Chapter 5

“What’s that?” Lee heard Jackson Dekker’s young voice ask with a trace of fear.

“I don’t know!” He answered, feeling flushed from the rush of blood as his pulse quickened.

“Don’t think I ever seen an Emergency Protocol here before,” Dex remarked, setting the glass back into its holder with a frown.

“You think it’s the Thargoids?” Jackson asked, his eyes darting.

“Maybe it’s a malfunction?” Dex said.

Lee told them both, “I don’t know about Thargoids or malfunctions, but something doesn’t feel right. I think I’m gonna head down to the bay and check on the Nightcrawler.”

“Yeah, probably a good idea. I’m gonna hop in my ship just in case,” Jackson agreed.

“You good, Dex?” Lee asked.

“I’ll be okay. If it’s an actual emergency, they’ll start sending out for transports. If it comes to it, I’ll take an escape pod. You guys keep yourselves safe and go.” Dex gave him a resolute nod.

“Alright Dex, take care of yourself,” Lee said while backing out of the bar.

Jackson put his glass onto the magnetic strip to secure it before following Lee down to the landing bays. He joined Lee in a lift and panted, “This is kind of nuts! But hey, maybe we’ll see some action! The Para Bellum’s ready.” A hungry eagerness apparent in his young, wide eyes.

“Oh yeah? Even for Thargoids?” Lee asked as the lift doors opened. Out of the corner of his eye, Lee saw the excitement drain from Jackson’s face.

They exited the lift into a passageway to the landing bays. The spinning alarm lights were a bit dizzying to Lee, especially as they became more pronounced in the narrower, darker corridors. Without warning, a violent shake rocked the entire outpost. Lee felt it all the way through his body since his magboots coupled him to the deck. Something hit the station. Hard.

He picked up his pace but lost track of Jackson. Although his pulse was now racing, he kept his fear in check. It was his survival mode, giving him heightened senses and faster reflexes.

He punched the bay door control, impatient to get through. When he stepped into the open doorway, another strike shook the station all the way through him. The lights in the bay and down the corridor flickered with power interruptions. His head reeled from feeling rung like a bell. When his vision stopped shaking, he saw the Nightcrawler sitting on the deck. The brand new canopy gleamed in the bay lighting. The swept angles of the ship’s arrowhead-like hexagonal body and worn edges of gunmetal paint gave it highlights that almost glowed in the bay’s dimness. He’d have stayed to admire her more if he wasn’t trying to stay alive.

Lee noticed all the automechs were parked. Looks like Zee got most of the major work done. She’s good, I’ll give her that, he thought.

He rushed to the ramp at the aft of the ship to board but came across a scrawny darker-skinned man with intricate tattoos on his bald head. The crouching man cowered behind a large tool cabinet anchored on the deck.

“You are pilot? My pilot?” The man peered up at him and spoke with an accent Lee hadn’t heard before.

“I’m not your pilot, but this is my ship. You’d better get out of here and find your ride,” Lee said.

“Bay two this is? Maybe I am somewhere making a wrong turn. But I am having no ideas on how to get there from here.” The thin-looking man stood up.

Lee punched the code to lower the ramp to the Nightcrawler. There was no way he was letting anyone else on board, but he couldn’t let him stay in the bay. Lee knew he needed to leave, now.

Under a guise of helpfulness, he said, “Alright, it’s easy. Just go back through those doors, take the passage to the lift and ask for level four. When you get off the lift, follow the corridor around and make a right to get to the outfitting deck of Bay 2.”

“Right, okay. Thank you!” With that, the man took off for the bay doors.

A massive explosion rocked the station, knocking Lee into the side of the ship. Several blooms of sparks spread like fireworks, spewing debris across the bay. Lee took cover. A low wrenching sound caught his attention. He looked up to see a structural beam blasted free from one of the corners of the outfitting bay. The explosion propelled the loose end into the entryway of the bay. It tore through the passageway, turning it into a mangled mess of metal. The motion twisted the other end from its bolts sending it in a twirl into the gangway, cutting off the exits from the bay.

