by M. D. Cooper
Just as Tanis was finishing her statement Joseph let out a curse. “There’s been a malfunction in the stationside tubes. Blue Wing isn’t able to deploy, should I have Yellow come escort us?”
“Negative.” Tanis shook her head. “That would be just the diversion I would be looking for to attack the Intrepid. No, we’re on our own until the TSF patrol craft and fighter support arrive.”
“ETA on that?” Timmins asked.
“Updating the combat net now—should be eleven minutes.”
“Damn,” Tannon said. “We need to do something creative, or we won’t last that long.”
“We could head toward the Intrepid, draw our merc friends into the range of the patrols there,” Joseph suggested.
“I would, except I have a suspicion that there’s more here than meets the eye.”
On the holo before her, the two merc ships were accelerating and moving into flanking positions while Joseph altered vector to angle away from the Intrepid. Another projectile hurtled from the merc ship at their starboard side, but this time Peters had the lasers ready and melted it in flight.
“Just took a bit to get comfortable with the calibration.”
“I’ve got the refractor shield up to full strength.” Tannon seemed to be doing most of his work through the Link, his hands not touching the holo interface. “Not a lot I can do about those projectiles, though.”
Tanis glanced down at the main holo. The ship’s engines were at an angle where they were no longer pointed at MOS. “Hit the ion drive and give us some thrust.”
“Oh they’re not gonna like that.” Joseph smirked as he did as he was told.
“I’m the one who’s not liking things right now,” Tanis growled. “I’m going to be paying another visit to our friend the stationmaster very soon. If MOS keeps this up they may forfeit their standing as a self-governing body and have to submit to TSF for changeover.”
“I doubt it’s gone that far yet. Doesn’t there have to be evidence of widespread neglect and loss of life for that?” Joseph’s eyes never left his screens as he spoke, but a hint of appeasement was evident in his tone.
Tanis rolled her eyes at Angela. “Yeah. I’m just venting. All the bureaucracy is starting to drive me nuts. I’ve seen entire planets with less of it.”
“Were they really small?” Peters asked and Lauder chucked.
Joseph interrupted the banter, “everyone hold on to something. High g thrust in twenty seconds—counter on the combat net.”
The other four Marines made double time and rushed into the bridge, securing themselves to tie-downs and duty stations. The bridge net showed status green on the ion engine’s nozzle extension and on the zero mark Joseph fired a continuous burst. The thrust pushed everyone back into their seats and the freighter pulled away from its pursuers.
Once the initial thrust was over, Tanis assigned the Marines to duty stations and monitoring tasks. It really didn’t take that many people to keep the ship in line, but it was better to give them something to do.
“They’re catching up; we’ve got several incoming missiles.” Tannon shifted shielding to cover the appropriate sections of the ship.
“We’re gonna have to roll.” Joseph synced his pattern with Tannon and Peters’ stations. “Everyone hold on to your lunch, or it’s gonna get nasty in here.”
The ship began to spin. Joseph also used evasive jinks to ensure the enemy had as much trouble targeting them as possible. Tanis saw the Marines all lock their armor’s necks solid. Joseph seemed fine however, sliding casually in his seat with each of the ship’s movements. Tanis resorted to using the head straps in the captain’s chair. It wouldn’t look so good if the major spewed across the main holo projector.
“Oh my god…” Jansen moaned. “This is worse than an orbital drop.”
Tanis agreed as her stomach lurched from a sharp bank while the ship rotated against the turn. She wondered if Joseph was trying to make them sick.
“Doesn’t the MOS have turrets for security issues like this?” Lauder asked.
“They do, but they seem to be having target control issues with the turrets in this area. I’m not certain if it’s more sabotage, or general incompetence,” Tannon replied from his station on scan.
“I’m voting for a combination. I don’t want to give either group too much credit.” Joseph seemed completely unruffled, his face merely showing light concentration as he banked around the skeleton of an ore freighter.
“They’re ah…not going to fire until they’ve worked out those targeting issues, are they?” Peters asked.
“The day the MOS security does anything decisive that doesn’t involve getting in the way will be the day I get a full night’s sleep,” Tanis replied.
“Wow, not really helping with the warm fuzzies here.” Lang grunted—paused. “Uh, sir.”
Tanis couldn’t help but let a little smile through. Poor Marines could barely stand having a lieutenant around all the time and here they were crammed into a tiny bridge with a commander and a major.
Joseph cleared the freighter and Tom’s voice came over the bridge’s speakers. “They’re attempting a remote retake of my core. Angela and I are fighting it off, but it may decrease performance of my systems.”
“I’m guessing those ships have subverted AI as well.” Joseph’s voice dripped with distaste as he plotted a course along the dorsal frame of a TSF destroyer that was being refitted station north of the ore freighter. “Too bad that destroyer is powered down; our troubles would be over in one quick call.”
“Could be worse, the mercs could actually be decent at shooting.”
“They’re not bad.” Peters looked up from his console. “I’ve melted seven other projectiles. I’m betting they’ll be switching to lasers shortly. Keep that spin up.”
