Sailing the Streams by Michael Anderle

Author:Michael Anderle [Anderle, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing
Published: 2024-05-20T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The tension across the ship didn’t disappear when the attack failed to come. All three ships bound together weren’t fast through the Stream. Moving through the first or second dimension was all they could manage safely. Any farther into the Stream, and they risked collapsing the shared bubbles.

They had plenty of problems to deal with. Madison knew that already, but she tried not to make a big deal about it. She’d been the skipper for their trip out, but while her father was at the helm, she was just another crew member. There was work to do.

Most of her work involved keeping the ship together. With the damage all three ships had sustained in the fighting, it was dangerous for them to go deeper than the first dimension on their own. All three together managed to survive after she’d cobbled their systems together to keep the bubbles intact.

But as much as she wanted to keep them going faster, the ships didn’t allow for it. Terry had the crews working around the clock to keep them from falling apart. They didn’t know what to do if there was an attack.

The Caller, the merchant ship whose name was difficult to find through the paperwork, and the Rose could provide enough firepower to keep most ships from attacking, but the one following them didn’t let up its pursuit. It never pushed to close the distance, but over three days, it had been gaining on them.

She could see it weighing on the crew. Chasing someone down was one thing. Being chased was another. The worst of it was they didn’t know exactly who was chasing them or why.

Madison crossed her arms and watched the sensor readings. Same as they’d been an hour before and the day before. The gain was minimal, and she couldn’t tell if they’d been pushing harder or merely drifting as close as they could get without being spotted outright.

None of them wanted to talk about their high-profile prisoner. Madison didn’t like how they were ignoring the young man’s talk. Not that it would do them any good to start listening to fairy tales and ghost stories. They didn’t have the time to consider bribes, either, especially when the bastard didn’t even have the money to pay for his release yet.

She didn’t doubt he had all that money. The sheer number of ships he’d brought down over the years had been enough to afford fleets. A destroyer didn’t usually need a fleet, which meant he’d either spent all his money or saved it away. Either was possible. With rich pricks, it was always a coin flip and never any middle ground.

“Any updates?”

Madison realized she’d let her mind wander. She didn’t think she’d slept since the battle, although she stole a few catnaps since the chase started. Their luck had run out, but it was taking forever to tell what extent their luck had turned.

Dag hadn’t talked to her much since the battle. She assumed he’d been busy trying to bring the three ships back to working order.

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