“Zen zey should be flashing me some Morse Code, an SOS at least.” He stood stiffer with his back indignantly ramrod straight. “It is just not done zis way.”
They watched as the harpoon deployed from the belly of The Belle and scored a hit on the bulls-eye receiver on the one open landing dock. The ship slowly descended and settled gracefully.
Winter relaxed slightly and grudgingly said, “At least one of the more gentle landings. I wonder where zat schweindhund, Caleb Day is. At least we don’t have a spare dock for him.”
Jook thought about the fact that Jennifer flew with Caleb. He hoped they were both OK. “Let’s go find out.”
When the airlock opened from The Belle’s side, Caleb stood in the doorway first.
Winter’s face fell. “I see.”
Caleb said, “Sig, is that anyway to greet the team who got you all the power production you will ever need?” He noted Jook and nodded hello, “Stoner.” Jook was wearing a pair of nerve disruptors on his hips sheathed in a cowboy movie style holster. Caleb continued, “Or should I say, howdy partner.”
Jook looked past Caleb. “Is that my Jenny I see back there?”
Jook was the only person Jennifer would allow to call her Jenny. She waved enthusiastically. “Hey there, handsome.”
Caleb tried but failed to keep his lip from curling.
Spruck said, “Hate to cut to the chase, but we have big issues to deal with.”
“Of course you do.” Winter waved for them all to come aboard. “Come-come, we can discuss in ze cafeteria. I hate it out here on zis landing zone.”
After a quick ride in a shuttle tube, they stepped out on the factory floor. The refugees from Albiorix were hard at work overseeing the robotic manufacture of high-end glass and optics.
Caleb said, “Wow, Sig. You’ve got a bonafide operation going here now.”
Alice, a floor manager overseeing things, said, “Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in. How’s the booze business?”
Winter said, “No time for ze small talk.” He shooed his unwanted guests into the cafeteria.
Fifteen minutes later, Jook responded to the news, saying, “So they’re going to kill Bez and steal his gold, and they’ve got a what again?”
Jennifer held out her hand toward Hee Sook. “You haven’t met one, but Hee Sook is a Hanson sentient.”
Jook and Winter looked at Hee Sook with new, somewhat distrustful eyes. Jook said, “Uh, hello.”
Hee Sook smiled politely. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” To Winter she said, “We appreciate your hospitality. You have a very impressive operation here.”
Siggy smiled with the compliment and was about to say something about his factory when Jennifer interrupted.
“Dima claims he has another one of those bots. Like the one that nearly wiped out Hanson. Says Earth sent more than one.”
“Jeez,” said Jook in his sleepy way. “What if they sent more than two?”
Caleb blew out a breath. “Let’s hope the hell not.”
Spruck said, “That’s besides the point. We need to let Bez know that this shit is going down. You can see Kiviuq from here. If we can see it, then even with how badly we messed them up, those pirates, they can’t be far off.”
“When’s Big Bez’s birthday, anyway?” asked Jook.
Saanvi said, “I believe it’s tomorrow, but honestly, I’m not sure what day it is.”
Winter said, “Tomorrow es September twenty-two.” His eyes grew a bit distant. “Ze start of Oktoberfest. Vee haf a small celebration planned.”
Jook said, “Well let’s get on the horn, man. Come on, Jenny.”
Caleb said, “I’ll go with you.” To Spruck he said, “You and Hee Sook find the crab, but don’t even think about trying to remove it without some armor on.” He asked Winter, “You’ve got some anti-energy weapon armor, right?”
“Vhy vould I have such a thing?”
Spruck said, “I’ll rig something with mirrors and a remote disruptor. No problem.”
Minutes later, Caleb and Jennifer, Jook and Winter stood in the communication room. Monty Teach’s head floated in the holovid. He said, “Sorry, guys. I’ve got nothing on the calendar with Mr. Hanson going anywhere. I’m told he keeps to himself on his birthdays.”
Jennifer said, “Listen, Monty, I don’t think you’re understanding us. After we called you last, we got attacked and kidnapped by this bunch. We barely escaped. When we were there, we got to listen to Dima himself telling them all about this plan.”
