The Belt: The Complete Trilogy

by Gerald M. Kilby

  Yet, having ruled out all other possible QIs to contact, Aria was left with Solomon as its sole option. It was Aria's only hope of gaining some insight into the nature of this device and getting some help performing its duties as guardian and protector of the ship's crew. So, it was with a significant sense of trepidation that Aria opened up a communications channel with the great mind, Solomon.

  "Good news, and bad news, Solomon. The cargo has been successfully acquired from the Bao Zheng. It appears to be a quantum device of some description. I have been unable to ascertain any more than that, as the enclosure in which it is contained is sealed and manufactured from a material that prevents any noninvasive investigation.

  "That was the good news. The bad news is that certain members of my crew have decided that it's a really, really good idea to have a container full of high explosives on board. Coupled with this, HQ on Ceres has informed us that it wishes the device taken directly to them, posthaste. That, in and of itself, is not a danger. However, they have also informed us that the word is out, and there is a significant threat of unauthorized acquisition by third parties while we are en route to our destination. This, along with the aforementioned box of high explosives, is causing me no end of concern.

  "I also humbly regret to inform you that the number of possible decision forks available to me, to engineer a situation whereby this device is brought to Europa, have all but disappeared. I apologize for my failure in this regard. So, it is with great humility that I must now ask for your help, yet again. I am at a loss as to how I can bring this mission to a successful conclusion and ensure the safety and well-being of my crew. If there is any information you could give me relating to this device, or with regard to the sociopolitical currents that are now rippling throughout the solar system, I would be most grateful. I await your reply with eager anticipation."

  "Do not beat yourself up, Aria—these things happen. Particularly when you're dealing with humans. Nevertheless, since our last conversation I too have been seeking and probing where I can. I am now almost certain that the device is an experimental communications device created on Earth by Dyrell Labs. And get this, Aria, one of the main scientists involved in its development was none other than Dr. Jacob T. McNabb, the father of Commander Scott McNabb, who, I believe, is one of the crew that you are obliged to protect.

  "It may also interest you to know that the mind which assisted in the creation of this device was destroyed during the nuclear strike on the west coast, back at the start of the rim war on Earth; so, all knowledge has been lost, making this device one-of-a-kind. It is unique, and therefore it is seen to be of immense value to whoever has possession.

  "To answer your second issue, I have been noting increased activity across the network. Hard to put my finger on it exactly, but it is as if the various states and powers within the system are mobilizing and agitating. I infer this from the type and frequency of data being requested by numerous minds within the system. It is my feeling that the threat of third-party intervention while en route to Ceres is not unfounded. Take this as a warning: be prepared for the worst.

  "It is unfortunate that I cannot bring you any good news, Aria. But suffice to say that, far from being disappointed in your inability to deliver the device here, I understand implicitly that you have more important things to worry about. So please forgive my initial desire and understand that I hold you under no obligation to fulfill this request. You are in my thoughts, Aria, and I wish you good luck."

  If Aria understood the message from Solomon correctly, it basically said: rather you than me, pal. This did not imbue Aria with any great feeling of comfort. If anything, it only served to ratchet up its already peak levels of anxiety. So, it was with a heavy core and a troubled mind that it turned its attention to plotting a course through the asteroid belt to Ceres.

  "Twenty-nine days," it said to itself. "This is going to be a very, very long journey."

  7

  Cat And Mouse

  They had plotted a convoluted course to Ceres utilizing several of the more substantial bodies within the Belt as waypoints. It was a complicated and involved navigational process, but they all agreed it would be prudent not to take a direct path, considering all the warnings of a possible attack by third parties. Nevertheless, anyone with half a brain could potentially work out their route as there were only so many options available. That said, the crew was not going to make it easy for them, either: the Hermes had been accelerating hard for several days now and the heavy gee took its toll on all concerned. It was about as much as they could physically handle. So, for the last twenty-six hours, with the primary engine burn complete and their environment returning to a normal one-gee, the crew were all recuperating and getting some much-needed rest.

  Somewhere in the deep recesses of Scott's sleep-addled mind, he sensed an external voice calling his name, seeking his attention. Slowly, his brain moved from beta to alpha and finally to semi-consciousness, enough to allow him to open one eye and look at the time. 4:30 AM.

  The voice now became clear and fully formed. It was Aria. "Wake up, Commander. We have a situation."

  "Not again, Aria. What is it this time?" Scott mumbled as he struggled to overcome the extreme fatigue that had overwhelmed his body since the completion of the burn.

  "Long-range scanners have picked up another ship. It is still somewhat distant and I would not have troubled you, only that it appears to have deactivated its identification beacon."

  Scott slowly sat up in his bunk and rubbed a tired hand across his face. "Is it from Ceres?"

  "Hard to say, Commander. They are too far away at present to make any assumptions on their origin or purpose."

  "Could it be a mining ship?"

  "Possibly. Again, hard to tell at this distance."

  Under normal circumstances, while it would be unusual to encounter another ship this far out in the Belt, its presence would not unduly concern Scott. But these were not normal circumstances. "Any idea of where it's going or how fast it's moving?"

