Fugitives, p.1
Fugitives, page 1
part #9 of Steven Gordon Series
Fugitives
J W Murison
Copyright © 2021 J W Murison
All rights reserved.
ISBN:
DEDICATION
I would like to dedicate this novel to my mother Lilian Murison, who in the past year has almost gone blind and will no longer be able to read her favourite series. She once challenged me to write a book without the gratuitous violence, gore, swearing and sex. The Steven Gordon series is the result of that challenge and has proven to be my most successful series of novels. Thanks mum, and I hope that one day we might be able to get these books on audible so you can find out what happened to all of your favourite characters.
Love James.
Other Books by J W Murison
ACV Series
ACV’s 1 Operation Black Gold
ACV’s 2 Operation Island Green
The Gareth Ogilvie Series
Gareth Ogilvie The Highland War Chieftain
Gareth Ogilvie The Great Sea King
The Steven Gordon Series
Teardrops in the Night Sky
The Black Planet
The Modloch Empire
The Goodwill Ambassador
Federation One
The Sparse Lands
Fall of Shadows
The Black of Space
Fugitives
Colonists
Vishkanya
Death Rises Series
Death Rises
1st Battalion The Gordon Highlanders (Space Division)
Inspector Adams Series
Embers
Sakura
Stand Alone Novels
Carn Mor´
The Kilted Cowboy
Zombie Ecosse
Mad Mitch
Fairyless
Rurich the Gaiscioch
The J W Murison Short Stories & Poetry Collection
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank all of my Patrons for helping me to publish this book, and for the cover. With thanks to
Mike Field, Ramon Rachman, Mike Harknett, Lisa Hobbs, Andrew Davis, Michael Deans, Jacqueline Spilsbury, Kevin, Michael Winterberg, Michael Montgomery, Stuart Wallace, Andrew Fielding, Christiana Shomefun, Naomi Stewart, Kathy Worthy, Michelle Anne Manders, Michelle Gallegos, Steven, EG TEN, Heather Sherman, K Findlay, David Watson, Paul Philippi,Stephen Wilson, Alana Miles, Finova, Mathew S, Tomasz Tkaczyszyn, Scot Brock, Ian Foster, Richard Brennan, Barbara, Christopher Nelson, Donovan Hall, Bryce Rocklage, Christopher See, Ramon Rachman.
chapter 1
Steven fought the bonds that held him. He could not breathe, his chest wouldn’t move, panic overwhelmed the voices that tried to reach him. As his consciousness slipped away, he thought he was dying. Three times his mind returned to awareness before he was able to open his eyes and breath properly. His eyes flicked open to find a very pissed off Komoru and every doctor the two ships could muster standing over him.
‘Uh… hello?’
Komoru shook her head. ‘Babes is dying, you need to reboot her whole system and you need to do it now.’
Adrenaline flushed his skin. ‘How do I do that?’
‘Listen to Ico.’
Ico quickly guided him through the manual boot-up commands. When Steven opened his eyes again, most of the medical personnel had dispersed. Komoru was sitting now, her arms folded and a leg kicking idly. The scowl that had been on her face when he opened his eyes was still there.
‘What is going on?’
‘Let’s see. We have been stuck on this god-forsaken planet for a whole day, waiting for Ico to repair you so you could repair Babes. The only problem was, every time we tried to wake you up, you panicked. You wouldn’t listen to Ico.’
‘I remember the feeling of drowning…’
‘You were within Ico’s floor, of course you couldn’t breathe. You didn’t need to; he was doing it for you. Didn’t you hear his voice?’
‘Not really, no.’
She sighed. ‘We tried to wake you twelve hours ago, so you could reboot Babes. Her efficiency has been reduced to thirty percent. Most of her crew are aboard Ico now.’
‘What happened?’
‘It would seem our new friends aren’t quite as friendly as we thought they were. They deliberately murdered the ambassador that was previously sent to them, so they could then request us.’
‘Why?’
‘You really aren’t with it yet are you? Snap out of it Steven, we need you on your feet and sharp.’
Steven took a deep breath, ‘You mean they are after the same thing as everyone else.’
‘Of course! The nano technology, beam technology, everything. They directed a beam at both you and Babes that slowly killed the nanites in your systems. Both at the same time.’
‘So, we were both unaware of something happening.’
‘All of us were. It wasn’t a high yield beam that could be detected as an assault. It was something that neither ship had seen before, on a very low frequency. The ship responsible was hidden within the fleet.’
‘How did we get out of it?’
A wan smile crossed her face. ‘Charlie,’ she answered. Steven shook his head to indicate he didn’t fully understand. ‘Charlie noticed the crew begin to act strangely. All of your crew were influenced by this beam. As Babes went down, she took them with her. Charlie was shielded by his own systems.’
Steven frowned, ‘He was doing something… that carrier, right!’
‘They were working on the schematics of it. It was when Lewis began to act strangely that he realised something was wrong. Then Charlie did what Charlie does.’
