Spinward Fringe Broadcasts 1 and 2

by Randolph Lalonde

  “To be frank, General Rice and her daughter, Major Rice, had a lot to do with it. Once Fleet Command saw his capture and recover records they got on board.”

  “He's been doing some hunting?”

  “Yes, over a hundred confirmed live bounties and thirty one armed vessel repossessions. We're sure that there are others off the record and we're trying to acquire specifics on a privateering stint he engaged in but his most recent act has put him in the galactic news. He rescued over thirty thousand slaves from a bulk transport using a lightly armed hauler called the Samson. The public record says he took on an armed Galleon frigate without firing a shot.

  We've sent you the entire file, the Hart News Agency was able to provide us with recovered security footage of some of his previous captures as well as the interview he was giving when Regent Galactic started bombing the port of St. Kitts. We can't afford to send more than one ship on this. War is about to break out in the Blue Belt and we'll have to focus our attentions there.”

  “I understand. I'm grateful for the assignment, but I have to ask; why am I being posted on this?”

  “You're right to ask, normally I'd be against it considering your personal attachment. The senior staff requested you since you have an insight into Valent's thought process. I took the opportunity to put you up for a promotion while I was speaking with Command and I'm happy to report that congratulations are in order. You won't be alone, however. Fleet Intelligence will be providing an officer to oversee operations since the Sunspire will have a full crew and is reclassified as a high priority asset.”

  “Thank you sir, I'm looking forward to the new assignment,” he replied, inwardly cringing at the idea of having an Intelligence officer follow his every step.

  “Good, it's not every day I have the opportunity of posting one of my best men on the most advanced ship in the fleet. Good luck Major McPatrick. Rear Admiral Trenton out.”

  The hologram disappeared and Terry sat down behind his desk. “Helm, set course to Freeground and get underway at maximum speed. Stealth is not an issue,” he ordered. The communications system in his quarters passed his instructions on.

  “Aye sir,” replied the helmsman.

  He just thought about his old Captain for a long moment. His humour, his forward thinking and how he constantly put the crew's welfare before his own. It was that attitude that prompted him to surrender himself to the enemy almost eight years ago so the First Light and her remaining crew could escape. A sacrifice Captain McPatrick wasn't sure he could make if he were in the same position.

  He turned his desk console on and brought up the records on Jake Valance. Hours later he was still in that chair, watching his old friend chase down bounty after bounty in security footage. There was no denying that the person in those images was Jonas Valent, but he had become a man Oz did not know.

  Alice

  His hair. That's his most ridiculous feature. She thought to herself as she looked across the table to the mergillian while he inspected the violet diamonds she had brought him. As he watched the scanner's results come up she couldn't stop staring. He was short. A little over four feet, with a broad face and a thin, wide mouth. Most of his people took pride in their racial features. They ate a special diet so the circles and spots on the back of their heads, arms and backs showed up more. Robert Swanson, not his birth name, did the opposite.

  He was obsessed with all things human. He had hair implanted across the top of his broad, smooth head. The amount of secretions his body created had been reduced and he even had his back and arms pigment shifted so his spots were hidden. His nostril holes flared slightly as he inspected the last diamond. “I can give you twelve thousand for the lot.”

  “They're worth ten times that much.”

  “Perhaps twice the price I'm offering. Besides, there isn't much call for this kind of thing here. I will have to sell them as a distributor to another trader. Twelve thousand.”

  “Fifteen and I'll throw in my eternal gratitude.” She said, winking her cybernetic eye. She knew it unnerved him. The fine green shifting mechanics inside the eye worked to refocus whenever she blinked. Her real eye was a deep, natural green that matched in pigment only.

  “Thirteen. My partners will not be happy.”

  “Fine, but you're losing a customer at that price.”

  Robert transferred credits to a small chip and slid it across the table. She slipped it into a hidden slot in her wrist computer. It was a dull grey metal band a centimetre thick and five centimetres wide. “It's a transitional port, Fran. Everyone stops here, no one stays. There are always more customers.”

