“We wanted to thank you, Admiral, before you left our system. Unfortunately, we’re left without the means to communicate with anyone at the moment, as the Rawtenuga bombarded our coms infrastructure and media sites from orbit. They did a pretty good job of it. We’d ask one further favour from you, if you would?”
“Certainly.”
“In the next system is another of our planets. If you would kindly tell them our situation, and ask them to bring relief supplies and temporary coms equipment. I’m sure they think us either destroyed, or subjugated.”
“And what if they are?”
He looked stricken for a moment, but managed to get it together.
“Act as you must or are allowed. If not them, then someone on a planet close to us.”
“We have your kind in the system where our current base is located. The message will be passed on, and if nothing else, we will see what you need delivered from there.”
“Thank you again. You are Imperium, are you not?”
“We are.”
“Give us a few days, and then we will welcome your diplomats. You came without any reason to, and we would learn more about your Imperium, and how knowing you might be made beneficial to both.”
“I will pass that message along as well.”
“May we offer you refreshments?”
“Some other time, perhaps. For now, we need to head back to our base.”
And besides, it’s early morning for us, and we didn’t get enough sleep. But I didn’t say that.
The rat bowed, as did those still remaining and listening in. I took it as the cue to leave, and jumped us back to the bridge.
“Bed?” asked Mel.
“Bed,” I confirmed.
The hollos all vanished, and Serena left as well. But I went into my ready room and sent a vid off for the admiral to see when he woke up. When I came out, we were over the planet the rat had suggested. The message was passed on, and we started jumping for home. I figured it would be twelve hours or so before help arrived, but the need for a faster response wasn’t critical enough for me to organize it.
All the same, when we docked back at base, I told the purple flower on duty on the other station what had happened, and requested the rats on the station be informed, in case they wanted to organize further relief to be sent. We were too far away for anything to be sent from here without a jump drive, but they presumably knew other closer planets which could help.
I was the last one into bed, and also the last one up again. A full four hours later, and having missed the regular breakfast hour, I dragged myself into the shower, and figured out I’d somehow turned off the dark sun connection. Most likely when I realized the sun energy was being drawn automatically now. Obviously a dark sun wasn’t part of that intent. I reconnected, drew just a small amount of energy, and immediately felt better.
I found everyone in the mess, apparently only just having started breakfast. I didn’t ask, but assumed everyone had slept late. The status boards hadn't included anything which needed my attention, so it hadn't mattered.
They were all full of this morning’s ground action, and I let them swap stories of how dinosaurs had reacted to things like seeing a dragon for the first time. It had everyone laughing, except me. Even though I felt better, the story made me wish there hadn't been any need to kill. But this was a war, and beings died in wars. The longer it went on, and the more everyone else seemed to take the deaths in their stride, the more it was weighing me down.
Which was when I realized I hadn't worn a gun in several days.
Forty Four
With no orders, I gave everyone down time on the station.
Going home wasn’t part of the options though. But recreation was something they needed. I was about to join Serena for a walk around the station just to see how it had been developing, when a Lightning jumped in nearby.
“Like to go for a drive, Commander?” asked Jane.
I had no doubt it was an order. A screen popped up showing me an empty seating area on her ship, so I pinged Serena to go without me, and jumped myself over. I found Jane in the cockpit, and the ship already jumping.
“Have a seat in the back, Bud. I’m going to show you the War system, and you can connect up the two rifts we need.”
I said nothing, but took a seat in the back as she suggested, but it wasn’t for long. A screen finally came on, showing me a vista of endless asteroids. Jane came back, and we both watched in silence for a full minute.
“That’s something,” she said finally. “Is it not?”
She didn’t wait for a response, and the view shifted to directly below the ship.
The biggest asteroid I’d ever seen was blocking the view in that direction.
“Is that the one the Explorer ship broke its back on?”
“The very one. BigMother almost collided with it the first time we came here. A pirate battleship did collide with it after we chased it into the system, but while we thought it destroyed, it turned up as the shield generator for the Darkness invasion. Hard lesson there. Never assume someone bought the farm, especially when they’re an enemy and fleeing. The highers were pissed when they found that one out.”
“You’ve had contact with highers yourself?”
“A number of times. Always with Jon and the twins though. Trust me, you don’t want their attention.”
Something she didn’t know, then.
“I’ll keep that in mind. Where do you want the rifts? And how big?”
“Big enough to magic everything we need to where we need it, and too small for a ship to go through. So as to where, anywhere here, although if it cleans up the jump point area first, that might be a good thing if we have to come back here anytime.”
“Other end?”
“Wherever is close enough to the Haven shipyard for the magic to work, but nowhere where someone stupid can blunder into it. Once Bob gets his civilian shipyard back in operation, I expect him to start selling a lot of shuttles and interplanetary ships. There are always idiots who fly where they’re not supposed to, and I’m pretty sure we’re importing them as we speak.”
“You’re importing idiots?”
“Undoubtedly. Those mutineers we threw back are a confirmation.”
True.
“The magic won’t care. The rift isn’t even strictly necessary, but it makes the working of the magic easier.”
“Well, do it whatever way works best.”
I concentrated, and two rift outlines formed, about a kilometer apart.
“Done. Now where do you want those buttons installed?”
“Be seated again, and I’ll take us back there.”
She returned to the cockpit, and we started jumping again. I reviewed a number of images I’d taken with my PC. It was a quite spectacular system, if deadly for the unwary pilot. Although prudence would always have you travelling above the plane of the asteroids. All the same, if the Rawtenuga ever jumped one of their titans in through that jump point, there would an almighty crash, and whoever bet on the asteroid to win would get a good payout. Maybe not. No-one would bet on the titan.
That asteroid did make an imposing sight though, as did the images I took. I sent them to Aisha for turning into artwork, which I thought might be useful for decorating the blank walls in my various sitting rooms. It was at a least a start towards putting my own stamp on where I lived. Stark ship was boring after all. But that was a problem by design. My station living area though was exactly the same, and was begging for something. I wasn’t sure these were it, but it wasn’t going to cost me anything to find out, and even if it did, I wouldn’t notice it.