Echoes of the Storm

Chapter 22

Jack scanned the scopes of his AF-24, and for the first time in over an hour let himself relax, stretching as best as he could in the cockpit. Blade Three and his wingman were just at the edge of the cone and chasing a Corona fighter toward Rysis' mountainous moon. A half dozen other ships in formation escorted the last Riga transport out-system.

The Riga-ordered evacuation of Rysis was near complete, and hadn't come as a surprise. Riga had ample firepower today and they'd fought well, but their secret base stood exposed. The Corona Razer-class cruisers that had attacked only carried four wings of crusaders. If the captain had called for backup and waited for more firepower, it could have been a disaster for Riga. They'd been lucky...this time.

"All fighters move to sector twelve and prepare for departure," Blade One called.

Seconds later, a transmission from the command ship crackled with coordinates for the rendezvous point. The Riga skyfighters navigated toward sector twelve, but Jack hung back. Corona crusaders nipped at their heels.

"Blade Seven, I've got him," Jack said. Swinging wide, he came in above the fighter chasing Seven. He sighted it in his targeting cone, and let loose a barrage of cannon fire. A brilliant explosion lit the space in front of him. He couldn't maneuver quickly enough and took a bit of heat plunging through the debris.

"Thanks," Seven called. "See you at the rendezvous."

Don't count on that, Jack thought. It was time to move on...again. He was tired of answering questions and running from one place to another. He'd done his part, engaging the crusaders and protecting departing Riga transports. He had no regrets about telling Chase he wouldn't be joining them. Torredo—that's where he could make a bigger difference.

Jack adjusted his outbound vector while the other Riga fighters congregated in sector twelve. Kicking his fighter into hyperspace, he watched the starlines stretch out to infinity.

Within an hour, he calculated options for refueling, settling on Teli Minor in the Hephaestion Run. The port was little more than a shipping stopover along the Run, a trade route for smaller worlds ignored by Corona. Still, he'd need to be cautious in light of the attack on Rysis and avoid any direct routes home. Short hops between a half dozen systems should keep him off Corona's radar.

Three days, maybe four. He'd be home, skipping past a battlecruiser or two orbiting Torredo, and landing near the resistance's mountain hideaway. His friends would tell him to watch his blustering overconfidence. But confidence made the fatigue of battle a distant memory. He glanced at the ship's instrumentation, scanning each setting, checking his course and estimating time of arrival at the Run. With just an hour of flying time yet to come, he pulled up the star charts and began making calculations for the second phase of his journey home.

Suddenly, the ship decelerated.

"No, no, no," he shouted. The starlines became distant points of light. He toggled switches as the instrumentation panel flickered and the AF-24 groaned.

"Please identify yourself," a deep voice resonated over the comm channel.

Jack frowned at the large freighter hanging off his port bow that had pulled the fighter from hyperspace. An SNC-44, and not just any 44.

"Stone?" he called, resisting the urge to call him Ben. "Is that you?"

There was a moment of silence followed by a long exhaled breath, then, "Jack? I could ask what you're doing near the Run, but I have a pretty good guess."

Jack hesitated. Seeing Ben again would just complicate things, but his pulse ratcheted up a notch. "For Colonist's sake, Stone. How is it that you always manage to find me?"