[V]Chapter 91: Highway Chase II

"Suns, Hxlt!! Don't we have anything to fire back at them?!" Opun shouted at the squad leader as several different parts of the control system started blinking warnings. "This ship won't survive another hit!"

"Even if we did, it's irresponsible and dangerous to open fire on the highway," Hxlt barked.

"It looks like they're already covering the 'irresponsible and dangerous' part for us, so can't we at least defend ourselves?" Varyna jumped in. "I'm sure as Suns not dying during a work commute like some chump!"

"Work commute? Suns, you're such a suckling!" Open quipped from the back.

"You really want to go out arguing with me?!" Varyna whirled in her chair to face him. 

"I'm this close to dropping both of you out into the wormhole and letting you evaporate into a trillion pieces!" Hxlt boomed over the top of them. "Opun you keep on that comm. Varyna, see if you can manually fix some of these warnings."

"I feel like a COP in an old holo-film," Varyna sighed as she opened the panel under the control system. She had to admit, it was thrilling to engage in a high speed chase inside a ship that wasn't equipped with the most modern Highway Patrol tech. But she definitely preferred watching it from the safety of the other side of the screen. Though they were definitely dated, she often found herself watching the old COP films over the new ones, which were a little too politically charged for her liking. Plus, it's way too easy to catch a criminal on the Astral Highway with state of the art speed, shields, and range. Trying to catch a criminal without those things was much more entertaining.

But again, that was from the other side of the screen-not living inside it.

BOOM!!

Actually, maybe 'living' wasn't the right word to use, after all.

"Varyna!! Hurry up!"

"I'm going!" Varyna stared at the mess of wires and circuits. She had very little experience with this sort of thing, but she'd learned a lot after serving in the Helios Sector for so long. Whenever a pod broke down, Hxlt and Opun fixed it themselves. It was the norm for all COPS in rural sectors to know their way around a maintenance box. 

She sighed, following along a blue wire until she reached its end and then snipping it. She didn't have many tools available, so she left the wire hanging, snipped another, and then twisted them together.

"Hey! That didn't turn off the warnings, it just transferred them to the main display!" Hxlt was clearly frustrated.

"Oops." Varyna untwisted the wires, tried her best to reconnect the second wire, and then tried another.

After a few minutes, several head bumps due to the constantly rattling shuttle, and much scolding from Hxlt, Varyna had managed to bypass the most annoying flashing lights. In the meantime, more red blips had appeared on the display (which was still glitching every now and then thanks to Varyna's mistaken wire cutting). 

"Why don't we bow out and let the patrol handle it from here?" Opun was pale and sweating, clutching the comm box against his chest. He wasn't one to experience g-sickness as far as Varyna knew, but, then again, she herself was feeling a little green too.

 "Lower Section Crime Squad 3, this is Lower Section Patrol Squad 6 and 7, do you copy?"

The mechanical voice that had been chattering on the box in Opun's lap was suddenly on the ship's comm system.

"Yes, this is Squad 3," Hxlt held down the comm button as he replied.

"We've got the Runners on our radar, but their ship might be harder than we thought to subdue," the voice crackled.

"Huh? Why?" Opun whined. "And what does that have to do with us anyway?"

Varyna rolled her eyes while Hxlt ignored his squadmate and rubbed his chin. "So they have tether shields?" he relayed back to the Patrol Squads.

"Sure do," the voice answered. "But there's a chance the tethering system on your ship uses the old nano waves which would be able to break through. Can you check on it and report back?"

"On it." Hxlt switched the comm off and turned to Varyna. "Do you think you can hold the ship steady while I take a look at the tethering system?"

"What?" Varyna gaped. "A-are you sure?" She gulped as she gazed at the blur of colors zooming past them, occasionally jumping with the ship's shaking.

"Varyna. Hurry," Hxlt narrowed his eyes. "You can do this. You have to."

"Right.." With shaking hands, she reached for the controls. Hxlt moved out of the pilot's chair and headed to the maintenance closet.

Immediately, the ship jerked and shuddered. "Ack!" Varyna gripped the drive stick with both hands trying to steady it. There was a crash somewhere in the back, where she can only imagine what the Kremel might have been thrown into.

"Sorry!" she shouted back.

"You're doing fine! Focus, Varyna!" came Hxlt's reply.

"Squad 3, come in!" the comm buzzed again. 

Varyna cleared her throat before pressing the button. "Squad 3 here," she replied loudly.

"We have to move into position now. Squad 6 will take the left, Squad 7 the right, we need you right on the rear and ready to tether," the voice instructed.

"We haven't confirmed if our tethering system will work," Varyna responded. "If you just wait-"

"We can't afford to wait any longer," the voice cut her off. "There's at least one known breach coming up, and we'll lose them if we don't catch them now. Get into position."

"Uh.. ok-I mean roger that." Varyna sighed and whirled around to face Opun. "How close do I need to get before we're in tethering range?"

"Close." Opun looked horrified. "Maybe we should just wait for Hxlt.."

"You heard them," Varyna snapped. "We have to move now. Plus, they're putting themselves in a risky position already."