  Alice took her imitation black leather jacket from the back of her chair and put it on. She didn't say another word as she walked out of the small café.

  The old port was busy. It was a station made from derelicts. She had seen quite a few of them in that edge of space. The frontier worlds worked on a budget. Many of them bought decommissioned space station segments and starships then hauled them out to the edge of space where terraforming was still being performed everywhere you looked and there were unclaimed resources waiting to be staked.

  Starbase EUT4528 was a collection of components just welded together. She sealed up the neckline of her vacsuit, leaving only a small six inch exposed portion beneath her neck so she could feel the air. “I can't wait to leave that name behind. Fran. It just doesn't fit,” she said through her mental communicator's interlink. It was a small chip embedded in her outer skull that allowed her to send thoughts along communication lines as words.

  “I'll never cease to be amused at how humans and those who prefer them are mesmerized by even the glimpse of cleavage,” the voice of her Artificial Intelligence mused aloud in her ear.

  “I thought you'd understand a bit better after I crammed everything by Desmond Morris into your memory.”

  “That was very informative and the logical reasons behind various aspects of the human condition were well explained but I'm afraid I just don't understand as well as you do.”

  “Oh, I don't completely understand it either, Lewis, but that doesn't mean I won't take advantage of it.”

  “Bernice would not approve.”

  “She's the one who showed me the relation between low necklines and better bargaining results. Anyway, is there any sign of trouble on the security network?”

  “You told me not to hack in, remember?”

  “Well, hack in, you're supposed to be a predictive program.”

  “One moment please,” Lewis replied with a sigh.

  She stopped at one of the promenade balconies to look over the sad attempt at a garden in the center of the courtyard below. She sympathized with whoever was trying to keep the sickly looking palm trees and strawberry patches alive. She had tried to make smaller plants take root on her ship with little success.

  “Excuse me, miss?” Asked a voice behind her.

  Alice turned around with her hand on the Spectral Dynamics Violator Handgun, the same kind Jake Valance carried. “Yes?” She said, smiling at the woman. She was five foot six and compared to Alice's five foot eleven she was much shorter. The lady was well dressed and well kept, someone who was used to travelling in comfort. The thermal reading from her eyepiece told Alice the other woman was nervous.

  “I was wondering, where did you find that vacsuit? Do you have an extra I could buy from you perhaps?” She looked Alice up and down. The vacsuit she was referring to was the same Freegrounders commonly used. Form fitted with many very thin practical layers that hid air recyclers, heat protection, climate controls, anti-impact protection and many other features. Alice wore a navy blue version of the suit she had made herself with her wrist unit.

  “This is my only one, sorry. You can buy them from Vindyne Industries. They stole the technology and marketed them. If you want the genuine article you'll have to go to Freeground. They're actually just a materialized medium with intelligent armour and circuit base layers. You install the features you need as you mat
erialize them.”

  “Oh, I just like the way they look. Too bad Vindyne just went bankrupt. I'll have to look up Freeground in our ship's nav computer.”

  “It's about three months from here by wormhole, but it's worth the trip if you have the time.”

  The woman boggled and giggled nervously. “Maybe I'll be out that way someday, thank you,” the woman nodded nervously and walked on.

  Alice couldn't believe what she just heard, and had to double check. “Sorry, did you say Vindyne went bankrupt?” She called after the woman.

  “It's all over Hart News.”

  “That would explain why I didn't hear, my subscription ran out.”

  “You might want to renew. There's a whole exposé available.”

  “Thank you, I think I will.” Alice said as she started walking towards the express car tube. She pressed the call button and the car was there a moment later, crammed full of people. She squeezed in anyway. “Bay 291,” she said to the automated system.

  “There are people taking a very close look at the Clever Dream,” her artificial intelligence informed her.

  “Admirers or hunters?”

