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Justin’s mind. He glanced at the display then silenced
the alarms. “That was a shot across our bow.  The next one will be into
our engines.”
    Naomi’s stared at
the Navigation display. “What do we do?”
    Justin felt his
every muscle tense. Mara’s eyes remained calm, but fixed on him. He could feel
fear from both and see it on Naomi’s face. Purposely he gave a casual shrug in
answer to her question and took a slow deep breath and turned to Mara. “Do you
have a better destination than Spitzer?”
    Mara shook her head.
    In the most
confident voice he could muster he said, “Set course for Spitzer.”
    Mara nodded. 
Her image faded, blinked then snapped back to full intensity.  “The course
is set.  I sure hope we find a working gate when we get there.” She
pointed to displays in front of Justin.  “We won’t have enough fuel to
jump to another system after we arrive.” A restraining harness slid across the
real Mara as the holographic one said, “Strap in everyone. I’m going to need
them off our tail.” She gestured toward the pursuing ships.
    Justin clicked his
belt into place just as the thrusters roared, pushing him deep into the seat.
The ship zigged one way as he zagged into the harness.  Another wild turn and the police fell far behind, but Ferren’s ship, the Acheron, continued to gain.  Mara
fired the retros , throwing Justin forward into the
harness.
    Their pursuer shot
past.
    Thrusters blazed as
the Surfeit dashed off at a right angle from the Acheron.  
    “On
your order Captain.” Mara turned and waited for his command.
    There was no hint of
sarcasm at the word, “captain” and just for a moment, he marveled at how such
an intelligent and talented woman had followed him all these years. “Jump.”
    The stars slid into one
bright mass off the bow as Justin tried to gulp air, but he couldn’t
breathe.  Abruptly he felt weightless and disoriented as the ship crossed
the event horizon. The next instant he slammed hard into his harness and
gasped.
    “Jump complete.”
Mara smiled. “The vortex collapsed behind us before any ships could follow.”
    Justin took a deep
draft of air and forced a smile. “How long till we arrive at
Spitzer?”
    “Just over
Fifty-seven hours.”
    When we get there
all we need to do is find the gate and hope the ancient thing works. Fatigue flowed over
him. There were a thousand questions he needed answered, but, for now, there
was only one thing he wanted to do.  Looking at Mara he asked, “When will
you need to eat and…ah go…”
    “As soon as I do a
ship wide systems check, I’ll disconnect. Flying through subspace is easy.”
    He nodded. “I’ll be
in my room,” he said walking from the bridge. 
    *              
*              
*
    The room was dark
when he awoke. Justin felt his head and smiled. It didn’t hurt. For a moment he
struggled to remember the name of the ship he was on. “Surfeit lights, normal.”
The pitcher and glass that Naomi had brought him remained on the dresser. 
He stood, filled the cup and drank deeply. A glance in the mirror drew a moan
as he rubbed the deep stubble of his beard and attempted to straighten his
tousled hair. Hopeless. As he dressed he
struggled to understand how the fall from respected businessman to fugitive had
occurred so quickly.  I need answers. With that resolve he marched
from the compartment.
    Someone had latched
the door to the bridge open. The voices of the women greeted him as he
approached the hatch. Stepping into the compartment he noticed a table had been
setup at the rear with coffee and food.  He grabbed some cheese as he
passed. 
    “How do you feel?”
Naomi asked.
    “Much
better.” He looked about the bridge then back at Mara.  Stepping forward he touched
her on the arm.
    Mara nodded. 
“Yes, this is the real me.”
    “What’s our status?”
he asked, then consumed the cheese. 
    Mari shrugged.
“We’re on auto-pilot still traversing