by Isaac Hooke
Nebb’s eyes were defocused. He was obviously deep inside his chip.
“Almost done,” Nebb said. “Fueling should be finished in about fifteen minutes.”
“Forget the fueling,” Lyra said. “You’ll have to launch with what we have. The TSN is here.”
His eyes came back into focus and his head darted toward her. “You sure?”
“Positive.”
“I guess they’ll be wanting the kid,” Nebb said.
“Good guess.”
Nebb’s head tilted slightly as if he were listening. “Mmm. I’m receiving an order from the control tower. All departures are grounded until further notice. Hangar bay doors across the terminal won’t be opening until the proper clearances have been issued.”
“Is that going to be a problem?” Lyra said.
“Nope.”
Lyra smiled. “Good. I chose the right captain, I see.”
“You did.” Nebb tipped his hat to her. “But I’m starting to wish I’d picked an open-air landing pad rather than a hanger.” He glanced upward. “Grizz, initiate fuel pump decoupling.”
“You got it, Big Boss,” the voice of the ship’s AI lilted from a speaker hidden in the ceiling. “Beginning decoupling from fuel pumps.”
“How long will that take?” Lyra asked, not sure if the AI would answer, or Nebb.
“Three minutes,” Nebb replied. “See those big mechanical hands hanging from the ceiling? Those things have to seal the intake valves, unscrew the tubes, and move them away from the Red Grizzly before I can take off.”
“Three minutes…” Lyra thrummed her fingers on her armrest. “I’m not sure we have that much time. According to my man, the troops are already spreading out inside the terminal. Some are making their way into the corridor leading to Hangars Three and Four as we speak. You might want to recall the security droid you have watching the entrance.”
Nebb nodded.
“What about Brass?” Jed asked her.
“It’s too late for him,” Lyra said. “He’ll have to stay behind with the other robots. Tane’s well-being is entirely up to us from now on.”
Jed nodded. “I understand.”
“Positron, get your ass inside,” Nebb ordered over the comm. “Bar the hangar door you as best you can. Once you’re in, station yourself at the bottom of the Red Grizzly’s ramp. Delay any TSN personnel who decide to show up before we can take off.”
“How would you like me to delay these personnel?” Positron asked over the ceiling speaker.
Lyra appreciated Nebb’s openness, as the smuggler could have routed the robot’s response directly to his chip, rather than the speakers.
“With extreme prejudice,” Nebb replied.
Lyra suddenly understood why Nebb had been so open with his communications to the robot.
He wanted help.
She glanced at Jed. “Join the robot. Don’t let the TSN troops reach the ship before we’ve taken off.”
“Done.” Jed headed for the cramped corridor outside.
“Stay on the ramp with Positron,” Nebb told Jed over his shoulder. “I probably won’t give much warning when I’m about to lift off, and you wouldn’t want to find yourself on the wrong side of the ramp, if you catch my drift.”
“Got it,” Jed said. He flipped open the flap on his sword hilt.
“And Jed,” Lyra said. “Don’t reveal your Bander abilities unless absolutely necessary.”
Jed nodded. He immediately resealed the sword flap, hiding the glowing hilt.
“I suppose he’ll be wanting some normal armaments, then,” Nebb said. “There are plasma rifles in the closet next to the ramp.”
“Perfect.” Jed sped into the corridor beyond. The hatch sealed behind him.
Nebb’s eyes defocused once more.
A tense minute passed. The overhead map on her HUD told her that Jed had positioned himself at the ramp, beside the robot.
“Is there any way you can put up a view from the exit ramp?” Lyra asked.
A moment later a new video feed appeared in the lower left of the digital window projected onto the bulkhead. On it she could see the hangar as viewed from the perspective of the ramp. Backs to the camera, Jed and Positron were down on their knees on that sloping ramp. They aimed plasma rifles toward the personnel entrance, where Positron had apparently piled a bunch of crates, spare parts, and other junk from the hangar.
