Wings of Earth- Season One

by Eric Michael Craig

  Kaycee’s eyes shot open wide. “Suspects?” she whispered.

  He shook his head and held a finger up again to tell her to wait.

  “Not at all,” Ammo said. “I think they’re shooting blind, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have the firepower to make our life hard if we don’t bend for it.”

  “My responsibility is to protect the passengers. If we let them come aboard, I need to make sure their rights are protected,” he said.

  “I think we can push to guarantee at least one of us is present at all times.”

  “If they agree to that, then I’ll sign off on it,” he said. He didn’t like it but if they had eyeballs on the security, at least they couldn’t be digging into things they might not need to see. Being legal didn’t mean their payload wouldn’t raise more awkwardness.

  “Stand by, let me see if that floats,” she said, cutting the comm from the other end.

  “We’re about to have Escabosa Security coming aboard,” he said. “The passenger we’re supposed to pick up here went missing two days ago, and they want to ask the ones we’re carrying some questions.”

  “That’s not good,” she said.

  “Yah, in a lot of ways,” he said. “Get Angel and Quinn on deck and we need to let the passengers know what’s going on.” He waved her toward the door and drummed his fingers on the edge of the console in front of him while he waited for Ammo to negotiate the terms.

  “If they don’t agree, do we have legs to stand on to push back?”

  “While we are docked to the stanchion, our legal position is questionable,” Marti said. “The Fair Commerce Act of 2307 provides that while we are attached to facilities in any system, we are subject to the local jurisdictional law. If we disconnect, even without permission, then we are under FleetCom regulation.”

  “Boss, they agreed to let us observe the interrogations, providing our docs are all in spec,” Ammo said. “If you can relay copies of everything to Nuko’s thinpad they will go over them with her while we come back aboard. They’ve invited her to spend time here in the station while this all swings.”

  “Invited her?”

  “She volunteered when they balked,” she said. “I’m sure they’ll take their time going over everything with her. Long enough to finish their interviews.”

  “Of course, they will,” he said.

  Chapter Nine

  It took four hours to interview the passengers. Escabosan Security wanted to know who, if anyone, knew Dr. Westmore and whether they had any idea if she had any enemies. Ammo watched the entire series of interrogations and although she wasn’t a legal advisor, she knew her way around in the world of the law fairly well. More than once, she interrupted to slow down a line of questions that was over-reaching.

  Ethan watched her work from a distance and tried to keep from chewing himself up over the idea that they’d gotten themselves strapped to a load that guaranteed someone would bring down a load of hurt on their back.

  When they had thoroughly questioned everyone who might remotely know anything, the detective in charge of the investigation politely thanked Captain Walker and headed back to the station. He offered nothing other than his sincere advice to clear out as soon as they could.

  They released Nuko as soon as they left.

  “They barely looked over any of our documents,” she said as she settled into the seat across from the captain on the mid-deck. He was staring out the front observation windows and didn’t look over at her. “I was surprised by how casual they were.”

  “They only wanted you there so we wouldn’t push back and circumvent them,” Ethan said, nodding.

  “Yah, it was a little like a hostage exchange,” she said. “But at least they were nice to me and I got a good meal out of it.”

  “That was decent,” he said, sighing. “Did you get your lungful of air?”

  “Nah,” she said. “You haven’t figured out what comes next have you?”

  He shook his head. “As far as I can tell, we’re fragged. We can’t take the load back to X-04, and we don’t know where we’re going.”

  “Because of your problems with the Guild?”

  “That too,” he said. “The bigger issue is that the only reason we’re legally carrying artillery is because Makhbar has the licenses for it. If we unload it without getting it into his possession, we’ll be trafficking in weapons without a license. They won’t let us park it back in the arrays there without a transfer permit from him.”

  “We could find an authority willing to take responsibility,” she suggested. “There has to be some wing of the government that can do that.”

  “But until we find someone able to do it, we’re sitting on the cargo,” he said.

