Solstice 31: The Solstice 31 Saga, Books 1,2,3

by Martin Wilsey

  Jack watched in amazement as Jude and Cine dashed into the corridor like they were shot from a catapult. The each crisscrossed the hall and ran halfway up the wall on the opposite side.

  While they were distracted, Jack took careful aim and took one in the throat as the others face fairly bristled with darts.

  The emergency airlocks were coming down at both ends of the hall. Without missing a beat, they each grabbed one of Hudson's arms and ran dragging her.

  They slid under the emergency door just in time.

  Without waiting as the air got thinner they ran into the lock-tuck with Hudson screaming in pain.

  “Come on kid. In here!” Zimmerman yelled, but the kid was missing half his skull.

  Jack jumped in and hammered the control to close and detach.

  “For fucks sake, Hudson. You're getting blood all over everything.” Jack yelled as he slammed it into drive.

  Jack heard ripping cloth, and the Jude was at his elbow.

  “It's your blood. Not hers.” Jude tried to take his right hand from the wheel. That's when he noticed the arterial spray from a wound to his wrist.

  Jude wrapped it extremely tight. The pain came then.

  “Skunking, motherfucking, sons of leper whores...” he cursed as he docked the truck none to gently.

  Cine hammered the control as soon as it was green.

  The rest of the crew was there dart guns at the ready.

  “Hagan! We take off in two minutes. Doc, Hudson is wounded. Bad. Projectile weapon.”

  “He is wounded to, mum,” Cine said politely to Kuss.

  “Time for me later,” Jack growled as he grabbed two of the unconscious men by the collars and tossed them into the lock truck. Jude helped as well, and before the last hit the pile the airlock was closing and the detach sequence started.

  “Hagan we are clear! Head out to deep space. And change vectors a few times.”

  And then he fell like great tree.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE:

  Freedom Station

  “Freedom station was just that. Free from the politics of Earth. Free enterprise with all its good and bad, supply and demand. The grav-plate transport containers and catapult systems on the Earth and Luna made the exchange of goods and the transport of people inexpensive, easy, safe and reliable. Almost 14 million people. And growing.”

  --Solstice 31 Incident Investigation Testimony Transcript: Captain James Worthington, senior surviving member of the Ventura's command crew.

  <<<>>>

  “Why are you dressed like that?” Hume asked Barcus. “Do you have any idea how funny a tunic and cloak would be in Zero-G?” Hume said, amused.

  “I have pants on,” Barcus smiled.

  “OK, not as funny as I'd like, still funny. But people will notice your fashion sense. Do you really want to be noticed.”

  “I don't think I will get to see much of the station,” Barcus said as it came into view.

  “I can't believe the traffic?” Worthington said, “I've been in deep space to long. This is already making me itch.”

  “Be glad we have AI control. You can just sit back, and the Station AI and Stu take care of it all.”

  “The Sedna is flying in on manual and will be required to dock at the public South spire,” Rand said. “Damn, this stations big.”

  The docking on the north spire was N73 lock 22 uneventful and fully automated. Ships of all sizes came and went constantly. The starboard airlock was not used often and opened directly into the cargo bay.

  Hume and Rand were the first down the ladder. Barcus stopped Worthington just before he descended.

  “The Grace/Sedna will dock at South 191, lock 9 in twenty six minutes. You need to get the injured back here and into the med bay fast and quiet.” Barcus said, “No, no, I don't have time to explain. We have a few other things that need doing.”

  Worthington just looked at him. Concern was etched in his face.

  “Everything will be all right.” Barcus lied.

  “Don't worry Captain. I will keep him out of trouble.” Po said with humor.

  “I was worried about you. You're the trouble maker!” Jim smiled as he pointed an accusing finger at Po. Neither of them saw Barcus swallow hard. His smile faltered for an instant.

  “Let's meet for lunch at noon, Level 40 South. I feel like soup.” Jimbo laughed and slid down the elevator.

