Jinks on Sirius 4

by C. E. Engelbrunner

  "How are we doing, Julien?" McCall asked Beaumont.

  "Not bad, but I can't get a signal. It must be somewhere close, it has no stealth capability. It should at least be visible on radar."

  "Maybe this cocksucker got it back up to full power?"

  "Maybe, but I doubt it." Beaumont wasn't feeling optimistic. He was studying the screens closely, but there was nothing.

  Then realization came over McCall slowly and he said, "Uh, hey Julien, where is this station? Aren't we close enough to be getting a reading from the station's transponder?"

  Beaumont flipped some switches, checked a couple of screens in the cockpit and then stared at them in the same disbelief. "It's gone. Merde, it's simply not there, mon ami!"

  "Radar?"

  "Got something blurry on radar. I think that's where it should be."

  "But the Lady Rose?"

  Beaumont pointed to one of the screens. "There, it looks like it's on final approach for docking. How is that possible?"

  "This guy must have been able to hack even a highly secured ship. We're going to have to talk to Lily about her doohickey."

  "WHHHATTTT?“ A shrill voice shot out from the back of the cockpit.

  "Oh crap!" McCall was leaning low over the controls as if studying something when she came up behind him.

  "What's wrong with my Lady?"

  "Uh, nothing, but this prick is docking your ship onto that station up there." McCall looked up at her. „Honest, just telling the facts.“

  Lily was panting, with an astounded look on her face. "This cocksucker must be the the best of the best. Or artificial."

  "An asshole, in any case. Let's put a stop to it." McCall said. "I'm not getting any transponder readings from this station. No warnings. It's almost like it's a flying derelict. Should we charge it?"

  "I don't know, on the Lily Rose we tried approaching it before, and it warned us that it'd shoot us down if we didn't slow down. It did that every time, really." Lily said.

  "Could it be a trap?" McCall asked.

  She shrugged and said, "But why? The last time we got the warnings, we just stopped until we got approval to dock."

  "Okay. I think we have another snake in the grass here." McCall said, and pulled the thrusters forward. "Let's move in closer and see what happens."

  "D'accord, but if we get a warning I'm pulling us out to safety!" Beaumont said.

  As the Buster K accelerated, the dark structure of the military space station came into view. It was huge, almost half a mile in diameter, shaped like a flying saucer with antennas sticking out of the body. Normally they would have seen beacons and navigation lights on it, but today it was just dark.

  "That's odd," Lily said, "normally it's glowing like a Christmas tree."

  "Really? I thought this station was all secret, hush hush and so on." McCall said and looked at her.

  "Well Mackie, we are 20 light years from nowhere. They know who we are, and we know who they are, and we don't want crash into each other." She reminded him.

  "Okay. So it looks like we have a problem, right?"

  "Right mate! That's what I was just trying to explain." Beaumont took a deep breath, then pointed behind them.

  "What about our passenger? Do we trust him?"

  "I say yes. We have to assume he's been there. Get him up here, will you Lily?"

  She gave him a thumbs up and left the flight deck.

  With the decision to have Matthew Burke join them, they were hoping to get information. He knew the station, having watched over the station's activities in the past. About two minutes later he entered the cockpit.

  "Yo Matt, what are you making of this?"

  McCall pointed out of the windshield where the dark and silent station floated in space.

  Burke shook his head as if confused and then looked at the radar screen, "What the f..., that's all wrong. Where is everybody?"

  "I was afraid you'd say that. So this is not what the station usually looks like, right?"

  "I already told you that!" Lily said.

  "I know, but the reaction of our friend here was the second opinion I wanted to hear."

  McCall said and gave Burke an inquiring look. "Should we try to dock?"

  Burke shrugged, he was studying the view in front of them and thinking. "I don't know. I've never seen it like this. It could be a trap."

  "Yeah, well, somebody with an attitude already tried to kill us. That could have something to do with this. What now?"

  "I want my Lady Rose back!" Lily shouted.

