Chapter 18

Theta Coronae Australis System
GNS Challenger Seven
02/16/42 NR 0915 Hours

“She did what?”

Kayla Robbins kept her voice neutral. “She took Armstrong through an apparently hidden wormhole, Sir. They popped back out just long enough to order the transports to follow them, and then left again.”

Admiral Aaron Peters bit off a curse, and turned to glare at the master plot on his command deck. Both transports had abandoned the cover of the gas giant’s rings, and were only hours from the wormhole now. The system’s inhabitants had also abandoned their outpost, and their vessels, a pair of mining ships, had also set course for the wormhole. Even if Luisa were a spy, there was little chance she’d managed to coopt the scout’s captain and crew, so the transports wouldn’t be in danger if they transited. “Very well,” he grated. “Have Bong and Sakai transit next, and tell Nougama to report back to me. Instruct the rest of the transports to follow them.”

“Yes, sir.” George MacGregor turned to his console, and began passing Aaron’s orders to the fleet.

Kayla stepped up close to Aaron and quietly spoke. “Should we pass orders to arrest Luisa?”

“Yes. She ... somehow ... found that wormhole. We have to get to her before she passes the information to the Terrans.”

Kayla had just opened her mouth to reply, when the tactical officer barked out a report.

“Contact! Hostile transit detected!” A red icon glared on the plot, joined a moment later by another. “Multiple transits detected! Defense system reports Alpha strike launched!”

They were nearly five light minutes from the 10 Ceti wormhole, and the battle was being waged by the automated defenses. Aaron had ordered the repair ships to lay a minefield immediately after they had arrived in-system, and they had laid nearly three hundred of the robotic weapons and a dozen control platforms in a sphere around the wormhole terminus.

The area of space around the wormhole seethed with energies seen and unseen as the UN task force charged through. The UN admiral had apparently decided to not risk a simultaneous transit, and his leading ships paid for that decision in blood. A half dozen corvettes had transited in rapid sequence and spread out in a bid to destroy the minefield they knew would be waiting for them. A cruiser came through on their heels, only to be greeted by fresh salvoes of mines. By the time the remaining four cruisers, eight corvettes and a dozen scouts had all transited, the seven leading ships were shattered hulks, bleeding air and wreckage as they drifted away from the wormhole on momentum alone.

Five minutes later, the last of the mines had launched, and the heavier ships’ point defenses had killed the majority of them as they streaked in. Two scouts and another corvette were badly damaged, and the cruisers had taken several hits, none serious.

Aaron’s command crew cheered as the reports flowed in, but he didn’t join in their exultation. The minefield had done better than he’d expected, but the repair ships had severely depleted their stocks to lay such a dense pattern. Now, he had barely enough missiles to rearm his remaining ships once, and the enemy would know the hidden wormhole’s location. All they could do now was run.

Unknown System GNS Challenger Seven 02/18/42 NR 1230 Hours

Challenger Seven shuddered through her entire length as the normal universe appeared around them again. Aaron’s stomach heaved, but he shook off the nausea and turned to Kayla. “Where are we?”

“The navigator is still working on that, Sir.” Kayla consulted her displays, and Aaron waited patiently for her report. “Ah, here we go,” she said after a full minute had passed. “Astro says this system is called Vee Seventeen Ninety Four Cygni. The single primary is a Gee Five. We...” She broke off.

“What is it?” Aaron asked.

“Contact on the transports ... and Armstrong, Admiral. The transports are boosting at one gee, with Bong in the lead. Armstrong is close by, and she’s transmitting to us now.” Kayla listened for a moment. “They have Luisa in custody, and we should have her aboard within the hour. No communications have come in from the rest of the fleet.”

“Very well,” Aaron said quietly. “Fleet orders – lay in a course to follow Bong’s projected path two days’ ahead, and follow at best speed.”

“Aye, Sir.”

Aaron sat back in his command chair and brooded at the Armstrong’s light code in his plot. Luisa had obviously decoded the map somehow, and had evidently passed the coordinates to the next wormhole to the other captains. In the two days it had taken them to cross the Theta Coronae Australis system and transit the first wormhole, the UN fleet had made up ten hours on them. They would transit this wormhole in a day and a half, and Aaron could not oppose them. He sighed and stood up, glad to be free of the walking assists at last. “I’ll be in my quarters. Please advise me when Luisa is aboard.”

He stepped off the flag bridge and walked the few steps to his day cabin. The tiny compartment held a settee, a small desk and a rather sumptuous office chair. Aaron settled into the chair, leaned back, and closed his eyes.

He activated his holo display, and plugged in the data stick containing the starmap. He ruminated over the map for a few moments, turning it by looking at the appropriate spots on the map, which the low powered, invisible lasers that tracked his eye movements interpreted as commands to manipulate the image before him. She would have had to have decoded at least part of the map, and if she had ... He shook off the thought of the Terrans having access to the map – and his people’s only chance for freedom.

Luisa rolled onto her back and stared at the tiny cabin’s overhead. The flagship was still accelerating, and the gravity still felt oppressive to her. At least the cabin wasn’t really a jail cell; the bunk was comfortable, and she had her own fresher. Of course, none of the Genevan ships had a brig, so they had to make do. The sentry outside the door was real enough, though she had been treated with wary courtesy when she was brought aboard.

She hadn’t expected Armala Whitney, Armstrong’s captain, to disobey orders, but it was still a shock when she informed Luisa that she was under arrest. Armala had also been coldly furious when she was told about the attempt on Ku-aya’s life. Then ... Luisa’s thoughts were interrupted by the door chime. She sat up and zipped up the simple undress coverall she’d been issued in place of her shipsuit. “Come in,” she called.

Aaron stood at the door. “I’d like to talk to you.”

Luisa lifted her hand. “This is your ship, and I’m a prisoner aboard it.” Her voice betrayed none of the turmoil his presence had stirred within her.

He stepped into the cabin and closed the door behind him. His gait was still not back to normal, but he no longer had need of the braces. Aaron’s face was a mask of calm, and his voice was flat. “You’re a spy.”