TROPHY

by Paul M. Schofield

  “Toward the Keyhole. Do we follow them?”

  “No. They'll need repairs and supplies. Where are the closest colonies or stations?”

  “The two stations near Jupiter’s moons.”

  “Bestmarke will be watching us to see which way we go, so point us at the Keyhole,” Rogerton said. “Once we're cloaked, change our heading to Jupiter. Keep a sharp eye on the screens for their engine signature.”

  Chapter XXXXIV

  Earth Date: 476 N.V.A.

  Location: Io Station

  “Io Station looks the same,” Galen said. “It's a mystery why anyone wants to live here.”

  “We do have some fond memories, though, don’t we, Brother?” Terran said, glancing over with a faint smile. “We found our first jobs here after we left home.”

  “If you call them jobs. As I remember, it was long shifts on a recycle barge, plowing around the outer Solar System.”

  “Definitely no glamour to it, but we did meet a lot of people – the right people. They helped get us started.”

  “You make a good point,” Galen said, recalling old memories. “Perhaps some of them can help us now with the parts we need. Louis needs some nuclear items, things hard to come by, even on the black market. They will be expensive.” He sighed and rolled his eyes. “But they'll be worth it for my final trophy.”

  “Is Louis going to the Station with us on the space-plane?” Terran said.

  “No, he gave me a list, he insisted that he stay. He wants to work on his latest research, whatever that is,” Galen said. “Johnny will be in charge while we're gone. Should only take us a few hours. We'll need to watch our backs. Some of our old clients may not appreciate seeing us again.” He looked up with a grin, his gold rimmed teeth glinting in the dim instrument lights.

  “You're probably right. We'll leave the ship cloaked, close to the Station. We can open a hole in the cloak when we leave and return. The fewer eyes that see us, the better. I'll go start preparing the space-plane.” He stood and walked towards the door. “Meet me there when you are done here.”

  **********

  “We're picking up Bestmarke’s engine signature again, Star-Commander. It's at Io Station.”

  “Interesting, Lieutenant-Commander, a typical ruse. He started for the Keyhole and shifted after he had cloaked,” VanDevere said. “Instruct the Fleet to continue to the Keyhole vicinity and wait. We will take the Daniela to Io Station. Bring us in slow and cloaked, Lieutenant-Commander.”

  “Should we risk a message to the Clipper, Ma’am?”

  “No. Knowing Lieutenant Rogerton, they are probably almost there. We will meet them at Io Station.”

  **********

  “Go to braking thrust on the far side of Jupiter, Kolanna,” Rogerton said, running her hand through her thick hair. “Then bring us around the planet, slow and cloaked, to Io Station. We know Bestmarke is there, we saw his engine signature when he braked.”

  “He will probably be cloaked, Ma’am.”

  “No doubt. Watch for any clues, especially transfer ships, where they come from, and where they go.”

  “Yes, Ma’am, the computer is monitoring all activity.”

  “Martin, are you and Panther ready for action?” Rogerton said over the COM. “We're approaching Io Station, ETA of ten minutes.”

  “Yes, Ma’am, Panther is itching for revenge – he’s ready for an all-out fight.”

  “Itching?” Rogerton said. She glanced at Kolanna and both began to smile. “How do you know he is ‘itching’ for revenge?” she said, trying to keep from laughing.

  “He told me so, Ma’am.”

  “What? Have you even taught him to speak?” She and Kolanna started to laugh.

  “He still has trouble with some words,” he said with a serious tone. “His furry lips give him difficulty with the letters ‘s’ and ‘f’.”

  “Where does he come up with this?” Kolanna said, tears running down her cheeks.

  “Have you taught him phonics, yet?” Rogerton said with a squeal, laughing uncontrollably.

  “I tried, Lieutenant, but he told me his kitten-hood memories of that subject weren’t very good, so I gave up.” He waited for the laughter to subside. “Seriously, we are prepared. We'll position ourselves by the Octopus unit when you order it.”

  “What weapons do you have?” Rogerton said, still shaking, trying to stifle her laughter.

  “Stun grenades, a stun-phaser, and my 8mm rifle.”

