by D. M. Pruden
Chambers scowls at me. “Cervantes, what is the tactical situation?”
“The mines didn’t activate until we were within their distribution. Somebody was waiting for us to get in deep, and now we’re surrounded.”
“Are they moving toward us?”
“The nearest ones are drifting our way.”
“Great; how long do we have?”
“Maybe thirty minutes before the first one reaches us.”
“Then what happens?” I ask.
“If we’re lucky, it will only attach itself to our hull.”
I swallow hard. “And if we aren’t?”
Chambers speaks more quietly. “It will detonate.”
“It will not explode,” says Singh. “If it attaches to us, Roberts will have us on a leash.”
“What does he mean?” I say.
“He means that the ship will have a bomb attached to it, and we’ll be at their mercy. They’ll threaten to blow us up if we don’t allow them to board us or do whatever they ask.”
“I don’t understand. If we were meeting them to complete a deal...”
“Perhaps it is time for you to come clean, Parvinder,” says Chambers. “What the hell is going on?”
“I told you, I have no idea why this is happening.”
There’s mischief behind the captain’s smile. “Maybe I should test a theory. Schmaltz, grab a couple of the lads and throw Singh’s cargo out the airlock. Roberts can pick it up and maybe leave us alone.”
“No!” shouts Singh.
Chambers stares him down. “Well?”
“It isn’t so much a business deal as an exchange.”
“You’re not selling anything to him. You’re holding it for ransom.”
“If you want to be technical about it, then yes.”
“What’s in the box?”
Singh’s lips press together, as if to lock the answer away.
“Perhaps I could go down to take a look,” I say.
“My men are guarding it, Doctor. You wouldn’t get close.”
“What the hell is wrong with you, Singh?” says Chambers. “I’m having serious second thoughts about our working relationship.”
“You can have as many doubts as you want. I have my orders.”
“Captain,” says Cervantes, “we’re receiving a message. We’ve been told to shut down our engines and prepare to be boarded.”
Chambers peers over the navigator’s shoulder at the instrument readout. “Any indication of which direction they are approaching from?”
“Not yet; I think they are going to wait until a mine attaches to us before they make a move.”
The captain studies the display for a moment. “Schmaltz, have we got any more of those hull plates you used to patch us up after our last run?”
“Yeah, there are three of them in the secondary cargo hold. They’re each about twenty-four square metres. Why?”
“Go find Miller and Shin. All of you suit up for a walk.”
“Cap’n?” says Schmaltz.
“I want to put them on our hull for the mines to stick to. We won’t know where the damned things will attach until they’re closer. You all will need to hang around outside the ship and watch for them.”
All the colour drains from the engineer’s face. “Are you sure it’s a good idea? What if they go off?”
“Your insurance policies are all paid up.”
I glare at Chambers, and when he catches sight of my withering gaze, he smiles coyly. “Singh doesn’t believe they will detonate, and I agree with him. That cargo is probably too valuable to them to risk damaging it, right, Parvinder?”
“Without question.”
“Besides, with any of those things stuck to our ship, we will really be screwed. If they are attached to the plates, we have a better chance of slipping away.”
Schmaltz swallows. “All right, Cap’n, I’m on it.” He rises from his station and heads for the door. He pauses. “I’ll have to shut off the artificial gravity so we can move the plating.”
“Right, everybody should be wearing mag boots anyway.”
I glance at my feet, grateful that I followed operating procedures and wore mine.
After Schmaltz is gone, Chambers takes one more glance around the bridge and announces, “Everyone make sure you know where your pressure suit is stored. Just in case.”
About twenty minutes later, my attention is on the comm chatter with the EVA team.
“One’s approaching on our ventral port aft,” says the captain into the mic.
“Shin is the closest. He’s almost in position.”
“Schmaltzy,” says Cervantes, “a second one is coming up on our dorsal bow, about two minutes out.”
“I’m on it. You realize, if more than three come at us, we’re fucked. There is no more plating.”
“We should be fine for a while.”
I catch Chambers’ eye. “What do we do if more mines come this way?”
“Are you religious, Doctor? Do you pray?”
“No, why?”
“No particular reason. If my plan works, we won’t be around long enough for more of them to find us.”
“And if it doesn’t work?”
“That’s where prayer could come in handy.”
“Okay, Shin is in place, and I see the one heading toward me,” says Schmaltz.
“Miller, the last one is approaching the starboard midsection,” says Cervantes.
“On my way.”
Chambers leans over the console and speaks into the microphone. “These babies are accelerating, so brace yourselves.”
“You’d better be right about them not going off,” says Shin. “Here it comes.”
Everyone waits in tense silence.
“Wow, that thing packed a wallop.”
“Did you catch it?” asks Chambers.
“Yup, now what do you want me to do with it?”
“Hold tight until we have the others rounded up.”
Within fifteen minutes, the men have intercepted the drifting mines.
“A red LED is blinking on the casing of this one,” says Schmaltz. “I presume that’s bad.”
