First Principles: Samair in Argos: Book 3

by KOTCHER, MICHAEL

  “Really?” Even as the word escaped her mouth, her HUD popped into existence. An instant later, her implants connected with the medical facility’s central datanet and information poured into the HUD. She let out a gasp of relief, tinged with laughter. “It’s been so long. I thought it would be gone, crippled forever.” Tears rolled down her cheeks. It was silly, really. It wasn’t as though she’d lost full function on her implants, only the ability for remote access to computer systems. But now, it was all back. She turned her bleary eyes to the hak’ruk. “Thank you, Doctor. I owe you so much.”

  He chittered a negative. “You don’t owe me anything,” he told her. “Without you and this company, I would be nothing. I would be working surgery in some third rate clinic on the planet, wondering if my next patient was going to have a fever or be an auto crash victim. Now? I’m chief surgeon on the most advanced medical facility in the star system. No, Tamara. Thank you.” He gave her thigh a gentle squeeze. “I’ve secured the device for further study. I’m sure you’d rather I just threw it in the recycler, but in the future there might be some use for it, even if only to perfect the method for removal without harming the host. But, ma’am, I think it’s a good idea that you get some sleep. Here, in a biobed where I can monitor you. If your guards would be willing to help…”

  Without a word, Ekaterina swept up her boss into her arms, as though she was a child. Tamara tried to protest, but the lupusan only grunted. She only put forward token resistance, but when the burly wolfwoman tightened her grip in response to her protest, Tamara relaxed and allowed her guard to carry her to the recovery area. It was a trifle embarrassing, but she could already feel herself getting a bit woozy and lightheaded and was glad she wasn’t walking. Soon, they entered one of the recovery rooms and Ekaterina gently set her down on one of the beds.

  “I’ll be monitoring you constantly, Tamara,” Kassix told her, activating the bed’s sensors. “You just get yourself some rest.”

  Tamara nodded, and an instant later she was asleep.

  “Found it!” the sensor-tech crowed. He stabbed a finger at the display. Then he whistled. “Damn, that’s a big bastard.”

  Gokon quickly activated his own display, pulling up the sensor data. There it was; the scourge of the Argos Cluster, the reason that everyone feared the Seylonique system. Their boogeyman, that damned battlecruiser. And there it was in all its glory. From what Gokon could infer from the sensor data and images sent by the spysat, as the tech had said, this ship was a big bastard. “Look at that, turbolaser batteries, heavy lasers, over a dozen railgun emplacements, and six forward mounted missile launchers in the bow.”

  “That’s a lot of firepower, Trammen.” The sensor tech had a combination of awe and worry on his face. “Does Lord Verrikoth have anything that could stand up to a ship like that?”

  The zheen waggled his antennae. “I don’t know. But it isn’t our job to worry about things like that. Besides, if we can jump in, catch that ship out of position, we could load up on goodies and be back over the hyper limit before they could catch us. We have some very fast ships.”

  “Yeah.” He didn’t sound entirely convinced.

  “We’re not going to fight that ship,” he said. “At least I really hope not.” Gokon laughed and clacked his mouthparts. “Don’t worry. They can’t see us. Give the satellite another ten hours and then we’re out of here.” He hissed. “I’m sorry to lose the spysat. It’s expensive and quite useful.” He sat and thought, considering the images of the warship for a long moment. “But there’s nothing for it. I’m not going to risk this ship and all the data we’ve gathered just to recover a satellite.” He rose. “I’ll be in the galley. Inform me if there are any further changes.”

  Armed and armored boarders tromped onto the First Horizon. They were wearing skinsuits with helmets, but these were more than pressure suits. Special plates had been added to the torso, neck, and groin area, making the suits look more like riot gear than a suit to wear in space. Lujayne Orzo tried to keep her composure as the armed patrol boarders rushed her, pinning her to the bulkhead.

  “You are the Captain?” one of them demanded over the suit’s external speakers. She was being held face first against the bulkhead, with her arms pinned behind her back.

