Heat Seeker

by Scot C Morgan

  "You know we can't," Sarah said. "We have to fight, even if it means..."

  Jake put the ship into evasive maneuvers, steering the ship clear of several shots from the General's mercenary ships. He knew he couldn't keep it up forever, and, though Sarah was fast, he recognized the ships the General's men piloted. They'd be able to keep up with him. Shooting him and his crew from the rear into oblivion would only be a matter of time. Running wasn't an option. Neither was trying to take out six formidable ships. He was good and Sarah was capable, but he knew it wouldn't be enough.

  To buy himself a few more seconds to think, he flew the ship closer to one of the merc ships, using it as cover from the others. But that meant direct fire at close range. He hoped Sarah's shields could withstand the assault that was sure to come any moment.

  "Jake! What are you doing?" Sarah might've overridden the ship's controls, but Jake had long ago set it up so that his manual controls couldn't be bypassed.

  "Prolonging the inevitable." Jake felt a tremendous sense of guilt for what he'd done. In an effort to free Sarah and himself from the perpetual threat the General posed to their lives, he had unwittingly brought the General's ultimate victory to fruition. He glanced at Tiffin and Dewey and saw how scared they looked. He was no stranger to regret, but he now felt it like he never had before.

  Why did I let them talk me into letting them stay?

  He reached for the controls to fire into the mercenary ship, but the realization that it wouldn't save Sarah and the crew he'd promised himself to protect sapped him of the will to act.

  "Jake," Sarah said. "He's hailing us."

  Jake was surprised, but then it dawned on him that the General probably wanted to gloat before the kill. Jake maintained a faint glimmer of hope that he might be able to find a way out of their situation yet. "Put him on."

  The General appeared on the screen, a wicked grin on his face.

  Jake wanted to curse the man who'd crippled his life and was now about to end it along with three innocent lives, but he restrained himself. See if there's a way. He hoped the General might reveal something he could exploit—a desperate blind hope, but his will not only to survive, but more importantly to save the three lives he'd imperiled compelled him not to let give up.

  "You see now," the General said, "why I am the General, and you...you, Mudd, are nothing."

  Jake was disappointed, but not surprised. He could see by the look on the General's face that the man merely wanted to relish the moment before ordering his ships to attack and finish the job.

  "This is between you and me," Jake said. "There's no need to take out the ship." Jake knew the General was aware of Sarah, not the one Jake gave up his mercenary ways to be with—the flesh and blood woman whose love changed his life, but what remained of her. The woman Jake intended to spend the rest of his life with was gone. The A.I. Sarah was all he had left. He couldn't bear to think that even that remnant of Sarah he managed to save—transferring her essence into the ship's original artificial intelligence system—would be destroyed forever.

  "I respect that you are concerned for the safety of your new crew members," the General said. "But you should have warned them of the risk of knowing you."

  He knows about Tiffin and Dewey? Jake was sure they'd stayed out of view of the video comm. The thugs from the ambush at the Gefreety pickup.

  Jake stood, stepping a few feet closer to the visual comm link camera. "Take me."

  "Jake, no!" Sarah's voice cracked with emotion.

  "Don't, Jake." Tiffin rushed to his side.

  The General laughed. "Shame on you, Mudd, for making them think you were a man they could trust."

  Jake did his best to keep Tiffin from pulling his attention away from the screen. "What do you say? I'll come about, alone. You can look me in the eyes when you kill me. Isn't that what you really want?"

  The General seemed to be considering Jake's offer.

  "But," Jake said, glancing to Tiffin, "my crew takes the ship and leaves. Safe passage, and the hunt ends today."

  The General stared at Jake for a long moment, then finally said, "It's a deal."

  Tiffin grabbed Jake around his waist. "No." He heard her begin to sob.

  "Jake," Sarah pleaded, "don't do this."

  He looked at her camera. "I have to. This way you'll be safe." He looked at Tiffin and then at Dewey. "All of you. I should never have brought you here."

  Dewey said nothing, but Jake could see he too harbored a deep sadness at how things were unfolding.

