Different Paths (18 page)

Special Agent Johnson nodded. “So, that’s how you
held the pass on Gilese.”

“Yep... although by then Achilles was the last SPARTAN,
hence his surname.”

Special Agent Johnson flipped the pages some more.
“Okay. I can see where he would adopt that name but where did Iaido come from?
Why not just use Achilles?”

“Achilles was his military name and it represents
a dark time in his life. As to where Iaido got his name, his batch number from
when he was in a pod was 1A1-DO. One of the trainers noticed the similarities
of the batch number to the Japanese word Iaido, which means ‘way of the blade’
and after everyone noticed his specialty with blades and swords, it became his
nickname.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

“Simple, I was bound by my oath as a retired
Coalition officer not to reveal this information to anyone.” Lt. Kristopher gestured
to the papers in the agent’s hands. “But if you have that file, then you will
discover all this and more.” Lt. Kristopher hesitated. Years of fighting the
administration of the Coalition had taught him that it was dangerous to trust
someone you didn’t know. But his gut urged him that Special Agent Johnson was
different and at the end of the day, he would trust his gut instinct over
paranoia any day. The Fed was about to close the folder when he stopped him.
“There is something I think you should know. There were two Galactic Marshals
at the warehouse, Cassius and Brutus.”

 “Yes. I met them earlier. They are witnesses in
the murder investigation of my young protégé Agent Smith. Here is a copy of
their statements concerning the incident.” Special Agent Johnson pulled out a
different folder and passed it to the NAPD lieutenant.

Lt. Kristopher scanned the documents quickly with
an experienced eye; the overwhelming lack of evidence screamed at him. There
was no recording of any kind or physical proof that the murder was committed by
Iaido. Only the statements of the two Galactic Marshals condemned his friend. He
lifted the folder and gestured with it. “And you believe this?”

Special Agent Johnson said, “I admit that there
isn’t much evidence against Mr. Spartan…”

“Much? There isn’t any.”

“Except the testimony of two Galactic Marshals.”

“Two Galactic Marshals who just so happen to be
myrmidons.”

“Myrmidons? How do you know that?”

“Two reasons. First, Iaido told me that they were
and secondly…myrmidons move a certain way. It’s a subtle thing but its there.
Once noticed, it is never forgotten. When I saw them in the warehouse, I knew
that my friend was right.”

“What did they want at the warehouse?”

“Me. But once Lt. Brown pointed out that I was to
be detained by the NAPD and the FSA, they took Sgt. Major Spenton’s daughter
instead.”

Special Agent Johnson shuffled some papers. “And
why am I just learning of this?”

“Where Galactic Marshals are concerned there are
hardly any paper trails.”

Whatever Special Agent Johnson was about to say
was forgotten as there was another knock on the door and a different agent
stepped in, leaned down and whispered something to him.

With a nod, Special Agent Johnson closed the
folder and gestured to Lt. Kristopher. “Come on. It seems that the Fleet has
located the Nemesis.”

Without another word, the two moved through the
FSA headquarters until they reached the CIC.

Lt. Kristopher looked around. It looked like any
other CIC center he had been in over the last twenty years. Vid-displays of the
various sectors in Terran controlled space which ranged out to the asteroid
belt that was just past Mars and before Jupiter. Technically, the asteroid belt
acted like a DMZ – De-Militarized Zone - and was patrolled by both the Galactic
Marshals and the Fleet. One would think it simple patrolling an asteroid belt,
until you try to do it. The untold number of asteroids and length of the belt
made it nearly impossible to police properly, even with both organizations
patrolling the belt, numerous raiders and mine jumpers plagued the asteroids. Nearly
all the attention in the CIC was centered on the one vid-display which showed
the Nemesis being chased by a squadron of Fleet Dragons.

Special Agent Johnson moved up to a young tech,
tapped him on the shoulder and commanded, “Report.”

Slightly startled at being singled out, the tech
stammered for a second before beginning his briefing. “Well sir, it seems that
the Nemesis is a Cerberus class warship, which interesting enough was
originally designed and built back in the mid twenty-first century by what was
known as NASA. When the UNCF was formed, it annexed all remaining Cerberus
warships and reclassified them as a destroyer class. They served with
distinction until they were decommissioned in 2090. I didn’t even know any were
still in operation…”

“I don’t need a history lesson about the Nemesis.
I need a sit-rep.”

