The Belt: The Complete Trilogy

by Gerald M. Kilby

  "Apparently," Rick continued, "there was, or maybe still is, a riot going on in some sector downtown. The cells are full, so they had to use this place. I overheard the guards talking about it."

  "How many do you think are out there?"

  Rick scratched his chin. "Two, possibly three."

  Scott looked over at Miranda. He could see she was thinking the same thing: could they take them?

  "Big difference between two and three," she said. "But I'm willing to give it a try... if I know I've got some backup this time?" She gave Scott a look.

  "You can count on it."

  "Hold on. Just wait a minute." Steph was getting rattled by the direction the conversation was turning. "Suppose we do get out of this room, then what? How do we get back to the dock without being spotted? How do we get back to the ship? And even if we do, it's probably crawling with Neo City people."

  Scott didn't have an answer; he hadn't really thought that far ahead.

  "Perhaps this would help," said Rick, and he took off his shoe and fiddled with something on the heel. A small compartment opened out, and from it, Rick pulled out a small earpiece comms unit.

  "Rick, you're a goddamn master," said Scott.

  "With this, we can contact Aria and find out what's going on onboard the ship," said Rick. "The only problem is it won't work in here. We need to be outside this rock and onto the dock area before we can use it."

  "I still don't see how it helps us get off the asteroid," said Steph.

  "I don't know either," said Scott, "but we have to try. We need to put our destiny in our own hands, and not at the mercy of Neo City and Xiang Zu thugs. If we can get off this asteroid, then at least we have a chance to go home."

  The crew went quiet for a moment. "But we all have to be in this together. So, what's it going to be?" Scott continued.

  Miranda and Rick were in at the first mention of an escape attempt. Cyrus, who had been very quiet for most of the conversation, spoke first. "If it means I can get my eyes back, then count me in."

  The rest turned to Steph. "Oh, what the heck. I'm getting bored in here, anyway."

  It took them at least another half-hour to all agree on the initial stage of the escape plan, this being how to get out of the room they were incarcerated in. They kept it simple: create a ruckus and jump the guards. Steph and Cyrus took up positions out of the way against a side wall. Rick stood to one side of the door, and Miranda climbed up on to a tiny ledge directly above it. Scott took his position right in front of the door and looked at them all in turn "Ready?"

  When he got the thumbs up, he approached the door and started banging on it as hard and loud as he could. "Hey, can we get some water in here? We're all dying of thirst." He kept pounding and shouting, creating a hell of a racket until he heard footsteps approaching. He glanced up at Miranda. Her face was a study in concentration, her muscles taut with the strain of keeping herself in place.

  "Stand back from the door," came a shout from the other side. Scott moved back a little. The door opened a crack and a bottle of water rolled in along the floor.

  Shit, thought Scott. He looked up at Miranda again. She shook her head. Dammit, the door isn't open wide enough. I need to get the guard in here. He lunged forward and grabbed the edge of the door with both hands and wrenched it open. The guard stood there momentarily shocked by the suddenness of the action. He hesitated, then took out a handheld plasma weapon and stepped inside—just far enough for Miranda to land on top of him. She straddled his neck, and they both came crashing to the floor. The gun discharged, firing an incandescent bloom of plasma against the back wall of the room. It radiated out from the impact point in a circle of electrical mayhem. Scott landed a knee down on the guard's wrist with all his weight. He heard a crack, and the guard screamed as Scott wrenched the gun out of his broken hand.

  A second guard was now running at them, taking aim at Miranda's back when Scott twisted around and shot him. The guard's body shook and convulsed, and finally collapsed on the floor. Miranda shouted at Scott and motioned to the guard she was struggling with on the floor. "Ready?"

  "Yeah." He stood up and aimed down at the trapped guard. Miranda released her grip and rolled off, just as Scott pulled the trigger. But before he could even catch his breath, Miranda was out the door, taking the weapon from the other fallen guard. Scott chased after her.

