Crystal Venom

by Steve Wheeler

  ‘Marko, I have found a news item about four small Games Board combat craft escorting a large Games Board System Suite Airship,’ Nail reported. ‘They are headed towards Lyttleton and will be there to give a display for the local school children in two hours. The news reporter thinks that the display will probably be postponed due to the tropical storm.’

  Marko nervously pushed a hand over his bald head. ‘Shit, we still have at least that amount of time to get these suckers usable. OK, we had better look at weapons. Tell me what you have, guys. We don’t have a weight problem as these units have huge lift capacity.’

  Todd gave them the rundown. ‘We like the Lewis Air Guns: 7.71 calibre with every third bullet a tracer in a magazine of ninety-seven rounds. Cyclic rate of six hundred rounds per minute. If you had one forwards and one firing directly aft, that would be best. Easy to fit; we will get right on it. There are also the ten-kilo Cooper bombs. They have been modified with a modern timer on them so you can set the fuse. We use a little push-button timer on the end of each pull cord. Punch in the time, then just yank the cord to let them go. We will mount four of them under the engine housings. The Le Prieur rockets are kind of fun: fire, and most definitely forget. Zero control, but they have a couple of kilos of incendiary explosive as the warhead, so if nothing else they will get some attention. You would have to be hellish close to score a hit with them though; they are a big skyrocket, really, complete with a three-metre-long stick!’

  Jan smiled. ‘Set ‘em up, guys. We will take anything you can give us within reason, and we need you gone within the hour, OK?’

  When he saw them, Marko mused that Bill had not been joking about the rockets. The mounts were appallingly simple, being rings that the rockets slid back through, but the good thing was that they came with their own electrical firing cables, which they wired directly to the cockpits. The last things the Hohepa boys did — before Jan gave them one of her untraceable money cards, which she had loaded with a few thousand dollars, and Marko gave them a data card full of Fritz’s music, which they were even more excited about — was to fit a small windshield to each cockpit, bolt five-point harnesses to the seats and also fit restraints for Nail and Glint.

  Marko and Jan sent them off into the raging storm with their sincere thanks, and told them to hide for a month or more, if possible. They then stripped and lay down in their combat suit containers so the suits could form around them.

  ‘Well, beautiful man of mine. Time to go. The eye of the storm will be overhead in a couple of minutes. Might as well make the most of it.’

  They hugged and kissed each other before climbing into the thrown-together craft and belting themselves in. Glint opened the door of the building just wide enough for them to slide out. They would be taking nothing with them except the ACEs, wallets, personal weapons, a bunch of memories and a lot of ammunition. Marko fervently hoped the latter would not be needed.

  Glint jumped in and clipped on his harness, sitting immediately behind Marko to act as the loader of the two Lewis guns mounted on either side of the cockpit. The plan was for Jan to fly ahead of them, so they could provide rear cover. For the hundredth time, Marko regretted not building hands for Nail.

  They took off, spiralling upwards, getting a feel for the controls. The control column was a wooden stick with non-stretching connecting cables to effect control of the elevator. Marko commented to Glint that the system was not too bad; push the stick to the right and the left elevator twisted in one direction, while pushing to the left twisted the right elevator in the other direction, creating a great rate of roll. Pull back on the stick and both elevators were warped in the same plane, with the opposite for pushing the nose down. Satisfied, they throttled up the turbines and started to climb at about sixty degrees, being buffeted hard by the wind before they popped out into the eye of the cyclonic storm — with the Games Board Airship almost directly above them. They had discussed this when they planned the flight and decided that the best defence was to provoke an attack and at least they would be seen to be the victims in the eyes of the public. And they figured that since the Games Board seemed to want them badly enough, why not give them a real run for their money. They also knew that if the GB did capture them, the outcome would not be good any way you looked at it.

  Surprise and hesitation as to their identities allowed them to close in on the Airship then roar straight up the side of it. They both saw that it was not just a System Suite Airship with the very elaborate and valuable production, editing and broadcasting facilities, but that the huge Airship was one of the Games Board’s hostile-environment-capable ships. It had additional armour plating together with bigger lift capability and uprated turbo props, making it a very expensive piece of equipment.

