Infamy (The Mythrar War Book 2) Read online

  "Sir, most the ships are heading away from us at full speed."

  "Most?"

  "One ship is staying around. Looks like they have someone suited outside of the ship though he looks to be heading back towards the vessel."

  Wellard nodded. "Send the transmission again. Make it clear that we mean business. See if that speeds him up."

  Midshipman Ritter reissued the command, and within moments the man was back inside the ship, and it was making its way towards Medaea Gate with the rest of the scavengers. He wished he had a way to scan the departing ships to determine what they took, but he knew how impossible that would be. Instead, he could just hope they hadn't found anything useful, specifically anything he was hoping to find.

  As the ship closed in on the wreckage, it was clear just how little the video had prepared them for the reality of what they would find. Wellard was no stranger to battle, but this had been something else entirely. The wreckage from the station and no less than a dozen ships littered the area, making it impossible for them to get closer than a few hundred kilometers without risking damage to the ship. Even worse, traversing the debris field was going to be difficult even for the fighters and shuttles.

  "Bridge to the CAG." Wellard waited for the computer to connect him with the fight deck CIC. When Valarie's familiar voice responded over the comm, he continued. "I know we talked about having your fighters out there in the debris field, but I'm not sure how safe it is for them. I want your opinion on this before we make our move. Do you think your pilots can fly through that mess, or should we find a better way?"

  "I'll be honest with you, Captain, it won't be easy. That said, I see a handful of lanes that look clear of debris. If we send the fighters down those paths, it would be better than nothing. As for the shuttles, they should be able to handle more of a beating so it may be worth risking them in the more densely packed spots."

  "Sounds good, Val. Don't force any of the pilots that aren't comfortable out there. While this is important, it's not worth pushing anyone over the edge. And the same goes with anyone you feel isn't ready for it either."

  "Will do," she said. "Are you still planning on sending an engineer with each of the ships? If so you may want to get them moving in my direction. I doubt you want to stay in this system any longer than necessary."

  Wellard glanced over at Richards who nodded and walked away. "I'll get on the horn with Vaughn shortly. In the meantime get your teams ready to depart. I'd like all those willing to be in the sky in the next fifteen minutes. Wellard, out."

  Wellard cut the transmission to the CIC and opened another one with engineering. Unlike the CAG, Vaughn took a few extra minutes to return his call. Wellard figured the man was briefing his crew or working on one project or another like they did in their free time.

  "This is Vaughn," the engineer replied. "Putting my teams together now. They'll be on their way to the flight deck shortly. I suppose you'll be sending Richards as well?"

  "Indeed. Richards is on his way there as we speak."

  "Good. Richards is better than most the people I'm sending. Most don't have a clue what kinds of things may be useful, so they are focusing on anything remotely electronic."

  Wellard laughed. "They're better off than half of us up here. If it's not in one piece, we have no idea what we're looking at." He waited a moment for the laughing to subside before going on. "I'm sure they'll do just fine. If they have questions just have them refer to Richards."

  "I already have," he replied. "I've also told them if they have any doubts, bring it in. Worst case we airlock the junk before we take off."

  "Sounds good. I'll keep you apprised as we search. Hopefully, you'll have your team back in under an hour."

  "One can wish. Vaughn, out."

  Chapter Fifteen

  Gibraltar Sector

  Ready Room, NECS Endeavor

  Tegan stood behind a podium in the middle of the ready room facing some of the craziest pilots she'd ever met. They had to be to be sitting at one of the chairs in the room after hearing what they were being asked to do. Out of all the things the X-71 fighters were expected to do, navigating an expanding debris field was not one of them. The crafts weren't rated for impact though she knew they were much more sturdy than most would admit. Smaller objects would only scuff the paint or cause the collision alarms to go crazy while the moderate sized ones would do more.

  The larger ones, however, were enough of a problem to cause concern. A collision with one of the larger fragments, even at slow speeds, could be deadly. All it would take was one well-placed hit to cause their cockpits to decompress, forcing the pilot to operate in zero Gs.

  In truth, it wasn't the pilots that worried her. It was the engineers. Most pilots were forced to work with zero Gs from time to time, but the engineers were another story. Their job kept their feet on firm ground.

  Commander Thompson stood nearby, her arms folded behind her back as she waited for the last of the pilots to fill the room. When it was all over, fifteen of the fighter pilots had shown up with an additional four from the shuttle corps. She knew their search would've been much faster if more pilots had joined the search. But it would've also been more deadly as they would've been dodging each other and the debris.

  Once the last of the pilots was seated, she punched in a command on her console putting an image of the small black box up on the screen.

  "Lady and gentlemen, the CAG and I both want to thank you for volunteering to help on this mission. What we are about to ask you to do will not be easy. In fact, you will be flying your birds in one of the most treacherous situations you could ever find yourself in. Do not underestimate the debris field a few hundred kilometers away. One bad move and you'll find yourself a blob on the side of what was once part of a ship. And that's if you're lucky.

