"You keep fidgeting. You do that when you're nervous."
"It's this new armor," Jason complained. "It's not comfortable. I wish I'd had more time to train with it."
"You should have worn one of your old ones," Crusher said. "I'm not sure I'd trust something that was designed by one of those Ancient AIs and tossed together so quickly."
"I didn't have a lot of choices. Most of my other gear was still aboard the Phoenix. I expected to be back aboard her before needing it again," Jason said.
The new armor he wore had been designed by Voq—with Cas supervising—and built at the same time as the warheads by Mok's people. The truth was that the armor was magnificent. Far superior to the full-powered suits he had spent a fortune on with the Disa Company, an arms dealer near the Galvetic Empire. It was lightweight, made of a new type of ceramic composite that was far stronger than the alloy plates used by his older armor. The control system was much improved too, although that may have been the result of his newer neural implant.
The truth was that he wasn't just nervous. He was scared. His plan was risky, and he was going up against a foe whose intellect dwarfed his own. If he had miscalculated or had let himself be led down a bad path, literally quadrillions of beings could suffer for his mistake. If they missed with this shot, chances were good the Machine would simply become too powerful to overthrow. It would be the new constant in the galaxy; an immortal being that oversaw every aspect of everyone's life.
But he'd be damned if he admitted any of that to Crusher.
"I feel like we're even more exposed than usual," Crusher said. "That attack on Mok's operation was…chilling. If the Machine could take out Blazing Sun with the snap of its fingers—"
"It doesn't have fingers."
"—shut up and don't interrupt. With a snap of its fingers, how long before it decides ol' Omega Force has worn out its welcome in the galaxy and sends an entire division after us?"
"I'm more worried about Earth," Jason said quietly. "And Galvetor. And Ver. And wherever the fuck Doc and Twingo are from."
"I miss Lucky."
"Me too, bud…me too." There was a long, comfortable moment where Jason reflected on how long they'd all been together and how many hopeless fights he and Crusher had thrown themselves into. If he was to die this time, he couldn't think of another person he'd rather fall fighting next to.
"Here we go," Jason said as the alert chimed to tell them the ship was about to drop out of slip-space. There was a slight judder, and the blast shields dropped away from the forward windows, offering them their first look at the system. Even being within a star system, there wasn't much to see. The holographic overlays helpfully pointed out items of interest, including their ultimate target, which was the com relay station and the ConFed cruiser that handled security. It also showed the other ConFed cruiser…that shouldn't have been there.
"Uh, oh," Crusher said, pointing at the second ship. "Can our single corvette take on two cruisers?"
"Not in a standup fight, but maybe if Kage gets creative," Jason said. "Get on the slip-com and warn them there are two tangos. Tell Kage he needs to keep them drawn off until we dock, then he can do what he needs to do."
Crusher held the headset up to his right ear since his head was too big for him to slip them over and wear them normally. Jason could hear an animated conversation with Kage while he concentrated on trying to split between the two ships while appearing to be naturally navigating down to the routing station. It took just over ten minutes before the first hails came in from the lead cruiser, demanding they activate their beacon. When Jason ignored them, both cruisers changed course, turning in to intercept them.
"These guys are better than most of the slobs they put out patrolling empty systems," Jason said, frowning. "That's not good news."
"Why?" Crusher asked.
"It could mean they've been expecting us," Jason said. "Maybe not exactly what we have planned, but there is twice as much security as there should be. Hard to write that off as coincidence."
"Let's just get aboard that platform so we can get down to the part I'm good at," Crusher grumbled.
"No argument there," Jason said, pushing up the power. "Hope Kage is bringing his A-game to this party."
"Mesh-in complete, both targets quartering towards us off the port bow," Doc reported.
"I see them," Kage said. "Passive tracks only for now. Twingo, arm missiles and standby for target package."
"Kage, that's four missiles at the closest cruiser," Twingo said. "You're ignoring the second ship?"
