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KLAXON! Ruhger was on his feet, weapons belted on, kit in hand, before the clanging stopped. Why did they agree to stay in the asteroid guest quarters? It was a long sprint back to Lightwave. He slammed the hatch closed and brought up Lightwave’s command and control, activating the emergency attack script to get Lightwave’s defenses fully engaged and warm up the engines.
“Attention, all personnel. We are under attack. This is not a drill. Remain in your room or report to assigned defense stations. I repeat...”
The crew joined him within seconds. “Let’s go.” Ruhger sprinted for Lightwave, hoping the school’s leadership weren’t closing the safety bulkheads yet. They wouldn’t want Lightwave attached during a firefight, so they’d let his crew through, but it would take more time. They ran through the dining hall, joining a stream of beings going to their assigned stations.
“Ruhger,” Loreli panted, “Saree isn’t here!”
Annoyance and dismay settled low in his stomach in equal measure. Ruhger slowed a little, pulling up a crew locator screen. The Scholar was in a meditation room, not moving. He sent an emergency message to her, but if she was in ^timespace^ she probably wouldn’t see, hear or feel it, even with her e-torc vibrating, clanging and flashing around her neck.
A message from the school popped up and Ruhger swept it up. “Attackers demanding Lightwave’s personnel. Fold out immediately, minimum safe distance authorized.”
He answered back, “Wilco. Pilot Saraa unknown.” He didn’t want to use her real name, in case the Madras’s net was compromised.
“Saraa coming.”
Sure enough, her indicator was finally moving. She’d be without her kit. Not the first time; they’d print her new clothes. Ruhger swept crew locations and messaging out of his field of view and ran faster. They pounded through the jungle tunnel and turned into the next, the decorations blurring as Ruhger’s concentration narrowed, watching Lightwave’s systems spool up into full readiness. He detached power, water and sewage from the school, and readied the airlock release. He entered the codes for the airlocks, ready to open them when he was in sight. Ruhger wanted eyes-on; if the attackers had already infiltrated the asteroid, there was no reason to give them easy access to Lightwave. He pulled his laser pistol.
“Shields ready, weapons online,” Tyron said.
“Engines online, ready for emergency maneuvers. Give me a five-minute warning for emergency fold generator deployment,” Chief snapped.
“Net under attack,” Katryn said. “Holding them off for now.”
Ruhger said, “Grant, take offense from Tyron; Loreli, defense. Tyron, back up Katryn on net. One of you counterattack if possible. Armor soonest possible.”
Their feet thundered on the tunnel decking, the sound slightly muffled by the sealant and decorative coatings. They made the final turn to Lightwave’s dock. Thank all the suns they’d docked Lightwave itself rather than using the shuttles. The asteroid’s airlock hatches opened in front of them and when Ruhger saw they were clear, he activated Lightwave’s hatches. “Loreli, stand by for Saraa.”
“Copy, Ruhger,” she gasped.
Ruhger made a mental note to push Loreli harder in the phys mod—again. He put on a final burst of speed, sprinting for Alpha shuttle, opening hatches ahead of them. He bounded up the crew ladder and into Alpha shuttle. His ass hit the pilot’s seat with a smack and he brought up navigation.
Grant said, “Armor!”
“After you,” he retorted. He swept up the emergency folds he’d already programmed. Which one? “Back to Antlia?” he asked Grant.
“Makes sense,” Grant said, his words slightly muffled.
“Al-Kindi onboard,” Loreli said.
Oh, yes. Al-Kindi’s shuttle was still attached. Besides, he needed them to get Nari back. Ruhger swept the fold navigation to the side for the Scholar to handle and brought up the near-space navigation, updating his preprogrammed thrust with the latest orbital parameters from the school. In two minutes, they’d leave the defensive shielding of the Madras. They had nine-point-three more minutes of thrust before they’d reach the minimum safe distance for fold. “Safe distance” was a misnomer—it wasn’t safe for them or the school. The fold generator deployment would take a minute, but that could be done while they were under thrust, it just wasn’t recommended. No matter what, it was a long time to be under attack by... Ruhger checked the defense surveillance. Two folders. Blast and rad. Was there a third somewhere else? Or coming in soon?
“All personnel onboard,” Loreli said.
He noted Lightwave’s airlock was secure and he implemented the detach command. They were free of the station. “Station, ready for release.”
“Released, pushing now. Peace be upon you.”
“Thank you. Peace to you as well.” Not that it was likely. “All stations, strap in. Initiating thrust now.”
Grant slammed into the co-pilot’s seat with a clash of armor. Ruhger waited until Grant had the navigation and surveillance up, unfasted his harness, spun the chair and sprang for his armor. Throwing his armor on, Ruhger was back in his seat before the Scholar arrived.