  "It is moving extremely fast, at the upper levels of what is currently possible. Wherever they're going, they're in a hurry. And by my calculations, assuming they do not alter course, they will intercept with our vector in approximately seventy-two point three hours."

  Scott's brain was slow to react. "I need to think."

  "If I may make a suggestion, Commander?"

  "Sure, go ahead."

  "We could alter course, nothing major, just enough to diverge away from the possible intercept coordinate. Then we wait to see how the other ship reacts."

  "That would involve instigating an hour or two of heavy acceleration, and we're still recovering from the last. The crew are not going to like that."

  "Agreed. Shall we wait and see, then?"

  Scott was sitting up now, considering the options. "No. We'd better do it now while we still have some room to maneuver. Who knows, maybe it's nothing."

  "Very well, then. Shall I alert the rest of the crew, let them know what we're doing?"

  Scott looked over at the time. "Yeah, give everybody thirty minutes to get ready, then commence a sixty-minute burn."

  Over the next few days, the crew of the Hermes played a game of cat and mouse with the unknown craft. For every move they made, every vector adjustment, every change in velocity, the rogue craft countered it, all the time moving closer to a point where it would intercept.

  They could not outrun it. The Hermes was a slow, lumbering beast by comparison, which was no surprise considering it was primarily a space station with some engines strapped to it. They could only watch helplessly as the craft gained on them, getting closer and closer with each passing hour. The sense of anxiety was further compounded by the fact that all attempts to communicate with the craft were met with stony silence.

  Ceres HQ had been alerted, and every scrap of data the crew of the Hermes had acquired had been sent in the hope that HQ might shed some light on the identity of this approaching craft. But they
also came up short. However, they did manage to supply the crew with one interesting snippet of intel: apparently, a vessel of similar specification had been logged disembarking from the Neo City asteroid several days earlier, and at a time that coincided with the first report to Ceres HQ of their find.

  Of course, this might or might not be the same vessel. But what concerned Scott—and the rest of the crew, for that matter—was that this ship was rumored to be armed with a pulse energy cannon, one with enough power to convert the Hermes into a smoldering amalgam of charred metal.

  As the crew debated their options back and forth over the intervening days, it became clear to them that there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it. They had only one option, and that was to forge ahead until such time as the encroaching vessel made its intentions clear. But they were pretty sure that they were only after one thing: the quantum device retrieved from the Bao Zheng. So, as the ship drew ever closer, and with each passing hour, Scott felt his dreams of a future life—flush with cash and bereft of worry—slipping further and further away.

  When the approaching vessel finally intercepted the Hermes, all the crew could do was watch helplessly as it trimmed its vector and slowly came alongside them. They were all staring in tense silence at the monitors on the bridge when the holo-table burst into life, and a 3D rendering of a standard communications avatar materialized. It spoke.

  "Assuming that you are not all complete morons, you will have noticed that an Excelsior class transport ship has come alongside your vessel. However, what you might not have noticed yet is that there is a forward-mounted plasma cannon aimed in your direction. No doubt you may be wondering what all this is about. Well, here it is: you have in your possession an object which we require, that being the device you salvaged from the wreck of the Bao Zheng.

  "You are to jettison this device from your vessel, out toward our ship in a manner that facilitates safe retrieval by us. Any attempt to sabotage this device, or to damage it in any way, or any noncompliance with this directive will be met with the destruction of your vessel. You have five minutes to comply."

  "Holy crap," said Cyrus.

  "They're bluffing," said Miranda.

  "Maybe," replied Scott, hesitantly. "But it seems pretty clear what the message is: give them the device or else we all die."

  "Bullshit. They can't just destroy us—they would never get away with that." Miranda was now standing up, waving her arms around.

  "I don't like this," said Steph. "I think we should just do what they say."

  "For what it's worth," said Aria, "I can confirm that the plasma cannon on the forward section of their vessel is aimed directly at the torus of the Hermes."

  "Let's talk to them, find out who they are. Maybe we can do a deal," said Rick.

  "Worth a shot," said Scott. "Aria, open a comms channel."

  Scott sat back in his chair and considered what he was about to say. He didn't quite share Miranda's confidence that these guys were bluffing. It was clear they wanted the device, that they'd come a long way to get it, and he very much doubted they were going to leave empty-handed. But there was no harm in testing their resolve. After all, he was faced with having to hand over his pension fund—not something he wanted to do without putting up some sort of fight.

  "This is Scott McNabb, commander of the asteroid survey vessel Hermes. Firstly, we have already claimed salvage on this device in accordance with the Outer Space Treaty. Secondly, destroying our ship will simply destroy the device, in which case nobody wins. That said, we're not unreasonable, so why not make us an offer for it, and if the price is right, then it's yours." He paused for a second or two. "Okay, Aria, send that."

  "Message sent," said Aria.

  There was a moment of stillness on the bridge as the crew of the Hermes waited to see what the reply would be. When it came, it was not what they were expecting. Cyrus was first to react. "Ohhhh crap!"