A moment later the junk blew backwards and TSN combat robots appeared, dressed in full body armor. It was ordinary armor, not Essence-enhanced like Jed’s. With her link, Lyra could feed Essence directly into that armor, and maintain its integrity as necessary. To a degree, anyway... funneling the Essence through a link like that for any length of time could be draining, especially if the distance was too great.
Jed and Positron opened fire with their plasma rifles, concentrating on the same robot. The combined attack penetrated the shield system of the targeted combat robot, taking it down. The other robots immediately dove for cover behind different crates and other debris that had scattered in front of the door after the explosion.
Jed and Positron retreated deeper into the ship, scaling the ramp. Then they lay flat beside the opening, aiming their plasma weapons into the hangar beyond.
Lyra considered joining them, but she didn’t want the TSN to know a Volur was involved. Not yet. Which was why she had instructed Jed not to reveal his Bander abilities.
She heard a loud buzzing sound and tilted her head uncertainly.
“That would be Grizz,” Nebb said.
Dark holes about four centimeters in thickness appeared in several of the different objects the assailants were crouched behind, and the combat droids behind them promptly collapsed.
The Red Grizzly was opening fire with its dragon lasers.
The beams would be hidden to the naked eye, first of all because their wavelengths were beyond the visible spectrum, and second of all because they fired in nanosecond bursts. While personal energy shields usually worked moderately well against smaller laser weapons, for something like a dragon, the shields were essentially useless, especially at the current range.
“Fuel systems have successful decoupled,” Grizz said. “We can take off whenever you’re ready, Big Boss.”
“Need you to target the hangar doors with our plasma throwers first, Grizz me boy,” Nebb said. “Try to blow it open before the TSN robots get smart and decide they want to waltz inside our dragon throw angles, all right?”
“Charging plasma throwers,” Grizz said.
“My Bander won’t let the remaining robots get into position,” Lyra said. Her eyes were glued to the ramp display. From their hides next to the exit, Jed and Positron continued to shoot their plasma weapons into the hangar. The enemy robots returned fire.
Abruptly a bright flash filled the entire view screen. Lyra focused on the main video feed and saw that in place of the closed hanger doors, only a large hole surrounded by white hot metal now remained.
“Can we fit through that, Grizz?” Nebb asked.
“No,” the ship’s AI answered. “But the door edges will break away upon impact.”
“Then what are you waiting for?” Nebb said.
Lyra felt the hull vibrate underneath her, and a distinct hum filled the air: the engines were powering up.
She glanced at the view from the exit camera, and saw that the ramp in front of Jed and Positron was closing.
The Red Grizzly floated upward. Another loud buzz filled the air. On the ramp display, more enemy robots dropped.
Lyra instinctively rubbed one ear, which was still ringing from the noise.
“Don’t worry, you won’t hear any of that in space,” Nebb said. “Well, unless we fire the Essence lance.”
The Rapier class ship darted forward and ripped through the remnants of the hangar doors, flying out over the city.
“Grizz, keep us close to the buildings until we clear the city,” Nebb said. “Once we’ve left Kalindor behind us, h
ug the dunes for the next hundred kilometers or so. Then take to the skies.”
“Trying to avoid the surface-to-space attacks?” Lyra asked. “I don’t think they’re going to shoot us down. They want him alive.”
“Do they now?” Nebb said. “They already started shooting at us in the hangar back there. That tells me all I need to know. As a smuggler, I’ve learned to trust my instincts.”
Lyra shrugged. She didn’t believe the TSN wanted him dead, though. Then again, it wouldn’t surprise her if they did. She could see some TSN admirals thinking something along the lines of, “if we can’t have him, then no one can.”
The Rapier flew nimbly over the city, dodging between the different sky lanes, and smaller police vessels soon began to pursue.
“Don’t worry about them,” Nebb said. “They’re just pursuing for the kicks.”
“It’s not exactly legal for a space-capable starship to weave between sky lanes like this,” Lyra said.
“Nope,” Nebb agreed.
