by Jan Domagala
“Yeh, we had fun Vance,” Torres replied.
“Amazing how fast times goes by when you’re having so much fun, isn’t it guys?”
“You know as well as I do that after a day of nothing to do you’d be bored shitless,” Riley said.
“I’d like the chance to find out, wouldn’t you guys?” Vance said looking to the others for support.
“Okay, I get it, you’re all pissed. I’ll see what can be done once this is done with, will that suffice?” Riley offered by way of placating his team.
“What about bonuses, that would be good too,” pushed Vance.
“Here’s a bonus for you, my foot up your ass, how’s that sound?” Riley countered.
“Oh Jake, I love it when you talk dirty,” joked Vance.
“Yeh right, come on people, let’s move it, we’re back on the clock.”
17
Argus Marko was the leader of the Outlaws. A veteran of the Elysium Alliance Black Knights Marko was tall and muscular standing at well over six feet tall with arms and legs that bulged with muscle. His dark hair was cut short, cropped close to his scalp. He had deep brown eyes that scanned the men working at stations around him, he was a martinet and ran the operation with a military precision.
Their base of operations, which he stood in, now was put together from various sections of starships that had been destroyed in the battlefield and abandoned as scrap.
“Check the ship’s manifest, then the passenger list. I want to know who was on board and why they came so close,” he said.
“Yes sir, several lifeboats evacuated the ship, I’m waiting for reports from the attack ships,” replied Barak Tarkovic, his first lieutenant who was on the Queen.
“You know what to do.”
*****
Riley and the team arrived back at Area 15 as fast as they could then went straight down to Col Sec HQ deep underground. All pretence at being angry at their leave having been cancelled was forgotten. The four of them changed back into the pale blue jump suits all team members wore then made their way to the briefing room.
“Welcome back, sorry to recall you so soon but this is a bad one. Designated a Wildfire Event simply because if not checked it would run through the Confederation like a wildfire. This team was put together to tackle such events, hence the name,” Sinclair said sombrely.
“What exactly has happened sir?” Riley asked, his expression grave.
“The Colonial Queen, the flagship of the Colonial Line was chartered a few weeks ago by Prince Aswan and I’ve just received word that they are stranded at the Tartaran Battlefield,” Sinclair informed them gravely.
“But that’s a Forbidden Zone,” Torres said stating the obvious.
“Correct Lieutenant, the how they got there is of no concern now, we’ll deal with that at a later date the why is simple. The Prince is fascinated by the area and charted the cruise, I can only assume on the hope of visiting it. Well that seems to have happened but in doing so he’s not only put himself, the ship and its entire crew and other passengers at risk but the entire galaxy as well.”
“Sir if we and the Alliance have been monitoring the area how is it that a cruise liner was allowed to just wander in there?” Cooper asked.
“Since the Outlaws moved in there we cut back on the observation posts as did the Alliance. With the area protected under interstellar law and presided over by the worst scum in the galaxy who in their right mind would want to visit the place, right? The planet’s eco system has been destroyed by the war anyway, the entire area is bathed in dangerous levels of radiation, it’s a mystery to me why even the Outlaws want to live there.”
“So where has all this information about the incident come from sir?” Riley asked wondering how the General knew about it all so quickly.
“One of the passengers contacted me personally via a sub space burst transmission, giving me a sit-rep including the passenger list.”
Riley looked at his team and their expressions were as confused as his. When he returned his gaze to Sinclair the General was smiling.
“I know, I don’t know how he did it either, to compress all that data into a burst transmission via his NI, to me personally, over such a vast distance is unheard of but then we are talking about Kurt Stryder here,” Sinclair said before Riley could ask.
“Kurt Stryder is on board, how?” Riley asked.
“That much I don’t know but the fact he is just made your job that much easier and conversely, doubly important. The Alliance tried to grab him once before to gain access to the serum he was administered. Thanks to the bravery of some very dedicated soldiers, that attempt failed. I do not want another attempt on top of everything else. We have to act before they find out about the breach of the treaty.
“I’ve initiated a complete media blackout of the incident from the Colonial Line so that threat is negated for the time being so we have to move fast on this one people.”
“Can we rely on Stryder for assistance in any of this sir?” Torres asked.
“Kurt is one of the best soldiers I’ve ever had the pleasure to know and work with, so yes.”
“But didn’t he resign his commission saying he wanted nothing to do with Col Sec anymore, sir?” Cooper asked.
“He’s Recon Delta Coop,” Riley said answering the question.
“What about the Prince, won’t he have his own security detail, perhaps they may be able to help?” asked Vance.
“Actually he had a unit from the Diplomatic Corp Security,” Sinclair said looking at Riley who’s expression blanched, all colour draining from his face.
Torres saw this and said, “What?”
“Jake, it’s Natasha,” Sinclair said.
Riley glanced away, he’d already knew the answer from the General’s expression and tone of voice.
“Oh this just get’s better and better,” he said as he tried to regain some of his composure. The mention of her name was like a shot to the gut almost paralysing him.