There was a short delay as they waited for the time it took the radio signal to get to Monty and for him to respond. The image of his head stopped still in the interim. Finally, he said, “Kiviuq is just the seed vault. It’s off limits to all. I don’t know what to tell you.”
Caleb looked at the blurry background behind Monty. “Where are you? It doesn’t look like the same place you spoke to us last time.”
Monty’s head froze again as he waited to hear their response. When he did, he turned and briefly glanced at his surroundings. “We’ve got, uh, several communication hubs, Caleb. Anyway, I don’t know how to help you. I’ll double check with Mr. Hanson’s secretary, but like I said, nothing’s showing on his schedule, and obviously he would need an escort if he was leaving the city.” He offered an insincere smile. “Call you back if I find something different.” His face disappeared from the holovid.
Jook said, “OK, two things. One, that dude is lying his ass off. Two, the delay is obviously all wrong. When we first called it took fifty-six seconds to get our first answer. Which makes sense given where Titan is right now. When your buddy there finally got on the line, the delay got cut down to like, seven-seconds. No way he’s on Titan.”
Jennifer said, “That son of a battle ax. He’s in on it. That’s why he left us hanging before.”
Caleb punched his fist into his palm. “I’m gonna kill him.”
Winter said, “Vhy don’t vee call back? Get someone different?”
Jook said, “He’s obviously got all the calls routed out to him. He’s out here. My guess, already on Kiviuq.”
Caleb said, “Shi—” He glanced at Jennifer.” —molie. We’re all alone on this. It’s already a done deal.”
“Done deal? We’ve got to do something,” said Jennifer.
Caleb threw up his hands and walked in a slow circle. “With what?”
“We still have The Belle.”
Jook said, “Not just The Belle. My boyfriend’s got a mean little hotrod full of deterrence.”
Jennifer raised a happy eyebrow for her friend. Caleb let his mouth hang open as he processed this news.
Jook continued, “You probably saw Lee’s shiny new rod as you landed. It’s loaded. In fact, if I hadn’t recognized you, he would have lit you up with multiple ways to blow you to bits. Been a nice little warning to assorted passing rabble.”
Winter nodded with pleasure. “Not zat vee get a lot of visitors all ze vay out here.”
Caleb finally said, “Boyfriend, huh.” He clapped Jook on the shoulder. “Happy for you, buddy.”
Jook said, “Uh, thanks. We met at the security convention on Soul.”
Jennifer made a gagging face at Caleb. Then to Jook, “That is so wonderful. I want to hear all about it later. As to Lee’s ship; even a really well armed one is nothing for these guy’s. We have to fix The Belle and fast.”
Outside, Hee Sook stood tethered to The Belle’s belly, her head almost touching the surface of the small revolving moon. A human would have felt hopelessly dizzy in similar circumstances. She was in touch with Spruck and Natalie inside. “Yes, I found it. It appears the same as the one that was on The Diamond Girl.”
For all its internal nastiness, the device was a mere lump on the skin of the ship, a blemish surrounded by a line of self-sealing goo where it had seated itself. Oddly, or perhaps necessarily for its design, the device seemed to have no external defensive measures. Knowing how vicious the device was on the inside, H
ee Sook wouldn’t even consider trying to remove it from the outside. She placed a small transponder on the skin of the ship next to the device. “You should be able to locate it now.”
Inside, Spruck waved a scanner back and forth over the floor until it lit up and beeped. “Yup. Got it.”
Natalie handed him a driver gun with an attachment for removing the specialized fasteners that held the floor sheeting to the ship. After he removed the screws, he lifted the section slightly, taking care not to expose himself even to a crack. He then attached two suction cups used for moving glass to the panel. The cups had thin cables attached to them. He and Natalie scooted toward the back of the ship and played out the cable so they could yank it from a distance. When they were set, he nodded to her saying, “On three.”
With the panel pulled back, they noted a brief glow emanate from the hole. Spruck then slid a very nice new optical mirror taped to a pole forward until he could angle it to look down. Just like on The Diamond Girl, crablike legs were well enmeshed with various fiber optic cables. “There you are, you little bastard.”