“If you can see a light, Schmaltzy, that is a good thing. It means you didn’t blow up.”
“You’re a laugh a minute. What do you want us to do with these things?”
“You need to make them look like those plates are part of the hull.”
“I sort of guessed that was your plan. We’ve brought mag locks to fix them to the ship, but they aren’t painted. They may look suspicious if the pirates pay close attention.”
“A minor concern. Do you have the jet packs I told you to take out with you?”
“Yeah, and I have the remote modules too. It shouldn’t take more than twenty minutes to rig everything up.”
“Hustle your asses. I expect company will arrive shortly.”
“Why do they have jet packs?” I ask.
“You’ll see.”
“Incoming transmission,” says Cervantes.
“Let’s hear it.”
“Requiem, three one-hundred-kilo magnetic mines have attached to your hull. Shut down your engines and prepare to be boarded, or we will detonate them.”
Chambers returns to the microphone. “Message received and understood. We are complying.”
“You’re just letting them come aboard?” I say. “Pirates?”
“I’ve had dealings with these people before, though under less stressful conditions. They’ll board, rummage through our cargo hold, take what they want, and leave us alone.”
“How can you be sure they won’t kill us all after they find what they want?”
“At the moment, the authorities on Terra, Mars, and the Galilean colonies all view piracy as a nuisance. If these guys start blowing up registered transport ships, that will change, and they’ll be hunted down. We should be fine.”
“I can’t believe nobody is doing anything about them.”
“The ins
urance companies have contracted bounty hunters, but they are notoriously easy to buy off. On the whole, the pirates have a nice thing going. I considered joining up with some of them at one point in my career.”
“What changed your mind?”
“I didn’t want to spend my life floating around in the belt.” He glances at Singh, who’s been stewing in his chair. “I don’t have a problem dealing with the occasional crook; I just didn’t want to become one of them.”
“So you prefer to be one of the good guys, is that it?”
He grins. “Only when circumstances require it.”
“This all sounds fascinating,” says Singh, “but I want to hear how you plan to protect my cargo.”
“I thought you were planning to exchange it for a ransom—oops, I meant to say, ‘handling fee.’”
“Why would they pay for it if you simply allow them to come aboard and take it?”
“Hmmm; good point,” says Chambers. “Since I am only contracted by you to transport it, and not protect it, I am going to do nothing.”
Singh pushes himself out of the chair and comically floats about, flailing his limbs until he activates his mag boots and clamps down on the deck. When he recovers his composure, he fixes his gaze on Chambers. “How much do you want?”
He shrugs. “What’s the cargo?”
Singh’s face darkens. “I can’t tell you.”
“Then I have no idea what to charge, so I won’t amend the contract.”
Singh scowls. “Fine, have it your way. My men are armed and will do what is necessary.”
“If you open fire on them, you’ll put all of us at risk,” I say.
“It can’t be helped.”
“You realize your men will be outnumbered and outgunned?” says Chambers.
“Every one of them has sworn an oath of service to the Collective and will die protecting my property.”
I can contain myself no longer. “Holy shit, Singh. Are you such a big asshole?”
Chambers gently grasps my arm. “Everything is okay, Doctor. Parvinder is that big an asshole.” Turning his attention to his client, he says, “You win. I will do my utmost to protect your cargo for a forty percent surcharge, with one condition.”
A satisfied smirk grows on Singh’s face. “What is it?”
“Your men are to surrender their weapons and stand down. I will handle it from here.”
“How do you intend—?”
“My conditions are not negotiable. If you don’t like them, I’ll evacuate the atmosphere from the cargo bay right now and send your goons and your package out into space.” To emphasize his point, Chambers moves to a control panel and lets his hand hover over the interface.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“You’re welcome to try me, Singh.”
“The Collective will hunt you down.”
“Only if this gets back to them. I can’t imagine Roberts being too pleased that you jettisoned his property. He’ll probably take his frustration out on you.”
“Me? It will be your word against mine.”
“A risk I’m willing to take. How comfortable are you facing the merry band of cutthroats you tried to cheat?”
Singh stares at Chambers for several long seconds. Perspiration beads on his forehead. A few droplets detach and float around his head. Finally, he sighs and extracts a comm unit from his pocket.
“Sheridan, you and Miles are to stand down. Return to your quarters and remain there until further notice.” He returns his attention to the captain. “This show is all yours. If you screw this up, my people will make an example of you by—”
“Yeah, I get it.” Chambers addresses Cervantes. “Inform our captors that docking port B is available for them to come aboard.”
He turns to me. “Doctor, would you please accompany me to greet our guests?”
I consider his strange request for a moment before I realize that nowhere will be safe once the pirates board. “I...uh...suppose so.”
He leads me from the bridge, and when we are out of earshot, he says, “We have to stop by your office first. There is something I need you to do.”
Chapter 7
Our mag boots clank as we hurry to the infirmary.
