Incursio (Oolite Saga Part 3) Read online

  I underestimated her first time around. Can’t afford to do that again…

  His only chance depended on guile. Taking her off-guard; tricking her into making a mistake. That was going to take some doing. She was no one’s fool.

  He checked the scanner. There was no sign of the Spectre. That was no real surprise. She’d be hugging close to one of the asteroids.

  The question is, which one…?

  The Dark Star nosed carefully forwards.

  Derik and Udian were watching from outside the belt, with a clear view of the positions of both ships from their secure vantage point. The difference in styles was clearly evident. Rebecca was sticking close to the outside of the belt, making quick dashes between the bigger rocks, clearly hoping to catch a glimpse of Coyote. She hardly paused before moving on, coming to an abrupt halt, then spinning round to check and recheck her viewpoints each time.

  Coyote, by comparison, was moving exceedingly slowly through the dense centre of the belt, looking for a point from where he could gain a good visual of as much of the area as possible. He only moved at a snail’s pace, whenever a passing rock allowed him a shadow to flit through.

  Both ships, unseen to each other, were beginning to converge on one side of the belt.

  ‘Watch and learn…’ Derik muttered.

  ‘…how a modern ship completely owns that antique,’ Udian finished for him.

  Rebecca spied a flicker of cyan, the reflection of an exhaust plume. She squinted. It had only been the briefest of flashes but it was unmistakeable. She quickly zeroed in on the location, before stopping and looking around her.

  There it is again!

  She was cautious now, drifting slowly forwards. The belt was extremely dense here, it was going to be difficult to get a clear shot.

  The Dark Star momentarily appeared between the tumbling debris. She could see the familiar triangular panels of the top hull. The shape of a Mk3 Cobra was unmistakeable.

  She fired.

  Coyote sensed rather than saw the incoming fire.

  Damn, she’s quick!

  Asteroids were fractured as they exploded around him. He ran for cover, triggering the injectors as multiple lasers flashed around him. The Dark Star curled around rocks as they were blasted apart mere tens of feet from him. A single blow glanced of the shields. A rock in front of him disintegrated under the murderous firepower, debris bouncing of his shields.

  She won’t have to hit me, she can just stone me to death! That ship sure packs a punch…

  He managed to escape and pause within the shadow of one of the bigger rocks, stopping to consider his next move.

  Rebecca had heated up the forward lasers to two thirds of their rated tolerance in one series of blasts. Having three lasers was all very well but that generated a lot of heat. She’d have to be more circumspect in future.

  It had been satisfying though. Coyote had clearly been taken by surprise by the ferocious attack. Rebecca had cried out with glee as the Dark Star was peppered with fire. She continued firing, trying to draw a bead on the jinking Cobra as it ran for cover amidst a rain of fracturing cascading rock. It wasn’t precision shooting but it sure as hell was fun.

  First blood to me….

  ‘Only a matter of time,’ Udian said comfortably. ‘She’ll get him next time. His shields are half gone already.’

  ‘Coyote knows the score,’ Derik replied, sounding a little less certain. ‘Just give him some time…’

  Udian turned his attention back to the scanner. Rebecca’s ship, more by luck than judgement, had ended up behind Coyote again and was slowly catching him up. She seemed to have seen him.

  ‘Care to make that a hundred credits?’ Udian intoned.

  Rebecca scooted around the outskirts of the collection of rocks into which the Dark Star had dived. She circled it a number of times but there was no sign of Coyote’s ship.

  Where’s he gone?

  There was a brief flicker on the scanner, something metallic. Not a rock. Rebecca caught sight of the faint flow of twin cyan exhaust plumes. It was the Dark Star, slowly moving behind one of the asteroids. As she watched the Cobra disappeared behind the massive rocky bulk. Coyote was flying really close to the surface, making his ship almost invisible. She was above and behind.

  Got you. Just take your time girl…

  She gently yawed the Spectre around, bringing the prow of her ship to face the position the Dark Star would occupy when it cleared the far side of the asteroid. Her finger tightened around the fire control.

  3… 2… 1…

  She pressed the firing stud. The three powerful military lasers of the Spectre flashed out with devastating force, impaling the object that emerged from the shadow of the asteroid.

  Yes!

  A cargo canister was impaled by the triple beams, exploding into pieces a moment later.