“Oh, sorry sir.” He glanced down at his notes. “It
seems that the Nemesis was able to slip through our sensors by hiding under
some commercial traffic. None of our sensors detected anything during our
scans; we have teams working on that now to find out how it was possible. We
only discovered the Nemesis a few minutes ago by accident when a passing
freighter made a comment over the comms about something being stuck to the
underside of the freighter Argentina’s belly. We dispatched a squadron of
Dragons to investigate but even before they had left orbit the Nemesis had
broken away from the Argentina and made a beeline for the asteroid belt.”

Special Agent Johnson pointed to the display.
“Will the Dragons catch him before he reaches the cover of the asteroids?”

“I don’t believe so, sir. The Cerberus class
warships were extremely fast for their size. Given the head start it had, our
best estimate is that the Nemesis will reach the asteroid belt nearly two full
minutes before the Dragons.”

Special Agent Johnson rubbed his chin as he
thought about everything he had learned over the last few minutes. The quandary
he felt over his next order was obvious to all but he knew his duty and it was
clear.

“Contact the squadron leader and let him know that
they are to follow the Nemesis into the asteroid belt using whatever means
necessary to disable the Nemesis but they are not allowed to go past the
asteroid belt and into galactic space.”

Chapter 15

Iaido twisted the Nemesis into a fast roll to avoid
an incoming asteroid. “Pax what’s their status?”

“They are receiving coded transmissions at this
time but judging from their lack of deceleration, I would extrapolate that they
have been given orders to follow us into the asteroid belt.”

“Dammit! I was afraid of that,” Iaido snapped as
he pushed the ship’s nose down hard to avoid another asteroid.

Pax’s monotone and calm voice added, “Captain… I
would be remiss in my duties if I didn’t inform you that the odds of
successfully navigating through an asteroid field at our current speed is
three-thousand seven-hundred and twenty to one.”

Iaido snickered slightly. “I never did like long
shots. Pax, take the con. Move us at best speed through this region.”

“Affirmative.”

Feeling Pax take the controls, Iaido relaxed. He
knew that navigating at speed though an asteroid field was nearly impossible
for anyone except an AI. There were just too many variables to keep track of
for any degree of safety. He knew the Dragons would also have to slow down as
they entered the field or risk running into a stray asteroid. However, they
were smaller and much more maneuverable than the Nemesis and without some sort
of distraction, they would be within firing range soon.

Glancing over the data on his HUD, Iaido had a
thought and tapped some coordinates into the computer.

“Pax, the remnants of Jagger Jax’s gang have been
raiding this region of the belt. It isn’t too far off. Can we get to this
location before the Dragons have missile lock?”

“Possibly. It all depends on how much they slow
down once they reach the asteroid field. At their current speed they will have
missile lock in one minute and thirty-two seconds.”

“Alter course to take us through the center of
this area. If the Dread Pirates are like any other gang, they won’t like us
coming through their turf without permission. And I can almost bet, they won’t
let the Dragons through unmolested.”

“Affirmative.”

Iaido tapped the controls on the ship’s intercom.
“Jay!”

“Aye?” came his friend’s response.

“You and Talia need to get to the bridge ASAP. The
next few minutes are going to be hairy.”

“Roger. We’re on our way.”

The two companions made their way through the
corridors of the ship as quickly as possible, which is easier said than done
considering the twists and turns Pax was taking the Nemesis through. Reaching
the bridge, Jay got one good look at the HUD which was filled with fast moving
white or yellow circles which signified the asteroids. Dead astern were five
yellow triangles representing the Dragons; they had closed the distance but
weren’t in firing range, yet and the area ahead was littered with white X’s
representing unknown bogies.

As Jay struggled out of his hoverchair and climbed
into the operations seat he asked. “Pax, what am I looking at?”

“We are approaching the coordinates designated by
the captain. There are thirty-one bogies of various sizes, mostly small one-man
ships, closing in on our position. Their comm traffic is scrambled but I would
extrapolate that we have found the Dread Pirates.”

