Page 8 of The Last Hunt
Jump Point Tricks
Aethon
Aethon has seen Maeve Bladesbearer angry many times. When Bladesbearer is angry, her pale freckled skin flushes from her cheeks, down her neck, and all the way to her chest. Her green eyes get bright and cold, her nose wrinkles, and her full lips pull back revealing white teeth bared in a snarl. Her jaw and pointed chin seem to sharpen, as if they could cut the object of her anger to shreds. She vibrates with intensity, her body tightening and readying for a fight. Aethon always expects her wine red hair to rise around her, like she’s a goddess channeling lightning. It doesn’t, but he likes that image. He likes watching people around Maeve Bladesbearer shrink in the presence of her rage.
He does not like being on the receiving end of it.
Seeing Bladesbearer’s eyes go cold is the very opposite of what he wants. His mind conjures up the week they spent trapped together in a tiny escape pod. At some point during that trip, when both of them thought they might not make it, Maeve had looked at him with a combination of desperation and desire that made Aethon’s breath catch in his chest. Minus the belief that they were going to die in that pod, it was a moment Aethon never wants to forget. He shoves the image from his mind. He can’t think about the way she looked during that trip. He can’t think about the feel of her beneath his hands or how her sharp voice had softened just for him. He has to get this bounty. And the only way to do so will be to fuck her over.
“Captain Trell.” CAL’s voice is distinctly male, and distinctly annoyed. Aethon has had the AI in the Menace for a few years now, and he and CAL work well together as an odd team. But CAL is interfering and judgmental for an AI. “Are we following the Archer through the jump point?”
Aethon sighs and leans back in his captain’s chair. “Yes,” he says. “And CAL, I don’t want to hear -”
“We shouldn’t be shadowing the Archer, Captain Trell,” CAL interrupts. “It’s against the code of the Guild of Two Roses.”
“It’s not against any formal code,” Aethon growls. “I tried to convince Bladesbearer to work with us, but she doesn’t want to. Now plot a trajectory through the jump point.”
“Plotting,” CAL says, his tone rife with disapproval. “You could have tried harder. I’ve seen you be very convincing when you want to be.”
Aethon ignores the AI and looks ahead out the viewscreen. The jump point looks like a normal section of space, but it’s surrounded by a gigantic, circular, open metal ring. The ring blinks with lights and Aethon watches as the Archer approaches. Each jump point brings ships to specific locations around the sector, allowing travel over long distances in a fraction of the time it would take to traverse normally. But it takes a significant amount of power from ships as small as the Menace and the Archer to make jumps. They have to recuperate power after each jump, usually requiring a ship to stop for about twenty minutes. However, Aethon suspects that Maeve may try to make a run for it as soon as she’s through the gate - despite her ship needing to recover - just to lose him. He’s prepared to do the same even though it will tax the Menace.
Aethon watches as the Archer approaches the jump point. The second it’s through the gate, it disappears in a wink of light.
“Course laid in,” CAL says.
“Punch it,” Aethon says.
The Menace accelerates through the gate and begins the jump. The stars disappear and the familiar dense blue-black of jump space engulfs the ship. There’s not a star in sight. Being in jump space doesn’t feel any different than normal space, but not being able to see stars is unnerving to most people. Aethon leans back in his chair and grips the joystick in his armrest, ready to follow the Archer if Bladesbearer decides to make a run for it after the jump.
Two minutes later, the Menace winks back into normal space.
The Archer is nowhere in sight.
Aethon hops up and leans on the dash, craning his neck and peering out the viewscreen. “CAL - where’s the Archer?”
“Scanning,” CAL replies. “Nothing on sensors.”
“What?” Aethon snaps. “They can’t be gone as fast as that! They probably emerged from the jump point fifteen seconds before us!”
“Ten seconds, actually,” CAL replies smugly. “This is what happens when you try to break the rules.”
“Don’t be so high and mighty, CAL,” Aethon growls. “Scan on all frequencies.”
“I did,” CAL says.
“Fuck,” Aethon mutters under his breath. He narrows his eyes as he pulls down readings on the viewscreen, his hands flying over the dash. Everything looks normal. He grits his teeth. How could the Archer possibly have disappeared like that? Disappeared…
“Oh Bladesy, you clever girl,” he murmurs. He checks the sensors again, but there’s no sign of the Archer. If he’s right, the time spent on an extra scan will be more than worth the potential delay. “CAL, scan for triennial-gamma waves.”
“Triennial-gamma waves,” CAL says. “I’ll have to realign the sensors.”
“Do it,” Aethon says.
“Realigning. It will take several minutes.” CAL makes an annoyed sound he must have picked up from Aethon. “Ever since you and Captain Bladesbearer spent that week in the escape pod you’ve been overly focused on her.”
Aethon huffs. “You’re reading too much into things.”
“No,” CAL says. “I’ve kept track of every interaction between you and Maeve Bladesbearer since you linked my program to your tab. I’ve monitored your vital signs when you’re around Captain Bladesbearer and your readings indicate an intense level of physical arousal -”