  She was now scanning the workshop area for additional guards and motioned for him to take the other side. Between them, they moved forward, checking for any other threats. There were none. So far, so good, thought Scott. He looked over at Miranda. She was inside the exit door, keeping guard, on high alert. A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead. She was breathing heavily, but her face radiated a feral joy. He realized that she was in her element: she was relishing the fight; it was what she had been missing. And at that very moment, he caught a glimpse of the real Miranda Lee.

  Behind him, Rick and Steph were already helping Cyrus out of the room and over to the table where their gear had been stored. Thankfully it was still there.

  Miranda beckoned to him. He moved over to the exit door. "Keep lookout here while I get our stuff," she said.

  "Sure."

  She gave him a long look. "Thanks, by the way."

  Scott wasn't sure what she meant. "For what?"

  "Saving my ass in there."

  He smiled and nodded. "No problem."

  She slapped him on the side of his arm. "You did good in there—Commander." She said it like she meant it this time.

  Scott glanced around, inspecting the area they now found themselves in. Rick was right: it was some sort of disused workshop. Along the side walls, storage racks stood empty, save for the odd container or spool of wire. In the center was a long workshop table where Cyrus was refitting his visor with help from Steph. He looked relieved; hopefully he was regaining his sight. Miranda was gathering up the rest of their gear.

  Scott continued his scan of the area, looking for cameras this time. He found none. That didn't mean they weren't there, but it seemed that Rick was right, and this had been a temporary holding area not designed for permanent incarceration. So, if they played this right, they could get quite a distance before anyone noticed they were gone. He looked back at the others and saw Rick and Miranda dragging the stunned guard back into the room they had escaped from. This gave him an idea.

  A few moments later, Scott and Miranda were back at the exit door, both dressed in the dark guard uniforms. Scott realized, to his surprise, that the visors the guards wore gave an augmented view of the world. As he tilted his head this way and that, a map overlay moved with him, showing their location and a ghostly sketch of what lay beyond. Scott found he could adjust the resolution via a simple dial on the side of the visor. He spent a moment fiddling with this while waiting for Miranda to adjust the uniform she wore. It was much too big for her and she looked lost inside it. She was busy trying to make it fit somehow.

  The ruse they were planning was that Scott and Miranda, now disguised as two guards, were escorting an unruly crew up to the dock where they would be expedited from Neo City, never to return. They reckoned that since there had been some sort of riot downtown earlier on, this might fly as a story if they were stopped and queried. Since nobody objected to this plan, and seeing as how no one came up with a better one, they decided to run with it. Rick looked resigned and stoic while Cyrus and Steph looked borderline terrified.

  "Okay," said Scott, jerking a thumb at the door, and simultaneously fiddling with the visor, "through here should be a garage of some kind for storing ground vehicles. That should lead directly out onto a main thoroughfare. We can take it all the way to the end of the city and try and get up to the dock from there. Everyone ready?"

  Some nodded, some quietly gulped. Scott opened the door very slowly and peered out through the crack. He opened it wider as he grew in confidence and they began to move out tentatively.

  The space was dark, dimly lit by shafts of hazy light ent
ering from windows high up on the end wall. Inside, they could see several ground cars, similar to the ones they arrived in. "Hey, we should use one of these... transport pods," whispered Cyrus, as he examined one of the vehicles.

  The others moved over. "It's an official car—see the markings on it?" Cyrus climbed in and sat in the driver's seat, examining the controls. He flicked a switch, and the dash came to life. He studied it for a second or two. "Hey, Scott. Give me your badge." He pointed at the metal Neo City crest attached to the breast pocket of Scott's uniform. "I saw them use these for access. I think it's like a key."

  Scott realized it was magnetic, and it detached easily from its mount on the uniform. He handed it to Cyrus, who quickly passed it over a reader on the dash. The main screen flashed and displayed a multitude of options. "Bonus," said Cyrus, "it's autonomous, and if I'm not mistaken, looks like it can bring us all the way to the location of our lander on the dock." He looked over at the others with a big smile. "Right up to our front door."

