"But you don't want me to give most of our gunners a shot by flying sideways either?" Hal countered. "What do you think I should do?" The deck under Spin's feet rumbled again as he slipped out from behind cover and opened up, aiming for the unshielded reactor of a destroyer in the distance. To her surprise, his barrage ruptured the compartment and the reactor's containment failed, causing a pressure explosion that did even more damage. The ship was powerless, and so were its heavy guns.
"Your showboating is going to get us…" Nigel started.
"Out of here alive?" Hal interrupted loudly.
"What kind of…"
"Shh!"
"Stop that! I'm just saying…"
"Don't need you to say anything right now!"
"Fu…"
"Rude!" Hal cut him off. His flying barely suffered as he toyed with Nigel and he sent the ship towards an open span of space. "Gunners get ready, you'll have about five seconds of fun here. Take out as many drones as you can."
"Rip and wreck 'em!" Frost shouted before howling with Boro.
The instant before they drifted at speed away from behind the long hull of a heavy battleship Spin watched as the antivirus finished uploading. The satellite and communications node both turned green on her display, reporting that the antivirus was working and sending the program on to more receivers.
The drones didn't stop coming. As soon as the Sector Jumper emerged from cover they came under fire. The energy weapons on most of the drones weren't as effective at that range, but there were hundreds of hits, and Spin watched as they lost five percent of their shield strength per second.
Everyone except for Hal fired back, gunnery posts sending streams of white light back at the drones rushing their location. Spin closed her eyes and shook her head for a moment. There had to be a better way. If the drones weren't affected by the antivirus, they'd still have a huge problem, and from what she'd seen the ship they had was heavily armed, yes, but that wasn't its greatest feature. That came down to its speed, manoeuvrability, stealth and her pilot.
Spin opened her eyes and took a fresh look at the tactical map. A thought occurred to her. "Hal, can you get to cover until our shields recharge, then get behind the Core Czar as fast as you can? That ship looks heavy enough to shield us from the junk wave." The Core Czar was an old juggernaut, five kilometres in length that was bristling with weapons. Something had melted through several sections of the hull, destroying the main reactors, but it was still heavier than anything else in range.
"Damn right!" Hal said, changing course. Their ship slipped back behind cover, to her relief, and the gunners were relegated to firing at drones and small fighters. More and more drones managed to get in range as he pushed the ship and his skills almost recklessly. "Now, that's how you navigate without training: observe, think, then offer your idea," he told Nigel.
Spin grinned as she watched the Sa-Hadin Defence Network come online. The defence satellites, stations and several ships turned green along with the shielded planet. The Addev Flesh Tech Research and Manufacturing Facility was next, along with a few dozen fighters and small patrol corvettes. Several Port Control Navnet connections were offered to their ship as well, showing that the main intelligences were getting back to work sorting out traffic in the solar system. "The antivirus is working, but the drones aren't affected yet."
"That's all right," Hal said. "Most of 'em will get wiped out by that junk wave."
"We're almost past the edge of it, lad," Frost said. "The Czar is going to shield us from that, sure, but a few hundred drones are coming with us. You're taking us from an avalanche to a bad knife-fight."
"It's still an improvement, right?" Hal countered.
"Shields are back up to full," Spin said, a little relieved. Several numbered defence outposts turned green, and as they decelerated to take cover behind the Core Czar a few hundred drones turned green before the wave of giant shrapnel collided with them. Frost was right, a swarm of drones made it to cover with them, and it was up to the gunners to take them out.
"Holy shiiiiiiit!" Dori cried as she held her turret gun triggers down, destroying drones so fast that Spin doubted the counter. It was the sound of her nearly being overwhelmed by the sheer number of targets, the death she was doling out, and of how much she enjoyed it.
Frost and Boro were next in line for the kill count with Della and Mirra close behind. A trio of drones collided into the front of the Sector Jumper. Both Hal and Nigel flinched and Spin dumped reserve power into the forward shields, restoring them to seventy-seven percent. Hal moved the ship under cover, slipping through a massive hole in the Core Czar as the ship weathered hundreds of collisions.
"Not a good idea!" Nigel burst, cringing in his seat.
A shard of metal broke through the hull and decks of the Czar, almost trapping them beneath its shifting deck plating, and Hal nodded, guiding the Sector Jumper out of the Czar's belly through another rip in its side. "You're right, that wasn't good, you're right."
Spin started to smile as the drones trying to follow them into the ship started turning green and turning away. "The antivirus is spreading here now," she said. Then the red marked ships and drones across her tactical display started turning green at an exponential rate. "The fight's over," she said, sighing.
"I like this ship," Hal said as they found a safe course that took them alongside the Core Czar.
The garbage wave was passing them, and she was thankful the derelict juggernaut really was good cover. A thought occurred to her that wiped the smile from her face. "We're going to have to cloak again as soon as the wave is past. We don't have time to celebrate."
"She's right," Frost said. "I’m guessing no one here has permission to enter Doro Doro and ask for its secrets?"
"Are you sure we can't just ask nicely?" Della asked.
"I have a map. I'm sure we can figure out the rest," Spin said, hoping it was true.
