***
Military spaceship docking area near the Santana Nexus Station, onboard Federation prototype cruiser, Foul Beastie, January 13, 2599.
In the middle of all the action, Oskar Kresge on the Beastie got an unexpected call.
"Commander?" said the Beastie's communications officer.
"What is it?" replied Kresge.
"I have someone on a spacesuit radio who is asking for you."
"Do you know who it is?"
"I'm not sure, Commander. She says her name is Carlisle but she's calling on one of the Sheik's frequencies."
"Carlisle? For Heaven's sake, put her on!"
"Go ahead, Commander."
"Carlisle? Is it really you? Where are you?"
"Yes, Commander. I'm drifting between the two parts of the station in a borrowed spacesuit."
"What in the hell are you doing outside in a spacesuit?"
"I was on the tenth ring when it separated. You didn't know that I had been captured?"
"Um...no, we didn't. Are you alright? How did you get captured? How did you get free?"
"I'm fine, Sir and I promise I'll tell you all about it but right now I need someone to come and pick me up. I'm free-floating out between the two parts of the station but I didn't realize how fast the tenth ring was receding and I'm getting further away from the main part of the station by the second."
"I'll send someone right away!"
"Thanks, Commander."
Kresge was on the intercom immediately. "Harris?"
"What is it, Sir?"
"It's Ensign Carlisle. She's free-floating between the two sections of the station. I need you to get suited up right away and take our two-man sled and go get her."
On the off chance that they might need some kind of small transport capability, the Junkyard Dogs had loaded one of the Scrapyard's two-man sleds on to the Beastie.
"How did she wind up there?" asked Harris.
"I don't have any details yet, just go and get her!"
"Aye, aye, Sir!"
Harris was suited up and ready to depart in less than five minutes. He took the sled and headed out into the ever-widening space between the two portions of the station. He had to force himself to remain calm as he searched frantically for the Ensign.
***
Santana Nexus Station, ring one spindle area, January 13, 2599.
"Central? This is Chris Hartmann up at the North Airlock,"
"Go ahead, Chris."
"I've got maybe twenty-five revolutionaries holed up in the receiving area just outside the north airlock. They're pretty well armed and putting up some pretty stiff resistance. We need to soften them up a bit. Any chance you could start lowering the temperature up here?"
"No problem, Chris. How does minus twenty-five Celsius sound?"
"That ought to do the trick," replied Hartmann, "we've got them cut off from any of their spacesuits and none of them are wearing much more than the light coveralls that everybody wears. I'll let you know if we need to go any lower."
"Initiating cooling sequence for North Airlock area...now!"
"Thanks, Central."
"We aim to please! Central out."
About a half hour later a call came down from the North airlock area.
"Central? This is Hartmann. It's okay, you can return the heat to normal. These guys just surrendered. Seems they need to warm up a bit. Can't say I blame them!
At the South end of the Station, the fighting continued to be intense. Kelly and his battle-armored contingent had managed to push the enemy down to the lowest levels of the spindle but with several of the enemy soldiers also outfitted with battle armor, the situation rapidly settled into a stalemate. Kelly, realizing that he and his forces had the enemy effectively bottled up, decided to simply wait. The enemy wouldn't be able to hold out for too long. Meanwhile three of his battle-armor equipped marines began to set up their 5.5 gigajoule assault cannon. If Kelly ran out of patience, perhaps he could use it to break the stalemate!
Chapter 65.
In space near the uncoupled tenth ring of the Santana Nexus Station, January 13, 2599.
"I can see you, Lieutenant," said Carlisle.
"Thank goodness," replied Harris, "Where are you?"
"I’m at your two o'clock and about thirty degrees below your current vector."
"How far away?"
"Half a kilometer or so. Wait, I'll see if I can turn on my suit lights."
"Ah! There you are!" Harris couldn't keep the relief out of his voice. "I'll be there in a couple of minutes."
He maneuvered up close enough to her that she could pull herself into the back seat of the two man sled.
"Got her, Commander," Harris announced, "We're heading back towards the Beastie now.
"Roger, Lieutenant. Good work!"
***
Military spaceship docking area near the Santana Nexus Station, onboard Federation prototype cruiser, Foul Beastie, January 13, 2599.
Oskar Kresge was still on the bridge of the Foul Beastie, coordinating the surrender of the remnants of the Sheik of Barsoom's Navy. The communications tech on the Beastie called out to him again from her station across the bridge.
"Commander Kresge?"
"Yes, what is it?" replied Kresge.
"I have another call for you. There is someone on the tenth ring who wishes to speak with you."
"Do you know who it is?"
"He didn't say, Commander, only that it was extremely urgent."
"Alright, put me through," said Kresge.
"This is Kresge, who in the hell are you?"
"In a moment, Commander, first I have news. The Sheik of Barsoom or Prince Merrikh of Jasmine, if you prefer, is dead; killed by one of his ship commanders."
Kresge sat in shocked silence for a long moment before finally responding with, "You are absolutely certain of that?"
