He was packed and ready to move when eventually Millie awoke hours later. At first an expression of alarm crossed her face when she saw he was prepared to leave and it only disappeared as she absorbed his words.
“We’ll to move out of here as soon as you can walk. Otherwise we’ll trapped if they somehow find your trail. I want you to show me how to enter the company town.” He ignored her frown. “I can get us off-planet, I’m certain. I’ll need access to the town, though.”
“Very well,” Millie agreed with reluctance. “I can take you there. We may encounter difficulties, depending on whether they have guards posted. We can reach either the stockade or the basement of the control and communications building, whichever you want.”
“Control and communications—that’s where we’ll go. Once I see what’s there I’ll be able to plan further. Pack whatever you need. I don’t think we’ll be back.”
“It’ll take me only a moment. I can travel light.”
Steg checked her condition before he would let Millie move. Assured that both her rest and the healing accelerant had done their work, he helped her pack. As they left, Millie pushed away the plank bridge. It thumped and banged its way down the narrow fissure until eventually distance muffled its echoing progress. Millie led the way up the stone passageways and roughly hewn stairs. Steg carried a light cell but did not use it; he was almost accustomed now to the lack of light.
The final chimney of rock was the most difficult part of their ascent. Steg was tempted to discard his pack but eventually succeeded in reaching the upper section of the shaft where he discovered metal rungs to ease their climb. At last they reached the top. Millie used the light cell to show Steg the heavy barrier that blocked their path.
“We have to get through this temporary section. If we loosen and remove some of the blocks of stone, we can climb through. Then we’ll be in the lower basement. No one uses it, so we should be able to get in without detection.”
“Keep the light focused here.”
Steg chipped softly and steadily at the barrier with a metal bar until he managed to free a square block of stone. He pried it out and set it to one side. The second block was easier to move. After that he quickly opened up a gap wide enough to push the packs through. He then went first and Millie followed into the basement.
******
Chapter 21
They moved quietly and carefully through the basement, looking for access to upper levels. Millie had retrieved a stunner from her attacker in Shantytown and she now carried it with a purpose. Steg also held his stunner ready. This company building was poorly designed and had only one stairwell; Hellfire had no fire or emergency rules. They found and climbed the stairs. Fortunately, security was scant and the building was unguarded. Company security did not expect intruders to threaten them from Shantytown, nor did they expect invaders to arrive from underground.
“We have to reach the top floor,” he advised Millie as they climbed, “if that’s where they have their communications equipment. And if we encounter anyone, we must take them out before they can raise the alarm.”
Millie just nodded. They encountered no one on the stairs and they reached the fifth floor without incident. Steg pushed through the heavy doors and Millie followed, guarding his back.
Technicians froze at the sudden intrusion of warlike apparitions into their domain. Their startled and pale faces reflected a remote likelihood of aggressive reactions on their part. Steg looked around, trying to assess in a quick survey the layout of the floor. The whole floor was devoted to items of equipment and communications facilities with only eight technicians on duty. Steg was relieved at the absence of security guards which made his task easier. He returned his attention to the deskbound technicians.
He motioned with his stunner and the technicians assembled reluctantly along a wall bare of either decoration or equipment. So great was their surprise that no one protested or objected. He was not entirely confident of their continued docility.
He spoke softly to Millie. “Take care. Keep your eyes on the doors, someone may have signaled for help.”
He turned back to the technicians. “There are too many of you for me to cover all the time. So I might let you go. First, tell me what equipment you have here. Tell me anything you think I might need to know. If you do, you can go. If you don’t, the chances of you leaving this floor alive will reduce, sharply. Now—you—brief me on the equipment here.”
The technicians were not driven to bravado by a cause; they were not united behind a belief that would support them against the single-mindedness that was driving Steg and his companion. Information flowed forth in ample detail. Steg was relieved and silently exultant as he heard computers mentioned.
“Computers? What computers do you have here?”
“Auto-miners and the ore shuttles, they both have computer systems.”
“Tell me about the auto-miners.”
The technician appeared nonplused. Everyone knew about auto-miners. He noticed Steg’s frown of impatience and hurried to explain the basics of their auto-miners. “We have forty auto-miners, operating at the ore face. They’re tracked vehicles, unmanned, completely automated. They’re equipped with laser drills. They have a top speed of twenty kays per hour and can carry five hundred ton of ore. Each auto-miner’s controlled by a sophisticated computer and they each have back-up units.”
“Are the auto-miners armored?”
“Of course, sir. Otherwise rockfalls would damage them.”
“Good. Which one of you is the senior?” No one answered. The silence intensified. “Come on, I don’t have very much time and even less patience.”
“Me—Jackson—I’m the senior,” volunteered a technician reluctantly. With a collective sigh his companions drew back as if to separate themselves from their manager’s fate.
“Very well. You’ll stay. Stand there. The rest of you—go, get out of here before I change my mind and decide I want hostages. Go!”
His urgings were unnecessary. The technicians left in a rush, some doubtful of their good fortune and others desperate to remove themselves from Steg’s presence. The rush developed into a stampede down the stairs and Steg listened for a moment to the noisy clatter.
