The Aggressive (Book 1 of the Titanwar saga): A science fiction thriller

by Gem Jackson

  “I know.”

  “So, I really mean it. Thank you.” She looked over and put her hand on Tem’s, pressing firmly. Tem cleared her throat and pulled her hand out, checking her strapping again. The scientist smiled to herself and went back to gazing out at Titan.

  “What are you going to do now? I don’t suppose you can go back to Ceres?”

  “No, that door is closed. I haven’t really thought about it, to be honest. I’m guessing you could do with some help for a while if you’re investigating heavy water. Other than that, I might head back to Earth, or maybe see if there’s anyone who will have me on Mars. What about you?”

  “Me? It depends where this takes me, I suppose. With Tariq,” she hesitated, “you know. Gone. I just couldn’t stay on board that ship any longer. It’s like if I stop working, if I let go of the trail for a second, I’m going to crumble.”

  They both nodded at this. It wasn’t easy to admit, but she quite liked the scientist. It wouldn’t be too bad sticking together for the return leg. That’s if there was a return leg. If their detour to the orbital was anything like the visit to Ceres, who knew if either of them would make it back.

  Tem patted around her seat. Everything was so close, but she was damned if she could find any storage compartments anywhere. “Did you bring any snacks?” she asked Ramachandran. The scientist shook her head. This was going to be a long couple of hours. She looked ahead for a while, alternating between Saturn and Titan, trying unsuccessfully to pick out the silhouette of the orbital around the latter. Eventually, bored, she closed her eyes again, gripped the shoulder-straps for comfort and tried to get some rest.

  A gentle chime and a soothing message from the on-board computer indicated they were beginning their final approach to the Titan Orbital Chemical Facility. Ramachandran hadn’t been misinformed when she called it an industrial powerhouse. There were three orbital facilities around the moon; the chemical facility and two space-ports. According to Ramachandran, who seemed to know about these things, one was commercial, similar to Ceres Junction and the other military, coordinating the local Titan security forces and accommodating the large APSA capital ships that regularly travelled to and from this far-flung colony.

  The navigation panels showed hundreds of vessels in the area, though Tem struggled to see any with her own eyes any until they were almost upon the chemical facility itself. What she did see was the orbital ring surrounding the moon. From a distance it had been invisible, but as they moved closer materialised as a delicate thread, cutting a sharp diagonal slash across the luminous, citrine moon. At one point, the angle between themselves, the ring and the Sun was such that the ring lit up, revealing its complex, metallic surface.

  Eventually it dawned on Tem that the orbital ring and the Titan Orbital Chemical Facility were the same thing. The chemical facility didn’t float free, but was part of the ring itself, as were the commercial and military structures.

  The drone shuttle ferried them around Titan, and they closed in on an ungainly, utilitarian space-station, fixed to the ring. She could see dozens of bulbous containers and a myriad network of pipes and metal framed structures. It was as if someone had smashed together every industrial factory on Earth and then thrown the wreckage into orbit. By far the most intriguing aspect of the station, more so than its haphazard design or even the ring it clasped on to, was the wide, cylindrical tail that fell from its underside onto the Titan surface below.

  “It’s a space-elevator,” explained Ramachandran. She was grinning again, basking in her superior knowledge of the Solar System. “They make no sense on Earth. The forces involved mean nobody has ever found a material strong and cheap enough to make it work better than using rockets. Out here, though? Titan is a low gravity environment and its principle natural resources are liquids and gasses so it makes sense to have a constant connection between the surface and the orbitals. It’s inexpensive, and very useful. Look, can you see there?” she pointed to the space-elevator. “Do you see those vertical tracks running up and down? That’s how the crawlers get up and down.

  “Crawlers?”

  “The inside of the elevator is reserved for the pipelines running between the chemical facility and the surface. The crawlers are vehicles attached to the outside of the elevator. They use those tracks to climb up and down from the surface. Don’t look at me like that,” Ramachandran took on an exaggerated composure of being hurt. “I’m a scientist, I live for this stuff. I used to anyway. It’s why I got into it as a girl. I’ve dreamed of seeing the Titan orbital ring for decades.”

