Mindscape: Book 2 of the New Frontiers Series Page 21

  Silence reigned once more. “I hope you know what you’ve done,” McAdams whispered.

  The crew traded disappointed frowns and looks of betrayal with him and each other.

  Alexander matched those looks with a disappointed frown of his own. “I thought I knew you all better than this. We catch the president lying to start a war and you’re all leaping to his defense. It’s a sad day for democracy when our leaders not only lie to us, but somehow also convince us that their lies were justifiable.”

  “Maybe we’d be more agreeable if you hadn’t taken us all hostage first,” Stone suggested.

  “Fair point, but I’m sure you can see how I’m looking out for your interests by doing so. This way only I can be tried for treason.”

  Looks of betrayal and disappointment faded to chagrin and silence.

  “You seem to have everything figured out,” Stone replied. “What happens next? You’re a fugitive and we’re along for the ride. Were you planning to run away into deep space forever? The Alliance will catch you eventually.”

  “We’re currently over 50,000 klicks from the nearest Alliance ships and moving away from them at better than seven kilometers per second. That gives us a comfortable lead if they decide to chase us.”

  “We’re not as fast as destroyers,” Bishop pointed out. “That means that this will come to a fight. Are you prepared to kill innocent officers who are just following their orders?”

  “No, I’m not, but correct me if I’m wrong—haven’t those ships already been refitted? That means the only crew aboard are the bridge crew, safely hidden away in the midsection of each ship. So we aim for their engines and leave them drifting. Even if we miss, we’re not likely to hurt anyone.”

  “Who’s we?” Bishop asked.

  Alexander smiled. “A Freudian slip. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to do this on my own. I’m going to keep you all out of it for as long as I can, but if and when it comes to it, who’s with me?”

  Chapter 28

  Ben was hiding under Alexander’s desk, bored out of his mind, waiting for new orders. Long minutes passed, and Ben found himself growing curious about the situation on board the Adamantine. Who was the traitor? Maybe Alex still doesn’t know. He’ll be happy if I can find out…

  Problem was, everyone on board was currently immersed in a private virtual world, a mindscape of the ship. The only way he’d be able to interact with them was if he could join that mindscape himself. Of course, if he did that, people would recognize he didn’t belong. He would have to assume the appearance of one of the ship’s actual crew. But then if someone noticed the clone, he’d be discovered.

  No, better yet, he could infiltrate the Mindscape as an observer… maybe even an omniscient observer. It would take some clever hacking to pull that off, but Ben was confident he could do it given enough time—something he seemed to have plenty of at the moment. He’d learned a lot about the Adamantine while scouring the ship’s databanks. That included the code behind the ship’s mindscape.

  Without coming out of his hiding place Ben made a remote connection to the data terminal in Alexander’s office. As he set to work, he thought about running his idea past Alexander first. He imagined the look of shock, then admiration on his friend’s face, and a sense of whimsy took over. He would surprise Alexander once he learned who the traitor was.

  Humans like surprises.

  * * *

  “I’m with you,” McAdams said. She raised her hand for the rest of the crew to see.

  Alexander smiled and nodded his appreciation.

  “For the record, I think you’re a crazy bastard who’s going to get us all killed,” she added. “But you’re our crazy bastard, and at least this way we can die with a clean conscience.”

  “Anyone else?” Alexander asked.

  Lieutenant Stone sighed. “I’m in.”

  Bishop shook his head. “May as well. We’re along for the ride, anyway. You’ll need someone at the helm. Might as well be someone who knows what they’re doing.”

  Cardinal raised his hand next. “And someone who can shoot halfway straight. Always knew I’d go down in a blaze of glory. Pity the history books won’t see it that way.”

  “Hey, what’s with all the negativity? We’re not going to die. Or be captured and convicted. Maybe I forgot to mention the other part of my plan. The League is planning to use this scandal to separate. We just have to hold out until then and we can ask them for political asylum.”

