The courier nodded timidly and backed away from the surgery room.
Dr. Fector went to his office and locked the door. Moving briskly, he cropped his hair to stubble and shaved off his beard, not bothering to clean up after himself. He dressed in rough, common clothes and slid his gun into a proper holster. He put a hard black case on the desk and was about to check its contents when he heard a buzz at his door. Instantly, the gun was in his hand and he was by the door.
A panel showed him who was outside. He cursed when he saw the thug in the hall.
The doctor tapped the panel, setting it to open in five seconds, then stepped in front of the door with his gun drawn. As the door slid up, he fired and hit the thug’s feet. Blood stained the hall floor. The thug fell, howling and screaming. With full view, the doctor shot him in two key points he knew wouldn’t be protected by armor. He heard people running down the hall.
There was no other way out of his office. This was what he feared, that someone had discovered his plans. Old enemies, his greedy employer, maybe somebody he’d operated on, anyone could want him dead. He backed away and readied to fire.
The first man through the door took several shots to the chest, mostly hitting armor. The force would have bent him over backward if a bigger man weren’t pushing him forward.
The second man was lightning fast, ducking and dodging the short distance to the doctor. He avoided a few shots and got under the doctor’s guard. Dr. Fector recognized a mercenary when he saw one. This one had plenty of scars and a metal plate on his head with glowing lights. Tattoos around his mouth made him look even more bizarre.
Dr. Fector swiveled to keep the gun away from the mercenary as they collided.
Fector managed to slide backward and remain standing. He thrust his free hand down between them to prevent kicks and knees. The mercenary lifted him and slammed him to the steel floor. The doctor grunted and the gun flew out of his hands, skittering away.
Brawling and wrestling, they wrecked the office. The mercenary had uncommon strength and speed. Fector knew this kind of foe’s weakness. He switched fighting styles and shifted positions, confounding his younger foe.
Finally the mercenary tried a maneuver he wasn’t familiar with, and the doctor caught his arm. The mercenary’s long muscles bunched. The doctor’s hands were cords of steel, and twisted until he heard a snap. The doctor didn’t stop. He didn’t know if his attacker even felt pain, so he curled the limb until it broke again, and drove the merc’s face into the steel floor. He didn’t wait for signs that the merc was alive or dead, but pressed on the neck. Knowing the battle was almost over, he got a sense of his surroundings. He looked for his pistol. A man’s shadow blocked the door.
For an instant he thought this was a fourth attacker, then froze. He didn’t release the mercenary on the floor until his eyes adjusted. Then he let go.
The doctor leaned back and said, “Admiral.”
“Did you keep your edge, Hack?” the Admiral asked with a gruff voice. Dr. Fector hadn’t forgotten the nickname given to mercenary doctors: Hack. It was gallows humor among mercenaries.
Hack said, “This was a test. Three down. I can still carry my weight.”
The Admiral said nothing. The mercenary on the floor was motionless, though the doctor knew he wasn’t dead yet.
The doctor leaned back. “I’ll get them moving again.”
“If you think it best,” said the man with the spider eyes. “Let them feel it. Let them learn like you and I learned.”
The doctor stabilized the lancemen and stopped the bleeding. His methods were a combination of state-of-the-art medicine and field-tested techniques.
Field Officer Boc was last. The internal bleeding in his arm wasn’t immediately life-threatening and his skull was only slightly cracked. Once the doctor woke him with a stimulant injection, he immediately smiled.
“Good fun, Dr. Fector,” he said. “I’m Boc heh heh.”
“You’re an idiot, Boc. You try moves you don’t know yet. Call me Hack.”
Boc’s smile didn’t lessen as the doctor bound his shattered arm. Hack knew no painkillers were necessary. He’d met laffers before. It wasn’t mental fortitude, it was plain old insanity.
They left the prison ship, three hobbling slowly behind. Hack made them carry his bags.
Boc had the case in his good hand. As they entered an elevator, Boc lifted it to his ear and with a wry grin said, “What’s in here? Personal items?” He violently shook the case.
