Warborg - Star Panther by Olson Ry

Author:Olson, Ry [Olson, Ry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-01-14T18:30:00+00:00

29: The Fox and the Hounds

“We’re clear of the drones.” Martin smiled in pent up relief. He performed a cursory check of his sensor displays, they showed nothing. He nodded in satisfaction. “I’m going to drop into normal space, reset our FTL systems for normal operation.” The frigate settings work ok, but they sure aren’t as efficient as the normal system operation. They need more frequent regeneration and have a slower FTL relative translational velocity. Besides, that’s an ace up my sleeve I’d rather not show unless I have to. He thought with a smile, dropping his ship into normal space. He gave the ship a once over while Prowler reset the FTL system and quietly generated the FTL field.

“Everything looks good . . . time to report in. You keep an eye peeled.” Martin winked at Prowler. Martin initiated a tight beam communication to the Merced system tagged for the Commanding Officer On Duty. A moment later he received an acknowledgment from Merced. He tapped out a sequence that would relay his sensor detection logs in reverse order, giving them the latest information first. “C’mon you guys, wake up.” He gave Prowler a dour look then keyed his transmit button. “Merced Command, Merced Command. This is Major Martin Morgan of the Star Panther. A Koth armada is en route to your location. I anticipate an attack by a fleet of over a thousand mixed Koth vessels on your system in one hundred to one hundred twenty hours from now. I repeat Merced Command, a Koth armada is en route to your location. I anticipate an attack by a fleet of over a thousand mixed Koth vessels in one hundred to one hundred twenty hours from now. I am sending what sensor data I have. I re . . .” Martin was interrupted by a hissing snarl from Prowler. “Oh shit, we have company!” Prowler jumped the ship before Martin could release the transmit button.

“Where in the hell did they come from?” Martin sputtered. Several dozen more koth ships materialized in space around him. “Mother fu . . .” He was forced to change course when two Koth strike fighters appeared right in front of them. “Damn, they’re gonna see that.” On cue three Koth light fighters jumped in right on top of him. What’s the point of trying to intercept us, we’re not in normal space. Weapons don’t work in subspace.

Martin watched an unfamiliar Koth ship make six quick micro-jumps in the area of the Star Panther. A new FTL signature lit up at each of the jump points. Now what? As if to answer one of the new signatures gave a sudden pulse. Martin’s mouth fell open as every FTL field in the display glowed momentarily. Before what he had seen even fully registered Prowler changed the direction of their jump. A split second after they veered away from the fighters the source of the pulse micro-jumped right where the Star Panther would have been and self destructed with an immense subspace distortion.

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