The Eye of Orion_Book 1_Gearjackers

by Mitch Michaelson

  “About a little more than three hours,” Tully informed them.

  Most everybody left the room.

  “You think it’s him? Dr. Spierk?” Glaikis said.

  Steo gestured to Hawking.

  “Astrometeorologist Glaikis, the data are correct. The documents are not forged; the images are not edited. I have compared this image of Dr. Spierk with older ones. They match. I have studied the translocater beacon of the Vadyanika, the supplies they loaded and the vector it took. If it is him, we are on his trail.”

  “What do you think?” Steo asked.

  She stood and scratched her head. “The Battle of Yrtria wasn’t clean. Fighting fanatics is deadly work. I lost good buddies there. There was no glory, just bloody kill or be killed.” She nodded. “It’s as good a chance as anybody’s had at him. Let’s make some money. I need a shower.”

  Steo smiled in agreement. He suspected there was a problem though. Steo wanted to find out who funded Dr. Spierk’s research. That meant capturing him alive. Knight-mercenaries like Glaikis didn’t think like that.

  CHAPTER 18

  Past Times

  They knew where the Vadyanika was last seen – in the Tarium arm anyway – a planet on the outer rim named Zivang.

  Governor helped everyone find their cabins and he convinced Steo to get some sleep. Steo said they could take off when they were ready. Glaikis and Yuina made small talk in the bridge while Tully aligned the engines and ran tests. Eventually the ship was in flight for Zivang. The trip would take over a day. Once everyone had some sleep and food, Steo met them in the dining room.

  “Everybody comfortable with their responsibilities?” he asked.

  Yuina spoke first. “Everything’s great. I changed some settings. I activated ship effects if you don’t mind.”

  “Ship effects?”

  “Almost everything on a ship, especially a new one, is silent. Now there are sounds: as we accelerate, take damage, or systems activate. It’s a proven fact that multiple sensory inputs improve crew performance.”

  Steo felt strange approving changes to his ship, but he knew they were reasonable.

  “Isn’t this trip going to take a long time?” Yuina asked.

  “We’re behind the doctor by a week or two, but the Eye of Orion is new. We’ll be able to gather enough energy to cut his lead. With enough power, you can do anything,” Steo said with a smile.

  Always curious, Yuina asked, “So where’s everybody been last?”

  Tully picked at a plate of vegetables. “I had a tough grind as a fleet engineer near my home planet. It was hard work, long hours, second-rate pay. I was lucky to see anything newer than ten years old, so I checked around and got back in touch with Steo here.”

  Glaikis spoke between big bites. “You know I was working with a respectable knight-mercenary company. I thought my future was set. I was in a long-term relationship with the captain of my ship.” She took a long drink. “Turns out we didn’t see eye-to-eye about where the relationship was going, so I sold my shares and left. What with being kidnapped by v-kuay, that was the roughest break-up I’ve ever been through.”

  “Oh. Did he cheat on you?” Yuina asked.

  “No, she didn’t,” Glaikis said. “But Captain Aquis felt like her career was more important than me. The bridge was always more important.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Yuina said. “What about you Steo? All I’ve heard is you’re a troublemaker. Where were you last?”

  He summarized the situation between the Petids and Loytz.

  “That’s what makes you so infamous?”

  Tully and Glaikis both chuckled. “Tell her about the documentary,” Tully said.

  Steo said, “All right. The people of Ghat believe everything can be handled by corporations – the bigger, the better. Laws are local to each massive company city. Every person’s productivity is quantified. It’s as simple as work or starve. They don’t have a word for ‘resign’. Ghats are voluntary slaves to interplanetary conglomerates. That’s a choice for the able-bodied, though. Have you heard what happens to the weak and vulnerable on Ghat?”

  “No,” Yuina said.

  “They’re shipped off to ‘homes’ on moons and asteroids, and the families are compensated. The families never see them again but they’re told how wonderful it is there. The homes are pictures of paradise.”

  He leaned forward. “Now think about it. Corporations run those facilities. Corporations survive by making money. How do you suppose they make money from housing those people? What do you think they do to offset costs?”

