“Report,” Hugo said as he came up onto the bridge.
“I don't know that it's anything, sir,” Rami said, clicking keys on her workstation, her eyes scanning the data on screen. “It's just...”
“What?”
Rami turned in her chair, frowning. “I managed to dig up the satellite's equipment manifest...”
“And?”
Rami exchanged a glance with Webb who was leant against the copilot chair with his arms crossed and a deliberately blank expression, and then with Kinjo, who was hovering nearby, nodding encouragement. Rami sighed. “All the mining and processing equipment is Albion Integrated.”
Something jumped inside him. “AI?”
“Yes sir,” Rami said, raising her hands “Now, it might not be of any significance. AI are one of the biggest suppliers of this sort of tech.”
“But, Captain,” Kinjo interrupted the lieutenant. “It's not that simple...”
“Go on,” Hugo said, trying to keep the impatience out of his voice.
“Some of the tech on this list, sir,” Kinjo said. “It's highly advanced. I know for a fact some of it is still registered at prototype status. I don't see how this little satellite could put together a rig like this unless - ”
“Unless AI are involved with more than just selling them their equipment…”
Kinjo nodded.
“We need to get this information to the Analysts,” Hugo said.
“Sir, the Analysts probably already have it,” Rami said. “It wasn't hard to find. It's only significant to us because of what happened on Earth.”
“Luscombe got the orders for our AI mission from somewhere. Kinjo needs to tell him just what she's told me.”
“It's not enough,” Rami said. “The Analysts can't move on hunches.”
“Damn it, I'm not letting whatever's happening here get buried,” Hugo said. “If the Analysts need more evidence, we'll get them more evidence.”
“Pharos is expecting the whole thing, evidence and all, to be drifting dust by tomorrow, Hugo,” Webb said.
“Rami, Spinn,” he said. “Find a way for us to get a ground team into that satellite. Webb, follow me.”
Hugo paced off the bridge towards the galley. He heard Webb sigh and follow. He was just trying to untangle where to start when he was brought up short by the sight of Harvey with her feet propped up on a galley table, chewing on a ration bar and watching a newsfeed on the wall display.
“Is now a good time to discuss you getting me home?” she said, not looking up.
Hugo swallowed. “I'm sorry, Captain,” he said, hating the formal tone his voice took on. “I'm afraid we have something to take care of first.”
She frowned at him. “You've taken on another contract already?”
Hugo resisted looking at Webb for guidance. “Something along those lines.”
Harvey shook her head and stood. “I'll never get my head around this ship. Look, Hugo, not to be a pain in the ass but I'm done. Officially out. I've done more than I said I would.”
“We're grateful -”
“Stow it,” she said. “I wanted a chance at Armin and I got it. And I think the Splinters will have more things to worry about now than tracking me down. So I thank you, but that's my lot. Take me to the nearest colony.”
“We can't.”
Harvey scowled. “This isn't a negotiation, Kaleb.”
“There's a deadline, Marilyn,” Webb said, coming forward. “We will be finished by this time tomorrow,” Webb threw a significant glance at Hugo. “We'll take you all the way to Haven after that, okay?”
Harvey scowled at one of them then the other. Then she sighed and shrugged. “Fuck it. Fine. But you owe me. Big time. And I'm staying in the crew cabin until Haven. I'm done getting messed up in any more Zero-grade shit.”
“Of course,” Hugo said. “Marilyn?” She paused at the door. Hugo tried to untangle his tongue from his teeth. “Thank you,” he managed.
She hesitated, seemed about to speak. Then she glanced at Webb and just nodded and left.
“You know that whole thing where sometimes I know better, Captain?” Webb said, slouching down on the couch and rubbing at his bruised jaw.
Hugo turned to face him and straightened his back. “There's something going on here, Webb. Don't tell me you don't see it.”
“I can see it,” Webb said, propping his chin up on his hands and tracing a finger through the crumbs on the table. “I just think you're borrowing trouble is all.”
“Webb,” Hugo said. “Whoever or whatever owns that satellite are the ones responsible for trying to stage a coup on your home colony. How can you follow orders that you know will result in destroying evidence that could bring them to justice?”
