The ship’s sensors connected with my nervous system and replaced all my senses. I could feel the universe at my fingertips. Because of the spectrum analyzer, I could see the encrypted signals flashing past the Strider at the speed of light.
I reached out and tapped into the stream of garbled information and dumped it all to a file so that the interface’s processor could start number crunching on them. While it loaded, I took a peek at our pursuers. I found the three ships, trying to stay just at the edge of our range so we wouldn’t notice them.
We needed more speed. I turned up the resolution on the interface another five percent and mentally rocked as my mind was overloaded momentarily. It cleared after a few minutes, and I was just able to concentrate enough to ask the processor what I could do about the engines.
The answer came to me as clear as day. “Better buckle up,” I said. “I’m taking some power from the dampeners to give us a boost.” Grumbling could be heard over the comms, but I tuned it out. I rerouted power from the inertia dampeners to the engines and gained another couple meters per second. As long as Anne didn’t try any high-G maneuvers, we wouldn’t be slammed into the ship’s walls. The blips disappeared from the scanner as we pulled away from them.
I checked on the decryption, and to my dissatisfaction, it hadn’t gotten very far. Some algorithm I hadn’t noticed came into my perception. Something from the military processor itself. I focused my will on it and became disoriented for a few moments, but the decryption sped up significantly.
Sometime later, I suppose I’d been spacing out into the void, numbers were waiting for me as a thought in the back of my mind. As I focused on them, they formed into coordinates. Strategic maps overlaid the star chart in my thoughts.
“What’s all this on the monitors?” asked Anne over the comms.
“It looks like some sort of military simulation,” said Steve
“It’s on the monitors?” I asked, surprised. I hadn’t sent it there.
“Yeah,” said Steve. “A ton of coordinate data and what looks like a ship? I think?”
Mentally, I smiled. “That’s exactly what it is. That’s why they’re chasing us. They’re afraid we’re going to find whatever that ship is. And the best part is, it’s only a few extra days off course.”
“I don’t know if we have the supplies to make the stop,” said Anne. “It might not be worth the risk.”
“I dunno,” said Steve. I could read his vital signs through the ships sensors. His heart rate had accelerated significantly. He was definitely excited. “It could be worth the gamble.”
“It will be. There are quite a lot of signals heading there, but the responses are all automated. Like status updates or something. I’m pretty sure that there’s no one home,” I said. “They’re worried we’re going to get there before they do.”
“I’m sold,” said Steve.
“I guess it’s two against one,” said Anne. “I’ll open the case of emergency rations. But I swear, Bishop. If you’re wrong, the next case comes out of your cut.”
I tuned out Steve chastising her and turned back to the waypoint coordinates I’d acquired and willed the Strider to alter course toward it. I poured on a little more speed. I heard complaints over the comm as Anne lost her balance and Steve tripped over a crate. Both swore loudly. I laughed to myself and gave the ship another tiny boost. This will be worth it. They’ll never know what hit them.
Steve and I spent the next day integrating the mining laser into the targeting system so that I could control it myself. It wouldn’t be much of a weapon, but I could extract the minerals from the reactors of whatever I targeted, feeding it to our own reactor and disabling their ships.
“It’s not much,” said Steve, mouth full of an emergency ration biscuit. “But it’ll pack a punch.”
“It’ll work,” I said. “We can upgrade it to a real weapon later, but for now, it’s what we’ve got.”
Anne frowned. “I still don’t like it. What do you hope to gain from this?” she asked.
I smiled. “Anne,” I said. “It’s a derelict freighter. The pirates are probably using it for storage.” Anne and Steve both choked on their food and drink.
5
Steve collected himself first. And then his food. “You’re sure?” he asked.
I nodded. “From all the data I was able to decode, very sure. It’s old though, really old.”
“So, you think it’ll have something we can use?” asked Anne.
“Oh, definitely,” I said. “Why protect something of no significant value? And even if it weren’t being used for storage, the freighter itself could have a ton of spare parts we could use.
I disconnected from the ship and sat up, removing the interface gear. “Wow, that’s a trip switching back and forth.”
“I wouldn’t mind trying it someday,” said Anne. “Do you think I can?”
“Sure,” I said. “I was thinking of picking up a second interface kit anyways. We can use the old processor so it’s easier on you.”
She smiled. “I’d like that. Maybe then I’ll understand why you’re always in such a rush to Dive into the ship’s computer core.”
Steve furrowed his brow in thought. “I think my sister’s kit is in my closet back at my apartment. You could have it if you like,” he said.
“Thanks,” she said. “Wait, won’t your sister be needing it?”
Steve frowned. “No… She won’t need it anymore…” He said nothing else.
I put my hand on Steve’s shoulder as I walked past him and took Anne by the arm, leading her to the cockpit. “Steve’s sister was killed by pirates about a year ago. He never talks about her much. Still isn’t over it.”
“Oh my God, I didn’t know,” she pouted. “That was thoughtless of me.”
“Don’t worry, he’ll be okay. He’s pretty sure it had to do with something she learned. He thinks the government tried to cover it up. The pirate attack was too convenient, and it was whatever she discovered.”