As they passed the outer perimeter of Kalindor, the screen switched to a view from the aft, and Lyra watched the city recede behind her. The smaller police vessels continued to pursue, but then Grizz abruptly accelerated, leaving the slower vessels eating dust. Lyra felt nothing, thanks to the inertial dampeners aboard, of course.
A few moments later Grizz announced: “We have reached the one hundred kilometer mark from the city.”
“Take us into space,” Nebb said.
The display changed to look down upon the dunes, which quickly fell away beneath them. Soon the planet itself began to recede.
“Guess I’ve just been banned from another planet,” Nebb said with a sigh.
“Fighters are incoming from the orbital defense platform,” Grizz announced. “They’re asking us to turn around immediately.”
“Going to fight for their TSN masters, no doubt,” Nebb said. “Grizz, get us to jump altitude pronto. Before some real TSN ships decide to jump in and we have their disruptors to deal with.”
“At top speed, we’ll be free of the influence of the gravity well in approximately five minutes,” Grizz said.
“Damn,” Nebb said. “Guess that means we’re going to have to use the guns for a while. Sinive, get down to the Essence lance.”
“Don’t you want me ready to jump?” a female voice came over the speaker system.
“No,” Nebb said. “We can’t jump if our ship is disabled.”
“Does she need help?” Lyra asked. “I can man the lance.” She could, though admittedly her skill wasn’t very high.
“No,” Nebb said. “Sinive will handle it. With Grizz manning the physics weapons, and Sinive the lance, we’ve got all our bases covered.”
“Do you want me to operate the jump station then?” Lyra said. She was slightly better at creating distortion tunnels.
“No,” Nebb said. “Leave the handling of my ship to myself and my crew. You’re a passenger, remember.” He lowered his voice and added, as if muttering to himself: “Meddling Volur.”
Lyra could have laughed. She had just lent him Jed to guard the ramp, and he didn’t seem to have any qualms about that.
Speaking of her Bander, Jed arrived a moment later with Positron in tow. Jed had reduced the size of his armor to fit the cramped corridors of the Rapier ship, but it was still too big for the relatively small chairs of the cockpit. Positron, however, fit perfectly, and the robot promptly took the final seat.
Lyra knew Jed was uninjured because of the link she shared with him. That, and the diagnostics data his chip continually transmitted her way. Positron seemed none the worse for wear as well.
The deck shook underneath her. “What was that?”
“Nothing we can’t handle,” Nebb said. “A couple of laser and plasma impacts from the fighters. Energy shields are holding.”
“So far...” Grizz said.
9
Tane awoke to a strange rumbling. He was lying on a bunk bed of some kind. It was shaking. He quickly sat upright and banged his head on another bunk overhead.
“Gah!” Holding his head, he lay back down. The shaking had subsided. When the throbbing in his head stopped, he took a moment to survey his surroundings. He was lying in a tight compartment. He was on a bunk bed, of course. There was a locker at the foot of the bed. And other than that, the place was basically empty.
He was still wearing his clothes, he noticed. Except the pouch at his waist was missing.
They stole my personal storage device!
He tried pulling up the inventory on his HUD and was relieved to find he was still connected to the device. His luggage was in the first slot, just where he left it. According to the locater, the pouch was in the same room as him, about a meter to his left. He glanced at the locker.
The floor shook again as Tane slid his legs off the bed. His knees were basically right up against the adjacent wall. He put one hand on the metal surface, and with the other grabbed the edge of the upper bunk, and pulled himself to his feet. The wall was covered in a thin layer of grime so that when he took away his hand, his palm was dirty.
He was forced to walk sideways across the cramped aisle formed by the bed and wall. He reached the locker and it opened when his hand approached the latch. They must have already bioencoded it to his body.
Inside, he spotted his pouch on an upper shelf, and secured it to his waist.
Then he edged sideways another pace and found himself directly beside the door. Unlike the locker, it didn’t open. There was no obvious switch or button. He searched for some sort of a removable panel that would allow him to manually open the thing but couldn’t find one.