“Vials of flesh-eating bacteria. If you break them, we die,” Hack said.
Boc guffawed.
Hack eyed him. “We would die in eruptions of pus and blood.”
Boc gulped and made a small, nervous laugh. He shoved the case into the arms of one of the lancemen, who leaned against the wall wheezing.
“You found a sample,” the Admiral said with a note of approval.
“More than that,” Hack said. “It’s a large volume, weaponized and ready for use.”
“What variant?”
“The Venicarce Strain. Not just any flesh-eating bacteria. It’s drug-resistant and highly infectious. An atmospheric release would kill a third of a dispersed population, lingering weeks before dying out. Direct attack by injection into a crowded population would generate even greater results. It’s the most terrifying weapon ever developed, I promise you that, sir.”
“No,” Admiral Slaught said. “This biological weapon is a killer. Your efforts will be rewarded. Soon though, I will show the galaxy the most terrifying weapon of all.”
Hack had his doubts, but he could only wonder what nightmarish tool Slaught had uncovered. It would pay better than the job he just left, of that he was sure.
CHAPTER 22
Percaic Entry
Glaikis greeted Steo. “Safe and sound, I see. Glad to have you back. Did we acquire a new crewmember?”
“Yes. Navigator Glaikis, this is Renosha. He’s our new librarian.”
“Welcome aboard, Renosha. Come on, I’ll show you around.” They went to the bridge.
Yuina said, “A librarian, that’s exactly what I was thinking we needed! Not a thermo-plasma cannon to burn a hole through domes over cities where our team are held captive, but a librarian robot.”
Steo said, “Yuina, nice to see you too. Renosha is really wise and he doesn’t take anything out of your share.”
Tully said to Renosha, “You’re an old fella, aren’t you? Science, I haven’t seen bundled fiber used for limbs since I was a kid.”
“I was the height of technology when I was built, and I know of nothing that has surpassed it,” replied Renosha.
“Confident, isn’t he?” Tully said with a chuckle. “I came on to work with new technologies not antiquated ones, so I’ll be in the engineering room. We almost have enough energy for the big jump.”
Glaikis said, “You’re old, so I can see a justification for keeping you around, but we should be careful. Steo, a bipedal robot would make some people go nova.”
“Yeah, but I think we can pass him off as a novelty,” Steo said.
Steo handed over the updated information on the Vadyanika. Over the course of the next few hours, the Eye of Orion moved from Zivang’s orbit to the edge of its solar system and everyone prepared for the jump from the Tarium arm to the Percaic. Since inaccurate star charts could result in disaster, they were jumping to a well-mapped solar system.
Near there was a free station, called Kurzia Station.
“What’s a free station?” Yuina asked. In her experience, every space station was free. Anyone could dock and refresh.
Steo explained that it was like a free city in space. It was dark and dangerous, an amalgam of modules attached together in a hodge-podge. Bloodthirsty raiders, leathery old soldiers and armed merchants docked there. Many sides of the hunter-hunted relationship found reasons to visit a free city. The last source of information Steo had from Slank on the Vadyanika was at Kurzia Station.
Steo said t
hey could leave when ready.
The internal sounds changed when they started the jump. There was a descending rumble representing the graviton engine stopping, and a sharp rising buzz indicating the tachyon subengine charging. A sudden whoosh matched their acceleration to faster-than-light speed.
The trip took days. Even with a new ship of this caliber, it was still tens of thousands of light years between the galaxy’s spiral arms.
The crew got along well. Yuina told stories about her past. Glaikis and Hawking pointed out the flaws in her tall tales. When Tully was in the upper decks, he gave welcome technical advice to the others. Governor fussed over the crew. Renosha spent most of his time with Steo.
At the estimated time of arrival, everyone was awake. Yuina, Glaikis and Hawking were in the bridge. Steo and Renosha were in the holobridge talking.
“Coming out of FTL speed in a moment,” came Tully’s voice.
“Got you, T-mek,” Yuina replied. “G-nav, do you have anything yet?”