“Millie, keep watch from the top of the stairwell. Use a grenade if you see anyone on any level. I’ll look after our friend here and then I’ll join you. I can set some HEx to blow a couple of the flights of stairs and that should make it difficult for anyone to get to us.”
Millie took up her position, more than ready to drop grenades down the stairwell. Steg looped a length of flex around Jackson’s wrists and ankles and tied him to a heavy metal desk. “I’ll get you out of that once I attend to the stairwell,” he promised.
Steg hurried to the landing with the HEx that Pete had provided. He set about taping small portions onto the supports of the stairway, down to the third floor. He positioned the explosives and then wired in remote detonators. He climbed back to the fifth floor and signaled Millie. They both moved into the control center. Steg closed and locked the heavy doors, and then fired the detonators. The dull thump of exploding HEx rocked the floor. Dust and small chips of plaster showered down on them. The doors held.
Millie brushed off the dust. “That will slow them down,” she smiled. Her face was lively with mischief and Steg noted she looked younger, with a glow softening her features.
Steg agreed. “Yes, the stairs should be quite a tangle. If you can get one of the viewcams and set it up to give a picture of the stairwell, we’ll link it to one of these viewscreens. The technical team will be reporting to company security by now and the explosion certainly would have attracted attention. We’ve no more than five minutes before security gets its act together.” He turned to Jackson and untied the flex. “I told you I wouldn’t be long. I want you to show me what communication equipment you have here and how it works, both local and starcoms.”
Steg listened to the details. At last he was satisfied. “
Right. Set me up with a viewscreen of the ore face where the auto-miners are operating. Then help Millie finish her viewcam setup. While you do that I’ll prepare a couple of messages for transmission—one to your bosses and one to—a friend of mine. OK?”
As Millie and the technician completed setting up the viewcam, Steg sat back and relaxed, watching the mining activities.
He reached out, seeking, searching. If he could take control of the auto-miners, he’d have a small brigade of destructive and potentially unstoppable tanks at his disposal. Out he reached, further and further. At first the contact was feather soft, a whisper of tiny signals. He concentrated and gradually the contact strengthened. He now could discern a multitude of electronic twitterings, tangled and difficult to separate. He reached out to a pattern and held it, pulling the soft thread away from the mass, lifting it out of the flock. The system was a primitive and simple structure and it reminded him of a small bird wriggling and bathing in a pool of warm dust, chirping and fluttering.
He penetrated its basic electronic structure and quickly dealt with its protests, canceling and overwriting its security program, and established a destruct sequence that would be triggered if anyone else interfered with its operation. The destruct sequence would cause the laser drill to short out, rupturing the auto-miner’s drive shield, resulting in a small and dirty nuclear explosion.
Steg dealt with each of the auto-miners in turn, taking control and setting the same destruct sequence until he had control of all forty. He sent ten of the now captive auto-miners on a rampage of destruction at the ore face, destroying spares and supplies, climbing over and crushing makeshift shelters and facilities. Maintenance crews fled out of the way, powerless to divert or stop the blind rush of their charges. He sent another ten units on course towards the ore shuttle launch pad. They would surround the launch pad, and unless Steg canceled his instructions, they would assault and destroy the entire complex, including carriers waiting for their loads. The remaining twenty units he directed towards the company town. The miners had nothing capable of stopping the progress of these huge, robotic, and now rogue vehicles of destruction. He set viewscreens to monitor all three groups of auto-miners.
He checked progress with Minnie. The stairwell viewcam was up and running. The stairwell wreckage was impressive. He prepared two messages, saved the files and then handed the two message sticks to the technician.
“I want you to send these. The first one will go in open mode, general broadcast. Copy to security and management teams here, as well. The second one will be in restricted mode.”
“Taul’s acting chief. Our boss is offplanet,” advised the technician.
“Taul will do,” confirmed Steg.
Now that he had control of the auto-miners, he had leverage. The first message was to House of Aluta, describing his control of their mining operations on Hellfire. At the very least he should be able to exchange safe passage for control of the rampaging auto-miners. Trust would be the major—the only—issue. He had to be convinced of his and Millie’s safety in any deal arranged with the House of Aluta. The second message was addressed to Major Denke and it consisted of an urgent request for assistance. Responses to both would be interesting, he thought.
“Sir, security’s trying to contact me,” the technician advised, pointing at a flashing viewscreen. “What shall I do?”
“Switch it on and let’s see. Sound only from here. No nonsense.”
The technician obeyed Steg’s instruction and the viewscreen cleared. The speaker was obviously angry.
“Jackson, who the hell is with you?”
Millie quietly whispered. “Taul.”
“I think his name is Steg de Coeur. He’s sent out some messages on starcom. I’ve looped one on the local net.”
Steg stepped forward. “Taul, listen to me. The auto-miners are under my control. I estimate that within twenty hours no infrastructure will remain on Hellfire for you to secure. Just forty rampaging vehicles.”
“What do you think you are doing, de Coeur?” Taul sounded as though he was almost frothing with rage.
“Seeking safe passage off Hellfire for myself and Milnaret of Fain. Guarantees of personal safety for both of us. Otherwise the company’s investment and reserves on Hellfire are a write off.”
