1

A red star burns three and a half billion kilometers away as Captain Nathaniel Rome turns his shuttle to head back to his cargo ship, the Hydra. There is no reason for anyone to come here other than the wormhole five billion kilometers from that star. That wormhole made this system a primary jumping point for interstellar trade. The trade is what brought Nathaniel here, to prey on on that shipping.

This particular star had no planets orbiting it, the wormhole being this close to the star was reason enough for that. However, there were five spacecraft orbiting it. Two were fighters flying flying away from the star at .29 the speed of light. They couldn’t be seen by the naked eye of Captain Nathaniel Rome, he only knew they were there by looking at the display on his ship. He could just barely see a shuttle almost identical to the one he was piloting, which was also headed straight towards the Hydra.

"Kyle, get back to the ship,” Captain Rome said.

“Roger," the reply came from the other shuttle.

Five hours ago the Hydra exited the wormhole and parked along the most direct path to the wormhole from the trade route’s entry point into the system. They had been there for around three hours when a convoy entered the system about five hundred million kilometers away.

When the convoy entered the system, the crew went to battle stations and the pilot Jamison Rice had their types and vectors locked within ten minutes. Allyson King joined him at navigation, as the med station was always prepped. Maria Shepherd went to engineering to ready the engines for the oncoming ambush and the antimatter bubble. Calen Black went to weapons to check their status and ready them, Captain Rome and his first mate, Kyle Douglas, went to their respective shuttles, which were the essential element to their plans.

With the ship’s electronics cut to minimum and passive sensors in use, the convoy could not detect them beyond fifteen million kilometers; between fifteen and five million they were only barely registered, or were a ghost, on the display. If a ship used its active sensors, they would know about anything inside of eighty million kilometers.

Every fifty million kilometers that the convoy traveled, they sent out a pulse from their active sensors. When the convoy reached a hundred and twenty million kilometers from the Hydra, Maria activated the bubble and everyone booted up their computers. The convoy had no idea that the Hydra lay in wait, a snake ready to strike.

When the time, calculated by Jamison, had passed, Maria dropped the bubble and everyone began to perform their prescribed duties. It became immediately apparent to all of them that the plan they had had to be ditched; a frigate had dropped out of hyper while the antimatter bubble was in place.

The frigate unleashed seven fighters as soon as Hydra’s bubble came down. The enemy had been expecting an attack. The crew of the Hydra would have time to disable all of the cargo ships before the fighters got in range, but before they could each of the cargo ships activated their bubbles.

Of course the Hydra was not as innocent as it looked. It had five missile launchers and three plasma cannons from a heavy cruiser on either side of the ship, with laser clusters scattered all over the hull. It was also equipped with the same inertial compensator and power plant of the frigate they were facing.

With help from Calen, Kyle and Nathaniel made short work of five of the fighters. Two of them fled in hopes that they could meet back up with the frigate after Hydra was destroyed.

Nathaniel and Kyle had to deal with the frigate before they could continue.

There was one thing that the enemy hadn’t counted on though. To call the crafts that Nathaniel and Kyle were piloting shuttles was more of a misnomer that to call them what they actually were, multi-role fighters. They had started out as escape and landing craft, but had been modified to the point where they were some of the most fearsome craft of their size. Each could outmaneuver and outgun anything of comparable size. The inertial compensators and sub-light power plants had been harvested from interstellar yachts, which allowed them to reach .38 the speed of light. Plasma cannons, taken from the same frigate Hydra’s parts were from, had been mounted underneath and disguised as fuel ports. Three laser clusters had been installed on either side on the nose and tail amongst sensor arrays. There were two magazines, hidden in the landing skids, which held and fired six ship killing missiles. All this made these little landing craft sharks disguised as guppies. Both shuttles launched a missile apiece and fired their plasma cannons when the frigate came in range. Caught off guard, the frigate didn’t even get off an opposing salvo.

Shortly after that the cargo ships started dropping out of their bubbles, and were disabled and boarded. Kyle got one while Nathaniel got the other, they shared the third.

As soon as they cast off from the last ship Calen fired a plasma cannon at each. The crews didn’t stand a chance with their engines disabled and promptly turned into small stars are their fusion compartments were breached.

It was then that the two remaining fighters returned for revenge.

"Jamie, head towards the wormhole." Nathaniel ordered.

"Course set. Crossing the horizon in twenty minutes," Jamison replied.

"Problem. Those bogies that bugged out earlier are headed back. Intercept in seven." Kyle said.

Nathaniel looked at his display, "Don’t worry about them Kyle. I have intercept with you in eight. Keep heading to the ship. Calen, warm up the weapons, set targeting pattern. Jamie, drop burn to seventy percent, we want them to have some hope. Shepherd, work your magic, we need them to think there might be an overload."

