“Let me talk to her for a minute,” Calin asked the medic.
“I’ll be right outside if you need anything.”
Calin pulled a chair up to Neomi’s bunk.
“How’re you doing?” he asked taking her hand.
“Like shit.”
“The medic said you’re doing great. You hold on a bit longer and we’ll get you to a medical center soon.You’ll be shipshape again in no time.”
“Don’t con me. I heard what the medic said.”
Taking a deep breath Calin asked, “Then what do you want me to do Captain?”
In a strict tone, she replied, “Under no circumstance will you go to the PPD or surrender to save me. I couldn’t live with myself knowing I was the reason you, Dean, and these miners got arrested.”
“But you need real medical care, and soon.” he objected.
“I won’t allow it!” she replied with a sudden burst of strength in her voice. But her voice weakened as she continued, “After all the jobs we’ve pulled, all the close calls, I can’t believe I got taken down helping some miners.”
“I tried to tell you we didn’t have time to help them. We should have gotten underway as soon as the PPD showed up.”
Dismissing his objections with a shake of her head, she asked, “What’s your plan to get out of this mess?” she continued.
“Plan? I’ve been too busy trying to keep us alive to come up with a plan. The closest thing I have is to fly into a big hole in the ground and hide. And that’s if we can lose the ship following us.” He purposefully did not say how much ship to ship weaponry would have been useful right now. But if they got through this, he was going to strongly suggest revising her no-weaponry rule.
Captain Neomi slapped his knee. “Come on Calin! You can do better than that. The only way they will stop searching is if they think we’re dead. You know how the PPD works and its protocols, use it against them.”
Calin starred at the wall above the bunk, thinking hard. Maybe they did need to die.
“If we can’t blow them up, maybe we can blow ourselves up,” he muttered as he rubbed his chin.
Neomi raised an eyebrow and gave him a worried frown when she saw his eyes light up.
“I know that look and I don’t like it. Especially right after you mention blowing us up.”
“Cap’n, as you said they will only stop chasing us when they think we’re dead. You’re a genius!” he said as he hopped up from his chair and ran from the cabin.
As he entered the cockpit he said “Hold up,” as Dean started to switch from the pilot’s chair back to his Engineering station. “How many barrels are left?” he asked.
Dean replied “Two more, but we can’t pull off that exploding barrel trick again. They’ll be watching for it.”
“I’ve got a better idea. Or maybe a worse one.” He shrugged. “Get to the cargo hold and prepare both barrels like before. We're going to crash into that mine up ahead.” He grinned as he tapped on the coordinates Dean had put up on the screen.
“Crash?” Dean asked in confusion.
“I’m going to fly us in at high speed and you’ll eject the barrels right at the opening. And if our timing’s tight enough, it will look like we crashed and blew up.”
Dean shook his head as he headed back to the cargo hold, “As long as it only looks like we crashed and blew up.”
“Well, that’s the goal anyway,” Calin said to himself as he strapped himself back into the pilot’s chair.
Calin aimed the ship toward the coordinates on his nav-screen and struggled to squeeze more distance between them and the last patrol ship. They were on the outer limits of the patrol ship’s sensor range as they approached the entrance to the abandoned mine. The warning light for the rear hatch flashed to signal Dean was ready.
As he dove the ship toward the Lunar surface, he flew so close the engines blasted up a thick cloud of dust behind them. The dust hid them from view for a precious few seconds as they shot into the mouth of the cave.
“Now!” he ordered over the comm.
The power packs overloaded a lot faster this time, right under their stern. Their close proximity to the shock wave caused the ship to buck and jump in the shockwave. But the explosion also caused the cave ceiling to collapse, blocking the mouth of the tunnel. The Sea Rover inside and the patrol ship outside.
He punched the reverse thrusters to full emergency power as he brought the Sea Rover to a quick hover and started the landing sequence.