"Just trust me!" Kage called as he angled the Devil over slightly to starboard. To the ConFed ships, it would look like he was coming about for an intercept of the factory platform drifting behind the sixth planet. They were squawking clean codes that identified the corvette as a private security vessel flying under the ConFed's flag. The ship's lines were too obvious to try and pass her off as a light freighter.
"Missiles have their target, waiting for active updates," Twingo said.
"Copy," Kage said, pushing up the power a bit more. He angled the bow over a few more degrees so the ConFed cruiser to the right would see him turning away and accelerating. It was meant to be a passive display to show he was disinterested in whatever was happening further down the system, but his trajectory down was still shallow enough—and the Devil overpowered enough—that he could make his plan work.
"They've started hailing, asking us to transmit our manifest," Doc said. "I'm betting they called down to that factory platform and were told they weren't expecting anybody."
"I only need a few more minutes…standby," Kage said. "And don't send any reply. Just squawk the ident beacon every time they ask."
Kage watched the drama unfolding below them as the cruisers turned in to try and cut off the captain's shuttle, but they hadn't fully committed to the idea yet. Their engine output was still nominal and, so far, they were just steering to. The Devil was only using passive sensors currently, so the picture he saw was around fifteen minutes old.
"Active sensors, please," he said as they crossed the trigger threshold for the maneuver he was about to attempt. Kage was a brilliant intellect, so he understood the mechanics of piloting very well, but applying it practically had always been a bit of a challenge for him. There were so many nuances and instincts that Jason grasped naturally when he took the controls that Kage had never been able to replicate. He hoped he wasn't being more aggressive than his skills allowed.
When the active sensors came online, the tactical display jittered, and all the pieces moved to where they were currently as the broadcast tachyon pulses gave them current positions of their targets. It was going to be close. He angled the bow to port sharply, pushing the yaw control all the way to the stop with one left hand while the other left hand kept trimming the ship to keep her from rolling over in the turn from the inertia. The corvette took it all in stride, heeling over at speed with hardly a groan as the grav-drive worked to nullify the inertia and acceleration forces.
Once he had the bow five degrees to the right of his intended target, he slammed the throttles to full forward. The Devil lunged ahead, her acceleration surprising everyone aboard, and she bore down on the cruiser that was now out of position and showing her flank. Kage actually had to reduce engine power before he could line up and authorize weapons release.
"Let them have it, Twingo!" he shouted.
"Missiles away!" Twingo also shouted despite the bridge being so quiet you could hear a Tuvarian rat belch from across the room. "Launchers clear!"
"Hang on, coming back around." Kage reversed his previous maneuver and yanked the corvette to starboard, pouring on the power as she came about. The ship creaked a bit as she angled away from the engagement and accelerated hard. "Damn this thing is fast."
"Mok probably wanted to be able to escape in a hurry when he needed to," Twingo said. "If he didn't already— Impact! Two missiles hit amidships. Her hull is buckling!"
Kage glanced up at the computer-
generated graphics of what the sensors saw. The cruiser had taken both missiles right into her exposed side. The first two missiles had buckled the low-power navigation shields enough to let the other two slip through unimpeded. He felt a momentary pang of guilt as he watched the ship break into three pieces, knowing there were a lot of otherwise innocent people aboard he'd just condemned to death.
"The second ship?" he asked.
"Oh, yeah, they're coming," Doc said. "Drive power just shot up, and they're on a direct pursuit course."
"Can they catch us?" Kage asked.
"Not likely," Twingo said. "We're faster and turn sharper, but we don't know if they have backup in the area that could mesh-in on top of or ahead of us."
"Let's just keep them busy as long as we can," Kage said. "This just got a little tricky if we need to take out that ship, too. Let the captain know their tail is clear for the moment."
"Captain was watching." Doc pulled his headset aside. "He said to tell you nice moves." Kage didn't say anything, but he puffed up in his seat and had a small smile on his face.
