‘I understand fully Charlie, thank you. I have no nanites though. I require an order from my heart to begin reproducing them.’ Komoru concentrated hard. ‘I have your order my heart. It will take me a few hours to replicate the nanites I require to do all repairs.’

  Charlie had an idea. ‘Those tethers also act as a kind of umbilical, don’t they?’

  ‘Yes, I suppose they do.’

  ‘Infiltrate the ship that you are bound to. Can you make exploding nanites?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Then hunt down their communication systems, shields, weapons and power. Be prepared to blow them at a moment’s notice.’

  ‘Shall I do that my heart?’

  ‘Yes please. We know that there are Earth ships hunting us down. Having you in tow may well affect their ability to engage the enemy. They may even hurt you. You also have my direct order to cloak yourself the moment you are free. Calculate the time it would take to retrieve all of us as well.’

  ‘All of the crew, my heart.’

  ‘And those who were on the shuttle, including Charlie.’

  ‘About two minutes my heart.’

  ‘Now repair yourself. Get ready for combat.’

  ‘Yes my heart.’

  ‘Ico?’

  ‘Yes Charlie.’

  ‘Be prepared to fire all of your weapons into the heart of that ship when you break free.’

  ‘I understand Charlie.’

  ‘Won’t he be detected if he tries that?’ Komoru protested.

  ‘I am within their shields my heart, and I will isolate these umbilicals, feed them false readings.’

  ‘As long as it is safe to do so.’

  ‘Don’t worry my heart.’

  ‘Keep Charlie appraised of your progress.’

  ‘I will my heart.’

  Their skin began to separate, and Charlie fell back onto the bed. Komoru jumped off his lap suspecting he was up to something. Instead she found him unconscious, blood flowing from his nose. It quickly stopped. For a moment she didn’t know what to do, then she swooped and threw a cover over him. She dressed and left.

  Chapter 10

  Charlie opened his eyes to find Steven sitting above him. Charlie felt washed out.

  ‘What’s up Stevie, can’t you lot manage for five minutes?’

  ‘It has been two days.’

  Charlie snapped upright, ‘What?’

  ‘You over did it a bit. Things are beginning to heat up now though.’

  ‘How? What’s going on?’

  ‘We got a course change, new orders.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘We’ve been told to hide the samples on a derelict planet, one that has a burned-out star. We also have to destroy Ico, leave no trace of him.’

  Charlie tried to gather his thoughts. ‘What else has been happening?’

  ‘It would seem the Modloch Emperor has taken to the war path. They have already destroyed two of the decoy convoys and are threatening all-out war if we aren’t returned intact.’

  ‘The Albany believe we are all paste. That’s amusing.’

  ‘Is a little, but I don’t think they would let us go anyway, even if they did know we were alive. Guess what?’

  ‘Oh bollocks. How many times in one week are you going to kill a man?’

  ‘You managed to get my future wife half naked. Lots and lots.’

  ‘Do you honestly think like that?’

  Steven laughed, ‘She hates you even more for it. Did you really compare her to Jean?’

  ‘That I couldn’t resist,’ Charlie laughed. ‘Besides, she had her back to me the whole time.’

  ‘I know. She told me everything.’

  ‘Good girl. Well you can tell her Ico is ready to rock. He just told me.’

  ‘We wanted to know that as well.’

  ‘Leave the other thing with me.’

  An hour later a pale faced Charlie wandered into the briefing room. Only those in the know were present.

  ‘Any luck?’ Steven asked.

  ‘Aye, some. They intend hiding the serum and returning for it later. Discovering we are alive wouldn’t do us any good. They are going to try and bluff their way out of it, denying everything, surrendering the ships for a search if anyone turns up. Where are we now?’

  ‘Close to Ambatta space. This old solar system isn’t very far from theirs.’

  Charlie thought it over, ‘I still have the Ambatta emergency beacons in my gear. Could we rig one up to send out a signal? Sid could check if they are monitoring that frequency – it might reach the Ambatta. They have the serial number of my gear. It will tell them who it belongs to.’