"Yes, Commander, there was a dispute between the two leaders that broke out into violence. The entire ring is in total chaos."
"Who did you say you were?"
"This is Lester Dobbins, Commander."
"Lester Dobbins?" The voice sounded familiar but Kresge couldn't quite place it.
"You probably know me by another name, Ezra Brimstone."
"Brimstone! I might have known you'd be a part of this mess? What do you want now?"
"You need my help, Commander."
"Like the help you gave me out at my Scrapyard? You killed almost two hundred of my men! Thanks, but no thanks!"
"Hear me out, please. I...I have made mistakes, Commander, horrible mistakes. The situation here has now gotten totally out of hand."
"I can't argue with that! Where are you?"
"I don't know if that really matters but I am somewhere on the tenth ring of the station, the one you and your colleagues have so conveniently just separated from the rest of the station."
"What is it you want, Brimstone, I still have a battle to fight."
"I have a very simple request, Commander. You know the thruster system that you used to move the tenth ring away from the rest of the station?"
"Yes, what about it?"
"Put all of those thrusters on full power and get this ring as far away from the rest of the station as you can in the next half hour."
"Now why in Space would I want to do that?"
Brimstone hesitated but only for a short moment before he replied, "Because there is a weapon on board this ring of the station that can generate a hyperdrive transfer field two hundred kilometers in diameter. It is currently set to transport whatever is inside the field into the nearest star. This device has been set to go off in half an hour and it will destroy the tenth ring and anything else that is within a hundred kilometers on either side of it."
Kresge fell into silent shock for a few moments.
"You're making this up."
"I'm afraid not, Commander. The man who designed this device is the same one that designed the hyperdrive damper module. His plan for this device h
ad been to use it to destroy the Federation Navy. That changed when the Sheik was killed. He doesn't want his invention to fall into Federation hands so he has locked himself up with it and has activated a countdown."
"Can't you stop him?" asked Kresge.
"Sorry, Commander, the area he's barricaded himself into is impenetrable."
"What about the Sheik's men? Can't they get in there somehow?"
"The Sheik's forces disintegrated into chaos right after he was assassinated, Commander. It's every man for himself down here. I have pulled together a small band of fighters but it's not enough. No one else will listen to me and, besides I don't think there is enough time to organize an assault on him."
"Who is this guy?"
"I don't know his name, he calls himself Al Majnun, which literally means "the madman." The name is, unfortunately, an entirely accurate description. The man is utterly brilliant but, I am afraid, he is also utterly mad. Look, Commander, even if his device doesn't work, it is powered by the nuclear self-destruct unit that I took from the Veritian derelict!"
"What! You're just full of good news aren't you?"
"Like I said, Commander, I've made mistakes. When I sold the device to him, I also gave him the activation codes. So you see, my hand is in this as well. I cannot stop him but by warning you and getting you to move this ring further away from the rest of the station, perhaps I can keep the loss of life to a minimum."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Actually, Commander, you don't have to. But moving this ring is really a very simple request and really, what do you have to lose?"
"To be truthful, I wouldn't mind if that part of the station were a little further away. A moment, Brimstone."
Kresge went away from the audio pickup for a moment.
"Okay, Brimstone, I have given the order for those the thrusters to be used at maximum thrust to push the tenth ring as far away as we can get it in your allotted time."
On his display, Kresge could see that the ring of thrusters had begun firing again.
"Why are you doing this?" asked Kresge.
"I thank you, Commander, for...having faith in me. Though I admit I have done nothing to warrant it. Why am I doing this? As I was saying, I...have been a bad person... a very bad person. I am supposed to be a Christian leader and I have abused my office, murdered innocent people. The current chaos across this entire quadrant was initiated by my actions out at your Scrapyard. It's all gotten totally out of hand. I...I have to try to do something to make up for it. I'm up to my neck in this whole mess but now I may have found a way to salvage something."
Brimstone had one more request.
"Most of the people on this ring are the Sheik's henchmen, Commander, and you would be hard pressed to find a worse lot of bullies and ne'er-do-wells. I think the Sheik somehow managed to recruit every criminal in the Quadrant! All of these people have committed serious crimes and their deaths will be no great loss to humanity."
"I can't argue that," said Kresge.
"A few innocents do remain though," continued Brimstone, "If you hurry, there should still be time to evacuate most of the women and children and some of the wounded. You need to do this as soon as possible, preferably within the next few minutes."
"I don't think I have a suitable ship nearby," said Kresge, "We'd need something equipped with a docking tube to evacuate people that quickly."
"I have been in contact with the Carpathia, the Sheik of Barsoom's yacht. Her Captain has his ship up and ready. In the current confusion, they were going to run as soon as they saw a chance but her Captain has agreed to a rescue attempt. That ship has a docking tube."
"I'll tell our forces that he is clear to make the attempt," replied Kresge.
"I'll call the Carpathia. I hope they get here quickly, the force curtain on the big airlock is still working but I don't know for how much longer."