“That would be impossible, Pilot Yuina,” Hawking said. “Considering that information coming from the destination would be years old to say the least.”
“All sensors ready, Y-fly.” Glaikis ignored Hawking. “When we stop I’ll have more for you. There’s no reason we’ll need to make last-second adjustments. This system is charted.”
Steo and Renosha walked into the main bridge. The wall panels showed star charts, diagrams and readouts of internal systems. Normally the only way a passenger would know they had stopped was being told by the pilot.
“At a halt,” Yuina called out.
“E-cores at near minimum,” Tully’s voice said.
“Data coming in.” Glaikis looked at her console.
“Smooth jump! One of the best,” Tully’s voice said.
“Yes, thank you Tully,” Steo replied. He was starting to feel like this mission might go smoothly.
The wall panels aligned to registered objects like planets and natural satellites. The brown dwarf star was a dull spot on the panel.
Yuina leaned forward in her chair, looking at the forward panel. Hawking joined her.
Glaikis, Steo and Renosha talked.
Yuina’s back straightened. Hawking focused on the display.
Glaikis laughed at something Steo said, while Renosha nodded. Out of the corner of her eye, Glaikis saw something on her console. On the main panel, tiny red dots began to move.
Glaikis said, “Are there navigational buoys here? What are those points?”
Yuina shouted at the top of her lungs, “INCOMING MISSILES! We’ve got trackers!”
Missiles were the primary weapons for ship-to-ship combat. They locked onto a ship’s energy signature and tracked it. They carried a variety of methods of ending life.
Hawking rapidly confirmed. “The blue and purple stationary icons are mines, Navigator Glaikis. The red, mobile ones are missiles launched from ships. Our enemies have not revealed themselves yet.”
Steo and Renosha stepped away from Glaikis, who sorted data rapidly.
Renosha took a seat which distracted Steo because he’d never seen a robot sit down, much less need a rest.
“Ships? Plural?” Glaikis yelled across the bridge.
“Indeed,” Hawking confirmed as he checked a console. “They were launched from different points.”
The ship’s automatic alarms activated, the edge of each panel and console flashing red.
“We’re not moving. They’re closing,” Steo said. In every other serious situation he’d been in, he was a passenger. His hopes that this mission would be uneventful were gone.
“Not now,” Yuina shouted as she tapped her consoles. “T-mek, I need more than minimal energy!”
“Charging!” Tully replied. “We don’t have enough for FTL, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Yuina said, “What’s the plan? Better be quick! I can do a couple short bursts but that won’t accelerate us faster than those missiles and it won’t shake them. I have chaff, jamming and decoy drones.”
Steo said, “Any of those should stop the missiles. They can’t be newer than us.” Probably, he mentally added. His heart rate picked up.
Renosha watched him.
“So which one?” Yuina asked.
He didn’t feel like he had to make decisions for her. In the hurry of the moment, he left it to them to use their own judgment. “Pick one,” Steo replied.
Glaikis scowled but didn’t say anything.
Yuina focused on the panels and her consoles. “G-nav, give me three points. Clear away from the mines. Do we have enough energy for stop-starts, T-mek?”
“Yes, a few if you need them,” he replied.
“Enough to get us out of nuclear explosion radius is what I need,” Yuina said.
“Done charting,” Glaikis said. Lines appeared on the map ahead of Yuina.
The young pilot hit a button and everyone heard the whoosh sound of the ship shooting forward. Then she forced a stop and released several decoy drones. The missiles tracked the moving targets instead of the still one. The crew watched as some red dots shot off and followed the decoys. Others stayed on the ship. Yuina took off again.
Each time she stopped, she released decoy drones that flew away from the ship. These small missiles emitted signals identical to the ship and flew erratically as if trying to avoid being hit. The computers on the missiles were simple artificial intelligences that chased the most likely target. Like wolves, they chased the fleeing rabbits.
After the defensive maneuvers, they were clear of the mines and missiles, however three ships were in motion and headed their way. Yuina accelerated and kept the Eye of Orion flying without adding any speed. The ship would continue at that velocity until she changed it.
