Echoes, Part 6
04 Jun 2017User4296
Unknown SystemAlliance Space
April 3302
Hey kid. You still alive? the voice echoed in my ears and in my memory, and I stared at the Courier for a long moment before shaking my head. "There's a voice I haven't heard in years."
"You've done well for yourself," the voice on the other end said.
"Yeah, well, I took your advice. The Imperial Navy wasn't such a bad idea after all." I paused. "And you? You some kind of Reaper now?"
There was a laugh. "Hell of a lot more interesting than knocking over derelict wrecks for their cargo," he said.
"I'm not wanted anywhere, as far as I know."
He sighed. "That isn't exactly true. You've made some... interesting enemies."
"And you're here to collect?" I asked.
Silence was my only reply.
"How did you find me?"
"When a man moves freely, he leaves quite a trail," he replied, cryptically.
I shrugged, though he couldn't see the gesture as the communication was audio only. I changed the subject. "What happened to your Asp? You loved that ship."
He paused before answering. "Let's just say it's not... Ideal for a fight."
"I suppose not,” I said, and an uncomfortable silence fell between us. I glanced over at the right side panel, which sprung to life when the computer sensed I was looking that way. The auto-repair function had completed, and the Pyrrha's engines were live again, sending the familiar vibration throughout the ship. The shields were still reassembling themselves, which would take another minute or so.
My father's voice finally broke the silence. "When your shields come back up, we'll begin."
"How sporting."
The final ring seemed to take an eternity to cycle around, and I heard the telltale click of a communication channel being turned off.
The shields flared to life, and the Courier surged forward.
***
The two ships clashed, participating in the dance of death that billions of humans have participated in since Humanity took to the skies. The Courier wasn't as nimble as the Pyrrha, but it was slightly faster - though speed only counted for so much in such close quarters. The agility was enough to keep the Courier's lasers off the mark while the shields slowly returned to full strength, and I found myself happy I had chosen Bi-weave shields when outfitting the ship.
Of course, I had an easier time keeping my father's Courier in sight as the fight wore on, though the Pyrrha's two small lasers had a difficult time bringing its considerable shields down. And so the dance continued, each of us taking our shots where we could get it.
A battle of attrition, I thought as I spun away from one of the Courier's barrages, activating the side thrusters a split second later. My laser fire fell along the Courier's side shields, and they flared under the assault. But they would not drop.
It wasn't long before I noticed that my ship’s shields occasionally flared, even without taking direct fire from the Courier. The dogfight, I saw, had moved closer and closer toward the system's star, and that each ship occasionally strayed into its corona.
A blast from the Courier startled me from my thoughts, and I pulled the Pyrrha into a barrel roll to evade the next volley, chipping away at the Courier's shields as it boosted past me, out of the firing arc. I fired a second time, but the lasers went wide.
I glanced down at my heat meter, just next to the radar. Couriers run hot, I thought. If he isn't careful...
The Courier spun around and dove in, then, straight toward me, a move designed to see who had the better aim. I turned to face him, and the two ships drove toward each other in a deadly joust, using our maneuvering thrusters throw the other off just enough to miss.
Alarms blared in the cockpit as my shields collapsed, but I was gratified to see that the Courier's shields had weakened considerably. A second pass like that would...
The two ships separated, before quickly turning back in toward each other again. Weapons fire exploded against both ships.
"Taking hull damage!" Verity intoned, but it didn't matter. I fought to keep the Courier centered on the crosshair, squeezing both triggers, spitting both lasers and multicannon rounds into the void.
The Courier's shields dropped right before the two ships passed, and I flipped the flight assist control off, spinning the Pyrrha to follow the Courier as it sped by. Multicannon rounds tore into the other ship’s hull, and something at the back of the ship exploded.
The Pyrrha completed its motion, and I found myself looking at the back of the Courier... and right into the nearby star, which filled the screen.
My jaw dropped as the communication panel beeped. I keyed the button to answer the hail.
"I've lost control," my father said. "Engines are down. I can't reverse thrust."
"Hold on," I said. "Maybe I can-"
"You don't have a tow cable, kid. I scanned you while we were talking. Just stay back." An alarm sounded in his cockpit as the Courier slowly fell closer and closer toward the star.
"But-" I began.
"Forget it. You'll cook yourself too."
I dropped back into my chair, the tension from the fight having caused me to lean forward. "Why?" I asked. "Why'd you come here?"
"The people who hired me... They aren't the people you say no to." He sighed.
"... You knew this would happen, didn't you?" I asked.
"Why do you think I interdicted you so close to the star? Besides, when your name came up, I had to see for myself. See the kind of man you'd turned into."
We fell into silence, the only sound the alarm in his cockpit. I squinted to find his ship against the brightness of the star. There, a white smudge crept ever closer, though pieces were starting to fall off of it as the heat panels on the hull burned and fell away.
"Reminds me of when your mother and I first met," he said. His voice was calm, and I heard the alarm stop a moment later. He must've silenced it.
"What?" I asked.
"We met when she was still in the Navy. Justus and I were part of a crew doing what you grew up doing - raiding wrecks for cargo. We did it in Imperial space once, and two Couriers showed up to stop us." He paused. "I was in a Viper running security at the time."
"You and mom… fought?" I asked.
"We did. She was much better than I was, though. We managed to buy enough time for the crew to get back to the Asp and jump out, but she had disabled the other merc and had me on the ropes. I asked for her name before I jumped out."
"She gave it to you?"
"She did. Quinn Evans." He laughed. "We ran into each other a few years later - small universe - and I recognized the name. She had just gotten out. Ironically, she came to work for Justus, since he needed pilots. I guess we fell in love."
I blinked.
"Shortly after that, we had you... and she died a few years later. Doing what she loved - flying." he sighed.
"I remember. She had taken an escort job. Supposed to be quick and easy, but..." I trailed off.
"That's my last lesson for you, kid. Nothing out here is ever quick or easy."
"Why'd you leave?" I asked. The Courier was much smaller now, and was still shedding its heat panels. It wouldn't be long now.
"You reminded me too much of her. I couldn't stand it. When I said you took after your mother in more ways than you know, I meant it. I guess it hurt too much, and I wasn't strong enough to get through it." He went on, "I guess I wasn't a very good fa..er, ...uh?"
His signal was breaking up. I set my jaw. "I just don't think you knew how."
There was a pause. "I'm s-" he began, but the line fell to static. It cut out a second later.
And then he was gone.