  “Assuming they do manage to separate,” Lieutenant Frost put in from sensors.

  “Given everything that’s happened, I think that’s a fair bet,” Alexander replied.

  “All right, I’m in,” Frost said.

  Alexander eyed the remaining two officers not yet spoken for—Comm Officer Hayes and Chief Engineer Rodriguez.

  “Anyone else?”

  Rodriguez glanced around, noting the solidarity among the crew, but clearly hesitating to join them. Hayes spoke first, “You don’t really need me to pull this off, sir. If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to stay on the fence.”

  Alexander nodded. “That’s fine, Hayes. Rodriguez—are you planning to join Switzerland?”

  A dark look flickered across her face. “No, sir. I’m with you.”

  Are you really? Something about the way she said it made Alexander wonder. “Good. Then we’re all on board except for Hayes. No hard feelings, Lieutenant, I promise. McAdams—I’m going to pass control of the comms to you. As for the rest of you, you’ll get back control of your systems in just a moment.” Alexander made good on his promise and restored function to all of their control stations. What he didn’t say was that he could take it away again just as easily. Something that might come in handy if Rodriguez actually couldn’t be trusted.

  “We have three messages from Fleet Command waiting, and they’re hailing us again as I speak,” McAdams announced.

  “And we’ve got incoming,” Frost said from sensors. “Nine destroyers are breaking away from orbit.”

  “Nine. Isn’t that overkill?” Alexander replied.

  “I think that’s the point, sir,” McAdams replied.

  “Rodriguez, how are repairs to the engines coming along?”

  “Almost done, sir…”

  “Good.”

  “Do you want me to send a reply to Fleet Command?” McAdams asked.

  “Better yet, let’s open a dialogue. Patch them through to my station,” Alexander said.

  “Yes, sir.”

  A hologram glowed to life above Alexander’s console and Fleet Admiral Anderson appeared. His gray eyes belched fire and his jaw was clenched. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Alex?”

  “Nice to see you, too, sir.”

  “Don’t you sir me. You’re no longer a part of the Navy, and just as soon as we can reign you in, you’re going to be brought to justice.”

  “Last I checked it wasn’t illegal to tell the truth.”

  “You just broadcast classified information for the entire solar system to hear! That’s a clear breach of military law.”

  “Well, there’s that,” Alexander admitted. “But I’m sure you can understand why.”

  “No, actually, I can’t. The Solarians did attack us. So what if the president lied to get popular support? We needed to act quickly and definitively, not waste valuable time waffling and looking for proof.”

  Alexander began nodding. “Expedience trumps the truth. The ends justify the means. I guess that’s okay when you’re cozy and warm in a bunker on Earth while other people risk their lives on false pretenses.”

  “Don’t be a child, Alex. Listen, we don’t have to agree—”

  “I agree.”

  “Shut up and listen. The damage has been done, but if you turn your ship around now and surrender, I’ll make sure you and your crew are granted leniency.”

  “Just me, sir. The crew are my hostages, and I was kind of hoping to miss my trial.”

  “Hostages. You’
re just adding to your crimes, aren’t you? You can’t run forever.”

  “Not planning to.”

  “Then what?”

  Alexander smiled. “It’s a surprise.”

  Anderson smiled thinly back. “This is not going to end well.”

  The hologram vanished.

  “The destroyers are accelerating, sir,” Frost announced. “Fifteen Gs.”

  “Fifteen? I guess they don’t care if one or two gets ripped apart by its own engines. What’s the best we can manage more or less safely?”

  “Ten is the Adamantine’s safe maximum for sustained periods,” Rodriguez said. “Anything past that is a risk, but we could probably manage twelve or thirteen so long as we watch for stress fractures in the hull.”

  “Thirteen it is. Bishop lay in a course along our current trajectory at thirteen Gs. Use the maneuvering thrusters to add some random evasive action in case those destroyers open fire. We’re going to stay out of range for as long as possible.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  Alexander caught McAdams shaking her head. “We’re only fifty thousand klicks from them right now; it’s not going to take long to narrow that gap.”