Calin let out a long nervous breath, leaned back in his pilot’s chair and rubbed his sweaty palms on his pants leg.
After the ship touched down on the rocky cavern floor, he shut down all the ship systems except for basic life support. He left the engines on a trickle charge to keep them warmed up and ready to go. The mountain above them, he hoped, would be enough to hide them from any sensors. To the PPD, it looked like they crashed flying into the tunnel.
He raced to Neomi’s cabin to find Dean already there, going over the readings from the med-pack. Dean looked up at him with hopelessness in his eyes and gave a slow shake of his head.
Calin carefully sat on the side of the bunk and picked up Neomi’s hand. Her eyes fluttered open and locked with his as she struggled to take a breath.
Calin whispered, “Shh… don’t talk. The patrol ship will leave in a minute and we can get you to a hospital. You’ll be bossing us around before you know it.”
“Don’t be an idiot, we both know I won’t make it.” She said as the color drained from her face and the strength from her eyes.
“I need you to make me a promise.” She continued.
In a subdued voice, Calin replied, “Yes Captain, anything.”
Before she could continue her body convulsed with a coughing fit. When she stopped a tiny trickle of blood dripped from the corner of her mouth. Wiping the blood away with a frail hand she whispered, “Keep my ship safe, keep her flying.”
Neomi reached out and touched the comm switch on the side of her bunk, “Rose” she said, weakly.
“Yes Captain?” replied the A.I.
“Initiate transfer order A2-3 to Calin Aku, authorization Captain Neomi Otani.”
“Ownership transfer initialized,” Rose said.
Neomi grabbed his arm again and said “She’s all yours, treat her well and she will take care of you. Captain Aku.” Her voice trailed off so softly Calin had to lean forward to hear her.
As he protested he didn’t want the ship, he felt Neomi’s grip loosen, and then her hand fell from his arm.
Chapter 5
Chapter 4
Calin peered up at the new engine being installed in the Sea Rover as the sparks from Dean’s welder fell around him. It had been a week since they limped back from the dark side of the Moon. On only one engine, he had flown through a mining tunnel under a mountain, and out the other end. The effort pushed his skills and nerves to their limits but he navigated the narrow tunnel to freedom.
Now he and Dean were hiding in an old abandoned military outpost. It had been carved into the side of a mountain a couple of kilometers outside Caldera City, the main metropolis on the Moon. He discovered this old station back when he flew patrols for the PPD and had told no one about it, not even Captain Neomi. The hanger doors, hidden from view deep in the mountainside, were big enough to handle the Sea Rover. And now the ship, his ship, sat in the center of the hanger bay.
At first, they used the Sea Rover’s generators to power the life support and gravity plates of the little garrison. But yesterday Dean brought in power cores. So with luck by the end of the day the base should be fully operational and independent. Off the grid, concealed from view, and forgotten from history. The perfect smuggler’s den to call home.
They buried Neomi on the rim of Peary Crater, with a beautiful view of Caldera City and the Earth-rise every day. The Moon was her home, and he believed she would want to stay here forever.
Over the years, as he flew for her on their smuggler
runs, Calin built up a thorough knowledge of the Captain’s business and contacts. And what he didn’t know, Rose could fill in the gaps. As Captain he now had full authority and access to her records.
“Hey! Dean!” he called out over the sound of the welder.
“Yea?” a reply floated down from the top of the ship.
“I’m headed into the city, need anything?” he asked.
After a short pause, Dean replied, “Some new power converters without a million miles on them would be nice.”
Calin groaned, they needed to pick up new clients. And soon. These repairs were burning through his creds faster than a supernova.
“And some beer,” added Dean.
Calin climbed into the surface skiff and flew out the airlock, down the mountainside toward the city. He had a meeting with a guy about a prototype cybernetic arm. His contact told him the arm paired with a contact lens to display targeting data for enhanced shooting accuracy. So from now on, when he killed a client, it would be on purpose. It was time for both him and the Sea Rover to get some much-needed upgrades. He had also picked up a tip about some ship weaponry that might be available.
