Outpost

Chapter 1

"Captain Danion… Elise… wait up!"

Elise stopped short in the crowded corridor. She turned and bumped into her red-headed co-pilot, two-steps behind her.

Whoa, Boss. Russ reached out to steady her. Careful with those U-turns.

Smiling, she nudged him, pointing back at the well-built black man threading his way through the crowded corridor. The top of his short-cropped haircut bobbed its way past crewmen and passengers filling the spaceport corridor. What’s Ernie doing down here?

Hard to say. I didn’t think he trusted his crew to run Port Operations without him. If he doesn’t go home for more than ten minutes this century, Jasmine will probably re-key all the entry codes to their house.

Elise gave Russ a playful punch in the arm and he stepped back against the wall of windows overlooking the landing pads. Be nice. Over Russ’ grunt, she called out. What’s up, Ernie?

When Ernie reached them, he gripped Russ’ shoulder. His other hand went to his chest, while he his breath came in loud, quick gasps. I…I was…hoping to catch you…before you two lifted off this morning.

A bit out of shape, Ernie? Russ managed to say through his smile. You could have said goodbye over the comm.

"Why are you doing sprints in the terminal? Elise said. Do you miss us already?"

A grin filled Ernie’s face. Okay, it’s true, Fallon isn’t the same when you two aren’t planetside. He dropped his hand from Russ’ shoulder to fish through his satchel. That’s not the reason I stopped you. I recorded an urgent message from the Authorities a few minutes ago and I made a copy for you. Promise you’ll listen to it before you lift off.

Russ’ brow furrowed. Damn! Every time the Colonial Intergalactic Authority calls, they claim it’s urgent.

I usually don’t pay much attention to the Authority messages. He ran his fingers over his hair. They tend to get excited over everything. But this one’s different. It looks like we have a problem. According to the Authorities, someone has found a way to pull ships out of hyperspace. Ernie thrust a cube into her hand. Just watch it. I have to get back to work. Heading up the corridor, he glanced over his shoulder. Have a safe trip.

We will. Elise turned the cube over in her hand. Nothing can pull a ship out of hyperspace. She called out. Hey, Ernie. You’re sure about this? The information is legit?

Looking back at her, Ernie shrugged. I’ve never seen Commander Kendell so sure of anything. Show it to your father. I’ll send out a notice to all the other merchanters later today. With a wave of his hand he blended into the crowd.

Elise turned to Russ. What do you think?

Rubbing his cleft chin he shrugged and said, There’s always a first time for everything.

Get going, make sure the crew has the ship ready. She gave him a shove. I have to see Dad. He’s prepping our passenger for our Mithras run.

Elise walked through the doors of Jahan Transports. She waved at a group of employees huddled over a holographic depiction at one of the ten desks in the outer office. Continuing on, she passed the employee lounge and turned down the corridor. Reaching her father’s office, she tapped the sensor pad to his door.

When it slid open, Tom Danion looked up from behind the only wooden desk in the company and smiled. Good morning, sweetheart.

Hi, Dad. Where’s our— Elise froze mid-step and scowled when the man seated across from her father turned to face her.

"What’s he doing here?"

Tom stood and rounded his desk. Before she could say another word, he hustled her out the door. He rested his hand on her shoulder. Alex is here because his partner can’t make the trip as planned.

Clamping her jaw to keep from blurting out her thoughts, Elise said through clenched teeth, "Dad, you know how I feel about that man. I don’t want him anywhere near my ship!"

Tom’s eyes narrowed and fixed her with a piercing stare. This can’t be helped. Someone from Interplex has to oversee the installation of equipment for the Mithras government. Since his partner can’t make the trip, Alex is the only one available.

He can send one of his techs, Elise said, glancing up the hall to see if anyone paid attention to their conversation. "I won’t travel there with him aboard!"

With a stern look, Tom sighed. There’s no one else Alex trusts. His steel-gray eyes saddened and his face filed with one of his fatherly smiles. Look, you know he’s one of my oldest friends. I know you think you have reason to hate him, but you’re wrong. Get over it.

