Silver stood in the airlock onboard Razor. She was talking with her agents who had all now converged on Pepper.
“Do you know where that ship is heading?” one of the rookies asked.
Silver only had a guess. “I think Gov Central is looking vulnerable. That cruiser will be there before the military could react. One cruiser crashed into Gov Central and the whole system would be in disarray. My gut says Gov Central is the target.”
“Shoot the damn thing to pieces,” Lithium said. “If they’ve killed all the passengers then what are you waiting for. You’ve found them, now end them.”
“No,” Silver said calmly. She expected this sort of tactic from Lithium. “I want to take these three alive.”
“Then wait until we can assist you.” It was the best suggestion Silver had ever heard from Iron Jax, but the hijackers didn’t know they had been found and every second was risking discovery. Discovery could mean failure.
“I need to do this now while we have the element of surprise. If I fail make sure you stop them.”
Standing in the airlock, Silver prepared herself. She set her tac suit’s environment to protect her against the merciless void of space. Leaping from one craft to another was dangerous, particularly when the other craft was piloted by hijackers. Silver knew the civilian cruiser could change course at any time. Time was of the essence. She needed to cover the distance from Razor to the hijacked cruiser as quickly as possible.
The gravity deflection field was set to catapult Silver on her command and propel her across the vacuum of space to the cruiser up ahead.
“You’ll be in position in 10 seconds,” Arty said.
“Keep a trace on me,” Silver said. “You might need to come and get me if this goes wrong.”
“You are in position now,” Arty informed her.
Silver leapt from the airlock and powered the gravity field. She accelerated away from the Razor and toward the cruiser.
The civilian ship was far larger than a police cruiser. It grew in size rapidly as Silver flew toward it. The civilian cruiser was an overgrown cousin of the police service cruiser, designed to move lots of people or material about the system. It was not fast or particularly durable. It wasn’t designed to be anything but a transport ship.
Silver passed the midway point between Razor and the cruiser. She flipped the suit’s gravity field from Razor and focused it on the cruiser, inverting the field so it drew her toward the cruiser. Her speed increased still. Silver wanted to reach the cruiser while it was set on its current course and speed. Any change in the huge craft’s course or speed presented the chance of her missing the target and having to try to board the ship again.
The upper hull of the cruiser came closer and closer until, at the last moment, Silver reoriented the gravity field to ensure a soft landing on the upper hull of the huge ship.
The white outer hull of the craft was set with many portholes. The upper hull was dominated by a star window, a twenty-meter square section of clear hull that presented the passengers with views of the cosmos as they moved across the system. Silver could see several passengers slumped in their chairs, some forward over a stylish cocktail bar while others lay haphazardly on the thickly carpeted floor.
Coming closer still Silver could see the vomit at the mouths of the fallen. The passengers had been poisoned, possibly by a gas introduced into the ventilation system.
A moment before touching down just to the aft of that huge window Silver saw a hijacker walking through the spacious passenger cabin, stepping over the dead. He held a bottle of liquor in his hand but his face was still covered and protected against whatever poison had been used to kill the passengers.
Silver touched down gently on the hull. All seemed still and quiet, but Silver knew she was traveling at terrific speed and heading toward Pepper and the seat of civil power in the system, Gov Central. She would have to act fast if she was going to stop these hijackers from following through on their plan. A plan Silver suspected involved the destruction of Gov Central.
Silver observed the hijacker for a moment. She could glean some information about the hijack team from this one member’s demeanor. Was he nervous or calm, amateur or well trained? Were these hijackers equipped with weaponry or did they seize this vessel with little more than a bottle of poison gas and a few respirators?
The hijacker checked something on his wrist. He shook his wrist and checked again before removing his respirator. He seemed a little anxious to breathe until he finally took a breath. Silver watched as the man exhaled and took a second breath. At last he seemed to settle and was breathing freely. He pulled the stopper from the bottle he was holding. He put the bottle to his lips and drank deeply before striding off toward the forward section of the craft. Once hidden from view Silver moved. She needed inside quickly.
