“We’ll leave that box alone,” Jason assured him. “We more or less already know what’s in it. I want to know what she’s got packed in all these other crates.”
“As the captain you are within your rights to order her to open the cases,” Lucky pointed out.
“I know, but I’d rather do this discreetly,” Jason said. “That’s why it’s just you and me in here right now. Go ahead and begin scanning for any active anti-intrusion devices and I’ll get the computer doing the same.”
Lucky walked among the differently sized black crates and began running a series of close proximity scans with his sensors to try and determine if Naleem had rigged the cases or installed anything that would let her know if they’d been tampered with. It took over an hour to ensure the cases were safe to open, but the large cryo chamber had some sort of security lock on it that couldn’t be bypassed without getting Kage and Twingo involved or destroying the device.
Three hours later Jason was standing in the bay with his hands on his hips looking slightly disappointed. They’d found a crate of small arms, but nothing that Jason didn’t see as simply being well-prepared.
“While I don’t know what half of this shit does, I’m not seeing anything out of the ordinary here,” he said.
“What specifically were you hoping to find?” Lucky asked.
“Honestly? Information,” Jason answered. “I had hoped she would be storing files in these crates, but we didn’t find so much as a data card in any of this equipment.”
“Given the nature of her work coupled with her paranoia, I would assume she has the information on her person,” Lucky said as he repacked one of the crates.
“Agreed,” Jason said. “Or it’s in this cryo chamber.”
“We could render her unconscious and search her,” Lucky offered.
“Tempting, but no, let’s see how this plays out when we get to Tallin,” Jason said. “We have five full days left to observe her and see what we can get out of her. So what do you think is happening? Why do we seem to have been involved before even meeting Naleem?”
“You have said before that you did not wish to hear about my theories,” Lucky said shortly.
“You really think it has to do with what Deetz said?” Jason asked, genuinely surprised. “While I appreciate you not bringing that up for a while, I don’t see the connection. Deetz has been dead for years, the original crew of this ship is long gone, and as far as we know Bondrass has been dead for even longer. Even then, most of that revolved around the biodrone work that Doc was wrapped up in.”
“As I have said before, I fear I will be proven correct,” Lucky said. “However, if you do not wish to search Naleem herself it might be prudent to have the computer observe her while onboard. I have noticed that you biologicals tend to talk to yourself extensively when you think you are alone.”
“Lucky! That is morally reprehensible and completely unethical,” Jason said. “I’m proud of you.”
“Thank you,” Lucky said, taking the comment as the compliment it was intended to be.
“I’ll set that up,” Jason continued. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to set up a script that lets the computer alert you and me without a general alarm if it observes something we should intervene in.”
“I do not mind, Captain,” Lucky said. “I will set up the necessary permissions in my com node.”
Once they had reassembled all of the crates and Lucky confirmed they were back in their original positions the pair walked back into the ship through the armory. Jason unlocked starboard berthing on the way back to his quarters, looking forward to a long, uninterrupted sleep. But first he had to sit at his terminal and explain to the computer what he wanted to change with their internal security protocols.
****
“Captain Burke, intruder alert, main cargo bay.” The computer’s passionless voice woke Jason immediately.
“Confirm last alert,” he said as he sat up in bed. The ship was at night hours and everyone should be asleep. “Are you certain you aren’t reading passenger Naleem El walking around?”
“Passenger Naleem El is in starboard berthing. Intruder is unidentified bipedal biologic.”
“Show me,” Jason said, moving to his terminal. The internal video feeds from all over the ship were displayed, but he could already see the problem. The “cryo chamber” in the cargo bay was standing wide open and empty. “Fucking figures,” he grumbled, pulling a plasma pistol out of the drawer by his bed and slipping on his boots and shirt.
“Alert Lucky and Crusher, but keep it quiet.”
“Second Officer Lucky is already aware of the situation. He is shadowing the intruder and awaiting further instructions. Waking First Officer Crusher.”