‘He got us out of the shit again.’
‘Yes, but now we are fugitives, a very long way from home.’
‘So, what do we do now?’
‘We have been waiting for you to wake up so you can tell us just that.’
Steven’s head lifted. ‘Babes is returning to consciousness. Are we safe?’
‘For the moment. We also have other problems.’
‘Before we can do anything, we need Babes back to full health. I am being told that will take at least another day.’
‘Yes, and you too.’
‘Alright, let’s go over everything from the beginning. Gather the staff, I want to hear everyone’s opinions, if they have all fully recovered.’
‘Ico saw to their needs and a good night’s sleep has put them all back on their feet. They are ready to go to work.’
‘Then let’s get to it.’
chapter 2
Steven climbed into the bubble. It was pitch black; he could see nothing outside the ship. He could just make out Charlie from the light below, but even he disappeared when the hatch closed.
‘What are you doing Charlie?’
‘I’m on physical watch dipshit.’
‘Oh, you can see! I can’t even see you.’
‘Close your eyes, I will try a direct transfer through Babes.’
‘I don’t think she is capable yet. Oh wow!’
Charlie laughed, ‘Amazing, isn’t it?’
Steven sat back, mesmerized by the beauty that surrounded him. Outside the ship a wild storm screamed past the entrance to the huge cave they were hiding in. The rubbing of the sand particles caused all kinds of electrical discharges. He detected movement, then a strange creature came into sight.
‘What the hell is that?’
‘I call it a sand dragon.’
‘It does look like a dragon.’
‘Aye, and it’s really big. It knows we are here. It blasted the ships with some kind of electrical discharge. It did no harm though.’
‘What’s it doing now?’
‘It’s gonna go to sleep for about four hours.’
‘You been here that long?’
‘I’m the only one who can see what’s happening out there. We are running quiet.’
‘Like an old-fashioned submarine sitting on the bottom of the sea.’
‘That’s the one Stevie me boy.’
Steven sighed, ‘How did you deal with being stuck between the ship’s decks?’
Charlie thought it over for a moment. ‘I kinda liked it.’
‘I panicked. We could have been out of here by now.’
‘Don’t sweat it. You only fell unconscious. I thought I was dead and being reborn or something.’
‘How so?’
‘I was warm, blind, couldn’t see, and could hear all these muffled voices.’
‘Like you were in a womb or something.’
‘Just like that. I knew I was dying and had accepted it.’
‘Wow, that must have been surreal.’
‘It was a bit.’
‘I missed you at the briefing.’
‘What do you need me for?’
‘You saved our asses again Charlie. Don’t you think you deserve to be there?’
‘Never thought about it, and to be quite frank, you can ram it. I don’t need the responsibility. Having special abilities doesn’t make me smarter than the guys out there, it just gives me an advantage.’
‘Well everyone thinks you should have a more active role in the command decisions around here. That includes Komoru.’
Charlie shook his head in the darkness, ‘I already gave you my response. Not interested.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because I already have too much on my plate.’
Steven sat quietly for a while. ‘We can’t decide what to do.’
‘We go home, or we go back to Federation space. Where’s the problem?’
‘Su pplies. Federation space would be quicker. Home would take us an extra two months, but we don’t have the supplies for either.’
‘We have beam and stealth technology, where is the problem?’
‘We aren’t stealing anything Charlie.’
‘We can leave gold.’
‘Which can be traced back to us. Remember, you told me about the security guard that took the samples of gold when we went shopping that time. Stealing enough food for a long journey would grab us exactly the same attention. It isn’t like we can just go and buy it.’
‘Why can’t we? We have the little princess. She could buy it.’
‘But she has never bought basic supplies like we need before, it would attract attention. And we can’t take her home with us either. I did try talking to her, but she wasn’t very cooperative. She directed me to you.’
‘She is willing to help, but for a price.’
‘Which is?’
‘Pretty much the same as Wiola’s was.’
‘Ah! These alien chicks seem to like you.’
‘They like strength.’
‘Maybe you should be a little more careful about demonstrating it then.’
‘Who was it that made me sort out that lizard guy?’
‘Oh right! I forgot about that.’
‘It was your little girlfriend that got me into trouble with Wiola. She had never even heard of me before that.’
‘Ouch!’
‘I know, why don’t you bonk her? We can get the nanites in her head to make her believe it is me.’
A chill went through Steven. ‘I don’t think so, Komoru would kill me.’
‘Well my girlfriend has a bigger ship than your girlfriend.’ Charlie replied in a childish voice. ‘You take one for the team, for merry old England.’
‘We aren’t English.’
‘I’m sure Komoru would understand.’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘We could send her off on a long journey somewhere, you could do the dirty deed then.’
‘All right Charlie, I get the message! It’s our fault.’
They fell into a long silence. Steven was almost mesmerized by what he was seeing through Charlie’s eyes.
‘It’s pretty isn’t it?’
