Captain Cosette (19 page)

Garale was in a venomous mood, but helpless.  Major Dyson removed the electronic key from the jail and put it into his pocket so that Garale, still wearing the bracelet, had no choice but to follow along.  They gave him a pack to carry, which he refused until Dyson pointed out
to Garale that it was his food and if he didn’t carry it, he could just go hungry.

The cart was still back at the compound, but Riling entered a code on a keypad on the tunnel wall that brought it rolling down to their end of the tunnel.  

A week before, when they had traveled from the compound to the fishing village by rumbler, Cosette had been lying on her stomach with her back bandaged, not able to appreciate the scenery they were passing.  Now she would return by underground tunnel, again not seeing anything.

I
need
to
come
here
sometime
when
we’re
not
running
away
so
I
can
see
this
world
as
it
really
is
.

Even her time at the fishing village had been hindered by the restrictions from her injury.

The trip through the tunnel was swift and uneventful.  They arrived under the compound, and hefted their packs again.  “You first,” said Dyson to Garale.  The lieutenant grumbled and began the long climb up the stairs.

Before Cosette was loaded into the rumbler, she had told Spinner to hide and go dormant until she returned.  She would appreciate having the assistance of the little robot while she tried putting together the remaining fighter.

I
hope
that
guidance
unit
is
still
in
good
shape
. 
I
guess
I
dropped
it
running
from
the
worm
;
I
don’t
remember
. 
If
I
can
find
it
,
it
shouldn’t
take
more
than
an
hour
to
finish
repairs
to
the
fighter
.

Major Dyson
pushed up the covering of the exit, the fake pile of wood molded out of composite.  He held it up as Cosette and Rasora and Garale left the tunnel.

The dreariness of the abandoned compound did not depress Cosette.  She tossed her pack on
to a bunk and went directly out to the hangar.  “Spinner!” she cried, not knowing where the robot had decided to hibernate.

With a clicking and a clattering, the robot emerged from behind some broken crates, dipping its lenses in recognition. 
“Hello, Cadet Nicholas, now known as Captain Cosette!  Are you healthy now?”

“
Healthy enough,” she said, stretching her arms over her head and feeling a slight twinge in her back.  “And how have you been?”

“
I have been hibernating, but three of those stilts have passed by and many birds, and they kept waking me up.  I was hibernating with an audible alarm sensor on so I have been awakened twenty seven times since you left.”

“
Oh, I’m sorry.”

“
It does not matter.  I just turn myself off again.  How may I help you?”

Cosette walked out of the hangar to the flyer she had been working on. 
“You can help me finish repairing this flyer.  I left a guidance unit lying somewhere, either just inside or outside the old wrecked cruiser.  It should fit.”

“
It does fit.  I already installed it.”

“
You did?  How did you even know about it?”

“
I asked Major Dyson how you got hurt.  He said you were trying to get the guidance unit from the cruiser.  Before I hibernated, I went to the cruiser and looked.  It was on the floor inside the cruiser.  I installed it in this fighter.”

“
You wonderful robot!  You’re amazing!”

“
Thank you, Captain Cosette.  My EM chip appreciates praise.  It makes me motivated.”

She vaulted into the cabin of the fighter and sat down in the pilot’s seat.  With an ease that came from her acquired memories, she flipped the switches that powered up the fighter and ran several diagnostics on the new guidance unit.  It passed every one.

Whatever
modification
the
Union
made
on
that
unit
,
it
seems
to
work
fine
. 
It’s
even
ready
to
guide
us
through
folded
space
.

She powered down the fighter and went to find Major Dyson.

He didn’t answer when she called his name.  She found Rasora stretched out on his bunk, half asleep.  He had indulged in the native drink a bit heavily the night before.

“
Where is Major Dyson?” she asked.

“
Don’t know.  Did you try the mess hall?”

“
No.  The fighter’s ready to launch.”

“
Too bad.”  He laid his arm over his eyes.  “I could use another hour’s sleep.”

“
You can sleep strapped into the cruiser.  As soon as I find the Major, we should leave.”

He swung his feet off the bunk and started fumbling with his boots. 
“Aye, aye, Captain.”

“
I’m not trying to be bossy, but it’s dangerous for us to stay here.”  She headed towards the mess hall. 

I
am
too
being
bossy
. 
I’d
better
watch
that
.

