The Heart of Matter: Odyssey One (43 page)

“I’d say that the
Vulk
is wondering the same thing you are, sir,” she spoke up. “They just flashed some low-energy tachyons at the Drasin.”

Eric nodded, knowing that the low-energy particles would travel much faster than higher-energy ones. “We seeing anything interesting?”

“Drasin ships have certainly launched fighters, sir,” Winger replied. “Two fighter screens have formed up between the
Vulk
and the Drasin ships.”

Eric frowned. “Anything else?”

“Hang on, sir…I’ve got the computer calculating shift patterns and wave mechanics. It takes a few seconds.”

Eric nodded, willing to wait if Winger said that he had to.

“Got it. Looks like the Drasin are…reversing acceleration, sir.”

“What?” Eric’s head snapped around.

“The FTL wave proves it, sir. They’re pulling back.”

Commander Roberts frowned, looking over from his station. “Are you saying that they’re abandoning their fighters, Lieutenant?”

“It’s possible, sir. Maybe the fighters have the delta-v to catch up with them later, sir, I don’t know.”

The fighters might be able to pull that kind of delta-v, but the acceleration of the Drasin wouldn’t be enough to give the enemy much time for retrieval if they did. The Drasin had to come to a zero-zero stop before they could begin to accelerate out of the system, and during that time, the
Vulk
, the
Odyssey
, and the other ship would all still be accelerating right up their tailpipes.

Even if they made the heliopause ahead of pursuit, they were going to have to jump to FTL without recovering their fighters.

PRIMINAE VESSEL VULK

▸CAPT. JOHAN MARAN glared at the incomprehensible mash of signal reflections that was his pulse of FTL particles. The attempt to identify the plans of the Drasin cruisers had resulted instead in nothing more than a confusing mix of returned signals as their fighter screen interfered with the scanners.

The Drasin were up to something behind that screen, Johan knew it in his guts.

“Full power back to acceleration,” he ordered after a second’s consideration. “We won’t give them time to accomplish it.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Signals,” he said, turning slightly, “send to
Heralc
. We are increasing speed to intercept the Drasin. Join us when able.”

“Yes, sir.”

Johan then turned back to the primary projection and frowned at the mess that was still all over his screen.

What could they be doing?

NACS ODYSSEY

▸“THE
VULK
IS increasing acceleration, Captain.”

Eric glanced at the projections. “They must see that the Drasin are trying to run off while using the fighters as a screen.”

Commander Roberts nodded in agreement. “Can’t say I blame them.”

“Who? The Drasin or the Primmies?” Eric asked, then winced.

Damn it!
He groaned, shaking his head.
That damned nickname is just
too
easy to remember.

“Both,” Roberts said, not giving any indication that he’d noticed the slip. “The Drasin have seen their pals get chewed up by a ship they know to be badly damaged and us. And the Priminae captain over there is probably chewing his nails for missing the action and also undoubtedly wants those Drasin dead before they can escape with any more intel on Ranquil.”

Eric nodded. “Most likely, Commander. Lieutenant Daniels.”

“Sir?”

“Calculate an intercept course for the Drasin ships, if you please.”

“Aye, sir.” Daniels nodded, continuing the calculations he’d already started.

Intercepting a ship at solar ranges wasn’t quite as easily done as it was said. Given the disparity between action and perception due to light-speed differences and the extreme energy cost of real-time sensing, a ship could potentially make several maneuvers before its pursuer saw even the first one.

So it often came down to an educated guess, judging from what one knew concerning the enemy’s intentions and the best course of action to achieving them.

In this case, the Drasin were withdrawing according to the best available data the
Odyssey
had, and their course should be fairly predictable. They wanted to evade the
Odyssey
, as well as the
Vulk
and the third Priminae ship, so they needed a least-time course to the heliopause. If they got creative, Daniels’s projection would probably become worse than useless, but it was still the best chance they had.

“Calculated, Captain,” Daniels announced only seconds after the order had been made.

“Plot and engage, Mr. Daniels,” Eric ordered. “What engagement time do you project?”

“All things optimal, we’ll have them in extreme range for no more than two minutes before their superior acceleration lets them get ahead of us,” Daniels responded.

Weston nodded grimly, expecting nothing less. “Very well. Ensign Lamont?”

“Aye, sir?” Susan Lamont turned.

“Contact the Archangels and have them scramble for immediate deployment,” Eric ordered. “I want them ready to
deal with the fighter screen in case they break off to harass us.”

“Aye, Captain. Archangels on scramble,” Lamont confirmed.

“We’ve got a job to finish—let’s get it done.”

“Archangel Squadron,” the voice came over the speakers, causing a flurry of action even before it continued, “this is your scramble notice. Prepare for possible engagement with the enemy fighter screen. I say again…”

Stephanos grinned as he jumped into action, simply because no one was listening by that point, of course.

Paladin was juggling about forty-three cards that he’d accidently let scatter in zero gravity, barely managing to pluck them back out of midair before they floated too far away. “Shit!”

Steph had already pulled a reverse somersault that ended with him hooking the ridge of the cockpit seal with his hands and swinging himself down and into the padded seat. He snapped up his helmet and jammed it on, not bothering to seal it right away.

“Archangel Lead, we confirm the scramble order and are preparing to taxi.”

“Confirmed, Archangel Lead.” Susan Lamont’s voice was warm as it came over the link. “Be advised, two enemy cruisers have launched fighters to screen their withdrawal. We do not expect that the fighters will be recoverable.”

Ouch.

Stephanos grimaced as he toggled his fighter’s twin power plants to standby, letting the powerful machine start to whine eagerly under him. “Acknowledged.”

Anyone without a way home was a lot more dangerous than someone who thought they might have a future. At least, that worked for humans. Stephanos wasn’t certain that would hold true for the Drasin, but he had little choice but to treat it the same way.

Of course
, as he considered the matter,
the Drasin hadn’t shown much care for personal survival in their past engagements, anyway.

Stephanos pushed the thought away, instead focusing on the whine as his craft finished its preflight checklist and asked for his manual confirmation. He ran down the list, punching in the affirmation as each question was green-lighted, then keyed his communications gear to
Odyssey
flight control.

“Odyssey Control, this is Archangel Lead.”

“Roger, Lead. Control standing by.”

“Archangel flight has passed preflight. Requesting permission to taxi,” Stephanos said as his helmet’s HUD fed him the data from the other fighters.

“Roger, Lead. Permission granted.”

“Thank you, Control,” Stephanos said, then punched the command to taxi.

Unlike on the ground, where gravity would keep the wheels of the fighter nicely in place until the pilot decided otherwise, the process of taxiing on the
Odyssey
was more about waiting in place until one of the lumbering loaders came over, linked to the pin built into the front of the fighter, then physically towed you to the massive airlock elevators that connected to the flight deck.

So Stephanos and the rest of the team had little to do as they waited to be moved to launch positions.

PRIMINAE VESSEL HERALC