Chapter 145

  Alexander stood to the right of the captain’s chair, watching the viewscreen as the Sleipnir closed in on their fourth harvester. The mining machine drifted through the asteroid field ahead, its bulk silhouetted against the distant stars.

  To his left, Carmen sat in the captain’s chair, relaxed but attentive. Ryan stood beside her, arms crossed, overseeing the bridge crew at their stations below.

  “You know,” Yuki said from the pilot’s station, “my mother would absolutely kill me if she found out I’d become a pirate.”

  Davis snorted from weapons. “Mine would die laughing if she found out I was one. So I guess that evens things out.”

  “That’s not how that works, dumbass,” Petra called out from sensors and comms.

  “Sure it is,” Davis shot back. “One death cancels out the other. Basic math.”

  “That’s not even close to how anything works.”

  “Your logic isn’t how anything works.”

  “At least I have logic.”

  They continued bickering back and forth, hurling insults with the ease that came with long friendships that had survived months of close quarters and frustratingly little privacy.

  Ryan cleared his throat. “Focus, people.”

  His tone was commanding but not aggressive. Just enough edge to redirect without coming down hard. The bickering stopped immediately.

  Alexander was amused by their antics. He wondered briefly what his own mother would think of all this. She’d probably still be annoyed about the whole supervillain thing more than anything. He pushed the thought aside and focused on the task at hand.

  The ship slowed to a complete stop, main engines idling, as the asteroid harvester came into range. Alexander reached out with Technopathy, feeling the machine’s systems respond immediately to his intent. The connection was good. The harvester ready to obey without even the slightest resistance. He commanded it to offload the freight container and switch to transport mode.

  On the viewscreen, the harvester released its cargo, magnetic clamps disengaging. The container drifted slowly away from the main body. The harvester began to fold in on itself, mining equipment and collection arms turning inward as it reconfigured. Within moments it looked less like an industrial platform and more like a compact transportable unit.

  Alexander guided it carefully around the ship’s hull, maintaining the connection as he directed its trajectory toward the open cargo bay doors.

  “That makes four,” Carmen said from the captain’s chair. “You’re thinking two more, right?”

  Alexander nodded, still concentrating on guiding the harvester in.

  “Nav, locate the next one and plot our course,” Carmen called out.

  With James Carter’s passing, Vikram Ravi Singh had moved from second shift to fill the empty navigator position. From what Alexander had seen so far, the man fit in well with the others, with no obvious tension.

  “Already done, ma’am,” Vikram responded from the navigation station. His voice was calm. “Ready to—”

  Petra interrupted. “Captain, we’re picking up a jump signal.”

  There was a brief pause as her fingers danced across the screens in front of her, pulling up streams of data that only she could read and interpret.

  “It’s a UEG destroyer, ma’am,” Petra continued. “Probably a patrol ship. They’ve pinged us already, so they know we’re running dark.”

  Davis cursed under his breath.

  “Nav, plot the nearest jump route,” Carmen ordered. “Angle us to avoid their weapons envelope.” She turned to the pilot. “Yuki, start building thrust on the main engines. Use RCS to hold position as long as you can.”

  Vikram and Yuki replied in unison. “Aye, Captain.”

  Alexander understood the plan. With the ship brought to a complete stop, the drives were idling. Returning them to maximum output took time, unlike with some engine designs. The Reaction Control System’s maneuvering thrusters would counter the forward thrust in order to keep the ship steady while Alexander loaded the harvester.

  For a time. The main engines would quickly overpower the maneuvering thrusters.

  “They’re hailing us, ma’am,” Petra added.

  Carmen was quiet for a moment. Her expression turned thoughtful as she considered their options.

  Then she looked over at Alexander. “How much longer to get it aboard?”

  Alexander checked the harvester’s position. It was approaching the cargo bay doors now. “Almost there. Thirty more seconds.”

  Carmen turned toward navigation. “Does thirty seconds make a difference?”

  Vikram’s response was somber. “No, Captain. We’ll be inside their weapons envelope even if we leave immediately. There’s no way to avoid it before we reach the minimum safe distance for a jump.”

  “Captain,” Davis said, his tone carefully neutral. “Permission to bring weapons online?”

  Carmen shook her head immediately. “No. We’re not fighting the UEG military.”

  “Agreed,” Alexander said.

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  He kept his focus on the harvester, closing the cargo bay doors as it passed through, but his mind was already working through the tactical situation.

  “Harvester’s aboard.”

  Carmen activated the ship-wide comms. “All hands, brace for sudden acceleration in five seconds.” She cut the connection and looked at Yuki. “Make for the jump limit. Full burn.”

  “Aye, Captain,” Yuki responded.

  Alexander grabbed the railing beside the captain’s chair. Across the bridge, clicks sounded as crew members at their stations belted themselves in. Ryan seized the rail on Carmen’s left, stance widening for balance.

  Yuki cut the counter-thrust.

  The ship lurched forward.

  The acceleration hit hard, pushing Alexander back as the main engines roared to full output. The Sleipnir shot ahead while turning sharply and climbing at the same time. Alexander noted absently that directions like right and up only made sense relative to the ship’s orientation. In the void, there was no universal frame of reference.

  Then the inertial dampeners caught up. The crushing sensation faded as the compensation systems balanced out the G-forces, returning the bridge to something approaching normal gravity.

  Carmen turned to comms. “Petra, connect us. Mask the feed.”

  “Aye, Captain,” Petra said.

  Carmen leaned back in the chair.

  Petra glanced over her shoulder and mouthed the word ‘connecting’ to Carmen.

  The holo above the main viewscreen flickered to life.

