I sigh. “Belay that last compliment. One; Drone Two is not under power, ergo the footprint is inert, and two”—I shoot Jordi a look of despair—“why would they fire plasma missiles inside their own ship?”
Jordi’s face falls. I continue. “Aktip, take us a little closer and boot up that drone to battery power. Let’s plug it into the Constellation’s network.” I whip around to Jordi. “Before you ask, Drone Two is running several of my blackest-hat hacker routines. I plan to out whoever programmed those attacks.”
Aktip switches the holoscreen to split view. The left panel now shows the derelict battlecruiser slowly coming closer into view. On the right, using the drone’s low-power infrared for vision, we are descending—or ascending, who knows—through the rear decks of the massive freighter’s engine bay. I notice the razor-clean cuts across supposedly-impenetrable structures; the neatly sealed conduits and pipes ... and the complete lack of human or alien remains.
This was no fight scene.
“You are experiencing a realization, Madam Captain,” Aktip states.
And then some, I think. Someone has undertaken the seemingly impossible task of removing the starship’s main power unit—which is bigger than twenty of my salvage cruisers put together—with some kind of oversized cutting beam.
The drone enters a small passageway—now cut open to space—and winds its way through a labyrinth of interconnecting bulkheads, descending several decks until it stops in front of a complex control panel attached to a bulkhead.
“How did it know where to go if there is no EM leakage?” Jordi whispers.
I reply at normal volume, and he jumps. “No need to whisper, there’s no one on deck to hear us.” I point to the right screen. “That’s a remote control panel. In theory, only the ship’s captain and authorized officers can operate it.”
Or hackers, I think. I tap a button on the helmpad next to me, and the left-hand screen changes to show a schematic.
Jordi sucks in a breath. “You had a blueprint?”
“Schematic, strictly speaking. Yes. For a couple of years now.” Not that I’ll tell him where I got it.“ I traded a cargo of laserwhips for it on a whim. I was never completely sure it was authentic, but remember when I said I asked Sloper to provide a specific description of the Constellation? He may have thought I only needed to know for visual confirmation.” I look at Jordi squarely. “But even his limited information was enough for me to confirm that this file is the real deal.”
I flip the view back to the ship. I sense Aktip fidgeting beside me.
“You lied to Sloper, Madam Captain.” Again, this is not a question. “How are you managing this?”
I give Aktip a wry smile. “Sloper isn’t a Rykkan, Aktip. Lying comes easily to humans.”
I turn my attention back to the drone, which is waiting for its next command. I’m running it on low-grade battery power so as not to attract any more automated attention, but this next step will need all my skills: I must fire up the drone’s fusion-power; connect to the remote system; hack the ship security controls on a galactic-grade battleship freighter; disable the bizarre auto-defense system; boot up the ship’s network using the drone’s salvage fDrive power unit, and—
There is no “and.” Before I can do anything else, I need information.
“Wish me luck,” I mutter under my breath.
Aktip’s loud reply startles me at first, then helps me relax. “Madam Captain, luck is an unnecessary emotional condition, and will lower your superior tactical intelligence by introducing illogical variables.” Shorthand for, “Indy, concentrate on the task at hand.”
I do just that and the helm room goes silent.
Using both hands, and with my throat-mike in place, I ready myself.
“Drone Two, acknowledge your Captain.” A text appears on the right-hand screen. CAPTAIN AT THE CONTROLS.
I tap the drone’s power button on the helmpad at the same time as ordering the drone to connect to the remote control panel. “Engage security override. Run helper-sequence A and report.” I hold my breath.
The remote control panel we see in the left split screen bursts into life. At the bottom of the screen I can barely make out the drone’s telescopic arm connected to the panel, now injecting my code into a secure battlecruiser’s command system.
Text appears on the right-hand screen. CONSTELLATION BASE SYSTEM READY TO BOOT.
Phase one completed. I hover my finger over the helmpad and look at Jordi, whom I notice has a sheen of sweat on his brow. He nods. I tap the bootup icon now appearing on my helmpad.
