Ricket (Star Watch Book 2) Read online

  “The short answer is that I, under present conditions, do not have the necessary understanding, nor the knowledge, to help her.”

  “Oh my god—”

  This time it was Ricket’s turn to interrupt: “Captain. You may already have in your possession all that is necessary to save Dira.”

  It took several long seconds before Jason answered. “The Quantum Lark?!”

  “Yes, sir. From what I have seen of the Caldurian vessel, the Parcical, there have been substantial technological advancements since the Minian was designed. I, personally, have taken advantage of a few of the latest MediPod advances.”

  * * *

  And just like that, Jason felt a glimmer of hope to save Dira. Discovering, too, that Ricket, Leon, and Hanna, and also Bristol, Traveler, and Granger, were still alive was icing on the cake. But none of them were out of the woods yet, not by a long shot. There were still twelve—no, thirteen, if he counted the Parcical—advanced Caldurian warships out there.

  The Caldurian fleet would have little trouble destroying the Quantum Lark—if it came down to that, but getting the Minian back in the fight sure would increase their odds favorably.

  “Listen, Ricket. Keep doing what you’re doing … I want that ship back in space as soon as possible. Wait for my cue.”

  “Yes, Captain.”

  * * *

  Jason found a tarp to cover the chief’s body. He laid a hand on the still form, and thanked the man for his service and dedication. He also made him a personal promise, a promise he’d die to uphold: make those responsible pay, and pay dearly.

  He got to his feet and found Rizzo standing several paces behind him.

  “You doing okay, Rizzo?” Jason asked.

  “Much better. But you don’t look so good, Cap.”

  “I’ll get fixed up as soon as there’s time. You catch me talking to Ricket?”

  Rizzo nodded. “Didn’t mean to eavesdrop, Cap, but that’s truly good news if Dira can be helped, and that Ricket and the others are still alive.”

  Jason caught Rizzo staring at the chief’s covered remains. “He died a hero today.” The three let several moments lapse before Jason spoke again. “We still have a lot to do.”

  “Where’s Billy?”

  “Managing the forces coming into the flight bay. He says he’ll have multiple teams ready to take back the ship in a few minutes.”

  “What’s the latest with the Quantum Lark?” Rizzo asked.

  “Good question. For the time being, we’re keeping any Caldurians from phase-shifting in. As you know, the bay is secured and … thanks there to the chief. And we have most of the ship’s systems under our control, here, via Engineering. My HUD’s indicating there’s twenty-five Caldurians still active; most are gathered toward the bow … around the bridge,” Jason added.

  “And their captain … their Omni?”

  “He’s here.”

  “He the one responsible for the destruction of Jefferson Station?”

  “That would be a good guess,” Jason said. He let out a breath and stepped away from the chief’s still form. “Orion and Grimes still in Medical?”

  “Yes, they’re there with Jackson. He should be about ready to pop out of the oven any time now,” Rizzo said.

  The two of them smiled at his comment. Jason said, “Then let’s get up there and come up with a plan to finish taking this ship.”

  Chapter 34

  High Orbit Over Alurian, Gracow CD1 System

  Quantum Lark, Medical

  __________________________

  Jason and Rizzo phase-shifted into the corridor outside of Medical, on the Quantum Lark’s twenty-third deck. Entering Medical, Jason found Grimes and Gunny standing over one of the eight MediPods. Jason suddenly realized these pods were indeed different. The ones on the Minian had small observation portholes, placed on the top of each clamshell, while these clamshell lids were entirely see-through—composed of some kind of blue-tinted, glass-like material. He wondered if he were looking at the answer to his hopes and wishes: the technology that would restore Dira back to good health.

  Orion looked up and nodded to Jason. “Cap … it’s Jackson. Guess he was in worse shape than we thought.”

  Jason stepped up to the MediPod and saw the big man filling every inch of space within the pod. “He’s okay?”

  “Seems to be … he’s due to come out in a few minutes.”

