The Last Flight of the Argus (34 page)

General Jurgens took several seconds before answering.

“
Your ships’ offensive weaponry will be limited to laser cannons,” he acknowledged. “But you will have backup. Each of your fighter crafts will be assigned a squad of Blue Rogue officers. It is our hope the Blue Rogues unique skills will not, in the end, be needed. But if they are, you can rest assured you’ll be in good hands. I know it’ll be a tight fit, but I’m sure you’ll make them comfortable.”

General Jurgens pressed a button on the table and the diagram of the Breadcrumb was replaced by several blips.

“
These blips indicate the various points your squads are to be positioned in the next hour. Where we go from there, as well as the particulars of your mission, will be revealed by the Blue Rogue commander in each of your ships. In lieu of any direct orders from me, you will follow the Blue Rogue commander’s orders to the letter.
Any
deviation will be met with punishment. Is that understood?”

“
Yes sir,” the squad group replied in unison.

“
Good,” General Jurgens said. “Now let’s get to it.”

It
took the full half-hour for Cer and B’taav to transfer the material from the storage room to the
Xendos
. When they were done, they met up with Dave Maddox in the cockpit of the ship and, for one last time, checked their instrumentation. Maddox sat in the engineer’s seat.

“
Is everything ready?” he asked.

“
Ship’s engines and computer systems are online and functioning,” B’taav said. “We cleaned out all usable spare parts and they’re tucked into the ship’s cargo bay. We’re just waiting for our route."

“
We’ll get that soon enough,” Maddox said.

The bartender was true to his word. Only seconds later, the cockpit door opened and Ned Frasier stepped in. As always, he was dressed in immaculate white and, like the other passengers, appeared exhausted. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a shiny metal disk and handed it to Inquisitor Cer.

“
On the disk is all the information we could draw from the probe Kelly Lang found. If this information isn’t accurate, all our efforts will prove a colossal waste of time.”

Inquisitor Cer slid the disk into the navigational system and uploaded it into the computer. The general location of the
Argus
was listed as seven months full speed flight from their current location.

“
We barely have enough supplies to get there, and certainly not enough to get back,” B’taav said. “Is this a one way trip?”

“
You forget, everything within the Erebus system is in motion,” Frasier said. “The location you are reading is our estimate of the original position of the
Argus
following the explosion.” The exhaustion on his face gave way to melancholia. “A...companion of mine and I made a detailed study of the asteroid migration. We examined the position the probe
thought
it was at, based on its final telemetry readings before its computers lost power, versus where Lang picked her up. Those readings allowed us to project an estimate of where the
Argus
is currently located, give or take a couple thousand kilometers.”

Frasier reached between B’taav and Cer and pressed a series of buttons on the Nav Computer. A red sphere appeared in the schematic.

“
That is our destination.”

“
It's an awfully big area,” the Independent said.

“
Yes,” Frasier acknowledged. “But its outer edges lay no more than a week’s travel from here, versus seven months. We will undoubtedly spend some time searching for the ship once we get there. But if things work out, it shouldn’t take us very long. Who knows, we might even get lucky and find her right away.”

Frasier rubbed his eyes. He returned to the door leading out of the cockpit and eyed his wristwatch.

“
I’ll help with the navigation but for the next few days, when Daniels’ boys are closest to us, I’ll leave the flying to you two. When we’ve gained enough distance, we’ll plot our search pattern. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

“
Of course,” B’taav said. “My compliments on your estimates. You –and your companion– did a good job.”

Frasier attempted a smile, but could only manage a slight nod.

“
Let’s get moving,” Frasier muttered. His voice cracked with emotion. He stepped out of the cockpit.

B’taav and Inquisitor Cer looked at each other. Despite their glacial stares, there was a hint of anticipation.

B’taav flicked the intercom switch and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, we will be lifting off in five minutes. Make sure your seats are locked in an upright position and your seatbelts are on. All belongings should be stored in the upper compartment. We’re in for a
very
bumpy ride.”

Oscar
Theodor swore as he steered his fighter off the
Dakota’s
flight deck and into space. The lower compartment, where his crewmates waited for their shifts, was now crammed with twenty Blue Rogue troopers. Worse, in the very brief time they were together, prepping for lift off, it was clear neither group would get along.

Well that’s too bad
, Theodor thought.
We’re all one big happy family even if we’ve been ordered to be glorified escorts to—
Theodor frowned.
—to wherever the hell we’re supposed to be going.

Theodor recalled the fearsome weapons the Blue Rogues carried. He didn’t envy anyone who had to go up against
that
.

Theodor banked the craft to the right, away from the
Dakota,
and entered the asteroid field. The other fighter crafts of his squad spread out and hit their afterburners. In a few minutes they’d be locked into their positions and, in another few hours, they’d be sitting around in that asteroid field looking for the slightest movement.

And when they spotted it
—

Theodor shook his head. He again recalled the Blue Rogues’ fearsome weapons.

I guess we’ll find that out when it happens
.

He gunned the fighter craft’s engine and steered to his assigned position.

Inquisitor
Cer pressed a series of buttons and the gravity controls within the base shut down. Another flick of her wrist and the internal lights, the life support systems, and all remaining ancillary systems within the base shut down.

