The Girls From Alcyone (41 page)

"
They're launching fighters!
" Suko warned her.

"Shit." Her slow moving transport was no match for even one of them, and by her calculations they'd be on her in a matter of minutes. "Get clear, Suko. Run."

Sigrid rolled her ship over on its axis and accelerated toward the oncoming fighters.

"
Sigrid! Don't you dare.
"

Sigrid quickly calculated the trajectories of the fighters, pushing her craft forward onto a collision course with the lead ship. She swept an arc across all their paths with the chain gun in the nose of the ship. It was desperate, but she knew the small slugs were still capable of holing the fighters—
if
she scored several lucky hits,
if
they failed to maneuver out of the path of her desperate attack.

With so many 'ifs' she wasn't expecting them to explode—which was what each of them did, in quick succession.

"What the…?"

The proximity alarm bleated a warning on the control console; Sigrid jerked the controls hard over, narrowly avoiding a collision with a ship that clipped across her path in a blur.

It was the
Morrigan.

Sigrid heard Selene's voice over her comlink. "
Just what kind of crazy stunt were you trying to pull?
"

"Erm…well…" Sigrid replied, too stunned and elated to expand further.

"
Get yourself clear, missy,
" Selene chided.

"Yes, ma'am!" Sigrid said, doing exactly that.

She watched on her screen as the
Morrigan
swung around in an easy curve toward the CTF troop transport. The bulky ship was firing all its thrusters, desperately trying to maneuver, but it was too big, too slow, built for hauling and not combat. The
Morrigan
raked it stem to stern with tens of thousands of rounds from its twin rail-guns and a full spread of torpedoes.

Burning chunks of the carrier broke off amid several explosions as the ship started venting atmosphere from its compartments. The
coup de gras
was delivered as the rail guns reached the stern of the ship and tore apart the main engines. One moment Sigrid was looking at a ship, the next it became a grenade of debris and wreckage exploding outward; she was forced to employ some fancy maneuvering to avoid the hail of shrapnel.

"Thanks, Selene," Sigrid said, blowing a deep sigh.

"Our pleasure—Stay there. We'll swing back around and pick you up."

Within minutes, both drop ships had docked and transferred to the
Morrigan.
Sigrid stared in amazement at the interior of her ship; it was so incredibly crowded. Every centimeter was jam-packed with the young girls from Alcyone, along with her crew and friends. Sigrid weaved quickly and carefully through the swell of bodies as she made her way to the bridge.

Suko was already there—waiting. She swept Sigrid into her arms, smothering her with a long, deep kiss. "Don't you ever try that again."

"Never. I promise."

"Glad to have you back in one piece," Selene said over her shoulder.

"What's the status?"

"Other than the stealth system, we're fully functional and clear to maneuver. I've got us on a wide trajectory back to the Warp Relay. That should keep us clear of those destroyers."

"What about the other ships?" Sigrid asked.

Selene shook her head. "They're moving to cut us off, but they're still too far out. They committed all their ships to the attack on the Scorpii forces. I don't think they were expecting us to be in the mix."

"Well, that's something, I suppose. Very well. Take us to the Relay." Sigrid leaned over her and keyed a series of numbers into the navigational array. "I want you to warp to these coordinates."

Selene studied the numbers and frowned at Sigrid. "Uh—begging your pardon, but those…those don't go anywhere."

Suko squeezed her arm. "Sigrid?"

"There's no Relay listed in the database there," Selene explained. "If we go there, if there's no Relay, there's no way back."

Sigrid felt the familiar doubt growing inside her again.
Would Hitomi lie? Is this why she left—to trap them?
No. She couldn't believe that. Whatever Sigrid thought of Kimura, she trusted Lady Hitomi. She was one of them.

"That's the heading, Ms. Tseng. That's where we're going."

Selene let out a breath and shrugged. "Okie dokie."

Sigrid caught Suko's stare as she held her hand. "It's all right. I know what I'm doing."

She hoped.

It took three days for them to reach the Relay—more than enough time for doubt to creep further into Sigrid's thoughts. Where was Hitomi sending them? And what would they find on the other side?