How can you defend him?

Defend him? Tom stepped back. "Defend him against what? He was not responsible for your mother’s death. Tom threw his hands up and let out a sigh. He is traveling with you, Captain Danion."

Elise’s eyes widened and locked on her father. "All right, Tom. She stiffened her shoulders, following him back into his office. Facing Alex, she forced herself to smile. Before we leave Fallon, Mr. Ballard, I want to make a few things perfectly clear. Elise faced Alex but ignored his outstretched hand. Ernie told us that someone may have discovered a way to pull ships out of hyperspace. And the only groups that would benefit from a device like that would be privateers."

Elise moved to within a few inches of Alex’s face. I don’t want you interfering with my routine. When she turned away she glanced back over her shoulder. Russ will act as your liaison until we reach Mithras. He will tend to all your needs. I do not want you on my bridge or anywhere I might run into you during this flight. She dropped into a seat in front of the desk. "Russ will give you a galley schedule and I expect you to adhere to it with a strictness I’m sure you have never exerted in your life."

Elise, what are you talking about? Tom slid forward in his chair. If privateers have a device that can do that then Alex could be a lot of help.

Ernie gave this to me a few minutes ago. Elise handed the cube to her father. He sounded convinced that Commander Kendall believes this is a serious threat.

Tom inserted the cube into a port on his desk and pressed the playback control. A holographic image appeared, floating above the silver disk.

"Why, hello Commander Kendall. We don’t see you very often." Ernie’s recorded voice filled the room with mock enthusiasm. "What can I do for the Authorities today?"

Kendall’s holo-image, in full uniform, flickered. We’ve had another string of hyperdrive failures. Straightening to his full height pushed his brush-cut red hair out of the image. Command strongly suggests you delay any departures from Fallon for several days until we can investigate this further.

"More failures, huh? Ernie’s off-screen sarcasm brought a frown to Kendall’s face. What’s happened this time, Commander?"

Kendall sucked in a gulp of air through his thin lips and held it before he answered. "Like I said, Johnson, more than a dozen ships in your sector have reported hyperdrive failures while in transit."

When she heard the contempt in Kendall’s voice Elise looked up at Tom and frowned.

"I’ll inform the pilots, but you know what an independent lot we are out here on the frontier. The merchants working out of Fallon won’t shut down operations based on wild speculations from Central Command."

Kendall raised his voice. "You listen to me, Johnson! As head of Fallon’s port operations you should take heed of this. Three times in the past three weeks hyperdrives have failed on ships in transit through your sector.

"These aren’t wild speculations. With the recent attack on the Jahan ships, we’re concerned about merchants going out without an Authority escort. The Sidewinder, an Authority ship in top condition I might add, dropped into the middle of the Angmer system and nearly slammed into Tysler’s sun. Since we’re out here at the edge of the colonies, we need to make sure one of the privateer gangs aren’t causing these malfunctions."

Alex, with a concerned look on his face, leaned forward. Tom, that’s not possible.

Mr. Ballard, I think we should listen to what the Authorities have to say before we make any snap judgments.

"Look, Commander," Ernie’s voice went on, this doesn’t make sense. Why would any privateer use a device like that? Assuming one existed? Since no one can track or even contact a ship in hyperspace, how would they know where to use the thing? We know they’re looting merchanters, but if they are firing whatever they’re using blind, they could just as easily wind up confronting a military vessel. And then they’d get what they deserved.

Kendall’s image flickered again before he spoke. That’s why we’re asking everyone to stand-down for a while. We need time to investigate.

"That’ll be a hard sell, Commander. Trying to convince these business owners that this is a man-made problem will be tough, since many of the ships reporting troubles are ones that have dubious operating records anyway. Most will chalk it all up to poor maintenance."

"Well," Kendall said pacing in and out of the hologram, Maybe this will help convince the skeptics. According to the ships’ chronometers, they all experienced failures at the same instant.

