“What we do here is necessary,” Darklin stood hands on hips, facing Silver. “Human nature is what brings people here. We’ve created a world where anything can be yours. No one needs to work unless they are motivated to it. No one needs to farm or hunt or cook or clean, unless they are motivated to it. We are here for what? To explore the meaning of human existence. But we have all forgotten what it is to be human, forgotten the thing that motivates all humans. Struggle. Effort. Conflict. Survival. My customers need their release, their violence, their abuse. This is the only place in the system where we can truly be free. Free of SV. Free to be who we are. If I wasn’t here they would find it elsewhere.”
“You are tolerated,” Silver said, “but you are not some civic champion.”
“Whatever.” Darklin smiled patronizingly. “Do you want to continue this discussion or do you want to tell me why you are here?”
“The SV shadow on this settlement. I need it.”
“It’s something about the rocks. I don’t know how it works.”
“This isn’t just some freak of geology. There is tech at work here. I need it.”
Darklin shrugged and sat back in his chair. “If SV is so useful to society why do you need to hide from it?”
Silver stepped over to Darklin. “Is this chamber in a SV shadow?”
Darklin looked up at Silver. “Do you think I would leave myself so vulnerable? “
“So why don’t I drag you where the SV shadow is in effect and I can ask you again and again.” Silver grabbed Darklin’s thick hair and yanked his head sideways.”
Darklin slowly wriggled free from Silver’s grip.
Silver smoothed Darklin’s thick hair with the barrel of her blazer. “You think you are doing some kind of civic duty. You sent me the SV showing that device hidden on my ship. You do have a streak of good, however thin, somewhere in you. So help me now, Darklin,” Silver pressed the muzzle of her blazer to Darklin’s temple. “Help me or I will close you down.”
“There is a device,” Darklin said. He moved the blazer away with a finger and then stood up. Silver didn’t take a step back. Darklin’s naked chest pressed up against her suit. “Some engineers spent some time here. They were interested in the gang fights at first but soon started investigating the SV shadow.”
“Can it hide my ship?”
Darklin slid past Silver. He took another cigarette off his table and lit it up. He held the cigarette between his teeth and smiled at Silver through the clouds of smoke. “Oh, yes.” He said. “It’ll hide your ship.”
“HOW CAN we be sure it’s working?” Silver looked at the plain black box sitting on the floor of the flight deck.
“If that mosquito in orbit changes heading and comes after us we’ll know the SV shadow doesn’t work.”
“It might be a bit late by then, Arty,” Silver said, climbing into her chair.
“We will have time to destroy Darklin before the mosquito destroys us. I take it he knows this?”
“Oh yes, and I’ve left him quite at my mercy. He’s lashed to his bed with some ropes he had handy, all tied by some creative knots devised on the spot by me.”
“Will they hold?”
“Long enough for us to get into orbit,” Silver instructed Razor to lift off the planet surface. “Keep a close watch on that Mosquito, Arty,” Silver said.
Razor blasted off the surface, snow flying out from around the craft as the plasma jets fired. The craft ascended steadily until the craft accelerated away toward the black of space.
“Mosquito is holding its position.” Arty reported. “We will pass within a thousand kilometers. We should know if it works very soon.”
Silver watched the mosquito data intently. A signal from the holostage indicated someone was calling. Silver looked at the stage with curiosity. Only chief Sauer could call Razor, and he was gone. She activated the holostage. Darklin appeared there. He was standing in front of his bed, loose ropes hanging from each of the four posts.
“Darklin,” Silver said. “How..?”
“Don’t be offended. I’ve become pretty good at freeing myself from a tight spot. Your rope work was good, for a novice. Maybe we could have another go sometime.”
“Passing the mosquito now,” Arty said through Silver’s neural processor so Darklin couldn’t overhear.
“I’ve got you on my scope now,” Darklin said. “You are getting pretty close to that missile.”
