Wanderer 3: Tainted Universe (31 page)

He quickly reviewed the wider situation.  Nine fighters had been lost to the hail of rocks, with a tenth crippled but somehow limping back towards the destroyer.  The waves of fighters coming in behind were all surviving, using data from the fighters that had already made it through and in many cases using the same paths.

Clay’s eye was drawn to a nearby freighter.  Something about its positioning seemed wrong. It was simply hanging in space a short distance from the colony.  Clay opened fire at extreme range, scoring continuous hits on the static ship.  Half-hearted return fire cut through space but came nowhere near clay.  He became even more suspicious.  Rather than risk getting closer he lit off a missile.

The freighter switched its fire, desperately trying to shoot down the incoming missile.  Clay frowned.  Sure, the missile could do some damage to a freighter with full shields, but not that much.  Was the crew just inexperienced?  Panicking over the missile when the true threat, Clay, was left alone.

He turned his fighter, keeping a good distance.  Something felt wrong.  Were they trying to lure him into a trap?  The fire continued but they couldn’t hit the missile, which twisted and swerved as it closed the distance.  The defensive fire continued right up until the moment the missile hit.

“
Bloody hell!” Clay shouted.

The explosion of the missile was enough to overwhelm the freighter’s shields and punch a modest hole into its hull.  At most Clay had expected to see some atmosphere being vented.  Instead the missile’s small explosion had triggered a second, massive explosion which obliterated the freighter.

It took Clay’s brain several seconds to catch up.  He hit transmit.

“
Command, this is Angel Five-Nine.”

He gave his new call sign smoothly.  It almost felt natural already.  When he had time to think it made him cringe too.  Angel?  The mission they were on wasn’t one of mercy.  It was one of hatred and murder.

“Angel Five-Nine, this is command.  Go ahead.”

“
Warn all ships to avoid the freighters.  They may be packed with explosives.”

“
Acknowledged Angel Five-Nine.  We saw what just happened.  Carry on.  Command out.”

For a moment, as the channel went dead, Clay felt the loss of his old crew mates once again.  He would never have gone through command back then.  He was trusted to warn those flying with him directly.  Not any more.

He only had a moment though.  More weapons opened fire from the colony and a scout ship darted out to engage him.  While primarily designed for exploration the ship shared many similarities with a fighter.  It could have been a formidable enemy, but the pilot had no experience of combat.

A double feint by Clay had the scout not only travelling in completely the wrong direction but actively bringing itself into Clay’s sights.  Clay opened fire, reducing the scout to tumbling wreckage.

Clay swung his fighter around, the heat of battle driving all doubts from his mind.  He was flying and an enemy was trying to kill him.  That made everything simple.  Kill or be killed.  Win or lose.  Live or die.

*****

Greenseed Station

“Commander, there’s an incoming ship,” the comms officer called out.

Marsh froze.  He’d learnt to hate those words recently, but now they drove a cold spike through his stomach.  A ship was approaching Greenseed expecting to request food.  Not knowing that the station had fallen to the tainted in every way that mattered.

Marsh was aware of everyone else staring at him.  No matter how helpless he felt he had to set them an example.  No matter how dire the situation if the commanding officer was positive it spread to those beneath him.  Marsh knew that well from his military days.  Now he summoned every speck of willpower he possessed in order to project confidence.

“
Put it on the speaker,” he said.  “We need to know what is happening.  Then we can find a weak spot to strike back at.”

“
Aye sir.”

The shift in the room was palpable.  People were still scared.  They still doubted.  They might still feel, deep down, that the situation was hopeless.  But for the moment they drew on his confidence, and seeing their reaction helped boost him.  He’d seen many battles where victory was snatched from certain defeat by those who refused to give up.  While those in the operations room still lived the fight wasn’t over.

“… of Greenseed station.”  The speakers had flared to life.  “How may we help you Captain?”

Marsh didn’t recognise the voice.  They’d missed the name, but it didn’t really matter.  Marsh had no doubt it was one of the tainted talking.

“We’re here for food.  Same as last time.”

The captain’s voice sounded vaguely familiar but Marsh couldn’t place it.  There had been too many ships visiting Greenseed over the past few weeks.

“Of course.  Please send over details of your cargo capacity and we will begin the supply operation.”

“
Why don’t ya have the details from last time?”

“
We have them, of course, but we don’t use them anymore.  We’ve had two captains complain because they’d changed their ship’s layout without telling us.  Much easier to just get the details fresh each time.”

“
All right.  Sending it now.”

Damn, Marsh thought.  For a moment he’d thought the captain’s suspicions were aroused.  The moment had passed.  The captain seemed to accept the lie.  In truth whoever was communicating with him had no records.  Those were securely stored within the operations room.  Marsh certainly wasn’t going to provide access to them.