With a chorus of "Rogers," Captain Nathaniel Rome was once again reassured about his crew, not that he really needed it. This was not their first run in with this particular enemy, nor would it be their last. When the Co-operative had conquered their home, killing or subjugating everyone they had ever known or loved, the then Sergeant Rome vowed to fight them till his dying day. Corporal Kyle Douglass and Private Calen Black were more than happy to agree. Surviving the invasion of their system was the first hurdle that they had to cross.

"Cap’n! They’re shooting at me! Could use some help here!" Kyle’s voice came shouting across the radio, drawing Nathaniel out of his reverie.

Looking out his cockpit, he noticed three ships flying away from him at thirty degrees to his left at forty degrees high.

"Be in range in a fifteen seconds. Keep up evasive action, and slow down to fifty percent. Calen, are they in range?"

"Not yet, two mikes."

"Okay, just be ready. Kyle, on my mark roll port thirty degrees and pull up, hard. Come in behind me to verify kills and follow in."

"Roger, awaiting you mark."

Time seemed to slow down as Nathaniel was awaiting lock. He only had this one chance at getting both in one pass, split second timing was key. He rolled his shuttle ninety degrees to the right and rotated his fire selector to lasers; his finger on the trigger, just waiting for the beautiful wail of target lock. After what seemed like an eternity, in reality only three seconds, he heard the off-key soprano target lock that he had been waiting for.

"Break!" He shouted before he squeezed the trigger, releasing a five second burst loose, and jerked the stick up to avoid the debris left from the first fighter exploding.

"Bogey One down. Kyle, confirm Bogey Two."

"Maneuvering into position."

"Captain, there’s a new signature in the area. It’s at your six roughly one ninety degrees by one ninety degrees. Looks pretty big, a cruiser of some sort," Jamison Rice’s voice interjected over the radio.

"What’s the range? Can she pick us up?"

"Negative. Distance is over three billion kilometers. She has output but couldn’t get our alpha for about five hours, by then we’ll be long gone, hopefully. The only chance they have is if they do a roundabout."

"Cap! Negative on Bogey Two. He’s still with us."

"Okay, Ally jam the fighter’s comms. Send a whisker to the other ship telling them that we are friendlies and were attacked by an unknown destroyer. The rest of the convoy made it through the junction, we’re just doing cleanup. Calen, how long till intercept?"

"About five seconds."

"You’re free to engage when you get a shot. Kyle, clean up if he misses. I’ll break right so both of you can get clean shots."

"Roger," Calen and Kyle said almost simultaneously.

"Jamie, I need you to slow down to sixty percent to make the frigate think that we are cleaning up and not running away, like we are."

"Wilco"

Suddenly streams of light flashed past his canopy, one from fore and one from aft. In a flash the dot of light representing the enemy fighter disappeared from his display. It had exploded after a laser burst from both the ship and Kyle’s shuttle stuck.

"Enjoy your seventy virgins!" Jamison exclaimed over the radio.

"That’s enough," Rome quipped. He started barking orders, "Kyle, hit your boosters. We need to get to the ship ASAP. Shepherd, fix the engines and get the docking ports ready. Jamie, increase speed to ninety-five percent, comm the newcomer and let them know the area is clean and we’re regrouping with the convoy. Calen, power down the weapons then help Maria with whatever she needs. We’re done here."

The radio filled with a chorus of affirmatives and rogers as he hit the accelerator and aimed for the ship, following right behind Kyle. One more job down and no losses, that is a good job in his book.

One thing was puzzling him though. Why would Yathrib send out any convoys with only one escort was beyond him. He wasn’t complaining, just a little curious, especially when it was one as bountiful as this one.

This single hit had been more than the last, he couldn’t remember a haul this good. It was enough food, fuel, and ammo to set them up for almost six months without want. That didn’t include selling anything extra, like the mullah’s fine wine and whiskey, or the payroll that they picked up, being the better part of the total GSP (Gross System Product) of six systems.

The best part of it all was the fact that they faced no potential retribution. No one knew which ship hit the convoy. There were no survivors; there never were. Their enemy knew there was a ship out there, but they didn’t know who it was, and that’s exactly how his crew wanted it. Enemy warships patrolled the space that they traveled through. Every once in awhile they ran into one, and in those situations anonymity is your friend.

It wasn’t always this way, but this was what life had become. Not taking prisoners had started as a desire to survive, but with the way the CIS operated, they were left with no other choice; all ships capable of taking them had to be destroyed. Now it was spite. They were out for revenge on the CIS in particular, and the rest of humanity as a whole, for the treatment of their people.

