Shards of Eternity (Stars in Shadow Book 2)

by John Triptych

  Vega gave her a reassuring wink. “I have him eating off the palm of my hand. He’ll do the job, because his family’s wellbeing depends on it.”

  Realizing that Vega must be holding a family hostage, Creull quickly looked in Dangard’s direction, but the captain of the Nepenthe shifted his eyes away, silently telling her to let things go. Creull wanted to reach out with her claws and give Vega a hard swipe across his face, yet she decided to stay mute.

  “Let’s move on,” Janice said. She didn’t like what Vega had done either, but her granddaughter’s financial future was a bigger concern. “Is there any other aspect of this plan we need to discuss for now?”

  “I’d like to assign one of my crew to stick with the cracker,” Dangard said. “Just to make sure he does the job instead of turning us all in.”

  “Not a problem,” Vega said as he pointed towards his executive officer. “Karana will also be with the strike teams at the museum. She’ll make sure everything’s running smoothly.”

  Janice smiled faintly at the cyber. “You’ve hardly said a thing this whole time, Commander. Are you alright?”

  Karana nodded. “I’m fine, Captain. Thank you for asking.”

  Vega laughed. “My XO is just naturally quiet. She tends to do her talking with her cybernetic limbs, and my crew can attest to that. All she has to do is give them a look, and they instantly know what she wants and gets it done.”

  Janice faced Dangard. “I lost my entire strike team on my last job, and I need Dun at my side on the bridge. Can your team and Vega’s group handle everything on the ground?”

  Dangard nodded at her. “No problem, Janice. Our combined teams will get your money for you.”

  Vega stood up while holding his wineglass out in front of him. “Alrighty then! If there are no more questions, then we can bring this scheme to our respective crews so they can vote. Y’all know my crew has already made their choice, so I’ll be waiting on the two of you. Cheers and good luck!”

  Janice picked up her wineglass and raised it in the air. “For luck, and for my granddaughter!”

  Dangard took a glass from the nearby table and raised it along with the others before cheering as well. Creull and Karana didn’t join in the revelry, each lost in their own thoughts.

  7 Intent

  Duncan Hauk continued to launch himself from one end of the Nepenthe’s spinal bulkhead to another, leaving behind small floating globules of sweat in the null gravity. Even though it was his downtime, he continued to hone his skills after being taught zero-gee martial arts by the officers. The exercises included techniques in leverage and trajectory in addition to advanced grappling, all while paying attention and taking advantage of the confined spaces within a starship.

  The boy grimaced in near exhaustion as he alternately punched and kicked through the air at an imaginary foe before reaching out and using his arms to bounce off the incoming wall. He had done countless virtual simulations and worked out with the other spacers to get a proper feel, but he felt more practice was needed.

  He was short for his age and being the youngest member of the entire crew meant that he was subjected to more derision than the others. Hauk seethed at their perceived ingratitude, especially when he played a pivotal role in saving the entire ship. His temper would sometimes get the better of him, and he had to concentrate in order to keep himself from getting into trouble. Even though he was already a veteran crewmember, he still preferred to sleep alone in a remote alcove, deep within the Nepenthe.

  The sound of laughter brought his focus back to the compartment he was training in. Glancing towards the entryway, he saw two ranking superiors staring up at him and continuing to snicker. The other two kept their boots magnetically attached to the base of the wall so they wouldn’t float around.

  Spacer Sergeant Diego Rodriguez pointed up at him and chuckled. “Will you look at that, the runt is still working out. I guess he needs remedial study on how to take somebody down.”

  Oana Florescu had just been promoted to sergeant as well, and she and Diego were fast becoming a couple. “Oh, don’t be so hard on him, D. We’re supposed to give him some good news.”

  Hauk drew in a deep breath as he grabbed onto a handhold to steady himself. “What’s the news?”

  “You’re supposed to address me as sergeant, you little worm,” Diego said.

  Oana felt her boyfriend was becoming too harsh. “Take it easy, D.” She glanced up at the boy. “You’ve been chosen by the lieutenant as part of the museum strike team, so congratulations, Duncan.”