The machine’s eye swiveled to the mirror while a glowing fingerlike element followed it.
Spruck didn’t notice a red dot appear on his forehead.
“Shit!” Natalie shoved Spruck’s hand just as the crab fired a bolt of plasma. Instead of it bouncing off the mirror and hitting Spruck directly in the head, it singed his ear and blew a three-centimeter hole in the bathroom door. As Spruck howled and slapped a hand to his ear, she grabbed the pole and yanked the now smoking mirror back.
Spruck checked his hand for blood, but the super-heated plasma had cauterized the wound instantly. “Nasty, nasty, nasty little thing. Caleb didn’t say anything about a plasma blaster.”
There was a knock at the airlock door. A deep male voice called out. “Hello? Safe to come in?”
Spruck said, “Uh, yeahish. Just stay in the back. This little bastard’s gonna be a bitch.”
A tall Asian man entered. He was extremely fit in the style of a fighter, with lean muscles and a chiseled jaw. He appeared to be in his mid-thirties, but who knew anymore. He said, “Hey, I’m Lee. I hear you’ve got some trouble.”
Natalie took him in, giving him a full mental undressing and said, “Hello, handsome stranger, my name’s Natalie.”
Spruck said, “Seriously, man, stay back. I nearly got my head blown off. Caleb said it should have a disruptor, but the damn thing’s got a plasma blaster.”
Lee said, “That is serious. I didn’t catch your name.”
“Spruck Jones.”
“Cool. Lee. Just Lee.”
“Just Lee?” asked Natalie. “You some kind of hunky rock star?”
Lee smiled graciously. “You’re kind. I find life is more… secure that way.”
Once Spruck had described what they were dealing with, Lee asked, “And your bot on the outside, can she tackle it from there?”
“We don’t know, but the thing’s tapped into the mainframe so I don’t dare try to drag it out. We got here with everything but the coms working, so we figure it only operates via remote control from a nearby ship. Has nasty defenses though.”
Caleb poked his head in, “Safe to come aboard?”
“Just stay in back. Thing nearly took Spruck’s head off,” said Natalie, while pointing at the hole in the toilet door.
“Whoa! Told you.” Caleb took in the stranger. “Hello. Caleb Day.”
“Lee.”
Caleb immediately warmed to the guy, putting a hand on his shoulder and offering a handshake. “Hey. Great to meet you. You must me Jook’s boyfriend.” He gave the man’s shoulder a squeeze. “You’re a strapping fellow aren’t you?”
Lee accepted the handshake and tried to not seem put off by the handsiness.
Upon hearing the word boyfriend, Natalie’s plastered-on smile fell a notch, and her thrust out posture returned to neutral.
Spruck pointed at the opening in the floor decking. “Damn thing has more than a disruptor. Nearly shot my ear off with a plasma bolt. Bounced it right off the mirror we were using. What kind of idiot puts a plasma gun in a spaceship?”
Jook poked his head in. “Sounds like some serious hardware.” He waved to Spruck and Natalie. “Hi, guys. Where’s Saanvi?”
Natalie said, “She offered to do check-ups for everybody in the factory.”
“Sounds like her.” He nodded at the open floor panel. “So the one on The Diamond Girl, you zapped it with an open cable?”
Caleb said, “Tried to. It zapped me instead. With me out cold, Jen was able to fry it enough so that she could mash the hell out of it with a crowbar. I don’t recommend trying that here.”
Spruck said, “Besides, you’re lucky you didn’t fry the whole system.”
“And there’s that.”
Lee said, “Obviously it’s built to deal with the rigors of deep space, but what if we cryo the bastard?”
“Say again?” asked Spruck
Lee turned to Jook, “We use a lot of liquid helium around here, right Duke?”
“Duke?” asked Caleb.
Jook said, “Last name’s Dukmejian, remember? Anyway, yeah.”
Lee said, “You’ll have to splice in all new fiber in that area, but that’s one thing this factory has plenty of. Here’s what I’m thinking?”