“If this doesn’t work,” Silver leaned closer to the hologram of Darklin.
“I know,” Darklin said. “I want you to find Coris. Maybe he will tell you why he’s taking down SV. Maybe he’ll tell you who he’s working for. Ask him for me, detective. Ask him who he’s really working for.”
“He’s just a criminal,” Silver said.
Darklin pulled a loose rope away from his bed. “Aren’t we all, Detective? Aren’t we all?”
The hologram flickered away. Arty put up an image of the orbiting mosquito. “It isn’t moving. I think we’ve managed to deceive it. I think we’re invisible to it.”
Silver watched the hologram of the mosquito, moving closer to the image as Razor passed its closest point to the missile.
“That is our closest approach,” Arty said. “We’ve done it.”
“We’ve done nothing yet,” Silver said. “Where is Coris?”
“Still on route to the stellar pole SV hub.”
“Can we catch him?”
“Strap yourself in, Silver,” Arty said. “I’ll give it everything we’ve got.”
RAZOR ACCELERATED on a heading directly toward the system’s sun. The gravitational field of the massive white star pulled Razor toward it and to even greater speed. Silver watched the flight data with growing concern.
“We are heading directly toward the star,” Silver said.
“I have us on a course that will take us as close to the south pole as we can safely get.”
“But Coris is heading to the north pole SV hub. We’re going the wrong way.”
“If we have any hope of catching up to Coris we need as much speed as we can get. We will slingshot around the south pole and be on course to intercept Coris at the hub.”
The flight plan appeared on the holostage. Silver looked at the projected flight. “We are hours behind,” Silver said. “Can you increase our speed?”
“I can take us closer to the star on our slingshot maneuver. You will have to activate environmental shielding on your suit if you are to survive.”
Silver looked at the hologram of her craft and its flight around the south pole, heading north and up over and above the star, racing away far above the ecliptic to the SV hub where Coris was heading. Coris had been evading her for too long. Nothing could get in her way now. She was hot on his heels. It was going to get hotter.
“Make the calculations, Arty. Get me to Coris.”
CHAPTER 11
The stellar north pole SV hub controlled the servers for the inner system SV. The hub was small for the huge job it did. Silver looked at the image on her holostage. A Lycon cruiser was docked at the docking station on the hub.
“Coris is here,” Silver said.
“He won’t detonate his device until he is clear,” Arty said.
“But if he knows I’m here he might. Open the airlock.”
Silver floated across the void between Razor and the hub. With the aid of the suit’s grav distortion field, she landed gently against the outer hull. The composite hub was rough and she clung to it easily. Silver took out her blazer and set a fine cutting beam. She sliced through the composite and down to the mechtissue. Once the hard outer composite was removed Silver pressed her hands and arms deep into the mechtissue. She drove her head and shoulders in through the gap in the outer casing. She pressed her way in deeper until she came to the inner composite hull. Silver set to work again with the blazer cutting a small slice for her to slip through.
The mechtissue closed up behind her but the air bled out slowly through the wou
nd. Soon the Hub would record air pressure loss and a warning would sound. Then Coris would be alerted that someone was here. The MYAC device would incinerate the entire hub, Coris, Razor, Silver and all. She had to hurry.
Silver held the composite plate she had cut away over the weeping mechtissue. The blazer welded it back in place as easily as it had cut it away.
Silver looked about her after she finished the patch job. She had cut her way into a maintenance corridor. Coris would no doubt place the device at the power cell near the heart of the hub. She released a swarm of bloodhounds and fed their data direct to her visor. The shape and layout of the hub revealed itself. And then the bloodhounds showed her Coris maneuvering a large object along a wide central corridor.
Silver activated her suit’s stealth camo and the gravity emitters, letting her float along the corridor, moving silently toward Coris.
Coris was positioning the device at the base of the power cell when Silver floated up behind him. He was a small man. Dark curly hair and short, thick set arms and legs. He opened a hatch on the MYAC device.