  “Yes!” she cried, her arms screaming in pain. “I’m Lujayne Orzo, Captain of this ship. Please, you’re hurting me!”

  “Secure her,” the male voice ordered. “Then we move through the ship and secure the rest. After that, we’ll… inspect the cargo.” There was a pause. “You’d better hope we don’t find any contraband, and that your manifest matches what’s actually in the holds.”

  “You won’t,” she gasped as heavy plastic binders were fitted over her wrists and tightened to the point of cutting off circulation. “And they will.”

  “Outlanders are all the same,” the voice went on. “Always think that they can pull their tricks, sneak things by us. Get up.” She was roughly pulled away from the bulkhead and frog marched down the corridor, armed men all around her.

  One of them remained with her, the rest of them tromped off. Lujayne winced as she heard shouts, cries of alarm as the soldiers accosted her crew. Then there were louder shouts and then gunfire. More shouts and screaming. Lujayne’s breath caught in her throat.

  In short order, the rest of her crew was rounded up and shackled with the same kinds of binders. They were deposited in the galley, and kept under watch by three armed men. Their visors were kept down but their carbines were held at the ready, leveled at the crew of the ship. Ernie was bleeding from a wound in his shoulder and another in his leg. He was very pale and his breathing shallow.

  “Ernie, what happened?” Lujayne asked. But he didn’t answer; he only shook her head.

  “One of those thugs grabbed me,” Trudy said, her face blotchy from crying. “He hit me because I wasn’t moving fast enough. Ernie,” she flicked her chin in his direction, “got mad and hit him with one of his big wrenches. So they shot him.”

  “He needs a doctor!” Lujayne said, glaring at the soldiers. They ignored her. “He’ll bleed out if you don’t do something!”

  “He’s a criminal,” one of the soldiers replied coldly. “He attacked one of us. And as his captain, you share responsibility as well.”

  “We’re peaceful traders!” she protested. “We had bought and sold cargoes and we were leaving the system.”

  “You’re outsiders,” the soldier retorted, as though that was all he needed to say. “And outsiders consort with criminals.”

  “What?” Lujayne demanded. “We bought cargoes on the orbital! You have criminals running unchecked there? Trading and selling cargoes right there on the docking ring? If you’re so interested in stamping out criminal activity, why wait until ships are underway?” One of the soldiers stepped up to her, shoving his carbine right in her face.

  “Please,” the first soldier said, his tone smug. “Keep talking.” Lujayne closed her mouth, trembling a bit with fear and rage. The man emitted a chuckle from the speakers and gave her a shove, knocking her out of the chair at the table. “Get up.”

  Nazan Tariq sat on the bridge of Cavalier and fumed. “That is a civilian trader, licensed to carry cargo.”

  “You’ve been warned to keep your distance,” the man on the display told him. “We are carrying out a routine inspection of a suspected smuggler, as is our right as a security patrol in this system. Do not test my patience, Captain,” he said, as though Nazan’s rank was an insult.

  “Suspected smuggler?” he demanded, continuing to be astounded by the accusation. “Who said they were smugglers?”

  “I am not under any obligation to explain myself to you,” the customs officer sneered. “If we get a tip that there may be contraband aboard any cargo ship we will investigate and if necessary, detain that ship and its crew.”

  “This is ridiculous.” Tariq couldn’t help but let his frustration at this situation show. “There is no contraband aboard that ship.�
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  The man frowned. “You’re an outlander. Of course you would say that. I’ve had more than a few ship captains who assure me that of course there isn’t anything illegal aboard their ship and then I find containers full of drugs, holds full of slaves, crates of weapons. If you think that you can just slip back over the hyper limit, away from out jurisdiction, you can think again.”

  He took a deep breath, trying to find a shred of calm. “And what exactly is it that you expect to find aboard that ship? Your people watched them load cargo onto that ship. You checked containers and you checked manifests, everything matched.”

  The customs officer glared at Nazan through the monitor. “We’ll inform you of anything we think you need to know. Prima out.”

