Star Wolf (Shattered Galaxy)

by David G. Johnson

  “Look,” Voide interjected, “can we stop drooling over their hardware and get onto the part where we get away without blowing ourselves up or ripping a hole in voidspace?”

  “Patience, Miss Congeniality, I’m getting there,” Dub answered with what passed for a smile on his disfigured face. “When we were patching up Star Wolf’s systems and crew, I noticed they had rigged our hull with strange packages near the docking clamps. They tried to be sneaky about it, but I have sensors even Voide doesn’t know about. Nothing happens on any ship I maintain without me knowing about it.”

  “We appreciate your diligence, Dub,” Molon answered. “I’m guessing those were the explosives Smythe mentioned he had installed?”

  “Yep. Directional plasmatic charges. If those docking clamps disengage without disarming them, they’ll perforate Star Wolf like a flechette rifle through a paper doll.”

  “I take it you have a plan to make that not happen?” Molon quipped. Dub adopted an indignant look.

  “What do you take me for, Cap, some half-wit dock hand?”

  “Of course not, Dub.”

  “Well, it’s a good thing that’s exactly what those Hornet’s Nest engineers took me for. Duh, big dumb malmorph help smart guys fix pretty ship,” Dub said, mocking a slow-witted slur with that last line.

  Molon laughed and John looked confused as Molon explained the comment to the puzzled doctor.

  “Most people have little experience interacting with malmorphs. They assume physical deformities also mean mental impairment. This is not the first time Dub has played dumb to trick hostiles into underestimating him.”

  “Yep, well while they weren’t looking I set my army of micro-drones to find and disarm the charges. The charges are inert now, with our would-be saboteurs none the wiser. I had my drones wire up fake signal emitters, so as far as Hornet’s Nest knows, everything is still set to blow.”

  Molon was truly blessed to have found an engineer of Dub’s talent looking for a billet. His malmorphsy kept most captains from considering him, but Molon had learned long ago not to judge by appearances.

  “Solid work, chief,” Molon said, lighting up in a grateful smile at Dub.

  “Thanks, Cap,” Dub answered. “That little trick put the ship out of immediate danger, but didn’t put us back in possession of a captain, security chief, comms officer, or doctor. I hacked into their ship’s systems to find where you were being held, which is when I found Hornet’s Nest’s nifty blueprints. Unfortunately, the power specs were locked down tighter than a bull’s butt during fly season, but the info on your location wasn’t classified.”

  “So you found us,” Molon said, “but how in the galaxy did you take out the Hornet’s Nest crew without affecting us?”

  “Ah, the wonders of modern engineering,” Dub replied. “Capital ship sickbays are equipped with hardened screening in the walls for quarantine purposes.”

  “See, I told you,” John interjected, a smug smile on his face roughly aimed in Voide’s direction.

  “Hardened screens protect against neural weapons,” Dub added.

  Molon was still puzzled.

  “Uh, last time I checked,” Molon said, scratching his head and wondering where Dub was going with this. “Star Wolf isn’t outfitted with neural weapons.”

  “Star Wolf isn’t,” Dub said, giving Molon a wide, mutant grin. “But Hornet’s Nest is.”

  A lupine grin mirroring Dub’s crept across Molon’s snout as what Dub had done dawned on him.

  “You turned their own weapons against them?” John asked.

  “Yep,” Dub said with a wink in John’s direction. “I set up a feedback malfunction in their spinal mount which dumped a neural pulse field down the length of her. Not quite as effective as being hit by the actual weapon, but with no one aboard expecting an attack, it was effective enough.”

  “Fantastic!” John exhorted.

  “Not bad for a critically deformed mutant, huh Doc?”

  “You just earned a feature spot in that research paper, Dub!” John replied with a laugh.

  “Great work, Dub,” Molon said. “Now, we can detach Star Wolf from Hornet’s Nest and be on our way.”

