Starflare Universe – Ghosts-11
1020 Words
Doug’s screen flashed up confirmation they’d left hyperspace and were near the Grifter.
“Alright Zero, time to check out the neighbours,” he said.
Doug punched the launch button, then was shoved back in the seat as his fighter blasted down the short launch tunnel and into the darkness of space. Another fighter did the same a dozen meters to his right.
“Form on me, Zero,” he said.
“Roger that, Shadowhawk,” replied Zero.
Doug knew the order was redundant for Charlie. Her call sign was Zero because the others joked that was how many mistakes she’d ever made. It wasn’t true, of course. No pilot got things right all the time, but she came a lot closer to it than anyone else — even Doug.
Confident Zero was with him Doug swung his fighter towards the Grifter’s position… and saw nothing. He checked his sensors. They showed nothing but the Panther, his fighter and Zero’s. He opened a channel to the Panther.
“Captain, either Janine’s flying is even more off than usual or the information we had was wrong. There’s no sign of the Grifter and no sign of any asteroid.”
Seconds ticked by without a response. Doug frowned, then tried again.
“Panther, this is Shadowhawk. Do you read me?”
Again nothing for several seconds, then there was the crackle of a comm link opening. Doug started to relax, until he heard the voice.
“Shadowhawk, I’m reading you loud and clear,” said Charlie. “Your comms are fine. I think there’s a problem on the Panther. Another problem, I mean.”
“Damn it. All right, they can’t hear us but they’ll know something is wrong. Let’s…”
He was interrupted by another communication.
“Panther, this is Shadowhawk,” said a voice. “The Grifter is in position and appears to be non-hostile. Moving in for a closer look.”
“Roger that, Shadowhawk,” came the captain’s reply. “Keep us informed.”
Doug sat for several seconds, not believing what he’d just heard. The voice hadn’t sounded quite like his, but the words were spot on. In fact he was pretty sure he’d used most of them on previous missions.
“Shadowhawk… Doug… that wasn’t you, was it?” asked Charlie.
“No it damn well wasn’t!”
“It sounded just like you, the voice and what you said. I got a lock on the signal at the end though… it was coming from the Panther, not from you.”
“What the hell are we dealing with here? I’ve heard plenty of ghost stories down the years but never anything like this. Alright, let’s get back aboard. I’m guessing their sensors aren’t showing where we really are so we need to get on the ship and tell them what’s happening.”
“Roger.”
Doug swung his fighter back towards the Panther, his mind racing. He’d been certain the problems were linked to the witch, everything had started since she came aboard, but this was starting to stretch that idea. How could she be faking his voice and words? Besides, he was sure she was manipulating the captain somehow, influencing his thoughts, so how did the fake message tie in with that?
The screech of beam weapons striking shields interrupted all other thoughts. Doug had the fighter evading before he’d even fully registered the attack. It took him longer to identify the source of the weapons fire, and when he did he couldn’t believe it.
“Doug, the Panther… it’s firing at us…”
Charlie’s voice shook as she spoke, disbelief carried in her words.
“I see it. I don’t believe it, but I see it. Keep evading.”
The weapons fire eased off as the two fighters moved away from the Panther but streaks of fast moving light still flashed past, false images generated by his fighter showing him where the invisible beams flew.
“Alright, let’s try and get closer again,” Doug said.
He swung his fighter over, heading in the direction of the Panther but keeping his fighter evading. The weapons fire immediately intensified, many beams cutting through space around him and several striking home. With a curse he pulled away again.
“Damn it. We can get close without taking too much damage but the moment we slow down to dock we’ll be sitting ducks, and I’d put money on us being locked out if we tried.”
“What do we do, then?”
“I don’t know. I doubt we could do enough damage to their shields with our beam weapons and I really don’t like the idea of hitting them with missiles.”
“Shoot at the Panther? We can’t do that!”
“It might come to that, but not yet. Maybe there’s another way we can let them know what’s happening. If not… well, hitting the Panther with a few missiles might be better than whatever’s got control of the ship’s systems has planned.”
* * * *
“Captain, the Grifter looks clean. As far as I can tell there’s no threat.”
“Thanks Doug,” said Joe. “We’ve told them what our situation is. Let’s see what they come back with.”
“They’d better not take too long,” Janine said. “If this smoke gets any thicker we won’t be able to find our way off the bridge!”
“I know,” Joe replied. “But… hang on… we’re getting a reply…”
“Panther, this is the Grifter. We want to help but from the information you sent us this phenomenon poses a significant threat to our ship. We can loan you a heavy shuttle. It will have more than enough room for your crew and will give you a safe location to work from. We’ll load it up with tools and supplies. I’m sorry we can’t let you aboard the Grifter yet but it’s too great a risk.”
“Thank you Grifter. I completely understand, and we intend to get control of our ship again. The shuttle will be a great help.”
“It’s launching now. It should be attached to your main airlock in a couple of minutes.”
“That’s great. We’ll start shifting people onto it straight away. Panther out.”
Joe let out a deep breath, hearing it echo around his helmet.
“Dave, I want everyone moving to the airlock.”
“What about the pilots and Doc?”
“The pilots too. We’ve got Shadowhawk and Zero out there already. If we launch any more we’ll spook the Grifter. Tell one of the pilots to head out in Doc’s shuttle. Doc is too busy patching up Rat to be able to fly.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Then get yourself down to the airlock.”
“Yes, Sir!”
- Writer