Sigrid spent most of her time caring for the young girls. She warmed to the actions of Cherry and Honey, who took to caring for all the girls, making sure that each of them got enough to eat, even working a schedule so they could all make use of the ship's limited bathroom facilities.

As they closed on the Relay, there was little more to do than wait. The crippled CTF destroyers, ever present on their tail, were drifting further and further behind. When time allowed, Sigrid visited Karen in the cramped infirmary; she was recuperating well, and in good spirits. In engineering, Rodney and Christian continued to wrestle with Hitomi's stealth system, but neither of them were able to figure the thing out. As far as Rodney was concerned, the whole thing was voodoo.

Sigrid was having a rare moment to herself in the ship's head, when she felt someone pushing the door open.

"Occupied!" she cried, alarmed and covering herself. Her one-piece outfit was down around her ankles—it clearly hadn't been designed with latrines in mind, she thought. The door pushed open and Suko slipped in.

Sigrid laughed her relief. "I thought it was one of the little ones again. They certainly ask a lot of questions."

Suko closed the door and grinned. "Bloody ankle-biters."

Sigrid flushed the loo and stood up, struggling to pull her suit up in the cramped space of the head. Her eyes fell on Suko; she'd forgone the grey coverall and now wore a pair of Sigrid's shorts and a T-Shirt. The shirt was clearly too small, leaving a portion of her midriff exposed, and the shorts, were a little snug; Sigrid couldn't help but admire how the outfit highlighted her long, slender form in a much more flattering fashion than the awful prison garb had.

Suko's hands fell self-consciously over the clingy clothes. "They're a little tight, I know."

Sigrid winked. "I hope that's not a knock at my size."

"Not at all. I'm quite fond of your
sizes
."

Sigrid tilted her head up, standing slightly on her toes, putting her face close to Suko's. "You know, I've been wondering how to get you alone, all this time. I never considered
the head
."

"Well, don't get any ideas now. I only came in to tell you they need you on the bridge."

Sigrid ignored her, pressing up against her and kissing her with such a passion that it took them both by surprise.

But when Sigrid's hands slid under her shirt, Suko pulled back, taking a deep breath. "Wow. I…can't believe I'm saying this…but they
really
do need you."

Sigrid straightened, surprised. "What—really?"

Suko pointed at the door. "Selene says we're almost at the Relay. You better get up there." She laughed. "Sorry."

Sigrid zipped her suit up the rest of the way and quickly straightened her hair. "Oh, you are
seriously
trying to get me in trouble."

"Me! I only came in to deliver the news. You know what they say—don't kiss the messenger."

"I think that's
kill
. We'll finish this later."

"I'll hold you to that."

Slipping as casually as possible out of the head, and carefully negotiating the girls sitting in the hall outside, Sigrid led Suko by the hand toward the bridge.

Selene and Christian looked over their shoulders as they came in.

"Glad you finally found her," Selene said with a smirk. "I was about to send the search party."

"Sorry," Sigrid said taking her seat in the command chair, with Suko at her side.

Selene had already sent the navigational commands to the Relay; Sigrid watched the towering halo-like structure as it turned on its axis, powering up and aligning itself.

"We're set," Selene said. "You sure about these coordinates?"

"I'm sure," Sigrid said; but her palms were sweaty, and she knew that Suko could feel the doubt in her. And there was one thing she needed to take care of—something she'd been thinking of since they'd left the base. "Lieutenant Lopez, do we still have any of those mines?"

Christian nodded. "Just the one."

"Very well. I want you to set it for a two-minute delay. I want you to launch it before we drop."

Christian swallowed and nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

Suko squeezed her hand, looked at her intently. "Sigrid? Are you sure about this?"

"I'm not letting any of them come after us. I'm through being hunted. Whatever they started—it ends here."

Selene chuckled. "Daedalus won't be very happy with you."

"They can send me a bill."

"Thirty-seconds to drop," Selene said.

Sigrid signaled to Christian and nodded. "Drop the mine, Lieutenant."

"Yes, ma'am."

