by Scott Lucas
“What do you know of the Vice-President Orba DeWilda?”
“Why?”
“Never mind. It has nothing to do with the pirates or the Zostriacium. I’m not allowing prejudice to influence my thinking in the matter.”
“What prejudice? Why are you angry?”
Tem thought, what the hell, and said, “There’s a ring on her finger, a red and black rose.”
“It’s not a symbol reserved for the Star Chamber,” Ahmad said.
“I know, but…” Tem took a deep breath. “She could be a sympathizer with the very people who decimated my Order.”
“I’ll look more deeply into her records and I will get back to you. Stay vigilant. The shipment leaves tomorrow. Are you ready for that?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
Ahmad smiled. “Report back to me afterwards.”
Ahmad ended the transmission.
Tem slept inside his cabin aboard the Wyvern Star and prepared for tomorrow. He felt more at peace there despite how much time he spent cooped up for long journeys. He would probably never sleep soundly anywhere else again. Not while the galaxy still hunted him.
Chapter Nine: The Shipment is Ready
The cargo ship towed a barge loaded with their precious z-ore shipment. The cargo ship had been and reinforced with upgraded weapons and scanners.
Vosper had invested in several protective measures since the first pirate attack.
Two security ships escorted the cargo ship from the launch bay. From the observation tower, the ships in formation looked like a diamond with two great points and two lesser.
Tem double tapped on his left wrist and a subcutaneous implant displayed an AI screen. On the holographic screen, Tem told the Wyvern Star to prepare for takeoff.
The AI confirmed the commands. When Tem arrived at the hangar, the Wyvern Star was primed and ready. Tem stepped into his Paladin suit and helmet, and connected with the ship and her systems.
He was a Paladin, one who protected refugee ships from harm. This job was second nature to him. As he took the turbo lift down from the tower and exited on the ground level, the impending battle already made him feel like a Paladin again. Once suited up and seated into the Wyvern Star’s cockpit, Tem surprised himself once again by how easy it was to slip into the battle-calm of meditation.
Perhaps this was one of my Order’s flaws, he thought. We feel at home in battle.
He had missed this, he admitted to himself as the Wyvern Star emerged from the hangar bay.
He hit the comm switch that connected him to the tower. “Patch me into the fleet comms.”
Tem waited inside the Wyvern Star behind one of the larger asteroids in the Mollastian Fields belt.
A voice from behind the scanner computers shouted out, “Ships approaching!”
“This is where the fun begins,” Tem whispered to himself.
Seven ships, smaller than the security vessels but much faster, known as Stingers, emerged from behind other asteroids and fired upon the cargo ship. The cargo ship fired back. The cargo ship’s guns were a new development, and they winged one of the pirate ships within the first three shots. The damaged ship spiraled into a nearby asteroid and disappeared from sight among its craters.
Three more pirate ships encircled the cargo ship like wolves around a mighty but lumbering buffalo. The cargo ship was no match for their speed and relentless barrage of attacks. The cargo ship took several hits along either bow.
The security ships engaged the other three pirate vessels. The pirate Stinger ships were faster than the Nytech security ships. The Stinger ships buzzed past the security ships to attack the cargo ship. As the cargo ship struggled toward the edge of the asteroid belt, another, larger ship arrived from behind one of the fringe asteroids.
“An Arcazian Dreadnaught,” Control confirmed.
Tem recognized the pattern. He had defended many refugee ships from just such an attack formation.
Tem whispered, “Time I earned my keep.”
A moment later, there was a crackle over the earpiece in his helmet, and a barrage of frenzied voices. Commands, warnings, oaths and prayers.
“Settle down,” Tem commanded none too loudly, but the sounds over the wire went substantially quieter as those who were at their own headsets heard him. “Sound off. Who’s here?”
The first voice answered immediately. The man sounded shaken, but determined. “Security One. Casper.”
“Ah, er. Security Two. Ajax.” There was a rumble of static over the comms as Security Two took a bolt across the hull. “Damn! Sasha, get our drone to port side!”