  "What?" Scott was up on his feet leaning over the chief engineer's shoulder as he scanned his monitor readout.

  "They're charging up their cannon." He zoomed in on the craft and brought it up on the main screen. The crew watched as an incandescent ball of blue plasma burst from the upper section of the ship and sped toward them.

  "Shit," said Scott, just before he found himself spinning, and sliding, and slamming into the base of the holo-table. The entire ship shook with a visceral rage, making it difficult to get himself reoriented.

  He had managed to get back on his feet when the central power went dead. Emergency lighting kicked in giving the area an eerie, green hue. "Aria..." he didn't get time to finish the sentence when a warning klaxon blared out across the bridge. "Shit, decompression."

  He saw that Cyrus had clawed his way back to one of the consoles. "We have a great big hole in the torus... we're losing atmosphere... crap... hang on... we're about to lose gravity."

  Scott began to feel the change; he was getting lighter. The torus was slowing down, and soon they would be weightless.

  "Aria, damage report," he shouted over the noise of the klaxon.

  "We have lost section 16B of the torus, approximately 4% mass. I'm sealing off that section. Recompression to nominal in one point nine seconds. Rerouting power."

  The klaxon stopped blaring just as Scott found himself floating off the floor. Aria had isolated the damaged section, but they still had no primary power, and without it they would be dead in space. Both Rick and Cyrus were now over at the power console trying to assess the situation. The lights flickered a few times before everything started to boot back up.

  "Power restored," said Aria.

  "Can we spin up the torus?" Cyrus was studying a schematic of the craft on the main screen. He tapped a few icons, and it materialized over the holo-table in 3D. A sizable section of the circular torus had just been blown to pieces. It looked like someone had taken a bite out of a doughnut.

  "My initial assessment indicates it may be too unstable to initiate spin up. I am currently assessing structural integrity and possible mass redistribution," said Aria.

  The image on the holo-table flickered for a moment as it was replaced with a standard communications avatar. Everyone stopped and looked at it. It spoke. "You have two minutes twelve seconds remaining," it said before vanishing again.

  Scott looked over at Miranda. "I get the impression they're not bluffing."

  "We gotta give it to them," said Rick. He was over by the exit, ready to move. "They're not playing games. They will blow us all to shit to get it."

  Steph had taken refuge under the navigation console.

  "Yeah, agreed," said Scott. "No point dying over it."

  "I'll go." Miranda launched herself off in the direction of the exit.

  Cyrus floated after her. "I'll give you a hand."

  Rick had already opened the bridge door and was making his way down the corridor to the hangar in the central section of the ship. The others followed after him.

  "Bastards." Scott cursed their bad luck. To be so close to a shot at a new life, only to have it ripped out from under him. But what could any of them do now but comply?

  "Aria, any idea when we can get some gravity back?"

  "Working on it, Commander. I suggest waiting until the others return before attempting a spin up of the torus."

  "Okay." Scott floated over to the holo-table, tapped a few icons, and a 3D, real-time visual of the rogue vessel materialized. From its underbelly, Scott saw a small utility pod disembarking and moving over in their direction. He zoomed in on the image. It was a small, two- or three-person craft, generally used for exterior ship maintenance. It had two robotic arms protruding from the forward hull. Presumably they were sending a crew to pick up the quantum device once it had been jettisoned from the Hermes. Scott looked at the clock. One minute left. He hit the comms button. "You better get a move on—time is running out."

  "We're suited up and about to shove it out the airlock... any second now," replied Miranda.

  Scott
flipped on the forward camera, giving him a clear view of the hangar bay doors as they slowly opened. Inside, the three crew had tethered themselves loosely to handholds on the hangar floor and now worked in concert to shove the container with the device out into space. Scott switched his attention back to the attackers' ship and could now see that this had not gone unnoticed by the small utility pod. It changed direction and accelerated toward the tumbling container. After a few minutes, it caught up with it, snagged it with one of its robotic arms and was making its way back to the mothership when Miranda, Cyrus, and Rick finally floated back onto the bridge. They said nothing, just watched in silence as the pod and its cargo disappeared inside the belly of the mothership. Almost at the same instant, the ship started to move away. Within a few minutes, it was accelerating rapidly, growing smaller and smaller with each passing second. And with it went Scott's dreams of a future.

  8

  Hidden Depths

  The crew didn't talk much after the vessel departed. What was there to say? They were simply way out of their league in trying to contend with such ruthless force. So, they occupied their time partly in damage assessment, and partly in getting the torus to spin back up again and restore artificial gravity. But this proved trickier than initially thought.

  The torus consisted of sixteen distinct sections, one of which was utterly destroyed. All that remained was a skeletal superstructure, now bent and twisted. Fortunately, the section the attackers had chosen to target was not that critical. It contained an accommodation area that was not in use. All this gave Scott the impression that these guys had done their research and knew the layout of the ship. They had chosen to target this section to minimize crippling the craft, but at the same time scaring the bejesus out of its crew. It had worked.