by Ryan Vermont
“You talking about some kind of disaster that involves the Irunians?” Korth asked me. “Can you elaborate a bit?” Maybe he suspected something.
I was about to answer when the first shell breeched the wall and landed in the yard. I watched it tear across the lit cavern sky and impact on the outer edge of the loading platforms. It was far enough away to cause little damage right away, but the explosion took out a crane the Cinzar family used to pick containers from starships. The ground shook as the shockwave sent the crane crashing to the ground. Good thing it wasn’t full of fragmentation grenades, or all of us would’ve died that instant.
“What the hell?” Korth yelled as our hearing returned to normal. He turned to face the steel doors in time to see them shake as another explosion erupted, this time on the outside.
Before he could say another word, a yard worker waving his arms ran up to Korth and his enforcers. The other syndicate representatives stood and looked in horror at the doors, which now feaured a slight forward bend from the explosion.
“Boss! Boss!” the man screamed. “We’re under attack! We need to get every man up on those ramparts! The towers opened fire, but they won’t hold the bastards for long!”
“Attacked?” Korth shouted. “By who? The Fathers wouldn’t dare use the militia against anyone down here! Not with artillery, for Dion’s sake!” I could see he was outraged and confused at the same time.
I turned and looked at the starships lined up at the loading platforms. One of them was the Byzantium. Why? How? Why did the Fathers allow it to be brought over here if they were still trying to figure out what to do with it? Of course, this was the best place to keep it if the militia needed to intervene. Then why, were they blasting away at the gates of the Cinzar family compound?
“It’s not the militia, Boss!” the man screamed. “It’s the Irunians! They rolled in right after the militia showed up to clean up the mess!” He was obviously terrified.
“How dare those bastards!” Korth roared. He turned to his men. “All of you’s! Every one! Get up on that rampart and keep those silver freaks from getting in here!”
His enforcers ran to the nearest stairwell that led up to the top. I could hear gunfire outside the gates. Whoever was out there was doing their best to keep the fight from reaching the inside of the compound.
By now, Korth had his own gun out. It was a 28mm AutoTag, with an additional loader for extra ammunition. It even had the night scope on the top. The gun appeared to be brand new, and I wondered if he’d ever used it before. Those things were supposed to be for military use only, but as an arms dealer, Korth had all kinds of connections to get one for him.
I needed to get the women and myself into that starship. It was close and maybe I could figure out how to power the Byzantium up when we reached it. In the distance, I saw a small militia security staff standing outside the entrance to the ship. Their officer was on a field telephone talking fast to someone. By now, the entire station would know the Irunians broke the covenant that allowed them to operate here. Whatever was inside that ship must be important enough for them to risk all-out war with the Nyx Station Militia.
Right now, they were holding back. The Irunians didn’t want to damage the Byzantium; it was too close to the yard. A projectile could go wide and damage or destroy the starship. They wanted to take it intact and quick. After the starship was under Irunian control, they could take possession of Nyx at their leisure.
Someone had identified the sanitation workers in that truck as Irunian. Hell, even Korth heard about the mad race through the station as the hovercraft outran those marines. If he knew they were Irunians in that truck, so did everyone else who mattered. The Irunian military had realized that they could no longer hide behind the facade of the legation and had decided to act.
I was about to tell the women to get out of the way of any flying shrapnel, but they’d already figured that one out. All three of them were huddled behind a barge tractor on the grounds. They looked to me for guidance. I needed to decide fast.
Two seconds later, the decision was made for me.
Another shock wave radiated from the massive gates as a shell hit it just to the right of it.. I watched one of Korth’s men fall to his death from a position he’d held on the ramparts. One minute, he’d been up there firing away with a sniper rifle, the next, he was a mound of mangled flesh at the bottom of the gate.
At which point the right gate sagged a bit. The direct hit by the shell had damaged whatever support was built into the frame. I heard the terrible sound of metal falling apart as it began to lean back. It stopped, but the gate was now open enough to allow passage into the yard.
A man came running through it in the uniform of the Nyx Militia. He stopped. Then, he turned around, raised a rocket-propelled grenade launcher he carried with him, and fired in the direction he’d come. I heard a boom on the other side as the projectile contacted a target. The sound of gunfire stopped, then picked back up.
The man began to walk back to the outside. The militaman stopped when he was caught by the combined fire of several guns on the other side. I watched him jerk back and forth many times until he was reduced to the form of a bloody puppet. He fell on the ground and didn’t move.
I hit the ground as four Iranian regulars poured in through the gap created by the fallen gate. They all held assault rifles and fired into the courtyard. I had my designer pistol out but didn’t want to draw any attention to myself. I still didn’t know what the effective range of the prototype firearm was.
I heard gunshots and watched as two of the Irunians went down. Tracer bullets created a line of death to them from inside the compound. I turned to see Boss Korth with his fancy gun out, firing controlled bursts at the troopers who’d entered through the gap. The survivors moved back to the cover of the gate. More would be behind them on the next wave.
“Can I get some fucking help here?” Korth yelled to the other syndicate reps, who were too stunned by the sudden gunfire to do anything.