They could hear the distant
thunk
of the mine dropping from the mounting rack in the stern. The ship was closing fast on the Relay, accelerating forward, making its final course corrections. They passed quickly through the warp field and the stars became needles of light; then came the familiar long, white flash, followed by the glittering of the stars as they coalesced again before them.

The huddle of observers gasped as they gazed through the viewport, craning their necks to look more closely. Warp jumps were always performed outside of stellar systems, both incoming and outgoing. The risk of even the slightest gravitational anomalies, or collisions with debris, let alone planetary bodies, was far too great to attempt within the confines of a solar system. But the
Morrigan
had emerged from warp space directly in the orbit of a massive gas giant surrounded by countless moons, several of them much larger than Earth. Sigrid knew it was a miracle that they hadn't suffered a collision, or been pulled off-course. And then she had a horrible thought—
perhaps they had.

"Dear God," Selene said.

"Where the hell are we?" Christian asked.

Selene's hands flew over the navigational controls, scanning quickly for any indication of their location. "Pegasi—it's Pegasi."

"Uh-oh…" Christian said, peering closely at his own monitors. "There's…there's no Relay…"

Sigrid felt the knot in her stomach again. If there was no Relay…
why did Hitomi tell us to come here?
Frantically, Sigrid checked and double-checked the coordinates, but they were correct. They were exactly where Hitomi had told them go.
To go through all this…

"I trusted her…"

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Medea

With no sign of a Warp Relay, Sigrid's focus shifted away from Hitomi and why she'd directed them there, to the simple matter of survival. They wouldn't survive for long on the small scout vessel. The environmental controls were already being pushed beyond their limits and soon the food stores would run out.

The Pegasi system held several earth-type planets, three of them in orbit around the gas-giant that loomed so close to them.

"This can't be a coincidence," Sigrid said. "Hitomi must have known we could survive here."

"Survive? But we're prisoners," Suko said, bleakness in her voice. "Is this just to get rid of us?"

"I don't know."

After studying the options, they picked the planet that promised to be the most hospitable. From what they could tell, it was a veritable paradise, lush and green, with a mild, temperate climate. It was largely covered in blue oceans, but there were several sizable islands dotting its surface.

"Incredible," Christian said. "I've…I've never seen anything like it."

Sigrid took a deep breath. "Take us in, Selene. I suppose we should go investigate. It appears this is our new home."

Selene nodded silently, angling the ship down and breaking through the wispy atmosphere.

Suko gave Sigrid's hand a squeeze as they cast their eyes over the blue oceans. "It'll be okay," she said, looking bravely at Sigrid.

"Where do you want to set down?" Selene asked.

"Anywhere—pick your favorite—pilot's discretion."

Selene chuckled and nodded. "How about somewhere hot? I think we could all use a nice relaxing vacation on a beach somewhere."

"Not too hot," Christian said. "I burn easily."

The easy banter relieved some of Sigrid's stress; she felt responsible for them all being trapped here. No,
she was
responsible.

Her mood lightened further when Karen joined them on the bridge, easing gingerly into one of the empty seats. "Where are we?" she asked.

Sigrid couldn't bring herself to answer.

Christian spoke up. "We're at Pegasi."

"Pegasi!" Karen said. "But there's no Relay at Pegasi." Karen looked at all of them, at the grim look on their faces. She sank back in her seat. "Oh."

"Uh…wait a minute," Selene said. "I think I found our island."

Sigrid sat up straighter. "Where?"

Selene swiveled around in her seat, eyes wide with excitement. "There!" she said, pointing out the window.

Sigrid leaned forward and stared at the sight before her. There, down below, on one of the larger islands, was a settlement of sorts. It was small—only a few buildings, but it was definitely a settlement. "There are people!"

"I
know!
" Selene exclaimed.

"Who—what?" Suko asked.

The com squawked for their attention, causing them all to jump. Christian leapt for the button to open the channel, but Sigrid beat him to it. "Hello?"

"Hello, yourself," Lady Hitomi Kimura said. "Welcome to Medea. What took you so long?"