine a good way to contact Steader Dalton. I still don’t want to use the Phoenix’s com node. When we go to meet him I’d rather not have a company of ConFed soldiers also waiting for us.”

“I’ll work with Kage to figure something out,” she said.

“Let’s keep the thing with Doc between us for the time being,” Jason told the two of them. “I’m not entirely sure how I’m going to handle it, and I’d rather not have the others involved or have an unneeded distraction at the moment. When this all settles down, assuming we survive, I’ll deal with it one way or another.”

“That sounds ominous,” Twingo said. “You do have to admit there were certain justifications for his actions.”

“This is the exact conversation I’m wanting to avoid with the other three,” Jason said. “Although Lucky probably heard every damn word since he’s just up on the bridge, I don’t want Crusher and Kage coming to me and pleading on Doc’s behalf. Let’s just get this job done and we’ll see what happens after that.”

Chapter 18

“I’ve got the list you wanted,” Kellea said as she walked onto the bridge. “Here,” she leaned over Jason at the pilot’s station and tapped some commands on his left display to bring up the file. “These are the worlds based on Crisstof’s information that are most likely to have biodrone attacks within the next few weeks. Or months. It’s impossible to pinpoint it with any real degree of accuracy since a lot of his data was based on supposition. So what did you need this for?”

“It was just a hunch,” Jason said. “I was looking for patterns in the attacks, but we have too few incidents to really get a good view. If I add in the systems we think are likely to be attacked soon, the computer may be able to determine where the next hit will be with a greater degree of accuracy.”

“Do you think that will actually work?” she asked.

“Nope. Not even a little bit,” he admitted. “But I’m one of the few here not really doing anything useful so this kills some time, and who knows, it may even dig up something.”

“Good luck with that,” she said, and walked back off the bridge.

“Kellea!” he called after her.

“Yes?” she said, poking her head back through the entryway.

“Did you figure out the best way to contact Crisstof’s son?”

“More or less,” she said, stepping fully back onto the bridge. “The exact planet doesn’t matter, but we’ll just pick a well-populated world and put a call in for a pickup.”

“A pickup?” Jason asked with concern. “Is that wise to actually expose yourself like that?”

“This is one of the few people we can trust, so—” she spread her hands wide as she trailed off. “I can’t hide out on your ship forever, Jason.”

“Just be careful,” he said. “If anything, this has taught us to be cautious of who we trust.” She just nodded and walked back off the bridge. Jason stared at the spot where she had been for a heartbeat longer and then turned back to tackle his expanded list.

*****

“This is actually quite good, Captain,” Kage said as he looked over the probability graph Jason had constructed hours before. The Veran had found it while sifting through the data dump Twingo had provided; it had stuck out due to the timestamp on the file.

“Don’t condescend to me, Kage, I’m in no mood,” Jason said.

“I’m not. You’ve gone beyond simple mathematic probability and have addressed a lot of the intangibles such as species temperament, system of government, and polling of public opinion on policy issues.” Jason decided to take Kage’s compliment at face value and explained his methodology.

“I assigned each intangible a variable in my equation, then I used a scale of one through ten to give them values when the computer ran the simulation. Then I averaged the results and then tweaked those based on what I thought the computer was missing,” Jason explained.

“What was the distribution on those variables between simulations?”

“It depends, but usually not more than plus or minus two,” Jason said.

“Do you mind if I mess with this? I’d like to run it through a few other sims that just popped into my head while I was looking at it,” Kage asked.

“Knock yourself out,” Jason told him. “If you can narrow it down with any degree of confidence, that will do nothing but help. Speaking of helping … how are we coming on getting Kellea in contact with Dalton’s First Son? She was underwhelming with the details when I asked.”

“Nothing much to say,” Kage answered, now becoming fully engrossed in his new task. “We need to find someplace where we can send a message from a public node to him and then have enough cover to hide in case ConFed Intel sends agents to comb the area. It’d also be preferable to be able to stand off and observe this guy landing. She seems to trust him completely, but I have my doubts.”

“Based on what?”

“He’s a politician from what I saw of his press statements,” Kage said. “While he may not be ready to turn on his First Father, at least not until he has the keys to the kingdom, I doubt that sense of loyalty extends to Crisstof’s employees.”

“I’m sure she’d be thrilled at being considered just one of Crisstof’s employees,” Jason chuckled.

“You know what I mean,” Kage said. “She was his right hand … you know that, and I know that, but an outsider probably won’t make that distinction.”

“True enough,” Jason answered. “Just keep me up on what she’s planning.”

Jason hopped out of his seat and walked off the bridge, leaving only Kage to watch over things. He made his way to the main deck and towards the infirmary, now fully visible from the corridor. “Any progress?” he asked as the doors slid aside to let him in.

“No, Captain,” Doc answered. “I’ve isolated the carrier frequency the device is using, but trying to determine what it actually needs to receive on that frequency is a bit more challenging.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but are you the best person to be trying to figure that out?”

“Meaning what, exactly?” Doc asked coldly.

“Let me rephrase that,” Jason said. “Are you the most qualified to be trying to figure that out? This seems to be Kage’s area of expertise.” Doc let out a breath and put down the tablet computer he’d been holding.

“Probably,” he admitted. “But Kage has been tied up helping Kellea and Twingo. I was just trying to do as you asked.”

“I asked you to get the job done,” Jason corrected. “That means pulling in whatever resources you need. You’re still on the team right now, Doc. If that means you need Kage’s time, go ask him. Or come ask me to reprioritize him. If you think there’s a possibility this can work, we need to do everything we can to make it happen. If things go nowhere with Steader Dalton I’d like to have this as a backup option.”

“I understand,” Doc said. “While I have you here, I’d like to—”

“Let me stop you, Doc,” Jason said, holding his hand up. “We’ll talk about this later. I believe your explanation as to why you acted as you did, but I don’t know that I agree with it. You know how we live … there’s no room for distrust or doubt. But then again, you’re a doctor, and this is all new to you.” Jason took a breath and looked around the infirmary at empty chroot mugs and trays from the galley. “I know you’re working hard at this … let’s just focus on one thing at a time.”

He left Doc to continue hammering away at the problem and went to see what Crusher and Lucky were up to. Oddly enough, he found them deep in conversation with Kellea, educating her on the finer points of infantry tactics, something the starship captain was woefully ignorant about. Not wanting to get drawn into the lecture, he slid by and made his way to Engineering.

“Twingo! How are things?” he called.

“What?!”

“I said—” Jason looked and saw only a pair of boots sticking out of an access panel. He walked up to it and stuck his head inside. “I said, how are things?”

“Good, good,” came the distracted answer. “Just doing the in-flight checks on the anti-matter generator and the containment cells.”

“Make sure you’re getting enough sleep,” Jason said to him. “You and Kellea pulled some long hours on that data dump. I want you getting some rack time before we’re back into the shit.”

“Will do, Captain.”

Jason left his engineer to his work and did a quick inspection of both the armory and the cargo bay before coming back up onto the main deck and heading for a few hours of rack time himself. He’d been an NCO in the military back on Earth, he’d led men in both wartime and during relative peace, and each had its own challenges. Commanding Omega Force was something he was immensely proud of, but in a lot of ways one of the easier things he’d ever done. Oh, the missions were unbelievably difficult and dangerous, but the members of his team didn’t need to be “managed”. They did what they needed to do to accomplish the mission each and every time.

Even Doc, if he were honest with himself, had been doing what he thought was best to deliver a successful outcome. It had been misguided, but Jason had to remind himself that Jorvren Ma’Fredich was a doctor and had never been through even the most basic military training. Putting himself in Doc’s shoes, he was actually surprised the man hadn’t completely fallen apart before now. Couple that with being pulled out of a cushy existence and stuck on a small military vessel for months on end … Jason did have a lot to consider before making a final decision on where Doc’s future in Omega Force stood.

Chapter 19

Years of living on the Phoenix made Jason attuned to even the most miniscule change in her flight profile. He sat upright in his bunk and tried to pinpoint what had awoken him. There were no alerts on his display, no alarms going off, the engines—

That was it. The engines were running harder than they were when he’d gone to bed. They’d been in slip-space on a leisurely pace to a planet Kellea thought would made a good pickup point. He slipped out of bed and padded up to the bridge to see Kage in the pilot’s seat.

“Speed change?” he asked.

“Yes,” Kage answered. “I didn’t want to bother you with the trivial details, but I went over your chart and I think there’s an imminent attack on Gryr-4. We’re actually relatively close, so I drifted our course a bit and bumped our speed slightly. We’ll pass by close enough to take a peek. If nothing is happening we can press on.” Jason could find nothing wrong with his reasoning, so he let it pass that Kage had commanded a course change without asking him. It was a minor thing and he had no desire to stifle ingenuity and initiative.

“What made you single out Gryr-4?”

“They’re already on the verge of civil war as it is,” Kage explained. “The primary species, iots they’re called, are governed by a totalitarian system. A large and increasingly vocal faction are sick of it and there have already been some small skirmishes between armed civilians and government forces. It’s an anti-matter warhead about ready to pop off.”

“Sound thinking. ETA until we’re near the planet?”

“Eleven hours.”

“Excellent,” Jason said. “I’ve got a few more hours of sleep coming. Have Lucky relieve you at some time and get some food and sleep yourself. I don’t want you falling out if we’re flying into a hot zone.”

“Don’t worry about me, Captain.”

*****

“Captain to the bridge!”

Jason had no sooner fallen back asleep when Kage’s call came over the ship’s intercom. Why the hell didn’t he just call my quarters …

“On my way,” he said and ran out the door. When he got up to the bridge, Kage had already vacated the pilot’s seat and was sending data to his displays. He slid into his seat and began looking over his displays. “Give it to me.”

“We were right about the planet, wrong about the timetable,” Kage said. “Gryr-4 is erupting into widespread violence NOW!”

“How far out are we?”

“Nine hours at current velocity,” Kage reported.

“Well let’s see what we can do about that,” Jason said as he commanded the slip-drive to eighty percent power. He watched his ETA timer count all the way down to one and a half hours. “Lock in the planet as our destination and start giving me all the information you can on it.”

“It’s already queued up at your station,” Kage said.

“Doc, report to the bridge,” Jason said over the intercom. “All other crew report to your stations and prepare for combat operations.” Kellea was the first on the bridge.

“What is going on? Combat operations?”

“On a hunch we started drifting closer to a planet we thought was a prime biodrone target. Turns out we were right, Gryr-4 is exploding as we speak and we’re hours away from meshing in,” Jason told her.

“To do what, exactly?”

“Hopefully to shut down the biodrones if Doc found me an answer,” Jason replied.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you, Captain,” Doc said as he walked onto the bridge. “I’m no closer than last time we talked.”

“Shit,” Jason muttered. “Well, we’re going in anyway. We’ll play it by ear and see if there’s any way we can offer assistance.”

“From what I’ve read about the government of Gryr-4, this may be the best thing for them,” Kage said.

“If they want to overthrow their oppressive government that’s their business,” Jason replied. “But I’m not allowing the ConFed to manipulate them into throwing off one shitty government for another one that’s equally bad.”

“No arguments here,” Kage said, “but the fighting appears to be spreading across the largest continent. At least if the news service reports are to be believed.”

“Doc, take the seat,” Jason said, getting up. “If you haven’t found an answer by now, I don’t think a couple more hours will make a difference. You two,” he said to Lucky and Crusher, who had just arrived, “with me. We may be involved in ground operations.”

“About damn time something fun happened,” Crusher said as he followed Jason off the bridge.

“So are we to engage the biodrones on the ground, Captain?” Lucky asked once they were in the armory.

“I’d prefer not to,” Jason said, “but the idea of just cruising by while the ConFed gets its hooks into another planet doesn’t sit well with me. We won’t take any unnecessary risks … in the end Kellea is still one of the more important pieces of this and I still have some hope Doc will come up with a way to neutralize these things on a planetary scale. Help me out with this, will you?” Lucky walked over and helped Jason brace enough to get his legs into his armor while it was still in the maintenance rack. “Thanks,” he said as the armor closed itself around him.

“While I’m all for a little action,” Crusher said, “You know we’re not actually going to make a difference one way or another, right?”

“That depends,” Jason said. “Mass casualties alone don’t guarantee the desired outcome. First the biodrones attack, then the ConFed swoops in to save the day if needed. If the violence is getting as out of hand as Kage indicates, they’ll have no choice but to step in this time and get the planet back under control.”

“So we are going to attack the ConFed?” Lucky asked.

“Not exactly.”

“I must admit,” Lucky pressed, “I am confused as to what our objectives actually are.”

“If I’m honest, I’m not exactly certain myself,” Jason said as he began picking armament off the wall.

“Can we ever run an operation that isn’t a complete and utter cluster fuck?” Crusher asked plaintively, using one of his favorite expressions he’d picked up from Jason.

“I don’t want to mess with success,” Jason answered. “Careful planning may actually throw us off our game.”

“Let’s just try it once. For variety’s sake.”

“Crusher, I really don’t even know what the situation on the ground actually is,” Jason explained, “but I want to be ready for anything. I’m hopeful we won’t even need to disembark.”

*****

“Unidentified craft, this planet is under ConFed quarantine. Halt your approach.”

“I guess that answers our question about whether the ConFed was going to have to exert control or not,” Jason mused. “Keep com silence, they’re going to be too busy to worry about us.”

He was pacing across the front of the bridge, leaving Doc in the pilot’s seat for the time being. While he could do it, he preferred not to fly the ship in his new armor until the adaptive calibration function had more time to hone his fine motor skills. He’d rather not rip the control stick out of the console if he got overly excited. “What sort of Fleet presence are we looking at?” he asked Kage.

“Negligible,” the Veran reported. “One standard cruiser and its associated support craft are trying to cover the entire planet.”

“I wonder why they don’t pull the trigger and shut down the biodrones?” Jason directed his question to Doc.

“The fact the drones are so mixed in with the general population could be problematic,” Doc said. “If they all drop dead suddenly it would look suspicious, not to mention the recovery of the bodies with so many other combatants would be difficult. That’s all just a guess, of course. Tactics aren’t my specialty.”

“Could have fooled us,” Twingo said sarcastically, earning himself an unfriendly glare.

“Kage, what appears to be the main objective? It can’t just be a high body count,” Jason said.

“It seems like there’s a heavy convergence on the capital, specifically the Ministry of Defense headquarters,” Kage said. “It’s where the Exalted Leader retreats to at times of war.”

“Exalted Leader? That’s his title?” Crusher asked incredulously.

“I’m just reading what’s here,” Kage said defensively. “I’m sure there’s a subtlety to the title that’s lost in translation.”

“Oh I’m sure,” Crusher snorted.

“Doc, swing us around to the opposite side of the planet from the cruiser and make atmospheric entry,” Jason ordered. “Go dark. Full countermeasures. I want to overfly the capital and get eyes on the ground. Hard to do from orbit with Fleet parked right overhead.”

Flying off of the nav data Kage provided, Doc angled them in for a darkside entry that would keep them hidden from the limited ConFed Fleet presence over the planet. The gentle entry vector made for a nice smooth ride until the Phoenix broke into the upper atmosphere and sped east to overfly the capital at speed and get an idea of how bad things actually were. The Ministry of Defense, as well as the ConFed, had quickly put a clamp on slip-space transmissions leaving the planet, each for their own reasons.