"Ah.. that's true." Opun closed his eyes. "You need to get within one ring of them and stay there. Even a little too close and both of us will blow, but our tether system can't pick them up from farther back."

Varyna nodded. She remembered how close the blip was on the display when Opun and Hxlt first mentioned tethering range. With that image in mind, she pushed the drive stick forward.

The Patrol Squads were nearly in position as Varyna pushed their ship to catch up.

"Hey! Careful! You'll blow the accelerator if you push it too hard!" Opun called out unhelpfully.

"It's going to have to hold out. We need to move," Varyna hissed. 

The ship shuddered and the engines screamed in protest, but it moved. Varyna watched carefully as they approached their desired position. If she didn't start slowing down soon enough, they would collide. But if she slowed down too soon, they would get left behind. With everything happening so fast, there was no time to think it through, no time for mental calculations or trial and error. This is why experienced pilots were so valuable. They didn't have to stop and think at times like these, their muscle memory already knew what to do.

Varyna, on the other hand, would just have to rely on her instincts.

"Slow down now," Opun squeaked. "At this speed, we'll collide if you don't start now."

"Not yet," Varyna muttered to herself. "Just a little bit more."

The other squads had already taken their positions. Varyna waited until it felt right and then eased up on the drive stick little by little. 

The comm went off again. "Try your tether now. We'll just have to hope it works."

Varyna's eyes scanned the control system, but she had no idea how to launch the tether. Luckily, a big green hand slammed down on one of the larger buttons. Hxlt plopped into the copilot seat and offered Varyna a grin as he started the tether system.

"We're good. This ship's tether is practically ancient." The squad leader gave a thumbs up as the ship lurched. "And, there we go. She's connected."

"Great work!" The Patrol Squads congratulated them through the comm. "We'll stay nearby in case anything goes haywire, but do you mind hauling this guy to the next check point?"

"No problem," Hxlt answered for Varyna. "We'll see you there."

Varyna and Hxlt quickly switched seats for what felt like the tenth time, and this time she was especially grateful to be out of the pilot's chair. 

"Not bad, Varyna," Hxlt praised her as he adjusted a few things on the control system. "I heard what was happening from the maintenance closet, and I thought for sure we were going to collide with that ship." 

"You're not the only one," Opun chimed in. "Maybe you do have an aptitude for piloting, after all, Varyna."

The rest of the ride went smoothly. Once they arrived at the Helios-Apollo check point, a group of Patrol vessels were waiting to take the Runners in. It wasn't a massive vessel they had caught, but it was formidable, with around a dozen Runners aboard who were all arrested on several charges. Most of them were Kremel and Nemarian, but there was a Human female with a scar over one eye who seemed especially angry.

No doubt, the next time they were crossed, those Runner's anti-tether technology would include defenses against old nano wave systems as well.

After the Runners had been dealt with, Varyna and her squadmates had nothing to do but sit around while they waited for their ship to be repaired. Fortunately, the damage wasn't so extensive as to require a massive remodel. But it did mean they were advised to wait for repairs rather than taking another ship in its place and returning to their base.

When two hours of waiting had passed, a check point officer approached them.

"Good! You're still here!" The female Nemarian smiled. "The check point doctor has requested the Humans come immediately for some tests."

"Tests?" Varyna was quick to get to her feet. "What kind of tests?"

The Nemarian tilted her head. "I don't know exactly. I've heard they're trying to solve a plague issue, and for some reason they've been testing all Human COPS."

"I've had all my tests already," Varyna explained, remembering the copious amount of blood drawn from her upon graduating from the COPS academy and then again as soon as she arrived in Helios. "They can just look in my file for the information they need."

They were probably studying how a certain disease was moving, especially if it was to the point of being called a 'plague'. Varyna was confident she wasn't a carrier of anything, and her blood test results should already prove that. Opun had been in the Helios sector for a long time already, so he shouldn't even be considered for a possible carrier.

"Ah.. it's something to do with nefitis though." The female Nemarian shrugged and turned, still fully expecting Varyna and Opun to follow her.

"Nefitis?" Opun was on his feet as well. "Protocol is that we only check for nefitis if we've been exposed. Has there been an outbreak here or something?"

Nefitis was an ugly disease. Varyna only recalled it as one of the many rural diseases she'd learned about during her schooling, but she'd become more familiar with it as she served in the Helios sector. She'd never encountered it herself, but other squads on her base had, and they told her stories of it.

"All Human COPS in the Lower Section will be receiving this test. That's all I can tell you," the Nemarian sighed and motioned impatiently for them to follow. "Quickly, now."

The doctor who ended up drawing Varyna's blood explained the situation to her a little more clearly. Apparently, they'd recently discovered a specific DNA strand that caused a person to be immune to nefitis. This strand was only found in Humans, and a new protocol had just been issued to document which COPS in Helios were immune and which weren't.

"I'm sorry we worried you, Xatty-Xavvy over there isn't the best at communication," the doctor grinned. "This is just a simple procedure that's best taken care of while you're already here. You'll probably never hear anything about it again."