Thirty-Three
Gravity tractors and pulse nets stopped what was left of the junk wave that was headed towards Sa-Hadin's orbital space and the outer stations. The Sector Jumper made its way invisibly between the hundreds of ships working to keep garbage from raining down on stations and satellites. Most of them were larger drones, the very same that were charging towards them moments before with malicious intent.
It was as if Spin and the rest of the crew on the small bridge could see through the ship and watch the drones move at a distance, beginning the clean-up in an eerily efficient fashion. The plates covering the interior of the ship displayed the scene outside with surprising clarity, adding statistic and status notes to everything around them. The nearest drones were there to catch larger debris. They were transmitting a plan to affix themselves to the chunks of twisted metal at speed then slow it down as a group.
"This place is more locked down than most military bases," Frost said as he entered the cockpit.
"There are hundreds of companies just in scan range," Spin explained. "Most of them have their own security, and the Geist System had an independent government that was mostly Issyrian. I'm surprised we haven't seen any sign of them, but they could be hiding behind the shield around Sa-Hadin. The government took a huge fee from everyone who set up in-system for extra security measures." As they passed by a collection of drifting hulks, each once a large warship, she realized how brutally their security turned on them. "I guess this is what over-militarizing gets you sometimes."
"Why here?" Nigel asked. "It's not British Territory, it's not under anyone's protection."
"It's just a guess, but maybe it's because of the lack of regulation? Not only would all these corporations be able to collaborate with research companies, but I'm guessing that the Geist System didn't regulate research or commerce. A lot of the research that went into me was tested on live subjects; samples they grew to the right age then scrapped. I don't think that would be allowed in most regulated territories," Spin said. She wondered what she would see when she saw where her model was developed, what th
e reality of it looked like and shuddered.
"Scrapped," Frost grumbled under his breath. "Growing them, then killing them when they were done."
"Right."
"Maybe they deserved what happened here."
"Well, none of the, uh, dolls were awake when the testing went on, right? Like clones that get put into stasis once they're done cooking?" Nigel asked.
"I have a lot of cognitive improvements, they'd have to have a waking sample to test that." The thought of waking up in a facility only to answer endless questions and complete just as many tests made her wish they were headed to the growth hub, the very place where she was grown and packaged. Most of the people who performed the research were gone, but it didn't feel right unless their main manufacturing and research facility were destroyed too. She shook the thought. They weren't there for revenge, it would only be a distraction that might not benefit anyone. The manufactured slave industry was too big to stop with one act of revenge. "I was lucky, I woke up knowing who my best friend was, and he was right beside me. We were the end product." She brought up a hologram of the station and found a path to the vault inside Doro Doro with only two inner security doors. "We might want to go through there."
"I'll take us around so we can see it," Hal said as he spotted the part of the station she highlighted. "I was just about to ask which side we should approach this hunk of metal from."
Their passive scanners got more detailed readings of the surface of the station as they approached. "The place has seen better days," Frost muttered as he looked at the pockmarked and scarred hull of the station. Several outer areas marked off as secure equipment areas were already open to space. "Looks like mechanical arms and cutters got to that stuff. All the cuts are square, methodical like a bloody machine was digging in."
Aldo came through the rear hatch leading to the bridge. He seemed beaten, resigned. "Makes sense, there was that whole transmission from the artificial intelligence about going after this ship because it's new tech from one end to the other. If they wanted to gather top end technology, they'd start with a vault holding research data."
"How was the engineering section, lad?" Frost asked with a snicker.
"You know, that was a good one. I didn't realize there was nothing to do there but stare at status screens for half an hour. It was kinda like engineers telling the newbie to fetch a bucket of steam back in the old days. For a few seconds I thought I'd actually have to work on some of the dorsal panels, but then the ship started repairing herself. I got a lot of time to talk to Mirra, though, she's seen a few things."
Spin was surprised Aldo was even aboard, and quietly embarrassed that she'd forgotten about him entirely.
"Who knows, you could have been really important back there," Boro said as he dropped into a fold down seat beside the door.
"Doubtful. If this ship can weather that, we'll be good. I could have manned a gun, though. I’m in this with you guys now, and if we're going to do something about the slave economy, I'd like to sign up, no matter what the odds are."
"You have one of the most important jobs on the crew; to stay behind and watch the ship," Boro said.
"That's my job," Hal said. "And, uh, guys? We are definitely not the first ones here."
Spin looked at the hologram of the station and zoomed in on the outer airlock leading directly to the route she chose to get to the safe. The outer doors were wide open, and the inner ones weren't locked.
"I'm guessing someone hacked their way into this side," Boro said.
Frost narrowed the focus of one of the Sector Jumper's cameras and got a closer look at the access panel. The interface had been cut through and components were hanging out. "Looks like someone made their own circuit board and battery hack and used it to bypass the security, not bad. Took more planning than we've put into this."
Spin projected her map of the station into the middle of the room and it updated with the information the scanners were gathering. "The computer systems are down in there, and there aren't many bots around."
"That's good?" Hal asked. "Less security means you'll be finished faster?"