‘Aye, fascinating.’
‘Help me Charlie.’
Charlie sighed, ‘Have you had a chance to check out the new star maps?’
‘Not yet, not properly anyway.’
‘From the edge of the Empire’s territory we are six months from Earth, and four from Federation space. It is going to take us months to travel to that point. As you have said, we have no supplies. Merro might help us; it would also make it easier to dump the wee princess.’
‘You don’t think he had anything to do with all of this?’
‘It was his information that got us into this pickle but let’s not throw stones in a glasshouse. He had to get the information from somewhere.’
‘You mean us.’
‘I mean all of us.’
‘Right!’
‘It would also tip our hand. They must realise by now that she is with us, and they probably believe that we have taken her as a hostage.’
‘How did she get on board? That should have been impossible.’
‘She jumped up on Lewis’s back a split second before we transported. She dug her nails right under his skin.’
‘Ah! So, the transporter thought they were one entity. That is dangerous.’
‘If you want to see how dangerous it is, just tease him a little about growing hairy boobs.’ The pair laughed until their sides hurt. ‘The doctor did give him a clean bill of health though.’
‘That’s one thing. But what you’re saying is that if we go back the way we came, they will know.’
‘We sent a probe out in that direction to lead them away. To give us time to repair Babes. We wouldn’t have known about this place if it wasn’t for Florina.’
‘Then we should be safe? I would have headed to the nearest asteroid belt.’
‘Aye well we should be safe enough, right up until they discovered that she is with us and might have told us about this place. Time is our enemy right now.’
‘That’s why they tried to revive me earlier.’
‘Aye.’
Steven watched a strange creature shimmy up a wall close by.
‘The star maps?’
‘There is no need for us to leave from this point. We now have a detailed map of the whole Empire and its planets. We can steal their gold and replace it with ours, so it isn’t noticed. Same with silver. We can mint our own coins with their metals and replace them with ours. We can travel in the opposite direction, stocking up on food as we go. Some from this planet, some from that. A little bit at a time so as not to arouse suspicion. Pay with gold or silver. As soon as we have enough stores, we drop the princess on a world where she can get in contact with her people and piss off home.’
‘How can we buy stores?’
‘Supermarkets.’
‘There will be an Empire-wide alert soon enough. They will be on the lookout for us.’
‘I’ll do it, I can change my appearance as soon as Babes is in full working order again.’
‘You are going to take her with you?’
‘Of course.’
‘She will cooperate?’
‘She will if I give her what she wants.’
‘Which is?’
‘Sex Steven. Lots and lots of rumpy pumpy.’
‘So you are going to take one for merry old England.’
‘The truth be told; I have banged a lot worse. That’s when I was very young and very drunk though.’
‘Does she know she can’t come with us?’
‘She knows the risks if we go back through Merro. They will have thrown a wide net. Merro will be put in danger as well as herself. In fact, our chances of making it home that way are very slim indeed. She has come to face the fact that she doesn’t want to return to the Federation, that we can never have a normal relationship and that I will never stay here with her. It just isn’t safe. To that end she wants what she can get from the short time we will be together. Romance, lots and lots of sex, and at the end of it all a baby.’
‘What the hell man!’
‘It’s the call of the wild Steven. She is in love. She sees a way to get me all to herself for a while. Her hormones are in overdrive and interfering with her rational thought.’
‘I hope Jean doesn’t find out.’
‘Right now, her father and his compadres will be looking for some kind of way out of the situation they have found themselves in, especially with Humanity. It could have been a very lucrative alliance for them. The minute he gets his precious little girl back with a wee Charlie inside her, he will have all the ammunition he needs to launch a major propaganda campaign. Jean will know long before we get home.’
‘How do you feel about that?’
‘Not very good. It doesn’t matter, our relationship was over anyway. Still, it pisses me off. It was going so well. I really liked her Stevie. What little we had was good. We both knew that it could never last, but I was hoping it would last a lot longer than it did.’
‘Can I apologise?’
‘What the hell for!’
‘For all the shit you have had to go through.’
Charlie shook his head, ‘Forget about it. Fate is a bitch, and right now she is riding me with spurs.’
‘I want to go speak to the rest of the staff about your suggestions. I won’t tell them about the personal stuff though.’
‘Fair enough.’
Steven went back down through the hatch and left Charlie to his lonely vigil.
chapter 3
Aurora had spent almost the whole day waiting for an audience with the Emperor. The day before she had hunted high and low for Florina. It wasn’t the first time that Florina had got clean away from everyone, and she hadn’t really been too worried at first. But as the tension around the Emperor’s quarters heightened, she began to get more fearful.
They had returned the day before and Florina had been told that her father was entertaining the Humans in the courtyard. She had hurried to see which of them were there. By the time Aurora had caught up, Florina had vanished. Her own mother hadn’t even been too worried. Aurora had asked everyone she knew for help, but no one was taking any notice of her.