“Keep it together, Two.” Tem’s brows lowered as he watched a drone clamber into place over the damaged hull of the security vessel. “Cargo. Sound off.”
“Dorikki here.” The slightly reedy voice of a female Rintekki came over the line. “Who the hell is this?”
“This is Temirlan Blaev, your security consultant.”
“Bloody hell,” muttered Ajax.
“That’s enough from you, Ajax.” Vosper was on the line now. “Do as he says.”
The pirate ships had all rounded on the cargo ship again after the last assault. The rest stuck to the security ships’ every move.
As he came within range of the freighter’s attackers, Tem gave orders over the comm. “Security, get those wasps off your mother-ship’s tail. I’ll cover you.”
Security One was more immediate in its response and darted toward the fray around the cargo ship. A Stinger stuck to the blind spot above it. Tem fired a rapid grouping of missiles into the cockpit of the tailing pirate ship. Something gave inside the interior, and the ship spiraled into a precipitous dive toward one of the fringe asteroids. Security One picked off one of the cargo ship’s attackers.
The second security ship remained on the defensive. Its spiraling attempts to shake its tail was carrying it further from the cargo ship.
“What did I just say, Two?” Tem bellowed into the headset. “Protect the shipment! I have this!”
Another pirate ship broke off from the assault of the cargo ship and flanked Security Two from the other side.
“Damn it all.” Tem peeled off from the cargo ship and made his way toward Security Two.
As he did, a shudder surged through his ship. He had his own tail now. He dropped into a spiraling dive that popped his ears. The Wyvern Star zipped and rolled around the asteroids, and Tem lost his own tailing Stinger when it crashed into a passing rock. Tem fired on the pirate firing on Security Two.
“Get back to the cargo ship, Two!”
As the two remaining pirate Stinger ships fell into their wake, the Wyvern Star and Security Two streaked back toward the cargo ship. Security One tailed closely by the third remaining small attacker.
“I got a wasp on me!”
“I’ll swat it!” Tem yelled.
Tem spiraled free of his tail once more, this time heading for a point that could have been the underside of the battle if there had been any gravity. The Stinger on his tail caught onto the maneuver more quickly than before, and Tem took a missile blast to the hull as he raced toward the underside of Security One’s attacker. His three shots went wild, and something stuck in the ship’s controls.
“Come on, Wyv.”
The Wyvern Star sputtered, dipped for a moment, and gunned back into motion.
“That’s it.” Tem thumped one fist fondly against the console.
Something massive and metal slammed into the right side of the Wyvern Star.
“What the hell?”
It was Security Two, an actively flaming hole open near the back of the security ship. Tem dropped the Wyvern Star out of the vicinity of the wreckage, but there was a snap in one wing, and the entire cabin went off-kilter. He had to strain against the controls to keep from going into a spiral.
“Come on, Wyv! Work with me.”
“I am doing my best to maintain control, sir.”
The ship that had fired on Security Two joined
its fellow at Tem’s tail. Just as it coasted into position, there was a massive burst of energy from the cargo ship, and they blew away both tailing pirate ships. Over the comms, he heard Dorikki shriek with triumph. “Way to go!”
The Dreadnaught bided its time. It hovered just out of reach of the cargo ship’s guns.
Tem circled and came back to follow the last remaining Stinger, which fired a barrage at Security One, performing a frantic series of evasive actions.
Tem approached the final stinger from below and blasted through its hull. He sent another shot through its wing, and it jolted suddenly into a dizzying plummet.
“Cargo, head back to the colony,” Tem ordered. “We’ll cover you.”
The dreadnaught, faster than its size would have suggested, suddenly jolted into motion and fired a missile. The missile hit the cargo ship and left scorch marks on the surface.
“Slow it down,” Tem ordered Security One. “Take out its wings. If we don’t take that Dreadnaught out of commission all this will be for nothing.”