Lee caught sight of the man he sent off curled into a ball, protecting his head. He was in front of the doors to the now flattened passage out of the bay. He ran over to the cowering bald man. Various bits of metal hardware floated around him, but Lee didn’t see any signs of blood. “Are you okay?” Lee yelled over distant rumbling.

“Yeah, I think so!” He emerged from his ball to see the wreck of what used to be the doors to leave the bay. “What’s happening?” The man shouted back with his thick accent.

“The station’s under attack. That was probably a fuel tank that exploded.”

“Now there’s no way for me to get to Bay 2! Please… you have to take me with you!”

Without thinking, he snapped, “No way. I don’t take passengers.”

“Please! You can’t be leaving me to die!”

“I can leave you. And, it doesn’t mean you’re going to die.” Lee returned to the foot of the ramp.

“I’ll pay! Whatever you want! Please!”

Lee stopped to consider the money before reminding himself of all the strings that went along with it. It wasn’t that he didn’t care; he couldn’t—not again. Caring about others just gives you more to lose. It would be one more thing to keep him from getting back on track to find whoever killed Vic. “Look, just kick off toward that door over there,” he yelled, pointing across the bay. “You can make it to whatever ship you’re supposed to get on.” Lee knew it was a long shot. The door was at least 100 meters to the other side of the bay near the surface lift mechanism. He figured giving this guy a little hope would help cut him loose.

“I– I can’t make that!” He yelled back in an incredulous tone.

“Sure you can!” He said, not believing his own words. “Look baldy, I’m getting off this station now. Better RemLok yourself up and get moving. I’m not gonna stay and argue. I’m leaving right now.”

Lee used a low step on the ramp to stretch up to a storage compartment at the opening and pulled an emergency RemLok unit. He gave it a gentle toss in the man’s direction, who, after some fumbling, ended up catching it.

“There you go. Put it up to your face and pull the tab below. Good luck. Have a nice life and all that.” Lee gave a mock salute before running up the ramp and shutting it behind him. He jogged to the command deck of the ship, almost leaping into his flight chair.

Another explosion rocked the station. Lee grabbed the sides of his chair to steady himself until the shaking passed.

“Alright, old girl, we gotta go and we gotta go now.” He strapped himself into the flight harness with one hand and tapped on systems to bring the Nightcrawler to life. He ran the fastest flight check ever to ensure she was flight-ready.

Zee had done a great job getting the ship put back together. A small part of Lee regretted there wasn’t time to find her. He knew he was going to owe her big time—if he ever saw her again.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the bald man waving at him from below. Lee used exaggerated movements to clearly suggest putting on the emergency RemLok and pointed to an exit door across the bay. The man stood there motionless.

Lee tapped on the console that brought up the station services. His finger hovered over the ‘Return to Surface’ command. He hesitated. The man on the deck wasn’t moving to the exit.

Another series of explosions shook the station. With more reaction than a conscious decision, he entered the command. After a short delay, the spinning warning lights in the bay came on. The landing pad shifted forward, carrying the Nightcrawler and the little bald man to the lift mechanism. While the lift moved, Lee watched the man fumbling with his RemLok. He finally managed to get it over his face and shortly after became engulfed in a jelly-like substance. Of course, Lee felt bad for the guy, but he knew it was better this way. Get to know someone, and you just have to deal with losing them eventually, Lee reassured himself.

The pad above opened, depressurizing the bay. The rush of atmosphere exploded from the bay, carrying the gel-encased man out into the vacuum of space. Lee watched the helpless figure, caught in a current of air escaping out of the landing bay while the lift returned the Nightcrawler to the surface. The body of the ill-fated man tumbled endlessly, hopelessly.

The canopy crested the surface, and the battle became visible. Beams of laser fire were being exchanged between the station and more than a dozen ships in spread formation within a couple of klicks.