“Thank you,” the mystery voice continued.  “Please hold your position.  Attempting to close with the station will lead to your destruction.”

“
Don’t worry.  We’re just here for the food.”

The channel went dead.  Marsh looked around the room.

“Right.  You all heard that.  I’m sure the food delivered is going to have a few extras, some way to spread the Taint further.  We might not be able to stop this delivery.  That doesn’t matter.  We only need to warn one ship for word to get out.  Whether it’s the first, third, tenth or even hundredth ship we have to make sure the warning is heard.

“
Getting access to the comms for long enough to send out a warning would be great but it’s not the only option.  We need something, anything, that makes any visitors suspicious.  Anything that makes them question what is happening here.  Get to it.”

There weren’t any claps or cheers, but Marsh hadn’t been trying for them.  His words had the desired effect.  A buzz settled over the room as ideas were discussed, discarded or expanded on.

Marsh was pleased by the reaction.  His words had been good.  They’d had the desired effect.  They were so good that he almost believed it was possible.  Almost.

*****

Clay felt as if the icy cold of space was leaking into his fighter.  The action was over, for him and the other fighters at least.  The only remnants of the colony’s defences and its ships were drifting chunks of wreckage.

Now the capital ships had taken over.  Massive energies were being unleashed against the colony.  Weapons designed to punch through the powerful shields of a battleship were smashing through not only the colony but the asteroid it rested upon.

At least it will be quick,
Clay thought.

He knew it was a lie.  The final act was quick.  No one would have survived the fire from the capital ships.  That was only part of the story though.  Everyone in the colony would have sat in terror as their defences and their ships were reduced to scrap.

Initially Clay had felt exultant, riding the high of surviving combined with the satisfaction of seeing an enemy defeated.  The feeling had soon faded.  As the adrenaline left his system the battle joy followed it.  Then the realisation of what he had taken part in finally hit home.

Now he sat in his stationary fighter, waiting for orders.  In theory the fighters were waiting to tackle any last-minute aggression or attempts to flee.  Clay suspected it was more to make them a part of what was happening.  To seal them to the deeds that had been done.  As if his own actions hadn’t done just that.

The capital ships completed their work.  Darkness seemed to fall as the brilliance of their weapons faded.  It seemed fitting to Clay.  He realised tears were running down his face but he made no effort to wipe them away.  Justifications ran through his mind.

It would have happened whether I helped or not. 
True, but no excuse.  He’d flown hard missions for the Empire before, ones where right and wrong were hard to judge, but never anything like this.  He’d always felt the Empire was trying to bring order and hope to the many, even when the few suffered.

I’d be dead if I’d refused to take part. 
True again, but was his life worth more than those he’d attacked and killed?  Was it worth more than his own integrity?  Than his soul?

I was only obeying orders. 
His mouth tasted like ashes as soon as that thought occurred to him.  How many atrocities had been committed down the centuries using exactly that excuse?  And it was no excuse.  He knew that.

I wasn’t brave enough to do anything else. 
Bad though that thought made him feel it did have the ring of truth.  As the signal came ordering his return to the destroyer he realised that he would never be brave enough.

His only hope would be to escape, and to do it soon.  But how?  His ship had no jump capability and the fleet was destroying everything in its path.  Unless something changed dramatically he was bound to the fleet until he died.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Finally it was done!  Jess managed a tired smile.  He’d spent the past hour worrying that the troopers would decide to move.  If they’d been lucky they could have found one of the gaps in the barriers the
Wanderer
had been creating.  Now they were surrounded.  Wherever they headed to next they were in for a nasty surprise.

He knew the troopers would begin to move as soon as the
Wanderer
entered jump space.  Even the thought of doing so was too much for his exhausted mind.  Everyone else was still sleeping, or in the bedrooms at least.  Jess decided it would be safe to wait for twenty minutes more before jumping.

He couldn’t sleep, or wouldn’t at least, in case the troopers tried something unexpected or the pursuing fleet somehow caught up with the
Wanderer
much sooner than he thought was possible.  He could rest though.

Using his implants Jess put most of his body into a sleep state.  His mind he kept awake, but defocused.  Aware of what was important but not processing anything else.  He settled into a state very like a deep meditational trance.  If anything happened he would know instantly, but his body and mind were getting at least some of the rest they craved.

*****

“
I brought you a hot chocolate.”

Jess jerked out of the trance, heart hammering.  It took him several rapid breaths to realise it was Ali that had spoken.  He spun around in the pilot’s chair to find her standing holding a steaming mug and with a knowing grin on her face.

“Sorry,” she said.  “Did I wake you up?”

“
No,” he mumbled through a yawn.  “No.  I wasn’t asleep.  Just resting.”

“
Sure.  I could see that.”

