Galaxy unstable forgotte.., p.1
Galaxy Unstable (Forgotten Galaxy Book 2), page 1
GALAXY UNSTABLE
FORGOTTEN GALAXY
BOOK 2
M.R. FORBES
Published by Quirky Algorithms
Seattle, Washington
This novel is a work of fiction and a product of the author’s imagination.
Any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2023 by M.R. Forbes
All rights reserved.
Cover illustration by Tom Edwards
Edited by Merrylee Laneheart
CHAPTER 1
“Ish, does this thing have external comms or does everything go through the collux network?” Caleb asked, looking through the Nightmare’s flight deck transparency. Looming overhead, the starship Glory’s rusted and scuffed hull occupied the entire top half of the view.
Peeling his eyes off the damaged hull, he stared out at the spacetime compression field surrounding both ships like a translucent white blanket, allowing both ships to travel through the Manticore Spiral at faster-than-light speed. While he doubted any manner of comm signals could penetrate it, he figured signals should work just fine inside the field, just as long as the Nightmare had gear to support it.
“I want to talk to General Haas.”
I doubt he wants to speak to us.
“Too bad. I don’t really want to speak to him, either. Especially if he’s the one who brought the Legion down on the planet. But I’ll get to that in due time. Right now, we need to set the record straight so we can get on board. Haas thinks we killed the Empress.”
We did.
“Technically, yes. But not really.”
How do you intend to convince him of that?
“I don’t know yet. We’ll figure something out. First step is to open a comms channel.”
There appears to be the appropriate equipment on board. It is intended for external operation.
One display mounted to the central control column switched away from the feed from the Nightmare’s hull to a comms control display. Sliders provided the controls to select channels, bands, and frequencies.
“Great. Now all we have to do is find a setting Glory can hear us on. That shouldn’t take too long.”
Are we in a hurry? We can’t exactly go anywhere. With the amount of compression surrounding us, I would imagine exiting the field would leave us instantly pulverized to microscopic particles.
“I’ve known men like Haas before,” Caleb replied. “It’s only a matter of time before he realizes we tagged along for this ride, and once he does—”
“Ish, evasives!” Caleb ordered as two of Glory’s hull-mounted gun turrets swiveled toward the Nightmare.
Evade to where? We only have about four hundred meters of open space around the barge.
“So use it!” he shouted just as Glory’s guns opened fire, sending projectile rounds into the Nightmare’s shields.
Ishek did his best to avoid the attack by firing vectoring thrusters and pushing the Nightmare sideways beneath Glory’s hull, forcing the turrets to recalibrate and track their firing solutions. As soon as he reached the edge of the starboard side, he slipped back the other way, absorbing a few more seconds of fire as their path again crossed over the line of fire. It worked for now, but like any kind of repeated evasive maneuver, they’d eventually end up obliterated.
Meanwhile, Caleb adjusted the dials, trying to hail the barge. “Glory, this is Nightmare, do you copy? Glory, come in.” He repeated the statement each time he switched to a new comm setting.
Can’t we take out the guns?
“No,” Caleb snapped. “We’re trying to help them. Destroying their already pitiful defenses won’t accomplish that goal.”
What if they destroy us with their pitiful defenses?
“Just stay out of their targeting vectors until I can talk to them.”
Easier said than done.
Ishek guided the Nightmare back and away from the turrets, dipping dangerously close to the bottom of the hyperspace field. Over-correcting to avoid being smashed to atoms, he climbed right into the gunfire. A few of the rounds penetrated the shields, digging into the fuselage beside the flight deck.
“Damn it, Ish!” Caleb complained, changing the comm channel again. “Glory, this is Nightmare. Please stop shooting at us. Glory, come in.”
I think I’m doing well considering this is my first time piloting a starship.
“It might also be your last if we don’t stay out of their gun sights.”
The Nightmare continued its climb, leaving the line of fire and gaining a moment of peace before the top guns swiveled to track them. Firing starboard side vectoring thrusters, Ishek pushed the Nightmare hard left, dipping back behind Glory’s thruster exhausts, all of them still burning lightly inside the field.
They can’t get an angle on us here.
Caleb nearly allowed himself to feel relieved, only to have the thrusters flare suddenly, the heat of the massive push of ions blasting against the Nightmare’s face. Not only did Ishek need to duck away from the makeshift flamethrower, he had to adjust their velocity to match. The unexpected shift almost pushed them out of the back of the field. Only the Nightmare’s superior thrust allowed them to overcome the differential.
“Glory, come in,” Caleb repeated. “We need to talk. Glory, do you copy?”
Perhaps if we can get in close to their bridge. They might reconsider destroying us if the debris may puncture their defenses.
“That’s not a terrible idea.”
Unlike your typical plans.
Ishek launched the Nightmare toward the front of the vessel, taking another bead of fire in the process. A few more rounds penetrated the armor, puncturing the rear cabin. Caleb immediately heard the air begin leaking out into space.
That’s not good.
“How long until we can’t breathe?”
The holes are relatively small, so we may be able to patch them. If we can’t, perhaps an hour.
“I don’t intend to be out here that long.”