They charged from either side. The Wyvern Star was faster than the security vessel and came within firing range first. Tem sent a series of grouping blasts onto one wing, but like the cargo ship, the pirate ship was more heavily shielded than smaller vessels.
“Pick a spot,” Casper said. “Break it down.”
A single blast from the pirate ship flared out from one of the side guns and hit Security One’s cockpit. A ragged human sucked into the vacuum of space.
A shot from a side gun clipped one of the Wyvern Star’s wings. Tem seized the controls and struggled to pull the Wyvern Star out of a corkscrew dive.
The Wyvern Star lurched and twisted almost over. Another burst from the dreadnaught rattled the Wyvern Star’s frame.
Warning lights and several system failures flashed madly on the console. Tem guessed the last blast gutted the engine and breached the power crystal’s chamber. This was not something he could fix in the middle of a war zone. The Wyvern Star was out of commission.
He could not abandon the cargo and the crew. He had to get aboard that dreadnaught. The cargo ship was closer to him than the colony, and it would be easier to reach, in theory. He just hoped that none of the attacking ships would focus on the drifting Wyvern Star anymore.
He grabbed a tool kit and diamond-tipped hull-cutter as he threw open a locker and pulled out a coiled safety cable in case he needed to attach himself to the cargo ship. Tem magnetically attached his pulsar cannon onto his right leg and his phase pistol holstered on his left hip.
His helmet was already on his head, and the life-support had activated to the change of pressure outside. He had to wedge the hatchway open with one of the many crates in the cabin as he clambered out onto the side of the ship.
“I’ll be back soon, Wyv.”
Tem magnetized his boots as Wyv sucked the air out of the ship. Tem opened the cargo bay doors and shot out of the ship.
He activated the thrusters in his suit and got his bearings. The pirate dreadnaught now loomed over its prey.
Tem maneuvered between the cargo ship and the dreadnaught.
Another shot from the pirate ship’s guns battered the cargo ship. In his ear, Tem’s comm system suddenly came back online. The first thing he heard was Dorikki calling for backup. Then a squabble over another link as Vosper seized a mic at the control station.
“Temirlan!”
“Stand by,” Tem said.
Vosper sputtered over the link. “Stand by? I thought you were adrift!”
“Long story.”
Tem propelled himself toward the rear of the dreadnaught. Several hatchways along the hull that appeared to be airlocks.
“Tem, where are you? There’s no signal from your ship.”
“Wyv’s out of commission for the moment, I’m afraid.”
“Stay put. We’re launching relief vessels. We’ll pick you up.”
“Negative. I’m not inside my ship anymore. I’m taking a walk,” he said.
“A walk?”
Tem squared up against an airlock, found the security bar used by the ship’s repair men during spacewalks, and clipped the safety tether around the bar. He retracted the tether to its shortest length. He needed both hands for this and he wanted to minimize drifting as much as possible. With his arm wrapped around the pylon, he opened the case of tools and cursed as several of them floated free. He searched the jumble for the hull-cutter, snatched it, and powered it up.
“Tem, where are you?” Vosper’s transmission popped with static.
Tem began the slow process of cutting through the first layer of the dreadnaught’s hatch. “Send those relief vessels,” he said. “I hope you won’t need them.”
From the colony asteroid, ships began to pour out like ants. They swung into the asteroid belt and started to fire on the pirate ship. A missile flew dangerously close to Tem’s head and scorched the bulwark next to him. He forced himself to breathe slowly, but now that he was clinging helplessly to the side of an enemy vessel.
He cut an L-shaped hole into the first layer of the airlock and turned another corner to peel back. He bent the metal away and cut at another layer of the hatchway. This one was easier to get through, and after a few moments of prying and bludgeoning the sides of the hole, Tem forced his way through. He unhooked the grapple from the hull outside and used the side of the hole to launch himself down the airlock toward the second hatchway at the end.
Before he went to work, Tem grappled onto the rim of the hatchway. The interior door’s large crank resisted Tem’s attempts to turn it when the chamber depressurized. Tem stowed the hull-cutter and tried the crank. The Paladin armor was as strong as most machines, and the crank finally turned with several jagged pops.
