Hutton Orbital, Part 4
09 May 2017User4296
Somewhere in the Alpha Centauri SystemFederation Space
January 3302
"ETA to Hutton?" I asked.
"Nine minutes, thirty-three seconds, commander," came Verity's reply.
I shrugged, then looked over at Sugar. "Good, this little adventure is almost over, then we can get you home."
I glanced down at the radar. We were close enough to Hutton where contacts were beginning to show up - a cluster of them flew past the Helix, doubtless headed to the other station in the system. I watched the radar as the cluster slowed and began to change direction.
Maybe they forgot something, I thought.
The ship lurched. Sugar and I looked at each other.
"Interdiction tether established," Verity announced.
I cursed and reached out to take the controls. The cockpit window had filled with a familiar blue and white swirling light as the Helix entered the interdiction tunnel. At the end of this tunnel, a blue circle had appeared on the HUD, labeled "Escape Vector," and I steered the Helix toward it. Suddenly, the circle jumped toward the opposite side of the screen.
That's weird, I thought. It isn't supposed to move like that.
I had barely managed to compensate for the first jump when the circle jumped a second time, again to the opposite side of the screen.
Some kind of new interdiction technology? I wondered. The ship shook as the frame shift bubble began to collapse.
I glanced back down at the radar. The cluster of contacts had backed off, except for the one ship currently attempting to pull me out of supercruise.
"I don't think I can prevent this - they have some kind of new interdiction technology." Or I was terrible at this, I didn't add. "I'm submitting. Hold on."
Verity didn't reply as I pulled back on the throttle. The ship rumbled as the FSD - frame shift drive - stopped struggling against the interdiction tether. The FSD switched off a moment later, and the interdiction tunnel disappeared. We lurched forward at the sudden deceleration.
The console beeped.
"Incoming message," Verity said.
"Not a hail? They aren't interested in talking," I replied. My thumb brushed across one of the buttons on the flight controls. All around the ship, I could hear the actuators working and hatches opening as the Helix deployed her laser weapons. "Play it," I said next.
The next voice was male. "Your cargo is being seized," it said, matter-of-factly. "Jettison your cargo and you will be spared."
"We'll see about that," I said, flipping the flight assist controls off, and pulling the Python into a tight turn. Midway through, the Python began drifting, carried by inertia in its original direction. Half a second later the Python was facing its assailant - a Viper Mk. IV. I cut the power to the engines and flipped the flight assist controls back on.
The console beeped again.
"Incoming hail," Verity said.
That got their attention. "Open a channel."
One of the bridge screens came to life, filled with the image of someone wearing a flight helmet. They leaned forward. "Surrender your cargo. Failure to comply will be met with force."
"Oh yeah? You and what army?" Barely had I finished the sentence when small flashes appeared behind the Viper. The other ships!
Six other contacts joined the Viper on the radar. Other Vipers - a mixture of Mk IIIs and IVs - a Vulture, and a Python had dropped out of supercruise, and within moments had lined up alongside the first Viper. The Python and Vulture, I noticed, were hanging back.
"This army," the Viper pilot said.
"I see," I replied. "Then you won't mind if I do this." With that, I depressed the trigger. Several beams erupted from the Helix, all focused on the lead Viper. The other ships scattered and deployed their own weapons, but once the Viper's shields dropped, it didn't matter.
That done, I slammed the Helix into reverse, switching the flight assist controls off again. The Vipers had begun to swarm, but they were having difficulty getting through the Helix's shields.
What worried me was the other Python and the Vulture. The two of them were following at an almost casual pace, keeping back from the combat, even as a second Viper - this one a Mk. III - melted under the Helix's beams.
"Time to go," I said. I switched flight assist back on and jammed the throttle forward, just as another Mk. IV crossed into the Helix's view, its shields already down. The Helix plowed right into it, tearing the smaller ship apart, the pilot's scream cut short by the demise of his vessel. The Helix banked to the left as I turned back toward Hutton, the FSD having recharged. I keyed the jump button.
"Shields?" I asked.
"Thirty-four percent," came Verity's reply. There was a pause. "Twenty percent."
I cursed. The Vulture had decided to join the fray, and between it and the two remaining Vipers, the Helix's shields wouldn't last long.
I glanced at the FSD status. It was charging slowly - the Python was too slow to bring its weapons to bear, but quick enough to keep the Helix mass-locked. The ship shuddered.
"Engines to full," I said. "Let's see if we can't-"
"Shields are down," Verity intoned. "Warning: heat levels in the engine compartment are rising."
I cursed again. The ship lurched a second time as the Vipers and Vulture laid into the Helix's engines.
"Frame Shift Drive charge failed," Verity said. The lack of emotion was starting to bother me, though virtual assistants probably didn't much care if they died.
I switched flight assist off a second time, and flipped the Helix around again, firing the weapons as soon as a target presented itself. The remaining Mk. III's shields collapsed, and turned to try and get away - the Helix had just enough maneuverability left to track it as it turned. Something on the back half of the Viper exploded, sending the ship pinwheeling off into space, disabled but not destroyed.
That left the last Viper - and the Vulture, which was too quick to track with only the Helix's rotational speed. If only I could –
A barrage from the other Python cut through that train of thought. The Helix's flight controls went dead, and the control console sparked and sputtered. Sugar leapt out of her chair to hide somewhere toward the back of the bridge, just as the lights on the bridge flickered off. The emergency lights came to life a split second later, bathing the bridge in a red glow.
"Verity, status," I asked, pushing the pilot's chair back. I reached down to grab the pistol from my jacket, and stood.
"Engines down. Shields down. Hull is at fifty-two percent. The powerplant is disabled - we have lost power to weapons and other non-essential systems. Life support is still operational."
I looked out one of the side windows of the cockpit. The starscape beyond was rotating lazily as the ship floated in space. "We're adrift... And they've stopped firing."
"Pirates generally do not kill their prey," Verity offered. "To do so means the loss of any cargo the target was carrying."
"Lucky us," I replied. "Deploy the distress beacon. It'll get jammed, but maybe we'll get lucky." There was a loud ping as the beacon transmitted its message, but sure enough, it went silent soon after.
The control console beeped. I reached over and pressed a button.
"That's three pilots," a voice said. "The two million credits worth of cargo in your hold is a start, but the value of your Python on the market will make for fine compensation. Prepare to be boarded."
The other Python pulled alongside and drew closer. The two ships shook a moment later as the airlocks made contact.