Matt & Michelle 1: The Fugitive Heir (7 page)

“I’m sorry, Chief, but I rather doubt we’ll get a fair hearing.”

“We’re not as backward as you think, miss. We’ve got a circuit-riding Psi Corps team. Their telepath will determine guilt and innocence.”

“Good. When the telepath questions Paco’s gang, you’ll get all the evidence you need to clear us. So, you see there’s no reason for us to stick around.”

I was almost clear of the local traffic. From there, it was a five minute flight to the wormhole—less at the speed I’d be flying.

A new voice joined the comm conversation. The voice was harsh and I found myself taking an immediate dislike to its unseen owner.

“You can back off, Chief. Me and my boys are gonna take care of these killers.”

“Hector, tell your boys to leave that ship alone and dock at the station. You can’t take justice into your own hands.”

“They killed my boy, Chief. I can do anything I damn well want.”

A hulking asteroid mining ship, bristling with mining lasers, broke free of the station traffic, blocking our path to the wormhole!

CHAPTER SEVEN

A Surprise in The Debris Field

Dozens of one man mining sleds buzzed around the huge asteroid mining ship, speeding into a formation spread across dozens of kilometers. Within seconds the sleds formed a cone with the mining ship at its center.

“What are they doing?” Michelle asked.

“It’s a fighting formation miners developed to battle against pirates.”

I ordered the nav computer to calculate the fastest course around the formation. It might turn up something I couldn’t see, but I doubted it. These miners knew their stuff. As long as they held the cone together, they could block the
M&M
from ever reaching the wormhole.

“Can you get around them, Matt?” Her voice remained calm, as if she was simply checking off items on a list.

The nav computer beeped, confirming my observation.

“Not unless they do something foolish, no.”

Rockville Control came back on the comm. “Hector, tell your ships to come on into the docking bay. Your guys have already worked a full shift and have got to be exhausted. You don’t want them doing something stupid just because they’re too tired to think straight.”

That explained how the mining ship and the sleds mobilized so quickly. They were already outside, waiting for a chance to dock, when we pulled out.

“As long as one of my boys blasts that ship, I don’t care what they do. And I’ll give a big bonus to every single one of them when those murderers are breathing vacuum.”

Michelle decided to rejoin the conversation. “It was self-defense, not murder. Paco and about a dozen of his gang ambushed us on our way back to our ship.”

“If that’s true, little girl, why aren’t you dead instead of my son?”

“Because we’re better than he was. But that’s no surprise, Hector. After all, Paco only got away with all his bullying because he was riding on your coattails.”

Hector roared in anger. Chief Tucker wasn’t real happy with Michelle, either.

“Young lady, you are
not
helping matters and I will thank you to keep your mouth shut while I talk to Hector.”

“I’ll tell you what, Chief, why don’t you tell me about all your run-ins with Paco? Why don’t you tell me about all the stuff he got away with because his daddy was the richest man on the station?”

I spared a glance at Michelle and whispered, “What are you doing?”

She flicked the mic off. “I’m getting Hector to make a mistake.”

“Like what, blasting us out of space?”

“Like ordering his men to chase after us.” Michelle tapped something on the nav display. “Mentioning that, fly toward this debris field. The miners will think we’re trying to hide from them in there.”

“What will that do for us?”

“Hector’s ships have been out all day. How much fuel do you think they have left? If we can run them dry, we’ll be clear to make a run for the wormhole.”

“That’s brilliant, Michelle.”

I plotted a course toward the debris field and engaged the main thrusters.

“I know, just make sure you don’t lose them. Now concentrate on flying this thing and leave the talking to me.”

Michelle flipped her mic on again. “Chief, I’m still waiting for you to tell me what a fine, upstanding young man Paco was and how everyone on the station just loved him to pieces. I went to school with at least a dozen spoiled little rich boys just like Paco. Tell me I’m wrong, Chief.”

“Girl, are you trying to get yourself killed?” Chief Tucker sounded a bit frazzled, all of a sudden.

