by Jake Bible
“Diverting power from gravity engines and life support to thrusters,” Hole said. “We are sealed tight on the bridge and air supplies will last for at least an hour.”
“I trust you think we need the extra power to the thrusters?” Motherboard asked.
“You trust right,” Hole said.
Her hands began moving at an almost blinding speed as she made constant adjustments to the flight controls, taking the ship on a zigzagging route that would have had everyone throwing up if the gravity had been engaged. But in zero-g, no one could feel the sudden shifts up and down, left and right, around and around.
“I am trying not to give them a target to focus on,” Hole said, her eyes locked on the space before them while the others watched the holo image of the three nightmares. “I am hoping they are like most predators and a difficult target will not be so appealing.”
“If you think that then you don’t know predators very well,” Cookie said. “Sometimes it’s the challenge that is the lure.”
“Let’s hope not,” Motherboard said. “Do what you have to do, Hole, to get us to our destination.”
“Copy that,” Hole said.
She took the Eight-Three-Eight into a steep dive, sending them wildly off course, but at an angle that should make the three creatures get in each other’s way if they decided to pursue directly. Hole’s brain brought up the same holo image that the others were watching and she growled internally. The three creatures were in direct pursuit, coordinated so that they didn’t even come close to getting in each other’s way, but quite the opposite. Their bulks seemed to add to their velocity the closer they were together.
“Geist, how far out are we?” Motherboard asked.
“Depends on how many more figure eights Hole does,” Geist replied. “But looks like we are only a couple hundred kilometers from the moon. If these things’ aversion to the black site proves true then they should back off shortly.”
“If they don’t catch us first,” Wanders said. “Eight Million Gods, look at how fast they move!”
It truly was a wonder to behold. The vacuum of space shouldn’t have allowed the creatures to have the speed they did, not without some sort of propulsion evident. Two of them may have had wings, but wings needed atmosphere to push against. And the same went for the smaller one’s tentacles. If it was anything like an octopus or jellyfish then it needed the mass of water at the very least to create locomotion.
Yet on sped the three giant nightmares, all headed directly at the Eight-Three-Eight.
“I have a small asteroid field to starboard,” Hole announced. “Thoughts, LT?”
“Do we need it?” Motherboard asked.
“At this very second? No,” Hole responded. “But I can’t say what we’ll need in the next few seconds. Even my brain can’t predict these creatures’ abilities.”
“Then take us that way,” Motherboard said. “Skirt it if you can, use it as an obstacle, but take us into the field if we have no other option.”
“No offense, LT, but I’m glad Hole is flying if this is our new strategy,” Wanders said. “You’re good, but you still have human parts which means human mistakes.”
“Androids are capable of making mistakes,” Hole said. “Just not on the scale of flesh species.”
“I’d rather pretend you are perfection incarnate,” Wanders said.
“Incarnate is a term used for flesh, which I just established I am superior too, Wanders,” Hole said. “Get a dictionary, Gwreq, your ignorance is distracting.”
“The chatter is distracting,” Motherboard snapped. “Can it.”
There was no need for the order as silence descended on the teammates as soon as the first asteroid whizzed past the view screen. Hole swerved and took the ship between two large rocks then dove fast to avoid a third that hurdled right at them. She swooped right then left, back and forth, dodging the outer asteroids that made up the edge of the small field.
There was a muffled thunk and a clang as either the ship collided with a rock or a rock moved into their path unobserved, but Hole kept the ship steady and no alarms rang out in the bridge to warn the crew of any possible shield or hull breaches.
The creatures continued their pursuit and the distance between them and the ship became negligible, despite the chaos of the asteroid field. In fact, the asteroids seemed to be of absolute no concern for the nightmares. They headed straight into the swarm of rocks, showing no signs of noticing as the asteroids began bouncing off their space-hardened skin.
“Weapons, LT?” Cookie asked. “We might want to consider showing them we have some sting.”
“Not yet,” Motherboard said. “I have no idea if the weapons will do enough damage to risk pissing them off. As far as we know, they could feed off plasma bolts.”
“How do we not know?” Cookie asked. “Is there no record of engagement with these things?”
“There is record of engagements of all types of things in this System,” Motherboard said. “The problem is the creatures are different every time they are encountered. Every single time.”
“LT is correct,” Hole said. “I’m searching the database for any hint as to how to avoid these creatures, but I am getting no matches. There were some successes by other ships against different creatures, but none that apply to our current situation.”
A proximity alarm rang out and Cookie turned to face Motherboard.
“I highly advise we fire, LT,” Cookie said. “At the asteroids, if at nothing else.”
“Hole?” Motherboard asked.
“That might be a good idea,” Hole said. “Create a debris path that would give us more cover.”
“I’m on it,” Cookie said as he took aim at the closest asteroid with the plasma cannons. He fired again and again, turning the asteroid into a thousand smaller chunks that filled the space behind the Eight-Three-Eight.
“Give me a path through there,” Hole ordered as she pointed at six massive asteroids that floated lazily, their huge size keeping them in place as the smaller ones collided and bounced away.
Cookie fired over and over until the large asteroids became the smallest in the field. That time alarms did ring out as the ship’s shields took a beating from the debris.
