[Moon]
With a spread of his arms, Moon immersed himself within the holographic star map. He pointed to the star nearest to the ship icon. "There!" he called out. "Sai, how long till that torpedo catches up with us?"
"At current velocities, approximately sixty-four minutes."
He put a hand to his chin. "Hmm. Not enough time... Sai, push the drive harder, ignore all operating limits."
"Sir, confirm operating limit bypass?"
"Confirmed. And make for that star, the nearest red dwarf."
The ship shuddered. A deep hum originating from the quantum displacement drive and the fusion power reactors, invoked a shiver in Celeste. Her knuckles turned white as her fingers sunk into the padded arms of her chair.
Moon turned to her, narrowing his eyes. "Here's a fun fact. Did you know that a quantum torpedo kill rate is about ninety-five percent?"
"I am so sorry, Moon. I did not mean to take your life with mine." Her face paled as she dipped her head.
"And yet, here we are. But we are not dead yet." He pointed a thumb at himself. "Lucky for you I have the fastest hauler in this part of the galaxy. Fixed her up myself. And I have an idea to improve our odds, although, if you have the ear of a deity, a bit of divine help would be welcomed."
He leaned back and called out, "Sai, this is what we are going to do. First, turn off our identification beacon. No use making it any easier for that torpedo. Plot a course to skim that star, go right through the corona. That should mess with the torpedo tracking. Then switch off the quantum drive and use the fusion thrusters and the star's gravity well to slingshot us around to the other side."
Sai replied, "Sir, if we come across a solar flare--."
"Yeah, I know. We will be toast, literally. But our odds are better than against that torpedo."
"Toast, sir?"
"Yes, Sai. An analogy. Burnt toast might be a better description." He turned toward Celeste. "So, what did you mean about the last hope for the Line of the Sol Empress?"
Celeste dropped her jaw and huffed. "There is a torpedo bearing down on us! This hardly seems the time to have this conversation."
"We have some time," Moon replied. "If I am going to die, I at least want to know why."
She took a deep breath. "Just before the Empress died, we took all the ova we could from her ovaries. For those not yet viable, we tried to mature artificially. There were five of us. We each took a portion of her eggs and fled. We intended to reestablish the genetic line of the Empress. The Order of the Phoenix, we called ourselves."
"What the hell? You brought that on my ship?" Moon shook his head. "And I take it somebody really does not want you to succeed, like bad enough to fire an expensive quantum torpedo at you?"
She nodded. "Yes. Some in the highest levels of the Commonwealth, I believe. And I think the Trade Consortium is also somehow involved. Empress Iona opposed them."
Moon blew out an audible breath and shook his head. "The Consortium is as corrupt as hell. They and their big corporations have been trying to push out independent haulers like me."
"And the current Empress Pro Tempore, Ali Zahra, is nothing but a puppet of the Consortium."
Moon nodded. "No argument from me on that. Damn shame those Free Dawn anarchists murdered Iona."
She shook her head slowly. "I do not believe they did."
He lifted his eyebrows at the implication. "Are you implying that the Consortium had something to do with the Empress' assassination?"
Celeste steeled her expression. "I would bet my life on it. In fact, I am."
"Yeah. And now you are betting my life too." Moon's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Thanks for that."
She glared at him. "Like I said before, this is more important than either of us."
"So what is so important about preserving the genetic line?"
"Tradition. The direct genetic line from Empress to Empress has continued unbroken for over a millennium. The people believe in the tradition, and the following of countless billions makes her very influential. There is great power in that, power leveraged to the benefit of all of humanity. Break the line, and the Empress will forever be diminished. Also, her genetics can open up doors that few know about."
Moon scoffed. "Well, in my experience, tradition is just peer pressure from dead people."
Celeste paused with her mouth open, staring at him. "I do not know whether to laugh or cry at that comment."
Shrugging, he said, "I usually just drink. So, what of the others in your Order of Phoenix? Why are you the last hope?"
Dark hair cascaded across both sides of her face as she dropped her head. "My dear friends... All dead. Someone must have betrayed us. I am the last one."
"For what it is worth, Priestess, I am going to do my best to keep both of us alive."
A small smile brightened her face. "I thank you for that. The moment I stepped on your ship, my life was in your hands."
Turning away, his voice took an edge. "It still is." He called out. "Sai, do you have a course solution?"
"Yes, sir. It is now displayed."
A green dotted line appeared on the holographic star chart that led to and around the red giant star. The Phoenix Star appeared as a green triangle, the interceptor as a red triangle, and the torpedo as a blinking red triangle. Moon studied the display.
"Damn. That is going to be rough. What is our status?"
"Our current relative velocity is eighty-two-point-five C. We will reach the star corona in approximately twenty-one minutes."
He grinned. "Sai, I believe that is a new record speed for the Phoenix Star."
"Yes sir, but we won't be able to maintain it for very long. Drive coolant temperatures are approaching alert levels, and fusion reactors are operating at one-hundred-and-twelve percent capacity. Also, the torpedo is still tracking and closing. I estimate it will be only about three minutes behind us when we reach the corona, assuming we can maintain our relative velocity."
"Don't spare the horses, Sai."
"Horses, sir?"
"It's a metaphor. Maintain velocity no matter what the drive condition is."
"I see, sir."
The ship shook again. Celeste reestablished her tight grip on the arms of her chair. Color drained from her face as her eyes widened further. "Tell me the truth, what are our chances?"
Moon shrugged. "Hell, I don't know. Not good. But what does worrying about it do? It won't change my response."
"So how do you know so much about Commonwealth starships and quantum torpedoes?
He leaned back and put his hands behind his neck. "I did time in the Commonwealth Military as a starship engineer years ago, specializing in power and propulsion systems. But that only lasted a few years. They said I had a problem with following the rules." He made air quotes motions with his fingers for emphasis.
She rolled her eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"
The yellow lights on the translucent display boards transformed one-by-one to red, and then to red blinking. A chorus of beeps and screeching tones sounded.
Moon drew his lips tight. He mumbled, "That's not good." He touched an icon on the board to silence the alarms. "Sai, status!"
"Estimated time to star corona is four-point-two minutes. Estimated torpedo impact at current velocities is seven-point-five minutes. The quantum drive temperatures have reached critical levels. Automatic safety shutdown is imminent, sir."
"Bypass the shutdowns, Sai."
"Sir, I must remind you--"
"I am aware of the risk of implosion, Sai. The risk from that torpedo is greater. Bypass the shutdowns. We'll cut the drive when we enter the corona. Are the thrusters ready for full output?"
"Yes, sir."
He turned toward Celeste, whose eyes seemed to have grown even wider. "Here comes the fun part, Priestess. Better buckle in."
She lowered her head. "For what it is worth, Moon, thank you for helping me."
Moon turned away from her. "There is another saying: no good deed goes unpunished. I just hope this one is not a capital offense."