by Henry Vogel
“It looks like some kind of apartment or something. Maybe the old station offices?” Michelle offered.
“It doesn’t matter. That’s where we need to go. If we’re lucky, the catwalk goes all the way around.”
To the right, the catwalk ended after twenty meters, with metal stairs zigzagging down to the docking bay floor. So Michelle and I went in the other direction. With the darkness and shadows, we couldn’t tell if the walk ended after thirty meters or ran on for three hundred.
“Can you tell what they’re doing with the ships?” Michelle asked.
“It looks like they’re prepping the ships to go hunting.”
“That must be where the guy in traffic control comes in,” Michelle mused. “With a little creative routing, he can give these ships the chance to slip out of their docks without anyone noticing where they came from.”
“That’s how I’d do it if I was in charge.”
“Which brings up the question of who is in charge.” Michelle stopped and turned back to me. “If this started with your family, why didn’t your father know about it? Why wasn’t he running it?”
“Maybe they figured Dad was too honest to keep the family business alive. Or my grandfather was. Or my great grandfather didn’t want his children involved in piracy.” I shrugged, frustrated at how little we knew. “Or maybe someone outside of the family took over running the operation. I mean, GenCo earns far more in one day than the pirates’ probably take in a year. It doesn’t make any financial sense for someone in the family to be involved.”
“At one time it made sense for your family—and today it makes a lot of sense for Cummings and Hector.” Michelle started along the catwalk again. “I guess we’ll find out when this all comes out.”
Straight ahead of us, a voice rang out. “Move it about a meter to the left. Almost. Yes, there. Now, get it bolted in place.”
Someone else was on the catwalk with us. The echoes of the man’s shout faded quickly into the cacophony of sounds in the docking bay. Michelle and I crouched on the catwalk, both of us straining to see into the deep shadows enveloping the upper reaches of the docking bay.
“Can you see the guy?” I whispered.
“Not yet,” Michelle hissed back. “Keep watching. If he shouts again, the sound might help us find him in the shadows.”
I did as Michelle instructed. About ten seconds later the man shouted more instructions to his crew below. Ready for it this time, I spotted the man. “Got him. He’s about fifteen meters ahead, leaning on the railing. Look to the right of the middle lighted window in the office where my parents are being held.”
“I see him, now.” Michelle stared at the man, biting her lip. “We can’t afford to wait for him to finish and walk away—not with Nora planning on calling station security in twenty minutes. This whole setup is way bigger than either of us imagined and completely beyond the capabilities of the security team.”
“Maybe the Feds’ response to my DNA scan will be big enough to tackle these pirates, but we still have to get my parents out of harm’s way before this all goes down.”
“We will, Matt.” Michelle reached over and squeezed my hand. “But first, let’s get past that guy on the catwalk.”
“It’s really loud in here. I bet we can get close enough for me to shoot him with my taser.”
“We’ll make a real security guy out of you, yet.” Michelle grinned and started creeping toward our target.
To my ears, the catwalk creaked and groaned with every step we took. I was sure the man couldn’t help but hear us coming—except he didn’t. He kept his attention on the work going on below, shouting instructions every now and then. I held my taser ready to fire when we got to within half a dozen meters of the man. With my next step, the catwalk gave a sharp creak. The man turned idly our way and his eyes bugged out when he spotted Michelle and me.
He straightened in shock at the same moment I fired my taser. I fired a second shot, just to be sure I got the man. The first dart caught him center mass, just above his heart. The man convulsed from the jolt, falling against the catwalk railing. Balanced precariously, he clutched at the top rail just as the second dart caught him in the right shoulder. The man’s arm straightened involuntarily as the charge shot through it and his hand missed its grip. With horror shining in his eyes, the man overbalanced and toppled over the rail!
We were too far from the man to do anything to help him. As he tumbled from sight, Michelle caught my hand and dragged me forward into a run.
“Come on! Our countdown timer just got a whole lot shorter.”
Abandoning all of our attempts at stealth, we pounded along the catwalk as fast as we could run. I listened for the sound of the man hitting the deck after his hundred meter fall, but never heard a thing. I did hear shouts erupt from far below, dashing my hope the man had landed unnoticed and in deep shadows.
Suddenly, I caught a glimpse of an out-of-place junction box at the end of a short branch off of the main catwalk. I pulled up, dragging Michelle to a stop, too.
“Hang on, I need to check this out.”
“We don’t have time for this, Matt. Unless the pirates are idiots, this whole catwalk will be swarming with them in a few minutes.”
“We’re making time, Michelle.” I dragged her over to the junction box. “I can’t see a reason for this to be here unless it has something to do with the shields that protect this place from scanners and comms.”
Michelle stopped trying to drag me back to the main catwalk. “Can you turn it off from this box?”
“I doubt it, but maybe I can short it out.” I opened the box, pulled out my pocket light, and shined it around the inside.
“Matt, hurry. That light will give us away to anyone who gets within fifty meters of us.”
“I know, babe, but reminding me isn’t helpful.” I flicked the light over relays and connectors, then tugged and pulled at those to see what lay hidden behind them. “Ah ha! Just as I thought.”
