by JN Chaney
“Is this thing on, Sigmond? Can he hear me?” asked the doctor.
“I can hear you,” I acknowledged.
“I don’t think he can hear me,” said the archaeologist.
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “Siggy, you got me?”
“Yes, sir,” said the AI.
“Tell Hitchens to shut up and tell us where to go.”
“Oh, it’s working now. Captain, this is Doctor Thadius Hitchens. Do you read me?”
“Yes.”
“Excellent!” he exclaimed, cheerily. “Now, if you’re all ready to go, I’m happy to lead you.”
“Just get on with it,” I said.
“You’ll want to move through the area ahead of you. Do you see that rock over there? The one resembling a large eye? A short walk after that, you’ll find the mine entrance. That’s your destination.”
“That’s it?” I asked, surprised at how simple the directions were.
“Not quite. Once you’re inside, the tunnel segments into several more. You’ll want to follow my explicit directions if you are to reach the storage room.”
“Did you two hear that?” I asked my companions.
“Loud and clear,” said Abigail.
We both looked at Freddie, who seemed to be preoccupied with a green rock. “Fred?” I asked.
He looked up from the stone. “Oh, I’m sorry. I was just—”
“Were you even listening?” asked Abigail.
He got an embarrassed look on his face. “I’m so sorry.”
“Just come on,” I said, pushing the cart forward. “We’ve got work to do.”
We passed by the stone Hitchens had mentioned, which I decided looked less like an eye and more like a testicle, although I kept the observation to myself.
A minute later, I spotted the mine in question. A feeble little cave that you’d only see if you were standing directly in front of it. The only signs of activity were the scattered drilling equipment, attached to the ground by hard wires, abandoned near the entrance.
“Okay, Doc, lead the way,” I said over the com as we entered the cave. Before me was a long passage with several branching paths. It was too dark to see without turning on my helmet’s light, which I decided to crank to the highest possible setting. The cave had no flat walls or floors. Instead, all sides were equally ridged.
“You’ll need to disable your suit’s gravity function,” suggested Hitchens. “You can’t walk this on foot.”
“If I die in here, Hitchens, I’m coming for you,” I warned, disabling the artificial gravity option. I lifted slightly off the ground, keeping my hand on the cart, which had its own mini-thrusters to allow for better control.
Abigail and Freddie did the same, each placing an arm on the cart’s railing.
“Where to, Hitchens?” I finally asked.
“You’ll want to take the first left, then right, then head straight…then pass two…no, three passages, and take the next left. Finally—”
“How about you tell us as we go,” I suggested.
“Ah, yes. Sorry,” he said. “Please, take the first left.”
The three of us went forward, entering the cave and slowly making our way into the darkness. At the first break in the tunnel, I turned the cart into the second hall. We pressed on, with Hitchens guiding us through the labyrinth of corridors. I wasn’t sure how the miners ever managed to get anything done in such an awful workspace. Unlike a moon or a planet, there was no north or south here, no true sense of direction. There was only forward and back, surrounded by the same stone on all sides. I felt like an insect, burying my way deep into the ground.
After several minutes, at the end of the final tunnel, we found an opening that lead into a sort of cavern. There were no doors to protect it, no barricades of any kind. As we drew closer, I could see there was nothing significant inside. I wondered if we’d taken a wrong turn somewhere.
Before I could say anything, Hitchens chimed in on the com, a satisfied tone in his voice. “Ah, now we’re at it!”
“At what?” asked Freddie. “There’s nothing here.”
“Hardly so. This is only the foyer. There should be a panel on the far wall. Do you see it?”
Sure enough, there was a control panel hidden in the corner of the cave. It was difficult to see at first, being the same gray color as the rest of the wall. Freddie floated over to it and popped the cover open, revealing a number pad. “Got it,” he said.
“Excellent,” said Hitchens. “Next, you’ll want to punch in the following: 6-6-4-2-9.”
“You get that, Fred?” I asked.
“Not a problem,” said the young priest.
He pressed the numbers, a hard click following each one, and then…
Nothing.
We stood there in silence, waiting for something to happen.
“Are you certain you did it correctly?” asked Abigail.
“6-6-4-2-9,” said Freddie, repeating the code exactly as he’d heard it.
“Give it a moment,” said Hitchens.
A second later, the nearby ground began to shake, and a wall cracked open, sliding up into the ceiling. “Here we go,” said Fred.
“Aha!” exclaimed Hitchens. “Pardon the security measures. The wiring isn’t exactly what you might call exemplary, though it is effective.”
“Doesn’t matter,” I said, floating through the opening. “Let’s get what we came for and head out.”
The hidden area looked to hold a catalog of artifacts similar in design to what I saw on Epsilon. I had no idea if any of them were still operational, but it didn’t matter. I was sure some rich asshole somewhere in the galaxy would pay their weight in credits to get their hands on this garbage.
Hell, if Ollie could sell ornaments he built out of old wiring he found in a dumpster, why not this?