  No!

  Lasers hammered into her rear shields.

  Frak!

  ‘Fourth rule of smuggling,’ Coyote said over the narrow-band. ‘Always watch your six.’

  Rebecca made a dash for cover behind the nearby asteroid and yawed her ship around, firing. Coyote was waiting for the manoeuvre and performed a similar sideslip. Rebecca’s laser fire went wide without striking the Dark Star. The surface of the asteroid shattered as lasers raked across its surface. Both ships spun around each other, the Spectre gaining on the Dark Star due to its superior speed and turning circle.

  Rebecca managed to score a hit before the Dark Star yawed to one side, coming to an abrupt halt. Rebecca was forced to swerve aside as Coyote lit up his injectors and then flipped over abruptly, triggering his lasers again. The fire was repulsed by the shields on the Spectre.

  Rebecca wrestled the Spectre back behind the Dark Star. The triple lasers fired as Coyote dived towards the asteroid. Its surface loomed in front of them alarmingly. Rebecca fired again. The Dark Star rotated, only a single beam hit on the portside flank. The lasers cut out.

  Warning! Forward lasers overheated.

  The other beams struck the asteroid again, throwing up a shower of dust and rock particles. Visibility dropped to zero for a moment. When it cleared the Dark Star was nowhere to be seen.

  ‘Fifth rule of smuggling,’ Coyote said. ‘Elite combateers always have a trick you don’t know.’

  Rebecca stared at the rear view. Coyote’s ship was somehow behind her again, despite what she’d tried, despite the capabilities of the Spectre. Next moment her rear shields collapsed under a further burst of fire.

  But how did he manage that…?

  ‘You’re dead, senorita.’

  A single laser shot blistered across the unprotected hull, burning a scorch mark near to the cockpit. Rebecca jumped in shock as sparks flashed across her field of view.’

  ‘For frak’s sake!’ Rebecca shouted, flinching as the Spectre bucked.

  ‘Sixth rule of smuggling,’ Coyote said, his voice soft and slow. ‘Your leader is always right… If you think your leader is wrong, refer to rule six… comprende?’

  Laser fire flashed around the Spectre, without hitting it. It was clear the shots were now deliberately going wide.

  Rebecca shut down her engines and punched the console in frustration.

  The Dark Star slowed and then preceded forward, gently nosing out of the asteroid field and resuming a course for the sun.

  ‘What did I tell you,’ Derik said smugly on the private comm to Udian. ‘Textbook stuff.’

  ‘An impressive, if unnecessary, display,’ Udian replied.

  ‘Pay up and shut up,’ Derik cackled in return.

  Coyote voice came over the wideband transmission, matter of fact, as if nothing had happened. ‘All ships, course for the sun, por favor.’

  Derik triggered his narrowband comms on a private channel to Coyote.

  ‘Just so I can make sure I get these down, exactly how many of these rules of smuggling are there?’

  Coyote answered back immediately. ‘When I’ve made them all up,
I’ll let you know, mi amiga…’

  Derik howled with laughter and leant back in his chair, punching up the autopilot.

  Hesperus scuttled up the boarding plank of his decrepit Python freighter on all fours. He jumped into the grav-tube up to the living quarters. All was quiet aboard. Proceeding through the galley he found the crew slumped over the dining table. The detritus of a bout of heavy drinking was evidenced by a collection of mismatched tumblers and the stink of cheap alcohol and sweaty bodies.

  ‘Action stations people!’

  There was a muffled groan and a large, pointed and blue-horned lizard-like face peered at him out of a single eye.

  ‘Prak off you walking flea-pit!’

  ‘Rus, fire up the engines. D’Vlin ready the environmentals. Stepan, to the nav console. Let’s go! We’ve got a course needs plotting!’

  There was a low moan from the floor under the table. A ruffled mound of fur started an attempt to get to its feet.

  ‘What?’ the mound said blearily.

  ‘Stepan! Move!’

  ‘Sore sore thorax…’ said a third voice. It was revealed to be a rather fat and elongated insect. ‘Drink bad bad bad. Need new skin…’

  ‘Guys! This is for real, we’ve got work to do.’

  ‘What have you concocted this time, Hesperus?’ the lizard said, managing to raise its head and opening a second eye. It squinted at Hesperus, seeing two of him.