"Tractor beam engaged. Pressure lock in thirty," Allyson King said, pulling Nathaniel out of another day dream.

"Thanks Ally. Jamison ETA for the wormhole?"

"Two mikes," he replied, using the military shorthand for minutes.

"Alright everyone, prep for departure. Calen and Ally, meet us at the pressure locks to store our new acquisitions. Shepherd, when you’re squared away join them. Jamie, get us outta here, I’ve had enough fun for today."

"Roger Cap, I’m with you on that," came Jamison Rice’s voice as Nathaniel’s shuttle attached to the ship.

"Green lights across the board. Air pressure equalized," a few seconds later the doors slid open and Allyson entered the shuttle. "Welcome back Cap," she greeted him as she crossed the threshold.

"Glad to be back. Help me get this shit off."

Crates of ammo and food were piled from floor to ceiling behind the cockpit. Storage tanks which held fuel were emptying automatically from the moment the ship had locked the shuttle in place.

“Fresh fruit and veg? We haven’t had it this good for a while,” Maria Shepherd said with, what was for her, glee.

“Wait till you see what Kyle’s got. We’ll be sittin’ fat an’ happy for a while.” Nathaniel replied.

“Really? How much are we keeping or are we selling it all off?” Maria added.

“We’ll be selling most of it, especially the Scotch. Well, we’ll keep a case or two; but the rest... We can get almost 10,000 credits per bottle in Stuart. It’s fifty year old Glenfiddich, from Earth. They ain’t seen one of these since right after the fall.”

“No they haven’t, and they won’t,” Kyle said from around the corner. “That is unless they cough up the cash for us.”

As Kyle rounded the corner, Maria took her queue and grabbed a case to take to the storage room.

“Your shuttle unloaded?”

“Calen and Allyson are getting the last of it stowed. That raid was quite a surprise, wouldn’t you say? Three freighters with only one escort all the way out here.”

“Johnson must be keeping them busy on the front. Either that or they’re trying to keep a low profile. I think the later over the former seein’ as what they were haulin’. Don’t think we’ll get that chance again.”

“We can always hope,” Kyle smiled, “and pray.”

“Pray all you want to, I don’t care. As long as this ship flies and we can fight, we’ll keep going. I wanna get home sometime before I die. I’m gonna do my job and check in on how Calen’s doing, you help Shepherd.”

“Gee, thanks for volunteering me Cap’n.” Kyle said to Nathaniel’s back as he walked out.

“So did Cap tell you where we’re headed?” she asked Kyle as Nathaniel headed out of the room.

Nathaniel let them wonder where they were going to go. He didn’t know himself yet, but he did have a idea. He wasn’t happy about it though.

He walked up to a command console and picked the bridge on the communications display.

“Jamie, how long?”

“About to cross the event horizon,” he replied.

“When we get on the other side, start heading out of the well. Doesn’t matter which direction.”

“Roger,” he answered, then his voice came over the ship wide speaker as an alarm sounded, “Prep for transition. Entering the wormhole in five seconds.”

There was no need for the alarm, this had almost become routine, but Jamison kept to tradition. The reason for the alarm was that only negative energy could pass through a wormhole. A bubble of dark matter must be formed around the ship to travel one. If one wasn’t created, then every atom that entered would be broken down into it’s most basic parts, which would be reassembled randomly on the other side. Thus instant travel became instant death, unless they could form the bubble.

That, however, was not the only difficulty. If a ship could produce a bubble it had to shut down its engines in the process. Acceleration in the bubble is impossible due to the fact that if any matter touches it, it is instantly annihilated. So the ship travels a ballistic course along with it.

Due to this property that ships use the bubble as a last ditch defensive shield. A ship cannot maneuver and is flying blind because sensors cannot penetrate it, but it also disappears on enemy sensors and is impervious to enemy weapons. They may stand a chance if friendly ships win the battle, but can fall prey to any surviving enemies.

Pirates also use this as a tactic to their advantage to surprise convoys traveling along known trade routes. This is exactly what Nathaniel had done with Hydra in the last engagement.

Nathaniel entered the storage hold. Seeing Kyle and Ally organizing the newly acquired goods, he decided to leave the crates here and head back to off load his shuttle.

“Where’s Calen?” Nathaniel asked Kyle as he entered.

“I left him at the shuttle to finish unloading all the new presents that the Caliph blessed us with,” Kyle replied.

“Don’t be patronizing. Anyway, go prep your shuttle, tell Calen to unload this, and meet me in my quarters. We need to talk about a few things.”

“Ok, meet you there,” Kyle said and started to walk away. He paused and turned around, “Is it bad?”

“Depends.”