The mess hall was empty, and when she called, there was no answer.  She checked both of the bathrooms and the kitchen, but they were empty also.

As she was leaving the dining area, she noticed something lying by the back door.  It was a pair of boots, and someone’s legs were still in them.

She ran to the back door and found Major Dyson sprawled under a dining table.  He was alive and breathing, but unconscious.  He was wearing his dress shirt, but his jacket with his insignia was missing.  The back door was open, and she understood why.  Lieutenant Garale had taken the Major’s jacket so he could have the key without actually touching it. 

She shook Dyson’s shoulders and called his name, but he was out cold.  “Rasora!” she shouted.

I’ve
got
to
do
something
. 
Do
I
stay
with
him
until
he
recovers
or
do
I
go
after
Garale
?

Every moment she hesitated, Garale got further away.

Chapter Thirteen

Rasora stumbled into the room, still fastening his shirt. 
“What do you want… Hey!  What happened to Dyson?”

Cosette
got to her feet.  “Garale knocked him out and took his jacket with the key.  You help Dyson; I’m going after Garale.”

“
You’re crazy.  Let me chase him; you don’t know how to fight.”

“
Can you track him out there in that forest?  Are you a tracker?”  She tried not to sound frantic but time was slipping away.

Rasora opened the door and looked at the scattered forest outside. 
“Well, no.  But I know how to fight and you don’t.  He’d kill you.”

“
I know how to track him.  The ship can scan for his bracelet.  He can’t hide.”

“
Then let’s both go.”

“
We can’t.”  Cosette pointed to Dyson, who was beginning to groan.  “He might be hurt worse than he looks.  You need to stay with him.”

“
Take a disruptor pistol with you, then.  Don’t give him a chance to hurt you.”

“
Don’t worry; I’ve got no sympathy for Garale.”  She took Dyson’s pistol from his hip, clicked off the safety, ran from the mess hall and climbed into the fighter.  Moments later she was in vertical takeoff mode, hovering over the compound. 

Okay
,
you
wretched
man
,
where
are
you
hiding
?

She reached a hand towards the scanner module, and hesitated.

If
I
start
scanning
,
they’ll
be
able
to
sense
it
if
one
of
the
orbiting
battleships
is
passing
overhead
. 
But
there’s
no
time
to
waste
. 
I’ve
got
to
get
Garale
back
in
order
to
protect
the
soldiers
hiding
in
the
fishing
village
. 

They would just have to leave before any attack party from the battleships arrived.  She hoped Major Dyson would be on his feet when she got back.

She flicked on the scanner, and rotated the ship.

There
.

The screen showed the metal bracelet and key, along with other bits of metal on Garale, moving through the woods.  She sent the fighter forward, skimming the treetops until she hovered over the signal.

I
don’t
want
to
kill
him
. 
But
how
am
I
going
to
stop
him
?

She remembered the look-see probe, and how it used its EMF gun to fry the guidance units of the damaged fighters.  Her fighter was equipped with the same gun, only on a larger scale.

You
are
really
not
going
to
like
this
,
Garale
. 

She had no way to contact the fleeing lieutenant, no loudspeaker, no way to say
“Stop or I’ll shoot.”  She backed up several meters, lowered the fighter’s nose, and fired the EMF gun at low power.

The scanner showed that Garale had stopped.

She maneuvered the fighter as close as she could and landed it.  After cutting the engines, she drew the disruptor pistol and opened the cockpit.  Garale was screaming.

She jumped to the ground and walked
over to him.  He was on his knees, pouring handfuls of earth on his wrist, trying to cool the bracelet.  The jacket lay beside him, smoldering.

“
Where do you think you’re going?” she said, keeping the pistol aimed at him and a good distance between them.

“
You almost burned my hand off, you….”  He cursed loudly at her, still putting moist earth on his wrist.

“
Turn around and get back to the compound, Garale.  And run, or I’ll put another pulse into that bracelet.”

Garale stood, hugging his wrist to his midsection, his round face red with anger and pain. 
“You…you…”

“
Shut up.”  With Union warships probably on their way, she was in no mood to be gracious.  She gestured with her gun.  “The compound’s that way.   Now go!”

With a snarl, he grabbed the jacket with his good hand and started jogging back the way he had come. 

That
bracelet
just
got
fried
and
won’t
work
any
more
,
but
I’m
not
going
to
tell
him
that
. 
He
might
try
running
away
again
.