  Hauk remained silent. They always choose me, yet I never get promoted.

  Diego raised an eyebrow. “What? You’re not even happy?” He turned his attention to Oana. “See, I told you he’s just a little emotionless synthetic, like that traitor Zeno.”

  Hauk clenched his jaw as his temper began to flare up. “Don’t lump me in with that toaster! I did my part in helping this ship, much more than you ever did.”

  Diego glared at him, his own anger rising. “Why you little turd! I fought with the LT wearing just a battle suit against warbots and lancers, while you were safe in that indestructible artifact ship of yours.”

  “You were a sideshow,” Hauk said tersely. “I did more heavy lifting than you.”

  Diego bared his teeth. “I’ll show you who’s the fekking sideshow. I challenge you. No ranks.”

  “Accepted,” Hauk said.

  Oana placed a hand on Diego’s elbow. “Look, we don’t need this right now. You remember what the LT said; he told us no more duels.”

  Diego cursed and pointed at the boy. “I don’t care! I’m not going to let that runt disrespect me.”

  “But we came in here and made fun of him,” Oana said. “Come on, it’s not fair.”

  Diego brushed her hand away before disengaging the magnetic soles on his boots. “This little parasite needs a lesson in respect.”

  Oana frowned in exasperation as the older youth began to float away from her. “Diego, don’t. You’ll just get into trouble.”

  “You ought to listen to her,” Hauk said. “She’s got at least twice the brains you’ve got.”

  “Enough talk,” Diego said as he grabbed onto the edge of a nearby bulkhead, bent his knees, and launched himself towards the boy. He spread his arms out wide, hoping to catch Hauk and grapple with him.

  Hauk pushed himself off towards the right as Diego’s grab narrowly missed him. The boy landed a kick on the bigger youth’s side, and Diego recoiled in pain as Hauk gained more distance from him using the counterforce.

  Diego grabbed onto the handholds and pulled himself forward to build up his momentum. The pain in his ribs was distracting, but his anger and pride were on the line. “Damned coward, get over here!”

  Hauk pushed off with his feet and aimed towards the lower portion of the compartment. He had been working out in the same place for close to an hour already, and he knew which protrusions to grab onto and where he would go whenever he pushed off.

  Within seconds, Diego forgot his training as his rage overcame his intellect. He wanted to finish the fight as quickly as possible, and he kept using his arms to pull himself along as he tried to catch up with Hauk.

  Just as Diego was less than an arm’s length away from him, Hauk suddenly whirled and changed his trajectory, pushing his hands back and leading with his feet curled up. When Diego tried to reach out and grab him, the boy kicked out, and his right heel landed on Diego’s face.

  The youth’s neck jerked back as Diego took the full force of the blow. It momentarily stunned him, and he spun backwards. Hauk continued on before grabbing hold of the bigger youth’s back by wrapping his legs and began his grapple with Diego’s arms, placing them both in a painful lock.

  Diego screamed and cursed as he struggled mightily and with increasing desperation, sending both of them tumbling around into the middle of the room. Every time he tried to escape using a counter hold, Hauk would match him, and the boy had the upper hand since h
e was riding on Diego’s back.

  Hauk could feel the bigger youth’s strength, but he had the leverage. Seeing the side of the wall coming up towards them, he shifted slightly to his right and used his legs to twist Diego’s body just enough to drive his opponent’s face into the bulkhead.

  The second blow and the arm lock were enough to knock him out, and Diego soon went limp, his once determined resistance all but gone. Disengaging himself, Hauk pushed off and made it closer to where Oana was standing before engaging his magnetic soles and walking out of the module.

  Oana stared silently at the boy’s back before Hauk disappeared round the bend in the corridor. Shaking her head, she disengaged her magnetic boots and floated up to retrieve Diego.