  Yuina shook her head.

  “I made an undercover documentary showing the insides of two facilities. Your nightmares don’t go far enough. Doctors test new drugs there with no regard for ethics. The galaxy’s most degenerate go there for sex slavery. How do you think Ghat company soldiers get so vicious? They’ve killed before their first battle. It gets worse. The screams from those places would keep you awake at night.”

  “He’s on a roll.” Glaikis set her fork down with a clank.

  “Do you know why the Ghat people turn a blind eye? Because they believe in the institutions they built. There’s nothing inherently wrong with corporations. The companies of Raigus Anna 9 have a long tradition of working for the betterment of society. The Ghat people put absolute faith in an ideal, though. They thought they had the one answer, the perfect model.”

  “That’s why our boy here has four death-bounties on his head from the Ghat corps. He disrupted profits,” the lightworlder said with a smile.

  “It’s true across the galaxy,” Steo said. “Leaders create totalitarian governments supported by willing fools. Star messiahs found new religions that suck in the masses. Then comes the genocide. Billions suffer and die. It’s always the same story. Wherever I find faith, I find fanaticism.”

  “Have you ever declined a job?” Yuina asked.

  “Yes. Jijel had a broken system, laws so complicated no one could understand them. Small groups shouted for attention, usually with the best intent. The groups got the changes they wanted, then faded away. There were countless social organizations, clawing at each other to get at the same trough. I skipped it. I was too busy.”

  “That situation doesn’t sound so bad though,” she said.

  Steo produced a diagram on the table’s surface. “Here’s the Jijel system now.”

  The tirrian scanned it. “Hey –”

  “Yeah.”

  “The population figure seems awfully low for three inhabited worlds.”

  Steo looked away. “The Jijels believed in their bureaucracy. Charities never shoot at each other, right? Then skewers came. The Jijel system couldn’t come together. Everyone bickered while the skewers broke through the outer defenses.”

  “Eeek,” the tirrian said softly.

  “Don’t travel there.”

  “I don’t intend to,” Yuina said.

  “Anybody left there is skewed,” Steo explained.

  “I got it, you don’t have to repeat yourself,” Yuina said angrily.

  The skewers were a mysterious race that appeared at random, attacked planets and left a wake of destruction. Not everyone died during these attacks. Some survived, but were twisted by the experience. Smart people avoided “skewed” systems.

  “Hey Yuina,” Tully said, “Let’s go down and look at the engines together. It helps if we’re together on some things.”

  She nodded and left with him.

  Tully was accustomed to Steo’s idealistic rants. In the corridor Tully told her, “I’ve known Steo for a few years. I don’t always agree with him, but whatever his rhetoric, I find he’s usually on the right side.”

  Hours later, Yuina and Glaikis were in the bridge performing routine checks.

  Yuina said, “What ship did you serve on, Glaikis? The Visigoth?”

  “Nope, that was a long time ago. I had my own staff on the Beast of Riva. Battlecruiser class, pirate hunter.”

  “
You had your own staff? This is kind of a step down,” Yuina said.

  Glaikis paused before responding. “It’s not status I care about. I love space. You can’t beat the view, that’s for sure.”

  A little quieter, Yuina asked, “What do you think about this Steo guy? He seems fairly sure of himself. Seriously, I don’t normally trust idealists.”

  Glaikis knew of Steo and had met him, but hadn’t served with him. “This is sort of a trial mission. Everyone’s aware of that. We probably won’t be in any danger. We’ll see what happens.”

  The mercenary was noncommittal. What she didn’t need was a chaotic life. She had left a secure position. Back on the Riva, she knew her place. Now the future was unclear and frankly the sting of loneliness was still on her heart. She had a contract though, and would see this through. Where there might not be hope, at least there was work. Capturing Dr. Spierk gave her motivation for now.

  CHAPTER 19

  Renosha

  Zivang was out on the edge of the Tarium arm. Ships that left Zivang and traveled away from the galactic core found nothing but empty space unless they took the long jump to the Percaic arm. Building up the energy took days, as did the trip.

