by M. J. Konkel
“If that happens, then I guess you will get this ship,” I snapped back, “but it will be in pieces. It might be a Humpty Dumpty case.”
“Who’s Mr. Dumpty?”
“You don’t know the story? Humpty Dumpty fall off the wall, and all of the king’s men couldn’t put him back together again,” I said. “Do you think you’ll be able to put this ship back together again?”
The tower went quiet for a moment. That gave me time to think.
“If they start shooting, I’m not sitting on my hands. I’m frickin’ shooting back,” Enceladus said. “How about I start with their tower?”
“Just hold your fire for now,” I ordered.
“There’re anti-armor rockets in the weapons room,” Drummer suggested.
“There’re too many of them tanks,” I replied. “They’d outgun us.”
“What do we do then?” Morgan asked. “We’re trapped.”
“Maybe … Maybe we need to think like a poker player,” I replied. I got blank stares from my crew. Clearly, poker was not a game played back on Bahram. I was going to have to teach them.
I pushed the button to reopen a channel to the tower. “This is Captain Triton. I’ve decided on how this is going to play out, and you’re not going to like it. But tough shit! We will be firing our thrusters and leaving your fricked up world. Now here’s the key part you need to know, and you’d better listen carefully. I’ve just powered up our wormhole generator. If we are fired upon, I will turn on that engine and, believe me, you do not want me to do that. In case the Spits haven’t told you how these work, our wormhole generator will open a tear in the fabric of space. Nobody has ever turned on one of these engines on a planet or moon as far as I know. So I can’t really say for sure what will happen. Only that it will be bad. It will likely punch a hole deep enough down into the planet that lava fills up this entire canyon.” I didn’t mention it would be really, really bad for us as well.
There was a pause before they replied. “We think you’re bluffing.”
“In that case, I suggest you fire your weapons at us now and call our bluff. The secret to a good threat is the willingness to follow through with it if necessary. My finger’s on the button as we speak. You’d better hope our ride isn’t too bumpy,” I warned before cutting the com.
I glanced around. Everyone stared back at me, a little stunned it seemed. Time for action.
“Enceladus, if I give the word, put a plasma bolt into that tower.”
“Oh, I would be happy to take that order.” Enceladus grinned and put her fighter goggles on.
“Morgan, take us up and out. Bank us to the right so Enceladus has a clear shot if needed.”
“You got it,” Morgan squealed as he flipped on his pilot’s goggles. Seconds later we shot up and away from the steelcrete pad with its ugly X.
The Rubists either believed me or, at least, had doubt. They held their fire momentarily. Then one of the tanks fired at us. Then a second one fired a split second later. Both projectiles sailed wide of us.
“Now, Enceladus!” I shouted.
A bright orange plasma bolt shot into the tower, and the top of the tower exploded with glass raining down onto the remaining tanks and the steelcrete pad below us.
Perhaps that might have been enough to get the rest of them shooting at us, but we were out of there before they could react.
Morgan banked the ship toward the south, and then we shot vertically to get out of The Gash and into space.
Once we settled into an orbit and everyone could breathe again, Drummer said, “I don’t think these Rubists understand the concept of welcoming. Let’s get the hell out of here.”
“No, we wait,” I said. “The next move is theirs.” Sometimes when you close one door, another opens. Only in this case, fingers were in the door when we slammed it.
“After they tried to frick us over like that?” Drummer exclaimed. “And you still want to stick around?”
Enceladus and Dr. Z argued for us to leave as well, but I insisted on giving the Rubists some time.
We monitored radio channels but heard only unofficial broadcasts from below stating that the airport near the capital had been attacked by an unknown assailant. Communications buzzed about it, but no one knew details, and everyone wondered why the government hadn’t put out further statements. Several hours passed before an official com channel finally opened to us again.
“This is the new Rubist Leader Alanna. I am surprised that you have not already left orbit.”
“Just because your former leader was reckless and irresponsible shouldn’t mean all your people need to pay the consequences. By the way, where is Jerry? Does he still hold power?” I asked.
“Former Rubist leader Jerry was in the tower that you destroyed earlier,” Alanna replied. “He did not survive.”
“That’s too bad for him. I guess being at that tower was the second poor decision your former leader made.” I probably sounded callous, but I didn’t care. I was not a politician, and I had no love for the man. “I’m hoping you’re a more responsible leader that makes better decisions.”
“We had been informed by the ambassador from Spitnik that you are part of a terrorist group that stole one of their ships.”
“We admit to having stolen their ship, but we prefer to call ourselves freedom fighters,” I insisted.
“They promised a reward for the ship’s return that included the interstellar drive technology. They told us you would tell wild lies and weren’t to be believed,” Alanna explained.
“I doubt they were sincere about their promise to your world,” I said. “Did they happen to mention that they have now taken control over sixteen worlds beyond their own? Worlds taken by force. I’m not a Spit. I’m from Riva Lontana. My world was one of those taken by the Spits. The rest of the crew are from Bahram. Spit soldiers are on their world right now, committing atrocities in their fight to control it.”
“It seems we may have been misled,” Alanna conceded. “Perhaps you can give us the technology to fight back when they return?”