Our ship shudders, the drone’s remote image shifts violently; spins and flickers, then goes dark. A piercing klaxon erupts and we are all forced to clamp our hands over our ears.
I quickly let go one hand to slam my ship’s “all mute” button, and we plummet into silence. My ears ring. Aktip yells at me, her sensitive ears still in recovery. “MADAM CAPTAIN—THE SCREEN.”
I have been momentarily distracted by the noise and I look back up at the holo. The entire screen has been replaced by a single warning.
YOUR SHIP’S SYSTEM HAS BEEN COMMANDEERED. UNAUTHORIZED AND ILLEGAL ACCESS REJECTED. FULL AUTHORITY IS REQUIRED TO REVERSE YOUR SHIP’S DESTRUCT SEQUENCE. PLEASE ENTER DNA AND VOICE PRINT OF AUTHORIZED CONSTELLATION PERSONNEL IMMEDIATELY.
I punch commands for an emergency retreat into the helmpad, but it’s no use. I’m locked out of the flight controls. “Crap. Aktip, any ideas?” I look at the alien, whose head is rapidly swiveling from side to side.
“Sorry, Madam Captain. I have insufficient tactical capability.”
“Jordi?”
He stares at me, and throws his hands in the air.
The screen changes to a countdown message: ATMOSPHERE VENTING OCCURRING IN 120 SECONDS.
The cabin lights turn red and the large 120 flips to 119. Then 118 ... 117.
“I thought they were going to auto-destruct the ship?” Jordi says.
I shrug. “Death by asphyxiation or death by explosion. It’s all the same to me.”
“Can’t you hack in?” Jordi looks desperate.
“I already tried that with the drone.” But he was right. No sense sitting back and doing nothing for ... 109 seconds.
I swipe my holopad into life; gesture for the ship’s controls, and request admin-access. ADMIN ACCESS DENIED, flashes the holo. PLEASE ENTER DNA AND VOICEPRINT CREDENTIALS.
Images of Papa and a bloodied Mitch swim in my head. I feel the heat rise in my face. “I will not die like this!” I scream at the top of my voice. Aktip winces and swivels her head back and forth rapidly. In fury, I slap my hand on the helmpad.
A red outline of my hand appears on the helmpad where I slapped it, briefly pulsates, stops and switches to green. The cabin lights also turn green, the holoscreen changes to bright white and a text message appears.
<
What the—?
A soothing voice issues from the now un-muted comms system:
“DNA and voice print authorization confirmed. Full access granted. Captain India Jackson has the Constellation’s helm.”
“What the ...?” My mouth drops open.
“CAPTAIN India Jackson?” Jordi stares at me. “Captain of the Sector’s most revered battlecruiser? Indy, is there something you’re not telling us?”
I shake my head slowly. “I’ve never stepped foot on it.”
“She speaks true,” Aktip says.
I bark out a laugh. “Never truer.” I sit back in the helmchair, put my hands behind my head, and try to piece together the unsolvable.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
My mind is reeling. I hear Aktip and Jordi arguing, but their words do not register.
How can I be the captain of a long-lost secret battlecruiser? The most sought-after mystery and the sole reason for the defeat of the Blood Empire’s attack. I allow the zero-gee to float me back into my captain’s chair and try to sort out my thoughts.
> I hear my name. “Indy?” It is Jordi. I turn to him and stare blankly.
“Madam Captain?” Aktip peers at me. “You have distress.”
I shake my head. I have to be focused. “Not so much distress as disbelief.”
“How can you be the captain of this ship?” Aktip asks.
“I have no idea. But the more I think about it, the more ludicrous it seems. Impossible actually.” I shrug. My thoughts are finally starting to form. “We’ll need to be cautious. Who’s to say this is not just another trap. Maybe all the salvage crews had their ships hacked. Maybe they were all given supposed ‘authorized status’ and it’s just more bait to lure us. Give us a false sense of security.”