He would keep his promise to Neomi, to keep the Sea Rover safe and keep her flying. But it would be done his way.
Lunar Escape Preview
Lunar Escape
By
C.P. MacDonald
A Two Chapter Preview
Chapter 1
The spaceship, dented, dinged, its hull a patchwork of mismatched plates from years of service, floated without power in the shadow of the majestic Harbor Space Station. The night side of the Earth spun below, its darkness jeweled by the bright lights of the major cities of the American continents.
When he dropped out of a maintenance hatch beneath the space station, Calin Aku tightened the grip of his cybernetic arm on the black plastic weapons crate that floated in front of him. Even in the weightlessness of space, the mass of the 1.5 meter long crate was difficult to maneuver. He pushed off from the space station with his legs and aimed toward the dark ship that floated 25 meters away. With the large Harbor Station above him, and the Earth below him, he was a minuscule speck in the vast nothingness of space. As he floated across the expanse to the ship, he watched the Earth spin below him. At this distance it looked peaceful and beautiful, but in reality he knew it was a crap planet to live on. He believed that anyone who had any sense at all left as soon as they could.
All around him in the distance he could see the flashing navigation lights of the congested space traffic lanes. They encircled the Station for ships to fly in and out of the busy docks in organized streams. His plan, and hope, was for none of them to fly close enough to notice a spacesuited smuggler and a powered down ship in the shadows. He wasn’t hauling an illegal weapons crate out of a rarely used maintenance hatch in the shadow of the largest space station above Earth for fun.
His aim was spot on as he flew into the dark opening underneath the ship and into the cargo hold of the Sea Rover. The Sea Rover was his ship. Its hull dotted with a jumbled mix of welded steel plates that betrayed its years of service, but it was his. The ship was a retired Corvette Runner from the Planetary Patrol Division. With two high performance military grade engines, gimbaled for 180 degrees rotation on two pylons, she had extreme maneuverability power, perfect for any self-respecting smuggler. Normally she ran with a crew component of three but for years it had just been him and an Engineer.
“OK, I’m in.” He said over the suit radio.
“Copy.” Came the reply from Dean, his Engineer. “Power coming back online.”
The lights above him flickered with the return of power and the loading ramp behind him sealed closed. But before he could get his feet underneath him the gravity plates in the floor activated, sending both him and the weapons crate to crash to the deck with a loud bang.
He let loose a string of cuss words in a mix of Russian and Mandarin when his face smacked into his helmet as he hit the floor.
While the air filled and circulated throughout the ship he secured the crate of weapons to the deck with cargo straps. After he retracted his helmet into the suit collar, he ran his fingers through his medium length dark hair and wiped the sweat from his face. Cybernetic arm strength or not that weapons crate was heavy. Crammed full of blaster pistols and repeating rifles and other toys, there was enough hardware in there to arm a small revolution. And to put a small fortune of credits in his pocket. With an almost affectionate pat to the weapons crate, Calin left the cargo hold and raced up the central hallway to the cockpit. Dean Gorney, his Engineer, was sitting at the Engineering station at the back wall of the cockpit. He was also in a spacesuit and had just slid his helmet back. He had stayed onboard the powered down Sea Rover as Calin met with Jonus, their contact inside Harbor Station who had sold him the weapons crate.
“Took you long enough, it was getting chilly in here. Any problems?” asked Dean as he slipped his hands out of his gloves and rubbed them together.
“Nope, everything went according to plan for once. Jonas says 'Hey'.” Calin answered as he strapped himself into the pilot’s seat and waited for the ship's twin engines to warm up. He felt the ship come alive under his hands through the control yoke and through his seat, the faintly perceptible vibrations increasing as Dean spun the power generators up to speed.
“That cheap son of a bitch still price gouging?” Dean asked.