Even if you can convince Haas to allow us onboard, which seems highly unlikely right now, there’s no guarantee the barge has a suitable docking mechanism compatible with this ship.
“You keep throwing all these complications at me, Ish. First things first. We need to get Haas to pick up his damn comms!” He shouted the last part, growing frustrated with the situation. Trying a few more channels without success, he growled in exasperation.
Ishek guided the Nightmare past the bow, making a quick maneuver to carry them back up over the top of Glory before Haas could try to cut them off. He couldn’t spin the ship around for fear Haas might try to out-accelerate them and knock them from the field. Instead, he fired the retro-thrusters, slowing the Nightmare enough to bring them in line with the transparency fronting the barge’s bridge. They were lucky whoever had built the craft hadn’t bothered to bury the control center in the middle of the ship, like Centurion shipbuilders were required to do.
Even so, it took a few more seconds of cannon fire and some quick ducking and jinking by Ishek before someone must have told Haas what the consequences of blasting them apart so close to the bridge might be. The guns went silent just as Caleb was about to try another comm channel. A different frequency began flashing on the display. He had failed to hail Haas, but now that they had moved into a better defensive position, Haas was hailing him. He tapped on the flashing comm channel, opening it up. “This is—”
“Card, you son of a bitch!” Haas shouted, his voice coming through a speaker hidden somewhere in the display. “You’ve got some nerve slipping into our hyperspace field like that!”
I told you it was a hyperspace field, not a warp bubble.
“With all due respect, General,” Caleb spat, ignoring Ishek. “I saved your life, and the lives of every single person on board your ship.”
“After you got the Empress killed. Without her, we’re already dead. You just extended the misery of the rest of our lives spent on board this garbage barge, running from Crux’s Legion.”
“The Empress would never have been in a position to be killed if a traitor on that ship hadn’t tipped off Crux where to find you. Which I’m not even close to convinced isn’t you.”
“Me?” Haas roared. His vitriol was so full of fire he was either an actor worthy of an award or he wasn’t the mole. “How dare you insinuate I had anything to do with it. You’re the one who showed up out of nowhere, and two days later the Legion came in right behind you. If anyone looks guilty, it’s you, Card.”
“Except I didn’t need the Legion to kill the Empress,” Caleb shot back. “I had a knife to her throat, remember?”
The comment gave Haas pause. The comms fell silent for a long stretch before he spoke again. “I intend to look into your accusations personally,” he finally replied, his voice still hard, but at a much lower volume. “I’m not the traitor, Card.” He paused again. “Maybe you aren’t either. But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re indirectly responsible for the Empress’ death.”
Caleb’s jaw clenched at the statement.
Don’t say it.
“Maybe not as indirectly as you think.”
Why did you say it?
“What are you talking about?” Haas asked.
He’s not going to let you on board when you tell him that your hand is the one that drove the sword into the Empress’ chest.
What am I supposed to do? Caleb questioned. Lie?
Yes!
I can’t.
Of course you can. It’s easy.
Damn it, Ish. It would be easy, but I can’t help these people if I can’t build trust with them, and how can I build trust with a whopper of a secret like that?
You do remember we’re venting atmosphere, right?
“Card? Explain yourself.” Haas demanded.
Caleb could sense Ishek’s immense displeasure with his desire to come clean. The little worm was probably right, but he couldn’t live with himself perpetuating such a huge lie. “When we were down in the support tunnels, a powerful Relyeh seized control of Ishek, my Relyeh symbiote, and through him, me. The Relyeh used my body to stab the Empress. I didn’t kill her by my volition, but she did die by my hand.”
“I see,” Haas replied, followed by another long pause. “This does…complicate things. I was almost ready to believe I was wrong about you.”
“I’m being up front with you so there are no secrets or hidden agendas. We didn’t get off to a good start, but we’re on the same side.”
“I don’t know what side you’re on, Card. You showed up out of nowhere, and forty-eight hours later we’re running for our lives. Traitor or no traitor, we lost two APCS and too many good Guardians dealing with you.”
“That wasn’t my fault. I tried to talk to them. They wouldn’t listen.”
“It doesn’t matter now. Your hand slayed the Empress. I wouldn’t have told me that if I were you.”
See?
“But you can’t unsay it, and I can’t unknow it. Which leaves me in a tough spot.”
“General, thanks to your shoot first, ask questions later approach to dealing with me, this Nightmare is venting air. Why don’t you bring me onboard, throw me in the brig, and we can talk about it later? Work something out.”
“No,” Haas replied, simply and forcefully.
“Why not?”
“Even if I completely trusted you, which I don’t, you’re way too much of a risk for me to allow on this ship. You claim a Relyeh seized control of your khoron and forced you to kill the Empress. Even if I believed you, which I’m not sure I do, how can you assure me the Relyeh won’t repeat his assassination methods a second time, maybe when we’re alone in a passageway together? You’re like a walking time bomb, ready to go off at any moment. The more I think about it, the more galling it is to me that you would even ask to come aboard. How can anyone trust you right now when you can’t even trust yourself?”
