Gambit Inc.

GAMBIT INC.

This story is a sequel to "Tenric's Gambit" and takes place about 1 year afterwards.
I want to thank Jedi Ranger for his suggestion that we work together on a story. His storyline and characters fit nicely into Tenric's and I think the result is great.

As always I/we both look forward to and appreciate your comments and feedback.....

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Setting: The Somantus Asteroid Belt, Soma III & The Shaft / about 1 year after the events in “Tenric’s Gambit”


Part I: A Chance Encounter


“Get us out of here!”

“I’m trying but that last ion blast scrambled our hyperspace nav-comp in the middle of its calculations. It’ll take at least four minutes to reset! I guess we won’t be coming back to Bothawui any time soon; the Imps are everywhere!”

“We don’t have four minutes! And I seriously doubt we have one!”

The heavy fighter suddenly banked sharply to starboard, and even more suddenly, reversed course. The new heading took them straight at the pursuing Carrack-class cruiser.

“Are you crazy? They’ll get a tractor lock on us in no time!”

“Not if I have anything to say about it. Give me seventy percent of the shields forward, twenty aft, and throw the rest to the engines. I need more speed!”

The heads up display quickly indicated the instructions and been completed, and their relative speed indicator scrolled upwards another fifteen percent, clearly redlining the six brand new sub light engines. Suddenly four golden flares sprouted from the sides of the cockpit, and screamed forward towards the onrushing cruiser. And just as suddenly, the Z-100 prototype was surrounded by stretching star lines, and then the swirling blue and white vortex of hyperspace encompassed it completely.

*****

Orrell Varsin glanced up at his Jedi companion, and the prototype’s pilot, Kr-Ant Jooraw. “So, where are we going?”

The only immediate response was a simple shrug. Then, “What’s the status of our systems?” Only then did Kr-Ant return the engineer’s gaze.

Shaking his head, Orrell replied, “Tough to tell without actually putting down for a physical inspection, but the computers read most systems at one hundred percent. The nav computer is back on line, but could really use a proper tuning at a verified nav buoy. The sub light engines appear fine; shields and weapons are okay, though we are down four missiles.” It looked like the engineer was about to say something else, when his data pad beeped, and he held it up to read the display.

“I don’t need to force to know that expression, nobody would. What’s wrong?”

Still not looking back up, Orrell replied, “It appears that our primary hyperdrive sustained some damage in the battle, and is beginning to overheat. There is a short somewhere, and the hyperdrive coils have been overcharged. Wherever we are headed, we’re going to get there in a real hurry. If we don’t explode first.”

“Well, our last heading puts us on a rough course for Gamorr. Should we shut down the hyperdrive? This is the longest blind jump I’ve ever made.”

“That’s what’s really got me worried. I can’t, I’ve tried. All the safeties and overrides are scrambled or fused. Only a gravity well can stop us now. Unless……….” The engineer trailed off and began furiously entering calculations into his console.

Before Kr-Ant could inquire, their tiny world suddenly became total chaos. Both were thrown forward to the cockpit access hatch and were pinned there. At the same time, sparks began arcing from the hyperdrive computer at the aft of the compartment, and acrid smoke filled the air. What first started as a high-pitched squeal rapidly increased to a howling scream. Both men were unable to cover their ears or noses, as they were still pinned by a high gravity field. Had Orrell wanted to cover his face from the smoke, it would have been a pointless gesture, as he couldn’t breathe yet from the impact on his back.

As quickly as it started, it was all over. When they could breathe again, nearly every light and computer was not operational. Thankfully, it appeared that the basic systems still functioned, as they still had atmosphere, and the scent of incinerated electronics and hardware was quickly dissipating. But the artificial gravity had failed, too.

Grabbing a nearby rail, Kr-Ant steadied himself, and activated a ceiling emergency light. Spotting Orrell floating near the aft bulkhead, the Jedi gently reached out with the force, and pulled the motionless engineer to him. There was a small gash on Orrell’s forehead, and some slight swelling and bruising. Half closing his eyes, Kr-Ant released his grip and placed both hands on Orrell’s head. Gently nudging a tiny current in the force, Kr-Ant encouraged the engineer’s cells into a rapid healing state. Opening his eyes, Kr-Ant released Orrell to floating about the interior again, and turned to the cockpit hatch.

Hitting the release pad, the hatch slowly opened - a sure indication that main power was indeed offline, but at least the power cells were functioning as designed. Leaving the hatch open, Kr-Ant seated himself into the pilot’s seat, and began resetting the systems. The remote breaker resets operated normally, and the main reactor slowly returned to full power. Overriding the artificial gravity, Kr-Ant brought the rest of the primary systems online, and began an automatic diagnostic scan.