Webb looked up at him for the longest time. He wasn't grinning but he wasn't angry either. “This is bigger than us, Hugo. I've said before we're not meant for stirring up Orbit-wide politics. We follow orders. Our orders on Lunar 1 were to stop the Splinters. That's what we did.”
“And Earth?” Hugo said. “That whole shit storm that nearly got us both killed? And now it looks like it might all be linked, and you just want to stick your head in the ground and follow orders?”
“You've been doing this for ten weeks, Hugo,” Webb said. “I've been doing it for fifteen years. This is the deal. You risk your life, you get screwed over but you take your pay and you thank the Service and pray you will still be useful in the morning.”
“They made me captain for a reason,” Hugo insisted, stabbing his finger on the table top. “And I say we can do more than just blow it up.”
“If you're so sure,” Webb said quietly. “Then why are you justifying yourself to me?”
Hugo blinked. Webb looked up at him, eyes clear. “Because I want you on my side,” Hugo said eventually.
“I am on your side.”
Hugo tried to read his pale eyes but couldn't. He felt something go out of him and he slumped on the bench, staring at a motorbike poster on the bulkhead without seeing it.
“I can see why you were made captain,” Webb said eventually, looking at his hands. “And I will follow your orders. Just...” he sighed then looked him in the eye. “Just be aware even if we find something, the Service may not want to know.”
Hugo remembered Pharos and her clipped words and steely gaze. Then he remembered Doll and her sombre, defeated air. But he shook both memories away and stood. “We will see what we can find,” he said. “Then we'll know at least we've tried. Whatever the Service do with it is up to them. And the consequences will be on their heads and not mine.”
“Okay, Captain,” Webb said after a pause. He stood and something like his old grin spread over his face. “That's an attitude I can get on board with.”
ɵ
“Are you sure you're ready, Midshipman?”
Kinjo nodded, eyes bright and hands compulsively checking over her vacuum suit. “I am, Captain.”
“And you know what you're looking for?”
“I do. I won't let you down, sir.”
“Hugo,” Webb leaned out Father's cockpit.. “We'll be showing up on their sensors any second.”
“Get aboard, Midshipman,” Hugo said and Kinjo nodded again and clambered up, taking Webb's hand and cramming in with him behind Bolt's pilot seat. Hugo took Son's ladder two rungs at a time and slipped into the squat-space behind More just as he hit the hatch control.
“Helmet on, Captain?”
Hugo pulled his helmet up over his face and zipped it up. “Sealed and ready.”
“Hold on.”
The fighter hummed as the engine fired up and there was a lurch and clang as the hold depressurised. The ramp lowered and Hugo tried to shift so his knees weren't protesting and found a handle just as More engaged the thrusters and Son was zooming out into space. Craning his neck, he could see the rocky bulk of the mining satellite up ahead, its surface pocked with shadows. There were already fighters streaking towards them.
“Are they
on an attack vector?”
“Looks like it, Captain,” More said, pulling the fighter over.
“How many?”
“Twelve, sir.”
Hugo cursed and braced himself as the first hammer of fire rammed into the fighter's shields. More ducked and swerved to avoid the next burst.
“What happened there?”
“I don't know, sir. They're aiming for non-vital systems.”
Father and Ghost arced by on either side and the enemy fighters split to follow them. More brought Son back round just as a flurry of cannon fire burst through the space they were in. They got closer and closer to the asteroid until Hugo could make out the blinking lights of the mining installation on its surface “Are you ready, Captain?” More said.
“Move in.”
“Aye, sir,” he replied, opening fire on the surface of the asteroid. Father came in above and concentrated its cannon fire on the same spot. There was a burst of suckered flame and a cloud of debris, then More was pulling up and spinning round to twist the fighter's course around the satellite. Enemy fighters swerved to follow and More managed to take out one and wing another as he arced around the asteroid. Ghost was a white streak across the viewscreen and then it was gone again, three enemy fighters in pursuit.
