by M. R. Forbes
"Left up ahead," Calvin said. "Three blocks."
Mitchell slowed the car before accelerating quickly again, allowing the drone to pass overhead and have to turn around. By the time it did he was past it again, leaving it to adjust once more. He gained the three blocks and turned, the car jolting as the right rear repulser was hit. The car sagged slightly on that side but kept going.
"Shit. How far are we?"
"Too far," Calvin replied. "Ten kilometers."
Mitchell growled, using every bit of experience he had to swerve and maneuver, trying to keep the drones' lasers from hitting them. The efforts had them slamming into other cars and almost running people down on the sidewalk. It didn't matter. They were all going to be slaves or dead soon. Watson wanted the data, and now it was out in the open on a tiny chip in Aiko's pocket. There was no reason to leave the planet alone now.
"Oh my," Aiko said behind him. "Mitch, it just got worse."
"How can it get worse?"
"Look out the window, up and to the left."
Mitchell did.
A Tetron was sitting above the planet, its outline visible in the night sky. It was close enough that he could see the tip of a plasma stream forming on its bow.
"It isn't going to attack the planet, not yet," he said. "It's going to go after the ships to keep us from escaping."
"There is no escape," Calvin said.
"Frig that. I thought Watson had us but Aiko got us out of it. We'll find a way. Get down!"
Two soldiers appeared on the corner in front of them from seemingly nowhere, wrist-mounted cannons firing. Mitchell swerved again, his ears ringing from the sound of the bullets digging into the metal of the car. One of them tore into the cabin between his legs, exiting through the roof only inches from his face.
"Frigging hell," he shouted, accelerating down another street. The soldiers continued to fire from behind, peppering the back of the car with bullets.
"We aren't going make it," Calvin said.
"Can you try being positive and doing something useful?" Aiko shouted at him.
It seemed to pull him out of his silent panic. He took his gun from his jacket and turned towards the rear, shooting back at the soldiers. It was ineffective but symbolic.
Mitchell looked up when the sky brightened above them. He saw the plasma stream arc across space. He couldn't see the ships that were hit, but he had seen how bunched up they were. There was no way for the Tetron to miss.
He was trying to stay positive, but his hope was fading. Why wouldn't it? They were going to be trapped here, surrounded. Watson would get the chip, and he would find Pulin. The Tetron would attack Earth and humankind would be killed off in this timeline the same as it had in so many others.
He turned another corner, still heading toward the spaceport. What other option did he have but to keep trying to get a ship?
A third drone appeared in front of them, and Mitchell decelerated again, swinging to the left to avoid it. At the same time one of the other drones fired, hitting the car square in the front and center, the laser burning through the engine.
The car crashed to the ground, momentum carrying it into the side of a building.
Mitchell reached back for his gun. Aiko handed it to him, taking her own from her jacket.
"I'm sorry," he said to her.
"Better to go down fighting," she replied.
The three of them climbed out. The drones had moved into position to cover them; lasers aimed in their direction. An older woman who had been on the street was walking toward them.
"It was a good try, Mitchell," the woman said.
Aiko took the chip from her pocket, putting the muzzle of her gun up against it.
"What if I shoot it?" she asked.
"It will take more time for us to-"
A high-pitched whine drowned out the rest of the words. The drones surrounding them exploded, one by one. Then the old woman vanished in a spray of flesh and blood.
The orbital transport came down hard, falling at a rate Mitchell couldn't believe it would recover from. Twin coilguns hung from the wings at its sides, still firing on everything surrounding them.
"Get down," Mitchell said, backing toward the car and dropping low. Gunfire erupted from the street, some of it aimed at the transport, the rest aimed at them.
The transport's repulsers flashed on, glowing an intense blue as enough power was diverted to them to threaten to overload them. The vehicle snapped down so hard Mitchell didn't think anyone could survive the g-forces, even with dampeners. Someone must have, because the guns continued to fire, even as the side hatch opened beside them.
"Let's go," Ming said, appearing in the hatch.
Mitchell stood up, Aiko beside him. "Calvin, let's go," he shouted, looking back at the Admiral.
He was on his feet, his entire chest soaked in blood.
"I'm hit, Colonel," he said. "Leave me."
"We don't leave people," Mitchell said.
"I know what you have on the Carver. You can't fix this. Go. Let me die on a Federation planet with my people."
There was no time to think about it. Mitchell gave the Admiral a quick bow before rushing to the transport. He jumped in behind Aiko, turning back in time to see Calvin return his bow.
The hatch slid closed.
"Grab a seat and hold on," Ming said, already belted in.
Mitchell did as he was told, and then looked forward to the cockpit. Seung was at the controls.
"Get us out of here," Ming shouted up to her.
"Yes, sir," she replied calmly.
The transport launched upward vertically before the thrusters kicked in, sending them shooting forward. Mitchell could feel the dampeners reducing the inertia, but they weren't strong enough to overcome the pilot's maneuvers. He almost couldn't hold back his smile at the familiar feeling, looking over to Aiko. Her face was pale, her eyes closed tight.
