The Fringe Wars

3.15

Smoke and Mirrors

Nova Colony, Space Coast

Heid had never thought she'd fly the Arcadia through the Space Coast again. This time, Will had graciously relinquished the controls before they'd even entered the Coast. She navigated the warship through the asteroid belt, adding a few more dings and scrapes to the warship.

She imagined Ausyar had ranted for some time when the Arcadia had gone into jump speed within visual distance of the fleet, leaving them wondering what she was up to. Good.

She never left the ship when they reached Nova Colony, which was back up and running, thanks to Stan. The Arcadia's transport ships were busy making runs between the warship and the colony, bringing crewmembers and supplies to the asteroid. It'd taken nearly two days—far too long in Heid's opinion—to strip everything of value from the warship. When all of it, including all transport ships and gunships, had been moved to Nova Colony, she felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. If only she could fly the Arcadia alone.

"They'll be safe at Nova Colony," Sylvian said.

Heid looked up to see her crewmember watching her with concern. "I know. It's you and everyone stuck on board with me that I worry about."

Sylvian chuckled. "There're only twelve of us left. When you walk through the hallways, they echo." When Heid didn't smile, she continued. "We volunteered for this mission. You didn't force any of us into this."

"Jump coordinates are programmed," Nolin announced from the navigator's seat. "We're ready to jump the moment we're clear of the Coast."

Heid straightened. "Then, let's get going."

Stress added to her reaction time, and the return trip through the asteroid belt was not some of her best flying. In a way, she was fortunate there weren't too many crewmembers on board to rib her about it later. As she cleared the final asteroid, Nolin sent the warship into jump speed. It would take seven jumps to cover over four hundred quadrants between the Space Coast and Terra, since there was no straight path from their current coordinates.

Traveling through jump speed was as smooth as flying off solar power, even though the ship was traveling at point-three light speed. She used the time to prepare the escape pods, working alongside the crew not busy monitoring the jump systems and engines.

She cringed, looking at the escape pods, small tubes that lined the ship's hull. They were every dromadier's worst nightmare. Escape pods had minimal life support systems, and nothing else. They were essentially logs that would travel in whichever direction they were jettisoned, and survivors would pray they'd be found before they died a miserably slow death in space. She triple-checked that the pods' beacons were set to the encrypted channel Critch would be monitoring.

Each tube would hold three people stuffed in it as tightly as a fresh recruit's duffel bag. With a skeleton crew of twelve, they needed only four pods. While at Nova Colony, she'd had those pods painted flat black so they wouldn't reflect any light. The metal in them could still be picked up on radar, but she'd figured there would be enough debris to hide within—as long as shrapnel didn't slice through them first.

By the time they started their fifth jump, they were a couple million clicks from Darios, and Heid could see the beautiful world through her viewing panel. It was a bittersweet sight. That was the colony that would make or break any peace treaty. She knew the Collective would never give up the garden world, but the remaining colonies needed Darion food for survival.

The Collective. Her fingers trembled as she contemplated making the call to Barrett. If the others knew she was telling him the plan, they'd think she was crazy. She'd been betrayed by someone she cared for before, but she told herself that if she became jaded and no longer had faith in anyone, she'd become like her father. Even though it terrified her to do so, she made the call.

When she hung up, she let out a breath and relaxed. Whatever Barrett did next was up to him. Would he betray her, or would he help?

She glanced at her hand to see it no longer shaking, and she realized now that control was out of her ability, the stress had become dampened.

After the sixth jump, Heid had Nolin and the crew take a break. She spent the time catching up on the news, as it couldn't be obtained during jumps.

No surprise, Parliament had never reached out to Seda to counter Ausyar's terms. Vapor had loaded the full video onto the network, yet Parliament had remained quiet. The networks were filled with chatter comparing the differences between the full fourteen-minute video and the forty-second video the DZ-Five News broadcast. The edited video covered Ausyar offering terms, and Seda standing and saying, "I think we're done here."

She shook her head and scrolled through other articles. Her fingers froze on a headline several pages down.

LINA TAO PUBLICLY EXECUTED FOR TREASON

DZ-Five News Reporter Found Guilty of Conspiring Against Citizen Welfare

Heid's temper roiled as she read the article. Lina had been her best friend through grade school and her roommate at the academy. She had no doubt her father had made sure Lina faced a firing squad simply to make a point—I can take everything from you.

Her jaw tightened. She looked forward to showing him she was her father's daughter. She would make sure he paid for all his crimes, and paid for them with his life.

Her door chimed, and Sylvian stepped in. "Nolin is ready for jump seven."

Heid felt steel in her bones. "I'm ready."

She watched the countdown. The hours ticked by interminably slowly. When they had two hours to go, she put the ship on alert status and made sure everyone knew exactly what they needed to do the moment they came out of jump speed.

When the moment came, a visual of the fleet—with the Unity in dead center—filled the wall screen. Heid gripped her captain's chair. "Raise shields. Arm phase cannons."

"Aye, aye, Captain," Sylvian obliged.

"Now, run!" Heid yelled.

Heid, Nolin, and Sylvian ran off the bridge. They sprinted—God, it felt like they were so slow—down the never-ending corridor until they reached their designated escape pod. She prayed the three other pods were already loaded and ready to go.

Heid pressed Nolin and then Sylvian into their stations, where five-point harness held each in a standing position. As soon as both were secure, she squeezed in and set her harness. The door closed, enveloping them in total darkness. She counted to five, then hit the release button.

The pod jettisoned down with such force that all three people inside grunted. She was sure her collarbone was broken, if not badly bruised. The pod suddenly changed direction again, this time brutally, at a right angle. Too late! Heid's head hit something, and all sensation blinked away into single flash of light.