The amusement in Ernie’s recorded voice faded. I didn’t know these were simultaneous events.

Tom’s raised one hand to stop Elise and the other to paused the playback. Did you check his facts? All these failures happened at the same time?

Dad, this is the first time I’ve seen this too. You know Ernie, with something like this he would never make a big deal out of it unless he was sure. And, it sounds like they all happened at the exact same second.

Tom reached out to restart the recording.

Alex drummed his fingers on the desk. I can have my people look into this. But, that’s not going to do us much good before we leave.

The holographic image of Commander Kendall clenched his jaw. That’s why I’ve been trying to get your attention, Johnson. If these were random events I’d be skeptical too. But they aren’t. This is serious!

"All right, Commander, I’ll alert the merchanters here on Fallon. But I know these people. Until someone hands them absolute proof that Callin or one of the other bands of cutthroat privateers are behind this, none of them can afford to shut down operations."

Kendall puffed out his chest. Command understands their skepticism. I can assure you we’re working as fast as we can to find answers.

"Thanks for the update and the warning, Commander. Fallon out."

I can have my techs pull the backup logs from the effected ships, Alex said rising from his chair.

That’s great. Tom rounded the desk to join him. "You can have the files sent to the Capricorn and you can study them on the way to Mithras."

Glancing at the floor Elise snapped at her father. "He’ll have to study them in his cabin, I don’t need a bounder like him getting in my way. We’ll need our full attention focused if any problems arise."

She turned to Alex. "What Dad probably hasn’t told you is, in the past three months Jahan Transports has lost three ships and seven employees to privateers. They were all my friends. So, Mr. Ballad, stay out of my way and don’t distract me during this trip. We-"

If you run into trouble it’s his tail too! Tom said.

Taking a deep steady breath, Elise whispered through tight lips, "He will either follow my orders, or I will make him take another ship to Mithras. If he accepts my conditions, have Lyn escort him to the Capricorn when you two are done here."

Before either man could protest, Elise rose and stormed from the office. She softened her heavy footfalls against the hard floor when she saw the office staff clear a path for her.

She stepped out of Jahan Transports, into the crowded corridor. Despite her mood, a wave of relief washed over her when she looked through the glass wall at the Capricorn. She let her fingers trace the outline of the ship against the glass. Her respite was short-lived, though, when she caught a glimpse of Alex and Tom’s reflection in the glass. Should’ve known Dad would bring Alex himself.

Chapter 2

Jahan Transport Cargo Shuttle, CAPRICORN

Location Unknown

Eleventh Day—0300 Hours, Ship’s Time

Russ! Elise shoved the eyepiece of her Virtual-Retinal Display unit aside. "Shut that alarm off. I can’t think!"

Russ, working at his station, flipped up his eyepiece and stabbed the pad on his console with his finger halting the noise. He swung his seat around to face her. What-the-hell just hap-pened?

Don’t know. In the welcomed silence, Elise tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Leaning her head back, she closed her eyes and leaned back into her chair. She willed herself to relax and the tension flowed from her body. She searched her memory for anything familiar about this region of space.

She stared past the virtual image of the stars left in her mind’s eye until they faded into the blinking instrument lights on the overhead console. The silence helped her focus her thoughts on the strange message still displayed on her console screen.

"And worlds without number have I created;

and I also created them for mine own purpose;

and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten."

After a glance at Russ, Elise turned back to her console and stared at the message again. Computer, have you found the cause of our hyperdrive malfunction, yet?

"Insufficient data. Diagnostics confirm - drive now functioning within normal parameters."

Okay, then, Elise mumbled, looking over her shoulder at Russ, how about scanning for other ships in the vicinity.

"No other ships within sensor range."

Reaching up, Russ rubbed the sharp line of his jaw. Okay, how about coughing up coordinates?

"Unable to reacquire coordinates Zero, Zero, Zero," the Baritone voice of the computer announced.

Wh…who was that? Alex asked from behind the port-side entry to the bridge.

