"When Jake Evans appeared, we knew we had to do something."
-- Lindsey Z. Edelin,
Secretary of Defence,
United Earth Front,
Addressing the United Earth Senate,
April 2178
***
His uncle had almost managed to convince him to stay when they arrived.
Five military Hunter-Killers were right on their tail. The fast ships were coming in hot from the direction they'd just come from, decelerating and broadcasting demands of surrender. They were only three light minutes away. It would have taken them five hours to shed their speed and brake their velocity enough to intercept them.
"Uncle, there's no time. I have to leave, now." Jake said with urgency.
"Son, if you leave for the colonies, you know we'll never..." his uncle started.
"I know, but I can't stay here. You knew this would happen." he interrupted him.
His uncle sighed.
"I'm sorry, uncle. I'll miss you too." he said with sadness in his eyes.
"What are you going to do?"
"Just give me the Silvertip and I'll be on my way. I'll try to hide in the Oort Cloud for a while, and if they decide to come after me, I'll head out to Gliese 667."
The Silvertip was his uncle's most prized possession. A decommissioned military scout. Slightly battered, indeed she was; but she was fitted with a mass drive and was a very fast craft for her class.
"I don't care how far you go. If you break her, I'll come after you." said his uncle as he tried to cheer him up.
They went to the shuttle bay, and he barely had time to gather some supplies and some of his belongings. He bid the crew farewell and was uploading his AI to the ship's core when he saw Hannah coming into the shuttle bay with a duffel-bag.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm coming with you."
"No, you're not."
"Jake, I can't let you face this alone."
"This is not your fight."
"It is now." she said with conviction.
"Hannah, why are you doing this? I don't understand."
"Because I have to. Someone has to." she paused "And because I care about you."
"For our entire lives, you've been there for me. And when our parents died and we were lost, you stood by me. Even when we grew up and drifted apart, I could still feel it. You care about me, Jake. You're just afraid to admit it."
He stared at her in silence.
"Don't you understand? I have no one left. No one but you." she said as she held his gaze.
He was at a loss for words. He tried to say something but his voice failed him. He silently got into the ship and started the reactor. She followed him inside.
His uncle approached him and handed him a pulse rifle and a big case.
"What is this?" he asked his uncle as he looked at the case.
"You keep it, and only open it when you're in danger. It's my powered-armour, I have no need of it." his uncle said.
"Thanks uncle." he said with emotion as they embraced.
***
They undocked as soon as they were ready. The ship was strangely silent as they left the shuttle bay and quickly accelerated into the Oort Cloud.
Two of the pursuing ships veered off on a different vector for an intercept with the Silvertip and gave chase. Luckily for them, it was immensely difficult to detect, much less intercept a moving object through the field of ice before them, and they broke off from their pursuers with ease. They drifted along with minimal power, and blended in with the cloud of debris.
It was two weeks later and Jake was getting restless. He'd spent some time with the ship's lone fabricator, making some modification to his uncle's armour. He'd also spent a long time talking with Hannah, telling her about Siren and how they'd met, and what she told him about the universe and herself. Although they avoided the topic of her joining him and why.
"It's about time we went somewhere, don't you think?" Hannah prompted him.
"Yeah, I was getting tired from all of this sitting around and talking. You do talk a lot, you know?"
"Only when I'm nervous!" she defended.
"Yeah, right." he replied with a grin.
"Well, let's get back to the topic at hand and consider our options. We could go back to Liberty and try to link up with the Metanoia, or we could head out for the colonies." she said.
"I think I'd rather take my chance at Liberty. I'm not ready to leave everything behind yet."
"It's your call, I personally think we should get out while we can. We don't know what's waiting for us there." she warned.
"I can't stand the thought of not seeing uncle again. It would crush him."
"I understand, but you should consider your own survival. There are two possible outcomes: you either get away, or they catch you. Which outcome do you think he would prefer?"
"I think he'd prefer the first option. But I'm more worried about their fate. I know that uncle can handle himself in a tough situation, but I'm not so sure about the rest of the crew. Can you raise them on the FTL comms?"
"No, we're running on minimal power. Should we power up the reactor?"
"Yes, I think we've been hiding long enough."
They powered up the reactor, and tried to hail the Metanoia with no response.
"Jake, I'm worried about them, do you think they hurt them?"
"Let's go to Liberty and find out." he said stubbornly.
***
They found the Metanoia docked with the station. The station's umbilicals were attached to the ship and nothing looked out of the ordinary. Until they radioed in.
"Jake, get the hell out of..." he heard his uncle start, before static greeted him as the connection was cut.
"Hannah! I think they're in danger!" he said as he frantically set a course to dock with the ship.
"We should go, now. If we're out of their reach they won't have use for any hostages." she tried to reason with him.
"I can't leave my uncle like this!" he shouted as he unstrapped himself and started putting on the powered-armour.
Minutes later they docked and exited the ship, and into the Metanoia's shuttle bay. They looked around at all the weapons trained on them.
"Welcome home, Jake. We've been waiting for you."
***
"Name's lieutenant Richard M. Cole of the UEAF, and I'm here to escort you back to Luna, where you've made yourself quite popular."
"After what you did to the dome, bad move by the way, you're the most wanted individual in the UEF. After Michael Cromwell of course."
"Your uncle and your crew are safe at the moment, this is subject to change based on your actions today. If you come with us without making a fuss, we'll ensure their safety. If not, things you might not like will befall them."
"Now, what say you? Should we get out of here?"
"I'll come with you if you promise not to hurt anyone." Jake replied.
"Jake, no!" Hannah exclaimed.
"I'll be fine, Hannah, don't you worry about me."
"I told you we should get out of here, they would have gained nothing by holding them hostage if we'd fled to the colonies." she said in a low voice.
"Smart girl! You should have listened to her." lieutenant Richard said in amusement.
"What's done is done, do we have a deal?" Jake crossed his arms.
"I won't harm your crew. Now power down your armour." the lieutenant replied.
He did as he asked and two soldiers approached him, they made sure his armour's power supply was unplugged. He was now imprisoned in his own armour. They immediately relaxed and lowered their weapons.
"Get the girl too, she might come in useful." the lieutenant ordered.
"What? No! You promised not to harm anyone!"
"I promised not to harm them, but she's an accomplice! She will be charged with abetting a criminal like the rest of them. You see, I'm not harming anyone. I'm simply bringing them to justice."
Jake struggled to move and protect her, but his armour wouldn't let him.
"As for you, you've got a bright future ahead of you. Sadly, you won't be enjoying it much."
