Stranded on Haven

by William Zellmann

  Heidi snickered. “It may not be easy to, as you say, ‘slap him down hard’. He’s very careful. He rarely leaves his palace, and when he does, it’s with a massive military escort.”

  I shook my head. “Lisa, I think it’s time for one of our demonstrations. Are you certain you’ll be able to compute the ballistic that closely?”

  “That lake covers over 100,000 square kilometers,” Lisa responded. “and I can use magnetic grapples on a workboat to control the trajectory as far as the edge of the atmosphere. Hitting it is no problem. The problem lies in making sure it is clear of humans.”

  I sighed. “Yar. What are the chances of the gig being able to avoid all that antiaircraft stuff? If I remember right, there’s a lot of it around that lake.”

  “Yes,” Lisa replied, “but it is comparatively primitive. I am confident a robot pilot could evade it easily.”

  Heidi was staring at me, frowning, and listening closely to the conversation. “What are you talking about? You certainly can’t go to Cellia!”

  I sighed. “I’ve made no secret of the fact that Startrader is unarmed. But when we arrived here, and learned the planet was inhabited, we decided to take some precautions. We’re unarmed, but we’re not helpless, and we have to teach the entire planet that lesson.

  I shook my head. “We’re going to send a lander down to warn all the boats to clear the lake. We’ll give them six hours. Then we’ll drop a rock in the lake.”

  Heidi jerked upright. “What? Drop a rock? What good will that do?”

  “Quite a lot, I hope. I expect it to produce the biggest explosion in Haven history.” I sighed and shook my head. “I’m afraid it’s also going to damage a lot of property around the edge of the lake. Maybe I can find a way to make it up to the people later.”

  Heidi shook her head. “I don’t understand. How big is this rock?”

  “About three meters by two. It’s a nickel-iron asteroid, and should mass about five tonnes when it hits, I think. But Heidi, by the time it strikes that lake it will be red hot, and will be traveling nearly as fast as a pellet from one of your rifles. I’m not sure whether it will break up in the air above the lake, or explode on impact with the water, or splash down. What I do know is that Haven has never seen anything like it. We will, of course, be recording it from all possible angles, so the footage can be provided to all the nations. I’d hoped we wouldn’t need this demonstration, but I can’t spend the rest of my life dodging assassins and kidnappers. Every government on Haven will know that if we can drop one in a lake, we can certainly drop one on a city.”

  Heidi looked shocked. “Jerd! You wouldn’t!”

  I was annoyed. I shook my head. “Of course I wouldn’t. That’s why I didn’t want to do it at all. The problem with a bluff is that there’s always a chance some fool will call you on it. And I’m about to run a bluff on an entire planet!”

  I turned my attention back to Lisa. “How long do you estimate from release to impact?

  “I will have plenty of orbits to set and verify the trajectory. I would estimate that from the time you signal ‘release’ until impact would be between three minutes and two hours, depending upon where the asteroid is in its orbit. I will, of course, be able to provide a much more accurate prediction at the time.”

  I chuckled. “I’m sure.” I turned back to Heidi. “I’m sorry, Heidi, but I will have to go to Cellia. I’m the only one that can possibly get into Len’s presence to warn him and make sure he’s watching.”

  Heidi’s “NO!” was a screech, and it took more than an hour to calm her down enough to discuss it dispassionately. We had high-resolution pictures of Len’s palace, a sprawling monstrosity that covered more than a hectare. I pointed out a terrace that seemed large enough, and near the top floor.

  She sighed. “Yes, it’s right outside his office. It’s covered by two guard posts at the outer edge, and two more in the corners of the building, here and here.” She indicated them. “They’ll open fire as soon as you come near. You won’t even manage to land.”

  I smiled, “Oh, I think I will. I’ll have loudspeakers telling him I’ve come to talk to him. I don’t think he’ll have his people shoot me down. He knows what will happen if I die. But I have to be there, Heidi. I have to know that he’s in that office, and that he’s watching. I can’t have him thinking it’s some sort of trick. He has to know it’s real!”

  She was still glowering. “And what if he, uh, ‘calls your bluff’? What if he captures you and tortures you to force you to turn over command of Adventurer?”

