Spectra's Gambit by Vincent Trigili Page B

knew that many large fleets passed through it. From there I could easily attach myself to a major trade fleet. I would hitch a ride to leave the quadrant and start life again somewhere far from here.
     

Chapter Eleven
    “Dusty, I still think I should come along for the test,” said Shea.
    “I know how you feel, but really it’s only a quarter jump out and back, and I promised Spectra we could fly it like a training mission. Really, nothing is going to happen,” I said.
    It had been several weeks since they had started working to upgrade Nemesis, and we were finally ready for a test run. With his upgrades in place, Nemesis was significantly faster and had much greater firepower than when we had purchased him. The engineers from home had worked miracles with his armor and shielding, producing results I would not have thought possible. In addition, they had ripped out the old pulse cannons and replaced them with our trademark grand stave cannons. They only had an effective range of twenty-five kilometers, but inside that range they were far more powerful than any mundane weapon currently available.
    “Besides, you are needed here to work on the vaccine,” I said. Spectra’s guess had been right, and we’d found infected lice among the sleeping Cathratinairians. It looked like we had caught it early enough to stop it before the lice had had a chance to leave the station, but there was no way to know for sure. A vaccine was their only real chance. “That is far more important than a test run.”
    She reached out and placed her hand on my shoulder. Looking deep into my eyes she said, “Dusty, you know that no matter what happens, I will always be here for you, don’t you?”
    “Yes; but really, we are only going out and back,” I said.
    “I know, but something is coming, and I just wanted to make sure both you and Spectra remember that you can always come to me.” With that she walked away.
    Her words were haunting me as I boarded Nemesis and went to the bridge. Shea was the most rock-solid person I had ever met and, if something was bothering her, it made me afraid. I would have to talk about it with Spectra soon, but first we had this training mission to run.
    “Okay, as we discussed, Jade, you take the lead now. Spectra and I will just watch. Your mission is to undock from the station, fly out of the gravity wake, and then execute a quarter power jump. After the jump we will do a full systems diagnostic and then come back here. Understood?” I asked.
    “Yes, Master,” said Jade.
    Once everyone had taken their positions and we were loaded into the launch queue, I said, “Nemesis, maintain passive sensor sweeps and make sure we are not surprised out there.”
    Once we were clear of the station, but before we could finish aligning for the jump, Nemesis said, “Master Dusty? I think I see something.”
    “What is it?” I asked. I was surprised to hear him call me “master.” He must have been copying the behavior of the rest of the team.
    “Not far from here there is a debris field that is not on any map,” he said.
    “Do an active sensor sweep and tell me what you find,” I said.
    I watched tactical light up as the data came in, and then Nemesis reported, “I think there was a fight there. It looks like the remains of several small craft, and the damage signatures are consistent with pulsar cannons.”
    “Any active ships?” I asked.
    “No, it appears deserted,” he said.
    “Change of plans, then. Set a new jump exit to two hundred kilometers shy of that debris field and engage the cloak as soon as we clear jump space.” I didn’t like the idea of a fight happening so close to the hospital. As far as I knew the area had been peaceful for a long time and I hoped that our presence was not changing that.
    When we had cleared jump space and cloaked ourselves, we moved in closer for a better look at the battlefield. “Did anyone see anything of note?” I asked.
    Spectra had taken her place back