The flight was uneventful as the outbreak of riots and violence had grounded most commercial air traffic and the planet’s limited military air power was centered near the capital to provide what defense it could for the government. At twelve times the speed of sound in the dense Gryr-4 atmosphere, the flight took less than two hours from their entry point near the daylight terminator to the capital city itself.

The city was densely populated and had all the hallmarks of uncontrolled urban sprawl and poor planning. As they descended below the cloud layer they could make out the slums on the outskirts, the haphazardly-placed pockets of industry, and the gleaming towers of the city center. The Ministry of Defense headquarters building was an enormous, black monolith that jutted up from the middle of the tightly-packed buildings, obviously meant to throw a big shadow, both literally and figuratively.

“Subtle,” Crusher rumbled from the back of the bridge.

The Phoenix shot over the city, her sensors recording every detail of the ground situation before the few small ConFed support craft in the area could even react to their presence. Given how busy they were, it was no surprise they offered no pursuit.

“How does it look?” Jason asked.

“The largest mob appears to be smashing itself against the blocks of the MoD building,” Kage said, and he quickly analyzed the imagery from the flyover. “No real heavy weaponry being employed by either side yet, but a lot of small arms fire. The building looks to be safe from being breached.”

“So what do we do?” Crusher asked.

“I hate to even say it, but we need to make sure the Exalted Leader is protected,” Jason said, feeling more than a little foolish uttering the absurd title. “If the iots want to toss him out on his ass afterwards, that’s their business, but the ConFed can’t be allowed to win here today.”

“There is a way to serve both goals,” Lucky spoke up. “Kage, are there ConFed soldiers on the ground?”

“Um … yes,” Kage verified after scanning the sensor reports again. “There is a company-size unit of regular infantry that looks like it’s attempting to gain access to the MoD building through a heavily-defended access point of a tunnel two blocks away.”

“If we defeat the ConFed presence there, and the Phoenix dispatches the light support craft if needed, we can let this riot run its course,” Lucky said. “Then, no matter the outcome of the internal politics, the ConFed will be unable to declare victory or attempt to assume control of the planet.”

“Damn, Lucky,” Crusher said admiringly. “I’m impressed. We get to have some fun, and kicking the shit out of ConFed regulars at that, while still not needing to defend a two-bit dictator. I like it.”

“I do too,” Jason said. “Well done, Lucky. Doc, bring us about and find us an insertion point near that tunnel entrance.”

“I’m highlighting a spot on a shorter support building,” Kage said. “Sending it to your nav display.”

“We’re heading to the cargo bay,” Jason said. “Give us a five second heads up before opening the hatch.”

“Good luck, Captain,” Kellea said from the sensor station Doc normally occupied. Jason nodded and winked at her before walking off after the rest of his team.

After another six minutes the belly hatch in the cargo bay irised open and the familiar blue wavering of the transit beam filled the cavity. Without a word, Lucky stepped into the beam and descended gently to the roof of the building the Phoenix was hovering twenty-five meters above. Jason deployed his helmet and also stepped off the ledge, with Crusher following a few seconds later.

“We’re all down, Doc,” Jason said. “Go find someplace to loiter and keep an eye on those ConFed shuttles. Don’t forget to keep tabs on that cruiser either.”

“Copy, ground assault,” Doc replied. “We’ll be near if you need us.” The trio looked up as the Phoenix throttled up and flew off to the south, gaining altitude until she was just a speck in the sky.

“Let’s see what we’ve got,” Jason said, detaching his big plasma rifle from its anchor point and jogging over to the edge of the roof. The building was a squat, four-story affair that perfectly overlooked the skirmish that was taking place at the mouth of an access tunnel that led directly into the MoD headquarters building. Talk about a stupid feature on a building that’s supposed to be a fortress. The ConFed infantry was well-equipped and trained, but only at company strength. The defending troops were dug in behind fortifications and had the advantage of only needing to secure about thirty feet of beachhead. From what Jason could see, there was only small arms fire being exchanged at the moment. While the company of attackers (likely the full troop complement for a standard Fleet cruiser) was outnumbered, a well-placed rocket would put an end to the conflict. The defenders, while numerous, were all bunched up into an enclosed space. It would be a slaughter. Surely they had to realize that?

“Why doesn’t someone just lob a grenade into that bunched-up pack of morons?” Crusher asked, giving voice to what Jason had been thinking.

“The ConFed infantry does not appear to be trying to capture the tunnel in earnest,” Lucky said. “It is likely that this is a diversion.”

“For what?” Jason wondered.

“Who cares?” Crusher said impatiently. “If we eliminate the diversion, I’d say that would force their hand.”

“Well,” Jason said, “it is what we came to do. How do we want to—”

“I believe surprise will give us maximum impact, Captain,” Lucky interrupted. “Dispersing the soldiers will allow us to accomplish our objective with reduced risk. May I?”

“By all means,” Jason said, curious as to what his friend had in mind. Lucky’s eyes instantly burned red and the whine of his weapons charging filled Jason’s ears before the battlesynth took two steps and launched himself off the roof. “I wasn’t expecting that,” Jason said, rushing to the edge and bringing his weapon up.

Lucky descended in a graceful arc, bent his knees slightly, and slammed into the pavement below right in the middle of the ConFed position. The horrendous sound of the impact reached Jason’s ears as the debris kicked up caused mass confusion in the enemy’s ranks, all of them trying to figure out what had just happened.

If Lucky’s arrival caused confusion, the result when he opened fire within their midst could only be called panicked chaos. Soldiers broke discipline and scattered in all directions as the battlesynth’s plasma cannons started shredding though their ranks. A few squeezed off a few shots in his direction, but none came close to actually hitting him.

“We’d better get down there,” Crusher said, moving to climb over the ledge and make his way to the street level. Jason hopped up next to him and jumped off the roof in the same manner as Lucky. When he was halfway through his descent, he fired the repulsor jets that were built into the suit, two large boosters up by his shoulder blades and two smaller jets that popped out near his armpits, to slow his flight. While not as sexy as Lucky’s foot-mounted jets, it was a far more stable configuration.

As soon as he touched down, Jason started targeting the stragglers and opened fire, dropping each with a double-shot, center mass. His plasma rifle, while not as devastating as his beloved railgun, was quite a bit more powerful than the standard-issue infantry weapon, and the ConFed standard-issue body armor wasn’t faring well against it.

“Watch your back,” Crusher said from his left, having free-climbed down to the first story before jumping to the street below. He let loose a rapid-fire salvo towards the iot troops that were now targeting them in lieu of the ConFed soldiers since they were no longer in range. Crusher’s burst hit the tunnel roof over their heads and brought enough small debris raining down to make them duck and cover. “I count thirty-five down, that means we have another thirty-five or so still out there.”

“True,” Jason said as they moved to the corner of the nearest building to find cover from the iot troops. “But I think this assault has been busted up. Whoever is left in command will probably be calling for an extraction about now. Or at least trying to round up his survivors.”

“All troops have dispersed to the point of being ineffective, Captain,” Lucky reported as he walked casually around the corner to meet up with them.

“Thanks for taking all the fun for yourself,” Crusher accused.

“My apologies,” Lucky said. “We now have a new situation. I detected six thermal signatures approaching from the upper atmosphere and converging on this position. I believe this may be the second prong of the assault.”

“How the hell did you detect that?”

“I am in contact with the Phoenix and monitoring the sensor feed from the ship’s active array,” Lucky said.

“Doc,” Jason said into the com, “do you see the six contacts approaching from orbit?”

“Affirmative, Captain,” Doc answered. “What should we do about it?”

“Engage them,” Jason ordered. “Do NOT let them land on, or take position around, the MoD headquarters.”

“Now what?” Crusher asked. “We should get moving before the iots decide to press the attack and come around the corner on us.”

“This went a little easier than I had expected, to be honest,” Jason admitted. “Let’s move and keep the rest of that company from reforming and coming back to find us.”

*****

“So what’s the plan?” Kellea asked. She was met with a trio of helpless looks from the other members of Omega Force. “What?”

“I think it would be best if you took over,” Doc said.

“Me? Why?” she asked, confused.

“You’re the only captain here right now,” Twingo offered. “We’re mildly proficient, but going head-to-head against six hostile targets is a bit too much.” The others were nodding their heads emphatically at this.

“Oh for … Move!” she barked at Doc. He practically threw himself out of the pilot’s seat to make room for her and strapped himself back in at the sensor station. Kellea slid into the pilot’s seat and waited while the computer adjusted the seat and control positions for her body size. She had only flown the Phoenix twice before, and both times had been nothing more than goofing off with Jason, but at least she was familiar with the stick and rudder control configuration. So even though she had the least amount of hours in the big gunship, her years as a pilot and starship captain still made her the most qualified to fly the Phoenix into combat. “Kage, bring the weapons up and start prioritizing targets. We’re going for disabling shots, there are still a lot of civilians down there.”

“On it, Captain,” Kage said, his four hands flying over the controls to bring the Phoenix up to full combat capable. “Weapons are up, shields coming up, targeting solutions are coming up on your tactical display. Point defense turrets will pinpoint main power junctions and weapon systems on the targets.”

“I’m authorizing the computer to fire at optimum range,” Kellea said as she wheeled the Phoenix around and slammed the throttle down. The big gunship groaned under the g-forces as she turned one hundred and eighty degrees in knife-edge flight. Kellea double-squeezed the trigger and held it for three more seconds before releasing it. This gave command authorization to the tactical computer to fire whenever it felt it had an optimum angle and range on a target.

“We have three coming down on us above and to port,” Doc reported. “The other three are extending out and will likely try to come at the target from the south.”

“Copy,” Kellea said calmly. “We’ll meet the three closer targets head on and then come around for the remaining three. Stand by.” She pulled the nose up and advanced the throttle, sending the Phoenix rocketing straight up and putting them on a collision course for the three incoming ships. The loose arrowhead formation seemed to waver in uncertainty as the bigger gunship bore down on them before breaking to avoid a collision.

The lead ship passed directly over the Phoenix and her point defense turrets blasted its engines into inoperability. It began drifting slowly to the ground on repulsors and emergency power. Kellea stomped the left pedal and sent the ship into a sharp hammerhead turn to try and get a better angle on the ship passing below and to port. The chin turret spat red death as the nose came around and ripped the stabilizers off the left side of the small craft. As it spun down, barely in control, Kellea realized these were small assault boats, not fighter craft. They were probably ferrying troops down to the roof of the MoD building.

“Where’s target three?” she asked as the Phoenix completed her turn and began accelerating back down towards the city.

“To port and low,” Doc said. “Running fast along the deck.”

“Got him,” she affirmed before pushing the power back up and sending the gunship tearing down into the atmosphere after it. She saw that it was over an industrial area that looked to be mostly deserted. “Bring the main guns to bear. Destroy it,” she ordered. The powerful plasma cannons on the leading edges opened up and turned the small assault boat into scraps, none bigger than her fist. She yanked the ship out of the dive and hauled it into a violent bank to the right that would put them in line with the last three targets, all of which were slowing to drop off their loads on the MoD rooftop.

*****

“That should about do it,” Jason panted inside his armor. Even Crusher looked a bit winded as he nodded his agreement, his mouth split in a wide, savage smile. Lucky, of course, just stood and waited for his companions to catch their breath.

“That’ll teach ‘em,” Crusher said.

“I am not certain the lesson learned will be of much use to them now,” Lucky lamented, looking at the bodies of the company commander and his second. Crusher laughed uproariously at this and slapped Lucky on the back. They had been pressing the troops hard in order to keep them from regrouping, but the commander had surprised them and decided to order his charges to turn their guns on any civilian they could find. The three then changed their plan to hunting down the commander specifically and making him pay. He had begged for his life when cornered, and even threw his lieutenant in front of him as a shield before Crusher ended his life. Jason lamented the deaths of the regular troops. They were just your average ground-pounders following orders and likely fed a load of lies as motivation. But the company commander had obviously been specifically selected and placed for the mission. His death gave Jason no regrets.

“Let’s get some altitude and call for a pickup,” Jason said, eyeing the rooftops nearby. It took them more time than he would have preferred to find a way up, and even then it took getting up on a lower building and climbing the exterior of the taller to get in a space clear enough for the Phoenix to come and get them. Jason and Lucky used their repulsor jets to easily ascend to the roof. Crusher, who flat-out refused to be carried, arrived some time later, huffing and puffing from the vertical free-climb. “You’re out of shape,” Jason observed. This was met with a full teeth-exposed snarl. He let it drop … he wasn’t that confident in his new armor.

“Phoenix,” Jason said into the com. “We’re ready for a pickup. You should see my beacon.”

“Stand by assault team,” Kage said. “We’re still engaging hostiles.”

“Copy that.”

As they waited they saw three smaller craft flaring and slowing near the roof of the MoD building. Can’t get ‘em all, I guess. Even as Jason was lamenting the fifty percent success rate of his crew, the lead ship disintegrated into an enormous fireball. The other two turned and tried to accelerate away, but the Phoenix shot out from over the building, wheeled about at an impossible angle of attack, and hit a second target, sending it spiraling down into the street. The third dove to get some airspeed and break pursuit, but the powerful gunship, still in a dive and racing down parallel to the building, rolled around and pulled up in a gut-wrenching maneuver that made Jason hold his breath. They lost sight of the Phoenix for a moment, and he waited for the inevitable explosion he knew was coming from his ship impacting the surface of Gryr-4. He looked up as the small assault boat raced overhead trying to escape. A split second later the Phoenix thundered over their position, mere meters above the buildings as it pursued the last target. They were all speechless for a moment.

“Has Doc been practicing?” Crusher asked in an awed voice.

“That wasn’t Doc flying,” Jason said, utterly certain who was in command of his ship at the moment.

“Kage?” Lucky guessed.

“Try again,” Jason said.

“Humph,” Crusher grunted. “You know … she’ll probably be looking for a job after this—” he trailed off as Jason’s helmeted head snapped around and fixated on him. He was smart enough to leave it alone.

They waited around for another five minutes before the telltale whine of the Phoenix throttling back made them look up again. She appeared over the building in front of them, flaring with her nose up and descending towards them. Once the ship settled into a steady hover, the transit beam descended and they gladly left the planet of Gryr-4 in the hands of the iots.

“Report,” Jason ordered as he walked onto the bridge, his armored feet clomping on the deck. “What’s that cruiser doing?”

“Running,” Kage said. “After we knocked out their assault team, and apparently you guys made short work of the surface troops, they broke orbit and began accelerating out of the system.”

“That’s probably preferable,” Jason said. “This was bad enough. If we destroyed that cruiser we’d be in a world of shit. What are you smiling at?” His question was directed at Kellea, who sat in his seat grinning from ear to ear.

“I like this ship.”

Chapter 20

“So what happens since that cruiser meshed-out of the system without killing off all the biodrones?” Jason asked Doc. He had just climbed back out of his armor and was wearing jogging pants and a t-shirt until he could get back to his quarters to clean up.

“They’ll continue on, unfortunately,” Doc answered. “It’s possible, even likely, that they have an agent on the planet who can broadcast the signal any time it’s needed. But with the Fleet presence gone the cleanup will be impossible, not to mention without the ConFed there to swoop in and save the day, it would be a wasted effort.”