Elise swiveled her chair around and tore off her headgear. "Who’s who, Mr. Ballard?" Turning her back to him she said, "What are you doing on my bridge?"

Alex’s gaze darted around the Capricorn’s oval bridge. He took one step past the opening of the curved bulkhead dividing the bridge from the passenger cabins. Whose voice was that?

That, Mr. Ballad, Elise said through clenched teeth, is the new computer you used to pay your passage.

That’s not the voice we program into our computers.

Russ, now on his feet, chuckled while he walked back to join Alex. Haven’t you used the computer over the last eleven days?

Alex backed away from Russ. I prefer using the touch pads over talking to a soulless entity.

I know you bury yourself in your computers, but you do have ears. Don’t you?

Wow, Alex, Russ said. You really haven’t met our other shipmate yet? I should’ve introduced you to him earlier. Elise has this thing about the computer’s voice. She’s obsessed with the perfect man. He put his arm around Alex’s shoulder and loud whisper, said, She tinkers with all the voice simulators until they sound just like the man she imagines. He suppressed outright laughter when he cocked his head toward the computer. She thinks she’s really nailed it this time. He lowered his eyepiece with a deliberate snap.

Get back to work, Russ. She turned to Alex ignoring Russ’ smirk. We received a transmission from somewhere in that binary system, off our port quarter. She turned back to her console, not caring if her irritation showed. We’re trying to pin down which planet it came from. Elise shot an annoyed glance over her shoulder at Russ. "That is…if you’ll let us get back to work."

Russ hunched his shoulders, ducked his head and grinned. Ah, Boss, at times you steal all the fun out of life.

You can discuss my idiosyncrasies another time, Elise said, trying not to smile at Russ’ feigned hangdog look. Right now, let’s get this nailed down.

Mr. Ballard, you can help by getting out of our way. She cringed against the icy tone in her voice. If privateers are out here, this is just the kind of uncharted system they’d choose for a hideout. For the first time in eleven days she looked him in the eyes. Must I remind you that before we left Fallon, we talked about how the Privateers might have a way of pulling ships out of hyperspace?

Wide-eyed, Alex stared. I still don’t see how that’s possible.

I don’t know. Since that’s what just happened to us, we have to direct our full attention to the problem. After the ships we’ve lost we have to be careful. So, for now, please keep out of-

Stop it! Russ spun his chair around. Elise, we can use his help.

Puffing her cheeks, Elise exhaled. Fine! Have him take one of the stations next to you. Show him the message. See if he can make some sense of it.

Russ leaned over and activated the panel at the vacant station next to him. The message flashed on the terminal at the seldom-used console.

Glancing at Elise, Alex hesitated before easing himself onto the chair.

From the corner of her eye Elise saw Alex rubbing the back of his neck while he read the message.

0425 hours, S.T.

Russ let out an exasperated sigh and looked up from his console. It’s been nearly five hours and we’re no closer to finding out what jerked us out of hyperspace, or how far off course we are!

Bleary-eyed, Elise stared at her calculations. Or why the hyperdrive malfunctioned. This new computer didn’t help much, either.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Elise closed her eyes. I hate searching for answers to questions that generated more questions. She swung her chair around to face the men. Anyone can send a message through hyperspace, but have either of you ever heard of a signaling device that can contact ships, with any discernible message, while they travel through hyperspace or-

-One able to trigger an emergency responder, Russ said.

Elise relaxed and grinned. Looking over at Alex, she sobered.

With his fingers rubbing his earlobe, Alex stared at the console. Doesn’t the responder work on a compressed frequency?

Yes. Background static and junk noise can’t set it off. Elise answered avoiding eye contact with Alex.

"Reference used in transmission located," the computer announced.

Elise raised her head, Finally. Proceed.

"Passage comes from an original Earth text, religious in nature. Do you require the specific text, scripture, and verse?"

No, Elise said from behind a frown. Now, that’s odd, why would privateers choose a religious passage for a signal, and…

To what end? Russ said, slapping Alex on the back.

