Advance Page 20

  Spinner regarded her friend with new eyes. She couldn’t think of any other person that she’d met who would do what Darmiya had dared to. Confronting someone in Spinner’s condition and frame of mind took guts. The elfin-looking young woman, her black curls flowing down her back, looked fragile and certainly acted like an airhead some of the time, but she was the best friend Spinner had ever had.

  “What do you say,” Spinner said, “feel like going swimming?” It had been a long time since they’d done anything together.

  “Yes!” Clapping her hands, Darmiya bounced off the chair. “I’d love that.”

  “All right. Let’s go then.” Spinner grabbed her bag containing her gear. As she stood, she noticed her headache was dissipating. Perhaps the mere hope that her world was righting itself made her feel physically better?

  “I bet I can beat you this time,” Darmiya said, her eyes glittering.

  “You know what? I think you can too.” Spinner smiled wistfully as Darmiya giggled.

  Before they left her quarters, Spinner casually grabbed the last bottle of brandy she owned and poured it in the recycler. The look in Darmiya’s eyes made the gesture worth it.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Spinner placed the freighter in high orbit, locked the console on auto, and turned around. Behind her, Lieutenant Schpay, Darmiya, and the team of geologists and security looked expectantly at her.

  “I’m going to land soon, but I want to make sure we don’t end up being chased by homicidal rats this time. Darmiya and Lieutenant Schpay will perform high-definition scans while I perform low flybys, one sector after another. Once we’ve covered nine squares of the grid, I’ll allow a team of two geologists, four security officers, and Darmiya to enter the one in the center of the nine squares. By doing so, we’re reasonably sure the surroundings sectors are safe and provide a buffer. We’ll do the same at a section farther north and then repeat this undertaking three more times. We have twenty other freighters carrying out the same procedure, and when we’re done, we’ll hopefully have enough for the admiral to go by when she makes her decision.”

  “Oh, this is so exciting!” Darmiya literally bounced in her seat, held in place only by the harness. “My first mission and such an important one.”

  Spinner smiled. “After 250 some days on this mission, I’m happy about the chance to go planetside no matter what.” The image of Dael entered her mind unbidden, but she refused to let her heartache disturb such a good and different kind of day. Being stuck in a rut for two months did very little to heal a bruised heart. Decisively, she pushed away the memory of how Dael had felt in her arms that night after the horrible news from Oconodos. All in all, a ghastly day.

  “What are you going to do?” Darmiya asked. “I mean, while we’re working?”

  “Oh, let me see,” Spinner said, tapping her chin with her index finger. “I suppose I could go shopping, or hook up with some fun-loving chick, or—”

  “Oh, please.” Darmiya covered her forehead. “So funny. Or not.”

  Chuckling, since Darmiya was such a rewarding person to tease, Spinner shook her head. “All right, all right. I’m going to do runs between the two teams, back and forth, in case you need assistance. That way you’ll never have to remain without backup for more than four, five minutes at a time. Keep in constant contact. All right?”

  “Yes, sir,” the crew echoed, except Darmiya, who made an affirmative gesture by placing her thumb against her little finger and raising the three middle fingers to the ceiling. Learning Oconodian popular gestures was one of her hobbies. Spinner teased her often that she’d be able to stop talking at all very soon.

  Soon her teams were deployed, and she received constant reports from the others around this beautiful planet. The eight assault craft that had joined them as part of the security detail made continuous visits with all the team leaders.

  The planet held three large continents stretching across the equator. At the far end of the poles, ice thicker than their instruments could judge created two smaller continents of sorts, both rich with wildlife that seemed to have adapted to such a cold environment. The various scenery consisted of grass-plains, woods, jungles, and mountains, which reminded Spinner of Oconodos. The oceans appeared to be full of wildlife as well, and they had to make sure no sentient beings lived in the deep either.

  It was boring as hell to run back and forth between the two groups she was directly responsible for, but no way were they going through any disasters as with the horrible rodents they’d encountered last time. This was the first potentially viable world they’d come across since then, and Spinner was carefully optimistic.