Iaido asked, “Are they hailing us?”

“Negative, but they are charging weapons.”

Iaido swiveled his captain’s chair to face Talia
and Jay. “We have a situation. We are between the proverbial hammer and the
anvil. The Dread Pirates aren’t our friends but they have no love for the Fleet
either. However, if we can punch through both sides should be too busy to worry
about us.”

“What do you mean if?” Talia asked.

“In combat nothing is certain.” Iaido turned his
attention back to Jay. “Take the command chair, Xerxes will take the controls.
Find a weak point in their line. We need to get out of this region and to the
nearest jump point as soon as possible.”

Xerxes easily lifted Jay into the captain’s chair.

“Roger Iaido. I’ll do my best.” Jay didn’t seem
bothered by the huge Mantodea at all. He just nodded his thanks as he turned
his attention back to the HUD. “Pax shift more power to our front shields.”

“Affirmative.”

Iaido turned to Talia. “I need your help. I need
you to man one of the turrets.”

“But I don’t know how.”

“It’s simple. Point the target reticule a few
meters in front of your target and squeeze the trigger.”

Talia shook her head. “It can’t be that easy.”

Iaido snickered. “Actually it’s not but that’s all
the time I have for instructions.”

Talia followed Iaido off the bridge and down the
short ladder.

He pointed down the starboard hatch. “Climb down
there, strap in, toggle on the three red switches and put on the headset. Pax
will power-up the gun and turn on your targeting controls. Remember to lead the
targets and only shoot the targets in the red zone.”

Talia felt the cold hand of fear close on her
stomach but she nodded and said, “I’ll do my best.”

“That’s all anyone can do,” he said before
disappearing down his own hatch.

*   *   *   *   *

There are times that being a fighter jock was the
greatest job in the universe; for Chief Warrant Officer Third Class Ed “Tinman”
Brockbank this was one of those times. His flight was on a routine patrol when
the call came over the tac-net that a Cerberus class warship had blasted
through the shipping lanes and was heading for cover in the asteroid belt.
Being the closest unit, they were tasked with the pursuit. This was a dream
come true.

Since the end of the war, most of the newer
recruits in Fleet were assigned to more mundane units, such as the Canadian Air
Wing (CAW) which is where Tinman found himself. Mostly they did routine patrol
along the eastern seaboard of North America looking for smugglers and pirates.
At least the CAW had older model Dragons dating from the early days of the war but
still very capable.

Tinman looked over the tac-display on his HUD and
frowned. The six ships in his flight were closing on the Nemesis but he knew
they wouldn’t catch them before they reached the safety of the asteroid belt.

Tinman keyed his mic. “All units accelerate to max
speed. Lay on the booster and let’s close this gap.”

“Tinman this is Sandman.”

Brockbank keyed his mic again. “Go for Tinman.”

“I’m picking up a large number of bogies in the
path of the Nemesis,” said Sandman. “They seem to be small fighters, the type
used by pirates.”

Readjusting the range on his radar, Tinman saw the
bogies his wingman called about.

“Friends of the Nemesis?”

“Not from what I can see. It looks like they are
firing on her. They are swarming all over her like a bunch of angry hornets.”

“Rivals. No matter, we have authorization to enter
the belt and use whatever means necessary to detain the Nemesis.” Double
checking his own transponder, Tinman added. “All ships make sure your IFF is
broadcasting. If you are fired upon you have full weapons release authority.”

Snapping his joystick quickly to port, Tinman
rolled quickly past an asteroid. Sandman, his wingman, mirrored his move and
the Dragons of the Canadian Air Wing entered the fray.

In years to come, Tinman could never truly
describe the utter chaos of that battle.

The Dread Pirates had entered the battle with
thirty-one ships known as Sparrows. They were old, older than the Nemesis. They
were basically a flying sled with cannons but even as old as they were, they
could still dish out some major damage as two of the CAW Dragons found out the
hard way within the first few seconds of the battle. The Dragons were
hopelessly outnumbered as the Dread Pirates turned their attention on them.
Only three things saved them that day; superior training, superior equipment
and the Nemesis.