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  Cutter continued whistling as the Argo coasted forward. The rest of the base gave way to nothing but the looming jumpship. Jia held her breath until a soft thud signaled that the Argo had connected with the primary docking clamps.

  “Linking up the docking tubes and power conduits,” Cutter reported, his fingers flying over the control. “We can exit from the cockpit or the bottom deck.”

  Jia let out a sigh of relief. Cutter was a good pilot, but there was always a certain tension that accompanied a new experience. New information appeared on a data window, a transmission from Raphael.

  “Why don’t you join us up here?” Jia transmitted to Erik. “Raphael wants to meet us in the cargo bay of our new ship.”

  The two of them passed through a short docking tube into a narrow, spartan passageway that curved at ninety degrees into the main body of the ship. They continued aft, ignoring the doors on either side.

  “Cutter’s sure he doesn’t want to come?” Erik asked.

  Jia shook her head. “He said there’s not much point. If we need him, we can just point him to the appropriate cockpit.”

  “Sounds like him.”

  “I’m assuming Lanara said something like, ‘I don’t have time for this crap. Do you know how long it’s going to take me to optimize power efficiency now that we’re supposed to connect to this new ship?’” Jia smiled.

  Erik laughed. “That’s almost exactly what she said.”

  “Did you look at the layout Alina sent?” Jia shook her head. “This ship pretty much defines utilitarian.”

  “You were expecting more?”

  “The Argo has a nano-VR room. This ship is big enough that they could have set up something like the training center.”

  “Sometimes you just need to carry people and guns from place to place,” Erik replied with a hint of amusement.

  “I suppose so.” Jia didn’t hide the disappointment on her face.

  She slowed by an open door. Densely packed rows and columns of berths filled the long but narrow room.

  “You could fit a lot of people in here,” Jia observed.

  “A lot of troops,” Erik corrected. “They might be letting us borrow it, but this is still a military ship. Keep that in mind. You’ll probably enjoy traveling a lot more if you stick to Argo.”

  “If I can survive flying around in the Rabbit, I can survive this thing.” Jia pressed her hand to the access panel to slide the door closed. “Are you going to have a problem working with soldiers again?”

  Erik shrugged and continued down the passage. “Why would I? Those guys are assault infantry. I know the culture and the equipment. It’s not like with the cops. With them, I had to get used to everything.”

  “I was worried it might bring up bad memories,” Jia replied softly.

  Erik’s dark snicker disturbed Jia. “Bad memories?” He shook his head. “I’d have to stop thinking about Molino long enough for it to become a bad memory. Nah, I’m glad we’ve got some reliable firepower who know what they’re doing.”

  Jia gave a shallow nod and didn’t say anything else. They continued heading aft until they reached two ladders next to a large elevator.

  “But let’s hope those guys aren’t jerks,” Erik grumbled, reaching out to the access panel.

  “I thought you weren’t worried about working with soldiers?” Jia stepped into the elevator after the doors slid open.

  “Soldiers can be assholes, too.” Erik grinned and selected the cargo bay. “And I’m not in the Army anymore. That might cause some tension.”

  The elevator descended with a quiet whir, taking only seconds to arrive at its location. The doors opened, revealing the cargo bay. Jia was half-convinced they could fit the Argo inside.

  Uniformed men and women stood in tight formation, broken up into four squads of five. Empty exoskeletons were clustered and secured to the deck in one corner of the massive bay. In addition, a boxy hovertank with an impressively large plasma cannon sat behind the soldiers, along with a half-dozen scout bikes.

  Raphael stood in front of the soldiers. Given his rumpled clothes, the wild state of his hair, and the heavy bags underneath his eyes, he must not have slept in days. Jia wouldn’t know it by the huge, silly grin on his face.

  He rushed over to Erik and shook his hand, then repeated the process with Jia.

  “Erik, Jia!” Raphael stepped away and gestured grandly around the cargo bay. “Welcome to your new tool for victory!”

