“They’re between us and the asteroid belt,” Kella commented from the commander’s station breaking the harsh silence; the sensor holo glowing over her console.
“I noticed,” Gavin replied.
“How the hell did they get ahead of us? We left them sucking space dust,” Kella asked.
“Recursive Drive
“What?”
“Recursive Drive
“Oh yeah? And exactly what the hell does it do?”
“To put it simply, it creates slipspace inside slipspace,” Gavin explained.
“Say what?” Kella asked, unable to grasp the concept.
“Slipspace works by forming a fake dimension. You can think of it as ‘underneath’ reality if you like. Well, the Recursive Drive
“And that means what?” Kella asked, folding her arms in frustration.
“Basically, it means instantaneous travel between two points regardless of distance,” Gavin finished. Kella whistled in amazement.
“Don’t be too amazed. There was a second theory of ‘compression’ to go with the first. And before you ask,” Gavin started, interrupting the question already forming on Kella’s lips which she frowned at in annoyance. “Whenever you enter slipspace, you basically become compressed at a subatomic level and usually it’s at a level that you don’t notice. I wasn’t a dimensional physicist so I don’t really understand it all myself, but if you continually create slipsace dimensions, the theory states you’d eventually compress yourself out of existence. Cool, huh?”
“Whatever,” Kella said, exasperated. “Beyond all that fan-geek techno babble, what I’m hearing is that our ‘friends’ out there have a ship that can enter slipspace more than once, effectively allowing them to race ahead of us arriving first wherever we wish to go. Sounds fekkin’ awesome, Gavin.”
“Well, it’s just a guess,” Gavin mumbled dejectedly, turning back to the helm controls.
“Just a guess?” Kella said peeved.
“Look,” Gavin said, turning back around to focus the fisheye lens on Kella. “I already told you I didn’t have anything to do with the Gladius project, so I’m only guessing at its capabilities,” Gavin said, his frustration getting the better of him. “I didn’t ever get a memo listing all the cool shit it had onboard. I wasn’t told what the options package included, ya know, just in case I ever found myself having to fight it.”
Kella heaved a sigh, realizing she’d said too much. She reminded herself that it wasn’t Gavin’s fault they were in this mess. Well, at least, not entirely. “So what now, genius?”
“Bluff?” Gavin replied sarcastically. Kella sighed again.
“Praetorian,” the vox channel erupted into life, causing Kella to jump. “Major? Can you hear me? This is Dawson
“This is Hughes,” Gavin said, once again imitating the Major and adding liberal static. “Unable to alter course, heading for planet. Meet planetside.”
“Major, please forward security codes for verification,” Dawson
Kella looked in alarm to Gavin. The remote merely twitched. “Unable to transmit, repeat, unable to transmit. Heading to planet for emergency land…” Gavin’s transmission was suddenly cut off by a high-pitched squeal that quickly morphed into a series of fast pulses. Gavin quickly closed the channel, but it was too late. The signal had been received by the Gladius.
“Thieves aboard the captured Military vessel,” Dawson
“Crap!” Kella exclaimed as she realized what had happened and vaulted from the commander’s chair running from the bridge, but almost immediately backpedaled back in. Hughes followed her onto the bridge; the packing tape, in pieces, still attached to his armor. In their haste, Kella hadn’t removed his Phantom Armor, only leaving him unconscious and in bondage. The augmented strength had allowed him to easily break the tape. He held a hold-out blaster leveled in front of him, and had no intention of letting Kella get anywhere near him.
“Stand down, thief,” Hughes said. “Where’s the other one?”
“Other what?” Kella asked innocently backing into the commander’s chair.
“The other thief, of course. Where is he?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Kella replied, continuing to act dumb. She wouldn’t give up Gavin.
“I’m sure you don’t,” Hughes said icily. “Get over there, and don’t try anything funny,” he said motioning with his blaster. He’d spotted the confiscated gear on a workstation just on the other side of the commander’s chair. Kella sucked her teeth and moved away slowly.
Hughes moved towards the chair, keeping her before him. He wasn’t going to give her the chance to kick him again; his face was still hurting something fierce from the first time. He punched up the communications channel as he reached the interface holo of the commander’s station. Keeping one eye on Kella he opened the channel to the Gladius.
“Dawson
“Go for security verification,” Dawson
“Cavalier’s dream of Lancers,” Hughes responded, giving the daily response.
“Thank the stars,” Dawson
“Nothing some medirin wouldn’t cure. I have the thief in custody again. Send Martian and a contingent over at once,” Hughes said. “They’re more of a handful than originally expected.”
“Understood, Major. Martian is on his way.”
“Thanks Gladius. Hughes out,” he said, signing off the channel. He leaned against the commander’s chair casually, his eyes never leaving Kella, who stood near the port-side consoles. “You’ve given me quite a lot of trouble, mercenary. I have to hand it to you girl, you’ve joined a very short list of people that have gained the upper hand on me. And since you’ve given me such a headache, I wish to know who I’ve been fighting against. So we might as well get acquainted while I wait for my friends. What’s your name?” he said, his tone cordial, but the blaster never moved.
