Twin Stars 1: Ascension (25 page)

Tysen didn’t really like thinking of anyone as his master, but in the military one did accept the chain of command. “Admiral Veers, ma’am. He’s the only one who believes in his people and is trying to do the right thing.”

“And when he’s gone?” She challenged. “Who will you serve then, Captain Tysen?”

And Tysen suddenly found himself without an answer. “I…Hadn’t really consider that, ma’am.” He said, speaking the truth.

“You may want to,” the Emissary told him. “Powerful friends are good to have, young man. Especially in troubled times.” Then she reopened her book and began to write again. “Now, I believe you are a busy man, so I will let you go.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he told her, and gave a deep bow from his waist. “If there’s anything I can do please let me know.”

“Of course,” she said without looking up.

Tysen took that as his cue, and walked quickly for the door, not stopping until he was in the hallway. His heart was beating rapidly, and he had to force himself to calm down.

He glanced over at his Squire, who had been right when she said the Emissary wouldn’t even acknowledge her. “Esther...What just happened there?”

“I believe she likes you.” Esther commented.

Tysen looked at her in disbelief, not sure if she was being sarcastic. Finally deciding that Esther wasn’t capable of sarcasm, he shook his head. “If she does, she sure has a strange way of showing it.”

* * *

The Empire had been founded on its Jump Point Network, the series of Jump Buoys whose thin webs of energy bridged the gaps between planetary systems and allowed ships in hyperspace to travel between them. Time in hyperspace for ships was usually relatively short due to the nature of hyperspace, and most travel time for ships was actually in-system once they’d arrived at their destinations. Traveling from point A to point B within the Empire consisted of not only travel between many systems, but also travel inside each system, as the Jump Buoys couldn’t be placed near each other to avoid interference.

This made it crucial to have a finely plotted course, as travel time was affected by the nature of the systems a ship passed through on its journey.

“We’re nearing the jump point to Nantow now, sir. Awaiting your orders.” Ensign Marissa Helgi reported from the
Crystal Leaf’s
navigation creche.

Kip, standing now that Tysen had taken the main chair, looked at a readout and nodded. “Warn the crew and then activate the jump drive, Ensign. Drop us back to normal space.”

“Aye sir. Activating the jump drive.” The tall, dark-skinned ensign responded crisply, her fingers flying over the controls.

“I hope you’re right about this, Kip. I promised the emissary we’d be there on time.” Tysen said, concern in his voice.

Kip grinned. “Captain, stop worrying. I plotted us the best course I could, and Nantow’s the quickest route.”

“Easy for you to say,” Tysen answered sourly. He was still mulling over his conversation with the Emissary the day before, and it had put him into a bad mood.

“Here we go,” Kip told everyone, grabbing a nearby handhold. “Hang on!”

Most of the time for a ship transiting either into or out of hyperspace was a smooth experience, but occasionally gravitic forces or shifts in the ship’s own artificial gravity could result in turbulence. As a result, it was customary to warn crew members of the coming transit, and for everyone to have a handhold when it occurred.

For some reason, Tysen had also developed the habit of closing his eyes when it happened, an odd habit he couldn’t trace, but which made him feel a little more comfortable. There was the slight feeling of disorientation he associated with the transit, and then he opened them and found everything as it should be.

“Ensign, report.” Kip ordered from beside him, and Tysen began calling up AR windows with ship systems displays.

“We’re through, sir.” She reported. “We’ve exited into Nantow system space. All systems read nominal.”

Tysen’s readouts were also all green and he dismissed them, exchanging a look with Kip to see that his first officer also agreed.

“Thank you, Ensign Helgi.” Kip ordered. “Okay, set us a course for…” He began, but he never got to finish the sentence.

There was a tremendous shudder through the hull of the ship, and a roaring sound filled the air as the lights all flickered off. Alarms were suddenly screaming everywhere, and holo-displays were popping up at the bridge stations to display outlines of the ship with large red patches.

