The Last Flight of the Argus (21 page)

B’taav shielded his eyes and looked away as the cockpit of the
Pilgrimage
burned with the white-hot light. Just as quickly as it flashed on, the light was gone. It took several seconds for the Independent’s eyes to adjust to the dim lighting of the bridge. He double checked the ship’s controls and verified their course into Erebus.

Maddox stood behind B’taav while Inquisitor Cer sat at the secondary ship controls next to the Independent. Both Maddox and Cer intently watched the navigational readout.

“
It appears our diversion worked,” Maddox said.

“
You loaded the decoy with explosives?”

“
How long did you think a decoy spacecraft would occupy a battleship and its complement of officers? A minute? Two? We needed much more time to make our getaway.”

“
There might be casualties,” B'taav said.

“
I doubt Lt. Daniels is stupid enough to let the decoy get that close,” Maddox said. “Besides, whatever happens from now on does not matter, so long as our mission is accomplished.”

“
Easy for you to say,” B'taav replied. He faced Inquisitor Cer. “What about you, Inquisitor? Our Empires have been at peace for two hundred years. What could possibly make you risk that peace?”

Inquisitor Cer did not reply. B’taav shook his head in frustration.

“
Even if the
Dakota
and
Wake
are disabled, they’ll lock onto us with their long range sensors and see where we’re going,” B'taav said. “When we’re out of range of those sensors, all they have to do is sit back and wait for us to use our sensors to maneuver around the asteroid belt. They’ll follow our progress as if we were carrying a flashlight into a dark room.”

“
We won’t be using our sensors for quite some time.”

“
What do you mean? The asteroid field gets very thick. How will we know where we’re going?”

“
I see you’re unaware of how scavengers explore the area before us.”

“
I didn’t expect to trace their paths.”

“
For now, B’taav, we follow the navigational course plotted into the computer.”

“
And afterwards?”

“
The scavengers don’t use their sensors for the very reason you stated: They don’t want to be followed. Should they give away their positions, there’s the possibility claim jumpers will steal their hard earned discoveries. To avoid that particular problem, the scavengers laid out a series of small satellites over the years and arranged them into a grid. These satellites emit low level signals which the scavengers use to orient themselves and find their way.”

“
How deep into the asteroid field do the satellites go?”

“
Deep enough, for now.”

“
You mean we’re going in deeper than even the satellite grid?”

“
Yes.”

“
What do we do when we’re beyond those signals? More to the point, what if Daniels and his men log into the satellites’ computer and scramble the signals around? They could have us fly in a circle and emerge right in front of them.”

“
They could try, but those satellites use very old tech,” Maddox explained. “The only way to change their transmissions is manually. Quite literally, you have to fly out to them and press their control switches. We’ve kept a close watch on the
Dakota
and
Wake
since their arrival. They haven’t sent even a single fighter craft outside the radius of the Displacer and
Titus
, and none anywhere near the start of the satellite grid.”

Inquisitor Cer gazed at the view screen monitor. A mass of asteroids were already visible in the distance, the remnants of one of Erebus’ original six planets.

“
Even with those satellites, without the use of sensors there’s a great danger of collision, especially if we follow this flight path.”

“
Relax, B’taav, this is the easy part,” Maddox said. “We haven’t even entered the first dense asteroid cluster.”

Maddox tapped Inquisitor Cer on her shoulder.

“
We’ll let our new friend take the first shift,” the bartender said. “Inquisitor Cer will relieve you in eight hours. I should warn you B’taav, the communication system is locked. Any attempt to tamper with it will result in a very loud alarm. This very loud alarm will also be activated should you deviate or slow from the prescribed course. Be a good boy. I’d really hate to have to send you outside.”

Inquisitor Cer stepped past Maddox and exited the cockpit. Maddox took her seat and flashed B’taav a cold grin.

“
Don’t feel bad,” Maddox said. “At least you’re out of Lieutenant Daniels’ hands.”

“
And into yours,” B’taav replied. “Am I much better off?”

“
Only time will tell,” Maddox said. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

B’taav’s
first flight shift proved remarkably uneventful.

An hour into the trip Maddox awoke from his nap, stretched, and made a brief inter-ship communiqué. In seconds, a thin and morose looking man wandered into the cockpit. Maddox allowed the thin man to take his place.

“
This is Rasp,” Maddox said. “He will watch you from here on out. Make sure to stay on his good side.”

Maddox said nothing more before leaving the ship’s bridge. B’taav examined Rasp. He wasn’t just thin: he was gaunt, with equally thin black hair and an avian look to his face. His eyes were clear blue and his mouth was locked tight.

Friendly sort
, B’taav thought. He nonetheless extended his hand.

“
Rasp? I’m B’taav.”

The gaunt man’s mouth, and arm, remained stubbornly unmoved.

“
Pleased to meet you too,” B’taav muttered before returning to controls.

The
next hours found the
Pilgrimage
passing a series of impressively large asteroids. The craft entered the edges of Erebus’ largest asteroid field. It wouldn’t be long, B’taav knew, before he would have to reduce speed and maneuver carefully around these obstacles. By that time, the ever present star light would be choked off and an almost absolute darkness would surround them. It would feel like the ship entered a tight, mysterious cavern.

Good thing I’m not claustrophobic
, the Independent thought.

On
the sixth hour of flight, Maddox returned to the cockpit with a tray of food. He handed it to B’taav, gave the Independent a few minutes to eat, then took the tray, along with whatever the Independent didn’t eat, and left.