  "You are to maintain minimal thrust to allow you to react to the threat and to facilitate your search. Each of you will be paired up with an engineer. They will be inside the cockpit with you acting as a second set of eyes. If either of you sees something, you are to alert the other before making your move."

  The CAG paced the front platform, studying the eyes of everyone in the room as Tegan spoke. She was studied the pilots, looking for signs of weakness. It was much better for their search to take a few hours longer than to lose a pilot for this.

  "Radio communication is a must. Each bird will be linked to another pilot back at the CIC. We want to know every move you make and why. If you see something that looks remotely important, radio it in so your team can mark it on radar for later extraction. In short, you and your partners should talk regularly."

  Tegan turned and pointed to the image of the black box on the main viewscreen. "Finding these is our top priority. These devices collect every ounce of data flowing through the ship in case of catastrophic loss. The materials protecting the device are impervious to most forms of damage so they should look very similar to the one on screen. Every ship is equipped with one of these devices near the bridge as well as in the CIC of the station."

  Thompson nodded at Tegan before stopping at the edge of the podium, facing the pilots. "While there are at least thirteen of these devices floating around out there, we are mostly interested in retrieving the one from the base and one from one of the EU ships. Of course, you will have no way to distinguish which is which, so if you find one you should bring it in. With any luck, we can analyze the data on the recorder to determine what ship it belonged to."

  "Questions?" Tegan asked after the CAG stopped speaking. After a moment of silence, she continued. "Good. Everyone, suit up. Your engineers will meet you down on the flight deck in ten minutes. Don't make them wait any longer. Dismissed."

  The pilots quickly filed out of the room while Tegan straightened the papers at the podium and placed them in a neat stack on a nearby table. As the last of the pilots left the room, Commander Thompson shut the door and approached her on the stage.

  "You've been assigned Lieutenant Richards for
the search. Captain Wellard specifically requested that he be placed in your care. Something about putting our best engineers in the hands of our best pilots or some shit. I told him you'd be against it and all, but…"

  "It's fine," Tegan said trying her best act nonchalant about the assignment. Being paired with Richards was perfect. While she trusted every single one of the pilots that had been in the room, she valued Richards life too much to risk it with any of them. Not only was he responsible for bringing the XO back from the Providence, but she had also taken a liking to the man. While she wasn't sure if Richards shared the sentiment, she wasn't going to risk his death before she found out firsthand. "If the captain trusts me with Richards' life, then I'm not going to disappoint."

  "Good," Thompson said, grinning as if she sensed the apprehension in Tegan's voice. "He also asked that you avoid searching the central wreckage for the device. He wants to focus on the debris field of the EU ships and their devices."

  Tegan bit her lower lip and took in a deep breath. How the hell could the captain do this to me? While she understood being put in charge of Richards, she didn't understand why she was being kept away from the station. If she was good enough to keep him safe, surely she was good enough to be put in charge of searching the wreckage of the station.

  "That's bullshit Commander, and you know it. I should be the one searching the main wreckage. I have more experience than half the crew combined. And with Richards, we'll know exactly what to look for."

  Thompson nodded. "Which is why this conversation never took place. By my recollection, you rushed off to the flight deck to be the first fighter out there in the mess." Thompson raised her wrist to glance at her watch. "And by my estimation, they have a three-minute head start, so you best be on your way."

  Tegan snorted, then bolted for the door. She couldn't turn the commander into a liar after all.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Gibraltar Sector

  Cockpit, X-71 Fighter

  Tegan stepped into her fighter the moment the first of the pilots filed inside. Once seated, she checked her suit to make sure it was sealed and functioning properly before leaning back to check on her passenger. Richards wasn't a pilot or a marine. That much was clear after seeing him put on the suit that would save his life if anything went wrong. If she hadn't stopped to help him, it was likely that part of the CAG's story would be wrong. As it was, it had taken her stripping down to her underwear on the flight deck and putting on the suit outside of her fighter to give the story a fighting chance. "You strapped in back there cowboy?" Tegan asked, glancing over her shoulder.

  Richards fumbled with the clamps on his restraints. She heard the familiar click of the belt and smiled.

  "Think I got it," he said, not-so-confidently. "Guess we'll find out when you take off. How soon until we…"

  Before he finished, she pulled back on the thrusters, sending her ship flying out of the fighter bay in one fluid motion. One she'd honed with years of practice on dozens of ships similar to the Endeavor. While every ship had its own little quirks, leaving the fighter bay was the same on them all. Some thrust, a little forward momentum, and you were free of the artificial gravity of the ship. She did her trademark flip as she left the fighter bay, momentarily forgetting her passenger. Once she'd realized what she'd done, she leveled out the craft and called back to him on the comm.

  "Sorry about that," she lied. "Habits and all."

  "I'll survive," he lied. "But the suit will need a thorough cleaning when we're done."

  "Not the first time. You'd hate to see what happens to the suits the rooks wear."

  "I'll pass," he said as he punched in commands on his console. He had the device set up as a makeshift radar, searching the area for anything that represented an electrical ping. The thought process was simple, if the device had power and sent out electrical impulses, then it was important enough to grab. So far the device hadn't registered a blip, but he was sure that would change once they got closer.