The telltale chem-trail of a missile drew out toward the station but exploded before reaching its target. Lee mentally noted the station’s point-defense systems were still online. The sound of the explosion in the cockpit was concussive as the ship turned sensor readings into a visceral auditory experience. A shower of debris spread in all directions. Small hits sprinkled across the left-forward shields, blocking a debris cloud that would have otherwise killed the man floating behind the ship.

That’s when Lee noticed the shields weren’t at full power. Zee installed the module but Lee still needed to configure it. In this state, they could only absorb minor damage before dropping. Lee routed power into the ship’s systems to reinforce the shields. The battle ramped up his adrenaline. He felt the blood pulsing in his head and thumping in his chest. He’d been in small skirmishes before, and had the pulse-pounding experience of outrunning pirates, but never an all-out battle. A cold sweat broke out across his forehead. He tried to focus on finding a way out of the combat zone. His best path looked to be starboard, beyond the man he spaced.

Clanking sounds of the mooring clamps releasing preceded the station’s notice that the ship was free to navigate. Lee used the ventral thrusters for altitude and raised the landing gear in a smooth, practiced orchestration of motions. The free-floating man became a speck in the distance, but his emergency suit pinged the sensors with a repeating distress beacon. Unable to completely ignore him, Lee targeted his signal to keep tabs on him.

The battle continued—a couple of fighters engaged in ship-to-ship combat were orbiting each other, exchanging fire. A wing of three ships made a sweeping attack run at the station. Lee made out the signature delta of a Cobra, flanked by two Vipers. Wasting no time, he pushed the throttle to an optimal maneuvering speed to put the station between him and the assaulting force. He used the dorsal thrusters so the ship would sink down behind the landing pad he’d just disembarked from. The wing of ships passed overhead, pulse lasers and cannon rounds blistering from their hardpoints. Two of the station’s point defense cannons were firing and tracked to the right flanking Viper, converging into a crossfire. It immediately peeled away from the wing formation. Moments later, it burst apart in a puff of debris.

The distress beacon continued in the background. He checked the signal on his sensors, then looked for a hole in the firefight. The ships surrounded the station like a net. There was no racing through them to avoid a scan. His biggest concern was the attackers identifying any craft that was not part of their assault force becoming a target—his, in particular. The Nightcrawler had a complement of weapons that could take on targets the same size or smaller. But the number of ships meant it was likely he’d face multiple targets at once. For now, he needed to move. Staying parked was an invitation for trouble.

Ping. Ping. Ping. It was the distress beacon, again. The nagging reminder of his decision to abandon someone became too much to bear. Vic wouldn’t have left someone like that.

Lee sighed out loud, “I’m probably going to regret this.”

He pointed the ship away from the combat zone toward the host star. At this distance it was nothing more than a bright point of light with no apparent size. He deployed his hardpoints, then rigged the ship for silent running. It was a gamble. It meant dropping the shields and closing the heat vanes. With no place to go, the heat build-up threatened the ship from the inside. But, it would make him nigh impossible to spot, or even target. With his hardpoints deployed, he edged the throttle forward and pulled the trigger.

The trilling sound of an automated limpet drone diminished while it tracked away from the ship after its target. He’d never used one to pick up a live person outside of an escape pod before. He hoped it didn’t hurt the guy, but there wasn’t any time to go back for a proper pickup. While the limpet completed its journey, he continued to pilot away from the combat zone and watched the temperature climb. His eyes bounced across the panels trying to keep track of everything: the limpet drone, the distress signal, the heat, and the nearest ships that might try to kill him. As soon as the target was captured, the automated limpet made its way back.

*“*Warning: temperature critical,” the COVAS announced. The gauge was climbing faster now, and an angry klaxon added to the chaos.

Lee waited for the last possible moment to open his cargo doors to keep his ship’s signature low. Any amount of heat venting would spike his signature. With the return successful, Lee slammed the throttle to full. The Nightcrawler picked up speed along with the Cobra and Viper remaining from the three-ship wing. They trailed him, trying to get a fix.

