“Tell me we didn’t just waste twenty six light years of slipspace fuel?”
“Fifty two, assuming you want to get back to Bunny and Kyle.” Davie corrected.
“Not in the mood Reeves.”
“Just saying.” The pilot mumbled.
“Hang on!” Eniella said, sparing her girlfriend from an earful of Donnie’s ire; “I’ve got something! And holy shit are we lucky!”
“What and why?” The captain snapped.
“Don’t know, but it ain’t tiny. Whatever she is, we’re lucky we didn’t pop out inside of her.”
“I’m seeing it too.” Davie confirmed, but shook her head; “And no, not lucky, even factoring in twice the error rate we still had room to spare for the jump.”
“Settle it later. For now take us closer.” Donnie grumbled.
“Already moving.”
The skipper looked over the pilot’s shoulder as they approached the object.
Davie let out a low whistle when she realized what it was.
“It’s an asteroid, the only object for millions of kilometers. Lonely little rock.”
“How big?”
“It’s no Banana, barely eight hundred metres across. We’re coming up on it now.” The pilot reported.
Once they were closer, the Pixie’s running lights played over the asteroid, displaying its rough greyish-brown surface in vivid detail as they drifted around it.
Her eyes taking in the sight, Donnie spoke to Eniella.
“Is it big enough to stuff something inside of it?”
“Sure, but why would anyone-”
“Close the shutters.” She ordered; “Just in case something tries to poke our eyes out.”
A couple seconds later they were relying on their instruments to scan the rock for answers.
The FCO sat up suddenly.
“Wait... I’ve got heat. It’s faint. Must be deep in there. Nope, nevermind.”
“What the fuck Eniella?” Donnie sighed.
“Sorry, thermal scan lit up when we drifted over a bit. Heat. Lots of it. There’s a reactor in there, and definitely some air conditioning.”
“You find a door?”
“Not yet, Davie shift us down thirty degrees.”
“Copy.”
A few seconds later and Eniella was nodding her head slowly.
“There you are.” She said softly; “Docking airlock tucked into that crevice, someone was trying to hide it. We doing this?”
“That depends. Any weapon emplacements?”
“No, nothing. This rock is so remote they were relying on stealth to keep it safe.”
“‘They?’” Davie asked.
“Yeah, you know? Them.”
Donnie ignored ‘them’, opting to move on as she activated the ship’s coms.
“I need three marines in my airlock in full kit in ten minutes. We’re docking and I don’t wanna get caught flat-footed.”
There was a chorus of ‘copys’ and ‘rogers’ as the crew readied themselves for another adventure.
“And Bryan?”
It was a moment before he replied, having to figure out the coms panel in Maria’s room.
“Um, yes?”
“This place is literally in your DNA, so it’s your call.”
There was a long pause before he responded.
“I’d like to go with you, if that’s alright.”
The captain suppressed a groan, but accepted it.
“Yeah. I would wanna know too.”
Fifteen minutes later, they were in the airlock as it cycled through, the Pixie having docked with the mysterious asteroid.
Donnie audibly charged her shotgun.
“Alright people, Billy and Hooker with me, we clear the inside hard and fast. Be ready to fall back if it turns out we’re outmatched. Maria you hold the airlock with the kid until I sound the all clear.”
Bryan was at the blonde’s side, wearing Bunny’s patched up hazard suit and looking gray in the face.
“Yes ma’am.” Maria said before settling one armoured hand on his shoulder to help him steady his nerves.
Pausing long enough to draw in a steadying breath herself, Donnie turned and gave Billy a nod to open the door.
Chapter 32:
Hidey Hole
Though it had a reactor buried in its belly somewhere, along with a proper mass generator, there really wasn’t much to the facility hidden inside the asteroid.
The single docking airlock lead to a series of interconnected corridors in a rough ring around a central chamber filled with assorted laboratory equipment.
Since the hidden outpost had apparently been sculpted into the lonely rock, the floor was uneven; the back of the central lab sloping up a good three feet from the lower portion, with a trio of corridors leading off of it to other sections of the base.
In the center of the crude laboratory stood a nervous man wearing a stereotypical white coat that matched what few wisps of hair were left on his mostly bald head.
He also wore the expression of a man caught doing something he shouldn’t be doing, and had the sense to have his hands already raised when the two armoured hulks secured the room.
“We’re clear.” Donnie proclaimed.
At her side, Eva likewise lowered her weapon.
“This place badly needs a janitor.”
“Rest of the station is clear as well Captain, heading to your transponder now.” Billy announced over the coms.
The man in the lab-coat cleared his throat nervously as he waited for them.
The captain turned her focus on him while Eva poked around the lab equipment.
“Professor Calvin, I presume?”
He nodded, gray in the face.
“Before you kill me I just want to say I did everything I could to ensure that the package was safe when the raid occurred.”
“Glad to hear it. What package?”
The man’s worried expression shifted into confusion.
“I’m s-sorry?”
“What package?” Donnie repeated.
Her posture had relaxed somewhat as she bent her elbow so that her shotgun was pointed at the ceiling, but only an idiot wouldn’t be intimidated by her.
