Tramp Wars: The Enemy

by Larry Roberts

  Mark was just getting up onto one knee with a firm hand from Dick pulling him up when the first round hit Dick’s head. The round designed to incapacitate someone with armor, hit in the chest spreading the concussion out across the full chest area lessoning the chance of critical damage to organs and or ribs while transmitting all the shells energy through armor into the body without wasting any of that energy. Decided that Dick’s head was simply a small chest and concentrated all its energy into an area only 6 inches across instead of 16 inches across. Dick’s head caved in from the back as his brains exploded out his face. His eyes, mouth and nose shooting his brains and blood strait out over Mark’s head in streams that turned into vapor clouds that lasted only a micro second. But to most of the people watching from the deck, even if they had known what to look for, all they saw was a transparent shimmering microsecond puff around his head and may have heard a pop that could have come from anyplace without noticing the pink cream vapor cloud that appeared some 20 feet away from the rampand quickly dissipated without anyone noticing with all that was suddenly going on.

  Chet had been trained by his father to hold the barrel down to keep it from rising off of the bipod but the lack of experience shooting the high powered military rounds allowed the butt of the weapon to push back against the unprepared boy used to shooting target loads, leveraging his body up and dropping the impact point of the next round down so the second shot hit Dick in the middle of his back with another transparent puff. This time the shell spread its force out across his whole back area. The concussion throwing Dick into Mark taking them both over the side of the net, tumbling out some 50 feet into the void 700 feet above the pit since there was no friction from a body sliding across a deck to slow them down. The third shot hit the net beside Mark’s mother, the concussion blowing a 3 foot hole in the net as the brain tried to cover as much area of the net as possible and sending the fit 120 pound woman head over heels across the netting to land some feet away. The safety line she still had on the only thing keeping her from going over the side. The fourth fifth and sixth rounds walked back across the ramp blowing people off their feet without hitting anyone until shells hit the bar’s stacked kegs and stacks of beer cans, sending kegs careening across the deck and over the side following Dick and Mark after scattering several others and cases of beer cans squirting beer around the platform creating a foaming mass of confusion as people were knocked down or ran to avoid the onslaught.

  Chet stared at the mayhem he had created for a good minute, searching to make sure that Dick and Mark were no longer there. Then as the Chief Master at Arms and Ship’s Patrol’s attention started to turn away with the show sadly over, to focus in toward the hold, he slipped back several containers, looked around for any witnesses and then dropped down and raced back into his families open container. He ran a quick cleaning rod through the gun and replaced it in its case buried in a false back of a locker. Then closing and locking the containers hatch he ran down the narrow alley toward the elevators avoiding as many people as he could and disappeared up into the deck above and then over to the chain and up so the elevator would not have a record of his passage. Making it to his families section of half a hundred cabins grouped together. Mr. Greedly arranging to birth his grown kids, relatives and Union friends, clustered in a large section of the deck cut off from the rest of the ship with many additional features and amenities the rest of the ship did not have. Including a large two story grass covered tree lined park cut out from the large ventilator shaft that ran up from the agriculture decks far below the hold decks and across to the ship’s main air handling plenum in the core of the ship.

  Chet showered, being careful to clean any trace of weapon’s use from his body. Then took his cloths down to the laundry and tossed them into the washer bypassing the normal laundry chute, washing them twice before tossing them in with the rest of the laundry in the dryer and forgetting about them knowing the laundry pukes would take care of getting them back to him. Walking back to his cabin he accessed the override on his cabin’s hatch and reprogrammed it to show that he had been in his cabin since midnight. Then went to bed, a very happy assassin.

  Mark had a firm grip on Dick’s hand as he was getting up concentrating on placing his hands and legs that still felt a little tingly as he fiddled with a safety hook that did not want to release from the net edge rail when suddenly Dick rammed into him pushing him off the net platform as Dick tumbled over the top of him and away dragging Marks hand and body with him. Mark felt Dick’s hand go limp as he clutched even tighter trying to keep from losing his grip. Bringing his other hand around as they sailed out into open air away from the platform, Mark grabbed Dick’s limp wrist as the Zero Gee safety line he had ran down his leg from his waist out his pants and had hooked to the railing when he had sat down next to Dick started burning his leg as the reel on his waist let out line at an increasing pace.

  “Mark, Dick is dead.” Mickey said. “A military concussion shell designed to incapacitate an armored soldier, hit him in the head and blew his brains out. A second shell hit the back of his chest blowing him and you over the side while cracking his ribs and bursting his heart.”

  Mark looked over at his buddies face as the light drag setting on the safety line reel kept Dick’s body dangling away from Mark as they fell. All he could see were gaping holes in Dick’s head where his eyes, mouth and nose once were. “Mark, you must let him go and save yourself so we can catch his murderer. You have to tighten down the brake on the reel. Now Mark. He is dead. Let him go.”

