Dark Space: Origin (23 page)

Gina hauled back on the throttle. “Any time now, Infernos . . .”

“Torpedoes away!”

Alara looked up to see a dozen bright silver streaks go jetting out toward the
Valiant—
and
them
.

“Frek,” Gina muttered and hauled back more on the throttle. “They may as well be shooting at us!”

A second later, the torpedoes slammed into the hangar shields with a blinding starburst of light, eliciting another roar from the transport’s sound simulator.

“Ruh-kah! She’s wide open for you!” one of the Infernos screamed.

A big chunk of debris flew at them and bounced off their forward shields with a noisy hiss, adding some downward drift to their momentum. After that, their shields were in the yellow, at 48%.

Gina grumbled, “Skriffin’ nova jocks. . . . You hit me with a piece of shrapnel!” she yelled into the comm.

“You’re welcome, princess,” Inferno One replied. “Next time you can kiss my ass.”

Alara saw a half a dozen novas go roaring toward the
Valiant
at an unsafe speed only to pull up at the last second and bounce off its hull with grav lifts.

“What are you waiting for?” Inferno One said. “You’ve only got a few seconds! Get in there!”

Gina pushed the throttle forward and thumbed the afterburners for good measure. “I hope I’m not that annoying when I’m flying a nova,” she muttered.

The tail end of Inferno Squadron flew in and bounced off the
Valiant’s
hull, and then Alara heard a familiar stuttering roar, and gold streaks of ripper fire began streaming out the side of the carrier. Two of the Infernos exploded almost instantly, and a third was clipped in the thrusters, sending it spiraling into the side of the carrier. The
Valiant’s
shields flashed brightly with the impact and the resultant explosion seemed to
fizz—
as Gina had put it—along the carrier’s shields in a rippling wave of fire.

“Frek!” Gina said as she yanked the stick from side to side, weaving toward the open hangar in an evasive pattern. A few rounds hissed against their shields and Alara watched the shields drop another 10%.

“She was playin’ dead!” someone yelled.

“Let’s give her another face full of fire, boys!” Inferno One replied.

“Negative, Infernos!” command replied. “All units abort and get back to the
Tauron
. You’ve got less than thirty seconds till the
Valiant
jumps away.”

“Roger that.”

“
What?
” Gina blurted just as their momentum carried them through the hangar shields. The recovering shields roared against theirs in protest, and for a moment all they could see was dazzling blue brilliance. . . .

“Shields critical,” the computer warned.

Then they were through and rocketing for the back of the hangar. The ship’s gravity yanked them toward the deck, but Gina’s hand had been ready on the grav lifts, and she was fast enough to prevent an instant crash.

“Hold on!” Gina yanked back on the throttle until it was in full reverse and deployed the air brakes for good measure. The roar of their engines became deafening. “Still not going to cut it!” Gina said. “Extend the landing skids! We need some friction to slow us down.”

Alara dropped the skids with a
krrr-thu-thunk
, and Gina brought them down close to the deck until they heard the skids make contact. Sparks flew out below them. Friction with the deck slowed them quickly. Then one of the skids abruptly snapped off, and the shuttle’s nose hit the deck. The hiss of duranium scraping against their shields was deafening. A split second later, their shields gave out with a
bang,
and that hiss became a thunderous screech as their transport scraped all its paint off on the deck. Alara began to feel vibrations bleeding through the IMS to rattle her teeth. Gina tried to balance their landing with the grav lifts, but she must have overcorrected, because the back end of the shuttle abruptly lifted up, and in the next instant they were screaming as they flipped over and landed on their roof. Now they were hanging upside down, watching sparks fly between the roof of the shuttle and the deck as they skidded backward. The vibrations grew stronger and stronger until Alara could feel herself being pressed into her flight chair.

“IMS is failing!” Gina gritted out.

And then they slammed into the back wall of the hangar, and both of them were thrown hard against their flight chairs. Something inside the cockpit exploded, and a piece of shrapnel clipped Alara in the head.

Darkness swallowed her whole.

*  *  *

Admiral Heston slammed the captain’s table with his fist as the
Valiant
jumped to SLS and her icon
winked off the grid. “We were
that
close!” he made a small gap between his fingers.

Commander Donali nodded. “Almost, sir.”

“We lost three novas and a transport for that.”

“Sloppy piloting, sir. They knew the
Valiant’s
guns could have been live. Just because they didn’t detect weapons powering doesn’t mean they should have let their guards down.”

