“Shit happens.”
“So, did it work? The process, I mean.”
“Yes. Drop your shield so I can lock on to your location.”
“Is Harrish there?”
“He didn’t make it.”
“You shouldn’t believe what he said, sir. I stuck around as long as I could. You wouldn’t want your ship to be destroyed for no reason.”
“Harrish was dead when I got back to him, so whatever objection he had died with him. Let’s rendezvous, Leitke. We should head back to Macer together.”
“Okay. I’m lowering my shield now.”
“Aldebaran, what are you doing?” whispered John.
“I’m going to get some information out of him. Leitke, you’re less than ten million kilometers from me. I’ll overtake you in a few seconds. Drop out of superlume.”
“Got it.”
The Faith quickly arrived, and itself dropped out of superspace. The pirate ship was within view.
“What’s the price on your head, Leitke?” asked Aldebaran.
“I don’t know. I’ll never be worth as much as you. Did you want to dock?”
“No.”
“Then why have we stopped? Shouldn’t we be on our way to Macer?”
“Do you regret the crimes you’ve committed?”
Leitke laughed. “About as much as you do, Cap.”
“That’s no longer true.”
“If this life is getting to you, I’ll be happy to take over as captain.”
“Your wish is granted.”
“Seriously?”
“When am I not serious? The ship is yours, my old friend. I’m staying aboard this one.”
“It’s kind of abrupt, but all right. Are you sure you don’t want to collect any of your stuff before we part ways? Not like you have much. You were never one for collecting treasure.”
“Keep it. I just want you to remember one of the most important parts of being a successful pirate.”
“Uh... don’t get caught?”
“Know thy enemy.”
Aldebaran flipped the safety switch off of the joystick trigger, and sent a brilliant flash of plasma energy streaking out of the main cannon and into the other ship. There was a brief explosion and it disappeared into dust.
“Son of a bitch!” yelled John, dashing forward and shoving Aldebaran from the chair.
“Looks like the Mark Sevens are working,” said Aldebaran, picking himself up from the floor.
“Who the hell gave you permission to fire?”
“Trust me, John, those guys deserved a far worse punishment than disintegration.”
“That may be, but nobody fires weapons without my say so!”
“It was the shortest path to justice.”
“You’re not ready to be a part of this crew. I want you off the bridge until further notice. Seth or not, if you compromise the command structure again I will turn you in for the reward. Clear?”
“I’m sorry.”
Visibly disappointed, Aldebaran exited the bridge. Friday leapt from the console and ran after him. John and Christie looked at each other.
“You’re both right,” she said.
“Maybe, I don’t know. Obviously I’m not comfortable flying around destroying other ships willy-nilly. At the very least we could have captured his ship and collected the bounty.”
“True.”
John leaned against the bulkhead, sighing deeply.
“What a fucking mess, Christie.”
“Also true.”
23.
“You made it!”
Dana leapt from her seat and ran across Fernwyn’s living room. She hugged John and Christie simultaneously. Richter entered next, leading Aldebaran. A metal cup clattered to the floor. In the kitchen, Nathalier had just dropped his yutha.
“You captured Aldebaran?” he said, shocked.
“Sort of,” said John. “He’s on our side now.”
“He merged with Seth?” asked Dana.
“Hello, Dana,” said Aldebaran. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Seth’s really in there?”
“For good or ill,” said Richter, sitting on the couch.
“Where’s Ray?”
“He was injured during the fight at the station. Fernwyn and a SPF surgeon by the name of Marek are aboard the Faith taking care of him now. He should be okay.”
“What happened to Ari?”
Richter turned away from her. “KIA.”
Dana was almost speechless. “I… oh my God.”
“We can mourn Ari later. The important thing is that we got our ship back, and she wasn’t damaged. We also have Aldebaran, if we decide to cash him in.”
“You think you’re in good shape?” said Nathalier. “Haven’t you heard the news?”
