Tramp Wars: The Enemy

by Larry Roberts

  The two men grabbed the cover from both sides and started to lift it. Looking down at the screen he said “Hurry Mickey or we are dead.”

  “Link... To… slow...”

  Marks thumb slipped off the rim pushing against the screen sending rays of light out across the screen. “Mickey! Link through the touch pad.”

  "Yes Mark bring the pad as close to me as possible and close your eyes." Bringing up the screen to touch his glasses he had to close his eyes as the bright light still tried to blind him through his eye lids.

  The Cursing from the top of the loader made everyone turn from the retreating junk man in time to watch one of the technicians falling off the top of the loader. Luckily he fell on top of a marine running around the loader as he joined the chase from the other end of the hold. Even though the wayward junk man had no place to go.

  “Captain! There is a trinity explosive device up here big enough to blow the entire hold with 2 of the liquids just finished mixing Sir.” tossing down the AC pod cover as alarms started going off all over the ship know that the ships sensors could detect an explosive substance. “So much for looking like any AC unit I have ever seen.”

  Mark finally took the screen away from his face and looked at it for several seconds shaking his head. Then held it out toward the Captain. “Captain please take a look at this Sir.” Giving her the screen. “It has every secret this ship has on it including a passenger and crew and weapons count and the time they were discovered, the hold is only half scanned with the torpedoes the last on the list.” Mark walked over to the loader and climbed up next to the remaining technician telling him to take his hands out of the bomb and get lost.

  With the Captain studying the screen one of the other officers yelled at Mark. “What the hell are you doing Ensign?”

  “Defusing the Bomb Sir.” Mark said matter of fact.

  “You will do no such thing!” bellowed the Captain.

  “Sorry Captain. But I was only able to break into the terminal and stop the traps before they could finish detonating the bomb. I cannot stop the main host program from detonating the bomb remotely. While I do have the schematics of the bomb and I think I could defuse it in time. I would rather you just shut the hold hatch to block out any remote signals from reaching the bomb so the bomb squad would have time to get here and do the job sir.”

  “You cannot be serious Ensign. We have a half dozen vehicles and crewmen on the hatch.”

  “Sir! I have stopped the scan of the ship and cut the feed to whoever is responsible for this shit but they have to know we have their men and equipment. It is going to dawn on them rather quickly that their little cover up bomb did not go off and that it was half primed before they lost contact with it. Eventually they are going to push the manual remote detonation button just to be pushing the Godstar Damn button.” Mark sat down next to the bomb.

  “Ok Gentlemen. Close the Damn hatch.”

  “Captain?” Came a dozen voices at once.

  “I said CLOSE THE DAMN HATCH!”

  The hatch started closing. One of the trucks started up. Its fans building up speed but it takes time for the big heavy fans to go from 0 to 40,000 RPM. A second and then another started. One of the Police cars started and with the smaller fans was able to get airborne before the hatch had traveled very far. Climbing out across the top of the airtrucks.

  Mark stared down at the bomb as the bomb squad came running across the hold passing everyone else going in the opposite direction. A marvel of technology, to get around bomb detection equipment and sensors that penetrated the shield; the bomb consisted of three tanks holding none explosive liquids wrapped around a central mixing chamber. When the inert liquids mixed they would form a super explosive. The forth side had a row of six detonators lined up in a row down the side of the mixing chamber to make sure it detonated the entire tank at once, (the millisecond divergence of detonation from one end of the tank to the other could mean only part of the liquid would detonate while pushing the rest out and away lessening the explosions power). Only one of the colored tanks still had liquid in it. An electronics package was attached to each of the storage tanks and the back side of the mixing chamber tank.

  The first fan truck lifted off the sloping hatch sliding half way down before leveling off and hovering in midair. It slowly moved out over the lip of the slowly raising hatch and into open air and freedom.

  Climbing up beside Mark, the Bomb Chief and his1st Class assistant sat down, one on each side of Mark and the bomb. “Ok Ensign, you can go we’ve got it.

