Terminate all comms. Re-establish line of sight comm with Nick, Big Pete and Mom.
The blaster fire immediately ceased. I hoped that it wasn’t a coincidence. I raised my hands over my head, illuminated my face within my helmet and slowly peeked around the crag which I was hiding behind.
"Liam?" Mom’s voice came over the comm. "What are you doing here?"
I doused my helmet’s light.
"There are pirate ships nearby. We could be in danger," I said. '’I had to transmit on a comm channel and they’re likely tracking those."
"Right, but we were blasting away at you and Nick. They’d see that just as soon," Big Pete said.
Blaster fire lanced across the ground where we’d been hiding just moments ago. Some ship, probably one of the cutters, had clearly locked onto our comm signal. Luckily, the ships were having a hard time distinguishing our suits from the rocky surface and would need to illuminate the area to find us.
"We gotta get out of here. Follow me. That fire came from the same direction as our ship. Make sure your arc-jets are aimed directly behind you. They won’t be able to pick that up," I said.
"Why aren’t they firing at your ship?" Big Pete asked.
"You’ll see. Let’s move and keep your jets to a minimum," I said. I popped my glove’s arc-jets in the direction of the Hotspur.
"We can hunker down. We’ve got cover," Mom said. Blaster fire continued to rip up the surface of the asteroid, but fortunately we were moving away from it.
"I wouldn’t count on that, Mrs. Hoffen," Nick warned. "We’ve seen two cutters buzz this asteroid in the last twenty minutes. They’re clearly looking for something."
We didn't have time for argument. "I need you to trust me right now. We have a ship, but we’re risking my crew by staying here."
"You want us to come with you?" Dad asked.
"Yes. Trust me, Dad," I said. "If you don’t like what you see, then you can come back."
"What’s your play here?" Big Pete asked.
"We came for you and Mom," I said. "These guys aren’t taking prisoners and they’re destroying everything they come into contact with. If you’re found, it will be bad for you and worse for Mom."
That got his attention. "You have a ship?"
"That’s what I said."
A second cutter pulled up alongside the first. It was creepy that they were within two hundred meters of the Hotspur but appeared to have absolutely no idea we were there. Bright spotlights shown down on the surface. Their ship’s AIs apparently were able to identify something that was off, as they started blasting away at the location where our home had been. It was heartbreaking, but the distraction was probably saving our lives.
"Nick, you and Mom go first. Dad and I will wait until you’ve cycled through the airlock," I said.
He didn’t respond other than to slowly glide to our ship, Mom following closely. It seemed like a lifetime as they cycled into the lock. I felt like the security panel of the lock was a flashing strobe when Nick touched it. Dad and I lifted off and reached the door just as it opened. Nick had thoughtfully evacuated the atmo and opened the lock behind him so that Dad and I could enter without waiting.
"Ada, we’re all on board. Can you get us out of here?"
"Happy to, Captain. I’ll have to take it slow, a third cutter just showed up. Crap, Liam. I think he saw us. Get up here!" I heard the panic in her voice and took off at a dead run.
HIDE 'N SEEK
"Shut down engines, full dark," I told her. Ada had the helm and would have to give the instructions. I jumped on to the lift and left my bewildered parents on the berth deck without any explanation. If not for my HUD projecting the outline of the bridge onto my eye I would have no doubt fallen on my face in my race to the cockpit.
Once I’d landed in the chair I saw what Ada was talking about. A brightly lit medium sized cutter was sailing directly at us. No doubt the cutter had caught our engines lighting up as we pushed away from the asteroid. If they knew exactly where we were, or what we were, there’d be a lot more activity than them just moving toward us. Without our engines running and with our light absorptive armor, however, they were simply moving toward what, for them, would have been a flash of light. I imagined the captain of the cutter replaying the video stream of whatever the sensors had caught.
"What do you have?"
Big Pete had found his way to the cockpit and was kneeling on the steps between the pilot’s chairs. He was still talking over the line of sight communications channel we’d established on the asteroid.
