Blackthorn (Taurian Empire) Read online

  Kaylee nodded as she worked out the math. “Okay, but won’t they just maneuver around them?”

  “Maybe,” he said. “But anything that slows them down is good for us. Besides, we might get lucky.”

  “But why blow out the airlock. Aren’t we going to need it? Why not just open the door like you did with the trash?”

  He smiled, ticking off fingers. “One, just opening the door, lets the air out too slow. I wouldn’t have gotten that sudden decompression. Two, some of those things were pretty heavy. Even without gravity, they have a lot of mass and will need a fast decompression to move them.

  “That blip on the left is the airlock door itself. Because it went first, it will define the edge of the debris field. The one on the right, I am pretty sure is that burnt up gravity generator. It had the most mass and will have the slowest momentum. I think it defines the right side of the field. And, by the time they get there, that field will be the size of a sports stadium.”

  Logan smiled at her. “Plus, without an airlock, they will have to don space suits and board us one at a time. It improves our chances. If they don’t just blow us out of space, that is.”

  “Do you think it will come to that,” she asked.

  “I hope not, but it was the only thing I could think of to slow them down. It is almost eight hours to our next jump. Then two days until we get to the Taurus jump.

  Kaylee slowly nodded her head. He could tell she was thinking about what he had done. Really, though, they didn’t have much of a choice.

  “Here they are,” he said as two new blips showed up on the screen.

  His hand shot to another screen and brought up a visual view off the wormhole. The screen showed nothing but distant stars. There was no sign of the items he had left. Deep space, away from any sun was just too dark. No light to reflect off anything.

  Both he and Kaylee kept shifting their attention between the video feed and the sensor screen.

  He watched the clock in the corner and counted down.

  “Any minute now,” he said as he monitored the ship's course.

  Holding his breath, he watched the two ships approaching the area. God, he prayed, have them try to go between those two hunks of metal. Please have them not see the hundreds of little pieces in between.

  Slowly, the ships grew closer and closer. Logan continued to hold his breath. Maybe, he thought, just maybe.

  But, at the last moment, one of the ships veered hard to port and up out of the zone. The second ship continued on.

  Logan shifted to look at the video stream. Please, he prayed.

  His silent prayers were answered by a brilliant flash of blue light that quickly shifted over to yellow. Nothing more. No fire, no explosion. Just a flash, then nothing but darkness and stars.

  “What happened?” Kaylee asked, her eyes pleading with him.

  Logan studied the sensor screen and smiled. “We got one. I can’t believe it. We got one.”

  “Wow!” Kaylee screamed. “It worked. You did it.”

  She jumped down from her chair and into his arms. “Oh, Logan, you did it.”

  His heart soared for a moment then reality set back in.

  “We got one,” he said as he put her back down on her feet. “We’ve still got one more. And he’s got a little over two days to get to us.

  Her expression sobered for a moment then she smiled. “They don’t stand a chance.”

  He laughed and pulled her back into another hug.

  Let her have this moment. He knew the reality of the situation.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Logan smiled as Kaylee brought him dinner. He’d parked himself in front of the screen and watched the remaining ship draw closer.

  For seven hours, the ship had been getting ever closer. The stuff they had dumped had forced her off course. It had taken a while to get back in line and to decrease the distance.

  But it wasn’t going to be enough.

  “I think we should put our suits on,” Logan said to Kaylee. “I checked a few days ago. There is one small enough for you.”

  “Do we have time to finish our dinner? I will have you know that I slaved over this for at least ten minutes. I will not have it go to waste.” The sparkle in her eyes let him know she was teasing.

  What a woman, he thought. They were but minutes from disaster. And she was trying to make him smile.

  “Sure, why not,” he said as he took a bite. “We’ve got minutes before they get into range.”

  Kaylee smiled and sat down next to him before she started eating.

  “Listen, Logan,” she said, her face taking on a serious expression. “I wanted to tell you something.”

  His fork stopped halfway to his mouth as he waited.

  She gave him a weak smile. “I wanted to tell you, thank you. For everything. This wasn’t your problem. But every step of the way. You have been a hero. My hero.”

  Logan felt his cheeks grow warm. Damn, he hadn’t expected that.

  “No problem, Princess,” he was able to say while he stared down at his meal. Finally, he looked up to catch her watching him.

  “I’m not a princess,” she said with a smile. “Just a woman, sharing a meal with a man.” Her voice faltered for a moment, and he knew that she was fighting to say something more.

  “I know we come from different worlds,” she continued, as she looked down away from him. “Believe me, I can’t imagine what it would be like to live in yours. But I wanted to tell you. ... If we ever get out of this. Well, I just wanted to say ... that I really like ...”

  The A6127 crackled. “I have received a message from the ship astern of us.”

  “Damn,” Kaylee muttered under her breath.

  Logan’s racing heart jumped back into sync as he told the computer to display the message.

  The video screen shifted to show an old man with salt and pepper hair and a long gray beard. Give him a gold earring and eye patch, Logan thought, and he would have been a perfect match for an ancient pirate.

  Logan frowned as he stared into the man’s eyes. There wasn’t an ounce of mercy in them. Only death and pain.