“We’re good,” Geist said. “Eighty percent and holding.”
The holo of the nightmare monsters was a blurry cloud of tiny rocks with three huge shapes obscured in the middle. Then the cloud burst apart and the three creatures came rushing at the ship. No one said a thing, their eyes locked onto the horrible image, as Hole pushed the thrusters to their maximum and pulled up on the flight controls, taking the ship into a steep, curving climb.
The climb became an arc and the arc turned into a dive as Hole did an almost complete circle, putting the three monsters in front of them instead of behind them.
“I know,” Hole said. “That puts them between us and the moon. I am well aware of that.”
“No one said anything,” Motherboard responded. “We trust you know what you’re doing.”
“I would like to think so,” Hole said as she banked left and changed their course. They were no longer heading in the direction of the moon, but parallel to it. The ship shook and more alarms were added to the noise that already filled the bridge. “Hang on.”
“We’re as hanging on as we can get,” Cookie said. “Just fly the damn ship.”
The three creatures turned almost as one and began a course that would intercept the Eight-Three-Eight in a matter of seconds. Hole kept the ship pointed in its current direction and showed no signs that she noticed the nightmares’ change of direction. She maintained the exact same speed even as more proximity alarms rang out.
“Hole,” Motherboard warned.
“I’ve got this, LT,” Hole said. Her left hand moved to the left stick of the flight controls. “Three, two, one.”
She pulled hard on the left stick while pushing forward on the right. The ship spun one hundred and eighty degrees and they were faci
ng backwards instantly just as the three monsters reached them. Hole punched the thrusters and they shot forward, letting the creatures race past in the blink of an eye. Then Hole duplicated the maneuver and they were facing the other direction once again.
“LT, I need override authorization to send the engines to critical, please,” Hole said.
“We’re foed if Hole is saying please,” Geist muttered.
“Permission granted!” Motherboard called out as the monsters adjusted their course and swooped around to come at them once again.
“Thank you,” Hole said and entered a code into the console.
The loudest alarms yet filled the bridge, but Hole silenced them with the swipe of her hand. The ship shuddered violently as everyone was pressed back into their seats, zero-g replaced by the forward motion of every ounce of energy being pumped into the rear thruster engines. The world became a blur as the ship nearly shook apart.
The voices of Geist then Wanders, followed by Cookie and Motherboard, became the new alarms as they involuntarily cried out from the violent shaking of the ship. Only Hole seemed calm and steady, perhaps the only thing on the entire ship that was.
But despite the fear that they would be shaken into a million pieces, hope sprung up amongst the teammates of Zero as they watched the images of the three nightmares grow smaller and smaller in the holo. Hole pointed at the view screen in front of them and the cries of alarm became cries of relief as a small moon started to fill the screen.
“Powering down,” Hole said. “Now it really is a race.”
The shaking became a strong vibration then became an almost imperceptible tremor as the engines cut out. The moon grew larger before them, but so did the nightmares behind them. Every finger on the bridge was crossed as silent prayers to the Eight Million Gods, and perhaps even the Seven Satans, were silently said.
“We’ll be within the moon’s slight gravitational pull in five seconds,” Hole announced.
The nightmares grew larger, larger then stopped. It was as if they’d thrown the brakes on and came to a sudden halt, one that shouldn’t have been possible due to the basic laws of physics. But there they were, frozen in space, their limbs flapping, undulating, waving around them. Then they turned as one and were gone. Just like that. Blips of light then nothing at all.
“I’m going to need a new uniform,” Geist announced.
“I may join you on that,” Wanders said as the Eight-Three-Eight got nearer and nearer to the black site moon.
“LT?” Hole asked. “The site is supposed to only have androids on it, yes?”
“Yes,” Motherboard replied. “Why?”
“Yeah, I’m seeing it too,” Geist said, his focus on the scanners. “We’ve got life signs all over the place. That moon is not occupied by androids only.”
“Can’t be,” Motherboard said. “I was assured it was empty and neither the Marines nor Intelligence have used it in years.”
“You think maybe the original owners might have figured that out and came back to claim what they built?” Cookie asked. “I know I would.”
“Cannons locked on us!” Geist shouted. “They’re firing!”
Bright red beams of light shot towards the Eight-Three-Eight from the small moon.
“Evasive actions now!” Motherboard yelled.
“Too late!” Hole responded. “Prepare for impacts!”
Twenty-Four
Mug’s Urvein ears perked up at the sounds of plasma cannons firing continuously. She listened, counting the blasts, making sure she knew the exact number before they stopped. It didn’t matter too much to her while she was locked away by herself inside the blindingly bright cell, but she knew eventually she would escape and she wanted to know the cannons’ capacities for when she stole a ship and fled the Collari Syndicate’s outpost.
For that was what it was, no doubt. Motherboard may have said that Fleet Intelligence had driven the crime family from the moon, but they had only been biding their time to make an unobserved return. The entire site was overrun with criminals and thugs, all bent on preparing for the inevitable strike. The sounds of the cannons told Mug that the Syndicate’s fears had been confirmed.