  “Good. We’re going to need his help.”

  Grimes said, “What’s the plan, Captain?”

  Jason noticed she’d directed her question to him, although her eyes were locked on Rizzo. It seemed clear, in that instant, that there was something going on between the two. Usually, Boomer gave him the latest scoop on who was dating who … Jason suddenly turned around. “Hey, where’s Boomer?”

  Both Orion and Grimes turned and glanced around. “She was just here, like two seconds before you walked in,” Orion said.

  Jason hailed his daughter.

  “Hi, Dad.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Investigating.”

  “No, Boomer, we talked about that. When on a mission you follow orders and don’t go running off on your own.”

  “I’m sorry, Dad. But I’ve found something you’ll want to see.”

  “Where are you?”

  “First tell me you won’t be mad.”

  Jason could simply reinitialize his battle suit and find her via his HUD, but that seemed like more trouble than just playing along. “Fine … I won’t be mad.”

  “I’m in the captain’s quarters. It looks different than—”

  “Damn it, Boomer, when are you going to start listening to me?” Jason initialized his battle suit and quickly found her blue life-icon on the bottom of his HUD. There were also red and yellow icons showing fairly close to her position.

  “I’m OK. Geez!”

  Jason didn’t answer her. He caught the rest of the team’s attention: “Lock and load, people … time to move.” Jason waited a few seconds for Billy, Gunny, Grimes, and Rizzo to initialize their battle suits and grab their multi-guns. He made the necessary settings and, seeing Boomer’s location was the kitchenette, phase-shifted the five of them to the captain’s quarters living room. On arrival, they stayed still, waiting for Jason to give the next order.

  With her helmet visor open, Boomer walked out of the kitchenette, eating a sandwich. “Dad?”

  “What are you doing?” Jason asked in a hushed voice.

  “I found the meal replicator. I was hungry.”

  Jason nodded to Billy and he moved past Boomer, down the hall toward the bedroom compartments. He returned several seconds later.

  “All clear … no one’s home.”

  “I could have told you that,” Boomer said.

  “How long have you been here?” Jason asked.

  “About two minutes before you hailed me. Look at this,” she said, waving for Jason and the others to follow her. They entered the captain’s ready room and Jason immediately noticed that the compartment, like much else of the ship, was an updated version of the Minian’s. The compartment was larger, and contained something like a small theater arrangement. Several rows of seats were off to the side.

  Jason shrugged. “So what? It’s a theater.”

  Boomer smiled and moved to the bulkhead. She triggered something, and the 3D display came alive: showing—as if a still image of a video or movie had been placed on hold—what appeared to be a space battle in progress. Two Master Class Caldurian ships, and a smaller, egg-shaped vessel, were firing on another immense vessel, which Jason instantly recognized was a Caldurian Crystal City ship. The implications were troubling, to say the least. Up until then, from what Granger had told him, the progressive Caldurians were leaving the originals alone. Obviously, that was no longer the case. Adding this event to the recent massacre at Jefferson Station, it was clear they were no longer dealing with the same Caldurian progressives who were so advanced that warring was a thing of
the past for them. Jason continued to study the image on the display and shook his head. What they were witnessing was sickening. How many Caldurian originals’ lives—tens … hundreds of thousands, had been snuffed out in this one attack?

  “I wonder when this happened,” Orion asked.

  Before Jason could comment, a noise came from the living quarters next door. Everyone stayed still. Billy, closest to the door, eased back into the living room and disappeared from view. He returned a few moments later and shrugged. “It’s the captain. I think … he’s in the shitter.”

  Gunny rolled her eyes and Boomer giggled.

  Jason phase-shifted their group of six back to Medical.

  * * *

  An hour later, Jason spoke with his three other team leaders, grouped together within the flight bay. Billy, Jackson and Rizzo, along with himself, would each command fifty Sharks. It was understood that Jackson and his team would stay put, right where they were, ready to deploy when needed as backup to those problem areas encountered by the other three teams.