Add Pete and Silver Hoffen as bridge crew. By adding them to the crew their AI would be able to show them what we were all seeing - which was a twenty-five meter long ship that we could crush in an instant, but that would alert the big boys to our presence.
"If I don’t move, they’ll run right into us," I said.
The AI showed the path the cutter was on and it would graze the belly of our ship if I didn’t adjust our position. I tapped the arc-jets ever so gently. Unlike our engines, the arc-jets were shielded with long cowls that blocked the visible light from escaping in all but the direction of thrust.
The Hotspur rolled gently out of the path of the oncoming cutter, which passed beneath us by no more than fifteen meters.
We sat quietly for five minutes when Big Pete finally broke the silence. "How is it they didn’t pick us up?"
"Ship's designed to run quiet, but we're not out of this yet," I said.
I pumped the arc-jets so that we moved away on a perpendicular path. The two cutters who had been focused on the surface turned, coming toward us and spreading out to form a wide noose. The AIs were just too intelligent and would be able to predict where we were going or at least how best to pen us in.
"Nick, can you help Mom and Big Pete find a place to strap in? This might get dicey. Marny, did they drop a comm disrupter?" I hadn't seen any updated comms, but we'd also been pretty busy.
"Aye, Cap," she replied.
"How far can those cutters communicate?"
"Line of sight, just like us," she answered.
Engage combat controls, I directed.
"What are you doing, Liam," Dad asked.
"Keep comm clear, Dad," I said. I hoped he wouldn't challenge me on this. "And get strapped in. The grav generator is good, but this baby… aah frak! Incoming."
Disengage silent running. I jammed the throttle stick forward and tipped the directional stick over to the port side at forty-five degrees.
"Liam, don't be crazy…" Big Pete started.
Lock out Big Pete from combat comm, I commanded. On second thought I added, allow him to monitor.
The forward holo jumped to life and the cutters all swung around to orient on me. They were spaced less than three hundred meters apart and were acting like wolves who had picked up the scent of their prey. 'Careful what you wish for,' I thought, wryly. I spun around and accelerated madly between the first two that had been closest to the asteroid.
"Nick, track the third one. We can't afford to let any of them get away," I said.
"Taking fire, port side," Ada said.
I could hear the thrapping of blaster fire against the hull. Hide and seek had once again turned into a game of chicken. We might have been outmatched and outgunned in the entire combat arena, but right here, right now, we were the big boys on the block.
Before I saw anything, I heard the familiar burping sound of our three turrets. From the sound of it, Marny wasn't leaving anything to chance and was pouring a full stream of fire into both ships. Once we were within a hundred meters, I flipped the Hotspur over and accelerated in-line with their trajectory. I wanted to give Marny as much time as possible in the Hotspur's turret range.
We slid between the two cutters and I watched the energy in the batteries spin down below fifty percent. Our hunters - turned quarry - must have realized the danger they were in as they were now accelerating on combat burn to get away. Marny continued to pour on the fire and I accelerat
ed hard to keep up with them. We were pinned back in our seats, the gravity generators unable to keep up with the demands of the burn. I hoped Mom and Dad had locked in.
"Number three's making a run for P-Zero," Nick said. I glanced up and saw the ship exiting the area. I knew it had originally burned toward us to participate in the takedown, but at some point the captain had changed his mind. "We've got to get him before he calls in reinforcements."
"Marny? How long on these two?" I asked.
"Ten seconds, Cap," she answered. As if in response, one of the two cutters exploded. Marny directed all three turrets onto the second damaged ship which, in turn, exploded.
"Nice shooting." I flipped the Hotspur over so that we lined up on the fleeing ship.
How long before we overtake? I asked.
Twelve hundred kilometers. The AI could be frustrating when it randomly chose to take me literally. I really wanted to know how much time, but on quick reflection I realized that the distance was more relevant. We'd started at twenty-three hundred kilometers out and the AI was letting us know that we'd almost be back to the Colony's core by the time we caught up with it.
