The Legate ducked away and conferred with a technician working a tactical console. He returned a moment later. “There’s a Sandoval-flagged courier ship in orbit right now. We’ll give them priority landing clearance to the Capital Spaceport, and I’ll have an armored car waiting to take you there when they arrive. We can have you off the planet in less than two hours.”
He smiled and extended his hand to the Legate, who shook it firmly. “Thank you, Legate. You’re doing the right thing.”
Kinston returned, looking calmer now. He handed the document, now emblazoned with the Governor’s seal, back to Erik.
Erik took the agreement triumphantly. This would show Aaron! “Thank you, Ozark. It’s been a pleasure doing business with you. You’ll send us a bill?”
“Oh,” said Kinston, wiping his brow, “you can bet on it.”
Erik had to hand it to the Shensi. Though they’d reacted poorly to the surprise attack, they were pulling their forces, and their security, together. Not only was he taken to the spaceport in an armored personnel carrier, it was part of a motorcade escorted by four hoverbikes, and after they’d left the inner city, a pair of combat-modified MiningMechs.
He felt better having some kind of ’Mech cover, but according to the latest reports from the Legate, their telescopes showed multiple plasma burns on a trajectory away from Shensi, probably heading back to the pirate point from which they’d arrived.
Erik had advised against sending ships after them. It could only be a ruse to lead the planetary defenses away while a main assault force came in from another direction.
In any case, he didn’t want the military forces of Shensi getting themselves in over their heads in a solo effort, when his real objective was to tap their forces as part of a coordinated counteroffensive.
At the spaceport, the motorcade drove directly out to the end of one of the huge runways, where a delta-winged Buccaneer–class cargo-hauler waited. It was comforting to see the symbol of the Sandoval family painted on its T-shaped vertical tail. As they approached, a vehicle ramp lowered from the belly of the big craft, and the APC drove directly inside for unloading.
The captain, a muscular woman with silver-blond hair, was waiting next to the base of a bridge-type cargo crane. She walked up as the APC door opened. “Commander, welcome to the Mercury. I’m Captain Yung, at your disposal. I’m glad we were in the neighborhood for you. We’ve got a full load of rare metals and mail bound for Tikonov, but we’ll get you back to the Duke first. Latest word we have is that he’s on his way to Ningpo.”
Erik nodded. “That was his plan. How are our connections at the jump point?”
“There’s a SwordSworn JumpShip charging right now. They’ll hold off their jump till we arrive.” She looked at the APC, which was already backing down the ramp. “No baggage, Commander?”
He held up the signed accord. “This is all I really need.” He smiled sheepishly. “However, if one of your crewmembers is close to my size, I could stand to borrow a few things.”
She smiled and nodded. “I’ll have someone show you to your quarters later, Commander; right now, we’re ready to take off. Would you care to join me on the bridge?”
“I’d like that. Show the way.”
Captain Yung strode down the length of the ship’s central corridor. The Mercury was an aerodyne DropShip, with her engines in the back. That meant that while “down” pointed at the belly of the ship now, while they were still on a planet, once they were in space and under power, the apparent “down” would be in the direction of the tail. As such, the central corridor had a switchback stairway built sideways along its ceiling. It was a bizarre sight, but once they were under way, this corridor would look like a fairly standard stairwell.
Side corridors branched off the main corridor at regular intervals. No fun-house stairways were necessary in these, as people would simply walk on what was now the sternward wall of the corridor. The only unusual feature of the hall was that all the hatchways to individual compartments—apparently crew quarters in this section—were in the floor and ceiling, currently accessible only by ladders.
The ship was already rolling when they reached the bridge, which was fairly cramped for an otherwise spacious ship. Erik wedged himself into an observer’s seat near the back, where he had a good view of the crew stations in front of him, and the big expanse of ferro-glass looking out the front. The captain slipped into a seat up front, next to the pilot, quickly strapped herself in, and donned a headset.
The big ship turned sharply, lining up on the runway. The captain flipped a switch activating a warning Klaxon, and announced the launch. “All hands, beginning liftoff roll now.”
There was a shudder as the pilot pushed the throttles forward. Erik felt a gentle push against his back as they started to roll. They were picking up speed, and the pilot shoved the throttles some more.
Erik felt himself pushed back into the seat more strongly. They were moving very fast now. The captain continued to talk into the microphone. “V-one.” A pause. “V-two. Rotate.”
The nose of the ship lifted, and a change in the vibration told Erik that they were off the ground. Immediately there was a rumbling growl in the deck under his feet as the gear retracted, followed by a series of bangs and clunks as it seated itself and the doors in the hull closed.
“Crew, we’re airborne. Stand by for ballistic climb-out.”
The pilot pushed the throttles full forward, even as he pulled back on the control yoke. The nose climbed higher, higher, till Erik found himself lying on his back, squeezed back into the padding of his seat by acceleration. The Mercury had stopped pretending to be an airplane. They were a rocket now, and headed rapidly for space.
Erik watched, fascinated, as the sky darkened from blue to indigo, purple, and finally black. The pilot began to throttle back, and the acceleration eased.
Captain Yung glanced back at him. “We’re about to do a rollover, then burn a direct trajectory to the jump point. No wasting time in orbit.”
True to her word, the ship began to roll over on its back. As they rolled, the curved surface of Shensi came into view. He looked down at the green continents floating in dark blue oceans. The terminator between day and night was below them now. Beyond it, he could see the glowing stars of cities, and the spidery webs of light connecting them.
He wondered where Elsa was—if she’d gotten off-planet safely. He’d asked the Legate to look into it, but there had been such confusion at the spaceport right after the attacks, he doubted he’d hear anything more. He hoped she was in a DropShip somewhere, maybe looking down at those same, twinkling stars.
12
Buccaneer–class DropShip Mercury
Outbound to Shensi jump point
Prefecture V, The Republic
21 November 3134
Erik climbed the many dozens of stairs between his quarters and the bridge. His borrowed uniform was too long in the legs, so he kept tripping over his own cuffs, and his too-tight collar chafed. They were only a few hours out from Shensi, and he wasn’t sure why he’d been called to the bridge. He hoped it didn’t mean another attack force had appeared.
He reached the ladder at the top of the stairs. The hatch to the bridge was above the landing, and he climbed up to reach it. What had before takeoff been a flat triangle of a room was now vertical, with the captain’s chair and pilot’s station at the top. Metal-grid catwalks and ladders had been unfolded after launch to allow access to the higher stations.