Max sighed as he flipped through the news reports he had open on the monitor. He spun around in his chair where Erin thanked him with an open bottle of whiskey.
"So, what did they say about us?" She asked.
"How's this one?" Max replied as he took the bottle. "Twenty two killed in vega colony mining accident, experts blame explodium ore." Max read aloud. He took a long drag from the whiskey and smiled back towards Erin.
"Oh come on, Max!" she protested.
"What?" Max laughed. "Look, that's all there is on the news." He said, pushing the monitor to the side so that Erin could see. He handed the bottle back to her again.
"Agh these stupid reporters are so slow!" Erin said. " Oh! Did you check the forum?"
Max shrugged.
"There's no signal when we're at warp." He said. "We can't anything on lightband until we drop down to sublight."
"Did anyone follow us?"Erin asked.
"There's nothing on sensors, but we should probably change our alignment just in case." Max said.
Erin paced around the tiny compartment and swallowed a bit more of her drink.
"How fast can you change our heading?" Erin asked.
"Pretty fast with a ship this small, but it'll take us in the wrong direction." Max said.
"How far off course?"
"It depends on how big of an alignment change you want."
"We should get to the freedom outpost as soon as possible." Erin said. "We can't risk getting caught."
Max turned around in his chair, his arms crossed against the backrest.
"Erin, if we're being followed, we'll give away the location of the outpost." Max said. "They wouldn't just find us, they would wipe out our entire operation."
She knew Max was right. If they traveled straight to the rebel's home base, they would be leading the corporate ships right to their friends.
"I have an idea." She said.
Max rolled his eyes. "Here we go."
"Shut up!"
She took a seat next to Max at the front of the Valkyrie. She brought up a large display of stars in front of them. Pressing her fingers against the screen, she pulled the view closer to the system where a small blue icon showed their current position.
"So we're here." Erin said, pointing at the icon on the map. We're going here." She said, dragging her finger across the map to the yellow X in orbit of a yellow star. She handed Max the whiskey bottle again as he watched her fingers slide across the display.
"If we realign the ship to go here instead.." She said, pointing towards a black spot on the map to the right of their destination.
"And the we align again, towards the outpost. How much time would that cost us?"
Max slid himself closer to the screen and drew a line across the pattern Erin had pointed out. The computer calculated the route and brought up the relevant information.
"It's going to take twice as long Erin, we'll be in here for another 36 hours at least." Max said.
"But it will keep the patrols from tracking us?" Erin asked.
"Yes, if they are tracking us." Max replied.
"Can't we know for sure?"
"We can stop and see who shows up behind us."
YOU ARE READING
Rebel Star - The Scarlet Insurgent
Fiksi Ilmiah"They say the war ended twelve years ago with the destruction of the Earth. But we, the chosen, will rise from the ashes and we will not stop. We will never stop, not until the Corporation and its children are brought to dust. Those who have fallen...