  “One of them tried poking at my entry control panel. I didn't let them slide the access door open to look at it.”

  “Okay, start warming up, spend ten thousand on Xetima.”

  “That'll still only fill our fuel reserve to fifty one percent.”

  “I don't want to overspend here, the prices are way too high.”

  “Do you want me to do anything about these two men? There is a remote cracking program running as well. I'm trying to ignore it, but it's quite persistent.”

  “Do you think you could back hack it? Maybe find out who's trying and where it's coming from?”

  “Too risky. I would have to form a firm connection with the assailant and he's very good.”

  “Okay, close up your network, even the commline with me. Just lower the forward crew ramp when I make a run for it.”

  The express car made several stops along the way and Alice tried not to get irritated as she was jostled and moved one way and another by people getting on and off at odd places. At long last, it finally arrived in her section. She had to press between two burly men to get out just in time.

  She ran down to the hall to the common bay her small ship was docked in and slowed down as she came to the entrance. It was just as Lewis had described, two men looking very carefully at the ship for any extra hatches or openings. It was a Arcyn Starskipper, jet black with an extended engine section. Its mirror shine black hull showed no hint of windows. The sleek, forty two meter long body had a fast, predatory look, built mostly horizontally, favouring the deck space required to support its four rear engines. The front of the ship came out just a few meters from the center, protecting a sealed missile compartment.

  She had seen the ship before her second life began. After completing a job for a wealthy Duke years later she requested the Clever Dream as her payment. To her surprise, he obliged.

  The pair of inspecting, prodding men were joined by a third, who was holding a multiscanner. “I've got to see what they're after before I walk in,” she said to herself as she ran into the massive landing bay and hid behind a stack of crates. With the mechanics working on various ships she didn't have to worry about being quiet. The bay was large enough to house over twenty ships the same size or slightly larger than hers and it was busy.

  She ran behind a massive tool chest and patted it on the back. It made a mechanical 'gronk' sound and the safety camera on its back swivelled to look at her. “Hey, can you just walk over to that ramp for me big guy?”

  “Yes,” The robotic tool chest answered with a voice box that sounded so cracked up it was difficult to understand. It lifted slightly and trundled along on a pair of treads for ten meters. She used it for cover, following behind hit as it slowly moved along.

  When she got to the staircase, she patted it on the back again. “Thanks, now you should get back there so you're ready to hand your master tools.”

  It started back and she ran up the stairs, keeping her head behind the metal plates under the banister. At the three story mark she peeked back up. She could see two of the three men; the one with the scanner and another who was standing watch. “Now there we go,” her mechanical eye zoomed in on the scanner readout several hundred meters away and refocused. He was trying to find a seam in the hull near a data cable so he could cut in and try to bypass the ship security. “Ship thieves? I have two super corporations after me and the big problem I'm facing today is ship thieves?” She connected to Lewis's communication line. “Did that cracking program give up?”

  “It did, as soon as I closed all my communications lines.”

  “That makes sense, they're looking for a data line they can tap. I don't think these guys are hunters, they just want the ship.”

  “Not encouraging news.”

  “No, but if you get us clear to take off by the time I get there I'm pretty sure I can just blow through them and up the ramp.”

  “Don't do anything I'll regret.”

  “No promises. Tell me when you have clearance.”

  “Yes Alice.”

  She went over the railing and landed on the hull of a much older vessel below. “Help! They're trying to steal my ship!” she called out.

  Several mechanics heard her and a security guard armed with a stun pistol came running out of a storage room so far away she could barely make him out with her biological eye. She ran down the sloped hull of the ship and dropped off the low side, hitting the ground running and drawing her sidearm. “Get the hell away from my ship!” She shouted so loudly she was a little winded.

  To her surprise one of them drew his handgun and fired. It narrowly missed her and she ducked behind another ship's heavy landing strut. “Lewis, I don't think they're just ship thieves. They might have wanted inside so they could surprise me when I returned.”