“Orbit checks out, Captain,” Grant said.
“Grant, check my fold math,” Ruhger snapped. “Scholar, armor. Thrusting at max velocity for minimum fold separation distance,” Ruhger said, engaging the thrusters.
“Fold math checks,” Grant said.
Ruhger watched the Scholar go, worried. When the hatch locked behind her, he turned back to the surveillance, looking for the third folder. But he kept the crew location screen in a corner of his holo, tracking the Scholar’s progress. Wait a minute. “Loreli, why aren’t you strapped in?”
“Dahrling. Woken in the middle of our sleep shift and expected to function without coffee? Please.”
They were in voice-only mode, but he could hear the eye roll. “Loreli, we’re under fire!”
“I’m in my armor and I’m monitoring our defenses. We’re under steady thrust, no evasive maneuvers. I can make decent coffee before we fold.”
Ruhger huffed an exasperated sigh, but said, “Thanks, Loreli.” There were some battles not worth fighting.
“You’re welcome!” she caroled.
Ruhger could hear the surprise in her voice. He had to do better by his crew, make them believe he trusted their judgement. Because he did. He went back to the surveillance, looking for additional folders or shuttles, someone trying to get by their defenses. Or the asteroid’s defenses. And with that huge rock behind them, their sensors couldn’t scan that sector. But they weren’t likely to be attacked from there either. They had to trust the Madras’s defenses and mass would keep them safe.
“Captain, Net Offense,” Katryn said.
“Go,” Ruhger replied.
“I’ve found the backdoor Los left in Spear Two. Do you want me to attack their net?”
“Can you do any real damage or just annoy them?”
“Just annoyance. Working on it,” Katryn snapped.
“Keep working for control of critical systems. We’ll leave any annoyance attacks for when we’re desperate.”
“Offense?” Ruhger asked.
“No penetration of enemy shielding,” Grant said. “The school isn’t attacking full force.”
“Not surprising. The doctrine of peace.” If Lightwave made it to the minimum safe distance, it would be a miracle. The asteroid should, and probably did, have enough firepower to destroy both of those folders. But without the willpower to use it offensively, it did them no good. And made targeting Lightwave easier.
“Solar Wind, Madras.”
“Go ahead, Madras,” Ruhger answered after a few seconds. It would take a while before he answered instinctively to the new name. They’d changed too many times.
“Defense shuttles going to blocking positions. They will concentrate on the two folders attacking. If Lightwave thrusts along the vector we’re sending, you can reach minimum fold distance with an additional minute of thrust and receive better protection along the way.”
“Will comply, Madras. Thank you.” Ruhger brought up the vector and swept it into navigation. Just a small adjustment. “All personnel, thrust adjustment in five, four, three, two, execute.” A small jolt down and to his left, then it was smooth again. With this change, they’d still be under fire, but less would penetrate the overlapping shielding of the defensive shuttles.
Alpha shuttle’s hatch activated and Ruhger spun, bringing up the vid belatedly. Loreli. She should be strapped in.
She bustled into the shuttle, a hover tray behind her. “Coffee, dahrlings.” Loreli placed a keep-warm mug by each of them, and sat down in the observer chair behind the Scholar, next to Grant, and strapped in.
“Thanks, Loreli,” Ruhger said. He took a sip. Dark, rich, slightly bitter goodness flowed. Ah.
“Thank you, Loreli,” the Scholar and Grant said almost at the same time.
They left the Madras shields and laser fire hit them, hard.
“You’re welcome. Shielding down to eight-five percent. Sorry, no breakfast; adjusting shielding coverage real-time.”
“Copy.” Blast. Eight more minutes. It was going to be close. Surveillance pinged, a mass of Madras shuttles launching at high velocity from the asteroid, thrusting into tight formations, straight toward the attackers. They must be using the overlapping shielding technique they tried with Nari’s original retrieval.
“Shields down to seventy percent, Captain.”
The minutes ticked down, along with their shielding, eroding faster and faster. Finally, the shuttle fleet slid into place and the station increased their offensive fire.
“Shielding recovering, Captain,” Loreli said. “Up to seventy-eight percent.”
Ruhger sure hoped the Madras’s shuttles’ shielding held. He’d hate for someone to die for them.
“Captain, Net Offense.”
“Go, Katryn.”
“I’ve penetrated more non-critical areas of Spear Two, including the vid system. I don’t see Nari anywhere on the folder.”
“Copy that. I’ll share with Al-Kindi and the school,” Ruhger said.
“I think I can replicate this in the other folder, which I’m assuming is Spear One or Three. I could check for Nari there too.”
