Chapter 24
Bluster Busted
"What just happened?" Ada asked quietly, rubbing her head. In the chaos, she'd managed to slow Hotspur's approach to the base where we believed Prince Thabini was being held.
"That wasn't Jonathan," Nick said. "It was some sort of Mendari spy trying to get Liam's command codes."
"That doesn't make sense," Ada said. "Why would they need Liam's codes after a hundred years? Surely those would have been traded out?"
"You think Mendari-Jonathan set the whole thing up? Were we even talking to House of the Bold?" I asked.
"I’m running diagnostic scans right now,” Nick said. “There’s a good chance the comms with Noah Munay-Hoffen were all just a ruse.”
“Scans of what?”
“When we left Dwingeloo, the Mendari fleet wasn’t large enough to legitimately threaten the Mhina system. Convince us that a hundred years have gone by and it’s believable that we’re back to war. I think Mendari-Jonathan waited for a moment when you were feeling time pressure,” Nick said. “He was relying on your desire to help.”
“It worked,” I said.
"I should have warned you that I suspected he wasn't Jonathan. I thought you were on board with me already."
"I suspected," I said.
"But you still gave your codes," Nick said.
"I think a better question is who is this Noah Munay-Hoffen?" Ada asked. "Or was that just part of the Mendari's scam to get Liam's codes?"
"Not sure we get to know," Nick said, picking up what remained of the cradle that held a communication crystal.
"Frak, now what?" Tabby asked.
“At least there’s some good news. I just verified that we’re all a century younger than we thought," Nick said.
"You sure about that?" I asked, flipping chunks of Jonathan's broken android body from the bulkhead in front of my chair.
"Absolutely. Now that I have unrestricted access to our sensors, it’s not that hard to verify,” he said.
"If Mendari-Jonathan could block access to something that simple, what about those algorithms you transcribed from the smoke projections in the cave. What if those were from the real Jonathan?" I asked.
"Frak, you’re right,” Nick said. “It's worth a try."
"I understand this is a difficult time," Joliwe interrupted, "but Prince Thabini's life might depend on your speed. I do not think we have time for delay."
"Won't take more than a couple of minutes," Nick said, running past to the gravity lift that would take him to the first deck. "If it does, I'll come right back in."
"Full stop?" Ada asked.
“Cap, we’re in enemy territory,” Marny said. “Not the best time for EVA.”
Nick stopped and looked back to me for a decision.
“Sorry, buddy. They’re right. We’re too exposed,” I said. “Let’s see what we’re up against first.”
He sighed but complied, returning to his seat. I wanted the real Jonathan back as much as anyone, but Joliwe was right. We were out of time.
Ada had mapped a slow route around the perimeter of the rock. I felt anticipation as we approached the horizon point where the enemy ships would have direct line-of-sight on us once again. They hadn’t seen us so far, but we’d soon be within a couple kilometers. We were betting a lot on Hotspur’s stealth capacities.
"Cap, there's a structure," Marny said, her voice carrying urgency. "They’ve seen us. Weapons being charged. We're being fired on!"
We'd overflown a crevice like many others, only this crevice held several domed structures and a turret that had us in its sights. Without hesitation, Ada slapped her flight stick to the side and Hotspur roared to life, shaking as a point-blank cannon round ripped through the portside of the ship.
A klaxon sounded and my ears popped. We'd been holed.
"Nick, where?" I asked.
"Upper tween deck," he said. "Captain's quarters and engineering bay both sealed. I'm headed back to see what can be done. Peter, with me."
Tabby took Nick's station.
"I've got the helm, Ada," I said.
"Your helm, Liam," she agreed. There was no animosity in the transfer. Ada was a much better large ship pilot than I was but where small ships were concerned, I was our best shot.
Her initial reaction had saved us from a much worse fate. I doubled down and pushed us into the crevice where the Belirand base resided. Mounted cannons couldn't shoot below ground level.
"I've got two ships overhead. They haven't seen us yet," Tabby said.