As I checked my tools for a vibroblade, Michelle looked over my shoulder at the box. “What do you see?”
“A computerized control unit. Something as complex as the shield requires precise balancing or seams open up in the shield.” Grinning, I pulled out the utility knife I’d been looking for. “Each junction box has to have its own controller to keep the shield up.”
Flicking on the blade, I jammed it straight into the control unit. The unit gave a soft pop and a small curl of smoke rose from it. Thumbing off both the light and the blade, I closed the junction box.
“Did that even do anything?” Michelle asked.
“Let’s find out.” I thumbed my comm unit on. “Greg? Are you there?”
“Nora! It’s Matt on the comm.” Relief filled Greg’s voice. “Have you got your parents? Are you out of there?”
“No to both, Greg.” As she spoke, Michelle grabbed my hand and we ran back to the main catwalk. “Things are a lot more complicated than we thought they were.”
With the same economy of words she’d displayed reporting to Jonas back on Draconis, Michelle told Greg what we had discovered. “Right now, we could use some serious help. The pirates are coming up to the catwalk to find out who killed their man. We’re close to Matt’s parents, but I don’t know what we’re going to find there or how we’ll get out again once we get there.”
“Roger that, Michelle. Nora is calling the security chief now. What do you need me to do?”
Michelle shot a glance at me. “Matt, have you got any ideas?”
“Call Nancy Martin, the flight commander. Bring her up to speed and get her fighter wing out on patrol. I don’t know how much good it’ll do, but it can’t hurt.”
“I’ll get right on it,” Greg said. “As for you— Hey, who are you?”
Dull thumps came over the comm. It sounded like someone grabbed the comm from Greg.
Panic welled up inside me. Were Greg and Nora in danger because they helped us? “Greg? Are you okay?”
&nb
sp; “Greg is fine, sir. I didn’t want to waste time with explanations.”
“Daddy!” Michelle cried.
“Jonas? How the hell did you get here so fast?” I asked.
“I’ll explain later, sir.” Jonas steady voice had a calming effect on both of us. “What’s your situation?”
“The original Pegasus Station is now a base for pirates,” Michelle answered. “They’ve got two of what Matt calls Q-ships. Those are-”
“I know what they are, pumpkin. Continue.”
“The pirates outnumber us at least three hundred to one. They’re about to block the only exit we know of. And we’re about to break through a door and rescue Matt’s parents. Then we need to get out of the pirate base, of course.” Michelle took a deep breath. “And Matt and I got married.”
Jonas was silent for a few seconds. “Let’s get you two and Matt’s parents out of the pirate base, first. Everything else can wait.”
Over the comm, we heard Jonas ordering Greg to pull up station design diagrams. Far behind us, near the door into the elevator room, bright beams of light pierced the darkness as the pirates reached the catwalk. Dead ahead of us loomed the door into my parents…apartment? Prison?
A chip reader was installed beside the door. We pulled up and I waved my hand in front of the reader. With a click, the door slid open.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Reunion
I stepped inside, hoping to find my parents waiting for me. They weren’t, at least not in the first room. We saw a few comp consoles with business pads next to them. A few desks even held paper records—easier to destroy quickly, I guess. All in all, the room looked like nothing more than the office for a typical small business. What would we find in those records? Did murderous, illegal small businesses have retirement funds or health insurance?
All of those thoughts flitted through my mind during the two seconds it took me to look around the office. Desperate to find my parents, I opened my mouth to call out to them. Michelle covered my mouth with her hand.
“Don’t say anything. Your parents might be guarded,” she whispered, waving her other hand before the chip reader on the inside. The door hissed shut behind us.
I nodded and Michelle withdrew her hand. Holding her blaster ready, she crept to the only other door in the room. To our surprise, it was an old fashioned door with a door knob and without any kind of chip reader. Michelle leveled the blaster on the door. I turned the knob and gently pushed the door open. We found a short hallway, three or four meters long and ending in another door.
We approached the second door with the same caution as the first and clearly heard sounds beyond it. Michelle leveled her blaster again. I turned the knob and gently pushed this door open. On the other side of the door lay a disconcertingly familiar sight—the room was identical to my parents’ living room back on Draconis. A man and woman, their backs to us, sat in an exact copy of the love seat my parents always sat in. They watched a vid player identical to the one we’d had before they disappeared. I recognized the vid at once—Star Ranger and the Slavers of Ursus.
It was my absolute favorite vid seven years ago. I watched it so often Mom and Dad threatened to throw it in the recycler. I hadn’t watch it once since their disappearance.
“Go away and leave us alone.” The voice belonged to my father. It sounded older to me, less firm, but there was no doubt who was speaking. “This is our family time.”
I tried to find my voice but couldn’t. Seeing my mouth open and close, Michelle lowered her blaster and said, “Mr. and Mrs. Connaught, we’re here to rescue you.”
Two heads spun around and eyes widened in surprise. Mom found her voice first. “Mattie? Oh my God, is it you Mattie?”
The next thing I knew, I found myself leaning over the back of the love seat hugging my parents, with tears streaming down my cheeks. Mom covered my face in kisses while Dad just said, “Son!” and held me tight.
