"I did the basic suit training but didn't have time for the advanced stuff. I didn't think I'd have to since people were saying that it was like having all the power of those big encounter suits from Earth and some of the core systems in a small package. I thought using them would be similar."
"You had a chance to see an encounter suit from Earth?"
"Served aboard a captured Sol Defence ship, one of the big ones," Shamus nodded. "Captain Valent stole it from a ship thief that makes any of our work look small time. I was the gunnery chief for a while, some of the happiest days, despite some hairy action. I'm not looking forward to going another round with mad bots, so I'm thinking about changing your leader's plan a little."
"Oh? How's that?"
"We have an anti-virus. It's adaptable, should calm all those bots right down. I only have to start transmitting it," Shamus said. "No more defences around Geist then. That'll be the end of it. We'll get there before everyone else and waltz right up to that vault, making off with whatever we like."
"We're just there for the Iron Mind."
"It's a vault. In my experience, people stash more than one thing in them at a time. Everyone who owns what's in there is dead, I'd wager on it, so it’s not theft, it's salvage."
"That's always been your problem; you see platinum and get distracted. I'm here to save Spin's life, not to line my pockets."
"I'm just reading the room, brother. She gave away all that data so every desperate whoreson with a ship and a few crooks aboard can learn how to raid her Countess' goods. I saw something else after she did that, though. She still doesn't want to leave. Maybe it's because revenge runs too deep. Maybe she's got a little plat lust in her too, or she doesn't want to move her whole crew across the galaxy but would rather stay and make them rich. I hope that's it, for her sake and yours, because if she wants to stay close to the British Alliance or lash back at the Countess and make the crew a fortune because she thinks it’s the best thing then she's probably the good sort. So, when I see that vault, and there are stacks of platinum, or prized data cells, or something else that her crew can get rich on, you'll find me looting that if no one else will, especially if it's something the Fleet back home would want. I'll leave plat behind for her because I think you'll be going wherever she does, and if I gave you a pile of booty, you'd just give it to her to divvy up anyway."
"You won't want a cut of whatever we pick up too?" Boro asked, doubtful. This argument had a new twist, but it still felt familiar to him. Greed was always Shamus' biggest downfall. He was hungrier than anyone in their old crew.
"You have a problem with me taking a cut? No problem. I'll pass. Look around, do you think a few pieces of platinum and a copy of some old real estate records or cache maps will change things for me? Not where I'm going, not in the Haven System. I'm going to war, no doubt about it, there's no treasure out here that can make what I'll be protecting on the fringe have less lustre. I thought you would always be the one who let a woman tie you down, but I beat you there, brother. My Stephanie and our unborn wee one along with everything I'm watching people try to build around her have more of a hold on me than anything. Well, anything but you."
"I forgot to congratulate you," Boro said. "I'm happy for you."
"Thank you. Fatherhood scares the bloody life out of me, if I'm being honest. I didn't know my father until I was twelve, and when he came back I soon wished he hadn't."
Boro's dad left when he was an infant, it was a common thing amongst his siblings. "Consequences of being a son to the most popular port wife on Dock Ring Three. Found out mother's still alive, by the way. She was spotted on Roa, I have no idea what she was doing there."
"Mother's alive?" Shamus asked. "Did she look well? What was she doing there?"
"I couldn't find out, she looked younger than me, and she was part of some pirate's entourage from the look of it. I wanted to find out who it was, but he's got someone scrubbing all the data on him and his lieutenants. Looked like she was a hanger on. I just hope she doesn’t still love being pregnant as much as she used to."
"Oh, good lord, we might have twenty brothers and sisters by now," Frost chuckled. The pair sat quietly for a moment before Shamus broached the one topic they were steering clear of. "You were always my best friend in our brood. Leaving you behind sent me down a dark road, I should have stayed and faced the same music you did."
"You never would have. I knew who you were back then. You wouldn't see the point of both of us getting arrested and jailed," Boro said.
"I'm trying to say I'm sorry, brother. I could have taken most of that time for you, left you with a record that could have been cleared later. A criminal record didn't matter much to me, but I know you wanted to be more than a ship thief and conman."
"Would have never worked. Mother had us scrounging and stealing on the docks before we were old enough to know better, and even a little service didn't straighten you out. We were bred into this."
"It took a long time, a lot of dark mishaps and one good Captain to show me that you can turn it around. Sure, sometimes procedure and rank make me wish I was entirely my own master sometimes, but I got a look at the bigger picture, and I see how much change one person can make. Anyone who says your fate is written by your start is working for the wrong side, brother. Don't believe it, you especially could be a white knight in Haven Shore. As for the rest of Spin's crew, and Spin herself, I see folks who would fit in well enough. Some would thrive, I think, though not all of 'em in the military. I think about Nigel and see nothing but potential, and he could put that to good use for himself in the Haven System."
"You barely know him," Boro replied. "And you sound like a recruiter."
