The Slip: The Complete First Season by Herschel K. Stroganoff

Author:Herschel K. Stroganoff [Stroganoff, Herschel K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: No World Press
Published: 2017-05-04T06:00:00+00:00

The Segrado, in region of Saturn

Ajay chewed on a protein ration as he considered his next move. Three days since Azra ordered him to leave the Coraygar and he was still seething.

He'd not slept since his exile and had spent most of his waking hours thinking about what had gone wrong. He hated to think that Azra could no longer trust him. He had dealt with worse, but he felt something more than kinship with Azra. Was it love? He wasn't sure. He didn't think so, but why did he feel so lost, so empty? The questions rattled around his mind as though stuck on a continuous, tedious loop.

“This is boring,” he said to no one as he wiped a thin film of grease from his mouth. He leaned back in his seat, wrinkling his nose at the smell of his own stale sweat. He hadn't washed since he first arrived on the Coraygar.

An alarm from the ship's long-range scanner sounded. It was probably nothing, but travelling at such high speeds meant there was no room for complacency, no room for error. The console told him there were ten ships in close formation set on a collision course with the Segrado. He tapped quickly on his console and frowned as no information could be accessed.

Ajay was familiar with such systems — the Segrado was undetectable to most routine scans, many Purdah vessels offered fake, corrupt or blank identifying metadata to other ships.

He took a series of images of the approaching craft and waited several seconds for their signal to return. Examining the images, he recognised them as basic United Solar cutters, but there was something different about them. He zoomed the image in to the underside of a single ship and noted the addition of a cannon.

Ajay scraped his hair back and considered the image carefully, trying to work out why they would be heading towards his ship. Then it dawned on him — they weren't heading for him, they were heading for the Coraygar.

He gasped and reached for his communicator. “Coraygar. Coraygar. Code one. Code one.”

He waited, but heard only faint static.

“Coraygar. Coraygar. This is the Segrado. Azra, please.”

He held his breath as he waited for a response.

“What the fuck do you—.”

“Listen, United Solar ships are heading straight for you. This is not a joke. Move the Coraygar now. They have weapons. This is a code one — do you understand?” Ajay panted as he waited for a response. His heartbeat thundered in his ears as he tugged nervously on his ponytail.

“Is this some kind—,” Azra's voice crackled.

“No joke. This is deadly fucking serious. Move the ship. I'll turn around and get back as quickly as this thing will allow.”

Ajay found the short delay between communications agonising. “Hurry.”

“Code one. Copy.”

Ajay sunk into his seat.

Ajay vomited again. He'd never pushed his ship to such levels of acceleration. Although the Segrado protected its pilot from gravity and radiation, the dizzying visuals on its console gave him a severe migraine.

He lifted his head from the disposal shoot.

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