by J Porteous
Hawke looked around at the crew. Justinia's usual fire burnt in her eyes, her eagerness boiling beneath the surface. Can always count on her. Watts nodded. Good man, would follow the Goddess into the Abyss itself if he had to. Carl looked less sure, his face paling. Nerves, no doubt. 'Rookie?'
Carl nodded. 'Yes...yes Captain.'
Hawke turned to Arrathnar, arms spread wide and a grin on his face. 'Looks like you've just hired the Space Bastards.' He turned back to the assembled crew. 'We can't wing this one. Get planning, we've got two days.'
Chapter Nine
Carl
Carl stepped out from the dark warren of the service tunnels and into one of the vast commerce halls. Travellers from across the star sector buzzed around the hall, traders called out for someone to come view their wares, and military patrols made their rounds amongst the stalls. He frowned at the din of hundreds of voices conversing and arguing, the sound echoing back down on him from the high ceiling. Food, water, intoxicants, and regulated weaponry, it was all here to be bartered for.
He watched the crowd as swarmed past, picking out the white and grey of human military uniforms among the throng of bodies. The military presence on Selengra had not decreased since their last visit. At least two dozen troopers kept watch over the hall, pointing out people on interest and breaking up any bartering that became too heated.
He caught two troopers watching him intently, no doubt the black and yellow crew jacket catching their eye. He found himself staring back, eyeing them with suspicion. These troopers could be the enemy, working with the Kalindros. They could simply be troopers carrying out their duty, just as Carl used to. There was no way to know for sure. One of them spat on the floor, threw Carl a dirty look and nudged the other soldier to carry on their patrol.
'Carl?'
Carl glanced away from the troopers to find Rix rushing up to embrace him. She threw her arms around him and squeezed him hard. 'Good job I'm wearing my combat jacket,' he said with a strained laugh. Her arms loosened, letting him breathe again. 'Are you trying to crush me to death, Rix?'
She took a step back, breathing a sigh of relief. 'Sorry, I just...I heard about what happened.'
Carl's eyes flicked around the hall. The trooper's gaze had returned to him. He lowered his voice. 'It seems rumours spread fast around here.'
'No such thing as privacy in a docking station,' she said. 'Everyone knows everyone else's business around here. Besides, the damage on the War Goddess is hard to miss.' She shook her head in disbelief. 'Pirates, nasty business. So close to the station too? Hopefully that should improve with the increased patrols we've put out,' she said. 'I'm surprised they got the drop on the Space Bastards though.' She crossed her arms. 'Why didn't you contact me?'
'Pirates?' Carl muttered to himself. He glanced up at Rix. 'Why didn't I contact you? I didn't get a chance. The War Goddess is an old ship, someone was going to get the drop on us at some point. Maybe it will make Hawke consider some upgrades.'
She arched an eyebrow. 'On first name terms these days?'
He saw the worry that painted her face and shrugged it off. 'I'm still in one piece,' he said with a smile. It quickly dropped from his face. 'Unfortunately, I didn't want to meet to exchange the usual pleasantries.'
Her face darkened. 'No, I thought as much. I'm glad to see you in one piece at least.'
Carl looked over to the where the troopers stood. They watched him intently, bobbing their heads around the passing crowd to ensure they did not break visual contact with him. 'Is there somewhere more private we could speak?'
'Yes,' she said, following his gaze over to the troopers. 'Seems those colours of yours are drawing some attention.' She nodded for him to follow. 'Come on, let's get out of here.'
The pair of them weaved through the crowd, letting the sea of bodies mask them as they made their way towards the rear of the trading room. The crowd slowly dwindled and the bright central lights of the hall became dimmer, letting shadows creep out from the corners to reclaim the room. Numerous doorways lay in front of them, each leading to even darker corridors.
'This way,' Rix said. 'Maintenance access, it will be quiet.'
Carl dared to look back. He breathed a sigh of relief. The crowd had swallowed any chance of the troopers following them. He followed Rix further into the relative safety of the darkness. Dull emergency lighting occasionally broke the shadows, although not harshly. They came to a stop at an access door to a maintenance shaft. 'You sure this is safe?'