“Who’s she sir?” asked Torres as delicately as she could looking from Riley to Sinclair.
Riley nodded his head, not to give permission, more to say he was ready for what was to come. His team had to be able to trust him as he did them and if there was any detail of the mission that could compromise that trust and therefore compromise the mission, they had to know from the outset.
“Natasha Garvey and Riley knew each other years ago, had a relationship to the point where they were to be married but decided to go their separate ways for their careers,” Sinclair explained.
“She decided,” snapped Riley, his eyes blazing.
“That nerve still a tad raw then Jake?” Sinclair asked.
Riley paused, glanced at his friends then to the General said, “What do you expect? Don’t worry though sir, the mission comes first, as always. I’ll sort out the personal stuff later.”
“You do that, this is too important for you to allow personal feelings to get in the way,” Sinclair said coldly. “One last thing, I had a starship commissioned from RandCorp especially for this team. She’s in Hangar 5 under wraps. She only arrived two days ago, you were supposed to take her out on field trials when you got back from R and R. You’ll have to complete them on the run, as it were.”
“Just for us, oh you shouldn’t have sir,” joked Vance.
Ignoring him Sinclair continued with, “She’s called the Pulsar, she’s equipped with stealth technology, triple hull plating, both primary and secondary shielding and has the armament of a light battle cruiser. Forward, aft and lateral pulse cannons with missile tubes forward and aft that can deliver a variety of Sabre, Hammerhead or Cutlass missiles.”
“You’re joking, right?” Cooper said adding, “In a ship that size, there’s no way.”
“What size, oh you mean able to fit in Hangar 5? I’m sorry did I give the impression it’s all in there? I meant just the forward section. The rest is in orbit, cloaked, she’s too big to bring down,” Sinclair said with a wry smile.
As the team looked at each other with bewilderment Sinclair said, “Okay, that’s it, dismissed. Everything you need is on board, I’ll upload Kurt’s sit-rep to your onboard computer.”
Riley said, “Aye sir, c’mon team, we’ve a job to do.”
As they reached the door Sinclair said, “Good luck.”
“Thank you sir,” Riley answered speaking for all of them and then they were gone, the door closing silently behind them.
18
Once Tarkovic had checked the passenger list against who was left on board, he contacted Marko.
“We’ve accounted for everyone we got to on board and all the lifeboats except one, were destroyed,” he said.
“Take a team and follow up,” replied Marko.
“I’m on it,” Tarkovic said, and then added, “we may have a problem.”
“Such as?” Marko said, as usual succinct, direct and to the point.
“According to the ship’s manifest it was a charter by Prince Aswan,” Tarkovic told him. There was a pause while Marko digested what he’d heard. He said, “This could be bad, just the sort of attention we’ve tried to avoid. Here’s what you need to do, if he’s alive find him, if not, shit! We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
“He could be on that lifeboat that went down on the planet,” Tarkovic offered.
“You never said it went down on the planet, damnit, is there anything else you failed to mention?” replied Marko furiously.
“No sir.”
“Get down there now with your best men and find that craft. Report back to me the second you locate it. If he’s alive I want him brought back to me, unharmed. Is that understood?”
“Yes sir.”
“When I ask for a full report I expect just that. Keep that in mind, for the next report you give me that’s shy of any detail, no matter how small, it’ll be your last. Now go!”
*****
Riley and the team took the express elevator to the surface. Hangar 5 was the outermost hangar, being the largest it needed access to the huge doors at the front and room to move the contents in, or out.
“Well guys, this is it,” Riley said as they reached the personnel access panel at the side of the huge double doors. “Let’s see what this thing looks like,” he added as he punched the access code into the numerical keypad to unlock the door. Sensors in the security panel had already completed biometric scans of all four of them on their approach to identify them; the access code was simply the last step in the procedure.
As they entered lights automatically came on bathing the interior of the huge hangar with clean, bright light that chased the shadows off to hide in dark recesses and far away corners like some strange nocturnal creatures.
Before them stood a sleek craft as tall as the interior of the hangar or so it seemed, from their viewpoint they couldn’t see the top of the craft as it stretched high up almost to the ceiling. Looking down the flanks, not much was discernable in the way of markings or insignia. She was obviously purpose built for covert work, should the need arise and just looking at her gave them some idea just how much planning had gone into their team and it’s purpose.
“Holy shit! If this is just the forward section, how big is this thing?” Vance said as he asked the question on all their minds.
“More to the point, how the hell are the four of us supposed to run a ship of that size?” Torres asked as she looked toward the rear of the craft over a hundred metres away. The bulk of the ship filled the interior of the hangar and them with awe.
The moment they approached the hatch it slid open and a stairway extended out down to the floor for them to use. The ships landing struts were extended from the underside of the craft which meant there was a clearance beneath it a man could walk through. The hatch was in the side of her, high above their heads.
“How?” Cooper muttered.
“Did you do that?” Torres finished for him.
“I’m as much in the dark as you are. Let’s get aboard, I’ve a feeling all our answers will be in there,” Riley said smiling.