“We came only to give you a warning that an attack from the Spits is imminent. We think your world is their next most likely target.”
“Us?” Alanna raised her voice. “Why our world? Surely we can’t be of much strategic value to them?”
“They took Mahaan eleven years ago. That world is 3.5 parsecs away. In about another five months, the warning the Mahaans sent when their world was invaded will reach here. Then there will be no doubt about their intent then, so the Spits believe they must invade if they expect to have the element of surprise here.”
“Can you help us?” Alanna begged.
“I am sorry, but we think it is probably too late,” I said. “We only came to warn you and let you know what to expect so you can prepare the best you can.”
“Nothing?” Alanna begged.
“I can tell you how they will attack,” I said. “The Spits have only two destroyers and four carriers, but they are massive ships.”
“Only six ships?” Alanna asked.
“They are working to make more and perhaps they have another by now. But wormhole generators require tantalum-180, an extremely rare metal. That is what has limited them so far, or they would have overrun all the free stars already. I bet they didn’t tell you that about their interstellar drive.”
“No, they kept that from us,” Alanna admitted.
“So only five big ships and two other corvettes besides this one that we stole from them,” I answered. “The Spits will use the destroyers and fighter craft aboard to destroy any space force you may have first.”
“Nothing else you can do for us?” Alanna begged.
I stayed quiet for a moment, thinking. “Alright, for good faith we will send down files on the interstellar drive, but I really doubt your world has time to make use of the information.”
“We will do what we can,” Alanna said.
I muted my com and turned to Dr. Z. “Send them th
e original specs for the engine and this ship that we sent to Dominica. Take out any mention of superatoms though. We don’t want that to fall to the Spits.” I unmuted my com.
“Sorry for my cutting out. I ordered my engineer to send the specs down to you.” I watched Dr. Z roll his eyes at me when I called him my engineer. And then I had the audacity to suggest I could really order him around. I had to turn my gaze elsewhere to keep from snickering. “After any space force is removed, the Spits will use their destroyers to bomb any military bases you have and any factories that can be used to make weapons.”
“That might explain why they were so interested in learning about our industry,” Alanna noted.
“Then the carriers will arrive. They will land troops with shuttles from the carriers. Each of the carriers can haul up to about 30,000 soldiers with gear. They call them GATs for Ground Assault Troops. They’ll also send down aircraft to assist the GATs. When they have control of the ground, they will leave a few troops behind along with Spits to govern your world while they move on to the next world.”
“And when do you expect this invasion to start?” Alanna asked.
“Soon. That’s all I can give you,” I said. “Spread your forces out and hide them the best you can. If you can wait until the destroyers have left before counterattacking, that is more likely to be successful for you.”
“You are telling me to surrender first and then fight back?” Alanna asked.
“Yeah, I guess,” I admitted. Didn’t sound like a very palatable strategy, but it might be their best chance.
“Thank you for the warning,” Alanna said.
“Yeah, we wish your world well despite the earlier circumstances on the surface,” I said.
“You have an official apology from me for that,” Alanna said.
“Thanks,” I replied. “And give the Spits a warm welcome. That’s sarcasm in case you don’t have that on your world.”
“Oh, I got that,” Alanna said. “We’ll give them a very warm welcome alright.”
“This is Marla’s Revenge bidding you farewell,” I chuckled and cut the com.
“Farewell, Captain Triton,” Alanna said.
“Dr. Z, have they received your files?” I asked.
The doctor flipped me a thumb up, followed by a certain finger with a very different meaning.
“Morgan, get us out of here. Set a course for the nearest LaGrange point,” I ordered. That was the closest null point in space where we could produce a quasi-stable wormhole and make our jump. We would spiral once more around Rubis before reaching the point.
“What’s the plan after the jump, Captain?” Drummer asked after about fifteen minutes. A mischievous grin covered his face.
“Yeah, Captain,” Enceladus joined in. “What was your rank again before we captured you out in the deserts of Bahram? Oh, yeah! A sorry ass private.”
Morgan continued to stare at his instruments, but he wore a wide grin on his face too.
“I guess I just got promoted.” I grinned back at Enceladus and Drummer.
“A self-appointed field promotion, perhaps?” Enceladus continued.
“Hey!” I indignantly raised my voice. “It was the Supreme Rubist Leader that assigned me the rank of captain.”
“This is the same leader who tried to hijack our ship?” Drummer asked.
“No, actually it was you back at the institute who promoted me to captain,” I said grinning.
“That was just fooling around,” Drummer protested.
I sighed as I glanced down at a display with our trajectory and the timer next to it. “To all you frickers, I guess I’ll always just be Trite.”
“Yes, Captain Trite!” Enceladus grinned at me.
“I suggest everyone get done what you have to while we still have the artificial gravity from our acceleration. How much time, Morgan?” I asked.
“We’ll reach the null point in …”
“Polarized Lorimer burst!” Drummer shouted. “And gravitational wave detection.”
“Damn!” I cried. “Direction? Distance?”
“Straight ahead and we’re almost on top of it.
