Free Black Legion: 02 - Assault on Khorram by Michael G. Thomas

him.
    “All passengers are aboard, and the escorting ships report they are charged and ready to jump.”
    Dukas Xenias nodded in agreement.
    “Good, give them the fractal codes and start the clock. We jump in sixty seconds.”
    He looked about the ship, noting the number of wounded and those in great pain. It was a defeat, but not all was lost. What did concern him was the distance. Though he hadn’t spoken of it with the others, he was aware they would need multiple refuelling stops if they were to make the long trip to chase after the Legion.
    Assuming they are still on the same course and haven’t altered their speed , he thought ruefully.

    * * *

    Laconian Titan ‘Valediction’, Su’bartu Maelstrom
    The mighty warship shuddered once more as it ploughed through a cloud of dust. Most small craft or ships would sustain damage in such a place, but the thick armour and powerful shielding of the Titan kept it safe from foreign bodies. The Armada had entered the Maelstrom and it was living up to its name. It was a vast and dangerous region of space situated between the fertile border worlds and the rich inner systems. Survey ships and drones had tried to map the great collection of shipping obstructions, gases and nebula in the area, but as the years moved on, so did the shape of the Maelstrom. The famous navigator Randy Artis from Psidia had established a series of safe shipping lanes through the most dangerous parts of the Maelstrom. These Artis route lanes were like super highways connecting gas giants and space stations together. They were carefully calculated so that large ships could refuel and complete long journeys through these dangerous parts of space.
    Strategos Clearchus stood in his customary position in the centre of the command deck. His personal guards were close, as was one of his two deputies, Kleandridas, who was busy checking the scans of the nearby system by one of the senior dekarchos. He finished examining the details and looked up to his commander.
    “I don’t like this, Strategos, not one bit. According to the Artis routes, we should be able to refuel the fleet at the Leonis 9713 star system.”
    “That’s right, so what’s the problem?” asked an irritable Clearchus.
    “Well, it’s pretty simple Strategos, it isn’t there anymore. Spectral scans indicate the star went supernova three years ago. The three gas giants were obliterated.”
    He stretched out his arms and pointed at the view around them of dust and debris.
    “This is it, no gas giants and no fuel for the fleet.”
    Clearchus took the small tablet-like device and examined the data himself. The images and scans were clear, as were the Artis routes on the navigation plan they had set out.
    “This is correct?”
    His deputy nodded but said nothing more. Kleandridas was correct, of course, but with such a significant problem, the Strategos needed to see the numbers for himself. They were stood on the command deck, the heart of the Titan and of the fleet. It was wide and large enough to house a hundred officers. Many of them were scanning everything within a parsec for raw materials the fleet could use. Banks of displays ran in columns, each attached to the ribbed inner skin of the ship. The light from the displays gave a bright shimmer to the command deck that was unlike any other part of the ship. It was the large-scale virtual observation system that really stood out. The entire inner surface of the deck was controlled at a molecular level to give it the characteristics of a flawless three-dimensional video display. Standing on the deck was like flying through space, and with the full ability to see outside of the ship, past the armour and into space itself.
    “I never wanted to take these routes, but if we travel around the Maelstrom, we’ll be forced to extend our journey by four or five times.”
    Kleandridas nodded in agreement and pointed to the starmap on the device.
    “We’d also have to extend our time travelling