  The soldiers watched them impassively. A broad-shouldered dark-skinned man who matched Erik for size and presence stood near the front. From what Jia could see of the troops’ rank insignia, he was the highest-ranking soldier there at captain.

  Erik nodded slowly to Raphael and walked toward the captain. “I’m Blackwell.”

  “Captain Osei,” the other man replied in a deep voice. “These are all volunteers from the 576th Assault Infantry, some of the best men and women in the UTC Army.”

  “Good to know we’ll have trained soldiers watching our backs.”

  Erik extended his hand. Osei gave it a firm shake, looking Erik up and down with a cool expression.

  Raphael sidled up to Erik. “Yes, this military stuff is cool and all, but—”

  Erik silenced him with a glance.

  Jia didn’t say anything but wondered if Erik had been lying to her after all about not having a problem with soldiers accompanying them, jerks or not. It made perfect sense to bring along extra firepower in case something went wrong or the conspiracy ships got there first, but she didn’t want to worry about bad blood at the edge of the Solar System.

  “We going to have a problem, Captain?” Erik asked. “Because I want to make one thing clear from the outset. You were sent to help us, not the other way around, and I need to make sure you’re willing to listen since we both know what happens if people don’t understand chain of command during a firefight.”

  Osei smiled, his teeth blindingly white. “They take their cues from me.”

  “That doesn’t answer my question.” Erik squared his shoulders and stepped up to Osei. “I need to make sure we’re both on the same side.”

  “I know your rep, Major.”

  “You can just call me Erik or Blackwell,” Erik replied. He was smiling, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

  “Okay, Blackwell,” Captain Osei replied. “I know your rep, and I know you kicked a lot of ass out there until those terrorists got lucky one day. What you’re really asking is if I hold that against you. That you walked away, but the others didn’t?”

  “I don’t know. Is that what I’m asking?”

  Captain Osei shook his head. “Sometimes things just don’t work out. I haven’t been in as long as you served, but I’ve lost plenty of good men and women despite doing everything right. I’m not here to second-guess you for shit that happened fifty light-years away.” He snorted. “If you were a rear echelon motherfucker, it’d be different, but you were on the line. You were like us. You hard-dropped under fire. You’re assault infantry, and it doesn’t matter if you were retired. That doesn’t change what you did.”

  “I’m glad we understand each other, Captain.” The corner of Erik’s mouth curled up in something approaching a smile.

  “Me, too. I know my troops, so you give me direction, and I’ll point them where they need to be. Sounds fair?”

  “More than fair.” Erik took a step back and relaxed his shoulders.

  Raphael rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, then tapped his foot impatiently.

  “Since we’re being honest with one another, Blackwell,” Captain Osei continued, “I also need to let you know that we brought along some party favors.”

  Jia raised an eyebrow, not understanding what he was getting at but concerned about the new tension lining Erik’s face.

  “From what I was told, we’re to investigate and recover the target,” Erik replied. “Not blow it up.”

  Jia grimaced.

  “Those are our orders, too.” C
aptain Osei inclined his head toward the tank. “But I’m a man who believes in having the maximum number of tactical options. I’m not sacrificing my unit for some old alien piece of shit, and that’s assuming we get there and don’t find out it’s not an old rocket filled with twenty-first-century porn.”

  The soldiers chuckled. Erik laughed, too. Jia remained silent, watching the two and having trouble disagreeing with Captain Osei.

  Given the jumpship’s level of weaponry, if it came down to it, they could destroy anything they needed from afar, but explosives might be useful in getting through otherwise sealed compartments. The observed course corrections of the comet suggested an active vessel, but she suspected life support, gravity, and systems like door control would be long-dead.

  “Bring whatever equipment you think you need.” Erik smirked. “But at least figure out what kind of porn it is before you blow it up.”

  That elicited more laughter from the soldiers.

  Raphael loudly cleared his throat. “If we’re done talking about pornography, and we’re not going to do a tour, I should get back to my calibration and installation. Now that Emma’s here, I think the final stages will go quickly. We should be able to set out tomorrow.”