Her announcement sparked an idea and I pulled back on the thrust stick, slowing us to the point of stopping. We'd long since gotten out of range of the base and were hidden in the shadows of the crevice, with the dusk line of the rock well behind us.
"You're nuts," Ada said as I brought us to rest, turned the ship around and then moved back toward the base.
"Nick, how's that repair coming?" I asked.
"Frakking terrible," he said. "That cannon took out an entire nav system. We're blind until I can get the other one online. If I can get it online."
"Are we sealed up?" I asked.
"Copy that," he said.
"Get Jonathan. His other body is in the armory, I just saw it." I gestured to Ada. “You got this? If they come back, you run. Nick and I will be invisible and can fend for ourselves for a little while.”
"Not loving that plan," she said.
“It’s reality,” I said.
“I read you,” she said. Of all the crew, she was the biggest wildcard and would make her own decisions once she was in command. That said, she was brilliant and would put the safety of the ship first.
I sailed to the back of the bridge and found Nick exiting the armory. He held Jonathan's armored vessel that was about the size of a small melon. Jonathan generally preferred the android body because humans responded better to it. Currently, however, we didn't have the luxury of being picky.
"Where's Peter?" I asked.
"Learning to weld," Nick said.
"Wait, seriously?" I asked, catching up to him and grabbing his arm.
"Yes, seriously. The AI is a great instructor and he's good with his hands," Nick said.
I did my best not to think about where Peter’s hands had been. Let it go, Hoffen.
Fortunately, Nick pushed past it. "We have two half-meter holes in the armor. He won’t make it any worse."
I sighed as we came to rest on Hotspur's hull. I scanned the starfield above us, expecting to see a ship but found nothing but the white dots of stars interrupting an inky-black field. My AI etched an outline around a darkened spot in the starfield. Without the sun to light it up, the ship was all but invisible. A bright flickering light caught my attention and I turned quickly, realizing it was the arc of Peter's welder.
"Peter, stop!" I ordered. "You're bleeding light."
My warning came too late as a blaster bolt exploded in the gully just across from where we sat. We’d been lucky, the ship had fired at the reflection. Search lights illuminated beneath the Belirand ship as they started in our direction.
"Get inside," Nick said. "I just need two seconds."
"Ada, back out slow," I said. It was risky. While we needed to put distance between us and the spot where Belirand thought we were, if she moved too fast, Nick and I would be left behind.
Without hesitation, Nick and I extracted thin cables from our suits and used magnetic clamps on the hull to keep us attached to the ship. The clamps would break free under too much pressure but keeping synced with the ship would be hard without them.
"What's the plan?" I asked, accepting the melon-shaped Jonathan vessel.
"Just need to run some permutations on the algorithms," Nick said, already attached to the first turret. "The AI can knock out a few million in seconds."
"Done." He tugged at the optical cable that ran between the turret and Jonathan’s vessel. "Move to the next turret."
"You have Jonathan?" I found it difficult to stick with
the moving Hotspur. Ada's perspective of slow and mine, as a casual rider, were much different.
"Plug in," he said, trying to hand me the free end of the optical cable. I wedged my foot into a nook and slipped the plug in.
"Jonathan?" I asked.
"Master Hoffen," a familiar voice greeted me. "What an adventure we're having. We are glad to discover you defeated the Mendari plot. Although we would be remiss if we didn't mention how delightful it is not to be chasing that dastardly virus algorithm. What a particularly irritating process that had become."
"Marny, do you have turret control?" I asked.
"One moment, Captain," Jonathan said. "Yes. She should now have full access to both upper turrets."
"Cap, clear topside. Your suits aren’t sufficiently shielded," she said.
"Captain, please release us. We have sufficient control,” Jonathan said about the same time I realized the ball-shaped vessel I was clutching was trying to pull away.
"One second," I pulled the optical cable from the turret's port and raced over the side of Hotspur, barely keeping up with Ada's slow acceleration. "Ada, full stop if you don't mind." When she slowed, I dipped beneath the ship, cocked my arm back and threw Jonathan at the bottom turret.