  My smile disappeared. “I’ve thought about it. I’ll tell him I have to do it from the ship itself. Then I’ll take him into space. My playground. He’ll never bother Cellia again.” I guess my face was as grim as my tone, because Heidi actually shuddered.

  Her shoulders slumped. “Then I will go too.”

  I shook my head. “Don’t be ridiculous. He considers you a traitor. He’d probably have you shot on sight.”

  She shook her head. “No. He’ll want to gloat first. He’ll tell me all about my faithlessness, my betrayal, and how I deserve every twinge of the pain I’m about to suffer. But you’ll be the star of the show. You’ll have nearly all his attention. And that might give me the break I need to kill him.”

  I was still shaking my head. “Then what? Even if you kill him, his guards will just cut you down.”

  She took a deep breath. “Even so, I’ll have freed my nation, my people, from that … that excrescence!” She paused, calmed. “But I don’t think so. I think he’ll want to talk to us alone. He’ll like the intimacy of threatening me in private. And you, well, he’ll probably think he can convince you to join him. At least long enough to transfer your command authority.”

  We argued for several more hours, but finally settled the question. Heidi would go. I’m not sure how I managed to lose that argument, but at some point Lisa joined Heidi, and it was all downhill from there.

  12 hours before drop, a ‘bot-driven work boat nudged up to the asteroid and clamped onto it with magnetic grapples. Lisa released her own clamps, and the boat eased the rock away from the ship. It boosted into a carefully calculated orbit. The boat provided guidance and acceleration that would raise the entry speed of the rock. Lisa practiced again and again, inserting the rock on its trajectory.

  6 hours before drop, the smallest lander, the gig, under the control of a ‘bot pilot, drove downward toward Cellia. Despite dodging fire from antiaircraft weapons and even gunboats, it continued to blare out its looped warning, telling all boats to clear the lake, and that any boats still on the lake in five hours might be destroyed. It circled over the lake for four hours, counting down the deadline, while the artillery wasted ammunition and a furious Len screamed curses at his antiaircraft crews. Three fishing boats were sunk and four more damaged by spent artillery shells.

  Finally, 30 minutes before drop, the gig returned. It was again piloted by a ‘bot, but this time it carried Heidi and me.

  Before I let her leave the ship with the laser, though, I set the ID lock, of course. If anyone managed to take the laser, the moment they held it in the firing position and touched the firing stud, the laser would detect the difference in the user, and instantly melt down. The thief might not lose his hand, if he was very lucky. I’m not a laser man, but my blaster featured the same protections.

  We were jostled around quite a bit as the ‘bot dodged antiaircraft fire, which increased the closer we approached the palace. As soon as I was sure we were within hearing range of the public address system, I began calling for Len to cease fire, that I was aboard the gig, and had an item of great importance to discuss with him. After a few long moments, the fire slackened and stopped. We slanted in toward a landing on the terrace as dozens of armed troops poured out of the palace and formed a cordon.

  Using the gig was a calculated risk. The work boats were designed to haul freight to and from starports. They were equipped with fingerprint locks to prevent thefts. The
gig had no such security, but we had decided that since Lisa was monitoring my mastoid implant and my comm bracelet, if something bad happened, the ‘bot could lift off and escape before Len could seize the gig. Still, we hurried to get clear of the lock before Len appeared.

  He approached at the head of an armed eight-man squad. I was once again struck by his resemblance to the stereotype of a used flitter salesman. This was a working day for him; the flashy uniform with all the glitter had been replaced by what I had learned was a typical business suit on Haven. But this one displayed a garish pattern of colored squares.

  He was smaller than I expected, as well. Even Heidi was taller than his balding head, and his elite guards towered over him. The fancy uniform must have been padded, I decided, since he looked rather skinny and frail in the suit. He stopped as he recognized Heidi, and smiled, a nasty, evil smile. “Well! Mistress Bauer! An unexpected pleasure. Ah, but I ignore the wonderful Captain, here, savior of our planet.” His tone was heavy with sarcasm.

  I smiled. “I guess I am wonderful, if you couldn’t face me without several dozen armed troops. Frightened, Maximum Leader?”