  “How long will it take you to defuse this bomb Chief?”

  “Don’t you worry about that Ensign? It will take as long as it takes. We have plenty of time.”

  “No you don't!” Mark said pointing to the closing hatch as the second truck tried to take off. Its front lifting off but the rear sitting up the steeply slopped hatch pushed the airtruck down the ramp as it slid. Picking up speed it finally lifted up and shot out across the top of the cars and trucks. The pilot climbing up over the first pile of junk scrapping the overhead in a shower of sparks and whizzing by the loader mere feet over Mark the Bomb squad and the bomb. Neither of them moved while the deck was a mass of running feet in every direction.

  Out in the middle of the hold the pilot brought the big truck down to hit the deck hard enough to shake the hold and junk around it as it squealed across the deck to a stop under Tramp Town. The top of the truck clearing the Tramp town deck by a good 10 feet.

  Mark turned back around to look at the last truck still on the ramp. “Mickey tell that last fool to shut down and hang on. He is going for a ride and hope his safety cage saves him. It looks like he will land upside down on the truck I blew the cab off of so he should be OK.”

  Finally the hold quieted down and Mark turned to the Bomb Chief. “Until that hatch is closed” Mark said pointing at the hatch. “The bad guys can send a detonation command to make this thing go boom. We have about a minute until the hatch is closed and then you can take your time. What can you do in that minute just in case that signal comes?”

  The two bomb disposal men looked at each other and the First class smiled and said. “Kiss my ass good bye Sir. We don’t have time for a blow job.”

  Taking a quick breath and tapping his glasses. “I have the schematics on the bomb and I need you to tell me the one thing that will kill the bomb. What to look for or disconnect ignoring all the traps and false circuits?”

  “You have got to be kidding.” They both started chuckling. “The only thing you can do Sir; is KISS YOUR ASS GOOD BYE! If that last tank gets dumped into the mixing chamber it will detonate on its own in time. Not as powerful as with the detonators but still powerful enough to ruin the ships whole day and destroy half the ship. Fact is even if the third chemical is not mixed, the by-mixed acid can still explode if detonated. Just not as powerful as a mix of all three with the acid cloud it creates killing anyone it touches.” And brook out laughing. “Now ensign just let us get to work sir.” They took the sensors they had been unpacking and started scanning the bomb. And started cursing seconds later. The squeal of the airtruck’s fan breaks engaging drowning them out as the turbines shut down. Moments later it started to slide down the 45 degree slop to crash into the cars and trucks and junk below.

  “Mickey I can understand why you cannot jam a signal before you know what it is. But can’t you just jam everything?”

  “I do not have enough power to do that Mark. If I had a remote link to the ships communication systems I could use the ship's system to do that. I could even trace the location the sensor’s data was transmitted to.”

  Vehicles continued to screech down the ramp crashing into other vehicles and piles of scrap with terrifying ear-piercing squeals of mettle on mettle.

  Mark watched as the hatch slowly got closer to sealing. Counting down in his head.

  The crack across the top narrowed.

  The daylight growing weaker and weaker as Mark’s count down cross
ed 5 seconds and then 4.

  Mark smile getting bigger by the second and then on the 2 second count the bomb’s fuse light flicked to red and the valve allowing the 3rd chemical to mix and activate the bomb banged open.

  The explosive valve kicking open with no possibility of ever closing as the truck standing up vertical on its nose, slowly fell over onto it’s back crushing a police aircar under it before landing upside down on the truck missing its cab.

  “Shit!” said the two men and Mark in unison.

  The junk owner now in custody next to the loader started crying as he peed his pants. The puddle on the deck around him rapidly growing as a foul smell seamed to fill the air around him as he loaded his pants as well.

  Mark pulled out his torch. Aimed it at the metal tube that went from the 3rd full tank to the mixing chamber and pulled the trigger cutting the line just below the valve using the mass of the valve as a heat sink to allow him to melt half of the valve into a plug sealing the still full upper tank before more than a few drops interred the mixing chamber.