  “There’s no more than twenty-five Caldurians on board, Cap. You don’t think this is a bit of overkill?” Billy asked.

  “We lost one of our own today. The chief was an old friend and it didn’t have to happen. I’m betting there’s a reason this ship seems so sparsely manned. Yes … I may be overreacting with a force of two hundred Sharks, but I’m sure they’re all happy to do something other than play cards in the barracks.” Jason turned to look at the four groups, now gathered nearby. Mostly men, but a few women, were going through their own personal routine of checking over weapons and reviewing HUD settings—the things a soldier did, prior to going into battle.

  “Look, it’s their technology we need to worry about,” Jason said, as he turned to Orion, standing by his side.

  “From what I’ve been able to scan, there are actually twenty-seven Caldurians on board, plus maybe twenty of the same droid variety we faced earlier in the flight bay.”

  Billy shrugged, as if to say, “So what … that’s no problem.”

  Orion continued, “But there’s something else.”

  “What does that mean, something else?” Rizzo asked.

  Gunny made a face—like she didn’t know how to answer his question. “All I can say is there’s something moving around the forward part of this ship. The sensors in Engineering are not the same as those I had on the Minian’s bridge, but evidently, it’s something cloaked and it’s something pretty big.”

  “How would you know that if it’s cloaked?” Jason asked.

  “It happened only once, while I was trying to observe it. At one point, when I detected something moving within the corridor, near the mess hall on Deck 7, two directly opposing hatch openings were triggered, at exactly the same moment. As we all know, you need to be standing … like right up close … to a hatch opening to generate a someone’s at the door–type response.”

  Depending on in which section of the ship one stood, the corridors varied in width. Some, like those on the main thoroughfares leading to the mess, were very wide: maybe twelve feet wide.

  “You’re telling me we have a twelve-foot-wide droid … or something else, moving around this ship. And it’s invisible?” Jason asked.

  She shook her head. “Yes and no. Whatever it is, it can change its size somehow. There are passageways here that are eight feet wide, while some are fifteen, like the main corridor, running down the middle of the ship, just outside the bridge. So if that thing is twelve feet wide, it would constantly find itself stuck in narrower passageways—”

  “Unless it’s avoiding certain areas,” Rizzo interjected.

  “Or altering its … girth,” Gunny said. “I don’t think it’s avoiding any other area, only this one, where we are now, toward the stern section of the ship.”

  “Anything else about this thing you can add to that, Gunny?” Jason asked.

  “Just that it seems no one, and I’m referring to the Caldurians, wants to be anywhere near the thing. They give it a wide berth. Seems they try to stay off whatever deck it’s located on. But that’s just a guess on my part. I mean, they never evacuate the bridge on Deck 23, no matter where the thing is … so I’m getting it’s more of a preference.”

  “Do you know where it is now?”

  “Not really. Sorry … it’s cloaked. What I can tell you is that there are Caldurians moving all over the bow section of the ship right now. My guess, and it’s just a guess, is the thing is hanging around outside the bridge.”

  That made sense to Jason. If it were some kind of droid, positioned to protect the ship, then that would be the place for it to be—especially right now. The Caldurians were undoubtedly aware of their movements. Aware an attack could come at any time.

  “Billy, I want you and your team down on Deck 1. Split into smaller teams and clear it, then move up, deck by deck, from there. Rizzo, you’ll do the same thing; I want you and your team on Deck 22. Clear it first, then systematically move downward. You and Billy will meet somewhere in the middle. Stay on open comms. While you’re doing that, my team will take Deck 23 and the bridge. Jackson, you and your team are the backup and will be deployed to any one location on an as-needed basis. Orion and Boomer, you’re with me.”

