by AZ Kelvin
“Then he goes into a life pod at gunpoint,” said Trigger.
“And if anyone else gives us trouble?” asked Gar.
“We’ll deal with that when the time comes,” Trigger said. He stroked his chin as if thinking things out. “I can get the command codes switched easy enough to take over the Altered Moon, but we need the articles of organization in order to take control of West Becreth. I’m sure Boss has got that tucked away and rigged with some kind of defense mechanism. Hmmm…if we take Gina hostage, then Boss would turn over the ship, the business, everything without a fight.”
“No, Trigger!” Hali warned him. “Just dope ‘em, no gunplay. You’ll have the Moon; you can run all the scans you want to find traps. We could even start up our own scores, our own cover, leave West Becreth behind.”
“West Becreth Trading Company is a well-established legitimate cover,” Gar pointed out. “If we’re going to drop it we should, at least, pull what assets we can out first. But, if they ID’d us back at Canalar, that cover is blown by now and MT&T security will be monitoring the accounts.”
“Yes, I agree,” said Trigger. “If we get ourselves tagged as outlaws, then Imperial forces will be alerted and we’ll be on the run, hunted until we’re either captured or dead. I can’t let that happen.”
“What about all this alien stuff and the Istraulis?” asked Hali.
“That’s none of our concern,” Trigger answered. “Maybe that will keep Johnny Law busy and off our backs.”
“So, what do you want us to do?” asked Gar. “Should we approach JP?”
“No, we keep cool until we’re off this rock.” Trigger laid out the mutinous plan. “I go on duty at eighteen hundred hours to monitor flight operations. When Boss leaves the bridge, I’ll hit Gina with the hypo and lock out command functions with new codes. Hali, you be in position to take Cat. Can you handle that?”
“Yeah,” she inhaled and sighed. “Yeah, I think so.”
“No think, Hali,” said Gar. “You’ve got to be sure.”
“Yes,” she said sullenly, but then thought all of a sudden about Cat trash talking her cooking one day. “Yeah, I can do that.”
“Gar, take out piss-ant,” Trigger said. “We stash those three in the life pods. Leave JP to me. When that’s done we meet outside of Boss’ quarters. We go in and give him the chance to leave it all and walk away. We’ll already have Gina, so he’ll really have no choice.”
“What about Wilks?” asked Hali.
“Don’t worry about her. Where I go, she’ll follow,” said Trigger. “She’ll get all mushy about it, but she’ll come along when it’s all done. All right, let’s hope Boss makes the right decision. If he doesn’t, be ready at eighteen hundred hours on the first night off planet. Check?”
“Check,” said Hali.
“Roger that,” said Gar.
*~*~*
Chapter Fourteen
The damaged framing members had been repaired. Power conduits had been rerun. Junction modules were replaced. Sensor leads scrubbed. Inner hull units had been sealed and outer hull plating sections had been reinstalled and locked into place. The Altered Moon stood ready for her post repair power up.
“All external doors and hatches sealed?” called out Boss.
“Affirmative, Captain,” answered Trigger. “All lights show green.”
“Bring up main power.”
“Main power, aye,” answered Gina. She hit several switches and buttons that brought up system panels all around the bridge.
“Pressurize the ship,” Boss said.
“Pressurize the ship, aye,” Trigger answered and hit two buttons on the oxygen control panel.
A slight hissing could be heard as the Altered Moon filled with air to test the integrity of the main seals. A light started to flash then went solid on the O-2 panel.
“Ship is pressurized and all seals are holding,” Trigger reported.
“Very well,” Boss answered, and then told Gina, “Bring up flight systems to point zero one percent and test fire ISE thrusters.”
“Roger that, point zero one percent. Test firing ISE thrusters.”
The Altered Moon shook and shuddered as the dozens of hydrogen fuel maneuvering thrusters located around the ship cycled through two-second bursts. A heavier shake started as the inertial stabilizers strained against the preflight burn of the main engines. The cycle ran its course and all systems returned to standby status.
“All systems show good to go, Captain,” reported Trigger.