Behind me, Michelle spoke quietly to Jonas. I heard their conversation but had no idea what they said to each other. Mom, Dad, and I kept repeating the same inane things over and over again.
“We never thought we’d see you again!”
“I love you so much!”
“How did you find us?”
Then Michelle pulled me back from my parents. “I really hate to break up this reunion, but we’ve got work to do before you three can catch up with each other. The pirates will get here eventually and we need to be gone before then.”
“Of course, you’re right young lady. Who-” Dad sat back and took his first good look at Michelle. “Good God! Aren’t you Jonas’s little girl?”
“Yes sir. And I’ve got Daddy on this comm. I’m putting it on speaker so we can all hear him.”
Michelle tapped a button on her comm and held it between us. “You’re on, Daddy.”
“Richard? Angela? Can you both hear me?”
“Loud and clear, Jonas,” Dad said. “It’s a relief to hear your voice. When this is over, you’ll have to tell me how you found us.”
“You’ll have to ask our children. It’s been all I can do to keep up with them.” I detected definite pride in Jonas’s voice. “But right now, let’s concentrate on getting the four of you out of there.”
“Have you got a plan, Jonas?” I asked.
“I think so, sir. Based on the station designs, it appears there’s a huge door at one end of the original station. It keeps the pirate ships hidden until they go out raiding.”
Mom and Dad both nodded, with Mom adding, “That’s right. We can see the thing open and shut from here.”
“Good. Your help—and your ride out of there—has to come through that door. Now comes the tough part. We can’t find any way to control the door from here. Sir, can you hack the pirates’ computer system and open the door?”
“I can try-”
Dad interrupted, “That won’t work. The door can only be opened with a manual control. The pirates put it in place specifically to keep hackers from finding the door controls.”
“Damn, that makes this a lot more complicated.”
“No it doesn’t, Daddy. It makes this a lot easier.”
“No. Absolutely not. You are to stay put, young lady. With the pirates alerted to your presence, going out there is too dangerous.”
“There aren’t many places intruders can go down here, Daddy. Staying in one place is just as dangerous as going back out.” Michelle frowned as if just thinking of something. “And you can drop that ‘young lady’ bit, too. I am a married woman, after all.”
Mom and Dad exchanged surprised looks and then their eyes widened further. They turned toward me.
“I was going to tell you once we were all safe,” I said. “And that’s still the best time to talk about this.”
“Jonas, did you approve their wedding? Is it part of your plan to keep Matt safe?” Mom asked.
“I learned about the marriage two minutes ago,” Jonas replied. “But as much as I want to talk about it now, Matt is right. We’ll discuss it once everyone is safe.” Jonas paused for a few seconds. “All right, pump- um, Michelle, what’s your plan?”
“I’m going to slip out of this little office-prison, sneak over to the controls, and open that big door. It’ll be easy.”
“No, it might not be that easy,” I said. “What if there’s a code on the door controls?”
“You can talk me through it from here, babe.”
Mom’s and Dad’s eyebrows rose at Michelle’s endearment as I shook my head. “It’ll be easier if I’m there to do it myself. Besides, who will watch your back while I’m talking you through it?”
“No, it’s too dangerous,” Mom insisted. “Both of you are going to stay right here until help arrives.”
“No, Mom, we’re not. Michelle and I can handle this.”
“Jonas?” Dad asked. “What do you think?”
“As Michelle’s father and Matt’s bodyguard and his…father-in-law, I think it’s crazy dangerous.”
Jonas spoke slowly, as if working his way through complex feelings. “But from a strictly professional point of view, our kids are right. Someone has to open that door and they’re the best ones to do it.”
Silence hung over our little group when Jonas finished speaking. Then Dad said, “All right. But for God’s sake, be careful.”
Mom added, “Married couple or not, I’ll ground you both for a year if you get yourselves killed.”
Jonas, with help from Greg, told us where to find the door controls. Of course, the controls were on the main floor of the docking bay.
My parents gave me quick, heartfelt hugs and surprised Michelle by hugging her, as well. Then the two of us went back to the door with the chip reader. Leaving the office’s interior lights off, we slipped out and started toward the nearest set of stairs down from the catwalk.
I handed my comm unit to Michelle, replacing the one she’d left with my parents. “You keep this. Any advice Jonas offers will be for you, anyway.”
Michelle fitted the comm into her ear. “Can everyone hear me? Good.”
We reached the nearest set of stairs and, as silently as possible on old metal stairs, descended. The descent was surreal, though not for the reason you might think. While I found sneaking down to the ground floor of a pirate base disconcerting, I’d done equally disconcerting things since boarding the maglev train back on Draconis all those weeks ago. No, the surreality came from listening to Michelle’s side of a three way conversation with my parents and her father. A conversation about us.
At first, she simply responded with a soft “Yes” or “No,” leading me to believe the discussion centered around our current situation—and maybe that was the case. Then Michelle responded to a question obviously asked by my mother.
“I don’t think any girl could study your son as closely as I have and not fall in love with him, ma’am.”
“Michelle,” I hissed, “tell my mother to save the third degree for when we aren’t surrounded by pirates.”