“Tell Lucky to remain hidden, but don’t let whoever this is damage the ship. Show me where it is now,” Jason said. He leaned in as the video kept washing out from some sort of interference. He could make out a small, lithe alien in a form-fitting black outfit ghosting through the dark interior of the gunship. It had moved from the cargo hold into the port engineering bay. So far it just seemed to be poking around and not trying to actively sabotage the ship. He knew this alien was with Naleem and that she’d smuggled it aboard in stasis … but why she had gone through the trouble was a complete mystery to him. It wasn’t as if he’d run background checks on his passengers before they left.
“Captain, the intruder is walking into the common area now,” Lucky’s voice broke over the intercom. Jason knew he was probably vocalizing only in the intercom and not speaking aloud since the alien didn’t even flinch. “I suggest we converge there.”
“Copy,” Jason whispered back. “I’m on my way.” He felt foolish whispering as he was still in his quarters. Grabbing his weapon and setting it to stun, he manually slid the door open so the noise from the actuators wouldn’t alert his quarry and slipped out into the short corridor leading into the common area.
He moved quietly and confidently, knowing every inch of his ship. He knelt down and edged around the right side of the corridor and peered into the dim light of the common area that made up most of the DL7’s main deck. He could just make out the silent shape moving away from the entrance of the port engineering bay.
“Lights up!” he barked, rising and rolling around the corner. At his command the computer flooded the area with light. Jason raised his weapon and fired but there was a moment of confusion as his target was suddenly gone and his shot took Lucky, who had been coming out of the engineering bay, full in the face. While the stunner wouldn’t really damage him, Jason was sure he’d just temporarily blinded his friend.
There was an ear-shattering roar from near port berthing (where Crusher and Kage slept) and a Galvetic warrior leapt across the common area toward where the intruder had darted off to. By the time Crusher landed, however, it was already gone and rushing at Jason before he could raise his weapon to squeeze off another shot.
He saw the intruder had a short, stout length of rod he was expertly wielding as a weapon. In fact, he saw it just in time to draw back but the pistol was still smacked from his hands. He made a grab for the weapon but the rod came down again and caught him in the left shin. “Fuck!” he screamed in pain as he turned and made another grab for his opponent. The alien darted away but likely hadn’t counted on someone as large as Crusher moving so fast. It backed right into the warrior’s grip, but it was so quick that it slipped up and over Crusher’s shoulders, grabbed a big handful of the sensitive “dreadlocks” and swung around behind him. Crusher’s roar shook the walls and Jason took the opportunity to lunge in and get a hand on the alien.
He grabbed a forearm that felt like it was made from spun steel and was immediately put on the defensive as the other free hand swung wildly at his head. Jason’s reinforced skeleton took the abuse, but it didn’t stop it from hurting like hell. He tried to yell for Crusher to grab the other arm, but the warrior was now completely enraged and wildly swung a clawed hand at the alien. As before, it w
as able to contort its body so that the iron-hard claws ripped through Jason’s left shoulder instead.
“Damnit, Crusher!” he yelled, the pain causing the grip of his right hand to loosen just enough for the alien to yank its arm free. It spun and jumped directly at Crusher, seeming to land right in the surprised warrior’s arms. His own temper now past boiling, Jason wound up and swung a right-handed punch as hard as he could, aiming for the back of the alien’s skull. It ducked at just the right instant and the punch ended up connecting with Crusher’s temple, sending the warrior flying.
Crusher landed on his face with a thud and made no move to get up. The alien sprang up, still unrecognizable as it was covered head to toe in the slippery black material, and faced off with him. Jason moved into an aggressive stance, intent on pressing the attack, when the room was bathed in red light. Lucky, now in full combat mode, slammed to the deck right behind the alien. The next few moments were a blur of motion and the sound of metal striking flesh as the lightning-fast alien had no answer for the faster battlesynth. Jason had never seen Lucky move so fast. Now effectively out of the fight, he scrambled to retrieve his weapon from behind the couches where it had landed. Thankfully it was still intact.