"He reminds me of you when you were his age. Imagine if we didn’t get distracted or have to steal our way through those early years. I don't give a shit if he joins the military, there's so much for civilians to do, he'd never have to touch a trigger. It took a lot for me to trust Haven and the people putting it together, but we'll win this war, and when the air clears it'll be a place where people can really be free. You can see it for yourself in the database of this ship, there's plenty of real information there. I won't push it past that, just take a look when this business in the Geist system is all over."
"That's what I'm concentrating on, and I need to see you get your head straight and focus on that too," Boro said, still worried that his brother was too distracted. "We get what we need to save Spin and everyone like her, then I promise we'll take a real look at following you back. She'll be leaving a lot behind though."
"What? That ship? The Convoy King?" Shamus asked. "We'll latch to it and haul it back with us. If there are repairs left to be done, I can have those done in a day, an hour, most like. There are stations that can overhaul that whole ship in an afternoon in the Haven System."
"All right, fine, but you'll hold off on giving us your best pitch on following you back to the Haven System until we're done here. Concentrate on the Iron Mind until then. If you want to make up for leaving me behind, that's how you do it."
"Then I'll follow your lass into this hell and make sure we get out with what she needs. You have my word."
Thirty-One
The anticipation aboard the Sector Jumper was thick throughout the crew. Hal and Frost manned the two main control stations at the front of the slender bridge, while Spin and Nigel watched the science and tactical displays. Boro was at another station, remotely checking on everyone's suit and armament status. The suits ran diagnostics on themselves, the armaments and other equipment were mostly self-maintaining, but it was all new to them. Having someone go through their checklists couldn't hurt.
The rest of the crew were in the gun turrets, their weapons on hold from the bridge so a misfire wouldn't give them away. "Cloaking systems engaged, entering the Geist system," Hal said.
The ship emerged just past the outer most asteroid belt, leaving a brief energy bloom behind them as they re-entered normal space. The strange energy patter
ns and scanner data from the dimension they left behind was logged, and it was almost confounding to Spin. She'd examine it later if she had a chance, it was new science, a significant breakthrough in a time when such things almost never happened.
Hal guided the ship away from their emergence point in a hurry, starting a course that took them towards Doro Doro Station. "How good is the cloaking system? You're taking us awfully close to some active stations. Their scanners will be watching," Nigel said, looking at the course they were on.
"Don't worry," Hal replied, waving the concern off. "This is the best system ever made with redundancies and tech this part of the galaxy hasn't even dreamt up yet."
"Are you sure? There are already scanning posts coming up this far out."
"Our passive scanners are really sensitive," Hal said. "You're probably not used to seeing real time data this clearly this early."
"Time for that conversation," Frost said. "We have the cure for the Holocaust Virus, we can spread it out here and defeat the defences without firing a shot."
Spin already thought about that. In fact, she'd looked it up in the computer, and was amazed at what she saw. The Holocaust Counter Virus was a living program in the way that it was constantly being improved and updated by people in Haven Fleet. Where it came from and who made it was top secret, but if what they said about the results was true, it was amazing software. Any artificial intelligence that was infected by the Holocaust Virus would be either cleaned and restored to its normal operating state, or it would be permanently deleted along with all backups. The Counter Virus would create a placeholder program that was scripted to take over the basic functions of the artificial intelligence it destroyed. Whatever defences were being maintained by a virus infected artificial intelligence would be made safe.
The ship passed into the first cloud of debris. The walls of the small bridge displayed what was outside almost perfectly. For a moment it felt as though Spin was falling. "Whoa, warn us when you're about to do that," Nigel said.
"Sorry, thought you would want a good look. Some of the ships drifting around out here are so cool. I wish I could have seen 'em before they got half-slagged."
"What do you think?" Boro asked Spin.
She looked up at the open hull of a long battleship. It had been blasted open from the inside, armour torn like decorative sheet metal. A berthing with its bunks, lockers, showers and attached galley, even the commissary were visible. It looked wrong, like a violation of some kind. "I wonder what's more important: leaving whatever did this behind us to slow down whoever comes into the system down to buy us more time, or preventing this from happening again?"
"You're not considering dropping the antivirus on your way out of the system instead of on your way in, are you?" Frost asked, surprised.
"It's a valid tactic," Spin said, only half paying attention. The list of stations and powered ships were coming up, most of them had nothing to do with their current mission. There were thousands of companies doing research and trade in the Geist System before the virus spread and took control. The solar system was a major hub, with as much information trade as commerce, and it would be again after the virus was clear, only this time raiders, company reclamation forces and governments would war over what was left. With the counter virus in hand, she could choose when that would start, and the only factor she considered was how well it would serve her and her crew. "I'm only here for one thing, and the easier I can make it for us, the better. I couldn't care less about the vultures circling the system, waiting to find a way in to steal anything they can. If I'm lucky, they'll just become another distraction, I don't really care if they get slagged."
"Cold, and that's coming from me," Frost snickered. "A lot of people would end up fighting and dying when you could prevent it right now."
"You have changed," Boro told Frost.
"This wreckage is the remnant of a slaughter, not a battle. No soldier or sailor deserves this death. These ships were slagged seconds after jumping in," Frost retorted.
