Edge of Solace (A Star Too Far) (11 page)

“Again?” she sighed.

“Again
,” William replied. “Sanjay, page the galley, see if we can get a flask of coffee, please.”

“Is there a winning scenario?” Lebeau asked as the console reset the solar system.

“Yes, I’ve set on a few, but the opponents generated are based on a likely attack. We could see less or more.”

“So you’re saying this could be for nothing?” The fatigue of a twelve hour watch was showing on her face.

“Of course not, if you don’t run through and watch them yourself, you don’t learn. My console is running statistical scenarios right now, but it’s not a substitute for knowing why things fail.”

Lebeau nodded slowly. “How about after the coffee Mr. Grace?”

William nodded. “Fine, but think on your plan.”

“Oh
, oh!” Sanjay cried out. “Mr. Grace!” His voice was high pitched, almost a squeal.

The feeds began to light up. The
civilian transponder barked first as the data feed expanded. Mass and dimensional data flowed before winking out. The first numbers showed a fairly conventionally sized Sa’Ami cruiser.

“Announcer is down
, sir,” Sanjay said as he replayed the data.

William moved the packet to his console and studied it. There would be a few minutes delay until more data came in from the satellites. The
Malta
was still running quiet. “Captain, we have Sa’Ami in system.” He knew what was going to happen when she came on bridge and he didn’t like it. “Sanjay, bounce off the satellite, send word to Canaan.”

“Aye
, aye, sir.” The echo of keystrokes slapped off walls. The excitement was rising.

“Mr. Grace?” a voice peeped up from the entry to the bridge.

William turned and looked behind him. Avi poked his head around the corner. The Marine was in full battle armor. “Yes, Avi?”

“Is this it?” Avi asked.

William nodded with a smile. “Yes, this is it.”

Avi nodded as his grin grew. “Aww
, hell yeah, sir.”

Minutes passed and the data stream from the satellite showed the same thing. A single Sa’Ami cruiser of a familiar design.

William wondered how this was going to go down. Captain Khan had made it clear she had her own, Earth-born, staff picked for the engagement. Almost a third of the ship’s crew were from off planet. Tension grew in his back and he hunched himself over the console. He wouldn’t leave until properly relieved.

“Captain on the deck!” Avi sounded out.

William stood slowly and at lax attention.

Captain Khan wore the same uniform but her short hair was ruffled. Behind her w
ere two men and a woman: Clark, Garceau, and Mombani. All Earth-born.

William felt helpless as the Captain sat in her chair and called up the console. She hadn’t asked William anything yet
—the data stream would tell her enough.

“Mr. Grace, you are relieved.” Captain Khan leaned forward and studied the data.

“Ma’am, I am formally stating that I protest this order.” William’s voice was wooden, hoarse.

“Noted
, Mr. Grace.”

He stood a moment more and waited.

Captain Khan looked up from the console and over to William. “You’re relieved, Mr. Grace. Get off my bridge.” She waited a second and called out again, “Marine, escort Mr. Grace off the bridge.”

Avi walked in. He slung his weapon over his shoulder and stood next to William. His face was blank but his eyes didn’t look happy. “Mr. Grace,” he said with a tight voice. “Follow me please
, sir.”

“You’re making a mistake
, ma’am,” William said to Khan.

She looked across the bridge for a second and returned her view to the console.

William nodded and walked off the bridge. Avi followed closely behind.

“I’m sorry
, Mr. Grace!” Avi said as he hurried next to William. His heavy kit clunked as he ran.

William shook his head. “Nothing you can do
, Avi. Get back to the bridge, I’m heading for some coffee.”

“This isn’t right,” Avi said as he turned and walked back to the bridge.

William agreed but didn’t see much he could do.

The
Malta
hadn’t yet awakened. There was still a window of time until the arriving ship made its way closer. The murmur passed through the halls almost as quickly as William worked his way to the galley. He passed through a low bulkhead and entered a room filled with people.

“Mr. Grace!” Reed called out in unison with Huron. The two Mars
-born Engineers ran towards him.

William looked around. All of the colonist
-born were in the galley. A small group of Marines sat together without weapons. He felt the anger rise. This wasn’t right.

“How about some coffee?” William said as he walked past the pair. The flask sat on the edge of the galley window. He grabbed it and a stack of double walled cups. “Who wants coffee?”

Eyes perked up and heads rose. The feeling of defeat, betrayal, anger flowed through the room. The Marines stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the naval personnel. No one said it, but they all wanted to.

William pour
ed cups in silence. The smell of strong coffee tickled his nose. “We’ve got a single cruiser coming in. No one take this personally, this is a decision the Captain feels she has to make.”

He wanted to spit and rail against her. It wouldn’t do any good, and he knew it.

The flask was emptied and a second ordered. The crew looked in shock, like they were at an unexpected funeral.

“Reed, can you give us a feed on the screen?” William nodded to the blank screen.

Reed had a questioning look on his face before nodding emphatically and sitting down at the entertainment terminal. “We can only see what the bridge sees.”

“Tile it out,” William said.

Four equal squares spread out on the screen. One was filled with basic diagnostics. The second and third were tactical views of the surrounding space. The final a feed from the satellites. The Sa’Ami cruiser was but a dot in the distance.

“Here’s what we’re gonna do
, people.” William stood. “Depending on what the Captain does we could engage in four hours, or longer. Get to your battle stations with an hour to spare. Assist as you can.”

Angry eyes looked up at him. Hurt eyes. He felt the same way. “I know how you feel, but now isn’t the time to get angry about it. We’re part of the
Malta
, we do our job. She’s gonna need us.”

