The Voyage of the Star Wolf (12 page)

“If there are, we should be seeing them soon, shouldn't we?”

Korie shrugged. “It depends on how big they are. The bigger they are, the farther they can see—and the faster they can get here. HARLIE, what's the maximum possible time they can run, before we know that the
Dragon Lord
was too far away to see them?”

The answer was immediate. “Seven more minutes, Mr. Korie.”

“Oh, go baby, go!” said Hodel. “Come on! You can make it.”

“Stop that,” said Korie. “This isn't a goddamn ball game.” He was both annoyed and frustrated. He turned away from the display and stared at the opposite wall. He didn't want his own fear to show. There was a tightness at the back of his throat—almost a need to cry.

After a moment, he swallowed hard and turned back to the display. It was essentially unchanged.

“Six minutes,” reported HARLIE.

Korie clenched his fist to keep himself from shouting. The damnable
thing was that he understood Hodel's impulse. He
wanted
them to get away,
whoever
they were.

“HARLIE—open the lens, just long enough to read their signature, then close it again. I want an ID on that vessel.”

“Yes, Mr. Korie. Stand by.”

Hodel glanced to his panel, watching HARLIE proceed. “Lens is open,” he reported. “Reading—” He looked up, horrified. “Lens is closed. Something's coming.”

“Oh, shit.” Korie felt the blood rushing to his head. “HARLIE, were we seen?”

“I don't know—just a moment.” A heartbeat passed. It felt like a thousand.

The display flickered. HARLIE added a new hyperstate ripple; it was large and ugly, it had an almost brutal quality. HARLIE added a dull green line to indicate its course.

“Direct interception,” said Korie.

“There's only one ship that could generate a signature that large—” Hodel didn't want to say its name.

“They've been sitting and waiting, watching for us, picking us off one by one—” Korie tightened both his fists; he bit his lip. He wanted to scream in rage. “You shouldn't have run!” he finally shouted at the display. “You stupid asshole.”

Hodel looked at him oddly.

“Sorry,” said Korie. “We shouldn't have opened the lens. We scared them into running.”

“They're not going to make it,” said Hodel. “Look at that monster close—”

They watched in helpless silence as the larger vessel overtook the smaller. “We're too far to see the missile spread,” said Leen. “But they ought to be firing it right about . . .
now
.”

“Maybe our guys will have a chance to fire back.”

“A target that big is awfully hard to miss.”

“A target moving that fast—” Korie started to say, then stopped himself from finishing the thought.

“There they go—see that flicker? They're dropping the fish.”

“Shut up, everybody.”

And then it was over.

The smaller ripple disappeared from the holographic display.

“Mr. Korie?” said HARLIE. “I am no longer able to detect the hyperstate envelope of the smaller vessel. I believe it has been destroyed.”

“Concur,” said Korie. “Log it.”

The
Dragon Lord
continued along its course for a few moments longer, then abruptly turned upwards and accelerated until it was out of range.

“They didn't see us—” Hodel whispered unbelievingly.

“Goddamn bastards,” said Leen.

Korie didn't say anything. The pain in his throat was overwhelming—

HARLIE broke the silence. “Mr. Korie, I have a probable ID on the Alliance vessel. I believe it was the
Alistair
.”

“Thank you, HARLIE. Log it.” Korie turned to look at Leen. “You want to know something? I am sick and fucking tired of holding memorial services! I can't think of anything nice to say anymore about people who are losing a war! Invite me to a memorial service for the Morthans. I'll have a lot of nice things to say then.”

Nobody answered him. Hodel looked away, embarrassed. Li suddenly had something important to attend to on his weapons console. Leen let his gaze return to the now-empty display.

“That could have been us, you know.” said Korie.

“I know,” said Leen quietly.

Korie stared at him, waiting to see if he would say anything more. Leen didn't look up.

At last, Korie let go of his tension. “I'll be in my cabin. And I don't want to be disturbed.”

He pushed himself angrily out of the Bridge.

Sleep was hard in coming. The destruction of the
Alistair
kept replaying itself in Korie's head. The usual mental exercises didn't work. There was no way to find a blessing in this disaster. Finally, he gave up and switched on a buzz box. Consciousness drifted fitfully away . . .

“Mr. Korie?”

“What—?” Korie lurched back to wakefulness. “What is it?”

“Sorry to disturb you, sir—” It was Hodel.

“How long have I been asleep?”

“Two hours,” said HARLIE.

“—but we're picking up some activity.”

“What kind of ‘activity'?”

“We think the
Dragon Lord
is coming back.”

“I'm on my way—”

Korie grabbed a clean shirt and began pulling it on. If the ship had gravity, he would have put it on while he walked forward to the Bridge. In free fall, only an idiot would attempt to get dressed while in motion.

He pushed himself out into the corridor and pulled himself hand over hand to the Bridge and the Operations deck beneath it. He swam down to the display where Hodel and Li hovered. “Where—?”

“That—” pointed Hodel.