  He flushed and his eyes narrowed, but after a long moment, the smile resurfaced. “Let’s just call it an ‘honor guard’, shall we? For an unexpected and uninvited guest.”

  “Ah, well, I didn’t realize we were intruding. We’ll just …” I moved as if to return to the gig.

  “Not quite yet, I think, Captain.” The smile was gone now, the expression deadly serious. He turned to the officer commanding the squad. “Escort the Captain and the traitor into my office. Strip them naked, and make certain they’re not armed. Pay particular attention to the woman; she is a skilled assassin. Chain them hand and foot to chairs, and then leave us.”

  A tall, distinguished-looking man wearing the insignia of a General stepped forward. “Is that wise, Maximum Leader? Perhaps a few trusted men …”

  Len whirled on him. “Trusted by whom, General? By you? I’m in less danger without them.”

  The general bowed and retreated. “As you wish, Great Leader.” But the glare that surfaced as he turned away was anything but respectful.

  The guard squad was no rougher than necessary, except when Len was watching. Then they would try to impress him. In a very few minutes we sat handcuffed with mechanical cuffs to hard, straight chairs. Each ankle was cuffed to a chair leg, and our wrists cuffed behind the chair backs. Our clothing, weapons and belongings lay on the huge desk occupying the center of the large room.

  The General watched as the troops formed up and marched out, then turned to Len. Len raised an eyebrow, and the General backed out, bowing. Len hurried to the door and threw two heavy deadbolts. Our Len didn’t seem to have a lot of trust in his own people.

  Len turned from the door with a broad smile. His pace had slowed to a casual stroll. He walked over to his desk, picked up my blaster, and took it from its holster. I took a deep breath and suppressed a wince as he pointed it at Heidi. Luckily, he didn’t touch the firing stud. If he had, he’d have been screaming in agony as the blaster turned to molten metal and plas in his hand.

  He lowered the blaster and turned to smile cheerfully at Heidi. “I cannot imagine why you would even dream of returning here, Heidi, after such a sickening betrayal.”

  Heidi smiled sourly. “As opposed to your sickening betrayal by blowing my cover, and then assigning Giselle to kill me.”

  Len didn’t even look embarrassed. “Ah, yes. Unfortunate, that. But surely you can see that once your parents died, you were no longer reliable?” He was enjoying this. He began toying with the items on the desk. When he turned back to Heidi, though, his expression was fierce.

  “But you betrayed me, my dear! After all I’d done for you! Rescuing you from that poverty-stricken family, training you, educating you …”

  “Training me to become a monster!”

  Now he scowled. “Training you to become an agent of your nation, your homeland! Serving your Glorious Leader, and killing the enemies of your country!”

  Heidi snorted. “’Glorious’ leader now, eh? What’s the matter, son of a truck driver? Running out of superlatives?”

  Len jumped up and slapped her. “Shut up, traitor!” After a moment he settled back onto the desk. I noticed he was toying absently with Heidi’s silver needler.

  He turned his attention to me. “Captain!” He almost shouted. “I owe you gratitude for bringing this traitor back for punishment. I and my people will have hours of fun with her before she is killed, unfortunately, trying to escape.” He turned quickly back to Heidi, “By the way,” he said to her in an aside, “you’re under arrest, bitch.”

  He turned back to me, and his smile was firmly in place. “Now, Captain, I must confess to a certain amount of surprise at your rather impetuous visit. And what is this nonsense about the lake?”

  “The lake?” I asked, “Oh, just a small demonstration we’ve arranged for your benefit. Call it a spectacular show. It’s scheduled for about … ten minutes from now.”

  He frowned, still toying with the silver box. He was starting to become impatient, and I began to wonder if … His voice interrupted my train of thought. “Ten minutes? Very inconsiderate of you, Captain, making me wait. But in the meantime we can discuss how and when you are going to transfer command of Adventurer over to me …” He tossed the silver box at me. “What is this thing?” he demanded. “Open it!”

  I caught it between my bare knees, and shrugged. “It’s an offplanet gadget I gave Heidi. It's called a 'puzzle box'. I don’t know how to open it, but she does.”