  “No, you cannot, captain,” came a voice across the loudspeaker in the conference room. “Captain Smythe anticipated you might desire to leave early, so he put the strongest encryption at his disposal on the overrides for the docking clamps.”

  “What the…?” Voide interjected and grabbed her security scanner and began sweeping the room. Molon’s superior Lubanian hearing already recognized the voice even with the transmission distortion.

  “Brother Martin?” Molon answered the disembodied voice, mentally biting himself for foregoing the customary security sweep. “I thought you might be taking an afternoon nap with the rest of your shipmates.”

  “Yes, quite a clever plan, that. It might have worked perfectly, but unfortunately for you I have a little secret of my own.”

  “You are a psionic,” Mel stated, matter-of-factly.

  “Very perceptive. I’m guessing I am addressing the Fei officer from the CCB?”

  “It is obvious,” Mel replied, ignoring Brother Martin’s request for identification. “If Dub used a neural weapon against the crew, unless you were somehow shielded, you must have your own psionic defenses.”

  “I’ve found the bug, Molon,” Voide interrupted before Brother Martin could respond. Her scanner flashed rapidly above the far end of the conference table. “Do you want me to destroy it?”

  “That would be unadvisable,” Brother Martin answered. “At least for the moment. While my tap-in to your ship’s conference room comms system allows me to talk to you, I’m afraid if you disable the listening device we placed there then it will become a one-sided conversation.”

  “Leave it for now, Voide,” Molon ordered. “So what do you want, Martin? We’ve not harmed your crew. We just want to leave peacefully.”

  “Brother Martin, if you please, captain, and I believe you already know what we want. Turn over Dr. Elena Salzmann’s research and we can discuss your peaceful departure.”

  “Nice try, dreckball,” Voide snapped. “Zebedee and Smythe already said we aren’t going anywhere now that we know your plans. The only reason we are still alive is you don’t have your hands on what you are after yet. As soon as you do, Smythe will be quick to dispose of his inconvenient guests.”

  “Voide has a point,” Molon added. “If you force my hand, I will fire up Star Wolf’s weapons systems and blast ourselves free, leaving large holes in the hull that stands between you and raw voidspace. So how about you release the docking clamps and let us go our separate ways?”

  “From our brief times together, captain, I am convinced you are a moral sophont. I sincerely doubt you would murder an entire ship’s crew when we have treated you well and have not harmed a single one of your crewmen. We are not murderers, captain, and neither are you. I am afraid I must call your bluff.”

  Molon pounded a fist on the table. Whether or not he believed the Brothers of the Lion would not kill them, Brother Martin was right. Molon was bluffing. He would have to find another way.

  “Voide, destroy that bug and have your security teams sweep the ship for any others. Dub, secure all ships systems immediately and make sure we are cut off from any remote access coming from Hornet’s Nest.”

  “Aye, sir” they said in unison.

  Voide gleefully crushed the listening device and started tapping orders into her wrist comm unit. Dub’s NID snaked its way to jack into the conference table console while his fingers furiously pounded away at the keyboard of the terminal.

  “So, Molon,” Twitch said with a compassionate look. “What now?”

  “I have no idea, but if we don’t do something soon, Hornet’s Nest’s crew is going to wake up from nap time, and we are going to have more trouble than we know what to do with.”

  “Captain,” John said, tentatively. “I have an idea, but I doubt you are going to li
ke it.”

  “Right now, Doc, I’ll take all the ideas I can get.”

  Nineteen – Clean Break

  John recoiled. He had expected resistance, but found himself on the receiving end of far more than he had anticipated as Voide shouted at him across the conference table.

  “Are you insane?”

  “Probably, but still,” John replied. “It makes perfect sense. I read up on Prophane physiology after our trip together on Tede. Besides their own bodies, Prophane can force a certain amount of matter to transition with them when they phase into voidspace. That’s how your clothing, weapons, breathers, etc. go back and forth.”

  “You are an idiot,” Voide grumbled. “I already told you, I phase to realspace and I’m lost in space, adrift forever, you stupid pale. Do you not get that, or are you trying to get me killed?”