  "So, how'd you end up with little ole me?" he said, mischief in his voice.

  "You realize this channel is being monitored, right?"

  Richards blushed. He hadn't realized the channel might be open. In fact, he had assumed they'd be under radio silence unless contacted through other means. Laughter through the comm confirmed his fears, so he sunk back into the seat trying to hide from the voice on the other end of the channel.

  "Captain's orders," Tegan said, sounding more official than normal. "Wanted the best to protect the best."

  "Then why'd you end up with me?"

  Gasps followed by another round of laughter had him wanting to slink back into his seat even further. But then Tegan joined in, realizing the jab had been directed at himself and not at her. He would've never thought about questioning her skill. He'd known of her reputation long before she'd joined fleet. It wasn't every day one of the best corporate pilots switched sides and joined the NEC. The pay was bad, the food worse, and you had to sign a contract to boot. The fact that you couldn't up and leave when things went wrong was enough for most pilots to turn down the job.

  Richards noticed a red light at his station go out. He flicked it a time or two. "Bobcat, a light went off back here at my station. I don't assume it was anything important, was it?"

  Tegan laughed. "Yes and no. I needed to tell you something, so I shut down the comm. I don't have long before they figure it out, so I'll be quick. Wellard wants us to avoid searching the wreckage of the base. He believes it's too dangerous and far too big of a risk to put you into."

  "And what do you think?" he replied.

  "I believe we need to give it a shot. The wreckage is spread out enough that we should have enough room to get a good look. As long as I move slowly, there shouldn't be anything to worry about."

  "Then I defer to your judgment. If you believe you can fly us into the wreckage, then I do too." In truth, he wasn't as sure about her abilities as he'd made it sound. Sure, she was one of the best pilots in the NEC, but the place was a mess. Even as they approached the outer band of the debris field, it was clear that it would be difficult even this far out. Still, he trusted her skills better than most, and if she said she could pull it off, then they'd just have to destroy his suit.

  "Good, now if you can hold on, I'm going to increase thrust to get us there faster." The red light reappeared seconds later, followed by the sound of someone on the comm. One of the other pilots, he'd assumed, as he thought he heard him say his name was Switch.

  An alarm from the front half of the cockpit blared. Richards stared at his controls and console looking for something wrong, but as far as he could tell everything seemed normal. But then again, he'd never actually flown in a fighter to know what kind of noises it made. Maybe it was a proximity alarm going off. It was likely, considering they were closing in on the debris field. He would've been sold on that as an answer if Tegan hadn't brought the ship to a stop. She bent forward and pulled something he couldn't make out off of her console and passed it back to him over her head. It was the device he had invented, going off as he had designed it to do. But it was only supposed to go off if they were close to an anomaly. There wasn't anything out there like that, not unless there was another ship nearby they couldn't see.

  The answer hit him like a sack of bricks. One of the destroyed ships had been hijacked. The alarm going off meant that at least part of the anomaly was still intact. It was the best possible news they could've got.

  "Tell me that thing is wrong?" she asked, handing him the device. "Tell me the piece of junk is malfunctioning."

  "On the contrary, it's working fine. Tell the CAG we've found an active anomaly in the wreckage and that we're going to bring it in."

  Chapter Seventeen

  Gibraltar Sector

  Bridge, NECS Endeavor

  Wellard watched the search play out on the viewscreen. As expected, the fighters and shuttles were moving at a crawl. He didn't blame them. One unlucky shot would end the fighter's searc
h permanently. While he would've preferred to get in and out of the system as fast as possible, it wasn't worth risking the life of his crew.

  What's worse is that he knew this was likely a big waste of time. Finding anything worthwhile in this mess was as likely as a frigate mounting an effective attack on the Endeavor. It could happen, but it was more likely they would continue the search without finding anything useful.

  "Captain, incoming message from the CAG."

  "Patch it through." Once the line was connected, he shot Valarie a smile. "How are things going, Commander? Hard to see anything useful from up here."

  "For the most part, things are going about as well as expected. Most of the birds are moving at a crawl to avoid the debris and worse yet, most of them haven't found anything useful."

  "Most of them?" he questioned. "That implies at least one of them found something."

  "So far we've recovered one of the black boxes from what we believe to be one of the NEC ships and a few electronic devices still emitting an electrical pulse. Hard to say if any of it is worthwhile, but suspect we'll find out soon enough."

  "That's good news. Hopefully, they can find a few more of the boxes, and we can be on our way."

  "There's something else, Captain. One of our pilots found something she believes to be remnants of an anomaly. She is asking if she should bring it in with the others."

  "How big of a piece are we talking?"

  "Too big to fit into the cockpit."

  "And if she tows it in she will be out of the search for at least an hour while they retract and refit the tow cable." Wellard rubbed the stubble on his chin while wondering if the loss of production would be worth it. Bringing the device in was an easy decision. The ability to run research on the damned thing would prove invaluable. But by having the pilot bring it in now, it would waste valuable time better spent looking for the black boxes. "Any idea what Richards thinks we should do?"