Vagrancy

[Kazinsal]

Lieutenant Clemens' idea had worked. The fleet was speeding along twice as fast as before. It would be eleven months before they had to decelerate, replace the restrictors, and enter the Cortez system at standard cruise speeds.

As the months wore on, the journey took its toll on the Octavarium people. While they were all thankful they would only be in tin cans for a twelve months total instead of twenty-four, many were of the opinion that twelve months was eleven months too long.

Cabin fever, Kane once thought, was only experienced by those unaccustomed to long hauls through space. People used to the pleasantries of living on the ground or in wide open stations that did an adequate job at simulating it. But by the tail end of the journey, even he was starting to feel it coming on. Every week, the fleet would stop for a few hours to exchange goods and people, perform maintenance, and relax. There was no proper neural net access in interstellar space, and point to point communications that could reach across superluminal reference frames ran at fairly low data rates. There was barely enough available to maintain a few dozen voice calls, and fleet security and command data took precedence. People separated from their friends and families could use the few hours a week to catch up and visit, but even with that, the feeling of isolation was often difficult to tolerate.

The maintenance windows were also used for Octavarium's ministers and the fleet's military command to debrief, plan the next week's actions, and update on fleet conditions.

"Boss, you're not going to like this," was a phrase that Lieutenant Tobiah Nitzan, the fleet's quartermaster, said to Kane once in a while. This time, it had been almost a month since the last, and as the transit to Cortez was nearing its end, Kane showed actual worry in his response.

"Lay it on me, Tobes."

Nitzan sighed. "We got a snippet of news off the neural net. We're still too far out to get a good loss-free connection, or hell, even a fairly correctable one, but we know for sure that Gallia's taken the whole Leeds system and is pushing fighter wings through Magellan and into California." He handed Kane a tablet with recovered neural net data on it.

Kane dropped his coffee. The seal on the canister didn't break, and not a drop of the scalding liquid spilled out, but he didn't reach down to pick it up. There were more pressing matters at hand. He looked at the tablet, then back at Nitzan. "What about Cortez? Are we about to punch through the heliosheath right into a god damned Valor? Is this all for nothing?" The tablet began to shake as he held back an outburst he felt building up.

Tobiah reached out and steadied his friend's hand. "Cortez is okay, Harold. They've only got a few fighter wings there patrolling near the Magellan hole. The way we're coming at the system, we're going to be racing toward the jump hole to Coronado. The frogs don't even know that's there."

Kane let out a relieved breath. "Barrier Gate's still there and is still open to the public?"

"That's the other thing. The Gate's still open, but the system's got new owners. The Crayterians."