  “Frost, how long will those destroyers take to reach extended ELR with us given their two G advantage?”

  The sensor officer took a moment to calculate, then said, “Forty-one minutes, sir.”

  “Put it on the clock.”

  “Aye, Admiral.”

  Alexander rubbed his chin, watching the seconds tick away on the bright green timer that appeared counting down at the top of the main holo display.

  “If we don’t find a way to disable them before that clock reaches zero, they’ll hit us with so many lasers that they could carve our ship in half,” McAdams said. “We could probably give as good as we get, but I assume that becoming a derelict ourselves is not an acceptable outcome. It’ll be months before we can safely join the League. I hate to say it, sir, but we may have to surrender.”

  Alexander winced. “Maybe I didn’t think this through as well as I’d thought. Stone—how long can a fighter accelerate at maximum thrust before running out of fuel?”

  “With the new fusion reactors, maybe a month, but you’d run out of oxygen long before then.”

  “And what’s the maximum acceleration of a Mark III?”

  “Sustained? Twenty-five Gs, but at those speeds even a G-tank isn’t enough to keep you from feeling it. You could pass out.”

  “That’s fine. I actually only need to pull fifteen Gs.”

  “You won’t be able to buy enough time to defect to the League,” McAdams pointed out.

  “No, I won’t,” Alexander replied.

  “Then what?”

  Silence fell across the bridge as everyone waited to hear his new plan. “I’ll have to ask the Solarians for asylum.”

  “That’s going to cast a lot of doubt on your testimony of the president’s lies.”

  “Doesn’t matter. The Crimson Warrior’s alibi, Wayfinder, will be able to provide independent verification of the facts. I’ll explain my reasons for defecting before I cross into Solarian space. Once I’m gone, you can all surrender without worrying about the consequences. You’re my hostages, after all.”

  “This is a bad idea, Alex. Those destroyers will just launch drones and use them to shoot you down. You might not be able to handle twenty-five Gs of sustained acceleration, but a drone can.”

  “Then I’ll just have to grit my teeth and bear it. At least a Mark III and a drone have the same theoretical maximum acceleration.”

  “You’ll pass out.”

  “The life support will keep me breathing.”

  “Alex…”

  “Look, if they catch me, I’m dead anyway.”

  McAdams blew out a breath. “You really are a crazy bastard.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment,” Alexander said.

  Chapter 29

  “Reaching extended ELR in five minutes, Admiral,” McAdams announced.

  “That’s my cue,” Alexander replied, nodding. “Bishop cut the engines. McAdams, prepare for the switch over from virtual to manual control mode.”

  “Aye,” Bishop said.

  McAdams turned to him with a worried frown. “Even if you make it, the Solarians won’t trust you, either. They’ll interrogate you.”

  “Maybe, but I’ve got nothing to hide.”

  “Really? We’re on the brink of war, and an Alliance admiral doesn’t know anything that the other side might find useful?”

  “Good point. Guess I’ll have to sing like a canary, then.”

  “You’d do that?”

  “They’re not the enemy, McAdams. I guarantee it. Besides, if all goes according to plan, this won’t come to war.”

  “And if you’re wrong, the intel you give them could get a lot of people killed.”

  Alexander glanced at her and saw the hurt and disapproval in her eyes. He shook his head, about to argue, but McAdams cut him off.

  “Admit it—you’re a lone wolf, Alex. You’re not just running from the Alliance. You don’t even know how to love someone. If you did, you’d insist I come with you.”

  A few of the crew glanced back at them, but McAdams was obviously past caring. Alexander reached for her hand and squeezed. “You’re wrong. I’m not taking you with me because I don’t want to risk getting you killed or tortured.”

  “And what if I want to risk it?”

  “We’re drifting,” Bishop announced. “If you’re going to make a break for it, you’d better hurry.”

