As he attached his new badge, the bridge crew stood and saluted him. He returned the salute, thanked them, then sat in the flight seat and buckled up.
***
Detectant Bergeron followed the CLF rules of engagement, which included several initial steps to gain compliance. She instructed, repeated, ordered, and refrained from returning immediate fire. She also tried to engage the F.S.-L.S. override, but the system failed to connect, evaded by the speed and maneuverability of the two Comet interceptors. Two more Comets joined the dogfight, both firing their plasma cannons at her once in range.
Based on the sensory scope view in her goggles, Bergeron concluded the Comets were formed up to take high and low opposing passes. She set the missile launchers in each of the beater’s hulls on “Auto” and prioritized them to target enemy craft approaching from above while she used the plasma cannons against incoming, low targets.
She dipped the bow and blasted a firestorm of plasma bolts, port to starboard, then back again, and swung the beater into a wide U-turn just as missiles launched from the twin hulls. Coming out of the turn, she caught a Comet running below her, straight off the bow. She fired her six plasma cannons and followed the burst with a manual missile launch, targeting the Comet just ahead. Swinging wide and heading back to the Trojans, she saw hits register on her scope for two of the comets, one high and one low.
Prior to the next attack by the Comets, Bergeron transmitted an emergency all-call, requesting immediate assistance from any available CLF forces.
“Just hold them off until the cavalry arrives, eh,” she mumbled, then hit the beater’s afterburners.
The sudden acceleration pressed her body and head into the flight seat, but she continued to concentrate on the red targets in her goggles. The two remaining Comets snaked their way closer from behind, so she pulled the beater into a steep climb, rolled over, and then dove at the approaching enemy.
Before Bergeron could line up her shot, the Comets rapid-fired their plasma cannons. Bolt after bolt jarred the beater’s shields, a forward portion of which gave way, allowing a few harmless hits on the armored bow, however, a dozen or more damaging blows struck the forward service deck.
“No, you don’t!” Bergeron yelled, then fired two missile salvos and unleashed her own six-barreled, rapid-fire plasma blast. When the fiery explosions erupted, Bergeron wasn’t sure if one or both Comets were hit. After diving through the conflagration of burning gases, super-heated alloy fragments, and electrical arcs, she checked her scope. Both targets were destroyed.
“Ah hah!” she shouted, “Take that, Colonel, you hoser!”
Studying the display further, Bergeron slowed the beater to half-patrol speed and noticed the larger asteroid seemed to have accelerated. There were more yellow gnats orbiting around it, and at least six red unidentified Comets. Ahead of the asteroid, out of nowhere, two green blips appeared. The computer identified each as BoatCLF.
“Thank goodness. Must have popped out of hyper-weave,” Bergeron said.
She conducted a quick damage-control scan of the forward hull. The detention compartment was breached and sealed off by airlock panels, but other than that, the boat appeared fine. After a quick sip of tea and a bite of her turkey sandwich, Bergeron was surprised to see another green blip appear on her starboard side. “Another friendly beater,” she said.
She activated a ship-to-ship call coming from the nearby beat boat and heard a voice that always crushed part of her soul.
“You are a long way from the Moon, detectant. Needless to say, I was surprised to pick up an all-call signal with your name on it along with an origin of Jupiter’s Edge.”
Bergeron suppressed escalating confusion and apprehension, then said, “Roger that, Captain Havlock. I appreciate your timely assistance.”
“Poppycock!” Havlock shouted. “You may hear news of me soon. I am wanted by the CLF and should have remained incognito, but after hearing your unexpected broadcast, I decided to come here and kill you, then slip back into hiding.”
Watching the display in her goggles, Bergeron wondered why the other friendlies on her scope weren’t approaching or engaging the Comets. That’s when the large asteroid blip turned from yellow to blue and the computer assigned the designation, BargSEN.
“Hello, Gravy Boat!” Bergeron shouted.
An alarm sounded, warning of an incoming missile, so Bergeron accelerated to full-patrol speed and fired the afterburners. She curled into a dive then looped upward, curving toward port, and fired four rounds from the pellet launchers. After leveling out, Bergeron cut off the afterburners and her main engines. Havlock’s missile sailed past and homed in on one of the pellets, a brief mistake by its targeting system. Bergeron swiveled the beater with its thrusters and fired a barrage of plasma bolts, which destroyed the errant missile.