“I think the situation got away from them on Gryr-4,” Kellea said, still in the pilot’s seat as they flew through slip-space. “It’s doubtful they expected that much of the population to also revolt when they kicked off their little party. With that sort of widespread confusion, I doubt the ConFed could have restored order even if we hadn’t disrupted their plan.”

“It’s all just speculation at this point,” Jason sighed. “And without knowing the signal ourselves we can’t even contact the iot government directly to help out. What is it?” His last question was directed at Kage, who looked like he’d just learned some very bad news.

“Gryr-4 wasn’t the only planet,” he said. “Five more outbreaks have been reported in this sector alone, some more violent than others.”

“Shit,” Jason said simply. “There’s nothing we can do for them at this point. Let’s just make our rendezvous with Steader Dalton and hope he has some answers, not to mention the resources he has available. What’s our ETA?”

“We’ll both arrive at the planet Forret’al in twenty-two hours,” Kage said. He’d bounced a com message through Gryr-4’s public network from Kellea to Dalton prior to departing the system. They’d received a message back simply containing a time and date and what appeared to be random numbers. Kage was able to determine that these were, in fact, planetary positioning coordinates, so they surmised the time was when Steader estimated he would arrive.

“Let’s bump our speed and try to beat him by a few hours,” Jason said. “I’d like to get set up for observation before he makes planetfall.”

“Commanding speed increase,” Kellea said. “This should put us there four hours ahead of him without running the engines too hard.”

“Perfect. I’m going to go get cleaned up,” Jason said as he turned and walked off the bridge.

*****

“Why did we pick this planet again?” Jason asked.

“It was a good mix of having advanced communications and spaceports while also not having a very strong ConFed presence,” Kage answered. “No presence, actually. They also have a relatively laidback approach to law enforcement.”

“Works for me,” Jason said. He had no intention of walking into this meeting unarmed.

The flight down into the atmosphere and their landing at the remote spaceport went off without a hitch. After a quick strategy session, Jason, Kellea, and Crusher disembarked and hired a shuttle to fly them from the spaceport to a spot near the meeting place, which was a little over one hundred kilometers away.

While the large, open square looked much too open and public to make for a good clandestine meeting place, these were the exact reasons they had chosen it. They spent the better part of an hour walking around the perimeter of the public area, looking for anything out of place and for a good location for Jason and Crusher to observe the meeting. So far, Steader Dalton seemed to have no clue as to the existence of Omega Force, and Jason wanted to keep it that way. By making it appear that Kellea had arrived by her own cleverness and resourcefulness, Jason would be able to keep the Phoenix and his crew as a wildcard in case things weren’t as they appeared to be.

“It looks like things are all clear,” Crusher said softly. “Where do you want to post up at?”

“The rooftop at our seven o’clock,” Jason said, not looking over at his friend. “The trees near there will offer decent concealment and we’ll still have a good view of the meeting area. Kellea, go ahead and take your place. Good luck.”

“You too,” she said. She looked nervous, but determined. They split up and went their separate ways, still having more than two hours before Dalton’s ship was expected to make orbit. As Jason walked across the square, he felt ridiculously conspicuous in the full-length trench coat he had donned in order to conceal the fact that he was wearing full combat armor. It didn’t matter that the aliens on Forret’al wouldn’t see someone in a long, black coat on a warm day as necessarily unusual. The cliché of it made him feel positively absurd. But the capability his armor gave him trumped looking a bit foolish any day.

“I like that coat,” Crusher said as they forced their way through a door that would allow them access to the stairwell leading to the roof.

“You would.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Never mind,” Jason said. “It’s nothing. You think the foliage is enough concealment up here?” As he crouched near the edge of the roof he could clearly make out Kellea sitting on a bench as well as the opposite side of the square.

“I should think so,” Crusher said. “Unless they know to look for us up here, it’s not likely we’ll be noticed.” Jason placed a small camera on the short ledge, linked the feed to his neural implant, and then settled in out of sight to wait for Steader Dalton’s arrival.

“Do you hear that?” Jason asked after two and a half hours had passed.

“I do,” Crusher confirmed. “Engines. It sounds like two ships approaching.”

“This wasn’t really part of the plan,” Jason said, already concerned that Dalton was running late. “Phoenix, I want you prepped for flight. That means engines idling and clearance granted from Departure Control, and keep a good lock on the tracker we put on Kellea.”

“Copy, assault team,” Doc’s voice came over the com. “We’re already running and waiting.” Jason watched the video feed from the camera and waited as the two distinct engine signatures became clearer and closer. He could also see that Kellea was becoming increasingly agitated as she also detected the sound of approaching ships. He rolled over, shrugged out of the oversized coat, and deployed his helmet in anticipation of the need to spring into action in an instant. Crusher also came up on the balls of his feet and flicked the switch to activate his plasma rifle.

“There,” Crusher said, pointing as two ships, one a basic shuttle that was ubiquitous on most worlds with space-faring cultures, and the other a sleek, two-person attack craft. The second was obviously ConFed in origin.

“Oh, shit,” Jason said, even as both ships made a full tactical landing right in the middle of the square. The door to the shuttle slid open and a man Jason recognized as Steader Dalton stepped out and gestured to Kellea. She stood and took one hesitant step towards him and stopped. Jason could see her mouthing something to him, but wasn’t able to hear due to the still-running ships. Steader shook his head emphatically and gestured again for her to approach the ship. Jason stood and began to move over to the corner of the ledge so he could get a clear view, Crusher moving right behind him.

Kellea took a few more slow steps, placing her within a few meters of the idling shuttle, before she turned and ran. Steader made a gesture and two ConFed troops, obviously from Special Operations Section, leapt from the open hatch and caught her before she could get any distance. From there, everything seemed to move in slow motion for Jason as he leapt off the roof and Kellea was bodily dragged back into the shuttle. His repulsors fired automatically and he hit the ground at a dead run, hearing another thud behind him as Crusher also leapt from the single-story building.

He raised his railgun as the shuttle lifted off and flew quickly away in the opposite direction. He snarled in frustration and disgust, unable to risk a shot on the vessel while she was onboard. The same was not true, however, for the small attack flyer that was also lifting off and rotating around to pursue the shuttle. He allowed the targeting computer in his armor to line up the shot and squeezed off two fast rounds.

The hypersonic projectiles obliterated the starboard engine of the small craft and sent it careening into one of the squat buildings that ringed the square. Jason, running so hard his armor-shod feet were busting up the paving stones, neared the little flyer as it rolled off the crumpled side of the building and landed with a loud crunch in the alleyway. Unbelievably, he could see it begin to right itself and lift into the air again, shaking as the remaining functional repulsors struggled.

Jason raised his railgun again, switched to low-velocity mode, and sent a stream of ultra-dense slugs into the aft section where the small powerplant was housed. The ship went still as high-pressure vapor spewed out of the hull breaches from the damaged coolant system. Hurdling the pylon that used to have the starboard engine mounted to it, Jason came up to the transparent canopy that covered the two-man tandem cockpit. He grabbed the seam with his gauntlet and commanded the armor to full strength as he pulled it up. After a slight whine from the armor’s actuators there was the screech of rending metal as the canopy was torn from its mounts. He tossed it aside and looked into the ruined craft. The being in the aft seat was obviously dead; a piece of metal had come through the bulkhead and skewered him through the chest. The pilot, however, was still alive, conscious, and familiar.

“Hello again,” Crusher said to him pleasantly before crashing his fist into the side of the flight helmet, knocking the agent out. “What are the odds?”

“Not great,” Jason said. “This has been a setup from the beginning. Grab this piece of shit and let’s get out of here. Phoenix, we need an emergency pickup.”

“Copy, Captain,” Kage said over the com. “We’re already airborne.”

*****

The wind whipping by the open ramp of the big gunship was deafening, but Jason was sure it was the bitter cold of Forret’al’s upper atmosphere that brought the agent around. It was the same one that Jason had shot in the head with a stunner back on Camderan-2. The fact that he and his cohorts had been with Steader Dalton, and had abducted Kellea, gave him a sinking feeling about who it was that had set Crisstof Dalton up.

He was now holding the agent at arm’s length, standing on the rear ramp of the Phoenix as it climbed up out of the atmosphere. The agent was actually dangling out over nothing since Jason was anchored to the very end of the ramp. The agent awoke with a start and, once he quickly looked around and saw his surroundings, began struggling mightily against the armored fist that clutched his flight harness.

Still holding him aloft, Jason marched back up the ramp and passed through the electrostatic shield into the cargo bay where the temperature, and air pressure, were much more hospitable. “Now that I have your attention,” Jason said. “We’re going to have a little talk. Anytime I don’t like the answer, we’re going to take a little walk back outside. Understand?”

“I will tell you nothing,” the agent said, now hanging limply and no longer struggling.

“Not a wise choice,” Crusher said, walking up beside Jason. “At least not if you enjoy breathing.”

“You!” the agent said, his eyes going wide. Jason retracted his helmet and looked at him closely.

“So you remember us?”

“Yes, no thanks to you,” the agent spat. “It took the medical section weeks to reconstruct my memories.”

“Well,” Jason said. “This time I’ll be sure to leave your mind intact to the very end.”

“I already told you, you’ll get nothing from me,” the agent said, still not bothering to struggle against such insurmountable odds.

“So we’ve figured out Dalton’s son is working with you, and we know about the clones you’ve been turning loose on a bunch of underdeveloped worlds,” Jason said, ignoring his words. “But why do you need the Diligent’s captain? She can’t be of much use to you at this point.” When the agent simply stared at him Jason marched over and stuck his arm through the electrostatic shield, holding him out in the dangerously frigid air. He thrashed about wildly as dark, purplish blood flowed from his ears and nostrils. “Think he’ll crack?”

“Doubt it,” Crusher said. He was proven wrong when, unable to bear the agony of decompression and the temperature, the agent began hammering on Jason’s arm and nodding his head. Taking that to mean he was more willing to cooperate, Jason hauled him back through the shield. “You may have overdone it.”

“Ready to give me something useful?” Jason asked him, ignoring Crusher. The Phoenix was flying at around twenty-two thousand feet, so while the decompression sickness would be excruciating, it was probably not fatal.

“All I know is that she has information Dalton needs to hold up his end of the agreement,” the agent said. “I wasn’t told what that was, only to retrieve her alive.”

“Do you know where they will take her? Back to the Diligent? Or maybe that enormous ship parked near RU933?”

“I’m just a low-level foot soldier,” the agent said plaintively. “Why would they tell me more than I need to know? I don’t have any information on the Diligent’s location or know anything about factory ships.”

“I never said it was a factory ship,” Jason said, hauling him in close so they were face-to-face, “but thanks for the confirmation on that. One more question … do you know anything about the shutdown code for the clones you’ve been unleashing?”

“No,” the agent said, eyeing the open cargo bay, “I’m telling the truth about that, I swear.”

“So you don’t have the slightest idea?”

“No!”

“Then what good are you?” With that Jason drew back his arm and hurled the agent through the open cargo bay hatch. He didn’t even make contact with the ramp as he went over the edge and began the descent back to the surface. Jason went over and keyed the control to close the ramp and pressure doors before calling the bridge. “We’re closed back up. Get us into orbit and set course for RU933, maximum safe speed.”

“Copy, Captain.”

“That was a little out of character,” Crusher noted, gesturing to the now closed cargo bay entrance.

“You disagree?” Jason asked.

“Not especially,” Crusher said. “It was merely an observation.”

“It may have been unnecessary,” Jason admitted, “but thanks to his bosses we’re chasing Kellea across the quadrant, Crisstof is in prison, and thousands of civilians are dead while they play their games in this latest little power grab.”

“You don’t have to explain yourself to me,” Crusher said, holding his hands up. “I was wanting to kill him the first time we ran into him.”

“Report,” Jason said as he thudded up to the bridge, still in his armor.

“We’re in slip-space,” Kage offered. Jason looked at the blacked-out canopy, and then back to the Veran, who simply stared back.

“No shit, Kage,” he said slowly. “Maybe you could give me just a bit more detail.”

“We’re heading for RU933,” Kage continued, nonplussed at Jason’s demeanor. “Engines are currently at eighty-five percent, Twingo is down in Engineering and will let me know when I’m clear to run them up past ninety. Our ETA is five and a half days.”

“Do we know what Dalton arrived in?” Jason asked. “It sure as shit wasn’t that little shuttle.”

“It was big. Probably a carrier-class vessel from Crisstof’s fleet,” Doc said, looking at his display. “They meshed-out forty-five minutes ahead of us, but the ship’s assumed top speed puts them at least three days behind us if we’re heading for the same destination.”

“I’m almost certain we are,” Jason said. “I didn’t get anything definitive from that agent, but it makes sense any way I look at it.”

“I agree,” Doc said, “that ship has to be completely central to their plans.”

“Let’s just hope we didn’t spook it with our diversion tactic when we were retrieving the Diligent’s safe contents,” Kage said.

“There is always that,” Jason agree sourly. “But there’s nothing for it at this point and we’re out of cards to play.”

*****

The Phoenix meshed-in to the RU933 system well ahead of their own projected schedule thanks to Twingo ensuring the engines were able to maintain ninety-eight percent averaged output during the entire flight. They arrived above the ecliptic so they could look down on the gas giant and allow the optical sensors time to reconnoiter the area and confirm that the enormous factory ship was still there.

It was.

Not only was the ship still lumbering along in its original high orbit, the passive detection grid had yet to be repaired from their previous missile attack. The formation that had contained the ship they’d destroyed for their diversion was now completely broken up, each ship slowly drifting away, each pushed away to varying degrees by the kinetic force of the smaller ship exploding in their midst.

“Why do you think they haven’t bothered to fix the grid?” Kage wondered aloud.

“The grid was originally part of the impound; being a typical government operation, I would assume that nobody has bothered to come around and figure out what happened,” Jason surmised.

“Nice to see that their incompetence even extends to their secret plot for galactic domination,” Twingo said with a laugh. “So now what?”

“I’m going to go out on a limb and say we’re not carrying anything that could take down that factory ship, are we?” Jason asked.

“Not even close,” Twingo snorted. “Even if they had no defenses, which I’m sure they do, it’s simply too big. Oh, we could do some damage with the plasma cannons and take out a few systems with our remaining missile complement, but most of the critical components are buried at least a kilometer deep in that beast.”

“I was afraid of that,” Jason said. “So, does anyone have any ideas? We could just sit around and wait for Steader Dalton to show up, but I’d like to arrange a surprise reception for him if possible.”

“I think I just got an idea,” Twingo said with a truly sadistic smile spreading across his normally cheerful face.

Chapter 21

Steader Dalton walked down the corridor of his First Father’s —his— carrier on the way to see his prisoner. It rankled him that Kellea Colleren was being so stubborn about giving him the information he needed. He knew that Crisstof had confided in her almost exclusively, but other than what he already knew she hadn’t provided him with anything useful.

In truth he had hoped she would accept a position on his staff. She was strong, resourceful, and quite attractive. When he’d approached her, however, with the offer of promoting her and allowing her to oversee all fleet operations within his new empire she had laughed in his face. He thought about killing her right then and there; nobody laughed at him. If the meddlesome agent hadn’t stepped in, he likely would have. Maybe it was just as well … even if he couldn’t get any useful information out of her there were other ways she could serve him.