B’taav gently pushed the joystick before him and set off a small thrust under the
Xendos
. The ancient ship rose from her two hundred-year cradle.

“
Decompression complete.”

“
Opening the outer doors.”

Inquisitor Cer pressed a small green button in the center of the computer controls and looked up at the view screen.

The large outer door of the asteroid peeled away, revealing the darkness of space. In the near-distance floated several dozen other asteroids. A couple of them moved along as if they were orange clouds in a black sky.

It took a minute for the base door to fully open. When it was locked in place, B’taav pressed a button on the central panel.

“
Get ready,” he said. “Because here we go.”

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX

The
first hour after departing the Phaecian asteroid base proved the tensest aboard the
Xendos
.

B’taav, Inquisitor Cer, and Dave Maddox stared out their windows while keeping a close watch of the ship’s delicate internal instruments. B’taav and Cer were confident of their repairs but knew the ship’s age and condition guaranteed things would not always run smoothly.

With the passage of time, B’taav’s worries eased and his focus turned more to the asteroid field.

“
We’re doing well so far,” he said. “Better than we had any right to expect.”

“
Agreed,” Inquisitor Cer replied. “I haven’t seen any sign of Daniels’ fighter crafts.”

“
Is it possible they gave up?” Maddox said.

“
I wouldn't count on...Look!”

Inquisitor Cer pointed out the window and to B’taav’s left.

B’taav followed her gaze. Far, far away in the distance was what appeared to be a metallic object. Its surface reflected faint starlight.

“
That answers your question,” B’taav said. He pressed down on the controls and maneuvered the ship between a cluster of asteroids. When the ship was hidden from sight, B’taav eased on the accelerator.

“
Did they see us?” Maddox asked.

“
No idea,” B’taav said. He accelerated the ship, until she shot around the asteroids and skipped to another group of rocks farther in the distance. “If they did, they’ll be coming in.” He faced Inquisitor Cer. “We should make a run for it. But I don’t know if the engine will take that strain.”

“
One of us should watch it, just in case.”

B’taav nodded.

“
We’ll switch off in a few hours,” she said.

“
Let’s hope we’re still able to.”

Oscar
Theodor noticed the flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye. He couldn’t be sure if it was another spacecraft or a fast moving asteroid. By the time the magnification lenses were over his eyes, whatever he saw was gone.

Theodor turned his fighter craft around and increased the throttle. Once his ship was headed in the proper direction, he pressed the intercom button.

“
This is Theodor,” he said. “I might have something.”

“
Might?” came the reply. The voice belonged to Richard Loo, the leader of the Blue Rogue 4 squad. He, along with his twenty soldiers, filled the lower deck of Theodor’s fighter craft. Loo looked remarkably young, but there was little doubt he was fully in charge of his squad. His gaze was like steel and whenever he spoke his people listened.

“
I saw movement, but only for a second. I’m going in for a closer look.”

“
Inform me the moment you can verify the contact.”

“
Yes sir.”

Theodor reached for the communicator and was about to call in his finding to the other pilots and the
Dakota
before he stopped. He retracted his hand and shook his head.

This is so stupid
, he thought.

What exactly were Lieutenant Daniels and General Jurgens up to?

B’taav
stared at the monitor to his left.

It filtered through three different outer camera displays: The area directly above, the area directly below, and the view from the rear of the
Xendos
. The images were fuzzy, but B'taav wasn't complaining. It was a miracle they worked at all. Asteroids floated by at varying speeds. Some rotated while others were dead still.

Nearly five hours passed since he spotted one of Daniels’ fighter crafts and ducked the ship among the rocks and out of the way. Since that time, Inquisitor Cer returned to the cockpit and B’taav made preparations to guard the engine. In between, the Independent saw no sign of any other ships or any evidence that the previous ship was following them.

This seemingly good news, nonetheless, made B’taav uncomfortable.

The
Xendos
was still well within Daniels’ reach. If they were lucky, they might outrun the bulk of his fighter crafts in three to four days. Then they’d have another seven days’ travel before reaching the outer edge of—

The Independent's thoughts were shattered by the high pitched whine of a fusion blast.

“
What the hell?” Maddox sputtered. He jumped from his chair in unison with Inquisitor Cer and B’taav. The bartender approached the door leading out of the cockpit but abruptly turned to face B’taav. He pulled his fusion gun out of its holster.

“
Stay where you are,” he said. “Keep the ship going.”

Maddox pressed a button beside the cockpit entrance and the metal door hissed open. The acrid smell of charred flesh filled the cockpit.

“
By the Gods,” Maddox exclaimed and swallowed. He stepped just outside the cockpit door and leaned against the wall. He did not move any further.

B’taav pressed a series of controls and the ship slowed to a stop besides a large asteroid. Both B’taav and Inquisitor Cer headed to the door. Splotches of blood were plastered along the corridor wall and Maddox tried hard not to throw up.

“
What is it?” Inquisitor Cer whispered.

Maddox pointed to the ground.

Lying on the floor were the gory remains of one of the three Mercs. The man’s upper body just above his chest was charred black. His head was half gone, disintegrated by the fusion blast. Angry red embers throbbed along the lining of his clothes while smoke rose from the gash that at one point was his lower neck and upper shoulders.