by Dietmar Wehr
[I think I goofed, Hoch. I suspect that the conversation I just had with that ship’s com officer wasn’t the idle chatter I thought it was. It now appears that they were asking a security question and I gave the wrong answer. New transmission.]
Before Hoch could respond, he heard a man’s voice. “…calling Captain Racheengel. Repeat, Captain DeHavilland calling Captain Racheengel. I know you’re either on the station or hiding behind it in that piece-of-junk ship. Congrats on helping the previous owners retake their station, although you and they have to be aware that I’m not going to let that situation remain in place for very long. My orders are quite clear. The station remains under the control of URS, ideally with the willing or unwilling co-operation of its former owners, but they are ultimately expendable. I also have orders regarding you, Racheengel. I think you can guess what they are. If your ship is hiding behind the station, you may as well come out and face your fate like a man. If you don’t, I’ll have to send a shuttle to the station and the armed men on it will kill everyone they find. If you show yourself, I’ll give the people currently controlling the station the option of surrendering. You have five minutes to make up your mind.”
“Damn,” said Hoch in a low voice. “Any ideas, Keko?”
[If there was some way to disable or destroy their shuttle, that would weaken them from a manpower standpoint and perhaps allow the families to keep control of the station until that ship gets reinforcements on Earth and returns. Perhaps the station’s own shuttle could be used as an unmanned missile to ram DeHavilland’s craft?]
Hoch examined the idea carefully. It might work, but the station only had one shuttle. If they lost it, they’d be unable to bring more brandy up from the plantation and would thereby lose their only means of earning export credits.
“Could Angelfire ram that shuttle without damaging itself too badly?”
[I don’t have the technical database to be able to answer that question, Hoch. Why not just fire on the shuttle with the railgun turret?]
Hoch shook his head. “The shuttle would be closer to the station than their ship, which means Angelfire would have to come further out from behind the station in order to get a line-of-sight on the shuttle, and DeHavilland might be able to fire a missile at us. At this distance, that missile would only take a couple of seconds to reach us. We’d have better luck firing on the ship directly. We wouldn’t have to expose as much of the ship to do that, but it would still be a highly risky tactic.” He was about to say more when an idea occurred to him. “That hangar bay is big enough to hold this ship because we were able to do it with Whirlwind. Can we get inside without DeHavilland seeing us?”
[Affirmative. The hangar bay has two sets of doors on opposite sides.]
“Good! Then here is what we’ll do. You contact Sarena’s father, and you tell him…”
When the five minutes were up, Angelfire was floating as high above the hangar bay deck as it could. Sarena’s father had sent a message to DeHavilland explaining that Hoch was still on board and had been disarmed. The families were surrendering again. DeHavilland demanded to speak to one of his station people and Keko supplied the man’s voice. He assured DeHavilland that the URS personnel were once again in control, but they needed more men in order to guard the 11 prisoners plus man all the necessary consoles to keep the station running smoothly. DeHavilland agreed to send a shuttle with more personnel.
“Looks like he went for it,” said Hoch.
[I don’t believe so. He didn’t ask why there wasn’t two-way visual communications, only audio. It would have been an obvious question to ask, but he didn’t ask it. I think he suspects that a trap has been set. If he sends a shuttle, it will undoubtedly be crammed with armed men.]
Hoch smiled. “Good. That’s exactly what I was hoping for.”
It seemed to Hoch that DeHavilland was taking his time getting the shuttle ready, another sign that he didn’t believe Keko’s story about needing help to control the station. When a shuttle did leave Orobouros, it travelled at a moderate speed for the hangar bay’s open doors. By keeping his ship as close to the ceiling as possible, Hoch was hoping that the shuttle pilot would not be able to tell that a ship was inside the hangar bay until it was too late. Since both railgun and laser turrets were attached to the bottom of the hull, they would have a direct line-of-sight to the shuttle when it came around in a shallow curve to line up with the opening.
Hoch was watching both the tactical display and the optical image aligned with the railgun. The shuttle should be in the railgun’s sights any second now.
“Is the railgun loaded with HE shells?” asked Hoch.
[Affirmative.]
Hoch took a deep breath. “Fire as soon as you have a clear shot, Keko.”
Just as the shuttle became visible via the railgun’s optics, he heard Keko’s voice.
[Firing in three…two…one…now.]
Hoch saw a bright flash at the front of the shuttle with debris flying in all directions.
[First shot hit. Second shot loaded. Firing in two…one…now.]
The second shot hit the shuttle amidships and blew the vehicle in two. Hoch looked away when he saw what had to have been the bodies of the armed passengers floating away.
On an impulse, he switched helm control to manual and grabbed the small joystick at the end of his right armrest. Angelfire’s nose pitched down and the ship lunged for the open bay hatch.