  Tiffin squeezed him. "There has to be another way."

  Jake put his arm around her and looked down at her. "No. It has to be this way."

  Jake heard the General clapping slowly. He looked at the screen.

  "Congratulations," the General said. "You actually have someone who cares about you, and you didn't get them killed...like last time."

  Rage surged inside Jake. The General was the one responsible for what happened to Sarah. He wanted to fire everything the ship had at the General, but he instead Jake clenched his fists and fought to restrain himself.

  "Tell you men to back off," Jake said. "I'll use an emergency pod to send myself toward your ship once I see your men aren't poised to blast my ship. Then they leave...and no one follows them. You can retrieve the pod and do with me what you want."

  The General tilted his head a little and studied Jake. "What about the shuttle?"

  Jake shook his head. "Inoperable. The engine took some damage on a recent excursion into an unsavory neighborhood. It's out of commission for a while."

  The General stared at him, but Jake didn't flinch.

  "Fine," the General said. "We'll do it your way." He leaned closer to the camera. "But any tricks and my men end you and your precious crew. Got it?"

  Jake nodded. "Five minutes. I want to say goodbye."

  Tiffin's sobbing grew louder. "No, Jake."

  "I can't believe it's come to this," Sarah said somberly. "After all these years."

  Dewey remained in his chair. "It's not the way I saw it."

  "Five minutes." The General leaned back into his chair. "If I don't see your pod heading toward my ship, my men open fire."

  "Just get your men back. I'll be on my way soon." Jake nodded toward Sarah's camera, signaling her to close the comm link.

  The image disappeared from the screen, replaced by the view of the ships once again. Jake watched them for a few seconds, then saw the General was keeping his side of the bargain. The mercenary ships were pulling back, taking a position well behind the General's ship.

  Jake exhaled audibly and looked in turn to Sarah, Tiffin, and Dewey. "Well, this is it."

  "Why, Jake?" Sarah said. "How could you give up?"

  Tiffin pulled back from him and looked at him. She was still sobbing, but more quietly now.

  Jake grinned. The idea he'd been formulating came together. He had a plan.

  "What?" Tiffin asked, clearly taken aback at Jake's expression.

  "What's going on, Jake?" Sarah asked.

  He shook his head slowly. "You don't think that's it, do you?"

  Tiffin wiped her eyes. "What do you mean?"

  Jake turned to Sarah's camera. "We don't have a lot of time. Can you scan the larger asteroids close by? See if you can find one with a large enough area without riftonium. Look for a hollow, a cave system."

  "What?" Sarah clearly didn't know what Jake was up to.

  "Just do it," he said, then he turned to Tiffin. "You know this ship, huh?"

  She looked confused, but nodded. "Probably more than you want me to."

  Jake smiled at her. "No. That's exactly what I want."

  Tiffin furrowed her brow, apparently trying to figure out what he had in mind.

  Jake looked at Dewey. "You gave me the idea."

  "Me?" Dewey stood and took a few steps toward Jake and Tiffin. "What did I do?"

  Jake turned back to Tiffin. "Do you think you can decouple the one of the cargo holds from the ship
?"

  "Decouple?" Tiffin squinted one eye as her gaze drifted off to the side for a moment. "Yeah, I guess. I mean, they hydraulic load dampeners do serve as the anchor points to the rest of the ship. I mean, the magnetic locks are there too, but they really just meant to stabilize the load of the cargo bays. That's what the ship's schematics indicate, anyway."

  "Exactly," Jake said.

  "But why?" She shook her head a little.

  "Jake?" Sarah said. "You're not thinking about the main cargo hold, are you?"

  He looked at Sarah's camera. "Both, actually." He turned to Tiffin again. "There's not a lot of time. I need you to get down there right now, and release all the anchors on the primary and secondary cargo bays, then get back here as fast as possible." Jake looked at Dewey. "He'll help you."

  "I don't get it," Tiffin said. "Why do-"

  "There's no time to explain. Just go. Both of you."

  Tiffin stared at Jake for a brief moment. "Okay. I trust you. We'll do it. Dewey come on. I'll tell you what to do on the way."