  That left the tube coming from the mixing chamber with the 2 chemicals forming the acid already mixed dripping from the open end down onto the cab’s roof. Creating a toxic cloud dropping down across the cab and spreading across the hold.

  Leaning over Mark motioned the Chief to back up as he held the torch to aim at the detonator wires lined up in a row down the side of the mixing tank and pulled the trigger again, cutting them all with one solid beam. At the speed of light 6 sets of detonator wires seized to exist not giving even electricity time to energize any of them even if the bombs computer noticed.

  With the toxic smoke drifting down as the steady stream of acid from the mixing chamber ran across the roof and down the side eating its way through the truck to the deck below; the bomb disposal guys tried to back up out of the cloud. Coughing Mark stood up and kicked the end of the open tube bending it around a tank support onto its self, pinching off the steady stream and eventually the toxic fumes. Turning away he stood up out of the cloud and took a couple of deep breaths of fresh air. The giant hatch clanged shut sending a shudder through the hold. Mark ducked back into the quickly dissipating cloud to finish pinching off the line stopping the few drops still coming from it. Then turned away to take a few more breaths of fresh air.

  Mark turned back around to the bomb again and detached the sensor package from the front half of the AC Pod. “Oh Chief! You probably should check the rest of this loader and the junkyard trucks for bombs and other tricks. This bomb is to damn big just to destroy one little sensor." Getting a strange look on his face as he listened to something as they looked around the overhead of the hold. "Ah and look for some pressure tanks filled with nerve sleeping gas and a transmitter with a timer or activation receiver someplace." Mark pointed at the cylinder glued to the overhead next to the cargo holds loader rail and then the line of cylinders leading to and placed around the cargo hatch. “Oh and it is a waste of time to take out a whole crew light years between systems with the nerve gas tanks hanging above our heads without a beacon to track the ship with. You will probably find the transmitter just outside the hatch unless they haven’t had time to plant it yet. Which is possible if they were waiting to find out if we had anything worth taking in the ship before deciding to take the ship but then with them already planting nerve gas canisters, they have already made up their minds.”

  With the already leaked acid still eating up the cab around the ladder Mark walked forward using the pickup arm to drop to the deck in several easy jumps. Stopping in front of the Captain, Mark saluted and showed her the sensor package. I think there is earth empire tech in this sensor package. It would explain how it was able to pick up everything it did. But that would mean someone or something bigger than this piss ant junk man is behind this and some reason much bigger than a bunch of crap junk.” Rolling it over to look at the bottom. “I am going to take it up to my shop. With the special equipment I have up there I can take it apart to check Sir. If it is Earth tech hidden inside this, I should be able to isolate the signal and frequency and trace it back to the Earth tech control module.” Walking away he turned back around and pointed up at Tramptown. “Just up their Sir. First pair of boxes to starboard from the lift basket and ladder. Oh and I see there are a bunch of tanks along the frame rail of the loader that have traces of nerve gas on them as well to go with all the rest attached to the overhead.” Mark walked on across the half empty hold whistling as he studied the module.

  “Chief! What just happened?” Asked the Captain looking up at the Chief still sitting on the loader staring at Mark as he walked away. Turning to look up at the cylinders on the overhead then back at the bomb and then at Mark slowly working his way across the hold more intent on the module than walking.

  The Chief slowly turned his head from starring at Mark to look down at the Captain and took a deep breath of fresh air again as he shook his head. “We are damn lucky not to be dead Captain. This shit try mix is the most powerful chemical explosive known to man and this bomb would have gutted the whole section of the ship if it finished mixing and not just this deck. It would have been so unstable it could have exploded without the detonators possible before we could have disarmed it and as it is the bi mix could have exploded if the detonators had fired creating a mess of the hold.” Getting up the Chief looked at the 1st class sitting frozen on the other side of the bomb with his face still white as snow. "Marvin; incase this peace of shit in bomb disposal foam then take it down to the pit and the portable bomb shop and dismantle it with a full vid and scan record." Then turned and started to fallow Mark’s trail off the loader. "Ah; make it the empty pit next to us Marvin."