"He's right," Spin said. "Your virus won't shut all the threats down, though."
"It's done miracles before, you watch," Frost retorted.
"There are air-gapped security systems here, and the infection is old in this system. It's probably taken a few turns that the programming didn't take into account. Besides; even if we were here before the Holocaust Virus infected the majority of the machines, do you really think we'd be welcome?" Spin asked as she watched the dead husks of three fighters drift past. There were red and yellow lights inside one shedding just enough illumination to show the outline of a drone. It looked like it was staring right at them, but then, that was probably just in her head. "Let's send your program out so we can see if it makes things better or worse."
"Programming a stealth drone with the virus and setting it to broadcast one minute after it's clear," Hal said, his fingers working on a small panel between his and Frost's stations without looking. "Ready to launch, Captain."
"Launch it and put an extra turn or two in our course," Frost ordered.
"Aye," Hal said. A faint click somewhere behind their cabin sounded and he guided the ship around the half-picked remains of a carrier many times their size with a flourish. After a couple more turns they were back on course, approaching Doro Doro from a slightly different direction.
"It's broadcasting," Spin said as the drone began to send data to every receiver in range. "Fifteen percent is already uploaded in the first burst, but it's slowing down a lot."
"I have… something powering up. A lot of things. Small, about two metres long," Nigel said nervously.
"Seventeen percent transmitted," Spin said. "Those are automated defence drones, just a guess."
With shocking speed five attack drones burst from their hiding places in the wreckage of their defeated foes and opened fire on the stealth drone. It was easy to track as it transmitted the anti-virus. A larger ship emerged, an oval with dozens of red and yellow eyes across its surface activated and started moving into the area. Several drones launched, sensor eyes reflecting the collected sparse light.
They followed their stealth drone's signal to its source, firing cutting beams, micro-missiles, and energy bursts from all directions. It only took a few seconds for their drone to be blasted to pieces. The infected ships responsible returned to their hiding places slowly as if watching for more enemies. The mother ship passed through the space, picking up several parts of the Haven stealth drone and putting them inside its shell.
"How much did it…" Frost started to ask.
"Twenty five percent was uploaded," Spin replied.
"Maybe if we go further away from their defences?" Nigel asked.
"This system was a fortress," Spin said. "There are hundreds of armed stations, thousands of picket ships and fighters before the virus hit. How powerful is this ship? Could it stand up to a real attack while it broadcasted?"
"If we could get more distance from those bots," Hal said, nodding at Nigel.
"Not enough to transmit with a drone," Frost said. "The ship could take a direct attack, she's made to take on military targets several times her size. We could hold out while we broadcast, then go back into stealth mode. We'll have to make some noise though. I'll take a gunnery port, Boro will take another."
"Whoa, what about launching a bunch of those stealth drones instead?" Nigel asked. "I don't like the idea of being the target."
"Now that those ships are on alert a dozen drones could finish the upload," Hal said.
"Do they have to finish the whole upload? Won't the receivers out there automatically resume that where it left off?"
"Doubtful. If the drones are attacking anything that transmits or reveals itself, we have to assume that the digital environment is just as hostile," Spin said. "They probably cleared their buffers the moment the upload failed. We need to send the whole antivirus. Even then, there's no guarantee."
"Okay, where do you want me?" Nigel sighed.
"Navigati
on," Hal said. "I'm going to need to move from one good piece of cover to the next while we broadcast."
"I don't know how good I'll be, I haven't had much practice."
"You know your way around the tactical system just fine, I've seen the scores you posted yesterday," Hal said as Frost nodded at him.
"I didn't post anything, I just plotted a bunch of courses through some dangerous looking scenarios and learned to read the system." Nigel looked genuinely taken aback. He was hesitant to take on something so new, but that was the situation they were in. Everything on that ship seemed user-friendly, but entirely fresh, almost alien. It was difficult for anyone to be sure they were doing well at all.
"It's all training, buddy. Every time you improve or take on something new there's a score, you just can't see them because you're still a newbie. At home you'd be doing tests to join the academy, and you'd probably pass fine."
"Is the military the only thing to do where you come from?" Nigel said as he slipped into the co-pilot's seat.
"Oh, hell no, there's more to do there than pretty much anywhere I've been, and I've been around a bit," Hal said. "Get set at your station and keep your eyes open. You'll be plenty of help while I fly this thing."
"So, we're doing this," Frost said to Boro and Spin. "Hal will figure out the best spot for us to transmit from and we'll get all guns firing. If everyone keeps their cool, I doubt our shields will drop three percent. I'd like you to take a seat in the middle of this bridge here," he told Spin.
"It should be you," she told Frost. "I don't know the systems well enough, and I don't have the experience."
"Just because I'm giving you the seat, doesn't mean you're getting the rank. You won't be Captain. You'll be the one who watches for the problems we won't have time to notice. Like Hal said; I saw your scores and your reading habits. If I opened up the whole manual for this ship you'd know her better than me inside a week, I'm sure."
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