“No way, de Coeur. The Fain stays. And you are dead.”
“First, I would check with your bosses. Also, check with your men at the ore face. Get them to tell you what’s happening at the launch site. Then get back to me. Remember, if anything happens to me, the auto-miners are unstoppable and rigged to explode.”
He turned to the technician. “Turn him off for now. He can investigate and get back to me.”
Before the technician could act, the lights dimmed and failed. The power supply had been cut. Steg cursed and then remembered mention of emergency power supply.
“How do we get the back-up power switched on?”
“Simple, I’m doing it now.” Jackson was indicating his support.
The lights flickered, as the power came back on. Viewscreens returned to life. Steg examined the progress of the auto-miners. Even after a short interval, destruction at the ore face was very evident. No buildings were standing. The auto-miners were circling aimlessly now, their tasks completed. Steg directed each one to stand down beside a section of the mine face at intervals separated by a kay or so, until he had a string of potential nuclear bombs across ore reserves.
Jackson was speechless. Millie expressed her surprise.
“How did you do that?” Millie queried. “Taul will be berserk. Those auto-miners are all out of control.”
“They’re under my control,” corrected Steg. “The company will see them as out of control.” He noted the flashing viewscreen. “Jackson, sound only again from us, please.”
“This is Taul. What exactly do you want, de Coeur?”
“I told you. Safe passage off Hellfire for myself and Milnaret of Fain.”
“As far as we’re concerned you can go any time you want. As I said before, the Fain stays.”
“I won’t bargain on this point. Total destruction here on Hellfire or free and safe passage for the two of us.”
Steg’s calm reiteration angered the other man. “I’ll see you in hell first,” Taul roared, face reddening. Steg thought for a moment he was going to attack the viewscreen.
“You have my requirements. The auto-miners have completed their destruction at the ore face. They are now positioned along the face where I can trigger dirty explosions. Ten kays or more of the mine face will unusable for a hundred—two hundred years or more.”
“Listen, mister, when I get my hands on you—”
“Don’t bluster, Taul. Just keep in mind if anything happens to me, nothing on Hellfire can stop the auto-miners. Nothing. Can you afford to be the cause of the company losing its entire Hellfire investment? I’m adding this conversation to the transmission to the company.” Steg cut off the viewscreen.
“I think Taul needs some extra pressure. Do you have an ore carrier in orbit?” he asked the technician.
“Yes, D’Art arrived yesterday.”
“Tape and send the following message—address it to the captain of D’Art, copies to Taul and to the company.” He dictated his message. “I am requesting guaranteed safe passage off Hellfire for myself and Milnaret of Fain. Currently ten auto-miners are buried along the mine face, ready to be detonated; the resulting nuclear explosions will contaminate ore reserves for hundreds of years. Ten auto-miners are in transit to the ore shuttle launch pad where they will destroy the infrastructure and waiting shuttles, whether loaded or empty. Then each auto-miner will return to the mine face, where it will bury itself, ready for detonation. The remaining auto-miners are in transit to the company town where they will destroy the town infrastructure. All mining operations on Hellfire have now ceased. The company has less than ten hours to agree to my request. Signed Steg de Coeur.” He watched as the technician keyed and transmitted the m
essage. “Good. That is a signal of intention, if nothing else. Although House of Aluta will treat it as a declaration of war. Now we sit and wait a while.”
Minutes slowly turned into an hour without a response, either from Taul, D’Art or from anyone else. Steg could see activity in the stairwell, as presumably Taul’s security force attempted to build makeshift access to the fifth floor. Taul, Steg realized, would risk all on an attack if he didn’t believe Steg’s threat of devastation.
“Signal the captain of D’Art. Also, get Taul on a viewscreen. Set your transmitters for general broadcast so that we have a wider audience—this will get attention Empire-wide.”
He spoke with Taul first. “Taul, keep your men away from this floor.”
“Now why should I do that?” queried the security chief, smirking in smug anticipation.
“Listen carefully and you’ll learn why. I’m about to speak with the captain of D’Art. I think you’ll find the conversation instructive.” He checked with Jackson who signaled that the link was operative.
“Captain, my name is Steg de Coeur. Yes,” he acknowledged. “I sent that earlier message to the company. Our conversation is being broadcast on open channels. I’ve added background information which will be very interesting to inter-stellar media, I’m sure. Do you have equipment on board your ship that’s capable of detecting and measuring a small nuclear explosion on Hellfire’s surface?”
“Yes, de Coeur. We have the ability to do that, although I fail to see—”
“Captain, bear with me please. I’ve been marooned on Hellfire so the company’s thugs can murder me. Taul, the local security chief, has instructed his men to capture me and I want them to stop. I’ve stationed ten auto-miners along the mine face. I’m going to explode one of them in sixty seconds. Please have your technicians monitor and record. Countdown completing now . . . three, two, one.”
Steg reached out to the most distant auto-miner along the ore face. He triggered the auto-miner’s self-destruct sequence. The shock wave spread rapidly. The building shook as the ground tremor rushed past.
Broken Glass (Glass Complex Book 1) Page 21