  ‘I’ve got us a job.’

  ‘Really? said Stepan, trying to brush his fur into something vaguely resembling tidy.

  ‘Of course he hasn’t,’ Rus answered, shaking his blue tinged head. ‘He’s stolen something and we need to make a quick get away.’

  ‘I have not!’ Hesperus stood posed, looking affronted. ‘I’d never do something like that.’

  ‘Other than last time,’ Stepan said under his breath, as if reminding Hesperus.

  ‘Well, ok.’

  ‘And the time before that,’ Stepan prompted.

  ‘Yes, true but…’

  ‘Time before before before!’ D’Vlin commented, waving his antennae about drunkenly before slipping off the table to lie helplessly on his back, waving his jointed legs in the air.

  ‘That one didn’t count!’ Hesperus snapped. ‘Anyway, this is an honest fee paying passenger.’

  Rus rolled his eyes. ‘So we’re transporting someone else who’s stolen something and they need to make a quick get away.’

  ‘No, no, no!’ Hesperus, waved his paws around. ‘We’re chill-laxed, we just need to get the ship running. Here, you can start with this.’

  Hesperus tossed the motivator to Rus, who caught it and looked at it in surprise.

  ‘This is new,’ the lizard was amazed, turning the motivator around in his claw as if it were a gemstone.

  ‘You feeling alright boss?’ Stepan queried, looking concerned.

  ‘Never better,’ Hesperus said, ‘Ready for that course?’

  ‘Aye sir! Where are we going?’

  ‘Nothing too challenging. Just towards Ermaso…’

  The three crew-members stopped moving and stared at him. D’Vlin flipped himself over.

  ‘What?’ Hesperus demanded.

  ‘Frak frak frak!’ D’Vlin snapped.

  ‘I know you’re an utterly self-obsessed moronic idiot with nary a brain cell to call your own.’ Rus began, ‘But even you must have heard about the war.’

  ‘War? Which war?’

  ‘Thargoids, bug nasty bug-eyed monsters with a habit of killing anything that moves? Rumours that planets, stations and cargoes are being blitzed out of existence? Ring any sirens?’

  ‘Oh that war…’ Hesperus was dismissive. ‘They won’t be worried about little old us. Anyway, we’re just nipping in and nipping out. What could go wrong?’

  Rus held his head in his claws. ‘Might as well just laser myself now…’

  ‘Listen, guys…’ Hesperus said, pleading with them. ‘It’s a job, it’s paying well. We can handle ourselves. We’ve got a good ship…’

  Rus fell of his chair laughing.

  ‘Alright you bunch of slobs!’ Hesperus screeched. ‘You want to be stuck here, mucking out the ventilation shafts for the next six months? Your choice. You can get off now. You’re fired!’

  The crew looked around at each other.

  ‘You better be right about this one, Hesperus,’ Rus growled.

  ‘When have I ever let you down?’ Hesperus opened his paws in a gesture of supplication.

  ‘Long long long list?’ D’Vlin cackled.

  Coyote had cautiously guided them across the lower quadrant of the chart, through unfamiliar systems off the beaten track. Rebecca was only vaguely au fait with them. At Rateeder they had refuelled as usual but Coyote had told them to remain in deep space while he made a stop at the station. It was obvious that two Caducei and the new Vampire would raise eyebrows in any docking ports but the Cobra could blend in easily. Coyote had returned after four hours, his ship reappearing amongst them as the cloaking device deactivated.

  ‘Welcome back boss.’ Derik called.

  ‘Anything to report?’ Coyote asked.

  ‘Nothing much,’ the lizard replied. ‘Rebecca got bored and started shooting asteroids… ’

  ‘I was calibrating the targeting scanners! Bet you enjoyed some R and R, downed a few evil juices while we sat out here wasting time…’

  Derik cut across her ‘…other than that it was quiet. You?’

  ‘War is not going well,’ Coyote replied with measured tones. ‘Thargoids took Erlasa and Larais. Apparently Galcop and GalNavy forces are making a stand at Onrira and Aesbion.’

  Rebecca felt her heart jump at the mention of Jim’s homeworld. She’d only been there a couple of times, a hugely high-tech world, with its astonishingly huge Torus station, over ten kilometres in diameter.