Catching up, I pushed Nick through the airlock and into Hotspur's hold ahead of me. The vibration of twin shots being fired from the medium top-mounted turrets transmitted into my hands as I grabbed the doorframe and redirected myself toward the bridge.
"Peter, finish your welding," Nick said, flattening out so I could get around him.
"And then there were three," Tabby cackled as I streaked forward to the cockpit and grabbed the flight controls.
A brilliant explosion lit up the crevice as one of Chappie's ships exploded. The battle had shifted in our favor, although our position was no longer any sort of mystery. "Jonathan, I need you back in this ship immediately."
"We are two point three seconds from complying," he answered.
I counted to three as two more of Chappie's ships slid into the area to investigate. Next to Jonathan’s nameplate on my HUD, a green check appeared.
"Marny, Tabby, we're weapon's free," I said, lifting Hotspur out of the crevice, careful not to slide into range of the base's ground-mounted weapons.
"Hail, Belirand ships," I ordered. "This is Liam Hoffen of Hotspur. You will cease fire or be destroyed."
Their guns were on three sides of us and they definitely had tactical advantage. What they lacked, however, was knowledge of just how thick our armor was. The only response we received was simultaneous fire from three ship-mounted turrets. As was my habit, I drove at the smallest ship, Hotspur's armor shrugging off the anemic weapons fire. It wasn’t that our armor was impervious to their rounds, more like they’d have to target with more than one shot in the same spot to create enough pressure to penetrate the hull.
"On my mark, Tabby," Marny instructed. My holo projector showed that Marny had singled out the ship I was flying at as our preferential target. "Fire."
Unlike Hotspur, our adversary's armor did not hold. The vessel shuddered as our blaster bolts contacted and then penetrated. There's a perverse feeling of accomplishment when an enemy is destroyed. It's hard to describe it as enjoyable. I don't think most well-adjusted people look to kill someone else. The reaction is more visceral than that. I did feel some vindication for the Scatter people as the ship bulged out and then seemed to sink back in on itself, exploding into thousands of pieces.
"Belirand, this is Hotspur, I warn you again. You will cease hostilities and heave-to," I said. "We have more than enough to bring you low."
"Hotspur this is Belirand Machinist, Jiggen Mark," a man answered. "Do not fire. We will comply."
"They're making a run for the base," Marny said.
"Non-lethal fire," I said. It was one thing to take down an enemy who was firing at you and another thing entirely to destroy one that was fleeing. Marny fired twin shots across the bows of the remaining ships, which had the desired result. With a change of heart, they backed off engines and drifted along their last vectors.
"What now?" Nick asked. "We don't have time to board them."
"We do not even know if we are at the black prison," Joliwe said. "What of the ships that returned to the surface? This is taking too long."
I shook my head. Joliwe had mistaken Nick's tactical question for an invitation to start second guessing. "Quiet, Joliwe,” I ordered, knocking her off the tactical channel. “Belirand, the prisoner Thabini from Thandeka, where is he?" I asked.
"Chappie said you'd come for him," the man replied. "You're too late. He's already on his way planetside."
Tabby muted the comms. "How can we trust them?" she asked. "We should at least disable their ships."
"Marny, can you do that without killing them?" I asked. The ships were simple with rear-mounted engines. The old Marny could do it in her sleep.
"Not difficult." She must have anticipated my request because three bolts fired from Hotspur, striking just in front of the engines of each ship.
"Cease fire!" the panicked Belirand pilot called over comms. "We're complying."
"Copy that," I answered and closed comms. “Jonathan, can you use our data-streams and find a route into that base that keeps us clear of those turrets?”
“There is no path that is not covered for a vessel the size of Hotspur,” he said.
It was good to have Jonathan back. His succinct communications were important in tight situations. While Hotspur was too big, he’d let me know there were other options. “What if we didn’t go in with the ship?”