As I entered into the final room, I felt a sudden weight on my body, and dropped to the ground, catching myself.
“Oh, goodness!” exclaimed Hitchens. “I should have mentioned, we installed artificial gravity in this section of the mine. Please be careful.”
“Next time, how about you give us a warning first?” I asked, standing back up.
“My apologies,” said Hitchens.
Crates and plastic-sealed machines filled the cave, delicately placed in perfect order. Fred accidentally bumped his foot into one as he entered, knocking it to the ground. I heard something shatter inside.
Abigail and I both looked at him, and I shook my head. “Really, Freddie?”
“I’m so sorry!” he said, trying to salvage the broken whatever-it-was.
“Will you be able to get the rest without breaking them?” asked Abigail. “Do you need to wait outside?”
“No, I promise I’ll be more careful, Sister.”
I chuckled. “You’re getting lectured.”
The nun turned and glared at me.
“Don’t try that shit on me,” I told her, shutting her down before she could start. “I’ll leave your ass stranded.”
“A word of warning, Captain,” said Hitchens. “You’ll want to be especially careful with the cargo marked with a yellow indicator. Those are particularly fragile, and therefore more valuable.”
I saw Freddie checking the box he’d broken. He frowned at the yellow marker.
I shook my head again. “Poor, poor Freddie.”
We loaded what we could on the cart and began our way back toward the entrance. The path out was a little easier, although I don’t know what we would have done without Hitchens guiding us. Considering how much cargo we still had to retrieve from that cave, we were looking at several more trips, but I was certain we’d be done before the day was through.
Thankfully, loading the crates into the back of the shuttle was significantly easier than it was in the cave. I lifted a box with one hand, which had previously required both Freddie and I to move.
We filled the shuttle in no time, then returned to the mine. It was easy-going for a while. It even began to feel routine
. Walk through the mine, load the cart, walk back to the shuttle, load it up. Repeat.
We managed to take a shuttle’s worth of artifacts up to The Star, store them in the cargo bay, then return for another load.
It wasn’t until a few hours later that everything went to total and complete shit.
* * *
“Sir,” began Sigmond as we loaded another cart full of equipment. “I’m detecting something.”
I stopped what I was doing. “What is it, Siggy?”
“A slip tunnel has appeared in this system. I believe another ship has entered the area.”
“Another ship? Can you see who it is?”
“I’m afraid not. Shall I raise the cloak?”
“Do it,” I ordered. “We’re on our way back. Expect the shuttle in a few.”
“What’s wrong?” asked Abigail.
“Sounds like we’ve got company. Come on, we’ve gotta go.”
“What about the rest of—”
“Leave it. We’ve got enough. Let’s get back to The Star,” I said, beginning to do just that.
We moved as fast as we could through the tunnels, but the lack of gravity made for slow progress.
After we reached the shuttle, I had the two of them board and get strapped in. I hit the com, closing my door and starting the engines. “Siggy, we’re heading back. Get ready to punch it as soon as we’re onboard.”
The shuttle lifted off of the asteroid, hovering for a second before finally taking off. We maneuvered through the belt, bypassing several hulking rocks that could have easily crushed us.
“We’re nearly there,” I told the others.
“Sir, be cautious,” warned Sigmond. “The other ship is moving closer to your position. They do not seem to be aware of us, but—”
At that moment, I felt the shuttle rattle violently as a torpedo nearly struck our side.
It blasted a chunk of rock from an asteroid, shattering the stone and sending us into a spin. “What the fuck!” I yelled as we began our descent back toward the same rock we’d only just left.
I hit the stabilizer and took manual control, trying my best to steady the ship. It nearly worked, but there wasn’t enough time. Instead of leveling out, we hit the surface and slid four dozen meters until we slammed straight into a small cliff.
The sides of the doors and the dash released a white puffy material, shielding our bodies from most of the impact.
Freddie screamed, hitting his head against Abigail’s seat. I could already see the blood from his nose.
When the commotion finally stopped, I looked at Abigail. “Are you okay?”
She was breathing quickly, confusion still in her eyes.
“Hey, Abby. Look at me.” I put my hand on her arm. “Focus on what I’m saying. Look at me. Hey!”
She turned and tried to focus on my face. Her eyes were swirling. “What…happened?”
“Hold on.” I reached beneath the dash and took out a small red medical box. I took the scanner inside and activated it, running the device along her head and chest, checking for any signs of damage or swelling.
Fred kept his head up and elevated, covering his bleeding nose with his hand. I grabbed his hand. “Let it bleed, you idiot!” I barked. “You’ll give yourself a pulmonary embolism that way!”
“S-Sorry. Is Sister Abigail okay?” he asked, apparently more concerned with her than himself.
“It looks like she has some bruising, but nothing’s broken,” I said, closing the scanner. “Abby, are you with us?”
The disconnected look in her eyes was finally gone. She blinked several times, staring back at me. “I-I’m here. I’m okay.”