  “Is it wise to use a solid projectile weapon inside a spaceship? Couldn't it be a big problem?”

  “Only if I miss, Ma’am.” He heard laughter again through the COM. “Ma’am, that wasn’t meant to be funny.” The laughter increased.

  **********

  “Two hours and no activity to speak of, Ma’am,” Kolanna said, her eyes heavy from boredom. “Three transfer vessels and their main ships, all uncloaked, just ordinary freighters.” She stretched her long arms and legs.

  “Space-plane departing Io Station,” the computer said in its soft feminine voice.

  “Maybe we have something now,” Rogerton said, sitting up in her seat, her eyes glued to the screens. “Watch it carefully!”

  “Look!” Kolanna said, pointing at the screen. “An opening is forming, barely visible. The ship is going through, now it's closing, nothing can be seen. It has to be Bestmarke.”

  “Use the thrusters and coast over,” Rogerton said, her full concentration on the screens. “Get up close. Be ready to drop the cloak and set shields at full. Martin, you and Panther station your team at the Octopus.”

  “Moving into position now, Ma’am,” Kolanna said, fully awake.

  “Drop cloak! Full shielding! Activating Phase Interrupter Laser! Attempting to shut down their engines!” Rogerton said, her adrenaline flowing.

  Suddenly the cloak dropped on the big ship, and the fusion engines began their start-up sequence. Intense hyper-laser fire from Bestmarke’s ship crackled along the edge of the Clipper’s shielding.

  “Our shields are taking a beating, Ma’am, but they're holding,” Kolanna said. “We can't take much more at this range, they're already down to ninety percent.”

  “Countering with our hyper-lasers, still trying the Phase Interrupter, unable to get past their shielding!” Rogerton said. “Their shield frequency is shifting too fast!”

  “Our shielding at eighty percent,” Kolanna said, her exhilaration turning to concern. “Try going deeper with your link, it'll slow everything down.”

  “I'm trying, Kolanna,” Rogerton said. She forced herself to relax, letting her mind stretch out with the dream-like program she was mentally linked to.

  “I can see it better now. Their changing frequencies are like numbers flashing by. They are slowing down, I can read them, there are blank spaces showing up, it's a pattern. What if I insert my numbers into the blanks?”

  “Shielding at sixty percent, Ma’am, dropping more rapidly,” Kolanna said.

  “More spaces opening, I can barely keep up. Slow it down, even more, there! All the spaces are blank, putting numbers in them, all the spaces are showing our numbers!” Rogerton said in triumph.

  “Enemy fire has stopped!” Kolanna said, cheering loudly. “His reactor and engines are dead! You did it, Lieutenant!”

  “Wow, the link is amazing! This ship is almost alive!” She locked down the controls on the Phase Interrupter Laser. “Thanks, Kolanna, you gave me the key.” She tried to slow her mind down to its normal speed. “Move into position, activate the Octopus. Boarding crew, take your stations!”

  Kolanna positioned the nimble ship over the central cargo area and lightly touched down, the extended arms of the Octopus immediately grasped the big ship’s hull.

  “Activate the nuclear-cutter,” Rogerton said. “Okay, Martin, now it's in your hands. Be careful, remember your space-training, and who you are up against.”

  **********

  “Port door is closed and atmosphere restored,” Johnny said. �
�You can leave the space-plane now. I’ll send for some crew members to help unload, boss.”

  “Thanks, Johnny,” Galen said. “We'll wait here to direct them, then we'll come to the bridge.”

  “Louis will be happy,” Terran said, walking toward the cargo hatch door. “We found all his parts at a good price.”

  “Surprisingly, everything went smoothly,” Galen said, walking beside Terran. “Maybe we should come back...”

  The defense alarm began braying loudly. “Now what?” Galen said as they started running to the bridge. “What's going on, Johnny?” He quickly glanced at the NAV screens.

  “That same small ship that was following us just appeared out of nowhere, boss. They're sitting beside us firing hyper-lasers, and some sort of beam weapon with a blue-green color. I fired our hyper-lasers and activated the engine start-up sequence.”