  ‘Tux, open a channel to the Airship. Nail, effect the best possible pompous arse persona and demand to know why this Airship is in your airspace. Tell them you’re aristocrats who are test flying a new type of craft. Jan, we need to get above that thing and stay above it. Nail, buy us time. Do it now.’

  They listened in as he made a very good effort at delaying the reactions of the Expeditors for valuable minutes while they climbed straight up and held position above the Airship, as Tux said, ‘Marko, if you want to drop bombs on it, you had better take into consideration the Coriolis effect.’

  Marko grimaced. ‘Shit, I had forgotten about that. Give me the numbers.’

  They started to move in an arc so that if they did have to drop the bombs, they would impact directly on the Airship.

  ‘They are demanding our immediate surrender, Marko,’ Nail informed him, ‘and have named us. Two fighters are coming up. Yes, I see them. They are at our two o’clock, three kilometres out, and will be on us in one minute. Another two are closing on our rear. All are fully armed and antigravity equipped. They are firing across our fronts.’

  Marko shouted. ‘Nail, do you know this type of fighter?’

  ‘Yes, Marko.’

  ‘Feed Glint specific weak points. Damn, Jan has just taken a rail gun strike. Elevators are gone! Jan, just go straight up! If a target presents itself, shoot the bastard.’

  She yelled back, ‘That you can bet on, darling!’

  Marko did not reply to her, instead focussing on attack. ‘Glint, get to work. They are hostile. Take out the missile pods. Smoke the ones below us and, hopefully, any falling wreckage will give the Airship a hard time.’

  Glint climbed above and behind Marko, gripping the antigravity unit, and started to fire his linear cannon. In Marko’s faceplate, Tux opened a small rear-view screen. He watched the first three rounds blow a missile pod completely off the small stubby-winged teardrop-shaped fighter. Glint switched targets and carved up the other pod, then fired directly into the fighter’s air intakes. The effect was immediate. They could not hear it, but there must have been a really good bang somewhere inside the vehicle as the entire back of it bulged out. It lost all power, then the pilot ejected, with the fighter falling towards the Airship.

  Glint located the second fighter and fired at a point just below its canopy. The canopy blew off, exposing the pilot, who started to take violent evasive action. Marko reached down and started to drop the ten kilo bombs using random settings on the fuses, while keeping a close eye on Jan. They got lucky; one of the bombs detonated beside the damaged fighter, riddling the underside of the craft with large coin-sized holes. It rolled over on its back, smoke pouring out and started to tumble downwards as the pilot ejected.

  Jan was hit again as two topside fighters closed in, and the whole front of her cockpit disintegrated. She maintained her trajectory as one of the fighters crossed in front of her and held station, trying to block her. She fired her ten rockets, two of them hitting the fighter, which promptly burst into flames. The remaining fighter started to close on her as Marko fired the Lewis at it. The range was only a few hundred metres, but as every third round was a tracer, he was able to walk the rounds across the side of the aircraft, not sure that it had any rea
l affect. It was enough to get the fighter’s attention though, and it rolled over and came straight down towards him. Marko carried on firing and then launched a couple of rockets at it as the distance between them closed, but it was Glint who did the final damage, picking a point where an electronics package was housed and punching a burst of rounds through the weak spot.

  If Marko had reached up, he could have touched the Games Board craft as it flashed past them, almost taking Glint with it before he rapidly dropped back into the cockpit. Jan was still going up, both their speeds still in a rapid climb. Marko had to push the turbine to its maximum to allow it to slowly gain on Jan and Nail. He finally came up beside her and looked across, but could not get her on the comm.

  ‘Nail, status?’

  The cat replied briefly. ‘Bad, we are both damaged. Antigravity is functioning, but we have no control. Jan is not speaking. I cannot move. I have holes in me.’

  Marko rolled his craft over the top of hers and his heart almost stopped. He could see that her legs were gone, as were most of her hips. The suit had sealed off, but he could also see numerous formed patches over the entire front of her suit, covering entry wounds. He wondered what the Games Board had used on her, deciding that they wanted her Soul Saver but that was all, having clearly made an effort to kill her body.