She only wondered who was executing the strike and how many of them were there.
If it was a Fleet cruiser or destroyer then there was the very distinct risk that she’d be blown to atoms before anyone could free her from her imprisonment. There was also the distinct possibility that Zero had come for her, which meant they were horribly outnumbered, outgunned, and out of their element because the moon was far from just an off-the-books black site anymore. It was a fully armed fortress.
Mug paced the cell which was barely bigger than her. She walked six steps to one wall then turned on her heels and walked six steps back to the other wall. Over and over she paced back and forth, subconsciously counting the number of steps she took.
Her ears perked up again, but not because of more cannon fire. She heard the door at the far end of the detention hall open then close. Footsteps moved their way down the hall until they were directly outside her cell. She had no idea who was out there since the entrance into the cell looked exactly like the rest of the walls, completely white and so bright that she had started to develop the hint of a migraine.
Before Mug could even think of preparing an attack, a beam of green light descended from the ceiling, completely enveloping her body. There she was, held in place by a simple piece of tech that had originally been designed to catch fish on one of the outer marine planets. She couldn’t remember the name of the planet, it was Edger so really of no consequence, but she did know that the person that had developed the tech had made a fortune selling it to some Grid zillionaire where it was quickly sold to the Galactic Fleet.
The tech had obviously been hacked and reverse engineered, as evidenced by Mug’s frustrating lack of mobility.
The wall before her turned transparent then slid away and a very tall, very thin man stood in front of her, a 616 stun baton held casually in his left hand. In his right was a tray piled high with various foods. It looked like someone had emptied their leftovers onto the tray and didn’t quite care if the flavors went together.
“I’m going to set this down here,” the Thin Man said.
It was clear he wasn’t completely human, but Mug couldn’t figure out what other race he was mixed with. It was nearly impossible to tell with halfers.
The Thin Man set the tray of food down on the floor to Mug’s left, but instead of retreating and letting the wall close back up, he leaned against the wall to Mug’s right and folded his arms across his scrawny chest.
“You’re with Zero, yeah? That the team you belong to?” the Thin Man asked.
“You know it is since you snatched me from our ship,” Mug replied. Answering the Thin Man’s questions wasn’t a problem for her. She’d tell him anything he wanted to know since she had the utmost confidence he wouldn’t live long enough to pass on the information. “You gonna let me free from this beam so I can eat? Or do I have to wait while you ask more stupid questions?”
“Oh, no way I’m letting you free while I’m still in this cell,” the Thin Man laughed. “No way at all. No, ma’am. You’d rip my skinny arms right out of their sockets and probably fill more than one of my orifices with them.”
“The thought sure is crossing my mind right now,” Mug said. “Although I am hungry enough that I might skip stuffing them in your bunghole and just eat them as an appetizer before the main course of the rest of the scumbags in this site.”
“Base,” the Thin Man said. “We call it a base. That whole black site thing is so Fleet Intelligence. They didn’t build the place so why should we let them name it? It’s our Hoonnaann base. Named it after my niece.”
Mug almost didn’t catch the unique phrasing, but her mind caught up with the Thin Man’s words before she said, “Your niece? Who are you, mister?”
“No one you need worry about,” the Thin Man said. “I have people comi
ng to speak to you that you will need to worry about, but you and me, we’re going to be friends.”
“I don’t think so,” Mug said.
“I do,” the Thin Man replied. “I think we are going to be the best of friends. You need friends, Sergeant Guspo, since it appears all of yours are now dead. Or will be once their ship completely falls apart.”
“What the fo are you babblin’ about, fool?” Mug snapped. “Speak plainly or don’t speak at all.”
“I am sure you heard the plasma cannons,” the Thin Man stated. He tapped at the side of his head. “I know Urveins have exceptional hearing. I’ve employed a few in the past and learned the hard way that just because they are in a different room doesn’t mean they can’t hear everything you’re saying. Extraordinary, but not practical in the business I’m in.”
“The business of crime?” Mug snarled.
“The business of crime,” the Thin Man chuckled and spread his hands out in front of him. “I should put that on a sign or something. The Business of Crime. Delightful.”
“Get on with what you want to say, string bean, because I ain’t in the time-wasting mood,” Mug said.
“There, you see, we have another thing in common,” the Thin Man responded. “I abhor wasting time. Which is ironic since I have been told I love the sound of my own voice too much to truly be concerned with brevity.”
Mug growled so low that the green light in the beam shook around her. The Thin Man pushed away from the wall and his eyes went wide, he glanced at the cell’s entrance then took a deep breath, shook his head, and settled back against the wall.
“I see why you were recruited by the Drop Team division,” the Thin Man said. “You have some serious power in you, Sergeant.”
“Come closer and let me show you just how powerful I can be,” Mug said. “Won’t take but a second.”
“I’ll pass,” the Thin Man replied. “No, I’m not here to see how strong you are, but to let you know how weak your friends are. That ship of theirs tried to enter our airspace…” He chuckled again and shook his head. “Strange term, that. Airspace. There is no air outside this base. It’s a vacuum. But we still call the area directly around us airspace. Funny how terms as old as time never seem to die.”