Jordi frowns. “Strange way to do it.”
I look at him. “The Constellation is supposed to be capable of extreme battle tactics. Maybe this is its auto-protection in play. Artificial intelligence?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t buy it. But there’s one way to test.”
I raise an eyebrow.
“Login and ask for a report of previous boarding or salvage attempts and current defense status. If you’re its authorized captain, it should be an open book.”
I take Jordi’s suggestion and slap my hand onto the helmpad. “Constellation, this is Captain Jackson.” The pad glows green.
<
“Report previous boarding attempts. Summary list on screen.”
The holoscreen changes to a black background, and green lines of text appear. The list of vessels—some names, some with “unknown” tagged against the list scrolls for several pages until I order it to stop.
“Report defense status.”
<
I lift my hand off the pad to logout and look at Jordi. “Could still be a trap.”
Jordi gives me a lopsided smile. “So do you plan to sit here all day and debate whether or not the Constellation’s syscom is lying? One way or another, we have what Sloper wants. He gets his ship, and it comes with a free captain. Doesn’t matter if it’s true or not, does it? Seems convincing enough to me.”
As Jordi speaks it dawns on me that Sloper can never be allowed to possess the Constellation. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken on the job, even with my brother’s capture. Then again, Sloper would have eventually found someone to do his dirty work. He probably has a long list of debts he can call in. Other people whose families can be beaten and tortured. I take a deep breath.
“You have sadness.” Aktip states.
I give her a resigned smile. “I’m stuck, Aktip. I can’t take the Constellation to Sloper, whether I’m the true captain or not. It’s not the wreck I thought it would be, even if Sloper’s coordinates worked. Whoever has the Constellation is in a very powerful position. Sloper is almost the last person in the galaxy who should be granted such power.”
“And you’re the best choice?” Jordi mocks me.
I scowl at him. “I’m here, and I’m not going to let this get into the hands of a power-hungry crook.”
Jordi holds out his hands. “So what’s the plan, then? Sloper won’t give up Mitch unless you return with the Constellation, and you’re intent on being the Constellation’s first rogue captain.”
Mitch.
I tap my fingers on the arm of the chair and try to calm my thoughts. What would Papa do?
I slap my hand on the pad again. “Constellation. Report power status.”
<
“Run standby power and boot up all systems with full health check. Report status on completion.”
<
The green pad switches to an orange and green rippling wave.
I look at Aktip and Jordi. “The Constellation isn’t going anywhere. Sloper will be expecting me to return with something, but what I actually need is an fDrive to run the ship somewhere. I actually have no physical way to fly the ship.” I tap a button on the commPanel. “Danielli, report to the helm.”
“Affirmative, Ma’am.”
Jordi raises his brow.
“We’re going to review our position and follow a plan.”
“A plan? Whose plan?” he says.
I smile. “Mine.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Danielli joins us and we gather around the helm’s small fixed table.
“Here’s where we’re at. We’ve found the Constellation”—I see Danielli’s eyebrows lift, but keep moving—“however it has no propulsion, only standby power available. The good news is that it’s not a wreck. Right now, if anyone finds out that the galaxy’s most powerful battlecruiser has been located and is possibly still functioning, we’ll have every pirate in the Sector jumping into hyperDrive hoping to secure the coordinates. However, we appear to have control of the cruiser’s syscom.” I turn to Danielli, hold his gaze while I place my hand on the still-rippling pad. I wait.
<
Danielli reacts with a brief flicker of surprise, smiles briefly and gives me a nod.
I continue. “So we have a quandary. If the Constellation can be made to run, it’s still potentially a powerful weapon in the wrong hands. Sloper is definitely the wrong person. But if the Circle of Seven discover its existence, we might accidentally trigger a fresh Sector War.”
“Why is this?” Aktip says.
It’s Danielli who answers. “Oberon was defeated by the Constellation in the last war. If he knew the ship was still in existence, he’d want to gain control of it.”
“To destroy it,” I add.