“Oh, nice shooting,” Havlock said. “But I’m only getting started.”
“You’re late to the game, Hemlock. I’m all warmed up.” Bergeron responded. She accelerated to full-patrol speed and ducked under and past Havlock’s beater.
“Sod off!” he yelled into the radio.
He accelerated his beat boat and swung around to follow Bergeron. He fired his plasma cannons and landed solid hits on his quarry’s aft shields. “You like it up the tailpipe, Nate?” Havlock snipped.
“I don’t know who you’re talking to. My name is Nadonna!” Bergeron launched a missile and rolled into a sharp turn. Swinging around again, she detonated the warhead manually.
“Oh, you missed me!” Havlock said. He swerved and dove while Bergeron struggled to line up behind him.
“Where the hell did you come from?” Havlock screamed. “I see you back there! You better not try anything! You’re that damned Digi from—”
Next, Bergeron heard a scuffle, which consisted of a yelp, at least four loud slaps, two thuds, and what sounded like choking. She slowed her beater to match the course and speed of Havlock’s, then pulled up alongside it and raised her goggles. His flight deck was dark, so she couldn’t see anything inside. Was this a trick? she wondered.
While keeping her thumbs on the plasma cannon triggers, she noticed Havlock’s beater slowing to full-stop, so she backed off her propulsion too.
A moment after the beaters came to float motionless together, a soft, uncertain voice came over Havlock’s radio. “Hello?”
Bergeron stuck to protocol. “CLF here. This is one-one-Charlie, how may I assist?” She replied.
“Uh, well, this is…ummm.”
“Standing by,” Bergeron added.
“Thank you, Charlie, this is one-one-Leo, but everyone calls me Leo or Lee. I’m Digi and my name is Leo.”
“Roger that, Leo,” Bergeron said. “My callsign is Charlie, but my name is Detectant Nadonna Bergeron.”
“Roger that, detectant!” Leo answered. “You don’t happen to know Maxo Magnaveer?”
Bergeron smiled and laughed. “Yes, he is a good friend and colleague.”
“Wow,” Leo said. “What a small world after all.”
“So true,” Bergeron said, “and I think our little corner of it is going to get crowded again very soon.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Can you tell me, Leo, where did you learn to control a beat boat’s propulsion?”
“Same way I learned how to steer,” Leo explained, “although I didn’t do that just now. I flew hoppers during a couple of summer breaks, but mostly I learned from Maxo, well, not from Maxo directly…”
“I see.”
“While I was hiding in the exer-pod, I read some of Maxo’s book on my compu-pad.”
“Oh, the Never Better book?” Bergeron asked.
“Exactly, and it had a section on learning as a way to get ahead in life, so it inspired me to pull up flight manuals on my pad for CLF beat boats. Only got through the basics because I dozed off, then woke up feeling queasy. It was because of the crazy manuevers.”
“That leads me to my next question,” Bergeron said
.
“Okay.”
“Sooo, where is Shineer Havlock?” Bergeron asked. “Is he…alive?”
“Uh, yeah,” Leo replied. “He put up a fight, and it was kind of scary, so I choked him with his sash until he passed out. He’s still alive. I put him in handcuffs and locked him in a cell. Oh, one more thing…”
“What’s that, Leo?”
“These beaters are chilly,” Leo said, “so I took his blue cape and am wearing it as a kind of coat.”
“Roger that, one-one-Leo,” Bergeron chuckled. “We should work on getting you out of here. Do you think you could make all-slow ahead and sail back toward Jupiter? You can keep the line open if you want to talk to someone.”
“Oh, that sounds—”
Plasma bolts raked across the shields over Bergeron’s beater. She lowered her goggles and saw a red blip, designated F9350CL, race past her location headed toward Gravy Boat.
“Get a move on, Leo,” Bergeron shouted. “Call if you need me. I’m going after that transport.”