  Chapter 35

  Dramicus 9, Gracow CD1 System

  Minian, Bridge

  __________________________

  Ricket stumbled and fell to his knees. At first, he wondered if the ship had somehow shifted position, even though buried hundreds of feet below the surface. Then he heard the pounding, like a distant drumbeat, that seemed to be coming from all around the Minian’s outer hull.

  Ricket and Bristol were working together, in Engineering, dealing with the latest crop of problems. Still cranky for being, somehow, temporarily marooned on Alurian, Bristol—tightly holding on to the closest console—snarled, “Now what?”

  Ricket climbed to his feet. “The surface of the planet is being bombarded.”

  “Why?”

  “To destroy the Minian, would be my guess. Or, more likely, disable her.”

  “No, that’s not possible! We shouldn’t be showing up on anyone’s sensors. Shields are one of the few things still working on the Minian,” Bristol added.

  “My guess would be it is the Parcical—now in orbit over Dramicus 9. Her sensors are far more sensitive, at least to a focused-on area,” Ricket explained. “She is zeroing in on us.”

  “Yeah … sounds like the strikes are getting closer.”

  Ricket initialized his battle suit. “Finish up here, Bristol. I need to get back to the bridge. Please join me there when you can.” Ricket flashed away.

  * * *

  Ricket phase-shifted onto the bridge and found Leon and Hanna sitting together at the comms station, Granger at tactical, and Trommy5 standing erect near the entranceway. Everyone glanced up at his sudden appearance.

  “The surface of the planet is being strafed from high above,” Granger said.

  Ricket joined him and looked at the small display. “We do not have much time. Maybe five minutes.”

  “Why don’t we simply phase-shift to another location, beneath the ground?” Hanna asked.

  “I thought of that, but even if we phase-shifted to the other side of the planet, the sudden displacement of matter here will most certainly be detected. And perhaps accurately enough for the Parcical to get a clear fix on us.”

  Granger stopped what he was doing and looked up at the now-operational overhead wrap-around display. The view showed nothing but tons and tons of rock and dirt. As though able to see through it, all the way to the surface, and into high orbit above it, he looked back to Ricket and asked, “How close are we to bringing the drives all the way back online?”

  Ricket didn’t look up from the station. “I thought we would be ready by now. Probably another ten minutes. Bristol is working on several different propulsion issues.”

  “We don’t have another ten minutes,” Granger said flatly. />
  Now it was Ricket’s turn to stare into the wrap-around display.

  Bristol flashed into view and all heads turned toward him. “Propulsion is operational. Drives need another seven minutes before they’re fully online.”

  “Thank you, Bristol.”

  “Oh my god … it’s even louder in here. Isn’t that pounding driving you crazy?”

  “It’s driving me crazy,” Leon said, sounding annoyed.

  Ricket wasn’t listening to the pounding, or to Leon and Bristol either. Instead, he was pacing and staring off into space.

  He suddenly stopped and looked over at Granger. “How well do you know the operational characteristics of the Parcical?”

  “Not very. Ships like that were still on the drawing board when I was around.”

  Ricket nodded at that. “How well do you know Hobel?” The question seemed to have struck a nerve and Granger turned back toward the tactical board.

  Bristol took two steps closer to Granger and tapped him on the shoulder. “He asked you a question.”

  Abruptly, Granger spun back around. “I’d never met him before!”

  Bristol raised both hands up in mock surrender. “Whoa … easy there, cowboy.”

  Ricket tilted his head, as if really seeing Granger for the first time. Granger stared back at him and finally said, “You can’t tell me you haven’t figured it out yet?”

  “What?” Bristol asked.

  “Hobel and I are derivatives of the same clone group.”

  “What the hell’s a clone group?” Bristol asked.

  “Be nice, Bristol,” Hanna reprimanded from the comms station.

  “I assumed as much,” Ricket said. “The resemblance is remarkable.”

  Granger shrugged. “They try to mix things up a little—eye color, skin tones, hair, but skeletal structures pretty much remain the same.”

  “You’re a clone?” Bristol asked.