“You finally caught up with me,” Coris said, not surprised by the intrusion.
Silver aimed her blazer at Coris. “Jay Coris,” she said, “I am arresting you on charges of terrorism.”
“Terrorism? I offer you freedom. You are a slave. We are all slaves here. I’m setting us free. Don’t you understand? SV is keeping us all slaves. We came here to be free. This is supposed to be a utopia. We are all supposed to be free to do whatever we want or need to do. But how can we be who we are supposed to be if we are never allowed to behave freely. We are always under the gaze of a pernicious SV. We have no secrets. No lies. We can’t be our true selves. How can we consider ourselves to be anything but slaves under such conditions?”
“I am not here to discuss your manifesto for violence and destruction, Coris. I am here to stop you from wreaking any more destruction.”
Coris stood up and turned to face Silver. He held out his stubby arms in surrender.
Silver knew Coris. He had evaded her for so long with one trick or another. Silver learned a lot about the man and his cunning. Why would he submit now?
“Then arrest me but I will be no more a prisoner than I already am.”
Silver advanced carefully and cautiously. She released a small swarm of bloodhounds to sweep the area for traps.
“Turn around.” Silver gestured with her blazer. Coris obeyed. “Slowly,” Silver said firmly. She took Coris’ right arm and placed it in the small of his back. She watched carefully for any movement. She took his left hand and brought it down. Then with both hands together in the small of his back she cuffed him, the black strip of the cuff flowed off her sleeve and wrapped around Coris’ wrists. The cuff pulled tight. Silver had him now.
Having cuffed Coris he suddenly seemed so much smaller. Silver looked him up and down. He was an unremarkable man, seemingly incapable of such hugely destructive acts as the ones he was responsible for.
“Where will you take me now?” Coris asked.
Silver dragged him by his cuffed wrists away from the MYAC device. She pressed him up against a wall, the cuffs reached out and grabbed the wall, holding Coris in place. She wasn’t interested in answering his questions. He would be taken to a re-education center, probably on one of the outer asteroids.
Now that Coris was captured, she turned her attention to the MYAC device. The small device looked so innocuous. The smooth casing had no markings and the inside of the device was made of the same mechtissue as Razor. But hidden within that mechtissue was enough explosive power to vaporize the entire SV hub.
Silver sent a message to Arty through her neural processor. “Contact the Defender. Tell them we have their missing device.”
Arty replied almost immediately. “Defender’s AI responded. They are sending a destroyer to the area. They’ve asked us not to tamper with the device. We can leave it were it is. They have specialists on route. They will deal with the device.”
Silver took one last look at the device and then turned to Coris. The man was held fast to the wall by the cuffs. Coris smiled broadly as she stepped forward. She grabbed him around the upper arm and moved him away from the wall. He stumbled forward as Silver pushed him ahead of her.
“Walk,” she said.
Coris obliged and walked just ahead of Silver. “Arty,” Silver said. “Bring Razor to one of the airlocks. I’ll be there in a moment. I want to secure my prisoner in Razor’s holding cell as soon as I can.”
“We are all prisoners,” Coris said. “You’ve been following me and chasing me for a long time. Ask yourself, detective, am I your prisoner, or are you mine?”
Silver grabbed the cuff at Coris’ wrist and yanked it. “You are my prisoner, Coris. I’m quite sure of it.”
“Then you think you have won.”
Silver pushed Coris toward the airlock up ahead. “It’s not a game.”
“There are rules, and winners and losers. It is a game. And I haven’t stopped playing it yet.”
Silver shoved Coris toward the airlock. “Get used to playing it alone.”
The airlock hatch ahead opened and down the short passageway was the familiar interior of Razor. Silver shoved Coris through and then the two were aboard.
“Close all hatches. Make ready to leave, Arty,” Silver said. She shoved Coris into a small side corridor toward Razor’s holding cell.
“Will you release the cuffs once I’m in your cell?” Coris asked.