William meant the ship, but he was sure a few people thought he meant Khan.

“But what do we do?”

William looked around and locked eyes with everyone. “Do your jobs, as well as you can. That’s our oath.” He turned and stood before the screen. The right thing, he thought, was always hard to do.

The icon for the Sa’Ami cruiser showed 1G of acceleration heading directly into the system. The gas giant would intercept the ship as it barreled in. The Sa’Ami ship would have to skirt around the gravity well before doing another blink.

William crunched some quick numbers. They were about 8 AU out right now, they’d do two more blinks to get them on the edge of the gravity well. The light was already stale by just over an hour. He knew they’d see double shortly, the ship would be 1 AU out while the light from the 8 AU ship would still be visible.

The cruiser came closer and for a short time a pair icons were visible with a question mark on the farther. The computer was sharp enough to identify and notate the farther one. The velocity markers began to shift. The
Malta
was moving.

He turned and looked behind him. The eyes of the crew was on him. The screen was large before him and his frame cut a shadow across it.

“Marine, have Lieutenant Zinkov meet me on the bridge. Everyone else, get to your stations.” William turned and nodded at the crew. “We’re the United Colonies, not the damned United Nations.”

“But we’ve been ordered
—” Reed protested.

“Bullshit. Get to your posts.”

Looks of surprise filtered into pride. Men and women from Mars, Haven, Tunis, Valley, and Sahara stood proudly.

William nodded and marched his way through the room towards the bridge. He needed to make this stand now, before the
Malta
engaged. They needed a full crew. He knew Captain Khan knew it. Be damned if he’d let them get destroyed because of foolish ideals.

The Marines stood guard, as per orders, at the entrance to the bridge. Behind them a pale green and orange light scattered into the dim hall. William recognized Avi.

“Avi, I’m going onto the bridge,” William said.

Avi glanced at the other Marine who tensed in his body armor. “Mr. Grace, I’ve got orders to keep you out.”

“Belay that order, Marine,” Zinkov said in his thick accent.

William nodded to Zinkov. “Lieutenant.”

“M-m-m-m-mr. Grace.” The thick-skulled Marine stood next to William.

William felt a wash of relief. He noticed that Zinkov only stuttered when he was talking to him. Had it always been that way? “Thank you
, Lieutenant. I’m challenging the Captain’s orders here.”

Zinkov nodded and parted the two guards. “At ease
, Marines.”

Avi looked proudly at William and nodded.

The two men passed onto the bridge. The space felt even smaller with the lights dimmed. The displays were a shade too bright, washing out the faces of those who stared up at them.

Captain Khan snapped her head away from a console and glared at William. Her back was hunched over and her hands hovered on the keys.

“Ma’am, I respectfully disobey your illegal order.” William marched back to his station with his chin held high and stood behind the chair.

A
petty officer, Monbani, looked up at him with her face half illuminated in the orange light. Weapons programs scrolled behind her as simulations played out at a rapid rate. She cast her eyes to Captain Khan.

“Mr. Grace, you had your order. Get off my bridge,” Captain Khan said.

“That’s an illegal order, ma’am, this is my post.”

Captain Khan stood slowly, deliberately. “Get off my bridge!”

“I will not.”

“Lieutenant Zinkov,” she called out. “Escort Mr. Grace to the brig and secure him inside. Sweep this ship for any others who disobey and lock them up as well.” Her eyes grew bright with anger.

“Captain Khan, I will not. That is an illegal order,” Zinkov said.

“We’re going up against a ship over twice our tonnage, we need everyone
, Captain, we can’t stand alone,” William said.

Captain Khan snapped back. “This is
mutiny!
Mutiny!
”

“You have command. I, and everyone else from off planet, will do our job,” William said as calmly as he could.

“Traitors! Mutineers! You’ll damn us all.” Captain Khan shook with rage. Her arms quaked at her side. Her fists were balled like a bantam weight boxer.

“We don’t have time for this
, Captain. That ship is coming in.” William nodded down to Monbani and placed a hand on her shoulder. “That’s my seat.”

“I’ll see you both court martialed for this,” Captain Khan said with restrained rage in her voice. Her eyes smoldered as she snapped between William and Zinkov.

“I must get to my post,” Zinkov said. The burly Marine saluted and walked off the bridge.

“Orders
, ma’am?” William said. He began loading up the weapons programs he’d been working on.

Captain Khan stood and locked her eyes on William. The moment was filled with violence that fizzed and popped, but never struck. William leaned towards his console and looked up at the Captain.

She licked her lips and slowly sat back into her chair. Her body twisted towards William, as if she couldn’t turn her back on him. “You do one thing I don’t like and I’ll shoot you myself.”

William became aware that her sidearm was strapped onto her hip. His heartbeat skipped a second when he realized she could have shot him at any moment. “Yes
, ma’am.”

“Now get me weapons plots, we’re meeting them on the terminator line once they come through. See your console
.” Captain Khan turned and huddled back over the console.

*

The bridge crew labored in silence as plans were formed. Individual programs were loaded for weapons, navigation, and the course. All eyes watched as the Sa’Ami cruiser blinked closer. The second ghost cruiser disappeared with a new ghost mark appearing 1 AU out.

“He knows we’re watching,” Captain Khan said to herself. “We’ve been painting him with radio since he came in.”

The icon for the cruiser was close. Very close. The cruiser had blinked into the edge of the gravity well of the gas giant and had paused as if balancing on the edge.