The Pathfinder Project (34 page)

“All support ships, this is
Captain Kaufield. Take all necessary action to prevent the enemy ships from
moving within firing range of the
Pathfinder
.” He kept his eye trained
on the largest contact representing the attacking mother ship. “Especially that
big sucker launching shuttles at us!” he snapped more than a little heatedly.

“
Aye, aye Captain
,” a
familiar voice echoed in his ears.

“Nori?” he gasped in disbelief.
“Noriana Andrews… what the
hell
are you doing out there? You’re supposed
to be…”

“
Sitting on my ass while our
ship is under attack? Not me
,” she replied. “
Besides, these guys aren’t
half as spicy as their appearance would have you believe. Their weapons have no
independent guidance – they’re point and shoot desperados… just ducks in our
pond
.”

“But you’re… pregnant,” said
Kaufield simply, completely ignoring the expression on Mary’s face as she
pretended not to notice his. “The G-forces generated by a fighter in flight…”

“…
Are not all that bad when
you’re the go-to gal. The boys are setting me up and I’m knockin’ ‘em down.
There’s really been no G-forces for young junior to experience so far
,” she
replied. “
Except for that launch tube thing, I guess. Trust me, a mother can
tell… Junior didn’t mind
.”

“
There are only two enemy
fighters left, Captain
,
and I’m on babysitting duty right next to her
,”
Walter said reassuringly. “
The larger vessel is shooting at us, but it’s
still trying to move into optimum range and they’re firing simple projectiles.
With our advanced maneuverability their lack of electronic guidance is
definitely showing
.” He sounded a bit disappointed. “
You said these guys
have been fighting each other for how long
?” he asked. “
Their R & D
must be nearly non-existent… they’re no match for rail guns
.”

Kaufield said nothing, just
glanced inquisitively across his work station toward Adam. The elder Roh
thought for a moment before sharing his thoughts. “They may have been fighting
each other for thousands of years, but consider their situation,” Adam
suggested. “They are rogues, constantly on the move while trying to locate new
planets and asteroids. In all probability they barely have time to set up shop
and satisfy their resource needs before an enemy suddenly shows up to attack
the sun and thereby deprive them of everything. Just keeping their equipment
functioning and feeding the troops is probably their biggest challenge. Not
exactly the type of environment you’d expect to find sophisticated electronic
computer systems developed in.”

“
Command, this is Shuttle
Corona
.
The last troop transport is on the run. They know we’ve got them out-gunned and
they’re running for their lives
.”

“At the very least disable
their Point-to-Point capabilities,” Kaufield ordered. “If they get desperate
enough they may try and transit into the
Pathfinder
. We need to buy more
time for Glen and Thomas to plot us an escape route.” He glanced at his Delta screen
and noted the mother ship continuing its brazen approach. “That goes for you
fighter hotshots also. Two of you take out the remaining fighters and the rest
of you disable that big SOB. He may decide to transit right into us, too!”

“Would they really
use
that tactic?” Mary asked. “It’s unthinkably sinister…”

“
We
used it!” Kaufield
snapped, a little too sharply. He turned and glanced apologetically at her.
“Sorry LT… my nerves are completely frayed. Granted there weren’t any living
people on that wreck of a ship we used against the Brotherhood but you never
know what
these
guys will decide.” He shook his head. “They located us
and attacked with their closest ship. I would be very pleasantly surprised if
they don’t already have reinforcements on the way. I’m trying to think like
them – my strategy in that role would be to disable us any way possible. That
way their friends can find us and capture our new weapons and technology, which
they’ll use to raise the stakes in their private little war.”

“You pilots watch yourselves,”
Glen cautioned from his seat in the Lab wing. “The mother ship contains a very
large power source. They may have weapons they haven’t shown us yet.”

“
You think
?” Nori replied
sarcastically.