  “They are trying to shut our engines down!” Galen said, pounding his fist on the console. “Keep firing the hyper-lasers! Burn through their shields – destroy them!”

  Suddenly the engines, the weapons, and the main power system of the ship stopped. It was deathly quiet for long agonizing seconds. Galen could not believe it. “No! No!” he said, running back and forth to his lifeless controls. “How can this be? They can't do this to me!”

  In the dim glow of the emergency lighting, they all looked up as they heard the Octopus unit tightly gripping the ship’s exterior hull. The hollow clunking sound echoed ominously in the strangely quiet ship.

  “Sensors are off,” Galen said with a growl. “It sounds like they are over the cargo area. Put on shielding suits and blast helmets, get stun-phasers and laser rifles. Stay back from the boarding hole, they'll probably throw in stun grenades. Let them come in, we'll hunt them down.”

  Galen ran to the defense cube hatch, locking in Estelle and Tommie.

  “Couldn't we could use another hand, Brother?”

  “She's only a defensive fighter, and I don't trust her, you know that! Where's Louis?”

  “I don’t know! The COM is down, probably in his lab,” Terran said, running to grab his weapons.

  “Let him stay there! He's not a fighter. Let’s go!” Galen said, pointing out directions. “Split up! Take different corridors!”

  **********

  “The lid is secure, the equalizer tube is in place,” the Specialist said. “Aren’t you going to throw stun grenades in first?”

  “Not this time,” Martin said, calmly looking at her. “That’s what they’re expecting. Me and Panther will go first, wait until you hear action, don’t come down any sooner. Okay? – I mean, do you understand?”

  “We understand.”

  “It’s eight meters to the floor, an easy jump, you’d better use ropes.”

  With his rifle on its sling over his shoulder, he lowered himself into the hole and dropped to the floor, moving quickly to the side so Panther could join him. They moved into the darkest shadows behind some tall containers, and allowed their eyes to adapt to the low light.

  “How many? Where?” Martin thought.

  The cat looked intently in all directions, sniffed the stale air, and listened carefully.

  “Two,” Panther thought, mentally indicating the direction.

  “Good.” Martin quickly threw two stun grenades into the far end and waited for the explosions that shook the room.

  “Let’s go!” he thought. They bolted toward the end of the room as the two Specialists dropped down on ropes.

  Martin mentally signaled the panther right as he went left. He stood behind a metal column and saw one man lying on the floor, an open door was a few meters behind him. Martin stepped out and started toward the figure. Suddenly, another figure jumped onto the doorway and pointed a laser-rifle at him. Martin jumped to the side, the laser burst missed. The figure quickly ducked behind the wall. Martin positioned himself behind the column.

  Panther saw what happened and crept along the wall to the doorway. He crouched, ready to spring. Martin stepped out and the figure jumped into the doorway again. Before he could fire, Panther sunk his left front claws in the man’s leg, pulling him down. He ripped the laser-rifle away with his other front paw. The man screamed in pain and fell to the floor, knocking loose his helmet. Panther pinned him, growling ominously. The man turned white with fear and passed out. The two Specialists sedated both men.

  The door led into another cargo area. “How many? Where?” Martin thought again.

  “Four,” Panther mentally indicated.

  There were numerous crates in this room, making it more difficult to maneuver. Martin crouched and moved to the right while directing Panther to the left. A small, red laser dot suddenly appeared on the wall beside him followed by a blinding light. Martin hit the floor as laser beams crossed over him. He'd seen this trick before, this time it would turn out a differently. He slid quietly to the center of the room and readied the 8mm rifle. He felt the floor around him and found a loose bolt. He threw it against the wall where he had previously been standing. The loud clattering brought bright light and intense laser fire in the direction of the noise.

  Martin quickly aimed his rifle and squeezed off a shot, sending the bullet through the wrist holding the light. The light fell to the floor and the man screamed in agony. The light continued to shine along the floor, creating distorted shadows as Panther rushed into the left corner at the two figures looking the other way.

  They looked back too late as he roared a deadly greeting, springing on the first man, driving him to the floor. Panther ripped off his helmet and snarled in his face. The second man ran toward the other two and all three bolted through a doorway, locking it behind them.