He flipped on the ship comms to warn his new passenger, “Hey! You in the cargo hold– better get yourself strapped in quick. It’s about to get rough.” His intuition said they’d have maybe five seconds after switching from silent running before taking hits. The shields would need at least a minute to recover even with power rerouted to ship systems. Small jets of sparks came from a conduit above him. The heat was too much. He was out of time.

“Okay, here we go,” he said out loud, attempting to brace himself for what was ahead. He brought the ship out of silent running, then routed all available power to help the shields recover. Sensors showed his two tails were closing in. Then it hit. A salvo rained against the hull from behind. The ship shuddered in response. He rolled the Nightcrawler evasively and fired a round of chaff to confuse his pursuers targeting sensors. It worked, but wouldn’t last long. Not long enough for the shields to come online. Out of tricks and trapped, he was stuck between waiting for the shields or making it outside of the station’s mass lock to jump away. He gritted his teeth and braced for the next attack.

More seconds ticked by than should have, but there was no attack. Re-checking the sensors showed both ships stopped their pursuit. Another ship had entered the fray and engaged both pursuers. The Cobra disappeared off Lee’s scopes, replaced by a debris cloud—only the Viper remained.

With the sweeping power-up thrum sound of the shields coming online he reflexively let out the breath he was holding.

“We’re gonna make it, old girl!”

Targeting the Viper with his sensors showed its shields were already offline and was losing hull integrity fast. Clearly it faced a much larger, well-armed ship. Training his sensors on the blip nearest the Viper showed its attacker as a Fer-de-Lance. After a few more seconds, the Viper vanished from the sensor display.

A commlink request chirruped. Lee acknowledged the call and opened the channel.

“You see that? I got them both for you. Told you you’d want me around!” A young enthusiastic voice came through the comms.

“Jackson?”

“Yeah! I saw they were pelting you with your shields down. Thought I could help ya out. What did I tell ya about the Para Bellum*?*”

“That was perfect timing! Thanks for the assist,” he replied, mixed with gratitude and annoyance that he might owe someone something.

“What’s next?”

“I haven’t gotten that far, yet. Let me think,” Lee began a quick mental search of options. He felt the need to stay close. Getting back after the shooting stopped seemed the fastest way to offload his passenger, and there were others he didn’t want to see hurt. Worry for Zee and Dex crept in, but he pushed it aside to focus on figuring out where he—where they could go. A couple of nearby places in-system came to mind. There was always Glist 6. It was perfect for disappearing, but going there meant facing his most painful memory. Or, he could try the far side of–

The open commlink interrupted him mid-thought. “Okay, how about you let me know quick, ‘cause I just attracted a lot of attention.” Jackson’s voice had a worried edge to it. The sensors showed the Para Bellum’s shields taking hits.

“To the rings then. Alright, I’m sending you my transponder beacon. Follow my wake and keep the commlink open,” Lee powered up the FSD.

“Right behind you.”

He groused to himself about all the baggage piling up with his passenger, and now a wingmate. He didn’t like admitting it to himself, but having a well-armed Fer-de-Lance on his side was comforting.

The Nightcrawler engines spooled up, and leaped away into frame shift cruise, carrying Lee and his passenger to safety. With a smooth roll and pitch, Lee adjusted their course to Glist 6. The giant planet’s enormous rings glowed in the distant light of the host star.

The commlink chirped, “I’m tracking behind you. Where are we headed?” Jackson’s voice sounded much calmer.

“The rings of Glist 6.”

Lee heard clanging sounds from below, followed by the double-decker cockpit’s lower-level door opening.

“Welcome aboard the Nightcrawler,” Lee projected into the cockpit.

“Hmph,” he heard the angry tone that emanated from the lower level. Then the indignant heavy accent of the bald man came up from the landing bay. “You! What you did to me—unbelievable!” More clanging followed, but with more of a ringing sound from magboots on the ladder rungs behind him.

“Hey, you’re alive! I’d think you could be a little more grateful,” he half-turned to look behind him.

“Grateful?” the bald man huffed behind him, then paused to take a breath, obviously not accustomed to the effort of climbing a ladder with magboots. “You were making me think I was dead! Quite possibly the worst experience of my life! Who do you think you are?”