  Mark let his hands relaxed and watched Dick drift slowly away from him. Then reached into the pocket he had torn the bottom out of and started fingering the brake on the reel as Dick started falling away faster and faster. As the reel’s drag increased, the line started pulling on his pant leg material harder and harder and away from the bare skin of his leg, stopping the line from burning his leg but then the line started cutting the material. He was soon dangling from his waist with one pant leg flapping in the breeze as he tried to keep from breaking his back as the line pulled harder and harder to his side. He found himself trying to keep the damn belt from sliding down his waist and out of it as he wished he had fastened it down tighter.

  Finally he came to a stop and he was able to reach around and grab the line without cutting his arm off and pull himself somewhat upright. As the airtruck that had been hovering in the background waiting for orders to come up under the platform suddenly appeared under Mark, hands reached out to help drag him in.

  A couple minutes later the Airtruck landed on the platform blowing half empty beer cans and kegs over the side. Most of them getting caught by the safety net. Having been dropped through an access hatch into the airtruck’s cargo box seconds after being released from the safety line, Mark walked out of the back of the airtruck only a few seconds after it had touched down. Still in shock at watching his buddy hit the pit’s plasticrete at terminal velocity and bounce, Mark did not notice the crowd that descended on him with Dian leading the charge and wrapping her arms around him. He was laid on the same emergency medical gurney he had been on the day before as the Doctors checked him out.

  But finally the Doctor proclaimed him fit but still with a hangover and then the Captain was there wanting to know where he had gotten the damn Zero Gee safety reel from and when the hell he had managed to put it on without anyone knowing about it.

  Mark turned to the Captain. “Who blew Dick’s brains out Captain?” With the baffled look from the Captain he continued. “I had ahold of Dick and could have saved him but his brains had been blown out of his head from a military concussion shell. He was dead before he was blown off the deck by a second round to his chest bursting his heart.” Mark chuckled sickly. “Someone wanted him dead bad, they killed him three times just to make sure.”

  Captain Cook’s mouth dropped open for a second then started belching orders. Turning to the Doctor, the medical crews around him and the Chief Master at Arm. “Everyone down
to the pit now in that truck I want the damn pit area where he hit cordoned off as well as this hold now damn it. Why are you people standing around here with your hands up you assess? Move it!”

  Mark was already sliding off the gurney when it was jerked out from under him and raced onto the Airtruck with half the medical and security people on the platform. The Chief Master at Arms and Doctor bellowing orders.

  A minute later the truck had left leaving the platform quiet again as Ship’s Patrolmen started combing, recording and cataloging everything on the platform and taking statements from everyone still in the hold at the time. The Chief Master at Arms sat at the small command center that had been set up beside the bar that was in sync with the ship’s main security center shortly after Dick had been found sitting on the net. Having his technicians start collecting and locking down the raw videos from the news cameras. The Chief bringing up the high definition video from one of the news crews showing a close up of Dick just before he jumped over the side. Zooming in and slowing the frame rate down he could not believe his eyes as he watched a bubble form at the back of Dick’s head and then the back of his head cave in as his brains shot out his eyes, ears and mouth for a fraction of a second. Too fast for the naked eye to see. Then another bubble appeared on his back and he was suddenly shoved out over the top of, first pushing and then dragging Mark by his clasping hand out into open air.

  The Chief quickly had his technicians expand the video search to anyone else that thought they needed to record the fools on the net including the recorders in the cabins around the ramp with their different perspectives and then had his best tech grab and lock down all the recordings from all the ships cameras around and to and from the hold and then as an afterthought all the cameras on the decks around all of the cabins. Placing them all in locked secure memory vaults. Suddenly a lot of unanswered questions about a lot of suicides was starting to become clearer and raising even more questions. Slapping his comm. “Doctor Wells, I am sending down my own team to record the autopsy on the boy Jenkins just to make sure the records don’t get changed or misplaced again. I think we have a serial killer on the ship. I want you to reexamine the records on all the previous suicides for any trauma that matched what I think you will find on this one.”

  “What are you talking about? My Doctors were there and watched the Jenkins kid jump. In spite of what the Collins kid thinks. No one saw anyone shoot anyone.”

  “Sorry Doctor but I am looking at the high speed evidence now and the Jenkins kid was murdered. Sending a copy for your eyes only now. I need up dated autopsies as soon as you can get them to me on the other victims. Sorry for waking you but this can’t wait. Out.”

  Doctor Wells turned back over in his bed for the third time after the duty Doctor had called the first time and informed him that the kid was a possible jumper and then a second time to tell him that the kid had jumped but the Collins kid was ok but babbling about the Jenkins kid’s brains being blown out and now a third time with the Chief making more accusations that his Doctors had missed something big at autopsies of past suicides. Well, he would look at the damn video tomorrow over breakfast and have a talk with his staff and maybe they would take a second look at a few of the autopsy recordings.

  Closing his eyes he took a deep breath only to have his comm start its emergency tone beeping again. Slamming the button on the comm. “Yes what is it this time?” His wife turning over to look at him groggily.

  “Sorry Doctor Wells but you have got to see this body before we move it.”

