The Last Flight of the Argus (35 page)

There was enough of his face left to tell it was Kaspar.

Inquisitor Cer stepped past Maddox. Farther down the corridor she saw movement. She grabbed her fusion gun and aimed it into those shadows.

“
Someone’s there,” she whispered.

B’taav and Cer stepped over the Merc’s corpse and moved forward. Inquisitor Cer took the lead. Even though B'taav's eyes were better suited for the darkness, it was Cer who first recognized the figure hiding back there in the shadows.

When she did, she gasped.

CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN

Oscar
Theodor couldn’t help but yell in delight. Far, far away in the distance he finally spotted his elusive target.

“
There you are,” he muttered. He amplified the magnifier lens to their maximum. “
Posei
, but that ship is old!”

Theodor pressed the intercom button.

“
I have visual of the target,” he said. He heard his voice echo through the lower levels of his ship. “It’s a Phaecian Cargo ship, classification unknown. She was weaving around some—”

“
Hang on, I’m coming up,” Richard Loo replied.

In seconds, the door leading to the cockpit silently slid open and Officer Richard Loo squeezed into the narrow space behind Theodor. He stared out the front window.

“
Where is she?”

Theodor pressed a series of controls and portions of the forward window magnified. The Phaecian Cargo craft was displayed in the center of the view screen. She sat immobile next to a particularly large asteroid.

“
Are you sure it’s our ship and not some other scavenger?”

Theodor clicked the magnification controls until the digital image was clear.

“
Based on their flight pattern before they stopped—”

“
You're getting very close.”

“
Uh...isn't that what you want—”

“
How long before we intercept?”

“
Seconds.”

“
No,” Richard Loo said. “Reverse course. Back us up and away.”

“
What?”

“
That’s an order.”

Oscar Theodor pulled on the ship’s control stick. His ship slowed to a crawl and stopped. Theodor nudged her behind an asteroid and out of sight of the Phaecian Cargo craft.

Richard Loo squeezed beside the pilot. The Blue Rogue squad leader examined the magnification image still on the view screen.

“
Good work,” he said after a while. “What were you saying about the ship not being a scavenger?”

“
I can’t be completely certain, of course,” Theodor began. “We checked up on all ships in the area of
Titus
and they were accounted for. There were many different models, but none were of ancient Phaecian design.”

“
Are you close enough to get an ID of the ship?”

Theodor fiddled with the ship’s image software. After a few seconds of doing so, he shook his head.

“
No sir. We’re too far away.”

“
What is the distance between us?”

“
Two hundred fifty two kilometers.”

Richard Loo nodded. His stare grew distant as he examined the view screen.

“
Sir, we have them,” Oscar said. “Shouldn’t we call in the others? We'll have that ship and its crew captured before dinner.”

Richard Loo did not reply.

“
Sir?” Oscar insisted. “Shouldn’t we—”

“
Keep your distance,” Richard Loo said. “We’ll wait for them to move again, and then follow. If any of the other
Tango
s show up you are
not
to establish contact with them unless they make a move against that vessel.”

“
And…and if they do?”

“
Intercept them.”

“
Intercept my own squad?”

“
Yeah,” Loo replied. “Do not use deadly force, but make
damn
sure they realize they’re to stand down and follow our lead. The Phaecian craft is to be left alone. When they move, give me a call.”

Theodor swallowed hard.

“
Sir?”

“
You have your orders.”

Having said that, Officer Loo retreated from the cramped cockpit.

CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

“
I
see him,” B’taav said. He laid a hand on Inquisitor Cer’s shoulder. “Let me.”

B’taav stepped in front of her.

“
No one’s going to hurt you,” B’taav said. He moved forward, until Inquisitor Cer and he were in the middle of the long corridor. Behind them were Maddox and Kaspar’s corpse. An equal distance before them and in the shadows at the end of the corridor was the shooter.

“
We know you’re frightened,” B’taav continued. “I am too.”

The figure in the shadows remained still. Despite the violence committed just seconds before, his body was remarkably relaxed.

“
I’m coming closer.”

B’taav kept his voice low and mild and divorced of any emotions.

“
We won’t hurt you.”

B’taav took another step, then another. The acrid smell of charred flesh filled his nostrils and made his stomach turn.

The figure in the shadows moved. B’taav spread his hands outward.

“
I’m not going to do anything,” he said. “I just want to talk.”

The figure grew still. B’taav again moved forward. From somewhere behind, he heard the sounds of the rest of the
Xendos’
passengers rushing in from the opposite side of the corridor. The figure in the shadows once again stirred.

Inquisitor Cer spun around. Saro Triste, Balthazar, and Melchor ran to Maddox’s side. Inquisitor Cer thrust her hand out and hissed, “Quiet!”

Balthazar and Melchor obeyed the command. Balthazar grabbed Triste by his collar while Melchor held his position. All was as quiet as before, and Inquisitor Cer gave Balthazar gave a nod.

The Inquisitor turned. B’taav was less than fifteen feet from the figure in the shadows.

“
Easy,” the Independent said. “I’m going to move nice and easy and nothing’s going to happen. Do you understand?”

B’taav did not expect any reply.

“
I’m taking another step,” B’taav said. “Nice and easy. It’s been a rough couple of days and I know you must be really tired. We all are. All this excitement and movement wears you down. So from here on out we’re going to slow everything. I’m going to take another step now.”

B’taav lifted his leg. The figure remained still for a fraction of a second as B’taav’s foot left the ground.