Danielli looks at me. “Or force its Captain to work for him.”
I hadn’t thought of that.
“Then what do we do with it?” Jordi says.
I give him a cool smile. “We won’t be doing anything with it. You will go back to Sloper to cut a deal.”
“What?” Jordi forgets he is in zero-gee and tries to stand up, but instead shoots up to the hull’s overhead bulkhead, where he grabs a rail. “You can’t be serious!”
I level up at him. “Was I mistaken in thinking that you owed me one? Time to pay up. You can use the escape hyperpod to return to Rykkamon’s orbit. Find Sloper—”
“How the hell will I know where he is?” Jordi is fuming.
I stare at him for a moment before continuing. “You had no problem finding him before, when I didn’t even know he was on the planet. It’s your problem anyway. I have a battlecruiser to command, or did you forget.”
“Yeah, with all your vast experience—ouch!”
Danielli grabs Jordi’s ankles and yanks him back to the table. “Captain Jackson is issuing an order. Failure to follow a Captain’s orders is both mutiny and treason under Sector legislation.
Jordi glares at him, then turns back to me. “Suppose I find him, without being picked up by the Rykkans. Then what do I tell him?”
“You tell him to wait for a hyper-relay message. Tell him Captain Jackson of the Constellation will meet him to agree an exchange in return for her brother.”
“But where are you going?” Jordi creases his brow.
I lean forward. “Now why on earth do you think I’d tell you that?”
Jordi looks around, agitated. “What do I offer him? To use your words, what deal am I supposed to cut?”
“The Constellation has an impressive reputation for experimental weaponry. Make something up.” I laugh. “You’ve always said you can talk your way in and out of anything. Time to live up to the talk. Go get suited up and into the pod.”
He gives me a filthy look and heads back to get ready. I look at Danielli and Aktip. “We need to investigate the Constellation. In person. Something isn’t right, and maybe we can find some clues as to why its drive is missing and why it was abandoned.”
Danielli lifts his chin. “If I may speak, Ma’am?”
I gesture for him to go ahead.
“You were pretty rou
gh on the kid. Seems like no reason for it, and we might need all the help we can get. Aren’t you risking unwanted attention from Sloper?”
Jordi’s voice issues from the commsPanel. “Escape Capsule One ready for escape launch.” His voice is sharp, even through the comms.
I chin my mike. “Copy that, Capsule One. Jordi?” I wait for his acknowledgment, which comes in the form of a grunt. “If any of your actions cause any harm to my brother, I will hunt you down. Prepare for launch in 3, 2 ...1, launch.” I hear the hiss as the capsule detaches. The limited hyperDrive will take Jordi a few hops to reach Rykkamon. Maybe up to a full Earth day.
Before I can resume our conversation, Aktip swivels her head to me. “You are suspicious of Jordi.”
I nod. “But I might be wrong.” I look at Danielli. “Does that answer your question? Either way, my plan will still work.”
“What is your plan, Ma’am?” Danielli waits.
I grin at him. “I don’t have one. But I’ve just bought us some time to work it out.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
I leave Aktip at the helm comms, along with a private message, and tell Danielli to take me to his team. I might have his loyalty, but when you’ve been on the wrong side of legal as long as I have, you get to know that winning over each member of your gang could mean the difference between life and death.
We float along the passageway to the mess. “I didn’t have time to ask. Was anyone injured in our defensive reverse from the missiles?”
Danielli pulls himself along the rails with the practiced ease of a zero-gee fighter. “One bruised nose, Ma’am. As requested, we were strapped and awaiting orders post-jump. With all due respect, Ma’am, they don’t need me to tell them basic spacedust.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Then what caused the incident with the nose?”
“An unsecured panel, Ma’am. The ship is not in prime condition.”
“I guess your team aren't invincible then.”
“Permission to speak freely, Ma’am.”
“Again? Permission granted. Indefinitely under my command, Danielli.”
Constellation (Blood Empire Book 1) Page 7