A smug grin spread over her lips. 'Maintenance aren't scheduled to be here for another hour, rotas get passed through us for approval,' she said. 'Benefits of being the security force.'
Carl snorted a laugh. She did always get satisfaction in being one step ahead. 'Nothing gets done on this station without your go ahead?'
'Pretty much,' Rix said. 'The military really has this place on lock down.'
'Still no idea what you're doing here though?'
She shrugged, her smug expression giving way to a sheepish one. 'Your guess is as good as mine. All I know is that I get sent on the occasional patrol. Not told to keep an eye out for anything, not told why we're doing it.' She glanced back down the dark hallway, listening out for any little sound, then relaxed again. 'Make it quick. What is it you wanted to talk about?'
'I need a favour.'
She narrowed her eyes. 'I don't like the sound of it already.'
'Isn't that the kind of thing you go for?' Carl said, a wry smile appearing on his lips. 'Or is the girl I joined the academy with scared of a little danger now?'
'Son of a bitch.' She let out a sharp laugh. 'You know how to make me bite, Gobbo.'
Carl let the smile drop from his face. 'There is a Nero class cruiser docking tomorrow. I need to be on it.'
Rix's mouth hung open, unsure of what to say. 'The Royal Hunt? You're joking? Tell me you're joking?'
Carl held her stare.
She paced back and forth, rubbing her head with her hands. 'Fuck. You're not kidding are you? I know the Bastards have done some crazy shit in their time, but this is something else.'
Carl placed a hand on her shoulder, bringing her to a halt. 'I know what you are thinking, but this isn't just about a job, not just about the Bastards next pay cheque-'
'Then what is it about, Carl?' she cut in sharply.
'You're not going to believe what I'm going to tell you,' he said. He looked around, the corridor still empty. He voice dropped to whisper. 'Those pirates you mentioned?' he said. 'They weren't pirates. They weren't like anything that I've ever seen before.'
Rix stood silent for a moment, digesting his words. 'What? What do you mean they weren't like anything you've seen before? Who are they, Carl?'
'Whatever caused the blast that caused us to crash, it wasn't anything we've seen before.' He hesitated, sucking in a deep breath. 'And the troopers, Rix. The troopers that came to rescue us wanted us dead. They knew where we were, they knew everything.'
She frowned at his words. 'Did you report them? Did you get their ship or badge numbers?'
'No.' He shook his head. 'They're dead. The ship is destroyed.'
Rix threw her hands above her head in exasperation. 'Carl! They could sentence you to death for killing military troopers. That's-'
'I know what it is. Treason.' His mouth dried at the word. 'Have you heard anything about any troopers being reported missing or killed in action?'
'Well, no,' she said, her brow creasing. 'Anything like that would be briefed to us. They would have mobilised more troopers to hunt you by now.' She shook her head. 'I don't get it, Carl. Who did this? What did this?'
'I don't know.'
'You don't know? You don't know who or you don't know what?'
'Have you seen Hawke's face?'
'No. Should I have?'
'He's not in a good shape, even for him,' Carl said. 'Look at him, then question what could have done such a thing.'
Her voice tightened. 'Carl, you're scaring me.'
'I wouldn't have believed it myself had I not seen it. I'm scaring me too.' He placed his hands firmly on her shoulders. 'Rix, will you help me or not?'
She looked lost, as if the moment were part of a bad dream and she was wishing herself to wake. She took a moment to compose herself. She looked up from the floor and into Carl's eyes. 'What do you need from me?'
'How's everything looking?' Watts asked, as he sat back against his cluttered desk. Mechanical components of all makes and models swamped his desk, a recently cleared space forming an island of order amongst the gathered chaos. 'Has your friend come through for us?'
Carl nodded, placing two uniforms on to the free space of the table. Rix had used her clearance to secure two engineer uniforms, she had even managed to find two AI engineer badges to affix to them. She had assured him that both owners were currently out of action and would not be returning to active duty anytime soon. 'Uniforms and ID tags, enough to get us through the doors. After that it's up to us.'