Realizing his mistake, Calvin’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re not from Outerlight. And you certainly aren’t Junkers. Who are you?”
The former marine clicked her tongue and commed Maria as Billy entered the room.
“Alright Sledge, it’s safe, you can bring the ‘package’ over.”
A couple minutes later the two lovers came into the chamber and the professor smiled brightly when he recognized the lad in the borrowed hazard suit.
“Bryan! Oh thank goodness you’re okay!”
All of the anxiety fled from his features as he lunged forwards to reach the younger man, but he had to awkwardly stop himself when he ran into a wall made of aggressive Maria.
“Keep back!” She snapped.
Her repeater lifted slightly and the man’s eyes couldn’t help but glance towards the deadly weapon.
But his look turned arrogant despite the weaponry when he concluded that they weren’t there to kill him.
“Let me guess, you couldn’t decrypt the data beyond my jump coordinates? I have terms before I agree to help you. And they are non-negotiable.”
“Good, because I’m not negotiating.” Donnie said as she pulled her helmet off, her movements the cue the others needed to do the same; “You’re talking to us when you should be talking to him.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I Professor. That’s w-why we’re here.” Bryan finally stammered after Maria helped him remove the helmet of his suit to allow him to better face the professor.
Licking his lips anxiously, Calvin turned from him to face Donnie.
“What is this? Are you people mercenaries or something?”
“Why are you still asking questions?” Billy said flatly; “You owe this young man an explanation. Ex
plain.”
The young man in question took that as permission, so he stepped around Maria’s protective form.
“I only have one question left.”
“Look, Bryan, we can talk about all of that later. Right now though I need to-”
“No! I don’t care what you need!”
It was clear that Calvin wasn’t expecting the outburst, his mouth working as he tried to find words.
Finally he rubbed at his temples and let out an exasperated sigh.
Eva clued in to the problem before anyone else: the professor had been in the kid’s life long enough that their relationship was one similar to father and son.
In his eyes Bryan was merely acting out.
So she tapped her combat knife against her armoured thigh to get his attention.
“If you don’t start talking, I’m going to do something permanent to you.” She warned.
Fear replaced his annoyance as his eyes dropped to the tapping blade.
Tink. Tink. Tink.
The metallic sound echoed around the room until Calvin swallowed.
“What do you w-want to know?”
Bryan had to take a moment as well, unused to seeing the man so cowed.
He shook his head and drew in a deep breath to mentally brace himself for what came next.
“Was my mom involved?”
The response was surprising.
Calvin laughed in relief.
“Is that all? Of course she was! She volunteered for the project when she was doing her graduate studies. She was so excited to be part of something this groundbreaking. Certainly better than running the family farm, although she ended up doing that anyways. Funny how things turn out.”
“Hilarious.” Eva said flatly.
Everyone in the room other than the professor saw how much his careless words hurt Bryan, the kid’s face twisting with anguish.
“You are a disgrace to the scientific community.” Billy declared firmly.
Again he laughed it off though.
“Come now, let’s not overreact. Nothing I have done was illegal!”
“Except the whole kidnap and murder thing.” Donnie muttered, but he didn’t hear her.
Despite the sting of the older man’s words, Bryan had recovered his composure enough to follow up with another question.
“What about the facility? Why was it raided?”
The professor was getting more agitated by the second as he strove to justify himself, seeming to have finally realized that he had no secrets left to keep.
“You have to understand! Outerlight was going to mothball the entire program! Nearly thirty years of my work! Gone!”
“So you contracted the Iowa Clan to abduct Bryan and steal the research.” Donnie observed simply.
“No! Nothing like that! I never met any of them! All of it was done through a broker, and certainly no one was supposed to get hurt!”
Eva sniffed.
“Didn’t turn out that way. Seriously, how many dickheads have made that same excuse over the years? ‘Oh but I swear mummy, no one was going to end up dead!’ Whiny little cunts.”
He wheeled in place, wringing his hands as he struggled to justify himself to people that just didn’t care.
“But it’s true! Those blasted pirates! They were supposed to simply meet us at the airlock to provide transport and security! We were going to leave peacefully, next thing I know they’re charging in and shooting up the place!”
“I know, I was there!” Bryan cried out.
But the agitated professor didn’t pick up on his distress, still caught up in his story.
“Yes, it was all so very unfortunate. I barely got out myself! But now you are here! My prototype! And every ounce of my research is inside of you!”
Again Eva tapped her knife against her armoured thigh.
“You’re making it sound like you were up to some butt stuff.”
The redhead was honestly bored of the entire thing and just trying to amuse herself by taunting the cornered man.
Donnie stepped forwards and caught the professor’s attention by poking him in the chest.
“Let’s cut the crap, why does everybody in the universe want him if Outerlight was mothballing the program? Never known a corp to throw out an investment like this.”
“It’s because they are all short-sighted idiots! They claimed it was too much of a risk! Just like the Iowa Clan, all they see is a means of transporting stolen data-”
“Which you did. Kind of proved their point there.” Maria growled.