“Hello, Kellea,” he said as the door to the detention cell whisked open. “Ah … I’m glad to see the doctor has been to see you since our last talk.” Kellea slowly lifted her head and looked at him with naked hostility. She was chained to the wide bench on the far wall that doubled as her bed in the tiny cell they’d crammed her into. While it could have been a lot worse, Steader’s sadistic side had gotten the better of him during her questioning and she’d needed treatment for several contusions and open cuts.

“You can’t possibly think I’m going to give you any more information than you already have, do you?”

“I don’t expect you will,” he said disinterestedly, examining his carefully groomed facial hair in the polished alloy of the cell’s tiny mirror. “In fact, I don’t think you have much information to give. But I do think you may know who my First Father would have put his trust in besides you. Who else would know what he did?”

“Why are you worried?” she asked. “He had no idea you were involved in this … so what do you care?”

“I don’t,” Steader said with a sigh as he sat in the composite chair he had brought in from the corridor outside. “So how did you end up on Forret’al? And how did you mask your communications through a deep-space freighter before that? Impressive though you may be, there’s no way you’ve been moving freely through ConFed space on your own. You’ve had help.”

“Was that a question?”

Steader reached over and slapped her hard across the face, sending her reeling back against her restraints.

“I have no time for your foolishness,” he said in a deliberately bored voice. The side of her face was an angry red as she turned to regard him coldly. “There were reports I would get from my informants within Crisstof’s organization. Random, sometimes unbelievable accounts of a mercenary crew my First Father would call upon when something was considered to be impossible or … less than legal. You wouldn’t have reached out to them when you were on Camderan-2, would you?”

“You know your First Father as well as I do,” she said. “Do you really think he’d stoop to hiring mercenaries?”

“And yet you don’t answer the question,” he said, folding one leg over the other. “Interesting. So who were the two on the roof when I picked you up? Why was the escort we’d brought with us shot down over such a docile world? Tell me about them.”

“I know you’ll come to regret the fact you left them alive,” Kellea said with a laugh. Steader calmly stood up and raised a balled fist over his head, intending to erase the smug expression from her face once and for all.

“ENOUGH!!”

The barked command left Steader paused in mid-air, still seeming to consider continuing with his action.

“I said enough, Steader, and I meant it.”

“This is my ship. You do not tell me what to do,” Steader said, turning enough so that Kellea could see a plain-dressed being in the doorway.

“I will tell you what to do even if that means saving you from yourself at times,” the man said, walking inside the already cramped cell. “You are not an independent operator here. You have been given an incredible opportunity, but you are certainly not indispensable. I would urge you not to encourage me to find a replacement for you.”

“Was that a threat?” Steader said incredulously.

“It’s whatever you want it to be, dear boy. Now leave. You’ll not be torturing any more prisoners on this trip.” The two squared off across from each other for a moment before, with a disgusted snort, Steader turned to leave.

“She’s useless at this point,” he said. “Waste your time with her if you must.”

“I apologize for that, although since you know him you must be accustomed to that,” the man said. He produced a small device from his pocket and, at the press of a button, released Kellea’s restraints. She slowly brought her hands in front of her and began massaging her bruised and swollen wrists.

“I’ve actually only met him a handful of times,” she admitted, eyeing the newcomer with distrust. “He’d kept his predilections a secret, even from his First Father, apparently.”

“You mean the fact that he’s a sadist? Yes, not many people know about that,” the man admitted. “It’s made him easier to control, however. Certain recorded images and holographs in our possession would be things he’d rather not have come to light.”

“So who are you? The good guy in the equation? Come in and comfort me, sound reasonable, and try and extract the information out of me using a different angle?” she asked.

“No … I’m the other bad guy,” he confirmed. “You can call me Agent Alux. As I’m sure you guessed, I’m with ConFed Intelligence, on loan to the Special Operations Section. No, Kellea, I could care less about who knows about Crisstof Dalton’s suspicions. Steader seemed obsessed with it, however, and insisted on the detour to pick you up.”

“Why are you here then?”

“He was correct about one thing,” Agent Alux said. “You couldn’t have made it this far on your own. Unlike Steader, however, my reports are a bit more substantiated. I’ve been getting rumblings for some time about a merc crew that flies an older model Jepsen Aerospace gunship that’s far faster and better armed than it has any right to be. This crew pops in and out of intel reports, always seemingly on the periphery of large events with major implications. You can understand my concern given what is happening here, can’t you?”

“What, specifically, are you asking me, Agent Alux?” she asked.

“Must I come right out and say it?” he asked. “Very well. Kellea, I want you to tell me everything you know about the mercenary unit that calls itself Omega Force.”

*****

“There she is,” Kage said and highlighted the darkened hulk with a pulsing green triangle on Jason’s nav display. Jason keyed in a command and sent the icon directly to his neural implant so he could see it without having to look down at the display.

“It doesn’t look like the attitude has drifted too badly from the last time we were here,” Jason said. The Diligent looked exactly as they’d left it during the information raid, which was a good thing as it indicated the ship hadn’t been visited since they’d departed. “I’ll drop you and Lucky off and then move my way back to the flight deck,” he said to Twingo. “You guys all set?”

“All set, Captain,” Twingo said. “We’ll pop an emergency dorsal hatch and then we can get to work.” The engineer was already decked out in his custom EVA suit with his helmet in hand. When they began drifting back towards the engines of the frigate, he followed Lucky off the bridge and made his way to the cargo bay.

Relying heavily on his neural link, Jason swung the ship around to the cargo bay so they were facing the nozzle of the same engine they’d passed by the first time. Using the docking thrusters, he made fine corrections to his course until the two ships were perfectly lined up for the cargo bay ramp to be lowered and extended to bump up against the faring of the Diligent’s engine nozzle. He activated four mooring beams to hold them fast and then placed the main drive in standby.

He watched with interest as Lucky and Twingo made three trips from the Phoenix to the Diligent, ferrying cargo from the former to the latter. After about an hour the team finally gave him the all-clear. “We’re all set, Captain,” Twingo called over the short-range com. “If you would, move her around level with the flight deck and parallel to starboard by a couple hundred meters. We may need to explosively release the hatch and I don’t want it putting a ding in my hull.”

“Copy that,” Jason confirmed. “Moving off now.” They were risking using the short-range com since the passive detection grid was still in shambles and the factory ship had just crossed the horizon and was on the far side of the planet again. The interference coming off the planet itself should easily mask their emissions unless someone knew exactly which frequency to look for. He deactivated the mooring beams and, keeping the drive in standby and using thrusters only, maneuvered the ship around and up (at least up in relation to the larger ship) and parked them parallel to the frigate almost exactly three hundred meters off its starboard bow.

“Not a bad bit of flying, Captain,” Crusher said from where he lounged at a sensor station. Jason just grunted and continued to monitor the passive sensor array to make sure nobody was coming out to investigate. They sat around for another few hours before a flash off to their port side caught their attention. Jason swung the optical sensors around just in time to see Lucky’s head and shoulders protruding out of a hatch near the very aft end of the flight deck, which was in reality just the upper hull with hangar elevators installed.

“Captain,” Lucky called over on the com, waving his hand as he did. “Twingo thinks it would be possible to detach one of the hangar bay hatches and use the Phoenix to remove it, allowing the ship to enter the hangar. This would make our task much easier.”

“He’s sure this is safe?” Jason asked skeptically.

“He seems quite certain,” Lucky replied.

“Which makes me feel no better,” Jason muttered before re-keying the com. “OK, how do we do this?”

“Land on the aft hangar bay hatch when I tell you,” Lucky said, “then engage the landing gear mag-locks and it should be possible to lift the hatch out of place.”

“Oh, this should be good,” Crusher laughed.

“Just let me know when to begin, Lucky,” Jason said, also a bit leery of the plan. Over the next few hours they watched as Lucky walked around on the outer hull of the Diligent, ripping open access panels, setting off small explosive charges, and digging around inside hatches with a cutting beam. They zoomed the optics, trying to get an idea of what they were doing, when the enormous, unfathomably heavy hatch began to come up out of its recess on its own.

Jason sat, transfixed, as the slab of alloy, easily weighing fifty thousand tons, continued to rise out of the gap until it started to rise up and away from the Diligent’s hull. Lucky moved around and gripped an edge, extended his body out parallel to the flight deck, and fired his repulsors. Ever so slowly the massive hatch began to drift to port and accelerate as Lucky kept up maximum thrust. After a few minutes the thrust of the battlesynth’s repulsors overcame the plate’s orbital inertia and hatch slid effortlessly away from the Diligent. Lucky arrested his own momentum and used his jets to descend smoothly back to the flight deck.

“You’re clear to begin your approach, Captain,” Lucky called over. “The hangar deck below is clear as well.”

“I take it we’re no longer needed to remove the hatch,” Jason asked unnecessarily.

“No, Captain,” Lucky answered. “I was able to remove it safely myself.” As Crusher gave him a look that plainly said what he thought of the intelligence of the question, Jason was eternally grateful that Lucky hadn’t yet ventured into sarcasm as his sense of humor developed.

He extended the landing gear and began to use the maneuvering jets to slide the Phoenix directly over the black maw that now existed on the Diligent’s dorsal surface. Once he had stabilized his flight, checked, rechecked, and then checked one more time that his position was correct, he fired the thrusters for a split second to send the gunship sinking down into the hangar. He looked up in time to catch a strange visual as Lucky stood at the lip of the opening and peered into the Phoenix’s canopy when they were at eye-level. Then he was through and the ship drifted down the last little bit to the deck.

“Five meters to go,” Kage reported. “Velocity looks good, we’ll barely feel a bump.” Sure enough, after a short wait there was a soft bump that could hardly be felt through the deck as the landing gear absorbed most of the shock. Jason reached over and activated the mag-locks to ensure they stayed planted.

“Good job, Captain,” Twingo’s voice came over the intercom. “Go ahead and lower the ramp and we can get started.”

With the Phoenix inside the hull of the Diligent, Twingo was now able to move back and forth between the two with ease. Jason also made his way down to the cargo bay to see how the plan was shaping up. He stood up on the mezzanine as the engineer, with Lucky’s help, dragged heavy power cables from an open hatch in the floor of the frigate and began connecting them to one of the gunship’s main bus couplers. There were thirty-two cables in total that snaked into the cargo bay once they were done.

“You think it will still work?” Jason asked as Twingo removed his helmet to take a break before heading back down into the bowels of the Diligent’s engineering deck.

“I won’t know until we boot up the computers,” Twingo admitted. “We’re hooked in properly, so the Phoenix should be able to power up all the subsystems and we can at least get an idea as to how much is damaged from the attack and what has gone to hell from sitting in vacuum. In the spirit of full-disclosure … I’ve never actually done this before.”

“Welcome to my world,” Jason said. “Half the shit I do anymore is the first time I’ve ever done it.”

“Good point.”

It was another hour before Twingo felt comfortable trying to bring certain systems on the Diligent to life. He had Kage down in the engineering bay of the Phoenix monitoring the main reactor’s output as he demanded more and more power from the core to get the dead ship’s subsystems back on.

“How is it going?”

“The same as when you asked ten minutes ago, Captain,” Kage said, not taking his eyes from the terminal he was sitting at. “I’ll let you know if something is going wrong, but honestly the core overloading will likely just kill us all instantly.”

“That’s something, I suppose,” Jason said. Finally unable to sit idle anymore, he grabbed his EVA suit and went to the armory where he could have some room to change. Getting into the pressure layer was a bit undignified and usually required some room to swing one’s limbs about wildly to actually get it in the correct position.

After getting on the tough, outer shell and the powerpack, Jason walked out into the cargo bay before slipping the helmet on and doing a pressure check. Once it was secured and showed a green indicator, he stepped through the shield and onto the ramp, which was barely passable thanks to all the cables that hovered near the surface.

“Burke leaving the ship,” he said over the com as he gritted his teeth against the uncomfortable freefall feeling of micro-gravity and followed the cables to the open hatch in the floor of the hangar deck that led down to the engineering areas. He stepped off the edge and, propelling himself with his hands, he floated downwards at a steady clip, passing by six other decks before his feet hit the floor. He magnetized his boots and walked off to find Twingo.

He was amazed to see that many terminals in the engineering space were lit up and displaying data—albeit most of that data was coupled with strident warnings and errors—and even some of the ambient lighting was up. He found Twingo at one of the terminals near the aft section, furiously entering commands.

“This is an incredible pain in the ass to do with pressure gloves on,” Twingo said when he saw Jason approach. “I’ll still have it ready in time, though.”

“I’m not here to hustle you,” Jason assured him. “You just tell me what you need. I was just going a little stir-crazy sitting on the ship and not doing much of anything.”

“I can understand that,” Twingo said. “My best guess is that I’ll have emergency power up in the next couple of hours, then field containment, then I can begin to try and start the anti-matter generators. They left this thing completely fueled, if you can believe that. It lost a little once power was lost, but more than enough for our purposes.”

“That’s good to hear,” Jason agreed. “So once the anti-matter flow is back up do you think the core will restart easily?”

“Short answer? Yes,” Twingo said confidently. “Kellea’s engineer ran a tight ship and everything is in good order. He even left detailed instructions for a cold start in hard copy in case of something like this. A man after my own heart … I hope he made it to an escape pod.”

“Me too,” Jason agreed before walking off to look over the rest of the engineering area. Everywhere he looked, power cables from the Phoenix were snaked into a panel and breathing life into the derelict. Thankfully the frigate was a robustly-designed ship and a lot of the critical systems had their own processing and control subsystems. Twingo had found early on that the main computer core had been cut out of its mounts and removed. Likely looking for the data Crisstof had kept in his safe.

The lack of a main computer did pose some challenges, however. With nothing acting as the “gate keeper” for all the individual ship systems, it was a labor-intensive effort to get everything working together. Toss in the added challenge of the ship being cold and adrift for so long and he didn’t envy Twingo in his task. But it was his plan, so Jason intended to let him either make it work or throw in the towel himself.

Eventually, with nothing useful to contribute, Jason made his way back to the vertical shaft, demagnetized his boots, and pushed off to float along towards the hangar deck.

*****

“The core is running, the engines are primed for a fast start, but we’ve run into a huge snag without the main computer being there anymore,” an exhausted Twingo was relaying the bad news to the rest of the crew over the galley table. The engineer’s eyes were drooping and he was still in his EVA suit, sans helmet. He hadn’t even removed the gloves as he sipped at a mug of chroot.

“So there’s no way to get her moving again?” Doc asked.

“Oh, that’s the easy part,” Twingo said. “It’s the fact that we can’t steer the ship remotely that is the main problem. So this plan will work, but it’s a one-way trip for someone. Any volunteers?”

“How long until Steader is scheduled to show up?” Jason asked.

“Two days,” Kage answered.

“Then I want everyone to stand down for at least eight hours. That means actually getting some sleep and approaching this problem fresh later. We’re all falling out and Twingo looks like he may have actually already died,” Jason said, getting up. “Computer, I want a general ship-wide wakeup call given in exactly eight and a half hours from now.”

“Acknowledged.”

“Lucky, can you stand watch while we’re down?”

“Of course, Captain,” Lucky answered and walked off towards the stairs that would take him up to the command deck. Jason made sure Twingo actually went to his quarters before trudging off to his own stateroom to grab a few hours.

Predictably, he lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, knowing that sleep would be elusive. He was concerned that a cornerstone of their plan wasn’t going to be possible to execute. He was sick with worry about what was happening to Kellea. He was also not entirely comfortable with his ship trapped inside the Diligent’s hangar if someone happened upon them and decided to investigate.