  Steven nodded, ‘That sounds like a good idea Charlie, it has given us another option anyway. You look like you need another two day’s rest.’

  ‘Right after I go eat something. What is our ETA?’

  ‘Twenty-four hours.’

  ‘I will pass on that information to Ico. Later.’

  Chapter 11

  The Ambatta Chancellor was just about to leave for the day when one of his juniors rushed in.

  He scowled. ‘This had better be important, I have a function this evening.’

  ‘We are receiving a distress signal from one of our pilots.’

  The Chancellor frowned, ‘There is no one out there right now, no battles. Is someone lost in the asteroid field? If so, why bother me?’

  ‘No sir, it is coming from the direction of the dead sol system.’

  ‘We have no one out that way.’

  ‘I know we don’t. Here is the interesting part. It is coming from the equipment issued to the robot man.’

  The Chancellor felt his ears prickle. ‘No!’

  ‘Yes sir.’

  He grabbed his outerwear and rushed for the communications room. He found the operator responsible for the signal. He stood, but the Chancellor waved him down.

  ‘When did this come in?’

  ‘Just over an hour ago sir. We just received the signal again.’

  ‘Can you plot it, plot both signals?’

  ‘Yes sir. They are quite far out, but they seem to be heading for the dead sol system.’

  ‘I want you to alert every Human and Modloch vessel you can reach and pass on this information.’

  ‘Yes sir. Immediately.’ He turned to his aide, ‘I want to get in touch with Earth’s President right away.’

  ‘Yes sir.’

  Twenty minutes later he was talking to Michael Montgomery.

  ‘Are you sure it is the Captain, Chancellor?’

  ‘Yes of course we are. He took beacons away with him. They were permanently issued to him. We receive the serial number of the unit along with the distress call, so we know exactly who it is.’

  ‘Then I think we owe you one Chancellor.’

  The Chancellor chuckled, ‘Hardly Mr President. It will be a long time before the Ambatta can repay the debt we owe Humanity. How is the Captain able to send out a distress call from so far away?’

  ‘All we know is that the Captain was able to gain access to the freighter before it took off from the Haspsopot home world. He was going to try to effect a rescue. I don’t think he has the technical abilities to send that signal.’

  ‘Which means that he may well have been able to effect a rescue.’

  ‘Or take over the entire ship. Neither option would actually surprise me. I am betting on your option though. Thank you once more Chancellor, I had better inform the Modloch Emperor straight away.’

  ‘Good night Mr President. I had better hurry home before my wife comes looking for me.’

  ‘Good night.’

  It was a further half hour before Michael Montgomery could get a hold of the Modloch Emperor. He roared with laughter when he was told of the situation.

  ‘So Charlie has been able to rescue them.’

  ‘It looks like it. The problem is, if they have taken over that freighter, then they are still trapped by two battleships that can outrun them.’

  ‘I understand the situation perfectly. Do you have anything in the region?’

  ‘Twenty hours away.’

  ‘Hold on.’ Darrick muted the conversation and spoke to others. He was a good five minutes.

  ‘Rannalld is fifteen hours away. He says the dead sol system is a great place to hide evidence. They could toss that Builder ship straight into the dead sun. There is enough life left in it to completely obliterate it.’

  ‘Not good.’

  ‘Do you have an ETA for them?’

  ‘We think about twenty hours.’

  ‘We will get there first then. What supplies do they have?’

  ‘We know the Captain took enough food for seven days. Weapons, ammunition.’

  ‘I will get back to you soon.’

  Michael Montgomery sat back with a sigh. ‘I hate dealing with that guy.’

  His secretary smiled, ‘He is very efficient sir.’

  ‘Frighteningly so.’

  ‘What is happening back on Earth at the moment?’