John shrugged. Dana picked up a remote controller and turned on Fernwyn’s telescreen.
“It’s all over the news channels,” she began, “tensions are high between the Zendreen and the Solar United Faction. The Zendreen say the SUF destroyed the way station, and they’re threatening a retaliatory strike.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me!” exclaimed John. “The Zendreen destroyed the fucking station. We’re all witnesses to that.”
“Tell it to the authorities,” said Nathalier.
“Sounds like the Gulf of Tonkin incident,” Richter said.
“Why would the Zendreen blame the SUF for it?” asked John. “Since when do they need any kind of excuse to pick a fight?”
“The Zendreen are still accountable to the rest of the universe,” said Nathalier. “They claimed the Umberians were planning to commit genocide against them so they invaded their planet. That may have been wolshit, but it gave them a handy excuse to forge a treaty with the SUF and avoid the direct ire of anybody else in the cloud.”
“It’s true,” said Aldebaran, “but it was a defensive strategy. We never planned on attacking them first.”
“It’s dirt under our feet now. The bottom line is that the Zendreen have manufactured a reason to open up hostilities with the SUF, and we’re right in the middle of it.”
“This figures,” said John, throwing up his arms. “Why should things get any easier now?”
Fernwyn entered and nodded a greeting towards Nathalier and Dana.
“I’m glad my spare keycard was where I hid it,” she said. “Have you been making yourselves at home?
“Yes, thank you,” replied Dana.
“Have you been back to work, Nathalier?”
“Yes,” said Nathalier, cleaning up the spilled yutha, “but obviously I haven’t mentioned our little problem on Delta to anyone.”
“How’s Ray doing?” asked John.
“He’s okay. Marek repaired the damage, but he’ll still be down for a couple of days.”
“What’s your job situation?”
“I don’t know, I haven’t checked in yet. Marek doesn’t work for the same division so he doesn’t know either. Like I said, chances are they won’t be very happy with me.”
“If you’re lucky,” began Dana, “they’ll be way too distracted by current events.”
“Yeah, Marek brought me up to speed.”
“How is the SUF going to deal with this?” asked Christie, opening Fernwyn’s fridge.
“I don’t know. It’s not like our testimony would make any difference. We all know the Zendreen are lying. They’ll probably make some sort of diplomatic gesture and hope it satisfies them. I doubt the Zendreen are really going to mobilize for war.”
“This doesn’t change anything on our end,” said John. “I’m still going ahead with the rescue mission. In fact, I want to leave as soon as possible.”
“I agree,” said Richter. “No sense hanging around here waiting for the Black Crest to detect the ship again.”
“Where is the ship?” asked Dana.
“It’s on one of the roof landing pads, right next to Nathalier’s ship,” said Fernwyn. “Or at least hovering next to it. It
should be safe there for now. I also took the liberty of loading my ship into the cargo bay.”
John nodded. “Fine. Everyone who’s coming get back up there unless you need something from Fernwyn’s place.”
“There’s something I thought we should do before we depart, John.” said Fernwyn. “Follow me.”
Fernwyn led John into her bedroom and walked to the far side of her bed.
“Have you got some stress relief in mind?” he said, grinning.
“No, just something reassuring.”
Hauling back, Fernwyn kicked the baseboard of her bed. A spring-loaded drawer opened upon receipt of the blow. John came around to look as Fernwyn withdrew something most certainly reassuring to him.
“This is the Res-ZorCon Mark Five ‘Phalanx.’ It fires the same one centimeter rounds as my pistol, but at a slightly higher velocity. It also has the capability for fully automatic fire and a fifty round magazine capacity. Recoil is absorbed by a hydraulic piston.”
“It looks like a typical Earth select-fire rifle. In fact, it looks a lot like a MP-5, except for the horizontal magazine. Walk me through the T&E.”
“What?”
“I mean show me how to operate it.”