“What’s going on, Chambers? Do you have a plan, or are you making this all up as you go along?”
“A little bit of both, Mel.”
He opens the doorway to the cramped medical suite and bids me to enter ahead of him. Once inside, with the door closed, he turns to me, an earnestness on his face that has been absent until now.
“I want you to cook up an anesthetic gas to pump through the ship.”
“What?”
“Listen to me; I bullshitted Singh about what the pirates will do. They will board us and probably space us. We have to do something to get out of here.”
“But you said they wouldn’t harm us.”
“That part would be true if we stayed on the main trading route. The fact that we came to one of their bases changes things. We are so far off our registered course that we’ll never be found, and they can’t risk being exposed.”
“You and Singh knew this when you brought us here?”
“He thought he had a deal that ensured our safe passage. We all know how that worked out,” he says. “Can you do it?”
“An anesthetic? I think so. This place is well stocked.”
“We need it soon, Mel.”
I turn to the medical computer and run a search for an effective agent. Chambers watches me closely, wringing his hands when he believes I can’t see him.
“Okay, I think I have something,” I say. “I need time to prep it.”
“They’ll be here in less than fifteen minutes.”
“Can you stall them?”
He laughs unconvincingly. “For a bit...maybe we could experience hydraulic problems with the docking port; but they won’t wait patiently for us to fix it before they blow a hole in the side of my ship.”
I am already pulling supplies from the cabinets. “Ten minutes; and I need Schmaltz to help me tie it in to the environmental system.”
Chambers opens the door. “I’ll send him. Anything else?”
“Yeah, how do you expect our crew not to be overcome by the gas?”
Concern clouds his face. He scans the room then clanks over to the cabinet and removes an oxygen canister with a mask attached. “With this.”
“How many more are in there?”
“Um, two.”
“That might be a problem, Chambers.”
He frowns as he considered the situation. “We’ll pump the anesthetic into the airlock. We just need to make sure they take off their helmets. The crew shouldn’t be affected.”
“You have an answer to everything, don’t you?”
“It’s a work in progress. Hurry up and then meet me at the docking port.”
“Me? Why?”
“These pirates don’t see many attractive women. You’ll be an effective distraction.”
“You’re a misogynistic asshole.”
“C’mon, Doc, we don’t have time for righteous indignation if we want to escape this alive.”
“Fine, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“I knew hiring you was the right decision. Don’t be long.”
My training as an emergency trauma physician clicks in, and I focus on preparing the anesthetic. There is no time to give in to the fear that lurks beneath my professional composure. Too many lives depend on my getting the formula right. Too little of one compound, and the worst anyone will experience will be itchy eyes. Too much of another and I might kill everyone.
As I finish pressurizing the mixture, there is a knock at the door announcing Schmaltz’s arrival.
“Are you ready?” he asks. “Chambers is uptight as all hell.”
I hand him the canister and retrieve the last two oxygen masks. “Were you told what we’re supposed to do?”
“Yup, as soon as we hook this up, I’ll seal off t
hat section as a precaution. Are you sure about joining that party?”
“It didn’t sound like a request. Did he enlighten you about his plan?”
“I know my part. I’m just not sure how he intends to move things to the point where I can do what he wants me to.”
I look at the O2 mask I hold and realize how suspicious it will look for me to show up at the docking port with it in hand. Retrieving the first-aid kit, I stuff it inside and depart with Schmaltz.
We go to the cargo section and stop at a bulkhead just outside. Kneeling, he removes an access panel from the wall and lets it float in the zero G. He sticks his torso into the opening and rummages around for a few seconds before emerging with a hose nozzle that we attach to the cylinder.
“Make sure you wear the mask when you open the valve, just in case there’s a leak,” I say.
“How long will it take for the anesthetic to work?”
“Hard to say. I’m guessing about thirty seconds, but it will depend on the volume we’re filling.”
“I’ve got it set up to pump into the airlock, but it will be useless until they remove their helmets.”
“We’ll just have to hope Chambers has a plan for that,” I say.
“You sound awfully confident in him.”
“Shouldn’t I be? Surely he’s gotten you out of tighter fixes?”
“Nope.”
“Well, shit!”
“Don’t get me wrong, Mel. We’ve had close scrapes before, but this is the first time we’ve been boarded by pirates while mines are attached to our hull. I have to admit, I’m scared. Okay, everything is ready.”
I inhale deeply and try to shake the tension from my shoulders. “Wish me luck, Schmaltzy.”
He replies with a weak attempt at a smile and opens the hatchway for me.
Chambers waits for me at the docking port airlock.
“Is everything set, Doc?”
I fill him in on the particulars.
“How are you going to persuade them to remove their helmets?” I ask as he put his O2 mask in the bag with mine.
“That’s your job.”
“What the fuck, Chambers? How the hell do you expect me to do that?”
“I hoped you’d come up with a valid sounding medical reason.”
“Holy shit, do you always fly by the seat of your pants?”