He led his team up the stairway into the Pulsar’s forward section. The moment they entered, lights came on throughout the craft as did instrument panels.
“Welcome aboard Captain Riley, you too Lieutenant’s Vance; Cooper and Torres,” a warm, friendly voice said seemingly from all around them.
“Who the, what the?” stammered Vance as he looked around to see if there was anyone else with them.
“No need to worry Lieutenant Vance, we are quite alone,” said the strangely asexual voice which froze Vance like a statue.
“This is so weird,” exclaimed Cooper.
“Who are you?” asked Riley calmly.
“I am Artificial Integrated Intelligence Control Module,” replied the voice.
Riley looked around at the interior of the craft. “Okay, but where are you?”” he asked not liking not being able to see who he was talking to.
“Wait, wait, say again who you are,” Vance said grimacing at the memory.
“I am Artificial Integrated Intelligence Control Module.”
“I take it you’re a prototype system, we have nothing like you at this time in use,” Riley enquired.
“I am indeed Captain Riley, very perceptive of you. I have been in development in my present form for the past sixteen years, eight months, three weeks, two days, fourteen hours and three minutes, give or take.”
“Ah yes, October twelfth, I remember it well,” Cooper said deadpan.
“Not quite Lieutenant Cooper, the actual date was....”
“We get it, a long time ago, he was joking,” Riley said cutting off the Modules flow.
“And you’re incredibly anal,” Vance told the Module although he was unsure where to direct his comment.
“Do I take it you’re in control of this ship?” Riley asked trying to get back on track and understand just what they’d been given.
“I am indeed, along with monitoring your life signs, environment when you’re away from the ship so that I can relay accurate data to you from the local terrain to anything within my data banks you may require for research.”
“That’s cool,” Torres said.
“Very cool,” agreed Vance.
“Our very own Big Brother, or Eye in the Sky,” added Cooper.
“But what do we call you?” Riley asked adding, “If we are to communicate with you we have to know what to call you. What’s your name?”
“I have no name sir, I am simply, Artificial Integrated Intelligence Control Module.”
“Screw that, we’ll call you Artie for now, until we can come up with something else,” Riley said.
“Hey, wait a minute, don’t we get to choose?” Torres asked indignantly.
“Nope, not today. I’m in charge and we’re in a hurry, decision made,” Riley said.
“Yes sir,” Vance said before Torres could argue. She glanced at Riley then Vance, then throwing her arms up in exasperation said, “This team needs more women.”
“Glad that’s sorted, now Artie take us up to dock with the rest of the Pulsar. We have a job to do and we need to get started,” Riley said before moving off to check out the rest of the ship.
Torres looked at Vance and asked, “You’ve known him the longest, have you ever seen him like that before?”
“Well for a start, I’ve not known him for much longer than you or Mack but I suspect this is related to Natasha Garvey. By his reaction to what the General said about the break up I suspect she handled it better than he did,” Vance replied.
“Well the sooner we find her and get her to safety, if we can, the better for all of us,” Torres said with a sigh.
“I’m sure if this Kurt Stryder is as good as Sinclair says he is then I’m sure she’ll be safe and well, just waiting to be picked up,” Cooper said.
19
On the planet’s surface, the lifeboat had crashed into the forest that covered the ground for miles. Unable to get an a
ccurate sensor reading on the thickness of the foliage as they hurtled through the atmosphere there was nothing left to do except brace for impact.
The structural integrity of the small craft held keeping the occupants safe although Kurt was sent crashing into the forward viewport from his seat in the crumpled forward section.
Aswan’s harness held though keeping him firmly in place although he had sustained a blow to the head during the crash, which rendered him unconscious.
Looking back up the length of the lifeboat Kurt saw Natasha hanging in her harness and looking terrified. Behind her was the limp form of the prince and when he saw how loose he was he hoped he was not injured. They were in enough trouble as it was not to add an injury to the list.
Behind him the viewport, although built to withstand the rigours of space travel, was severely weakened by the craft being attacked and the crash into the trees. A crack appeared level with his shoulders. Another crack appeared and he felt the viewport give just a little.
The viewport was weakening, Kurt could feel the cracks spreading and he knew that within seconds it would give way completely. If he didn’t move before then he would fall through to the forest floor beneath.
Slowly and very carefully he began to lift himself off the viewscreen.
Another crack appeared beneath him. The more he moved, the faster cracks appeared.
Once he had managed to get to his haunches he knew he had just one chance to get off the viewport. Kurt knew the second he made his move the viewport would collapse beneath him.
Bunching his leg muscles in preparation he steadied himself. The pilots seat wasn’t that far away, a matter of a metre or so but without a stable base to push off from it may as well have been a kilometre away
Natasha looked at him, trying to remain calm but seeing the cracks getting longer and joining up forming star patterns she knew as well as Kurt that he was running out of time.
Taking a deep breath, Kurt launched himself off the viewport towards the pilots chair. The second he moved the cracks gave way and the entire viewport collapsed away.