“Detectant,” Leo said, “long story, but my friends are aboard that ship. Its weapon systems are controlled by the captain. She’s evil.”
“I’ll get it sorted, don’t worry.” Bergeron checked the display in her goggles. “More Comets are inbound, so you best be on your way, Leo. That’s an order!”
“Roger.”
As Leo’s beater started to make headway, Bergeron set full-patrol speed and rushed at the incoming Comets. She watched the red blip representing the F-9350 transport crisscross between the interceptors. They continued to bear down on Bergeron while the transport raced toward the ever-accelerating food barge.
Aboard Candy Lady, Duffy was strapped into her flight seat on the bridge’s elevated platform and was tempted to swing back for another attack run on the CLF beat boats. “Steady ahead,” she shouted to Peter. “We need to get closer to the barge.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Peter replied.
“Nav has detected new objects, captain,” Cassy announced.
“You mean more ships?” Duffy asked.
“No, these are…space rocks,” Cassy explained. “The barge has drawn them along, out of the L4s. Thing weighs a ton.”
“A million tons,” Eli added, so it’s got enough gravitational—”
“I get it, Eli,” Duffy barked. “Peter, please keep helm steady and watch out for the space rocks. And bring us down to bulk propulsion only. Power, not speed, is our friend now.”
“Aye,” Peter said, smirking.
Eli put on his eyeglasses and peeked under a panel on his console. The innards of Maxo’s compu-pad displayed a flashing, green light, which meant it was still communicating with Candy Lady’s Trans-Holo interface and the navigation computers. He eased the panel back into place.
“Captain Duffy?” Eli asked.
“Yes?” she said.
“Looks like there’s a spec-channel signal transmitting from one of the rear Comets,” Eli said. “It’s remotely controlling heavy thrusters attached to the barge.”
“I see,” Duffy whispered.
“Can you estimate the barge’s trajectory?” Peter asked.
“I did already,” Eli said. “It’s on a collision course with Jupiter.”
Zeke laughed. “You were right, buddy. They’re gonna dump it.” He turned to Ming. “You owe me some coin, young man.”
Duffy unbuckled her flight seat harness and stood. She paced side-to-side on the platform and gawked out the ship’s windows. In silence, her lips moved while she bobbed her head.
“Ma’am,” Eli said.
“What?” Duffy shouted.
In response, Eli put an emergency all-call from the CLF’s First Precinct on the ship’s speakers so all could hear it.
“Be on the lookout for Shineer Havlock. Dismissed by the CLF today, he may be in uniform bearing the rank of captain. He is wanted for multiple felonies and high crimes. He is armed and dangerous. Do not approach, but if sighted, please contact your nearest CLF boat, ship, office, or personnel. Last seen fleeing from the asteroid field near Mars aboard a CLF beat boat, registration number CLF-88099-Charlie. Identity files may be download from your local CLF stream…”
Eli switched off the broadcast and said, “Captain, our Quantum comm system has pegged the location of a beat boat with that registration number.”
Duffy stared at Eli and said, “Oh, really?”
“Yes,” he replied.
“And just where is it?”
Pointing his thumb over his shoulder toward Candy Lady’s stern, Eli said, “We passed it back there. Looks like it might be heading this way. Cassy, what does nav say?”
Cassy checked several screens and panels. “Nav says it’s him and he’s approaching at…” Cassy paused and leaned back in her flight seat, “…full-patrol speed.”
“Where’s the other beat boat?” Duffy asked.
“Engaging a flight of Comets,” Cassy answered, “and winning.”
Duffy pouted, then threw up her hands. “We have to assist Captain Havlock, bring him aboard or help somehow, I don’t know.” She began to pace again. “Yes, maybe we can negotiate his surrender to the CLF. All-stop,” she ordered.
“Aye,” Peter said. “All-stop.”
After a collective sigh from the Digis, they unbuckled their harnesses and looked at each other. Except for Eli. Wearing both his glasses and headphones, he continued to study the comm displays, trying to learn more about the Comet’s remote-control spec-channel while also tuning into the CLF broadcasts.
Not far away, on the flight deck of Havlock’s beater, Leo put on scope goggles and saw Candy Lady decelerate and stop. He slid the boat’s throttle tab back to slow-ahead and steered a course toward his friends.