  Steo worried that they were too far behind the Vadyanika and Dr. Spierk. It looked like they were weeks behind him, if the information was accurate. They could use more. Slank had provided the name of an underground figure – someone known as Foi.

  There was one city in the whole solar system and it was unimaginatively also named Zivang. The Eye of Orion appeared outside the solar system and Yuina took them into orbit over the brown planet. A defense station requested the Eye of Orion’s identity. A few smaller vessels were also in orbit. Otherwise, it was a remote and unimportant outpost of humanity.

  Steo appeared in the bridge with his bag. Since there was no longer a need to fit into NBS 2’s underworld, he changed clothes. He wore a long-sleeved black shirt with a technological pattern of gray wires across it. His pants were dark green, with the seams wrapped around them instead of horizontal, and he wore sturdy, brown, ankle-high shoes. Steo didn’t know much about fashion but he’d bought a whole wardrobe after fleeing the Loytz system. Mostly he dressed for comfort, but he liked the circuit board pattern on the shirt.

  “Take us down, Yuina. I put the coordinates into the computer. That spot on the map. I’m going down. I should be back in less than a day.”

  Glaikis said, “You think that’s wise? We don’t know much about this place.”

  Tully came up from the engine room, drinking something hot. “We’ve started collecting energy for the jump.”

  “I checked it out. There are other ships in orbit. No reports of trouble on local channels. I just need to talk to this Foi person. We have the vector and estimate of the Vadyanika’s destination, but we could use more, right?” Steo said.

  Glaikis reluctantly agreed.

  Yuina pointed out that the coordinates Steo gave her weren’t near Zivang city.

  Steo said, “There’s an ancient ruined city from humanity’s distant past there. I thought I’d fly around there for a bit then go into Zivang. You wouldn’t believe the stories told about the abandoned city. War robots with lasers as arms supposedly still linger there, ready to grind people into the dust under their treads.” He laughed.

  This brought a new wave of complaints which he dismissed as unnecessary concern.

  Yuina noted something on her console. “What’s that?” She pointed at a disturbance in the atmosphere of the planet.

  “I don’t know,” Steo lied badly.

  Glaikis took a glance at it. “You’ve got to be kidding. That’s an electricity cascade. It’s basically a localized lightning storm. It’s caused by cosmic rays hitting Zivang’s atmosphere.”

  Even Governor added to the chorus this time. Tully thought it was a little reckless, but Steo wouldn’t hear any more of their protests. He reassured them it was a quick, safe excursion and he would be right back.

  He’d been on the run, a wanted man, for several years. Now he was free and really wanted to explore. This was what owning a starship meant, and it was a thrill. Nobody else was in danger.

  As the Eye of Orion slowly descended through the atmosphere, he readied a clear dish-shaped device called a glider. It was a hemisphere about eight feet wide and had a handle in the interior. Interlinked lighted-burden discs were visible within its transparent sides.

  In due course, Yuina brought the Eye of Orion to a few hundred feet off the ground. Steo stepped on the edge of the glider and grabbed the handle in the middle. Then he lifted it to face him and stepped in, standing on the inner edge. With a gentle twist of the handle, the glider floated. Tully opened the side door of the starship, and Steo directed the glider out. It sank at a comfortable speed to earth.

  Within a few miles, Steo could see gray girders jutting into the sky. He directed the glider toward them. Soon he flew over the ground, the dish acting as both a platform and windshield.

  As he closed on the city, he saw little grew in it even though it was abandoned for centuries, if not millennia. A few stunted trees were the only vegetation he could see at a distance. Radiation scans had shown nothing dangerous, so he continued.

  Soon he stopping on the edge of the city and, checking his wrist communicator, saw there were no nearby signals. The city was nine miles in diameter but must have been full of skyscrapers at one time. Steel girders still supported empty, broken floors. The streets were strewn with rubble. A few choked weeds struggled through the pavement here and there.