And then the figure's fusion gun came up.

For the Independent, time slowed to a crawl. He lurched forward even as the ear splitting blast roared throughout the corridor. A wave of searing heat passed just over his head, a fraction of a second before his body hit the cold metal floor. He hoped none of the passengers behind him were in the path of this deadly blast.

B’taav rolled away just as another blast slammed into the ground, splintering and melting sections of the walkway.

Steam from a broken pipe hissed into the air and B’taav was on his feet and running. Before his attacker could get off a third shot, B’taav had his hands around him. He twisted the gun out of his would-be killer’s hands and threw it down the corridor. The figure he held went limp, but B’taav did not relax his grip.

Through the mist of steam emanating from the broken pipe, the Independent saw Maddox sprawled on the ground. The first fusion blast clipped his left leg. He lay on the floor convulsing in agony. Inquisitor Cer was already at his side. She ripped at the fabric of his pants, revealing there was nothing left of the man's leg below the knee.

Saro Triste, Stephen Gray, Ned Frasier, and the remaining Mercs approached Cer and Maddox.

“
This man needs medical attention!” Frasier yelled. “Does anyone—?”

“
Rasp…” Maddox gasped between clamped teeth. “He…knew.”

“
But he’s…gone.”

Francis Lane pushed past the group. She ignored Maddox and ran to B’taav. Tears filled her eyes when she stared at the boy the Independent held so tightly in his grip.

“
Nathaniel,” she cried. “What have you done?”

CHAPTER THIRTY NINE

Oscar
Theodor hummed a few bars of an old love song and tapped his fingers against the cool plastic paneling of his fighter craft. To his right was a snow globe with the words “Douglas Gardens” written along its bottom. Within the globe was a holo-picture of a mountain range, one of the prime vacation spots for young military men with free time on their hands.

How he wished he was there rather than here.

The Phaecian cargo ship hadn’t moved in what seemed like hours. He eyed his clock and sighed.

No, not hours. Exactly one hour and twenty-three minutes.

Oscar shook his head. In that time, he thought up various attack patterns he could use against the Phaecian ship. Each guaranteed their prey would be crippled and captured.

Captured.

Wasn’t that their original purpose?

“
Guess not,” Theodore muttered.

He stopped tapping the panel and sighed. Outside, past the front paneling, lay the asteroid field and the other Tango crafts. They were heading in this general direction. Beyond them all was the Phaecian cargo craft. She hadn’t moved an inch.

Once again Oscar sighed.

Why hadn’t they?

B’taav
and Inquisitor Cer finished patching up the ruptured coolant tube in the corridor. Because of the nature of the damage, they had to turn the
Xendos’
engines off, a dangerous proposition considering where they were.

Modern craft had cut off valves throughout their lines and didn’t require a full engine shut off for repairs of this type. Of course, the
Xendos
wasn’t a modern craft. After the patch was in place, Inquisitor Cer and B’taav headed back to the engine room. Inquisitor Cer noted the coolant line pressure sensor readings.

“
We lost one hundred and twelve cubic kilos of coolant,” she said. “Bad, but not catastrophic.”

“
Let’s get the engines warmed up,” B’taav said. “We’ve been here too long as it is.”

Inquisitor Cer headed to the central computer panel and flipped a series of switches. The angry hum of an almost cold engine starting filled the room.

“
This will take a few minutes. Let’s get cleaned up.”

When
he finished wiping off the oil and sweat from his body, B’taav changed into fresh clothes and exited his room. The corridor outside was quiet. He walked to Inquisitor Cer’s room and knocked on her door. For several seconds he waited for a reply, but none came. She was probably already back on the bridge.

Exhaustion was getting to him, and B’taav lingered by the door longer than he otherwise would have. He shook his head and moved off, pausing for a moment beside Maddox’s room. Familiar voices came from within. B’taav knocked and opened the door.

Inside were Ned Frasier and Dave Maddox. Maddox lay on his bed. A pair of black straps was wrapped across his chest and kept him pinned to the bed. The blanket that covered him was fresh and clean, except for a stain in the empty space where his left leg would have been. Ned Frasier tried to comfort the bartender.

Maddox grimaced when he saw the Independent enter the room.

“
How are you doing?” B’taav asked.

Maddox gritted his teeth and said, “F…fu…fucking great.”

“
The boy killed Rasp, didn’t he?” B’taav said.

Maddox nodded.

“
I was in the outside corridor, looking around for su.. supplies,” Maddox said. “I saw…I saw some movement…in Rasp’s room and figured he was up and about. Before I got there I...I saw someone run out…out the jammed door. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought…I thought it was Nathaniel. I looked through the crack in the door…where he exited…I saw Rasp in his bed…the knife…the knife in his chest.”

Another spasm shook Maddox.

“
I went…went crazy…forced myself through the crack. I'm...I'm smaller than just about everyone else here, but I still don’t know how I...did it…Rasp died…died in my arms. He didn’t say anything. I ran back to that jammed door…forced my way out…I couldn’t…believe what the boy did. I had to find him…to see for sure. I still can’t…I still can’t believe—”

Sweat oozed from Maddox’s forehead and into his hair and the pillow below. Frasier reached for a first aid kit on the table next to the bathroom door. He opened it, produced a syringe, and used it to inject a colorless liquid into Maddox’s arm.

“
Easy,” Frasier said. “Go to sleep.”

Maddox shook for several more seconds before closing his eyes. His body went limp.