  Several decks away, the Nepenthe’s meeting room was a scene of intensive concentration as the ship’s senior officers discussed the upcoming operation. Captain Lucien Dangard tended to take a back seat when it came to planning, for he would only interject when it was truly needed. The master of the ship sat near the end of the room and continued to observe in silence.

  “We’ll have to go in there and pose as tourists; that means we’ve got to take the weapons from the guards after we’re inside,” Garrett Strand said. “Can we get any security clearances?”

  “All they promised was that your team wouldn’t be recognized by the security scanners as you’re being processed in with the rest of the tourists at the entrance,” Creull said.

  Strand shook his head in disappointment while staring at the holographic rendering of the museum’s interior. “We can’t take control of any warbots either?”

  Creull checked the briefing Vega had given them. “They’ll be under the cracker’s command.”

  “I don’t like it,” Strand said. “It’s almost like my team is going to be strictly for crowd control and cargo handling.”

  “That’s part of Vega’s plan, and Captain Janice Gwynplaine approved it,” Creull said.

  “Yeah, but none of her crew will be on the ground; it’s all on my strike teams and Vega’s,” Strand said. “I’m not liking this.”

  Chief Engineer Viniimn kept his eyes on the display floating above the table in between them. He knew about Strand’s penchant for glory. “Because you’re not part of the main action?”

  “It’s more than just that,” Strand said. “If something goes wrong, we’ll be the first to get hit. Where’s Vega’s team supposed to be?”

  “They’ll be in the staff section of the museum,” Creull said. “His executive officer will lead her team into the security control room when the cracker lets them in through the loading area.”

  “I think it’s better we have at least one of my team—or even myself—be a part of her group from the inside,” Strand said aloud before glancing at the captain. “Can we demand that?”

  Dangard nodded. “I don’t see why not.”

  “I’ve never heard of this Karana before. Who is she?” Strand asked.

  “I’m not sure myself,” Creull said. “Rumors of her past are just that—rumors.”

  “I’ll listen to hearsay,” Strand said. “Beats not knowing a thing about her.”

  “Based on what I’ve heard, she was a member of a hit squad for one of the Union’s intelligence bureaus,” Creull said. “Whether she turned rogue or was ostracized I’m not sure.”

  “I heard she became a pirate for revenge,” Viniimn said. “The Union left her team behind during a black ops mission deep in Concordance territory.”

  “Is that why she’s a cyber?” Strand asked.

  “I don’t know,” Viniimn said. “My knowledge about her is secondhand; I heard it from an old friend who served in the legion.”

  Strand raised an eyebrow. The Cyber Legions were the elite ground forces of the nytini military. “Why would your species know about a human operative like her?”

  “Probably because her cybernetics aren’t human but nytini designed,” Viniimn said.

  Strand leaned back on his chair and crossed his arms. “This is getting even more confusing. Why would the nytini equip her with cybernetics?”

  Viniimn beamed with pride. “Our cyberwear has a reputation of ruggedness and quality. My species are the industrial leaders of that market.”

  “From what I observed with Karana during our meeting at Elysium, all four of her limbs were cybernetic, and most probably she’s had internal augmentations as well,” Creull said. “Very few humans can cope with such an extensive array of gear.”

  “She was hardly able to keep still,” Dangard said. “I noticed her unease during the conference.”

  “She’s heavily doped up on neurizim,” Creull said while pointing towards her cybernetic right leg. “I’ve only got one piece of cyber gear, and I still have to take large amounts of that damned drug to stop my mind from going into pieces. I have no idea how she could even remain composed during all that time since you have to take massive doses of neurizim when you have more cybernetic implants.”

  Strand rolled his eyes. “Great. Let’s just hope she doesn’t go nuts during the operation.”

  Creull’s yellow eyes strayed towards her captain. “Should we really go through with this? I don’t trust Vega or his cyber executive officer.”

  “I don’t trust anybody,” Dangard said. “Sappho, what did you find out about Angkor?”

  The ship’s AI instantly revealed herself as a disembodied woman’s face in the holographic display. “When I ran a forensics check on Zeno’s corrupted database after he temporarily went rogue, I was able to piece together a company name: Malmor Technical.”