“What the hell?!?” Kip screamed over the alarms. “Ensign, report!”

“Sir, we’ve been hit!” Helgi yelled as the lights came back on. “The drive section’s been cored! Atmosphere’s venting! Auto-sealing systems engaging!”

Tysen heard all this, but he was too busy checking the external sensors, trying to find out the cause. He could leave the survival of the ship to his people, he needed to know the big picture to know what to do next.

It took only moments for Tysen to find what he was looking for- two ships were sitting inside the jump point zone. Cutter class, neither of them broadcasting ID signals. Black ships then, either pirate or something else.

Tysen’s gut told him they were something else.

He transferred his findings to the main display for the bridge crew to see.

“Ensign,” Tysen called out after taking a moment to cancel the bridge alarms with a thought. “Can we move?”

The Ensign turned her head to look back at him, worry on her face. “No, sir. They put a shot right through us after we transited, we’re dead in space.”

“We could fight.” Kip offered.

Tysen shook his head. “Two against one, and in any case we’d be stranded here even if we managed to win. We can’t afford to be late.”

“Afraid of the old lady?” Kip joked.

“Something like that,” Tysen agreed as he checked the ship systems one more time and then made a quick decision- he was going to trust his gut on this one. “Kip, call Mister Ulstead to the bridge. Ensign Helgi, shut down all power to everything but life support and basic functions. Let me know as soon as they start to move in on us.”

Kip looked at him, concerned. “They’re going to board us?”

“They’re going to try,” Tysen said as he began to work out what he’d need to go through with his plan. “They want the Emissary.”

“So what’re we gonna do?” Kip asked. “We can’t let them have her!”

“We’re not going to,” Tysen told him. “We’re going to take her with us. Tell all hands to start preparing for a boarding action.”

Kip stared at him. “Uhh, Captain. Don’t you mean to defend against boarding?”

“No,” Tysen corrected him, looking up and meeting his worried gaze. “Kip, if we’re going to make our schedule we’re going to need another ship.”

It took a moment, but Tysen saw the answer hit home in his friend’s eyes. “Al…” He stammered, decorum slipping in a moment of stress. “You don’t mean…?”

“We’re going to take one of theirs.”

* * *

“All systems are down, sir. Their whole grid is offline.”

Colonel Rodrick Cole of the Fleet Intelligence Service leaned back into his chair and watched the readouts carefully. His Squire was right, the Cutter was now dead in space, the holographic image of the ship before him an inert blue with only faint hints of green lines where backup power still remained.

“Move us alongside them, Ashe.” He finally ordered, once he was certain. “Tell the
Firethorne
we’re moving in and to stand guard. Tell Major Garret and his men to prepare, and remind him I need the old lady alive.”

“As you wish, my master,” the soft female voice echoed around him in the darkened room, then after a pause she asked “Master, the Major asks what you want done with the ship’s crew?”

“Tell him Saint Rail wants no witnesses. Grab the lady, scuttle the ship.”

Another pause.

“He understands. It will be done.”

Colonel Cole let his fingers draw into a peak in front of his lips as he considered, “Pity we don’t have more time,” he mused. “I’d have liked to interrogate them and find out what they know.”

“Major Garret could capture the ship’s Captain for you, if I inform him of your desires.” Offered Ashe, helpfully.

Cole considered this a moment, useful intelligence was always a benefit in times such as these. He wanted to know more about these traitors, and how far their networks ran. Still, “No. Orders are orders, I doubt they know much that the Grand Admiral doesn’t already. The lady will tell us the rest.”

* * *

“You wanted to see me, Captain?”

Keith Ulstead peered around the dimly lit bridge of the Crystal Leaf curiously, he hadn’t been up to the bridge before and he’d expected something a little more…grand. Instead it was a small round room with three work creches and a chair in the middle. Hardly the type of thing he’d expected from a Guard starship. He’d thought they’d look more like they did in the dramas- big open airy things with lots of people rushing around and gold trim everywhere.