"It means someone already got to the security, and the work on that door is nothing like what a robot would do," Frost said.
"Whoever went in was able to get by the mess out here while the holocaust virus was making all the bots crazy," Boro said.
"Can we scan to find out if the Iron Mind is still in the vault?" Spin asked.
"If we start scanning, it'll be as bad as pinging our location. Are you sure you can't just call Doro Doro control up and ask to visit?" Hal asked. "I mean, with the virus clear, the artificial intelligence will probably be sane again."
"We don't have permission to be here, and there are no signals coming out of the station. Well, almost none, anyway. I see maintenance requests coming from a few bots."
"Maybe someone could pretend to be a maintenance bot?" Hal offered. He waited for a moment before nodding. "Never mind, that sounded better in my head. I'll stick to flying."
"That's not a bad idea," Frost said. "Just complicated. We don't know enough about the bots to pretend to be one."
"It was a good idea," Spin agreed. Their passive scanners were seeing down the hallway to their starboard side, and there were several deactivated maintenance bots there. "I might be able to put that to use once we're inside."
"Whoever went in probably got what they wanted, and if this Iron Mind is the ultimate take in there, I bet it's gone," Frost said.
"I have to make sure, and if it has been taken I have to find out who got it and where it is now," Spin replied.
"Looks like I'm going on a spacewalk," Frost said.
"Why you?" Boro asked. "No offence, but you don't exactly score highest in those suits."
"I’m the best ship cracker we have, doesn't matter what I'm wearing," Frost said. "You can come too, if you like."
"I like a team of five," Spin said. "You two, me, Dori and Aldo."
"Aldo's not cleared to use one of the suits, not to mention the weaponry," Boro objected.
"I saw his file; he has more military training than all of us combined. You might not trust him, but he freed you, so I do. Think you can manage in heavy armour?"
"I've been trained in three types," Aldo said. "But if Boro doesn't want me along…"
"We need a real security officer for this trip," Spin said, imitating a decisive tone she'd heard Sun use.
Thirty-Four
The three-dimensional map Spin used to plan their path to the vault on Doro Doro station didn't prepare her for what she, Aldo, Boro, Frost and Dori saw when they were inside. The high ceilings were decorated with a curved latticework. Between tall, imposing doors that were three storeys high were banks of smaller, shielded lockers. Small one-person lifts made to take the renters of the spaces up and down the levels of the smaller storage compartments.
There were hundreds of small, secure storage lockers in that hallway alone and at least twenty doors that led to larger areas. It could have been left bare of decoration, but the vault structural supports were made of transparent metal that bent and transformed shafts of light into different shades of red and blue. The contents of all the storage areas were impossible to discern, since the metal protecting them was opaque but the way the station was designed gave them plenty to see.
A few of the lockers and tall doors were broken open, but most were still intact. What they contained - if anything at all - was still a secret. "You take me to the finest places," Dori said. She stayed close, walking at Spin's side with her heavy rifle at the ready. "Why did you take me along for this, anyway?"
Spin didn't offer her first answer. Even with the modifications and corrections made to her, Dori still seemed like the kind of person who wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger any time on anything, and Spin suspected she might need someone like that soon. No, she didn't share that, but offered something else instead. "Just because there have been some changes doesn't mean they've taken the skills yo
u have as a fighter away."
"Thank you," Dori said, drawing the words out. "A lot has changed, mind you. I keep catching people staring, for one. Especially at these useless things," she glanced down at her chest and shook her head. "What the hell are they for, anyway? I mean, they get in the way all the time, and it's like carrying… I don't know… a lumpy chest around all the time. There's special support required, and the literature said they could get sore for no good reason out of nowhere. I just don't get why you put up with them."
Spin snickered a little at seeing Boro stiffen up the moment he realized that Dori was talking about her breasts, leaving her with the distinct impression that it was the last conversation he wanted to get dragged into. "They're inconvenient until you have children or, well, there are other reasons to keep them around," Spin said. "We can talk about it later."
"Kids? Me?" Dori laughed ruefully. "Hell no, it'll never happen. I mean, it's lucky that I was already kinda into guys before all this happened, but there's no way I'm letting anyone near me. It's just too weird, and the idea of popping a screaming brat out is fucking terrifying. I would rather face a whole squad of United Core Authority assholes with nothing but a utility knife than give birth."
Boro cleared his throat. "What?" Dori replied. "Biology making you uncomfortable? I've caught you checking me out, it can't be that bad."
"I think he's worried you're treading on a difficult topic," Spin said. "I can't have children, it's one of the reasons why we're here. Well, one of the lesser reasons. They locked that feature up when they capped my age."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Dori said earnestly. "I guess I missed that with all the crap that's going on with me."
"It's all right," Spin said, the topic didn't bother her much, especially from someone like Dori who desperately needed to talk to people so she could figure out who she was all over again. It was a process that Spin suspected Dorian had to go through when most of his body was replaced with cybernetic parts. The person he was becoming was much more likeable, but Spin had a feeling that no one was more confused about who Dori was than Dori herself. "You didn't know, and I'm more focused on extending my own life anyway."
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