This is a short story I started about March last year. It sparked a much better story and this was going to linger in unread hell. I gave it a quick going over as I was switching from first to third perspective. If there are any more perspective errors let me know and I will correct them. Sorry but it was too long for a single post. There are also some notes I never got around to calculating.
I won't miss Radley's Risk. I have upset a lot of the residents, people who like me don't want to be found. In fact I can barely remember how or why I ended up here. All I know is that if I visit some of the more core systems my days will be limited.
My request for launch was approved before the hatch had even begun closing - the fatman wanted to leave immediately and I always kept my ship prepared.
He and his fop haired kid came panting onto the bridge as the hangers launch system rocked the ship into life and began to trundle along the conveyer towards the large airlock. Roman style togas seemed to be in fashion judging by their clothing.
As we rolled along to the launch pad we passed a quartet of sidewinders powering up. Evil looking with custom modifications. I saw one pilot pause to look as he started up the ships ladder, though I couldn't make out any detail due to the light behind him just casting a silhouette. I briefly wondered if he could make out my features - did we swap tall stories in one of the many watering holes?
"Friends of yours?" I ask over my shoulder. "You'll need to buckle up - I am guessing this will get heavy very quickly."
The fatman leaned over my chair to look out the viewport. "Can you out run them?"
"Maybe, maybe not. We will soon find out".
Unassured but with no other option, the fatman and his boy acquainted themselves with the grav seats while I continued the inspection of my apparent adversaries. 4 sidewinders, modified engines, modified shielding and judging by the protruding barrels and cooling systems, modified lasers.
My inspection is interrupted by insistent pinging. Rarely heard but recognised instantly. I open it and implants in my eyes verified and decrypted the message. "Do not disseminate the following information. Proceed immediately to <location>. Elite command." it briefed. I flicked over to the star map and looked at the location. No star listed at that location.
I pondered briefly the timing of this message - could criminals break the Elite transmission encryption? Is this a trap?
My reverie was broken by a jolt as the platform came to a halt on the launch pad. The doors behind the craft closed and the ones above rolled back revealing a purplish dusk sky.
The station gently launched the Cobra Mk III vertically but the landing gear had barely left the launch deck when I pitched her up to vertical and the engines roared into life and the Cobra rose on a column of fire like the spaceships of old.
"We have less than 30 seconds before your friends start to join us. The next couple of minutes will be extremely uncomfortable as I put as much distance between here and there. "
The groan of the fatman increased in line as the G forces mounted. My modified engines topped out a 4.5G of thrust. Even stock Sidewinders can match that and those prepping craft in the hanger were in no way stock.
A proximity alert revealed a high altitude craft on an intercept course. An Asp - probably just a trader lured by a promise of a cut for preventing me from reaching the jump point. A slight change in heading prevents the Asp from getting close enough to fire but does mean we will spend longer mass locked by the planet.
A second proximity alert. This time from below. One of the Sidewinders. The distance between us is increasing but it won't do for long.
I crane my neck around, my modified body used to the rigours of massive acceleration. The boy seems to have passed out but the fatman is holding on. "Will we make it?"
I won't lie. "Possibly. Depends how determined they are."
I turn back to the console. The Asp is no longer a threat but the sidewinder is now starting to close. The pilot must be pulling close to 7G! They are serious about this guy. Maybe I should have charged more.
The first has now been joined by another way down below.
I looked at the message again. The brevity spoke volumes. My fingers moved across the console to change the destination but hold off locking the coordinates in. I do have a responsibility to get my charges to <location> after all.
A new incessant alarm started to screech out in increasing tempo.
"What now?" begged the old man.
"Just a couple of missiles - probably dumb stilettos."
"Can you destroy them?"
"Yes."
"So why don't you?"
"Because if I do he'll fire the rapiers he also had loaded and those I can't destroy."
The screech of the alarm closed until it was a continuous tone before I flicked the ECM. A slight judder passed through the ship. Even in the rarified atmosphere the missiles were close enough to form a shock wave.
The alarm was silent for a couple of seconds and then it started again.
