Technicalities

Blaster fire was the first thing that Sheridan heard when she regained consciousness, and that was enough for her to come to full wakefulness very quickly. She sat up and winced as she banged her head on the too low ceiling. No – not a ceiling. She was in a medical pod and had hit the lid. Only now was it starting to slide open, and she got out gingerly, holding onto it as the floor beneath her shook. Where was she?

The last thing she remembered was being interrogated by members of the Singularity, a robotic hive empire. They were at war with her own planet, Cygnus, and she had been a prisoner. But this wasn’t a Singularity ship. Too many flowing lines – the robotic minds of the Singularity preferred sharp angles and straight lines.

The floor – deck, she supposed really – shook again and she stumbled to a wall. A small laser pistol had been left on a table and she picked it up. Clearly, she was no longer a prisoner. Or, if she was, to a very foolish jailor. She checked it – yes, it was charged. She’d probably only get a handful of shots off if it came to it, but it was a sign that she was with friends. At least, she hoped that was what it meant.

The door slid open as she approached, and she now clung to the wall as she walked. The ship was rocking, and the sounds of blaster fire could still be heard. She reached what looked like a central corridor and headed towards the front. She needed to speak to somebody.

As she reached the cockpit, another door sliding open, the pilot turned to face her for a moment. “Glad you’re up. Sit down, before you fall over again.”

Sheridan did as she was instructed, moving towards the co-pilots seat whilst wishing she’d stayed in the medical bay. Four Singularity ships could be seen ahead on them in the viewscreen, and small display-in-display in the corner showed that they were surrounded by another eight. They were the origins of the blaster fire, with the shaking being the pilot’s valiant attempts to roll the ship out of the way of each blast – only mostly succeeding.

The pilot was another woman wearing most of simple flight suit but without the helmet, reached over and took her hand in her own. She had a smile on her face, and her cheeks were going as red as her fiery hair as she concentrated on the battle. She reached one hand over, taking Sheridan’s in her own. “Morgan. Pleased to meet you.”

“Pleased to meet you. I think,” Sheridan replied. The ship twisted, but the seat managed to keep her steady. “Where are we? And who are you?”

“Don’t worry – we haven’t gotten far yet. You weren’t unconscious for long. Just leaving Singularity space.” This time Morgan kept her eyes on the viewscreen and her hands on the controls. Sheridan could see that a thirteenth Singularity ship had just appeared. “Wow – they really want you back, don’t they?”

Sheridan nodded. “To be honest, they’re putting in more effort than I would have expected. They are at war with my home planet…”

Morgan glanced over, interrupting. “Cygnus – yes, I know. Who do you think hired me to break you out?”

“I appreciate you doing that – though I expect you’re regretting it right now.”

The pilot snorted. “This? Trust me – not the most questionable decision I’ve ever made. Things are going to get even crazier in a minute.”

Sheridan looked at the various displays in front of her – the battle from various different directions, short-range sensors showing what was coming up soon, larger star charts, energy level read-outs… Wait – what was that on the short-range sensors.

“Is that an asteroid field?”

“Yes. Yes, it is. It marks the edge of Singularity space.”

“So, that is where we’re heading?”

“It is.”

“There are four ships between it and us.”

“There are.”

“You’re planning a jump, aren’t you?” Whilst a ship this small would be fitted with a jump drive, it wouldn’t be able to hold the power to make long range jumps without a Carrier or a Gate. However, short range ones should be feasible with enough time to recharge in between them.

“Only a short one.”

“Into an asteroid field?” This was going to be difficult for the possibly insane pilot – getting the coordinates correct to make a jump into an asteroid field would be tricky at the best of times. Doing so whilst under constant motion and engaged in a dogfight would be much harder.

“You got a better idea? No – I didn’t think so, so sit back and enjoy it.”

“They won’t break off pursuit just because we’re out of their territory though.”

“No – they’ll keep chasing us. But the asteroids will slow them down and mean we don’t have to deal with them all at the same time.”

“But you have a plan for beyond that, right?”

“Absolutely – just need to get you to a neutral sovereign power. Can’t take you home, obviously, as you’re at war. However, they won’t invade neutral sovereign space.” The ship shook as Morgan punched numbers into her console, rapidly running calculations to make the jump.

“You’re sure?”

“Yep – now hold on. This could get bumpy.”

Morgan pushed forward the control that activated her jump drive and the stars around them became blurs for a moment, the Singularity ships disappearing. Then the asteroids appeared all around them, one too close and too fast to avoid. It glanced off the ship, shaking it but not causing significant damage. Sheridan looked into the controls and view displays and saw that the Singularity ships had formed up to give chase.

“They aren’t giving up,” she said, looking at the pilot who had a huge grin on her face.

“Didn’t expect them to,” Morgan said, taking a moment to look over at her guest. “Don’t worry. We’ll soon be free of them. They take interstellar law very seriously – they won’t invade a sovereign territory, even for you.”

“Are there any close enough that won’t just extradite me anyway?”

“One. We’re heading for Morgania.”

“Morgania? I’ve never heard of it.”

“Most people haven’t – it’s very small. However, I can assure you that it is a registered member of the Interstellar Nations.”

Sheridan studied the star maps closely. They were familiar – nothing out of the ordinary. Where was this Morgania? She couldn’t see it anywhere. This asteroid field was neutral space, and on the other side would be various planetary territories, depending on where they came out. She looked closely at the field and saw a small dot on one of the larger asteroids.

“An asteroid?”

“Yes. Once we get there and the Grand High Pirate Queen offers you sanctuary, they’ll give up the chase. Morgania can tie up the Singularity in legalities and delays for at least two years, in which time you can still be working with your people remotely.”

“Grand High Pirate Queen?”

“That is the official title of the ruler of Morgania.”

“And they won’t invade?”

“Not a chance. They won’t do that without a formal declaration of war, and their cost/benefit analysis will show that it isn’t worth it. This isn’t our first time.”

Sheridan looked in the viewscreens and saw that the Singularity ships had stopped their pursuit, and they were heading directly towards a large asteroid. The short-range sensors were now showing it – it was, apparently, Morgania Delta. She shook her head in disbelief.

She looked at the pilot. “What is Morgania’s population?”

Morgan smiled at her. “Just the one. Once you are accepted as an asylum seeker, sort of two.”

“You’re the Grand High Pirate Queen?”

“At your service.”

Morgan brought the ship down to land. Sheridan shook her head again. How could this be?

She voiced the question. “How?”

“Easy,” said Morgan as the ship touched down. “I planted a flag.”