  ‘Jan, beautiful, can you hear me?’

  He heard nothing. ‘No! Glint, I am going to get as close as I can. We are in stable air and the pressure is rapidly dropping. As soon as you are able, grab them both.’

  Marko rolled and pushed his little craft up against Jan’s, making contact. He could actually touch her as he jammed the control stick between his legs to hold it steady.

  ‘Grab Nail. Quick, pass him to me. OK. Now slice away Jan’s top harness and pass her to me. OK, OK, I have you, beautiful, you will be fine. Glint, get back over here. If you see anything at all, kill it.’

  Glint reported. ‘Two of the fighters impacted the Airship. The others went into the ocean.’

  ‘I don’t fucking care. How far up are we, Tux?’

  ‘We are approaching thirty-five kilometres. At this current speed we will be in range of Blackjack in fifteen minutes.’

  Marko nodded. ‘Great. Glint, get rid of the remaining rockets.’

  The ACE leant over each side, pulling the rockets out and dropping them.

  Jan was not moving. Tux interfaced with her suit and reported that her blood pressure was low, but holding, her respiration was very shallow and her internal organs were damaged. Her biomed nanotes and the suit were keeping her alive. Fucking Games Board, Marko raged to himself, as Tux said, ‘Blackjack has us in sight.’

  Marko had a sudden horrible thought. ‘How are we going to transfer?’

  ‘Blackjack says not to be concerned,’ Tux replied. ‘She has a method. On my mark shut everything down. Two minutes … one … thirty seconds …’

  They seemed to drag on forever.

  ‘Mark!’

  Glint and Marko simultaneously pulled the plugs shutting everything down. He could not initially see Blackjack, then looked over the side of the cockpit and saw the sleek elegant ship coming gently up below them. When they were only metres away a portion of Blackjack’s upper hull opened up and enfolded them. As soon as the hull closed over them and they found themselves on the deck, Ernst rapidly appeared from an airlock and Marko gently handed Jan down to him. He opened up far more fully than Marko had seen him do before, taking what remained of Jan into himself. From what Marko could see he was working on her at a speed that he had never seen before either. Marko stroked Nail’s head. ‘Nail, I need you to stay here. Give me a report every five minutes. Glint, make that little craft safe, will you, please? I need to think.’

  There was nothing more he could do so he went forwards, plonked down in the command chair of Blackjack and brought up their situation on the command screens.

  ‘Tux, tell me what was happening on board Basalt when Blackjack left.’

  ‘They had been boarded by six heavily armed Expeditor operatives. Others followed. They demanded to know where you were. They then laid out a series of charges against you and Jan, stating that you were to be arrested on sight and handed over to them. Administration lodged a formal protest, but was overruled. They presented evidence that Jan had assassinated not less than five Games Board personnel prior to her joining Basalt. The evidence was compelling.’

  Marko sat very still, listening in horror. ‘They then charged you with murdering two Games Board monitors on Colonel White’s ship, when they were attempting to intercede on your behalf with the alien Colonel White. Once again the evidence is compelling. Not true, as we know, but compelling in the public arena. Jan has been found guilty in absentia and sentenced to Total Death. Her backup Soul Saver has already been destroyed. Your backup has met a similar fate, but the Administration successfully argued that you should live out your natural life, due to your outstanding service record.’

  Marko slammed his hands onto the chair’s armrests. ‘Fuck! I need to talk with Ernst. Set a course to take us slowly back to Basalt.’

  He walked back to where Ernst was. He partially unfolded, exposing Jan’s head and face as Marko asked, ‘Ernst, how bad is it and are you aware of the Games Board’s sentence?’