Heston glared at the three dimensional star map rising out of the holo table, watching as his units fled like disorganized rabble
.
“How does one scruffy band of outlaws cause so much trouble?”

“Perhaps we’re underestimating them, sir.”

“Perhaps.”

“Sir,” a new voice reached Hoff’s ears, and he looked up to see his recently-appointed tactical adviser, Deck Commander Loba Caldin staring at him.

“What is it, Commander Caldin?”

“We’re missing a transport.”

“Another one? That makes three novas and
two
transports. Do you have any more bad news for me, Commander?”

“The battle logs show no record of the missing transport being destroyed, sir, and it appears that Inferno Squadron was helping them get inside one of the hangars before the
Valiant
opened fire.”

“Are you saying they might have made it aboard?”

“That’s the only conclusion I can draw from the data, sir.”

Heston’s grizzled eyebrows floated up. “Which transport?”

“AT One, sir.”

Hoff smiled. “Vanguards—the first ones in and the last ones out.”

“The only ones in,” Caldin added.

“Well, these ones have certainly earned their badge. Ethan Ortane is on that shuttle,” Hoff mused, rubbing his chin.

Caldin frowned. “The holoskinner? That’s not very encouraging, sir.”

“On the contrary, it’s an unusual boon.”

“A boon, sir?”

“Yes, a helpful thing. . . . anyway,” Hoff shook his head, annoyed with himself for using such an antiquated word, and with her for interrupting him. “I had Ethan implanted with a tracker to keep an eye on him. If Brondi thinks he’s getting away from us, he’s badly mistaken.”

Commander Donali shook his head. “The tracker won’t be useful as long as they’re in SLS, and without the commnet to send faster than light communications, it’ll be useless when they drop out of SLS, too. We’d have to know where Brondi is headed and meet him there in order to receive any signals from the tracker. In other words, we’d have to be able to find them before we can find them. That’s a painful irony, sir.”

“Ah, but we do have a working commnet, and we do know where Brondi is going.”

“We do, sir?”

Caldin began nodding. “Dark Space. We have a working commnet inside the sector.”

Hoff inclined his head to her. “Correct. Brondi won’t flee deeper into Sythian Space. His safest bet is to head back to Dark Space where he can muster some kind of defense, or merely hide in whatever rat hole passes for his headquarters—and that, my dear Commander Lenon Donali, is how the tracker will help us to find the
Valiant
. As soon as we get to Dark Space, we’ll start receiving signals from Ethan’s tracker via the gate relays, and we’ll be able to pinpoint Brondi’s location.”

“Shall I plot a course to Dark Space?” Donali asked.

“Not yet.” Hoff turned to Caldin. “Do you think that Tova and Roan can be trusted, Commander?”

Caldin hesitated. “I would personally never trust a Gor.”

Hoff smiled. “I like you, Caldin. Keep that up and you might just make it back to Captain.”

“That would be an honor, sir.”

“Nevertheless, those two pet Gors of yours have already been to Dark Space, so there’s no danger in us taking them back, is there?”

“I suppose not. . . .”

“I’m not confident we can overwhelm the
Valiant’s
novas
and
whatever ragtag fleet Brondi will have mustered to defend himself. I’d have to bring my whole fleet to bear, and that would take weeks—not to mention it would leave the enclave undefended. The Gors can help us to shortcut that process and save a lot of lives.”

“I’m not sure I see how Tova and Roan will make the difference in that equation,” Caldin replied.

“I’m afraid I don’t either,” Donali said. “Two Gors will never be enough to take back the
Valiant
.”

“But that’s where you’re wrong,” Heston said. He turned to stare out at space and the dark, distant specter of Fortress Station. “We’re going to use them to communicate between this ship and the
Interloper
while it’s cloaked. The
Interloper
will trace Ethan’s tracker signal to its source, sidle up close to the
Valiant,
and wait beside one of the venture-class hangars. Then they’ll call us in, and we’ll blow a hole in the hangar shields for them to get inside.”

Donali’s real eye widened. “Brondi will never see it coming.”

“Literally.”

“I agree. It’s a good plan,” Caldin added.

Hoff turned to her with a smile. “I’m glad you agree, Commander, because you’re coming with me to pitch it to the skull faces.”

Caldin’s nose wrinkled with distaste. “Yes, sir.”