  Someone was firing a smaller weapon from another direction, most likely the security guard.

  “You are aware that if station security's sensors record you firing your sidearm they will not allow us to leave until local law enforcement clears us.”

  “Are their sensors that good?”

  “I can't be sure, but I'd advise against leaving it to chance.”

  “Well then, plan B,” she said, climbing up the landing gear into the undercarriage of the much older ship.

  As expected, the firing soon stopped. Anyone who had stepped forward to help before was probably under cover and that guard most likely didn't win the exchange. She dug around a little in the undercarriage compartment and found a number of hoses. She picked the thick brown one and pulled a knife out from an inside jacket pocket.

  “Where are they?” She asked Lewis silently, using her mental link.

  “They're approaching your location.”

  “Oh goody, I have a surprise,” she sealed the head piece to her vacsuit and quietly pulled one of the hoses in the undercarriage compartment.

  “Please don't cause damage we can't afford to pay for,” Lewis complained.

  The pair of men looked behind the large landing strut. They were just starting to look up when she cut the liquid waste recycling line and let it spray in both their faces. Her intention was to drop out, knock one down and then trip the other. Instead her foot slipped and she ended up falling on one of the large men.

  From her awkward position, on her back with one man under her, the other in front, she had no choice but to draw her sidearm and point it at the one left standing. “Drop it!” She ordered, rolling to her feet.

  Her opponent complied and Alice kicked the weapon hard before picking up the other one.

  “Behind you,” Lewis warned.

  She spun on her heel and pointed her sidearm at the third assailant who was running to aid his friends. “I wouldn't,” She called out loudly.

  He raised his weapon anyway and made to fire, Alice got back behind the landing strut just
in time. “God this is frustrating!” She yelled at no one in particular.

  One of the disarmed attackers made to tackle her and she sidestepped him, kicking his knee cap square on with her heel. Several shots rang out and she got fully behind cover again. “Can't I just shoot him?”

  “Whining won't help,” Lewis replied. “Should I open the door?”

  “Please,” she ducked low and gripped the sidearm she had picked up by the barrel. In one swift action she peeked around the the strut and threw the gun as hard as she could. It made its mark, smashing him in the nose.

  The narrow forward crew ramp was just starting to lower as she made a mad dash for it. Lewis knew her all too well, he didn't open it all the way. He left enough space for her to run up so he could close it right behind her.

  Instead of running to the cockpit she removed her jacket and vacsuit entirely, making sure not to get any of the raw sewage on her before she ran to the cockpit. “Oh my God that stinks. No wonder the one I hit full in the face with that stuff was down for the count.”

  She dropped herself in the pilot's seat and double checked the ship's status. Their fuel reserves were up to fifty one percent, everything was powered up and charged and her small communications screen displayed a notice from Port Control that they were clear for takeoff. “Nice work Lewis.”

  “If I had arms I'd clean and fold your vacsuit. I'm just that good.”

  “Be careful or you'll come online one day and discover you've been transferred to a male android.”

  “Oh my.”

  “Now let's get out of here,” she brought the antigravity manoeuvring systems online and the ship rose off its landing gear. The inner Port lock doors opened and she guided the ship through. A moment later the rear doors closed and the outer lock doors opened, revealing open space.

  She had the ship for over two years. Since before Bernice had gotten married and settled down but she still hadn't grown so accustomed to the enjoyable experience it was to pilot it. The transparesteel main view was completely blacked on the outside so the exact location of the cockpit wasn't easy to determine. What was more impressive was the overlay that displayed everything a pilot might need to know. There were three interactive holograms, reconfigurable control panels and manual flight controls as well. It was a long range fighter, designed for a crew of six. The standard model had room for twelve, but the collector who had owned it before had everything the factory offered installed, including a small wormhole generator and basic cloaking device. Lewis didn't come with the ship, he was an AI of her own design.