Alaris. Episode One: Cracks

Cracks

  Alaris.

  Episode One

  by M.J.Baker

  Copyright 2012 M.J.Baker

  Thank you for your support.

  Marack didn't say a word while besides him his commanding officer was sick on the hanger's deck for the second time in as many minutes. At least this time someone had passed her a bucket. One of the deck crew was still glumly mopping where Sikes hadn't been so lucky. Sikes swore and collapsed onto the deck, motioning for one of the crew to push the bucket closer. Marack took a deep breath, aware that he had to at least try and be polite to her.

  “If you want Captain, I can do this run alone.” Sikes glared up at him. The entire nights drinking still in her eyes.

  “Oh you'd like that so much wouldn't you. The great Marack Nor, so good he doesn't need a wingman.” Marack felt a smile tug at his lips.

  “It's not my fault if it's true.” Sikes snarled a curse at him and keeping her eyes locked on his she pulled herself to her feet.

  “Maybe, but I'm not going to let you prove it today.” He shook his head and sighed.

  “We could always wait for one of the other pilots to recover from last night. You never know, one of Alani squadron might wake up and do this escort run like they were supposed to.”

  “We can't wait that long and the Alani pilots will be lucky if they ever fly again.”

  “It's your fault, you shouldn't have challenged them to a drinking contest the night before they went back on duty.” Sikes shook her head.

  “I was drunk and off duty at the time, they weren't. They're the ones who are going to get yelled at.”

  Beneath his feet Marack felt the hangers mag-locks activate and, as if by magic, two of the squadrons Sarmatian fighters were dragged over to the launch-way. They were old craft and even in the hangers dim light he could see where parts of the hull had been repeatedly patched. Even so the sight of the fighters still filled him with a little bit of pride.

  “I swear to god Sikes that if this convoy gets hit and you're too hung over to fight I'll transfer out of Vali squadron before you're done throwing up.” Marack had uttered that threat so many times that even he didn't believe it anymore. No one did. As long as the rest of Vali squadron maintained a higher than average number of kills he would stick with them.

  “Check the brief, the Bellicose pirates hit so many convoys yesterday that I doubt they will turn up today.” Marack glanced down at the small piece of paper in his hand. The last of a dozen symbols was merely a single line, indicating that there was a estimated 20% chance of enemy contact. Marack didn't believe it for a second. Attacks had been getting more frequent in the six months since the Bellicose had turned up and the Alaris Defense Force had been re-founded. For half of that time he'd been told repeatedly that they were incapable of maintaining such a high level of activity, or survive the losses that the ADF was inflicting upon them. Yet everyday there was another attack and it was rare when even one of the convoys made it back without getting hit.

  “Still, I wouldn't put it past them to give it a try. The second they detect only two fighters and not the usual four they'll be all over us.” The two Sarmatian fighters had come to a halt a few meters in front of them now and were being swarmed by the deck crew.

  “Let them try.” Sikes said with a grimace. “Besides, maybe they'll be as hung over as I am and not even bother.”

  “Number One set.” The deck officer yelled out and waved one arm at them. Marack shook his head as Sikes straightened up and threw her helmet on.

  “I'll see you in the void.” She said and headed towards her fighter. He watched her go and felt the fear resurface. He was alone now and until he landed again there would be no where to hide from it. Marack took a deep breath and glanced at his right hand. He felt strangely proud that it was only shaking a little. He shook his head again, this time at his own fear. A second Sarmatian fighter drifted magically along the flight deck.

  “Number two, you're up!” Marack pulled himself up the small ladder that one of the flight crew was holding, took his helmet from another and saw that Sikes was accepting several small paper bags from one of the crew. That sight did not fill him with confidence. The cockpit sealed with a thud that drowned out the launch klaxons. Deck crew scattered in all directions and Marack felt the click as the magnetic grapple activated and clamped onto the forward landing gear of the Sarmatian. A moment later and the grapple had pulled his craft onto the launch-way about five meters behind Sikes'. Marack heard a click from his helmet comlink.

  “You should have drunk with us last night.” Sikes' tiny voice said. “Some of the rest of the squadron are starting to wonder about you.”

  “Let them wonder.” He said. Mounted on the hangers ceiling the launch light flicked from red to amber and he felt muscles tensing. The fear dug a pit in his stomach and filled with mouth with a bitter taste.

  “They're not a bad lot, you should give them a chance.”

  “I speak to Cares don't I?” He eyed the launch countdown and prayed for it to go quicker.

  “You need to do more. you're part of the team and you need to start acting like it. Anyway lets just get this done. Launch confirmed.” Sikes' voice had suddenly gained a hard formal edge. “Launching in five...four...three.” The light flicked to green and the rest of the count was drowned out by the generators on the mag-jump powering up to full charge. Sikes' craft vanished from the hanger as the catapult launched it forward. A second later and Marack felt a giant fist smash him backwards as his own craft was launched. The gray of the hanger deck vanished instantly and was replaced by the glorious swirl of colours that was the Alaris nebula.

  Marack would never had described the nebula as cloud like. As far as he understood them clouds were merely small collections of water vapor that he'd never really seen the attraction of. The nebula was more like a work of art. Not one created by man, but one created by a god who'd seen the pathetic works his creations had made and wanted to show them how it was really done. In beauty and scale it surpassed anything a simple human mind could think of. The fact that it was home didn't hurt either.

  He pulled the Sarmatian in a wide arc away from the nebula and Palisade station. Gateway system wasn't really a star system at all. The largest object was Palisade station and that was less than a kilometer wide. The system also held Exodus station that sat almost 200,000 kilometers away from Palisade. That was controlled by Irakillion and it allowed its government to keep an eye on all traffic within Gateway. The only reason those two stations had been built here, in fact the only reason why 'Gateway' existed as a system at all was that it was the only known safe jumppoint into or out of the nebula.

  “Convoy Eight, this is Vali Squadron flight one, we will reach the jump-point in 30 seconds. I hope you guys are ready.” Sikes said. Marack lined his own craft up on the tiny dot that was marked Sikes' fighter and gave the two massive freighters a quick glance. Almost as large as Palisade station itself they were nothing but giant cylinders with engines. They carried enough rare elements from the nebula to make an entire planet rich.

  “This is the freighter Distant Rainbow. We were ready two hours ago Vali. Do you have any idea what happened to Alani squadron?” An older voice came back.

  “The brief didn't say. Best not to think about it and just get this run done.” Marack didn't say a word, he didn't really care what Alani squadron had done or whose fault it was. It was to him just another chance to fly.

  “you're right, we need to do this quickly. The Zinchi and Vales colonies are on half rations and we're hoping this run will get them off it.” Marack winced a little, he doubted a single convoy would never be able to get twohundred thousand people off of half rations.


  “Don't worry, we'll get you there and back in record time. I'm nearing the jump-point. I'll see you-” There was a flash of light from Sikes' ship and then it was gone. He keyed his flight computer to followed her and braced for the jolt that the jump system caused. They said that no one would ever get used to it, but after almost two hundred such jumps Marack no longer believed them. He could cope with that, it was the fear that got to him. When the jump came he didn't even wince.

  When he came out of the jump little had changed. The freighters still sat in front of him, the nebula behind, the jump itself could have been missed by blinking. Marack checked his shipboard clocks, one for real time and one for ship time. According to the former only a minute had passed since he'd launched from Gateway, the latter read two hours. Marack didn't understand the physics of it, he just knew that the four light year jump