He began to compartmentalize the problems, arrange them in order, and work on the most pressing and easily solvable first. The Phoenix’s passive array was next to useless inside the hangar, and switching to active sensors would only announce their presence to the entire system and leave them no safer. They could play the odds and just hope that nobody happened nearby, but this was the type of thinking that led to people dying. Idly, he wondered if one of the twins would be able to just perch up near the entrance and keep an eye out for them.

The moment he thought of his two little semi-smart drones tucked away in their cradles he bolted upright in his bed. “I wonder,” he said aloud before swinging his legs over the side of the bed and heading for the door. “It’s not like I was going to get any sleep anyway.”

“Is something wrong, Captain?” Lucky asked as Jason came onto the bridge.

“Nothing you’re not already aware of,” he answered. “How familiar are you with the twins and their capabilities?” Lucky actually managed to look taken aback by the question.

“I am familiar with their operational specifications—”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Jason waved him off. “I know all of that too. I’m wondering if we could teach one how to fly a ship.” The battlesynth seemed to mull the question over a moment.

“It would be an intriguing answer to our problem,” Lucky agreed. “May I ask what led you to think of the autonomous drones as a solution?”

“Sometimes inspiration just comes to me,” Jason said, moving to one of the terminals on the port side of the bridge. “In a completely unrelated matter, we need to launch one of the twins to run overwatch on the hangar opening.”

Chapter 22

Kellea sat in a chair on the bridge of the carrier Stalwart, one of Crisstof’s larger ships that was mostly used for relief work. Steader had tried his very best to turn her into a ship of war, packing the hangars with any type of combat ship he could find while haphazardly installing weapon emplacements around the hull. These were controlled by no fewer than six computers that weren’t networked together. She was actually mildly curious if a point defense turret would try to shoot down one of their own missiles when it was fired.

The bruises on her face were nearly healed up, but her wrists were a raw, ravaged mess after repeatedly being put into restraints only to be dragged up to the bridge and deposited in a chair to be nothing more than a captive audience to Steader’s increasingly bizarre rants. After her talks with Agent Alux, it was obvious the ConFed had enlisted Steader in order to get their hands on Crisstof’s fleet, one of the largest privately-owned armadas in known space. He was highly expendable, especially now as they neared the endgame, and she suspected he was beginning to realize it.

As they neared their destination (they had not told her where they were going), she could see that Agent Alux had gone from being merely irritated at Steader to looking mildly concerned for the man’s stability. He wouldn’t assume full control of Crisstof’s assets until after the trial. Though it might be rigged from the start, the cogs of a massive bureaucracy guaranteed that it would still be many months before the trial even began.

Agent Alux had questioned her extensively about Omega Force, but she had pled ignorance at every opportunity and emphasized that Crisstof had worked with many outside contractors. She made it clear that she had a low opinion of such characters and had little to no direct interaction with them. It was a convincing lie since it was mostly true. Given the accuracy of a lot of his information, she assumed they’d secured the computer core from the Diligent, but she also knew Chrisstof had been very careful never to mention Omega Force by name even for the purpose of internal documentation, so even if they looked into every single file they’d never find that particular name.

Even without her help, however, Alux had a sizeable amount of data on operations Omega Force had taken part in. But a lot of it was inaccurate. As with all legends, the boys in Omega were credited with far more than they’d actually done. While Jason would likely get a kick out of that, Kellea could understand the danger that presented. They were losing their anonymity, at least within the ConFed’s intel and special operations circles, the very places you really didn’t want to be well known. She hoped she would have the chance to warn Jason about this, but she didn’t really expect to survive much longer. From what she was able to garner, they were taking on a full load of biodrones and dispersing them for another round of mayhem on as many as twelve planets. She didn’t believe she would be given free passage for the entire delivery route.

“What are you thinking about?” Steader demanded, looking at her intently from the captain’s seat. The actual captain of the ship was standing uncomfortably off to the side, monitoring his crew as they flew the ship. Kellea knew the man, and he knew her. He had refused to meet her gaze when she was first hauled up to the bridge.

“I won’t ask you again,” Steader said, his voice rising just a tick.

“Leave her alone, Mr. Dalton,” Agent Alux said in a bored voice from the back of the bridge. “She’s here as an information source. She’s not here to amuse you.” Steader looked like he was going to respond, saw the bridge crew watching the exchange, and let it drop. He pasted on his best politician’s smile before addressing the agent.

“Of course, Alux,” he said, deliberately leaving his title off. “I’ve known her well, for a long time, however, and I’d prefer not to have her sitting there plotting.”

“Really?” Alux said, setting his tablet down and staring down Steader. “Because she tells me that you’ve only briefly met fewer than six times,” he said, holding up a six-fingered hand. “So how is it you know her well?”

“It’s a figure of speech,” Steader replied, his eyes flashing in anger even as the same ridiculous smile stayed pasted on his face. “She’s been my First Father’s right hand for years now. She’s not to be trusted.”

“And yet you keep insisting that she be up here on the bridge,” Alux retorted. “Try to remain calm, Steader. Soon it won’t matter what she does, or doesn’t do.” Steader gave Kellea a look that she was certain was meant as a warning. The stupid shit doesn’t even realize Alux just threatened him, not me. The exchange did present a problem, however. If Dalton was no longer necessary she had no delusions about being kept around after he was eliminated.

“Meshing-in now,” the captain reported wearily. A slight shudder ran through the ship as the slip-space fields collapsed, and the front window cleared to show they had entered a system with a single primary star. Despite being kept in the dark, Kellea knew exactly where they were: RU933.

“Scan the system,” Alux ordered, getting up out of his seat.

“The system is clear,” the sensor operator declared after a moment. “There are a few negligible navigation hazards from the incident that destroyed a ship in one of the holding formations, but nothing that should impede our rendezvous.”

“Very good,” Alux said. “Captain, alert my counterpart we’ve arrived and are moving to match orbits with them.”

“Of course, sir,” the captain said.

*****

“I think this may actually work,” Twingo said as he watched Kage furiously programming “Number Two”, one of the Phoenix’s autonomous drones, in an attempt to get it ready to take control of the heavily damaged Diligent.

“You had doubts?” Jason asked.

“A few,” Twingo admitted. “Lots of ideas sound good on the surface, and then later become obvious that they simply won’t work.” He and Jason had tried to program the drone themselves by telling it what they wanted via voice commands, then manual inputs, but the poor bot just couldn’t understand what they wanted it to do. In the end they hauled Kage down and linked him directly into the drone’s CPU and had him re-coding many of the subroutines in order for the plan to work.

“How are we with the rest of the preparations?”

“The core is back up and stabilized,” Twingo reported. “I could only get four of the six engines to respond, but the fact the outboard engines are inoperable may help suppress the signature somewhat. Engines two through five are preheated and primed for an instantaneous, emergency start.”

“Will they take it?” Jason asked.

“For a short bit,” Twingo said. “More than enough for this to either work or fail.”

“Your optimism is overwhelming,” Jason said, still watching Kage while standing in the Phoenix’s cargo hold with his helmet off. “While we’re standing around doing nothing, grab Lucky and let’s go help ourselves to whatever’s left in the Diligent’s magazines. Between Kellea’s rescue and taking down this detection grid, we’re down to seven missiles on board.”

Twenty minutes later Jason and Twingo were watching as Lucky forced his way into the frigate’s magazine. With a final rending of tortured metal, a strange thing to witness in the silence of a complete vacuum, they walked in and played their lights over rows of missiles, bombs, and other munitions. “I wish I could adopt them all,” Jason said with a laugh. “Let’s figure out which are the most expensive and take those.”

Twingo walked over to the panel by the door, which had a single, red pinpoint of light in the lower left corner, and tapped it twice. The panel then fully illuminated and allowed him to bring up the lights and powered up the lifts needed to move the missiles around. “Back up bus power is available ship-wide,” he explained. “I’ve left everything powered down to keep the ship dark and cold, but I’d rather not have Lucky ripping the mounts off of missiles with live warheads.”

“Good thinking,” Jason agreed, now moving along the racks and reading the displays that were coming up. The Phoenix could hold thirty-two missiles between her forward and aft weapons bays in her belly. She could also hold another five in each wing that were fired through launching tubes close to the main guns when it was inadvisable to risk opening the weapon bay doors and exposing it to incoming fire. The wing stores were more torpedo than missile, smaller and far less sophisticated.

“Let’s be smart about this,” Twingo said. “The more diverse our load-out, the better off we’ll be. What do we have left on board in the aft weapons bay?”

“Four low-yield fusion and three high-explosive penetrators,” Jason answered.

“So nothing really worth keeping compared to what’s in here,” Twingo confirmed to himself. “We have some time. Let’s grab a full load of thirty-two and replace the seven we have left right now. I’m sure Crisstof won’t mind.”

“After what we’re about to do to his ship, swiping a few missiles will be the least of his problems,” Jason laughed. “By the way … since this is your idea, I feel it’s only right you explain it to him.”

“If it works,” Twingo said, making a face.

“If it works,” Jason confirmed.

Over the next two hours, the conversation was reduced to single words and grunts as they worked to load up the missiles on dollies to move them up to the hangar deck and begin loading them onto the Phoenix. This first step nearly met with disaster when Twingo, in a momentary lapse of reason, powered on the hover-dolly and it, with him still attached, went rocketing to the ceiling since artificial gravity was still disabled. The damage was minimal, at least physically, as Jason (and even Lucky) made many jokes at his expense over the next half hour.

The micro-gravity did make short work of actually moving the munitions around once they were secured and detached from the storage racks, so once the trio began dragging the missiles up the long, wide access tunnel that led to the hangar, the job went much more quickly. The Phoenix, being a vessel designed from the ground up for combat operations, was relatively easy to load up. First they opened the forward weapons bay and commanded the internal racks be lowered to the ground. The rack unlocked with a heavy clunk and easily slid down on six telescopic guides.

The missiles were quickly loaded up onto the launching arms and the inductive connectors of the umbilicals were attached. It took a few minutes for the Phoenix to negotiate with the new missiles, after which the status lights on all of the individual pylons winked green, letting Jason know the gunship had connected to each smart weapon and that it was now fully functional and available.

They secured the forward bay and then went to work on the aft bay, lowering the launch rack and going about removing the seven missiles already there. Three of the missiles actually had an amber status light, meaning their health was questionable, and looked to be about ten years out of date.

“I’ll bet these were part of the original load-out when this ship was first deployed and patrolling space for that mining company,” Twingo said, gingerly disconnecting the hard lines from the weapons.

“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Jason said. “We always fire and reload from the forward bay. They’ve been here as long as I’ve had the ship, I know that. I wonder why the Eshquarians didn’t replace them when they rebuilt her.”

“I think they were more than a little miffed that you actually decided to rebuild an aging gunship than accept the gift of a brand new ship out of their shipyards,” Twingo laughed.

“No doubt about that,” Jason said. “I still think that if the premier had known what my choice would be they’d have just scrapped her while we were all still laid up in the hospital.”

“Lucky us,” Twingo said.

“Excuse me?” Lucky asked in confusion.

“Huh? Oh, no,” Twingo answered. “I meant fortunate us.”

“Oh.”

The three quickly unloaded the missiles, secured them on of the now-empty transport dollies, and put the new weapons in the rack. Jason dragged the dolly with their discarded weapons into the forward part of the hangar and engaged the mag-lock, securing it to the deck. He paused to look around. The ConFed had not only left the weapons and fuel aboard the ship, the hangar was littered with various expensive ships. He briefly toyed with the idea of trying to save them, but decided it was an unneeded complication on top of an already overly-complicated plan.

“How is it coming?” Jason asked Kage as he approached.

“I’m actually finished,” Kage answered. “I’m just running it through some simulations to make sure there aren’t any surprises. This thing isn’t as dumb as we originally thought, it just takes a very specific syntax.”

“That’s good to know,” Jason said. “This will be our one and only diversion. Otherwise, they’ll see us coming half an orbit away.”

“It’ll do the job,” Kage said confidently. “Assuming Twingo is able to get the ship moving at all, of course.”

“He says everything is ready,” Jason said. “Anyway, press on. Just make sure you’re disconnected and it’s ready to do its thing within the next two hours.”

He left Kage and went up into the gunship to find Twingo. He caught up with the engineer, still in his pressure suit, sitting in the galley grabbing a quick meal. “With the main computer down, how easy do you think it would be to rig every remaining missile in the magazine to blow?” he asked, sinking wearily into the seat across from his friend.

“Not too hard,” Twingo said between bites, “but not especially advisable. You’d be bypassing a lot of safety measures, which would make them fairly unstable. You think we need a little extra punch?”

“I’d like the insurance, if nothing else,” Jason said. “Maybe every missile would be too much, but if a few of the anti-matter warheads cooked off at the right time that could be a real difference maker.”

“Hmm,” Twingo grunted thoughtfully, staring off into space for a moment. “Four of the high-yields would do it probably. I could rig them up outside of the magazine and run a remote detonator to them.”

“It’d have to be more than just the mag-locks on the dolly securing them,” Jason said. “Otherwise the g-forces are going to send them flying before we get a chance to trigger them.”

“Leave it to me,” Twingo said with a wink. “Let me finish up here and I’ll take care of it.”

*****

The mag-locks in the landing gear released with a slight lurch and Jason triggered the ventral thrusters to push the Phoenix up out of the hangar. He kept the ship slightly nose-up and moved at a veritable crawl, not wanting to crunch his ship into the opening during the last part of the operation. The gunship emerged from the hangar and gracefully moved off to starboard. He could see Number Two perched on the flight deck with cables snaking into one of its open access panels. The cables were wired in with breakaway connectors so that, when given the word, the little drone would be able to zip off on its own and leave the frigate behind. The cables ran down through the hangar and all the way to Engineering where they terminated into propulsion and basic attitude control.

“We’re looking good, Captain,” Doc reported from the sensor station. “I can’t get a firm read on the ship’s core, and we’re directly next to it. I think it’s a safe bet that nobody else will detect it as they enter the system.”

“Let’s hope so,” Jason said. “I’m moving us above the formation. Let’s keep passive and optical sensors trained on planet for now. Give me a heads up of any slip-space distortions. We’re only going to get one shot at this, and we’re not even one hundred percent sure we’re in the right spot.” The bridge fell into an uncomfortable silence as everyone pondered the fact that days of frenzied activity could be for naught. “Nothing to do now but wait,” Jason said, climbing out of his seat. “Take the chair, Doc,” he said. “I’m going to go get ready. You too, Crusher. There can’t be any unnecessary delays.”

Jason, Crusher, and Lucky walked off the bridge on the way to the armory. It would be less than comfortable to be sitting around in full armor for potentially up to a day, but if their hunch proved to be correct things were going to happen very fast. He looked at his hulking crewmate and braced himself for the argument he knew was coming. If they were going to have to get aboard Dalton’s ship, Crusher was going to have to make some concessions and wear a full pressure suit with life support capability. This had proven to be a bit of a challenge in the past and now he was going to have to convince him to not only wear the gear he despised, but to sit in it for an extended period of time. He sighed inwardly and began preparing his arguments he would need to convince the big warrior that this wasn’t really something optional.