Watts picked up the uniform and studied the AI engineer badge. 'She's done good, Goban, you really pulled through on this one.' He looked up at Carl, still holding the uniform up for inspection. 'She's not coming with us though? I thought that was part of the plan?'
'No, not any more,' Carl said. 'She's been called out on patrol, no way she could get out of that.'
Watts thumbed his nose. 'It's going to make our job tougher. Would've been nice to have an active trooper walking around with us.'
Hawke stepped into the room and threw a crudely drawn map across the only other free space that was available, being Watts' bunk. 'You won't need her now, Watts, not with this.'
Carl walked over to the bunk and studied the map. It was exceptionally basic but it encompassed all levels of the ship from what he could see. 'You think this is going to get us where we need to go?'
Hawke nodded. 'This will get you to the cargo hold, that's got to be where they are holding it.' He pointed to the upper level diagram. 'You're going to enter through here, through the crew entrance, then you'll need to make your way through the control deck before you can hit this access shaft.' He ran his finger through several rooms before thumping a stubby finger onto the paper. 'This shaft will get you all the way down to the cargo room. Pick up the AI core and get out of there.'
'Are you sure this is how you remember it, Hawke?' Watts said. 'It's been a while since you've been on a Nero. Can't you confirm this, Goban? You're ex-military.'
'I only saw the crew quarters and the helm,' Carl said. 'But from what I know, the ship designs haven't been updated for years,' Carl said. 'Usually the pilots would be the first to be informed of any changes to the fleet.'
'That's good enough for me,' Hawke said.
You're not the one going in, Carl thought.
'So it's sorted then?' Watts said. He picked up his uniform from the table. 'I'll go get ready.'
Carl nodded an acknowledgement to Watts as he left the room. Hawke still stood studying the map in front of him, retracing the route with his fingers.
'You know, I wish I could be coming with you, Rookie, I really do.' He moved his finger from the table to his face. 'Unfortunately, I think our scaly friend left me a little too recognisable.'
Carl smiled nervously. Here comes the interrogation our scaly friend interrupted. Maybe I should beat him to the punch, get it over with? 'Maybe,' he said. He paused for a second, holding Hawke's gaze. 'About our conversation, Captain, before the ship was hit.'
Hawke looked confused, trying to recall the moment. 'We were sat in my room, weren't we? Then that cold swept in...' He looked distant, his eyes glazing slightly. 'What about it?'
He doesn't remember? Hawke was too direct to play dumb, Carl knew that was not the way he played things. Perhaps now isn't a great time. 'I just wanted to say, thanks for taking me on, it means a lot to be able to fly again.'
Hawke grunted. 'Don't go getting too sentimental on me, Rookie. We've got a big day ahead of us, any one of us could be dead by the end of it, or worse, imprisoned.' He looked up from the map. 'You don't want to be sent to the Dregs, believe me.'
Carl nodded and picked up his uniform. Hawke's words echoed in his head. The danger of the situation had not hit him until now, and now the task was imminent. He did not fancy either of the endings Hawke had laid out before him. Only whispered tales ever came out of the prison planet known as the Dregs, and he did not want to experience any of them first hand. Let's hope we prove you wrong.
Carl pushed through the bustling crowds that filled the corridor. The end of it was in sight, and it quickly fed the crowd down to the docking bays of Selengra. An odd feeling of calm fell over him. Dead men walking, he thought to himself.
Most heads in the crowd looked to the floor, intent on simply getting to their next destination with the minimum amount of hassle. He felt invisible, blending in with his engineer's uniform, letting the river of bodies swallow him.
The doorway to a hanger loomed over the crowd. Two troopers flanked the entrance, standing their ground as they were buffeted by the crowd that barged past them. Carl glanced above them, a signpost announcing their destination. E13.
'Looks like this is the one,' he said. There was no response. He turned to see Watts pulling his coat into place, looking uncomfortable in the dark grey overcoat.
'Huh?' Watts said, tugging at his sleeves.
'E13,' Carl said, nodding towards the sign. 'This is it.'
