The Sac'a'rith Read Free Page B

escape was much better. “Is this still Plan A?”
    “It had better be. I have no Plan B,” he said as he patched the ship’s computers into the hauler’s computer bank. Once that was done we could monitor the fight from our position. The hauler’s computer was doing a good job at holding off the light attack craft, largely because its armor was far too thick for their weapons to penetrate.
    It did not take long for the big ships to arrive and turn the tide against the computer. Soon most of the ship’s weapons’ ports were off-line and the enemy was attempting to board, as Narcion had predicted. “Okay, it’s time. Make a run for it,” he said.
    As the cruiser was already in launch position, I throttled up the engines, opened the cargo bay doors, and launched at maximum velocity. Immediately upon exiting the cargo bay, our tactical alarms went crazy as the surrounding ships all tried to lock their weapons on us.
    “Reduce power to thirty percent, and come about to z plus sixty,” commanded Narcion.
    That seemed completely foolish to me, but decades as a slave had taught me to comply first and think never. I made the course corrections as Narcion entered a code into the display in front of him. Then, without warning, we were in jump space.
    Once we had emerged Narcion asked, “Status?”
    “Checking,” I said as I shook the off the mind-numbing effects of exiting jump space and checked the tactical display. “We are twenty thousand kilometers from our previous location, and it appears that no one has seen us.”
    “Excellent. Keep everything on low power for the moment and align to 187 mark 37 degrees for our next jump.”
    Once I had aligned the ship I watched the fight on the long-range scanners. The hauler continued to fight back as best it could with most of its weapons destroyed, but other than that there was not much happening. It would not take them long to board the ship, especially if they used the open cargo bay from which we had left.
    All the time I’d been watching the fight, Narcion seemed to be waiting for something. We could have jumped much further away and ensured our safety, so he must have had a reason for remaining in this place. His face was blank as he watched the screen. I do not know what he was looking for, but without any warning or change in his expression his hand calmly drifted up and tapped a button on his console.
    I glanced at my tactical screen in time to see the hauler explode. The explosion ripped through the surrounding ships and was moving quickly towards us, but Narcion had already triggered the jump drives and we escaped into jump space.
    When we came out of post-jump hangover, Narcion activated the communication system. On the screen appeared a man in Resden uniform who snapped, “Well, do you have our stuff or not?”
    “Funny you should ask that,” said Narcion. “Your little trap failed.”
    “Trap? What are you talking about?” he asked.
    “This,” said Narcion as he played back the recording of the ambush we had just escaped. “As you can see, your buddies failed to eliminate me. I am sure the Mercenary Consortium would love to see this.”
    “I assure you that Resden had nothing to do with that,” he said. Some of his arrogance and confidence had faded.
    “Don’t try to play me for a fool. Those ships have distinct Resden markings and knew the location of our secret rendezvous.”
    “What happened to the cargo?” he asked.
    “I will show you,” said Narcion. He played back the recording of the trader detonating and destroying all the vessels around it. Silence filled the line as the Resden representative contemplated this turn of events. “Now, I expect full payment, as I kept my part of the deal. I delivered your package to Resden forces at the agreed time and location. If you fail to keep your end of the bargain, I will report this.”
    “No need for threats, Narcion,” he said.
    “One could say there was no need for backstabbing traps