Joseph nodded in acknowledgement as the ship rotated, weaving through docked freighters and transport craft. A projectile missed them and impacted a luxury liner that was being overhauled, causing a rod of flame to lance out of the ship into the vacuum.
“Damn, I almost had that one,” Peters said.
“Worry about us, not some liner,” Tannon shot back. “They’re all empty anyway.”
“That’s why I’m on guns…Private.” Peters glanced at his squad mate. “More shrapnel in an explosion than the original projectile. Besides, high-O2 fires in space creep me out.”
“Amen to that.” Jansen was nodding while looking at a view holo. “There’s something about those fires that looks totally unnatural. Or too natural; it’s like they are living things.”
Tanis smiled to herself. Banter, the best way to combat the fear of being blown to pieces.
“TSF update,” she said out loud, “ETA on fighters is seven minutes.”
“Our friends out there probably know that too. I expect they’ll start getting desperate any moment now,” Joseph said.
Power usage meters shot up all over the boards as the ship’s refraction shields repelled laser beams.
“Right on time,” Tanis said.
“We’re at 70% across the board. If we weren’t rotating we’d’ve been holed by that salvo,” Tannon reported.
“Nets ahead!” Joseph said triumphantly. “I knew I saw some out here on my last patrol.”
Accessing the ship’s forward cameras Tanis saw what he was referring to. Several kilometers of storage nets showed on the holo view, all holding various components and even small sections of ships for final assembly. The working lights were off, meaning no personnel were present in the nets, but the proximity alarms were sounding on the bridge—both from the ship and the net’s perimeter system.
“Can you nix that noise, Tom?” Tanis asked.
“On it, just responding a bit slow,” Tom replied. Moments later the klaxons ceased. “There we are.”
“Thanks, Tom,” Joseph said. “This is going to feel worse than it really is.”
With that the co
mmander banked the ship hard around a net, under the next and around another. He threaded them smoothly, but their pursuers were managing to keep pace.
“At least they’re not shooting at us,” Tannon said.
“Peters.” Tanis glanced at the corporal. “See if you can take out a mooring mount or two. It’d make my day if we could cause a wee bit of a collision behind us.”
“I like the way you think, sir.” Peters targeted several of the net’s mooring points. “A little mayhem here, a little mayhem there…”
“That’s the spirit.” Jansen grinned.
Several of the nets had been under load; their cargo bundled against them and held in place by the station’s centripetal rotation. With their moorings weakened, the nets swung out wildly; the closest of their pursuers narrowly avoided collision. Though the merc ship escaped that disaster, it clipped a piece of cargo from another net and had to retro-brake to avoid colliding with a shuttle frame that swung out from the impact.
“One mostly down.” Peters targeted more moorings and sent cargo spinning wildly in their wake.
“You wouldn’t believe the stink we’re getting from MOS on this. They should really know by now that the more they aggravate me, the more paperwork I generate.” Even as she spoke, Tanis was filing dozens of complaints against the station for each of the code violations and oversight failures that had allowed this scenario to occur in the first place. The bureaucrats complaining to her would soon be buried in a mountain of paperwork.
At that moment, a clang echoed through the compartment and the bridge door slid open; two mercs hung in the frame, guns drawn.
“Cease acceleration and prepare to be boarded.”
“What the fuck?” Lauder swore. “Where did you two idiots come from?”
“The places you didn’t search,” the first man said. “Now drop your weapons and comply.”
“Are these guys serious?” Jansen asked Tanis.
“They seem like it…but I’m not really sure. Are you two serious? You are going to try to take on six Marines and two TSF officers by yourselves? You’re going to die, and it’ll probably be messy.”
The men looked at each other and then at Tanis. Before they could respond, an impact rattled the ship and in the midst of the collision multiple shots peppered the mercs. Their hands slipped free of the handholds and their lifeless bodies fell back through the opening.
“Oops, did I clip that cargo net?” Joseph asked. “Sorry about that.”
Another shock ran through the ship, coupled with the screams of metal shearing. Joseph grunted. “That one wasn’t me.”
The second merc ship had gained ground while the commander’s focus was split and had gotten a projectile round off at close range.
“Losing our starboard engine.” Tom’s concerned voice sounded over the bridge speakers. “Shutting it down to avoid a runaway reaction.”
“ETA on TSF fighter craft is two minutes.” Tannon sounded anxious. The Marines were used to conflicts that they could take direct action to decide the outcome. This frantic flight was wearing on their nerves.
“Think they’ll try to board us, or just blow us out of the sky?” Lang asked.
Another explosion rocked the ship and Lauder swore. “I guess that’s our answer.”
“Belay that impending doom!” Tannon grinned at the scan console. “Looks like they got the tubes cleared. Blue squadron is inbound. Say goodbye to the bad mercenaries.”
Tanis brought the scan data up on the main holo and sure enough, six fighter craft were racing over the bulk of the station. Tactical missiles fired from each ship and tore into the lead mercenary vessel. Their yield was low, but the strikes were precise. The engines went dead and the weapons signatures winked out. Scan showed a tug leave a nearby dock to catch the ship before it did more damage. Moments later a similar scene played out with the other merc ship.