  "Yeah. We all do. But somehow I think there's more to this. More Bugs and there are probably other things out there we don't want to know about. Burke?" McCall looked over at Matthew.

  Mathew was still thinking. "Normally these stinkin' critters are in their kennels, but after what's happened, who knows. We should probably be ready to expect anything."

  Beaumont and McCall looked at each other, and communicated with their eyes that they didn't want to ask any questions at the moment.

  "Can you crack the codes for the airlocks?" Beaumont asked.

  "Of course." Burke gestured out toward the station, "But for that we'd have to go into the station. Dangerous."

  "Did you get word from your backup yet?"

  "Nope. I sent a few more calls, even maydays during the last few hours, no response." Matt said.

  They all remained silent for a moment and looked at each other, hoping someone would have an ingenious idea.

  Then McCall decided. He turned around, faced the dashboard with a sinister look on his face and shoved the throttles forward. "Let's party, folks!" He turned back to the others and grinned. "I hope y'all have insurance."

  The ship made a leap forward toward the station. It was quiet now on the flight deck. They were all expecting an attack. But it remained dark and quiet out there. Very dark and very quiet.

  The Buster K kept approaching the military installation. Both pilots were ready for evasive action if necessary, but the dark hulking structure remained silent.

  "I smell a rat." McCall said, "Looks like a trap to me."

  "It could be one, and my experience with these guys tells me it is one, indeed!" Burke looked at McCall. "Be careful!"

  McCall felt his scars itching. He knew what that meant. "Julien, all scanners online, s'il te plaît."

  "All scanners nominal and you keep your fingers on the thrusters, please!"

  “Don't worry, I will!”

  At the Sirius Colony

  St. John was walking from the tower back to his office in the administration building. He was half way over the tarmac when he heard a whining noise above him. He stopped and looked up at the sky. Suddenly after that, a sonic boom announced a ship closing in at high speed. He saw a big warship on final approach. At first it looked like a regular army transporter, but when it came closer he recognized the difference. The USS Colin Powell fell out of the skies with flaming vertical thrusters. St. John's com chirped, probably a call from the tower to announce the arrival, but the ship was already lowering its gear for landing. He answered the call, "I see it, no need to say any more. MacGill out!"

  The huge military ship came to rest on the main tarmac. St. John waited till the fumes and the steam from its engines vaporized and then he started walking slowly toward the ship. To be sure, he waited again until the last of the toxic fumes had vaporized into the air, before he approached the main airlock of the battle cruiser. A gangway rolled out of its fuselage and then the bulkhead opened. Two soldiers with assault rifles appeared and aimed at St. John. He stood unimpressed and watched with a stoical face. Then a third man appeared behind the two men. He gestured for them to lower their weapons.

  St. John opened the conversation, in a satiric tone of voice, "Better late than never. Welcome to Lyman City. "

  The tall man on the gangway, clearly the superior of the two armed soldiers, looked around. He surely recognized the intact airport and city and the workers on the tarmac. "Colonel Van der Meer, S
pecial Forces." He introduced himself and descended down the stairway. "I was expecting a disaster down here. We got several emergency calls from here."

  "Oh really? But the only calls I'm aware of were made almost two days ago. Where have you been?"

  "I'm sorry to say that we had some technical difficulties."

  St. John raised his eyebrows. "You got hacked too?"

  Van der Meer's jaw dropped. "How did you..uhm, where is Burke?"

  "He went away, a few hours ago. On a ship."

  "But he had orders...."

  "I knew it!" St. John thought and felt the anger rising up in him. "Okay, maybe you should join me, so I can show you what happened here." He gestured for Van der Meer to follow. St. John turned and started walking at a fierce pace toward the place where the cadavers of the spider-ants were stored.

  Van der Meer spoke into his com, "Winterer, Rabinovitz, prepare a sanitation team to come out here. It looks like we have an outbreak!" Then he gestured for the two soldiers to follow and ran a few yards to catch up with St. John.

