Free Rebel by Mike Resnick

proved less than communicative, as did his companion." The camera panned to the lifeless body of Jacillios, so badly beaten as to be almost unrecognizable. "I will ask him one more time. If he refuses again, you will all get to see what the Republic does to criminals and traitors." A pause. "If Wilson Cole is monitoring this transmission, you can save your friend by contacting me in the next Standard minute and giving me your coordinates. After that, we'll just have to find you ourselves."
    Christine turned to Cole. "Sir?"
    Cole stared at the transmission, his face an emotionless mask.
    "Sir?" she repeated. "Should I make contact?"
    Cole shook his head. "He's dead already."
    "No, sir," said Christine. "He's still breathing."
    "Even if they don't touch him again, he's gone in two minutes, three tops."
    "Sir," said Briggs from his console, "I've pinpointed their ship."
    "Call all the crew members back from the Station. They've got fifteen minutes. If they're not back by then, we're leaving them behind. Then coordinate with Pilot," said Cole. "That ship doesn't leave the Frontier before we reach it. I don't care what it takes."
    "Yes, sir."
    Cole continued staring at the holograph of his friend.
    "Captain Cole," announced the officer, "your time is up." He placed a screecher next to the Molarian's head. "Commander Forrice, so is yours."
    He fired the sonic weapon. Forrice managed a single grunt of pain. Blood poured out of his ears, his body convulsed once, and then he was still.
    "That's it," said Cole. "Kill the picture."
    "Yes, sir," said Christine, breaking the connection.
    "Pilot," he said to Wxakgini, "we take off in fifteen minutes. I don't care how much fuel you use, how much strain you put on the engines, what kind of wormholes we have to traverse, just get us within range of that ship before it's back in the Republic."
    "It doesn't look like it's going anywhere, sir," said Briggs.
    "You heard me." He turned back to Wxakgini. "Give me an ETA."
    "If it remains in the vicinity of Braccio, and the Mishwalter Wormhole remains stationary, ninety-seven minutes from takeoff. But it will put an enormous strain on the engines."
    "Just do it," said Cole. He looked around. "Where's Val?"
    "Probably sleeping," said Christine. "This is red shift."
    "Wake her and tell her to get down to Gunnery. Same with bull Pampas, wherever he's at."
    "Yes, sir."
    "Now I want to talk to Mr. Odom."
    Mustapha Odom's image instantly appeared a few feet away from Cole.
    "Yes, sir?" said the engineer.
    "We're going to put a lot of stress on the engines," said Cole. "Your job is to keep them working for the next two hours and not to warn me about the long-term damage it might do. And on my command, I'll want all power diverted from our screens and shields to our weaponry. Is that clear?"
    "Yes, sir," said Odom. "But—"
    "No buts," said Cole harshly. "Is that clear?"
    "Yes, sir."
    Cole broke the transmission, then turned to Briggs. "Mr. Briggs, you've got one hour to identify the ship in question, and hunt up the name of her captain. Christine, alert the crew and have them take up battle stations one hour from now." He turned and headed to an airlift.
    "Where will you be, sir?" she asked.
    "In my cabin. I'll be back before we're out of the wormhole."
    When he reached the cabin, he found Sharon waiting for him.
    "I'm so sorry, Wilson," she said.
    "I know."
    "It was just a fluke," she continued. "The Navy was never going to waste time hunting for us, we've proved that over the past two years. Some bastard spotted him and thought he could get a piece of the reward."
    "Some bastard is going to regret it," said Cole grimly. "He was an ugly four-eyed Molarian, but he's been my closest friend since I entered the service."
    "Do you want to talk?"
    He shook his head. "There's nothing to say."
    "Would you rather I left you alone?"
    "Makes no difference," said Cole. "I'm going to spend the next hour mourning my friend, and the hour after that avenging him."
    Sharon