“That explains all his conspiracy theories,” she said. “I’m starting to wonder if maybe he hasn’t been right this whole time. He’s pretty much accurately predicted what would happen to us.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I’ve been thinking the same thing. Anyhow, I need to rest. My brain’s been on overload for the last few days. We’ll be in scanning range of the freighter in about fourteen hours.”
“Sleep well,” she said as she hugged me.
“You too,” I said.
The massive freighter loomed in the distance. I could feel it out there, floating lifeless in the void like a rock in a pond. The automated drones circled in a predictable pattern, clearly not being programmed with any sort of complicated intelligence.
“They’re just circling,” I said.
“How many?” asked Steve.
“I see seven. No energy signatures from the cargo bay,” I said. “The mining laser will take out their reactor at about five hundred meters, plus or minus a fifty.”
“Half a kilometer?” asked Steve. “How? Its effective range is less than a hundred meters.”
“Magic,” I said with a chuckle. “I reconfigured the discharge matrix when you hooked it up to the reactor.”
Anne laughed. “I didn’t even know that was possible.”
“Me neither,” I said. I thought about that for a second. “There’s a lot more in here. Turns out the military spec processor has a lot of data hard-coded into it. Hell, if we had shield emitters, I could overcharge them with power from the engines.”
“Amazing,” said Steve. “Anything in there about multiple targets?”
“Actually, yes. And you two won’t like it one bit,” I said.
Anne sighed. “Not liking much of anything this past week. Let's hear it.”
“Speed and maneuverability,” I said. “The Strider is more nimble than the drones. But you guys are really going to feel it during sharp turns.”
“I can handle it,” said Steve. “I’ve fl
own with my dad before. His ship doesn’t even have dampeners.”
“What about me?” asked Anne. “Won’t I pass out if I maneuver too hard?”
“Well, yes…about that,” I said.
“What?” she asked, drily.
I’m going to have to pilot from here,” I said.
“You can’t fly the ship,” she snapped. “You don’t even know how.”
“I’ll be able to once we get there,” I said. “But it’s going to take a lot out of me. The processor is telling me I’ll have a high chance of going into a coma again, but there shouldn’t be any permanent damage if I do.”
“I don’t like it one bit,” she said, growing angry. “You keep putting yourself in danger with that thing.”
“I’ll be all right,” I said. “It’s you two I’m worried about. This definitely isn’t without risk, but we don’t have a lot of choices at the moment.”
“Just be careful,” she said.
“I will. All right, I’m turning the resolution to forty percent. I likely won’t be able to respond for a while, just don’t go yanking the interface off my head.” I didn’t wait for a response before adjusting the resolution trim. As expected, disorientation, vertigo, and nausea all hit me like a freighter.
Warning klaxons pierced my unconscious stupor and brought me back to the land of the living. The freighter was really close now, and the drones had broken formation and were headed straight toward us in a group.
“They know we’re here,” I said over the comms. “Are you guys strapped in?”
“Ready,” said Steve. “Show us what this ship can really do!” I checked his heart rate. It was elevated as adrenaline coursed through his body. What a junkie.
“I guess I’m ready,” said Anne. “Don’t get us killed.” Her vitals were all over the place. She was afraid.
“Worst-case scenario is you losing your lunch all over the console,” I said.
She laughed shakily. “That isn’t very reassuring. If I throw up on the console it’ll take weeks to take it apart and clean out the controls.”
“Good reason not to throw up,” I said. “Here we go.”
6
I lined up the Strider toward the center of their formation and fired a full burn on the engines for three seconds. Then I shut down the reactor.
The ships momentarily lost their target lock on us, and we blew past them. Being that close, however, they were able to retarget us. I brought the reactor back to full power and brought the nose up hard, flipping the ship.
Anne screamed over the comms. In the background, I could hear Steve cheering. “I hope there's more where that came from,” yelled Steve over the roar of the engines.
“Oh God, I hope not,” yelled Anne.
I fired the mining laser as the first drone came into range. A small explosion marked the beam's entrance into its hull, and the drone drifted listlessly in space. I felt it as the reactor’s fuel reserves increased. I could definitely get used to that.
The ship rocked to the side as several blasts hammered the top of the Strider. The armor held, but it wouldn't for long. I spun the ship around and drained two more drones of their fuel.
“Four to go,” yelled Steve. I flipped the ship around, and he grunted. Both of their heart rates and respiratory functions had gone way out of normal ranges.
Two more drones flew at us, and I drained them as well. That just left one fore and one aft. I banked hard to starboard at the last second, hoping they would collide.
“Not as stupid as I thought,” I said. I flipped the ship again and took one of them out. The last one accelerated toward us and smashed into the front of the ship before I could react. Its reactor went critical as it collided with us, and my vision went white.
My vision slowly returned. The interface link had died for some reason. Dim red light, which was still too bright, stabbed at my eyes. I turned my head, and I immediately felt pain from my upper back. I pulled off my gloves, and they floated away from me. No gravity.
