Hayden Kaine squeezed his eyes shut and tried to control his unsettled stomach.
Despite the uncounted times he’d endured an FTL jump, it seemed that he could never get used to the experience. It wasn’t natural.
But as unsettling as the physical discomfort was, something else accompanied it that he’d never confessed to anyone: the sense of another presence tapping on his memories as if on a closed door. It was fleeting, lasting only a second or two, but it always happened. And it terrified him.
Humans had evolved to live on Earth, he’d long ago decided, and he doubted he’d ever grow accustomed to having his atoms dragged across dimensional barriers. It was alien, and as much as his mind wanted to normalize faster-than-light travel, he knew that his body would be happier with him if he just stayed home and obeyed Einstein’s understanding of the laws of physics.
“We’ve arrived at the designated coordinates, Captain.”
Kaine opened his eyes to glance at McKenna, his first officer. The younger man seemed unfazed. Hayden suppressed a smile as he briefly glanced about to assess his crew’s adjustment to the transposition. Some of the newer bridge officers appeared as queasy as he felt. He was grateful that no one had puked this time.
Sitting straighter, he said, “Situation report.”
A woman’s chipper voice answered from the overhead speakers. “All of Scimitar’s systems are optimal, Captain. I’m running full spectral scans, but we jumped in a long way from the distress signal’s coordinates, so finding the source may take a few moments.”
“And the rest of the party?”
“All six ships have joined us without incident.”
“Thank you, Cora. Weapons status?”
Lieutenant Aubrey Martini answered from the tactical station. “Our rail guns were loaded before we departed. Dark energy cannons are fully charged and at the ready, sir.”
Hayden said, “It looks like your new recharge design is working, Cora.”
“You doubted me?”
He grinned. “Not for a moment. How about the others?”
“Your little fleet is ready,” she replied over the speaker, then through the private comm unit plugged in his ear, she added, “Why so nervous, Hayden?”
His smile faded.
She bloody well knew what was on his mind.
“Anything on those sensors yet?”
“I’m picking up what looks like debris on the thermal bands.”
Hayden scowled. “How much.”
A few seconds passed before Cora’s reply. “Too much. I think it’s them.”
“Anything else in the area?”
“Nothing. It must be our missing task force.”
Hayden exhaled noisily and stared at the holographic viewer in the centre of the bridge. He couldn’t see anything, which meant that whatever remained of the ships he’d been sent to find wasn’t very large.
“Distance?”
“One and a half AU, Captain,” replied McKenna.
Kaine did the math in his head. “All ships proceed to the coordinates at twenty percent ‘c.’ Maintain full battle readiness. Probe that area with everything we’ve got, Cora.”
“Captain, it may be a trap. I advise caution,” said Martini. “We should send in some drones to evaluate first.”
Kaine shot a critical glance in her direction. She didn’t flinch but straightened her back and jutted out her chin.
He studied her for a few seconds before saying, “Thank you, Tactical, but we will proceed as I’ve already ordered.”
Martini barely hesitated before she returned a curt nod and said, “Yessir.”
He watched her as she returned her attention to her console.
“I know what you’re thinking,” said Cora into his ear comm. “She was the best choice for the position, despite your dislike for her.”
“We will discuss this later. Stay focused on those damned scans.”
“Aye-aye, Captain.”
He winced, regretting his harsh tone. Cora was more than the ship’s AI. She was also its chief engineer and the heart and soul of Scimitar. Hell, she practically was the ship. But she was, more importantly, his best friend and confidant. Sometimes he forgot that she still had human feelings. He resolved to make up for his rudeness when they returned to base.
For Hayden, the next hour seemed to drag on. He had to force himself to remain seated in his command chair and try at least to give the appearance of calm confidence. But he couldn’t keep his eyes from the holographic viewer as he searched for—what? He had no idea what he hoped to see that the sensors didn’t show.
By this point it was clear that whatever debris remained of the five ships he’d been sent to find would probably fit into Scimitar’s cargo hold. And that frightened the hell out of him.
Admiral—now President—Thomas didn’t have any weapons capable of doing this to Glenatat-armoured ships. Or at least he wasn’t supposed to. His weapons were derivative designs of Scimitar’s own, not nearly as powerful. He just had a lot more ships than the rebellion. But whatever had ripped this taskforce apart was something completely new. And yet it felt familiar to him. He couldn’t explain it to himself, let alone attempt to articulate it to Cora, but it felt like an old threat that had been long dead.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts. As he did, his eye caught something on the holographic viewer.
“There.” He jumped to his feet and pointed at the three-dimensional star field.
Everyone turned to him, confused.
McKenna rose to stand beside him on the command platform. “Sir?”
Ignoring his first officer, Kaine said, “Cora, did you see that? Those stars winked out for a moment.”
“Nothing showed on the sensors,” she said.
“Damn the sensors. I know what I saw. Replay the hologram recording. Back up one minute.”
“Yes, Captain,” said McKenna as he nodded to one of the junior officers to comply.
A few seconds later, the hologram flickered as the previous minute’s display playback replaced real-time monitoring. The star field looked identical as Hayden stared intently at the image.
“There, stop,” shouted Kaine as he pointed. “Did you see it?”
“I…I’m sorry, sir. No,” said McKenna.
