On the bridge of the Ranger’s time-cruiser, Sr. Nemesis and Dr. Cyril were mesmerized by the combat status information superimposed on the display-wall. Suddenly they let out a whoop and Dr. Cyril shouted, “The corvette is turning away and leaving!”
“You mean they’re running away with their tails between their legs,” said Sr. Mary Margaret, with a big grin on her face. “We beat them!” Sr. Nemesis didn’t usually make such open displays of joy. She quickly composed herself and resumed her normal, dour demeanor.
“But Baz, the people in that ship are suspected of a dozen murders,” Sr. Nemesis said. “The victims haven’t been avenged, and the murderers are getting away. What are we waiting for? Let’s go after them!”
The Ranger looked relieved as he sank into his captain’s chair. As Baz Reed’s face slipped off his countenance, his default face reappeared and its black mask framed his eyes. “We can’t chase after them right now,” he said. “First, only our terrestrial engines are online; our stellar and time drives are still offline. The corvette has already engaged its stellar drive; we couldn’t catch them if we tried. Second, we still have only one cannon online. Now that we’ve demonstrated some of what a time-ship can do, the people working to make the corvette operational will redouble their efforts to activate its capabilities. If we run into them after that happens, then I for one don’t want to start a fight while thinking we still have the advantage. We’ll do some reconnaissance before we engage them again.”
“How will we find them?” the Sister asked. She still felt a streak of righteous anger. Usually rendering judgment and dispensing justice slaked that anger, but she was frustrated. She had barely had a chance to use all the skills and weapons she possessed to dispense retribution.
“Don’t worry about finding them again,” the Ranger said. “The people flying that corvette apparently know as little about turning off the tracking beacon in their built-in loss recovery unit as they do about operating any other part of their vessel. I’ve had this ship track their trajectory ever since they retreated. They’re safe for now, but I’ll hunt them down later.”
“We’ll hunt them down,” Sr. Nemesis corrected, with a tone as steadfast as her faith, “for the sake of of Fr. Francis, and for the New Texas Rangers.”
“And for the one Ranger who died, and then was reborn,” added Dr. Cyril.
Will Roger’s face morphed onto the Ranger’s visage and regarded his companions with heartfelt gratitude. Then he said with an aw-shucks grin, “We’ve gone through a lot. We need a place to lay low for a while.”
“You mean, you’ve got a hideout?” Dr. Cyril said, with a sort of intrigued, mirthful glee. He had read adventure stories about desperadoes and their hideouts, and was fascinated.
The view out the display-wall panned around and the Ranger seemed to be speaking up into thin air, “Edgar, I’m taking us to where our hover-bikes and belongings are, and tractor beaming them into the hangar bay. Is there anything from Caleb Anderson’s camp that you want me to bring aboard?”
Edgar’s voice came through the air from the engineering deck and said, “There’s nothing from that life that I ever want to see again. However, you might be pleased to know that the stellar drive is now online. We can go wherever you want in space.”
“Great news, Edgar. Thank you,” the Ranger said. “In that case, after the hover-bikes are secured, I’m setting a course to a place in the Hydra Cluster that the New Texas Rangers liked to use as a rally point and safe house. We can finish our repairs there, rest and relax, and I can start to teach you how to operate this ship. I’m afraid I’m the only one who can operate the ship telepathically, the most efficient way, but there’s a backup manual system you can use.”
The Ranger stood up and gestured for Nemesis and Cyril to follow him to the bulkhead hatch aft of the bridge. “You both won’t always need, or be available, to travel with me. I understand you have obligations to your Church and your clinic. But when we travel together, there’re plenty of staterooms and amenities aboard for you to use.”
“I don’t really need to sleep,” said Dr. Cyril, “but it would be useful to have a place of my own.”
“You might also want to familiarize yourself with the ship’s sick bay,” the Ranger said to the doctor. “If either Nemesis or I get hurt, that’s where you’ll be most useful.
“I’ve already given second-in-command permissions to you, Sr. Nemesis; third rank to you Dr. Cyril; and fourth rank to Edgar if none of us is available. The ship will converse with you and help you any way it can. I suggest you explore the ship, find its amenities, pick a stateroom, and make yourself comfortable. I’ll find you later, before we reach our safe house—“
“—Hideout,” Dr. Cyril submitted. “How exciting! And maybe then you can tell us about the ongoing threat you mentioned.” The Ranger thought the usually cautious doctor was clearly beginning to enjoy the romance and danger associated with the Ranger’s mission. Who would have guessed?
“And I’d like to find a quiet place to pray,” Sr. Nemesis said, trying to imagine how she would explain in confession everything that had happened so far.
The Ranger’s companions left the bridge to explore the time-cruiser on their own. As soon as he closed the hatch to the bridge, he relaxed and his visage of Will Rogers morphed back to his default face. And as soon as he was in private, the apparition of the elder Fr. Francis appeared before him. The apparition looked around the bridge, plunked his simulated old bones on a guest bench, and then said, “Congratulations! This is a momentous occasion. You’re still alive. You made your decision to help save the future. You’ve located a time-ship. And as a bonus, you’ve wisely assembled a team of helpmates. I think I made a good choice—you might survive this Time War after all.”
“How could I not survive?” said the Ranger, making himself comfortable in his chair, the captain’s chair. “I’ve already died and been reborn a few times already. But if you’re here, then some significant event must be coming.”
The old man smiled back knowingly.
“So tell me, Frank, what happens next?”