As Kresge signed off he remembered Carlisle and Harris. He called the Lieutenant's suit radio.
"Harris?"
"What is it, Commander?"
"How far are you from that tenth ring?"
"It's hard to tell, Commander. Probably no more than five kilometers. That ring already had quite of bit of separation velocity, I had to chase pretty hard to catch Carlisle."
"Something has come up. Keep heading this way as fast as you can and we'll come and pick you up."
"Aye, aye, Commander. Anything I should know?"
"Nothing you can do anything about. I'll tell you about it when I have you both onboard."
Kresge turned to Jennifer Helmsford. "Captain? A couple of my best officers and dearest friends are in grave danger. Can we go and pick them up?"
"Absolutely, Commander!"
Ten minutes later, as the Beastie rendezvoused with Harris and Carlisle on the two-man sled, they were passed by the Carpathia heading towards the tenth ring. As soon as the Ensign and the Lieutenant were safely on board, the Beastie accelerated back towards the larger part of the station at the full thrust of her reaction engines.
***
In space near the uncoupled tenth ring of the Santana Nexus Station, January 13, 2599.
Within the allotted time, the Carpathia managed to maneuver close enough to get a docking tube extended to the drifting tenth ring of the station. Brimstone himself supervised the evacuation of some twenty-five women and children and about a dozen wounded, several of them unconscious. He and a small group of fighters even held off a lackluster attempt to interfere with the operation. At the last minute, Brimstone refused to board the Yacht himself. Instead, he chose to remain on the tenth ring in spite of his own knowledge of its eminent destruction.
The Carpathia pulled away from the tenth ring and before even taking the time to secure her docking tube, she microjumped. Because of the imminent danger posed by Al Majnun's hyperdrive doomsday device, the maneuver was considered a necessary precaution.
Brimstone called Kresge one last time.
"Thank you, Commander, I can die knowing I did at least something to atone for my many sins."
"As you pointed out, it was a reasonable request," replied the Commander.
"I am sending you the information to access my bank account," said Brimstone.
"What am I supposed to do with that?"
"Consider half of it to be a donation to the Veritian Way. Caleb and Hanna Jordan can handle that. The rest is for the families of the Federation people who died in your Scrapyard. I would hope that you could handle those arrangements."
"I'll see that it is done."
"Thank you, Commander."
"You do have one consolation, Brimstone," said Kresge.
"And what might that be?"
"With all of the sons of bitches there are in this Universe...at least you won't be lonesome in Hell!"
There was a short silence.
"I richly deserve whatever fate awaits me," Brimstone replied, finally. "Farewell, Commander...and for what it's worth, I am truly sorry."
The screen went blank.
Seconds later, the tenth ring was engulfed in a searing white flash. For anyone who had ever witnessed a ship performing a macrojump, the sight was familiar enough, though no man had ever seen a field anywhere near the size of this one. The lozenge-shaped field glowed with an intense white light that persisted for perhaps five seconds before seeming to collapse into itself. Within another five seconds, it was gone.
Nothing remained in the space where the tenth ring had been.
The Sheik's forces on the Southern end of the spindle surrendered shortly after. A calm settled over the remaining nine rings of the Santana Nexus Station.
Chapter 66.
Santana Nexus System, on board private ship Carpathia, January 13, 2599.
Among the wounded who had been evacuated by the Carpathia was an unconscious woman. Unknown to Brimstone's people supervising the evacuation, but well recognized by the Sheik's former crewmembers was Fahada. She was still out from the whack to the side of the head that ha
d been delivered by Carlisle in the arena. She had suffered a relatively severe concussion and it was only after the Carpathia had pulled away from the tenth ring and had microjumped towards the hyperlink zone that the Sheik's former assassin began to regain consciousness.
The yacht arrived at the hyperlink zone and discovered that there were no Federation ships standing guard, all of them had been needed in the fight to liberate the Nexus Station. The devastated Hercules was the only ship near the hyperlink point and no one among her surviving crew was in any shape to challenge the fugitive ship if, indeed, they were even aware of her presence.
Carpathia translated out to an unknown destination.
Fahada and her new husband had managed to escape from the Federation authorities and from the sizeable faction of the Revolutionary forces who would have given much to have them in custody.
Such are the fortunes of war!
***
Santana Nexus System, Whitney hyperlink zone, January 13, 2599.
An hour later, a force of twelve Federation warships, three heavy cruisers and nine destroyers, flashed in through the Santana Quadrant hyperlink zone.
One of the cruisers stayed near the hyperlink zone to guard it and at the same time render assistance to the crew of the devastated Hercules. The remaining ships microjumped towards the Nexus Station.
***
UTFN Reclamation Center, on board Meridian Imperial Diplomatic Ship Istanbul, January 14, 2599.
On the Istanbul, another meeting of the diplomats was going about as well as could be expected. The same old arguments were being voiced and the gripes about all of them being held against their will were being repeated.
The Santana Nexus (Junkyard Dogs Book 3) Page 38