Out in the middle of the
primary action, Walter ‘Lightning’ Douglas piloted his F-175 at top speed
toward Nori’s distant signal. He was closely followed by the remaining two
enemy fighters, both shooting wildly at him in an attempt to disable his
engines. Despite the temptation to laugh at their lack of maneuverability he
had not so far. It had been his experience that underestimating an opponent was
the quickest way to die in battle. If they were shooting at you they could hit
you, and in the end that was all that mattered, really.

He continued to spot occasional
fluorescent traces of discharged bullets flying past his cockpit, so he knew
that both fighters were in hot pursuit. Nori’s fighter was facing away from
them and she was traveling a lot slower, allowing the three ships to catch up
with her almost immediately. At the last second before he passed her he saw her
maneuvering thrusters activate. The fighter instantly spun around to face the
approaching enemy targets, its rail guns firing. Walt watched one of the enemy
targets on his motion sensor console fragment and vanish. Five seconds later he
spun his own ship around and shot down the remaining fighter.

“Pathfinder,
this is Siren.
All enemy fighters are down
,” he heard Nori report with undisguised
satisfaction.

“
Commander of the
Corona
breaking in
,” stated a new voice calmly. “
The remaining transport
cruiser has transited back to the mother vessel. I think they’re planning a new
strategy
.”

The ‘new strategy’ became
immediately obvious as the monstrous mother ship fired up its engines and began
moving forward. With its shuttle leading the way, both ships began shooting in
unison as they continued their pursuit of the
Pathfinder
. The mother
vessel had taken a series of missile hits from the other four attacking F-175s,
but it had quickly shrugged them off and continued ominously forward, fires
still burning from several of the targeted impact points. Rail gun fire from
the
Ranger
, the second shuttle, slowed its progress some but not nearly
enough to please Nori.

“
They’re preparing to RAM
,”
Nori reported warily. “
I don’t think they have PTP capability any longer but
they’re faster than you are, Captain. It looks like they’re going to try and run
you down
.”

“
Acknowledged
,” Kaufield
replied. “
We’ve got six more fighters standing by for launch but I’m leaving
them on hold status. Glen and Thomas have just sent a Canary Probe through a
small PTP window to our emergency escape destination and they are reporting
that everything is working fine. Your six fighters are cleared for immediate
landing in our forward hangar bay. We’re getting the hell out of here as soon
as you’re all aboard
.”

“
Captain, Lighting and I are
in perfect position to intercept and we’ve both got a missile left. Request
permission to confront the enemy
…”

“
Permission
denied
,
Captain Andrews
,” snapped Kaufield. “
The
Corona
and the
Ranger
will provide covering fire until you land. Then they’ll use the
hangar bay’s rear entrance to dock with us. We need
all
support ships aboard
and secure before we can PTP so get your butts in gear
.” There was a pause
as Walter listened, and he used the opportunity to bring his fighter back
alongside Nori’s. Ahead of them the other four F-175s had already passed in
front of the
Pathfinder
and were turning to land. “
Trust me, Nori,
”
the Captain said reassuringly.
“I’m watching Thomas’ clock very closely
.”
Walter knew she was tempted to continue the attack but he also knew
her
,
and thus the decision that she would inevitably make.

“Pathfinder
hangar control,
this is Siren. You’ve got two more F-175s ready to land, so get those other boys
out of our way the instant they’re down
.”

“
Copy that... and welcome
home, Captain
.”

“Now
that
part has
always bothered me,” Walt decided as both he and Nori also circled around in
front of the
Pathfinder
and prepared to land. “If your rank is a Captain
and his rank is
also
a Captain…”

“…
How come I’m not a head
honcho the same as him
?” she guessed before frowning slightly. “
Since
you like reading, Walt, may I suggest that your next choice be the ‘Project
Pathfinder Charter’ that was written several years ago
,” she suggested. “
I
think you’ll find it quite complex and extremely boring. It specifically
outlines the authority that each role we fill is entitled to while assigned to
this project, regardless of previous rank
.” She laughed uproariously. “
I’m
a Captain out here, with you. But inside that ship I’m just another average Joe
.”