“And that”— Joseph leaned back in his seat and smiled at the main holo—“is that.”
CHAPTER 16
STELLAR DATE: 3227224 / 09.28.4123 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: GSS Intrepid, Mars Outer Shipyards (MOS) REGION: Mars Protectorate, Sol Space Federation
The post-op took over twenty hours, a good portion of which was spent retaking the dock from the last few mercs, who had entrenched themselves quite thoroughly. Then came the round-up; squabbles over jurisdiction, and the interrogations. It was well into the following day before Ouri and Tanis got to sit down together and go over what they had learned.
“This is most interesting.” Tanis looked over the interrogation logs. “Trent was not involved with these men at all, at least not to their knowledge. The captains all had their dealings with a man by the name of Drenn. He has links to the STR Consortium, been known to be involved in some of their less public projects.”
Ouri scowled at the data as she reviewed. “So, does this mean we have two threats, or just one that is a little clearer and a little scarier?”
“I’m betting that it’s the same threat, though we do have to keep an open mind.” She took a drink from the restorative in front of her. “Still, I’m guessing that Trent wasn’t getting the desired results, so his bosses declared open season on us.”
“More likely on you,” Ouri replied. “I’m guessing that they’ve singled you out. That was a very deadly scenario that was specifically designed to draw you in.”
“And in I was drawn…rather foolishly too.”
“I’ll say so.” Admiral Sanderson stood in the doorway.
“Sir.” Both women stood and saluted.
“Sit.” Sanderson gestured as he did.
“Quite the little escapade you had, Major.” He allowed his glare to linger on her for a moment before continuing. “Imagine my reaction when I hear, while on my visit to the Marsian Parliament, that the officer in charge of our security has ripped a ship from the station, exposed an entire dock to vacuum, and proceeded to tear across the construction yards, spilling cargo in her wake like it was confetti.”
“I can only guess that it must have been extreme, sir”
“You’re damn right it was extreme. You should never have allowed yourself to be drawn in so completely. I thought you were an intelligence officer. You could stand to display some.”
Tanis sat and took the rebuke in silence. Ouri looked like she wished she were anywhere else, up to and including cleaning sewage scrubbers, than at the table listening to Sanderson dress down her CO.
“Well, what do you have to say for yourself?”
Tanis took a breath. She could think of a hundred reasons why no other person would have expected to run into four ships full of armed mercenaries on what was supposed to be a secure dock, but she knew that wouldn’t fly with the admiral.
“I take full responsibility, sir. I acted rashly and without proper care and attention. It won’t happen again.”
“You must know that I am under considerable pressure to have you removed. Terrance and the captain have been inundated with calls and protestations from all levels of Marsian bureaucracy. Considerable pressure.”
“I’ll tender my resignation at once, sir,” Tanis replied stoically. “I do not wish to cause them any more trouble than I already have.” While she seemed calm on the outside, inside she was fraught with emotion. If she had to abdicate her place on the Intrepid she would find whoever was responsible and kill them, even if it took a thousand years.
“Don’t be an idiot. You’ll do no such thing.” Anderson gave her a look that teachers usually reserve for their worst students. “Despite your rat
her shoddy handling of yesterday’s events, your record otherwise has been impeccable. I simply wish to inform you that should your next encounter with the enemy show such large amounts of bravado coupled with such small amounts of careful consideration, I may have to rethink my decision regarding your placement here.”
“Yes, sir.” Tanis could feel her limbs again, her heart slowed back down and she took a deep breath.
“Now, let’s talk about the prisoners. That much at least was a job well done. We can finally get some information on who is behind this.”
“Yes, sir. From what we have learned so far, it appears that the mercenaries were contacted by a man by the name of Drenn. He is connected to the STR Consortium, dealing particularly in the types of projects that they like to keep hidden from the public eye. It is our opinion that they were hired to take me out of the picture.”
Sanderson leaned back and stroked his chin. “And why, pray tell, Major, would they go to such considerable expense to remove you, pain in my ass though you are? I imagine that this operation cost them billions of credits; enough to buy a small corporation on a major planet.”
“Indeed, sir.” Tanis nodded. “I think they want to get rid of me because their sabotage success rate dropped when I came onboard. It’s not a lot, but their last several attacks have all targeted me, so I think there is some credence there.”
Sanderson grunted a tentative assent. “And what about your belief that it is solely the STR?” he asked.
We’ve obviously been under concerted corporate, network, and physical attack for some time. We’ve ruled out radical groups, though it is logical to assume, and borne out by the data, that roughly ten percent of our troubles are from those fringe elements.
“That being said, the rest is either governmental or corporate in origin. There is a relatively small list of either that could sustain an attack of this duration through so many avenues. If these men truly did get their orders from Drenn, then it has to have been the STR Consortium all along.”
“They have been on our suspect list since we determined that it was a bigger player pulling the strings,” Sanderson said. “What does this change?”