Free The Twice and Future Caesar by R. M. Meluch Page A

these lupes alive.
    Problem with lampreys was they had a range just about as long as your nose. You needed to get close to your target. Close enough to sniff him.
    And if that don’t get your heart pumping, you should report yourself in dead.
    Then you haul your catch in—your live catch—and hand off the energy tether to
Merrimack
.
    That was how it was supposed to go.
    Someone on the com was heeing and hawing like riding a wild bronc. The new guy. Shasher Wyatt. Sounded as though Shasher had snagged something a lot bigger than he was, and it was dragging him around the park. “Yeeaaaaaahhahaha.”
    Kerry Blue closed on her own target and launched her first lamprey.Felt like she was roping a steer—something else she’d never done. “Hooks away!”
    Her lamprey stabbed through the transport’s shield and latched onto its hull.
    â€œGot him!” she cried, proud of herself for one nanosecond.
    The son of a bullfrogger didn’t fight the energy tendril. It reversed attitude and rammed her. Head on. She actually
saw
it bounce off the energy field right over her canopy. And then it was swinging around on its tether for another hit. On her stern this time.
    Not letting that happen. Kerry jinked. She took the hit on her cowcatcher, the stoutest part of her energy field.
    The voice of Cain Salvador sounded in her helmet: “Alpha Six. Drop him! Drop him! Drop him! Green Leader, pick up Alpha Six.”
    Green Leader was driving Space Torpedo Boat 2. He had the mass for this fight.
    Kerry Blue swore. And handed off her catch. “Do I get credit for that?”
    Merrimack
’s tracking officer gave her the vector for another target closer to her size.
    Kerry Blue snagged that one and managed the hand-off to
Merrimack
. She was getting the hang of this.
    The fleeing spacecraft scattered wide. Tracking was giving Kerry Blue the vector of another plot. Way out there. And getting wayer out fast. “Alpha Six you have trade 90 by 35 by 240. Hurry it up, he’s accelerating.”
    Kerry Blue took up the chase. The target had a big jump on her, but she was faster.
    The gap was closing, but gravitation was getting weak out here. Target was speeding up. Any second he was going to jump out of normal space.
    Target was almost in range.
    Almost
meant
not
.
    Kerry Blue didn’t see how she was going to overtake him. She needed to get him now. Right now. Still not close enough.
    Kerry redlined her Swift’s engine.
    Overload. The Swift balked.
    â€œ
No!
”
    The target vanished.
    The Roman had gone FTL. Out of sight. Out of reach.
    Tracking calmly assigned her another target. “Alpha Six. You have trade at 90 by 63 by 180. Do try to bring this one back.”
    â€œCan’t I just shoot something?” Kerry cried. “Beams work real well in normal space, ya know!”
    â€œNegative beams, Alpha Six. Secure all targets with lampreys. Take them alive.”
    â€œ
Why?
” Kerry raced after her next target. Just knew she was gonna lose this one too. “Even Caesar Numa says it’s okay to kill Romuliis.”
    Lieutenant Cain Salvador answered that one. “We don’t take orders from Caesar.”
    Real low blow, that one. She wanted to tell Cain where he could shove what.
    Kerry Blue unleashed her lamprey at her target. “All I’m saying is—
Got him! Got him! Got him! You Roman brit shick!
” Forgot about all she was saying.
    â€œCom protocol,” Control said to no one in particular. Probably meant all of them. Kerry Blue wasn’t the only one yelling out here. Swift pilots were notorious that way.
    Someone else, sounded like Dak Shepard, shouted, “I got a bead! I got a bead! I don’t got a bead! Where am I?”
    â€œAlpha Two, this is Tracking. If your intent is not desertion, reverse course.”
    â€œI had a bead,” Dak protested, probably reversing course.
    â€œAlpha Three. This is Tracking. What