“
No, really.  I was aware of everything going on…”

He stopped, realising events clearly proved him wrong.  What had happened?  Had he fallen asleep?  No.  The
Wanderer
confirmed that he hadn’t.  But then why hadn’t he noticed Ali approaching?  He should have known the moment she left her room.

He asked the
Wanderer
what had happened.  The ship seemed confused.  It hadn’t detected Ali leaving her room or moving through the ship.  She suddenly seemed to appear on the flight deck when she spoke.

Yet she had definitely been through the ship.  The food machine had supplied a hot chocolate only a minute before.  The fact that there was no-one to request it hadn’t registered to the ship or to Jess.

It must have something to do with her implants, but he wasn’t sure what.  His own were far more advanced and he had far more control over the ship.  He could think of twenty ways to achieve what she had done, but none would work with Ali’s limited implants.

Jess shrugged off his worries.  He’d find out how she’d done it later.  Right now Ali was smiling at him warmly with no hint of the anger she’d shown earlier.  In fact she had a gleam in her eye that set his pulse racing.  All thoughts of tiredness soon vanished.

Jess stood up and crossed to her.  She quickly put the steaming mug down and wrapped her arms around him, drawing him into a hungry kiss.  Jess felt his body react immediately.  The remaining hints of tiredness vanished.

Jess pulled away slightly, leaning in again to kiss her cheek, then moving down her jawline to her neck.  She shivered against him.  He was breathing fast now, and fighting the urge to start yanking her clothes off.  They had time.  No one else was awake, and he’d had the
Wanderer
lock the door.

Ali pulled back and Jess found himself staring into her eyes.

“I love you Jess,” she told him.  “I really do.  You know that don’t you?”

“
Of course I do.  And I love you too.”

She smiled, though he could only tell because it showed in her eyes.  He couldn’t take his eyes off them.  No, that was wrong.  He didn’t
want
to take his eyes off them.  It felt as though he was staring deep into her soul, seeing the pure beauty of the girl he loved in its rawest form.  The longer he stared into her eyes the deeper he seemed to be sinking.  It felt like easing into a warm bath.

The world around him started to fade.  The ship, the troopers even the pursuing fleet seemed unimportant.  All that mattered was holding Ali close and filling his soul with the sight of her.

Jess shouted in pain as something seemed to stab through his head, though his gaze stayed locked with Ali’s.  Another, sharper, pain stabbed through a different part of his head.  This time he doubled up, dragging Ali halfway to the floor.

A sense of regret flooded through him at having lost sight of Ali, but now he found himself squeezing his eyes closed against the pain.  And then it was gone.

“Jess… Jess, please!  What’s wrong?”

Ali sounded close to tears.  Jess slowly straightened.

“It’s alright.  Really.  Something hurt in my head.  Really hurt.  Sorry… I feel sick.  I need to sit down.”

Ali helped him back into the pilot’s chair, fussing over him as he went.  Sitting made him feel a little better.  He smiled up at Ali.  Her frown of worry didn’t move.

“Is it your implants?  Is… is there something wrong with them?”

Jess didn’t answer.  His eyes had found Ali’s again.  His heartbeat sped a little, for good reasons this time, but the moment was gone.  While staring into Ali’s eyes was still a wonderful distraction he no longer felt he had the same connection to her soul.  He couldn’t help but feel disappointed.  Still, he told himself, there will be other times.

“Jess?  Are you sure you’re feeling better?  Is it your implants causing problems?”

Jess shook himself slightly.

“Sorry.  Let me check with the
Wanderer
…”

Fast though Jess was, Ali was already fidgeting badly by the time he spoke a few seconds later.

“No.  There’s nothing wrong with the implants, or with me.  The
Wanderer
is confused though.  It thinks I triggered something but it has no idea what, or how I triggered it.  The only thing it could confirm was that there wasn’t any danger.  Whatever the system is it was designed to deliver a short, sharp shock — not to do any lasting damage.”

“
I’m glad to hear it.  You’d better rest for a while.  We can continue what we were doing later.”

Finally she smiled.  Jess couldn’t help but grin back.

“Well…” he started to say.

“
Oh no!  Don’t get any ideas.  Not after what just happened.  You need some rest first.  And probably some food.”

“
Food.  Yeah, that sounds like a great idea.”

“
Let’s go then.”

Jess went to get up.  Ali was there immediately, both helping him up and making sure he did it slowly.  He was actually feeling pretty good now, but he didn’t argue.  Having Ali leaning close against him was never a bad thing.

*****

Jess and Ali entered the living area to find Sal and Dash getting some food.  Jess frowned slightly.  First Ali now these two had managed to move around the ship without him knowing.  It wasn’t that he was spying on them, but with the recent short tempers and arguments he'd wanted to avoid any confrontation while he was having his short rest.