He looked up and saw Lucky had both the alien’s arms in a vice-like hold and was squeezing so hard it was deforming the flesh underneath. The alien wasn’t giving up as he launched kick after wild kick at an unaffected battlesynth midsection.
“Now, Captain!” Lucky said, the anger in his voice evident. Jason moved up behind the alien and fired the stunner round pointblank into its back. It went limp immediately, twitching once when Lucky threw it on the ground in a heap.
“What’s happening?!” Naleem cried from the door of starboard berthing. Jason gave her a cold look and then shot her with the pistol. She collapsed in the doorway, convulsing from the stunner shot. He then walked back over to their intruder and shot him twice more for insurance. The rapid twitching of its voluntary muscles meant he’d completely overloaded the nerves. It’d be a long while before it was up and walking around.
“Sorry I shot you in the face,” Jason said as Lucky walked up.
“I will admit I was as surprised as you,” Lucky said. “I will take him to the brig and bind him.”
“Take extra care,” Jason said. “He’s slippery. I’ll bind her out here and then see to Crusher.”
“Nice hit by the way,” Lucky said as he picked up the alien. “He went down with a single blow.”
“Ah … how about we just keep that between us?”
“Of course, Captain,” Lucky said pleasantly as he walked off with his prisoner.
“What the hell is all the racket out here?” Twingo asked, irritated and rubbing his eyes as he emerged from his bunk in Engineering. Jason looked at him, down at the pistol still set to stun, and then back to his friend. Twingo seemed to recognize the danger and slowly backed the way he’d come without another word.
Chapter 10
Naleem came to slowly, her eyes moving first beneath closed lids and then a moan of pain escaping her lips. When she finally opened her eyes and tried to move, she found that they’d bound her tightly to a chair in the galley.
“Before you even open your mouth,” Jason warned her, “don’t even try to insult our intelligence by claiming you don’t know what’s going on here. We’ve got your buddy bound up tight and in the brig with Lucky watching him. So … start talking.”
“He wasn’t supposed to come out of stasis while on this ship,” she said groggily. “The pod was on a timer. I expected to be far away from you guys already.”
“We’re no longer playing that game where I ask you questions and you tell me just enough to keep me from throwing you out the airlock,” Jason said. “What are you after and why did you seek us out. Your life is hanging by a thread here, so think real hard about if you want to keep playing us.” She looked at him and then Crusher before letting out a sigh, seeming to deflate in defeat.
“My companion is no danger at this point,” she said. “Bring him out here, you don’t have to untie him, but I want to let him know that I’m alright. After that I’ll tell you everything. I swear.” Jason stared at her another minute before turning to Crusher.
“Go help Lucky bring the prisoner in here,” he said. “Fit him with a stun collar.”
“She’ll be lucky if I bring him back here in one piece,” Crusher growled, stalking out of the common area. Jason appreciated that Naleem didn’t bother to fill the uncomfortable silence with small talk while they waited for the others. She just stared at the floor, shaking her head and blinking to clear the effects of the stunner.
It was a few minutes later when the alien, now without his hood, was carried out over Lucky’s shoulder with Crusher covering him from behind. The pair didn’t trust him to have his legs free.
“Tie him to that seat,” Jason said, indicating the chair next to Naleem.
“I will resist you no further,” the alien spoke up. “Restrain me if you must, but it is unnecessary.”
“From what I saw a couple of hours ago I think we’ll be taking no chances with you until you’re off my ship,” Jason said, rubbing his arm where the alien had hit him. “What do I call you?”
“I am called Nul,” the alien said.
“Just Nul?” Jason asked.
“That is the only name I am known by,” Nul said in confusion, looking at Naleem.
