Page 1 of Black Star
Chapter One
“I need more power to the maneuvering drive!” Sweat streamed down Nadira’s face and neck as she gripped the forward and lateral control sticks with a firm but gentle hand. If she gripped too hard, she might miss one of the many fine vibrations running through this great ship, and that might mean the end of freedom as they knew it. This was definitely not the way she had envisioned a battle to be. Just one more thing to prove how green she was at her job.
“There is no more power! You’re going to have to do the best you can with what you’ve got.”
“Take it from life support if you have to, Captain. They’re smaller and more maneuverable than we are, and I promise you they will kick our asses if I can’t turn her.”
An explosion rocked the Black Star , and Nadira had to hang on to her control panel to keep from losing her seat.
“Three more ships bearing 10830 by 424, closing fast, sir,” Damon, the grizzled second in command, announced in his gruff, harsh voice. “That’s a total of seven Asalian War Slavers.”
“I have faith our --” His sarcastic pause grated on Nadira’s nerves. “-- legendary pilot will get us out of this.” Captain Barnus sat back in the captain’s seat and crossed his arms. The pompous windbag had made it his personal mission to see her fail and removed as pilot of the Empire’s newest -- and most advanced -- cyborg space ship, Black Star . If he refused to give her what she needed to get them out of this, he might do more than that. He might get them all captured and enslaved.
Nadira glanced at Damon before turning her eyes back to her console. The various viewscreens showed the space surrounding the Black Star and where their enemies were positioned. “I can’t do it with what you’re giving me to work with,” she bit out.
Before anyone could say anything else, the Black Star shuddered and pitched as one of the Slavers fired on them.
“Direct hit! Aft starboard quarter!”
Nadira blocked out everything possible at this point. They were sitting ducks. Asalian War Slavers were the most maneuverable, heavily armed ships in the known galaxy. The Black Star might be the most feared ship in the Vok’nair Empire, but there was a limit to what she could do, especially since she hadn’t bonded with her pilot.
That was the whole point of being a cyborg war ship. The Black Star was supposed to use the enhanced telepathic stimulators given her by the makers to bond with the pilot, captain, or second in command -- most usually the pilot. Unfortunately, Black Star hadn’t bonded with any of them.
Nadira guided the ship as it swerved and danced around the Slavers, putting herself in the middle. Yes, the Black Star was a very large ship, but the Asalians were notoriously careful with their people. She was betting they wouldn’t risk their own ships being caught in the line of fire.
“Target lasers and missiles. Shoot to kill.”
“Asalians aren’t a mortal threat, Captain,” Damon said, his voice matter-of-fact. “There’s no reason to do more than disable --”
“I said,” Captain Barnus snarled angrily over the top of Damon, “shoot to kill.”
Nadira knew she could do anything it took to prevent her ship from being destroyed, but she refused to kill others to ensure the safety of her ship unless it was a last resort. Asalians took slaves. They did not kill. Given what she needed, she was confident she could outfly them.
She readjusted her hold on the stick and braced herself to react the moment weapons control fired. The Black Star would let her know when to move -- whether or not they had bonded -- if she just paid attention to the vibrations flowing through the ship. If Captain Dumbass wouldn’t do this the easy way, she’d have to do it the hard way.
The Slavers surrounded them now. She could almost feel them bracing themselves for an attack. Nadira was certain she had puzzled them by putting herself in such a vulnerable situation.
There! A minute loss of vibration in the controls. Power being diverted from all systems save life support to fire the massive guns of the Black Star . Her plan was to bank hard to port, but before the signal got from her brain to her hands, the ship lurched in the exact maneuver she’d planned. Fortunately, the laser shot went wide, striking its target, but not destroying it as intended.
Captain Barnus bellowed angrily at her, but she blocked him out. Nadira didn’t have time to contemplate what had just happened because firing at the Asalians would definitely bring retaliation. She had to keep at least one Slaver in their line of fire or they were as good as captured.
A volley of laser fire from three of the Slavers narrowly missed them as she swerved and swooped from one Slaver ship to the next, finally settling on the one she figured to be the command ship. It was slightly larger than the others, though no other markings indicated it to be any different. Having studied every scrap of information the Empire had on the Asalians, she knew Slavers didn’t travel in groups without having one ship in command of the others.
She put herself behind the larger ship, effectively shadowing it. Nadira matched the Slaver move for move -- no matter how extreme. She wasn’t sure how the Black Star managed several of the sharp turns and climbs and dives. The creaking metal was a testament to the stress, but the ship obeyed her commands perfectly. Pride swelled within her. If it was possible for a cyborg ship to have a consciousness -- something she had begun to doubt when she hadn’t been able to link to the Black Star -- this one recognized her as a friend. Finally! The ship might not have formed a bond with her yet, but she was very close. Trust was building between them, and that was the key.