“Very well,” answered Boss. “Secure from preflight check.”
“Roger that,” acknowledged Gina. “All systems standing down.”
“Trigger, I want an all-hands meeting in the squad bay, CJ too,” said Boss.
“You got it, Boss. I’ll gather everybody up.”
Trigger left the bridge to gather the crew. Gina closed down the control panels and locked off the flight systems. She stood up and joined Boss by the hatchway.
“Ready?” he asked.
“As I’ll ever be.” The two of them left the bridge and went through the crew compartment where they met up with Cat and JP.
“Hello, Captain…G.” JP nodded his head at them.
“Hello, JP, Cat. Everything ready with you two?”
“String Field Drive and plotting computer are checked and ready,” said JP.
“Med bay is good to go, Captain,” said Cat.
They went through the hatchway into the squad bay and found everyone else was already there. The room was busy with last-minute gear storage and idle conversation. The crew settled on benches or cabinets, anywhere they found a decent place to cop a squat. Nothing about the squad bay was particularly ‘comfortable.’
“We all know what we are up against,” said Boss. “The deck may be stacked against us, but we aren’t holdin’ aces and eights yet. What we don’t know is if the West Becreth cover has been blown or why MT&T is trying to cover up of the destruction of the Istraulis. I’ve thought long on this one and I think we need the answers to those two questions before we can make the best decision.”
“I followed S.O.P. back at Canalar, Captain,” said JP. “So there is a transaction record under West Becreth Trading Company for the fuel and supplies. MT&T will know that we were there and they won’t like us messing up their troops.”
“I agree with you on checking the cover, Boss,” said Trigger, “but sticking our nose into what happened to the Istraulis is trouble that’s too big for us to handle.”
“We’d be caught between an unknown and possibly alien force, MT&T security, and maybe even Imperial military,” Gar put in.
“Maybe we should just lay low for a while,” said Wilks. “Let things blow over.”
“This ain’t gonna just ‘blow over,’ nitwit,” scoffed Gar.
“Hey!” Wilks scowled at Gar. “I’m not a nitwit, you…asshole.” Wilks wasn’t very good at cussing, but she usually hit the mark pretty close.
“I think Wilks is right,” Hali said seriously, and then smiled. “Gar is an asshole.”
Gar sneered at her and replied in single-finger sign language.
“All right, eighty-six that crap and get serious,” Trigger said sternly. “Gar is right in that we are up against some heavy hitters. Let’s face it, we’ve gone up against some local security forces before, but nothing like this.”
“Captain?” asked Cat, “What about the passengers and crew of the Istraulis? One hundred and twenty thousand people. Don’t they deserve some kind of justice or at least not to be forgotten?”
“Yes, Cat,” answered Boss. “I think they do. That’s why I am going to find a dead man.” He paused as the others gave him questioning looks, and then he continued. “I think that Nelson Moon is still alive and may have some answers, but we will have to go through the Tengshi radiation field and into Arzian space.”
Gina, Trigger, and JP started to complain at once until Boss held up his hands to quiet everyone.
Hold it, hold it. I know abo
ut the radiation buildup in the engine ports and the commercial no-fly zone between the Empire and the Arzian Alliance and the inability to quantum jump from the area…I know. I’m aware of it all. That’s why I chose Keenaw in case of emergencies. We’re going to make two stops through the radiation field to purge the particles from the engines, and then we use the DMITS to cross the no-fly zone.”
“Boss, that’ll take ten days to cross the zone at star drive speeds” said Gina.
“Yes” he answered, “but that area isn’t monitored, and it’s the only way through without being picked up by Imperial patrols. All of you need to decide for yourselves if you want to continue. Any who don’t will be let off here in the Krelle system. If things go well, we’ll come back this way. You can wait to hear back from us, or you can catch a transport, go your own way.”
“No way I’m getting on an MT&T transport,” said Gar with a snort. “Not after what we saw.”
“Are we disbanding?” asked Wilks, a concerned look on her face.