“Okay, Naleem,” Jason said, ignoring Nul. “He’s sitting here, safe and sound. Time to hold up your end of the deal.”
“As I told you earlier, I am an archeologist. I began hearing rumors about a discovery out far past the fringe, a discovery with vast implications for the balance of power in this quadrant,” she began. “I wasn’t lying to you when I said that it was a power source, but I didn’t tell you what type. The machine, if the consensus is to be believed, is a particle beam capable of disrupting the structure of a star so that it tears itself apart. With that sort of power it would be capable of reducing a planet to dust in a few milliseconds.
“But there was a problem. The device was never meant to fall into the wrong hands and the designers built in a failsafe: a key needs to be assembled and activated before one can even approach it.”
“How was all of this figured out if nobody can approach the machine?” Crusher asked.
“A planet in the system where the machine is located had ruins of buildings left by the people who built it. Several of my colleagues were able to begin deciphering the language before powerful factions began to learn of it. Many scientists were kidnapped, others were killed. Several pieces of the key have been discovered throughout the quadrant and a few, myself included, think we’re close to being able to piece enough of it together to activate the machine,” Naleem paused. “I’ve been hunting pieces of the key for the last twenty years.”
“So who else is looking for it?” Jason asked. “Or more importantly, who else knows of it?”
“Obviously ConFed Intelligence had learned of it and there has been a covert effort within the Council’s Intelligence Committee to recover the device,” she said. “There was also a cabal of criminal organizations who thought the weapon would be a way for them to greatly expand their influence, maybe even install themselves as the new government. Then there’s me.”
“You,” Jason said, eyeing her skeptically. “And what do you want with the weapon?”
“I plan to render it inoperable,” she said simply. “That sort of power can never be put in the hands of a single person.”
“Why not just blast it from a safe distance?” Crusher asked.
“That was the first solution,” she laughed. “When the ConFed found out they couldn’t board it they sent a full battle group to make sure nobody else could. Not a single ship came back.”
“So why all the skulking about and lying?” Jason asked. “You know who we sometimes work for. Why not approach him?”
“Crisstof Dalton is a politician, Jason Burke
,” Naleem said patiently. “A good man with noble intentions, but are you so very certain he couldn’t be corrupted with a power that great?”
“I guess I still don’t see where we come in,” Crusher admitted.
“Twenty-four years ago a major component of the key was found during a planetary mining operation,” Naleem continued. “They didn’t know what they had at the time, but word got out about the strange artifact. Soon after the company went under and the artifact disappeared. The company was the Benztral Mining Concern.” She watched as recognition flickered across Jason’s face.
“Son of a bitch,” he whispered.
“What are we missing, Captain?” Crusher asked.
“Go ahead and tell them,” Jason said.
“The Benztral Mining Concern had a substantial fleet when they went under, including a sizable military force. When that fleet went to auction many other pieces of the company were smuggled away aboard newly purchased vessels,” Naleem said. “Among them was a Jepson Aerospace second generation DL7 heavy gunship. That vessel, serial number DL72-00551, is now known as the Phoenix and crewed by a mercenary unit called Omega Force. The piece of the key that was found has been aboard this ship since it was sold at auction.”
Chapter 11
“How is that possible?” Crusher asked. “We’ve rebuilt this ship from the ground up and we didn’t find anything that looked like an ancient artifact.”
“Nevertheless, it is still here,” Naleem said.
“How can you be sure?” Jason asked.
“It reacted when the antenna was energized,” she said. “Those were the vibrations your crew felt. People have been after this ship for a long time, Captain. Surely you’ve had to wonder at some of the unusual attacks on your crew that have occurred over the years.”
Jason ignored the pair of battlesynth eyeballs boring a hole through his head and tried to reevaluate some of their past engagements in light of the new information. As much as he hated to admit it, what Naleem said did explain a lot that he’d been unable to himself.
Omega Force 6: Secret of the Phoenix Page 10