“HARLIE?”

“It's beyond the range of the G-scanners to read accurately, but judging from the mass and velocity disturbances, it could only be the
Dragon Lord
. I can't extrapolate what it's doing.” And then HARLIE added, “It does appear to be headed in our direction.”

“They saw us,” said Korie. “They're playing with us.”

“Make a run for it?” asked Hodel.

“No. That's what they expect. That's what they
want
. They're trying to flush us. We're easier to find and kill in hyperstate.” Korie turned to Li. “Torpedo status?”

“I've got two left. We've cannibalized all the rest. But if I power up those two, they'll make a big enough disturbance to give away our location.”

“Stand by to bring them up, but don't do so unless I order it.”

“What can you do with two torpedoes?” asked Hodel. “You'd need to drop a spread just to get on the probability scale.”

“I know it,” Korie replied. “Chief Leen? Rig for total silence. I don't want to radiate so much as a heartbeat. Shut down everything you can. HARLIE?”

“Yes, Mr. Korie?”

“Close down all your nonessential functions.”

“Yes, Mr. Korie.”

The Bridge went dark then. Only three work stations and the display table remained operative.

“You think it'll work?” whispered Hodel.

“No,” said Korie, honestly. “But—” he shrugged. “Let's not make it any easier for them to find us either. The way I see it, they've got two options. One, they can drop out of hyperstate and search for us in real space. They don't have to hide, they can open up as big a lens as they want. If they're any good, they can close with us in six hours. If they make a couple of wrong guesses, we might have as much as two or three days. We can't even fire our mass-drivers without giving ourselves away.”

“What's their other option?”

“They sweep through the area, hoping to brush us with their fringe. Of course, there's a danger in that too. If they accidentally intersect our singularity—they'll destroy themselves too. I don't think they're stupid. They have all the time they need. They'll hunt for us in real space.”

“We're running out of options,” said Hodel.

“Probably. HARLIE?”

“I have no recommendation at this time.”

“Right,” agreed Korie. “That's how I see it too.”

“There they go,” Hodel pointed. “They've found us.”

The
Dragon Lord
's signature was clearer now—and headed directly for the
LS-1187
.

Korie grabbed the edge of the display and held himself firmly in place. “HARLIE, show us a locus. Where are they most likely to decant from hyperstate?”

A pale ellipse appeared along the line of the
Dragon Lord
's projected path. HARLIE explained, “If they don't decant within that locus, they're likely to miss us—unless it is their plan to brush us with their fringe.”

“And if they do?”

“It will take some time for them to recalibrate and locate us in real space. Depending on their distance, we could have anywhere from ten to ninety-six hours before they arrive on station.”

“My guess on the downside is six hours, HARLIE.”

“Yes, Mr. Korie—your calculation is accurate. However, I am postulating more caution on the part of the Morthan commander than you are.”

Korie said to Hodel. “Figure six hours.” He returned his gaze to the display. The signature of the
Dragon Lord
was just entering the glowing locus.

“It will take them two minutes to traverse the length of the locus,” said HARLIE.

“Power up the torpedoes?” asked Li.

“No. It'll give them a more precise fix—and if they recognize the signature, they'll know what we've done. Let's try and look like a derelict—”

“There they go—” said Hodel.

The signature of the
Dragon Lord
abruptly shrank and collapsed in upon itself.

“HARLIE?”

“I have an approximate location. They are twenty light minutes distant.”

“Why so far?” asked Hodel.

“For them, that's not far. They'll scan, they'll sweep if they have to, and they'll approach fully armed. They've got to have some high-gee accelerators on that monster and appropriate inertial compensation.”

“That kind of vectoring leaves them
real
vulnerable to a shot—” suggested Li.

“Don't count on them being that stupid,” said Korie. “HARLIE, give me a projection. How long do you think we have before they close in real space?”

“Between six and ten hours,” HARLIE replied, absolutely deadpan.

Korie made a snorting noise. “Thanks. Situation analysis?”

“The situation could be better,” reported HARLIE. “Our crew strength is severely impaired. We are running at sixty-three percent efficiency. Our equipment is in even worse shape. We have no port side disruptors. We have insufficient power for the starboard side disruptors. All but two of our torpedoes have been disabled. If the Morthans follow standard approach procedures, they will not come within weapon range until they have first sent probes in for visual confirmation of our derelict status. Once we are under direct surveillance, it is unlikely that we could launch a torpedo or power up our disruptors without the Morthans taking immediate countermeasures. I would presume that at least one or more of the probes will be armed. Now that the Morthan ship knows
where we are, undetected escape is also impractical. Obviously, we cannot outrun the
Dragon Lord
in hyperstate. Do you wish me to elaborate on any of this?”

“No, that won't be necessary. Thank you, HARLIE.”

“What are you going to do?” Hodel sounded uncertain.

“I don't know,” said Korie.

“But we have to do
something
!”

“To be perfectly candid,” Korie admitted, “I really can't think of anything useful to do—”