  A man appeared, his image sharp despite the distortion Petra had applied to their end of the transmission. He was older, maybe late fifties, with distinguished gray at his temples and the kind of bearing that came from decades of command. His uniform was pristine. Medals and service ribbons decorated his chest in neat rows.

  His expression was stern. The face of someone who’d dealt with situations like this before.

  “This is Captain Harrison of the Space Force destroyer SFS Integrity,” he said. His voice was clear, authoritative, leaving no room for argument. “You are currently operating without an active transponder, which constitutes an act of piracy under both United Earth Government law and the treaties governing galactic space beyond our borders.”

  He paused, letting that sink in.

  “I am ordering you to power down your engines and weapons systems immediately and prepare to be boarded. Comply, and you will be treated with all the respect and rights afforded to you under the law.” Another pause. His expression hardened slightly. “Failure to do so will be met with the full firepower of a UEG destroyer. You have two minutes to comply.”

  The transmission cut out.

  Carmen ran her fingers through her hair. “Well, that was pretty damn straightforward.” She looked at Vikram. “Nav, time to effective weapons range?”

  Vikram’s fingers moved across his displays. “At current acceleration and vector... approximately fifty-two minutes, Captain. “

  “And the jump limit?”

  “Roughly eighty-one minutes at full burn.”

  Carmen’s expression turned thoughtful, her gaze distant as she processed their situation.

  Ryan leaned in, his voice dropping to something just above a murmur. “Doesn’t leave us many options, Captain. Surrendering might be our best choice.”

  Carmen turned to face him, her eyes sharp.

  Ryan continued, unfazed by her look. “If their ship comes close enough, Alexander might be able to take control of it.” He glanced across at Alexander. “Right?”

  Alexander was impressed. Ryan had put a plan together quickly. The XO understood the tactical possibilities better than most would.

  “Yes,” Alexander said. “It’s possible if they come within range. Even if they don’t, we could probably handle any boarding parties, then shuttle back across and deal with the destroyer directly.”

  His Electrokinesis picked up familiar bioelectrical signatures approaching from the corridor outside. The rest of Grimnir was nearly at the bridge.

  “However,” Alexander continued, “there is another option.” He paused, letting that hang in the air for a moment. “What if we could make the ship go faster?”

  Carmen raised an eyebrow. “And just how would you achieve that?”

  The bridge door slid open. Footsteps echoed as the rest of Grimnir entered.

  Alexander grinned. “Magic.”

  Carmen’s voice was dry. “As much as I enjoy the occasional flair for the dramatic, I would much prefer an explanation considering the circumstances.”

  “Of course,” Alexander said. He turned to look at Augustus, Talia, Annie, and Felix as they approached.

  Annie spoke up before anyone else could. “What’s going on? I was sleeping until I was rudely tossed into the wall.” She rubbed her shoulder, but she was smiling.

  “Oh, just a UEG warship chasing us down for being pirates,” Alexander said.

  Annie’s eyes lit up. “We’re pirates now, too? Best day ever!”

  Augustus interrupted. “Is it serious?”

  Alexander glanced between him and Talia. “That depends. Did the two of you finish setting up all the runes and enchantments?”

  “Most of them,” Talia said. “I still don’t see why it matters, though. Now that we know they draw power from the ship’s reactor, it’s just...”

  Augustus finished her thought. “Robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

  Felix looked at Augustus. “Who are Peter and Paul?”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Annie said, patting Felix’s back. “It’s one of those sayings old people use.”

  “You’re right,” Alexander said, cutting back in. “Unless we power them another way.”

  Understanding crossed Talia’s face, followed by Augustus’s a moment later. Annie yawned loudly, clearly uninterested.

  Alexander turned back to Carmen, who had been waiting patiently for an explanation.

  “Augustus and Talia have been inscribing runes and enchantments to enhance the ship,” he said. “In theory, they should provide additional defense and boost the ship’s capabilities.” He smiled slightly. “Plus, I Ensouled the ship when we borrowed it. It hasn’t shown any of the intelligence Droney has, but that shouldn’t matter.”

  Before anyone could respond, Alexander closed his eyes and reached out with his senses. He felt them stretch throughout the entirety of the ship, his Will filling every system, every conduit, every corridor, every bulkhead. Every rune designed to draw in power. Every enchantment meant to increase the ship’s performance. It was their first attempt at a major collaborative project between the three of them.

  Sleipnir responded to him like an extension of his own body.

  His eyes opened.

  “Soul Circuit.”

  Casting out his arms, Alexander poured power from his soul, into his core, and then into the ship. Electrokinesis fed the runes, which in turn powered the enchantments.

  The drain on his energy was immediately noticeable. But it was also manageable for the time being.

  And it was working.

  “Rate of acceleration has increased to… 101%,” Yuki said, confused. “102%. 103%. Continuing to climb.”

  Alexander wasn’t done. Next, Metallokinesis flowed along the same path, wielded through the ship and therefore using it as the anchor point instead of himself. Oscillating waves pushed at the ship, one after the other, each released after a single pulse.

  Beads of sweat broke out across his scalp. Itching.

  Yuki gasped. “Holy shit. 112%. 116%. It’s not stopping.”

  “Captain,” Vikram started, “if the acceleration keeps climbing at this rate, we’ll reach the jump limit well before they’re within effective firing range.”

  Carmen turned to him, her expression evaluating. “How long can you maintain it?”

  A bead of sweat ran slowly down Alexander’s forehead, slipped around his eyebrow, and then dropped into his eye. He blinked furiously but maintained his focus on the power flowing through the ship.

  “No idea,” he said. “Not the whole way, that’s for sure. I’m already feeling the strain.”

  “133%,” Yuki reported.

  Carmen nodded once. “Let’s hope it’s enough.”

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