  “Just hear me out,” John answered as the rest of the senior officers watched this verbal sparring match with silent interest. “According to the research, they have been attempting experiments with Pariahs forcing objects into voidspace without actually transitioning themselves. It’s like a space flight where you check your luggage but you don’t actually board the ship.”

  “You are deranged. We are not talking about booking a berth on a spacer, we are talking about a biological function that is like a reflex for me. I don’t have that kind of precise control over it. It would be like me asking you to will your own heart to stop. Could you pull that off?”

  John scratched his head wondering if she were being serious or just baiting him again.

  “Possibly, I suppose, with enough incentive and practice. But even if I could not stop it completely, there are verifiable studies where humans have been able to slow down or speed up their heart rate purely by willing it. Others have been able to control other involuntary biological functions like body temperature and blood pressure. Besides, the studies say other Pariahs have had some limited success in doing this. I can talk you through it.”

  Voide stood up, took a double-handed grip on the edge of the table, and leaned in John’s direction as though she were seconds from pouncing on him.

  “So you are going to employ your vast experience with personally phasing into and out of voidspace to talk me through it, huh?”

  John ran his fingers through his hair as he and Voide stood locked in a mutual stare. John knew he had to keep his cool if he was going to get through to her. Without one of her more respected peers weighing in to break the stalemate, John knew he would never convince Voide to even give it a try.

  “Voide may be right,” Twitch added. “This is a heck of a gamble. Can’t we just use tools to sever the connection with their airlock and break free?”

  “It’s not that simple,” Dub answered. “Theoretically I could use a fusion torch to cut off the end of the docking cuff completely, but that would take a couple of hours. Those cuffs are built to withstand battle damage from ship weapons, radiation, and the vacuum of space while maintaining pressure. It would also mean whoever was doing the cutting would be exposed to raw voidspace as they completed the cut. Enviro-suits have never been tested in raw voidspace. No idea how they would hold up under extended exposure. Voide is the only one we know who might be able to do this work and survive.”

  “That sounds like a less insane option than what this idiot pale is proposing,” Voide replied.

  “Maybe not,” Molon added. “Training you to use the fusion torch equipment is one thing, but we have no idea how long Hornet’s Nest’s crew is going to be out. The last thing we need is having to somehow repel a boarding party while you are trying to cut us free. You’d be an open target out there.”

  “They’d be no more able to sustain raw voidspace than our crew would. Once I start cutting, that’d be my protection.”

  “Just because we wouldn’t risk field testing vac-suits against raw voidspace doesn’t mean they wouldn’t. Besides, they could set up remote weaponry on their end, or just say forget the whole thing and use ship’s weapons to blast Star Wolf. No, whatever we do needs to be quick and as safe as we can make it.”

  “That’s why my plan is better,” John said, seizing the moment. “I could talk her through this fairly quickly. We could break free, bring Voide back inside our airlock, and be off before anyone besides Brother Martin wakes up.”

  Mel frowned and twitched nervously.

  “There may be another problem,” Mel said.

  “Such as?” John asked.

  “If Brother Martin is a psionic,” said the blue-skinned Fei comms officer, “it is unlikely that his abilities are limited to defense. He may have a way to mentally attack anyone trying to sever the connection between the ships.”

  “Great,” Molon grumbled. “We know the PI Marines had psi-shielded helmets, but it is doubtful we could board Hornet’s Nest and raid their armor lockers for a psi-shielded helmet before they start waking up from their nap.”

  “I could do it,” Mel replied.

  John swallowed hard at the idea of Mel putting herself into further danger.

  “Do what?” he asked.

  “I could shield her. I would need to be close, and would have to have line of sight, but if I was inside the airlock while Voide was working outside, I believe I could keep her safe.”

  “Are your abilities stronger than Brother Martin’s?” John asked.

  “I have no idea how powerful a psionic Brother Martin is, but I am confident my abilities should be sufficient to at least buy Voide time to do her work.”

