Far Horizon (Juggernaut #4)

Fifteen

The portal opened. The fleet entered one by one in perfect synchronisation.

The equation balanced.

Light-years away at a dark net beacon orbiting three AU from Baru another portal opened. Quantum red shift rimmed with a steady blue lightning. It twisted into existence out of nothing. The fleet emerged. The portal shrank and vanished, leaving behind only the calm sea of stars.

On the Northwind's bridge, Tila opened her eyes and gasped for breath. Her mother squeezed her hand.

"What? I'm fine."

Grace squeezed Tila's hand again and said nothing. She continued to watch the bridge. The easy part was over. Every jump was to some extent a leap into the dark. This jump was a leap into the dark but you knew someone was waiting for you.

The bridge crew were already at work. Yannis had asked his senior officers for some preliminary tasks and the crew had fallen on the tasks as if a jump to an unknown star was just another day.'

"What's happening now?" Tila asked. She had to raise her voice to be heard over the increased background noise of the bridge.

"Yannis needs to make sure the whole fleet is accounted for, and then scan the immediate area for danger. We don't know if the cabal will have ships waiting for us. Or something else."

"What's something else?"

A sudden bang silenced Grace. The Northwind shook as if struck by a hammer. The bridge crew lurched across consoles and spilled out of chairs.

"Report please," said Yannis quickly.

"We've been struck," said the tactical officer, a woman with close-cropped red hair. Reporting a single hit on the lower prow. All indications are that it was a mine."

"A mine?!" said Tila.

"That's something else," said Grace.

"We're in a minefield?"

"Mine's are strategic weapons. The fleet might take some damage but no one is going to be destroyed. Space is too big to mine effectively, even the local space around a jump beacon. It's a delaying tactic. A lucky hit."

A second sharp bang on the side lurched the ship and crew to the right.

"Lucky for who? Fleet all stop," said Yannis. "I don't want any more lucky hits, thank you. Complete your scan of the beacon jump sphere and find us a safe way out. Has anyone else been hit?"

"Only two other ships are reporting damage, captain. No casualties."

"What about our crew?"

"Minor injuries from the first strike, Admiral," said the first officer. He knelt by a young lieutenant manning an engineering console. "And one broken rib over here."

Yannis touched a control on his armrest. "Medical to the bridge. We have an injury. No, hold please." The lieutenant was on his feet and walking slowly toward the door. "Are you alright, son? I can have a medic to you in a moment."

The crewman rushed his words out, trying to finish his sentence before the pain caught up with him. "Thank you sir. I can walk," said the lieutenant.

Yannis nodded. His officers could speak for themselves. A broken rib was painful, but rarely fatal. If the lieutenant felt he could make it to medical under his own power, so be it. He had bigger issues to deal with.

"Tactical, what's out there?"

"Sir, our scans have mapped over three hundred mines. Consolidated fleet data has identified over a hundred more. All mines have been tagged and added to the threat matrix. Gnosis has already proposed a safe route clear of the minefield.