The Eye of Orion_Book 1_Gearjackers

by Mitch Michaelson

  “Let’s go with that,” Glaikis said. “Steo, you left the Vadyanika with Cyrus. The Fire Scorpion showed up and chased us. They wanted Cyrus back. Pretty simple. He’s free now though.” She clapped him on the shoulder.

  “Their diabolical plans have been interrupted,” Yuina said.

  “What plans are those, I wonder?” Renosha said.

  Cyrus said, “My memories are starting to look like a bad backstory. I admit I get a little anxious when I think of my home world being run by alien slavers. Where is it, though? What do the aliens look like? I don’t know. I don’t want revenge, but I do too.”

  Steo’s curiosity wasn’t strongly engaged by the puzzle, especially because there was little they could do about it. “Who were you supposed to lead?”

  Cyrus shrugged.

  “Hawking, do you have more information on the Fire Scorpion?” Renosha asked.

  “It’s registered in many systems back in the Tarium arm. I searched the ship’s computer for more,” Hawking said.

  Hawking created a hologram of the Fire Scorpion above their table. Yuina grimaced. It looked threatening even in miniature.

  “The Fire Scorpion is a destroyer-class mercenary vessel. Its hull was built over two centuries ago, but it’s been updated with the latest technology ever since. It has never been used for piracy. Most of its existence, it was used by knight-mercenaries to hunt pirates. However, it has been used as a pure military vessel. Hired out for wars across the sector, the Fire Scorpion has commanded fleets. Usually cruisers or battleships hold this responsibility, but the Fire Scorpion has an experienced crew and a notable commander: Admiral Slaught.

  An old mercenary, little is known about him. He commands absolute loyalty from his crew, making the Fire Scorpion an expensive contract to sign. Slaught has been involved in some of the bloodiest battles in recent galactic history.”

  “Lovely,” Glaikis said. She knew the type.

  “There is one more piece of information, if I may, Master Steo,” Hawking said. “You didn’t awaken Cyrus early. You woke him on time.”

  “On time?” Steo and Cyrus said together.

  “Yes sirs. That’s what the medical notes say. The experiments were calculated for that day. The day you woke him was the day the sarcophagus was scheduled to be opened.”

  Renosha nodded with a serious look. “The Fire Scorpion showed up on the day Cyrus was to be awakened. He was then to lead an army. The Fire Scorpion is a mercenary vessel. There were no soldiers on board the Vadyanika, were there?”

  “I didn’t see any. The ship wasn’t big,” Steo said.

  Hawking said, “The information from your contact Curio indicates the Vadyanika was alone when it docked at Kurzia Station.”

  Renosha said, “Does it make sense to fly into an unsafe region and hire an expensive destroyer to occasionally accompany you? I think we need to consider that the Fire Scorpion was Dr. Spierk’s customer. The Fire Scorpion came for Cyrus.”

  “Then the Fire Scorpion was taking me to lead Admiral Slaught’s army,” Cyrus said.

  “It makes the most sense,” Steo agreed.

  “Too bad there’s nothing we can do about it.” Yuina stood. When nobody else stood, she said, “Because we barely escaped.”

  Glaikis made a face and cocked her head.

  Steo asked her, “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing wrong, I just heard a beep. I set it to go off when my surveys were done. They found something.”

  “I’ll bring it up in here in the holobridge.” With a wave, a hologram of the solar system appeared above their heads.

  Glaikis zoomed in on the second planet. It was mostly cloudy, with traces of blue.

  “Nothing unusual there,” Yuina said. “It’s in the habitable zone. There’s probably liquid water.”

  Hawking said, “Why Pilot Yuina, you did pay attention in science class.”

  “That’s not what the scan beeped for. It detected life,” Glaikis said.

  “Life as in signals?” Steo asked.

  “There are no signals coming from the second planet. There are no artificial satellites, spacefaring vessels or power signatures that might be used in an advanced society,” Hawking said.

  “Life as in plants and animals?” Cyrus asked.

  Glaikis said, “Yes. Definitely yes, but there’s motion under the water that can’t be accounted for by marine animals.”