“Katryn, I doubt they’d bring a hostage here.”
“But I can check!”
“But if you can penetrate a critical system on Spear Two, then we can save some of the shuttles out there protecting us. And ourselves. Then go rescue Nari.”
“Copy, Captain.” Katryn sounded resigned.
Ruhger sent messages to Al-Kindi and the school about the lack of Nari and received acknowledgments, but nothing else. Perhaps it hadn’t occurred to either of them to ask if they could check the other folder. And thinking about other folders, where was the third Spear? It had to be here somewhere. Why would they make a chancy attack like this without all their assets? Even if they knew the school were pacifists, wouldn’t they go all out? Two or three folders taking on the potential power of an entire asteroid was chancy. Unless taking out a bunch of monks was more stain than even their souls could handle? Ruhger snorted in amusement. The minutes ticked away, Loreli reporting shielding eroding, but slowly. How did Phalanx Eagle find them? Al-Kindi had to get the coordinates from a network of colleagues, all of whom had parts, but not the whole coordinate string. And they’d made interim folds to dead systems.
“Captain, Net Offense. I’m in some ship function nets, but since they’re in battle conditions, I don’t think changing gravity will make much difference.”
“Not for now. Can you program in a switch to max gravity for right before we fold? It might delay their reaction time a little.”
“Programming a switch to the gravity? Not enough time. I can implement it manually, yes.”
“Copy. I’ll give a countdown.”
“Shields to sixty percent,” Loreli said.
It was going to be uncomfortably close. Ruhger realized he was rubbing both armrests, and made himself stop. With the armored gloves, he’d rub right through the pleather, and they didn’t have the credits to replace decorative items. Once he stopped, he noticed the Scholar tapping out a complex rhythm on her armrests, the sound somehow martial.
“Shields to forty percent.”
Ruhger waited, watching the distance increase from the asteroid, finger hovering, ready to fold. “One minute.”
“Shields to thirty,” Loreli said.
“Thirty seconds.”
Loreli swallowed heavily. “Shields to twenty percent.”
“Kicking in emergency power,” Chief said.
“Fifteen,” Ruhger said.
“Shields holding at twenty.”
“Ten...”
“Net attack engaged,” Katryn said.
“Five, four, three, two, fold.”
New stars appeared and their attackers disappeared. Ruhger blew a sigh of relief, echoed by the crew. Messages popped up, flagged emergency and urgent. He swept the one from fold control up. A standard message, assigning them to an orbit and asking for immediate compliance. Ruhger said, “All personnel, all stations, perform post-fold checks and report issues.”
“Captain, stowing fold generators. Thrusters ready in two minutes,” Chief said.
Ruhger brought the orbit parameters into navigation. “Double-check, Scholar.” He made the calculations in his head and checked against the computer.
“Concur,” the Scholar said, seconds after him.
“Full fold power regeneration in thirty-six hours at current charging. We have more than enough fuel to accelerate if necessary.”
“Copy, Chief,” Ruhger said.
“Captain, Katryn and I are sweeping our net again,” Tyron said. “We don’t know how PE found us.”
“I’ll survey the hull again, once we’re in our assigned orbit,” Chief said.
“Urgent request from Gov Human, asking for a meeting,” Grant said. “When do you want to set it and where?”
“Not on Lightwave. Once we’re in our fold hold orbit, we’ll schedule a specific time,” Ruhger said.
“I’ll get breakfast started,” Loreli said from behind him.
Ruhger turned and nodded at her. “Good work, Loreli. Thank you.”
She simpered and fluttered her lashes at him. “You’re welcome. I’ll announce when breakfast is ready.” Loreli sashayed away.
“I’m sorting through the rest of these messages, then I’ll get the printer working on new uniforms and some simple disguises,” Grant said. “No more body mods.”
“Agreed.”
“Good job to all of you, crew,” Ruhger said. “Thank you.”
Grant and the Scholar looked over at him, astonished. Ruhger grimaced. He had to do better. A comms request came from Al-Kindi and Ruhger accepted it.
“Captain, I know why Spear One never appeared,” Al-Kindi said, anger and despair warring in his expression and tone.
Dread dripped icy fingers down Ruhger’s spine. “Why?”
“Because Familia attacked them, ‘rescued’ Nari, and now wants to negotiate her return.” Al-Kindi scowled. “My family’s cooperation in essences is required as part of her return.”
“Part?” The icy drip became a steady stream.
A grimace flickered. “Acknowledgement of your debt is also required. By you, Captain Ruhger, in person on Valenti.” Al-Kindi closed his eyes and blew out a resigned breath. “With the Scholar.”