Let’s see what we can make of this. First, she held up her index finger. We receive a signal while in hyperspace. Something I would have thought impossible—’till now. Second… She popped up another finger. …it triggered our emergency responder, disrupted our hyperdrive, and pulled us back into normal-space.

Another impossibility. Russ said.

Third, Elise sighed. We get dumped into normal-space and have no idea where we are, how far off course we are — or which of the uncharted systems we’ve arrived in on our way to Mithras. She looked across at the men. Their faces mirrored her confusion. Fourth, and finally, the message we receive is a religious passage from ancient Earth, and that makes even less sense. With her last words she stared in exasperation at her four fingers poised in mid-air.

The computer interrupted the silence. Continuing scan for Earth’s coordinates. Tracking Radio transmissions, emanating from a binary system at coordinates two-hundred-seven point one, by seventy-six point two, by six-point-zero degrees. Radio waves emanating from the fifth planet in system are consistent with those used for planetary communication. No standard landing beacon detected. Evidence of space travel inconclusive. System shows no other evidence of being part of the Coalition of Earth Colonies.

Ahem. Alex cleared his throat.

Yes? Elise turned to him.

Planetary communications, but no standard landing beacon? Elise, isn’t that a bit suspicious in itself?

She closed her eyes, hating he was right. I forget he’s a bounder. Yes, the CIA requires every Earth colony to orbit standard landing beacons. It’s the first thing our computers look for at ‘End Of Run’.

Doesn’t the beacon guide and track ships from the drop-zone until each planet’s central control can clear and direct them to the closest spaceport to their destination?

You’re right, Mr. Ballard. She swallowed the bile rising in her throat. Now we’ve got something to go on. Since our computer found no standard landing beacon, it’s a safe bet this system isn’t part of the Coalition of Earth Colonies If this is an Earth colony, we should find out why they’re hiding?

Or who are they hiding from? Russ said grinning.

She slipped her headgear on and re-engaged the interface. Okay, Russ. Let’s head in. Keep the computer on full alert status. We’ll make a manual approach and maintain comm-silence until we know more about this place. I don’t want anyone on that planet knowing we’re here until I’m sure it’s safe.

Elise, with practiced precision, maneuvered the Capricorn using the gas giant at the edge of the system to slingshot them further in toward their target and its binary suns. Computer, keep hyperdrive on standby. Maintain continuous scans and update escape route every two minutes in case we need an emergency jump.

"Scanning."

Russ, monitor any signals coming from the planet, Elise said, doing her best not to look at Alex. I’ll move in at half-light to the coordinates the computer gave us.

After working at the computer for twenty minutes, she walked to the aft bulkhead to check the collector’s hydrogen levels. She faced Russ and used the hand signals they had developed over the years, keeping Alex out of their conversation. Keep him out of my way.

Really?

She glared at Russ.

Okay. Okay. Russ signed back before returning to his console.

Focusing her attention on their destination helped Elise ignore Alex. The planet expanded, becoming a bright blue ball in the middle of the seldom-used forward display screen sitting between her and Russ’ stations.

The signals coming from the fifth planet sound like the normal junk escaping every world. Russ leaned back against the headrest, rubbing his eyes. I’ve recorded some of them. According to the computer’s analysis, we’re picking up echoes of their radio and video broadcasts. Sitting up straight, he turned around. This doesn’t look - or sound - much like a privateer hideout.

Elise’s brow furrowed. Unless they’re using those broadcasts to mask their real transmissions. Let’s not forget, someone around here disrupted our drive. If this is privateers, they could cripple shipping with a device like that.

And what about that message? Alex mumbled.

After Elise exchanged looks with Russ he said, Hey, Alex, how about scrounging up some food? I’m hungry enough to eat a Gathen lizard, raw.

After only a moment’s hesitation, Alex nodded and rose from his seat.

Elise watched his progress down the center of her narrow bridge until he passed the rear bulkhead, using the starboard access