Galaxy's End: Book One by LeRoy Clary (popular ebook readers txt) 📗

destroyed almost gleefully. We couldn’t fight, run, deceive, outmaneuver, or escape. We were out of options. They suspected the ship behind us was a frigate-class or heavier warship.

Worse, they were becoming frustrated and angry. Fang lashed out with another improbable suggestion. Captain Stone ignored it. The situation had come to that point.

Bert’s ping sounded. He said to them, “You should consult with Kat.”

That was all. As near as I could tell, eleven pairs of eyes centered on me. I looked back at Fang and the captain with a blank expression. I was as confused as them.

Captain Stone said, “Why would Bert say that? Do you know about our situation?”

“No,” I managed.

She glanced up. “Bert? Why should we consult Kat?”

“Because the pair of you think in conventional terms. You follow the paths already constructed. Kat is obtuse and random. You need that slant of hers to solve this problem.” Another ping told us Bert had finished speaking.

Instead of being insulted or angry, Captain Stone motioned for me to come closer. I scooted one of the small chairs not bolted to the floor, and she explained our situation in terms I could understand. Then she began to question me. I had no answers.

I finally said, “We need help.”

“Help? In what way?” she asked.

“When we exit. We can’t do it alone. Too bad there are not a bunch of warships to intercept that ship behind us,” I said.

Fang laughed.

Captain Stone’s eyes squinted, and her brows furrowed. The edges of her lips curled into the wisp of a sly smile.

“What?” I said.

She answered dreamily, “Yes, all we need is a fleet of warships to intercept us and save our butts. Why didn’t I think of that?”

Fang peered at me with half his eyestalks and shifted the others to look at the captain as if she had reverted to childhood. To his credit, he didn’t interrupt.

Captain Stone consulted the computer wrapped around her wrist. I noticed that the normal security word was followed by another layer of security, and then a third as she touched a middle finger to an icon. Three layers of security meant a file nobody could get into but her.

Her smile increased. She flashed a file to Fang’s wrist-comp and said, “See if you can set a course for those coordinates.”

Fang keyed them in and said, “The destination is achievable and laid in, however, I see nothing there. No star, habitat, or anything.”

“Good. That is where we need to be. Set the new destination as our course. Choose the wormholes well.”

Fang didn’t hesitate. When finished, he said, “New course set, and our new arrival time is twenty-seven standard time units.”

To his credit, he never once questioned the captain out loud, but his eyestalks had gradually shifted until they all watched her. She noticed and her smile grew as she asked him teasingly, “Are you curious?”

“Of course.”

She settled back and said, “Bert, you are a genius. Thank you.” Then she swiveled her command chair to face Fang. “I could go on about the problems we face, but you know them. The answer is as Kat says. We need a bunch of warships to protect us when we emerge.”

She paused, which I knew was to taunt him a little. Fang didn’t look happy that he didn’t understand. To his credit, he didn’t ask.

She continued, “The coordinates we are going to is at the terminus of a small wormhole that is near nothing. The nearest star is over three lightyears away. It is a dead-end, so to speak. That ship behind will think they have us cornered. But they won’t.”

“What else is there?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“The Bradley Concord worlds are at war with the Devonians. Have been for decades. They, the Bradley Concord, have built a secret shipyard where they are constructing dozens of warships. The terminus will have at least three or four ships guarding it, and probably ten or more held in reserve. The instant we emerge, they will be on us like Fang slurping another insect that flies too close.”

“What if they blow us up?” Fang asked before I could.

“Not going to happen,” she said calmly. “They will want to know how we found them, so they won’t shoot unless we do. Besides, as we emerge into normal space, we are going to send a message over and over to the military. We will say that another ship is following us. They need to be prepared because we think it is a warship.”

Fang said, “The Bradley Concord will capture both of us. Maybe confiscate our ship.”

“It is not our ship. But I expect them to let us go when they find out that the ship behind can follow us inside a wormhole.”

“Why tell them? That is valuable information,” Fang snorted.

“It is our ticket to freedom. Besides, within a year everyone will know about it. You can’t keep a secret like that. I mean, we figured it out. Others will.”

“We could sell the information,” he persisted.

“To whom? Besides, that’s what we’re doing. We’re selling it for our freedom. It will give the Bradley Concord an advantage over the Devonians, at least for a while. Still, it’s enough for them to let us go.”

Fang didn’t seem convinced. He was quiet for a short while and then asked, “What about the contents in our hold?”

It was her turn to be quiet. Finally, she said, “None of us knows what is in our hold. We’re not even the rightful owners of this ship so why would they ask us anything?”

“They will ask how you know the coordinates,” he said.

She smiled. “I once dated a commander in their navy. I stumbled over the coordinates and what they were from one of his subordinates. Total accident. But I’m a trader and there are times when