  “Most likely cause, Hawking?” Steo asked.

  “Underwater vessels, Master Steo.”

  “Oooh, a developing species?” Yuina asked. This was an unusual find and piqued everyone’s interest.

  She and Steo headed to the bridge.

  “Oh are we going to check it out?” Glaikis asked.

  “Why not?” Yuina said from her pilot’s chair.

  “Yeah, why not,” Steo said.

  They stopped collecting gravitons and took a minute to fly to the second planet.

  Renosha stayed in the holobridge. He leaned on his metal rod, a frown clouding his face. Cyrus asked him, “Are you okay? I mean, can you get tired?”

  Renosha studied the hologram of the solar system, which showed the only moving object was their ship. “It is as I feared. We have ventured too far, too soon.”

  A shadow drifted over the Eye of Orion.

  Hawking said, “The evidence is substantiated. There are four vessels, maybe more, moving against the currents underwater. Some are a mile deep, though our scans don’t perform well through that much water. No signs of chemical waste or power generators.”

  The Eye of Orion was now in orbit, its sensors focused on the gray and blue planet below them. A titanic object drew closer to the little ship. The internal sounds remained mute; no alarms went off.

  Cyrus held Renosha’s arm. Renosha said, “The system was black for a reason.”

  Glaikis said, “No indication of industrialization on the planet’s few surfaces.”

  The corvette was fully darkened by a ship of unthinkable proportions. It drifted up to their ship, between it and the red dwarf sun, and stopped. Its sides were plain, unmarked metal. No markings implied its origin. A bay opened in its side and it moved closer to the Eye of Orion, like the mouth of a slow-moving predator.

  Renosha said, “Flight is no longer an option.”

  Cyrus looked at him with concern. He said loudly to the people in the bridge, “Hey! Are we in any danger?”

  “Doesn’t look like it, why?” Steo said.

  Closing his eyes, Renosha said, “I’m sorry for this boy, but you must remember.”

  The massive ship slid over the Eye of Orion and the doors came down. That’s when the sensors went black. That’s when alarms shrieked.

  Renosha caught Cyrus as he fell.

  CHAPTER 35

  The AndroVault

  The Fire Scorpion appeared outside the ship graveyard and took a course into the collection of floating derelicts.

  Pesht directed them to a colossal ship, coppery in color. They had been there before. Hack stood at the back of the bridge, looking at the front panel. He had more common sense than Boc and knew to stay out of the way. The spacecraft they approached was more enormous than anything he’d ever seen. It had no marks of damage, and a few lights twinkled on its sides.

  “What is that?” he said.

  “The AndroVault, doctor,” the kalam replied.

  “A bioark? A generation ship?”

  “Yes. That’s our destination.”

  Hack knew what bioarks were. Long ago when mankind first explored the galaxy, it took years or centuries to get to another star system. Faster-than-light travel wasn’t instantaneous. The galaxy was 100,000 light years in diameter so families, even whole communities, boarded vast ships and set out for the stars. At first, they simply planned on living out their years aboard the ship, expecting their children or grandchildren to arrive.

  Cryogenic sleep was invented and perfected though, allowing the inhabitants of later bioarks to arrive more or less u
naged by the long journeys. Sometimes generation ships were called “sleeper ships.” People put into cryogenic sleep that were awakened couldn’t be put back to sleep.

  Technology advanced far beyond expectations. FTL flight from one side of the galaxy to the other took a long time, years even, but it no longer required bioarks or cryogenic sleep.

  Modern ships encountered old bioarks, rarely. They were almost always derelicts, but sometimes they had the pitiful remnants of a lost culture, dead from gamma poisoning or some other misfortune. Desiccated bodies lay in their compartments, never to arrive at their destination.

  Myths surrounded bioarks. By all accounts they were filled with humans escaping something. Prisoners sent off so their home world didn’t have to deal with them. Religious fanatics seeking paradise. Xenophobes who lost their sanity when humans first encountered aliens.

  As they got closer, Hack saw small dots moving around the bioark: shuttles and repair robots.

  “The last one I heard of was the Barge of Humanity,” Hack said.