  The AI replied in a deeply sad voice. ‘Very bad, I am sorry to say, Marko. Her brain is salvageable, as is the upper half of her spinal column, but she is critical. I know of the Games Board’s decision. Now to let you in on a little secret. Jan’s actual Soul Saver is in me. I hold her real self. I have uploaded the events of your holiday, so they are safe. She loves you deeply and she will find you again. I know this, because in the many many years we have been together, Jan has never had such a strong attachment to anyone. Also, the Administration group she works for would very much like her back in their employment, and they too hold a separate Soul Saver backup, which as you know is highly illegal.’

  Marko felt euphoric and also very worried in the same instant. Ernst continued: ‘Marko, I am sorry but there is more bad news for you. Jan must die today and you must let the Games Board take her remains, including the altered Soul Saver that is in her skull. When they query it, they will find the complete persona of a very real, elegant, senior industrialist from the Gjomviks who has all Jan’s memories, excepting her actual assassin self. It will be an intense embarrassment to the Games Board. I’ll wake her so you can spend a few moments together before I allow her to die. I am so sorry, Marko, I really, really am. It has been a tremendous honour and privilege to have known you, and I number you among my closest friends. In a few moments, a clone of me will attend Jan. I have to leave before we get too close to Basalt. Goodbye, my friend. Until we meet again, go well.’

  Marko patted Ernst’s casing, then stood there weeping as the spitting image of Ernst arrived and Jan’s remains were passed across. Ernst then left the hangar and a few moments later he felt the slight shudder of something leaving Blackjack. The medical unit slowly woke Jan. He touched her beautiful face, kissed her gently and all he could say was that he loved her so much and would always do so. Her eyes brightened and she tried to smile. He kissed her again and felt the life slip from her as he cried and cried and, realising that their future lives were dead as well, he howled. Glint hugged him as he sat on the floor cradling a broken Nail and slowly, Marko’s grief was replaced by anger. He cursed under his breath. ‘Fuck the Games Board, fuck the Administration, and fuck all their shitty games, fuck them all.’ He wanted payback and remembered that the Maori had a term: Utu. He wanted UTU! He wanted revenge and it started to burn a terrible hole in his very core.

  He stroked Jan’s face once again, said his goodbyes, gathered up Nail and with Glint following strode up to the flight deck and climbed back into the commander’s chair.

  ‘Open all channels. I want every bastard out there to hear this: “To the shitheads controlling Basalt and the arseholes in the attendant Games Board frigate. You complete fucks. You hav
e killed my contract wife and tried very hard to kill me. Get the hell out of my face, right now.’”

  A highly cultured male voice answered theatrically. ‘Sergeant Major Spitz, you are totally mistaken. We know her as an immediate real threat to the wellbeing of our great and peaceful society. I am sorry that you now know this, as I am convinced that she fooled you into committing crimes against ourselves and the greater society to further her own twisted agenda. Come aboard Basalt and we shall discuss this further in a reasoned and thoughtful way.’

  Marko felt such rage that he could not reply as Basalt had opened the hangar bay door, allowing Blackjack to sweep in and land. Marko left Nail where he was in the co-pilot’s chair, told Glint to find the rest of the crew and await instructions, then walked back, gathered Jan’s remains in his arms from the med unit, then walked out of Blackjack. Just as he exited he saw Glint shimmering as his chameleon-ware came online, then crouching down to wait for a distraction so he could leave the hangar bay undetected.

  Marko was met by two of the Expeditors, who grabbed his upper arms, holding him tight. He felt a cold fury inside him as he consciously sped up his reaction times, analysing their weaknesses. Their director and another Expeditor appeared, with the director pointing at Jan’s body, clicking his fingers, then pointing at the deck. He lowered Jan’s remains and gently placed her on the cold deck with the two Expeditors still holding him, then jerking him upright. The attendant unfolded her machine and linked to Jan’s Soul Saver. She looked at the director, who reminded Marko of every perfectly attired, smarmy, greasy, smilingly vicious man he had ever known.

  The director looked across at the readouts, then suddenly went red in the face. ‘There must be a mistake. That is not Clarissa Jammess. It must be Jan Wester. Test it again. You! Go get the main unit from our shuttle.’

  One of the director’s Expeditors immediately ran off.

  Marko remembered to speak very slowly so that he could be understood. ‘Where are my colleagues, director?’