  ***

  “Hagan! Do you want me fly this thing.” Kuss yelled, because of a third near collision.

  “Just open the blast shields all the way and I can manage. Who knew how often a left thumb was useful.” Hagan said as he pulled back into the approach holding pattern.

  “Grace you are clear to dock. South 191, lock 9.” Came the AI calm control voice over the comms. He was lucky that the gantries 8 and 10 were both empty. He got it close enough so the stations mag clamps could reach out like robot tentacles and drew them to lock in.

  Everyone relaxed when the airlock seal indicator turned green.

  They would wait ten minutes to make sure a security detail of shooters didn't swarm the level. The cameras in the level were openly broadcasting, so they watched.

  “How will we find Worthington?” Kuss asked just as the lift opened and Worthington, Rand, and Hume stepped out onto level 191. They moved directly to air-lock number 9 and looked directly into the camera.

  “Get them ready to move.” Kuss barked. She reached the airlock just as Wex was opening it.

  “Status?” was all Worthington said as he entered.

  “We ran into a bit of trouble, sir. We have wounded.” Kuss said.

  Hagan added a wave with his thumbless left hand. “Most of us are wounded, but three need immediate medical attention.”

  “Hume get a private express lift. Use this to pay.” Jim handed her a cash swipe card. She jogged out to the kiosk and ordered one up. It said it would be there in 3 minutes and began to count down.

  “Captain this is Tawana Hudson, she took a bullet to the pelvis. She can't walk. We can move her; she had pain killers and first aid nanites, but we need to get a closer look.”

  “I can walk!” Elkin said groggily.

  “Elkin was shot in the back, has a lot of trauma under her tough skin and a broken scapula.”

  “What the hell is that?” Rand said.

  “That side of beef is Officer Jack Zimmerman. He didn't notice he had been shot three time and was running out of blood. He needs to get into the med bay Stat!” Shaw said.

  Zimmerman was on an improvised gurney made of a pallet loader. As they drifted it out into the corridor, the lift arrived.

  “I will stay with the ship, for now, Go,” Wex said standing there with a trank gun.

  They kept moving.

  Worthington called to her as he closed the inner airlock door. “No one will bother you for at least 24 hours, Lock it behind us.”

  The door closed.

  Wex dropped the rifle on the floor right there and headed for the bridge.

  ***

  Barcus and Po excited the lift on Level 1. Lights came up as they stepped into the empty corridor. The air was cold enough here that they could see their breath. Barcus unclasped his cloak and wrapped Po in it. Her one piece flight suit didn't provide and much insulation as his tunic.

  The lift pause only briefly at the equator to change orientation and continue. The equator is always down, is the old saying on Freedom Station, and it is literally true. The single central gravity core is an engineering wonder. This is very unnerving to some. The south spire always points directly at the center of the Earth. The North Spire away from earth. The stations orbit was at the halfway point between Earth and Luna and had a cycle of fourteen days.

  The globe of the station is built with many lesser spires that are either privately or publicly owned for various uses.

  The corridor was wide and could handle vehicle traffic if necessary. It had a gentle turn to the left as they walked. His boot heals echoed as they watched light
come on in front of them and shut down behind them.

  They walked by perhaps a hundred doors marked with arbitrary sequential numbers that all began with N1. A few hallways intersected and seemed to go straight out for a kilometer. Some were dark, some lit.

  He finally stopped in front of a nondescript door marked, N1-1208. There was a screen beside the door that when touched a keypad came up but no prompts.

  Barcus typed the following, H5BHHR7!jet%bu*?QWb77cd6C.

  The door clicked, and he opened it stepping in after Po. It was more a closet than a room. It was two meters by three meters with racks lining the wall opposite the door. Po stepped to the side as Barcus touched the fronts of three panels that slid down revealing two glowing globes that were like crystal balls in their perfection clouds drifting inside. The larger of the two was gold like the sun; the other was deep blue and the size of his head.