Moving back along the craft Silver found a portion of hull made from the same composite as most police and military ships. The ship was made of self-repairing material with a degree of intelligence, enough at least to control its own maintenance. Silver began cutting a slash into the material with her blazer until she was able to press her body through the cut. Beneath the composite laid a tangle of cables and pipes, some soft and malleable, others fleshy and slick with nutrient fluids. Silver slipped through and came to a section of the inner hull.
After closing the wound in the composite and sealing herself in the pipe system cavity Silver readied herself to cut through the rigid inner hull. This was a dangerous moment. If she was spotted cutting through, she would be an easy target, assuming they had any weapons with them. Spaceport security was strict but anyone determined to get a weapon onto a civilian cruiser would surely find a way so weapons certainly weren’t out of the question. Silver cut quickly, her blazer cutting and melting the rigid inner hull. It fell away in huge molten blobs. Silver set her grav field and created a high energy field around her. It buckled the cut hull and bent it away from her as she cut. Within seconds she was able to drop through and into the cruiser.
She had cut her way into a crew area. There were walls packed with basic storage and crew bunks. Silver saw a hand of what looked to be a woman hanging out from one of the bunks. A young air stewardess lay dead in her bunk. Civilian cruisers were mostly served by drone servants but there were always some caring and giving people who were happy to join the crew. This woman was one such person. She had probably planned to give a few years in the service of others before returning to a life of comfort. She had given her life.
Releasing a single bloodhound drone to detect the locations of the three hijackers Silver moved forward. The passage from the crew area led to the wide open bar area with its scattered dead. There was vomit around every mouth. There was extreme hemorrhaging from the nose and also droplets of blood in the corners of the eyes. From the way the bodies lay, it appeared that it was a slow and uncomfortable death.
Silver heard the drinking hijacker up ahead. He was in the cabin further along, talking to companions between swigs of liquor.
“Yeah, they’re all dead,” Silver heard him say, and then after a pause. “Yes, the air is good now. So is the whiskey.”
Silver moved forward silently. She was within striking distance. Better to let the conversation come to an end before incapacitating the hijacker.
“You need to keep a clear head and fly this thing.” The hijacker sounded anxious. “I’ll have a drink if I want.”
Silver let herself look through the bulkhead with her visors multi spectral image scan, an image constructed from bloodhound data, thermal, audio, and even chemical data. The lone hijacker was standing with his back to Silver, his head tipped back and a bottle pressed to his lips. Silver set her blazer to deliver a close-range concussion blast. She stepped up behind the drinking hijacker, pointed the blazer at the base of the head and discharged the blast.
The hijacker’s legs folded under him and the bottle fell from his hand. Silver swiped the bottle out of the air before it could hit the floor.
She placed the bottle quietly on the floor next to the fallen hijacker. If discovered it would look as if he had taken an alcohol induced nap. The concussion round would keep the man unconscious for half an hour, enough time for her to take the other hijackers.
Silver received more data from the single bloodhound. The other two hijackers were at the cockpit. One inside, one outside. The bloodhound detected no weaponry on the hijacker outside the cockpit. This hijacker was presumably standing guard. The data showed the hijacker to be standing with her back to the cockpit door, facing aft toward any who would approach. The data also showed the hijacker to be a woman. Judging from the respiratory data the bloodhound returned the woman was fit. Silver would have to be careful, and quick.
Keeping out of sight as she approached the final cabin before the cockpit door, the bloodhound informed her that the hijacker was only ten meters ahead. Silver heard her speak.
“Answer me,” the hijacker demanded. “Take the bottle out of your face and answer me. Fine, don’t answer me. Maybe I’ll leave you on board and you can smash into Gov Central with the rest of the freaking ship.”
