Chapter 7

“Cut the power,” Ethan called over the radio once he was ready. Standing by the living area hatch on the port side, he felt the engine’s power fluctuate as the rear thrusters cut off. Jamming his finger on the button to cycle the hatch open, he rushed into the cargo pod. Careful not to fall on his face, he made his way to the panel that lowered the ramp. He unstrapped the welder from the clip on his belt and counted the large bolts in the bulkhead. After counting to the fifth bolt, he lit the torch and watched as a long white beam of plasma extended from the tip.

“Carefully,” he muttered to himself as he cut a rectangular piece of metal off the bulkhead. The plate fell to the deck as he turned off the torch. Bundles of wires and support bracing were revealed when he turned on his helmet’s light. Finding the right wire, he took out his multi-tool and a small box.

Taking a deep breath, he counted in his head as he watched the tiny needle bounce in the small box. After watching the needle for two minutes, he realized he’d have about thirty seconds to complete his task without tripping the internal alarm on the tracking chip.

“Well, it could be worse,” he muttered and mentally prepared himself. After the needle spiked on the box, he snipped the wire that the tracker was attached to and worked as fast as he could. Ripping the casing around both cables with his knife he twisted the copper wire around a small white box with two copper leads sticking out of the top.

Just as he got everything secured, the needle on the white box jumped once more. With trembling fingers, he held the device as steady as possible as he placed the solder-compound around the leads and wires to secure them. Wishing he could wipe the sweat off his forehead, he secured the spoofer to the bulkhead with tape.

“Kick on the thrusters. Full-burn,” he called over the radio and stepped away from the bulkhead. He braced himself as the compartment lurched and started to heat up. “I need a new setup for these doors,” he complained as he eyed the bulkhead beside him. Heat radiated off the black metal in waves. It was hot enough that he could feel it through his jumpsuit.

After he put away his tools and went back to the cockpit, he took his seat again. “Thank you,” he said as Alissa took the co-pilot’s seat again.

“What did you do?” she asked with a frown.

“I placed a spoofer on the line the Rhodaron put the tracker on. I can control what information the tracker sends.”

“Why don’t you disable it?” Alissa questioned with a frown.

“Misinformation is better than removing the flow of information entirely,” Ethan quoted as he typed on the keyboard. “The Alliance is gaining on us. We have less than twenty minutes before they are in communication range.” After a minute of typing, he looked over at the young woman. “Alissa, I’m going to transfer control of a drone over to you in a moment. Helen, can you follow me. I need help with something and two people will make this easier to do,” he said, looking back at the frowning redhead.

“Sure, what do you need help with?” Helen questioned as she unstrapped the harness stretching against her chest.

Ethan got up and pressed a recessed button on the bulkhead near the hatch to the corridor. The metal deck in the hallway split down the middle, revealing a small walkway to the left side and five tubes on the right. “I’d appreciate it if you never mentioned this to anyone,” he said as he dropped down to the small walkway.

“You have torpedo tubes,” Helen accused in a soft voice. “Please tell me you don’t have munitions in there,” she hissed. “One impact on the bottom of your hull and the entire ship goes up.”

“Then I won’t tell you anything,” Ethan answered with a grin. He pulled the hatch open on the first tube and used a light to look inside. “Hand me the small white and yellow box from beside my seat,” he asked with a glance to Helen. She huffed at him but did as he requested. “Thanks,” he muttered as she passed him the box.

Careful to not jostle the black casing of the cylindrical drone, he attached the box to the power source with three leads. Securing the box to the metal tube with four bolts driven in by his multi-tool, he closed up the panel and stepped up onto the deck. “They are one of the several counter-measures I have when facing pirates,” he explained as he watched the deck slide back into place, covering the lower compartment.

“Those are beyond illegal,” Helen whispered, her eyes wide.

“A lot of stuff on my ship is illegal, but it’s the only way to survive out here,” Ethan answered with a sigh. “I just hope I won’t have to use all my tricks to get away from the Alliance.”

“Ethan, they’re gaining on us,” Alissa reported as he took his seat again.

“I’m not surprised,” he muttered as he strapped back in and secured his oxygen tank. “We’re still on course for Rockton Mining Station, good,” he said and glanced over the navigation console. “Alright, here’s the plan,” he announced and turned to his companions. “The drone will be shot toward the station while we drop into the asteroid field at limited power. The dense rocks will help mask our signature as we pass through onto the other side. With any luck, they’ll buy our distraction and we can get away. If we aren’t in luck then the asteroids will serve as a small deterrent for the cruisers.”

“You don’t sound optimistic,” Helen commented in a low voice.

“The Alliance has powerful sensors that could find the smallest, one-crewed ship if they needed to. Thankfully, their sensors can only be focused in one direction to get that level of precision. We’ll use that window to slip by their sensors. The only rub is that we need to have them get a reading lock on our ship.”

“You mean we need to let them get closer?” Alissa asked with a groan.

“Communication’s range,” he confirmed with a shrug. His back itched when he thought about the dangerous situation they were in. A situation he was in because of them. Gritting his teeth, he focused on his plan and ignored the lingering fear in his stomach.