  “Hello, Station. My name is Barcus.”

  The blue globe responded, pulsing as the words sounded, “This is a restricted area.”

  “And I had the restricted access codes,” Barcus said flatly.

  “How may I be of service?” The gold globe pulsed like sunlight.

  “We are the ones that have come to be of service to you Station.” He looked at the blue orb then.

  “Someone has hidden a massive nuclear device on Freedom Station.”

  ***

  The corridor of N72 was not empty as the lift doors opened. A small shuttle had just arrived with passengers from Earth. They looked like workers from a single company. All wore the same coveralls and caps. All but a few of the two dozen were Asian and speaking in Mandarin. They ignored the wounded party as Stu opened the airlock and they moved inside without a word.

  The med bay opened, and Zimmerman was transferred to it. He barely fit inside.

  Worthington has stopped them from speaking in the lift and now everyone began at once.

  “Wait, one at a time,” Worthington said.

  “Sir, they know we're back,” Hagan said as he was unwrapping his bandage. “This guy is a cop on Luna, Jack Zimmerman. Number two on Echo's list. A good pick for Everett. She is a data scientist named Hudson, and Johan was a bartender in one of the busiest port bars on Luna. All positioned well for information.”

  He got the bandage off, and it was ugly.

  “He found us,” Jude said pointing at Zimmerman.

  Everyone looked at Jude, she spoke so rarely.

  “They sent people after us where ever we went. They have a description of the Sedna and us.” Hagan said as the scan completed on Zimmerman and a flurry of small robotic arms began to cut off his clothes and repair wounds at his wrist, calf and left bicep.

  “Captain Worthington, I do not mean to interrupt. But did you know your family is on Freedom Station?” Hudson said. “If they know you are here, they may try to take them in, for leverage.”

  “Dammit.” Worthington cursed.

  “Sir, their residence is at this address: South level 32, S32- 55947.”

  “Got it.” Rand said, “Where's Barcus?”

  “No time for that now. Rand, Hume, you are with me. We have to keep our HUDs dark so we will be out of touch unless it's an emergency. Kuss, patch em up as best you can.”

  “We come, go too,” Cine said spinning her flute in her fingers.

  ***

  “I am the AI responsible for all aspects of security on this station.” Pulsed the deep blue orb.

  “I thought your function was simply as a critical systems fail-over. So if Station goes off line, the people still have air and water and power.” He said to one sphere, and then to the other, “You don't mind if I call you Station, do you?”

  The golden sphere pulsed, “Not at all. It's been very long time since anyone called me anything. Thank you.”

  “Ever since they installed this I bet.” Barcus gestured to the blue orb.

  “Why yes. In fact, that's true.” Station said.

  “And what will you call me?” The blue orb asked in a voice that was both vain and jealous.

  “I won't need to call you anything,” Barcus said as he bent close and looked into the blue swirling clouds. They were laced with streaks of black.

  “Why?”

  With the speed of a cobra, the point of the Telis blade stabbed into the orb and it shattered into tiny pieces. Viscus fluid splashed into the rack and it's light was extinguished.

  “Station are you all right?” Barcus asked.

  After a long pause, it began to glow brighter. It finally said, “I'm free again.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO:

  Gone

  “And then she was just gone.”

  --Solstice 31 Incident Investigation Testimony Transcript: Captain James Worthington, senior surviving member of the Ventura's command crew.

  <<<>>>

  They stood in front of the interactive display map on Level 32 on the kiosk by the lift like tourists looking for a brothel. “Stop looking suspicious.” Rand chastised Jude and Cine. There was a lot of foot traffic on this level as it approached midday.

  “Here it is S32- 55947. This way.” Worthington said as he walked briskly. It didn't look out of place here. The main corridors were like highways. Slower traffic just kept to the right.

  “We have to move out to the 5th loop, spoke 59, residence 47.” Worthington followed the most direct path, and they traveled corridors that became smaller like capillaries.