  “Darmiya to Spinner.”

  Spinner slapped the sensor to respond. “Spinner here. What’s wrong?” She’d already turned the freighter toward where she’d let Darmiya off.

  “Nothing’s wrong,” Darmiya said, laughing. “I just want to you know that I found what registers as edible mushrooms. I’ve examined them with my biologically enhanced scanner, and they are in fact tremendously nutritious. Isn’t that great?”

  Spinner chuckled. Who could ever stay annoyed at such exuberance and joy? “It sure is. I’m swinging by you in a few minutes.”

  “I’ll be waving.”

  “You’re in a wooded area, silly. I won’t see you.”

  “If you use the new feature on your scanner Calagan and I came up with, you will.” Darmiya snickered.

  “Oh, you’re so clever. All right. Wave away.” Spinner pulled the lever to fly lower over the forest.

  The dangerous thing about not having anything more cerebral to occupy her time was that her mind tended to drift toward Dael. She fought the tendency but gave up, as this seemed to be what her heart wanted to dwell on right now. She missed their closeness and the breakfasts they used to share. In fact, she’d never struggled with such loneliness before. After the disastrous evening when they kissed and Spinner had mistakenly thought her feelings were reciprocated, she’d withdrawn. Dael had made a few attempts to approach her, but Spinner had never felt this raw and exposed. She reacted by being polite and correct toward Dael and by throwing herself into her old habits. At this point, she’d cleaned out most of her pilots while playing spin jack and used a lot of her winnings to buy brandy. That could’ve ruined her if Darmiya hadn’t stepped in with her wide-eyed but so very effective approach.

  Spinner hadn’t thanked Darmiya yet for being the voice of reason, and she couldn’t imagine anyone else having nearly the same success. She hadn’t touched any brandy the last twenty-some days. She didn’t miss it. The clarity of her mind made the heartache over Dael harder to deal with, yes, but all the brandy in the universe couldn’t erase how she felt anyway.

  Eight hours later, the last of the freighters had finalized their surveillance and sample-collecting and returned to meet the others. As they pushed into half magnetar, Spinner tensed. She’d been able to relax while flying over the planet, having some distance from the Espies Major and what waited when they returned, but now her shoulders pushed up and started to ache in a familiar way. How long would it be before she could exist around Dael without this gut reaction?

  The rendezvous point was four hours away at half-magnetar speed, which was the normal traveling speed for freighters, even if they were capable of going faster. Spinner set the freighter on auto and moved back to have something to eat with the others. This helped take her mind off things, as the scientists were very optimistic about the planet they’d just visited.

  “No damn squirrels,” one of the geologists said. “But clean water, prime soil for growing crops, and enough flat surfaces not to have to do a lot of restructuring. I even found gold.”

  “I like the no-squirrel part the best,” Darmiya said. “Those little beasts were definitely a deal breaker.”

  “I take it you never had pet rats as a child?” Spinner deadpanned.

  Darmiya paled. “Pet rats?” she said, her voice a mere squeak. “Did you?”

 
“As a matter of fact, I had several types of them. I even competed with them.” Spinner smiled, as this was one of her happiest childhood memories.

  “Doing what? Eating cheese the fastest?” Calagan chuckled as she munched on a sandwich.

  “Ha-ha. Obstacle courses, actually. My rats won a lot. I ran illegal betting among my friends.”

  “You were a gambler already then.” Darmiya crinkled her nose fondly. “Why am I not surprised?”

  “It paid for my other interest when I got older,” Spinner said. “Flying lessons.”

  “So, your career started with rats. That should go on your curriculum vitae.” Calagan laughed and the others followed suit once they saw their CAG didn’t object to their mirth.

  “Espies Major to CAG. Espies Major to CAG.” A stern voice interrupted the laughter, and Spinner jumped up and took her seat at the helm.

  “CAG here. We’re only an hour away, Espies Major.”