As Son came full circle the Zero came into view, moving fast and firing on the fighters in pursuit of Ghost. Hugo caught himself gaping. He'd never seen her in action before. She went by as a streak of light just as another enemy fighter exploded in a ball of flame that was sucked into nothing. She sped around the satellite in a blur, cannon fire crashing into the rock, then passed out of sight as More slowed Son's course.
Hugo felt every heartbeat like a hammer in his temples as More manoeuvred Son onto the rocky surface, still firing as the cockpit hissed and the hatch opened.
“Go, Captain, move, move!”
Hugo didn't let himself think but clambered up from the squat-space and fired his wire launcher before he could even aim properly then pulled the recoil trigger. With a jerk that nearly pulled his arm from his socket he was hauled from the fighter and hurtled towards the surface of the satellite. The darkness of the crater caused by Son's cannon fire loomed ahead, wreathed in drifting debris. Rock and metal pinged off his visor and then there was a flash of light as Son took off again. His heart clambered into his throat and every breath echoed in his helmet but then his boots were connecting with the solid surface. He clutched the wire to keep him anchored then moved over the surface in uneven bounds that his zero-g instructors at the Academy would have been ashamed of. But they got him to the hole quicker than approved, controlled jumps would have have done. He got a grip on the broken edge and peered in, seeing the remains of some sort of store room. Craning his neck he watched the fighters and the Zero chase each other across the silent span of space. “Webb, I'm on the surface. Where are you?”
“Bolt's bringing us round now, Captain. Get away from the entrance.”
Before Webb had finished talking Father hove into view, light bursting from its balance thrusters as Bolt manoeuvred the fighter through the gap in the rock. A blast of fire hammered into the rock just behind him. Hugo clutched onto the rock as the surface shuddered beneath him, hearing his breath echoes quicken in the dead space of his helmet.
As soon as Father's thrusters went dark, Hugo detached his wire from the rock and re-launched it into the fissure. He drifted into the room then felt his stomach lurch and he was bumping onto the floor as the gravity got hold. He scrambled to his feet just as Webb, Bolt and Kinjo were clambering out of Father. They ran towards a light shining through a door on the other side of the room, scrambling over crates and bundles of stores scattered by the blast.
Webb bent to the door controls as Hugo peered through the window into a corridor beyond. Red lights were flashing but it was empty of people.
“Spinn. Come in Spinn,” he said “Do you have us?”
“Aye, Captain,” the researcher's voice came through on his helmet speaker. “The nearest quarry is down the corridor on your right. There's a flyer pool on the same level.”
“Copy that. What's everyone's status?”
“The Zero took a hit on the aft vector burner, but Rami's compensated. Other than that everyone's functional, Captain. They seem to be aiming for non-vital systems. But it won't be long before they get enough hits.”
“Just keep them busy and be ready to blow the satellite’s thruster bank as soon as we're clear.”
“Aye, Captain. Out.”
“How much longer, Commander?”
“Just getting past the breach controls,” Webb muttered. “You might wanna activate your grips.”
Hugo pressed the control on his suit and felt his feet fuse to the floor.
“We've got company,” Bolt said.
Hugo peered back out the window and saw three armed men coming up the corridor towards them.
“Get back,” Webb barked.
Hugo scrambled aside as the door slid open. The force of the corridor depressurising blasted at him. He got his gloves onto the bulkhead and felt the magnets take but his body still bent with the force of it. One of the men managed to grab the door jamb as he hurtled past but his fingers peeled away one by one and he followed his companions out into drift, face twisted and gaping. Hugo watched all this happen in eerie silence, and then Webb was clamouring in his ear piece to move through.
Pulling against his magnets, he stomped through the door. Bolt followed, pulling Kinjo with him. Webb staggered through after and slammed his palm against the control. The door shuddered closed and they stood leaning against the wall and panting. The blaring of alarms filled his ears as the air pressure stabilised.
“Clear,” Webb said, checking his wrist display and unsealing his helmet. “Let's go.”
