I stepped over to Frazzle's control station and looked at the video display, but the incoming ship was not visible. It had dropped out of FTL about sixty light minutes out towards the edge of the solar system at a position above the ecliptic. Instruments now showed that it was proceeding directly towards Uranus from an angle of about thirty degrees above the planet's orbit.
Our two ships would be easily visible as the intruder approached. However, I didn't want to send any radio signals that would warn them that we were there, so coordinating with Rudy on the second ship required a mental effort. I'd touched Rudy's mind years ago when I gave him a little training in mental communication, but he hadn't enjoyed the process and, out of respect for that, I hadn't linked with him since. Now, I was a little unsure whether or not he'd even notice that I was trying to contact him.
Liz and I were in a continuous low-level linkage that didn't take much to escalate into clear communication. I glanced at her and then at the disk of Uranus showing in the upper left part of the bridge window. She read my intention and nodded, then spoke, "Yes, I agree. We should move to put the planet between them and us. We can hover just out-of-sight and direct detection until they shut down and start trying to determine what happened here."
Frazzle looked inquisitively at her and then back at me. He nodded when she'd finished talking and added, "I start moving us slowly with the in-system drive on low. We can get dere fast so that they don't sense us."
I gathered from this that he'd be able to keep our emissions low enough to allow us to remain unseen. With that assurance, I immediately linked to Rudy. He was in the bridge of the larger ship, and I could sense his tension. He physically jumped when he realized that I was linking with him, and his thoughts raced for a moment and then came through to me, a little disorganized, but clearly: "Dec, enemy coming. What to do? Detect us, maybe?"
He then tried to shut his thoughts off to give me time to respond. It wasn't necessary; mental communication doesn't work precisely the way conversation does. Messages can go both ways simultaneously.
I sent, "Set the Em-drive at twenty percent of power and move towards the other side of Uranus. Let's move into a low orbit. We can stay out of sight until they've shut down their ship, then we'll see if we can transport over and capture it."
I sensed his assent. The larger ship started moving, following beside us and a little behind.
"Kasm?"
"Yes, Dec?"
"We've got company coming. A ship just dropped out of light speed, and it'll be in position for us to try to board in about two hours. I expect that the incoming ship has a normal crew of both Pugs and Pug-bears with a few Sunnys. See about getting your people ready to transport onboard."
"Okay! Looking forward to another chance at them!" he sent with a mental snarl.
The Marine Lieutenant was watching our preparation from the rear of the bridge, and I motioned him to step up to the command console with me.
"Mr. Holmes, we've got company, and I hope to capture their ship. I'm not sure how this will play out, but I want you to get half of your men ready to transport onboard in about two hours. We'll wait until they shut down before we attack."
"Yes, Sir!" he replied, turning to go.
"Just a minute. Let's get the other half suited up for vacuum. We might have to board their ship without using the transporter system," I added as an afterthought.
"I'll have B-squad in suits, armed and ready in the cargo hold near the outside lock in about ninety minutes."
"That will be adequate. Let them leave their helmets off and get them something to eat. It'll be about mealtime before we're ready, and they'll probably fight better with some extra energy." I didn't want them to be distracted with hunger.
"Okay. That makes sense. With your permission, I'll have A-squad stop by the cafeteria and eat prior to assembling near the transporter head."
"Good! Now, let's see about getting ourselves a third spaceship," I replied. He saluted, turned, and headed out to assemble his men.
I looked at Liz ruefully. I still wasn't used to his constant saluting. She just smiled and shook her head. I received a sense that she thought I'd better get used to that treatment.
We moved back into the gas giant's shadow. Oberon was transiting the middle of the day-side of Uranus, and we hovered just inside the shadow, in the edge of night so-to-speak. All external lights were shut off, and we dimmed the bridge lighting so that nothing was visible externally. As far as a distant observer could see, both of our two ships might have been a couple of rocks, maybe a little too symmetrical, but nothing that looked like a threat, I hoped. Our engines were shut down, and our energy emission profile was as small as we could get it.
When the new FTL coasted up into a low orbit around Oberon, Frazzle carefully made a quick attempt to link to her transporter. Here, we met a stumbling block. This was an older ship, and it didn't carry a transporter unit. All travel to and from it would have to be made by shuttle-craft or docking tubes.
I was digesting this information when two shuttles left the newcomer and headed for the damaged dome system on the moon. They communicated back and forth via radio using the Pug language if a series of hisses and sibilants could be called a language.