Chapter 23

Kellea felt the shudder of the Stalwart’s subluminal engines through the deck of her detention cell. She’d been unceremoniously dragged from the bridge by Steader’s private security guards after the third exchange in which he tried to bully her and was made to look foolish by Agent Alux, who seemed to be enjoying himself enormously. Since he couldn’t take it out on the agent directly, he opted to punish her. In the end, however, he only reaffirmed the impression that he was a petulant child who was quickly losing control of the situation he found himself in. She idly wondered if he was having second thoughts about betraying his First Father and climbing into bed with the ConFed.

Her thoughts were interrupted by two pairs of heavy footfalls approaching her cell. She stood, knowing who it would be.

“You will come with us,” the guard said, holding out another set of restraints as the other kept a heavy stunner trained on her. She wordlessly held her hands out and allowed them to be bound together again. Nothing would be gained by antagonizing the guards, and any form of protest at this point would be a meaningless gesture. It wasn’t like she could storm the bridge on her own and subdue the crew. Besides … Omega Force was still out there somewhere. She found it highly unlikely Jason would have shrugged off her capture and went back to whatever he had been doing before all of this started. They were determined and, when backed into a corner, dangerous. Their uncanny ability to suddenly appear where they were least expected never ceased to amaze her. She hoped their luck held out.

“What now, Steader?” she asked as she was led back onto the bridge. “How long will this game continue?”

“The end is upon us now, my dear,” Steader said with an oily smile. “We’re flying towards a rendezvous that, unfortunately, signifies the end of your usefulness. I thought you’d like to watch, at least.”

“So what is it?” she asked, abandoning the sarcastic back-and-forth and going on the attack. “What made you betray Crisstof? Money? Promises of power? What was it about your life that was so unbearable you would do this?”

“Not that it’s any of your concern,” Steader said, also dropping his thin veneer of civility, “but Crisstof Dalton was a short-sighted fool. The ConFed will control all of this quadrant, one way or another. Would you rather be a power broker, or part of the last vestiges of resistance that will only exist for as long as they allow you to?” Kellea just stared at him for a moment, marveling at his lack of understanding.

“I’m not entirely sure why you feel compelled to convince me,” she said, looking pointedly at the captain of the Stalwart as she did. “I won’t agree with you and I certainly will never turn my loyalty from Crisstof.”

“Then you’re a fool,” Steader snorted. “I’ve given you a few chances to convince me you should be allowed to live, but your blind allegiance to someone who will never again see the light of day has clouded your judgment. You’re really so willing to throw it all away?”

“Some things are more important,” she said simply, turning to look out the floor-to-ceiling observation window.

“We’re beginning our approach,” the ship’s captain reported. “We’ll be achieving orbit within the next three hours and then we can begin the rendezvous maneuver.”

“Very good, Captain,” Steader said. “Please alert the crews to prepare the decks for cargo.”

*****

“We’ve got a slip-space burst near the edge of the system,” Doc reported. “Decaying energy signature shows it turning on course for the planet.”

“Right on time,” Jason said quietly. “Monitor its progress on the passive array. Is Number Two still standing by?”

“Yes,” Kage said, “although it seems a little over-eager. It’s sent twenty-eight queries within the last hour asking if it may proceed. I’ve been telling it to hold fast.” Jason just nodded and continued to watch the data feed from the sensors. The little drones seemed to be programmed with a certain amount of “enthusiasm”, though it would be a little inaccurate to ascribe that characteristic to something of such limited understanding.

“And the factory ship?” he asked.

“My data is limited with just passive sensors, but the computer projects the incoming ship will make orbit while the factory ship is on the far side. If they’re going to dock with each other, I’d imagine the newcomer will want to reach stable orbital flight before attempting to approach that monster,” Doc said, running the limited incoming data through a continual series of computer simulations to try and determine the most probably flight path. “The good news is that they won’t be flying near this formation if they hold course and speed.”

“Are they coming in with active sensors?”

“Limited,” Doc said. “Mostly some short-range radar and lidar, no long-range active sweeps.”

“Looks like they’re also sneaking into the system,” Kage said. “Does that seem unusual? Why would they be running silent?”

“I don’t know,” Jason admitted. “There could be a certain vulnerability in that factory ship, although I’m not sure who would be attacking it. Maybe they don’t want to risk detection on the slim chance someone is flying near enough to this system to pick up an active sweep.”

They sat tight for what seemed to be an eternity as the ship slowly traversed the distance from the system’s edge to the gas giant’s orbit. In that time, Jason rotated people off the bridge to go stretch their legs, grab something to eat, and generally give them something to do besides stare tensely at their displays.

“I’ve got the ship on extreme visual range,” Doc said. “Cleaning up the image now.” A second later the grainy image of an immense ship appeared on everyone’s monitor.

“Uh oh,” Jason said. “That is indeed a carrier. Depending on her complement, we could be in serious trouble.”

“Computer has made a positive identification, Captain,” Doc said in surprise. “It’s the Stalwart, a commercial carrier in Crisstof Dalton’s fleet.”

“Commercial carrier? As in … no weapons?” Jason asked, equally surprised.

“No weapons and no combat shields,” Doc confirmed. “At least as far as our data on the ship goes. Captain Colleren gave us a complete listing of Crisstof’s ships a while back so there were no … misunderstandings. Unless the ship has been retrofitted for combat within the last year, it’s essentially a giant, ungainly target.”

“We don’t know what she’s carrying,” Twingo warned. “Two full squadrons of fighters could ruin our day.”

“We stick to the plan,” Jason said. “I’ve seen nothing that leads me to believe we need to change tactics now. In fact, this may have gotten a bit easier.”

“Please don’t say things like that,” Crusher said plaintively. “Every time you do the entire op blows up in our face.” He was sitting uncomfortably near the canopy in his pressurized combat suit. Jason had been shocked, and secretly a bit disappointed, when Crusher had walked into the armory and, without any discussion, had pulled out the bulky garment and began suiting up.

“Sorry,” Jason said. “Force of habit. Let me know when the Stalwart enters orbit and then I need a projection of when they’ll catch up to the factory ship.”

“Running the numbers now,” Doc said. “Given the engine profile we have for that ship, it looks like it will be nearly five complete orbits for them to close in for docking.”

“As soon as the ship crosses over our position, inform Number Two it’s clear to turn on engine pre-heaters but not to fire the engines until we give the order.”

“I’ll keep watch and let it know,” Kage volunteered and pulled the sensor feed over to his own station. The carrier crossed the formation’s orbital path without so much as directing a radar sweep towards them. Ten minutes later Kage ordered Number Two to begin pre-heating the Diligent’s engines, and Jason began waking the Phoenix up from where they’d been drifting cold.

It was another four hours before their second operational trigger threshold was crossed. “The Stalwart has closed to within five hundred thousand kilometers and is holding. They’ll likely begin their final approach to the factory ship shortly,” Doc reported.

“That’s it,” Jason said. “Let’s light this fuse. Tell Number Two to execute.”

“Number Two confirms the order,” Kage said. “We’re on our way.”

Ahead of them the four inboard engines of the Diligent burst into life and the big frigate immediately began to surge though the formation, climbing above it and coming about to port, her prow aimed for the planet. Once the ship had turned, the engines flared brilliantly to full power and the warship shot away with surprising acceleration. Jason throttled up the main drive, no longer concerned with stealth, and tucked in tight behind the hard-running ship.

*****

“We have movement within one of the formations!” a sensor operator on the Stalwart’s bridge exclaimed, startling everyone.

“What?!” Agent Alux leapt from his seat, his relaxed, almost lazy demeanor disappearing. “Carefully, tell me exactly what you see.”

“A ship’s drive just lit up and the ship itself just flew out of the formation,” the operator stammered.

“How did we not detect a starship drive running when we came in?” Steader demanded.

“It appears it was a cold start, which means the engines will likely burn out before they can get away,” the Stalwart’s captain said as he examined the sensor record.

“I don’t think this is a theft,” Agent Alux said tightly as he observed the sensor tracks. “It’s coming right at us. What ship is that? Go to active sensors.” It only took a moment for the sensors to identify the incoming vessel.

“It’s the Diligent,” the captain said in a shocked voice, looking at Kellea as he did. “How can that be?”

“Don’t look at me, I’ve been here the whole time,” Kellea said, feigning disinterest. Inside, however, her mind was racing as fast as her former ship as she tried to figure out what was going on. The person, or persons, behind the ship’s movement were obvious. What they had planned for her was an entirely different matter. They were as unpredictable as the lightning strikes in the clouds of the planet below.

“Is the factory ship under power?” Alux asked.

“Negative, sir,” the com officer reported. “They have stabilizers and maneuvering thrusters only. Their drive is offline to facilitate production.” Steader looked positively sick as the sensors clearly showed where the Diligent was heading.

“Fire all forward missile tubes!” Alux ordered. “Try to intercept that ship! How many fighters do we have?”

“Only five, sir. The rest are transport ships.”

“Missiles away, tracking for the incoming frigate.” The hastily-installed missile tubes spat out a total of ten missiles that streaked away towards the Diligent. The bridge crew of the Stalwart, unaccustomed to anything remotely resembling combat, fell to pieces as contradictory orders were hurled about and people’s panicked cries filled the bridge.

“Silence!” Agent Alux bellowed. “Captain, you are relieved of command. You,” he pointed to the cowering sensor operator, “plot the missile tracks.” While security escorted the captain off the bridge the sensor operator managed to get the feed from his instruments displayed on the main forward monitor. Alux growled in frustration as the heavy hull of the incoming warship shrugged off the three missile impacts as if they were gnats; the other seven missed completely.

Weak beams could be seen lancing out from the factory ship and leaving little more than scorch marks on the Diligent as it continued to accelerate right at them. Kellea’s heart caught in her throat as she watched the final moments of her once proud ship. When she closed within visual range, the rate of closure was incredible and the bright flare of her drive could clearly be seen against the black of space. On the monitor she could also see escape pods launching from the command deck of the factory ship, which was dwarfing the frigate on the visual feed.

The Diligent slammed into the factory ship, still at full power. The flash of the energy released from the impact blinded the sensors and washed out the display for a moment. “Still receiving telemetry from the factory ship, sir,” the com officer reported.

“Get the visual back, please,” Alux said in a quiet, stunned voice. When the display came back up they could see the factory ship, listing slightly and streaming atmosphere, with the stern of the Diligent, drives now dark, clearly sticking out. The kinetic energy of the impact appeared to have liquefied huge sections of hull plating on both ships and now they spun through space, welded together as the metal cooled.

“It looks like the damage has been contained to the—” Steader was cut off as another explosion, this one many times more brilliant than the initial impact, again blinded them. When the feed came back up this time, they saw that the factory ship had suffered far more than a crumpled hull; the ship was now in two pieces and the drive section was tumbling down into the planet’s atmosphere in a quickly-decaying orbit.

“What happened?!” Alux demanded.

“Secondary explosion after the initial impact,” the sensor operator said frantically as he played back the feed to the moment the optical sensors were overloaded. “Sensors recorded a massive anti-matter explosion from the Diligent. It took out the factory ship’s core and compromised structural integrity.”

“Compromised structural integrity,” Alux deadpanned. “You don’t say.” He was staring at the forward section of the massive ship as it accelerated away on a new course, pushed by the explosion, when he caught a movement to his left. Steader Dalton had pulled a small blaster and had it trained on Kellea Colleren’s head.

“She had something to do with this,” he snarled. “She let herself get captured as a setup to find this place.”

“Must you be so overwhelmingly stupid all of the time?” Alux said wearily. “Whoever did this was waiting on us. They knew that ship was here already and knew enough to be able to use the Diligent as a ballistic weapon. So where are they, Kellea?”

“Who?” she asked calmly, still eyeing the business end of Steader’s blaster.

“You know who,” Alux grated in impatience. “Do not play stupid with me. Omega Force is responsible for this and now they’re on their way here, aren’t they?”

“I still don’t know who—”

“I’ve had enough of this!” Steader shouted, his eyes tinged with madness as he raised his blaster again. Kellea closed her eyes, waiting for the blast, but all she heard was a hollow thud and the sound of a body hitting the deck. She opened her eyes and saw Steader on the ground, blood streaming from a gash on his right temple, while Agent Alux stood over him, fists still clenched.

“I’ve also had enough,” Alux said. “With the primary objective destroyed, your usefulness is close to its end. She is no longer your plaything. She just became our hostage and likely our only way off this ship alive.”

“What are you talking about?” Steader said, moaning as he held his head.

“Sir!” the sensor operator exclaimed. “We have a ship approaching!”

“Let me guess,” Alux said, never taking his eyes off Kellea, “it’s a gunship-class vessel. It should read as a Jepsen Aerospace Industries DL-series.”

“Confirmed, sir,” the crewman said in surprise. “How did you know that?”

Chapter 24

“Holy shit!!” Jason exclaimed as the Diligent slammed into the factory ship about three-quarters of the way back along its starboard flank. The tactical sensors on the Phoenix were able to filter out the flash from the impact and the crew watched, mesmerized, as waves propagated out along the hull of the larger ship, rippling the alloy like it was water.

“Direct hit,” Doc reported. “Target is listing to port and is adrift.”

“I can’t believe it’s still in one piece,” Jason said in awe. “Twingo, would you rectify that for me?”

“It would be my pleasure, Captain,” Twingo said expansively and held one of his fingers aloft. With a dramatic flair he brought it down and pressed a soft key on his display. A split second later there was another, bigger explosion, and Jason watched as secondary explosions ran up and down the length of the factory ship until it split at the point of impact, the venting atmosphere feeding the flames. The remaining section of the Diligent was blown clear and came hurtling back towards them. “So … do you really think Kellea is actually going to be happy to see us?” he asked as they flew by the spinning remains of the warship on their way to the Stalwart.

“I’m sort of hoping she won’t know what happened and we can play stupid later,” Jason admitted. He lined up on the carrier and accelerated hard, hoping to catch them by surprise. The massive hangar decks on the ship were exposed to space and had minimal shielding over the ports. The two main hangars, one on either side of the ship, were not designed with defense in mind, only ease of access as it was strictly a commercial vessel. “Full active sensors,” he ordered. “I want to know what else is on that ship.” He’d been surprised when a salvo of missiles had streaked away from the ship. When only thirty percent of them hit the Diligent, he suspected the missile batteries must have been a hasty addition with no fire control systems installed to support them.

“Looks like some mid-power beam weapons and one more missile battery,” Kage answered, looking slightly baffled. “All the weaponry is localized near the prow. With the shape of the hull there’s no way they can cover the hangar entrances, which are the main ingress points on the vessel. Who would do that?”

“Someone who has no idea what they’re doing,” Jason said. “Like even arming an underpowered, thin-hulled ship transporter in the first place.”

Armed with his new bit of intel, Jason brought the Phoenix hard over to port and accelerated quickly away from the effective angle of the carrier’s minimal gun emplacements. Straightening back out, he lined up the nose with the shimmering barrier of the hangar shields and steadied his hand over the throttle, prepared to reverse his field bias and haul the gunship to a stop once through.

The maneuver was quite a bit trickier than it appeared, and Jason was relying on the computer to feed him course corrections through his neural implant as well as take control and make fine adjustments without hesitating for him to approve it. They were approaching the carrier at a right angle to enter through the starboard hangar bay, but the Stalwart was travelling over thirty-six thousand miles an hour in her orbit. So to maintain their eight hundred mile per hour closure speed, the Phoenix had to also match her lateral velocity to the Stalwart’s forward velocity. It would get much more complicated as the grav-drives of both ships began to interact with each other, not to mention the powerful pull of the gas giant itself. Thankfully, the computers sorted it all out and updated it trillions of times per millisecond and provided a seamless flight path to their destination, the hangar that now appeared to be teeming with security personnel.