“Well now you’ve got my attention, so if you’ll excuse me…”

“Go right ahead,” Nathaniel replied as he moved and gestured to him, “I’ll be there in a few minutes, so don’t wait for me. Matter of fact, grab a couple bottles of scotch and pour me a glass. Straight up.”

“Will do.”

Nathaniel walked back to his shuttle, thinking over what the future had in store. They were product rich, but that didn’t necessarily translate into anything unless they could unload it. There were things that must be done that would make life very complicated. Mulling over the possible destinations, only one made sense. He was dejected at the thought of having to stop there.

“Fuck,” Maria exclaimed.

“What happened?” Nathaniel asked plainly as he walked up to see her sucking her thumb.

“The stupid crate slipped,” she said after pulling her thumb from her mouth which she promptly started shaking wildly. She kicked the crate in revenge, “and thank you for your concern,” she added sarcastically.

“Sorry. Let me try again. Did you damage the merchandise?” he said feigning concern, “Better?”

“No. It’s meat.”

“So no. Anyway, you almost through?”

“Yeah, the pallet and those two crates, then we’re done,” she replied pointing behind her towards the remaining containers against the wall.

“Ok, grab one. I’ll take the pallet,” he said as he walked over to grab the other crate. “And next time be more careful. If you had crushed your hand, well there’s nothing we can do without a medic on board.”

She bent over, grabbing the lighter of the two, “I will.”

Nathaniel grabbed the other crate and turned to put it on the pallet, “Anyway, after your done helping Calen and Ally sort out this stuff, I need you to run a diagnostic on the engines. If we need any parts or anything, we can get them when we call on the next port. We’ll get enough credits to get them now.”

Nathaniel started pushing the merchandise away from the shuttle.

Following, Maria started, “Great! We’ve been needing a new stabi-”

Nathaniel sighed. “I don’t need a list right now, I know it’s long. Run the diagnostic and give me a prioritized list. You can get whatever we need when we get to port, wherever that is.”

“Yes sir.”

They continued towards the cargo hold, “I also need you to tell Calen to get a full inventory of the cargo. Relieve him when you’re done so that he can do the same with weapons. We need to resupply before we head out on the next mission.”

“Which port are we headed to?”

“That’s not for you to worry about.”

They turned the corner into the cargo hold. Nathaniel parked the pallet and walked out without a word.

“What’s that all about?” Calen asked Maria.

“I dunno. Cap’s got something on his mind that he’s not too happy about.”

“I wonder what it is,” Allyson enquired.

“Feel free to ask him. It’s your head, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Hell no. I’ve seen him like this before. Whatever it is, I’m gonna let it be. He almost killed me last time I interfered with his thought processing,” Allyson answered quickly. “But that don’t mean I can’t wonder.”

Calen nodded.

“Anyway,” Maria interrupted, “he told me to relay orders to you. As soon as we’re done here…”

Their dialogue faded as Nathaniel walked away. He was here to take care of them, help them, and protect them. However, he also had a mission to accomplish, so as long as they were on this ship they had to do what they were ordered to, whether they liked it or not.

As he approached his shuttle, Nathaniel noticed a hole in the ship, just below the left side of the cockpit canopy, right in line with the seat. Replaying the fight in his head, he tried to figure out when it had happened. It must have been that final fighter. He counted shook his head at his idiocy, a few centimeters more to the right and he would’ve been a dead man. He reminded himself to double check with Kyle to find out if this hole did come from that fighter. He refilled the O2 and checked the fuel levels before heading away towards his quarters.

As he approached the cargo hold, he noticed the distinct lack of chatter. Poking his head in he saw Calen close a crate, and kick it towards the far wall before grabbing another.

“Good job taking out those fighters.”

Calen jumped from the surprise at the Captain’s sudden appearance, he turned to look at Nathaniel. “Thank you sir.” He turned back and pulled the crate down off the stack.

“How many did you hit?”

“Three,” Calen replied, examining the manifest.

“Is that counting that last one?”

Calen shrugged as he opened the crate, “Well, three or four.”

“Either way, good job. We wouldn’t be here without you.” Nathaniel paused before he continued. “I want you to know that I appreciate having you as part of our crew.”

Calen turned with a confused look, “Thank you sir.”

“Anyway, get back to work, we have a lot to do before we get to port.”

“Yes sir.”

Leaving without another word, Nathaniel had decided that Kyle had had long enough. He was delaying the inevitable, and for no reason. He just felt bad for what was going to happen with Calen.

As he made his way to his cabin, his thoughts drifted to his own kids. Playing outside of his house. Running around, chasing their dog. His heart wrenched at the memory. He quickly stifled it. That life was gone, it would never be that way again.

Next Chapter: Chapter 2