“Thomas, you’ve got exactly
ninety-two seconds left,” Kaufield stated informatively, watching the enemy
ships grow closer. “Then we have no choice but to transit whether the Canary
Probe is back on our side of the window or not. Most of the larger ship’s
forward guns are down, but they’ll still be able to damage us easily enough
once our own shuttles cease fire.”

“
Hold on tight
,” the
young scientist requested from his station down below. “
The Canary Probe is
scheduled to return in seventy-six seconds. That should beat your deadline
.”

The remaining enemy troop
transport had dropped back and was now trailing its mother ship, having taken
heavy fire from the two combat shuttles. Both the
Ranger
and the
Corona
were easing slowly into the
Pathfinder
’s rear hangar bay,
their rail guns continuing to shoot until the very last second at the pair of
approaching targets. Hating every second of the seemingly endless wait,
Kaufield tapped the pen he was holding repeatedly on his Delta laptop – the
dark mass of the monstrous enemy ship was so very large now on their overhead
monitors and growing closer with each passing second. Mary reached over and
calmly took the pen away from him. The attempt to cheer him up failed as he
continued to watch the seconds tick by.

“That’s it, Thomas,” he said into
the Comm-link. “I can’t wait any longer…”

“
As promised
!” he heard
the younger Roh shout from somewhere down in the Lab wing. “
Here it comes
!”

The Canary Probe roared out of
the open PTP window beneath the
Pathfinder
at nearly 100 kilometers per
second. It adjusted its course only slightly, since the enemy ship was now so
close there was virtually no way to miss it. Thomas kept his work station’s
remote control crosshairs firmly planted on the bottom of the mother ship’s
hull – and the vehicle-sized device impacted firmly into it dead center.
Although it contained no explosives, the mass of the Canary Probe was extremely
sizable and – combined with its high velocity – it proved to be a very
effective, unexpected weapon against the hostile enemy.

“They wanted to ram us… we just
beat them to the punch,” Kaufield said darkly as the enemy vessel veered
awkwardly away from them, now critically damaged. The remains of the Canary
probe emerged from the top of the ship in a glowing comet-like tail of fire.
The hulking mother ship flashed harmlessly by above them as Adam fired their
dorsal thrusters and sent the
Pathfinder
plunging down and away from it.
They had no chance to witness anything further as Glen quickly expanded the PTP
window beneath them so that it surrounded their own starship. In a flash of
victory, they vanished, leaving behind four ships – one large and three small –
burning brightly in space.

*    
* * *     *

Down in the Lab wing Glen
verified that their arrival point was correct, then pushed his chair back from
his desk and sighed with a relieved sigh. He put his head into his hands and
then wiped sweat from his brow as he continued to breathe deeply for a precious
moment. The room erupted with a roar of spontaneous applause from the staff
surrounding them – all of whom had been furiously working alongside them
throughout the battle. Glen glanced over at Thomas and couldn’t help but laugh
at the triumphant expression on the kid’s face.

“You are one
smart
boy,
Thomas,” he said. “Did you know that? If those guys had managed to board the
Pathfinder
we would have had a
serious
disaster on our hands.”

“What can I say?” Thomas
replied jubilantly, smiling from ear to ear through his freckles. “Not only am
I charming and charismatic, but I’m intelligent, too. My only flaw is that I
don’t handle extreme stress very well.” Coming from someone else such a
statement would have sounded arrogant. From Thomas Roh it sounded just plain hilarious.

“That was about as extreme as
things can get and you did just fine,” Glen pointed out.

“The time off has done me a lot
of good,” grinned Thomas. “After all, I’ve been lying on my couch for the past
couple of weeks with a purring cat sitting on top of my chest. You have no idea
how much negative energy that can purge!” He paused to listen as the Captain
activated the ship’s all-call system.

“
Everyone can stand down
from General Quarters
,” Kaufield stated. “
But all on duty officers and
pilots should remain at high alert, since the enemy has demonstrated the
ability to track us through transit. I doubt they can follow us through a 1,000
light year leap, but you never can tell
…” Finished, he let the overhead
speakers go quiet.