"Frak. We've got to get him," I said, uselessly. Emergency burn one hundred ten percent.
"Let him go, Liam," Mom's voice came over the comm. I really didn't want to mute her too. "Listen to me. Use this time to regain your cover. It's not like they aren't going to figure out what happened."
"I agree," Nick said. I pulled back on the throttle stick and veered off.
Engage silent running, take us out of combat. I briefly considered how we'd evolved to such a spot where I'd do what Nick said without question, but not my mom.
I tipped the directional stick to the side and continued to accelerate at a thirty percent burn. We'd skim past on the outside of the colony's main core. I wasn't ready to test if the Hotspur would be picked up by the colony's sensor array. Not yet, at least. I laid in a course to take us out an hour away from Colony 40.
"We're going to heave-to and let things settle down. You should be okay to take off the combat harnesses," I announced.
"I got up and walked back to the bridge stations where Nick and Marny were still seated.
"Nick, how bad does our armor look?" I asked.
"We took some hits, but it's holding okay."
"Marny, weapon systems?"
"All green," she answered.
I turned to where Big Pete and Silver were still both seated on the bridge couch. "Are you guys alright?" I asked. "I'm sorry I cut you off before, Dad."
"Had to be done. You put me in my place and good, son. But if you thought that'd piss me off, you'd be wrong. I had no business interrupting your chain of command." He held his hand out to me to shake. I took it and pulled him in for an embrace.
Mom gave me a hug. "It's good to see you, Liam." She let me go and then pulled Nick in for a hug.
"Silver, Pete, I'd like to introduce you to our security officer, Marny Bertrand," I said. Marny had walked up behind Nick.
"Good to meet you, ma'am, sir," Marny said, extending her hand.
"Call me Pete. I work for a living," Pete shook her hand, responding with a twinkle in his eye. I'd never seen him respond to anyone like that before.
"And pilot, Ada Chen," I said before Marny could say anything.
Ada stepped forward and hugged a surprised Big Pete and then Mom, in turn.
"Let's head down to the mess," I said. "There's plenty of room to sit and I bet you're hungry, living down in that hole."
"I've got a clean suit liner that I bet would fit you, Mrs. Hoffen. And the head has a wonderful new shower in it," Ada said, walking next to my mom, behind me.
"Please call me Silver, and that sounds wonderful. We've been in these suits since we got Liam's message," she answered.
Marny had engaged Dad. "Mr. Hoffen. Liam tells me you were active in the Amazonian war."
"Both of us were. I don't think Liam knows it, but that's where Silver and I met. She was a combat drop pilot. You carry yourself like you served. Am I right?"
My mind was blown. Who was this guy? He was positively chatty.
"Aye, that I did. Five years on the ground in Africa," she said.
Pete shook his head. "I don't miss that place."
Once in the mess, I pulled two cups, filled them with coffee, and handed them to my parents.
"How long are we hunkering down, Cap?" Marny asked.
"Nick?" I wasn't the right person for that question. In the heat of the moment, we typically leaned on my tactical skills, but for long term strategy Nick was often thinking well ahead of me.
"Not sure. Did you get any word from my family, Mr. Hoffen?" Nick asked.
"Five days back, after we got your message, we ran to P-Zero and talked to several people. We'd thought to pick up supplies, but once communications were down, all of the supplies evaporated," Mom said. "We asked Wendy and Jack to come out to the claim with us and hide, but Wendy said she had a plan."
"Any idea what that plan was?" Nick sounded a little better knowing that his Mom was aware of what was coming.
"She said they were getting off the station, but she didn't say where to," Mom answered.
"How about, Mr. Masters? Tabby's dad," I asked.
"He was on one of the ships that got out. At least that was the plan. We've been in the dark for a few days," Mom stared at the table. The stress of the last several days was evident.