With one more hard pull, the crank slammed, and the hatch exploded open, which nearly threw Tem into the wall of the airlock. The pylon played out with such speed that Tem’s entire torso jostled by the sudden stop when the pylon ran out of length.
Tem saw the flashing red lights inside the ship’s interior. It was likely the connecting corridor was being sealed off. Tem climbed a hand over hand toward the open hatchway and pulled himself inside. He floated in a depressurized corridor sealed off from the rest of the ship. He pulled the hatch closed behind him, located the control panel, and hit the switch to restore normal pressure.
Tem hung still and quiet, sinking slightly as the chamber arrived at homeostasis. The sound of blaring alarms suddenly became audible. The chamber normalized, Tem’s feet hit the floor with a clang, and he made his way to the hatch that connected to the rest of the ship.
At the touch of a single button, the hatch swung open to reveal several frantic-looking engineers. The engineers shrank back from the armored figure who strode into their midst. Tem grabbed them by their necks and shoved them into the corridor he had come through.
With his baton, he shorted out the control panel, and moved forward toward the upper levels of the ship.
Groups of armed guards fired their blasters at the intruder. Their blaster fire vainly attempted to pierce through his plexi-carbon graphene suit. The blasts across his visor started a painful tick behind one of his eyes, but there was very little structural damage. The Paladin fired back, taking them out.
Tem made it to the bridge with only a few scorched plates and one elbow joint in his armor that seemed a little sticky from a guard’s lucky shot.
The pilot had sealed himself into the bridge, but Tem seized a guard as he fled and shook his face in front of the control panel until the man understood what he wanted. The door swung open and Tem tossed the guard aside.
Tem fired on the bridge crew, who had been waiting to fire on him.
“Vosper,” Tem said.
Vosper answered so quickly that Tem was sure the man had been waiting with his finger on the comm button. “Where are you, Tem?”
“Send the cargo ship on its way. The dreadnaught is ours.”
Chapter Ten: Analysis of the
Battle
The colonists cheered as the dreadnaught sailed into the hangar. Tem brought home their new trophy. He landed the immense craft gently.
Following the captured dreadnaught, the relief vessels towed the Wyvern Star into the hangar.
As Tem stepped down from the hatchway of the pirate dreadnaught, it pained him to see his trusty ship sustained so much damage. He knew he could repair it, and, he began to plot out in his head what he would repair first. Before attending to weapons systems or life support, he would devote all his energy to reviving the AI. He relied on Wyv, not only for operating the ship, but also as his constant companion.
Tem, so engrossed by the pitiable appearance of his ship, failed to notice the looks from the occupants inside the hangar. At first, Tem thought they were gaping at the dreadnaught, until he remembered that he was still wearing his Paladin armor.
Word of his identity as a Paladin would circulate quicker than the air in the life support system. Tem considered ducking aboard the Wyvern Star to change back into his security uniform, but it was too late.
The new theocratic government partially funded the Roschin Colony, and there were likely to be a few more anti-Order zealots among the colony’s occupants. It was possible that one zealot might be a colony head.
Tem had barely taken two steps toward the Wyvern Star before the hangar doors slid open and Orba DeWilda breezed past security, flanked by Arno Wurth and Vosper Chu. Garrow and two other security men marched behind.
Tem stopped walking and stood to meet them.
So much for being discreet, he thought and he removed and held his helmet.
The sight of the captured dreadnaught that overshadowed the rest of the hangar distracted Vosper and Arno Wurth. Only Orba looked at Tem first. Tem scanned her face for signs of any emotion. One of her pale eyebrows rose slightly, but that was the only reaction he could discern.
DeWilda stopped several yards in front of Tem. The rest of the group formed up around her, waiting to see what she would do. Tem had to resist the urge to glance down at the ring on her hand. According to that multifaceted rose, the Star Chamber Tribunal would learn his identity soon enough.