“Lee Sollinger, the guy who saved your life. Now, how about you calm yourself down and we figure out how to get you off my ship as soon as possible.”

“Phandaa chhootnaa! Fine by me.”

“And you are?” Lee craned his neck back and smelled a distinct sickeningly sweet and pungent odor fill the cabin.

“My name is,” the bald man’s face turned suspicious and eyed him, “None of your business. I am thinking I can’t trust you.”

“Look pal, I don’t really care who you are, it just makes conversation easier. I’m happy to put you back in the cargo hold.”

“By the way, a thoroughly disgusting place,” the bald man still had globs of gel from the emergency RemLok. Lee finally understood where the smell was coming from.

Lee grimaced and covered his nose, “You’re not exactly smelling like roses pal. You missed some chunks,” he pointed to a large clump of gel stuck to his passenger’s pant leg. “No, not here,” Lee sighed. “Out the door and to the left. Go get cleaned up, please.”

“Is that the planet we are going?”

“Near it. We’re going to hang out and let things cool down before I take you back so you can pick up your ride.”

“I am thinking that’s not such a good idea.”

“Oh really? You got a better idea?”

“No, it’s just–” his regretful voice trailed. “I’m the reason the station got attacked.”

“What?” Lee shouted, incredulous. “Who would want one person bad enough to attack a station?”

“I know, and I am regretting it. None of this is what I wanted!” A pained expression crossed his face.

“You regret it*?* Are you thick? People died in that! People I know may have died back there!”

“How was I supposed to know they were going to attack?” He almost shouted back.

Lee released his chair lock and spun around to face his passenger full on. “Who are you? Really? It can’t just be a bounty. No bounty is worth a full scale attack on a station.” The man stayed quiet. It was clear he was holding back. “I don’t need your kind of trouble. Start spilling it.”

“I– I can’t.”

“Talk. Now. I’ve got plenty more emergency RemLok packs and an airlock,” he said through clenched teeth.

The tension hung in the pungent cabin air with the hum of the Nightcrawler’s drive. The bald man remained silent, almost stoic, appearing to consider his options.

“My name is Vin Xohn. I am a theoretical engineer from Maia, and it’s not me that they are wanting exactly. They are wanting–” He stopped with another uncomfortable pause.

It was annoying Lee to no end, “Yeah? They want what?”

“My invention.”

“Your invention?”

“A prototype device I designed,” he sighed.

“What is it? Some kind of weapon?” Lee suspected that if anything was worth an all-out offensive on a station, it would be an experimental weapon.

“No! Of course not! I do not design weapons.” Xohn’s brow furrowed, offended by the accusation.

“Then what?”

“Mr. Sollinger–”

“Commander,” Lee corrected.

“Commander Sollinger, if knowing what it does is worth attacking a station, then you’ll understand why I don’t share it.”

“Okay. Fair point.”

“It is enough to know they are after me.”

“And willing to do anything to get you.” The light in the cabin changed and became much brighter. Lee spun his chair back to face forward. They were closing in on their destination. The rings of the planet ahead filled the view. The vast rings shimmered, outshining the dark rust-colored gas giant planet lurking inside them.

The pungent odor of RemLok gel hit Lee’s nose again. He turned his head back and trying to strike a friendlier tone said, “Why don’t you go finish getting cleaned up. I have an old flight suit back there you can change into if you want. I’m going to drop us into those rings so we can disappear and come up with a plan, alright?”

Xohn nodded, “Thank you.”

The trill of a comms request came through the cabin. He’d forgotten all about the wingmate following them. Lee opened the channel. “Hey there, uh– not sure if you noticed, but it looks like we got a tail.”

Lee turned to his sensor readout and scanned through the list of contacts on the scopes to find the one that appeared behind them on the sensor display. There wasn’t just one; it was a wing of three. Without coming about to face the target, the sensors could only infer the ship’s class from the transponder signal. The sensors reported a large, dangerous Anaconda.