  “So where are these other stations?”

  “The commercial station is called Polestar, I think. It’s also attached to the orbital ring, but on the opposite side of Titan.”

  “With another space elevator?”

  “No,” said Ramachandran, shaking her head. “I’m not sure anyone is crazy enough to try a two elevator ring, even out here.”

  “Yeah, that would be nuts, wouldn’t it?” said Tem, feigning understanding.

  The on-board computer indicated that docking was immanent and sure enough the shuttle expertly drifted into the tangled mess of the chemical facility and gently made contact with an outstretched boom. After a moment they were permitted to leave the shuttle and made their way into the facility. Tem led the way, stretching her limbs and her back this way and that to wake aching muscles. She caught her reflection in a polished metallic surface as they made their way along the inside of the boom into the body of the orbital.

  “Jesus, I look a mess.” She touched up her hair a little before giving up and moving on again. “I miss my shower.”

  “You miss your shower? I miss my twenties.”

  The corridor hissed as fresh air was pumped in, dim lights sparking into life just ahead of them as they moved forward. It didn’t look like the facility got a lot of visitors. The floor was little more than a steel mesh with the walls equally bare, apart from the exposed cabling and pipework.

  “What are you expecting to find here?” asked the scientist.

  “Honestly? I don’t know.” Tem rolled her shoulders and blinked a few times to clear the fog of travelling. “I just look under rocks and see what squirms.” Ramachandran chuckled.

  At the end of the boom they reached a solid, sealed hatchway. An optical control panel flashed into life presenting the image of a young woman, dressed in smart, corporate clothing. A typical commercial AI programme by the look of it.

  “Hello and welcome aboard the Titan Orbital Chemical Facility. In order to best direct you today, please look directly into the camera and state your name and business. Thank you kindly in advance.”

  Tem looked into the small camera at the side of the panel. “Agent September Long, APSA Intelligence Agency, counter-terrorism division. I’m here to investigate a lead in respect to a recent act of terrorism against the Lancaster Orbital. My partner is Dr Ramachandran, investigating scientist.” The image of the woman on the screen smiled patiently as the information was processed.

  “Thank you. In order to best direct you today, could you please provide a form of identification for our security verification?”

  Tem pressed her ID badge against the scanner which flashed beneath the plastic cover of the badge.

  “Thank you, Agent September Long, Dr Ramachandran. Please proceed through the hatchway into the waiting area. A member of the station crew has been summoned and will be present to greet you shortly.”

  With that, the hatchway door swung open. Tem shared a look with Ramachandran, shrugged and stepped inside.

  “Who the fuck are you and whaddya want?”

  They heard him before they saw him. The man who shuffled into the waiting area, the representative of the chemical facility, had evidently just woken up. Tem reached this conclusion partly by registering his drawn expression, heavy eyelids and the way he was rubbing the back of his neck, but mostly because of the fact he wasn’t wearing trousers. The top half of the man was unexceptional—a shi
rt made of hard-wearing material, well worn, with sleeves rolled up. His bottom half, however, was bedecked with a crimson pair of boxer shorts, from which two pale legs extruded downward, ultimately filling a pair of flip-flops with a matching set of bony, callused feet.

  “Well you’re not a Titan native are you?” said Tem.

  “Jovian. What of it?”

  “Just an observation. I’m agent September Long, APSA intelligence and I’m here with Dr Ramachandran to conduct some investigations regarding the recent terror attack on Lancaster Orbital.” Tem flashed her badge again. The man let out a quiet breath, and with a look of resignation beckoned them to follow.

  “Fine. I’m one of the engineers. What do you want to see?” He began back the way he came, flip-flops slapping against the metal gangway.

  “The main control room, I guess. I presume we can access the central records from there?”