Renewed hope that she might get them out of this brought an adrenaline surge through her veins. The Slaver she was using to shield the Black Star couldn’t shake her. If she could force him into leading her toward open space, she might be able to use the jump engines to get them into hyperspace. It would seriously strain their resources, and they would be helpless once they exited to normal space until they’d had a chance to generate more power, but it would secure their escape from the Slavers. She just had to calculate their jump to be as close to a Vok’nair base as possible.
The Slaver tried a banking maneuver to rejoin its comrades, but Nadira anticipated and effectively cut the ship off. The move left the Black Star exposed to the other Slavers for a short time, and several volleys of laser and missile fire streamed toward them. One missile struck the port aft quarter shield, and there was an enormous whoosh as the shields on the Black Star buckled without even a moment’s resistance. Nadira lost her breath as the equivalent of an anguished, terror filled scream engulfed her mind. Black Star !
Unfortunately for the Slaver, a shield-crippling missile -- shot by its comrade -- glanced off the smaller ship, effectively neutralizing its shields, as well. In that moment, Nadira knew she’d lost this game of cat and mouse.
She had two choices. She could duck back behind the Slaver, or she could make a run for empty space. The problem was the missiles. Asalian missiles were programmed to seek out specific generic parts of any ship they came into contact with. Engines, primary hull, even shield resonance, all had a specific energy signature. The Asalians had refined the detection of these signatures to a fine art. Unfortunately, Nadira had no idea what the Slavers would do next. If they were only looking to disable Black Star ’s engines, moving behind the command Slaver wouldn’t hurt anyone. On the other hand, if they were good and pissed off, looking to breach the Black Star ’s hull, putting the Slaver between herself and the missiles might be a death sentence for everyone aboard the Slaver if someone decided taking out the Black Star was worth the sacrifice. It wasn’t like the Asalians to risk their own ships -- quite the opposite -- but it wasn’t like them to shoot a shield missile so close to one of their own, either. One more indecision in the heat of battle. Perhaps she wasn’t as good as everyone thought.
While she had no qualms about disabling a ship to secure the escape of her own, she didn’t know if she was ready to sacrifice a ship whose government the Empire wasn’t officially at war with. Asalians captured. They didn’t destroy. Usually.
But was she willing to take that chance?
* * *
That incompetent bastard! Squad Commander Mikiel Anjoom wanted nothing more than to beat the living hell out of Captain Norus. The man was too ambitious for anyone’s good. In his zeal to capture the infamous Black Star , he had effectively rendered Mikiel’s own Command Slave, Sword Breaker , defenseless. Black Star could easily destroy them.
To make matters worse, Mikiel simply could not shake the larger ship. The pilot was effectively using him as a shield between the Black Star and his squadron. Whoever he was, he was doing a damned good job of it, too. The Slavers should have outflown the much larger ship with no effort at all. Instead, this damned pilot was flying circles around them all.
Seven Slavers to one ship should have been more than enough. Apparently, the Empire’s claim the ship was a super weapon wasn’t as much of an exaggeration as the Asalian Coalition believed.
Without warning, the Black Star disengaged and headed to deep space.
I have her, Commander! I have her ! Norus’s excited, disembodied voice broke the disciplined silence of Mikiel’s crew. Mikiel scowled. The man simply had no self-control. He hated people with no self-control. During battles, every Asalian soldier relied on computer signals fed directly into their brains via a psycom unit. The absence of unnecessary chaos gave a commander a tremendous advantage, allowing him to notice the slightest changes in the sound of his ship.
“You will stand down, Captain!” No way. There was no way it could be this simple to capture the Black Star after the ride that ship had taken them on. It had to be a trap.
And let you claim responsibility for this great victory? Norus answered. Mikiel had to grit his teeth to keep from dressing down the subordinate over the open comm. I will take this for my family and my ship. The arrogant bastard was going to get himself killed and lose a valuable ship and crew in the process.
“You will stand down, or surrender your rank.” He bit out the words and gripped the arms of his chair. The cold metal bit into his palms, but the pain was a welcome reminder to keep his focus or he could very well give the Black Star the same opening Norus was offering -- playing the enemy’s game, not his own.
No response from the squad’s second ship, but looking at the tactical viewer, Mikiel could see for himself Norus was doing exactly what he’d told the other man not to do.
Norus’s ship, Great Sword , broke formation and tried to engage the Black Star . The larger, faster ship easily left Norus behind. A volley of weapons fire from the Black Star leapt from her rear guns and Great Sword took a direct hit that buckled her forward shields.
The smaller ship slowed as the Black Star accelerated but one last missile leapt from the Black Star and streaked toward the doomed Great Sword .
The death of the ship was not instantaneous. A gaping hole formed where the ship’s command deck had been, and a series of explosions rocked through her hull. Comm chatter from all levels of the vessel let Mikiel know the crew was trying to abandon ship before it was too late. Mikiel knew from grim experience not many -- if any -- would escape.