While the beat boat and transport rendezvoused, DynaFusion thrusters turned Gravy Boat into a runaway freight train, pulling a speckled tail of asteroids behind it. Jostled from their place among the Trojans by the barge, the space rocks began to slow and float apart, drifting among an intense and inevitable clash at Jupiter’s Edge.
Chapter 10
You Cut Off The Head, You Kill The Snake
Protector exited hyper-weave and arrived on scene a moment before Trident. Maxo ordered a course toward Candy Lady and heard Yuri, the communications officer, report two beat boats had launched from Trident, and they were forming up with Bergeron.
“Open all the channels, please,” Maxo said. “I want to hear everyone and everything.”
“Aye, sir,” Yuri said.
The sound of radio calls filled the bridge. One caught his immediate attention. Alice transmitted from one of Trident’s beaters.
“We’re on your starboard, one-one-Charlie,” she said. “And just registered a missile hit on that pesky Comet.”
“Speaking of pesky,” Bergeron said, “that beater trying to dock with the transport is a friendly who is supposed to be headed to Jupiter.”
Strapped into his flight seat on Protector’s bridge, Maxo scanned multiple heads-up displays and sensory screens on his console. “One-one-Charlie,” Maxo said, “our readout identifies that as Havlock, but you say ‘friendly’?”
“Roger, Maxo,” Bergeron replied. “Havlock is in the brig and the beater is under the control of Leo, callsign one-one-Leo.”
“One-one-Leo?” Maxo mumbled.
He heard Bergeron order the two beat boats from Trident to join her in a charge toward more incoming Comets, which emerged from the Trojans.
“Once in range,” Maxo said, “put that transport under our F.S.-L.S. override.”
“Roger, detectant,” Yuri answered. “And helm, please watch for incoming rocks.”
“On it, sir,” the helm officer, Verona, said.
A moment earlier, at his console on Candy Lady’s bridge, Eli’s eyes widened when he heard the CLF radio traffic in his headphones about Leo. As he recalled the events from the past few hours, Eli realized he hadn’t heard a peep from Leo.
“Maintain station-
keeping, Peter,” Duffy said. “And Eli, raise Captain Havlock on the radio, now! He’s having trouble docking in our upper carriage bay.”
“I’ll say,” Zeke said, standing next to a cargo handling station.
Eli made a series of hand gestures, hoping Zeke or Ming would see him. That didn’t work, so he tried a simulated sneeze and received a response, but not from the cargoists.
“Bless you, Eli,” Ariel said, walking toward him from the elevator.
“Thank you,” he replied.
“You’re welcome, and maybe you can answer a question for me,” she added.
“Of course,” Eli said. “Please come and sit with me and I then I will talk further, but not until then.”
Ariel chuckled. “Sure, mate.”
In the distance, on Trident’s bridge, their helm officer awaited instructions from Acting Captain Perez. After a few moments to weigh options, she chose to follow the barge rather than assist Maxo or Bergeron.
“Let’s keep our eye on the ball,” Perez announced. “Pursue the barge. Let’s see if we can stop it before it’s too late.”
“Aye, captain,” the helm officer replied.
Trident swiveled starboard and accelerated, scraping a few space rocks during the maneuver.
“Sorry, captain.”
“That all right, we’re insured,” Perez said. “But please avoid the bigger ones.”
Then, La Corona exited hyper-weave between Trident and Gravy Boat.
“And that dreadnought!” Perez added. “Evasive action and fire all cannons.”
The Caprice’s turrets, some automated and others staffed by tech corps gunners, fired a barrage at D’Rump’s flagship, striking its shields. La Corona responded with a volley of six conventional ship-to-ship missiles. All were eliminated before impact by Trident’s sensor-guided, rapid-fire plasma cannons.
“We missed!” D’Rump yelled.
Schilling and the other La Corona bridge crew winced. “Just an opening salvo, Dear Leader,” Schilling replied. “We are launching more Comets and withdrawing to a safe distance.”
Showdown at Jupiter's Edge: A Maxo Magnaveer Adventure Page 11