She had been right. You have to protect the head, she thought to herself. The spate of bombings had been a prelude to this attack. Develop the threat and then scatter the fleet in an attempt to counter it. Only then would the defense be weakened to the extent that a civilian cruiser could be smashed into the head, the seat of civilian power. Gov Central was so close to destruction, only Silver could stop it now.
Silver stepped out into the opening in the bulkhead and stood before the hijacker. Silver fired her blazer, a concussion round to the face of the attacker. She watched that face turn in the briefest moment from confidence to surprise at seeing a stranger standing there. Then finally a fraction before the concussion blast did its work the hijackers face turned to fear as the realization that she had failed took over her.
It was a fast and silent takedown. All Silver had to do now was take the pilot.
Chapter 8
Arty kept Razor behind the hijacked cruiser. Agents Lithium, Iron and Sodium had arrived and were in formation with Razor.
“Detecting another ship coming in,” said Sodium.
“Confirmed,” Arty replied to the assembled agents. Arty made a note for Silver that a rookie had beaten two experienced agents to report the arrival of a new ship.
“Who is it? An agent?” Lithium asked.
“Negative,” Arty replied to all agents. “It’s military. Destroyer Intrepid.”
A launch from the Intrepid was detected by Arty. A mosquito was fired and was homing in on the civilian cruiser.
“Destroyer Intrepid,” Arty called out. “This is the AI of Chief Silver. The Chief is aboard that civilian vessel. Abort your mosquito attack immediately.”
The mosquito raced away from the still distant destroyer. “This is Captain Peel of the Intrepid. I have orders to destroy this vessel.”
Lithium acted impulsively and attacked the speeding mosquito. His cruiser fired a hail of solid kinetic rounds to create a mass of debris in front of the mosquito. The missile hit the cloud of debris, was instantly crippled and tumbled off course.
“Who is firing out there? Stand down or you will be destroyed.”
Lithium’s cruiser jets flared and the cruiser maneuvered in between the destroyer and the civilian craft.
“Who is that?” Captain Peel called again.
“This is agent Lithium Trel and you are interfering with an agent core operation. Stand down Destroyer Intrepid or you will be fired upon.”
Arty knew this was madness. A police cruiser was no match for a destroyer. Then Arty detected movement from Sodium’s cruiser. The rookie had taken position alongside Lithium.
“Ah, what the hell,” Iron said and his cruiser jets fired. The third agent was putting his cruiser in the path of the destroyer.
Arty messaged the intrepid AI. The cruiser had been hijacked, passengers killed. The cruiser was on a collision course with Gov Central.
The military AI confirmed this.
Arty sent another message informing the military AI that Chief Silver Cane was attempting to take the hijackers alive and discover who is behind this conspiracy to attack the system.
The military AI responded with a copy of the Captain’s orders to destroy the civilian craft.
Iron and Lithium sent message after message to captain Peel telling him their Chief was onboard.
“I have my orders, Agents. Move your ships aside or they will be damaged or destroyed.”
“You’ll be destroyed,” Lithium shouted, “and I’ll hang your bloody corpse over my ship afterward.”
The Intrepid fired another mosquito. The three agents scattered kinetic rounds in the path of the missile and destroyed it.
“Interfering with a military operation is treason,” Peel shouted. “The cruiser is almost at the atmosphere of Pepper. I have to destroy it now.”
Sodium sent a message direct to Captain Peel. “I am a rookie, Captain, and I have a lot to learn, but I know that we will never discover who is behind this if you destroy that ship. Give the Chief an opportunity to do her job. If she can’t find out who’s behind this attack it’ll only happen again. I’m only a rookie, Captain, but Silver is my Chief and I will protect her. Help us, Captain. Just give us time.”
Silver approached the cockpit door carefully. She checked the hijacker to ensure she was unconscious before moving to the cockpit door. Silver knew the layout of these civilian cruisers. A small cockpit for a flight crew of three lay behind this locked door. If necessary Silver could blast open the door but it would take a few moments in which time the hijacker would know for sure that they had been discovered. The cruiser could easily be destroyed before Silver could take control.