  “Sure, if that’s what you’re after.” He stopped suddenly and turned around. “Just don’t touch anything. Don’t break anything. If you do,” he suddenly looked depressed, “if anything happens, a report gets sent and we get more visitors. It becomes a whole… thing. It’s a pain in the ass.” He turned back and carried on half walking, half shuffling, ahead of them.

  It took the best part of twenty minutes to get to the control room, which explained why they had waited so long for the engineer to arrive in the first place. The room was broad and dark, arranged like one of the APSA rocket control rooms Tem had seen on clips about the Moon landings or the Saturn V launch. Only this one was slicker, neater, and more advanced. It also had half a dozen engineers laid out in sleeping bags on portable folding beds in the space between the front row of terminals and the dozens of screens on the forward wall. The engineer gestured to to the row of terminals at the back, raised above the others.

  “That’s what you want, back there. You can figure out whatever you want from those consoles. Stringer, the AI, will have sorted your credentials by now.” He slumped down onto an empty bed and zipped himself back into his cocoon-like bedding. “If you need taking anywhere, just come and gimme a kick. And don’t take it harsh if I get pissy with ya.”

  “Sure. Thanks.”

  Tem followed Ramachandran up to the consoles and took a seat at one. As predicted, the facial recognition kicked in and they found themselves logged into accounts straight away. Tem leaned in on her elbows and squinted at the screen. Where to begin?

  “What do you want to know?” asked the scientist.

  “Heavy water. Anything about its production or storage in the past three years. Have they had any delivered? Did they offload it? And dates. I’ll check the records for the Enigma. Even I should be able to figure out that much.”

  They got to work. Ramachandran was confident, tapping and gesturing decisively. Tem was more hesitant, carefully negotiating sub-menus and query tables, trying to isolate the information she needed in a form she wanted. It was frustratingly slow work. She found references to the Enigma easily enough, but digging further into the records was infuriatingly haphazard. After an hour or so, in a moment of procrastination, she found the media player and opened a news broadcast in a PIP window. That was when she saw it.

  “Holy fucking shit.”

  Ramachandran looked over. “What is it? Did you find something?”

  “No, nothing to do with the Enigma. Look.” She pointed at the news broadcast, enlarging it so that it dominated her screen.

  “Madher-chod! Titan declares independence? Independence of what?”

  “APSA. They’ve done it now. Mother-fuckers, why isn’t anything straight forward around here?”

  “What does this mean? What happens now?” asked Ramachandran, an edge of panic creeping into her voice.

  “Who knows? But, I’m pretty certain we’re not going to be popular around here for very long. I think we just became foreign agents. Let’s get what we need and get out. How are you getting along?”

  “Not much yet. Give me time. This is a big station and if they have dealt with any heavy water, they’ve not been obvious about it.”

  They went back to their efforts, though both now distracted by the events going on around them. An independent Titan? Tem didn’t really feel strongly about it either way. She had come across enough rumours in intelligence circles to give weight to the unpleasant stereotypes about the place and so in one sense, she was sympathetic. The moon probably was governed in an oppressive way, but it was no worse than a lot of other places. It was stable and hell, it was in the back of beyond, wild west territory still.

  But independence? What did it mean? The anchor on the news feed was indicating that Titan was aiming for a peaceful trading relationship with APSA, but one based on equality and not subordination. It was difficult to disagree with that. The official accounts suggested a bloodless coup had taken place. Most members of the Titan government were staying in place, with just a few taken into custody. Tem noticed that she was tapping the desk at a steady beat and self-consciously stopped herself. Normally Tariq would have caught her doing that. She was nervous. She missed Tariq. She felt the sand shifting beneath her feet.

  “I’ve got it.” It was Ramachandran. She was quietly triumphant, leaning back into her seat, once again smiling broadly. “You wanted hard water? I’ve found it. Lots of it.” Ramachandran ruffled her thick hair as another moonbeam smile lit up her face. “It gets better too. I’ve got a paper trail.”

  Tem punched her open palm, hard, in excitement. Keep looking under rocks. Keep pulling at threads.

