Vilekron by Anthony James

Author:Anthony James [James, Anthony]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-08-17T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

The sensors came back immediately, showing none of the delay associated with a lightspeed transition. Flint gave the Nightfall everything and it burst from its arrival point. He tried not to look at the propulsion base level readings, which he was sure would be heading the wrong way.

“Near scans running,” said Becerra.

“I’ve got the fars,” added Burner.

“Running a comms sweep for the Takrivon, sir,” said Garrett. “If they’re back in normal phase after a couple of SRTs, they’re going to be a long way distant, but that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Come on, come on,” muttered Flint.

“Nears done and all clear.”

“Fars still running,” said Burner. “Landnir isn’t much more than a speck from this range.”

“There’s no sign of the Takrivon, sir,” said Garrett.

“Damnit,” said Flint. “They must be phase shifted.”

“Captain Vazox doesn’t like inaction,” said Larson. “He won’t wait long.”

“I’m sure he won’t,” said Flint. Even so, he was uneasy. Vazox was as bold as they came and he wouldn’t deliberately hide out of phase while the Nightfall and its crew shouldered the risk of first emergence.

“I still don’t like it,” said Larson.

“Nor do I,” said Flint. He cursed. “Where’s that damned warship?”

He remembered the darker blue of its energy shield after the Kilvar energy weapon attacks. From experience, Flint knew that the deeper the hue, the more power the shields were draining. Perhaps some of the Takrivon’s hardware had failed. Or worse.

“Let’s give him some time,” said Flint, trying not to dwell on an outcome which wasn’t yet proven.

“Fars done and clear,” said Burner. “We’re way out from our starting point. There’s no chance the sensors will pick up anything useful about the Kilvar from here.”

Flint hauled back on the controls and the Nightfall rapidly shed its velocity. “Just keep watch around us, Lieutenant.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Lieutenant Becerra, please contact the Amber base – Fleet Admiral Recker if you can get hold of him – and provide an update.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ve repeated the comms receptor sweep,” said Garrett. “I got the same result as the first time.”

“Keep trying,” said Flint. “If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I’d be happy to hear them. Captain Vazox is either running late, or he’s in trouble.”

“Assuming he activated his phase shift at the exact same moment as we did, he’s only three or four minutes past the deactivation cooldown,” said Copeland.

“That’s enough to have me concerned, Lieutenant.”

“Me too, sir. I just thought I’d point out we’re talking minutes late, not hours.”

“I’ve run through the recorded feeds, sir,” said Burner. “If the Takrivon was destroyed, it happened after we phase shifted.”

Flint clenched his fists and it was difficult to stop himself punching the front of his console. “If Captain Vazox is suffering technical issues, this is a really bad time for it,” he said.

“How long do we wait, sir?” asked Maddox.

“At least until we’ve heard from Basalt.”

“But the Kilvar—”

“I know.”

“I’m in contact with Amber, sir,” said Becerra. “The ground control officer is trying to get hold of the Fleet Admiral.”

Flint drummed his fingers and watched the sensors.

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