I flipped my command goggles back on. Straight in front of us loomed a monstrosity. My old destroyer, the Spitnik’s Fist, already appeared large on the screen and grew as we watched. It was pure coincidence on the timing. Yeah, my timing sucks! Again, if we had left immediately instead of giving the Rubists a second chance, we would have been near the jump point instead of heading straight down the barrel of a loaded gun.
The invasion of the system had just begun, and it appeared we just might become its first casualty.
Chapter 29
“Distance?” I shouted.
“28,300 klicks and closing,” Drummer shouted back. “We’re heading straight for the damn ship.”
“Morgan, start zig-zagging our way away from them. Be as random as you can,” I ordered. Morgan enabled the steering thrusters.
“I’m detecting another polarized Lorimer burst,” Drummer reported. “Distance, 58,000 klicks. Got it on the scope. Another destroyer. It is disappearing behind Rubis though. ”
“No doubt that’s the Imperial Pride,” I said. That destroyer was distant for now and not the immediate threat.
“I’m going to sting them a little,” Enceladus said.
“Hold your fire,” I shouted. “Our cannons will barely scratch their surface, and, at this range, they’ll take out our torpedoes with their cannons before they get close. We need to be closer.”
“So I’m supposed to sit here and do nothing?” Enceladus protested.
“For now, yes,” I replied.
“We have an incoming message from the Spitnik’s Fist. Should I tell them to stick their heads out an airlock?” Drummer suggested.
“Shit! I suppose we should at least hear what the hell they have to say,” I said. “Maybe we can at least stall for time. Morgan, hold our course but be ready.”
I signaled to Drummer to open the channel. “This is the captain of Marla’s Revenge. You wish to surrender?”
“Whoever this is aboard The Glory of the Righteous, you got a lot balls. We want our property returned immediately. This is Captain Orlov in command of the Spitnik’s Fist. That’s the destroyer directly in your path that has thirteen cannons trained on you right now. It would be extremely foolish to believe you can dodge all that plasma from this range.”
“Oh, crapola!” I exclaimed.
“What did you say?” Captain Orlov asked.
I remained quiet, but my insides churned. I felt the acid in my stomach rising.
“I know that voice,” Captain Orlov exclaimed. “Yeah, I know you. Spaceman Triton, it is you?” The captain roared with laughter. “I would never have guessed in a galaxy’s rotation it was you behind all this.”
I glanced at Enceladus. She looked frightened. But I think it was for me – even though we were all in danger.
“I don’t know this Triton jackass you speak of,” I said. “I’m Captain Snarky.”
Captain Orlov just roared louder. “Spaceman Triton, you surprise me. Never knew you had such a big pair. But you can surrender now, and only you will pay the consequences. Think about this carefully. Attempt to flee, and there will be consequences for your family back on … which world is it. Oh, I have it here on the screen in front of me right now. Riva Lontana. Yeah, that’s the world. The decision is yours, Triton. You have precious little time left though to surrender.”
I muted my com. What was I going to do? My family name wasn’t Triton. I had just made up that name, but I imagined that somehow the Spits would find my family anyway. They had my DNA. If it came down to it, I was sure the Spits would test everyone in my old village to find my family. Anyone related to me. In fact, they would probably raze the whole village.
“If we surrender, we’re all as good as dead. Probably can expect frickin’ torture first though,” Drummer said.
“That’s for damn sure,” Enceladus agreed.
>
“What about his family?” Morgan asked.
“I don’t trust the Spits not to go after my family, despite his frickin’ promise,” I said.
“If we get out of here, we could get your family away before the Spits get to them,” Enceladus suggested.
“Yeah, if we get out of here,” I said. “I don’t like our chances very much though. Still, our chances our zilch if we surrender. Get ready, Morgan.”
I unmuted my com. “Alright, I have thought it over carefully. We’ll surrender under two conditions,” I said. Enceladus’s head whipped around toward me. Probably thought I had changed my mind. She should have known me better by then.
“You’re not a position to be making demands,” Captain Orlov retorted.
“First, you’ll not bring any of our families into this. This is between you and us,” I said.
“I had already agreed to that,” Captain Orlov replied. “Now power --”
I glanced at Morgan. He had the thrusters powered. “And two, you eat my shit.” I yelled, “Morgan, punch it.”
We had been drifting toward the destroyer. Now, we zigged, and plasma bolts flew past. They had been ready for us to try some foolhardy last-ditch attempt to get away. No surprise there.
We zagged, and more plasma bolts zipped past across our bow and starboard.
Then our ship was rocked. The whole ship vibrated for a few seconds, and then all the interior lights flickered and went out.
It was dark for a second before emergency lights flicked on.
“We’re hit,” Morgan yelled.
Luckily, it was not one of the destroyers three big cannons. Those were designed to destroy the military bases and factories on the surfaces of moons or planets. Or in a firefight with another destroyer, although the Spits had yet to come across anybody else with ships that size.
Instead, we had been hit by one of the dozen smaller cannons designed to fend off fighters.
“My controls are down,” Morgan shouted.
“I think I can get us thrust manually back in engineering,” Dr. Z offered.
“Stay put. There’s no chance of our getting out of here that way,” I replied.