A tense silence descended on the cockpit as everyone watched the main monitor. The screen showed a visual representation of the closest Alliance Cruiser as it gained on them with every passing minute. Moments before the white ship got to the green circle, Ethan spoke. “Keep quiet and try not to move if at all possible,” he ordered and breathed out.

The green circle turned to red as the white ship crossed into their communication range. A beeping echoed through the hull. Ethan saw Alissa’s questioning look and was glad she didn’t voice her question aloud. Another wave of higher-pitched beeping reverberated through the cockpit. When a green flashed on his console, Ethan grinned and pressed the yellow button on the bulkhead beside his armrest. The ship shook for a brief second. In that small window of time, Ethan killed the power to the entire ship and unlocked the flight stick.

In total darkness, they floated through space for a few seconds before he eased the flight stick to the right just a little. He tracked their progress with the internal power of the Rhodaron’s helmet and bit his lip, hoping the Alliance was too far out to get a tight ranged scan on their ship. Watching their progress on the helmet, he started the engines again at the lowest power possible and diverted all power to the side thrusters. Still holding the flight stick a little off-center, he watched their heading roll toward the asteroid field.

“We can talk now,” he said once he killed the power again a few seconds later.

“What just happened?” Helen questioned in a rush at the same time as Alissa asked, “what did you do?”

“I killed the power to the ship after they scanned us. The high-pitched beeping helped mask what was going on onboard. After launching our tracker friend, I waited for a bit, knowing they would still be scanning for our ship. If we’re lucky, they didn’t see the momentary blip of energy a mile or so away from the torpedo that is burning at full power.”

“Why would they follow the decoy?” Alissa asked after a moment.

“That torpedo is one of my designs that is made to fool Alliance tech specifically. I might have stolen a ship once for a job and took a look around their systems,” Ethan admitted with a shrug. “It sounds more impressive than it was, trust me,” he said when they stared at him.

“Do you run into the Alliance a lot?” Helen asked in a disapproving voice. She eyed him up and down from her jumpseat.

“Enough to know how they conduct a chase,” he lied with a shrug.

“What do we do now?” Alissa asked to break the uncomfortable silence.

“We wait until we get closer to the asteroid field. Here let me show you what our sensors picked up,” Ethan said and fiddled with the Datapad. He brought up the last sensor readings and passed them to Alissa. Helen looked over her shoulder.

Alissa bit her lip and played with the tablet while Ethan relaxed in his chair, closing his eyes. He listened to them discuss the ship’s trajectory and what ships were in the area. “Uh, Ethan?” the young woman’s soft voice called a few minutes later.

“Yes?” he answered, not opening his eyes. He could still see the Froth child cradled in his father’s arm.

“There is a large cluster of ships near the asteroid belt in the direction we’re going,” she informed him. “Didn’t you say it would be a bad thing if there was a mining operation going on?”

“Yes,” he muttered and opened his eyes. His actions that got the child killed weighed on his chest as he looked over at Alissa. “The mining fleet will be able to pick us up on their sensors and relay that information to the Alliance. Our decoy will only buy us time. Not to mention, the dangers of flying through an asteroid field. We’ll see how this goes.”

“That isn’t reassuring,” Helen said in a low voice. “Is there anything more we can do?”

“Not until we turn back on the power again. Another five or ten minutes will get us to the little blue line you see there on the tablet,” he said and stretched in his chair. “For the record, I hate asteroids.”

Alissa and Helen spoke in low voices while they waited. Ethan watched the timer on the helmet count down. “Alright, it’s time,” he said to himself and unlocked the flight stick. Sitting up in his chair, he breathed out and restarted the engine. Lights flickered on in the cabin as the monitors whirred to life.

“One Alliance Cruiser peeled off and is following our last heading,” Alissa reported in a shaky voice.

“Noted,” Ethan answered with a frown. He glanced at the navigation console and realized that they still had a chance. “Five minutes to the first wall of asteroids,” he announced with a grim look at the belt ahead of them.

He cut the power to everything but the internals, thrusters, and essential lights and redirected the extra power on the shields. “This will be rough,” he said and took a deep breath.

The first wall of tiny rocks impacted against his shields with minimal power fluctuation. He knew the ship would light up on everyone’s radar but there was nothing he could do. “Both Alliance Cruisers and a Hammer-Class Ship are headed for us,” Alissa reported in a breathy voice. “Ethan, more ships are turning toward us!”

“I know,” he grated out as he tried to navigate around the larger rocks. “Don’t move the sensor array,” he commanded. “I know you’re worried but this will be a short trip if we run into an asteroid the shields can’t handle.”

“Oh,” Alissa muttered and readjusted the sensors in front of them and set them to maximum distance.

“Thanks,” Ethan said and rolled the ship between two large asteroids.

“Does that countdown mean we’ll be in the asteroid belt for twenty minutes?” Helen questioned a moment later.

“Yes,” Alissa answered in a quiet voice, almost so quiet Ethan couldn’t hear her.