"Mrs. Hoffen, there's nothing you could have done. It's an impossible situation and we're lucky to have found you alive," Ada said. "You can't feel guilty for that. These pirates killed my mom, but her last act was to save me. Not a day goes by where I don't think about it. I know my mom wouldn't want me to feel like I'd failed because I lived."
"And we're not giving up," Marny interjected. "We've got something these pirates have trouble understanding and that's purpose."
"Thank you," Mom said quietly. Big Pete slid an arm around her and pulled her in close. It made me think of Tabby.
"I've got bad news on your home, Mr. Hoffen," Nick said. Pete and Mom looked at him and he continued, "I replayed what the Hotspur recorded, those cutters broke through your rock wall. It looks like they pretty well destroyed everything. I sent the video over to your queue."
"Thank you, Nick," Mom reached out and patted his arm. "There's not much that can be done."
Marny stepped up beside Nick and changed the conversation, "It will take fifteen minutes to get something worth eating down here - and that's if I have help. Liam, go to the armory and get an armored suit for Silver and Pete. I noticed that Silver's packing a laser pistol. Pete you have anything?"
"I don't," he said. I found that unusual. Last time I'd seen him, he was packing.
She pointed at the door. "Take Big Pete with you, Liam. He no doubt knows his way around an armory. Everyone needs to be armed at all times. I don't think we'll get boarded, but if it were ever going to happen, this would be the place for it."
Ada had disappeared and returned holding a suit liner. She handed it to my mom. "There's a head on both decks. The door right behind us is the main head. I'll show you where the suit freshener is when you get out."
Dad followed me out to the cargo bay. I led him through a small maze that ended in the doors to the container we'd welded to the floor of the cargo bay.
"Where'd you learn to sail like that?"
"It's not a lot different than an ore-sled, just bigger," I said.
"You must have gotten that from your mom."
"I didn't know you guys met in the service. For that matter, I didn't know Mom had seen active duty." I turned up the lights in the container. "What do you think?" There was a row of pistols, both laser and flechette, blaster rifles, grenade marbles, flash bang discs and several things I didn't recognize.
"Where'd you get your hands on all of this?" he asked.
"Last mission. We borrowed it all from the Navy. It's possible we left them with the impression that it had all been d
estroyed when the pirates blew up our ship. About Mom. You tell complete strangers how you met her, but not me. Don't you find that weird?"
"It never seemed that important before. Besides, your mom says I need to open up more, that maybe you'd have stayed closer if I had. You don't buy that, do you?" he asked.
"Dad. How about you pick out a suit and weapon and I'll get one for Mom. She's the same size as Tabby or at least pretty close."
"I see you've upgraded your flechette. You have another Ruger like the one you're packing?"
"I think so. They're on the left," I said.
He looked over the selections and asked, "Do you have a plan?"
"Communications being down is making it hard. We were lucky that you hunkered down and were out on the edge. We couldn't have pulled that off if you'd been on station," I said. "We'll talk it through and come up with something, though."
"Count me in," he said selecting a pistol, which he handed to me. He then grabbed an armored vac-suit.
"We've got a second head on the bridge deck. Can you shower in five minutes? You don't want to be late for dinner," I said.
"That Marny runs a pretty tight ship," he said.
"You have no idea." I handed him the flechette he'd selected and led him back into the berth deck. We took the lift up and I showed him the head. "We'll be in the mess when you're ready. There's a suit freshener just outside the door."
It occurred to me that I'd left Filbert locked in the grav-box for the last several hours. When I opened the door, he looked up at me lazily and stretched a small arm up. I slid my hands under his blanket and pulled him out. When I got back to the mess, I handed him to Ada.
How Marny always seemed to come up with an amazing meal continued to surprise me. Somewhere she'd hidden a large sim-beef roast, which she and Nick presented with steaming potatoes and a thick brown gravy. She poured two large carafes full of a pinkish wine.
"I didn't think we were probably strong wine connoisseurs and decided to play it safe with a blush," she said almost apologetically.
"It looks delicious. Do you always eat this well?" Silver asked.
Smuggler's Dilemma Page 15