The floor rumbled. He checked his HUD again. Apparently he wasn’t connected to the Galnet anymore. Not good. There was still a local mixnet, however, named Grizznet. Expanding it, he saw the labeled IDs of Lyra and Jed displayed under the available contacts list, as well as four other unlabeled IDs he didn’t recognize. His mom and dad were in the offline column, however, as were his other contacts.
Really not good.
He tried to call Lyra.
She answered, voice only. “Tane. Kind of busy right now.”
“Where are we?” Tane said. “The door won’t open!”
“We’re aboard the Red Grizzly, in high orbit,” Lyra said. “We’re trying to reach a jump altitude. We’re under attack by Galtede Serpentis security forces.”
The floor shook. No, not the floor, the deck. They were aboard the Rapier class vessel, by Lyra’s own admission. And these weren’t walls: they were bulkheads.
“Where are Mom and Dad?” Tane asked.
“They’re not here.”
“What!” Tane said. “But we can’t abandon them!”
“I’m sorry,” Lyra said. “We had no choice. The TSN forces had us surrounded at the terminal. It was either leave or allow them to capture you. I chose the latter option.”
Tane rested his head against the door—no, the hatch—in defeat. “I have to send them a message.”
“I’m afraid the security forces are engaged in some heavy signal jamming at the moment,” Lyra said. “You may have noticed you no longer have a Galnet connection... you’ll have to do it later.”
“Then at least let me out of this compartment!” Tane said.
The hatch clicked open and slid aside.
“Thank you,” Tane said.
Lyra disconnected on him.
Tane squeezed through the opening and into the corridor outside. It wasn’t much roomer. It almost felt like he was back in the crawlspace at the farm, except he was able to stand up. A vertical crawlspace, then.
“Damn,” he said to himself. “This ship looked so much bigger on the outside. How can anyone function in an environment like this for any length of time? I already feel claustrophobic.”
“Imagine what it’s like for me,” a male voice lilted. “Having you prodding around my insides like some tapeworm in my intestines.”
“What?” Tane sa
id. “Oh, you must be the AI.”
“Grizz at your service,” the AI responded. The sound seemed to come from every direction at once, which told him it was communicating with him directly through his chip. Which made some sense: there probably wouldn’t be speakers in every corridor, especially considering how cramped this particular passageway was. Maybe the ship didn’t have any speakers at all, actually.
“Glad to know you think of humanity as parasites,” Tane said.
“I never said that,” Grizz intoned, sounding a little offended.
“You didn’t have to,” Tane said. “A tapeworm is a parasite.”
“And so it is,” the AI admitted.
“Is there a map on this bucket of rust?” Tane said. He activated his map overlay and sure enough the Grizznet provided him with an overhead view of the ship’s blueprints, which constantly updated around his current position as he moved so that he appeared to remain in the center. The locations of Lyra, Jed, and the other four were displayed as blue dots, though none of them had authorized positional information sharing with him: the ship’s AI was probably doing it automatically. Tane wasn’t sure why he had access, but he certainly wasn’t going to complain. The smuggler likely figured it was more of a convenience to his passengers than anything else.
Tane made his way toward Lyra’s position. He still had several passageways to go when he reached a sealed hatch sitting in the middle of the corridor, blocking the way forward.
“Open up, please,” Tane told the AI.
“A moment while I confirm your access with the Big Boss,” Grizz said. A few seconds later the hatch opened, revealing another long, tight corridor.
Grizz stopped checking with the “Big Boss” after the next two sealed hatches, and opened them automatically for Tane from that point onward.
Soon enough, Tane found himself standing in a small cockpit. Nebb, Lyra and Positron sat in all the available chairs, staring at a blank bulkhead in front of them. Jed was standing near the entrance, clad in his bulky armor. Tane could only imagine how difficult it was for the Bander to navigate the ship’s passageways. But then he remembered how Lyra’s dress had transformed into a robe before his very eyes. He wondered if Jed’s armor could do something similar. Come to think of it, it did look less bulky than Tane remembered.