  ‘They will be happy with the news that there is now a chance that the Ambassadors are alive. The doctors Gordon are being unusually quiet. We are going to keep a lid on this for the moment. This news will be blasted planet wide, just transmitting it will risk the chance of interception.’

  Chapter 12

  Rannalld was bouncing with indignation. He was forced to calm himself. They had arrived at the dead sol system before the Albany reached it. They had reconnoitred it first. There were plenty dead planets and a couple of gas giants. So many places to hide, it infuriated him.

  There was only one thing he and his commanders could agree on: the Albany would have to dispose of the Builder ship, and the best place to do that would be the dead sun. It wouldn’t take much to slingshot it into the sun’s gravity.

  The biggest question was, what would they do first? It was obvious the Albany had no idea the Humans were alive. If they stopped to dispose of the bodies first, the Humans would be discovered. Rannalld weighed up the Albany commanders’ options. Finding a good hiding place would take time. Getting rid of the largest piece of evidence first was a quick and easy option. He took the gamble. The moment the Albany appeared, he would jump and attack the battleships. He left visual probes on their route in, and jumped to a secure distance. He put his crews on standby and the wait began.

  Tension mounted to almost breaking point as the minutes passed. Rannalld gave a great cry of exultation when the Albany ships arrived and took to his feet, ‘All ships, jump, jump, jump!’

  Chapter 13

  The moment they jumped out of star drive, Ico fired into the guts of the battleship and broke free at the same time. Steven waited until Ico was free and gave the order to jump. Behind them confusion reigned. The two ships jumped out of range, stopped, changed direction and jumped again. After the third jump, Steven began to beam the crew over to Ico. After a dozen were beamed across they jumped again and repeated the process. They were hallway through beaming them all aboard when a call came through from Rannalld. They stopped and beamed everyone across.

  When Rannalld arrived on the scene, he had just missed Ico jump. His ships fired on the Albany warships. The one that was already damaged exploded within thirty seconds. The other tried to fight and turned towards his ship. Fire poured into it from all quarters, the shields didn’t get a chance to properly deploy. It began to disintegrate.

  He shouted at his staff, ‘Is there any sign of the freighter and the Builder ship?’

  There seemed to be none. ‘The Humans must have got away, signal them on the Human frequencies. Tell them that they have been rescued, the Albany warships have been destroyed.’

  It took a few minutes but they finally got a reply. Ico suddenly appeared between them a few minutes later. Rannalld only had one thing on his mind.

  Ico’s shuttle was still requiring maintenance, so Rannalld sent one of his shuttles. When Mya stepped on board he lifted her high. Mya squealed with indignation and then wrapped her arms around his neck.

  ‘Thank you Rannalld. We weren’t sure if we would get away.’

  ‘It is wonderful to see you again sister. I have some Human food and tea, would you give my lovelorn heart some sustenance along with our bellies?’

  ‘Rannalld, your heart is big enough to love a hundred wives. You are just fussy.’

  He roared with laughter and put her down. She touched the back of his hand to her forehead and then held it.

  ‘What kind of snacks?’

  His laughter rocked the corridors again, ‘This way. I have many. Even that dried mango you like.’

  Her breath caught in her throat, ‘Oh! I haven’t had any mango for ages.’

  His smile lit up the battleship. Unsure of what else to do, the rest of them followed on behind. He stopped and searched for a face.

  ‘Noch Man Drich, brother.’ He tossed Charlie something and pointed, ‘My study, your older brother wants to speak to you. Join us after.’

  ‘Gotcha.’ Charlie caught it and stopped at the door. It opened for him and he went in. Rannalld guided the rest into the next room, which was like a large drawing room.

  Charlie was guided by an aide and sat in front of a screen. He bowed and left. Charlie looked around. It was big, but nicely decorated from a soldier’s point of view. Strange weapons adorned the wall, symbols of the Modloch Empire, and lots of screens. The screen in front of him flicked to life.

  ‘Charlie, you are still alive.’