“Goddammit,” I said, punching the seat. “Who are these bastards? I’ll have Siggy fire a hole clean through their—”
“Attention intruders,” said a voice over the com. It sounded like an automated message. “You are encroaching on Sarkonian territory. Prepare to surrender your vessel.”
“Who are the Sarkonians?” asked Fred.
I tapped the com. “Who the hell is this? I want to speak to your representative right now.”
“Please prepare to surrender your vessel,” repeated the voice.
I cursed and hit the seat again. Next to Fratley, Sarkonians were probably the last thing I wanted to deal with right now. They liked to confiscate ships and property that they felt were in their territory, but since Sarkonians had no defined borders, their claims were impossible to predict. The rule of thumb in the Deadlands was, if you saw a Sarkonian ship, you turned and ran away as fast as you damn well could.
“Siggy, scan that ship and tell me what we’re dealing with.”
“Are we in trouble?” asked Freddie.
I raised my finger to quiet him. “Not if I can help it.”
“I’m detecting one quad cannon, and only a second-grade hull,” said Sigmond.
Freddie pulled the cloth away from his nose. “Is that bad?”
“Only for them,” I said, kicking open the door. “Siggy, get ready to blow that piece of shit out of the sky, you hear me?”
“I do, sir,” said the AI.
I got to my feet and stared into the asteroid belt at the oncoming Sarkonian vessel. “Time to show these assholes why you should never fuck with a Renegade.”
* * *
Standing with my pistol in one hand, I waved at the enemy ship. “That’s right, you jackasses. Come right over here.”
As the Sarkonian ship neared us, they opened their bay door. An unmanned shuttle exited and began making its way towards us. No doubt, if they had their way, we’d wind up working in an ore mine by the end of the day.
Too bad Siggy and I had other plans.
Before the shuttle could get more than a hundred meters from the Sarkonian vessel, The Renegade Star decloaked from beneath another large asteroid, firing at the enemy ship.
The quad-cannons unleashed a string of rapid-fire shots, taking them by surprise. The ship withstood the many hits, much to my own surprise, and returned fire at The Star. Thanks to Siggy’s inhuman reaction speed, he managed to maneuver behind another asteroid, allowing the rock to shield most of the damage.
Chunks of stone broke apart, scattering in every direction, including towards us. “Get out of the shuttle!” I ordered, reaching my arm inside and grabbing Abigail by the hand.
She and Fred stumbled out of the door, scurrying on the hard surface of the asteroid and together we attempted to flee, back towards the mine.
Three large ship-sized rocks spiraled towards us, smashing into the ground and, incidentally, crushing our shuttle. I cursed under my breath at the loss. Those things were expensive and on top of all the other debt I had, this would only add to it.
I pushed the thought out of my head and decided to be pissed later. For now, I ran, hoping I didn’t trip and rip my damn suit in the process.
As we reached the giant eye-shaped monument near the mine, I called for Sigmond to fire a second wave.
He did, and the missiles hit the Sarkonian ship right in the same spot they had before, puncturing their deck and sending pieces of cargo into space. I watched the entire event unfold on my visor as Siggy broadcasted it to me.
The enemy vessel opened a slip tunnel, attempting to flee, and I gave the order to fire one last volley.
Sigmond did as I said, sending a final wave of six missiles towards the enemy ship. Two collided with a cluster of smaller asteroids, but the remaining four managed to get through.
The Sarkonian vessel could do nothing to stop the barrage from penetrating their hull, obliterating the ship from the inside. The vessel splintered, exploding into a cloud of wreckage, scattering in all directions.
“Oh, my gods,” muttered Fred, gawking at the obliterated ship.
I looked at Abigail, who was watching the whole mess unfold. “You good?” I asked.
She still looked dazed, albeit a little less than before. “I just want to get out of here.”
“Sounds like my kind o
f plan,” I said.
I could have ordered them to keep working, maybe try to salvage the artifacts in the destroyed shuttle, but we had enough cargo onboard The Star to call this a success. There was no use chancing another Sarkonian attack.
The ship came down through the asteroid field, rising above us, hovering momentarily. “Are you ready to depart, sir?” asked Sigmond.
“Can it land?” asked Fred.
“There’s no solid surface wide enough, but I’m sure Siggy can make it work.”
“Stand clear,” said the AI.
I waved the others back as the ship approached, stopping a few meters from the surface.
“Bring it closer,” I ordered.
“Not possible,” Sigmond replied.
The base of the ship was a short distance above us, not close enough to reach by hand. We’d have to float up to reach it.
I waved at Abigail and Freddie to join me. “Time to go,” I said, pointing to the ship.
They both looked up at the cargo lift door. “I take it we’re supposed to jump,” said Freddie.
“And hope you make it,” I added, clasping my hands together. “Come on, I’ll give you a boost.”
Freddie placed his foot between my fingers, and I pushed him up, watching as he floated towards the door. He waved his arms around, frantically, before finally catching the base of the lift. “I have it!”