Twenty minutes later, Spruck had the honor of sliding forward on his belly while pushing forward an insulated container full of liquid helium, which was really tricky given how little he weighed. Thankfully, like on every other space ship, there were plenty of handholds. He was dressed in an exosuit, including a helmet to protect himself from any spillage. When he was close enough to the edge of the open floor panel to be near it but not seen, he stopped and opened the container. Frozen helium poured off the top and fogged the area as it evaporated. He said, “Here goes!” and tipped over the contents, which poured slowly down into the hole. The evaporating helium boiled right away, sending a column of fog into the cabin.
Everyone else stood in the airlock tunnel, watching a remote feed and collectively held their breath in anticipation.
Spruck counted to ten, then slid a ball-peen hammer out of his belt, reached over the lip and started hammering away while screaming expletives through gritted teeth.
The sound of crunching and shattering metal bounced around the cabin, and bits of things popped up from the hole. The cabin lights flickered and went out, turning the emergency lights on. The air circulator, on the other hand, seemed to ramp up, with the pumps clearly audible.
After a few more smacks for good measure, Spruck turned on a flashlight and slid forward to peek over the side. It was hard to see through the fog of the still boiling off helium, but nothing shot him. Still, he kept the hammer raised above his head. Waving away the vapor, he could see the crab's legs were shattered. The fiber optic harness was somewhat intact, but its soft insulation had badly morphed around the cables inside. It was a hell of a mess. Even though the air-circulator seemed to be working overtime, his heads-up told him it was safe to breathe. He said,” I’m going to go ahead and open the airlock so the base system can air this out.”
He stepped to the back and opened the airlock door, then released the outer door and lifted his helmet off.
Caleb said, “Nice job, buddy.”
The group followed Spruck back into the ship. He leaned back over the hole. With the helium evaporating toward his face, his voice sounded like Mickey Mouse. “Safe, everybody. Killed her real good.” He lifted the hammer back up. “One more for good measure.”
With Caleb yelling, “No! Wait!” Spruck brought the hammer down one more time. The outer seal shattered, and the device popped out of the hull, instantly creating a depressurization. The base airlock rapidly closed to prevent the air from being pulled from the space station, trapping them all inside the ship. The cabin air burst into a fog as it was rapidly sucked out of the hole.
On the tiny moon’s surface, Hee Sook watched as bits of flotsam b
lew out of the fresh hole. There was nothing she could do.
As the rest of the group scrambled for emergency breathers, Spruck fumbled to get his helmet back on. With the sound of a good seal and a green light, he took a breath and felt around for one of the hull patches he’d rolled into his belt. Getting it unrolled, he struggled with peeling the paper backing, which then got sucked out the hole. As he tried to keep the sticky patch from collapsing on itself, he looked down into the mess below and couldn’t imagine how to get it past.
The air continued to rush out. The circulator should have automatically shut off, but something was clearly wrong with it. The patch wasn’t meant to be applied with all the backing off, and Spruck found that as he lowered it toward the hole, the passing air whipped it, sticking it instead to the fingertips of both his gloves. He had effectively handcuffed himself. He turned to the others and held up his hands helplessly. Lee and Caleb stepped over to him. Lee knelt on one side of the hole while Caleb grabbed the backup patch out of Spruck’s belt. Caleb fed it under the cables to Lee’s waiting hands. With the air still blasting out, they firmly gripped and centered the patch while Lee carefully peeled the front edge, setting the sticky part down on the hull. From there, Caleb pulled back the paper the rest of the way until the patch dropped into place. The men shook hands.
Outside, Hee Sook eye’d her side of the hole and expertly cut a piece of insulation to match it. After sliding that into place, she applied an identical patch to the one on the inside.
With his gloved hands still cuffed by the first patch, Natalie twisted them off. When he lifted his helmet off, he smiled at everyone while absently touching his burned ear. “There. That wasn’t so bad.” He noted the still thrumming air-circulator. “Need to fix that before something burns out. None of the safety trips kicked in. Bet the tanks are near zero.”
Jook’s and Lee’s wrist devices started urgently beeping along with a general alarm that echoed through the airlock door.
Jook said, “Proximity alert.”
Pirates of Saturn (The Saturn Series Book 2) Page 26