  “Good work, Panther,” Martin said. The Specialists arrived and sedated the man.

  Martin ran to the closed door. “How strong is this lock?” He grasped it firmly and twisted with his android strength. He felt the metal break, the door swung open. He looked at the Specialists and smiled.

  “Let’s go, Panther,” he thought, moving through the open door. They had an easy trail now with blood drops on the floor, guided by Panther’s keen sense of smell. They crept along the dark, main corridor of the long ship, slowly working their way forward.

  “Wait,” Panther mentally indicated to Martin. “Hear something.” He slunk ahead, low to the floor, his tail twitching. He stopped before a connecting side corridor, listening and smelling, then sprang around the corner. Laser beams shot wildly in the air as Panther brought down another man, pinning him and growling fiercely. The Specialists came and rendered him unconscious along with the others.

  “Two left that we know of,” Martin thought, rubbing the big cat on the back of his head. “Let’s follow the trail.”

  Panther led the way down the dark, side corridor to another locked door.

  “Can you hear anything?” Martin said.

  “No,” Panther mentally indicated. “Something wrong.” Panther stood sniffing the air, continuing to listen.

  “I feel it, too,” Martin said with increasing concern. “Quick!” He grabbed Panther and pulled him back from the door. “Back to the main corridor!”

  They moved as fast as they could. Martin picked up a startled Specialist under each of his arms and ran down the main corridor, following Panther. They jumped through the doorway into the cargo hold just as a huge explosion thundered through the corridors where they had been. The huge ship shuddered but didn't depressurize.

  “Stay here!” he said to the Specialists, confirming they were not hurt. He and Panther ran back through the smoke and dust to the room they had almost entered. Charred walls with pieces falling off were all that remained. The trail was lost.

  Suddenly, Panther mentally said: “Quick, hear sound, this way.” They forced open a blackened doorway on the other side of the room into another corridor. Panther ran to a room with thick windows looking out on a space-port. Blood was on the floor. Through the windows, Martin saw two men, identical twins, trying to ready a space-pla
ne. He quickly stepped through the space-port hatchway and yelled: “Galen Bestmarke!”

  The man with the bloody wrist looked up as Martin raised his rifle and squeezed off a shot, hitting him in the shoulder where the shielding suit had a narrow gap. Galen was thrown to the floor. “Well met, indeed!” Martin said, as Panther bounded toward the two men. The twin grabbed Galen, and dragged him into the space-plane. As he struggled to shut the hatchway, Panther raked his arm and leg, leaving blood on the floor and dripping from his lethal claws.

  With rage engulfing their collective consciousness, Martin suddenly realized their great peril. “Panther! Quick! Come back to the hatchway! Now! Come back, now!” Panther looked up at Martin, hesitating for a moment. The he started to run back to him.

  All at once the explosive bolts of the space-port door detonated, blowing the door open to space, evacuating the air, heat, and anything else that was unsecured out of the space-port. Martin grabbed a metal railing and screamed as Panther was swept along the floor toward the gaping opening. Panther hit the landing strut of the space-plane where he somehow managed to twist himself around and hang on with his front claws. Martin knew they only had a few seconds before the vacuum of space would completely expand and freeze them. “Shut your eyes and mouth! Hold on tight!” he mentally said to Panther. “I'll help you!”

  Martin jammed his rifle in the hatchway door behind him. He wouldn't have the strength to push it open if it slammed shut. The air rushing out the partially open hatchway was like a hurricane as the vacuum of space progressively pulled the atmosphere out of the huge ship. He desperately looked around and then seized the power transfer cable still attached to the space-plane. He yanked it from the wall coupling and quickly tied the end to the railing. Squinting and tightly holding the cable, Martin worked his way back to the space-plane and grabbed Panther. He wrapped his arm around the great cat and pulled them back to the rushing hatchway. With all his strength he shoved the hatchway door open and they both squeezed through. It slammed shut, leaving them weakened and lying on the floor. With a rumbling vibration, the space-plane fired up its engine. It lifted up and turned toward the opening, spewing a jet of flame across the interior of the space-port. It slowly flew out the open doors.