  "Okay, let's do it. It's as good a plan as any," said Scott.

  They climbed on board and Scott sat up front. Rick, Cyrus, and Steph sat in the middle with Miranda riding shotgun in the back. This way they hoped to maintain the pretense that they were moving prisoners.

  Scott punched in the coordinates for the dock. "Okay, here goes." He tapped a flashing icon on the screen labeled "commence journey."

  The car moved off, quietly heading across the garage. A crack of light appeared in the end wall, widening as they approached. The car glided out into a bright and busy plaza, turning this way and that as it maneuvered onto a wide track. This looked to be a primary vehicle artery that traversed the asteroid city along its length. It was also busy with traffic. Cars and small trucks, all autonomous, whipped by with impressive speed. Around them on the central plaza, a scattering of people went about their business. No one paid them any attention. The car glided smoothly up onto a ramp, picking up speed as it did, and finally joined the main traffic.

  Scott began to feel they might just pull this off. There was a sense of anonymity granted them by the crowded city. People going about their business, oblivious to the lives being lived all around. Like any metropolis anywhere in the system, Neo City was no different in its indifference to the individual lives of its inhabitants.

  As the city flew past on either side, Scott could see buildings, plazas, parklands, pathways, and citizens gently curving up on either side, rising to meet again high up, one kilometer above. Ahead, the end cap of the city was fast approaching. A massive circular wall spread out across his field of view. It was a confusion of different levels, intersected by a multitude of gantries, tubes, and walkways. Here and there, dense vegetation hung down, where down meant toward the rim of this cylindrical metropolis.

  The car slowed as it headed for an opening in the wall. Traffic bunched together and began to sort itself into two single lanes as the cars ordered themselves for the lift tubes. They closed up, bumper to bumper, and slowed to a crawl. Their forward view was blocked by a heavily loaded flatbed in front of them. Scott looked around at the congested scene. Some cars were distinctly goods only, laden with cargo and no humans on board. Others carried people; presumably some transported crew returning to ships on the dock above. Scott studied their faces, wondering if any were the pirates that had attacked them out on the edge of the Belt.

  The car jolted and moved forward by one length. A moment earlier, they had entered a short tunnel and could now see the lift tubes on either side. But progress was slow, and being in such close proximity to other people began to ratchet up the general crew anxiety. Scott found his eyes darting this way and that with each raised voice, each burst of laughter, and every jolt of the car.

  There were only two cars ahead of them when a guard sauntered out from behind the lift tube wall. Shit, thought Scott. He took a furtive glance back at Miranda. He knew from the look on her face that she too had seen the guard. Scott returned his gaze ahead, not looking left or right. The car jolted forward one more slot.

  "Where are you taking that lot?"

  Scott stiffened when he heard the guard call over to him. He looked over cautiously. The guard was leaning against the side wall of the lift tube in a very relaxed manner, probably just bored, looking for some conversation rather than a real answer to his question.

  Scott pointed up. "Dock." He kept his answer short and looked straight ahead. Come on, come on, he thought as the car directly in front entered the lift.

  "Good luck, it's a goddamn mess up there." The guard shifted his weight off the wall and started moving over to them. "How come they got you taking them up there?" He was beside the car now, giving them a good look up and down.

  "Shit if I know," said Scott with a dismissive shrug. "Just doing what I'm told."

  The guard nodded, "Ain't that the truth, buddy. But the whole dock is on lockdown. Nobody gets off until they lift it. Everyone's going crazy up there." He shrugged. "Just telling ya."

  Scott could see the lift arrive, ready to take their car. He looked over at the guard and waved a hand as the car finally moved into the lift. "Thanks for the heads-up," he shouted back.

  "What the hell was that about? Why's the dock on lockdown?" Cyrus whispered as the lift started moving.

  "We've been rumbled, that's why," said Steph.

  "No, I don't think so," said Scott. "If we were, then that guard would be on the lookout for us. As it was, he was simply having a friendly chat. Buddy-to-buddy. No big deal."