  “I’ve been working on that,” Ammo said, walking up and planting herself in the seat beside Nuko. “I might still be able to backchannel to Makhbar.”

  Ethan shot her a side eye and waited for her to explain why she hadn’t offered that bit of information earlier.

  “It means we’ve got to send an open transmission to let him know what’s going on,” she said.

  “An open comm?” He shook his head. “We’re already swinging our eggs in the wind.”

  “I know. An omni-directional signal is risky, but I can keep it obscure enough to get his attention, and then he can narrowbeam whatever new instructions he comes up with to us,” she said.

  “We’re sitting here naked with two containers of pirate-bait strapped to our asses,” Ethan said, turning to glare at her. “And you’re saying you want to start screaming that we’re parked in one of the least defended star systems in the Coalition?”

  “What could possibly go wrong with that?” Nuko said.

  “I don’t know that we’ve got many options,” she said.

  Unfortunately, she was right. “You said Makhbar’s dig was over three hundred light years out when you first told me about it. Do you have any idea at all where it might be?”

  She shook her head.

  “If we assume we’re halfway there, it’s still going to be at least seventy-five hours before we’ll get a reply,” Ethan said. “And that’s based on the assumption that he hasn’t had us flying sideways or backwards or who the frak knows what direction.”

  “If he’s listening at all,” Nuko added.

  “That too.” He nodded. “We’re just supposed to sit here and wait? I don’t think we can afford the dock fees that long. This is a high price parking space we’re in.”

  “We can push back and just hang,” Ammo said. “There aren’t many other options.”

  “Escabosa’s not got the beefiest planetary defenses. Artillery in a resort tends to offend the guests,” Nuko said. “It might be a good idea to look for a safer colony and wait there.”

  “We could drop into low orbit and—”

  “Nogo,” he said, cutting her off. “They know what we’re carrying and if we get too close, they’ll get more than a little nervous.”

  “I wouldn’t blame them either,” Rene said, walking up with several cups and a pot of coffee. He’d apparently finished the modifications to the sensors and was looking for company. “I assume we’re trying to figure out how to complete the run without an idea of where we’re going?”

  “Yah,” Ethan said, taking the pot and pouring himself a cup. “Ammo just suggested we send out an omni-comm and see if we can get Makhbar to respond.”

  “I think that’s not a bad idea,” the engineer said.

  “You don’t think that’s a lot of risk?”

  “Sure it is, but we’ve got good eyes now and if it attracts attention we can always run,” he said. “We position ourselves out at the threshold limit but away from the beacons. If a black hat jumps us, we can bolt before they get a good eyeball on us.”

  “We’re a freighter,” Nuko said. “The Dawn’s got big engines, but she’s carrying a lot of mass. We might get a head start but I don’t know if that would be enough to get someplace safe before they ran us to gr
ound.”

  “Right, velocity is a function of reaction force versus coil field density,” Rene said. “We’ve got big coils, but they have less mass. So, what we have to do is increase our coil field strength.”

  “Our reactors limit the output,” the captain said. “How do you suggest we get more power?”

  “The Drop-ship Loader has its own power plant and coils,” he said. “They’re only a tenth the output of the primary systems and not designed to operate above light speed, but I can slave them to the mains, so they’ll stay synched. That would reduce the mass-charge of the cargo to almost zero and with harmonic amplification it might give us as much as a thirty percent boost to our total velocity without burning out the reaction drives.”

  “Or overloading the reactors?” he asked.

  “Exactly,” he said, grinning.

  “Why hasn’t anyone tried this before?” Nuko said.

  “Because if we can’t keep the coils synchronized, we’re looking at the inertial field collapsing and that would be messy,” he said.

  “Define messy,” Ammo said.

  “Our mass-inertia charge would go relativistic and we’d become infinitely massive for a tiny fraction of a picosecond before we collapsed into a quantum singularity.” He shrugged. “Probably not as messy as pirates taking the ship, but it would be a permanent exit from the universe.”