  ‘Hey Darrick, nice to see you.’

  They passed a few pleasantries, but there was something on Darrick’s mind.

  ‘Charlie, how did they manage to abduct the Ambassadors, didn’t you notice anything?’’

  ‘I wasn’t with them, I was on duty.’

  ‘Didn’t you notice anything before that?’

  ‘I wasn’t present at any of the meetings Darrick, or any of the functions.’

  ‘That’s a bit strange.’

  ‘For another day.’

  ‘You don’t look right Charlie.’

  ‘I’m surprised you can tell. Can I say I have been having problems with my natural organs lately. I am on the mend now though. So don’t worry.’

  ‘Just glad to see you are safe. Did Rannalld dash in and save you?’

  Charlie laughed, ‘We had already escaped before he arrived. He missed saving us by seconds. He did take care of the Albany battleships for us though.’

  Darrick almost fell off his chair, ‘Poor Rannalld.’

  Charlie was also laughing, ‘Mya gave him a big hug and held his hand; I think he is more than happy.’

  ‘Still, if it wasn’t for you brother; there would have been no rescue. Were you captaining the ship when they abducted the Ambassadors?’

  ‘Aye. The moment they entered the dampening field the ship alerted me. My old soldier’s instincts took over and I got the hell out of there sharpish. The other ship and its acting captain refused to move. They got caught. The rest is history.’

  ‘I'm just glad you are safe. I hope your Human government give you one of those medal things.’

  ‘I already have plenty.’

  ‘Doesn’t surprise me. I am about to teach the Albany a little lesson. Would you like to join Rannalld?’

  ‘Would love to. I have a score to settle with that Haspsopot Emperor as well.’

  ‘Can you get free from your duties?’

  Charlie grinned, ‘I have an idea that might let me escape for a wee while.’

  Darrick barked a laugh. ‘Good luck then.’

  Charlie joined the rest of them and was served a cup of tea and a biscuit.

  Steven leaned over, ‘We just got word from the President. We have to return home. I mean right home to Earth.’

  ‘What’s going on like?’

  ‘Not sure. I think they want to take us off the scene for a while. The new ambassadors have finished their training along with their guards, so we are covered for now. Do you want to come home?’

  ‘Oh hell no! I have an idea. Can I take that freighter to the Ambatta home world? If Rannalld escorts us there, I can hitch a ride home with him.’

  ‘What about a crew?’

  Charlie shrugged. ‘We could ask for volunteers, or I’m sure Rannalld could spare a few bodies.’

  ‘I don’t see a problem with that.’

  Rannalld interjected, ‘By the rules of war, that freighter belongs to you, why don’t you keep it and add it to your fleet Ambassador?’

  ‘We don’t need it. Besides I don’t mind giving it to the Ambatta as a thank you for helping rescue us.’

  ‘Will it be of any use to them really?’

  ‘They can power a whole environment inside an asteroid with one of them.’

  ‘So it will hold great value to the Ambatta. A good gift Ambassador. I will escort Charlie and give him a lift home. If none of your people wish to come along, I can easily spare a few men.’

  Steven turned back to Charlie, ‘You have my permission Charlie. Babes will be here in a few hours, but we can ask all crew members. I have a funny feeling I know one person who will jump at the chance to visit the Ambatta home world.’

  That made Komoru pout a little.

  chapter 14

  Lewis knuckled his forehead, ‘Your orders Captain.’

  ‘Arr! Host the main sail ye lubbers.’

  The girls howled with delight at their play. They were all there from his night shift. Each and every one of them had given him a hug. If he had been capable of blushing he would have.

  ‘Cathy, plot us a course for the Ambatta home-world. Becca, as soon as she has it, take us there. The Modloch ships will match our speed.’

  ‘Yes Captain,’ they cried in unison.

  A shadow appeared at his shoulder. The Bear crossed his arms.

  ‘So how is it I out rank you, but you get to play bloody Captain?’

 

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