The Line of the Sol Empress

Chapter 9.6

 [Moon]

The random chance that a Commonwealth Frigate would come across them in the depths of space was near zero. There seemed only one reasonable explanation. Moon swung his head around toward Mihra, narrowing his eyes. Before he could ask, she answered. "I told no one of this trip and came alone."

A twinge of guilt came over him for his thoughts. There was another more likely explanation. "They must have been watching and followed you here." He made his way to the bedroom hatch and turned back. "Come to the bridge. This might get rough — we should strap in." He turned toward Nanny-bot. "Sai, help Celeste."

As he sat down in the captain's chair, he called out. "Sai, set the fusion thrusters at twenty-five percent, heading directly away from that frigate. They will likely drop out of quantum space along-side. When they do, adjust our course to keep them behind us as best you can."

"Yes, sir. May I ask the rational for this action?"

"Two reasons. First, the stern is more heavily shielded and will provide us some protection from a direct attack. And second, the wash from the thrusters will interfere with their sensors."

"I see, sir. What will be your plan of action after that?"

"Still working on that, Sai. We'll have to stall them until the quantum drive is ready and then somehow get away."

Celeste, Mihra, and Nanny-bot paced onto the bridge, each cradling a baby. Gabriel opened his eyes for a moment to survey his surroundings. Then, with a tiny stretch, joined his sisters in oblivious slumber while the women buckled them into the row of reclining restraint seats under the control panels, facing the chairs. Moon took a moment to gaze at them in wonder and silently thanked Sai for having the foresight to construct the little seats.

So innocent. They trust us — me — completely to protect them.

Moon called out. "Sai, go to conflict readiness."

"Yes, sir." The bridge hatch swung inward and sealed closed with a clunk. Across the ship, other hatches closed and sealed as well. Maintenance robots activated and stood ready.

Celeste asked, "What are they going to do?"

Moon kept his eyes on a holographic tactical display showing the approaching ship. "We will know soon enough."

True to his words, the frigate popped into existence as it dropped out of faster-than-light relative velocity. On the magnified visual display panel, it appeared as if conjured by a magician. Boxy in shape with twin fusion thrusters attached on opposite sides, it bristled with attachments, the most ominous ones being turreted pulse cannons and missile launchers. In size, the frigate was nearly the same as Moon's hauler.

The ship appeared two kilometers astern to the starboard side, but dropped back to three kilometers until it could match velocity with its thrusters for a closer approach. A swarm of drones emerged from the underside like angry wasps from a nest and took up surrounding positions.

Moon muttered to himself, "This is not good."

Celeste gasped. "How will we fight that?"

"We don't. Frigates were built for close-range combat. It would tear us apart. And we can't run." With the point of a finger, he highlighted a red circle on the tactical display. "See that drone?" She nodded. "That is a quantum field disrupter. This ship is faster, but we won't be able to initiate our quantum drive as long as that thing is near."

Celeste's face paled. "So, what do we do?"

"The good news is that they haven't blasted us to little pieces yet. So I'm guessing they want to talk. We hear them out." He looked up. "Sai, is the quantum drive ready for action?"