I’m not wrong, Steo thought as he rubbed his forehead.
The three enemy ships released new missiles.
The purple-skinned tirrian said, “Those are pirates, Steo. You need to unlock the weapons so we can fight back.”
Hawking said, “May I speak sir?”
“No you may not,” Steo replied. “The Eye of Orion was designed to get away from these types of enemies. We don’t need to fight.”
Glaikis observed, “We have a lot of drones left, but we can’t keep this up forever.”
“Then maneuver! Shake them off!” he said.
Glaikis said, “These must be pirates. They were waiting in this worthless system for ships jumping here from the Tarium arm. The ship names are coming in … Desolization, Encapture, Paratimizer.”
“Oh, so they’re stupid pirates too. Those aren’t even real words!” Yuina said.
“Calm down,” Steo said.
Yuina grumbled.
Taking a page out of the v-kuay’s book, she launched chaff and one decoy drone along the same path as the ship, then brought the ship to a halt. The missiles overshot them and pursued the drone. The enemy vessels passed them, chasing the drone too.
Yuina wistfully said, “Just as they went past, I could have fired a volley. They wouldn’t have had time to react.”
“No you couldn’t,” Steo said.
“Yeah because you have it all locked out.”
“No, because there are no weapons to be locked out.”
“What?” Glaikis said, startled.
“I had the offensive weaponry removed when the Eye of Orion was built. It was replaced with expanded sensor arrays and improved defensive systems,” Steo explained.
Yuina spun her chair around to Steo. Aghast, she said, “What do you mean we have no weapons? Nothing?! There are no offensive armaments on this ship?”
“I had the weapons removed,” Steo said.
Yuina jumped out of the pilot’s chair, her eyes fixed on Steo. Instinctively, Glaikis took a step forward and raised her arm, frowning at the tirrian.
“We just need to get away. We can do that,” he said.
“We could do it easier if our enemies are dead!” Yuina nearly shrieked. She jumped back in the p
ilot’s chair. “I can’t begin to … we’re helpless!”
Glaikis rubbed her face and wondered about flying from a safe place like the Tarium arm into the pirate-infested wilds of the Percaic without any weaponry. She mumbled, “What was I thinking?”
An experienced mercenary, she knew failure to act as a crew meant death. They had to get moving and stop arguing. She appealed to Yuina in what she hoped was an encouraging voice. “We have to get clear now, Yuina, using what tools we’re given.” In the heat of the moment, she was hard-pressed to vocalize support for Steo’s decisions.
Spinning her chair around, Yuina said, “That’s why he didn’t hire a gunner. Gah flur ni-do!” She cursed in her own language.
“I said there would be danger,” Steo mumbled. His face was flushed.
Hawking interrupted. “Enemy vessels slowing. Their missiles have destroyed our decoy drone. The ships are turning about.”
Yuina sighed. “We’re getting a transmission.”
“Put it on the main panel.” Steo stepped forward.
A man’s face appeared in front of them, pierced hundreds of times. His lips, eyebrows, and ears were covered with studs and rings. His jawline was outlined with loops.
“You. You’re outnumbered and weak.” He pointed at them. “I’m Buchen, Tollmaster of this system. We haven’t used nuclear missiles because we want to collect. Pay us or we will use them. No one gets away without paying.”
“Don’t respond. Panel off,” Steo said.
Hawking said, “The pirates are moving toward us at a slow pace. They are probably giving us time to decide.”
“They mean it,” Glaikis warned. “I used to be a navigator for knight-merc ships. We hunted pirates, so if you don’t know, I do. Those are killers. At least you better hope they’re just killers, because some like to capture ships. Slavery, rape, torture, you don’t know what they’re capable of. A toll may not be the only thing they take.”
Steo marched back to the holobridge. Renosha got up and followed. Steo generated a large display in the middle of the room, showing the objects in the solar system and the locations of the ships.
The Eye of Orion_Book 1_Gearjackers Page 14