“No, we are not disbanding” said Boss. “If the cover is secure, then we keep things the way they are, but if things go bad, then they could go really bad. So anyone who doesn’t feel up to it should sit this one out. Trigger?”
“I’m never one for the sidelines, Boss.”
“Gina?” asked Boss.
“I’m in,” she answered.
“JP?”
“I’m with you, Captain.”
“Gar?”
“Well, I’m not gonna stay behind and miss all the action. I’m in.”
“Cat?”
“I’m in, Captain.”
“Hali?”
“You guys would all starve if I didn’t come along. I’m in.”
“Wilks?”
“When do we leave, Cap?”
“Mr. Evermore, you’ve been made privy over the last few days to our little secret side business here,” said Boss. “I hope that saving your life has at least bought your silence. What do you have to say in this matter?”
“Yes. Yes, absolutely you have my silence,” CJ said. “You all saved me twice, as a matter of fact. Once in the life pod and then again back on Canalar. I don’t really know if I have any safe place left to go. If I’m being offered a place among you, I would gratefully accept it. If not, then I’d like to go along at least to see this friend of yours and maybe find some answers as to what happened.”
“You’ve shown a cool head in a pinch,” said Boss, “and Wilks has been grateful for the extra help with the engines. I expected you would come along as you’re more involved in this than we are. Keep pulling your weight and we’ll see about a permanent position on the Moon. For now, I am assigning you temporary duties as engineer’s first mate, report to Wilks for—”
“Captain?” exclaimed Trigger in surprise.
“What? This shithead gets a share of…” stammered Gar.
“Silence!” bellowed Boss. “Those are my orders! If there’s anyone who doesn’t like them, then Krelle is your port of call! You make up your minds before we leave, because once we do, my word is the final word.”
An awkward silence passed as Boss scanned the group with a commanding look.
“Mr. Evermore,” he continued in a cool and calm voice, “you will report to Ms. Wilkinson immediately after this meeting for your responsibilities and duty schedule.”
“Yes, sir,” CJ replied carefully. “Thank you, Captain.”
“We leave in thirty minutes. Anyone not wishing to go…had best make their wishes known before then…that is all. Take your stations or your leave.”
Now we’ll see where the chips fall. Boss watched as the crew of the Altered Moon quietly left the squad bay to take up their stations.
*~*~*
Chapter Fifteen
The Altered Moon lifted off from Keenaw with all hands aboard and headed out of the Krelle system into the Tengshi radiation field. The sector of space discovered long ago by Shuko Tengshi emitted a radiation that interfered with the nav computers of the String Field Drive. The quantum pathways shifted and jumped, which made the equations necessary to plot destinations impossible to lock in. The only way to cross the Tengshi field was by Inner System Engine at star drive speeds.
Gina pulsed the twelve secondary hydrogen intermix engines two at a time to bring the Altered Moon to her space normal speed of one hundred thousand KPH. The dangerous thing about traveling at high sub-light speeds was leaving enough time to maneuver or slow down to avoid something the shields couldn’t deflect. Like a planet.
She’d worked her way up to star pilot running cargo missions for a mining company on Drelen. The primary ore eventually ran dry; the mining company folded and went under, taking the Drelen economy down with it. Gina became a pilot vagabond after that, drifting from open post to open post. She was working an ‘almost legal’ cargo job when she got wind of a questionable star pilot posting on an unregistered prototype starship.
A meeting was arranged with the captain of the ship. That’s where Gina met Boss and the bond was instantaneous. Boss told her of the Altered Moon and all the sneaky things it could do. Together they dreamed up the name West Becreth out of an anagram of ‘the best crew.’ They established the West Becreth Trading Company and the get rich scheme of clandestine recovery of historic antiquities to go with it. A privateer crew was screened, hired on one at a time, and several lucrative tomb raids were pulled off soon thereafter. The jobs were risky yet thrilling at the same time, and the payoffs were worth the risk.
One stroke of fate changed that in an instant. Gina sighed. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time in a big way. She monitored the flight panels as the Moon cruised through the radiation field on its way out of Marlacuer Imperial space. I’ve never been out of Marlacuer space before probably because it carries the death penalty.