Hayden glared at him briefly before turning to the rest of the bridge crew.
“Did any of you see it?”
He was met by blank, embarrassed expressions.
Scowling, he faced the display again and said, “Back up ten seconds and replay. Everyone, watch closely.”
When it replayed, others gasped.
“I saw it,” said McKenna. “That trio of stars in the middle of the display winked out.”
“I saw it as well,” said Martini.
Hayden said, “Cora?”
“Nothing registers on the sensors.”
“But you saw it, right?”
She hesitated. “Something occluded those stars, but it could have been anything. A gas cloud—”
“But sensors would have seen a gas cloud,” said Hayden.
“Yes,” admitted Cora. “Whatever you saw cross in front of those stars is not registering on any of our devices.”
Hayden nodded to himself. “Like dark matter.”
“Yes,” Cora replied cautiously, “but dark matter clumps are common in this part of the galaxy. It could be nothing.”
Realizing that Cora was being far too rational for what his gut told him, he said, “Navigation, can you get a fix on whatever that was?”
Collins, the navigator, hesitated. “I would need a second sighting from another position, sir.”
“Then launch a probe. Now, people.”
As the crew jumped to obey his order, McKenna approached and spoke quietly. “I don’t understand what your concern is, Captain.”
Hayden locked eyes with him. “You grew up on Oberon, didn’t you?”
Puzzled, McKenna nodded. “Yessir.”
A crewman announced that the research probe had been launched. Hayden turned his attention from his confused first officer to the real-time data readout that appeared beside the holographic star field.
“Cora, coordinate with the other ships. Have every crew replay their observational logs and report back position and time of the occlusion to you. That should give us a positional fix on whatever that thing is.”
“Assuming they saw it,” she said in his earpiece.
Annoyed, he plucked the comm unit from his ear and put it in his pocket.
Time slowed to a crawl as Hayden stared intently at the holo display, almost desperate to see the stars wink out again and prove to himself that he’d seen what he did.
“We have a positional fix, sir,” said Collins. The star field was augmented by a yellow ellipsis imposed on the display. “It is approximately two thousand kilometres from our present position. And, Captain, it appears to be moving.”
A hint of a satisfied smile turned up the edges of Kaine’s mouth. He resumed his command chair and reinserted the comm unit in his ear.
“All ships, go to battle alert. Tactical, target that ship with all weapons.”
“Ship, sir?” Martini replied. “I mean, yessir.”
Cora spoke into his ear. “Hayden, it can’t be the Malliac.”
“Do you know of any other ships built with dark matter?”
“But my sensors are tuned to see their ships. I can detect nothing out there.”
“Maybe it’s not them—I bloody well hope it isn’t, but something destroyed the task force. And this situation is beginning to stink like a trap.”
A brief, brilliant flash bloomed on the hologram display.
“Our probe was destroyed,” announced Collins.
Kaine shouted, “All ships, open fire!”
The lights dimmed as Scimitar’s dark energy cannon drew power from the engines. Deep violet lancets of light shot from every ship, all targeting the same coordinates.
“I can’t tell if we hit anything,” said Martini.
“Recharge the weapons. Everyone, keep your eyes peeled for any sign of—”
Scimitar was rocked by a powerful blow that almost threw Kaine from his command chair. Alarms blared as the crew scrambled to return to the seats they’d been tossed from.
“A direct hit to our dorsal stern,” Cora announced. “They were targeting our engines.”
“Damage?”
“Still assessing, but we’re okay.”
“Tactical situation.”
Martini shouted above the alarms. “I’ve got a rough fix on where I think it came from. Preparing to return fire.”
“Belay that. They’re moving and want us to draw down our power banging about for them. Maintain observations and only fire if you spot some kind of anomaly.”
“Damage reports coming in from the other ships,” said McKenna. “Draco was hit hard; engines are out and she’s drifting. Karpov and Curie have extensive damage to their dorsal shielding.”
Another brilliant flash appeared on the hologram.
“Draco was hit again. She–she’s gone!”
“Destroyed?” Kaine asked.
McKenna’s eyes glistened. “Yes Captain.”
Scimitar’s bridge was rocked by another blow. Three more blooms of light flared on the hologram.
“Arcturus is gone,” said McKenna as he read from his workstation display. “Delhi looks like she’s broken in two, and the Caspian is venting plasma.”
“Our armour integrity is down to forty per cent,” said Cora. “I can’t augment its regeneration without drawing power from the jump engines.”
Hayden stared at the hologram as a hundred scenarios flashed before his eyes.
“Survivors?”
“None,” said Cora. “I detect no active shuttle or escape pod beacons. Nobody had time.”
“Set course for the Caspian and order them to prepare to transfer to Scimitar.”
The ship shook again as another invisible blow hammered her. As they turned to approach the damaged ship, it exploded in a horrifying nuclear flare.
“Caspian is destroyed with all hands, Captain,” Cora announced coldly. “Karpov and Curie have both jumped, and I suggest that we do as well.”
Kaine turned to the hologram display. The star field looked the same as it had on their arrival, the stars seeming indifferent to the massive loss of life that had happened instantly.
He lowered his head in a silent prayer for the lost souls under his command and said, “Get us the hell out of here.”