28
"We've got soft dock," Crusher said. "Still no anti-intrusion measures."
"That's…unlikely," Jason said. "There should at least be the normal security measures for a station that's such a strategic vulnerability."
"This is the ConFed." Crusher shrugged as if that explained it all. "They've not been challenged for over six thousand years. Half their critical infrastructure is unguarded, crumbling, or both. This station is over a hundred and forty years old and sitting in a system that—"
"That had two cruisers guarding it," Jason reminded him. "This could be a trap."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Crusher sighed. "So, what do you want to do?"
"The Machine has showed it's no tactical genius, but it thinks it is," Jason said. "It tends to underestimate its opponents when they're not fellow super-advanced AIs."
"The Machine isn't here," Crusher said. "Its surrogates are…and you didn't answer the question. We need to make a choice soon."
"Let's go for hard dock and see what happens," Jason said. "We'll be committed at that point. If we trip a security system and this platform doesn't let go, we're stuck here."
"Yes, I know what the difference between soft and hard dock is," Crusher snapped impatiently. "Let's go!"
Jason cranked the docking control all the way over, and the clanking of the ratchets retracting the mooring lines echoed through the hull. The shuttle's port entry hatch slammed against the airlock collar with a resounding boom, and more mechanical clanks could be heard as the station's automated systems finished anchoring the ship so it wouldn't tear loose from its moorings at an awkward time…like when they were walking through the entryway.
The shuttle's computer negotiated with the station to let them gain access to what the technical schematics called the reception antechamber. It was actually just a large room outside the airlock chamber that allowed the technical crews that would come there to perform maintenance a place to stage all their equipment and people. Since they had obtained the shuttle from an active ConFed military transport unit, he hoped the codes it carried were current and had the right permission levels to access the routing station.
"This is taking too long," Jason said. "The codes aren't valid."
"The docking clamp release isn't working," Crusher said. "Even the emergency mode is disabled. They're latched on."
"New plan," Jason called over the intercom. "Prep for EVA combat operations." There was an acknowledgement from 701 and Mazer Reddix as well as a pitiful groan from Crusher. Jason was beginning to think that what Crusher claimed was a racial trait of being terrified of EVA was actually something more specific to him. The Galvetic warriors in the hold donned helmets and did pressure checks without all the dramatics Jason was subjected to on the flight deck.
"You plan to ingress at one of the service hatches?" 701 had walked up to stand between the two crew stations. Battlesynths had no need for any extra equipment, already fully geared up for EVA ops including built-in repulsors that could propel them around in the microgravity environment.
"They'll be waiting for that," Jason said.
"They?" 701 asked.
"We're blown," Jason said with certainty. "They know we're coming, and they expect us now to force our way into the station through the airlock hatch."
"And you know this how?" Crusher asked.
"If they didn't assume that, they'd have already come in from the other way, trying to board us," Jason said. "They have the advantage, and they want to keep it. If they just wanted us repelled, they'd have never let us dock in the first place."
"Your assumptions are they want to capture us alive," 701 stated.
"Correct," Jason said, spinning his own helmet in his gauntleted hands and blowing out an errant piece of debris that was on the visor display. He slipped it on and was ensconced in silence and darkness until the connections were made and the helmet's systems booted up. He was immediately bombarded with information. Statuses from his team, the ship, and the downlink from the Devil's Fortune, which would let him have access to Cas and Voq.
"The Machine might know of this attack because of the leaks in our organization, but it can't possibly know why we're coming here of all places," Jason's voice boomed externally, modulated through the helmet. Voq's design had maintained the dramatic aesthetics Jason liked, and the helmet looked like a fanged, smiling skull. "It'll want us captured and questioned, not wanting to leave an unknown like that hanging out there. I'm guessing it thinks we're coming to upload a virus of our own design to try and take it out. It's probably looking forward to laughing in our faces."
"A suggestion?" 701 asked.
"Shoot," Jason said.