The darkness of space was now upon us but the hyperspace launch light was amber - charged but mass locked. Whether we'll get there before the missiles would be a close call.
The missiles came closer. I hit the ECM in the off chance that they too were cheap ordinance but they were hardened against such attacks.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures" I said out loud to no one in particular. I prepped the energy bomb, set a 5 second delay, waited for just a moment and released it.
"And a change of destination". The new coordinates were locked in.
The hyperspace space display switched to green and I hit the jump. The familiar flicker of light played around the edge of the ship as massive energies prepared to rip him out of the universe briefly before dumping us back in many light years away.
That's when the primordial energies from the extreme counter measures hit.
The missiles were vaporised instantly but the bomb also slammed into my shields and washed around the craft. Damage control started to whine in protest.
The light for the jump went red - the energy for that jump was wasted and needed to reform. The scanner was useless - the energy bomb saw to that - but my 6th sense knew the Sidewinder was still closing rapidly.
I could almost feel the cross hairs homing in on my when I got the green to go. I took it gratefully.
Escape velocity is 10.5km/s
44.1m/s acceleration at 4.5G. How long to achieve that? How far can I cover in 30 seconds? how long to space? How long to jump?
Sidewinder closing at 7G. How long to close gap? Missiles at 20g.
As soon as I was clear of the hyperspace cloud I yawned the ship around and put a brief push of thrust- if the sidewinder tail gated he would appear there. The hyperspace cloud rapidly disappeared into the distance and eventually out of existence. Nothing. Even the damage control had quietened down, though some systems were still whimpering amber.
"We clear?" asked the old man in a whisper.
"No" I replied. "They will group up and then come after us. We had better be going." I flipped the ship over and pointed it towards the distant red star. But where?
The information came in drips and drabs as it passively detected objects in the system. First returnee was small gas ball boiling in the close heat of the sun. Then two rocky worlds at either edge of the goldilocks zone, both of which were on the far side of the sun. Finally two Jovian+ systems, one of which had a moon the size of Mars in an elliptical orbit - the jackpot - faint EM readings meaning life. I selected the system and then switched on the star streamer. The automatic pilot lined up the craft, jiggled around a little getting the alignment perfect and transitioned.
I won't miss Radley's Risk. I have upset a lot of the residents, people who like me don't want to be found. In fact I can barely remember how or why I ended up here. All I know is that if I visit some of the more core systems my days will be limited.
My request for launch was approved before the hatch had even begun closing - the fatman wanted to leave immediately and I always kept my ship prepared.
He and his fop haired kid came panting onto the bridge as the hangers launch system rocked the ship into life and began to trundle along the conveyer towards the large airlock. Roman style togas seemed to be in fashion judging by their clothing.
As we rolled along to the launch pad we passed a quartet of sidewinders powering up. Evil looking with custom modifications. I saw one pilot pause to look as he started up the ships ladder, though I couldn't make out any detail due to the light behind him just casting a silhouette. I briefly wondered if he could make out my features - did we swap tall stories in one of the many watering holes?
"Friends of yours?" I ask over my shoulder. "You'll need to buckle up - I am guessing this will get heavy very quickly."
The fatman leaned over my chair to look out the viewport. "Can you out run them?"
"Maybe, maybe not. We will soon find out".
Unassured but with no other option, the fatman and his boy acquainted themselves with the grav seats while I continued the inspection of my apparent adversaries. 4 sidewinders, modified engines, modified shielding and judging by the protruding barrels and cooling systems, modified lasers.
My inspection is interrupted by insistent pinging. Rarely heard but recognised instantly. I open it and implants in my eyes verified and decrypted the message. "Do not disseminate the following information. Proceed immediately to <location>. Elite command." it briefed. I flicked over to the star map and looked at the location. No star listed at that location.
I pondered briefly the timing of this message - could criminals break the Elite transmission encryption? Is this a trap?
My reverie was broken by a jolt as the platform came to a halt on the launch pad. The doors behind the craft closed and the ones above rolled back revealing a purplish dusk sky.