  "I don't like it," said Steph.

  "It means we can't get off. We're stuck here," said Cyrus.

  "Will everybody just get a grip? We'll be entering the dock soon. That means we'll be outside the asteroid, and can contact Aria to see what's happening on the ship." Scott could already feel the artificial gravity created by the spin of the interior rim now fading away as they moved closer to the central axis. The car slowed dramatically and then shifted direction, heading out along the underside of the dock. They were weightless now, held in place only by the seat harness.

  The dock seemed way more crowded than before, and the pace of the entire area had slowed down. Miranda shouted out to him from the back of the pod. "Scott, check the dash screen, see if there is any information on what's happening."

  He tapped a few icons that looked like they might lead to an alert feed. Sure enough, he found it. "It says here that undocking has been temporarily disabled pending a routine safety check."

  "What does that mean?" said Miranda.

  "It means we can't leave, no one can, not even the big ships," said Cyrus.

  "But Aria isn't docked," said Steph.

  "Yeah, but we still need to get to it, and we don't know who's on it, either."

  "Shit," said Cyrus.

  The car finally stopped at the airlock entrance to their lander. Around the area, several knots of people were floating about, waiting for the lockdown to be lifted. Two of them seemed to take a particular interest in Scott as he disembarked from the ground car. They broke away from their group and approached.

  "Say, when can we leave? When's all this safety check bullshit going to be over?"

  "I don't know," Scott shrugged.

  "We gotta be in Vesta in less than six days."

  "Sorry, nothing I can do."

  "Sorry? Well that's not good enough." They started getting aggressive.

  Scott pulled his gun out and pointed it at them. "Listen, I got my own problems to deal with. So why don't you do yourselves a favor and take a hike?"

  One of the two started to make a move, but his friend held him back. "It's not worth it, Jake. Just leave it." This seemed to settle him and, after a momentary staring match, the two moved off, muttering obscenities as they went.

  "Jeez," said Cyrus, "those guard disguises are more of a hindrance than a help out here."

  Scott made a head gesture at the airlock door. "Come on, let's get out of sight."

  They moved in through the first d
oor to the short tunnel leading back up to their lander. Finally, when they were all out of sight, they started to relax a little. Miranda took off her guard helmet. "I'm going to try to contact Aria." She took the comms unit out of a pocket and inserted it in her ear. Scott turned to enter the door code for the final airlock that would give them access to their lander.

  "Wait, don't do that." Cyrus grabbed Scott's hand.

  "That's the code they gave us when we landed. If you punch it in they'll know we're here."

  "Shit," said Scott as his hand lowered. "Can you bypass it?"

  Cyrus smiled. "Of course. It'll take a few minutes. But we still need to find a way to release the dock anchors. That's a lot trickier since the whole place is in lockdown."

  "I've got Aria." Miranda raised a hand to cover her earpiece. She held up her other to quieten them all down and stared into space as she concentrated on the communication. "Three people on board," she started to relay the information, "two guards... searching the ship. One tech... on the bridge trying to hack into the ship's systems... been at it for hours... Aria fighting her off."

  "Can Aria get rid of them? Create an emergency evacuation scenario or something?" said Rick.

  "Wait a minute." Scott raised a hand and turned to his chief engineer. "What about the EPR Device? Is it still there?"

  The engineer brought a hand up to the side of his visor, fiddled with it, and looked back at Scott. "Still there. Hasn't moved."

  "You're not thinking of trying to get it back?" said Steph.

  "I'm thinking of a way off this asteroid." He turned back to Cyrus. "That ship that the EPR Device is on, it has a shuttle, doesn't it?"

  "Yeah, and a couple of maintenance pods. Why?"

  "You think you could hack your way into that ship?"

  "I spent three years on Excelsior transports," said Cyrus. "There's nothing I don't know about them."

  "What about the crew? We don't have the weapons. They would just kill us all—it would be crazy," said Steph.