  ‘The Thargoids remain on target to appropriate Lave within the time they’ve allotted,’ Udian interjected. He’d been almost totally silent during the trip so far. No one had complained.

  ‘We’d better get going then… ’ Coyote said. ‘Rebecca, make the jump to Anxebiza, por favor.’

  Rebecca checked her astrogation console.

  Now what is he playing at? We should be going to Digebiti!

  ‘Don’t you mean Digebiti?’ she queried.

  ‘No I mean Anxebiza,’ Coyote confirmed.

  ‘Don’t tell me, your stupid sixth rule.’

  ‘Got it in one… ’

  The jump to Anxebiza went without incident but on arrival Coyote didn’t direct them towards the sun. He immediately asked them to reassemble for another jump.

  ‘What happened to the first rule of smuggling?’ Rebecca demanded. Nobody answered her.

  ‘Udian… ’ Coyote said. ‘Make the jump to Digebiti, por favor.’

  ‘Digebiti! But we could have gone direct…’ Rebecca spluttered on the wideband.

  ‘Rule six,’ Derik cackled, as Udian’s ship disappeared, leaving a bright blue wormhole. They all followed set course and within minutes had arrived in the Digebiti system.

  As they returned to normal space they found hundreds of ships clustered around the inbound witch-space marker. Many were damaged, showing the evidence of a recent fire fight.

  Woah…. What’s happened here?

  The wideband crackled on.

  ‘You guys just in from Rateeder?’ a grizzled voice demanded

  ‘No,’ Coyote returned on their behalf. ‘We came in from Anxebiza.’

  ‘Smart move. Thargoids are raiding the witch-space link between here and Rateeder. Randomius knows why.’

  ‘Just as well we didn’t travel direct from Rateeder,’ Coyote said, with a faint hint of amusement in his voice.

  ‘Lucky break. I wouldn’t head back that way.’ The grizzled voice dropped the link.

  ‘How did you know?’ Rebecca asked, surprise and growing respect evident in her voice.

  ‘Oh you know, whilst I was downing the evil juices i
n the bar on Rateeder…’ Coyote returned. ‘I may have overheard something in my drunken stupor… ’

  ‘A little bit of a co-incidence, don’t you think?’ Derik interjected. ‘Thargoids raiding hereabouts?’

  ‘It’s no co-incidence,’ Udian retorted. ‘The Thargoids are looking for us. They’ve clearly plotted our mostly likely route.’

  ‘Time to move on then…’ Coyote said.

  ‘How’s your soup?’ Rus demanded of the passenger, raising his voice over the drone of the engines. The old Python was full of creaks, rattles and groans. Jim could have sworn it felt as the ship had a permanent list to port due to badly aligned internal gravity plates.

  ‘It’s good,’ Jim managed, struggling to swallow the thin oily liquid. ‘Good, really.’

  The lizard looked at him and then stared at the oddly dressed bird-creature sitting across the table from him. ‘Mine tastes like Stepan’s underwear. We eating the same stuff, Gasazck?’

  ‘Erqk,’ the bird replied.

  ‘That’s what you always say,’ Rus replied. ‘What the frak does that mean anyway? Erqk?’

  ‘Hot goat soup,’ Stepan said with relish, sitting down next to Jim. ‘Makes a change!’

  ‘From what?’ Rus demanded. ‘Cold goat soup? Lukewarm goat soup?’

  Hesperus entered the galley from the general direction of the cockpit, closely followed by D’Vlin, who immediately jumped onto the table, knocking cutlery and plates flying.

  ‘Do you mind?’ Rus roared. ‘It might taste like frak but it’s my frak!’

  ‘Jump to Inleus is going well. Should be on station in four hours,’ Hesperus said. ‘Ahead of time, ahead of schedule… right on budget.’

  ‘Ship ok ok,’ D’Vlin added.

  ‘That’s…good.’ Jim managed, choking down another slug of soup, trying to ignore the slurps coming from Stepan’s direction.

  ‘So what is it you do?’ Hesperus asked. ‘If you don’t mind me asking of course, curiosity fells the feline and all that…’

  ‘I’m a professor,’ Jim replied. ‘I lecture on astrophysics.’

  ‘Bookworm.’ Rus added for clarity.

  ‘Where you go?’ D’Vlin said, one his antennae turning to regard Jim.