“A moment, Mister Ulstead.” The Captain told him, then went back to where he was working with a lanky dark-skinned woman at one of the creches. While he waited, Ulstead called up the file on that one- Ensign Marissa Helgi of
Matsos
, fresh out of the academy and on her first cruise. Noble background, but her family were nothing special in terms of social status, just the kind that had worked for generations for other nobles who had real power. Her instructors at the academy apparently felt she was doing this more as a phase to rebel against her parents, and would lose interest soon enough. That made Ulstead smile, he knew what that was like.

“Ensign,” Tysen finally said, standing up. “The moment they launch Infiltrator Units I want to know. Clear?”

“Yessir!” She answered, and Ulstead caught her looking back at him curiously. He smiled at her, and she ducked away, back to work. Cute, he decided, but not really his type. He looked at Kip, who was standing nearby.

“Infiltrator Units?” He asked the first officer. “Who’s launching those bots at us?”

“Guard Cutters, two of them. The Captain thinks they’re commando ships.”

Suddenly, the events of the last half hour became extremely clear.

“When you hired me,” he told Tysen. “You said you were worried about internal troubles, Captain.”

“Oh, they’ll be internal problems soon enough.” Kip commented dryly.

Tysen looked at Ulstead. “My own chief of security was killed two months ago and hasn’t been replaced yet as this ship wasn’t cleared for active duty. I need you to help with a counterattack. More specifically, I want to capture that ship when it comes to board us.”

“Whoa, Captain.” Ulstead raised his hands in protest. “I’m just a driver. You need someone protected, a little quiet operation, then I’m your man. This…” He gestured at the bridge main holo-display. “This is out of my league.”

But Tysen smiled reassuringly. “I don’t expect you to do it alone, Mister Ulstead. I’ll be working with you.”

“Sir, they’ve launched Infiltrator Units.” Reported Ensign Helgi. “Sixteen of them. ETA is 7 minutes.”

Everyone turned to see the small swarm of yellow dots that had just left the approaching ship and were heading right for the
Leaf
. Then Tysen looked at the mercenary and his first officer.

“Gentlemen. Here’s what’s going to happen. When those Infiltrator Units arrive here they’re going to latch onto the ship’s hull and begin trying to take over the ship’s internal systems. Once they’ve disabled our internal defenses they’ll enter the ship and begin moving through the ship to seize our key control areas. When they’re done, one of those two Cutters will move in and dock with us so their commandos can enter and finish the job- which may or may not include us being alive. That’s going to be our window, once they’re docked they can board us, but we can also board them.”

“Yeah,” Kip agreed. “But won’t they be swarming all over us?”

“They will,” Tysen admitted, then looked at Ulstead again. “Which is why I’m going to need help from Mister Ulstead’s “Flowers”. Mister Ulstead, are your war robots cloaked against full spectrum sensors?”

Ulstead smiled. “Yep. No problem there, nobody sees my girls that I don’t want to.”

“Are they programmed for system infiltration?”

“Wouldn’t be much good if they weren’t. But, they can’t fly through space, Captain.”

The Captain just smiled knowingly. “Don’t worry, they won’t need to.” Then he looked at his first officer again. “Kip, one minute before those Infiltrators reach us I want you to crash the backup reactors and shut down the ship. They were designed to take over live prey, not hulks. That’ll put us on an equal footing with the Infiltrators. All crew are to be issued weapons, but order them not to engage the Infiltrators under any circumstances, we’ll let our own security bots take care of that.”

“You got it, Al.”

“Captain, what about the Emissary? How are you planning to keep the old lady safe?”

The young officer looked at Ulstead gravely. “By keeping us all alive, Mister Ulstead. By keeping us all alive.” Then Tysen brought up a holodisplay of the ship, and they got to work.