  Erik nodded. “And this is it? Just the assault infantry? We don’t need anyone else?”

  “We shouldn’t. Having Emma simplifies things, along with the jumpship’s basic AI.” Raphael waved a hand. “It’s nowhere near as advanced as Emma and not self-aware, of course, but it can handle the basic systems. When the Argo’s interfaced with the Bifröst, Cutter or Emma should be able to control the larger ship’s systems with no trouble.”

  “When can we go?” Jia asked.

  “We should be able to set out tomorrow.”

  “And when can we jump?” Jia pressed. “It’s a long way to the target if we can’t jump.”

  Raphael rubbed his hands together, his eyes brimming with excitement. “One quick test jump, and then once Emma and I finish going over the data, we can jump out. I figure it won’t take more than a day or two at most.”

  Erik looked at him in disbelief. “That simple?”

  “We won’t be doing multi-light-year jumps anytime soon, but getting out to the edge of the Solar System?” Raphael blew a raspberry. “That’s easy.”

  Emma winked into existence wearing an Army uniform. She’d made herself a major, and the slight smirk on Captain Osei’s face suggested he’d noticed. Some of the soldiers looked at Emma with surprise and uncertainty.

  “Easy is relative,” Emma declared. “But you do have the best AI in the galaxy helping you fleshbags.” She added, “The backup AI is effectively useless, but I’m sure I can do something with it eventually. Just not tomorrow.”

  Raphael gave a disinterested shrug. “You can control everything. I don’t think any of us care.”

  That was it. They were getting ready for FTL travel without an HTP. Jia was surprised by how unworried she was about the jump. The idea was almost banal at this point, but tomorrow they would either make UTC history or die.

  It was always good to have options.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  May 18, 2230, Solar System, Asteroid Belt, Near UTC Space Fleet Base Penglai

  “Cross-checking grav emitters and reactor on our end,” Cutter announced. “Everyone make sure your asses are strapped in. You don’t want to lose them if something goes wrong with the jump.”

  Emma replied with a string of numbers. “All tolerances are within levels. Engineer Quinn, I’m about to begin adjusting conduit flow. Doctor Maras, please ensure the field levels are within your accepted tolerances.”

  “Go ahead,” Lanara transmitted from the engine room of the Bifröst, her perpetual cranky tone unabated.

  “Good on my end,” Raphael replied. Unlike the engineer, he was all but giggling with excitement.

  Erik sat in the cockpit behind Cutter and Jia, his harness tight. For all his skills and experience, he had little to offer in a test jump. Even the pilots weren’t doing much. Emma was the star of the experiment.

  Today would fundamentally change humanity’s relationship with the stars, but Erik didn’t care about that. All he saw was a tool he could use to catch the conspiracy, no matter where or how far they ran. If it blew up and killed them all, it wasn’t like he would be around to worry about it.

  “Reorienting grav fields,” Emma announced. “Mr. Durn is right. All fleshbags should make sure they’re secured. I take no responsibility for your injuries if you’re not.”

  Raphael, Cutter, Jia, and Emma exchanged technical chatter. Erik didn’t care about the particulars until Cutter began a countdown.

  “Ten, nine, I hope you all hit the head before this, eight, seven…”

  Erik took a deep breath and slowly let it out. It’d been a couple of years since his last trip through hyperspace. He wasn’t sure the experience would feel the same using the jump drive and hadn’t thought to ask Raphael.

  “Three, two, one…”

  “Activating jump drive,” Emma announced.

  The world became its opposite. Every color and shadow changed. Distance became meaningless. For a moment, Jia seemed kilometers away before looking like she was going to pass through him. Erik’s stomach churned.

  Trails of light zipped around. Specks of bright color, shifting and changing, filled the air. Thus far, it reminded Erik a lot of a normal hyperspace jump and was just as unpleasant. A growing ache suffused his body, and light began to bend, corrupting the scene around him into a twisted mess.