He sent a query to the
Wanderer
.  The response was worrying.  The
Wanderer
had been aware of them leaving Sal’s room, but Jess hadn’t responded when the information was sent to him.  When he pushed for more information it turned out they had left their room while he was staring into Ali’s eyes.

Jess stopped dead, catching Ali out.  She nearly pulled him over before she stopped herself and helped to steady him.

“Jess, what is it?” she asked.  “More pain?”

Jess shook his head, finding that words wouldn’t come.  Ali glanced between Jess, Sal and Dash.

“Oh.  Look, let’s try to avoid any more fights.  For the moment at least.  You have enough to worry about as it is.  And I’m still worried about those pains.”

She didn’t understand, and he couldn’t put it into words.  Not yet at least.  The
Wanderer
had just told him that the few seconds he’d spent staring into Ali’s eyes had actually been several minutes.  How could that be?  And why hadn’t she noticed?  Had whatever affected Jess during that time bled over into Ali’s mind through her implants?  Had she been in danger because of his problems?

“
Jess?  Jess!”  Ali shook his shoulder.  “Jess, can you hear me?”

“
Yes.  Sorry.  Um… you’re right.  I’ll try not to start any fights.”

She rewarded him with a dazzling smile.

“That’s all I can ask.  Come on, let’s get some food…”

*****

Something was different.  Jess couldn’t put his finger on what it was, but something was definitely different.  They were back on the flight deck.  Jess was in the pilot’s chair, of course, with Ali and Dash in the seats behind.  Sal was once again in the row behind.  Nothing different there.

The best Jess could manage was that things
felt
different.  The others seemed calm.  Relaxed with each other.  Sal’s distance and silence had evaporated.  Even Ali’s doubts about Dash seemed to have lessened.

It put Jess on edge.  He felt left out.  It was almost as if the others were sharing something which they hadn’t told him about.  What had changed?

The changes in Sal could be easy enough to explain, though Jess was embarrassed by the thought.  She and Dash had spent the night together.  It seemed that sex had brought them closer.  They kept swapping warm smiles.  The same could go for Dash.  Jess felt awkward making the comparison but he knew sleeping with Ali put him into a better mood.

But what about Ali?  She might be responding to the change in Sal, but her worries about Dash had run deep.  Now she spoke to him as if those worries had evaporated.  Could the sudden change be down to her implants?  Could it be related to the problem they’d had earlier, with losing several minutes of time?  If so it was far more serious than he’d thought.  Losing time was bad enough, but fundamental changes to their thinking was much worse.

“Jess!” Ali shouted.

Jess jerked back to the present.  He had the feeling Ali had been calling him for some time.

“Sorry.  What is it?”

“
Sal was saying she felt much better now.  Are you OK?”

“
Yeah.  Just tired.  We should get moving.  Everyone ready?”

He already knew they were, but it was a good way to end the conversation.  He reached out to the
Wanderer
, preparing to enter jump space, then hesitated.  Was this safe?  Was he in any fit state to be doing this?  Were his implants?

As so often happened, the
Wanderer
responded to his thoughts.  It confirmed his implants were working perfectly and that the only thing wrong with his brain was elevated stress levels.  The message was accompanied by a feeling, a mix of warmth and strength.  Jess relaxed a little, then pushed the
Wanderer
into jump space.

The troopers reacted immediately.  Jess sent the images to screens so Sal and Dash could see.  One of the troopers approached a wall, then laid his hand in place.  As soon as Jess detected explosives being laid he had the ship trigger them.

The explosion threw the troopers hand back, spinning him around.  He worked his arm tenderly.  There was no lasting damage to the gloves as far as Jess could see.  There had been no secondary explosion so the blast hadn’t reached the main store of explosives in his suit.  The rest of the troopers dropped into defensive crouches.  Two moved to inspect the wall where the blast had occurred.  Another moved to the injured trooper.

“
Not as good as I’d hoped,” Jess said.  “Not bad though.  Enough to make them think carefully each time they choose to lay a charge.”

“
They’ll probably be able to reinforce their suits,” Dash said.  “It looks like most of the damage came from the way he was thrown away from the wall.  You’ve still slowed them down though.  They’ll have to carefully brace before planting each charge.”

“
They don’t look happy,” Sal said.

“
They’ve just found that the wall was only lightly damaged,” Jess replied.  “I reinforced the walls.  They can still get through it, but it will take three or four times as long.  And that’s on top of them needing to brace before placing each charge.”

“
So they’re out of action for a while?” Ali asked.

“
Looks that way,” Dash replied before Jess could speak.

It took Jess a moment to realise what felt wrong.  Where were the dark warnings from Dash that nothing was certain?  That the troopers were incredibly well trained and resourceful?  Had the pessimism in Dash somehow evaporated?  Had sleeping with Sal been the cause?