"How did you survive the Tetron?" Mitchell asked.
"I knew you might need help getting back up," Ming replied, "so we programmed in emergency evac coordinates in the Kemushi, and then we launched the transport. The Federation didn't notice with all of the other activity up there. When the Tetron showed up, the Kemushi jumped to another part of town a few AU away. We've got to get the timing right to catch her return and get out again before the Tetron can hit her."
"How's our timing so far?"
Ming tilted arm wrist, checking an antique wristwatch. "Pretty good."
"You're pilot is something else."
"Thank you. Yes, she is." Ming looked up to Seung in the cockpit, beaming proudly. "Best I've ever seen."
"You've done this sort of thing before."
"The Kemushi was a pirate vessel before Mr. Tio brought us on. We didn't go after starships; that's inefficient. We used to jump in, drop the orbital and hit fuel depots, corporate supply warehouses, things like that. High value, low risk, as long as you have a good pilot to get you in and out."
"What did Tio do to get you to join him?"
"He caught us trying to raid one of his supply depots. We didn't know it was his, and we didn't know what he was about. We relied on what we knew about automated systems to make our runs." He laughed. "Oops."
The transport shook slightly. Mitchell and Ming both glanced over to Seung, who was shaking her head.
"What is it?" Ming asked.
"Four Snakes closing. We're already taking fire."
"Altitude?"
"We're almost there."
Ming checked his watch. "This is going to be closer than I hoped. Keep them confused." He looked back at Aiko. "There's a vomit tube below the seat. You may want to grab it now."
Aiko reached down without opening her eyes, finding the breathing tube and sticking into her mouth only moments before the transport began executing evasive maneuvers.
The transport rocked and rolled, though which direction or at what velocity was lost on Mitchell without a window. He held on, Seung's chaotic antics to keep
them from being shot down enough to make him queasy.
"We're in position," she said. "Time?"
"Seven seconds."
She growled softly, and the transport shifted again.
Mitchell counted down the seconds in his head. When he got to zero, he felt the transport leap forward, secondary, emergency thrusters firing and giving them a little bit of extra velocity.
A few seconds later the transport jerked again, full reverse thrusters and reverse repulsers bringing the ship to a hard, heavy deceleration. His body complained at the forces involved, and he glanced over at Aiko. She was out cold.
Then they were down. He heard the hiss of air pouring into the hangar beyond them. He let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
A moment later, he felt the tug as the Kemushi returned to hyperspace.
"Now we made it," he said.
36
The Lanning dropped out of hyperspace, hanging motionless among the stars.
"I don't see anything," Germaine said, looking out across the vast expanse of universe visible from the ship's viewport.
"Maybe it's behind us," Steven said.
"We'll know in a minute."
Steven could hardly believe it had been three weeks since the four of them had left Asimov behind, stuck together on the tiny starship that the Knife had once called his own. When they had first boarded the Lanning, he had expected that he would be living the time in hyperspace hour by hour, doing his best to grin and bear it for the sake of his brother and his family back on Earth. There was something out here, something important, and he was going to find out what it was.
The days had passed more easily than he expected. It wasn't that his companions were always pleasant company. They weren't, and neither was he. But they were all in the same situation together, with similar motivations. They were all getting dirty together, they were all getting smelly together, and they were all forced to urinate and defecate in the pisspot in front of one another.
Losing all dignity was a wonder for camaraderie. John had even joined Cormac in watching some of his dirty streams the last few days of the trip. All of the rules seemed to change when there was nothing to the universe outside of a twenty square meter box. It was as if certain morals and social norms no longer mattered quite as much, and even Steven had come to accept it more easily than he ever expected would.
All of that aside, what Steven valued the most from the time were the things he had learned about his brother. Cormac had told them everything that had happened from the moment the Riggers had happened upon Mitchell, in his starfighter orbiting the rock the Riggers had come to mine as part of their cover while Germaine had filled in what he could about the mission to Hell. Steven had been impressed with Mitchell's courage before that. He respected what his brother had been through and how hard he was still trying. It solidified Steven's motivation and desire to be a part of it and made dealing with the rest of his team's idiosyncrasies easier to bear.
"Main vectoring engines are back online, let's see what we can see," Germaine said, adding a little bit of thrust to turn the Lanning around.
The ship rotated slowly, giving Steven time to scan the space around them. They had nearly completed the rotation when their destination moved into view.
"Well, I'll be," John said.
"Holy frigging shit," Cormac said.
Steven and Germaine remained silent, staring at the object ahead of them.
It was a ring. A massive ring at least fifty miles in diameter, constructed of the same liquid metallic material as the Tetron. Dendrites, axons, and cell bodies reached out and wrapped together, forming tight bonds to create the shape, while a soft blue light pulsed around the entire thing. A red dwarf star floated to the left of it, a thin line like a tether reaching out from the ring towards the star.
"What is it?" Germaine asked.
"I don't know," Steven replied, staring at it. "Let's get in closer."
Germaine fired the main thrusters, sending the Lanning accelerating towards the ring. As they grew nearer, they could see a second object connected to the first. It was roughly the shape of a cube though the dark, chunky surface held more of a resemblance to the Goliath than anything else.