  Tariq slammed his fist into the arm of the chair so hard it hurt. “Damn it!” he shouted. It took him nearly a minute to notice that the rest of the bridge crew, including the XO, was doing everything they could to look busy and to keep from attracting his attention. What could he do? Firing on the frigate wouldn’t get the cargo crew released, and might actually harm some of them. It would make things worse, actually, since most likely any attack he made on the patrol ships would spark a war between the two star systems and wouldn’t everyone back home just love him for bringing that to their door?

  “Maintain position,” he growled, rubbing his gloved hand. I won’t just sit here and let this happen. But what can I do?

  “This is incredible,” Vincent Eamonn said with awe. He was walking down the corridor of the medical facility, waving his hands in front of his face. There was nothing there; of course, he was seeing the information feeds and readouts from his HUD. “Now I finally understand that faraway look you get on your face sometimes, Tamara,” he remarked with a smile. Then he frowned. “Though I admit it’s a little overwhelming. How much of this stuff do you usually have up?”

  Tamara smiled at him. “When the disruptor was on, I didn’t use the HUD all that much. I have to say, though, I’ve missed it.” She shrugged. “Typically, I would keep up a few readouts: the time, the regular updates to the area I’m in. Also a few other things along the edges. Though I know a few people back in the old days who would have very little in the way of empty space on their HUD.” She grinned. “I don’t honestly know how they managed to actually see what was in front of them what with all the data in the way.” Tamara clapped him on the shoulder. “Just take it slow. The implants will help you with information processing and computer control. But if you try to do too much too quickly, you’re going to give yourself a long and lasting headache. Believe me, I know.”

  “It is strange,” Turan put in. He was keeping his large flipper hands at his sides as he walked, calm and reserved, like most times. “I so much as think of something and the information pops up on the HUD.”

  “It takes some getting used to,” Tamara admitted. “But you just have to make sure that they enhance your abilities, but that they don’t become a crutch. And by the stars, Captain, just because you have the ability to access all the systems on the ship from the comfort of your chair, don’t turn into a giant slug who can’t be bothered to even leave his chair because it’s simply easier to do it this way.”

  He laughed. “I’ll try and remember that. Wouldn’t want to lose my sex appeal.”

  “I’m more concerned about your public image. You are the one who’s in charge of this company,” she reminded him. “I’m the one who runs things, but it is still your company, Vincent. You turning into a blob who can’t even lift himself off his bed isn’t something that’s going to instill confidence in our investors.”

  Vincent wrinkled his nose at the image. “No, I can see that. And I would hate having that sort of thing happen. I don’t much care for exercising but I’m suddenly getting the urge to go for a run.” They all chuckled. “But before I do that, I think I’m going to head back to the ship and try these babies out.”

  “Do us all another favor, Captain?” Tamara interjected. “Stay away from any of the command feeds and the engineering sections. Open doors, play with lights, things of that nature. Access the databases, but please don’t change any of the current settings on systems.”

  He smiled at her. “Don’t worry, Tamara. I have no intention of messing up my ship.”

  “And go easy on the implants at first, Vincent,” she said emphatically. “Trust me when I tell you that the headaches will be quick in coming and long in duration if you overdo it.”

  “I trust you, Tamara,” Turan replied, before Vincent could speak. “And you, Captain, are not going to hole up in those quarters or the wardroom with migraines because you’re too stubborn to get help. You are going to report to me every day in sickbay for a checkup, understood? Or I will get Saiphirelle to find you and drag you down to me in front of the whole crew. Understood?”

  Vincent scowled, first at the doctor and then at Tamara. “You see what you did here?”

  She slapped him playfully on the arm. “You bring it on yourself, Captain. Especially since I think it will take at least one session of Saiphirelle throwing you over her shoulder to get you to start coming to sickbay for checkups.”

  “Don’t you start!” he growled at her. The others laughed again and after a second, he joined in as well.

  ~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~

  “Sir, we’ve swept the ship,” one of the soldiers reported, returning to the galley where the crew was being held. “Most of the cargo is fine, but there’s a load of what is listed as ‘pharmaceuticals’ in the manifest. We’ve opened the containers and they are actually containing drugs.”