  “What’s so special about that company?” Creull asked.

  “It was the only piece of information I could recover when the enemy AI that took over Zeno’s body purged itself from him,” Sappho said.

  Strand scratched the back of his neck. “So what does that have to do with Angkor?”

  “Malmor Technical runs the security department of the museum,” Sappho said. “If Vega’s operative has access to their database, the information in there could lead us to this enemy AI who calls himself Kierkegaard.”

  Strand was impressed. “Two birds with one stone, eh? We get to find out about our enemy, and we get rich too. I like it.”

  “Yes,” Viniimn said. “I would like to get to the bottom of this. Perhaps the crew will vote to bring back Zeno after we’ve shown them who the real enemy is. I felt a sadness after we dropped him off on Elysium.”

  Strand chuckled. “The crew will be too busy floating in a sea of cash cards to care about Zeno. Anyway, I’m sure another crew will take a chance on him. Synthetics are a valuable asset.”

  “Don’t celebrate just yet,” Creull said. “This plan Vega has could fall apart if just one component suffers a setback.” The riwwr turned to look at the holographic face. “Sappho, how powerful is the in-system defense of Angkor?”

  “A fleet of four Silvanus-class system defense ships,” Sappho said. “They have as much firepower as a Star Force destroyer, but they lack the tesseract drive, which means they are not true starships.”

  “Silvanus-class defense ships have got extra fuel and are pretty maneuverable though,” Creull said. “They can close quickly. Are they stationed in planetary orbit or do they have a separate base away from Angkor Delta?”

  “There are two space stations orbiting Angkor Delta,” Sappho said. “The Angkor Central Station is the main civilian processing center, and most ships dock with it for identity confirmation and approval. The station is in geosynchronous orbit around the planet.”

  “And the other one?” Viniimn asked.

  “The Angkor Defense Station is located at the closest libration point, about two hundred thousand klicks away,” Sappho said. “According to the report given to us by Captain Vega, that is the place where the in-system ships are housed.”

  “So the authorities have planned to secure the planet in case of emergencies,” Creull said. “What about the defense grid?”

  “Ther
e are two layers of defense grids,” Sappho said. “The outer defense grid covers a number of dark matter fields about three hundred million klicks away from the museum world. These have been continuously constructed over the years and are quite formidable. They have enough firepower to decimate a fleet of attacking ships.”

  Strand frowned. Defense grids were massive, automated constructs in space with limited maneuverability and were deployed mostly as static defense near the dark matter fields where starships would emerge after jumping into the system. Armed with arrays of lasers, gauss cannons, and countless clusters of lancer missiles, they presented a lethal line of defense against any incoming hostile ship. While frontier worlds couldn’t afford them, the more prosperous core systems spared no expense with their development.

  “Vega has told us the AI cracker has got control of the grid,” Creull said. “What about the inner layer?”

  “Less formidable,” Sappho said. “According to the reports, they’re mostly laser batteries. Not too many lancers, but still enough to cripple any of our ships if we’re not careful.”

  “And that grid is also supposed to be under the cracker’s command when the time comes,” Viniimn said. “For all our sakes, we’d better hope this is true.”

  “We won’t be going through the teeth of the defense grids,” Dangard said. “Vega assured us the course he plotted out will bring us in through the system’s back door, so to speak.”

  Strand adjusted the holographic star map by pulling it back until the planet became nothing more than a blip in the display in order to show the entire star system. “I count at least a dozen individual shadow zones in this system; which one will our ships be coming from?”

  Creull bared her teeth. “We don’t actually know. Vega’s ship is the one we follow. All three ships will rendezvous at the border system of Ordos and from there the Tiburon leads the way.”

  Strand scowled. “I don’t like it. How are we sure he knows the right way?”

  “Captain Vega is highly regarded in pirate circles as the master of the backdoor route,” Sappho said. “Many other captains swear by his ability to plot a tricky course through countless dark matter fields in order to bypass detection and get his ship deep into hostile territory.”