His voice had a magical effect. It caused the other syndicate types to run to his side, guns out. In seconds, he was joined by a horde gat-men in double-breasted suits gat-men. Korth barked out orders and told each group what position to hold.
Something rolled through the opening. I knew what it had to be and huddled tight to the ground.
There was a flash-bang as the pineapple went off. One of the syndicate men screamed and grabbed his leg, a victim of a shrapnel fragment. He was the only one hit, and the rest knew to back away. The next grenade would roll in further.
I jumped off the ground and headed toward the women. I kept one eye on the action that took place behind me. Right now, Korth and the other mobsters were too busy keeping the Irunians at bay to pay any attention to me. The entire compound was a mass of alarms, sirens, men shouting commands, and smoke. I reached the tractor they stood behind the moment another grenade went off. I didn’t bother to see what kind of damage it caused, since the gunfire from our side was still in progress.
Zilpha had her naginata out and ready. Jenica held some low-caliber pistol, and I didn’t bother to ask her what it did or where it came from; right now, survival was the one thing in front of my mind. Rashina, as I expected, hid between the other two women. She had no comprehension of what was taking place.
“We have to get out of here,” I told them. “We need to make a run through the dock out there to the Byzantium. If I can get us inside the starship, we won’t have to worry about protection. The Irunians want that ship and won’t do a thing to damage it.”
“So you say!” Zilpha snapped back. “But from what I can see, the militia is still in control of it.” She pointed in the distance at the militia detachment that surrounded the starship. Although the officer in charge of it was still on the phone, I could tell the other militiamen were terrified. They didn't have that much in the way to defend it. None of them possessed anything more than carbines. If the Irunians attacked in force, they wouldn’t last 10 seconds.
“They don’t expect a full assault on the ship,” I explained. “Those kids guarding it are green. I can talk my way past them and get inside. The rest of you will have to back me up.”
I saw them stare at me and hesitate, but I didn’t have time to argue. A shell could fall near us at any second and turn us all to red mist. We had to get across that landing field to the Byzantium.
“Are you with me?” I asked them in my solid and determined tone of voice. “You know I’ll never let you down!”
I could see the change in their faces. They were scared, but they knew “The Fixer” was with them. Even Rashina looked a bit calmer. Good. Time to go.
Problem was, these weren’t battle-hardened Janissaries that were ready to march into the face of the seven hells for the glory of the sultan. These were three scared women, only one of which had any kind of military training, and I wasn’t sure about her. If they were all at Jenica’s level, it would be different, but I had to play this one by experience. Which meant one thing.
“We’ll join hands,” I told them. “I’ll be in the front. Jenica, I want you behind me. Relay anything you see to the others and send any command I make down the line. Stay with me, and we’ll come out of this alive.”
It worked. In seconds, the women were in a line as we snaked our way through the ships parked on the landing field. I made sure that every time we travelled from one obstruction to the next, there was a clear barricade. I needed them between the Byzantium and the firefight at the Cinzar compound.
I stopped once to have a look at the battle going on behind us. From what I could tell, the mobsters managed to hold back the attack on the compound long enough to frustrate the original plans of the Irunian military. The stupid thing was the Irunians might’ve put their hands on that ship had Vopalis gone with my original offer to set up a meeting between him and Korth. For some reason, he’d gone with another plan. There would be the devil to pay for all of this later, but I wasn’t concerned about it.
From what I could tell, the Irunians were in control of the inner yard of the Cinzar loading area. Korth and the others had abandoned their positions when it became obvious the Irunians were packing major heat. There had to be 50 Irunian regulars milling around that yard. Soon, they’d turn their attention on the ultimate prize: The Byzantium.
I manage to approach the militia officer by making an old peace sign I knew. The sight of three women who followed me helped too, despite Zilpha’s pig-sticker. He lowered his carbine as we approached.
“You need to get the hell out of here!” he called to us. “The fucking Irunians are headed to this ship. They want it.”
“Which is why I’m here,” I told him. “Best place to take cover until this all blows over. The Irunians won’t destroy it because they want the ship.”
“Then, do what you want,” he told me. “Command says to abandon this position and try to make for the nearest post on the dock. I don’t know what’s so important about it, but the Irunians are in control of this part of the field and won’t negotiate with anyone. You can go inside it if you want, but I don’t think they’ll be happy to see you there once they arrive.”
I noticed that the militiamen with him were all packed up and ready to move on. They wanted to get the hell out of there, and the sooner, the better. I saw one young man finger his carbine in a way that told me he didn’t have much experience with it. I didn’t envy this officer’s job if they were caught out in the open.
“Is the ramp open?” I asked him. There was one that ran up to the side of the Byzantium. I could tell that it had been used recently by all the tools scattered around the lower platform. The engineers had fled when the fighting broke out at the Cinzar compound. Can’t say I blamed them.
“It’s unlocked,” he informed. “I was supposed to lock it up, but, hell, the silver freaks will be through that lock in seconds when they get here. Go ahead and find a place to hide in there if you’re that determined.”
