Chương 20: Waylaid

Magpie told Felix something was wrong. Leaving Albany and the York System was straightforward: just filing a departure plan through the first gate with the local controllers and they routed the freighter back to the gate complex. It had taken him several minutes to work up the willingness to sit in the captain's station, rather than the pilot's at the front of the command deck. Functionally, thanks to Second Skin, there was no real difference for Felix between the two stations, but it wasn't really about function.

It was instead about what the captain's chair represented, and his fit into the Magpie's crew. He'd taken the job, gotten the jacket to fit the part, now to play the role. Initial takeoff burn was gentler than any carrier launch he'd experienced back home, and there was no wait for the cruise lane entry clearance. After that, the crew had left Magpie to the autopilot and retired for the evening.

Doc had come by his cabin before long with a bottle and glasses but Felix refused the drink for concerns in case he needed to fly, choosing instead just the conversation while Doc poured enough for the both of them while seeking absolution for his own sins.

The regret he expressed was differently shaped than Kyra or Bates, though still with the same undertone: he'd given in to silence out of fear of what would happen if Felix had said no, and, thanks to his own primary class, the inevitability of Hirelane's victory if he'd taken the captain's seat. For those three, it was becoming harder to hold onto his anger, but Gavin…. That man had been avoiding him since the confrontation on the ramp.

Even on the command deck he'd been silent, including holding comment at the expedited clearance through the jump gate to the Halifax system. The speed of that clearance in and of itself had caused even Misty pause. It was as if they were being ushered out of York as swiftly as possible. On the other side, Halifax was almost silent. It was guarded similarly to Baltic, just a small station and a handful of old patrol craft, and the gate they needed for Ohio was on the opposite side of the system.

"When the network was first built," Misty explained as Felix directed Magpie to the cruise lane, "gates were placed closer to the system primary. They had to be kept far away from one another just to keep the wormhole stable. We only started building gate complexes like York's when we found putting them further out and cycling the wormholes fixed the stability."

"Why didn't they move them together here?" Misty shrugged.

"Albany's a big trade hub, especially for the beef they raise. Halifax…" She grimaced.

"They make fuel and mine the asteroids here. Keeping everything apart was seen as a safety feature and cheap traffic control."

"Which explains why there was no one to give us a cruise clearance."

"Exactly." Felix had planned to release the Magpie to the autopilot when they entered cruise, but as they slid into the lane the ship's feedback was wrong. There was a pressure, somewhere out ahead.

"Stay up here with me," Felix ordered as Gavin and Misty rose to head aft. Gavin broke his silence.

"Why?"

"Something's wrong. I…feel something wrong in the ship." The pair slid back into their seats, eying Felix. Gavin cleared his throat.

"A feeling? Like what?" Felix released his body, allowing the Magpie to fully wrap herself around his senses. The Magpie was accelerated to an appreciable fraction of light speed by the cruise lane—a fact which still defied understanding when Felix allowed himself to think about it—but ahead, somewhere, he could feel a heavy weight. As if there was something squeezing on the cruise lane, changing the hum of Magpie's travel through space. He cut over to a ship-wide alert.

"Everyone, please stay in your jump stations for now, seatbelts fastened and tray tables in the upright and locked position. I'll let you know when it's safe to move about the cabin." Kyra's response was almost instantaneous.

"You're not cancelling beverage service, are you?" Felix chuckled to himself. He didn't expect anyone to get the joke.

"No plans to, but it feels like there's a pinch in the cruise lane ahead." As soon as the words left his mouth the tension in the command deck changed and weapons charge indicators blossomed in his awareness as Gavin started arming switches.

"Weapons online, shields armed. Hardner nominal," Gavin said, voice sharp and focused.

"All hands prepare for lane disruption!"

"Lane disruption?" Felix asked, then the shape of the space around Magpie changed, narrowing to a point and his body thrown hard against his straps. The mental pressure and sudden disturbance as the ship left the cruise lane disoriented him, but he poured power into the engines to escape the kill zone. Their ambushers turned to chase. An unkind voice dripping with false sincerity called over the local channels.

"Good day, merchant! I suggest you stop your engines and power down if you'd like to see tomorrow. We are the—wait, what do you mean it's—" the call cut short. [ALERT: SIX HOSTILES PRESENT] [LEVEL 3 SCARAB LIGHT FIGHTER x2] [LEVEL 4 LANCER FIGHTER x2] [LEVEL 3 PIKE HEAVY FIGHTER] [LEVEL 3 LAMPREY PIRATE ASSAULT CORVETTE] This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

It took just a moment for Felix to scan the space around Magpie, and within another he fully understood what he was facing. The Scarabs were small, maneuverable but otherwise armed only enough to scare a trader. The Lancers were tougher, equipped with railguns like the Arrowheads though these were of smaller caliber. The Pike— long with a broad and pointed nose—was a tougher customer with armor and missiles complementing the paired railguns.

The largest of the group, the Lamprey, had much of its space was given over to internal space for cargo or troops; in and of itself it was no more heavily armed than the Scarabs. Each ship's status bar lit up in a bland grey.

"I've got the ID on these guys," Gavin called, his tone grim.

"They're part of Rigel's Raiders. Thieves and slavers."

"Well then, I'm not going to feel bad about this." Felix twisted Magpie, keeping himself at an angle while closing the distance and rolling ship to narrow her profile, making the incoming shots miss wide above and below. They closed with the faster Scarab s first and he twisted Magpie around her axis, bringing the new armament to bear. He felt, rather than heard, a bright hum from the gatling laser, a surge of concentrated energy flowing from the weapon, stitching across the lead fighter.