It was clear that the AI had been disabled. The ships AI would never have let the hijackers kill all the passengers. The cruiser was in the hands of the one murderous individual behind the cockpit door.
Silver had heard enough of the hijackers plan to know that they intended to leave the craft before it smashed into Gov Central. This was not intended to be a suicide mission, but any criminal determined enough to attempt a crime of this sort must have accepted that they might not make it out alive. Silver guessed the pilot would rather die than be taken alive.
It was risky, but Silver would have to force entry. She aimed her blazer at the center of the door and fired. The door took the powerful blast, charred composite falling away in smoldering chunks. She fired again, just to the side of the first impact and increased the weakened area.
Then Silver felt the craft pitch forward. She stumbled. The craft was plunging toward a huge gravity field. Silver guessed they had arrived at Pepper.
Silver fired again and again until the door was practically destroyed. She set her grav field and pressed herself into the charred and damaged door. It bucked and tore apart giving her access to the cockpit.
The cockpit window showed the inferno of re-entry as fire danced and flowed across the nose of the craft. The hijacker turned and attacked Silver, launching his heavy frame at the agent. A concussion round to the chest and the hijacker was flung backwards onto the flight control panel.
Silver dragged the fallen body of the hijacker off the control panel and dropped into the captain’s seat. She tapped at the controls. They were erratic. Lights blinked behind the dark composite flight control panel. A silent warning was blinking on the control panel. The craft was on a terminal dive. Silver might be able to direct the massive craft away from its target but the craft was going to smash into the planet surface.
“Arty, can you hear me?” Silver called out.
“Yes. I can hear you. Silver, you are in danger.”
“Yes.” The fire suddenly flickered away and showed the planet surface kilometers below, but approaching fast.
“The Defender is moments from arrival and a destroyer is attempting to shoot the civilian cruiser out of the sky. You must abandon the craft.”
“I’ve got prisoners here. They need to be taken to a re-education center. They must be interrogated.” Silver jabbed at the control panel as another warning lit up.
“Silver,” Arty said in a friendly manner, “The ship is in a terminal dive. Power is lost to the plasma jets. There is no time to correct your dive. The ship will collide with Gov Central in minutes. You must evacuate immediately.”
Silver looked back to the two hijackers lying unconscious on the floor by the cockpit door. She thought of the third laying in the passenger cabin.
“Silver,” Arty said, “The destroyer has launched a salvo of mosquitoes. We can’t stop them. Impact in 20 seconds. Destruction will be total. The craft will be vaporized.”
Silver slammed her fists against the controls. She climbed out of the chair and went to the two unconscious hijackers. She extended her gravity field around them. “Get ready to come and get me. I will be falling at near terminal velocity.”
Silver turned her blazer toward the forward cockpit window. She set it for its most powerful blast and fired.
The front of the cockpit exploded outward at first and then the speed of rushing air blew the debris back into the cockpit. Silver pressed forward against the rushing air, dragging her prisoners with her. She climbed out on the nose of the falling cruiser. She saw the salvo of mosquitoes cutting through the atmosphere above, seven of the missiles converging on her position. Silver diverted a little of the grav field strength to the cruiser and pressed herself away. She dragged the two hijackers with her. She was still too close. She set her blazer to emit a powerful blast, and deactivated the recoil inhibitor. This would be quite a jolt. Silver fired.
Pain shot through Silver’s right shoulder as the joint dislocated. She saw the cruiser tumble away but knew in truth it was her who was falling away from the cruiser. The blazer recoil had pushed her as far from the cruiser as she was going to get. Her right arm flailed helplessly. Her suit attempted to hold the joints steady as pain killers were released by her neural processor. She was not far enough away yet. Silver took the blazer in her left hand, stiffened the suit on her left arm and fired another blast again with recoil suppression deactivated. Again the pain but this time Silver did not suffer a dislocation. Silver continued to fall toward the planet’s surface and further from the cruiser.
Defense (Silver Cane Book 2) Page 5