  “We’re under attack. Have weapons ready at your return.” Ensign Umbahr’s voice was strained. “I’m sending you tactical updates. Is Lieutenant Schpay on your freighter?”

  “He is.”

  “The admiral wants you to work with him on the safest way to approach the battle.”

  “Wait. Where’s the admiral?” Spinner had to ask.

  “Right here, but busy.”

  “Got it.” The console pinged. “I have the tactical data.”

  “Good, we are taking heavy…and cannot…longer…” Static replaced Umbahr’s fragmented words.

  “CAG to Espies Major. CAG to Espies Major.” No reply. “CAG to any Advance team ship. CAG to any Advance team ship.” Spinner punched another sensor. “CAG to all freighters and assault craft. The convoy is under attack. Engage maximum magnetar drive. They need our help, and we should be there in less than forty-five minutes if we step on it.”

  Still no answer. Glancing behind her, she knew she didn’t have to repeat anything as they had all heard her orders. Lieutenant Schpay placed his computer tablet against the console and downloaded the data. “We have work to do,” he said darkly.

  Spinner nodded. “Yes, we do.” Nodding to one of the crewmembers to take over the helm, she moved to a table in the far corner. “We have forty-five minutes to plan. Then we join the fight, or what’s left of it.”

  *

  The Espies Major bucked and turned under Dael’s feet. Stumbling, she had to throw herself into her command chair, where the emergency harness immediately strapped her in.

  “They’re coming about, two large vessels accompanied by twenty-four smaller assault-type craft.” Weniell had taken Lieutenant Schpay’s console in the tactical officer’s absence.

  “Time to circle the wagons.” Dael pressed a sensor on her armrest. “Admiral Caydoc to all Advance ships. Defensive pattern zero. I repeat: defensive pattern zero. Acknowledge.”

  The other four ships confirmed receiving the order, and soon they were in a star-shaped formation, able to fire in all directions. All assault craft were already deployed and circling them, firing back at the attackers.

  “Trying this again,” Dael muttered. “Admiral Caydoc of the Espies Major to unknown vessel. Why are you firing? We’re not your enemy. I repeat: we are not your enemy. Stop firing on us or we will be the ones to end this. Your firepower is great, but we’re stronger in number, and if you’ve scanned us, you can tell we have enough to match you.”

  The attackers kept firing without responding. After another ten minutes of constant bombardment, during which Dael alternated between giving tactical orders and trying to establish audio or video with them, a scratchy voice came in over the communication array.

  “You are trespassers in the Alachleve sector. This is considered an act of assault.”

  Frowning, Dael thought quickly. “We did not know this was a bordered part of space. We have no indication of any buoy markers or—”

  “You are trespassers. Stand down your weapons, call back your fighters, and prepare to be boarded.”

  “I cannot allow you to board our vessels. We’re just passing through and don’t mean any harm. Call back your attack and we will be out of this sector within minutes.”

  The gruff voice now sounded lethal. “You have made the wrong decision and will regret it.” The Alachleve representative gave a low growl and cut communications.

  “Caydoc to all assault craft, prepare for renewed attacks.” Dael turned to a junior ensign. “Run to Fleet Admiral Caydoc’s quarters and assist in getting her here—fast.”

  “Aye, sir.” The young woman left without wasting any time.

  “Here they come, Admiral,” Weniell said.

  “Assault craft. Diamond formation. Return fire.” Dael wanted to stand, to pace back and forth on the bridge as was her habit. It helped clear her mind and made her think better. Instead, the unrelenting harness held her prisoner in her chair and she just had to work around that restriction.

  “Any sign of the CAG and her teams?” She refused to let the thought of Spinner and the 170-some crewmembers who had gone on yet another planet survey distract her for more than a couple of moments.

  “Their ETA is two hours. Depending on what they found on the planet, it could differ by half an hour, more or less.” Umbahr spoke through gritted teeth as his hands flew across the console before him.

  “We need to stand our ground until we can leave without being followed. As soon as the survey team is within range, we have to warn them so they don’t run into this unprepared.”