The station gently launched the Cobra Mk III vertically but the landing gear had barely left the launch deck when I pitched her up to vertical and the engines roared into life and the Cobra rose on a column of fire like the spaceships of old.
"We have less than 30 seconds before your friends start to join us. The next couple of minutes will be extremely uncomfortable as I put as much distance between here and there. "
The groan of the fatman increased in line as the G forces mounted. My modified engines topped out a 4.5G of thrust. Even stock Sidewinders can match that and those prepping craft in the hanger were in no way stock.
A proximity alert revealed a high altitude craft on an intercept course. An Asp - probably just a trader lured by a promise of a cut for preventing me from reaching the jump point. A slight change in heading prevents the Asp from getting close enough to fire but does mean we will spend longer mass locked by the planet.
A second proximity alert. This time from below. One of the Sidewinders. The distance between us is increasing but it won't do for long.
I crane my neck around, my modified body used to the rigours of massive acceleration. The boy seems to have passed out but the fatman is holding on. "Will we make it?"
I won't lie. "Possibly. Depends how determined they are."
I turn back to the console. The Asp is no longer a threat but the sidewinder is now starting to close. The pilot must be pulling close to 7G! They are serious about this guy. Maybe I should have charged more.
The first has now been joined by another way down below.
I looked at the message again. The brevity spoke volumes. My fingers moved across the console to change the destination but hold off locking the coordinates in. I do have a responsibility to get my charges to <location> after all.
A new incessant alarm started to screech out in increasing tempo.
"What now?" begged the old man.
"Just a couple of missiles - probably dumb stilettos."
"Can you destroy them?"
"Yes."
"So why don't you?"
"Because if I do he'll fire the rapiers he also had loaded and those I can't destroy."
The screech of the alarm closed until it was a continuous tone before I flicked the ECM. A slight judder passed through the ship. Even in the rarified atmosphere the missiles were close enough to form a shock wave.
The alarm was silent for a couple of seconds and then it started again.
The darkness of space was now upon us but the hyperspace launch light was amber - charged but mass locked. Whether we'll get there before the missiles would be a close call.
The missiles came closer. I hit the ECM in the off chance that they too were cheap ordinance but they were hardened against such attacks.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures" I said out loud to no one in particular. I prepped the energy bomb, set a 5 second delay, waited for just a moment and released it.
"And a change of destination". The new coordinates were locked in.
The hyperspace space display switched to green and I hit the jump. The familiar flicker of light played around the edge of the ship as massive energies prepared to rip him out of the universe briefly before dumping us back in many light years away.
That's when the primordial energies from the extreme counter measures hit.
The missiles were vaporised instantly but the bomb also slammed into my shields and washed around the craft. Damage control started to whine in protest.
The light for the jump went red - the energy for that jump was wasted and needed to reform. The scanner was useless - the energy bomb saw to that - but my 6th sense knew the Sidewinder was still closing rapidly.
I could almost feel the cross hairs homing in on my when I got the green to go. I took it gratefully.
Escape velocity is 10.5km/s
44.1m/s acceleration at 4.5G. How long to achieve that? How far can I cover in 30 seconds? how long to space? How long to jump?
Sidewinder closing at 7G. How long to close gap? Missiles at 20g.
As soon as I was clear of the hyperspace cloud I yawned the ship around and put a brief push of thrust- if the sidewinder tail gated he would appear there. The hyperspace cloud rapidly disappeared into the distance and eventually out of existence. Nothing. Even the damage control had quietened down, though some systems were still whimpering amber.
"We clear?" asked the old man in a whisper.
"No" I replied. "They will group up and then come after us. We had better be going." I flipped the ship over and pointed it towards the distant red star. But where?
The information came in drips and drabs as it passively detected objects in the system. First returnee was small gas ball boiling in the close heat of the sun. Then two rocky worlds at either edge of the goldilocks zone, both of which were on the far side of the sun. Finally two Jovian+ systems, one of which had a moon the size of Mars in an elliptical orbit - the jackpot - faint EM readings meaning life. I selected the system and then switched on the star streamer. The automatic pilot lined up the craft, jiggled around a little getting the alignment perfect and transitioned.
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