We watched as the shuttles landed near the now-destroyed central dome. Their radio chatter ceased, and I realized that the crews were preparing to go outside and investigate the disaster. Their false assurance that they were the only space-traveling group in the area was true to form. Neither the Pugs nor the Pug-bears seemed to grasp the idea that they might not be alone. Basic security measures eluded them as a result.
I called Mr. Holmes on the intercom, and he got all of his men suited up and in the large shuttle. We still hadn't solved the problem of spacesuits for the Sim-tigers, so they were left pacing back and forth in the cargo bay, all ready for a fight, with no way to get to it.
The Pugs entered the wreckage, and Frazzle said he could detect radio traffic coming from the remains of the domes. I took that as a signal to dispatch the Marines. The large shuttle disconnected and gradually accelerated on an intercept course for the new FTL. It increased speed until it was well on its way, then coasted until it was time to brake to position in orbit, gradually overtaking the FTL.
The shuttle matched up with the FTL, and I received two clicks on the assigned radio channel from Holmes. That meant he was ready to attack.
I nodded at Frazzle, and he spoke a series of clicks and whistles into the radio. The other FTL had to be piloted by Sunnys; Pugs usually didn't bother with flight training – there were too many opportunities to do more exciting things, such as fighting over breeding rights or eating, for them to bother. Besides, that's what Sunnys were for – flying and using technology, along with serving as an occasional snack.
Frazzle cranked up the magnification on our video, and we could see tiny specks that were our Marines drifting from the shuttle over to the FTL. They landed and moved towards the airlock. Once they started transiting through, Rudy and I brought our ships out of the shadow and accelerated towards Oberon.
Holmes' voice suddenly came through on the radio, "We're encountering stiff resistance. Requesting backup, stat! The ship is full of Pugs, and they're all armed and spoiling for a fight. Get here as quickly as you can!"
"On our way. Try to hold out for fifteen and keep your spacesuits on," I sent back.
Someone in the new FTL had been monitoring the radio waves because our sensors suddenly pinged as an active search signal bounced off of our hull. The enemies' ship started to move, and we could see a transparent wave disturbance in space emanating from their Em-drive.
"Frazzle! They're going to accelerate away from us!" I said. "Try to catch up with them."
"It hard to match if dey accelerating," he relapsed into his pigeon English.
"Okay," I grunted. Liz had risen from the weapons station a few minutes before and was looking over Frazzle's shoulder. I jumped over and dropped into the seat. I powered up the system and locked the bow anti-matter gun onto the enemy.
"Get us as close as you can, Frazz!" I ordered.
We were catching up quickly, having had a head start at building acceleration. The Em-drives didn't exactly accelerate rapidly. The net effect built up quickly enough over time to allow easy in-system travel.
We approached, gradually slowing in our relative motions as the other ship sped up. When we were at our closest point, I took manual control of the gun and fine-tuned it to the ship's tail, between the FTL vanes. The Em-drive was located there in an external housing.
I double-checked my aim and then triggered off a single burst, praying as I did that my aim was exact
and the burst wouldn't be so powerful that it took off the entire end of the other ship.
My results were mixed. The Em-drive housing disappeared, as did part of the hull. A puff of condensing atmosphere shot out of the gap and sprayed tiny drops of ice out into the void. I hoped that the Marines had followed orders and had kept their spacesuits sealed.
I needn't have worried. Holmes radioed in immediately after that, "Atmosphere is gone in the main part of the ship. Resistance has ceased. There are decompressed Pug bodies all over the place. I think they're all dead."
A couple of minutes later, he checked in again, "The bridge is shut and locked. There must be a crew in there."
I transmitted back, "Hold there, Holmes. We'll be up to you shortly and will lock on with our gravity generator. Then we'll see about patching the leak."
Frazzle turned to me at about that time and said, "Dec, dere
some Sunnys in the bridge. They locked airlock to try and keep away from fighting, so they alive. But none of Pugs or Masters – errr – Pug-bears in bridge with them."
Things were working out nicely. The Pugs and Pug-bears were dead, and the Sunnys were safe. We had a new spaceship, even if the Em-drive was gone and there was a hole in the hull. From past experience, I knew those things could be fixed in a matter of days.
Our shuttle had been left behind but now came creeping up to our position and docked with its grapples. The only loose end was the two shuttles full of Pugs that had landed. I called Rudy.
"Hey, buddy! How about going back to the moon to see what you can do about those two shuttles?" I radioed.
"No problem, Dec. We're on our way." The larger FTL dropped back and then accelerated towards Oberon orbit.