“Get inside,” Silver encouraged Coris with a little shove. She removed the cuffs, they slipped off Coris’ wrists and slid smoothly back over her sleeve.
“The game is not over, detective,” Coris smiled. Silver activated the energy wall and walked away. She had her crim. Now all she needed to do was hand him over to a facility where he would be dealt with.
“Are we ready to leave?” Silver asked Arty.
“Ready. Well done, detective. You got him.”
“Set a course for..,” Silver was about to say PHQ when she hesitated.
“I’ll set course for Pepper for now. Gov central can advise us when we arrive.”
Silver nodded. It was almost as if Arty had read her mind. They had been a team for a long time but it was still AI. “Good idea, Arty.”
Silver climbed into her chair and activated a hologram of the SV hub as they powered away back down to the system’s ecliptic plane. The SV hub provided security for all, information for all, it was a power for the good of all. How could anyone feel secure without its watchful eye over them?
As Razor powered away Silver leaned closer to the hologram. Such a small hub so far from the habitable worlds. How could it have such power, how could it have driven Coris to become so destructive when there were distractions and diversions for everyone? No one was hungry, or lonely, or in danger. Their world was truly good.
Then the holostage was filled with a hologram of a bright ball of white light. It stayed there, flickering, for a moment before disappearing. Arty, what’s wrong with the holostage?
“Nothing, detective. It’s the SV hub. It’s been destroyed. Incoming message from the destroyer Intrepid.”
An angry looking captain appeared on the holostage. “Detective. We asked you not to tamper with the device.”
Silver clenched her fist. She brought it down firmly against the arm of her chair. “Coris,” she said. “I don’t know how he did it..,” she brought her fist down again.
“Plasma shock wave approaching,” Arty said. “Brace for impact.”
Silver sat back as her suit held her firmly to the chair. The plasma shock wave hit Razor and the craft bucked as it was swept along by the blast wave. From the holding cell Silver heard the sounds of Coris laughing and cheering.
“We did it, detective. You and me. We did it.”
“Arty, can you synthesize something that’ll make him a little less excited please,” Silver said.
Coris stopped laughing and cheering.
“All done. He’s fast asleep now,” Arty said. “He should sleep until we can hand him over. Maybe you should have a rest?”
“No. I’m busy.” Silver couldn’t rest until she’d worked out how Coris had beaten her. It was a game after all and she didn’t like to lose.
EPILOGUE
Commander Dooley welcomed Silver aboard the Defender. He stood on the landing strip alone. He shook Silver’s hand as she stepped off Razor’s ramp.
“A proximity device?” she said.
“Yes. They are usually rigged to detonate a device once something comes within a certain distance. Coris had re-engineered his to detonate once he was a certain distance away.”
Dooley led Silver away from the landing strip into the maze of the Defender.
“Clever bastard.” Silver said.
“Not so clever,” Dooley replied. “He didn’t set it to a great enough distance. Your cruiser survived because she is a tough old ship. The Lycon, a civilian craft, would never have survived at that distance.”
“Lucky bastard,” Silver suggested.
“He is that, to be sure.” Dooley stopped at a door. “This is it,” he said.
Silver opened the door and stepped in. It was a large office space, prepared for a job but not yet active.
“You’ve got everything you need here, until PHQ is back up and running. So, this is your new home, Detective Silver, or should I call you Chief Cane?”
Silver stepped inside. The temporary offices were neat and large. “It’s a temporary assignment,” she assured him. “I’ve never really been a desk jockey. I’m too much of a field operative.” Silver took a few tentative steps into her new office. It was daunting. It was exciting. For now at least she was Police Chief Silver Cane.
THANK YOU
Thank you so much for reading Pursuit, the first book in the Silver Cane series. I am so excited you took the chance to read it and I really hope you liked it. If you could leave a review for me, that would be awesome because it helps me tell others about my books.
Pursuit (Silver Cane Book 1) Page 6