  “Thanks for the offer, powder-puff,” Voide snapped. “But everyone seems to be forgetting this whole plan revolves around some hermit-world pale talking me through something I am not sure is even possible and that he has only read about. That kind of renders this plan useless, don’t you think?”

  John swallowed hard, remembering Molon’s warning about pushing Voide too far, but the time had come to raise the bet or fold his hand. If they didn’t break free, a lot more than John’s life would be in danger.

  “What’s the matter, Voide? Are you afraid to try? Or is it the possibility I might be right that’s really eating you?”

  The other bridge officers drew a collective breath as Molon and Twitch tensed, presumably preparing to intercept Voide if she leapt to rip out John’s throat. No rage-filled attack came from the security chief. Instead, a slow smile crept across her face, bearing her extended canines in a feral grin.

  “You’ve got guts, pale,” she said to John. “Heck of a gamble going the one place you knew would get my full and undivided attention. If you are that willing to risk your own life to talk me into this plan, I guess I’ve got nothing to lose giving it my best effort. If it fails, that’ll save me the trouble of killing you. If it works, that’ll either balance the books or I’ll decide to kill you anyway. So, Doc. What do I need to do?”

  *****

  Voide adjusted her breathing mask and double-checked the security cable anchoring her to the frame of Star Wolf’s airlock. Dub had removed four access panels to expose the locked docking clamps attaching the ship to Hornet’s Nest’s docking sleeve. Just beyond the airlock door, safely inside Star Wolf, were Mel and John. Voide spoke into the communicator built into her breathing mask.

  “Okay, pale, what now?”

  “Voide,” John’s voice came back across the comms. “You need to go to the first access panel, place your hands on the docking clamp, and close your eyes.”

  “What?” she snapped. “Am I phasing or meditating? Can we cut the hocus-pocus and just tell me what I need to do?”

  “Look,” John said, his exasperation clear even through the comm system. “You can argue with me every step of the way, in which case Hornet’s Nest’s crew will wake up and blast you to atoms before we get through this or you can just trust me. According to the studies, closing your eyes will help you visualize. You are doing something new here. If you use your normal senses it will only confuse and impede you.”

  “Please, Voide, liste
n to John,” came Mel’s soft voice.

  “Stow it, powder-puff!” Voide snapped. “You just keep Brother Martin from frying my egg. That’s your job.”

  Voide had instructed her security teams to seal the far end of the docking umbilical and plant a remote, motion sensing blaster station to guard the door. It was unlikely any physical breach would be coming this way without her knowing about it, but she had never trusted psionics. She didn’t understand their abilities, and in her experience killing things one didn’t understand was generally the safest bet.

  She hadn’t gotten to know Mel very well. The soft-spoken, overly empathic comms officer wasn’t exactly her type of person. Still, Fei were known to have some psionic abilities, and what she had seen from Mel indicated she might have more ability than anyone suspected. Voide could only hope whatever was going on in that blue head of Mel’s was stronger than whatever Brother Martin had worked so hard to keep hidden.

  Either way, the clock was ticking and they needed to break free of Hornet’s Nest soon or all that wouldn’t matter anyway. She moved to the access panel, reached out to touch the docking clamp, and closed her eyes.

  “Okay, Doc, what next? You gonna lead me in a chant?”

  “Knock it off, Voide. When you phase into voidspace, what are you normally thinking when you do it?”

  “Nothing. I told you. It’s like a reflex.”

  “Work with me. When you phase, your feet are touching the floor, your body is touching your clothing, and if you have anything in your hand, that goes with you as well. So how do you manage to take some things with you but not the floor or the walls or some part of the ship?”

  Voide didn’t like this analysis session. Still, if she was going to do this, she was going to have to follow John’s lead. If others had done it, she could too. She cleared her mind and prepared as if she was going to voidspace jump. She visualized the process in her mind, slowing it down and examining it as if she were watching a holovid.