It was sliced cleanly in half before exploding as the fuel stores lit off. The second died nearly as swiftly, lanced through the center like a beetle pinned to a board by the other dorsal laser. Two more fighters, sleek and resembling a falcon in a dive, swooped in firing their railguns, but Felix continued his roll, most of the shots missing. The handful that did hit felt like sand blowing against his skin in a stiff wind, sharp but otherwise ineffective; Magpie's shield only took a sliver of damage.

The gatling laser ripped across one, stitching a glowing line across the hull, while the other laser punched through one of the attacker's wings. As they passed, he pulled the freighter up, keeping the dorsal turrets tracking the Lancers. The lasers fired again, and the fighter status bars shrunk. Felix rolled Magpie to her side, giving the ventral turret an opening, and it speared through the engines of one fighter.

The other tried to turn itself to get behind the larger freighter, but that just brought it back into the view of the dorsal turrets, both of which tore it apart. He couldn't help but grin; every twist and turn let out some of the anger he'd been holding since landing in Buffalo. [ALERT! MISSILE! ALERT!] Instinct kicked in and Felix's index finger searched for an absent countermeasures toggle on the throttle.

"Gavin?" he called.

"Already on it…" The gatling laser hummed again, and a burst of light near Magpie's aft indicated success. The missile alert barked again and Felix searched for the attacker—the Pike. The heavier ship had interposed itself between the freighter and the Lamprey corvette, which had in turn begun to flee. The gatling laser caught the second missile, though this one was much closer as the distance between the two ships closed.

Another missile alert, except this one was so close there was no time to react and Felix grunted as something punched his shoulder. That had shaved a solid twenty percent off the shields and burnt the hull plates beneath. Magpie's turrets flashed again, and a lucky hit sliced into one of the heavy fighter's engines. Another roll to expose the ventral turret, and Gavin's next shot punched through the weakened shields again, this time hitting one of the externally-mounted missiles.

It burst in a violent cloud of blue and yellow shrapnel, and the compromised fighter broke apart.

"Hey, uh, no hard feelings, mate? Just a misunderstanding…" Their would-be attacker called over an open channel, his tone panicked.

"We'll just let you be on your way, don't worry about us…"

"They'll just hunt someone else," Gavin warned. Magpie didn't want to let her quarry escape, and this time, Felix could indulge her. Felix leaned back and released the controls, Magpie safely in the embrace of the cruise lane. His hands shook, the let-down from the adrenaline taking hold. It wasn't as noticeable when he flew, but now, with his awareness funneled back down to just his body, the sensation hit harder than he'd ever experienced.

He took a deep, heavy breath, then rubbed his shoulder, where the Pike had scored a hit. Flying like this was exhilarating, but the physical toll was demanding. There would be no letting his body go soft if he wanted to survive being a pilot here. Was that what had happened to Heigel? Had he been overwhelmed by the ship? His musing was cut short by Gavin.

"Salvage report from this one. The heavy fighter's railguns were intact, as were the shield modules from the Lamprey, though a bit worse for wear on both."

"That's good, right?" Felix asked, still rubbing his shoulder. Was it those guns, or another missile that scored the hit? Gavin nodded.

"Yes, considering how…thoroughly we completed the engagement. Would have liked to take the whole Lamprey, but I didn't expect the engines to lose containment like that." Felix sighed.

"I wouldn't mind if we could rig up some bow guns for me. There were a few times I'd have had a perfect shot lined up."

"Need another slot for that," Gavin reminded him.

"Of course, the way you fly that would probably put me out of work."

"Well I appreciate that review of my flying. I think." He flashed a smile at Gavin, who still was focused on the console in front of him.

"In the meantime, your shooting was outstanding. You're a solid gunner, Mr. Taggart." Felix turned to Misty.

"What happens now? Do we just get to…dispose of pirates like that with no questions asked?" She shrugged absently, face still pale. The fight had also taken its toll from her, though it seemed more emotional than physical. Felix had the sense she wasn't one to lead the ship toward a fight. It probably didn't help her that with the sort of pirates they'd been ambushed by, if not for his flying the Magpie would be property of their attackers and the crew their... best not to think of that.

"Sort of." Misty finally answered.

"I called in a report via the lane relays and sent along with our data logs. Between them and the cruise lane logs themselves, Frieland has enough to call it self-defense, send us a bounty payment, and will probably run another patrol through the system." Felix's eyes lit up.

"Wait, we got salvage and we'lll get paid?"

"Yes," she said, "and don't forget the experience. After an engagement like that, experience should come in pretty hot and heavy for the ship, as well as the crew." [ICV 601 - MAGPIE SHIP XP: 92, 654] He whistled appreciatively as he looked over the ship's report. According to the trees, the ship had several options available, and even a tier change was on the horizon. Felix wondered what additional perks that might bring." Magpie did well, and we can get some new perks soon.

Though it doesn't say I got anything myself." He shook his head.

"This is all too strange. I'm dogfighting space pirates in an up-gunned freighter while gaining it experience. When does this become normal?"

"It just is," Gavin said, not looking up.

"That's just how it works here. Do your job, optimize your build and grow. Doesn't matter if you're born into it, like we were, or if someone like you jumps in."

"I see." Felix watched the man stare at the manifest.

"And guard the build, too?" he asked, quieter, harder. Misty looked away, while Gavin finally raised his head to meet him.

"Sometimes." Just as quickly as he looked up, Gavin looked away.

"And sometimes, people make mistakes if they're too strict with it." Felix nodded slow.

"So, what does one do about that?" The command deck was silent, save for the hum of the ship in the cruise lane. Gavin had been avoiding the conversation, but now, here after another run-in with pirates, it had come to find him. The quiet lingered for several minutes before Gavin finally spoke again.

"Learn from it, try to fix what was done, and make better choices in the future."