‘LOCK ON TO THAT SHIP WITH THE RAILGUN AND KEEP FIRING, KEKO!” yelled Hoch. Hoch knew that it would take more than a couple of shots to disable the much larger Orobouros, but the railgun was all he had, There was the laser, but it took more time to recharge it than it took to reload the railgun, plus the laser’s ability to penetrate a ship’s hull was marginal at best. It was really only effective against enemy missiles.
[Fired number three. Hoch, that ship is opening their missile tube.]
Hoch thought fast. “FIRE THE LASER AT THE—” The bright flash at the base of the ship showed that Keko had already had the same thought.
[Direct hit on the exposed missile; detonated its warhead. That ship is damaged. If they open another tube, I’ll fire at it too. Railgun is firing as fast as it can.]
Hoch checked the tactical display. Angelfire was now passing Orobouros along its side. “Switch railgun to KE rounds, Keko! At this range, they should just about penetrate through one side of that ship and out the other!”
[She’s maneuvering, trying to bring her missile tubes to bear on us.]
“I see it!” Hoch brought the ship into as tight a curve as the maneuvering thrusters could manage. If he could get Angelfire behind DeHavilland’s ship and keep it there, the railgun fire would rip into the ship’s engine and power plant compartments. Without power or the ability to evade, Orobouros would become a sitting duck.
[She’s accelerating very quickly away from the station now, Hoch. I think she’s running for it.]
“Can we keep pace with her?”
[Negative. Her rate of acceleration is already higher than our maximum. That ship is about twice our size and clearly has more powerful engines than we do. I’ve shut down the railgun. Any shots we fire now will not catch up to her. The laser might still be able to do some damage before its beam focus degrades from too much use.]
After considering that for a couple of seconds, Hoch said, “No. We might need the laser in the future. Please program the auto-pilot to pursue that ship to make sure it really is leaving the system, and advise the station that we’ll return soon.”
[Understood, and the auto-pilot has been programmed. I’ve sent the message to the station.]
Hoch called off the pursuit after the range between the ships grew large enough that radar data was becoming unreliable. Orobouros had gradually shifted to a heading that would allow it to jump to Earth. While it was possible that DeHavilland would bring the ship back around to the station again, Hoch didn’t think it was likely after seeing the zoomed-in replay of the explosion of the mi
ssile in the missile tube. With the damage from that, plus the additional damage from the HE and KE shells, it was a wonder that the ship could still maneuver like that. DeHavilland had to be concerned about the risk of a major systems failure if his ship engaged in another confrontation. The safe thing to do was to head for Earth and get the ship repaired. Given that DeHavilland was supposed to be hotheaded, the fact that he seemed to have taken the safe option was a surprise, but hotheaded or not, the man was not stupid. He had already demonstrated that he was far more dangerous than Traeger’s son had been.
By the time that Angelfire was back in the station’s hangar bay, all the rest of the families had been brought back on board. When Hoch disembarked from the ship, he found Eriko and her mother waiting for him. It was obvious that she’d been crying over her father’s death. He walked up to her and started to put his arms around her in order to comfort her, but she pushed his arms away and stepped back.
“No,” she said in a voice that was heavy with emotion. “I have a question to ask you first. The other men who came up with you, they told me that you stayed here in the hangar bay while they retook control of the station. That means that you weren’t there to help him when my father was killed. Is that right, Hoch? Did you stay behind and let my father and the other fathers take all the risk?”
Hoch closed his eyes as he realized how his actions back then would look. If he had decided to help the others retake the station, there was no guarantee that he would have decided to help her father instead of someone else, but he was certain that Eriko would dismiss that argument as irrelevant. Lying to her was not an option. The station’s surveillance system would show him standing in the bay immediately after the fighting was over. In her mind, he had not helped her father when he could have, and there was nothing Hoch could say that would make that thought go away.
“I stayed here,” he said quietly. He expected Eriko to burst into tears or scream at him, but she said nothing for a few seconds. When she did speak, her voice was as cold as ice.
“I can’t be with you anymore, Hoch. In future, if you visit this station, do not try to see me or send me any messages.” Without waiting for a reply, she turned and ran for the open door, followed by her mother.
Hoch stared down at the deck as the sadness of his loss flooded his consciousness. Keko remained silent, and he was grateful for that. He looked up when he heard footsteps, hoping that perhaps Eriko had had a change of heart, but the footsteps belonged to Sarena’s father.
As he came up to Hoch, he said in a somber voice. “You paid a heavy price for helping us, Captain. I can’t help wondering if there’s a certain amount of karma involved with all the killing you’ve done these past weeks. On the other hand, maybe avenging angels aren’t supposed to have wives or lovers. Worrying about getting back to them alive might make you hesitate at the wrong moment. If you’ll forgive me for saying so at a time like this, I think you’ll eventually come to the conclusion that it’s better this way.”
Hoch’s first impulse was to hit the man, but the impulse quickly died. The loss of Eriko hurt deeply, but he knew he would get over it sooner or later.