"Is that a starship?" John asked.
"A square starship?" Cormac said. "How stupid would that be?"
"Whatever it is, I hope it's friendly," Germaine said.
At that moment, the cube began to change. Lights appeared chaotically across the entire face of the thing, revealing clear carbonate viewports sprinkled among the metal plating. A large hatch began to slide away from the top.
"I think it heard you," Cormac said, laughing. "It's spreading its legs."
"What do you think, Admiral?" Germaine asked. More lights continued to appear on the cube, making it appear to shudder in the stillness of space.
"It looks as if it's waking up after a long sleep," Steven said. "I assume that's a hangar. Let's head over and check it out."
"Yes, sir."
Germaine hit the thrusters, changing the Lanning's direction slightly to bring it up and over the cube. At the same time, a mass of small ships began launching from it.
"Starfighters?" John said.
"No," Steven replied. "They're too small, and they don't look like anything I've ever seen before."
The ships moved as one, launching straight up and then making a right angle vector toward them, remaining in perfect block formation.
"I have a bad feeling about this, Admiral," Germaine said. "That's some aggressive flying."
"I agree. Does this thing have shields?"
"Of course."
"Raise them."
Germaine did as Steven said. A moment later, the ships began firing lasers.
"Evasive maneuvers," Steven said.
Germaine was already taking them.
The pilot whipped the Lanning up and away from the barrage, firing thrusters and launching them laterally while blue flashes lit up the cabin. He reached for the control panel and hit a few buttons.
"The Lanning has two laser cannons for defense," Germaine said. "But not enough power for both the lasers and the shields."
"You're kidding," Steven said.
"Mr. Tio would always run from trouble. The cannons are more for show, and to be threatening when needed."
"Are you sure they even work?"
Germaine smiled. "Maybe we're about to find out." He swung the ship around, getting it into position behind one of the attacking vessels.
Steven could see now that they were simple things, needle-shaped with vectoring ports to move them in any direction, and a single laser at the nose. There was no cockpit and no pilot.
"They're drones," he said. "Probably programmed to defend this place."
"Defend it from what? Those lasers wouldn't do anything to a Tetron," John said.
Germaine fired the Lanning's lasers. One of the drones broke apart.
"They're machines," Steven said. "Dumb machines. They attack anything that gets too close. If you're a wandering scavenger or escorting a colony ship, you probably think this whole thing is interesting but not worth getting killed for, and you go away. If you're a Tetron, you blast it with a plasma stream from a thousand klicks out."
"Except if Origin put it here, it knew the Tetron wouldn't find it, but a random wayward human starship might," John said.
"Exactly."
Germaine twisted the stick, sending the Lanning into a chaotic spin, alternating expertly between the lasers and the shields. He blasted the second drone, getting the power back just in time to deflect an incoming attack.
"That's good to hear," he said. "Now how to I get rid of them all without us getting blown to pieces."
"You don't," Steven said. "Head for the hangar."
"What?"
"Head for the hangar. They'll probably stop shooting at us once we're inside."
"Probably?" Germaine flipped the Lanning around, hitting a drone that had been trying to sne
ak up on the rear of the ship.
"It wouldn't do much good to give Mitchell coordinates to something and then shoot him out of space before he could get to it," Steven said. "If Origin created these drones, it would know Mitchell's aptitude as a pilot and would have programmed them accordingly. Anyway, if you have a better idea, I'm open to it."
"No, that at least makes sense. I'm going for it."
Germaine gave the Lanning maximum thrust, sending it rocketing towards the cube. Steven leaned over to look at the HUD in front of the pilot, where a three-dimensional grid of the space around the ship was visible. The drones were giving chase, taking potshots as the superior thrust of their starship helped them pull away.
"Let's hope you're right about this," Germaine said.
The Lanning skirted low along the length of the cube, climbing one side and making a sharp vector to reach over the top. The hangar became visible ahead of them, a narrow beam of white light that widened as they approached. Steven checked the HUD. The drones had fallen behind but began to catch up as Germaine slowed to enter the object.
"Here we go," Germaine said, pointing the nose of the Lanning downward and into the cube.
A familiar, human-style hangar waited within, the docking clamps for the drones visible along the floor. As soon as the ship was over the threshold one set of clamps began repositioning itself to hold the starship, and the hangar door began to slide closed.
The drones reached the hangar door too late, pausing in front of it as it shut.
"Down there," Steven said.
"I see it," Germaine replied, angling the ship down to the floor. "I'm extending the grip."
The Lanning's landing grip touched the bottom of the hangar. The ship shuddered as the clamps locked it into place.
"The hangar is being pressurized," Germaine said, watching the readings on the control panel. "It looks like you were right about the drones."
"Alleluia," Cormac said. "I think I wet myself."
"Grab your gear and get ready," Steven said. "Just because we're in doesn't mean we're safe yet. For all we know this place has already been compromised, and we're walking right into a trap."
"Wouldn't be the first time," Cormac said. "Let me get my grenades."