She made the log entries required at the 18:00-hour shift change. Glad this shift is done. I’m tired. She yawned and stretched as she thought about sleep. Almost on queue the hatch door swung open and Trigger walked through holding his flight gear and log pad.
“Hey, G,” he said. “How’s she flyin’?”
“Straight and true.” She released the flight harness and stood up from the pilot’s seat. “Glad you’re here. It’s been a long shift.”
“Well, I’ll take her from here,” Trigger told her. “You can go get some well-earned rest.” He moved in as if he was going to take the pilot seat.
As Gina turned her back to him, he reached up and shot her in the neck with a hypo. She tensed for a second, began to relax, then went completely limp as the sedative did its work. Trigger scooped her up as she fell over and carried her over to the bridge life pod. He deactivated the entry alarm and opened the hatch. He disabled the comms unit and the thruster system of the life pod and put her inside.
He spoke one word into his personal comms unit “Go.” He knew Gar and Hali waited to carry out their parts of the plan. He planted a virus in the main computer that transferred all command functions to his control. Any attempt to reroute control would execute an endless logic loop that effectively disabled the station from which the attempt was made. It was a brilliant and well-thought-out move. Just as he finished; the hatch opened and Gar came through with Hali, both carrying an unconscious Cat.
“Put her in the pod,” he told them. “Wilks?”
“In her quarters and unaware,” said Hali.
“Good,” he said, “and the piss-ant?”
“Out,” Gar said suspiciously, “but, he musta hit kinda hard when he fell, Trig.”
“Is he alive?” asked Trigger, as he looked at Gar over his shoulder.
“Oh yeah, he didn’t fall that hard,” he replied with a vicious half smile on his face.
“The command codes are changed,” said Trigger. “Now we deal with JP and then we take on Boss.”
“What do you think JP’s going to do?” asked Hali.
“Hmmm…join us and be star pilot or be marooned in a disabled life pod?
What do you think he’ll choose?” Trigger asked. “Gar, get over by the pod and be ready in case he doesn’t want to cooperate. We can’t let him warn Boss. Set? Okay, Hali, go get JP and tell him I want to see him on the bridge.”
Heartbeats counted the few minutes that passed as Hali went off to bring JP to the bridge. Trigger’s thoughts raced ahead; he was pleased that everything so far had proceeded according to plan. Yeah, Dylan Treesh, Captain of the Altered Moon. That sounds good. Sorry Boss, but only the strong survive, and I just happen to be the stronger. The hatch door swung open as Hali and JP stepped onto the bridge.
“Hali said you wanted to see me?” he asked, he looked around and saw Gar off to the side and the apprehensive look on his face. “What’s going on here, Trigger?”
“Right to the point. I’ve always liked that about you, JP. “So here it is… I’m taking control of the Altered Moon.”
“What? You can’t! The Moon is Boss’ ship. We’re his crew!” JP said in disbelief. “Where are the others?”
No one answered him.
“Where are the others?” he asked again.
“Look, here’s the deal,” explained Trigger. “Gina and Zhu are in a disabled life pod and we’re going to launch them. We take Boss at gunpoint and give him the chance to get to them before their air runs out. He signs over control of West Becreth, boards the shuttle, and leaves the Altered Moon. When he leaves, we get out of this blasted radiation field, jump away, and start pulling some real scores.”
“Trigger, this isn’t right,” said JP.
Gar readied himself, but Trigger held up his hand.
“I’m going to need a star pilot…” Trigger said pointedly.
JP stopped talking and slowly looked at Trigger as the last statement sank in. Trigger could only guess at what was going through JP’s mind, but was sure ‘Star Pilot Jordan Patrick’ was being strongly considered.
“You’re not going to hurt anyone?”
“It’s already done, and nobody’s been hurt yet” said Trigger. “Boss won’t risk Gina being hurt…he’ll back down without a fight.”
“Ohh, man…” JP sighed with uncertainty. In the end only a brief moment of shame passed over his face and then he looked around at the others’ faces then said, “Okay, I’m in.”