“Corporate espionage!” Billy snapped her fingers suddenly as realization struck; “The foulest crime in the universe as far as the mega-corps are concerned. If it got out that Outerlight had developed a means of facilitating it on this kind of scale they would be in hot water with just about every other company out there. Their top brass must have realized this when they decided to shut you down.”
“Like I said they are a bunch of short-sighted fools!” Calvin lamented with no small amount of indignation; “Every new technology can be used for nefarious purposes! Every single one!”
“Breast implants?” Eva challenged with a wry smirk.
“Counterfeit Jell-O!” He snarled back with a manic tinge to his eye.
The redhead’s expression soured.
“Feel like maybe that wasn’t a big issue.” She muttered.
“Okay I think we’ve heard enough.” Donnie declared as she made her decision; “We’re washing our hands of this nonsense. Tip off Outerlight to this knucklehead’s super-duper secret base and close the loop right here. Once their black-ops gets involved Iowa will have to back off or they’ll get more than just a bloody nose.”
“No! You musn’t!”
“Yes, I must...t. Is that even a word?” She shook her head to cast of the inconsequential thought; “Whatever, Maria keep the mad scientist from losing his shit while I have Davie make the call.”
Professor Calvin turned to find the blonde woman hulking over him.
“Why don’t you have a seat Teach? Let the women-folk do their thing.”
But as she reached for him he pulled a pulse-pistol out of his coat and leveled it at her.
“Stay back! All of you! I won’t let you ruin my-”
He didn’t get to finish though: Eva was moving on him as soon as she saw him reaching for the gun.
The deadly woman had him disarmed and disabled in seconds and she wasn’t gentle about it.
“Just plain sloppy Sledge.” She said flatly as she cleaned her knife on the now-dead professor’s lab coat.
Maria crossed her arms and pouted.
“I could’ve taken him.”
“All you could’ve taken was a pulse-laser to the face.” The redhead said angrily as she cleared the pistol with her foot; “You’re still too focused on your new chew-toy.”
“Enough Hooker. It’s done.”
Donnie wasn’t overly happy with the bloody outcome, but ultimately she didn’t have much sympathy.
Staring at the vacant eyes of the dead man, Bryan was another story.
Professor Calvin was the one that helped him get the internship at Outerlight in the first place, at least that had been the story he had been told, but even then the geneticist had been in Bryan’s life long before that.
Finding out now that the whole thing was a cover for a completely different form of research didn’t change the fact that the older man was someone he knew, who was now dead for no good reason at all.
And nobody else in the room seemed to give a damn.
For Eva it was a simple matter of neutralizing a threat, and for Donnie it was all about what came next.
“Davie, send Eniella over. If we want Outerlight to think that this was a Junker deal gone bad we’ll need to strip this place bare of anything shiny. Who knows, maybe she can score Kyle some doohickeys, maybe even a doodad or a whatzit.”
“I’ve already spotted some nanites, so there is that.” Billy volunteered.
“Good, just make sure nothing you take has any marking on it that could lead back to this place, or to the corporation that bankrolled it.”
“Which is it? Are we stripping it bare or leaving the most valuable shit cuz it has this dickweed’s name on it?” Eva asked in exasperation, one armoured foot nudging the dead professor’s side.
Bryan’s composure cracked at that point.
“He wasn’t a bad person! Despite what he did he didn’t deserve to be murdered!” He cried out.
“Whoa now.” The murderer said unapologetically; “Not that I mind you showing me your cute little brass ones, but you need to stow them. We got a crime-scene to stage.”
“Sledge, deal with that.” Donnie said calmly while gesturing at the emotionally fuming Bryan; “The rest of you, load up the airlock, we’ll go through it once we’re a few light-years away, anything with corporate markings gets turfed on the next trash planet we visit.”
Just then a familiar alarm started blaring and plans got changed.
“Proximity sensor!” Maria declared as she popped her helmet back on her head.
“Fuck it, we’re gone! Billy drop it!”
“It’s twenty grand worth of nanites.” The doctor said evenly.
Donnie cursed again.
“Fine! Nothing else! Get back to the ship, we’re fucked if it’s Outerlight anyways!”
Her coms crackled to life then as Davie’s urgent voice sounded in her ear.
“Someone tagged us Skip! Eniella just killed the tracker’s frequency, but we’re definitely blown!”
“Tell me something I don’t know! How long do we got?”
The station shook and another alarm sounded, just to make Donnie look stupid before Davie filled her in.
“We’re out of time! That red cruiser from Mung came out of slipspace barely a thousand klicks out and they’ve already opened up on us! We’re getting hammered!”
Each boom of the enemy’s railguns hitting the Pixie’s hull sent vibrations throughout the station.
Donnie’s blood ran cold as she looked to her crew.
Grim faces looked back.
It was a shitty call to have to make, but it was her job to make it.
“Bug out for now Davie! Get around behind this rock! We don’t make it off this station have Eniella let the Dobermans out and bury the lot of us!”
Pixie Hazard Page 27