  They came to a cordoned off portion of the airport where the cadavers were laid out on the ground, guarded by constables of the local police force.

  "Damn!"

  "Friends of yours, Colonel?"

  Van der Meer chuckled, but it was without humor. "Not exactly, but they shouldn't be down here, ever."

  "I agree completely. What now?"

  "Please tell me where Major Burke is headed."

  "Major Burke," St. John repeated slowly.

  "Well, he took off with Captains McCall, Beaumont and Spector in the Buster K. They're trying to save the stolen Lady Rose."

  "Major Spector's ship, your chief pilot, RAF retired."

  "It seems you know everything."

  "That's my job, and the other two are Captains McCall and Beaumont, UN 65th Transport Wing, retired."

  St. John was impressed and a bit freaked out at the same time. But then, he thought, intelligence probably knew a lot more about them all.

  Van der Meer made another call. "Winterer, try to get the trajectory of the cargo ship Buster K, find them. I need to know where they're heading." Then he turned to face St. John. "Do you know where they are? It would be best if you told me."

  "All I know is they're looking for the Lady Rose. Don't know who stole it. Do you know what's behind the yoke?"

  "Classified." Van der Meer stated with military strength.

  That made St. John sigh and roll his eyes. He noticed the anger growing in him again and his face started to turn red. Then he couldn't hold it any longer, "Classified my rear end, you bloody bastard!"

  Van der Meer took a sudden step backwards.

  St. John continued, "This colony was attacked by your bloody menagerie! We were narcotized, hacked, attacked. Don't you dare tell me it's 'CLASSIFIED' for christ's sake! We were here, dammit. We're witnesses!"

  The constables started scratching an itch that suddenly appeared in their faces. They knew their boss and his temper well. The two soldiers that had come with Van der Meer just stood stoically. They might have been enjoying seeing the Colonel, their superior, get chewed out.

  Van der Meer took a deep breath. "Okay, okay Mr. MacGill. Calm down. I see your point. But I need to find a solution."

  "It's the station, right? The secret military base that orbits our sun, am I right?"

  "Yes, we made the critters up there. But I have no idea how they made it down here onto the planet."

  "But we know. Didn't Burke send you a report?"

  "No, we just got his distress call. That was about the same time when all the systems on our ship broke down."

  "Aye," St. John looked right into Van der Meer's face, "I can believe that much so far. Now, let me tell you what's been happening down here the last three days."

  St. John told him the main happenings in what he hoped was the right order. The descent of the La Fleur's escape pods, the gas attack and the hacking.

  Van der Meer listened intently and the look on his face kept getting more worried the longer St. John spoke.

  When St. John finished, Van der Meer stood still for a moment and then mumbled something more to himself than to the others.

  "What was that?" St. John was curious.

  "It's HIM I said. Let's just say a young soldier in whom I had great expectations."

  "Your son?"

  "No, thank god, but a creation of mine in a way."

  "Shame on you! What have you done, Colonel?"

  "I thought we had created a soldier that would prevent anything like that, you know what happened with Mr. Mars-asshole-dictator a few years ago, ever happening again. But now it looks like I was wrong."

  "You created another Dictator, didn't you?"

  Van der Meer looked down. "I hope not."

  "Is he human?"

  Van der Meer hesitated.

  "IS HE HUMAN?"

  "No, he is artificial, like these." He pointed to the carcasses of the spider-ants.

  St. John turned around and looked at the two cadavers on the ground. "You could have fooled me."

  "That was the idea." said Van der Meer and turned away without another word or farewell and walked straight back to his ship. A work crew was just coming out of the cruiser. Van der Meer gave them some instructions and then got onboard the ship.

  St. John looked at the two armed soldiers who had stayed close to the dead mockeries of insects. "Is he always like that?"

  They looked at him briefly but then looked forward again and said nothing. He liked to think he saw them trying to hide a grin.

  St. John waved his arms in resignation in the air and walked back to the tower again. He had to put a call through to his friends in space. When he tried the call, he found out that all communication was jammed. He could only hear an annoying sound on all channels, obviously the work of the USS Colin Powell.

