Searching for a Needle Snippet 1

 Sitrep:

  So, I'm behind the eight ball here, way behind it turns out. Usually I start rolling out snippets when Rea starts editing a book. I got sidetracked with the new video project and stuff going on, so it slipped past me.

  Well, she got the book back faster than expected. (Thanks Rea!) so, I added the final materials and then shot it off to Goodlife yesterday... and they promptly fired it back to me this morning! (Thanks Shelley!) Well!

So, I'm going to run 2-3 snippets and then publish the book later this week before the holiday weekend.

  In other news, the video project is coming along. My niece has graciously agreed to be the voice actress in it, so that should be fun. I need to shoot her a script this week.

  I am currently still trying to iron out the final details of the battle sequence in the video. It is tricky, I learned as a Freelance 3D modeler, not as an animator. Clarification, I became a freelance without going to classes or college on it. I learned at the knee of others who learned on their own, namely Ed 'Thor' Giddings and Chris 'Mechmaster' Smith. (And the odd and sod tutorial off the internet)

  Currently I am trying to smooth out the character animation, sort the timing, and add finishing details. Getting the Pyro right is a right pain. I am learning a bit, like about Dynamic tags, Mograph, and Vonoroi fracturing. (Which doesn't like me and my PC at the moment) I'll probably forget half of what I learned in a week or 2. (Use it constantly or loose it)

  So, when you see the video don't be surprised if it is a bit rough around the edges here and there. But I am getting better. Hopefully with more practice the quality will improve in future videos. :)

Jethro 7 is in the hands of the Betas. I should shoot it off to the last 2 today. I start Shelby 4 Parabellum after the holiday weekend. (Which ironically we don't celebrate)

  In other news, I get my second shot of Moderna this Thursday. I am trying not to let it get to me, everyone keeps psyching me out about it, saying the second shot will make you sick. GRR. Hopefully not. I'm also fighting to try to get my family vaccinated. (Some are antivaxxers, some are scared, some are 'busy'.)

On to the snippet!

Chapter 1

 

SK2-29, Sigma Sector

 

Captain Marico Hart felt the hairs on the back of his head stand on end. His ass puckered; he began to sweat. He had that feeling that he was being watched. It bothered him. It bothered the holy hell out of him.

His ship was a tender, sent from Devil's Triad to make rendezvous with the pirate empress with tribute and personnel. They had been ordered to send as much high value material as possible to a deep space staging point. But they had also been ordered to watch out for the enemy's prowlers and warships.

His ship had military grade sensors courtesy of a refit he'd wangled in Horath seven years ago. She had an overhauled drive and other systems, which was why he had made the run once before. The empress had sent her compliments to him and had promised a reward if he could make three round trips.

The way this run was shaping up he doubted he'd manage this one.

“Something has been here, and something is stalking us,” the helmsman said.

“Eh?” the XO said. “You are jumping at ghosts,” she growled.

“No, seriously,” the helmsman said. He pointed to the sensor feed. “See the eddies and turbulence in the debris cloud we're passing through? That's not us. That's from another ship.”

“So?”

“So, this is recent.”

“It could be one of our ships,” the XO argued.

“It'd suck if we got our tickets punched by our own people,” the ops officer said neutrally.

“Prime the IFF beacon but leave it off,” the XO ordered.

The captain pulled up the sensor feed that the helmsman Eddie had been referring to and looked at it. He looked hard and noted the way the eddies formed. It gave him a general direction of the ship. It was on a concurrent course to their own.

He snagged three points where Eddie had identified the turbulence and then drew a line between them. He then connected it to the jump point behind them and the one they were headed to. He had to adjust the course until it fit. It wasn't much of an adjustment.

Running the numbers back he found the optimal time when the ship had set that course. It was less than a week prior. That wasn't good. It meant the other ship could be in the soup around them.

He frowned. Normally it wasn't a problem. The only ones who had run ships were his people. Oh, there were the odd indies out there still, but they were scarce.

Well, they had been the only ships and the only warships for centuries. Now the Federation Navy was back. They were the new sharks in the ocean of space.

 “New sensor hit. It looks like … based on my eye I'd say the ship slowed down here,” Eddie said, pointing to a point a hundred million kilometers ahead of them.

The debris was spotty due to the destruction of the star system. The dust clouds came and went. At the moment, they had just passed out of one cloud and could see the entrance to another.

“They slowed down,” the captain echoed.

“Why?” the XO asked.

The captain glanced at his projected course for the unknown ship. Based on his estimated timeline … his finger gently pushed the icon along until it got to the point ahead. He checked the time chop and then grunted.

It had been six days ago when they had arrived in the star system.

“Abort,” he growled.

“Sir?”

“They know we are here. Abort. Get us the hell out of here!” he said, voice rising in urgency.

“Aye aye, sir,” Eddie said, altering course.

“Do we even know where we're going?” the XO demanded. “Sir, with respect, we're jumping at shadows!”

“No, this,” the captain waved his tablet, “says they altered course six days ago.”

“Um …?”

“Exactly when we arrived. Which begs the question, since we're in the soup, how did they see the flash?”

The XO scowled. Her puzzlement deepened when he didn't say anything.

“Course … ten degrees starboard. We're headed for the other jump point.”

“Initiate random zig zags to throw anyone tailing us off. But be prepared to jump out if we have to,” the captain ordered. He hit the microphone button on his panel connecting him to main engineering.

“Main engineering,” a familiar guttural voice said.

“Chief, we're in the shit. Be prepared to run or jump in a moment's notice.”

“Shit,” the chief began to pepper the air with curses in between orders to his people. “On it. How bad?”

“We'll let you know,” the captain said.

The XO frowned.

He shook his head. “They have neutrino detectors he said, answering the question in her eyes. “They couldn't see us arrive with telescopes but can with the neutrino detectors if they are in range.”

Her eyes went wide in understanding and then she nodded. “And they only put those on their warships. Cruisers.”

“Right,” he growled. They knew about the cruisers stationed around SG6-33. They did their best to avoid that area.

“Motion behind us in the cloud. Something is there …,” Eddie yelped.

The captain and XO pulled the stern feed up and noted a shape looming in the clouds. It was dark and bigger than they liked.

“Helm, get us the hell out of here!” the captain barked.

~~~-^-~~~