  Jake saw that Dewey looked completely overwhelmed at being called upon to do what Jake had asked, but he had confidence in Tiffin. He also knew Dewey was more capable than he gave himself credit for.

  Tiffin and Dewey took off running out of the bridge, heading for the back of the ship.

  Jake turned to camera on the wall again. "Sarah?"

  "Yeah, I've got it. There's a candidate. It's not the biggest one, but it's still massive. What exactly are you planning? Most of the asteroid is made of riftonium, but there's an area of inert material...and large cavity beneath it. Is that what you're looking for?"

  Jake smiled as he nodded. "That's exactly what I'm looking for."

  "What are you going to do?"

  "We're going to crash the ship."

  "What? Are you crazy?"

  "Probably."

  "But," Sarah said. "I thought the General was going to let us escape. Not that I would've left without you. You know that right?"

  "I know. And he would never have let you three go anyway."

  "I know."

  "So, what are we doing?"

  "It's risky," Jake said.

  "Isn't it always?"

  "You have a point." Jake grinned, enjoying the special connection only he and Sarah had. "Too risky for Tiffin and Dewey."

  "Tell me what your plan."

  "I will, but first I need you to get the shuttle ready for them. Start it up, program it for autopilot. They're getting off the ship as soon as they get the anchor locks detached."

  "Where are they going to go?"

  "When the time is right, have it take them to the far side of one of the larger asteroids, out of sight. Then kill the shuttle's power, so they don't show up on the scanners. It can ride with the asteroid's gravity until this is over."

  "How are they going to make it there without the General or his men seeing the shuttle?"

  "We still have plenty of cluster bombs, right?"

  "Yes, but-"

  "Good. Then we'll do a repeat of the last time we used them."

  "Oh," Sarah said. "I see. You think it'll work?"

  "It has to, I can't have them aboard for what happens after that."

  "The cargo holds...why?"

  "Disconnect them? To put on a show. He'll think we died in the explosion. You know what we're storing down there...in the crates in the hazmat area," Jake said. "It should be massive enough. The flotsam of whatever cargo remains should make it look convincing."

  "But how would the haz cargo even detonate?"

  "We blow the ship's jump core," Jake said.

  "Oh, no. That'll take the whole ship out."

  "It's going to save our skin...if it doesn't. We'll need to do protect the bridge."

  "How?"

  "Sealing off all the passageways from the core room and the cargo holds to the bridge should help, especially with the holds detached from the ship. But it won't be enough to keep the explosion from the jump core reaching us. Can you-"

  "Re-orient the deflector shields to form a barrier inside the ship?"

  Jake smiled. "That's why I love you."

  "I know. What would you do without me?"

  Jake glanced to the ships arrayed in the distance. "Die a horrible death, I'm sure."

  "Well," Sarah said, sounding more hopeful, "we can't have that, now. Can we?"

  "I'm sure he's not going to wait much longer. How are Tiffin and Dewey coming along?"

  "Hold on," Sarah said.

  Jake stared at the General's ship until Sarah spoke up again.

  "They're finished. Only the mag locks holding the cargo bays to the ship now. I can release those myself."

  "Good. Tell them to go straight to the shuttle and wait for us inside it. Make sure they do it."

  "I will."

  "And once they're in it, lock it up and standby to activate the autopilot once we blast the cluster bombs."

  "This better work," Sarah said.

  "It will. It has to."

  A minute later, Sarah told Jake that Tiffin and Dewey were inside the shuttle, and that she locked them in, though they didn't know it.

  "Get the General back on the screen," Jake said. "I want to talk to him."

  "You sure?"

  "Yeah. If this doesn't work, I at least want to see the look on his face when he realizes he got played." Jake glanced at Sarah's camera. "Simple pleasures in life." He shrugged.

  Sarah chuckled. "Even in the face of death...still my Jake."

  The screen switched views. The General appeared impatient and irritated. "My patience is running out, Mudd. Are you done apologizing to your crew for your failure?"

  Jake smiled. "You've been at this for years. Don't get your shorts in a wad. I'm just about done here."