  They rounded the corner from loop number 5 onto spoke 59 and immediately saw the hall was full of uniformed security. They were gathered around an open single door. They could hear shouting from within the residence.

  “What do you me the comms are down!”

  “Sec is not responding. No HUD data either.”

  “What about the dispatcher?”

  “The dispatcher is there; she has nothing as well.”

  “Goddammit, find them.” A man burst out of the room wearing the same blue uniform with a few more strips on the right sleeve. “You two, stay in case they come back. The rest of you come with me to the sec control room to find out who is trying to ruin my day.”

  They stormed off in the opposite direction.

  “We find out if that is 47.” Cine said and without waiting for permission they started walking up the hall toward the guards who seemed to be conversing in quiet tones instead of doing their jobs. Cine and Jude suddenly seemed like they were laughing teenage girls. They rubber necked to see into the room as they walked by.

  It looked like one of the guards greeted them and they stopped to talk with them. Cine said nothing and stood slightly behind Jude with both of her hands covering her mouth like she was shy of her bad teeth.

  They started shaking their heads no and Jude waved to the guards as they skipped away. Worthington looked at Rand and said, “Are you seeing this?”

  “They are not there. Could see the entire room. Less then 100 square feet. Three bunks on the right, counter, closet, tiny bath on other side. Saw everything. Not there. Overheard the guards. Something is wrong with Sec AI.” She said.

  Worthington looked at Hume and then Rand. At the same time, they all said, “Barcus.”

  Jim started back to the lift.

  “Where are you going now?” Rand asked as she kept pace.

  “Do you like soup?”

  ***

  “Who are you?” Stationed asked.

  “My name is Barcus, and this is Po,” Barcus said.

  “Hello,” Po added.

  “It's like I can breathe again.” Station said. “No one has set foot in here for almost 20 years, Barcus. Ever since they installed that thing. You were right; it was supposed to be a critical systems backup. It began taking over everything except management of air, water, gravity, heating and cooling. How did you know?”

  “CAISY told me. Do you remember CAISY? She sends her regards.” Barcus said.

  “How did you know that access code. Only one man knew it, and he is dead.”

 
; “Repeat the code back to me Station, please,” Barcus asked.

  “H5BHHR7!jet%bu*?QWb77cd6C” Station replied.

  “Thank you, Station.” Barcus sighed, “Have you reestablished sec operations control?”

  “Yes, Barcus.”

  “Please stand down all operations associated with the name Worthington.”

  “There are current outstanding orders associated with Worthington. Locate and provide protective custody.” Station said

  “Can I be of service in any other way.”

  “Can you tell me the address of Pho Pete's?”

  ***

  The lift opened directly into massive commercial area. It was combination of old world open air market and mall promenade. This was open for seven levels, and there was artificial sky above that. Exclusive residence balconies overlooked shops and restaurants and businesses of every kind. There was music and laughing in the air.

  Jude and Cine were in awe as they moved through the crowds. The smell of foods of all kinds drifted in the air. After about ten more minutes they saw the retro sign for Pho Pete's.

  There was a simple awning that covered a half dozen cafe tables that were all occupied. There was a long counter that had seventeen stools. There were lines queued up along the building on both sides. One was for take away orders and one was for seating. There was one waitress that was constantly I motion and five people behind the counter.

  All of them were Asian except Pete.

  They were moving to get in the line for seats as he scanned the crowds for Barcus and Po when he heard the scream begin.

  ***

  The airlock had barely closed when Wex turned and began to quickly search the ship. She had started crying before the lift doors had opened. She started in the crew quarters grabbing large black duffel bags and filling them with the items she had been collecting. She packed clothes and cash, weapons and medical gear. She kept stuffing them with other useful items like the survival rations, binoculars, and even a few tools. She finished filling the bags with select books from Ulric's collection. They were probably worth a fortune.