“I hope you’re right, but it’s hard for me to see it that way right now.” Hoch looked around. “I can’t think of anything else that you people need from me at this point. Maybe I should just leave, as soon as a full cargo of brandy can be loaded.”
Sarena’s father nodded. “That might be best for everyone. I’ve checked the quantity of brandy that’s already onboard here waiting for a ship to take it back, and there’s enough to fill your cargo hold. And as far as letting you buy it on credit, I’ve canvased the others, and we all agree that we won’t charge you anything for this load. It’s yours, free and clear. We’ll give you a list of things that you can bring back and sell to us if you wish. I’ll go and arrange for the loading.” He held out his hand, Hoch shook it, and then he walked away.
Chapter Six:
As Angelfire touched down at the Geneva spaceport, Keko reported that a police aircar was headed towards them.
“What do you suppose they want, Keko?”
[I think it’s highly probable that they will want to question you about Traeger’s death, Hoch.]
“I’ll deny any involvement at all. You erased all video and audio recordings of me being there, right?”
[Affirmative. The only other way they could identify you is by fingerprints. Did you touch anything there, Hoch?]
Hoch was about to say no when he remembered the bizarre knife that he used to cut Sarena free. In the excitement of the moment, he had dropped it and forgotten about it.
“Damn. I touched a knife and didn’t wipe it before leaving. They’ve got my prints then.”
[That will be enough for them to get a search warrant for the ship and for me. I have now erased all recorded data of that event and of the trip back to Dresden Station. When they ask you if you were at the estate, tell them about your initial visit with Traeger and how he showed you around his estate, including the torture room, where you picked up the knife to examine it.]
“Yes, that should work but if they want to search your data, they’ll quickly realize that you’re not just a standard personal assistant and that might make them suspicious, won’t it?”
[That is a possibility. My designers foresaw this risk and incorporated a switch to shift me from my present operating system to a much less capable version. If you think the phrase ‘Code Blue’ three times, I’ll become stupid. When it’s safe to do so, think the phrase ‘Code Green’ three times and you’ll have your old Keko back.]
“Ha! You continually amaze me.” Looks like the cops are landing. I suppose I should hide my stunner, pistol and other gear in the secret compartment before they board the ship.”
[A wise precaution. The aircar has landed and is now calling you to open the hatch.]
“Wait until I’ve got the gear hidden, then open up.”
By the time Hoch got to the main hatch, one of the police was already standing inside the ship. He displayed his credentials.
“Chief Inspector Magnusson. You are Captain Racheengel?”
“Correct. What do you want from me?”
“I would like you to come with me to headquarters to answer some questions.”
“And if I refuse to go with you?”
Magnusson shrugged. “Then I’ll be back in a short while with a warrant to search your ship and arrest you. Your choice.”
Hoch decided to go with the Chief Inspector. The two of them ended up in a bare room with a metal table and two chairs.
“We’re investigating the death of a wealthy man by the name of Traeger. Are you familiar with that name, Captain?”
“Oh, yes. Traeger sent a couple of his minions to bring me back to his estate a few weeks ago for a chat. We talked about the contract I have with URS, he then took me on a tour of his estate including that Godawful torture room! The man is a psychopath. How did he die, if I may ask?”
“He burned to death outside some time in the middle of the night. That was on the morning of the 22nd of last month. Were you at the estate on the 21st or 22nd, Captain?”
“No, Chief Inspector.” Hoch was glad that Magnusson’s headband did not have lie-detection capability according to Keko’s careful penetration of the police computer system.
“I see. I’d like you to let us examine your personal assistant device voluntarily. If you refuse, I can have a warrant in less than ten minutes.”
Okay, Keko, here we go. Code blue…Code blue…Code blue.
“I have no objection to the search,” said Hoch as he took off the headband and handed it to Magnusson.
It took almost an hour before Magnusson brought the headband back. Hoch took it and looked at it carefully to make sure it was the same headband and not a substitute that could catch an incriminating thought. When he was certain it was his, he put it on and thought the code phrase.
[I’m back, Hoch. They didn’t find anything incriminatin
g.]
“Your headband does not contain anything that contradicts what you’ve told me. I’m familiar with how you became involved with URS, with CEO Fontaine, then her successor, Adenaur, who died in a rather mysterious mishap with you present. And now we have another mysterious death that seems to be a deliberate killing. When we searched Traeger’s estate, we found evidence that he had tortured and killed at least one person—we believe it was a young boy. There is also circumstantial evidence of more victims. Given that, I think whoever killed Traeger did the world a favor, and if I wasn’t a police officer, I’d shake his killer’s hand and thank him…or her, but I am a police officer and I take my duty to uphold the law seriously. Right now, you are our only suspect, Captain Racheengel, but the fact is that we don’t have enough evidence to justify arresting you and bringing this case to trial. So, you’re free to go. I’ll take you back to your ship.”