“Because their sensors might also get fried?” asked Van.
“That’s right.” Trystin cleared his throat. “That means one other thing. If we don’t jump before the wave front reaches us—the flux wave front, not the electromag wave front—then we’ll be stuck in the Jerush system.”
“We could shutter.”
“Some of their ships will certainly do so as well.” Trystin looked from Nynca to Van. “I’ll give a countdown to jump. You’ll have less than thirty seconds. Do you understand?”
Both Nynca and Van nodded.
“We’d better get moving,” Nynca said.
“Do you need any help with the equipment?” asked Van.
“It’s ready to deploy.” Trystin stood.
Van also stood.
“You go first,” Nynca said to Van. “It’s easier that way.”
Van inclined his head, then turned.
He did not look back as he headed to the lock, but he couldn’t help but sense the hug Nynca gave Trystin, or the words that followed.
“…be careful…wish it hadn’t turned this way…”
“…do what I can…my responsibility…”
Van frowned. What was Trystin’s responsibility? What IIS had done? He couldn’t have meant the Revenants were his responsibility. No man could take responsibility for a culture, especially one not his own. Could he?
Chapter 72
Although the Salya jumped first, followed by the Joyau, when Van came out of jumpspace, the Elsin was already moving in-system, and the Salya was nowhere to be seen. Van checked the comparator beacon. He was definitely on the outskirts of the Jerush system.
The shipnet monitors had already begun to bring up the EDI traces, and Van could see almost fifty vessels, half of them light cruisers or larger vessels. His initial scan showed none of the heavier vessels near the two IIS ships, but two corvettes were within a thousand emkay. They had not reacted—yet.
Van extended the photon nets full, but did not draw on his accumulators, as he brought the Joyau after the Elsin.
“Eri…full combat restraint.”
“Yes, ser.” Eri’s voice was strained.
The brightening of the corvettes’ EDI traces indicated that they were adding power. After a moment, Van checked their courses—toward the Elsin, predictably enough. The Salya was still in transit, and while Trystin was doubtless a better combat pilot than Van, Trystin couldn’t very well set up his device for delivery while under attack.
The Revenant corvettes continued to accelerate toward the Elsin.
Van increased his own acceleration, closing the gap as the Elsin decelerated. That meant that Trystin felt he couldn’t move farther in-system.
The Revenant corvettes began to launch torps, in sets of two, salvo after salvo, all arcing toward the Elsin. Van counted sixteen.
As the torps closed on the Elsin, Van could see the other IIS ship’s shields flare to maximum as Trystin transferred all power to them. But the Elsin launched no torps as a counter. Was Trystin so loaded with equipment that he carried no torps? Did the setup take both him and Alya?
Van kept checking the closures. He also noted four torps impacting the Elsin’s shields at once, and the slight shiver of amber flashing through Trystin’s shields. He continued to concentrate on the Revs, and was almost within torp range when the two corvettes changed course, trying to bracket the Joyau.
Van sensed the slight raggedness in the shields and drives of the Revenant farther from the Elsin and turned the Joyau onto a head-to-head. He smiled, knowing that the corvette pilot would realize shortly that the Joyau could crush the smaller ship with screens alone. He also hoped that the pilot continued to think that the Joyau was either unarmed or unequipped for conventional combat.
The Revenant was brighter than that, launching a double salvo of torps, then making a tight turn back in-system. Too tight, Van realized. He immediately launched his own torps.
The Rev’s screens flared amber, and Van sent a third torp.
The Rev tried to flip his shields to bring the heavier forward shields into play, but the strain on drives and shields was too much, and a flare of energy replaced the overstressed corvette.
Even before the energy dropped from the monitors, Van angled the Joyau toward the remaining corvette. The pilot, reacting to what he had seen, began salvoing his torps at the maximum rate—but that meant only eight torps before he seemed to exhaust his supply. Van cut all power to the drives and screens, redirected it to the shields, and shuttered everything.
Two minutes later, the Joyau was through the wash of energy and closing on the Revenant, who had turned in-system. Van redirected power to the drives, and with half shields, began to overhaul the Revenant.
Three torps were enough to take out the smaller vessel.
Van turned his attention back out-system toward the Elsin, seemingly stationary in the system. The shipnet monitors indicated that one of the Revenant cruisers had turned and was accelerating out-system toward the IIS ships, with a CPA of twenty, plus or minus five.
Status green? Van pulsed toward the Elsin, not wanting to give an identity.
Green, affirmed Trystin. But the concussions shook up my packages. May take longer than I’d thought.
Do you want me to bring over my packages?
Negative this time. Take longer to set them up than to set things right here.
Van studied the screens. The oncoming cruiser was pushing everything to reach them.
With a tight smile, Van swung the Joyau into a tight turn, one that would sweep through the area where the second corvette had disintegrated.
Interrogative assistance, came from the Salya, now moving in-system.
Stand by, Van replied. Cover number one. He’d never worked with Nynca before, and two uncoordinated ships were at greater risk than a single vessel.
Will do.
As the photon nets pulled in the molecular debris from the second corvette, Van monitored the strain on the ship systems. He was carrying a mass load close to design limits, but that wouldn’t matter if the strategy worked. If it didn’t, then the Joyau couldn’t hold off a heavy cruiser for all that long.
Interrogative time necessary? Van pulsed to the