  The hum came—that familiar but eerie hum of hyperspace, distant, soft, and growing in volume. Some called it the hum of the angels. Erik tried to close his eyes, but that didn’t stop the kaleidoscope unfolding beneath his eyelids, accompanied by a not-so-heavenly choir.

  Then it ended.

  Erik sucked in a deep breath and slowly let it out. He opened his eyes when he was sure he wouldn’t throw up.

  Everything looked much the same. Emma was rattling off something. Raphael, Lanara, Cutter, and Jia were answering with what sounded like meaningless numbers.

  “Penglai broad-spectrum encoded test signal confirmed,” Emma reported. “Time signature indicates it was sent three-point-six minutes ago.”

  Cutter whistled and clapped once. “Damn. What’s that? About sixty-eight million kilometers in one minute?”

  “More or less,” Emma replied, smug triumph underlying her tone.

  Jia blew out a breath. “Is that what a normal transit feels like?”

  “To quote Emma,” Erik began, “more or less. But it worked?”

  Cutter gave her a thumbs-up. “Yeah! We’re about half an AU closer to Jupiter.”

  “This thing actually worked.” Erik leaned back in his chair. “I didn’t know if it would.”

  He should be impressed, considering they’d just made history, but he was more concerned about whether they could get it calibrated for the longer jump. The drive might not make any difference if the conspiracy found something more powerful aboard a Navigator ship.

  “No one should get too excited,” Lanara transmitted. “Doctor Fanboy and Emma still have to go over a lot of data. There’s still plenty of time for them to discover how we’ll die next time.”

  Erik laughed. “Always keeping it positive, Lanara?”

  “No,” she retorted. “Pragmatic.”

  Erik released his harnesses. Lanara was right, if not about the deaths. Their best-case scenarios involved at least a day of data review and further calibration. They weren’t going anywhere anytime soon. There was no reason for him to sit around in the cockpit.

  Three hours later, Erik leapt out of his seat in the Argo’s mess hall, where he’d been having a sandwich by himself. “What the hell?”

  “All passengers need to prepare for a second jump,” Emma repeated to everyone aboard the ship. “Secure all loose articles, limbs, and whatever else you don’t want to lose.”

  “I thought you said this was
going to take a while?” Erik complained, eyeing his sandwich longingly. He’d wanted to eat after the jump, but his stomach couldn’t handle it. He’d waited, and now he’d be robbed again.

  Emma let out a merry laugh. “You forget, Erik. I’m a genius even by AI standards, and Doctor Maras is good for a fleshbag. Did you want to come to the cockpit and join us?”

  “Nah. It’s not like I add anything by being there. Just let me get rid of my sandwich and strap in.”

  The second jump was as uncomfortable as the first. Erik waited for his stomach to settle before unlatching and heading toward the bridge. There was continued crosstalk, with everyone acting surprisingly blasé about what they’d just achieved, even Raphael.

  He might have cared more about the jump drive as a tool, but everyone was focused on the technical reality of what it took to deliver a massive ship halfway across the Solar System with everyone still alive on board.

  Erik opened the door to the cockpit and made his way to a seat. “So, what now? We wait days for a confirmation signal from the base to figure out where we are?”

  “That won’t be necessary,” Jia declared as she stared at a data window filled with numbers. “We’re very close to the target coordinates.” She gestured at a data window containing a sensor display marking several nearby objects. “The Bifröst’s sensors make the Argo look like a kid’s toy.”

  A hologram of Emma winked into existence, this time in a black pressure suit. “Annoying. I can’t believe I was so far off.”

  Cutter looked over his shoulder at Emma. “Are you serious right now, Holochick?”

  Erik frowned. “I thought Jia said we were close. Where the hell are we?”

  “We’re only about zero point five AUs off the target,” Jia explained, her face lit up with excitement. “That might be nothing compared to HTP distances, but we jumped across the entire Solar System in one minute. We’re only about a day away from the comet at hard burn.”