  “We could use the reinforcement,” Weniell said.

  “As I said, not unprepared.” Dael let her gaze fly between the screens. Everywhere she saw, different size vessels were engaged in combat, explosions reverberating around them. Her people were already carrying out the diamond-pattern assault on the attackers. She just had to be patient and follow their progress, while thinking of contingency plans for whatever outcome the crew’s efforts would have.

  They would know soon enough.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  “Coming out of half magnetar. Stay alert, people!” Spinner, piloting the first of twenty freighters, pushed the two sensors down to march-speed two. The space around them wobbled for a few moments, and then it took her only another two secs to realize they were too late.

  Pieces of technology and parts of damaged or destroyed ships whirled toward them, and Spinner tugged at the levers, barely dodging them.

  “CAG to survey freighters. Watch out for debris. Stay in my wake for now and maintain radio silence. Acknowledge.” She barely heard the voices responding from the other ships. Instead she tried to decipher what she saw. In the periphery, assault craft fired on alien-looking ships, and farther away, behind dust particles and wreckage, she could barely make out the larger outlines of the Advance-team vessels. Something cold ran through her veins, as she counted only four of them.

  “Holy hell,” she whispered, and placed the freighter on a semicircle trajectory around the battlefield. “Where’s the fifth ship?” She hardly dared look too closely at the pieces of wreckage floating in space. If she saw anything that resembled the hull of the Espies Major or the other ships, she would lose her composure. “Dael, what the hell happened?” Spinner whispered. “Please, be safe.”

  A huge explosion, followed by more fragments and dust, hurtled toward them as Spinner’s freighter neared where Advance assault craft in formation moved in on one of the alien ships. Spinner could tell the assault craft were slowly driving the attackers away, not giving them time to regroup or counterattack.

  “You’ve trained them well, CAG,” Calagan said from behind. He slid into the co-pilot’s seat and the harness hugged him instantly. “One of ours is missing. Did they manage to go to magnetar drive?”

  “I doubt it,” Spinner said, her jaw hurting as she spoke. “Dael would place her ships in a circular star formation to give them the widest range to fire from. And she would only do so if diplomacy failed. She’s definitely not the trigger-happy ki
nd.”

  “Nor does she hesitate when firing is required,” Calagan said, and nodded. “Schpay is running scans in the back. He sent me up here to let you know.”

  Schpay knew better than to yell across the bridge of the freighter in a tense situation like this.

  “Good. From what I can make out, the assault craft have managed to send most of the smaller alien vessels packing. The ones who aren’t in miniscule pieces.”

  “Can you make out which ship is the Espies Major?” Calagan squinted at the screens.

  “Not yet. I tried to magnify, but all I got were blurry images due to the space dust. We have to wait until we get closer. I think I’ll dare to use the comm system now.” Pressing the sensor, she cleared her voice before speaking. “CAG to Espies Major. CAG to Espies Major.”

  “Caydoc to CAG. Spinner, we just picked you up on sensors. Move in behind the Tommus, coordinates 5-9-9-3-00. They will have the freighter bay open for half your survey team. The rest of you, round the Tommus on the starboard side and enter the Espies Major’s bay. You have to be quick. We’re ready to go to magnetar drive now that the assault craft have plowed a route for us. The window could close any minute.” Dael’s voice was mechanical, as if the admiral was running on pure professionalism, which was probably the truth.

  “Aye, sir,” Spinner said, and corrected her course toward the given coordinates. She let the rest of her team know, deciding also that the first ten freighters behind her would use the Tommus’s freighter bay, and the rest would follow her to the Espies Major.

  As the last of the freighters entered the Tommus, Spinner took point and guided the others on the starboard side toward their goal. The sight when the Espies Major came into view made Darmiya moan behind them. “Oh, Spinner.”

  “I see it.” Spinner registered the scorch marks, the broken hull around deck fourteen, and the gaping hole where one of the few promenade decks with large view ports had been located. “She’s taken such a beating.”