Hugo could smell smoke and iron as they moved down the corridor, stumbling into Bolt when the ground shook underneath him. He gathered his balance and they picked up speed. Empty corridors branched off on both sides but up ahead was a set of double doors plastered in neon safety signs.
“There,” Hugo said, pointing towards the doors, but then there was a shout and four armed guards ran from a side corridor. There was a confused moment where they skidded to a halt, yelling and pointing, then the floor in front of Hugo exploded in rifle fire.
Hugo swore and threw himself down another corridor, his crew scrambling after him. He was just pulling out his own weapon when the firing stopped.
“Throw your weapons down and come out,” someone shouted. “Now.”
“What the fuck is a mining satellite doing with this much security?” Bolt growled, checking his weapon.
“I said get out here, now, spacer fucks,” the voice raised up another notch. “We ain't kidding. Throw out your guns and come out with your hands on your heads.”
“Webb,” Hugo muttered. “Throw a charge.”
“Christ, Hugo,” he hissed. “This corridor's too narrow -”
A barrage of gunfire tore the ceiling apart. “Running out of patience, spacer scum.”
“Do it,” Hugo snapped.
Webb swallowed then unzipped his vacuum suit and pulled out a charge. He paused but then activated it and threw it around the corner, flinging himself to the floor. Hugo crouched and covered his head just as the air was blasted apart. Debris rained down on him and the lights flickered off then on again.
Once the clatter of falling detritus had quietened, Hugo got to his feet, blinking, shaking dust and chunks of metal and rock from his hair. Bolt helped Kinjo to her feet and then Webb was scrambling back towards the corridor.
“Well, that did the trick. Come on,” he said and started climbing. The blast had torn the bulkheads open and chunks of rock had caved in. There was no sign of the security men. Dust hung heavy in the air and it tasted like iron. Hugo clambered after Webb. The ground shook again and Hugo heard a groaning noise.
“Webb,” was all he had time to shout. He caught the back of Webb's suit and stumbl
ed backwards. More rock crashed down from the hole in the roof, and the air again was full of dust and stone. When it stilled, Hugo coughed and clambered off Webb who sat up groaning and clutching his ribs.
“Are you alright?” Kinjo said, clambering up next to them.
Webb nodded and scrambled to his feet. “Damn site better than I might have been. Thanks, Captain. Though a little more warning -”
They all froze when the sounds of more shouts and running feet echoed down a corridor behind them.
“Is that more security?” Bolt said.
“I'll draw them off,” Webb said. “Get to the quarry.”
“Commander -” Hugo was cut off by a rumble and the corridor rocking around them.
“There's no time, Captain,” Webb said, already moving back down the corridor. “The Zero's fire is taking this place apart. Move, move.”
“Bolt, go with him,” Hugo ordered. “Kinjo, this way.”
They scrambled the rest of the way over the fall of rock and sprinted towards the quarry doors. He heard gunfire and shouts somewhere behind them but didn't look back. “Spinn,” he said into his wrist panel as they approached the doors. “Spinn, come in.”
“Remind me to never get fucking involved with you lot ever again.”
“Harvey? What are you doing there?”
“She's helping me pilot, Captain,” Rami replied in his ear piece, voice tight. “What do you need?”
“Concentrate fire on the satellite, Lieutenant.”
“Captain?”
“We need as much confusion in here as possible.”
“The structure is already destabilising, sir.”
“Just do, it Lieutenant. And be ready for our signal.”
“Aye, Captain,” Rami said, then there was a thundering noise and the corridor shook again. They reached the doors and Hugo palmed the control but they didn't move.
“Breach protocol, Captain,” Kinjo said.
Hugo swore and bent to the panel. He wiped dust and sweat from his eyes and started tapping keys, trying to dredge up his eleventh-grade systems knowledge and what he'd seen of Webb and Rami's tricks for getting round them. The sound of shots in the distance caused panic to spark which shifted the blankness in his brain. His fingers flew and the door hissed open just as the floor bucked violently enough to make them stagger against the wall. There was a sickening moment when the gravity weakened and he started drifting from the floor but there was another slam and it was back. They picked themselves up and ran into the quarry, pulling their guns out as they went.
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