He listened in silence while the crew of the Great Sword tried to get to undamaged sections of the ship. Mikiel deployed android manned shuttles in an effort to get as many of the crew out as possible.
Before the first transport left Sword Breaker , however, the Great Sword ’s fuel ignited in a brief flash of plasma fire and the ship literally disintegrated before their eyes.
Mikiel slowly leaned back in his seat, fingers digging into the steel of the captain’s chair again. Anger surged through him, anger and grief. He had lost a good crew, but if Norus wasn’t already dead, he’d have killed the man himself.
“Do we pursue the Black Star , Sir?” Sword Breaker ’s pilot didn’t sound at all eager to continue this battle. Mikiel couldn’t blame him. Any pilot who could fly a ship that size in such extreme maneuvers wasn’t someone to take on lightly.
“Anxious to pit your skills against her pilot again?” He couldn’t help tormenting Ranier. He was good, but he needed to be taken down a peg or two. Perhaps he’d be easier to be around.
“Are you kidding?” Ranier turned in his seat and looked directly at Mikiel. “If he can fly circles around me in a ship as big as the Black Star , no way I want to meet him in battle again. I was just trying to do my duty.”
Quiet chuckles broke out around the command center. Mikiel only smiled. The young man hadn’t done so bad. He had moved them aside at the last moment, otherwise they’d all be dead. “By the way, that was a lucky move you made, Ranier. You probably saved us all.”
The other man cleared his throat. “Much as I’d sincerely love to take the credit for that, Sir, I can’t. The ship did it on her own.”
Mikiel raised an eyebrow. “Has she linked with you?”
“No, Sir. You may think this sounds crazy -- I know I do -- but I think she linked with the Black Star .”
“Explain.” His barked order came out harsher than he’d intended, but he had to know.
“The nav computer, Sir. I almost didn’t notice it -- it was only a blip -- but when I went back and checked the log there was an encoded signal that originated from the Black Star . It was so fast, there was no way it could have been meant for a human to execute it and no way a human had time to send the command in the heat of battle.”
Mikiel had to restrain himself from cringing. That was the worst possible scenario. Ships weren’t supposed to be able to link without the benefit of at least one human surrogate. If this was true, then they needed to get the link with that ship and find out what he knew. If the Vok’nair operated anything like the Asalians, the most likely link would be with either the captain, second in command, or the pilot. Security was probably compromised. It also made going after the Black Star all the more crucial. No matter what the crew wanted, no matter what he wanted, they had to engage the Black Star again. If that ship could link with their own, they had to either capture or destroy her. Besides, that ship was a huge morale boost for the Empire’s troops. Without her, there was a chance something would give in the “non-war” between his Coalition and the Vok’nair Empire. His mission was to take that ship. Failing that, he was authorized to destroy her.
“Much as I’d love to tuck tail between our legs and take the remains of the squadron home, we can’t. We have a job to do. Our lives, and the lives of every man and woman in this unit, do not matter. What matters is capturing the Black Star and making the ship part of the Asalian Coalition, or, failing that, destroying her.” He sat up straighter before signaling the entire squad. “This is Squad Commander Mikiel. We are pursuing the Black Star with the intent of capturing her. If capture is unsuccessful, we have instructions to destroy her. Given the danger of the situation, and the destruction of the Great Sword , you will transfer all female slaves and nonessential male slaves to the Broad Sword and the Gem of Maylar . These two ships are to return to the Asalian home world to avoid unnecessary loss of life. You have fifteen standard minutes to comply before we leave this sector. That is all.”
The tension in the command center was palpable. An order to destroy any vessel was far from common. Apparently, the Asalian Coalition didn’t want anyone else to have the Black Star . He was beginning to understand why, since the ship appeared to be at least semi-sentient. Besides, with the possibility that the Black Star had breached their security systems, they couldn’t let her get back to the safety of a Vok’nair base.
As his squadron made the necessary preparations, Mikiel mulled over his instructions to the main fleet. The Empire and the Coalition weren’t at war. Exactly. It was more of a face-off -- who could gain the subtle upper hand without actually engaging. Both sides always vehemently denied the rare skirmishes between the two groups, so if a soldier -- or ship of soldiers -- was captured, he was left at the mercy of his captors.
For Imperials, it meant a life of slavery. For Asalians it usually meant death. Mikiel had barely managed to escape before such a fate befell him. He knew first-hand how Imperials treated their prisoners. At least the Asalians treated their slaves well -- there were strict laws outlining the rights of slaves. They were taken care of and allowed to develop their natural born talents. In many ways, it was a good life.
He was brought out of his deep thoughts as the last of his ships signaled their readiness. With a few final instructions to the Broad Sword and the Gem of Maylor , Mikiel gave the order to follow the Black Star . The only thing that had gone right in that battle was the beacon they’d placed on the Black Star ’s hull. They had a good lock and a strong signal. It was only a matter of time before they engaged the other ship, hopefully for the last time.