Homeworld (Odyssey One) (13 page)

“Yes, our closest colony world is Simanth. I dispatched the
Nept
and
Posdan
into that region to investigate the signal track. If the signals were accurate and unchanged, they originated from your Gliese 581,” he said, lighting up the colonial world he was speaking of.

Eric took a breath, calming down a little. If they originated from Gliese, then they weren’t headed anywhere near Earth, with the course towards Simanth veering somewhat in a different direction. That said, what looked like Drasin plots heading away from Gliese meant that there was a chance that they had
been
at Gliese. And if that were true, it was possible that the
Weifang
ran into them.

Better move that up the priority. Head out that way and see if there’s any sign of them.

For their sake, he hoped that there hadn’t been any contact. He knew that Block CamPlates were at least a couple generations behind the NAC, and their instrumentation was nothing to be proud of either. Without an up-to-date combo, Drasin lasers were a killer.

“When we’re done here,” he said, “I’m going to take the
Odyssey
out in that direction before heading for home.”

“Looking for your world mates, yes?” Tanner asked. “Even though they’re your enemies?”

Eric shrugged. “They’re pains in the ass, but they’re human and Terran. Have to at least check up on them, and what the hell? Gliese is on my original orders anyway. May as well do that survey.”

Tanner nodded, not really understanding the undercurrent to his erstwhile friend’s tone, but the words made sense to him. “I will signal ahead to the
Nept
and the
Posdan
, just to ensure that they are aware that you may be operating in their vicinity.”

“I’d be much obliged,” Eric smiled. “After all, friendly fire…isn’t.”

DEEP SPACE, THREE LIGHT-YEARS FROM GLIESE 581

P.L.A.S.F.
Weifang

SUN LOOKED OVER the state of his engineering deck, half horrified and half proud of the effort he could see. They had been forced to literally tear up the entire section to make room for the fabricators that had been recovered from the exposed sections of the ship.

New parts for the filters were being turned out as fast as the fabs could make them, and he knew that there were no spare seconds left for the job either. The chemical oxygen candles they were burning kept the air breathable, but it was still foul and turning fouler.

“The last parts are coming out of the fabs as we speak, Captain,” Pan, the chief engineer, said with a relieved tone. “We should be able to vent smoke within the hour.”

“Good. Keep the fabs operating. I want spares and every system repaired as quickly as possible.”

“As you say, Captain.”

Sun left the Engineering deck, pulling himself through the corridors hand over hand back to his own domain, Command deck. His officers were working, of course, and he settled himself into his station before bothering them.

“Any signs we were followed?”

“No, Captain. We’ve been focusing our passive sensors back along our course since we dropped from FTL,” Shi said. “There has been no sign yet of any pursuit.”

Sun nodded. But he wasn’t quite willing to turn their nose toward Earth just yet.

Their passive gear was all light-speed-based detection apparatus, and that would mean that they wouldn’t have detected anything more than…Sun had to glance at the ship’s clock briefly to be sure, but anything more than two light-days out would be beyond their detection at this time.

There could literally be a fleet that blotted out the stars for an entire parsec sitting just three light-days away, and the
Weifang
would be completely unable to see them for another day. FTL physics gave him a headache, frankly, but the one thing that he was certain of was that they weren’t quite clear of the proverbial forest just yet.

“Engineering has almost finished manufacturing the new filters,” he said. “Once our life systems are fully functional again I want to have an evasion course ready. We’ll double back on ourselves, pick out a few nearby stars at random and pay them a visit. Let’s make following the
Weifang
as difficult as possible. Clear?”

“Perfectly, Captain,” Shi said. “Should I begin plotting the evasion course?”

Sun nodded. “Please.”

“It’ll be done by the time we’re prepared to leave.”

“Good.”

Sun turned his repeater displays over to the feeds coming from the main scanners, eyes on the information as it streamed past. He didn’t know if the
Weifang
would make it
home again, but he had to at least try and get back to Earth without alerting the enemy to their destination.

Suddenly, Sun found himself wondering how the captain of the
Odyssey
had coped when he was in a similar situation.

PLANET RANQUIL

“SO, CAPTAIN, IS there much news from home?”

Eric glanced over to where Reed was leaning back against the wall, the folding chair under him creaking dangerously under his weight. He’d finished up the meeting with the admiral and then powered through a similar rendezvous with the ambassador before coming out to where the Priminae and their Terran advisors were preparing for ground war.

“Mostly things you could easily guess at,” he answered. “The
Big E
was launched a couple months back, along with her two sister ships, the
Pearl Harbor
and the
Iwo Jima
. A host of support ships and smaller destroyers were completed as well, but I don’t recall a list of their names.”

“War footing, then, is it?” Reed asked seriously.

“So it appears,” Eric confirmed, “and not a moment too soon in my opinion. Too many things out this way that are more than eager to swallow us up and crap out whatever’s left.”

“Truth there.”

Reed had seen the Drasin’s assault on-world firsthand, and while he hadn’t been impressed with their tactical skill,
he had been more than able to work out what they could do to a world that was ill equipped to oppose them.

“One bit of big news,” Eric twisted his lips up. “It looks like the Block’s joined the party out here.”

Reed almost dropped his drink.

“They cracked the T-Drive?”

Eric shook his head. “No, seems they cracked the Alcubierre equations.”