  “Never heard of it. This is the AndroVault,” slurped the kalam.

  The Barge of Humanity had come out of mankind’s distant past. Long ago it appeared on the edge of the Crux arm, the star-dense arm near the galactic core. The ship ignored hails and then vanished. For years it appeared and disappeared, until reports spread that the Nyx system had been attacked and the population of Motes exterminated. Motes were a tiny alien species regarded as peaceful by all they encountered. Nobody knew what became of Motes.

  Old vids showed the attacker: the Barge of Humanity. Repeatedly the Barge attacked worlds, sometimes stealing resources, sometimes wreaking terrible destruction. Always they vanished, leaving nothing but a bloody wake.

  The very name of the vessel sparked conflict. Aliens blamed all humans for the death wrought by the Barge of Humanity. The vast empires of the Crux arm clashed.

  Reportedly, the Barge was caught and destroyed by croymids. It was never recorded in the galaxy again. The Species Wars in the Crux arm lasted for years, then faded away. Estimates of billions of dead still floated around. Stories like these made people fear bioarks.

  “A lost, undamaged bioark. Are they still alive in there?” Hack asked.

  “Almost two million humans, in deep cryogenic sleep,” said Leech behind him.

  Hack turned around. “Leech. This is the mission? The army? The awakening?”

  “Indeed sir. Admiral Slaught discovered the AndroVault and its occupants. He will awaken them and recruit them to our cause.”

  “What if they refuse?” Hack said.

  “We suffered a setback by not receiving our leading man, as you called him, but the Admiral has a plan. You will be made aware of that plan in an hour. Be in the conference room, along with the other officers.”

  The Fire Scorpion docked to the AndroVault. The size difference was staggering. The destroyer looked like a red pebble next to the copper rock of the bioark.

  In an hour, Hack was in the conference room. Pesht brought some of the bridge crew and staff. Boc brought most of the mercenaries, but was reserved. Leech stood straight when Admiral Slaught entered. They went quiet, but they weren’t much for formalities.

  Slaught faced them.

  “Men, I’m not tired of fighting and neither are you. You’re not ready to lie down and die. You know by now that the ship next to us is the AndroVault, a bioark I found and claim as my own. There are two million humans on board, in cryogenic sleep for centuries. I’m going to keep this simple: they’re xenophobes. Under no circumstances are non-humans to board the bioark or be seen by them.”

  Several croymid mercenaries grunted disapproval at this, but said nothing. Some wrinkle-faced novorians and a red-skinned honna showed no reaction. Hack noted the rule. It was his job to make sure the medical staff was aware.

  “Leech, quote,” Slaught said.

  “These are the days when humans are expected to appreciate every species except his own,” Leech quoted.

  Slaught continued. “There’s your proof, one of their beliefs from ages ago before they started their journey. As it stands, their ship systems are old. The ship isn’t valuable. They recorded their society and beliefs in their computers. These people have a warrior culture.”

  The croymids liked the sound of that.

  “Leech, quote.”

  Leech said, “Faith unto your brother. Loyalty unto your lord. Honor unto death. That is what the people of the AndroVault believe in: pride, fidelity and courage.”

  Slaught said, “Long time ago, these people made it a law to carry weapons. Their lives were ruled by discipline and rituals, a complicated honor system. They worship those who died in battle. They’ve got lists of old dead warriors they revere like nobility.”

  Leech added another quote from the bioark’s cultural database, “Tolerance and conviction are enemies of one another.”

  The mercenaries were nodding.

  “I don’t give a shit about that!” Slaught shouted. His amplified voice rang their ears like a slap.

  The mercenaries didn’t know how to react. Some were plainly confused.

  “That crap about bravery and glory is for weaklings. I don’t admire the dead. They’re losers!” Slaught paced before his men.

  “Every one of you has seen a man scorched by plasma and died shaking of shock. Was it glorious? You’ve seen a buddy punctured by a laser and begging for help while he bled out. Did you wish you were him? Did you see any angels descend and take him up to the gods?”

  They had such memories, some recent. Hack saw that Boc’s grin was back. It wasn’t happiness; it was his pathological way of dealing with pain.