Chapter 15

T
ova’s slitted yellow eyes flicked from Commander Caldin to the admiral. She reached up to grip the bars of her cell in two large gray hands and began warbling at them. A moment later, the portable translator which Caldin held in her palm translated Tova’s warbling language into a gender-neutral facsimile of Imperial Versal. “You ask me to help you but offer nothing in return. Why should I agree?”

Admiral Heston spread his hands and smiled. “If you help us, it would go a long way to establishing the level of trust we need to extend the human-Gor alliance to my enclave.”

Beside them, Captain Adram was quiet and subdued as he craned his neck to gaze up at the two-meter-high alien. For her part, Caldin glared up at Tova with undisguised suspicion.

“The alliance no longer existsss,” Tova hissed. “I am not stupid. Your overlord is to be eaten by his crèche mates. He is no longer a
lord
.” Tova shook her head. “Do not lie to me, Admiral.”

“Very well,” Heston inclined his head. “I’ll grant that you are very smart, Tova, so I’ll do you the courtesy of telling you the truth. Right now I have no reason to believe your people’s story or trust the Gors at all, and I am now in command of
all
the human survivors. You are right to say that the alliance no longer exists, and the reason for that is very simple—whether you were slaves or not, you pushed our race to the point of extinction, and most of my people can still remember that. Any one of my officers can close his eyes and still see Gors marching in their black armor. There is a lot for us to forget before we can fight alongside you.”

“Then you say that we are always to be your enemy?”

“No, I’m saying that we cannot trust you or your people yet, but if you can help us now, and more in the future, then we will gradually overcome the prejudices of the past. Your people surrendered three warships to us—that was a step in the right direction. Helping us to re-capture the
Valiant
will be another.”

“Then I agree to help you, humans—for my people’s sake—but take care that you do not reject us forever.”

“Duly noted,” Heston said.

“Release me,” Tova demanded.

“One moment, Tova. Can you explain all of this to your mate and get him to cooperate, too?”

“Yes.”

“We will release you when he has also agreed to help. You are no good to us on your own.”

“You release me now. Roan agrees to help.”

Hoff raised his eyebrows. “That was fast. You have already spoken to him?”

“I do not need to. Roan does what I ask. He trusts. Humans need learn from that.”

“We trust, too, Tova.”

“
You,
do not.”

Hoff’s eyes narrowed. “How would you know that?”

“You stink of fear, but hide it deep.”

Hoff snorted and waved vaguely to one of the sentinels who’d escorted them into the brig. “Let her out.”

Turning to Captain Adram beside him, Admiral Heston said, “Junior Captain, Adram, you will be serving under Captain Caldin as her XO aboard the
Interloper
. Caldin—you’ll take Tova and your crew with you, and I’ll take Roan aboard the
Tauron
.” Behind him, Hoff heard Tova’s cell slide open, and he had to resist the urge to turn around to keep an eye on her.

Captain Adram’s eyebrows beetled. “Junior Captain, sir?”

“In light of your questionable judgment of late, it won’t hurt for you to serve under a distinguished officer like Captain Caldin to give you an example of what a keen instinct for command looks like.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I hope to live up to that, sir,” Caldin said. She’d just been promoted up three pay grades, skipping both of the ranks in between to surpass even the admiral’s own XO, Master Commander Donali.

“I’m sure you will, Captain. My understanding is that you were demoted over a misunderstanding to do with the Gors.” At that, Hoff saw Caldin’s eyes dart up to Tova, and he realized the alien likely didn’t know Caldin had killed one of her people. “There won’t be any such misunderstandings in my fleet, just so long as your personal feelings don’t get in the way of our objectives.”

“I’m glad to hear that, sir. I assume this means that my crew and I are no longer under suspicion.”

“You assume correctly.”

“What about the trial and the prisoners?”

“There’s an old saying, Captain—
follow the running man.
Brondi is our running man. The trial will be suspended until we can capture him and subject him to a probe. Your prisoners will be placed in stasis until then—no sense wasting valuable supplies pandering to their needs.” Hoff turned from her to Adram. “Speaking of supplies—I believe you have some which you need to transfer off the
Interloper
to make room for Caldin and her crew?”

“Yes, sir. Where shall I put the supplies?”

“Send them over to the
Destine.
Captain Cathrall can take them to the enclave while we’re away.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Now we had better finish making preparations for our trip or all the keen instincts in the galaxy won’t avail us.”

“Avail, sir?” Caldin asked.