At
exactly the eighth hour of B’taav’s shift, Inquisitor Cer and Maddox showed up. Rasp allowed Cer to take his seat. The Inquisitor activated her console and, simultaneously, deactivated B’taav’s. Maddox checked the Navigator’s controls and verified the
Pilgrimage’s
course. He then put on a pair of sleek, metallic computer magnification glasses and stared through the ship’s windows. From the cockpit, he had a clear view of everything but the underside of the ship.

“
How ironic,” B’taav said. He motioned to the deactivated instruments before him. “We’ve got all this sophisticated technology yet we’re reduced to looking for Daniels’ boys with our own two eyes.”

“
We’ve got some enhancements,” Maddox said and removed the magnifying glasses.

“
They can’t be too far away.”

“
I expect so,” Maddox said. “We’ll keep following the course laid in. By the time we get to your next shift we’ll switch to the satellite signals as guidance.”

“
Where do we go when we enter the heart of the asteroid field?”

“
Keep the questions to yourself, Independent. You'll get no answers from me.”

“
I’m assuming your plan isn’t just to go hide out among the rocks, because if it is, we will be caught.”

Maddox motioned to Rasp.

“
Take our guest to his quarters,” Maddox said. “He should be well rested by the start of his next shift.”

The
remainder of the week passed largely without incident. B’taav and Inquisitor Cer exchanged piloting shifts every eight hours and, without fail, Rasp marched B’taav straight to his quarters at the end of the corridor outside the bridge.

It was obvious there were other passengers on board, but B'taav was kept away from them. Now and again, he heard bits of conversations emanating from the lower passages. He did not recognize any of the voices.

B’taav followed the prescribed course deeper and deeper into what had once been the orbit of Erebus E. Navigating through the planet’s remains proved a challenge. The asteroid clusters were at times so thick the Independent was forced to slow the ship to a crawl. Maddox wasn't pleased with the delay, but he knew there was little choice.

When they made it through a particularly narrow stretch, B’taav was confronted by a field of asteroids the size of small moons. Several of them rotated at tremendous speeds, shattering anything they came in contact with. Even after two hundred years, the destruction of Erebus continued. In these circumstances, Daniels’ men would have difficulties locating the
Pilgrimage
, even with the full use of their sensors. The very thick asteroid field provided an effective cover. Maddox must have known this, too, as he spent less time visually scanning for signs of Daniels’ fighter crafts.

When Maddox wasn’t on the bridge, Rasp guarded the Independent. The silent man offered no conversation and B'taav soon wondered if he was capable of speaking at all. So silent was Rasp that he said nothing when an alarm screeched throughout the cockpit. Instead, he gave B'taav a murderous glare.

“
Don’t look at me,” B’taav said. “I didn’t do anything.”

Alarm lights flashed on one of the monitors. The port engine was reading highly elevated temperatures.

“
What the hell is going on?”

Maddox and Inquisitor Cer ran into the room and, like Rasp, eyed the Independent with suspicion. Cer’s hands hovered close to the fusion guns in her belt.

“
Coolant systems on engine three are offline,” B’taav said. “She’s overheating.”

Maddox looked over B’taav’s shoulder and at the display monitor.

“
How bad is it?”

“
Bad enough.”

“
Can it be fixed?”

“
With time, yes. But we should stop.”

“
Out of the question.”

“
We need to fully assess the damage. If we keep flying, there is a risk of burning the engines out completely. Do you have any ship techs on board who can look at this?”

Neither Maddox nor Inquisitor Cer replied. B’taav didn’t expect any words from Rasp.

“
Don’t tell me: Daniels’ boys scared any mechanics you were planning to hire on this trip as well.”

Maddox nodded.

“
I should have stayed on
Titus
. At least there I had a fighting chance.”

“
Inquisitor Cer knows quite a bit about ship mechanics, but she's more familiar with Phaecian models,” Maddox said. “What about you, B’taav. Think you can fix our problem?”

“
If it isn't too bad, I might be able to patch it up. But we need to find a hiding place to park.”

“
No. We keep moving.”

“
Listen, Maddox: At the very least we need to shut down engine three so we don't lose any more coolant. When we shut it down, we won’t have full maneuverability.” B’taav pointed out the window. “Around these parts, we
need
all the maneuverability we can get.”

“
We’re not stopping,” Maddox said. “We’ve got the-Gods-alone-know how many fighter craft on our tail. We stop for any length of time and they will catch us.”

“
I'll fly her,” Inquisitor Cer said. “You take care of the leak.”

“
Fine,” B'taav said. “But if the damage is really bad, we will stop.”

“
How long before you know?”

“
A half hour, give or take. Even with the air units at full blast, it's going to be hot as hell in the Engine room and the air within will be borderline toxic. A half hour is about all the time we'll have.”

“
Can’t we suit up?”

“
No. The place is cramped enough. Based on the speeds this ship is doing, I’m guessing you’ve made some improvements, the type that required a proportional elimination of the free space available within the engine compartments.”

Maddox eyed Inquisitor Cer.

“
Keep her moving,” he said before escorting the Independent out of the cockpit.

B’taav
and Maddox sprinted down to Engine Room 3.

For B’taav, it was the first time he saw other parts of this vessel. The view was hardly memorable. Empty corridors and shut doors gave B’taav precious little new information about the craft he was piloting or the passengers it carried.