“Are they seriously going to stand in there before we actually come to a stop?” Twingo asked incredulously. When warding off a boarding party on a large ship there were two methods. Stopping them from coming aboard was preferable. But should a ship breach your defenses, you wanted to stay clear of the landing zone while an assault craft’s main drive was still at power and then move your forces in. To do so in the wrong order was both a dramatic spectacle and a waste of perfectly good security troopers.

“It looks like it,” Doc confirmed as he studied the sensor feed. “This is going to be ugly.” Jason changed his approach at the last moment and cut his forward velocity, allowed the carrier to pass them, and angled his course so he was coming at the opening tangentially. By crabbing into the barrier at an angle he wouldn’t need to scrub off so much forward velocity in such a violent braking maneuver.

“Here we go,” he said at the last instant. The Phoenix pressed against the shielding with her left wing, and then slid easily past. As soon as the ship was inside the hangar, the computer automatically commanded the drive to full stop the exact instant it needed to. The result was predictable. The powerful gravimetric forces produced by the drive flung troopers, equipment, and smaller ships around the massive hangar deck like toys. When the ship had stopped in relation to the carrier, hardly any security personnel were left alive, few were uninjured, and none were combat-effective.

Jason set the drive to maintain position and evacuated the seat. “Let’s go! Assault team, with me. Support team, in position. Kage, feed me the ship schematics to my helmet and slice into the internal sensor network. Find Kellea and don’t let this ship break orbit or engage its slip-drive.” Doc hopped into the pilot’s seat even as Jason, Lucky, and Crusher moved down to the main deck, came forward and stopped at the port airlock. They didn’t want to risk lowering the ramp and exposing the guts of the ship to any surprises the security teams might have hiding out there.

“Ready?” Jason asked his team.

“Always,” Crusher said, hefting his plasma rifle. He had two more slung across his back and his usual assortment of explosives, edge weapons, and side arms. Lucky switched over to combat mode, charging his weapons and looking at Jason through blazing, crimson eyes. Jason deployed his helmet and reached for the hatch control.

“Assault team departing,” he said into the com.

“Copy, assault team,” Kage answered. “Go get her. Feeding the map to you now.”

Jason led the way out of the ship and jumped the twelve feet to the deck. He raised his weapon and covered underneath the hovering gunship, allowing Lucky and Crusher to quickly exit and cover the two other one hundred and twenty degree sectors. The Phoenix would remain where she was, hovering in the hangar so as not to open a gap in the hull by lowering the landing gear and presenting the defenders with a weakness to exploit.

The assault team moved quickly to the front of the hangar to a hatch which led to the part of the ship they needed to be in. Floating in Jason’s field of view was a map that was increasing in detail as Kage sliced the carrier’s computers and fed that information to the assault team. Jason raised his railgun, a weapon his companions weren’t thrilled about him carrying during shipboard combat, and selected a high-velocity round. He squeezed off two shots directly at the sealed hatch they needed to go through.

As he expected, the hypersonic rounds blew the hatch inward. Unexpectedly, they also sent it sailing down the corridor, effectively wiping out the ambush that had been hastily set up by the security forces the Phoenix’s engines hadn’t flung out into space. The three-man team moved through the hatch, dispatching security troops as they moved deeper into the ship. They worked together silently in the way only highly trained and experienced warriors can. Gone were the jabs and quips at each other’s expense as they methodically worked through the Stalwart.

“Captain, I’m sending you directions to one of three detention areas onboard,” Kage said. “The computer indicated that Kellea is being regularly kept in a cell there, but she’s often brought up to the bridge.”

“Copy,” Jason acknowledged. “We’ll check the cell first.” It took them fifteen minutes to reach the detention area, meeting sporadic resistance along the way. The defense forces put up another stand right at the entrance to the detention block. Eleven troops were behind a barricade firing suppressive fire down the corridor to make sure Jason’s team wouldn’t see the three troops sneaking along the side of the bulkhead with heavy plasma weapons.

Jason nodded to Crusher, who then detached a grenade from his tactical harness and flung it around the corner with a seemingly negligent toss. The delay was only two seconds, so no sooner had cries of alarm sounded out than a massive concussion rattled Jason’s teeth, even in his helmet. He selected low-velocity on his weapon and swept quickly around the corner to clear the remaining defenders.

There was no need, as nobody had survived the blast. Crusher nudged one of the bodies with his boot. “These are ConFed troopers, Captain,” he said.

“Looks like ol’ Steader was in pretty deep,” Jason agreed, looking down at the telltale uniform. “I do feel better knowing we’re not killing a bunch of Crisstof’s men.”

“I’m fairly indifferent either way,” Crusher disagreed, moving to the door to gain access to the actual cellblock. “Lucky, your turn.” The battlesynth nodded and Crusher flung the door open, allowing Lucky to rush in with Jason right behind him, covering to the right and behind.

“Clear,” Lucky said. He went quickly to the indicated cell and simply ripped the door from the frame rather than negotiate with the locking mechanism. “The cell is empty.”

“Kage, any luck getting a firm location on Kellea?” Jason asked over the com.

“Give me a few minutes, Captain,” Kage replied. “They’re trying to shut down sections of the internal sensors to keep me out. I suggest you make your way to the bridge and I’ll update you as soon as I can.”

“Copy,” Jason said, moving quickly to the main corridor and racing towards the lift shafts that would take them to the upper decks. “Anybody come out to mess with the ship?”

“Just some sporadic small-arms fire,” Kage said. “Twingo has been entertaining himself with the point defense turrets.” As he was about to reply, Jason was suddenly hit with a massive concussive force that sent him sailing into one of the side corridors. He sat up, his head ringing, and realized he’d tripped an anti-personnel mine that had been stuck to the wall.

He shook his head to clear it and then stood up. All his indicators were still green; his armor had absorbed the blast and was still fully combat capable. Worth every last credit.

“Be aware they’re mining the corridors as they retreat,” Jason warned his team. “Crusher, this means you take center position in the column. Lucky, keep a watch for any of the defense forces circling around on us.” With a more cautious approach, the team pressed on.

*****

“Who are these people?!” Steader Dalton was apoplectic as he watched the three soldiers move through his ship at will. He had ordered his forces into the hangar to try and take the ship out as it attempted a boarding, but the gunship rushed through the shields with its engines still at power and wiped out half his defense force before a single shot had been fired. Agent Alux had berated him for the decision, but he’d offered no alternative when it became obvious they were under assault.

“I’ve tried to tell you who they were,” Alux snapped. His cool and calm demeanor was dissolving as everything they tried did little to slow the small team down. They verified their intent, at least, when they went directly to Kellea’s cell. He hadn’t been able to figure out how they knew exactly where she might be until one of the bridge crew noticed strange behavior from the internal systems. Once he looked, he knew the team must also have a skilled slicer with them, obviously still stationed on the ship hovering in Hangar Two. The worst part was they also had no way to try and deal with the ship.

“A small band of mercenaries is ripping through your ConFed soldiers like they’re nothing more than soggy kelft leaves,” Steader prodded him again. “At this rate they’ll be on the bridge in less than ten minutes.”

“They won’t be able to so easily gain access to the bridge,” Alux said. “Calm yourself.”

*****

“I’ve gained control of the internal sensors, Captain,” Kage reported. “I’m shutting them down in your area so they won’t know where you are. I’ve also confirmed Kellea is on the bridge with Steader Dalton, a few troops, and someone who looks like an Intel Agent.”

“Good job, Kage,” Jason said as he ran smack into a set of formidable-looking blast doors. “Shit. I was afraid of this.”

“What?” Crusher asked, running his hand over the doors.

“Even a civilian ship like this was bound to have some heavy protection for the bridge itself,” Jason said. “Almost every ship does.”

“We do not have the equipment to breach this wall, Captain,” Lucky said.

“No, we don’t,” Jason agreed. “Kage? Can you override the blast doors leading to the command deck?”

“Negative, Captain,” Kage replied after a moment. “They’re on an isolated circuit. The main computer doesn’t control them and cutting power to the system will only ensure they remain closed.”

“What do you think?” Jason asked whichever of his teammates wanted to answer first.

“Standard procedure would be to breach the hull, move along the outside of the ship, and make entry to the bridge from the outside,” Lucky offered.

“Effective, but I’d rather not kill Kellea in the process of making entry,” Jason said. “You?” he asked Crusher.

“I’ve got nothing,” Crusher grunted as he aimed his weapon back down the way they’d come and hit a trooper who had been trying to sneak up on them square in the chest. Jason thought at the problem for a moment longer.

“We really don’t care about capturing the ship, do we?” he asked.

“I don’t follow,” Crusher admitted.

“The Phoenix is sitting down by the engines,” Jason explained. “If she were to open up with the main guns this ship would fall out of orbit. We can tell them if we are allowed to leave with Kellea we’ll just fly off … otherwise we’re all going down.”

“What the hell is it with you and sudden-death standoffs?” Crusher asked in disgust. “Once in a while I’d like a plan that doesn’t involve threatening to kill everyone, including us.”

“It’s effective,” Jason argued, taking a few shots of his own down the corridor. “Whatever we do, it’s got to be fast. Even if we can secure her, the security personnel are starting to regroup and she’s not wearing any protection. We’ll be running her down a shooting gallery.”

“We could try to see if there’s an access—” Whatever else Crusher was about to say was cut off as the ship rocked violently and klaxons began sounding throughout the ship, accompanied by strobing red and yellow flashers.

“Report!” Jason barked over the com.

“Captain, a huge piece of the factory ship broke away and just collided with the prow of the Stalwart on the port side. Multiple hull breaches and a loss of stability control for the forward half of the ship,” Kage informed him. “It also ripped one of the port engines right off the pylon.”

“How bad is it?” Jason asked.

“We’re going down, Captain,” Kage said. “Our orbit is already destabilizing and the nose is dipping. I think the engine hit also damaged the core. You’d better begin making your way back to the ship soon, and quickly.”

“Why didn’t these morons shift orbits to avoid navigational hazards?” Jason asked nobody in particular. He had no way of knowing that the actual captain of the ship had been escorted off the bridge and the ship was in the hands of amateurs. “OK, we need to get past these doors. As in right now.” An unhealthy rumble began to make its presence known through the deck plates as the ship continued to disintegrate.

Without warning, the blast doors opened up and a surprised assault team was looking straight at an equally surprised Steader Dalton, Agent Alux, and Kellea Colleren, who had a weapon pointed at her head by Dalton. They’d planned to make a dash for the other hangar and escape in one of the combat shuttles parked there since the escape pods would be suicide boxes this close to such a powerful gravity source.

“Get back!” Steader shouted, moving the weapon away from Kellea and pointing it at Lucky. It was all the opening Jason needed. He raised his railgun and fired a single slug into Steader’s arm right below the shoulder. Even the low-velocity round spun him around and nearly blew the appendage completely off. As he lay on the ground screaming, and bleeding, Alux moved to make a grab for Kellea, who was still in restraints, and took a vicious blow to the chest as Crusher literally kicked him back down the corridor the way he’d come.

“Lucky,” Jason nodded to Kellea. Lucky moved over and cleanly sliced through the restraints so at least she’d have use of her arms. Jason moved over and peered down at Steader. He was bleeding heavily from the wound and was going into shock.

“He won’t make it another five minutes, Captain,” Crusher urged. “Leave him. We need to move.” As if to punctuate his point, the deck bucked up under them and the sounds of multiple explosions elsewhere in the ship reached their ears.

“Captain,” Kage called over the com, “we’ve descended into the planet’s atmosphere. The shields are holding over the hangar bay opening but I don’t know how much longer you have.”

“We’re on our way,” Jason said, looking down the corridor to where the agent had landed. He was no longer there. “Let’s go,” he said, handing Kellea his sidearm as they moved out at her top speed.

Though she was nowhere near as fast as the other three, her familiarity with the ship made up for it as they took a series of side corridors and access walkways to avoid any other ConFed troops still onboard while getting back to the hangar. Once they burst through the squat service hatch, Jason was unprepared for the sight ahead of him.

The Phoenix still sat, hovering in the middle of the bay, but the view outside was a roiling yellow/orange gas as the carrier sank deeper into the planet’s atmosphere. The reality of just how precarious their situation was sunk in as they rushed to the ship.

“Phoenix, we’re in the hangar,” he said over the com. “Lower the rear ramp.” Without acknowledging his command, the gunship lowered her ramp and settled a little closer to the deck so they could get aboard. Just as the pressure doors closed and sealed, while the ramp was still rising, the shields protecting the hangar failed and he could see the noxious ammonia gas streaming into the bay as the ramp raised and locked.

Jason wasted no time getting up to the bridge in time to see Doc move out of the pilot’s seat. He slipped in behind him, adjusted the controls, and spun the nose to face towards the open door and throttled up gently, not wanting to slam the ship into the carrier’s hull by trying too violent of a maneuver. There was an issue, however, as the carrier flew faster and faster within an increasingly dense atmosphere. There was now air resistance and a slipstream to overcome so they didn’t hit either the aft edge of the door or the starboard engine pylons (assuming they were still there).

“Hang on,” he said and tried to slide the ship out at an angle in much the same way he had entered the bay. The right wing bit into the slipstream, causing drag, and yawed the nose out of the hangar before he was ready. The ship slid backwards even as he throttled up to get the left wing out and push away from the doomed carrier.

He was a split second too late as the left wing’s trailing edge slammed into the aft edge of the hangar door, crushing a section of the port grav emitter. This caused a surge in the entire system and the grav-drive began an emergency shutdown to save the core from damage. The Phoenix spun to the right and tumbled free of the carrier, now fully immersed and falling in the gas giant’s atmosphere with no drive. Having been half expecting the grav-drive to need help, he’d already had his fingers near the switches to start the mains and bring the repulsors online.

“We’re ninety meters deep,” Kage reported. “We’ll hit an ammonia ice layer soon that could cause problems.”

BOOM!

The mains engaged with a violent jolt and Jason shoved the throttle all the way to the stop. The engines strained, blasting out millions of pounds of thrust as he used the repulsors to try and bring the nose up. Without the grav-drive available the Phoenix didn’t have the power to simply climb straight up out of the atmosphere. “I need to get some speed,” he said even as they descended a bit further. “Give me a plot for escape velocity and also when I can begin to pull up out of here.”

“Sending it to your nav panel now,” Kage said tensely. In fact, everyone that wasn’t flying the ship simply stared out at the obscuring and disorienting haze, silently urging Jason to fly them out of there. Soon the Phoenix had enough speed to actually use her airfoils and began a slow climb out of the haze, the main engines still thundering at full power to escape the powerful gravity of the planet.

“The mains are heating up too quickly, Captain,” Twingo warned.

“Throttling back a bit,” Jason said. “We’re almost out of the atmosphere at least, but we’ll need a few orbits to reach escape velocity.” He gingerly pulled the throttle back, not wanting to doom them to a horrific death by damaging any of the engines by running them too hot.

“We’re out,” Doc said. “And we’re not alone.”

“Say again?” Jason asked as he pulled the power back to seventy-five percent to allow the ship a less stressful climb away from the planet.