Fernwyn described to John how to charge and clear the weapon, which revealed no surprises to him. It weighed about five pounds and fit him well.
“I have two of them,” she said. “I’ll take one and the rest of you can fight over the remainder.”
“Richter will probably benefit from it the most.”
Fernwyn pulled an identical rifle from the drawer and slung it on her shoulder. They moved back into the living room.
“Here you go, Richter,” said John, tossing him the rifle, “a little alien persuasion.”
Richter caught the unfamiliar weapon, and reversed the condition within seconds.
“Roger that,” he said.
Handing Richter four more magazines, Fernwyn then looked around. “Everybody ready to go?”
“What’s your decision?” John asked, directing the question to Nathalier and Dana.
“I’m sorry, but you’re on your own,” said Nathalier. “I’ll be glad to take care of Aldebaran for you, of course.”
“Nice try, but he stays with us. Dana?”
“I would feel safe enough on the Faith,” Dana replied, “even during a fool’s crusade like this one. I just not sure if I’m still welcome.”
“You know you always have a place aboard, Dana.”
“Nobody blames you for sitting out the last mission,” said Christie. “But you have intimate knowledge of the ship that is essential. With Seth now a part of Aldebaran, your skills are more important than ever.”
“All right. I’m in.”
Fernwyn gestured and the group moved into the hallway. Locking the door, Fernwyn led the way to the elevator. They all barely fit inside.
“Your pistol is grinding into my hip, John,” said Fernwyn.
John smirked. “That’s what you think.”
“I’m serious, move.”
“Nobody sneeze or we’re going to fall down the shaft,” said Richter.
“I thought the Zendreen were giving us the shaft,” said Christie.
“You’re all crazy,” said Nathalier.
The door opened, and the group piled out onto the roof. Several ships were parked there, but fortunately they were the only ones around. The noonday sun cast a comfortable glow, and distant ships glittered in the sapphire sky. A dark line appeared next to Nathalier’s ship as Marek lowered the Faith’s ramp.
“It didn’t even occur to me that he’d been left alone on board,” said John.
Fernwyn waved a greeting at Marek. “Don’t worry, this guy’s been my friend for years.”
“Everybody take it real easy,” said a voice.
The group whirled around. From behind the elevator shed and ships, about a dozen SPF officers stepped out. John, Fernwyn, Christie, and Richter had their weapons up almost instantly. Fernwyn recognized the speaker as Lieutenant Durring. They had their weapons drawn to the low ready position. The group was surrounded save for the ramp to the Faith about fifteen meters distant.
“I’m sorry, Rylie,” said Marek.
“I didn’t realize failing to report for duty was a crime,” said Fernwyn.
“Officer Rylie,” began Durring, “you, Seth Aldebaran, Arin Nathalier and the crew of that ship are under arrest.”
“What the hell?” growled Nathalier.
“What’s the charge?” asked Fernwyn, livid.
“For Aldebaran, it’s obvious. The rest of you are wanted for the destruction of the Umberian System Way Station.”
“Bullshit!” yelled John. “The Zendreen destroyed the station! We’re all witnesses!”
“So you admit to being there?” asked Durring.
“Of course, but that’s not how it went down,” said Fernwyn.
“You’ll be held until we can get the facts sorted out. Drop your weapons, nice and slow.”
Nobody moved.
“I thought the Zendreen were blaming the SUF for the incident,” said Dana.
“They are,” replied Durring, “but the SUF obviously had nothing to do with it. In order to placate the Zendreen and prevent hostilities we have to convince them that it was a group of rogue agents acting independently of the SUF.”
“God damn it,” said John, “you’re trying to make us into scapegoats.”
“You have to admit it doesn’t look too good when you’re tooling around with the most wanted pirate in the cloud.”
“I’m not a pirate anymore,” said Aldebaran softly.
“Whatever,” said Durring. “We’ll sort it out back at the station. Drop your weapons. You wouldn’t want one misunderstanding to turn into another unfortunate incident.”