He turned to his men. “All right lads, let’s hit the pavement; we’re going home for the day. Let the professionals have fun.” I could see the look of relief on the faces of his men as they moved off.
I turned and looked up the ramp. At least, it was enclosed, and the Irunian regulars weren’t shooting at us. In the distance, I could hear sporadic gunfire. It was a mop-up operation over at Korth’s place. We had to move quickly.
“Ladies," I announced., “we need to get inside this ship, now. According to the officer who took off with those kids, the door to the inside of it is unlocked. Now, let’s get up there before we have to deal with more bullets in our faces!”
I went in the rear, constantly checking my six as we all scampered up the enclosed staircase. I wanted to make sure we were up there and safe before the Irunian troops decided to capture the starship.
In a matter of seconds, I was behind Rashina as she followed the other two women up the enclosed ramp and into the Byzantium. As the militiaman had told us, the door was unlocked. I made sure the other three women were inside before I entered. I then turned around and locked the door behind me.
“Where to now?” Zilpha asked, her naginata held tight in one hand. For some reason, I found her sexy with that blade.
“Just follow me,” I told them and headed back in the direction of the bridge. Although the Byzantium wasn’t powered up, it still had its emergency lights on, so we could see well enough. I listened for the steps of the women behind me to make sure we were all headed in the same direction.
Soon, we were at the control room I’d entered with Drez. This was the same place where the crew had committed suicide rather than surrender to us, something I still didn’t understand. The engineers had cleaned up most of their work, and I didn’t see any wires or connectors dangling out of any of the panels on the walls.
“So, this is the place,” Jenica committed. “How do you plan on getting it into orbit, provided the port authority even opens up the passage to the surface? Doesn’t it take a crew to fly one of these things?”
“Relax," I told her. “Drez and I got this thing back in one piece. It’s easy enough to get it into orbit if you know how.”
“And how is that?” Rashina asked.
“I did it with the help of the AI that controls the operations of the ship,” I explained.
“Not much chance of using it now,” Zilpha pointed out. “Seeing as how nothing works in this part of the ship.”
She had me there. If the navigation and other systems wouldn’t power up, there was no way to use them. I pondered what to do.
Two seconds later, the panels in the control room began to flash. Ten seconds after that, they all began to stabilize with indicator lights and portable screens projecting into space.
“What happened?” Jenica asked, as confused as everyone else.
The answer came a moment later.
“Hello, Stefan,” the voice of Sothos the AI greeted me. “I’ve been waiting for you to come back. There was a group of people who tried to tear things up on the inside, but I managed to stop them. Did you wish to begin pre-launch procedures?”
“Yes!" I shouted into the air. “I thought you had to have that quantum key to function?”
“I did," it said, “until you came back. My operating instructions were to disregard all commands until you returned. Oh, may I call you by your birth name? I did learn it recently.”
“Yes," I answered. And then, I had another thought. “You were built to only respond to me?”
“No," Sothos corrected. “I was instructed to obey anyone with the key and whoever accompanied them. Is your friend coming along too?”
“No,” I replied, “he’s no longer with us.”
“I am sorry to hear that, Stefan,” the AI told me.
“Can you open a line up to the traffic control?” I asked it. "We need to get out in a hurry.”
“Yes, I can,” Sothos replied. “I would advise a quick exit; there is a large number of armed beings headed this way.”
Sweet Mother Tara, save us, I thought. They’ll blow this ship apart rather than let it get away.
“Get them on the line now!” I yelled at the AI. I turned to the women, “Strap yourselves into the acceleration chairs! We’re leaving now!”
As the women hurried to secure themselves, I waited for the call from traffic control. What I got was a young woman in a militia uniform. Her face filled a screen on a panel near me.
“What the hell is going on down there?” she yelled. “We have reports of Irunian forces in the docks fighting with our people. Can you confirm?”
“I can confirm there will be one blown-apart ship if you don’t open up the transit and let us get the hell out of here!” I shouted back to her image. “The Irunians want this ship, and they don’t care much who has to die for them to get it.”
She hesitated for a minute before she made a judgement call. “I know you, Fixer. Last year, that bar. Hell, you took care of me, so it’s time for me to take care of you. The passage will be open.”
I felt a shift in weight as the Byzantium began to move up to through the passage of the port to the surface. The AI didn’t let me see what kind of hell was in place on the ground, but I knew the militia would send the Irunians a counter-force the likes they never considered. The gravitational control of the starship took over as I strapped myself into the chair next to the women.
“Where would you like me to go, Stefan?” Sothos asked me. “You might like to know there are five corvette class Irunian naval ships headed in our direction near the orbit of Nyx.”
“Can you get us to a jump point quickly?” I asked the AI as my eyes tried to make sense of the data flying across the panels in front of me. “They’ll fry us the moment they come in range.”
“Jump point not needed,” the AI replied. “Tell me where you want to go.”
No jump point needed? Could this be the reason everyone wanted this ship? Could it go from point A to point B anywhere in the known galaxy without a portal?
“Somewhere safe, where we don’t have to worry about attack ships!” I yelled.