“Up yours,” Kella retorted.
“Pity,” Hughes said, sincerely disappointed. “Will you at least tell me where your friend is?”
Kella didn’t respond.
“I only ask, because it’s the last chance you have to save his life, and yours. If you don’t tell me where he’s hiding, my men will find him. They will find him, and then space him.” Hughes said honestly. He wasn’t trying to frighten her; he was simply trying to impart on her the seriousness of the situation.
“Good luck with that,” she said finally.
Hughes shook his head in disappointment. “A real pity,” he said standing up. “I can see you have no intention of helping yourself, or helping you comrade, and honestly, I can’t have you escaping again. I don’t have the time to properly deal with you, so please accept my sincerest apologies over this. You were an impressive opponent, but sadly, the game is up,” Hughes said sadly as he squared his stance and took aim.
Kella’s eyes went wide as she realized the man was about to shoot her. She wasn’t even going to get a trial; she was just going to be executed here and now. What the hell was Gavin doing? Was it really going to end like this? “Gavin…” she whispered.
“What?” Hughes asked, hearing her mumble. “What did you say?”
“That she wants to live,” Gavin said as the remote came whipping into Hughes from the helm’s station with a speed Kella didn’t know it possessed. She’d have a talk with him later over his choice of timing. She ducked behind a support strut to clear the weapon’s line of fire. Hughes was already recovering, but Gavin sent the remote slamming into him again.
Hughes grunted as he tried to catch the large spherical camera, and dropped the gun in the effort. The repulsors on the remote made it much heavier than it was and it was pressing down with its considerable force into Hughes. Gavin was straining the thing, trying to keep the Major pinned down. If Hughes let up, the remote would crush him. The ploy worked, and Kella was quick to snatch the pistol from the floor. She moved in and away fast enough that Hughes only caught the slightest of movements out of his peripheral vision.
“Yield!” the remote cried out.
“Who the hell are you?” Hughes grunted, not giving up.
“I am who I am. Just give up, you’ve lost!”
“This is maddening!” Hughes exclaimed, his suit straining. In a gamble, he twisted around, and managed to divert the force of Gavin’s remote, sending it crashing into the floor and skittering off into a corner. Hughes quickly recovered and turned to engage Kella, but came face to face with his own blaster. With his helmet deactivated, Kella had a clear and easy headshot. Defeated, Hughes held up his hands.
“Remove the suit,” Kella ordered. “Gavin, you ok?” she asked as the remote came to float next to her lopsidedly.
“I think I pushed it too far,” he said quietly.
“Who are you people?” Hughes said, begrudgingly removing his phantom armor.
“Exactly as you see us,” the remote said. “A sellsword, and a man in a can.”
“Come again?” Hughes asked in astonishment, but he quickly recovered. “It doesn’t matter. My people will be here in moments. You can’t escape the Gladius.”
“Oh yes, about that,” Gavin said. “You see, they’re not really coming,” Gavin said mimicking Officer Dawson perfectly. “Because you weren’t actually talking to the Gladius. You were talking to me.” Kella laughed as she realized Gavin had played Hughes into revealing his passcode.
“What?” Hughes said in horror.
“And thanks to you, I was able to call the Gladius and get them to let us pass. See?” Gavin said smugly, the remote tilting a little, motioning towards the viewports. Hughes stumbled over and saw the truth. His last hope was moving away, allowing the Praetorian free access to the planet, and to the asteroid belt.
“How did you..?” Hughes started, but was unable to finish the question, his voice failing him.
“Simple, as I told you before. This is my system. This is my plane. I am the plane,” Gavin said.
“I don’t understand,” Hughes said numbly.
“Probably better that way. Kella, let’s get going,” Gavin said piteously as the remote floated over to the helm’s station and landed roughly in the chair.
“What about him?” Kella asked motioning with her thumb.
“I don’t think we have to worry about him at the moment,” Gavin said. The Praetorian’s engines powered up, and the plane banked away from the Gladius heading towards the asteroid belt.
“I don’t think we should just leave him up here,” Kella persisted.
“Well, then go take him down to the brig,” Gavin said emotionlessly. “I have to navigate my way through this asteroid field without doing us serious harm. Besides, he’s helpless without his gear.” Kella looked over her shoulder at Hughes as he sank into a chair underneath the starboard viewports. He looked defeated, tired.
“C’mon Major,” Kella said gently to Hughes, using the gun to keep him compliant. The Major said nothing allowing himself to be led from the bridge. Gavin watched them go, keeping an eye on them all the way down to the brig using the Praetorian’s security monitors. He didn’t spare much attention to the pair as they went, however, as he was busy orchestrating a flurry of activity in the upper landing bay, and programming the remaining remotes on board for his use. It had become apparent to him, that although easier to stomach, being restricted to one remote was a hindrance. If he was to protect his livelihood, he’d have to fortify.
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