“Not this time. Once I told him my client was someone in the Caldera underground he even gave me a discount. You know he hates Governor Silas as much as anyone.” He gingerly touched his lower lip, which had begun to swell. “When you get a chance, add a curve to the gravity plate power up sequence so they don’t ramp up to full power all at once.”
“Gotcha boss,” came the reply. Calin didn't have to turn around to know a smile was breaking across Dean’s face as he asked, “did’ja get a boo-boo?”.
Calin ignored Dean’s ribbing as his hands flew through the pre-flight checklist. Dean may be his Engineer, but he was also his best, if only, friend. So what some people saw as insubordination he considered friendly banter.
“The engines are taking too long to warm up, I don't want to stick around here any longer than we have to.” He complained.
Dean exhaled in frustration, “That’s because the engines need a complete overhaul, they are a half a million miles overdue. As I keep telling you. Boss.”
Two red circles flashed on the cockpit window and a voice from the overhead speakers announced, “Warning, two Planetary Patrol ships have altered course and are heading on an intercept course at high speed. Contact in 30 seconds.” The voice belonged to Rose, the Artificial Intelligence and his unofficial copilot of the Sea Rover. Already the flashing red circles were moving and getting larger.
“Dean, are we ready to go?” Calin asked, the urgency in his voice unmistakable.
“Just a second… just a second… now!” replied Dean as he finished calibrating the output from the ship’s power supply.
Within a split second of Dean’s answer Calin threw the throttles full forward to blast them along beneath Harbor Station. The glow of the twin engines lit up the station above them as they rocketed through its shadow.
Behind him Calin heard Dean complain, “I told you we needed to upgrade the stealth tech. It's a piece of junk, old, out of date, glitchy, and almost useless.” After a pause Dean added with an impish grin, “Almost like the Captain.”
Calin suppressed a smirk as he focused on piloting the ship within a few meters of the surface of the station above. He replied. “All right, all right, point taken. When we get out of this mess see what you can do to improve our stealth function. But keep it cheap, understand?”.
Dean muttered "Finally," as Calin turned his attention back to losing the patrol ships behind them.
He followed the curved hull of Harbor Station and flew as close as he dared. He ducked under, around, and sometimes flew through the support structures and tower
s that stuck out from the station. The main body of the station was a cylinder over a mile long and half a mile across. But it also had support structures that stuck out from the outer skin for private corporation expansions and their docks. There was always some construction or expansion taking place it seemed. He had timed this job during the night shift, so there were no spacesuited construction workers to avoid as they flew in, around, and through the various construction zones.
Rose chimed in again with an update, “Patrol ships 500 meters and closing.”
Dean couldn’t help but ask, “Can you fly faster please? I have a hot date tonight I don't want to miss, spending a night in the brig is not on my agenda.”
“But I don’t want to get a speeding ticket,” replied Calin sarcastically through clenched teeth as he dove the Sea Rover through the open support beams of an unfinished tower. Then he pulled back and twisted the control stick to barrel roll the ship and loop back around to fly head to head against the patrol ships.
“Rose,” he commanded, “reduce power to the bow cannons to 50 percent, maybe we can scare them off.”
At 50% he knew the forward cannons wouldn’t do any damage, but he bet a visual flurry of laser fire flying toward them would scare the crap out of the Planetary Patrol Division pilots. As a former PPD pilot himself, he knew patrol duty around Harbor Station was assigned to rookie pilots straight out of the Academy. They were more like traffic cops than actual military enforcers, and he preferred not to kill them. It would draw too much attention to his activities. The previous Captain of the Sea Rover, and his former boss, lived by her rule that smugglers sneaked when they could and ran when they couldn't. Her belief was that a firefight with the PPD always brought you unwanted attention. It was a noble philosophy that ended up getting her killed, so it was not something he subscribed to himself.
“Rose, a general forward spread, full auto. Fire!” he ordered.
Pirate Moon Page 3