  Len looked curious. “Really? The great spaceman can’t open it but a traitor bitch from Haven can. Interesting.” He stepped to me, picked up the box, put it in Heidi’s lap. She simply looked at him. “I can’t open it behind my back. I have to be able to see what I’m doing.”

  He frowned. Then he walked around to the other side of the desk, came back with one of those projectile hand weapons, a ‘revolver’. The hole in the end looked huge. He threw a glance at the weapons on the desk. “I’ll learn to use those later,” he said. “This will do for now.” He reached into a pocket and pulled out a handcuff key. A thrill went through me as he unlocked her handcuffs. He stepped back and, weapon pointed, ordered her to lock them again in front of her. She obeyed.

  He walked back around to her front, and pocketed the key again. “All right, smart bitch, show me how to open it.”

  Her fingers flew; evidently, she’d been practicing. In seconds, she snatched the tiny needler from the box and triggered it. Needlers are almost silent, using a combination of highly pressurized air and a tiny mass driver. There was only a soft f-f-f-f-f-f-f-t-t-t-t-t-t- as Heidi held down the trigger and sent an entire magazineful of 750 1mm hardened needles to chew out Len’s throat.

  His weapon fell from nerveless fingers. His lips worked, but there was no sound from his ruined throat except gurgling coughs. He stared at Heidi with widened eyes for a moment before sliding to the floor.

  Chapter 6

  Heidi threw herself forward off the chair to the floor. Lying on her belly in Len’s blood, she fished in the dead man’s pockets until she retrieved the handcuff key. She unlocked her wrists and ankles, and then freed me. She hurried to the windows and pulled the draperies all the way shut. Then she used one of them to wipe the blood off her belly and breasts. She grinned at me. “That’s one demonstration you won’t have to give,” she said.

  “I hope you’re right,” I replied. We began pulling on our clothes.

  When we were ready, Heidi went to the door and threw the deadbolts, while I went behind the desk and uncorked the speaking tube marked ‘GEN’. I blew into it, and then “General,” I said, trying to sound as much as possible like Len, “Come here.”

  Then I hurried to the other side of the door, just as I heard heavy footsteps approach. The General opened the door to find himself facing a laser and a blaster, and, since those were unfamiliar weapons, Heidi also
held Len’s huge hand weapon.

  The General stopped for a moment, and then quickly stepped inside, closing the door carefully behind him. He looked at me. “He’s dead, then?”

  I smiled and indicated Len’s sprawled corpse. The General walked casually over, ignoring our weapons, and stood over his dead leader. His eyes widened as he saw the massive wound that had almost severed Len’s head. He shook his head and turned away.

  He raised his eyes to mine. “You have relieved Cellia of a pig,” he said. “What now?”

  “General Horst Runtz, holder of the Cellian Star of Honor, and even the New Home Legion of Honor for your actions during the great flood. Heidi tells me you once were a man of honor, a man of great accomplishments, a hero. At the moment, only you and we know of Len’s death. What will you do now, General?”

  For a moment, he looked doubtful. “Me?” he asked. Then he straightened and his voice firmed. “Me. Yes, of course, me. Only I know the extent of the man’s evil, and how much of it can be undone. Am I to understand you are giving me Cellia?”

  I shook my head. “I’m not giving you anything, General. The details of Len’s death are yours to tell. You have an opportunity to take his place, or to free Cellia from tyranny. We have given Cellia a chance. You must give her a future.”

  I asked Heidi to show Runtz how to use Len’s tablet. While they talked excitedly, I stepped aside to talk privately to Lisa. “Cancel the drop, Lisa. I don’t think we’ll need it. At least not now.”

  “Done, Captain. I’m recalling the workboat now.”

  I turned back as the General walked back around Len’s desk. He picked up a speaking tube, blew into it. “Doctor,” he said. “You’re needed in the Maximum Leader’s office. He seems to have suffered a stroke or a heart attack. Yes. Thank you.”

  He corked the tube and hung it back up. “It might be best if no, uh, ‘foreigners’ were present when our Maximum Leader is found dead,” he said with a smile. “Please, allow me to escort you to your craft.”

  I shook my head as we lifted. I still couldn’t believe that stupid ‘make her open the box’ trick had worked.