Caleb’s jaw remained clenched, hands tight on his armrests. There hadn’t been time to give the situation much thought between the race to save Glory from destruction and his desire to stop Haas from firing on him. “You’re right, General. Maybe I’m not as much of an ally as I want to be. I am indeed a risk. But the fact remains that in less than an hour, I’ll be out of air. Like I said, throw me in the brig. Leave me there while we figure out what used me and how to prevent it from happening again. You have my life in your hands.”
“I’m sorry, Card. Everyone on this ship is on edge. Beyond the Empress, beyond the Guardians we lost on the surface, the hit to the bow killed nearly three hundred people. All it would take to finish breaking us would be for you to lose control as soon as you stepped on board.”
“I could lose control right now, and slam my Nightmare into your bridge, General.”
“Then you should move away from the bridge, Card. I won’t resume shooting at you. I give you my word.”
Ish, do it.
You could have played this a lot better.
Ishek guided the Nightmare up and away from the bridge, taking position between the upper edge of the field and Glory’s highest point.
“Better?” Caleb asked.
“Much. I appreciate your act of faith, Card. I can’t let you on this ship, but I do have an idea.”
“What kind of idea?”
“In twenty minutes, I’ll have Glory brought out of FTL. You’ll distance yourself from my ship, and then we’ll resume our travel without you. The system we’re currently in is remote, but it isn’t so remote that a distress call will go unnoticed. The only question will be how well you can conserve your oxygen supply.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Caleb said. “How is that a fair deal?”
“Who said anything about being fair? I appreciate your desire to help, if it’s sincere. But I won’t let you onboard. You have a better shot at survival with my plan than you do tagging along in a leaky boat. If you do survive, and you are sincere, I trust you’ll find a way to make yourself useful to those who still support the Empire under the rule of Empress Lo’ane’s designated successor.”
Caleb finally loosened his jaw, releasing a resigned exhale. “It’s not like I have much of a choice.”
“No, you don’t.”
“What about Abraham? He got you into hyperspace alive.”
“He did, and there may be a place among us for him because of it. For now, he’s in the brig, waiting for a fresh round of questioning. I expect he’ll be more forthcoming this time.”
“He’s a good Marine. He deserves your respect.”
“If he earns it, he’ll have it.”
“And Private Marley?”
“She’ll be court-martialed and sent to work in the galley for leading you to our base. I’d consider having her executed, but we need every hand we can get right now, and she’s not a true enemy of the people, just an idiot who made a bad choice.”
“Once I figure out who used me and ensure it can’t happen again, how will I find you?”
“I don’t know. But you seem like a resourceful man. The kind of man who stops at nothing to get what he wants. Assuming you don’t asphyxiate.”
“Suss out the traitor, General. Or there might not be anything or anyone left for me to find.”
“Count on it, Card.”
“Then I won’t ask you to tell Ham and Marley I said goodbye. Please tell them to hang in there and I’ll see them later. And tell Ham I still intend to find a way to get him home to his family. Can you do that for me?”
“You did help us escape Galatin, mostly in one piece. I’ll let him know what happened to you.”
“Thank you. Until next time, General. Card out.”
He tapped the disconnect on the display before leaning back in his seat.
Well, that went exceedingly well.
CHAPTER 2
“This should buy us at least two more hours,” Caleb said, reviewing the quick patch job he had done on the bullet holes in the Nightmare’s fuselage. He’d used Hiro’s sword to cut pieces out of the dead Legionnaire’s armor, holding them in place with the Legionnaire’s magboots. Without a welding machine, the seal wasn’t completely airtight, but it would have to suffice.
Time’s up.
In response to Ishek’s comment, Caleb turned his head back toward the flight deck. The white blanket began losing its distorted threads, the stars spreading out in front of them as compressed space expanded. He still didn’t love the idea of being dropped off in the middle of nowhere, but it had to be better than getting captured by Crux’s warships or being stranded on Galatin.
And Haas was dead on in his assessment. Now that he’d solved the asphyxiation problem, at least temporarily, he could fully focus on completing his mission. It didn’t matter that he still wasn’t sure where to start. One problem at a time. One step at a time. He would work it all out.
Noticing the comms display flashing from the rear cabin, he headed forward to answer. One benefit of the collux-based control network for the Nightmare was that he didn’t need to be in the pilot’s seat for Ishek to keep tabs on their position and heading. Of course, he couldn’t fly the ship very well from anywhere else because he needed Caleb’s eyes to see, but it had allowed them to effect the repairs to the hull without crashing into Glory or veering out of the hyperspace field.
Regaining his seat, he pulled the safety harness down and locked it in before answering the hail. “This is Card.”
“I’m sure you’ve noticed we’re dropping out of hyperspace. The system is called Agni. It’s a cluster of four habitable planets within a two hour hyperspace jump of one another, which means they have plenty of traffic crossing through the area. Ships in hyperspace can’t receive distress signals, obviously, but you should be in range to have your call picked up by someone who either dropped early for a longer sub-light approach or needed to make some minor repairs of their own. I know thirty minutes isn’t a lot of time, but I think you’ll figure something out.”