  “Just what I thought Chief; thanks.” Captain Cook turned to the only other officer left on the deck. “I want that son of a bitch in Irons before I get off this deck and court-martialed by the end of the day. I have had it with….”

  “No Captain!” The Chief yelled as he hit the deck.

  “What the hell Chief. You said we almost died because of that fool.”

  “Actually Sir. If that fool had not torched that last try mix tank mixing valve and then the detonators, we would be dead.” Looking back at the bomb and shaking his head. “I can’t believe it worked but I sure as hell didn’t have any better Idea’s or time. It would have taken me half the day to get through all the traps and safeties and still could have set it off and we had maybe 10 seconds. I still can‘t believe what he did but I am going to spend the rest of my life kissing that boy’s ass.” He started inspecting every nook and cranny around the loader finding a module on the stern where it could easily be picked up by the grappler, which he quickly stuffed inside a bomb disposal container and sealed it. Once he was well away from the loader the Chief turned his wrist phone on. “I want every Bomb Squad and Hasmat crewman up here pronto with every piece of detection and protection gear we have. We are going to tear down every piece of equipment up here not ours, right down to the nuts and bolts. Then start on ours just to make sure nothing was snuck onto them before we start on the piles of scrap. Tossing the junk out the hatch into the pit as we go just in case we miss something. I am not going to risk blowing up one of our own truck." Turning to the Captain. “Don’t you dare let anyone else on this ship until we get this crap cleaned up and find out who is behind this. Period. And from now on we take out our own garbage and we inspect everything that comes aboard. No exceptions.” Walking off several steps he turned back. “And with your permission Captain. I am sending out a red flag to all the other Tramps to start doing the same.”

  Captain Cook closed her mouth. “Very well Chief but you can’t just throw the junk off the ramp. The fines would bankrupt us.”

  The Ports Police Chief stepped up beside the Captain. “Don’t worry Cook. We will cordon off the pit on this side of the ship. You can pitch the shit out the hatch to your heart’s content. Hopefully anything your guys miss will be detonated by the drop. But if you don’t mind I would like my
bomb disposal company to give yours a hand. We may have a few sensors you don’t and enable us to record and build a case when we find out who is behind this.” Captain Cook looked at the Police Chief like he was crazy. The thought of letting an army of planetary police on the Queen repugnant. “We will cover any additional costs cleaning up the junk and pay for anytime and trouble you and your crew incur helping us understand this new threat. We may even be able to get you a healthy bounty for your discovery with your cooperation. I understand you are a bit low on funds as are most Tramps headed for the Outback.”

  Captain Cook closed her eyes. Not liking mudfoot foreigners on the ship. She had to admit they were over their heads when it came to this mess and if they could earn a few extra credits while the local authorities cleaned it up. She and the ship would just have to bite the bullet and cooperate. Of course they would have to take precautions. Putting a smile on her face. “Yes this has already cost the ship much and if you would be willing to cover our considerable additional expenses, I think we could work together Chief. Let’s go up to my office and work out the details. In the meantime your officers can have free run of the hold but remember this was a garbage deck and you are likely to find anything if you look hard enough. This ship does not put up with smuggling contraband but we can’t stop it all. Just keep that in mind.”

  Chapter 15 The Mess Deck, Nowhere to Run

  Mark walked into the mess deck. Starving, but with his mind on the small earth tech module he had taken out of the sensor package in his hand to deliberately keep himself sidetracked from the carnage in the Hold Battle. The last couple of days turning into a blur. The core of the censor package turned out to be a solid block. But then the main sensor package at first glance looked like it was going to be impossible to take apart physically until Mickey started enlarging the hairline cracks. Mark had then spent hours penetrating layer upon layer of dozens of tightly fitting modules until he finally got down to a little round ball at the core and his stomach decided it was starving and then he remembered Dian.