  “And maybe the next three or four of the multiverses before we get slowed down enough to wake up beside a cyborg cat or something,” Ethan added.

  “Where the frak did that idea come from?” Rene said as his mental machinery catastrophically ground to a halt.

  “Nevermind, it was a bad dream I had when I was a neurotic teenager,” Ethan said, looking embarrassed.

  “It would require continuous re-tuning of the coils to keep this from happening,” Marti said. “As long as we were traveling in a single direction this would easily be within my capacity. Maneuvering while in this mode would be almost impossible as the calculations would become exponentially more complex to balance.”

  “We could drop out of multi-coil mode and change heading and then stand back up to overdrive,” Nuko said. “Would that work?”

  “It would,” Marti said.

  “The fastest multicruisers in service can only beat our cruise limit by twenty percent,” Ethan said. “And that’s only because they’ve got power to burn.”

  “I doubt there’s a pirate raider that can come close,” Nuko said. “You’re talking close to a third of absolute GI speed.”

  “Cyborg cats aside, I think turning into a black hole is a bad thing,” Ammo said. Her eyes showed she was more than a little concerned that they’d lost their collective minds.

  “Minor details,” Rene said, winking at the captain. “At least it would be over quick if we choked out.”

  “How long will it take to set it up?” Ethan asked.

  “Existing systems would not require modifications.” Marti said. “The current DSL teleop system is capable of maintaining the necessary control accuracy for synchronization. It would require recoding the control timing to maintain phase delay compensation, but the total programming time would be under a second to upload.”

  “This means you could do it safely if we needed to escape without letting on we had the capacity?” he asked.

  “Yes, Captain,” Marti said.

  “That makes me feel a little better about your idea of sending an open comm,” he said, leaning back and steepling his fingers in front of his face while he stared at Ammo. “I’m not wanting to sound paranoid, but nothing has felt right since we took this job and it keeps getting further from spec.”

  “I can’t argue that,” she said. “If it’s any consolation, I do intend to make sure that Makhbar covers us for the extra trouble.”

  He nodded. “Then let’s push back and head for the threshold edge while we wait for the doctor to respond.”

  “If he does,” Nuko said.

  Chapter Ten

  Quintan had maintained his breakfast ritual for the crew by setting up a separate captain’s table for the crew and a walk up buffet for their passengers. It was easy for him to keep up and Angel had been helping him in the galley every morning. The morning meal had become one of their new routines and it helped to keep everyone sane while they waited for an answer from Dr. Makhbar. It had been four days with no reply and the stress was piling on every day.

  “Captain, can you please report to the bridge?” Marti asked, interrupting breakfast and a pleasant conversation.

  “Have we got a reply?” Ethan asked, pushing back his chair and standing.

  “Negative,” it said. “We are being scanned.”

  His heart started pumping ice water. “Nuko, you’re with me. Rene get to the engine room in case we need to rabbit,” he said.

  “It is unlikely we will need to escape,” Marti said. “It is a FleetCom multicruiser that is scanning us.”

  “A multicruiser?” he said. He hadn’t slowed down and neither had Nuko and Rene.

  “It entered the system twelve minutes ago and altered course to approach,” it said. “It will be here in seventeen minutes at its present velocity.”

  “Have they hailed us?”

  “Not yet,” Marti said.

  Ethan stopped at the lift gate and waited for Nuko to catch up. “I’m thinking we’re attracting attention we really don’t need right now.”

  “You were saying that we would make the Escabosan government twitchy. I’m sure that’s what it is,” she said. “We’ll all exchange pleasantries and then they’ll have done their job and we can get back to sitting on our thumbs.”

  He shrugged as they climbed onto the lift platform and shut the cage. “I just can’t help but feel like there’s something else blowing the stars around and it doesn’t make me feel like we’ve got a clear course.”

