Peter Telep - Pilgrim stars

The bombers hunting down the cruiser found their locks and unloaded their ordnance in an exhibition of well-choreographed firepower. Like the fingers of some enormous hand, the torpedoes descended upon the cruiser.

But the ship's antimatter guns found three of those fingers off its aft quarter and detonated them harmlessly over the hull. The explosions tossed a fourth torpedo into a fifth, driving both well off course and into a concentrated burst of laser fire that turned their destructive capacities inward. The sixth projectile locked onto a cloud of chaff twinkling and expanding in the cruiser's wash and lifted a white-hot explosion that swallowed the last two torpedoes. Eight shots. Eight misses. The bombers pulled out of their run in sixty-degree climbs, then, as though with their tails between their legs, beat a full-throttle retreat back toward the Olympus.

Meanwhile, the bombers targeting the destroyer fared no better. Maniac drew closer to the scene as antimatter fire, superheated countermeasure cones, and what he deemed lucky guided missile strikes by Dralthi pilots lashed at or lured away the ordnance. The last torpedo met its fate by cannon fire as he and Blair buzzed over the destroyer, all but ignored by squadrons of Dralthi and Salthi fighters hightailing it back to the flagship.

"Looks like they're cutting their losses," Santyana said. "Eighth Squadron? Let's cut our own. Return to base."

Nearly in unison, Maniac and Blair pulled away from the destroyer and aimed for a loose blue wreath of thrusters. Maniac flicked back his HUD viewer, massaged weary eyes, then pulled up Blair's channel. "Nice little spin back there, Ace. Next time I got the stick."

"Fair enough," Blair answered, blinking clear his vision and looking about as spent as Maniac.

"So I'm still sweating the details. How did Aristee get those cruisers to cease fire?"

"Like this."

Maniac's head snapped up as an unseen fist struck a mild blow to his chin. "Hey, what the-"

"Some of us, not many, have this thing, an extrakinetic power they call it. Kind of like telekinesis, telepathy, and extrasensory perception, only different is the way we experience it. And it's pretty deadly if we want it to be."

"How'd you get it? You're only half Pilgrim?"

"Guess I got lucky," Blair answered, sounding anything but. "And you know what? I thought about using it to bring down a few of those fighters. But to kill someone like that… I don't know… it's supposed to make you feel kind of dead yourself.

When you touch inanimate objects, it gives you the shakes like you wouldn't believe."

"Does that mean you can read minds like your girlfriend? Like maybe you can read Zarya's mind and let me know what's up with her? And poker! Holy shit, man. We can make a killing."

"Some of us can access scripts and read thoughts. But I'm not sure if I have or not. It's like I can talk to other people in my head, but that's it."

Maniac rubbed his chin. "Punching me from over there… that still ain't bad. Can you squeeze a woman's breasts like that? And what did you say? Access the script? You lost me there."

"I'm not squeezing any breasts with this, you idiot. Look, I'll tell you the rest when we get back. We'll have plenty of time."

"You mean when we get back to our cells? I'm not going."

"Wasn't too long ago when you wouldn't leave."

"We're out here now. We got the firepower. Let's take the shot, disable the ship. Some properly placed missiles to her ion engines will take 'em offline. Hopper drive's down, so she can't skip out. A comm drone carrying our mayday would only take about a week or two to reach the trade routes. It's not like we'd be stranded out here for long."

"Uh, excuse me, but that battle group, or at least what's left of it, is still pursuing. That ship's our only ride. And even if we move in to attack, her cannon operators-or even pilots from this squadron-will be on us before we get off a shot. Besides, can you imagine what would happen if the Kilrathi got their hands on the hopper drive?"

"Yeah, I can. They would, like Aristee, use it to destroy Earth. And your point?"

"Tell you what. We lose this battle group, then maybe I'll consider your plan."

"Chris, we swore an oath. We have to do this. We won't get another chance."

"You don't know that. And like I said, if we disable the Olympus, then the cats get her. Hell, they get us. They're carnivores. I heard they eat live prey."

"Wait a minute. You said Aristee took out the other cruisers by using Pilgrims with that, what was it, extrakinetic thing? Those Pilgrims are on board the Olympus, right?"

"Yeah, so what?"

The idea unfolded a little more and drove Maniac to straighten in his seat. "Then that battle group is no problem. We disable the Olympus, draw in the Kilrathi, then Aristee unleashes her people. We kill two birds. You with me?"

"I don't know."

Admiral Vukar beat a fist on the control panel beside Tactical Officer Makorshk. "I said why?"

"And I'll repeat, my Kalralahr. I'm not sure." Makorshk clenched his own fist but kept it resting steadily on the panel. "After we lost contact, her defense systems came down. She did launch fighters, but they also lost contact with her. It seems both cruisers suffered the same fate, which, my Kalralahr, I'm at a loss to explain."

"Interesting. For once you don't have all the answers."

Vukar tore himself away from the tactical station and tramped to the viewport. Out there in the void, beyond the wash of infrared radiation that appeared like a bloodred foam to his eyes, the supercruiser streaked off unabated, carrying with it a drive of enormous power and another weapon arguably even more powerful. And maybe the destruction of two cruisers represented but a mere glance at its potential.

"Kalralahr?" He spun toward Comm Officer Ta'kar'ki's station. "I've been scanning the recordings of intership communications. You must see this."

Vukar took several hurried strides and arrived behind Ta'kar'-ki. A holograph of a communications officer making a routine report flickered above the station. Sans forewarning, the warrior's head shook violently and his eyes snapped close. He shrieked, extended his claws, and began gouging out his own eyes as static filtered into and washed clean the transmission. Vukar held himself a moment, considering the horrific image. He felt hot breath pass across his neck and cocked his head to find Makorshk seething behind him. "Comment?"

"Interesting. Now I do have an answer." The tactical officer returned to his station and quickly buried himself in his displays.

Expecting that in a moment Makorshk would share his findings, Vukar paused at the comm station and waited.

The moment passed, but the second fang ignored Vukar and the other officers, everything save for his data.

With his blood frenzy reawakened and thoughts of initiating the challenge here and now, Vukar crossed to Makorshk's station and once more beat his fist on the control panel, jarring the tactical officer. "If you have an answer, let's hear it!"

"I've just scanned data that we recovered during the Terran-Pilgrim War. What we just saw? It's nothing new. Some Pilgrims, not many, possess a form of telekinesis that they can use as a weapon. However, their precepts rule against such use. The Confederation hunted down as many of these Pilgrims as they could, but it seems a few got away. I'm certain that's what we're dealing with now."

"We're not dealing with them. We're being slaughtered by them. But why this method now? Why not use their hopper drive? Can they still engage it?"

"I don't believe they can. I ran a multi-emission scan of the ship, searching for evidence of a reaction containment field or other controlled matter-antimatter reactions. I found none, which may mean their drive is offline, possibly for repairs. If it were not, then yes, why would they turn to their brethren for help and break their own precepts? The gravity well would kill us far more efficiently. And there's another interesting fact. The Confederation was able to capture many of these Pilgrims because once they reach out and kill a life form, they need time to recover, sometimes as long as several standard days."