  “Flag-waving morons chant slogans they don’t even understand. You’ve seen them! Brainwashed loyalists obey anything their politicians say. They’ve turned on you, haven’t they? When you’re running for your life they call them patriots, like it’s a good word. Do you trust patriots?”

  Several mercenaries said, “No!”

  Hack knew this was a speech. It had a core of truth that made it compelling for the mercenaries and crew.

  “How many times have we fought against true believers? How many goddamned times have we been sent against fanatics? People without the common sense not to shove explosives up their asses and run into our mess halls, blowing us to bits!”

  The men’s emotions were stirred up. Every eye was on Slaught.

  “It’s our turn. This is our time! We’ve got the army of loyal maniacs now. It’s all planned out. They only know what I tell them. It’s planted in their heads already. They want someone to follow! With this weapon we’re going to take what we want.

  The fleet is assembling. A storm is coming. We’re going to march across this galaxy, and space take anyone who stands in our way. Let our enemies run out of ammunition when crusaders overrun them. Watch their surprise when a burning ship rams them. When our loyalists break their precious rules of war because it’s for a good cause, it will be justice!

  For our enemies this is the end of living and the beginning of survival. We have ultimate power. With enough power, you can do anything!”

  Every man in the room felt like he was in on something important.

  Later, Leech met Hack, Boc and human crewmembers at the AndroVault’s docking tunnel. They walked through the short tunnel, into the bioark. The insides of the AndroVault were dimly lit. Hack saw the walls were ordinary metal, lined with rivets. They weren’t composite materials that could display anything. He tapped one as he went by and realized the metal was thick. As they walked through empty rooms, he saw no ornamentation.

  There was almost no sign of life on the ship except for an occasional Fire Scorpion crewmember. It was quiet and smelled dusty. They traveled through narrow corridors and small rooms, eventually coming to a room with what Hack guessed were controls. They were physical; knobs, levers and buttons lined every console. There were black screens, tiny panels that represented two-dimensional information. Most ever
ything in the control room was off.

  A mercenary entered the room. He had one eye replaced with a mechanical one. Not a spider eye like Slaught, but a silver orb.

  “Makkiner,” Hack said as they clasped each other’s arms.

  “Hack! Good to see you here, you old sawbones.”

  “This is Tech Commander Makkiner,” Hack said to Boc and the other crewmen. “We served together on the Raze All.”

  “The dreadnought?” a crewman asked in awe.

  Hack and Makkiner nodded in unison. A dreadnought was the largest class of military ship. Even with the most modern technology, they required thousands of crew. Since dreadnoughts also carried landing forces for invasions and smaller ships through FTL flight, their full complement often numbered in the tens of thousands. Still, a dreadnought paled in comparison to the AndroVault.

  “Didn’t that thing get torn to bits?” Boc asked.

  Makkiner said, “Point-blank fire from spinal weapons will do that. Even so, old doc and old tech escaped alive, again.” He wiped his hands with a cloth. His clothes were rugged and dirty.

  Hack introduced them and they shook.

  “Did we ever serve together on the Fire Scorpion? I’m trying to remember.” Hack asked.

  “Not at the same time. I knew Admiral Slaught before you did. Listen, I’d like to catch up but we got a lot of work to do.”

  “Update, Tech Commander Makkiner?” Leech said.

  “And you are? A blasted retainer robot probably.”

  “I am Leech, Admiral Slaught’s personal retainer. What is your update, sir?”

  “All right, I’ll get to it. The graviton engines and tachyon subengine are ancient and badly broken. It makes more sense to replace them than to repair them. Even when they worked they barely made FTL speeds by our standards. The only power on this hunk is nuclear and it’s leaking.”

  Hack asked, “Any injuries?”

  “No. Not to our men anyway. We only have a few on board. We’ve been here for weeks and we’ve worn protective suits near the reactor. It’s dangerous down there. It’s one emergency after another. We brought grav-generators to provide more power, so we don’t have to get near the reactor. You – robot – I’ve saved everything. You can connect to the tech crew’s network and provide the details to the Admiral when he gets here.”