  The man didn’t smile. He just started talking.

  “Onboard the Princess. This is the Black Pearl out of Azortha. This will be your only chance. Bring your vessel to a full stop and allow my crew to board you. I can promise you will be treated well. There is no reason for anyone to get hurt. You have five minutes. Then we open fire.”

  The video disappeared. Short and sweet, Logan thought.

  A silence echoed through the ship as they both registered what had just happened.

  “Maybe we should,” Logan said. “Your father said if you were taken, they would treat you well. They want you alive to put pressure on him.”

  Kaylee’s eyes grew big as she stared at him in disbelief.

  “Logan Miller, if you think I am leaving you. Then you don’t understand anything. Besides, I need to get to Taurus. They won’t understand the report. No.”

  Logan’s insides tightened into a ball. He didn’t know if he could protect her.

  “Listen, Kaylee, they won’t be in range of our weapons for another fifteen minutes. If they are issuing this order now. It means we are in range of theirs?”

  “No Logan,” she said with a shake of her head. He could tell by the set of her eyes that there would be no changing her mind.

  “Well, in that case,” he said as his fingers danced across the screen. Once he was done, he leaned back.

  The A6127 came online. “I have intercepted a message from beacon number twenty-nine addressed to the vessel Black Pearl.

  “Play it,” Logan said with a smile.

  The loudspeaker crackled again, “Vessel Black Pearl. This is His Majesties Imperial Starship Lancaster. Your actions are being monitored. You are to take no action. You are to halt all progress and wait for our arrival.”

  “We’re saved,” Kaylee screamed. A smile a mile wide on her face.

  Logan sho
ok his head. “That’s fake,” he said. “I sent it.”

  She seemed to deflate in her seat as she studied the screen to see what would happen.

  “Another message from the Port a Prince,” A6127 said.

  “Display,” Logan answered.

  The old man once again appeared on the screen. He stared into the camera for a long second, as if he were trying to fry Logan’s soul.

  “You have three minutes,” the man said. “And I am perfectly aware that you have put a block on all the beacons. I am sure that latest message was from you. I await your decision.”

  The video disappeared.

  Logan’s shoulders slumped. He had failed. It had been his last idea. Now it was going to come down to a cat fight. There was no avoiding it. And fights in space had a habit of leaving dead bodies in their wake. Out here, wounding shots tended of turn into death blows.

  Squaring his shoulders, he instructed the A6127 to bring the weapon system online.

  “Go get me my suit, please,” he said to Kaylee. “And get into yours first. Okay?”

  His fingers continued to dance across the screen as he brought up the reading he wanted to keep track of. His mind was juggling a dozen details, but he wasn’t so busy that he didn’t hear Kaylee leave the bridge.

  His heart about broke in two. They had come so far. He had tried everything he could think of. But, the other ship had, speed, better weapons, and a better maneuvering position.

  It didn’t look good.

  We watched the clock count down. One minute until their time was up. Thirty seconds. Ten, five, one.

  He taped the arrow on the screen. The star field shifted to starboard as the impulse engines moved the ship to port. A blue laser light shot past the nose of the ship.

  That wasn’t a warning shot. If he hadn’t moved the Princess, it would have been a kill shot. His stomach dropped with the realization of how close they had come.

  “A Wilkinson Laser has been fired at this vessel,” the A6127 said.

  “Oh really,” Logan said sarcastically.

  “Yes, I have confirmed it,” the computer said, oblivious to his sarcasm.

  “Give me the specs,” he said as he looked to the bridge doorway. Where was Kaylee? He wanted her here with him. His guts told him to keep her close. Somewhere he could keep her safe.

  “The Wilkinson has a range thirty percent greater than this ship’s plasma cannon.”

  “What is the recharge rate?”

  “Eight seconds,” the computer said.

  “Damn,” Logan muttered as he lunged for his screen and pushed another arrow. Once again, the ship shifted. And once again, a laser blast barely missed them.

  “It was the biggest I could find,” Kaylee said as she stepped onto the bridge holding out his suit. In her other hand, she held the leather suitcase he had retrieved from Corona.

  “Just in case we have to make a quick getaway,” she added.

  He smiled at her. She’d listened to him and already got into hers. The knowledge that she was safe inside a pressure suit made him feel a little better. The knowledge that she had taken time to retrieve his stuff did something to his insides.

  “What are you doing?” Kaylee asked as she handed him his things.

  “If I can juke and jag maybe I can keep him from hitting us until he gets in range of our gun.”

  Kaylee nodded as if it made perfect sense.

  He tapped the screen, this time sending them to port.

  Bending over, he started to climb into his suit. He’d only gotten his legs into the thing when he once again had to hit one of the arrows.

  This went on for several minutes as he scrambled to get in but made sure to keep the ship moving back and forth and up and down.

  A small alarm sounded as the A6127 came online. “We are currently out of line with the next wormhole. A course of two seven zero will bring us into line. Should I make the correct course correction?”

  “No,” Logan barked. His stomach hurt thinking about it. Once they got lined up, it would be like shooting down a funnel for the Black Pearl. They couldn’t miss.