  Chapter 24 – Anton

  Titan’s declaration of independence cast a pall over the control room. Captain Bryant remained in command, though his watch had ended hours before. The starboard crew were fresh and alert. It was difficult to pin down exactly what had changed, but everything was sharper than before. Anton had made his way back to the control room as soon as he heard news of the declaration. He needed to know exactly when the Cronus appeared and there was no better place on the ship to observe and wait for that eventuality to occur.

  The heavy hatchway door slammed behind him and Captain Bryant looked over, acknowledging his presence with a curt nod.

  “Let me know if I can be of any assistance, Captain.” Another acknowledgement. Anton took up a position in the central hub and scanned the local contacts board for signs of the Cronus. Of the hundreds of nearby vessels, most were located in the vicinity of Titan itself. A small group of icons, coloured yellow, had broken away from orbit and were making towards the Aggressive. Presumably they were Titan security ships. Anton knew about these vessels. They were smaller than destroyers, but were heavily armed and fast. They did the bulk of the pirate hunting and escort duties around Saturn. He had seen them in action a couple of times when negotiating the project and they had been impressive. They weren’t a match for a ship as capable as the Aggressive, however, and Bryant was unlikely to be perturbed by their approach. Still, chances weren’t being taken.

  “Lieutenant,” the captain addressed a nearby officer. “Send out a message to the approaching security vessels to clear away from our flight path.” The young officer moved to the comms area of the bridge and passed the command on to a subordinate who began issuing the warning over the radio channels.

  “Have we heard from the Titan Security Orbital yet?”

  “Yes, Captain. They’re still instructing us to change course and put in a docking request at Polestar.”

  Bryant bristled at the response. He was in a tough spot and he knew it. No captain ever wanted to find themselves in the midst of a full-blown diplomatic crisis, especially when the only real tool they had to deal with it was a sledgehammer. Such was Bryant’s position. Anton stifled a smirk. It was delicious. Obviously there had been no word from Long yet, else he wouldn’t be allowed this close to the Captain. Things were on a tightrope.

  “What about the Titan government? Anything?”

  “Nothing new, sir, just the same message to cooperate with the i
nstructions from the orbital commanders and meet on Polestar.”

  “Well, they’re making this bloody awkward, I’ll give them that. Maintain course heading and continue to prep for docking with the security orbital.” He sipped a drink and turned to Anton. “Mr Diplomat, you would seem to be a useful fellow to have around at the moment. Is there anyone senior you can contact to help us out?”

  Anton pulled the radio from his pocket and waggled it in the air. “I’m a little ahead of you there, Captain. Haven’t got hold of anyone yet, but I’m expecting an important call, as it were. I assume your chief concern is docking at the military facility rather than the civilian one?”

  The Captain shook his head. “Frankly, I don’t count on us docking anywhere in the near future. If you could put a little pressure on them to allow us a spot, that would be great, but it’s all just power-play at the moment. I’d just like them to acquiesce. What I’d really like to know is how serious this situation is likely to get? Is it going to blow over in a few days? Weeks even? If so, I’m sure APSA would be happy for us to sit it out with a bit of posturing. On the other hand, if the nutters running the show are unhinged enough to become hostile, I’d like to know sooner rather than later.”

  “I’ll do what I can.”

  “Contact! T-Jump entry detected.” Anton, along with the Captain and his officers, spun round at the cry. It came from one of the sensor stations in the CIC. “Bearing horizontal zero two zero, vertical negative zero, zero, three. Distance thirty thousand kilometres.” In seconds the contact appeared next to them on the contacts board.

  “What on God’s earth is that? It jumped right in front of those security vessels!”

  It was the Cronus, surely? It had to be. Anton hadn’t believed them about the accuracy of their new jump equations—he was wrong. Accuracy like that, jumping to within a few kilometres of a flotilla of friendly vessels, was extremely impressive. He could see the Titan forces doing well with tech like that on their side.