“Well, Chief, I got good news for the girl. She’s gonna get what she wants.” Hector’s voice dripped with menace. “Boys, I promised you a bonus if you blasted that ship. The bonus is a year’s pay for everyone involved. Now go get ‘em.”

The cone of mining ships surged after us. The formation fractured a bit, but nothing you wouldn’t expect with so many ships involved. The Federation Navy could hold a tighter formation, but I doubt many other civilian groups could have matched the miners.

The comm filled with whoops and threats from the pursuing mining ships. Chief Tucker tried talking them down, but the miners drowned him out every time he spoke. The Chief kept at it for a good thirty minutes before giving up. As best I could tell, Hector signed off once his ships were on our tail.

“
M&M
, this is Chief Tucker. If you manage to survive this, I still need you to surrender yourself to me.”

“Seriously, Chief?” Michelle’s voice held true incredulity. “After this demonstration from Paco’s father, you really think we’d be safe anywhere on that station?”

The Chief sighed. “No, I don’t. I had to say that for the record. Off the record, I’ll get to the bottom of this and clear your names. Posthumously, if necessary.”

“Thanks in advance for clearing us. But we don’t plan on dying today.”

If Chief Tucker replied, catcalls from the pursuing miners drowned him out.

Michelle flipped off the comm. “How long until we reach the debris field?”

“About another hour at this speed. I could shave fifteen minutes off of that at full power, but the miners couldn’t keep up.”

“Then steady as she goes, Captain Matt.” Michelle took my hand. “Are you doing okay?”

I sighed. “I don’t know. I’m fine as long as I’m active, but as soon as my mind has time to wander, it heads straight for the memory of me burning a hole in Paco’s chest.”

Michelle nodded and kissed my hand. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

“How about a sandwich? That burger was hours ago. I know I shouldn’t be hungry after everything, but my stomach hasn’t gotten the message.”

The next hour crawled past in slow motion. We ate. Michelle held my hand. I talked about everything except Paco. Finally, we approached the debris field.

“Um, Matt, are you going to fly through the field?”

“I thought that was the idea, Michelle? We use it to hide from the miners, letting them waste fuel looking for us.”

“And get pulverized by asteroids? No thanks.”

“There’s nothing that big in there. This is the stuff left after the miners have broken up asteroids and removed the ore. The first mining operation in the system was probably here. It can dent the ship and scratch the paint, but that’s about it.”

I winced at every knock of a rock bouncing off the hull, but I managed to keep those to a minimum by throttling down and maneuvering carefully.

“Keep an eye on the sensors, Michelle. The debris will block a lot, but if you get a reading on that big mining ship, that means it’s closer than I want it to be.”

Ten minutes later, she said, “I just got the big ship on sensors.”

Bracing myself, I increased the throttle. Stuff banged off the hull every few seconds, but we pulled out of sensor range of the big miner again. Then, without warning, the banging of rocks on the hull stopped.

“What the hell?” I asked.

“We’re in a big empty spot in the debris field, Matt. It’s like someone cleared all the debris out of this area with a vacuum or something.”

The reason behind the empty spot became clear when a wormhole opened before us!

The wormhole blazed on the sensors and pulled the
M&M
inexorably toward its yawning maw. Debris from the field banged against our hull as the wormhole sucked up everything around it.

“Where did a wormhole come from?” Michelle asked. “It’s not on any of the charts.”

“Worry about that later.” I snatched the comm from Michelle’s hand, drawing a startled look. Glancing at the scanners as I keyed on the mic, I saw the big ship was once again close enough to register on them. “Pursuing mining ships, break off
now
! There is an open and uncharted wormhole just ahead of you. I repeat,
break off pursuit now
!”

A puzzled expression crossed Michelle’s face. “What-?”

The comm crackled with static induced by the debris field. “Nice try, boyo. People been minin’ this system for over a century. Ain’t no way we got an uncharted wormhole.”

“Scan the theta band, mining ship. I am deadly serious.”

“You’s doin’ a good actin’ job, kid. I give you that. Most people don’t know minin’ scanners don’t go up to the theta band.” The voice assumed false joviality. “Now, less’n you’s gonna outbid our boss, we be comin’ to get you.”