“That is correct, Captain,” he agreed. “We have identified a five-meter corridor beyond the reach of base weapon’s fire. The living spaces are not armored beyond ordinary space debris protective layers.”
“Ada, you’ve got the ship. Get us into that crevice so you can give us some cover,” I said. “Tabbs, Marny on me.”
“What about me?” Peter asked.
“Zero-g, big man,” I said. “Remember when Mendari-Jonathan turned off the gravity and you hit the ceiling? That whole rock is zero-g and we have to stay within a five-meter corridor. Get outside the safe zone and you’re dead. This isn’t the time to learn how to navigate.”
“I am coming,” Joliwe said. “If the prince is within this prison, I will be part of rescuing him.”
“If we find Thabini, we’ll bring you. Otherwise, the three of us will move more quickly without you slowing us down,” I said, brushing past her and dropping down to the lower deck.
From the armory, I grabbed a lightweight laser pistol that was designed not to poke holes in space-stations, ten meters of fire-wire, and a portable plasma cutter.
“You’re going to need one of these,” Marny said, pushing a blaster rifle into my hands. “They’ll be expecting us.”
“How do you want to do this?” I asked.
“Tabby point, I’ll take number two, you’ll cover our butts,” Marny said. I chuckled but didn’t make the obvious lecherous comment. The chuckle was enough to elicit a small shake of her head, which was just as satisfying. Frak, I’d missed this part of our relationship.
“We’re in position,” Ada announced at the same time the jolt of Hotspur settling onto a hard surface transmitted through the deck.
“Let’s go,” Tabby said, slapping the side of my helmet.
The three of us exited the ship into the darkened crevice. My HUD amplified the available light and reconstructed previously recorded details of the terrain with light green outlines. Hotspur had settled just beyond a bend in the crevice. I’d hoped to use Hotspur’s turrets to give us cover fire if the need arose, but whoever had placed the bio-domes and turrets on this rock had considered defense against this particular approach.
Ordinarily, five meters seems like plenty of room for navigating in a vac-suit. The problem was, we’d be in the open as we crossed to the buildings. A variance one way or the other would likely end up with one or all of us dea
d.
“How do you want to do this?” I asked.
“We move together,” Marny said. “Return fire only. We don’t need to call attention to ourselves.”
“Copy,” Tabby said. “Move out.”
My heart hammered in my chest as anticipation gave way to action. Tabby jumped ahead, orienting herself forty-five degrees with the asteroid’s surface. I followed her example. She was limiting visibility to potential enemies while giving herself a comfortable shooting position.
For a few seconds, we sailed silently across the rocky ground. I wasn’t naïve enough to believe we were in the clear, only that we hadn’t yet been seen. That feeling ended a moment later. I took a blaster bolt to my side and spun off.
“Cap, you’re in the red-zone,” Marny warned.
I had only moments before the base weapons found me and I frantically pushed at the confusion caused by being shot in zero-g.
“Liam!” Tabby called.
Three red contacts showed on my HUD as Marny marked enemies and returned fire. I twisted, accelerating hard, giving up any pretense of returning fire. A thick blaster bolt seared the vacuum over my head, radiating malignant energy and exploding violently into the rock wall twenty meters behind me. My suit stiffened as I was showered with shards of rock and slag.
The soldiers who’d come out to greet us took full advantage of the idiot scrambling around in the open and directed their fire at me. That decision was a big mistake. Both Marny and Tabby, even with years of inactivity, were disciplined shooters and were not distracted when fired at. I dove into the cannon’s dark spot and hunkered down, expecting and receiving glancing blaster fire.
“One down,” Tabby said, her voice even. “Target two is about to make a break for it.”
“I’ve got him,” Marny answered. “Down.”
The blaster fire stopped. Tabby didn’t waste the opportunity and pushed forward at high speed, overrunning their position. “Liam, you up?” she asked, even as she brought the butt of her rifle around on the remaining Belirand soldier.
Privateers in Exile Page 26