Hoff frowned. “
Help,
Captain. It means help. I’m going to give you some homework for the journey—a lexicon. Study it.”

“Yes, sir.”

Hoff caught Adram smirking at Caldin. “What are you smiling about, Adram?”

“Nothing, sir.”

“Good, because you’re too busy to gloat. Make the supply transfer and then send for Captain Caldin and her crew. I also need you to oversee construction of a temporary docking station for the
Interloper
. The
Tauron
will have to carry her through SLS. We can’t afford to travel separately. Sythian SLS drives are too slow, and I don’t want any Gors or Sythians to follow us to Dark Space.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Of course, all of that trouble will be pointless if Dark Space has already been compromised. . . .” Hoff added, turning to glance up at Tova.

“At least you won’t be responsible for it, sir,” Caldin said.

“A small comfort,” Hoff replied, frowning deeply. “I suppose we’ll have to blame Overlord Dominic or his imposter for that.”

“I’m going to enjoy watching that man die in a probe chair,” Caldin said.

“One thing at a time,” Hoff replied.

“Humansss,” Tova hissed. “It is no wonder you were defeated so easily. You never stop fighting each other. Children of the Gettiz know better—we do not fight our crèche mates.”

Hoff shot Tova a glance as they turned to leave her cell block. “Who are the children of the Getties, Tova?”

She cocked her head. “We are.”

“And the Sythians?”

“Yesss . . . they are also children of the Gettiz.”

“Yet you are fighting them. Doesn’t that make what you said incorrect?” Hoff wondered if Tova had accidentally spoken the truth. If the Sythians didn’t exist, then her claim that
children of the Getties know better than to fight each other
would be correct.

Tova gave no reply, and Admiral Hoff allowed himself to count to ten before he ran out of patience and repeated his question. This time Tova did speak.

“Not all children remember where they came from.”

“Wise words.”

They came to Roan’s side of the brig. Hoff turned to Caldin and said. “Captain, go back up to the
Tauron
and get your crew together. Take Tova with you and wait until Adram sends for you.”

“Yes, sir.” She turned with a frown to the naked alien. “Come on, Tova.”

Hoff watched them leave, and he nodded in appreciation of the woman’s bravery. She hadn’t asked for an escort, which meant she either trusted the Gor not to rip her throat out, which he doubted, or else she was just itching for an excuse to shoot the alien in the head.

Once both of them were gone, Hoff turned to the pair of sentinels he’d brought with him. “Go get Roan. We’ll wait here.”

“Yes, sir.”

Hoff waited until both sentinels were out of earshot before turning to Captain Adram. “I need you to keep an eye on Caldin for me.”

“Sir?” he asked, his brows beetling. “Why would you want me to keep an eye on a superior officer?”

“Your demotion is just for show—although I
am
concerned by your recent desire to second guess all of my decisions. Ever since you came back from the Getties you’ve been unusually recalcitrant and pro-Gor. Did you make friends with them while you were there, Captain?”

“No, sir! I’m sorry that I’ve been questioning you a lot lately, sir. I’ll work on it.”

“You had better, lest your demotion become real.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I want you to keep an eye on Caldin, because until we start probing suspects, we have no idea how far or deep this conspiracy with Alec Brondi’s virus and the holoskinning overlord goes. I don’t really think Caldin and her crew are involved, but I’m giving them—and the Gors for that matter—just enough slack on the proverbial leash to hang themselves.”

“Yes, sir.”

Hoff sighed. “Tova is right about one thing.”

“What’s that, sir?”

Hoff smiled sadly. “We never stop fighting each other.”

Adram smiled back. “Humans are a self-destructive species, aren’t they?”

The admiral sighed and shook his head. “One day we’re all going to realize that we’re the same, and then we’re going stop this pointless in-fighting.”

Adram hesitated and his brows beetled as if that particular bit of wisdom had struck a chord with him.

“You’re dismissed, Captain.”

Adram snapped out of it and gave a quick salute. “I’ll let you know when we’re ready.” With that, he turned to head in the direction that Captain Caldin had gone.

Hoff watched him go, wondering if Captain Adram was hiding any resentment over having his ship and his command temporarily taken from him. This mission would be a test for him as much as it would be for Caldin.
They can keep an eye on each other,
he thought.

The door behind the admiral swished open and he turned to see Roan being escorted out. Roan dwarfed the pair of sentinels, even in their bulky armor, making them look like toy soldiers.