"We should still attempt to make entry at the airlock," 701 said. "Two of my soldiers can perform that task at minimal risk to themselves or the ship. If we wait too long before taking any action, they will become wary and investigate."
"Do it," Jason said, trusting the battlesynth’s judgment. "Make sure the two are volunteers. If they actually make it through, they could be stepping into a hell of a trap."
"It will not be an issue," 701 said and withdrew.
"I think you pissed him off," Crusher said, still toying with his helmet. "You implied he'd have to order his—"
"You have ninety seconds to stop playing around and put that bucket on your enormous, hideous head," Jason said. "I'm dumping the atmosphere in here whether you've got it locked and sealed or not."
"It's going on! See?" Crusher's muffled voice came out from under the collar seals where the big warrior had misaligned the locking rings.
"For fuck’s sake," Jason hissed, reaching over and yanking the collar around straight—not at all trying to be gentle—so the locking rings met and the suit could boot up and start doing seal checks.
"OWW!" The muffled cry was nearly silenced since the helmet speakers weren't active yet.
"Gravity off!" Jason shouted back into the hold. To keep their emissions down, they still weren't using team coms until the air was sucked out of the shuttle's cargo hold. He deactivated the artificial gravity and boosted himself up and out of the seat, spinning around in midair and pushing off the forward canopy gently with his feet. He drifted head-first down the short tunnel that connected the flightdeck to the main cabin and saw that everyone else was ready to go.
"We're going up and over," he said. "Or, more accurately, down and under. Two battlesynths will remain behind and put up a good showing of trying to get in through this airlock while the rest of us move out through the ventral hatch and move along to a point on the station that's about two-hundred meters from where we are. It's a place where the exterior hull is thin and will give us access to a service tunnel that runs laterally about a third of the way into the platform. The tunnel isn't normally pressurized unless there's work being done, so we won't have to fight an outrush of air, but after that, we'll need to find an entry point. That will be
a bit trickier."
"No, sir, it won't," one of the Zeta warriors spoke up. He lifted a device and unfolded it so that it looked like an ovoid nearly one and a half meters at its widest point and one meter at its narrowest. "This is a portable aero-barrier. It seals to the outer hull of whatever you want to board, let's you breach, and then activates an atmospheric forcefield like on a ship. The power source will keep it stable for twelve hours."
"Perfect!" Jason slammed his gauntlets together in excitement. "This makes our life quite a bit easier. Good thinking packing that along and, if we survive this, I'd like to get that design off you."
"Of course, sir."
"How aggressively do you want us to try and overpower the airlock hatch?" 701 asked. "Two of us should be able to cut through within twenty minutes."
"Not that enthusiastic," Jason said. "Give me at least forty unless you hear from us otherwise. Everybody ready?"
"Ready, Captain!" Mazer barked.
"Ready, Captain Burke," 701 replied calmly.
"Crusher?" Jason asked.
"Yes, damnit!"
"Starting the timer. Venting the cabin in ten." Jason reached over and opened the safety cover for the cabin air dump controls. He punched in the command code, set the timer for ten seconds, and cranked the blue handle counter-clockwise one-hundred and eighty degrees.
The air fogged instantly as the cabin air dump valves opened a little at first, and then wider once the pressure dropped below eighty percent of normal. It was always disconcerting from that first rushing sound of air in his helmet to when the sound just stopped altogether when the air escaped and all he could hear were the sounds from inside the armor.
Still not wanting to activate the team channel until necessary, Jason waved a hand and pointed at Mazer, then to the ventral hatch. The warrior nodded, handed his weapon to one of his troops, and knelt to open the hatch. He had to grab on to one of the deck handles to keep from floating away as he disengaged all the locks and swung the heavy hatch inward. As he did, the hatch on the outer hull of the vessel automatically activated and swung out as well, leaving a yawning hole in the deck from which Jason could see nothing but space.
The Pandora Paradox Page 22