  “These Bampots!” He yelled and threw the mic into its vault.

  Onboard the Buster K, Flightdeck

  "What now?" Beaumont looked at his flight partner.

  "I definitely smell a rat. This is a trap." McCall nodded his head slowly. "This whole station is dark and silent. Its defense system should have attacked us by now. We haven't gotten any readings from it, not even the standard transponder. What would prevent any ship from just hitting this thing by accident?"

  "Oui mon ami. It cries 'Trap', by all means."

  McCall turned around and looked at Lily and Burke. "Suggestions?"

  "I want my Lady Rose back, at all cost!"

  McCall was not surprised by her statement, but Burke looked like he was still figuring something out. It took about a minute for him to speak. But when he did his voice was firm and insisting. "I agree with you, this is a trap. He wants us to get onto one of the docking ports. I believe he won't shoot us down because he wants your ship."

  "Then, why did he try to shoot us down over the colony?" McCall countered.

  But Burke shook his head. "Maybe he knew that you could outmaneuver the missile. He knows everything about you, your ship and your entire history for that matter." He looked to the side over at Lily and said, "And yours too."

  McCall just managed to hold Lily's fist before she could hit Burke in the face. He was still struggling with her when he addressed Burke again. "What the fuck is HE? Tell us, please? Who and what is this motherfucker?"

  "Okay, you already know too much, so who cares." Burke looked a bit apprehensive. Maybe he'd get fired, if he was lucky. Maybe he'd end up on duty at some remote outpost, for life. He thought for a moment and then began.

  "Matthias is a project that was installed to prevent another crisis like we had when the Martian dictator took over our network. But it's not an app, or a program or even a computer. It's a synthetic being that looks like a human. Like us."

  McCall suddenly felt sick and Irina came into his mind. "You mean you created a robot with the same potential as a human being and it got out of control? Idiots!"

  Burke loo
ked blankly back at McCall. "Maybe, Matthias thought he could create his own future. By the way, he was the guy who gave me the picture of the Fabergé egg. It's something I thought about just recently."

  "Well gee, I wouldn't have thought of that." McCall hit the console with his fist and looked around. "Suggestions?"

  “HEY! Don't hit that!” Beaumont scolded McCall.

  McCall made a grimace and patted the console. “Sorry Sweetheart!”

  "I know it will be hard, but we should go for it, we have to kick this Merdieux in the butt." Beaumont said.

  "He might want the ship." McCall countered.

  "Oui, I know, but we still have the doohickey."

  "What are you guys talking about?" Burke didn't understand.

  "We'll tell you later buddy. But right now, we need a good idea about how to get into this station. Now!"

  "Okay, I don't know how you're going to do that. This space station has the highest security in the universe as we know it."

  "Really? Well, at the moment it looks like it's dead. If it's tracking us, we would know." McCall gestured to the panel of instruments and screens showing the results of the scanners. "Have a look. Nothing."

  "I just don't know. I've never had a scenario like this, not even in training. This station should be lit up like a Christmas tree." He said as his eyes wandered over the screens on the flight deck. Then he noticed something. Pointing to it he said, "Wait a minute. Have a look at that. There's a sort of a dead mass that shouldn't be there."

  McCall said, "Alright, I say we go in there. Julien, let's find a docking port that's not in the regular docking area."

  Beaumont got right on it. "Okay, scanners online."

  "Upper level, top right." Burke pointed on the screen, "We had an emergency drill once, where we used that bulkhead. It's not used regularly."

  McCall and Beaumont exchanged glances.

  "Not surprised." McCall said and stared Burke right in the face with a cynical grin. "What unit you are in, c' mon."

  "Classified."

  "You bloody prick!"

  Lily shouted, „Hey!“ and hit Burke on the shoulder.

  "Ouch!" He yelled and rubbed the spot.

  "Dude, we all know who you're working for. Classified my ass. Can we trust you on this issue?" Lily shouted.