“Yes! I will outbid your boss. Two years pay if you just
break off
.”

“Riiiiight. An’ where’s a kid like you gonna get that kind o’ money?”

The building desperation in my voice convinced Michelle something was wrong. She leaned over and spoke into the mic. “The kid is the heir to the Connaught fortune. He could buy Rockville Station with pocket change. He can pay you. Look, I don’t know what this is all about, but there really is an open wormhole in front of us drawing our ship into it.”

“Never mind, Michelle.” The defeat in my voice was clear. “It’s too late.”

The mining ship and dozens of one man sleds burst out of the debris field and into the wormhole’s field. As the cursing and screaming began, I switched off the comm. There were some things I just wasn’t willing to listen to.

Michelle rubbed a hand up and down my arm. “I don’t understand, Matt. What’s the problem?”

“All those pursuing ships? They’re designed for in-system work, not wormhole jumps.” I looked into her still puzzled eyes. “None of those ships have inertial dampeners. When those ships enter the wormhole, they’ll accelerate beyond light speed in an instant. Everyone on board will be blasted to atoms.”

Her face paled. “Can’t they change course or something?”

“Not this close to the wormhole. I don’t know the physics behind wormholes, but you and I are the only ones who are going to still be alive thirty seconds from now.”

Then we jumped and the gray fog of wormholes replaced the debris field.

During our first hour within the wormhole, Michelle listened to me and held me and talked to me and kissed me. I ranted about Paco and ranted even more about Paco’s father and even railed at the miners for refusing to listen to me. I cried and then listened to Michelle. When she kissed me, I responded with a passion that surprised us both.

During our epic, hungry lip lock, Michelle’s emotions shone bright and clear. I had her shirt unbuttoned before I knew what I was doing. Through a supreme force of will, I pulled myself back. I caught Michelle’s hands as they tugged on my shirt.

“No. We need to stop.”

In a breathless voice, Michelle said, “You’re the empath, Matt. You know I want to do this.”

“So do I. God knows, I want to.” I leaned back and caught Michelle’s eyes. “But not this way. Not for this reason. I want our first time to be loving and passionate and wonderful and not adrenaline-driven survivor sex.”

Michelle leaned back, a small smile playing across her lips. “Isn’t this what all guys fantasize about? A girl throwing herself at you after you heroically save her?”

I held her hand. “Yeah, we do. But it’s always some fictitious beauty we’ve just met, not the girl we’ve loved for years.”

Michelle pulled one knee up, rested her cheek against it, and gave me a coquettish smile. “Are you saying you don’t have any fantasies about me?”

“Of course I do. But not that one.” I took a deep breath and released it. “Please stop looking so damned irresistible. And button your shirt or I won’t be able to concentrate on anything else.”

We each took a few minutes to compose ourselves and straighten our clothes. Then Michelle fixed some coffee while I checked all of the ship’s systems to ensure everything was working properly.

Holding the warm mug, I sat opposite Michelle. “The hull took a beating near the end, but the systems are all fine.” I patted the bulkhead next to me. “I expect she looks like an old beater of a ship, now, but she’ll still get us where we want to go.”

“And where do we want to go, Matt?”

“I guess that depends on what we find at the other end of this wormhole.”

“How is it possible the wormhole isn’t on any charts—especially since you figured the debris field was from the first mining outpost?”

“My best guess is some of the miners discovered it, but kept the discovery secret. It can’t be coincidence that a debris field surrounded the wormhole.”

“But why keep it secret? Aren’t wormholes good for business?” Michelle’s eyebrows rose as an idea occurred to her. “Do you think those early miners set themselves up as pirates? It would be a lot easier to hit other miners and get away if the pirates had access to an unknown wormhole.”

“The way our luck has been going today, you’ve likely hit on it.” I sipped my coffee to give my thoughts a chance to sort themselves out. “We need to run dark after we exit the wormhole. If there are pirates on the other end, they’re not going to take kindly to visitors.”

We spent the rest of the wormhole jump planning for as many contingencies as possible. When the nav computer spoke, it startled both of us.

“Wormhole exit in one minute.”