Honor Bound

and had time for research.

Assuming we live long enough for him to retire, McKay had to remind himself. He fervently wished he were on the bridge; it felt incredibly claustrophobic in the shuttle cockpit. He knew it was purely psychological, that he was in instant contact with the bridge any time, but he also felt isolated down here in the shuttle bay, away from the place decisions were made.

“Admiral,” Commander Sweeny said, “we have the report from the star analysis: we know where we are. 59 Arietis… and it’s a long way from home, sir. We are 210 light years from Earth.”

McKay shaped a silent whistle. It would take them, he calculated, over two years to get home using the Eysselink drive… if they had enough antimatter, which they didn’t.

“I guess that settles that,” Patel murmured half to himself, apparently having done the same math in his head. “We’re taking the wormholes home or we’re not getting home.”

“Yes, sir,” Sweeny agreed. “It’s going to take us 40 hours to reach optical range of Novoye Rodina at our current acceleration sir.”

“Give it another… say, four hours, Mr. Sweeny, then take us down to one g acceleration. The ships pursuing us will be low on fuel by then and won’t be able to keep up their current acceleration any longer. McKay, when we slow to one g, I’m going to release everyone from the shuttles and landers until we get closer to the planet. No point in squatting in there for two days.” Patel grinned. “And I know how you miss standing behind my command chair, ready to jostle my elbow…”

“Something has been bothering me, D’mitry,” McKay said to Podbyrin as they faced each other over a chess board in the Russian’s quarters. They’d been released from the shuttles hours ago and McKay had decided to pay a visit to the man while he could, since he’d been unable to look in on him in person while baby-sitting Mironov.

“Is it the fact that I am about to take your rook?” Podbyrin asked, fingers working in anticipation as he waited for McKay to complete his move.

McKay frowned, realizing the box he’d been lured into. “No, though that is bothersome. What’s bothering me, D’mitry, is all the Protectorate ships we’ve been running into.”

“Well, you have been getting closer and closer to Novoye Rodina,” Podbyrin said with a shrug. “Did you not think you would meet Protectorate forces along the way?”

“He can’t have built all these ships in just the last few years,” McKay shook his head thoughtfully. “Most of them have been pirated freighters, even insystem ships he must have taken over the last few decades-ships we thought the Belt Pirates had grabbed. So if he had them, why didn’t he use them when he attacked Earth?”

“The answer to that is simple, McKay,” Podbyrin tsk’ed. “The more ships he brought with him to Earth, the better the chance that one of them would mutiny and surrender. General Antonov, as you may have gathered, is not a trusting man. It is one thing to leave a few ships in an isolated system when the captains do not have the coordinates of the wormholes that lead to Earth. It is another to show them the Promised Land and expect them to launch fusion bombs at it if your plan doesn’t work.”

“So the men he brought with him to Earth were his most trusted officers,” McKay mused. “And they all died. I wonder how he’s been able to maintain control since then?”

“Through fear and intimidation, I am sure,” the Russian officer responded with a snort. “As always. And who would not be intimidated? He still has his scientists, and they control the biomechs. The man can make people for Christ’s sake… and when some of them are as good looking as Yevgenia, well, you can buy many men’s loyalty with that sort of reward.”

“Yevgenia?” McKay frowned. He’d heard that name before, but he couldn’t remember where.

“Yes, that was his sex toy… that blonde thing on his ship. You told me she killed your Sergeant with a grenade. He named her after his wife… she died in the war with the Chinese, along with the rest of his surviving family.”

“Where have I heard that name before?” McKay fretted, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. He was sure he’d never known that the biomech woman had been named…

“Yevgenia…” He hissed the word. “His wife. His family… they died in the war.” His eyes went wide. “Oh holy shit!” He keyed his ‘link, calling ship’s security. “This is Colonel McKay, where is Mr. Mironov right now?”

“He complained of stomach pain, sir,” came the answer, “so we sent someone to escort him to sickbay. Let me check on the man I sent with him.” There was a pause that seemed way too long to McKay. “Uh, sir… Kowalski isn’t answering his ‘link. Let me check the monitors while I contact sickbay.” More moments passed, but McKay was already standing and heading for the cabin door. “Sir, Mironov never reported to sickbay… I haven’t been able to locate him yet.”

“We injected him with a transponder when he was captured,” McKay snapped, stepping out into the corridor. “It’s in your system’s file on him… find him now!” He glanced both ways along the corridor, trying to decide which way to go, which way made more sense… shuttle bay one direction, engineering and life support another.

“The transponder code is in the file, sir,” the security officer confirmed. “But it’s not responding. It’s not currently active.”

“Send out an immediate shipwide alert,” McKay ordered. “Make it a personal alert, over the ‘links… every ‘link except Kowalski’s. I want him found now. And I want engineering and the shuttle bays locked down… no one gets in but me or my people, not even security, you got it?”

“Yes, sir, Colonel,” the security officer responded quickly. “Doing it now.”

Engineering, he decided, breaking into a run down the corridor. “Vinnie, Jock,” he called over his ‘link, “Mironov’s in the wind… get to engineering now!” Not waiting for a response, he touched his ‘link’s call button again. “Admiral Patel, this is McKay.”

“McKay,” the Admiral’s voice buzzed in his ear. “I just heard the alert… what in the hell is going on?”

“Mironov is missing sir, and I may be totally off the reservation here, sir, but… I don’t know how it’s possible, but I think somehow Mironov is Antonov.”

”What?” McKay winced as the Admiral’s exclamation rang in his ear.

“Like I said, Admiral, I may be nuts, but I think we should find him now and I’ve ordered that engineering and the shuttle bay be locked down until we can…”

“Colonel McKay,” another voice interrupted over the line. “This is Lieutenant James from Security, sir. Engineering isn’t responding. I’ve sent security to lock it down but…”

McKay was rounding a corner, heading for the lift station when the Earth normal gravity that one g acceleration had been providing abruptly cut out, leaving him floating helplessly toward the ceiling. Yelping in surprise, McKay covered his head with his arms and took the impact on his shoulder; thankfully, the ceilings and walls were fairly well padded.

“McKay!” Patel yelled. “We’ve lost acceleration! The drive field is down!”

“Yes, sir,” McKay grunted, pushing off from the wall and heading for the emergency access shafts next to the lift station-he didn’t want to be stuck in the lift if the power suddenly went out. “I’d noticed that.”

“It’s worse than that,” Patel informed him after a moment’s pause. The Admiral’s voice was as close to panic as he had ever heard it. “McKay… somehow, he managed to eject our antimatter stores. The plasma drives aren’t igniting… we’re dead in space. And McKay, those Shipbusters are still inbound.”

McKay closed his eyes for a moment and thought of Shannon.

“Aye, sir,” he acknowledged. “I’m on it.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Captain Joyce Minishimi had to fight an urge to spit as the acrid taste of sideways lingered in her mouth. “Tactical,” she said, blinking her eyes to try to force them to focus, “report.”

Lt. Commander Gianeto shook his head clear, his pushing-regulation-length dark hair whipping back and forth like a dog trying to shake off water. “Umm.,.” he stuttered, trying to make his brain work after the transition through the jumpgate. “Ma’am, we have a K-class star. Two gas giants… we’re in the orbital path of the closer one,