“One ConFed battleship and two heavy cruisers,” Kage said. Jason’s stomach dropped. With the grav-drive down it meant they had no slip-space capability. On just the main engines alone, the gunship would have zero chance against such powerful capital ships.

“A battleship?” Kellea said in surprise. “They don’t bring those out very often, and never this far.”

“I guess we’re special,” Jason said, slumping back in his seat. “I wonder if they’ll try to capture us or just shoot us out of the sky from long range.”

“Incoming com request,” Kage said. “It’s from the battleship, video and audio.”

“Ah,” Jason said. “So it’s toy with us, bore us, and then kill us. Very well … open the channel.” The forward canopy was replaced with the face of an elderly thropin, a species that held quite a few core worlds.

“Captain Burke,” the thropin began. “I am Councilman Scleesz. We are detecting that your ship has suffered a failure of your main drive. May we be of assistance?”

“I’m afraid this wasn’t what I was expecting when you sent the channel request, Councilman,” Jason said in confusion.

“Ah, yes,” Scleesz said, glancing off-camera for a moment. “It seems we have a lot to discuss. If you’re able, break orbit and we’ll pick you up.”

Chapter 25

“Are you telling me this wasn’t something sanctioned by the Council?” Jason asked, not quite believing what he was being told. He and Kellea were sitting in a well-appointed lounge aboard the ConFed battleship talking to Councilman Scleesz over after-dinner drinks. Despite how cordial he’d been, Jason couldn’t help but feel like he was fraternizing with the enemy.

“That’s exactly what I’m telling you,” Scleesz said. “We’d heard of the outbreaks of violence, of course, but it still didn’t seem like anything to be overly worried about. It wasn’t until we learned that a sizable number of these planets would be petitioning for full membership that we became concerned.”

“Wait,” Kellea interrupted, “isn’t that what your goal is? To expand the Confederation’s sphere of influence?”

“Influence, yes,” Scleesz said, “but we do not want the hassle and administrative nightmare of actually governing these worlds. The current arrangement is mutually beneficial as it stands; we receive favorable trade agreements and tithing in exchange for protection from the Fleet. Not only that, but when things go wrong on those worlds the populations are far more likely to be angry with their regional governments.”

“But someone didn’t agree with that?” Jason asked, hiding his distaste at the councilman’s blunt characterization of the ConFed relationship with the rest of the quadrant.

“Multiple someones,” Scleesz confirmed. “There were four council members who held some lofty delusions about the Confederation’s place in the galaxy. They had visions of empire. With themselves in control, of course.”

“So how did you figure it out?” Jason pressed.

“This plot was so grand and took so long to come to fruition … it was simply impossible to keep it a secret forever. Our intelligence service began looking into it as rumors about factory ships and cloned soldiers began swirling about,” Scleesz said as he poured himself a second drink. “It was the arrest of Crisstof Dalton that allowed us to put the rest of the pieces together. The charges against him were utterly absurd to anyone who knew him, so I really had the intel guys digging on this one. After tracking the son’s movements, it was just a matter of time before we caught them in the act.”

“So what happens now?” Kellea asked.

“Now? We all go back to our lives,” Scleesz said. “We’re in the process of securing Crisstof Dalton’s release, you destroyed practically all of the evidence, and the Confederation Council has a special interest in seeing this stay discreet. In other words, don’t expect to see any arrests with council members being marched out under armed guard. This will be dealt with in a way that won’t damage the Council’s standing.

“Which leads me to my next point. While difficult to dig up, the information we have on your outfit, Captain Burke, is troubling. Your relationship with Dalton is a bit hazy and you seem to skirt just on the edge of the law. Is that about right?”

“It’s more nuanced than that, but essentially, yes,” Jason said. “That doesn’t make us that much different than a number of other groups operating on the frontier.”

“True,” Scleesz admitted. “And of course there’s this little matter which you’ve neatly bundled up for us. So in return, certain recent events will be swept under the rug. Dead agents and the like.” Jason winced as he knew the councilman must be talking about the agent he’d flung out of the ship twenty-five thousand feet over the surface of a planet.

“I do have one other request, Councilman,” Jason said.

“Oh?”

“I’d like the intel on my unit purged,” Jason stated. “The agent involved with Steader Dalton knew exactly who we were, which leads me to believe there is a growing file on us somewhere.”

“It is the nature of bureaucracies,” Scleesz agreed. “So what’s in it for me if I agree to have the intel division purge all record of your existence?”

“I won’t throw any more intel agents to their death,” Jason said, drawing a sharp look from Kellea and a low, humorless chuckle from Scleesz.

“No, I’m afraid I’m going to need something a bit more substantial,” he said, leaning forward. As he leaned forward Jason leaned back. This can’t be good.

Chapter 26

Jason stood in the observation lounge of the large commercial spaceport. This wasn’t the terminal the general public used when the cattle-car-like slip-space liners came in and purged their passengers. It was a private terminal with luxurious accommodations and even a fully staffed bar. He looked longingly in that direction, desperately wanting a drink while he waited, but he would be piloting a ship in less than an hour (hopefully) so it was out of the question.

“You look ready to crawl out of your own skin,” Kellea said with a little chuckle, coming up behind him.

“You know me,” he said with a half-smile, “never happy sitting in one spot. How are you so calm? You should be climbing the walls right now.”

“I would be if there weren’t so many people around I’d rather not make a spectacle in front of,” she said as she linked her arm in his, surprising him that she did it at all, much less in public.

“I’ve learned to lighten up a little bit recently,” she said, seeming to read his thoughts. She hesitated a bit before continuing. “I’ll never forget that you came for me, Jason. Risking everything like that, and not giving up … I’ll never be able to repay you for that.”

“That’s the beauty of it,” he said gently, “you’ll never have to.”

“How’s your bird?” she asked, changing the subject.

“Good as new,” Jason said with a smile. “She wasn’t too banged up on this mission. Twingo is furious I crunched another drive emitter, but I secretly think he likes being angry and looks for excuses. We took advantage of Scleesz’s hospitality outrageously and did a depot-level inspection and overhaul. She even has new paint.”

“Paint?”

“Outer coating on the hull,” he sighed. “Must you be so technical all the time?”

“Must you be such a yokel all the time?”

“Ouch,” he said with a laugh.

“It won’t be months and months without even hearing from you again, will it?” she asked after another moment. Jason had been enjoying her proximity, but knew this subject would come up eventually.

“I’ll sit down and talk with your boss after I do this last favor for Scleesz,” he said, making a face as he did so. “We might not be fully ready to come back into the fold, but I’d also rather not continue on like we have been. It’s tough out there on our own.”

“I can imagine,” she said. “Speaking of … here he comes.” Sure enough, a sleek, expensive shuttle was descending gracefully to the landing pad for a flawless touchdown. Jason and Kellea moved over to the doorway that led out to the tarmac, but they were quickly shuffled out of the way by overdressed dignitaries who were jockeying for position to be the first to greet the guest of honor. The pair gracefully stepped aside and moved back near the window where they had been originally standing.

There was a smattering of polite, species-specific applause and cheers from the entryway as Jason could just make out Crisstof Dalton’s white hair. Despite his disagreements with the man, he still had an enormous respect for him and seeing him walk out as a free citizen lightened his heart a bit.

“Where are they?” Crisstof called out, confusing the crowd slightly. “Where? No, not you. Excuse me, please.” He came pushing his way through the crowd, ignoring nearly everyone, until he spotted Jason and Kellea standing off on their own. “There!” he said and rushed over in as dignified a manner as he could manage. He paused in front of them before enveloping Kellea in a huge, fatherly embrace. Jason could see her self-control was waning as he spoke into her ear. Thankfully, he released her before she actually did begin to cry. Crisstof, however, had no such qualms about public tears, and they flowed freely down his cheeks. We’re all so alien, and all so similar at the same time, Jason thought with a smile.

“It’s good to see you among the living and free again, Crisstof,” Jason said, holding out his hand. Crisstof ignored the hand and also wrapped up Jason in a bear hug. The wiry old man had a surprisingly strong hug. He released Jason and stepped back.

“First and foremost, thank you for getting to her first and keeping her safe,” Crisstof said, nodding towards Kellea. “And thanks for everything else. Perhaps we can discuss some things later?”

“Sure, Crisstof,” Jason said with a reassuring smile. “We can talk later. Right now I’m sure you’d like to get out of here.”

“You’re more right about that than you know,” Crisstof muttered, looking around at all the sycophants waiting their turn. “I should probably greet everyone briefly. Any possibility you could give me a ride up into orbit afterwards?”

“It just so happens I have a ship sitting on the ramp not far from here,” Jason said with a wide grin. Crisstof laughed out loud and turned to talk to the growing number of guests in the lounge.

*****

The Phoenix tore across the mountain ranges of Aracoria’s northern hemisphere, performing a series of gut-wrenching maneuvers as she skimmed over the peaks and dove into the valleys. This went on for some time before the ship yanked up into a pure vertical climb, clawing for orbit.

“Is this necessary,” Crisstof said tensely, maintaining the death grip he had on his seat.

“Don’t ask me,” Jason replied, his face mirroring Crisstof’s as he also gripped the armrests of his seat.

“Oh pipe down,” Kellea griped from the pilot’s seat. “I just wanted one more chance to do this while I have the opportunity.” The ride smoothed out as the Phoenix transferred smoothly into orbit and came about onto a new heading. “You sure you don’t want to sell her?”

“You sure you don’t want to join us?” Crusher asked, earning a hostile look from Jason. “What? I’d just like to see what a mission would be like with a pilot who didn’t fly directly into shit as a tactic.”

“You and me both,” Twingo said.

“Everybody is so funny today,” Jason said as he slid into the seat Kellea had just abandoned. He keyed up his nav display and corrected his course slightly to bring them in on the prescribed flight path.

Soon a tiny pinpoint of light could be seen moving faster against the backdrop of space. As they flew on, the speck became larger and brighter until a discernible shape could be made out with the naked eye. It was an enormous cylindrical structure with spidery outriggers branching off of it at irregular intervals.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Jason said, “the Aracoria Shipyards.”

“There’s only one lady here,” Kage said.

“I was counting you as well,” Jason replied. Crusher stifled a laugh.

The Aracoria Shipyards, though orbiting a ConFed stronghold, didn’t actually support Fleet operations. Due to the enormous wealth concentrated on the planet, a private company opened the yards to provide high-end ship construction for anything from a private yacht to a personal battleship. The only limits were how many credits you were bringing to the party.

“Approach Control is transmitting our new vector,” Kage said, ignoring Jason’s barb. “Sending it to your panel now.” Jason looked down and tweaked his course slightly and began slowing the gunship as they approached the upper-most docking arm, the section of the yards where most of the large-class ship construction took place.

As he slowed on final approach, the brilliant white prow of a battlecruiser could be seen poking out of the dock. Slowing even further, he angled around and flew the Phoenix into the dock, paralleling the ship until the ship’s name could be read upon the hull: Defiant.

“Welcome home, Captain Colleren,” Jason said as he brought the Phoenix down for a landing on the battlecruiser’s flight deck.

Epilogue

Jason and Crisstof sat in comfortable silence in a luxurious, if somewhat minimalist, lounge on the latter’s new flagship, the Defiant. At his insistence, Jason and his crew remained aboard while the new battlecruiser performed a short shakedown cruise. Once they’d departed the Aracoria Shipyards it became clear the older man wanted a captive audience to discuss Omega Force once again working with his organization in an unofficial capacity.

“It’s been an eventful few months,” Crisstof commented after a while, swirling the drink in his glass. “How is your crew enjoying the new ship?”

“I’ll need to get them out of here soon,” Jason answered. “Too much longer with access to your mess deck and I’ll have a mutiny on my hands once they’re back to processed ship food.”

“Speaking of,” Crisstof said uncomfortably, “what do you plan to do with Dr. Ma’Fredich?” Jason stood and walked up to the full-length window that overlooked the gleaming upper hull of the battlecruiser. He took a long moment before answering.

“He’s free to stay, if that’s what he wants,” he finally said. “The deception was based on a lack of judgment and not necessarily a betrayal of trust. It’s not something I expect he’ll repeat.”

“Have you told him that yet?” Crisstof asked. “Last I saw him he was still quite drawn and depressed-looking. I think he expects you’re going to leave him here.”

“I’ll let him know before we depart,” Jason said with a half-smile. “I’m going to let him spin on the hook a bit longer … I owe him that much at least.” Crisstof sat for a moment with a puzzled expression on his face, no doubt trying to work his way through another of the human’s strange colloquialisms.

“All of this makes you think,” Jason continued. “Doc’s role in this mess, your First Son’s involvement, and even the rotten core within the ConFed Council itself … it seems like we’re fighting a two-front war at times. Enemies within the gates, so to speak.”

“Why do you think I hired you in the first place?” Crisstof asked, also rising. “And then asked you to stay on after that? Although I was genuinely surprised at Steader’s treachery, I’ve always known my greatest weakness is the enemies I keep close to me. It’s an unavoidable fact. They’ll always be there no matter how vigilant I am.”

“That’s a singularly depressing thought,” Jason remarked. “So we’re doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over?”

“Not if we learn from those mistakes,” Crisstof said. “It’s a tough and thankless line of work we’ve chosen, and there should be no expectations that the galaxy is going to make it easy for us.”

“Maybe,” Jason grunted, finishing his drink in one gulp. “Either way, that type of philosophical debate is above my pay grade. So … do you have anything for us right now?”

“Now that you mention it,” Crisstof smiled, “what do you know about the Xyias System?”

*****

“So what am I looking at?”

“It’s an image of the ship we believe to be responsible for the catastrophic failure of the RU933 Operation,” the agent said.

“One little, tiny ship? How incompetent are you people anyway? Don’t answer that.” The speaker was still wearing his Council robes, having come straight to his office after receiving a message from his Intel Section contact. “So who are they?”

“That’s the interesting part,” the agent said. “All records have been purged regarding some fairly notorious incidents involving this specific model of ship. It was a recent purge action in our records, as well.”

“So you have no idea who they are?”

“I only remember one detail from the file. They call themselves Omega Force.”

“Omega Force,” the councilman said, as if the name itself caused him physical pain. “I want them found. Track them down and report back to me.”

After the agent left, the councilman held the grainy, hardcopy image of some type of gunship for a moment longer before wadding it up in disgust and throwing it against the wall. Someone would pay for this.

Thank you for reading Omega Force: The Enemy Within.

If you enjoyed the story, Captain Burke and the guys will be back in:

Omega Force: Return of the Archon.

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@JoshuaDalzelle

From the author

So… not the story many of you were expecting, was it? Is it because I forgot, or am I simply a sadistic bastard? In truth, neither. Now would be a good time for me to come clean and admit that the last line in “Savage Homecoming” was never meant as a cliffhanger. I had stuck that in there in case one day I wanted to revisit certain story arcs that were ended with that book. I still might some day, but for now Jason has made peace with the fact that he’ll never return to his home world or the people he’s left behind.

As you read this I’m already hard at work on the next Omega Force novel and my editor, Monique Happy, already has a date for when she wants it. This series is incredible fun to write, so I have no intention of putting it aside or slowing down any time soon. Thank you for reading and thanks for the words of encouragement and suggestions that many have taken the time to send me. The feedback is certainly appreciated.

Josh