  Steo guided his glider into the city. It was quiet. He noticed broken glass – actual glass – mixed in the rubble. He couldn’t imagine why anyone would use such a fragile material.

  Mile after mile of desolation slid past him. Towers leaned at precarious angles; he avoided flying beneath them. A few signs in a bizarre script he couldn’t understand remained. He passed a statue so corroded by the elements that its features were no longer recognizable. The blue sky seemed uncaring in this wasteland.

  “No sign of marauding iron devils,” he said to himself.

  Gliding through the city, he came upon something that wasn’t a skyscraper. An elaborate metal temple was built atop a tall concrete foundation. Its sweeping arches and gothic ornamentation spoke of a culture from humanity’s forgotten antiquity, when men first journeyed to the stars.

  No one knew precisely where humans came from. They had spread to all corners of the galaxy long ago, but seemed most concentrated in the Crux and Tarium arms. There were spiral arms where humans were unknown. If humanity had an ancestral home, it was long lost.

  Humanity had encountered similar races with two arms, two legs, a torso and a head. These species were 99% genetically similar to humans: tirrian, v-kuay, croymid and ezwegians. And while novorians and honna weren’t as close genetically, they were at least humanoid.

  The original human cultures that spread to the stars were gone. Languages had mixed into Glish and humans mingled with aliens. Archeologists often found settlements or colonies with enigmatic architecture and perplexing symbols.

  Steo floated up the steps to the temple’s entrance. There were no vines, trees or grass up here, just unfeeling metal and some moss between the stones. Ridges representing either flames or waves decorated the ornate roof. The metal once had scrollwork etched into it but that had long been worn away by wind and weather. The temple sat amid towering skyscrapers with nothing left to identify it.

  He stepped off the glider’s edge and walked into the temple, looking around. In contrast to the smooth walls, the concrete floor was rough. The rooms lacked furniture or fixtures. Steo continued until he came to an area without a roof, open to the cold blue sky. It was a bay or garden, with several rooms. Large stone blocks as high as tables lay here and there. He saw a dusty tarp. Pulling it back, he found only a pile of pipes and chains. Steo was more interested in the future than the past. Seeing nothing of value, he left.

  He boarded his
glider and drifted down to the street, then turned the west, to leave the forsaken city.

  After a few blocks he heard a creak and saw that a portion of a building was starting to pull away. He directed his glider so he wouldn’t get hit by flying rubble when it fell. This might be a rare event in this deserted and derelict city, something no one ever sees, so he stopped to watch out of curiosity.

  Then something on the street below attracted his eyes: a man in a cloak walking slowly. Steo blinked to make sure it wasn’t an illusion. He glanced up at the building and judged that the man was going to be crushed by the falling beams.

  Another loud cry of twisting metal rang out. Small pieces fell to the street below. Steo moved his glider forward but the image remained real: a man ambled through the rubble slowly, oblivious to the danger above him.

  Steo moved closer and yelled. The figure didn’t respond or speed up. A screech came from above.

  He estimated fast. The building had stood for eons. What were the odds it would fall right now?

  He yelled again. The figure walked with a long metal bar as a prop. Steo drove his gilder closer, into the danger zone.

  “Hey! Come quick! Look, the building might fall! Hey!” Steo yelled.

  The man’s head was shiny, reflecting the sunlight. He must be wearing a helmet, Steo thought. That wouldn’t protect him from the tons of steel about to fall on him though.

  Steo continued yelling and coaxing the figure forward. It seemed like it had noticed him, and it picked up the pace a little. As it got closer, he saw it was a walking robot, built like a man. It had a silver dome and a beard of cables connecting its overlarge head to its torso. The robot’s shoulders were big. It was tall but hunched, and walked with a slight limp. Unlike any robot Steo had ever seen, it wore clothes, a dusty old cloak. This was a breach of most civilized societies’ laws. Robots weren’t allowed to look human. In some areas of the galaxy, this robot would be destroyed on sight.

  It waved to him, and moved a bit faster. Steo couldn’t use the glider to move the robot and didn’t have the strength to help it either since it obviously didn’t use grav-tech to hover.