  The General stood. Jake could see the anger boiling to the surface.

  "Time's up, Mudd. Either you jettison yourself to me in the pod or I order my men to open fire."

  "Tell you what." Jake glanced to Sarah's camera and nodded slightly, telling her to get ready. Looking at the General again, he said, "Why don't I get things started instead."

  "What?" The General looked confused by Jake's replay.

  Jake wasted no time letting him work out what was happening. Using the controls on the arm of his chair, he launched every remaining cluster bomb the ship had, quickly blanketing the space between Sarah and the other ships, including the General's. "Ready, darlin'?"

  "Ready," Sarah said.

  "Darlin'? What?" The General said just before Sarah cut the comm link.

  Jake activated the pulse cannon, guiding the fire to sweep through the sea of cluster bombs halfway between Sarah and the other ships. In a rapid chain reaction, the bombs began to explode, creating an ever-increasing blinding display of light. Jake felt the shockwaves pushing into the ship.

  "They're going," Sarah said. "They'll be safe in a few seconds."

  Jake fired the pulse cannon several more times, draining nearly all of power the ship had for it. He stopped with just enough left for a few more shots. The barrier of explosions persisted as more cluster bombs detonated, sending fragments flying, which trigger still more of the hundreds he'd released.

  "They're safe," Sarah said. "I'm cutting the shuttle's power. They won't be able to communicate with us, but his ships shouldn't pick them up on their scanners."

  "Great. Hang on." Jake released two cluster bombs he'd saved back, directing them so that they struck the aft of the ship. The bombs exploded, blowing a chunk from the ship and making, he knew, a noticeable impact which could be seen by the General.

  "What was that for?" Sarah said, unnerved.

  "He needs to thing we've lost control of the ship."

  Jake settled back comfortably into his captain's chair and steered the ship into a head-first collision course with the large asteroid Sarah had located. "Get ready to release the mag locks to both cargo holds. Hopefully this next part will look convincing."

  "Ready."
>
  Jake accelerated the ship toward the surface of the massive asteroid, which dwarfed the ship by comparison. "We have to blow the core at the same time, but not until we're about to impact the asteroid."

  "Jake?" Sarah sounded alarmed. "Impact the asteroid?"

  Jake glanced to her camera and grinned. "Don't worry. You said there's a hollow in it, right? Where you marked the inert area, right?"

  "Yes, but..."

  "Trust me."

  "I...I do."

  "Ready?"

  "Yes."

  Jake drove the ship as fast as it would go, straight toward the surface of the asteroid, knowing the explosions from the cluster bombs would be cleared by now. He needed the General to witness what was about to happen.

  "Jake, he's requesting comms."

  "What?" Jake tried to stay focused, but he had to know what the General had to say. "Bring 'em up."

  "Looks like you'll get your wish after all," Jake said, hoping to sell the ruse of his imminent death.

  "Which is why I needed to speak with you again."

  "You've got about twenty seconds, if that."

  "I couldn't let you go," the General said, "without letting you know you had a chance to bring your beloved Sarah back."

  "What's he talking about, Jake?"

  Jake's heart ached at the thought that what the General was telling him might be true. Transferring Sarah's life essence, conscious and more, into the ship's A.I. matrix had been the only of preserving the memory of her, but he knew she could never live as a human again, or even understand that she once was. He refused to believe what the General was saying.

  "You've never heard of Solace, of course, but it's true. They hold the key to restoring her humanity. I wish I had more time to tell you more. You had a chance to hold your beloved again, in the flesh." The General laughed. "I just wanted you to die with the knowledge that you lost her one last time." He broke into laughter again.

  The rough pitted reddish surface of the asteroid filled the entire view screen.

  "What's he talking about, Jake? Jake, is that true?"

  Jake pushed back a storm of anger, sadness, and confusion. He had to survive. They had to survive.

  "Now!" Jake fired the pulse cannon, using all it had left. "The bays and the core, now!" A moment later, he felt the explosion from the back of the ship before the pulse cannon shots hit the surface of the asteroid in front of him.