Watts nodded, grunting an acknowledgement. 'Just got to get past those guards first.' He looked Carl up and down then turned his attention back to himself. 'We do look like AI techs, don't we? It's the right uniform and everything?'
Carl fought against rolling his eyes. Watts had been panicking since leaving the War Goddess, mumbling consoling words to himself as they walked through the stations darkened hallways. 'You're not the only one feeling the nerves.'
'I know, Goban, I know,' Watts said with a sigh. 'I'm just a little too used to avoiding the military, not trying to sweet talk my way past them.'
'You and me both.'
Watts took a deep breath and straightened his ID badge. 'Come on, Goban, let's get this over with.'
The pair of them dipped into the crowd, letting its natural current take them closer towards the hanger door. To say that Carl missed being in the uniform was an understatement. That feeling of belonging, of community, it was something he had yet to find elsewhere. Sure, the Space Bastards had taken him on, but it was not as if he felt at home. How long would it be before they decided they no longer wanted him in the crew? After all, he did not exactly fit in with them.
One of the guards held a hand up. 'Hold up, passes please.'
'Here you go,' Carl said, handing over his pass. He looked at Watts, who appeared to have become mute. 'Your pass?'
'Of...of course,' Watts said, fumbling his pass between his fingers. 'Here you go.'
The trooper frowned at them both as she ran their ID through her HUD.
Carl held his breath. This had better work, Rix.
'Simons and Cage? Inspecting the AI core, correct?' the trooper said, holding the ID up to her visor.
'Yeah, that's us,' Carl said. 'You going to let us through then? We've got a lot of work to do, and not much time.'
'Of course, sorry, sir,' the trooper said, then stiffened up straight. 'It all checks out. Can't be too careful when it comes to high-grade tech, right?'
Watts nodded. 'Good to see our troopers have their priorities.' He took his pass back off the trooper. 'Keep up the good work.'
'Yes, sir.'
They walked past the troopers and further down the dim corridor, the heavy hanger door grinding shut behind them.
Carl looked back to ensure the door had closed. 'Keep up the good work?' he said, raising an eyebrow at Watts.
Watts shrugged. 'What? You said to play the part.'
The dim lights of the corridor gave way to the beaming strip lights that bathed the hanger ahead. Carl raised a hand, shi
elding his eyes from the harshness of the bright lights. As his eyes adjusted, the familiar shape of a Nero cruiser came into view.
The ship sat docked, several clamps reaching out to hold the bulky hull in place. It looked like a beached whale, lethargic and cumbersome. Several service teams rushed around the hangar, inspecting the ship and repairing what looked like blast marks on the side of the hull.
'Looks like we aren't the only ones interested in that core.'
Watts looked up at the scorch damage. 'Must have been some decent weaponry to punch through that armour.'
'Do you think it was the same thing that hit the War Goddess?'
'The Kalindros? No,' Watts said. He pointed up to the scorch marks that licked the side of the hull. 'Notice the direction of the scorch? High powered, large calibre. Some top end kit.'
'Not many people have access to that kind of weaponry,' Carl mused. 'Who would have access to that kind of kit?'
Watts scratched his head. 'It's military grade, kid. Whoever did it not only had the means, but they must have known what they were hitting. You don't hit a Nero not knowing what is inside. Too much risk and not enough reward.'
Carl nodded at his remark. During his time as pilot of a Nero, before being chosen to fly the Indomitable, the cargo had varied between something at standard as a food shipment to the confidential and classified. He stared at the blast marks as they walked past. Someone, or something, knows the importance of what is inside. None of the servicing staff gave as much as a second glance at them as they ascended the ramp on to the ship. He allowed himself a small sigh of relief.
The interior of the ship was as plush as he remembered. It was exactly what you would expect for a high-end military vessel. Polished steels, finely carpeted hallways and grand décor followed them through the ship. You did not need to be a genius to work out that only the elite of the military would ever have the pleasure of being assigned to such a shift. Carl smiled sadly to himself. His time at the helm of such a ship seemed a lifetime ago now.