Five minutes later, the first of the ships from the mining company became an issue. They’d made it through a third or more of the belt when a large power fluctuation appeared on the navigation console. “Void your voiding mother,” Ethan cursed and cut the power to the rear thrusters. “You mother of a voiding black hole,” he continued and rolled hard away from their trajectory. “Brace for debris,” he yelled.

A bright beam of orange light streaked across the belt on the monitors. Alissa screamed as the ship rocked and the power in the shields dropped. “What did they do?!” she yelled and clutched at her harness.

“A half-power mining beam,” Ethan reported as his eye twitched. “There is something worse out there than an Alliance Cruiser. Why would a Titan-Class Mining Freighter be out here?” His eyes flicked across the screens displayed on his helmet as he readjusted and burned hard for the closest route that would get them around the scattering debris.

“Those were made to mine entire planets,” Helen said with a gasp.

“They bore into dead planets so the ships can harvest the resources, yes,” he said and shuddered when they were able to barely avoid a piece of rock two times his ship’s size.

The freighter did not fire again as they made it around the scattering debris from the destroyed asteroids. He thought the Alliance must have warned them off from firing again because he knew a ship that size could fire one half-powered beam like that every five minutes. When they passed the half-way mark through the belt, he received a notification from the Alliance Cruiser. Ignoring the message, he continued their desperate flight.

“Ethan, the Alliance Cruiser is using lasers to clear a path,” Alissa reported a minute later.

“Point-Defense Lasers are useful for more than stopping drones and small ships,” he muttered with a shrug. “We’re still ahead of where I thought we would be. However, we’re not out of the clear yet.”

It became clear no one wanted to cause any more trouble while inside the asteroid field. Five ships from the mining company continued their chase. If they continued on the same heading, they would try and cut Ethan off once he exited the belt. “Well, they’ll be a small deviation with my plan,” he announced after another minute of easy flying.

“You’re talking about the five ships?” Alissa questioned, her eyes locked onto the navigation console in front of her.

“It means we have to set a heading for Se’ Tyrar’s Rest instead of Shimmeron Outpost,” Ethan said with a sigh. “It also means we’ll have to lay low before we can escape the sector.”

“Can we escape?” Helen whispered.

“It will be troublesome, but yes, we can,” he said with a shrug. “It may mean we’re hiding out for a few weeks or a month though.”

“That long?” Alissa questioned with a gasp. “We might lose contact with our allies.”

“You might have already lost contact with them anyway. Remember, they never came to meet you at the hotel,” he reminded her. “I don’t have all the information so I don’t know if any of my contacts will help. We’ll talk about this more once we get away from this mess.”

Ethan navigated through the belt with an eye on his energy levels. His shields struggled to remain above 50%. The sheer number of small rocks and metal debris from long destroyed ships continually bounced off the shields despite his best efforts. “Coming out of the belt now. Alissa, set the sensor array to wide sweep,” he ordered and locked his flight stick. Sweat rolled down his face as he took a deep breath of clean air from inside his helmet.

“Three of the five ships are going to clear the belt in three minutes,” she reported a moment later.

“Okay, never do this if you’re ever piloting,” he said and elevated the power directed to the FTL Drive.

“You aren’t!” Helen yelled and gripped her harness.

“I’m not,” Ethan said with a feral grin.

“All ships are breaking away,” Alissa reported a moment later.

“Just a little longer,” he muttered and eyed his power climbing.

“We’re getting multiple distress calls,” the young woman reported again in a scared voice. “Ethan, what are you doing!”

“Scaring them off,” he said with a shrug. “Spooling down the power and redirecting it to the thrusters,” he announced. “Hold on tight, I have limited power in the inertial dampeners on at the moment.”

Alissa screamed as the ship lurched forward, flattening them against their seat. “Just a little longer,” he yelled over her screams. He watched the power drain from the FTL Drive and into the main thrusters. With a grimace, he watched as the fuel gauge plummeted. He reduced the power and reset the power to nominal full-burn status.

“That wasn’t fun,” Alissa muttered, her eyes unfocused as her head lolled to one side.

“You get used to it,” Ethan consoled and unlocked the flight stick. He pulled the navigation console toward him and keyed in their next jump point. “I’ll have to burn a little more fuel than I’d like but we’ll get to a Gray Port in the next day or so,” he said.

“We can help with credits for repairs and fuel,” Helen said in a breathy voice.

Ethan looked back and saw Helen’s eyes were wide, her pupils dilated, and her nostrils were flaring. Rolling his eyes, he turned back and started the FTL Drive sequence again. A minute later, the familiar vibrations rolled through the ship as the FTL Drive was fed power. He pressed the red button to save any information he could and jammed his finger on the activation switch for the FTL jump. “Five hours in FTL should overshoot our mark. We’ll turn around and do a short jump back,” he announced and unlocked the harness around his chest. He felt sticky with sweat everywhere.

“I need to lay down,” Alissa said and unhooked herself from her seat. She wobbled down the corridor, headed toward the cabin.

“You, sir, need a reward for that,” Helen announced as she stood and cycled the hatch shut.

“I don’t,” Ethan argued with a frown. He knew what the busty redhead was talking about and hadn’t forgiven her for implanting him.