  He’d have to bring them in line with the wormhole manually. But randomly at the same time. He’d have to counteract each shift with an opposite shift for a longer duration. And pray the Port a Prince didn’t figure it out.

  Of course, at the last minute, before they went through, they wouldn’t be able to maneuver at all.

  Gritting his teeth, he focused on moving the ship. It took him almost ten minutes to get them lined up.

  “In position,” the AI announced.

  Logan pulled his hand away from the screen. He didn’t want to be tempted to shift. They had to stay on this course until they were through.

  “A6127,” he said. “Prepare to fire on the Vessel Black Pearl.”

  “The vessel in question is out of range,” the computer said.

  “I don’t care, damn it. Just do what you’re told.”

  “I have a firing solution in place,” the computer said without a hint of offense at Logan’s strong words.

  “Fire,” Logan screamed as another laser bolt skimmed close to them.

  The video behind the Princess turned bright blue as a burst of plasma headed towards the Black Pearl.

  For two seconds nothing happened then the blue light disappeared into the darkness.

  “The pulse missed the Port a Prince,” the computer said. Logan could have sworn there was a touch of smugness to the voice.

  He glanced over at Kaylee and tried to give her a reassuring grin.

  “How long until recharge,” he asked the AI.

  “Fourteen more seconds,” the computer said. “I initiated recharge immediately. With the current power configuration, I am limited to every twenty seconds.”

  Logan sighed heavily. He should have thought of that. This is what happens when you put an amateur in charge.

  “Configure the ship’s electrical grid for quickest recharge. Secure all non-essential equipment.”

  Every second light throughout the ship shut off. Cooling fans on non-essential equipment spun down. Even the air-handling equipment shut down. Logan knew it would only come back online if it was needed.

  “Done,” the A6127 said. “Recharge rate decreased to eighteen seconds.”

  “That’s all,” Kaylee said.

  Logan shrugged his shoulders as he focused on the view to their stern.

  Once again a blue laser shot towards them.

  His insides jumped when he felt the ship shudder and a dozen alarms go off.

  Logan held his breath as he watched the wormhole approach ever closer. Five seconds. They would be through before the Port a Prince could recharge.

  Of course, if the Higgs engine chose to fail while they were passing through the wormhole. Then, they would end up as elemental stardust. But then, he thought, they’d never know it.

  A loud claxon made him jump.

  “A breach in the aft steering compartment,” the AI said. “The port aft thruster is offline.”

  Great, there went a quarter of his maneuverability. Holding his breath, he waited until they were through the wormhole then hit the starboard arrow. The star field jumped.

  “Here,” he said to Kaylee. “Hit one of these three arrows. Every six seconds. Don’t hit the port one until I tell you. Okay?”

  She nodded, her eyes as big as most moons. But she looked steady, he thought with a huge sense of relief. She could handle this.

  Lowering his faceplate, he headed aft. Slamming the galley hatch behind him, he told the A6127 to clear the air for preparation to entering the Engine spaces.

  The familiar inflation of his suit let him know the pressure was decreasing before any readings showed up on his display. Once the red light came on over the engine room’s door, he cracked the hatch and poked his head around the edge.

  Things looked relatively clear in the engine room. No giant holes to greet him.

  “Where is the breach?” he asked
the AI.

  “The port steering compartment. The Engine room itself was not breached,” the AI said in the dead calm tone it liked to use.

  Logan felt his heart racing. He hated being away from the bridge. Hated with a passion the idea of leaving Kaylee all alone up there.

  Glancing down to the bottom of his helmet screen, he saw the readout for the topside thruster jump. Good, she was handing it.

  “The Plasma cannon is charged,” the A6127 said.

  Fire, Logan thought to himself. The first time she had maneuvered the ship, the computer had shifted command to her. Logan could take it back, but she’d lose control of the arrows.

  Fire Kaylee, he thought to himself, as he fought to not say anything. He needed to focus on his own problems.

  “Fire,” Kaylee said.

  Logan smiled. That’s my girl, he thought.

  As he bent to start removing the compartment cover, he wondered how much longer they could last. The closer the Port a Prince got, the harder it would it be for them to miss.

  Pulling the last toggle, he lifted the cover off the compartment and stuck his head into the black void as he searched frantically for the damage.

  At last, he found it. A small hole in the side of the ship and an air hose cut in half. His stomach fell. Not a simple fix like he had hoped.

  Pulling out the necessary items from his suit pocket, he threw a flexible patch onto the small hole. As he watched, the patch hardened in the vacuum. It would hold, he knew. Now for the hose.

  The cut had happened almost directly in the middle. Damn, there wouldn’t be enough to pull one end to the far connector.

  Turning he scrambled back into the engine room and grabbed a couple of quick connectors from the parts box.

  As he dove back down to the steering compartment, he felt the ship shudder. They’d taken another hit. Damn, he muttered as he trimmed the edges of the hose.

  Suddenly, without warning, the gravity field let go. Then, immediately, it slammed back into place. The connector he’d been preparing to thread onto the hose slipped from his hand and dropped to fall behind the thruster engine.

  “Please,” he begged as his eyes rolled. “Why can’t things go easy for once?”