  “Of course they contain drugs!” Lujayne shouted. “It’s a load of antibiotics and other medicinal drugs.”

  “What?” One of the soldiers, apparently the leader, turned his head in Lujayne’s direction. His faceplate on his helmet was still down and the completely opaque, so she had no way of telling what his thoughts were, what his facial expressions were projecting. But the fact that he had turned toward her, even just to face her as she spoke, made her think that perhaps it was curiosity, not something more hostile that his face would show.

  “I bought pharmaceuticals to bring back to Seylonique. The doctors there are always interested in new medicines, hell, even just increasing stockpiles.”

  There were chuckles from the soldiers. “Stockpiles?” the leader asked, mirth clearly evident in his voice.

  “Yes,” she replied. “In case of an outbreak or a rash of injuries.”

  There was another silent stare from the leader, or rather his helmet was still pointed in her direction. It was maddening that he was clearly looking at her, but she had no way of telling what he was thinking.

  Lujayne let out deep breath. “So, did you find any contraband?” Another long pause. “Did you?” she demanded, keeping her voice level.

  One of the armed soldiers cuffed her on the back of the head. It wasn’t a hard hit, but it was enough to knock her to the side. “Keep a civil tongue in your head, Captain, or you might lose then both.”

  Lujayne struggled back to an upright sitting position, difficult to do with a ringing head and hands tied behind her back. “So what happens now?” she asked. “Are you going to execute us all?”

  The soldiers turned and looked at one another. Perhaps they were conversing over an internal comm channel, which made the most sense. Otherwise all they were doing was standing and staring at one another. “No,” the leader finally said. He looked over to the others. “Untie them. Transmit a copy of their manifest to the ship.”

  One of the soldiers began cutting away the restraints on the crew. Once they were all free, the soldiers began to retreat back down the corridor toward the airlock. The leader was the last one to remain, with only one of his men with him. “I appreciate your cooperation in this endeavor. I apologize for any inconvenience.” He didn’t sound the least bit sorry. “I hope that you have a safe journey.” He turned and walked out, his man training his weapon on the crew as he backed out of the compart
ment.

  Lujayne gaped. After a few seconds, they could hear the airlock cycling and then they were gone. The rest of the crew sat there, stunned, everyone just looking at one another. Finally, Trudy spoke up, her voice very quiet.

  “Captain, what the hell just happened?” She spoke as though she was afraid her voice might shatter the unnatural calm.

  She leaned back, trying to make sense out of all the madness. Finally, she cleared her throat and stood, rubbing her wrists where the plastic had bit into them. “All right, everyone back at your posts. I want a full report on our status. Vashta, help Ernie over to the medbox. Those quick patches the soldiers gave you probably won’t prevent infections or hell, even seal the wounds.” The young cargoman nodded, helping the ship’s engineer to his feet.

  “Huznall, get on the comms to Cavalier. Let them know we’re all right, but we need engineering assistance, possibly medical as well.”

  They were up; they were moving. That’s what was important. It would take a while for everyone to recover from this, but Lujayne suspected that they could. Ernie might be the worst off, since he’d been shot, though judging by her own shaking hands it was going to be a while to put this whole affair behind her. She turned and followed the rest of her crew out. Moving up to her Chief Engineer, she helped him hobble to the medbox. The clamshell device was located in an alcove just off the primary cargo hold and it opened up at a touch of the controls. They gently laid Ernie inside and the clear armorglass lid closed over him. Sensors activated immediately and he was pumped with drugs to sedate him and deal with any infection. A nanite solution of quick heal was also injected and the tiny robots went to work.

  “He’ll be all right,” Vashta said, checking the readouts. “Luckily the wounds were not life-threatening, unless untreated.”

  Lujayne growled at the thought of the bastards that had shot him. Then she nodded, her expression closed. “Get over to the holds and help check on our cargoes. I’m sure the inspection party opened up everything and it’s all strewn over the decking. I’ll be down in a little bit to assist, I have to head up to the bridge first and make sure the ship is secured and back on course.”