  “Goodbye, Vivie. Come visit me on Mars when you get a chance. Stone—is my fighter ready?”

  “Aye.”

  “Hold up—I’ve got something on sensors… it’s a bit fuzzy. Give me a second to boost the power on the array,” Frost said.

  “What is it, Lieutenant?”

  “Looks like multiple contacts inbound at 560 million klicks. Six ships. Can’t tell much about them, they’re moving way too fast, but the hull types look like they might be Solarian.”

  “What do you mean they’re moving too fast?” Alexander demanded.

  “Relativistic speeds, sir. Two tenths the speed of light and accelerating at twenty Gs.”

  “Twenty Gs? What are they, fighters?”

  “No, sir. Too big for that. They’re about the right size to be destroyers, though, if I had to guess.”

  “I thought fifteen Gs was pushing it for a ship that size.”

  “Depends how they’re designed,” Rodriguez put in. “Manned ships aren’t designed to sustain greater accelerations because human crews can’t take it. Drone ships on the other hand…”

  “So we have six Solarian drone destroyers incoming at almost the same speed those missiles were going when they hit the Moon and Earth.”

  “Looks like you were wrong about them not being involved, sir,” McAdams said.

  “That, or the Solarians decided they may as well do the crime if they’re going to be accused of it. Either way, they can’t claim innocence now. Who’s best positioned to intercept them?”

  “We are, sir.”

  “Figures. Commander, hail the destroyers chasing us and patch them through to my station.”

  “Aye,” McAdams replied.

  An unfamiliar face appeared in the air above Alexander’s control station. “This is Captain Powell of the Alliance destroyer Ulysses. Have you finally come to your senses, Alexander?”

  “You’re assuming I had senses to begin with. No, I’m calling to ask for a cease fire.”

  “We haven’t begun firing yet.”

  “That’s beside the point. Check your sensors. We’ve got incoming at 560 million klicks.”

  The captain looked down at his control station for a moment. Then his eyes widened and he looked up with a sarcastic smile. “Now do you see what a fool you’ve been?”

  “I was still right to expose President Wallace. Anyway, it doesn’t matter now. We need to stop chasing our tails
and intercept those ships. Ideally we need to capture one of them and get some real proof that the Solarians were the ones who attacked us.”

  Captain Powell’s dark eyebrows drooped over his eyes in an angry scowl. “Isn’t this proof enough for you? Or were you hoping to get a signed confession?”

  “Ha ha. Let’s save our witty repartee for after we intercept the enemy. Will you agree to hold your fire until the engagement is over?”

  “You’ll need your crew for this.”

  “I’ll give them back control of their stations before we reach firing range.”

  “How do I know you won’t try to sneak attack us along the way?”

  “Stay out of laser range and let us intercept the enemy first.”

  “What if you’re on their side and those are your reinforcements?”

  “You’re going to have to trust me, Captain. I’m no fan of war. All you have to do is look up how The Last War ended to know that.”

  “I know who you are.”

  “Then you know my reputation, and you know my intentions. Even if you don’t agree with my methods, you have to agree that we’re both ultimately trying to save lives.”

  “We’ll hold off for now, but I’ll have to inform Fleet Command. If they disagree, I’ll have no choice but to engage you.”

  “Give me some warning. I’ll talk to Anderson myself if I have to. You won’t regret this, Captain.”

  “We’ll see.”

  The hologram disappeared and McAdams shot him a grim look. “You can’t defect to the Solarians now.”

  “I know,” Alexander said as he met her gaze. “This only ends one way for me now.” Turning to address the rest of his crew, he said, “As far as any of you are concerned, I held you all hostage until the last possible minute, at which point I gave you back control of the ship to give us the best possible chance of intercepting those ships. That’s the story, and I expect you all to stick to it. There’s no sense in anyone else going down with me. Is that understood?”

  Murmurs of agreement rippled through the room. “Good. Bishop, set an intercept course at regulation ten Gs.”