She wasn’t going to carry him back in the fighter.  She would have no way to pilot and
to keep him under guard at the same time.  Her threat to fire another electromagnetic pulse into the bracelet was real and sufficient.

She raised the fighter and followed him back to the compound. 

Rasora was there when they arrived, and Major Dyson stood beside him, his hand pressing a wet cloth against the side of his head.  Relief washed over her.  Dyson was going to be okay.

  Rasora held Garale at gunpoint as Cosette landed the fighter.

“I’ve got blisters!  I’m burned!” whined Garale.

“
Get him in the fighter,” Cosette said, “in the back.  Rasora, take the key from the jacket and keep that gun on him at all times.”

Garale shouted,
“I need something on these burns!”

“
There’s a first aid kit in the fighter.  Now get in!”

Garale climbed up into the fighter and slumped in one of the rear seats.  Rasora followed him in and tossed the first aid kit at him.

“We need to grab the packs and lift off immediately,” Cosette said to Dyson.  “I had to use the scanner to find him, and if they’re paying any attention at all, they’ll already have ships coming down from orbit.” 

Dyson winced and tossed the wet cloth aside. 
“We’d better move fast.”  As they ran into the compound, he added, “That was clever, hitting Garale with an EMF burst.  How did you think of that?”

“
That’s what the LK-C probe did to the guidance units to burn them out.  I knew it would heat up the bracelet, but I wasn’t sure how much.”

“
You know, you’re getting pretty feisty for a country girl.”  He grabbed the three men’s packs and hefted them easily.

She slung her own pack over her shoulder.

It’s
heavy
. 
I
keep
forgetting
I
have
Rasora’s
gold
rings
.

“
I don’t know what I am, any more,” she said.  “It’s like I’m a dozen people rolled into one and there’s not much of the real me left.”

“
There’s a lot of you still left, my friend.  Those other dozen people in you would have thrown a missile into Garale and called it square.  The real you is a better person than that.”

“
Thank you.”  She threw the packs into the fighter’s small hold and waited for Spinner to clamber in.  She latched and sealed it, and then she and Dyson climbed into the two front seats.

“
Strap yourselves in,” she said to everyone.  “You’re in for a fast ride out of here.”

“
You pilot, I’ll navigate,” said Dyson, strapping himself in.

“
Done.”  She opened up the engines and lifted the nose. 

With a roar that slammed them into their seats, the fighter lifted off and hurtled skyward.

“Tell me what you see,” she said.

“
There’s a fighter below us that must have been coming from somewhere else on the planet, and I’m picking up a cruiser coming down….  What’s this?  There’s a full-size command station in orbit!  How could they build a space station so fast?”

“
They didn’t.  They can move them, remember?  One of the secrets I wasn’t supposed to tell you.”

“
It’s launching fighters.  We’re being painted by sensors on both sides.  No missiles fired yet.”

“
They’re after us, all right, but at our acceleration they’re about to lose their window of opportunity.”

The fighter’s engines began to quiet down, and Cosette frowned. 
“That’s not right!  I’ve got the throttles wide open.  Why are we slowing down?”  She dialed the engines down and back to full strength, but there was no response. 

“
What’s wrong?” asked Dyson.

“
I don’t know.”  She tried maneuvering thrusters, but got no response from them either.  “It’s like my controls have been disconnected.”  Their fighter turned, and began traveling towards the orbiting command station.  Dyson tried the copilot’s controls, but could get no response either.

Wait
a
minute
. 
I
salvaged
our
guidance
unit
from
the
crashed
Union
cruiser
…

Cosette banged her fist on the console. 
“I know what it is!”

“
What?”

“
There was an extra piece in the guidance unit I salvaged, a Union modification.  It’s an override!”

“
You mean…”

“
They’re controlling our ship.  Their power-hungry military came up with a way to override a pilot’s control of his ship.  There’s nothing in my training that mentioned it.”

Dyson began unstrapping himself. 
“We could pull the guidance unit.”

“
No, that’s no good.  If we start to drift, they could fire a dumb missile and we would have no way to avoid it.  As long as they can control us, they won’t destroy us.”

Dyson slumped in his seat and watched the station getting larger on the screen. 
“Then there’s nothing we can do about it.” 

Behind them, Garale began chuckling.  By the time they were being drawn into the station, he was laughing out loud.