  “I have seen to damn many suicides already. I will go over your report tomorrow after you get done with the autopsy scan.”

  “This is not a suicide Doctor. I was watching and I was certain that he jumped too but he was dead before he left the platform.”

  “Now how the hell can a kid jump if he is already dead? You aren’t making any sense Doctor Hynes. Don’t tell me you had a few to many as well last night.”

  “Doctor Wells. I have a kids body laying here with the back of his skull caved in against the front of the skull with holes clear through his eyes and mouth and no brain matter anyplace in the whole empty pit so he was missing his brains long before hitting the ground. The Collins boy was not just babbling.”

  Doctor Wells closed his eyes taking a deep breath then swung his legs over the side and sat up. “I will be right down. Send someone for the wide area biological scanner. His brain mater has to be somewhere and that somewhere should tell us what happened. Out.” Turning around he patted his wife on the butt. “I will be back in an hour hun.” Taking his cloths he went into his study to dress so he wouldn’t disturb his wife and keyed the video the Chief Master at Arms had sent him. After replaying it a half dozen times the Doctor left his wife a note saying that he would not be back that morning for breakfast but he would try to see her for lunch.

  -----------------------------

  Mark’s mother talked to Mark for a few minutes after the Chief had gotten a brief statement from him with the girl Dian clinging onto him refusing to let go even when her father and mother insisted. Mark was still in shock, though it was rapidly getting harder to remember with the hangover taking over again and had no objections to Dian hanging onto him providing a distraction, helping him to not think of what he thought he saw. His mother letting him go after reinforcing the facts that it was not his fault what happened (especially after being blown across the net and the hole in the net next to where she was standing), found it easy to believe that Dick had not jumped though Dian’s parents who were watching from some distance back did not believe a word of Mark and was not at all happy when their daughter left with Mark. Especially when Dian told them that she would not be home that morning and would pick up some of her cloths later.

  Chapter 13 The Hold Battle

  Mark did not want to wake up the next morning but someone would not let him sleep. Not let him roll over even though he was afraid his head would fall off. A hot cup of special tea with a couple of pills at the girl’s insistence helped his stomach settle down. He finely looked up into Diane’s eyes and said, “Thanks.” But at a loss for anything else to say as he tried to put what little he could remember about the previous night into perspective. Dick’s death and his fall off the platform seaming more like a bad dream.

  He finally started paying attention to Dian sitting in his only chair wearing only thin see through bikini panties and a sports or sleeping bra several sizes too small that clearly showed her bright red nipples. One leg was crossed over the other at her knees as she leaned her chin on her hand with her elbow on her top knee. Smiling at Mark. The sight of her almost naked making his head hurt even more as he felt deep down that he needed to do something with that beautiful wonderfully loving body while his head said not in this lifetime.

  The reawakening pain in his head made Mark look away from the Angel. Making him cry knowing he wanted her so desperately for some reason but couldn’t figure out why he couldn’t. His squinting eye’s fell on his uniform hung next to the bed, cleaned and pressed which surprised him. Didn’t’ he throw up on it last night? Studying it, trying to figure out if it was really clean when he noticed a bunch of colored ribbons above the left breast pocket and other bling above the right.

  “Didn’t I throw up all over it last night?” He whispered.

  “I did your laundry this morning. Couldn’t have you going to work your first day as an Ensign in a dirty uniform.”

  Trying to focus in at all the shiny bling. “Thanks’. What the hell are those things?” He croaked and then grabbed his head.

  “I saw the note on your com unit this morning when I couldn’t sleep so I went up and got your mail for you. It was a box of your uniform trappings.”

  “Ok but what are those things on the left breast above the pocket?”

  “Your award ribbons love. The directions with the box said they were authorized by the Executive officer last night and that you were required to wear them on your dress uniforms.” S
miling. “It says they provide the first set and you would have to buy the next set when you lose these. Though they point out losing modals is a crime.”

  “How the hell can anyone an officer for a night have even one medal let alone a dozen?” Squinting his eyes again he tried to count them with little luck before wincing and looking away.

  “You have been a Cadet for 13 years and have more than a dozen. All your accomplishments during that time are not only eligible but required according to the paper.”

  “Accomplishments? You have got to be kidding. I have no accomplishments.”

  “I am sorry to differ with you love but you do.” Standing up smiling with pride, she bent over with her butt toward Mark and pointed at the top row of ribbons. “I read the list while I was waiting for you to wake up. This one is for the rescue mission to the Tahoe moon.” She wiggled her butt back and forth without thinking about it in her excitement telling him.

  “What?” Mark grimaces, biting his lower lip as he squeezed his eyes shut looking away from her swaying ass only to open them to see her boobs hanging down swaying back and forth in time with her ass. “I was on a Cadet training run to an asteroid when we were diverted to the moon to pick up the ships rescued tourists. The other shuttle boat did the landing and rescuing.” It had been a lot more involved than that but Mark didn’t think it was anything to get a medal for.