I reached around to feel my back, and my hand came back wet with blood. Near me, a barb of sharp steel protruded from the bulkhead. A rough gouge was carved into my seat. Apparently, a shard of metal had passed between me and the seat, barely cutting me. Lucky… That could have killed me.
I found my helmet several feet from me, floating but intact. It dangled from the synapse cabling linking it to the console. Anne was still in her seat, strapped down but unconscious. Steve was in much the same shape except that blood flowed freely from one arm and one leg. He’d taken some shrapnel to his body. I’d have to see to him before he bled out.
I slowly unbuckled the restraint and floated off the chair. I used the lack of gravity to push off the wall and float to Steve’s side. On the way across the ship, I grabbed the first aid kit off the ceiling and caught myself on the control panel.
I patched up Steve’s wounds and stopped the bleeding. At least with him being unconscious, his heart rate and blood pressure would be a lot lower. Okay, he won’t bleed out. Gotta check on Anne.
She was breathing steadily. The stress from the explosion must have overwhelmed her and knocked her out. With both of them stable, I focused on myself. The cut wasn’t bad, just messy. I managed to stop the bleeding and tape a crude patch across the back of my shoulder. Good enough for the time being. Now, what about the Strider?
I put on the interface gear, and nothing happened. I floated over and checked the main computer. No power. The engines were out. The radio was out. I tried the control yoke, and the ship lurched.
“At least I have thrusters,” I said to no one in particular. I carefully maneuvered the Strider toward the freighter. If I accelerated too quickly, I wouldn’t be able to stop in time before smashing into the larger ship. I’d do this the reliable way. A couple meters per second, as Anne had always said when she docked.
The massive hulk of the freighter loomed outside the port window, just waiting to be claimed. As the Strider made its way toward the freighter, I caught sight of the name on the side.
“Grey Wolf,” I mumbled. “Fitting name, I suppose.”
“Grey Wolf?” asked Anne, just coming to. “What’s that?”
“The name of our new freighter,” I said, smiling.
Anne looked out the window. “It’s beautiful,” she said, eyes wide.
Steve groaned. “Whoa,” he said. “I could get used to calling that my home.”
“Definitely,” I said. “We have a day before the pirates get here. Let’s see what we can do about welcoming them.”
7
I tried to recap everything in my head to get my thoughts organized. The Strider was in horrible shape. An automated defense drone had self-destructed, as it rammed us at full speed, and taken out our power systems. We slowly limped our crippled little ship on thrusters toward the massive freighter which loomed in front of us. The Grey Wolf dwarfed our ship about a hundred times over. It was a derelict freighter from an era long since passed.
Our government had allegedly colluded with space pirates in order to destroy us and a few other merchant ships which might have been a threat to their maintaining control of the people. I ended up finding the coordinates to the Grey Wolf in an encrypted data stream between the pirates and the moon. It was quite likely they’d realized what we had done and were heading here to take us out.
“Anne,” said Steve. “Have I ever told you that your brother is crazy?”
Anne laughed. “All the time. Even still, I can’t remember a time when Bishop didn’t plan big,” she said.
“What’s the point of planning out small things?” I asked. “If you’re going to do something, go all out or don’t bother.”
Steve laughed. “I guess you’ve got a point. So, what’s the plan, hotshot?”
I thought about that for a moment. “We dock with the Grey Wolf and see if we can get the computer running. Then I can plug in the neural interface and get a feel for what’s really wrong with her.”
“
And we still need to fix the Strider too,” said Anne.
“I think we should split up on that one,” I said. “Anne, you work on the Strider while Steve and I get the power running on the Grey Wolf.”
They nodded, and Anne expertly guided the Strider into the massive docking bay on the side of the Grey Wolf. “It’s kind of spooky,” she said. “Reminds me of stories Mom and Dad used to tell us when we were bad.”
“It’s just an empty ship,” said Steve. “I hope…” He gulped audibly.
“Relax, you two,” I said. “Let’s just get this done with.”
Steve groaned as he stood slowly, his injuries causing him noticeable pain. “We should get the suits on,” he said. “Won’t be anything to breathe out there.” I nodded and helped him up. Since the power was already offline, we floated toward the rear hatch where our EVA suits were strapped to the wall.
“You up for this?” I asked. “You got pretty beat up in the collision…”
“Exploring an abandoned ship? Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss it for all the beer on the colony ship,” he said. He still grunted and groaned as I helped him into his space suit, but he didn't let it slow him down much.
“I have to admit,” I said. “It's actually rather exciting.”
We felt the ship settle down against the docking platform, and the magnetic clamps locked. “Well, at least those still work,” I said.
Steve pried open an access panel and pulled the manual release lever for the hatch. We grabbed onto the support braces and opened the room to vacuum with a massive rush of decompression. We were yanked hard but managed to hang on.
“That was fun,” said Steve, voice crackling over the helmet radio.
“Getting a little interference from something. Probably going to affect our comms range, so let's try to not get separated,” I said.
“Right,” he said. “Any clue where to go?”
Bishop's Gambit Omnibus Page 3