John, Fernwyn, and Richter shared a glance. John motioned with his eyebrow toward the ship. Richter and Fernwyn both shook their heads slightly indicating the negative.
“I wasn’t even there,” said Nathalier. “I’m not culpable. This is wolshit.”
There was a maddening silence for several seconds.
“Are you so committed to this setup that you’re willing to gun us down where we stand?” asked Fernwyn.
“I’m just following orders,” Durring said, shrugging.
The invisibility field on the Faith suddenly dropped, casting an instant shadow over the rooftop. Several officers raised their weapons.
“Hold your fire!” Durring screamed.
A whirring sound familiar to the humans began to fill the air. All eyes were drawn to the ventral fifty caliber cannon that was now spinning and pointing toward them. John grinned. A voice began broadcasting over a unseen speaker.
“You’d better let them go,” said Ray.
The group began moving slowly toward the ramp. Nathalier stuck with them, an expression of dismay on his face.
“Think about what you’re doing,” shouted Durring. “I don’t know what really happened out there, but the threat from the Zendreen is real enough! You can help us prevent a war, Rylie!”
“By taking the fall for the SUF?” Rylie yelled back. “I don’t think so.”
The group made it inside the cargo bay and John hit the button to close the ramp. Richter waved goodbye to Durring as the rooftop disappeared.
“Check on Ray!” said John, sprinting up the stairs.
“I can’t fucking believe it,” said Nathalier, “my life is over.”
“I’ll go check on Ray,” said Christie.
“Okay.”
Christie headed for the ventral gun room as Dana, Fernwyn, Aldebaran, and Richter climbed the stairs.
“Hey, wait for me,” said Nathalier.
On the bridge, John was in the pilot’s seat, firing up the engines.
“Think we’ll encounter any resistance?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” said Fernwyn, “let’s not stick around to find out.”
“I wasn’t planning on it.
They’ll have to catch us first anyway.”
“I’ll take the gunner’s station,” said Aldebaran.
“I don’t think so. Dana, you take it. Everyone else sit down and hold on.”
John took off and pushed the ship to its maximum atmospheric speed. Orange flames skirted the edges of the windows as they rapidly exited the sky. Moments later they were in space. John activated the superluminal drive and set a course for Umber. He locked down the controls and sighed in relief.
“Sorry about that,” said Fernwyn. “I honestly didn’t see that coming.”
“It’s not your fault,” John replied, standing.
“I need a drink,” said Nathalier.
“Agreed.”
“I’ll keep an eye on things up here,” said Dana.
John nodded and led the others down to the galley. Upon arrival they found Christie and Ray, the latter of whom was drinking a glass of water.
“Feeling better, Ray?” asked John.
“No worse for wear,” he said.
“Thanks for pulling our asses out of that one,” said Fernwyn.
“I thought you could use some help.”
John found a bottle of Barbancourt and divided the last of it among two glasses.
“Congratulations,” said Nathalier, accepting the drink, “you’ve been here less than two weeks and you’ve already pissed off every major political power in the nebula.”
John sat down at the table. “It’s ultimately irrelevant. It doesn’t change our mission. If anything, it adds urgency to it. If we can liberate Umber we’ll deny the Zendreen an essential staging area for their martial aspirations.”
“Do you really think you can rescue Talvan right under their noses?”
“If we remain shielded we should be fine,” said Christie.
“Want to come along, Nathalier?” asked John. “We could use all the help we can get.”
Nathalier grumbled. “I don’t have anywhere else to go, but I don’t much feel like dying either.”
“The only way you can clear your name is if the Zendreen are defeated,” said Ray.
“Maybe.”
“Everybody meet in the conference room in an hour,” said John. “I want to start planning this rescue.”
Five minutes prior to the appointed time, Christie and Ray were in the conference room drinking coffee. Ray stretched his arm and tested the limits of his motion.
The Tarantula Nebula Page 31