Fool's Gold: Carson Lyle's War - Part One by Thomas J. Rock Page B

the Outer Rim side. The main power went offline in the ship. The Majestic was left in an uncontrolled drift, in darkness, at the edge of the asteroid field.
    But it was in one piece.
     
     
     
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 17
     
     
     
     
    El Dorado Port Control Room
     
    "Report! What happened to that ship?" Agent Two said into the commlink.
    "It was able to enter the gate," a voice said. "It slowed down long enough for us to overshoot it, and reverse our course. We were going in the opposite direction when it boosted again and that was enough. We fired again, but the missiles were probably caught in the gate EMP when the ship passed into jump space."
    "They got away, then."
    "The ship was going way too fast to enter jump space safely. If it made it to the exit gate, it should be heavily damaged."
    "This is disappointing. Highly trained Naval Corps pilots let a lowlife freight hauler escape to Outer Rim space. Stay on station in case the ship tries to come back," Two said, then pressed a button to close the channel. He turned to his right. "Looks like he's in"
    One was standing next to him and let a smile curl on one side of his face.
    "And you didn’t think he’d make it. I think that makes our wagers even. Send the signal."
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 18
     
     
     
     
    Asteroid Field - Outer Rim Territory
     
    Dex contacted the outpost nearest to The Majestic. It took a couple of hours for their help to arrive. In the meantime, Lyle was able to get some power back online and stabilize the ship and stop its uncontrolled drift before it reached the asteroid field.
    The list of damage to the ship kept growing with every system he checked. He looked at the itemized list again. The old girl was hurt bad. Don't hate me, Jack.
    There was a lot of radio chatter between the two tow ships that were positioning themselves to link up with The Majestic. The chatter was concise and laced with military jargon. The precision of the unit was oddly comforting and he was even more impressed that this unit, thought of as renegade, still looked to have maintained its military discipline after all these years.
    But then he remembered: Is this the 501st? Did any of these guys attack Wagner? His appreciation the precision of this unit quickly turned into a renewed focus on the job, at hand. Find the person that led the Wagner attack. That was his one and only goal and he'd do anything to achieve it.
    Kagan tapped him on the shoulder. "You okay?"
    Lyle shook his head. "Just trying to figure out how I'm getting this ship fixed and what I'm going to do next."
    Kagan smiled a full smile for the first time since Lyle had met him. "When we get back, we'll see what we can do. You did a hell of a job getting us here. As long as the cargo is intact, I don't see why something can't be done to help you out."
    Lyle sat for a long moment, watching the tow lines get attached to his ship.
    "Yeah...we'll see."
    A radio call came in from the tow ships, signaling they were ready. Lyle acknowledged it.
    The two ships were a couple of kilometers ahead of the bow of the ship, on either side of the center axis of the fuselage. Lyle could see the brief blinks of light on the rear of the ships that were the thrusters firing and moving the ships to get tension on the lines before they got underway. In a few seconds, there was another flash; brighter and sustained.
    The ship was jerked forward, throwing everyone back in their seats.
    "Dammit!" Lyle said. "They need to be careful."
    It was a rough start but the ship was underway again.
    "So where are we going?" Lyle asked.
    Kagan pointed outside of the viewport. "There. The big one."
    Lyle followed Kagan's finger to a planetoid beyond the million-kilometer deep layer of asteroids.
    "Camp Neptune," Lyle said quietly.
    Kagan looked at him, surprised. "You been there?"
    Dammit. "Uh…I know of it. Used to be the Mech Corps main training base."
    Kagan looked at him for a long moment, then said,