  “Sitting on some prime thieving targets isn’t helping your mental stability,” she said. “Just keep breathing. We’re good law-abiding citizens.”

  “With a load of evil intent strapped to our asses,” he said, cranking a hairy eyeball in her direction.

  “It is the Magellan,” Marti said as they entered the ConDeck.

  “Oh, this just keeps getting better.” He shook his head. The last time he and the captain of the Magellan met, MacKenna had suspended his shipmaster license. She wasn’t on his list of favorite people, but at least he knew what to expect from her. Hopefully.

  “Is there any chance we’re not the object of their attention?” he asked.

  Nuko shook her head. “They’re locked on to ten decimals.”

  “The scanning is focused on us and has continued without pause since they arrived,” Marti added.

  “Then let’s say hello,” Ethan said. “No point in being rude.”

  “Channel open,” Nuko said as she punched in the command.

  “FCM Magellan this is Captain Ethan Walker of the Olympus Dawn. CSV-1070. We copy you on approach. What can we do for you?”

  “Olympus Dawn, stand by for Captain MacKenna.” The main viewscreen opened and the command deck of the massive multicruiser appeared. Colleen MacKenna sat on the riser looking like she owned the universe.

  “Captain Walker? I must say I’m surprised to see you still mastering the Olympus Dawn,” she said. “Congratulations?”

  “Thank you, Captain,” he said. “I’m sure you didn’t come all this way to pat me on the back. What can we do for you?”

  “Escabosan Security has asked us to see why you haven’t moved on,” she said. “Now that you’re no longer waiting for your passenger at the Geostation they’re concerned with your continued presence in the system. Apparently, you’re making them nervous.”

  “Probably so,” he said. “We’re awaiting instructions from our client before we can head out. You’re welcome to come aboard, and we can discuss the situation more fully. I’d prefer not to do this over an open comm if you don’t mind.”

  “Given the nature
of what you’re carrying, I understand,” she said. “I assume your documentation is all in order?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said. “Escabosan Security reviewed everything while we were docked.”

  “Very good,” she said, smiling for the first time. She glanced off to the side and nodded at someone. “Once we rendezvous, my ExO and I will come over. Ten minutes.” She cut the connection from her end.

  “You didn’t have to invite her aboard,” Nuko said, shaking her head in disbelief. “I didn’t think you liked her that much.”

  “Nojo,” he said. “I’m just hoping that if I can sweet talk her, we might be able to get some coverage in case we don’t get a reply from Makhbar. I think she likes me, and you know it never hurts to have friends.”

  “Too bad Quinn’s not still serving breakfast. She’d probably like the bacon more than your sparkling personality.”

  “With my luck she’d be a vegetarian,” he said, winking at her as he turned toward the door. “Hold the deck and you can tell Rene to stand down. I’ll go put on some clean clothes and pretend to be a good guy.”

  Exactly ten minutes later, the Magellan’s fast shuttle connected to the lower airlock and MacKenna and her ExO were cycling aboard. “If nothing else, she’s punctual,” Ethan whispered to Kaycee, who stood beside him. He’d decided to bring her along to greet their visitors since she was the only other one on the Dawn who knew the captain.

  “You probably don’t get to be a captain of a multicruiser without a certain level of precision,” she said as the inner door opened.

  “Welcome aboard, Captain,” Ethan said offering his hand.

  She smiled and glanced at Kaycee. “Dr. Caldwell, I am perhaps more surprised to see you here, than to see Captain Walker back in command.”

  “It’s been an interesting few months,” she said.

  “I am sure it has been,” she said. “I don’t think either of you met Kenton Farley when you were on the Magellan.”

  “Do I smell bacon?” the ExO asked, sniffing the air, and flashing a big toothy grin. He was a tall thin man with shocking green eyes and red hair that looked like it had exploded on the top of his head. He was not at all what Walker would have expected for MacKenna’s second in command.