Titus tapped the comm at his station. “Chief Huxley, are you there?”
“Commander,” Huxley shouted, “we’ve got a shit storm down here. I hope you’ve got some good news about how we’re going to survive it!”
“That depends on you, I’m afraid.” Titus glanced at the viewscreen. The enemy ships had thrown themselves into motion. And, as Jane suggested, they were going wide to come in behind them. “How long before you can get shields to a safe level? And… the million dollar question… do we have warp capability?”
“The reactor took a major blow from the last attack,” Huxley said, “we’re down to six techs from twenty. Warp is intact. We’re working on the cast arrays now. If you want them to surround the whole ship for FTL, we’ll need at least five more minutes. I want them up to fifteen percent. Twenty would be safer.”
“And the reactor will hold?”
“Can’t say for certain,” Huxley replied. “It’s a mess down here, sir. Panels open… wires exposed… we just finished putting out the fires that would’ve ended our run in a horrifying manner. I’ll get you an update shortly.”
“Thanks.” Titus turned to Jane. “They’re taking that maneuver you mentioned. How long before they have another firing solution on us?”
“Four minutes.”
“Damn.” Titus got back on the comm, reaching out to Andrews. “What’s going on down there, man? We’re trying to get out of here.”
“I’m on my way to orbit now,” Andrews replied, “the ground crew came under heavy attack. They… they lost a lot of people.”
“How many?”
“Unsure, sir.”
Titus rubbed his eyes. “Are you being pursued?”
“They launched,” Andrews replied, “but I have a serious head start. I’m not worried about them.”
“Okay, we’ll rendezvous in six minutes.” Titus figured if they were going to die, it would be in the next enemy attack. Might as well give the shuttle crew a chance to survive through surrender… or creative crashing. “I’ll let you know when to board. Sending you a waypoint to meet us at.” He cut the line.
“Sir,” Jane said, “I’ve calculated the means to gain momentum with this particular planet. I can slingshot us to gain some more speed.”
“Violet?” Titus asked, “any objections?”
“Not if it keeps us alive,” Violet replied. “Numbers look solid. It may not be much, but it’ll definitely give us some range on our pursuers.”
“How long will it take?”
“Just a minute.” Jane tapped her controls. “We’re beginning our run now.”
I hope she’s not crazy. Titus had seen the concept used before with larger freighters that wanted to conserve energy to get to the next colony. They borrowed some of the momentum from a planetary body, decreasing the speed microscopically while transferring it to themselves.
It generally worked better with probes and things prior to warp. In this case, while they waited for their systems to make faster than light travel safe, it made perfect sense to utilize an antiquated technique.
I told Rudy she was worth promoting. Titus turned his attention to the captain again… then to Ronin. At least the pilot remained alive, but he needed medical attention. Where the hell are they? He fought back a surge of frustration. God knows how many people are hurt or dying. The casualty reports are going to be terrible.
Jane’s maneuver might well determine if they lived or died. If she got them farther away from the enemy, then at least they’d buy a few minutes. That might be all it took to escape with their lives. Though what happened next… Titus had no idea. Regardless, their world became a whole lot more dangerous.
***
Andrews disengaged all safety protocols, pushing the engines past the red zone. With the enemy vessels in pursuit, he had no desire to test their capabilities. Getting as far away as possible made the most sense. Unfortunately, their best chance to survive seemed on the verge of their own problems.
I have no idea what we’ll do if the Triton goes down. Andrews had suffered a serious crash back in his day. That experience dropped him behind enemy lines for three days before being rescued by allies. Every minute on the ground had been a struggle just to live and his opponents were pirates armed the same as him. These guys… God, who knows what they have?
“I haven’t strapped everyone in!” The shout came from the new guy. Andrews didn’t know him, but he understand the man’s concern. They were hauling ass, and it couldn’t have been much fun to be a passenger. “Can you level this thing out for a minute? They’re hurt and I have to be careful!”
“I’ll do what I can!” Andrews replied. Maybe you should look out the window. He kept that bit to himself. He rarely gave into stress. It never paid for a pilot to lose their cool. That meant biting his tongue when his payload had opinions about what he had to do to keep them alive.
A proximity alarm went off, showing the enemy had broken the fifty mile mark. That’s nothing when we’re talking about afterburners. Andrews had the needle buried. They were going way faster than they should’ve, pushing hard enough that the vessel shook from the strain. And they’re still catching up to us.
“Triton,” Andrews said, “come in please.”
“We’re a little busy,” Violet replied, “what’s going on?”
“We’re in serious trouble, that’s what.” Andrews checked the scan again. He figured they’d be in firing range inside of five minutes. “I’m doing everything I can to stay ahead of our opponents, and they’re still catching up. How long before I can rendezvous with the ship?”
“Might not matter in a minute,” Violet said. “I hate to sound negative but…”
“Is it that bad?” Andrews believed it. If the shuttles chasing him were that dangerous, then he could only imagine what their capital ships
